Savage Hunger

Chapter 20

As soon as the gun blasts reverberated in a muffled way through the rain forest, Kat scrambled into a tree, her heart leaping with her jump as she secured a perch on a branch higher up.

She was a jaguar again, although until the shots had been fired, she hadn’t realized she had shifted or that she’d been running through the jungle all alone. She groaned. Connor’s words came back to haunt her. They would keep their human sensibilities while in human form, and that meant, damn it, she would still sleepwalk when she was overwrought or exhausted beyond measure.

Peering through the branches of the tree, watching for any movement, she listened, her ears twitching back and forth like antennae, attempting to figure out where the gunshots had come from and how close they had been. No one would be foolish enough to travel through the rain forest in the dead of night so she assumed someone had set up a camp somewhere and something had slithered into it—maybe a poisonous snake, an anaconda, or a wild boar.

Her pounding heart began to slow, and she took a deep sniff. Unwashed bodies, sweat, wood smoke from a campfire, and the scent of recently fired gunpowder lingered in the humid air.

But which direction were the smells coming from?

She let out her breath. If the gunshots had awakened Connor and Maya, they would be frantic about her. Should she roar to get their attention? She would no doubt scare whoever had been firing a weapon, but she was sure they were too far away to venture into the woods in the dark to search her out. They would never reach her in time before she could vacate the tree, and if they ran into her, she would be a deadly adversary, since they wouldn’t be able to see her.

She opened her jaws to roar and alert Connor and Maya where she was, then hesitated. What if the jaguar-shifter who had been following them found her instead?

Not a good idea.

Hoping Connor and Maya wouldn’t be too worried about her and that she could make her way back to their campsite all on her own, she leaped from the tree and landed on the ground. She poked her nose at the earth, attempting to find the scent trail she’d left with her footsteps. She caught the scent, smiled in her jaguar way, thrilled that she was getting the hang of this, and headed back the way she’d come.

Until something big pushed aside the thick foliage nearby. And she froze.

His heartbeat quickening, Connor saw Kat’s shirt hanging half off her hammock, her bra clinging to one branch, her jeans on another, shoes on the ground, panties right next to them.

Cursing himself for not watching her better, he jerked off his clothes and shifted. As a cat, his sister was right behind him. They both sniffed the ground and lifted their heads, taking a good whiff of the earthy smells of the jungle and Kat’s sweet jaguar scent. They searched for any signs as to which way she’d taken off. Hell, how long had she been gone before the gunfire had awakened them?

He prayed she wasn’t the cause of the gunshots having been fired.

He and Maya split up, searching for any signs of Kat and trying to locate the scent of her footfalls. After what seemed like nearly a quarter of an hour, he discovered Kat had raked a tree with her nails. He grunted for Maya to join him. She loped through the thick vegetation and smelled the tree. They both looked up, hoping Kat would be reclining on the branch, maybe asleep. No such luck.

Hurried, they began to sniff the ground again, moving in every direction away from the tree to pick up her trail.

Another quarter hour had passed when Maya grunted to get Connor’s attention. He raced to see what she’d discovered. Pug marks of Kat’s front paws were imprinted in the muddy earth. The fresh impressions indicated she had come this way recently.

But now he was catching the odor of men, of a campfire, of the shots recently fired.

He swung his head around as another smell assaulted him. A male jaguar’s urine sprayed on a tree.

Connor’s blood ran cold as he continued to follow Kat’s trail, glad that the male jaguar must have passed this way before Kat had. He didn’t appear to be tracking her… yet.

And then more gunshots rang out.

Damn! Connor ran in the direction of the gunfire, ready to kill any bastard who might be shooting at his mate.

That’s when Kat roared from a different direction. They couldn’t have been shooting at her. Maybe at the other jag.

His heart beating as fast as possible, he turned. She was close by, and he roared to let her know he was on his way, just before he bounded to intercept her.

Maya had to be running parallel to him through the foliage nearby, although he couldn’t see her.

Another cat raced through the jungle toward them, and Connor was sure it had to be Kat.

