“I’ve never made a lean-to before. I’ve never had a need, but it’s great. I figured we’d be wrapped up in the tarp, trying to keep warm and dry.”
“Lots of training. Lots of different environments, usually with a lot less equipment for comfort than this.”
“This is great, but only because you’re here, sharing it with me.” She hadn’t meant to get sentimental, good way to throw a bucket of ice water on a nice time, but she meant it. She would have hated being out here like this by herself. But with him, it was romantic.
“I have to agree,” he said, surprising her. “Hell, Doc, if I ever get myself into another bind like this, and I’m on my own, you better believe I’ll be wishing I was here again, spending the time with you.”
They ate their hot dogs, made s’mores, and finished them off. Then they both took pain reliever and washed it down with water before they settled down for the night. They removed their shoes and the rest of their clothes, then crawled into the bag together. In trying to keep a weight limit on what she’d take with her on this trek, cognizant of how long they’d have to walk and such, she had forgotten her P.J.s.
She didn’t think they’d make love again, especially like this in a lean-to, practically out there for the world to see as if the world even knew they were out here. She really thought it was a one-time deal when they’d made love earlier. But before she really planned anything, she was kissing him. She moved on top of him, running her hands over his chest, her mons pressed against his groin, and she was already wet for him.
His heart was racing as fast as hers, his hands sliding up and down her naked thighs, his breathing short as she ground against his rock-hard cock. She loved how aroused he’d become with touching him.
Never in a million years did she dream she’d be hotly seducing a male cat beneath a hastily-made lean-to out in the middle of nowhere with a man she barely knew. But maybe that’s what excited her now, bringing out her wild side, encouraging her feral need to have him. Yet in the back of her mind, she knew it was more than that. Not just a situation where no one could judge what the good doctor was doing. That she’d be with a man she’d never see again, so a couple of feral lovefests would be it and over. Maybe that was making her feel so free with him.
She didn’t think so. She felt the real animal attraction between them. Some primitive craving that went beyond their human dictates. She would enjoy every moment of this before it was gone for good.
She was kissing him now, passionately, and felt his cock stirring beneath her assault. His large, warm hands slid over her ass. He made her spread her legs further, to sit more upright, and then he began to stroke her clit. His lust-filled gaze locked onto hers, his other hand holding her in place as she wanted to buck, or arch her back, or melt into him, the sensations so heady all at once, she felt him driving her insane. In a completely, wonderfully hot way.
The cool breeze swept over her as it curled around the lean-to, the bark of a coyote off in the distance, followed by the hooting of an owl. As a cat, the sounds didn’t fade completely in the distance, not as wary as they were. Being out in the wilderness, it was important to remain vigilant concerning any troubles they might encounter—bears, chiefly among them. Even so, Leyton stole her attention away, made her body climb in an effort to reach the pinnacle of exquisite pleasure. She realized she was gripping the sleeping bag in her clenched hands when Leyton pushed two fingers into her tight, wet sheath, and set her hurtling over the edge. She cried out, uncaring of who or what might hear her and was ready to collapse on the male cat who rocked her world.
Leyton quickly followed Kate’s climax by pushing into her, then moving her until she was beneath him so she’d stay warmer as the air chilled even more. He was burning up as he plunged into her faster, harder, rocking into her as she rocked against him.
He realized what great shape she was in, how taut her muscles were as they clamped down on his cock. He captured her mouth and kissed her again, their tongues twisting around each other in an already familiar dance.
He liked the familiarity he felt with Kate, knowing what stirred her faster to climax, what actions drew her out. How she purred when he stroked her, her favorite position to cuddle against him.
She locked her ankles behind his back, giving him even deeper access. He thrust hard, his pulse beating out of bounds, the cold breeze wrapping around his moist skin, doing nothing to douse the fire burning inside him.
He claimed her lips again, licking and teasing, just before he released his seed inside her, bathing her on a sex-roughened growl. Sheer mindless pleasure consumed him before he hugged her tight to his body, then rolled off her to pull her into his arms and cover them completely with the sleeping bag.
He had never been with a woman he’d felt like this with before, who after sex, he wanted to hold her close and continue to share the intimacy with as if they had chosen each other for their mates. It should have bothered him that he was feeling this way about her. Given he’d never experienced such passion or need before, he wondered if he should be panicking a bit with the notion that he might want something more from Kate, who had a bit of a rebellious streak, like he had, and who, on the spur of the moment had completely opened herself up to him again.
He had expected that they’d just cuddle and conk out after the grueling day they’d had. He hadn’t expected Kate to ravish him like this, which, hell, had energized him just as quickly. The winds had picked up and the breeze was cold, but she was one hot cat as she’d rubbed against his arousal, encouraging him to make love to her. As much as she’d been drooping at the end, he really hadn’t expected her to have wanted this. But he was glad for it, when before, he’d so regretted everything that had happened on the trip, taking her hostage and then ending up at the bottom of the ravine, her injuries, and that she had missed out on her vacation. He wondered if she was feeling the need to have a last go of it with him before they went their separate ways.
