Emma’s heart was pounding as loud as the purr of the motorboat’s engine. She checked her harness for the third time, making sure every clasp was closed and the rope linking her to the boat was cinched tight. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she said, mostly to herself.

The beach around them was humming with activity. Emma, a foster kid who’d never even left her home state before going to college, was on an impromptu South Pacific vacation, one she spent most of her savings to take. There was just half a year left to finish her pathology degree and she was just about burnt out on schooling, on college life, on all of it. At almost twenty-one years old, Emma was even graduating early, had a job waiting for her in the new year. It was a big opportunity, a chance to finally make something of herself…but she wasn’t happy. She wanted something more, something that felt meaningful.

So, to shake things up, she decided to take a chance on an overseas trip all on her own. Emma was so out of her comfort zone she wasn’t sure she was on the same planet anymore. But it was a time to explore and be adventurous, to take risks. That was the only possible explanation as to why she was wearing a parasail harness on that hot, summer’s day.

The boat ready to tow her had three passengers; they were already drinking and talking when the captain gave Emma a thumbs up: the final signal she had to return before the trip began.

“Here goes nothing,” she said, and returned the gesture.

The boat’s motor roared to life and sped off from the beach. Several moments later, the rope went taut and she began to run before it pulled even harder and the chute behind her swelled and billowed, carrying Emma up into the air.

“Holy shiiiiiiiiiiiit!” she yelled as the ground fell out from beneath her. “Oh god! Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!” She squinted against the wind and against her fear as her belly tightened into a knot. She only had on a neon-green bikini aside from her harness, but the air was still warm and it blew hard in her face, taking her higher and higher.

Soon there was only the pure, blue water below and the boat that headed away to the beach. Emma soon ran out of epithets and profanity, if only because some dark, logical part of her knew that if she fell, the impact would probably kill her. The boat was a small speck below and the figures on it were ant-sized. Emma kept a death-grip on her harness, refusing to let go for any reason.

The wind whipped and howled in her ears. One gust was so strong it pulled her hard to one side and the chute pulled hard as it shot upwards. “Fuck!” Emma’s stomach nearly failed her and she dared to cup a hand to her mouth. “I want to come down now!” But the people driving the boat were too busy or distracted to pay any attention to her.

The wind roared and her chute carried her even higher. Now the wind had a sharp chill to it and she screamed. “Get me down!”

Nobody even waved at her.

“Ohshitohshit,” she whispered to herself. There was cloud cover but it was high above her—that somehow made the wind even scarier, as it was coming from out of nowhere. What should’ve been a pleasant ride on a strong breeze was quickly turning into something else.

A third wind gust blew, stronger and even more violent than the others. The rope, already taut during the flight, suddenly whipped and jerked, a sensation that turned her blood to ice. The breeze swelled again and whatever should’ve kept her secured gave way, and Emma was truly airborne.

The blue sea and the tiny boat below fell away as some momentous force carried Emma upwards with enough G-forces to sent her head down into her hunched shoulders. She screamed in terror as the clouds suddenly swallowed her up and the never-ending wind blew over her, cold and cruel. Emma was lost in a thick fog, unable to see or to make sense of where she was going or even what direction up was. She was disoriented, completely lost, and sure that she was going to die.

Panting for breath and beyond panicked, Emma lost track of where she was or how long she’d been up there. She could catch glimpses through the cloud, glimmers of blinding sunlight reflecting off the sea. The speed she was flying at felt almost unnatural and the harness dug tight into her chest until it felt ready to tear her apart. After what felt like an eternity later, the fog parted again. Emma caught sight of land surrounded by dark water, spotted with tall trees and thick, dark growing things.

The wind died. Her chute went empty and Emma began to fall like a stone, down into the trees below.

She screamed. The breeze whistled in her ears and a sudden jerk made her head spin. She vomited. The world around her went red, then black.

When Emma came to herself, she knew something was wrong: gravity had reversed itself and it felt like the world had turned upside down. She struggled to open her eyes, and when she did Emma realized that she was upside down: her chute was caught in a tree and her harness was the only thing keeping her up. It was also what had saved her life from crashing into the hard ground below.

