[Project Nemesis] Jungle Fever (4 page)

            She ducked her
head closer to the ground, her crawl slowing as she tried to make as little
noise as physically possible, when all of a sudden, a pair of bare feet stood
right in front of her.  She jolted her head up in shock, her eyes following the
lines of the man´s bare feet and calves, when suddenly she was dragged to her
feet and held against a naked man´s side.

            “What the hell?”
she screamed, then quieted when the man slapped his palm over her mouth.  He
looked around the clearing for a second, searching for something. His head
tilted in the same way the jaguar´s head had earlier, which freaked her out
slightly, but she lost that train of thought when she heard gunshots in the
distance.  

            Yvonne tried to
yell for assistance, but the man still held his hand over her jaw.  She
flinched when she saw two more naked men run towards her.  One of the two grabbed
her arm and started to drag her.  The third pushed her into a sprint, she felt
so weak that she knew she wouldn´t be able to fight them.  Her adrenaline was
lagging, she stumbled a few times, but they pushed her relentlessly, until once
again she was out of breath, her lungs burning with the need for oxygen.  As
she stumbled over again, one of them, the man that was pushing her from behind,
lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder.

            His shoulder
pounded her ribs as he raced through the jungle, making her breath come in
ragged gasps.  Vines and razor grass slapped her legs and torso as they moved. 
As her body jolted with each step he took, she blacked out into peaceful,
painless oblivion.

Chapter Three

            Yvonne returned to
consciousness with a bang.  She felt as though her batteries had been
recharged, her head was suddenly clear and alert.  She´d never passed out and
woken up feeling like this before!  The aches and pains of her battles emanated
from every inch of muscle.  Her body felt like it’d been drawn through a ringer
then run back through.

            Stifling a groan,
she realized the men who’d “rescued” her were speaking amongst themselves.

            Yvonne held
still, resisting the urge to make herself more comfortable and rub her aching
body.

            Any movement
could draw the attention of the men who had grabbed her.  She could hear them
arguing in the background.  She opened her eyelids slightly, just to let a
sliver of light through so that maybe she would be able to see them and what they
were doing.

            They were ahead
of her, but just to her left.  She could see two of them, but the third man was
hidden from sight by the other two.  She assumed they were arguing about her,
but she didn´t understand why they were so angry.  Who were these men anyway?  Why
the hell were they running through the jungle practically naked?  Each wore a
pair of torn and ragged jeans that had obviously seen better days, but it still
wasn´t much protection against the creepy crawlies and animal life here.  Hell,
the plants didn’t play around in the jungle either.  She could feel the burn of
finite cuts and bruises over every inch of exposed skin.

            She couldn´t deny
that their nakedness had been a pretty sight, now that she was able to think
about it.  Hell, they´d been kidnapping her for God knows what reason, but even
she couldn´t help but appreciate that her kidnappers were bronzed gods in the
flesh.

            With hard-toned
and muscular bodies, each was as different and as beautiful as the next.  They
kept moving, as if unable to remain still for any amount of time.

            One with shaggy
blond hair with a mouth that quirked as if he were more used to smiling than
fighting—another had jet black hair that hung to his shoulders and obscured his
face.  She thought the other one had brown hair, but she couldn´t remember, she
did remember the scars that covered his torso.  They looked nasty, and must
have been very painful at the time, but somehow, and maybe it was just her,
they didn´t detract from his looks.

            The scars made
him look like a warrior.  Not only that, but in a strange way, they kind of
reminded her of the markings of a cat.  Obviously, they were old and faded now,
but they were long and seemed to curve around his limbs and torso, just like a cat´s
pattern.

            “We can use her
as ransom to get off this island,” the black haired one said.

            Yvonne wanted to
laugh at that statement.  The very idea that anyone would pay to retrieve her
was ludicrous.  If anything, they’d be happy they didn’t have to pay her high
bill.  She’d be lucky to not be shot after her epic failure.

            The man with
sandy brown hair snorted in a guffaw, echoing her sentiments.  “What makes you
think they care about her, cousin?”

            “We should just
get rid of her and be done with it.  She was working with them and wanted to
kill us,” the blond said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking
combative.  “I don’ care how fine her ass is, she’s with them.”

            The blond had the
sound of the South in his voice.  Maybe Louisiana or Mississippi.  He was certainly
a long way from home.  She felt like kicking his ass for making that
suggestion.

            “You’re wrong,
Remy.  Those were tranquilizers she was using.  She was trying to take us all
alive.”

            “You’re thinking
with your dick, Armando, if you think those bastards will pay to get her back. 
We’re the only ones that want her.  They don’t care anymore about her than they
can throw her.  She’s just as disposable as her men,” the black haired one
spoke up.

            Armando sighed,
scrubbing a hand through five o clock shadow on his jaw.  “You’re right,
Rafael.  We have to do something, however,” Armando said.  “We can’t leave her
here at the others’ mercy.  Not everyone can control themselves as we can.”

            Remy sniffed the
air, glancing in her direction.  Yvonne closed her eyes to avoid detection.

            “Whatever that
was, it was potent,” Remy said.

            “It came from the
lab.  I’m sure of it.  If they have something that powerful at their disposal,
there’s no telling what else they have in development,” Armando replied.

            From the way he
spoke and the others reacted, it seemed to her Armando was their leader,
whether acknowledged or not.

            The fact that
they thought they could use her as a bargaining chip made her feel better that
her life wasn’t in danger.  But not much better.