Yet sharing meals with her and sitting at the campfire, talking and sleeping together, had made such an impact on him. She was the kind of woman he could settle down with, if he were ready.
11
Dan and his men converged on the mountaineering store after checking out the gas station and the rest of the businesses in town on the off-chance that they had stopped in at a motel, or eaten at one of the restaurants and paid cash. At the store, the woman gave them a description—man wearing women’s pale blue sweats, a couple of sizes too small. He was barefooted and he had joked about wearing his girlfriend’s clothes because he had been robbed.
The clerk gave a good description of him, but best of all, they had security footage of him. It wasn’t the best in the world, grainy, but it was good enough to show his features, and that Kate didn’t appear to be coerced or trying to clue the clerk in that she was being held as a hostage. In fact, when the man said he was wearing his girlfriend’s clothes, Kate had rolled her eyes.
“Hell, she doesn’t look like a hostage,” Hal said, staring at the tape as they ran it again.
Chase folded his arms. “He doesn’t look like he’s avoiding the security camera either, as much as he’d hidden the fact that he had to be the one making her wash the scrubs, gauze, and her lab coat to hide blood evidence.”
Stryker glowered at the man. “He’s taken her against her will. She’s afraid to let on. I’ll kill him.”
“Hell,” Chase said, “he looks like your doppelganger, Stryker. Sure you don’t have a twin you’ve hidden from us all these years?”
Stryker gave Chase a glower.
Dan said, “He must have figured no one would know he’d taken her and so he wasn’t trying to hide from the security camera. No security cameras are located on the street in the town, so we can’t see what route they took. But if they’d taken the road to the first campsite she was supposed to be at, she’d be there by now. I called again, and she still hasn’t checked in.”
“When he took the packages from the clerk, he wince
d right there,” Hal said. “He must have an injured shoulder.”
Stryker snorted. “Not injured enough.”
“So what do we do now?” Chase asked, looking at a map of the area.
“They might have headed for the next big town where he can use her credit card for a rental,” Hal said.
Stryker shook his head. “No, she still hasn’t used her credit card again. If they are still driving, they’d have to get gas at some point.”
Dan ran his hands through his hair. “Okay, this is what we do. Each of us will take these roads out, check the small towns along the way, see if you spot her vehicle anywhere. State police are looking too. No one’s seen any sign of her vehicle. It’s like she’s dropped off the edge of the world.”
“Which means the vehicle could be hidden in a garage or something,” Chase said.
“Yeah. All we can do is search for them. And if we find them—“ Dan said.
“I’m going to kill him,” Stryker said.
“We’re going to take him into custody and find out what all this is about.” Dan’s voice was authoritative. “He’s not guilty until proven so. If you find anything, let me know and I’ll pass along the word.”
Then the men all disbursed except for Stryker and Dan.
Dan waited for everyone to be well out of earshot, then he said to Stryker, “We all are hot under the collar about this. All of us. We want to turn the world upside down and return her home safely. I’m certain he didn’t take Kate with him willingly. She would have let us know if she’d had a change of plans. She’s good about keeping us informed in case there’s an emergency. But, we still need to know the truth of the matter. From that tape, Kate doesn’t look scared or concerned. I don’t want us getting trigger happy and then learning he needed her help and she was giving it freely.”
Stryker looked mutinous.
“All right?”
“If he’s a danger to her…”
“We take him in, Stryker. That’s an order.”
“All right, and if we learn he took her against her will, then I kill him.” Stryker stalked out the door.
Dan headed after his men, hoping to hell that Kate was all right. Dottie had never been able to get hold of her, and he feared for Kate, that if she could, she would have let them know where she was and she was all right. It just didn’t feel right. Any of it.
* * *
Early the next morning, Leyton woke to the sound of grunting on the other side of the lean-to. Hell, they had company. He and Kate were naked, so the easiest thing for them to do was shift into their cougar forms and vacate the lean-to until they could safely return.
Leyton whispered to Kate, “Bear’s behind our shelter. Let’s shift and take off, then we can come back when it’s safe.”
She was sitting up in an instant and shifting just as fast. He shifted too, only he grabbed his backpack in his jaws, not wanting to lose their food to the bear. Leyton dragged the bag at a sprint while she ran after him.
The bear didn’t go after them, thankfully, because dragging the backpack was a monumental task. Leyton leapt into a nearby spruce tree with the bag gripped tightly between his teeth. She leaped onto the branch next to him and shifted, then took the bag and tied it to the branch. “We need to get the other one.”
He shifted. “Too late.”
The bear was pawing at the bag, trying to get to the food in it, shaking the bag, attempting to rip it apart.
“Damn it,” Kate said, then shifted to stay warm.
Leyton shifted back into his cougar form also and nuzzled her face. They waited for a couple of hours, watching the bear moving around the campsite, sniffing where the other bag had been, pawing at the burned out ashes in the fire ring, probably smelling the juices from the hot dogs as they had roasted over the fire. Then finally not being able to get what he was after, he ambled off.
