Chapter 7
RAB
Rab continued to follow Elle’s tracks through the wilderness. He’d understood her original destination—a cave that looked as if it would offer her shelter and a safe place, but now, her journey seemed erratic, as if she was just wandering around—or maybe she was just trying to lose him or make him turn back out of frustration.
He glanced at the sky above. The storm had been brewing all afternoon, the sky darkening bit-by-bit as ominous clouds gathered on the horizon and began to move in their direction. Rab could feel the electricity in the air, the first fat drops of rain splattering against the leaves. He was exhausted, every muscle in his body screaming for rest, but he couldn’t stop. Not yet.
If the incoming storm was as bad as he thought it would be, he needed to find her and get her to safety. The wilderness was no place to be in a storm, more so if you weren’t at your best physically.
Right now, the clouds were just leaking, but the storm would break soon. He needed to find them a place to bed down, some place he could get her to eat, drink water, rest, and gather her strength. His eyes scanned the terrain, searching for anything that might offer protection. He could make them a lean-to using branches and foliage, but better to find something more substantial where he could build them a fire. He was beginning to look for a clearing or some place that lent itself to creating a lean-to when he saw it—another cave, half-hidden by a tangle of vines and underbrush. He moved towards it, his heart pounding in his chest.
Just as he reached the entrance, the heavens opened up. Rain poured down in torrents, and he ducked inside, a wave of dizziness all but taking him to his knees as he shook off the water. The cave was small but dry, a narrow tunnel leading deeper into the rock. He hesitated for a moment, then moved further in, hoping the darkness would conceal him if Elle wandered by. She had to be nearby. Her presence had all but overwhelmed him.
He had taken a few more steps into the darkness when he heard it—the sound of footsteps, slow and deliberate, approaching the cave. His heart froze as the buzzing in his head increased. Elle. She was almost within reach.
He pressed himself against the cold stone wall, his breath shallow and quiet. The footsteps grew louder, echoing off the cave walls. And then she was there, drenched from the rain, shaking her head, trying, he supposed, to get the buzzing and dizziness to stop. She was standing at the entrance, her silhouette framed by the rain.
He moved silently, closing the space between them, wrapping his arms around her and clasping his hand over her mouth.
“Elle,” he said softly, his voice almost lost in the increasing sound of the storm.
She didn’t respond. Her mind had to be racing. There was no way out, no way for her to escape. She was trapped.
“You can’t keep running,” Rab said, his voice steady as he removed his hand from her mouth.
Elle’s eyes narrowed. “Think not?” she snarled, driving her elbow into his solar plexus.
She struggled with a ferocity that belied the seriousness of her condition. Her breath came in short, desperate gasps. Rab’s arms, like iron bands, encircled her, trapping her against his chest. His grip was unyielding, his breath hot and seductive against her ear.
She twisted and turned, her body writhing in an attempt to break free, his strength far outweighing her frantic efforts. Desperation fueled her movements, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She kicked at his shins, aiming for vulnerable spots, but he anticipated her every move, countering them with a powerful efficiency.
“You’re making this harder than it needs to be,” he muttered, adjusting his grip to control her flailing limbs.
Elle managed to free one arm and swung it back, her elbow connecting for a second time with his ribs. He grunted in pain, momentarily loosening his hold. Sensing a sliver of opportunity, she twisted sharply, slipping partially out of his grasp. Her victory was short-lived as he grabbed her again, but this time, she was ready.
With a fierce cry, she threw her head back, the back of her skull smashing into his nose. He cursed loudly, his grip faltering as blood spurted from his nostrils. Seizing the moment, she stomped on his foot with all her strength. His grip slackened further, and she wrenched herself free, stumbling forward.
She was almost out of his reach when he managed to wrap his hand around her hair, tugging her back.
“Enough, Elle. I will not allow you to escape.”
“What do you suggest I do? Just give up? Let you take me back?”
Rab sighed, taking another step closer. “Would that be so bad? Trudi has brought the serum and has sent a dose with me. Let me help you. The disease?—”
“It’s not just the disease,” she interrupted, her voice fierce. “You’ve done something to me.”
