TirzahsAllure (6 page)

After kissing her again, he got off the bed and picked up what he called a cell phone. She saw him leaf through a book, then he talked on the phone.

My people. What will they say when I return with a big black man by my side, a black cat for a mate?

Chapter Five

Cain made her wear the uncomfortable clothes again. She hated how they made her feel so restrained, but according to him, she’d have to get used to wearing them. People on Earth did not walk around naked, he’d told her, except maybe in the privacy of their home. They had packed light because once off the boat, they wouldn’t be able to carry anything. She didn’t even know how far they could go on the river. They’d never seen boats of any kind come anywhere near their compound. She wasn’t even sure she’d be able to find her way back. She’d left her scent all along the riverside, but what if the boat drove a different direction? There were many forks in the river. The thought of not being able to find the compound again frightened her, but she didn’t dare tell Cain of her fears.

The boat was a whole new experience for her. She’d heard the elders speak of floating transport on their planet. Was it similar?

“You’re deep in thought.” Cain stood next to her at the railing.

“Where sleep?”

Cain pointed. “See those net things hanging there? They are hammocks. I’ll show you.” He walked to one, pulled it apart and lay in it to show her.

“Oh.” It only looked big enough for one person. That meant she couldn’t sleep in his arms. Cain told her he’d been lucky to find this boat and a captain willing to take them so far up the river. There were two men. The other one took over steering the boat sometimes. Cain said he’d paid them enough that they would wait for them. It wasn’t a big boat and it was quite fast. Without the encumbrance of having to hide or scramble around trees and thick foliage, it would travel much faster than they could have done by land.

Cain retrieved a gadget from his belongings. It was a camera, he told her. The pictures he took, of the shoreline, of villages, but also of her, fascinated her. She could see them on a little screen.

“You can make holo pictures?” she asked.

“I wish.”

“My mother has a crystal. It is powered by sunlight and it shows holo pictures, like on your TV.”

“Interesting. I told you, we’re not that far advanced. But certainly a lot more civilized and knowledgeable than the savages you told me about. Everyone knows there are still big parts of the Amazon that haven’t been explored, and there are native tribes who have never seen a white man. It is almost impossible to get close to those areas.”

Tirzah pointed ashore. “I was there.” She was happy she recognized a village. It was a good sign.

“In the village?”

“No. I hide and watch. Cain, I cannot sleep.”

“Why?”

“I look to where I left river and find big water. I sleep, we go wrong.”

“Ah, I see what you mean. That probably won’t be for a day or two. You’ll be safe sleeping tonight.”

“Boat swim fast.”

“You’re utterly delightful.” He planted a kiss on top of her head. She looked up at him. It was a foreign word.

“I love you.” He chuckled again and she wondered if he was laughing at her.

* * * *

After several days and nights, Tirzah stood at the railing and suddenly yelled. “Cain, come. See.”

“What’s the matter?”

“There. We go there.” She pointed at the fork. “I know. You tell man.”

She knew she couldn’t sleep anymore then because she’d taken several different forks when she was searching as cat. If the boat missed any one of them, she’d be lost. She heard Cain talking to the captain and the other man. Soon he returned.

“The captain doesn’t know how far he can go,” he told her.

“Oh. But he wait?”

“Yes. I told him to wait until we return and promised him more money. He will go to one of the more civilized villages for at least two weeks, then he’ll go back to the point where he drops us off.”

“What if boat not come back?”

“Then we’ll have to continue as cats, like you did. Don’t worry. I promised him a lot of money, but he said he’ll wait no longer than four weeks because he thinks we will die in the jungle. After two weeks he will come back every day to see if we’re here waiting for him.”

“Forest. Jungle. Amazon.” Tirzah repeated the words several times. “We will not die. All savages, animals and creatures afraid of big white cat.”

“Black cat?”

“Many black cat in forest. Not big like Cain.”

“Well, that’s a plus. But I guess I’ve got you to protect me.”

Several times, she recognized a fork and the captain changed course until he suddenly approached Cain and spoke to him rapidly. He spoke too fast for her to understand and his language didn’t quite sound the same as Cain’s.

