Beneath him she squirmed, her movements growing more frantic the longer he loved her breasts. He flattened his palms to her belly, aware she might be sensitive of the scars. Her only response was to arch and whisper strings of affirmations and, oddly enough, directions. Lower, oh yes, lower. Kai obeyed, nudging her pajama bottoms down with his chin. He was delighted to find her mound naked and kissed her there. She moaned. As he removed the pants altogether, her strong musky scent drew his attention. First his gaze, then his tongue as he lapped at the edges of her moist lips.
He chuckled at her attempt to pull him deeper and though her grip on his head was strong, he could resist and exert some willpower over the situation. Even though he wanted to dive in to the valley of her pussy and lick every inch of swollen pink tissue, he didn’t. Rather, he sucked one lip into his mouth and tugged, drawing out a long, growling moan from above. He pulled the lip taut, let it fall back into place, teased the other one. Her pussy creamed, the sweet smelling liquid glistening at her entrance. How long could she take the teasing? How long could he?
“Please, Kai.”
He smiled, rubbed the tip of his nose over her erect clit. She bucked and he blew a stream of air over her entire, hairless pussy. His cock, ramrod straight and hard as steel, throbbed against his belly. It demanded attention, shouted to be heard above the rush in his ears. What he wouldn’t give to stretch her slick pussy with his cock, but he wanted to make sure she was ready.
He swirled a fingertip around her hole and she stilled. Panting breaths signaled her eager anticipation of his entrance. The heat pulled his finger in and he groaned. Hot? The woman was on fire. Damn, he wouldn’t last long inside her. He needed to bring her right to the edge of orgasm before taking his fill, though he doubted it would be enough. Learning how Sari liked to be pleased was definitely not a one night adventure.
Kai slid a second finger into her, felt the tightness of her pussy and swallowed. Her taste rolled down his tongue and landed somewhere inside him that threatened to bring him undone. No, this couldn’t be just one night. He’d need more.
Climbing back up her body, he waited until she slipped his pants off his hips. Her fingers wrapped around his cock and her eyes pulled wide.
“You’re beautiful,” she said, her voice hushed and reverent.
He smiled. “Beautiful?”
“Exactly.”
Sari guided his long, thick hardness to her entrance. He wanted to play, to tease but he didn’t have the stamina.
“I won’t last long, Sari.”
“Neither will I.”
He pushed in, taking them both by surprise. The inferno wrapped around his cock sent a wave of fire rolling through his body. He pumped inside her, grinned when her legs circled and hugged his body. He slid easily in the wetness of her pussy. He filled her completely, could feel the walls of her cunt squeeze and hold. She cried out, her nails digging into his back. The sharp pain was ecstasy to him and he lost control. His balls pulled tight and the semen surged through his cock and into Sari.
Out of breath, he lay on her heaving body. She held him tight with arms and legs and pussy until his cock softened. Kai kissed her neck and ran his fingers through her hair. It was still blonde. She was still every bit Sari. He smiled and lifted his head. Her furtive smile warmed his heart, but there was something else in her eyes that set alarm bells ringing in his head.
Oh. Shit.
“You’re not on birth control, are you?”
Her smile fell away. “No. I was too scared the feline DNA would react badly to the hormones.”
“I’m so sorry, Sari. I should’ve protected us both.”
Her eyes glistened, tears shimmering in the ebbing torchlight. “I’m sorry, Kai.”
“It’s not your fault.” He brushed his fingertips down each side of her pretty face. He’d never been so out of control or so damn stupid. He had condoms. Brought them for this exact purpose.
To his surprise, she pushed him off and scrambled back into her sleeping back. It hurt like hell to see the wounded look in her eyes.
“What’s wrong, Sari?”
She swallowed, took a deep breath. “I have no idea if being a hybrid has changed my reproductive system. I could be infertile. Or capable of having a fucking litter of cubs.” The fear in her eyes overwhelmed him and he crawled closer. “No, don’t.”
