Jungle Freakn' Bride (26 page)

Acat frowned. “I guess
.”

“He means yes,” Chaob added. “I for
one am
not offended.
I can see where your skepticism comes from and I rather enjoy your
sense of
humor.
”

“What does she have to be skeptical about?” Acat complained. “
She
already knows she
turns into a jaguar
,
w
hich in turn means she has the characteristics of a jaguar when in that shape.
That goes for
diet, habits, everything.
She asks us
these ridiculous questions
to drive us crazy
.
I’m
on to
you,” he said with a glare in her direction. “And
I am not playing
your
game
!”

Perceptive. He’d caught on to her plan.
She laughed. “
You say you’re not playing and y
et, it’s already working.
Look at you. You’re just about ready to blow.”

“
If I snap, you should watch yourself
,
or we’ll see just who laughs last,” he
murmured in a low
,
raspy voice.

For some reason, his words sent a shiver coursing through her, the kind that made
her
want to rake her fingernails over his flesh. His firm flesh. His naked, glistening skin. His…

She couldn’t stem her desire and he knew it, smelled it, sensed it
,
or what
ever it was that let him know
his sensual threat turned her on.
Talk about annoying, but s
he wouldn’t give in. Not this time. She needed to regain control of the situation
before he made good on his threat
. “
Since you lack a sense of humor,
I
’ll stop with the feline jokes.”
For now.

“Finally. If you need something else to do with your lips, let me know.”
He couldn’t have made his innuendo clearer.
Deadpan, yet with a devilish glint in his eyes, Acat wiped the last hour or so of grim
-
faced
-
party
-
pooper
as he turned into
holy
-
hot
and
damn
ed
sexy
with
just
one naughty innuendo
.

How could she stay mad at him when he did that? One minute she wanted to throttle him, the next throw herself at him and ride him until the cows came home. Or the cow on top came.

Where was a river to jump in for a cool down when a girl needed one? With no ice at hand, she dove into a topic sure to lower the rising
heat
.
“
Time to spill about your family. You keep claiming I’m mated with you, yet I know nothing about you.”

“You’ll meet
our famil
ies
soon enough.”

“
But who am I meeting? A girl likes to know so there’
re
no surprises. I am going to assume since you have few girls that you don’t have an extra wife or two,
a
girlfriend or something waiting to greet me with
a
pointy
-
ended stick.”

Chaob choked. “No. Females are much t
o
o scarce
to treat in such a manner
. It is two warriors to a
woman
.
”

“
What if a
woman
wants more? I mean, if two is good, could you imagine what a girl could do with four?” She winked at Acat when she said it, knowing she played with fire.

And got burned.

In the blink of an eye, he held her pressed against his chest. One big hand cupped the back of her head, the other
gripped
the roundness of her ass.

“No more men.”
Guttural
. Possessive. So freakn’ hot.

“
So
,
just you and Chaob for the rest of my life? What if you get fat? Don’t take out the garbage? Come home late on spear
-
toss night drunk?”
Spoken breathily, she couldn’t help teasing him.
Maybe hoping he’d do something to
punish
her?

“Why do you insist on mocking me?”

Why did she? She shrugged. “Because I like to see that vein in your for
eh
e
ad pulse?”
A better answer than the real one
–
that she enjoyed, despite herself, how he manhandled her
, a fact she feared he knew already all to
o
well
.

“I think it is because you want me to touch you.” He whispered the words against her lips
.

“Ha. You wish. Not my fault you can’t keep your distance.” Damn. Could he hear how fast her heart beat?

“You deny you want this, and yet, I could make you beg for it.
” The hand cupping her head angled her face back and his lips blew across the skin of her neck.
Stupid
,
wobbly knees,
you better
hold me up.

How did he end up controlling her, playing her body, getting her not only ready to give in, but beg for it?
She needed to think non
-
sexy thoughts.
Screw that. She plastered her mouth to his and took him by surprise.

“You know,” she panted between sucks and licks of his lower lip
,
“I’m beginning to think you’re hiding something about your family life
,
the way you’re distracting me.
Are you aliens, and I don’t mean the illegal immigrant kind, but the from
-
the
-
outer
-
galaxy
,
flying sauce
r
kind?”