Eyes wide and looking grateful, Kat broke through the foliage that had hidden her. Relief washed through him as soon as he saw her, a vision in rosette-covered fur. The two quickly bonded, rubbing their bodies against each other with affection and as a sign of belonging. Maya joined them, caressing her cheek against Kat’s in greeting, their tails twitching, before they headed back to camp.

The relief he felt at Kat’s safe return was so pronounced that he could barely think straight. When they arrived back at the campsite, he again nuzzled Kat’s face, wanting to hold her tight and never let go. But they had to leave soon.

He grunted to Maya to let her know he was going on a hunt, and she bowed her head slightly to let him know she understood.

When Connor again took off into the jungle, Kat was afraid he was going after the men with the guns. But once she had shifted and dressed, and Maya had done the same as quickly as possible, Maya explained what her brother was up to as she gathered firewood.

“It’s still dark out and will be some hours before dawn, but Connor wants us to eat, then get on our way.”

“But what about the men?”

“They’re shooting at something else.”

Kat took a deep breath. “We’re leaving because I ran off as a jaguar.” Kat gathered kindling.

She still couldn’t get over having heard something in the brush near where she had been, but not seeing any sign of it. She didn’t care to admit how scared that had made her.

“Yes, in part. He’s afraid of losing you in the jungle. But in part, it’s because we can travel under the cover of darkness, and when we reach the city, it’ll be time to get a room. He doesn’t like it that men are firing guns out here. They could be from the drug cartel. Even biologists who study jaguars in the area often take an armed escort. It’s better if we go soon.” Maya lit the fire.

“You made a mistake in turning someone like me,” Kat said.

Maya looked up from the fire, the flames dancing off her irises. She barely breathed, then finally said, “What do you mean?”

Kat sat down before the fire. “I haven’t done so since I first joined the Army, but while I was at one of the officers’ summer training camps, I tried to climb into another woman’s bunk. Everyone was shook up because they called my name and tried to find out what was wrong, but I didn’t respond. I just kept trying to climb into the other bunk. Mine was on the bottom across from the one I was trying to crawl into. I was sleepwalking.”

Maya’s lips parted, but she didn’t say a word. Then she cleared her throat. “Sleepwalking?”

Kat nodded, staring at the fire, hating to have to tell anyone her secret. “I read about it once. Experts say that often family members have the same predisposition. But since I never knew my real family, I don’t have any clue. Most times, the condition doesn’t persist into adulthood. But I still experience problems with it from time to time.”

“You were sleepwalking?” Maya asked, sounding incredulous.

Kat squirmed to get more comfortable on the rough ground. “Yeah. At least I figure that’s what happened. I didn’t remember anything until I heard the gunshots fired, and I leaped into a tree to get away from the danger. That’s when I realized I had shifted and wasn’t back at the campsite. I had no idea how I had gotten there or where I was.”

“Wow,” Maya said, sounding more than worried.

Kat let out her breath hard. “I don’t do it all the time. Only when I’m extremely tired. I remember one of my foster mothers calling out for me to come in and see something. Except she wasn’t calling for me but my foster dad to see something on the television. I watched it without really seeing anything until the program was over, and then she put me back to bed.”

Maya just stared at her with wide eyes.

“Wow,” Maya said again.

“One time, I spent what seemed like an eternity trying to make a bed in another room. I was staying with another foster teen, and she and I didn’t get along at all. I barely remember struggling to make a bed on the floor of the unfurnished spare bedroom. I woke up to find myself in there the next morning, sleeping on all the bedding on the floor. That’s when I began to have a hazy recollection of it. Even this time, I kind of remember struggling to get out of my clothes before I shifted. Then the gunshots must have wakened me from my sleepwalking state.”

Maya chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m sorry, Kat. I didn’t mean to put you in any danger.”

Kat didn’t look at her. She didn’t resent Maya for turning her. She wasn’t sure why, but she really liked Maya. Maybe because she had never had a friend who would risk all to be there for her. Maya never put her down, never judged her. If anything, she seemed in awe of Kat.

