Wanton. Crystal Jordan

      She was being hunted.

      A small smile curved Jenise’s lips, and her heart began to pound with heady anticipation. The cold mountain air of the Sierra Nevadas kissed her naked flesh, curling between her bare legs to stroke the heated folds of her sex. She shivered, her nipples tightening to an almost painful degree. The slightest rustle of a cat’s paw on dew-covered grass whispered in her ear.

      He was catching up with her. Her hunter. The Lynx within her nearly purred as the excitement built higher. She couldn’t wait for him to fuck her, but he’d have to catch her first. Her smile widened. The first week of spring every year was the Wild time for her kind. Every female went into heat simultaneously, and every Lynx on the continent gathered here. To connect with their animalistic nature, to rut until the heat burned itself out.

      It was the last day of Wild. She could feel the heat easing its grip on her body. Tears pressed against her lids at the prospect of this time-away-from-time ending. She clenched her jaw, shoving the thought away. No. She would enjoy the now, squeeze every ounce of sensation out of what time remained to her. Her grin sharpened, showing her truest nature. Feral woman.

      Shivering again in the cool breeze licking at her flesh, she shifted into her Lynx form. Her body flowed into the new shape, bones and sinew remolding into those of a feline. Spotted fur soon covered her skin, protecting her from the chill wind.

      She wound through the tall trees, padding lightly on her paws as the underbrush thinned and gave way to the rocky shore beside a flowing river. The last rays of the fading sun sparkled on the water as it gurgled around and tripped over larger rocks. The breeze ruffled her thick fur, bringing with it the scent of her pursuer.

      Soon. Soon, she would have him as she had had so many others this week. A pang struck her, and her heart clenched in her chest. Guilt twisted inside her, choking off her breath.

      Two years had passed since Shane died. Her mate. The first year, she hadn’t been able to make herself attend Wild. The loss was too raw, too new. Alone in her house, she’d found the cravings of her body eating her alive, until she’d screamed from the relentless want she couldn’t stop. She was in heat; she needed to fuck. Those animal instincts didn’t care that her very human heart had shattered, that half of her soul had been ripped away, leaving her empty and barren. Broken.

      Lost.

      She couldn’t face her Wild time alone the second year. She just…couldn’t. The need had clawed at her too deeply, slicing through her control. She swallowed and twitched her ears now, trying to ignore the guilt. Shane was possessive, as all males of their kind were. He would hate knowing that she craved the touch of another man, any other man who might want to stroke his fingers down her naked skin, who might be willing to thrust his long cock into her overheating body. Anything to assuage the need, to ease the carnal torment for even a single moment.

      He would never have understood.

      A bittersweet ache filled her chest at the thought of him. Theirs had been a mating of opposites. Shane was conservative, quiet, upright. His feral nature had hidden deep beneath the surface, rarely breaking free of the man’s iron control. And she…she had always been untamed, wanton. Most at home here in the Wild with other Lynx. Shane’s discomfort with the feline side of himself meant he had eventually stopped coming to Wild. It was a time for rutting, and the only man she’d craved was him. So she’d stayed away as well. Stayed with him. Her mate.

      Perhaps she had compromised too much, but she had loved him deeply and been loved in return. What more could she have asked for than that? To her, it had seemed simple. And she had been so content, so whole. It was only now, years later, that she realized how much of herself she had lost. She had become one with another being when she had mated, turning away from herself and embracing a coexistence that she thought would last her entire life.

      A decade seemed so fleeting a time to be happy, a mere heartbeat in a lifetime that could only promise loneliness.

      Now she needed to find herself once more, learn to trust herself and her instincts again. The last two years had taught her that she was stronger than she’d ever guessed. She had survived. And now she had to learn live again. It was terrifying. Painful.

      Free.

      It confused her, the conflicting emotions that ricocheted through her. The agony. The unfettered ecstasy. And the sheer animalistic need that burned away everything else. During Wild, her past didn’t matter, and her future was held at bay. This moment, this heartbeat, was all-important. It consumed her the way the heat that coiled within her did.

      She reveled in it, discarding the concerns and guilt of the woman to embrace the Lynx. A low purr vibrated her vocal cords. Woman and feline in perfect union for the first time in years. Yes. This was what she had craved for so long. Not just the mate who completed her soul, but the togetherness with others of her kind, the shedding of human trappings as they acknowledged who and what they really were. Lynx.

      She picked up her pace, gliding alongside the river until it gave way to a short waterfall and a large pool. From her vantage point she could see the river ended farther down the mountainside, where it emptied into a wide lake. Lynx in groups of twos and threes were using the lake as a place to rut. A fine idea. Perhaps when she let the male catch her, they’d do the same. A shuddered rippled through her body, heat clenching her sex.

      Splashing in the pool below drew her attention. A man erupted from beneath the waterfall to stand chest-deep in the water. She lifted her muzzle to the air, sniffing delicately. A fine specimen of a male. Her senses told her he was unmated. Excellent. A low chuckle spilled from her as she shifted back to her human form. The fur retracted and her body remolded itself until she crouched naked on the boulder overlooking the pool.

      His amber gaze locked on her, and a smile made his teeth flash white against his bronze skin. He crooked a finger, beckoning her closer. She couldn’t resist the invitation. She didn’t want to.

      Another male in Lynx form appeared beside her, his silken fur brushing against her bare thigh. There was still no sign of the Lynx who’d hunted her. She looked to the man below, and saw his smile had only grown more wicked. She would have both of these males, then. The thought made her blood rush in her veins and her sex dampen in hot anticipation. Glancing at the Lynx beside her, she arched a brow. “Well, this should be interesting.”

      His big body rumbled in a purr, and she sensed his imminent change into human form. She didn’t wait for him; she jumped, landing feetfirst in the pool. The chill water enveloped her, tightening her skin. A shocked gasp ripped from her when she broke the surface. “Jesus, that’s frigid.”

      “Let me warm you, then.” Strong arms caught her from behind, spinning her so they could both watch the man on the boulder above them leap gracefully into the deep pool. He erupted upward, water splattering her. He shoved back shaggy brown hair.

      His gaze roamed her face for a moment before he looked over her shoulder. “I’m Eric.”

      “Ryan.” The man behind her slid his hands under her thighs, pulling her legs up and open. The cold water swirled over her heated labia, and she clenched her teeth at the contrasting sensations.

      Her breath caught as Eric moved