[Project Nemesis] Jungle Fever (7 page)

            She sipped water
directly from the waterfall, feeling instantly better and refreshed.  She’d
been dying of thirst and hadn’t really realized it.  As she moved away, the
other men followed suit.  Remy cupped water in his hand and drank his fill,
then splashed water on himself to clean up as best he could while still keeping
watch.

            Yvonne dipped her
head under the water, rinsing her hair out and running her fingers through the
tangles.

            “
Muñeca
,
you´ll have to strip.  You´ve got to try and wash that scent away.  Whatever
the hell it is, it´s fucking strong.  Your skin will be permeated in the stuff
now,” Rafael told her calmly.  He was obviously trying to be as non-threatening
as physically possible.

            She realized
abruptly that they didn´t know that she was saturated in a chemical pheromone,
she didn´t exactly relish the thought of having to strip down in front of them,
but she recognized the wisdom in his words.  She nodded at him then watched
Rafael and Armando join her in the pool.  Each went to their own corner.

            They rubbed sand
from the bank over their warm, bronze skin.  She watched them rinse the blood
from their forearms and torsos for a second, then spun around and started to
take her clothes off.  She had to remove her boots in the water, but there was
no way in hell that she was going to leave them beside the pool for a venomous
spider to crawl in and bite her on the toe!

            Unzipping her
pants, she struggled to tug them from her legs and rubbed the fabric in the
water to try to clean some of the scent from the material.  She then proceeded
to pull her shirt off.  It slurped against her skin, and she dropped it into
the pool with a plop.  She wore a sports bra underneath, so she didn´t feel
uncomfortable as she tried to clean the shirt as well.

            There was only so
much she could do without soap and/or a washing machine, but she tried anyway.  Sinking
down under the water, she removed her bra and used it to scrub her arms, neck
and stomach since those areas had received the highest concentration.

            Dimly, she heard
Remy whistling on the edge of the pool.  He was on guard, and she listened to
Armando and Rafa speak in Spanish.  She didn´t understand but one word in
twenty, but she had to admit that it sounded very sexy with their deep, rumbly
voices.

            The area was a
peaceful one.  Nothing much was happening, but there were sounds from
everywhere--the jungle was never silent, it had always amazed her.  She could
hear a bird´s whistle, the sound of the trickling waterfall, the rustle of
leaves and the gentle sway of a tree in the gentle breeze.

            The jungle was a
world of its own, but in its own way it was truly beautiful.  Take this pool,
nowhere else in the world would you be able to expect this little area of
beauty in the middle of a bunch of trees!  The jungle was special, it wasn´t
her favorite place on Earth, she preferred the mountains or forests, as that
was her home ground, but she could appreciate and enjoy the lush beauty here.

            She heard the
wading of the two men, and assumed they were getting out of the pool, so she
tried to speed up since she knew they´d yell at her if she took too long.  She
didn´t expect to feel a hand on her arm, so she squealed and spun around in
shock.  Armando´s eyes flared over her bare breasts and dark nipples, and he
suddenly pulled her into his chest, and started to kiss her with great biting
kisses, that at any other time would have turned her on and had her immediately
jumping into bed.

            His kissing was
frenzied, hurried, and she moaned at the feel of his pecs with their slight
dusting of hair rubbing against her nipples.  She restrained herself somehow,
and tried to push him away.

            Instead of
stopping, his mouth gentled, his tongue played with hers, coaxing her into the
game.  She was tempted, so tempted to give in, but how could she?  A hand
reached up to cup her breast, she stiffened, but his lips started to press into
hers again, his tongue thrusting into her mouth, rubbing hers every time.  She
could feel arousal start to thrum in her veins.

            “No!” she yelled,
the sound muffled against his mouth.  She struggled against him, and almost
pulled away until Rafael came up behind her, and pushed her against Armando so
that she couldn´t escape.  Armando´s mouth returned to hers, kissing her while
his hands kneaded her breasts.  Underneath the water, she could feel Rafael’s
cock nudge her backside while Armando’s cock teased her belly.  She moaned,
weakly trying to fight them off.