Maya reached over and patted Kat’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

This time Kat looked over at her, heard the tears in her words, and saw the tears shimmering in her eyes. She knew then Maya was worried she might have put Kat in real danger, and she feared she would lose her new friend through her own folly.

“I don’t know how I’d feel if I’d been in your jaguar skin, Maya, as to whether I’d ever turn someone to have another sister or to try to ensure my brother had a mate. I’ve never had a sibling, never thought I’d ever experience such a thing. I’ve done enough stupid things in my life, so I don’t mean to judge you. Regrets would eat at me forever, and the best any of us can do is forge forward, learn from our mistakes, and make the most of them.”

Maya nodded, but she didn’t seem any more appeased.

“I don’t know what’s ahead for me, Maya. All we can do is take it one step at a time.” Grand words, Kat thought, when deep inside she was scared to death of traveling on a plane. She was sure she would never make it to their destination before she shifted. A jaguar on a plane would definitely not be conducive to a safe and pleasant flight.

But she was not going to stew about the changes in her life because she was stuck with them, one way or another.

They heard movement in the brush, and both turned to see Connor with breakfast. Relieved to see him, she peered at the offering clenched between his teeth. Another caiman. She couldn’t wait to get back to civilization and eat something normal like a juicy slab of steak or a lemon-pepper-seasoned piece of baked chicken, a lettuce salad with tomatoes and olives and lots of blue cheese dressing, a baked potato with butter and sour cream and chives, and of course something chocolate to finish off the meal. Nothing exotic.

Her stomach rumbled.

She didn’t say anything about the sleepwalking, but she knew Maya would mention it before long. The issue was too important not to discuss.

Connor cooked the meal as Maya and Kat packed up their belongings.

After eating, they hiked along a dirt road headed toward civilization.

From what Connor had said before they had stopped for the night, the trek to the city would take hours still, but she couldn’t wait to get a room. She wanted to clean up and sleep in a bed, make love to Connor, and never get up.

Maya interrupted Kat’s thoughts of a soft bed and a hard-bodied Connor as she said, “Kat was sleepwalking.” She spoke matter-of-factly, not spitefully, nor did she sound worried.

Kat closed her eyes briefly and waited for Connor to say something as he trudged down the road behind her. She took a deep breath of the humid air. At least at this time of morning, it was still cooler and the air was easier to breathe.

“Sleepwalking as a jaguar,” Connor finally said.

From the neutral tone of his voice, Kat couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Although she thought a smidgen of dark humor accompanied his words. She was certain he’d never thought a jaguar could sleepwalk. They probably didn’t. But a jaguar-shifter?

Maya finally answered in the affirmative.

Kat thought she heard Connor swear softly under his breath. Yep, if they hadn’t thought she was trouble before, they’d know she really was now. But he didn’t say anything further, and they kept hiking at a steady pace through the outlying area approaching the city. Houses sprung up here and there. A few people sitting on porches stopped their conversations to observe the three Americans trudging along the road.

They must have made a bedraggled, unusual sight.

In the distance, Kat could see the picturesque, snow-capped Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta peaks. They discovered a quaint bed-and-breakfast near Tayrona National Park, which featured jungle and white sand beaches and blue waters on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Cabanas with thatched roofs were built up a slope around huge boulders and surrounded by tropical plants that made Kat feel as though she was still in the jungle. She loved it.

They walked into the lobby where the owner greeted them with a wide smile and dark brown eyes that studied them, but if he was judging them by their appearance, he didn’t let on. “Everyone calls me Garcia. Welcome, welcome! Americans?” he said in a thick Spanish accent.

“Yes,” Connor said. “We’d like two cabanas near each other if you have any available.”

Kat knew from past experience that if you were a tourist, you paid more. But they couldn’t mask what they were so they were prepared. Having a bed to sleep in was worth just about any price for now.

Garcia must have wondered about them arriving on foot, carrying backpacks with all their belongings and no suitcases. And grungy like they had made a thousand-mile hike through the Amazon rain forest, through mud, rain, wind, and sun.