He turned and faced her. “Honey, the captain says he can’t go any farther. This is where we get off.”

When the captain asked them about their bags, Cain shook his head. “No, we don’t need them. They can stay on the boat. I’ll just take the backpack.”

Tirzah forced down a giggle when she saw the man’s face. He probably thought they would die. The captain demanded his money then, but Cain didn’t have that much cash on him. Instead, he took off the gold timepiece he wore on his wrist and gave it and his cell phone to the man who seemed to take it reluctantly.

The captain walked away muttering. “Crazy people. Crazy…crazy…crazy out of their minds.”

“What crazy?”

“Mm, stupid, dumb.”

“Oh. We swim?”

“No, the captain is lowering a small boat for us, like a canoe. It’s too dangerous to swim here. We’d surely die.”

Tirzah had seen many such small boats moored near the villages on the river’s shore. She stepped into it gingerly. Cain grabbed his backpack. The canoe was wobbly and she quickly sat down. Cain sat opposite her and after waving to the captain, he put his back into paddling.

“I help.”

“It’s okay. We’re not that far from the shore.”

After they got out of the canoe, Cain pulled it onto the narrow strip of shore. Below the seat was a red piece of cloth on a stick. He planted it in front of the boat. “That’s so the captain can see the canoe easily.”

They waited until the boat was out of sight before they removed their clothing and put everything under the seat in the canoe. Then Cain pulled big leaves of a nearby tree and hid the canoe until only the flag showed.

He was smart, Tirzah thought as she shifted into her cat. How could she communicate with Cain as cat? He didn’t possess the art of telepathy. He hadn’t shifted yet, so she quickly shifted back. “Cain, how do I talk you as cat?”

“How do you usually speak as cat?”

“In here,” she pointed at her head.

“I haven’t got that capability. Don’t worry. I’ll be close to you all the time.”

Tirzah stood on her toes and wound her arms around his neck. She pressed against him and felt his cock rise. If only she could have him one more time before they headed into the forest. He kissed her, long and lingering, his cock throbbing against her belly. Reaching down, she touched it. It was so soft, the skin very silky. She traced the thick veins with her fingers and felt the blood throb. He was so beautiful, this mate of hers. All the females were going to be jealous.

A sound followed by a soft growl, broke the kiss.

“It’s a black cat,” Tirzah, her jungle instincts on full alert, whispered. “Quick. We have to shift.” She regretted having to shift, but it was much too dangerous to remain in human form. To consider mating was stupid of her, but she desired him so much. Even as cat, she was still in heat with every fiber of her muscular cat body. Cain nuzzled her, licked her face, until she loped off along the shoreline, sniffing for her scent.

Every now and then, she made sure he was right behind her. It was quite a while before she found her scent, but happiness flooded her when she did. She easily followed the trail she’d left for herself.

Dawn broke and she stopped. Cain sidled up to her and licked her face. If only she could talk to him while in cat form. She climbed a tree and found a sturdy branch then lay on it. Looking down, she watched him do the same, although he was awkward. Living in a big city, he wasn’t used to climbing trees, she guessed. She could hardly imagine life without being able to shift into her cat except in the privacy of one’s home.

She and Cain were panther shifters and the small black and spotted cats that lived in the forest were panthers. Possibly, he was a descendant from cats mating with other cat species but, for some reason, only he had become a shifter.

She watched Cain sleep and tried desperately to send her thoughts to him, but he seemed oblivious. He couldn’t hear her. Now that all was quiet and only the night sounds of the forest whispered around her, she thought about Cain and his cat. Was it possible he came from a planet like hers? Had there ever been black cats on her planet? Cain had told her he didn’t know of any other cat shifters. Was he the only one on this whole planet? She’d learned the planet was big with many populated regions. He couldn’t have searched everywhere.

Still pondering, she felt exhaustion wash over her and she closed her eyes, although her ears were perked and always on the alert for predators.

Chapter Six

As always, the little furry creatures wouldn’t leave them alone. When Cain woke, he shifted to human form and sat on the branch looking at her. She shifted out of her cat and told him, “Cain, it is danger. Shift back.”