            Why couldn´t they
get off the island?  What was stopping them?  They were Americans, by the sound
of them, the blond had a southern twang to his voice, the black haired one had
a Northern accent, and the other had a strange mix of Spanish-Bronx.  Either
way, they all obviously had to have a passport, so why couldn´t they get off
the island themselves?  Why the hell did they need to use her in a deal?

            She couldn’t seem
to connect the dots.  Nothing on this fucking island made any sense!  She
continued watching and listening to them, but they were just arguing about what
to do with her.  She was pretty confident, that she would be able to escape
them, some of her best guys at Star Hunts had never been able to match her in a
fight.  Remy, the blond guy, had finally wound down, as the other two were
persuading him that their way was the right way.

            Knowing that
their plans to use her for their own benefit didn´t exactly make them endearing,
she didn´t understand the raw animal attraction she felt just looking at them. 
Whatever it was, she had to use whatever she could to her advantage.  She
sensed an interest in her, if their words were anything to go by.  She’d use
that if she had to.  Whatever it took to survive.

           Hearing footsteps
near her body, she feigned sleep, her eyes were closed now so she couldn´t see
who it was, but she felt him nudge her gently in the ribs with a bare foot.

            Sucking in a
quick breath, she grabbed his leg quickly and took him down to the ground.  Using
his weight against him, she used the momentum of his body crashing down to the
floor to push her onto her feet, and she jumped into a run.  She managed to run
about six feet away from the group before she was tackled to the ground.

            Bronzed, scarred
arms came into view, locking around her waist as he took her to the ground.  A
yelp of surprise squeezed out of her—she hadn’t expected them to react so
quickly, to move so fast.  These men were not a joke, despite running through
the jungle like naked maniacs.  That probably meant she should be more worried
than she was.

            The dark, scarred
man lay on top of her.  Muscular forearms bunched, bracketing her head, and his
body covered her from head to toe.

            A thick erection
nestled itself into the crack of her ass.  Hot breath fanned across the back of
her neck as he panted above her.  The brief chase had obviously excited him.

            His warm breath
tickled her neck and shoulders, making her painfully aware of every inch of
him.  His muscles tensed.  She could see the sinew and muscle delineation stand
out against his forearms, making him appear like a tiger even more.

            Slowly, as if in
sensual warning, he rubbed his cock against her slightly, not threateningly--how
she knew that she didn´t know, but it seemed to be a helpless gesture.  He
nuzzled his head against her, his nose pushed into the nape of her neck, she
heard him sniff, then felt his chest rumble.

            Her body seized
in surprise, that was not a human gesture, only cat´s chests rumbled.  Before
she could panic, he rolled her over and laid directly on top of her, his cock pushing
heavily on her belly.  His hard planed chest squashed her breasts.  They were
so close, she could feel the beat of his heart pounding against her ribcage.

            Sandy brown hair
hung over his forehead, making his eyes look wild.  She could see his pupils
dilate like crazy, flickering between full dilation and small pinpricks.  She
tensed against him, but then felt his entire body stiffen, and he jumped from
on top of her back to his feet.

            Snatching her up
with him, he grabbed her arms and held them behind her back.  Growling at the
Remy, he snarled, “I told you we should have tied her up, she wouldn´t be working
for the fucking Project if she couldn´t fight.”

            The blond hissed
back. “What should I tie her up with?  My cock´s big, but it ain´t that fuckin’
big.”  

            Armando glared at
Remy, his chest heaving as if he’d burst into a fight.  Finally, he snorted
with laughter.

            Remy grinned at
him, then winked at her.  “No,
chérie
I´m not into rape.”

            Yvonne didn´t say
anything, but if it had come to that, and she was about to be raped, she knew
that she could incapacitate them pretty easily.  Her knee strike was powerful. 
They wouldn’t be able to use their dicks for a while if they tried to take it
from her.  Escape was another thing entirely, she was obviously outmatched, but
if they even tried to force her, she´d rip off their dicks and shove them up
their asses.  Or crush their balls like she was stomping grapes.

            Ignoring his
comment, she asked the scarred man, “Who the hell are you?  Why did y’all grab
me?”

            He ignored her,
but the guy on the dirt, now leaning comfortably against a tree trunk, answered
her, “I am Rafael, that ugly son-of-a-bitch is Remy, and the happy one holding
you is Armando.”  The blond, Remy, walked over and kicked him in the gut.  They
mock fought for a couple of seconds and stopped at a hiss from Armando.

            She’d had their
names and faces right then.  She felt proud of herself for discerning their
identities before they’d been revealed.

            “Why are you out
here? The only thing I can think of is that you´re the animal rights activists
that let the big cats go, but I don´t think you´re dressed suitably for the
job, so why the hell are you out here?  And why do you need me to get you off
this island?  Are you the men responsible for releasing the animals?” she
asked.

            The men exchanged
a look.

            Armando laughed
nastily at her, Rafael snorted, and Remy snickered.

            “So many
questions,” Remy sauntered over and chucked her gently on the chin.

            Watching his eyes
dilate with his proximity to her too, she flinched and felt like an idiot at
their laughter, but it was the only possible explanation she´d been able to
come up with.  Hell, if she´d have known what freaky shit was going on down
here in the Americas, and all in Uncle Sam´s name, she would have been
protesting too.  The government was screwing with nature.

            She looked around
at the three gorgeous men and knew that she had to somehow escape from them,
which was a damned shame.  Why couldn´t she have met them back home?  Surely
she deserved a good fuck after what that shit of a husband had done to her?  But
no, she had to get away from the three hunks before those freak cats caught her
scent, tracked her down and ate her for dinner.