“
There is nothing odd about my family. And we are not aliens.
We’re jaguar shape
-
shifters.
”

“
So tell me about your home
life,” she demanded
,
tugging at his lower lip with her teeth
, needing him to do something annoying so she could halt the uncontrollable need in her to take things to a more naked level
.
“
Starting with you
r dear old
m
om
and
dad, or should I say dads
?
Speaking of w
hich
,
by the way, do you know who
’
s the real daddy? Do you care? Does it make a difference?”

Under the barrage of questions, Acat released her and stepped back, slightly dazed, definitely not thinking of using sex to get
her
back in line.
A shame. “This is what you’re thinking about?”

“Well, yeah.
I mean, you keep telling me, I’m your
bride
,
”
s
he air quoted
,
“
b
ut what does that really
mean
? Am I just some baby
-
making machine? Unpaid maid? Sex toy that you set up in a jungle hut so you can hunt in the day
,
bring me home meat
,
which I
burn
for you and eat so I’m strong for a night of jungle loving?” She winked.

Chaob hit a tree with his back and leaned on it he laughed so hard
.
“Sadly, you have described the life of some. But would you believe me if I said they enjoyed it?”

Her skeptical look said it all.

Inhaling a big breath, Acat sighed. “
Your
role
in the tr
i
be
will depend on you
.
There are many things you can choose to do
.
A
life of le
isure is certainly one
option
.”

“
Choose to d
o? How about
I
go home and resume my job
?
You know, the one I already have and enjoyed.
”
But lacked two hunks. Why couldn’t she have both?

Acat proved his knowledge of things he shouldn’t
know
once again.
“
You have a
job a
s a researcher
for a pharmaceutical company that wants you to explore the truth behind local medicines and examin
e
the collection site of the ingredients used
.” He bared his teeth in a smile well suited to a predator. “I am well acquainted with a medicine man and he owes me a favor.
You
can still work, in the
village,” he countered.

Bribery? For shame. Especially since the idea of learning the secrets of the jungle and his mysterious tribe did spark the scholar in her. Ruth might be the hardcore botanist of the family, but Carlie dabbled in many aspects
of the subject
, and with her job in the pharmaceutical company researching exotic plants and tribal remedies for possible uses in modern science, this was quite the opportunity.
And temptation.

“Work how? By scratching out my notes on bark
?
”

“We can get you a laptop.”

“
I use more than just a laptop.
I don’t have any
of my
equipment.
Someone didn’t grab it when he kidnapped me.
”

“
Give me a list and w
e can arrange
to acquire those
items,” he bargained, his eyes glittering
as he met her challenge
.

Chaob
,
not to be left out, pushed off the tree. “
We’ll start with a
state of the art
laptop
run on solar power, a
satellite link
with access to the
I
nternet. You can also use it as a videophone
so you can talk to your family anytime you wish.
”

“Monitored
,
of course
,
so you don’t reveal too many secrets,” Acat quickly appended.

Better conditions than even her expedition offered. The jerks, how dare they make the offer so juicy
?
“That’s fine for awhile. What about when I want to go shopping for clothes or have
a craving for
some Starbucks
?
What about if I miss my mom and want to
go home for a visit?”
Judging by how Acat’s face lost all expression, those weren’t things she could look forward to.

“Perhaps in time…” Chaob started to say.

“
We should catch up to the main group,” Acat snarled. “
We waste time answering these questions.
”

Watching his taut buttocks as he strode
away
with long steps, Carlie held in a sigh.
“He can’t keep me prisoner.”

“I know.
But, at the same time, he is afraid to set you free.”

The admission, even if by Chaob, made her sad, because she knew, knew with a cold certainty, that if Acat kept trying to shove her around to keep her at his side, the harder she’d eventually fight to get away.
Carlie wouldn’t bow to anyone.

They walked in silence for awhile after that, stopping only to eat and refresh themselves when the sun set.
Then
,
off they went again for more walking, and a chance to use her new enhanced night sight.
She couldn’t deny the enjoyment she got out of her new abilities. She didn’t tire like before.
On the contrary, the exercise invigorated.
The smells, oh, the myriad rainbow of scents
–
how she delighted in them
,
especially as she b
e
gan to differentiate. As she passed flowers, she noted their appearance and stored them against the smell
, testing herself to see what she recognized from afar
.
It proved easier to master than expected and she did the
s
ame
cataloguing
with animals and other items of interest, even the people
with whom
s
he traveled.
A handy skill
–
s
he could close her eyes
,
take a deep breath
,
and
by
sifting through the smells, practically describe the environment surrounding them.