Jungle Freakn' Bride (7 page)

She moaned.

With an animalistic snarl, he rolled off and melted into the night.
While he didn’t return, he or Golden Grin, she knew better than to try and escape. Knew they watched. Didn’t care as she let herself finish what she started.
A minor orgasm for Carlie-kind, a screw-you to the watching men.

“Hope you enjoyed the show,” she muttered, not one hundred percent satisfied, but
at least she’d eased her sexual
tension enough
that
she could sleep
– and dream of a
much more intense
climax at the hands of
her
captors
.

The next morning, she watched to see if they’d behave differently.
Did they watch me? Did they like what they saw?
Would they do something about it?
Her actions changed nothing
with her captors
,
unless she counted the fact they appeared grimmer and hungrier than before
.
They’d watched all right.
She smirked and tossed her hair.
A low growl met her action and s
he got tossed over a shoulder
. Mr. Kitty
jostled
her
with more vigor than necessary
as he ran
. Then again, maybe she shouldn’t have twanged his g-string
.

T
he
next
day
,
they skipped sleeping entirely
.
They stopped to eat, but instead of the
m
bunking down for
their usual rest
,
they
kept running.
The reason
soon
became apparent as the darkness around them suddenly came alive
–
a handful of small torches bursting to life as bodies thumped to the ground, ringing them in a circle.

Carlie squeaked and tried to rear up on her captor’s shoulder. To her surprise,
Mr. Kitty
let her down to stand
,
b
ut t
o her annoyance, he moved away
,
leaving her alone as the stares of the crowd devoured her.

What a sight I must be.
Unshowered, unke
m
pt
,
and wearing the same clothes they’d kidnapped her in days ago
.
T
hrough stench alone
she could
have
kill
ed
just about any bug within a
five-yard
radius.
Yet the men ey
e
ing her didn’t seem to mind.
Once again, every single rumor, story
,
and movie she’d seen about the jungle ran through her mind
,
and for some reason
,
she couldn’t help thinking of the cannibalistic tribes.
Please don’t let them look at me and think yummy, get the salt.

Despite the incongruity, she desperately wished she still hung over Mr. Kitty or Golden Grin’s
shoulder.
Unfortunately,
it seemed they’d finished what they set out to do. They stepped away from her, not quite merging into the crowd of men numbering at least a
two
dozen or more, but still a few feet out of reach.

Screw decorum, fear had her taking a few steps to her mismatched captor. If she had to choose between the known and unknown, she’d take the guy who could sleep with a hard-on every night beside her and yet not do a thing about it.

If he was surprised at her move, he didn’t show it
.
H
owever, he did make space between him and Golden Grin, a small hole she tucked into.

A conversation ensued among her abductors and his friends, or she assumed by the occasional back slap and laughter. How long they stood there talking, she didn’t know, but she got bored after awhile when it seemed they were content to just
talk
.

She found herself leaning against a bicep, then a chest as an arm curled around her. She dozed off, or so she assumed when she briefly woke to the sensation of being carried, the
torso
and smell familiar – and comforting. She barely roused herself when she found herself lai
d
on a soft blanket
, into which
she snuggled
.
Then…

Shrill yells.

“What are you doing? Why have you taken us?”

Opening her eyes, Carlie saw two other expedition members standing a few feet away,
the taller of the two
ho
ll
er
ing
through
an opening in wall. She scrambled to her feet just as a door made of a solid piece of carved wood swung shut, blocking out the dawn’s bright light. Fully awake, and now kicking herself for not paying more attention before,
Carlie
tried to take stock of the situation – and briefly wondered where Mr. Kitty and Golden Grin had gone.

“Carlie!” Leena’s familiar voice made Carlie’s brows rise. It seemed she wasn’t alone in her abduction
,
even if she’d not seen or heard her friend
s
during the wild trek through the jungle. Leena, the youngest of the group at twenty
-
four, dove on Carlie, and in her enthusiasm
,
sent them both crashing to the floor in a heap of limbs. Their landing was at least somewhat soft given they hit the pallet
on which
Carlie
recently
slept.

Arms squeezing her tight, Leena sobbed. “Oh
,
thank God you’re here. I was so scared. Do you know where we
are
? And what they want?”

Good questions. “I don’t know.
I
arrived last night when it was dark. Did you guys see anything?” Because she noted that while not pitch black,
sunshine
did filter into the room from openings in the ridged
,
tree
-
limbed ceiling.