Still, they waited, then believing he wasn’t returning, Leyton shifted, untied his pack from the tree, and dropped it to the ground. He shifted again and jumped down from the tree, grabbed the bag, and dragged it back to camp. He wasn’t taking any chances of shifting into his human form and carrying the bag if the bear should suddenly return.
Kate was beside him in an instant and helping him to drag the bag back. Then they hurriedly had a quick breakfast of jerky and water, forget making coffee this morning, packed up their gear, and headed back to the road, and were on their way.
“Are you okay?” he asked Kate, wishing they hadn’t had such a rude awakening this morning, and losing a couple of hours before they could get to their gear.
“Yeah. Achy. I don’t believe back country backpacking is my thing.”
“Not when you’ve been in a car accident and have whiplash. You’re doing great for everything you’ve been through.”
“How far do you think we made it yesterday? I was hoping thirty miles, but I imagine with the climb up the mountain first, it was a lot less.”
“About twenty. But we should make that other road you were talking about today.”
“I wasn’t sure I would be able to move this morning at all, until that bear was in the camp.”
He chuckled. “Me either. Then I heard him and all of a sudden, I forgot about all my aches and pains.”
They talked even less today, just trying to make the climb up and down the hills, just keeping their pace and not lagging too much until midday with the sun beating down on them as they walked along the road. At least they were on a road and not traversing uneven terrain. If he’d known the lay of the land better, he might have been tempted to cut corners instead of following the road, but he didn’t know the area well enough, and he figured they’d end up putting more miles in than necessary.
They took several water breaks, ate tuna in packages and crackers, then headed out again. That night, they reached the second road, and Leyton saw a couple of signs facing the way they had come. He turned back to look. DEAD END UP AHEAD, but to Kate’s credit, trees had grown up around them, and they weren’t that easy to see.
The second road was just as treed, just as narrow with no shoulders to walk on and like Kate had said, just as winding and steep.
“We’ll set up camp here,” he said, before the sun began its full and complete descent.
“We’re almost there,” Kate said, breathing a sigh of relief as Leyton pulled off her backpack, and she helped him with his.
To his surprise, he saw a wayside table a little ways off in the distance. “On second thought, let’s set up there.” Leyton wanted to take advantage of the tiny bit of civilization.
She agreed, but groaned when he helped her back on with her pack.
They reached the cement slab and the concrete picnic table. A metal cover stretched over the top to shield visitors from the rain and sun. Tall spruce trees surrounded it, creating a nice little picnic spot, but it appeared that no one used it much. The fact they even had one here had to mean more people traveled this road. Well, naturally, because the other dead ended.
A green metal, bear-proof trash can with a lid was even sitting nearby. They eagerly emptied all their trash. Even though empty water bottles and the packaging for their food was light, it was nice to get rid of it.
They set up the lean-to and had a nice warm campfire next to the cement slab where the concrete table rested. Of course the site wasn’t set up for camping and it probably would be illegal, but it was the perfect spot to stay off the road in the event that a car did come upon them, and they wouldn’t be run over. Given their circumstances, car wreck, injuries, trying to make it to civilization, he knew if any police found them, their transgressions would be forgiven.
After having the can of stew he planned to make them the other night, they settled down to sleep. Tomorrow, if they weren’t picked up sooner, hopefully, they would find civilization.
Again, he wasn’t sure that Kate would want him to make love to her, but she seemed to need the intimacy just as he needed it, and that night, they fell asleep with a m
illion stars sparkling overhead and a full moon blazing brightly in the dark sky as they cuddled under the lean-to.
In the middle of the night, he had to get up and relieve himself, blaming it on drinking the water to take more pain relief medicine before they retired for the night. It took him forever to wake enough to realize he was just having a nightmare about searching for a bathroom and all of the restrooms were closed, or toilets that he found, not working. He hated having dreams like that.
He thought about waiting until it was light out, but he just couldn’t and get any real rest.
As soon as he left the lean-to, he saw headlights, not just one car, but three, which, considering they’d seen no traffic at all today, meant something was up. They were driving slow, as if searching for something. A sixth sense told him to remain where he was. He’d protect Kate at all costs if they had trouble, but he had the sneaking suspicion somehow word had gotten out that Kate had never arrived at the campsite. That he had bought clothes at the mountaineer shop about thirty miles from here. And that the last time they’d used her credit card was several days ago, and probably the state police were looking for her.
He slipped out of his clothes as quickly as he could and shifted. Then he moved away from where he’d left his clothes, leapt into a tree, and waited.
Sure enough in the moon’s glow and with his cat vision, he could see the tell-tale markings of four law enforcement cars, three state troopers, and one sheriff’s deputy car of Yuma Town.
The troopers would undoubtedly be human. But the deputy sheriff? A cougar. Still, Leyton couldn’t leave until he knew that Kate was taken care of, even if it put him at further risk.
Kate heard the cars rolling down the road and hurried to get out of the lean-to. She saw the police cars. She waved and appeared so happy. He was glad she was going to be all right. But then she looked around the woods, and he knew she was searching for him. She called out in excitement, “Leyton, it’s the police. They’ve come to rescue us!”