Constantly aroused by his animalistic nature, mountain man and moonshiner, Eli Ulbrecht is quick to pounce on the handsome stranger that shows up in his territory. But Ryan Hunt wants to hunt for the one thing Eli cannot let anyone find—a white cougar. While Eli insists there will be no hunting, Ryan’s employer won’t take no for an answer, and Eli isn’t ready to see Ryan leave, so he agrees to help them, finding it the best way to control their search. Besides, how can they find the animal when he is the very beast they hope to capture?
Big game tracker, Ryan Hunt is on an expedition into the remote wilderness of the Appalachians in search of a rare white cougar when he meets sexy backwoodsman, Eli. He can tell right off that Eli is hiding something mysterious from him about the mountain cat, but the frequent sexual encounters between them are a distraction. And each of their unions builds with aggression, until visions drag him into the ultimately rough and feral mating with a cougar. As he becomes closer with Eli, he’s drawn deeper into Eli’s world of witches and moonshine and magic. But can their sexual connection lead to a lasting love or bring about a fatal end for the hunter and his prey?
EXCERPT
Eli Ulbrecht stood guarded and motionless in his cougar form
letting the morning shadows of the Smoky
Mountain forest conceal
him. He nosed a low hanging oak branch aside to stare at the strangers getting
out of a mud spattered brown pick-up truck.
Interlopers. It made his hackles rise. The erectile
hairs quivered the entire length of his straight feline back. His limited
interaction with people put his emotions at odds. When anyone showed up in his
claimed territory, he became anxious and on guard. They represented danger—to
him, to his moonshine business, but especially to themselves.
Concentrated exhaust fumes filled the air. The noxious odor
masked the scent of the human intruders. How would he track them if he lost
sight of their whereabouts in the forest?
Agitated, he resisted the urge to pace. The strangers might
notice sounds. He waited silently, unready to make his presence known.
In studying their movements, as he did when stalking any prey,
he noticed the taller of the two moved clumsily. Twice the towering brawny one
stumbled over dead branches on the ground.
The other man seemed steadier. He accomplished the task of
unloading gear from the vehicle without one misplaced step. His graceful moves
in lifting and carrying attracted Eli. It was his instinct to appreciate
agility and his personal preference to admire beauty. The man’s profile showed
off the handsome features that made Eli stretch his claws and paw the soft soil
silently with desire.
He eyed the handsome man with growing interest. His heart
skipped beats as excitement rose within him. The short hairs deep in his hide
quivered. To scratch an itch beneath his fur, he raked the side of his muzzle
against the bark of a tree.
Eli didn’t want the strangers nosing around his mountain, and
yet, a deep longing for a companion gave him reason to debate the issue. Seven
months of sexual abstinence made it simple to lust. His throbbing penis slid partly
out from its protective sheath under his furry belly. The pointed tip quivered.
Was it possible that a gay man had happened into his region?
His growing erection extended farther.
He hadn’t been with a man in a long while. The ones he had met
down the mountain in town hadn’t captured his attention for more than a few
hours. Finding someone desirable and suitable had limits. His remote residence
up in the Smoky Mountains placed him far from society,
adding to the difficulties of running into the right kind of fellow. Eli had
only considered one lover suitable and that was so long ago, he barely
remembered that feeling of oneness as Burl Vaughn fucked him.
Eli watched the two men
remove other items besides their backpacks from the truck bed. He tried to
determine their business being there.
Campers?
Hikers?
Vacationers on an adventure?
Eli had seen others with those intentions, and rarely, did any
of them venture this close to his home. He didn’t want anyone disrupting the
balance to his life.
Just how had they had traveled so far into the extreme
remoteness Appalachian wilderness? The heavily forested mountains had no roads,
except for his narrow motorcycle trail. Some of those paths had barely given
him the room to pass between trees. These men arrived in a pick-up truck.
Sight of the guns caused a panic in Eli’s thoughts. Hunters.
The worse kind of intruders. What had they coming looking for? He ran
through a list of the ordinary animals in the region. Rabbit, quail or was it
something bigger? Deer were as plentiful as turkey. Maybe bear? He tried not to
include what he was in his present condition, but how could he not add mountain
lion to the list of possibilities?
Slowly, Eli slinked forward. He ducked beneath the thorny
underbrush to get a closer look at the men and their weapons.
Legends of a pale mountain wraith abounded along the
Appalachian mountain ranges and many of them were rooted in fact. From accounts
of sudden disappearances to haunting ghost stories, there was one tale that
fascinated many.
Did they come to hunt for the elusive white cougar?
The story covered a million square miles. No one really had any
idea where to start searching. Known as panthers, pumas, catamounts and
painters, mountain lions in of themselves were a rarity. Even the fact they
called the rare cougar white, showed they didn’t have any facts right. Eli’s
fur was a sandy beige. While paler than any cat he’d ever seen, he never
considered his coloring white.
