Captured by Julia Rachel Barrett

risk.”
    Mari rolled her eyes, a gesture he had come to recognize as dismissive.   “If what you’ve told me about this creature is true, I’m barely a mouthful.   Besides, there’s only one path to the spring and you can’t tell me this animal is like a mountain goat.   I doubt he can climb straight up the cliff.”
    Ekkatt perused the little human in silence.   Her stare challenged him, but a corner of her mouth turned up in a half-grin.   “You may be barely a mouthful,” he said, “but you are a tasty mouthful.”   Mari laughed at his innuendo.   “You may go to the spring in the afternoons, but only in the afternoons. Keep your eyes and ears open at all times.   And your nose.”
    “My sense of smell is not as acute as yours, Ekkatt.   What does it smell like?”
    Ekkatt thought for a moment.   “I once smelled a pride of lions in the continent you call Africa.   Do you know the smell of a lion?”
    “Yes, actually, I do.   We lived in Kenya for a time, and I encountered lions in the wild.   I also worked as an intern at a zoo where I cared for the big cats, the lions and tigers.”
    “A giant durra smells much the same, but stronger.”
    “Ah, so it’s a cat.   That explains a great deal.”
    Ekkatt raised an eyebrow.   “Explains?”
    “Nothing,” replied Mari.   “I assume it patrols a territory, hunts in the same area, more or less.”
    “Yes.   If you hike to the top of the ridge and turn to your left, you will see many game trails leading down the mountain.   The giant durra I have seen hunts the forests below.   He prefers to stay within the trees.   I have not encountered the beast in the open, but...”
    “There’s always a first time,” Mari finished for him.
    Ekkatt nodded.   “You will stay away from the ridge.”
    “Yes, sir.”   Mari saluted.
    “This is a joke?”
    Mari shook her head.   “No, it’s a military salute.   Go, Ekkatt, get out of here.   The sooner you leave, the sooner you return.   I will be okay.   The minute you leave I’ll lock everything up for the night and no one will know I’m here.”
    “And you will not be sick when I return?”
    “Oh, no,” Mari grinned, “I will most definitely not be sick.   Other than my sore feet, I’m feeling very well.”   She grabbed his jacket and pulled him down for a kiss.  
    Ekkatt picked her up in his arms and kissed her soundly.
    “You’re becoming very adept at this,” Mari murmured against his mouth.
    Ekkatt growled in response.   No woman had ever aroused him as quickly as this human. He backed her against the wall and lifted the hem of his shirt from her body.   “I am glad you have no underthings to wear. You are so accessible to me, and we have only a moment.”   His finger slipped inside Mari.,   Ekkatt found her still wet from their lovemaking an hour before.   He felt Mari tug on the clasp of his trousers and free him.   He heard her gasp at the size of his erection.   “I want you here,” he said. “Against this wall.   Can you take me, little human?   Can you take me in this position?”
    “Oh, God yes,” she breathed, wrapping her legs around his hips.
    “Your god has nothing to do with it,” Ekkatt growled.   Propping her up with one arm, he ripped her shirt open and it fell off her shoulder, exposing one breast.   He dropped his mouth to her nipple, sucking, nipping at the tight, swollen bud.   His canines had elongated, so that he’d drawn a little blood.   The sight made him even harder.   Mari whimpered, but she did not tell him to stop.   Her eyes were closed and her face flushed.   He could smell her arousal.   The scent of her musk was very strong.   With one hand, he guided the head of his uus through her folds and began to enter her, cursing in English as he pushed inside, trying hard to control his movements.   He did not want to hurt her.
    Mari wiggled in his arms, impaling herself inch by inch.   Ekkatt groaned.   He could not