“We’re somewhere in the jungle. God only knows where,” Sasha griped as she paced. “Kidnapped by men no better than Neanderthals
,
for who knows what
,
and now locked inside a freakn’ tree
-
house.”

“A what?”

“Tree
-
house, as in a house built pretty bloody high in a ridiculously large tree.”

“But at least they haven’t killed us or raped us. Well
,
me at any rate,” Leena added in a soft whisper. “Are you guys okay?”

“Yes.” For now. Yes, they were still unharmed for the moment, but now
that
they’d arrived at their destination, obvious prisoners, what next
?
Could their luck get any worse?

“You stole three Americans!” yelled his
tribe’s
alpha.

“We acquired them and left an appropriate bride price,” Acat countered.

“You were supposed to raid a village
with those
dowries
, not a campsite,” his leader, who doubled as his father, ranted as he paced the clearing set amidst the towering trees
,
which
,
according to legend
,
housed the spirits of
his ancestors. “We have rules about not going near foreigners. Do you have any idea of the chaos this is causing? The attention you’ve brought on us?”

Honestly, once he’d caught her scent,
Acat didn’t
bother to think much of anything other than his need to have her.
“I take
it
it’s on the news?”

His father whipped
out
his satellite phone
from the pouch at his waist
and thrust it in his face.
“All over the place. There’s even rumors about the Moon Ghosts being behind
the abductions
.”

Hmm, that explained the twist in his father’s
loincloth
.
“Well
,
we technically are.”

“You idiot. The last thing we need is for our clan to end up in a media spotlight. We haven’t kept our tribe and practices
secret
for this long by acting foolish.”

“I guess sorry won’t quite cut it.”
Not that he was truly repentant. S
o
much for not believing in tradition. After spending the last several days tortured by his need to claim his woman, he’d gone from
non-believer
to
convert
.
From I-don’t-want-to-settle-down to the
-
quicker
-
the
-
better.

“
Sorry? Of all the stupid things.” His father growled
,
t
hen roared.
He also s
tomped around a bit while Acat watched in amusement. Blustering and blowing off steam, he knew better than to interrupt his father
,
b
ut he did straighten at his next words. “Lucky for you and the tribe, I was able to call in some help.
I made arrangements as soon as the rumors hit.
I’ve spoken to the American shifter council.
A
special
team is on its way
to
a spot designated for pickup. You are to take the
women
and drop them off
by
the waterfall ruins where they’ll be found. Thankfully
,
they didn’t see t
o
o much so they won’t require any hypnotism to wipe their memories.
Or did they?
”

“No, we kept our lips shut and our metamorphous abilities hidden.
”

“Well at least you
have
n’t completely los
t
all
your
sense
s
,” his father grumbled.

“Actually, I have
,
because I’m not sending her back
with the team you’ve requested
.”

“Why ever not? You can’t mean to return her yourself.”

“No. I mean
,
she’s not going back.”

“
Like hell she’s not.
I sent you to pick a bride, not a media and international
relations
nightmare.”

“You sent me to kidnap the one chosen for me by the gods.”

“You must be mistaken.
The gods wouldn’t cho
o
se an outsider.
”

Acat could have no more resisted the scent than not shifted on a full moon. It called to him. Called to his
mis
, his inner cat, the other half of his soul
,
a
soul he would soon give part of when he won the challenges.
Acat shook his head. “
Think again
.
You know I was skeptical of the whole smell her and want her thing. But even I can’t deny my entire being is burning to claim her. Mark her.
She’s the one.
”

His father groaned. “No. Please don’t tell me you’re going to dilute our bloodline.”

“Hey, you started it when you claimed my mother.” A
mixed
woman
not quite
as pale
-
skinned as
Acat’s luscious c
aptive
, but not pure
-
blooded by any means
.

“Damn it, boy.
Don’t use me
as an example. Do you know the shit
Ixtab and
I went through with your grandfather when
we
chose her?”

“I’m sure I’ll hear about it,”
he muttered.

“What is this tribe coming to? Our lineage? Our forefathers are probably turning in their graves.
In no time at all, our family will need sunscreen.”

“Then we’ll invest in the company. You know arguing is pointless. My
jaguar
says she’s my mate. The fever has begun
and we both know only the ritual will stop it
. As per tribe custom, I demand the right to fight and prove my worthiness for the one I have chosen.”