Panting to the point of hyperventilating, she struggled with the clasps of her harness and pulled hard. When the last one gave way, she tumbled end-over-end and screamed again before falling to the ground. The impact was enough to knock the breath from her lungs and Emma rolled in the dirt, trying to sob while her body refused to take a breath. Then she could take a breath again and rolled to all fours, heaving as she pulled in a deep, greedy lungful of sweet oxygen.

Emma blinked the tears out of her eyes and looked up. Her chute and harness were almost twenty feet off the ground—it was a marvel she hadn’t broken anything in her fall. But she hadn’t escaped unscathed: her bikini top has come undone and it dangled over her head, tangled up in the harness.

Instinctively, Emma covered her breasts and looked around, as though anyone nearby would see her. But there was no one around: she was surrounded by tall trees, thick green ferns and dark earth—there wasn’t a single living soul anywhere in sight. The sky was dark and nocturnal sounds were all around her, as well as the roar of the sea.

“Hello?” she called. There was no answer. “Can anyone hear me? Hello?!”

The only response was a gentle wind stirring in the branches.

Feeling foolish and angry with herself, Emma let her hands drop and looked around again. She was in a valley or a shallow pit of some kind, for the earth and the trees stretched up high on both sides. The ocean was nearby but it was hidden from view, and the sound of it seemed to come from all directions. The smell of greenery and growing things was so thick that she could almost taste it when she breathed.

“Don’t believe this!” she growled. Slowly, carefully, Emma began to pull herself up and out of the gully with the help of the trees and exposed roots, stepping carefully as she went. She was angry at herself for parasailing in the first place, and at the boat riders for not noticing something was wrong. Sweat beaded along her lip and across her bare breasts; the air felt humid and stifling under the trees and she kept having to climb up, ever up.

When she reached the top, Emma was tired and out of breath. Her new vantage point wasn’t much better because the trees all grew so thick together. She was already weary of the trees and of not knowing where she was. Then, adding insult to injury, thunder boomed overhead. A second later, rain began to fall.

“Fucking hell!” Emma sighed and closed her eyes. For a moment she let the warm rain fall over her face, sliding down her bare flesh. She opened her mouth and let the droplets fall thick and heavy to pool at the back of her mouth. Since the only thing she’d had to drink was a margarita that day, the water was a welcome change, even if it was warm. It also finally occurred to Emma to check herself for any injuries. She craned her neck and checked as much of her own body as she could, and she was miraculously unharmed, aside from a thick streak of dirt down the side of one leg.

Wiping her eyes clear of the rain, Emma saw a thick stream of water passing by at the top of the gulley and she made for it. The dark earth stuck to the soles of her feet and between her toes. When she reached the water, she knelt down and scrubbed her dirty leg clean. There was no way to guarantee that the water was safe to drink, so she didn’t dare. Her bikini bottoms were also dirty, so—after checking her surroundings again—Emma untied the string over both hips and crouched down in her bare flesh, rubbing the fabric in the water between her hands.

It felt strange to be naked out in the wilderness, but Emma liked it. She thought it felt natural, albeit primitive. Her surroundings were pristine, as though she was the first human to ever walk there, like she’d fallen into Eden by accident. Borrowing a slender tree standing beside the stream, Emma hung her bottoms on a short branch and then crouched down in the water to bathe herself more thoroughly, washing herself clean all over, from her neck and breasts, down her belly to between her legs, right down to her dirty toes. She closed her eyes and sighed again as she sat in the shallow water, letting it flow over her hips and legs. The water felt so nice, like she suddenly didn’t have a care or worry in the world. Such a strange thing, she thought, to be—

Just then, a sound broke through both the steady hiss of the rain and her thoughts, startling Emma back to herself. It was a muffled crack out in the darkness, like a branch snapping underfoot. New terror seized Emma and she stood up, then turned and reached for her bottoms to put them back on…except now they were gone.