“I have done nothing. It is fate that has determined our destiny is together.” Rab’s expression softened, a flicker of regret in his eyes. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I had no idea when I started out.”
“But you came anyway and didn’t stop,” she shot back. “You hunted me, like I was some kind of prey animal.”
Rab was silent for a moment, the only sound the relentless drumming of the rain. “I had my orders, Elle.”
“Orders,” she spat, her voice dripping with contempt. “Is that all I am to you, just another job?”
“In the beginning, but you and I both know it is so much more than that.”
The storm was gathering in intensity as the wind howled outside. She watched Rab carefully, every muscle in her body tense. And then, in a heartbeat, everything changed. A flash of lightning illuminated the cave, and she saw the truth in his eyes. He wasn’t lying.
Elle took a deep breath, the tension in her body easing just a fraction. “What now?” she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“First, let’s get you out of these wet clothes. Then I’ll build us a small fire. We can figure it out from there.”
She nodded. As the storm raged on, Rab stood between Elle and the entrance to the cave. He pulled a warm, dry blanket from his pack and handed it to her.
“A blanket isn’t clothes.”
“I know, but I realized I only have one set in the pack, and I will need them.”
“You have me at a loss. Who are you, and who sent you?”
“I’m Rab MacDermid. I’m a snow leopard from the same clan as your sister’s mate. Get out of those clothes and sit by the fire in the blanket. I’ll set up a drying rack and then get us something to eat. I’m not your enemy, Elle.”
“That remains to be seen,” she said as she started to undress. “Did Trudi send you?”
“Hamish. The disease has taken hold of your sister. She was determined to prove that the serum was effective. She had them take a blood sample and then allowed herself to be given the cure. She was worried about you. Hamish needed me to find you and ensure the disease didn’t claim you as a victim.”
Outside, the lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. In that moment, the line between hunter and hunted began to blur.
ELLE
He moved like the predator she believed him to be. She managed to shimmy out of her clothing in a way that kept the snow leopard from seeing anything more than she wanted him to. She handed him her clothing and then watched as he laid it out to dry before stripping down to nothing and pulling on a pair of dry jeans.
Elle had never seen a man more beautifully made. His muscles rippled in the flickering fire light, revealing a powerful chest, sculpted abs, and what might be the finest ass she’d ever seen. Internally she rolled her eyes. She was dying and being held against her will, and instead of being appalled, she was becoming wildly aroused.
“See something you like?” he asked as he laid out his own clothing.
“Maybe,” she said in a voice far too husky for her own liking. She shouldn’t be putting ideas in his head, but if the bulge behind his fly was any indication, they were already there.
“Elle,” he growled softly as he sank to his knees and crawled to her. His hands found their way under the blanket, rough and warm.
The touch of his fingertips against her sensitized skin forced a cry from deep within her. It was madness, this inferno of need amidst the shadows of death and desire. His hands moved lower, one hand holding her in place while the other trailed down her body, straight to the spot that seemed to want his touch the most.
Her breath hitched as his fingers teased her sex, the heat of his skin and the roughness of his touch sending shivers up her spine. She’d never felt so alive, so vulnerable, and so reckless. Standing on what she’d thought had been death’s door, she now knew how much she wanted to live. The thought of how dangerous it was to give herself over to the snow leopard only seemed to heighten the intensity of the moment.
“Rab, we shouldn’t…” she murmured, the words catching in her throat. The primitive need that had taken hold of her wouldn’t be denied, and her body craved the connection that she believed only he could give to her.
As his fingers slipped deeper, his thumb now strumming against her clit, she arched into his touch, each movement drawing a low groan from him. It was clear that her resistance was waning, and she knew that the line between life and death had never felt so thin.
But even as her body trembled, her mind raced with a thousand thoughts. The uncertainty of the disease’s progression, the danger from the storm, and the understanding that he would want to claim her. Hamish had shown great patience with Trudi; Elle did not expect the same from Rab. She could feel the heat and need rolling off of him.
“Show me, Elle,” he rumbled.