            Rafael pinched
the other nipple, his mouth nuzzled against her neck, and his other hand
started to trace its way down her stomach and into her panties.  She started to
struggle again since she knew she’d be helpless and unable to resist if he
touched her pussy.

            Rafa´s hand
tightened on her nipple, and his mouth clamped down in the crook of her neck,
sucking her hard.  She shrieked in surprise and this time Armando released her
and pulled her away from Rafa.  She stared at them both, her breasts heaving as
she panted for air.

            She quickly
covered them as she saw both men watch them jiggle and sway with her movements.
 She glared at them, rejecting their advances, and they left the pool.  Sinking
down under the water, she washed herself a little bit more, since the water obviously
hadn't dulled the effect of the chemical--they were still attracted to her.  What
made it worse was that she was attracted to them too!  What a fucking
situation.

            Hearing a sudden
torrent of angry Spanish, she spun around and watched Rafa and Armando argue in
a way that only the Latin can do.  Every limb, bone, and muscle vibrated with
passionate anger.  She almost smiled at the feeling-fueled argument, especially
as Armando was a part of it!  She had seen him act coldly, sarcastically,
sardonically and harshly.  She hadn´t known him long, but it felt like a
lifetime, and she had yet to see him express so much feeling ... it was a
definite improvement, which wasn´t very good for her now, was it?  Not when she
couldn´t control her attraction for him now, when he was a cold-hearted
bastard!

            The fact that her
body reacted to them like that made her feel weak and wary.  She wasn’t sure
she’d be able to handle seducing her way out of this after all, but it seemed
she’d have an easy time of getting any one of them to agree to bedding her.

            Her cunt throbbed
with arousal.  She ducked under the water, rubbing herself lightly, hoping to
quell the ache, but it only made it worse.  Especially when she could see every
inch of their glistening male flesh and their semi-hard erections.

            She wondered when
she’d turned into such a wanton.

            Admittedly, she
wasn’t used to walking around with three good-looking men that were naked more
than they were dressed.  She’d seen everything they had to offer, and it looked
good.

            Armando suddenly
reverted to English, “We shouldn´t have lost control like that, it´s a fucking
disgrace.  How long were we in the Marines?  Not long enough, by the frigging
look of it?  She could have been yelling in pain, and neither one of us would
have stopped.  Stay away from her Rafe. ¡
Déjala en paz! Chica
,” he
yelled at her from behind, “Get your ass in gear, the scent hasn´t gone, you
can´t wash it all off--you need soap.”

            “He´s got a
fucking nerve,” she muttered under her breath.

            “Don´t forget,
chica,
what I am.  I have better hearing than you do.  Now, move,” Armando told
her sarcastically.

            Shaken by what
had nearly happened, she quickly pulled on the soggy clothes, regretting not
taking off her shoes at the side of the pool, when she felt them fill up with
water.  If she wasn´t careful, she´d end up with a blister or jungle rot.  It
depended on how far they had to walk. Somehow, these three men had scrambled
her brains, she couldn´t defend herself or attack them, she did stupid things
like take her boots into the water.  Stupid, stupid actions that could cause
problems.  If she got a blister, it could get infected, and then there would be
more complications!  Could it be the pheromone that she was reacting to?  No,
it couldn´t be, she was human.

            Shaking her head
at the thought, she redressed as best she could.  She felt uncomfortable with
the weight of her clothes, but it was nice to be cool, so she couldn´t
complain.  She walked forward, squelching all the while.

            Armando grabbed
her arm and started to pull her along with him, probably to keep her close so
she couldn´t run, but she pulled free of him, and said with as much dignity as
she could, when she stood there looking like a bag lady, “I´m perfectly capable
of walking by my damned self.”