“The fuck?!” She snarled the words and did a quick, desperate search of the tree’s branches and the ground around it, but her remaining piece of swimwear had completely vanished. She was now truly naked and alone, lost somewhere with no help and no one to rescue her. Ready to spit in anger, Emma bent low beside the sloped bank of the stream and looked out in the direction of the sound, waiting for something or someone to appear.

Nothing did. No one stepped out of the shadows; nothing jumped into view. After about a minute, Emma started to feel foolish and finally swiped both hands over her scalp as she tried to figure out what to do. The sound didn’t come again, and she was thankful for that much.

She took a seat while the rain came down, trying to puzzle through her predicament. With no supplies and nothing to help her, Emma knew her options were limited and her chances were small. She had fresh water, at least, whenever it rained. It was hard to focus on survival, on even what to do next: that warm, summer rainfall continued, leaving Emma feeling flushed and lightheaded.

She lay on her back on the ground and held her head for a moment. The torrent of rain continued unabated, sliding down every inch of her bare flesh. Breathing was almost a challenge; the wet air was almost smothering, enough that it felt like she might faint. Looking up at the sky, Emm blinked the water away and clenched her hands, fighting through a sudden wave of heat that left her trembling.

“What is…?” Emma licked her lips, gasping for breath. “What is going on?” Her head felt ready to pop. Through the trees she could see the hot, gray sky and dark clouds that flashed and rumbled with restrained lightning. Those flashes lit up the jungle around her in all directions, showing that she was completely and totally alone.

That was the only reason that Emma gave into the urge to slide her hands down her wet body. Her small breasts and thick, nipples felt tight under her fingertips; her belly twitched and tensed up at her own touch. When she pulled her pussy lips apart and flicked her clit, the rush of heat and bottled lightning was so strong she cried out in shock. The thunder snarled and shouted back in answer.

“Can’t… I can’t believe I’m doing this!” Emma said. Yet she slid her feet up, pressed her heels tight to her bottom and spread her knees wide apart. The rain fell across her body, splashing against her breasts and belly, teasing her pussy with each drop. Emma stroked her clitty with a fingertip in a fast, trembling motion as it swirled around and around while her other hand grabbed tight to one of her thighs. She gasped and grimaced, playing with herself while the rain poured over her.

In seconds, Emma was gasping and moaning with every breath. Moments later, her high-pitched whimpers became more desperate as she needed to be relieved of the intense pressure building up in her pussy. “Fuck!” she squeaked, “oh fuck! Need to cum!” With every flash of lightning, that pressure inside of her grew; with each peal of thunder, Emma squealed louder and louder into the night. “God! Fuck! Cum! Need it! Need it! Need it so much!”

It no longer mattered how irrational it felt to lie in the dirt and play with herself at that moment: she was compelled to do it, and by that time, she wanted to do it. Tears streamed down her face and her heart felt ready to burst out of her chest. Tapping her little bean, stroking it, pulling at it or flicking it, all of it felt so fucking good. She focused on the pleasure, feeding on it and drinking it all in, until some final resistance inside gave way, at last.

Lighting flashed, thunder boomed. “FUUUUUUCK!” shouted Emma at the same time as the hard rain fell, pouring over her straining body as she came at last. “Cummiiiiiiiiiiiing!” Her breasts bounced and her ass rocked in the dirt. She shuddered hard as the night turned to daylight for that one glorious moment. There was a shadow high above her, lurking over her like a vengeful wraith, but Emma was too lost in the grip of her orgasm to see it. She felt amazing, better than she had in a very, very long time.

Emma slumped to the ground, breathing hard as she recovered. The aching in her head and in her belly was finally gone but now she felt empty, as weak as a kitten. Coughing, she closed her eyes and opened her mouth again, drinking down the rain, soothing her sore throat. At the same time she rubbed herself down, swiping her hands across her breasts, playing with her nipples and stroking down across her cunt, doing the work that a lover should’ve done after they made love. Emma didn’t know what possessed her to touch herself: it just felt right. She’d never been so far out in nature alone before, and certainly never done so in the nude.