“I built the whole place by hand myself,” he said, looking proud. “We have excursions to a nearby waterfall.” He raised his brows in question as he took Connor’s money to pay for the room.

Kat didn’t attempt to hide a smile at Connor as she caught his gaze. After he’d washed her in the waterfall, she would never see another in the same way again.

“I can drive you to the park tomorrow so we can hike through the nature reserve and see all the wildlife.”

“Uh, no, thank you,” Kat said. They had seen all the wildlife she needed for the time being, and as for hiking any further? She was ready to be transported somewhere closer to home without having to slog one booted foot in front of another on any more long hikes.

Garcia watched their expressions as if he was trying to determine just where they had come from and why they were here. Finally, he mentioned the beaches and at that Maya nodded. “Yes, we must take in the beach.”

Garcia seemed to sigh with a bit of relief, maybe worried they were trouble.

“We’re biologists,” Connor offered. “We spent some time in the Amazon to do research.”

“Ah.” Garcia looked as though he could believe that.

When Kat offered to help pay for the accommodations, Connor gave her a macho look and shook his head. The intimation was that he paid, she enjoyed. She raised a brow at him. He looked smug.

“You’ll have cabanas close to each other. But privacy also.” Garcia handed them their keys and gave them directions.

They hiked up the path to Maya’s cabana, which was surrounded by dense foliage, trees, flowers, and colorful parrots, and even a monkey clambered up a tree high above. Now this was more like it: jungle fauna and flora, but also air-conditioned accommodations.

“Come see us in an hour after you’ve cleaned up and changed,” Connor said to Maya. “We’ll have breakfast, and then you can return here and we’ll all get some much-needed sleep.”

She heartily agreed, gave them both a hug, then closed her door and locked it.

After leaving Maya at her place, Connor and Kat continued up to the cabana at the top of the path. Maya’s was near enough that if they encountered any trouble, they could easily get together in a few seconds via the stone path that wound its way down to the main house and restaurant.

Inside the cabana, exposed stone walls and polished bamboo floors and a real bed covered in a hibiscus floral spread made Kat feel like she was in a swanky resort. A private balcony that overlooked the jungle had an adobe tile floor for the patio and a hammock strung across it. Floor-to-ceiling windows covered with white lacy curtains let in filtered light. And air-conditioning blasted them with cool, dry air!

A shower in the bathroom was even open to the sun, which was why Connor had picked the one at the top of the group of cabanas for Kat and himself.

A small restaurant was situated next to the main lobby, and nearby was a freshwater swimming pool, which Kat was hoping they could avail themselves of later that night.

Dirty and sweaty, Connor pulled Kat in for a hard embrace, kissing her lips with a searing kiss. “Let’s get cleaned up and then we can share breakfast on the patio with Maya.”

Kat loved how he didn’t want to leave his sister out, even though Kat was fairly sure he would have loved spending the rest of the day and night alone with her. He dumped the contents of his bag on the table and pulled out the shampoo and body wash.

“Come on, Kat. Let’s take a shower.”

“Don’t tell me… together, so we can share the hot water.” She ran her hands underneath his shirt, her fingers tracing his muscles.

“Nope.” He started unbuttoning her blouse with a glint in his eye and a curve to his lips.

She cast him a mock frown and then began to peel away his trousers. “No?”

“The water’s cold. We’ll have to share it to keep warm.”

She chuckled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you planned it.”

He laughed and quickly began dispensing with her clothes, as if he wouldn’t last or was afraid they wouldn’t have enough time before Maya joined them.

He scooped her up. “Grab the soaps, will you, Kat?”

“Eagerly.”

And then he carried her into the bathroom and leaned down so she could turn on the water. It splashed her arm and she squealed, not intending to, but he was right. The water was cold!

The sun streamed into the shower, making it seem like a cleaner version of the waterfall. And she was excited about getting clean and whatever else they could come up with.

The scene was reminiscent of when Connor had washed Kat under the waterfall, except this time, he would be naked, too. That was much, much better because he could finish what they had started the last time. He lathered up his hands with the silky body wash and began to soap her up.

