Black Seduction Read online

  “Maybe I’ll trail him,” Ran suggested, focusing on the back of Angela’s head and then offering her an easy smile when she twisted against Raul and looked at him. “Rafe is hot-headed and quick to bare his claws, but he’s got a big heart. Usually his growl is fiercer than his bite.”

  “That’s how it is with most males,” Angela purred.

  Ran actually blushed and blessed her with a cub-like grin. Angela shifted again and her ass brushed against Raul’s cock. It was rock-hard in the next second and he was damn glad she stood in front of him. She also stilled quickly.

  “Not all,” Raul whispered, lowering his head and pressing his mouth against her thick, smooth hair.

  Ran chuckled. He reached out and touched Angela’s cheek. “His growl is worse than his bite too,” he told her, and gave Raul an impish grin.

  “Like I said,” Angela said smoothly, too confidently.

  His littermates weren’t helping a bit in taming her. “Head on out,” Raul said gruffly, ending this little exchange before it could start. “Both of you be back by nightfall. We’ll be ready to head out then.”

  Angela stepped out of his arms the moment Ran closed the door behind him. “What exactly is going on here?” she said, walking away from him and combing her hair with her fingers.

  “Colony isn’t fit for us to remain here.” He focused on her ass but smelled her wariness. She was aroused but cautious. Angela wasn’t stupid. She would sniff her surroundings carefully, and when she gave her loyalty, it would be strong and impenetrable. He prayed her love would be as strong.

  “That’s not what I mean.” She shook her head and turned, her gaze dropping down his body before returning to his face. “This. You and me. Raul, why did you wait until now to try to mate with me?”

  He didn’t smile. Her expression was so serious, so worried. And as much as he ached to clear the distance between them, he crossed his arms over his chest and held his ground.

  “I have mated with you. You are mine.”

  Her exasperated sigh told him she didn’t agree. He considered ways of explaining how things would be.

  “Angela,” he began quietly. “Think of the males you’ve been with in the past. Lars Ramone when you were eighteen.”

  Her irritated expression turned quickly to surprise, but then she narrowed her gaze, opening her mouth to speak. She wanted to know him, and she would.

  “He took your virginity yet you wouldn’t talk to him the next day. In fact, you attacked when he tried again. You left a nasty scrape down the side of his face.” He shook his head, remembering her fiery defiance blossoming so early in her. “Then a year later, it was David Hunter. You actually left Colony to fuck him for the first time.”

  “What were you doing? Stalking me?” she cried out.

  “Just made sure you were safe,” he explained, willing to ride out her irritation until she understood. “I didn’t stop him.”

  “You kicked his ass three months later when he was talking to Elisa Romero,” she countered, wagging her finger at him. “Just because he talked to some female you were fucking, you copped an attitude. And now this, insisting we’re mated and that I’m leaving with you.”

  “I kicked his ass because he fucked Elisa and he was running with you.” His voice was a bit too clipped, and he inhaled slowly, willing himself to remain calm until Angela saw the way of it. “I’ve never been with Elisa,” he added, his tone quieter, softer.

  She let her gaze drop, it was obvious in her expression that she was turning back time in her mind, replaying events. “All of that was years ago,” she said without looking up. “And it doesn’t explain your actions today.”

  “I’ve always watched you, Angela, allowed you to run, enjoy being young. And I’ve always known you were meant to be my mate.”

  “How did you know that?” she challenged, tilting her head and piercing him with a disbelieving gaze.

  She placed her hands on her narrow waist and puffed out her chest. Her nipples were hard little pebbles and her breasts full and round. Angela didn’t have any visible scars. Her tanned skin complemented her thick, long, black hair and her green eyes. It was her sensual look that undid him, not the strong scent she released that was now buried in his skin, or the lasting aroma of his come on her body.

  He cleared the distance, stopping inches in front of her and lifting her hair from her shoulder when she didn’t back up or change her stance.

  “I knew it when you attacked Maria Gonzalez for lying about being pregnant.”

  Her jaw dropped and color washed over her cheeks. “It’s not right to trap a male,” she whispered.

  “Nope.” He wouldn’t tell her he had already smelled Maria’s lie when she tried to tell him three years ago he had mated with her. “You refused to mate with John Hunter when he started sniffing after you once his littermate David finally took the hint you didn’t want him.”

  She looked wide-eyed at him. “I never told anyone about that,” she hissed. “John told you I turned him down?”

  “You were standing outside the bar and he told you that you were the best female in Colony and he would only be seen with the best.”

  She shook her head in disbelief.

  “I was sitting on my bike, just a couple of cars down,” he explained. “If you looked, you would have seen me. I almost offered you a ride home but knew it wasn’t time yet.”

  “Time for what?” she asked, her voice thick with emotion.

  “Time for us.” He lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers. When he straightened, her lashes fluttered over her eyes before she glanced back up at him. “I wanted you to see that we were meant for each other. If events happened differently, I would have taken more time, let you come into the knowledge on your own. But Colony isn’t right for us anymore. It’s time to leave. And leaving without you isn’t an option. Nor would I have you running with me and my litter and not be mated. That isn’t the honorable thing to do.”