“The monkeys are a nuisance,” he told her. “I’ve never been a cat for this long.”

“Monkeys?”

“The little animals that keep following and pestering us.”

“Oh. I learn new word. We call them sheeboo. It mean funny one.”

He shifted into his cat and they continued their journey, stopping only to drink and to eat some fruit or bananas. When the river became quite narrow, Tirzah knew they were getting close to home. She didn’t want to sleep anymore now, she wanted to continue, but Cain let out a growl when light filtered through the thick foliage up above.

She turned and looked at him and he had stopped, his tongue protruding, indicating he was very tired. Of course, he wasn’t used to his cat for such a long time or traveling at such speed. She had to remember that, but now she could smell home and was anxious to get there. Maybe they could rest just a little while.

They found a very thick branch high up that could hold both of them. They lay lengthwise on it, but Cain shifted out of his cat again so she had no choice but to shift, too.

“Cain, many small things will bite you,” she warned him.

“Like what?”

She made a buzzing sound like the bloodsuckers.

“Mosquitos. You’re right. I’ve been immunized against malaria, so I’m safe there but they do cause bumps that itch. What other small things?”

“I do not know name. They go under skin. Do bad things. Change to cat. Please?”

“I love you,” he told her and quickly kissed her on the lips before he shifted. Tirzah sighed as she shifted back into her cat. Cain had no idea of the dangers of the forest, and they were still too far from the compound for immediate medical attention. Over the years, the elders had carefully guarded their medical supplies, but they had also discovered many plants and roots with healing properties. They’d made antidotes against some of the dangerous bites they often suffered as humans while scouting the forest.

She dozed for a while, growling every now and then at the curious monkeys. Waiting impatiently for Cain to stir, she finally growled loudly, startling him. He almost fell off the branch. She climbed down indicating she wanted to continue and she didn’t think he’d be too happy with her, but the sooner they got to the compound the better. She needed to be with him, as humans, not as cats. She needed him badly. Now that he’d awoken every grain of sexuality within her, she seemed to be in heat all the time and it was uncomfortable.

It was close to nightfall when they got to the fence around the compound. Tirzah walked through the water around it, and loped onto the sandy bank of the pond. Her people were at dinner. She walked toward them, Cain behind her. Before she had a chance to shift out of her cat, someone shouted loudly.

“It’s Tirzah and she has a black cat with her!”

Tirzah quickly shifted out of her cat and so did Cain. She reached out to him and took his hand, then pulled him toward the dinner tables. Most of her people were standing up by then. Her mother ran to her and flung her arms around her neck.

“Daughter, you caused me so much grief. We thought you were dead,” she said.

“What did she say?” Cain asked. “I have no doubt this beautiful woman is your mother. You look like her. Matter of fact, everyone sort of looks alike with the silver white hair and all and the same color eyes.”

“Mother thought I die,” Tirzah told him.

“She didn’t know where you’d gone?”

“No. I leave night. Only friend know.”

“Then I can understand your mother’s tears.”

“We cannot go dangerous zone. We stay close. Old ones have rule.”

“The elders, you mean?”

“Elders,” she repeated.

“Tirzah, who is this man? Where did you find him?”

“Mother, there is much to tell. We are very tired and hungry. Is there food for us?”

“Of course, child. Come and sit down. What is his name?”

“Cain. He is my mate.”

“There are many like him?”

“No. He doesn’t know. Mother, he has taught me much of his language and I have wondrous things to tell everyone. Can you call a meeting of the elders so I can tell all at once?”

“Yes, child. Tomorrow.”

Tirzah noticed her mother’s flat belly. “I have more brothers or sisters?”

Calira nodded. “One sister.”

“Cain, my mother is Calira and my father is Henke. He watch us with angry face.”

Cain held his hand out to shake Calira’s, but she ignored his friendly gesture, much to Tirzah’s disgust. They were wary of Cain and she had expected it. There would be opposition to their mating. She didn’t even want to think about what her father would say to her once he got her alone.