She smiled up at him, her hands already covered in soap as she smeared it all over his chest. She looked like a feral cat who loved the water as much as he did, who relished it and was emboldened by it.

The water was cold, but the sun and friction between them warmed them as he slid his hands all over her satiny skin, enjoying her soft curves and the way she smiled up at him as she began to soap all his body parts, making him hard as steel. He should have skipped the soap and just gotten down to business.

But spreading the silky soap over her skin turned him on just as much as it aroused her. He loved seeing her arousal, her sage eyes darkening to jungle green, the way her nipples tightened and her breasts swelled, the way her clit grew with his strokes, and the way she purred like a cat. He loved the way she barely breathed as he continued to stroke her sensitive G-spot, loved how she arched against his fingers, wanting him to touch her harder and faster and more.

She was like malleable heated clay in his hands as she melted under his ministrations, barely able to stand while he supported her with one hand around her back. He kissed her mouth as the water sluiced down their heated bodies, washing the soap off them and leaving them clean and smelling of tangerines and oranges, and musky female and male cat sex.

He might feel he had conquered the she-cat, but she had him panting, craving and savoring the feel of her, the smell of her, the sweet sexy sounds she made. As he bent to kiss her lips, her mouth parted to let him in, and he plunged his tongue inside the way he wanted to sheathe his cock between her legs. They slid their bodies against each other, bare skin to bare skin, her softness feeling so right against his hardness. Her belly pressed against his thick erection, and he cursed his need to fill her now as he tried to take it slower. But he was already ablaze, his loins on fire.

Every move she made against him turned the furnace higher.

Her hands were drifting lower, her nails lightly scratching his back and down and down. His cock moved against her soft stomach as if it had a mind of its own, soliciting a smile from her lips. Yeah, he had no control over it. Every tantalizing touch—the way her tongue probed his mouth, the way she rubbed affectionately against his body, like a cat would, only with a mission in mind—forced his body to respond with eagerness.

“You… are… mine,” he groaned against her lips, desperate to hear her say she loved him, too, that she would stay with him forever, that she felt the same rampant need to be with him exclusively.

But she seemed so lost in his touch as he renewed stroking her sweet spot that she didn’t say anything. Her eyes were closed, her fingers grasping his hips as if she was about to come unglued if she didn’t have something to cling to, her breathing shallow and labored.

He loved her, loved the way she responded so eagerly, became so wrapped up in the act that nothing would deter her. “You… are… beautiful,” he whispered, licking a trail down the water droplets spilling over her skin until he latched on to a nipple and sucked, his finger still stroking her into ecstasy.

She cried out before he’d expected it and he smiled against one nipple, then suckled the other before he lifted her, angling her so he could enter her easily. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her heels pressing provocatively against him. He slowly penetrated her sheath with his cock until she could accept his size, then thrust deep inside her, wanting her, needing her, feeling the climax she had just experienced gripping his cock tightly.

Harder, faster, deeper he pushed into her narrow passage, claiming her, his shifter mate, different from him and yet the same. She licked the water off his chin and his cheek, seeking his mouth, and tangled her tongue with his in another mating dance.

He was reminded of the waterfall where he had kissed her, feeling her heavenly body rubbing against him, the torture of her naked skin pressing his erection when he was still wearing clothes and trying to keep some distance. He could hear the same jungle sounds, only this time from the national park next door. The monkeys and birds and bugs communicating in their way, the smell of the rain forest, sweet and decadent, and the taste of citrus fruits on Kat’s lips and tongue all reminded him of being back at the falls. Only this time, God, she felt so incredibly tight and feral, but most of all his.

He felt the end coming but knew that with her, it would never be the end. That she would always be at the edge of his awareness, whether he was sleeping or awake, and he would want her like this, close by, within easy reach.

He thrust hard and furious, and finally let loose his seed and groaned with spent pleasure. He leaned her against the bathroom wall, feeling satiated and more at ease than he had in years. All because he had found Kat.

And yet, it wasn’t over. He wanted her, wanted to keep her, to have shifter babies if they could. But she still hadn’t said the words that meant she was willing to stay with him forever.