The storm was beginning to slow but it didn’t completely stop; Emma was coming down from her sexual high. Grunting to herself, swallowing down more profane complaints, she opened her eyes again.

What Emma saw made her freeze: a pair of hard, sapphire blue eyes were shining down from the branches overhead, staring straight back at her.

The great cat was an immense shadow, thick and black from its perch in a tree. The blue eyes staring down at her flashed with the lightning. The beast licked its chops, giving a low rumble of a sound. It looked large enough to open its mouth and crush her head with a single bite.

Emma didn’t stay still for long. “Shit!” She quickly rolled to all fours before stumbling to her feet and took off, sprinting through the jungle. She ran away from the stream, from her lost chute and harness, from her lost swimsuit. The dark earth was sticky and wet underfoot; the cloudy sky overhead continued to flash and the thunder continued to shake the ground. “Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!” Panting hard, Emma kept looking over her shoulder, trying to spot if the panther was following her while also trying to avoid tripping or crashing into another tree. The jungle stretched out ahead of her into the gloom, as if it went on forever.

A yowling scream echoed in the trees. Emma stumbled and nearly fell, breathing hard and trying not to cry again. “Nonononono!” she whimpered, pressing herself tight against the wide, smooth trunk of a nearby tree. It wasn’t fair that she should come so far from home just to crash in the jungle and end up as dinner for a hungry animal. Crouching down, Emma covered her mouth with both hands, trying to control her frantic breathing.

The rain continued to pitter and patter against the leaves and fronds, filling the air with a sort of natural white noise, making it hard to hear. Emma didn’t dare to move and hardly dared to breathe, not wanting to risk being found. If that thing found her, she knew she was done for.

Her heart sank as the black cat came into view, stalking on paws bigger than her head. It stared right at her, licking its chops again, growling low in its throat. It felt to Emma almost like the beast was gloating, that it always knew where she was hiding, and now it was time to end that charade of a chase.

“No!” Emma called, pushing up to her feet again. She didn’t have a chance against the beast, and could barely see as she stumbled away. The panther screamed and leapt at her. Emma screamed as it swiped a paw at her; pain shot across one of her legs as the thing’s claws scraped across one side of her bottom. She fell again to all fours and the sky went out as the panther crouched over her, snarling and growling in anger, fangs bared in anger.

“Please don’t kill me!” she whimpered, looking up over her shoulder at the terrifying visage hanging over her. The teeth were yellow and they gleamed in the flashing light; the blue eyes burned in the dark. Emma didn’t dare move, only closing her eyes and waiting to die.

…except the animal didn’t attack her. The low burning noise in its throat continued, growling to warn her against trying to run again. Its back legs rose up and began to rub itself against her upraised bottom, pushing hard against her. Something hot was rubbing against her thigh, stiffening as the panther bent over her.

Emma’s eyes opened again as she blinked away the rain and tears. It was most definitely a he, and he wanted to—

“Oh shit! No! N-no!” Emma started to push up again—better to be killed and eaten than mounted by a wild animal—but the great cat opened his mouth and bit down on the tender flesh where her neck met her shoulder. New pain turned her vision red and Emma shrieked, but she froze in place as well.

That was all the panther needed as he thrust his hips forward. His cock—the hot, stiff thing brushing against her thigh—found her pussy and buried itself in one thrust, right to the hilt. Emma closed her eyes and sobbed, shuddering at the sudden feeling of fullness, at being taken by a beast. She whimpered, trying to block out reality even as it crashed down around her ears. Her breasts and nipples were pressed tight into the dirt while her nails dug in, both hands trembling violently.

The cat began to move, rocking his hips with familiar, quick motions. But the feeling was strange and Emma started panting as her bestial tormentor claimed her pussy. His cock wasn’t smooth or slick like a normal shaft would be—it pulled and scraped inside of her, catching against her pussy lips with each motion as he pulled out of her and thrust back inside. The sensation left Emma shaking as it rubbed against her G-spot, making her tummy tighten as every breath ached in her chest.