She tried to fight him off, but he wouldn’t let her push him away. Dragging her into his arms, he held her tight and rocked her shaking body. Genetics wasn’t his forte. Sure, he knew enough to pass university courses, and he knew plenty about the DNA of the melanistic jaguars, but he had no clue how the hybrid mix of DNA actually worked. His head grew achy at the thought of how the scientists managed to combine human and feline chromosomes and make it all play nicely together.
He suspected that there’d been failures long before Sari’s group. Failures that made his imagination want to hide. Surely Rex had got it horribly wrong. Kai didn’t want to think about it, or the outcomes of those mishaps. Right now, he needed to concentrate on Sari.
“We’ll find the truth, Sari. Trust me.”
Chapter Six
They walked in silence for the morning, picking their way through the dense scrub and staying away from the marked track. Keeping her mind on the job at hand grew harder with each step, as she relived the memory of their love making over and over again. Why hadn’t she thought to stop them for a condom break? Guilty as sin, the very thought of latex never entered her mind. When she’d taken hold of him in her hand and felt the hot throb of his need, instinct and desire took over.
Now, her mind ran through possible scenarios. Not knowing if the feline DNA interfered with or changed her reproductive system threatened to drive her crazy. Zimmerman had never said anything, and she hadn’t had time to check for that in her medical chart while trying to escape. None of the subjects were allowed to have sex, not that it really crossed their minds. Sure she and Pitch had playfully teased one another and often held hands through the bars of their cages, but her mind never strayed down that road. She’d always been too preoccupied with thoughts of escape, dreaming up schemes to get them all out.
The situation with Kai forced her to consider the consequences of their mistake. While her menstrual cycle appeared normal and all systems go, it didn’t necessarily mean she could conceive. Her body was deceptively normal sometimes. The premenstrual cramps and the symptoms that liked to torment her every month actually helped her feel more human than cat. But whether her ovaries produced viable eggs, or whether the eggs contained human DNA, cat DNA, or a combination of the two, she didn’t know. No one covered that on their websites.
What if she ended up pregnant? What kind of creature would she give birth to? Human? Cat? Shifter? God she wished she knew. It would make life a lot simpler. Not that she was in any way ready to have a child. Was Kai? She glanced over her shoulder, expecting to find him concentrating on the ground so as not to trip or fall. He wasn’t. His attention was on her, his brown eyes dark with concern.
Sari stopped and turned. The rise in the ground brought her to his eye level, their mouths within kissing range. It hit her hard that her body continued to crave his. Despite the worries ravaging her mind, she was primed and ready for his touch and his taste. The smallest effort would put her lips on his and it came as one hell of a surprise to understand that was exactly what she wanted to do.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice low and smooth like chocolate.
“I don’t know, Kai. Physically I’m fine.” She smiled. “Better than fine, actually.”
Like magic, his palm pressed against her cheek. “No matter what happens, I’m here for you.”
“I’m just scared.” There. She said it. But that wasn’t the end of it. “There are so many things I don’t know about my body. I mean, will I ever be able to have kids normally? And even if I do, how will my DNA affect them? They’ll inherit some of the feline gene sequences, right? So does that mean I’ll give birth to shifters, o
r something else?” She shook her head. “I don’t expect you to know the answers, and if last night does leave me pregnant, I don’t want you to feel obligated.”
His eyes widened and his mouth opened. He swallowed, hard, before framing her face with his big hands and pulling her closer. “There’s not a chance in hell that I’m leaving you to fend on your own, pregnant or not. You don’t need to protect me, Sari. I’m exactly where I want to be.”
She breathed in his honesty and let it wash relief through her body. For now, she’d take his words as the truth. When he knew everything about her past, about the horrible things she’d done, he could change his mind. He was free to think whatever he wanted, and she wouldn’t hold him to his word.
Sari leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, thankful for the welcome reception he offered. The feel of his warm tongue sweeping through her mouth reminded her of his hard length inside her last night, and she shuddered. Kai slipped his arms between her waist and her pack and held her against him, the thudding of his heart calming the raging emotions in her heart.