  “Ran and Rafe have flirted with me more than you have.”

  “They’ve always protected you. Both of them have always known that I wanted you for mine.”

  “You’ve already told them this?” She looked surprised.

  “There isn’t much we keep from each other. This is a tight litter, Angela. And one that you’ll fit into perfectly.”

  Chapter Four

  “How much longer?” Angela asked.

  Ran glanced up from his work, his green eyes so similar to Raul’s yet sparkling with a mischievous glint Raul didn’t possess. “Perfection takes time, little female,” he purred, winking at her before returning to his task.

  Rafe paced the living room behind them. He was the antsy one, Angela decided, who was ready to leap without question at the slightest altercation. She looked over her shoulder at Raul, who stared out the back door, which stood open and filled the room with the cool, night mountain air. This was a good litter, and one she wished she could take her time getting to know. In spite of Raul’s admission of caring for her for so long, it was all still muddled in her brain. And with so much else going on, there wasn’t time to sniff Raul out the way she wished she could, the way he had with her.

  It didn’t take much sniffing to know he was easily the best-looking male in Colony. His black hair hung straight just past his collar. Broad shoulders and his barrel-like chest made him one of the larger male jaguars in Colony. He held his hands on his waist, which was thick yet tapered down from a muscular back. The jeans and t-shirt he wore showed off muscles that rippled and bulged throughout his body. His tight ass and thick, long legs added to the aura of power emanating from him.

  Angela caught Rafe watching her, and took in his stance with a quick glance. As tall and powerful-looking as Raul, Rafe also possessed the distracting good looks. Something in the way he carried himself, in the dark, piercing way he watched the world around him, made him look so different. Shooting a side glance back toward Raul once again, she took in his powerful stance, the way his leg
s were slightly spread and his hands on his hips, as if he were the king of his mountain and simply deciding who would live or die that night.

  “Comparing notes,” Rafe whispered.

  Angela turned, meeting his hard, green eyes. “Does that bother you?”

  “Not at all.” His grin was as cold as his stare. “I’d love to hear what you find.”

  Angela smiled back, ignoring Raul as he approached behind her. “The female who wins your heart will kick your ass. I’m not sure there is a female smart enough for Ran. And Raul…”

  She paused when his hands came down on her shoulders. No jaguar intimidated her—not male or female. She looked over her shoulder and forced her heart not to pound in her chest when his gaze smoldered.

  “Raul has it all figured out. His female will need patience. Lots of it.”

  Rafe snorted and Raul growled.

  “I think I’ve got something,” Ran announced, his excitement creating sparks of anticipation in the air.

  Immediately Rafe and Raul closed in around Ran. Raul’s hand slid possessively over her shoulder. She waited through the moments of silence along with the others while Ran continued muttering, talking to the computer as if he could sniff out the proper way to work the programs.

  Raul moved closer behind her and his hard body pressed against every inch of her backside while his fingers tightened slightly over her shoulder. Her insides quickened, and drinking in a deep breath of air didn’t help. In spite of the mixed emotions surrounding her, the way Raul and her scent smelled so similar, an erotic combination of both their natural aromas, made it damn hard to focus on matters at hand.

  “I really can’t take all of the credit.” Ran leaned back in his chair, folding his hands behind his head and grinning smugly. “If it weren’t for some of the males bragging up their successes with communication with humans, I never would have eavesdropped and learned about their website and forum.”

  “What did you find?” Raul demanded.

  “It took awhile to find it. Angela helped a lot too. She knew the name of the website her littermate’s been frequenting.”

  “I just overheard her mention it a few times,” Angela said quickly as a morbid thought created panic inside her. What if Raul chased her down so quickly simply because he wanted to destroy Natasha? She hid her sudden panic, refusing to allow the thought to develop, at least not for now.

  “Tell us what you found,” Raul growled, his baritone vibrating through his fingers and sinking deep inside her. His aggravation smelled stronger than her sudden sour emotions and she did her best to continue hiding her frantic line of thinking. There would be time later to figure everything out.

  “Well, I cracked her passwords.” The sparks in Ran’s eyes over his excitement made them appear like rare gems. “Again thanks to Angela offering personal information about her littermate until we came up with the right combination. The forum offered the most information and was the hardest to break into. The stuff on here is enough to make a male want to curl his tail between his legs.”

  For the first time she could remember, Ran’s expression grew sober. His excited smile faded and his eyes darkened, almost dulling as he stared at his oldest littermate before lowering his gaze and meeting hers momentarily.

  “Seven males left Colony last week. Five of them returned, which according to the posts here was a tremendous success.”

  “What did they do?” Rafe asked.

  “They ran to different locations. Each one of them was assigned a target to eliminate. All targets were successfully terminated, and all money paid for services was transferred into a house account. Apparently though, two of the males were killed while eliminating their targets. It doesn’t offer details.” He turned his attention to the laptop and pulled open what looked like an invoice. He tapped the screen with his finger.

  “What the hell is it?” Raul moved next to Angela and leaned against the table where Ran worked.