Amateurs and experienced huntsmen alike aspired to have a
mountain cat mounted as a trophy in their den. Sought by sightseers,
photographers and occasionally hunters, the latter being the most treacherous,
he was always careful. Had these two men lucked into the area he lived or did
they have clues?
Growling from the underbrush wasn’t going to scare these men away
and it wasn’t wise to show them the snarling animal he became. Reasoning had to
be his first defense, his safest option. He closed his eyes, shook his furry
pale hide and willed himself upright out of his cougar form into that of a man.
He quietly picked up his clothing from where he had shed it earlier when he had
transformed into the cougar. It was often his habit to remove his garments,
although on many occasions in his rush, he let his transformation rip his pants
and shirts apart at the seams.
With his blood still sizzling and his skin tingling from his
molecular change, he dressed within the confines of the shadows. The men had a
preoccupation with checking their gear, so no one seemed to notice his almost
soundless movements.
The cool springtime air felt good against his hot skin as he
worked his pants up and zipped them closed over his still hard cock. He left his
shirt unbuttoned. Shoving his feet into his worn slip-on boots, he kept an eye
on the strangers.
Not having a plan to make the men leave created apprehensive,
but he had no choice. He strode into the clearing hoping inspiration came soon.
The men noticed him immediately. With an expression of surprise
on their faces, they advanced cautiously, glancing around, apparently looking
for others with him. Their concern made him more uneasy as if they had
something to hide.
“We didn’t expect to see anyone around here?” the taller man
said as he trudged forward toting a rifle in the crook of his arm. “You a
camper?”
“Something like that. I live here,” Eli answered evenly,
keeping his nervousness hidden behind a veneer of self-confidence. As a man, he
could hold his own in a fight. As a mountain cat, he had an advantage of
strength. Neither form had the ability to survive a lethal gunshot.
“You can’t live here.” The man challenged, a scowl furrowing
his thick black eyebrows. “This land is part of a national park. The government
owns it and people ain’t allowed to live on government land.”
Eli lifted his arm and pointed in the direction they came from.
“State park border ends a mile down the mountain,” he told them, thinking
they’d not believe anything farther.
“That’s impossible,” the tall man declared. “Government land
extends all the way to—”
“Shut up, Hanks.” The other man suddenly spoke in a tone that
said he was in charge. “I’m Ryan Hunt and this is Eramus Hanks. He tends to
think he knows everything. While I’ll admit, we were under the impression this
park covered most of the mountain, we’ll trust your word it doesn’t. I mean who
else would know better where land boundaries are than a landowner.”
Eli evaluated the threat of Ryan. His passive tone, unwavering
stance and in-charge attitude posed more trouble than that of the blathering
idiot’s did. It wasn’t to say that Hanks hadn’t had his facts right. The
government did own that part of the territory, but Eli wasn’t going to
admit it. He aimed to get the men to leave.
A smile tugged at the corner of Ryan’s mouth and dimpled his
cheeks. “Not being government land works for us.”
Eli’s chest tightened. He refrained from rubbing his hand over
the center to dispel the sensation.
“We were looking to hunt and private land is much better, isn’t
it Hanks?” Ryan continued. “No law against it as long as we got the owner’s
permission, right?”
Hanks’ strange laugh lacked the same amusement in his
expression. “Yeah, we don’t want to break the law.”
“I don’t allow hunting on my land,” Eli informed them quickly.
Hanks made a disgruntled noise as if he prepared to argue, but
Ryan elbowed him in the side, stopping the noise of complaint.
“Not ever? We can pay.” Hit by sunlight in the face, Ryan
squint his mesmerizing green eyes until he repositioned his brown hat with a
downward tug.
“The land is rough and dangerous.” Eli tried using sound
reasoning. “It’s not a good idea unless you’re familiar with the area.”
Eli had more than one motive to keep the men from wandering the
forest—his moonshine still. The illegal aspect of the operation never concerned
him as much as having trouble with thieves. He lived too out of the way for the
government to catch wind of his small business, but the unsavory men he sold
his liquor to always gave him strong cause to be suspicious of people.
Only a year back, two men came looking to take over. Having
them search for the still in a cave helped him get rid of them easily. All he’d
had to do was extinguish their lanterns so they couldn’t see him as a cougar.
They left with deep wounds and his warning that if they ever came back he’d let
his mountain cats kill them. He never saw either of them again.
A breeze swept Eli’s shirt open, exposing more of his chest.
Ryan’s gaze dropped and lingered there. Either Eli’s nipples hardened from the
chilling stir of air or Ryan’s scorching stare. The onslaught of desire rolled
into his groin. He resisted the urge to adjust his stiffening cock in his
pants.
Ryan’s mindless lick of his lips changed Eli’s focus. The
obvious sexual interest made it harder to concentrate on ousting the men from
the area. Eli had craved the enjoyment of a man and now he had the perfect
specimen of one in front of him.