            She glared at
him, watched his eyebrow quirk up slightly, but that was his only reaction. She
looked at Rafa, who was grinning at her.  She whacked him in the gut.  That
soon shut him up.

            “Armando, Rafa
shift.  Something´s coming,” Remy yelled.  He was further ahead than she and
the two men, but he ran back as he spoke, “
Cherie
, climb on top of me
when I´ve shifted, we´ve got to move, they´re coming in fast.”

            She jumped when
all three shifted at practically the same time, but clambered on to Remy´s
back, uncomfortable at the thought that she was way too heavy for him.  His
back didn´t cave in, so she assumed that he was alright, and they set off at a
sprint.  It wasn´t a very comfortable ride.  She bounced and jiggled about on
his back, it was odd because she had to lift her legs so that they didn´t drag
on the ground.  She´d learned to ride a horse at David´s farm, but she hadn´t
enjoyed it so she´d never put much effort into becoming a more proficient
rider.  If she´d thought that horse-riding was bad, then this sure as hell was.

            With a horse you
could feel muscles bunching and clenching, but Yvonne could feel Remy´s every
movement, every subtle shift of bone, every sinew--she could feel everything. 
She clung to him to stay on his back, and because she had to focus so much on
just clinging on to Remy, she couldn´t protect herself from the scrape of
branches that tore at her hair and skin, scratching her and drawing blood.  Every
time she flinched in pain from being cut, she didn´t know how, but she knew the
cats recognized her pain and she could feel their speed increase as though they
wanted to get her to protection, wherever that was, as soon as possible.

            It didn´t take
long to get to a cave, that unless you looked for it, you´d never ever see it
or be able to find it.  The cave was a strange place, sort of open and closed
at the same time.  She’d heard that water carved most of the cave systems in
the area, and that many of them led to underground rivers and lakes.  She
wasn’t sure what this one held, but they had to move deeper inside for full
shelter.

            The cave was
perfect for three men/cats though.  Maybe not so much for her, but she wasn´t going
to fuss about it.  Truth be told, she wanted to sleep more than anything else,
and she didn´t care where the hell she did it, so long as she could sleep off
this awful day.  Maybe if she slept for a while, she would stop feeling so odd.

            It came to her
like a light bulb switching on above her head, she was acting weird, because
she was acting like a woman.  That was why she felt odd.  She was normally one
of the guys, the
original
tomboy, and here with these über masculine
men, she felt pain, she whined and moaned and complained.  It was like a
parallel universe for her, she was strong and unmovable, she had a soft core to
her, but that was usually reserved for animals.

            At work she was a
bitch, a respected bitch, but one nevertheless.  She wasn´t a feminine person. 
That these three strangers made her feel that way freaked her out.  It more
than made her feel uncomfortable.  How could they completely change her
personality in the space of a few hours?  She´d actually started to rely on
them.  She´d learned too often in life that you can only rely on number one,
the majority of her foster parents had proved that, and Tyrell had merely
provided more evidence!  She wasn´t sure she liked her reactions to them.  Iin
fact she was damned sure that she didn´t like it!  She was a soldier, for
fuck´s sake!  She couldn´t forget that.

            Remy padded into
the cave, deep enough that she was in shelter, but she could still see, it
wasn´t so dark.  What remaining light there was left of the day entered the
cave, and she sighed with relief when Remy bucked his back, as though to say
you can get off now.  She did willingly and stretched her tense muscles as she
stood, trying not to wince at the many cuts and scratches that protested at the
stretch.  She wiggled her back to release the tension there.

            Watching the men
shift, she realized she was getting used to the incredible sight.  She didn´t
think she would ever not be slightly shocked, it was a bloody shocking thing
after all.  She´d always been down to Earth, never believed in the Tooth Fairy
or Santa Claus, she´d never had reason to, so to see something she´d always
classified as folklore, either that or some sort of Halloween joke, was inconceivable.
 In particular, she found their physiques incredibly attractive.  She tried to
look at them as she shuttered her eyelashes--she couldn´t help it.