  “It’s an invoice for ten thousand dollars,” Rafe hissed through his teeth, his fists hitting the table on the other side of Ran. “And it appears to be for the use of Miguel Kalusian. Airfare expenses are also included. Looks like he flew to Washington. They don’t even allow jaguars to run to their kill but put them in airplanes, human flying cages,” he snarled, looking as if the change would consume him any moment.

  “Ten thousand dollars.” Raul made the words sound like profanity. He straightened, combing his hair with his fingers while his face turned into hard angles of outrage. “Print that for me and anything else you find on there. That bitch is selling us out. And I doubt it’s for new fucking roads or schools for our cubs.”

  “I can print all of this, but there’s more. Five more males left today. Apparently as soon as the kill is confirmed, money will deposit into this house account,” Ran said, sliding out of his chair and taking the laptop with him.

  “An account that I’m sure my littermate has access to,” Angela grumbled out loud, despising what her sister was doing to their kind.

  Someone pounded on the front door and Angela jumped, the small hairs on the back of her neck quickly standing to attention while her teeth extended slightly. Sharp sparks shot down her spine, the change demanding its right to come forth and protect her and those around her. She pressed her lips over her teeth, watching warily while Raul moved to the door.

  He turned to Ran. “Go hide the laptop. We won’t mention what we’ve learned so far.” Glancing at her while whoever stood on the other side of the door pounded again, Raul didn’t flinch but turned his attention to Rafe. “Take Angela back to my room for right now,” he ordered sharply.

  “If I’m a secret within your litter, then I’m leaving,” she growled, glaring at his dark, intimidating expression.

  Raul only took a moment to stare her down, but then turned without further comment and pulled open the door. Rafe stepped in front of her but she quickly moved to his side.

  “Why did it take you so long to answer the door?” Devon Romero practically filled the doorway as he glowered at Raul.

  “I wasn’t in a hurry to have company.” Raul matched the hostile growl, his vocal inflection changing slightly with his last words. Obviously keeping the change under wraps proved a slight effort for him too.

  Devon looked past Raul and his lips parted when he pierced Angela with a nasty sneer. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he growled. His anger was so thick, cutting it with a knife would only increase its foul stench.

  “Someone’s tapped into a personal website that belongs to Natasha.” Robert Gustafan appeared alongside Devon, making his presence known. His thick frame forced him to stand sideways as he pressed as close to the entrance of Raul’s home as he dared. No male entered another male’s home without consent, unless he wished to die. “Come here, Angela. Now. I’ll talk to you outside.”

  It was almost impossible to ignore Robert’s command, having grown up knowing him as one of the head counsel leaders and dominating alpha males of Colony. She hesitated though, their smells reeking so furiously with outrage her instincts wouldn’t allow her to move. She opened her mouth, ready to tell him there was no way she would go anywhere with him until he changed his attitude.

  Raul spoke before she could. “She’s not going anywhere,” he growled. “What the hell is this all about? You come to my den, stinking up my air with preposterous accusations. What do you want with Angela?”

  “We’re checking all the dens.” Devon straightened, obviously feeling the importance of his call. “It’s imperative all litters cooperate with Colony right now or severe measures will be taken. There aren’t many jaguars in Colony with computer skills sharp enough to break into a password-protected website. But if they already had the password—a password that didn’t belong to them—that is a crime comparable to theft.”

  “Cooperate with what?” Raul asked, obviously ignoring the rest of Devon’s accusations.

  “There will be no challengers right now.” Robert puffed his
chest out, reeking of his own self-importance. “Colony is at a shifting point and any rebels will be silenced.”

  “Silenced?” Raul stepped forward, growling and suddenly looking larger than he did a moment ago.

  “Get out of the way, Raul,” Devon growled, his incisors pressing against his human lips and making them twist in an odd shape when he sneered. “We’re going to talk to Angela, and you’re not going to stop us.”

  “Like hell!” Raul leapt so quickly he became a blur.

  “Raul!” Angela screamed, and darted toward the doorway, feeling her bones bulge against her human muscles.

  She jumped to the side when Rafe flew out the door, jumping onto the mound of male flesh and muscle while screams and fierce howls suddenly violated the night.

  Raul showed amazing strength, considering he attacked two males, both of whom were older and stockier than he was. His favor was youth, pure aggressive power. And it wasn’t one on two for very long. Rafe jumped in to assist his older littermate. She barely made it out the door when Ran was right behind her, practically pushing her to the side. He dove into the air, ripping his shirt off and tossing it to the side as the howl that escaped his mouth wasn’t quite human.

  Angela’s insides burned. The words exchanged were terrifying, revealing the truth surrounding Colony as being so much worse than she guessed at first. And it was almost impossible to stomach it could be worse.

  “Your litter will die tonight,” Devon howled as he managed to jump to his feet and square his shoulders. His hands were fisted and his face not quite human. Cheek bones curved differently now, pressing his nose out a bit farther. Outrage filled the air and made it nearly impossible to keep his less-aggressive form.

  “Do you think you can decide the future of Colony and the rest of us will belly-up to your sick ideas?” Raul sounded so calm that it made him appear more terrifying. “You don’t speak for all of us, Devon. And you sure as hell don’t speak for my litter.”