Despite the re-application of the eucalyptus spray before they began hiking, she could smell his deep arousal. Something else was mixed in with it, a scent she’d never come across before. It was intoxicating and mesmerizing, hard to ignore yet easy to find more. What was it? Sari wanted to swim in it, and let it coat her skin and fill her lungs. He’d marked her with his scent. Did he know it? Sari decided not to tell him, not until she was certain he wanted her for himself.
Out of breath, she pulled back. She rested her forehead against his, not ready to break physical contact.
“Kai, this could get really dangerous.”
He grinned, but she pressed a finger to his lips.
“I’m not talking about you and me. I have a feeling we’re deep in cat territory. If they find us, it could get deadly.”
“There’s a research or testing lab here, isn’t there? That was where you escaped from.”
Sari nodded. “The Facility. And you’re right, research and testing. I have only a vague clue where it might be but something tells me it isn’t going to just be sitting here in the bush waiting for us to stroll on in.”
Kai pulled back and fumbled in a side pocket of his pack. The map he withdrew was a composite of much of the data they’d found including sightings, livestock attacks, and the coordinates where the claw casings and scats had been collected. It seemed he’d plotted all of the information himself, judging by the handwriting. Sari smiled as he opened the map out.
“Do you remember when I did this?” She placed her hand in the centre of all the sightings and fanned out her fingers.
“Yes.”
“I think The Facility is somewhere under my palm, in the center. It makes sense in terms of the distance the Hunters would have to travel to and from. You’d suggested a den of some sort, and I think The Facility is it. They have everything they could want there. After all, Zimmerman worships them so they’d need nothing else.”
He nodded, stared at the map for a moment and then pointed to the markings that signified a rocky outcrop. “I understand what you’re saying, but you’re thinking logically. Think like a jaguar, Sari. Would Zimmerman be filling every one of the cat’s needs at The Facility?”
She met his heated gaze and understanding dawned on her. Zimmerman wouldn’t allow any of the Hunters to mate. At least, not unless it was controlled in the lab, but even the Hunters, like Tom, had natural instincts. She doubted he’d want a bunch of scientists watching him fornicate with a female. Wild instincts would override logic and caution, and she suspected he’d risk whatever punishment Zimmerman could dish out to fulfill all his primal needs. Would they arrange to meet at a hiding place? A rendezvous for forbidden encounters? Was Tom that spontaneous or was he one of Zimmerman’s soldiers, who followed orders to the letter?
“I think these sightings signify some sort of patrol route. The circular pattern would make sense. If that’s true, then perhaps they could use this area.”
Kai frowned. “Why would he let them out? Wouldn’t they escape, like you did?”
“Kai, the Hunters are cared for and treated well. Zimmerman learned from his mistakes. After my generation, he started choosing subjects who fit a more suitable profile. No more street kids, runaways, or addicts.”
She held her breath as Kai searched her eyes. Whatever he did or didn’t see, he just smiled and touched her cheek before turning back to the map. The air burned in her lungs, but Sari didn’t let it out. How could she have been so careless? She practically just told him two of the most ugly pieces of her past.
“So he’d screen potential subjects first?” Kai continued as if nothing happened. “Maybe select those who came from the military, people who understood order and authority. Unlike his earlier choices.” He winked at her. “Not that questioning your superiors is a bad thing, but it would be for Zimmerman. What is he, by the way? A scientist?”
Sari blinked, trying to keep up with Kai’s changes in conversation. “Navy,” she replied. “Although don’t ask me how a Navy SEAL wound up here in Australia overseeing this crazy operation.”
“So who’s in charge of the scientific side of things? Zimmerman would be involved, for sure, but he wouldn’t be in charge.”
“Oh.” She shook her head. “There never was anyone else. The medics took orders from Zimmerman.”
“Well,” Kai flashed her a dazzling smile, “there has to be a mad scientist in this story, right? We need to uncover that person’s identity because I have a sneaking suspicion that whoever he or she is, the whole operation rests in his or her hands.”
“Here.”
Kai followed Sari through the thick carpet of ferns, the wet mud squelching under his feet. They passed another tree used as a scratching post but didn’t stop, which confused him.