His words were both command and plea as he urged her on, his hand delving lower. She was on fire, every stroke, every nibble sending sparks skittering across her skin, igniting something primal within her. She clutched the blanket more tightly around her body—a small, thin barrier against him, even as she lost herself to the sensations overwhelming her senses.
“Show me how you come. Show me how your body moves. Let me hear the sounds you make,” he purred seductively.
Elle gazed into his eyes, emerald-green pools reflecting her own desire as her body shuddered with release. Her sounds filled the cave, sweet echoes of a pleasure so intense it bordered on pain. In that moment, it wasn’t about fear or death. It was about being alive, here and now, with him.
She reached behind his fly. His cock was heavy in her hand, and she ran her fingers up and down its length, feeling the tension and the heat radiating from him. She could feel his urgency, the desperation behind his eyes as he watched her touch him only making her more aroused, more eager to satisfy this craving they both shared.
Panting, she stared into Rab’s eyes, dark and intense—the same eyes that wanted to watch her unravel. His breath came out in ragged pulls, each one syncing with the erratic beats of her heart. His lips crashed against hers, raw and urgent, his groan melding with her own into a singular sound that reverberated off the stone walls.
“Rab,” she murmured against his mouth as the world exploded, feeling his body tense as if her voice was a trigger.
She trembled against him, her body wracked with the pleasure sparking from his fingers up into her brain. Her back arched as her hot lips pressed into his, but she was gone, lost to him and only him.
She couldn’t think, couldn’t question any of it as she came down. She tugged him closer, her hands shoving the blanket aside so she lay naked beneath him. He shed his own jeans with a swift movement, and in a heartbeat, he was there, inside her, filling her completely where she needed him most. No hesitation, no second-guessing. It was just the two of them and the primal need neither could deny.
His movements were relentless, a rhythm that matched the pounding in her ears. He dragged himself back, forcing himself from her body as he lifted just enough to flip her onto her belly and then he was inside her again, his arm wrapped around her hips, holding her up and in place.
“Again, for me, Elle,” he breathed out, an order wrapped in velvet, as he pulled her onto her knees, thrusting in and out of her. “Come for me again.”
His hands grasped roughly at her breasts as he pounded into her, sparking bright spots of pleasure. Rab thrust himself so deep inside of her it was as if they had become one.
The cave echoed with their primitive cries as they surrendered to raw desire. The danger from both the disease and the raging storm seemed to melt away, replaced by a fierce, all-consuming passion that left no room for fear or doubt. Their bodies moved in a frenzy, their pace matching the wild beating of their hearts. Sweat drenched their skin, mingling their scents into an intoxicating cocktail of musk and lust. The cold walls of the cave melted away under his touch, replaced by the fire that blazed between them.
Her center pulsed with each thrust, each gasping breath, each ragged moan. Elle was lost in the rhythm, in the fire that burned within their joined bodies, in the desire that coursed through her veins. She arched her back, her back bowing as he leaned over her, pushing her hair aside and baring her neck. She knew what he was going to do, and in that moment, she didn’t care. She didn’t care that his claiming bite would heal her—his snow leopard DNA overwriting her own. The sensations started to build into something that made her breath catch in her chest, as the world narrowed down to one pinpoint.
Rab nuzzled the nape of her neck lovingly, softly kissing each spot where she knew his fangs would sink deep. Harder and deeper he thrust until finally she stiffened, crying out in release. He bit down savagely, making her scream in a combination of ecstasy and pain.
There had been no asking for permission, no sweet or gentle words of persuasion, only the claiming bite of a superior predator who would expect her to submit. She would be cured of the disease, but she would be forever changed. The vice-like bite loosened for an instant before Rab sank his fangs even deeper. This time she did not scream; she merely went limp, too exhausted to do anything else.
She felt his cum bathing the inner walls of her pussy as he began to pump his seed deep inside her. Her pussy spasmed all along his length. He continued to thrust until he’d emptied himself into her. When he was done, he released her neck before withdrawing and rolling to his back, drawing her close, his arm anchoring her to his side as he wedged his hard thigh between hers.
“What have you done?” she whispered as she struggled weakly and briefly before her body succumbed to the gentle resonance of his purring and her exhaustion.
“What needed to be done.”