When Sari did stop and stared at the ground, he saw the droppings. They were fresh. No wonder she sniffed them out so quickly. When she lifted her face, suspicion filled her eyes. Kai was going to speak, but she pressed a finger over his lips and shook her head. Grabbing his hand, she led him deeper into thick scrub. They crouched by a wall of rock. She pointed to the rock, her signal unclear until she mouthed the word ambush.
Adrenaline pumped through his veins, making him want to stand up and rush whoever or whatever attempted to capture them. Just by the look in Sari’s eyes, he knew she would rather die than be taken captive. Laying his trust in her hands had become so much easier now that she’d shared more of herself.
Leaning closer to him, she put her lips to his ear. “They want us to find their clues. They know we’re here.”
Kai wanted to punch something, pissed they couldn’t keep the element of surprise on their side. Still, his anger was tempered by Sari’s confidence. Her body tensed, her muscles flexed. The hair on her forearms stood straight up, and it took all his strength not to smooth his hand over them to calm her. She needed to be alert, for both their sakes.
“Come on.”
She led him by the hand again, and he copied her low running style. His pack weighed heavy on his back, every damn step making it bounce on his spine. He needed to stand upright, to take the weight on his shoulders and hips, but he couldn’t risk their safety. The waist-high ground cover of ferns gave them good camouflage. Sari blended in quite well, with her khaki green pack and army green cargo pants. Kai, on the other hand, stood out like a sore thumb in his bright blue jacket and his maroon pack.
They rounded the edge of the rock wall and pulled up short as a cavern opened up before them, burrowing deep into the rock and disappearing in a black hole. He had no idea if it went a long way into the rock or stopped just beyond the darkness, but he didn’t need to worry. The soft, sand-like ground in the front section confirmed their original thoughts. Paw prints dotted the entire area, save for a small place that lay flat and relatively undisturbed.
Their den. Their lair.
Kai slipped his digital camera out of a pocket i
n his pack and snapped a dozen shots, moving around the entrance of the cavern, careful not to leave any boot prints. He zoomed in as close as possible, keeping the shots clean and crisp. The lighting, though not great, was enough that he didn’t need the flash. He noted scratch marks on some of the rocks and captured those images too.
So eager to make the most of the evidence, he paid no attention to Sari and nearly yelled when she appeared in his camera lens in cat form. Those blue eyes calmed his shock, and he watched her cautiously explore the cave. She sniffed everything and compared her paw prints to those made by the Hunters. Even from this distance, Kai could see the size difference. The depth of the depressions suggested they outweighed Sari by a long margin.
“Have they been by recently?”
Her head swung side to side, as if to say no, while she continued to pad around the cave in silence. He hoped their camouflage eucalyptus scent would keep them hidden, and by Sari’s confidence, he sensed she didn’t doubt it. Watching her stalk the cave gave him time to admire her grace. The sleek black coat beckoned his touch, and he noticed that the scars on her back weren’t visible. The only pattern on her skin was that of the large rosettes common to all jaguars. The pigment of her skin swirled in shades of deep grey and pitch black, much like he expected, but he knew the patterns were unique. Even if Zimmerman’s scientist had used the same feline DNA in two humans, the human side of the genetics would alter the patterns. Like a fingerprint, jaguar rosettes were unique and individual.
“Can you smell the one male and one female we’ve already identified?”
Her head swung up, and her eyes met with his. For a split second, something passed through them though he couldn’t nail the expression. He made a mental note to ask her when she could speak again. Then she shook her head. Her ears pricked; her whiskers twitched.
They had company.
Without a word, Kai stowed his camera. He ran to Sari’s belongings and hoisted her pack and clothes onto his shoulder. She could take care of herself and his gut told him she’d stay in jag form in case they were found. As carefully as he could, he scrambled back away from the mouth of the cave but kept it in sight. At the base of a big, hollow tree trunk, he stowed her pack and climbed the tree. He could only hope the canopy was thick enough to conceal him, and if he could stay silent, he might be able to spy on whoever was coming.
Sari Page 8
