Free Savage Hunger (Project Nemesis) by Celeste Anwar

like they could run straight through the jungle at any point.  There weren’t any visible paths for them to take.  She wished they’d had something to hack their way through, but Zach was at point and picking the clearest path through the jungle that he could.
    Dante followed him.  She moved behind him, and Lucas pulled up the rear.  Given the misery that she was quickly being consumed by, she almost regretted begging them to take her with them.  Except the uncertainty she’d been faced with had been too much for her to bear.  Whatever had infected them, as much as she might fear and disbelieve it, she knew she was better off in their company than at risk on her own.
    She couldn’t speak a lick of Spanish beyond hello and goodbye.
    After what seemed like hours of stooping and bending and avoiding roots and vines, she was so exhausted, she could barely move without wincing in pain.
    They finally took a break.
    Tired but not stupid, she thoroughly checked the area to make sure there were no spiders or snakes where she wanted to plant her ass.  Satisfied at its safety, she collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily and feeling so grateful to rest that she wanted to cry.
    She choked back her feelings, wincing inside.
    “Drink this,” Lucas said, offering her some water out of a bottle.  She sipped it gratefully, feeling immediately relieved from the cool water sliding down her parched throat.  Her cracked lips felt better as well.
    “Not too much.  We don’t know when we’ll find more water.  I’ve been keeping an eye out for bamboo,” Lucas said, scanning the jungle with his warm, hazel eyes.
    She followed the line of his vision.  “Bamboo?”
    “Holds water you don’t have to sterilize,” Dante said.  “It has a lot of uses in a place like this.”
    Zach threw a pack of peanuts to her he pulled out of the bag he’d been toting.  “Eat that.  You need to keep your energy up.”
    Jasmine nodded and tore open the package, eating slowly so she didn’t get sick.  At first, she didn’t think she could eat at all, but as she munched, she felt herself slowly returning to normal.  She must’ve used all her excess glucose moving through the jungle—running on empty.  No wonder she felt so horrible!
    “If you need to go, now would be a good time,” Zach pointed out.
    She grimaced.  “Great.  I hate pissing in the woods.”  She was a lot of things, but a country girl wasn’t one of them.
    “Get used to it,” Lucas said, grinning.
    “Easy for you to say.  You all have dicks and don’t have to worry about something crawling up your ass when you least expect it,” she said, feeling flushed that they were all looking at her.
    They chuckled at that.
    Nodding, she got up and found a tree to put her back on, relieving herself.  She was dehydrated.  She hardly had anything to let go.  Dripped dry and feeling irritated at the lack of sanitation available, she pulled her pants back on and returned to the men.
    She missed toilet paper already.  And water and soap.
    Jasmine sighed.
    They returned to picking through the jungle, slower this time, almost as though they sensed she was near her breaking point.
    The food and water had taken her mind off her misery for a little while, and she was able to think about the offer she’d made to the guys.  She’d been pretty much ready to do just about anything it took not to be abandoned, even giving herself to them if that would sweeten the deal.  Obviously, it hadn’t been needed since none of them had jumped at the chance.
    Maybe they had too much on their mind to think about fucking at a time like this?  Maybe they weren’t as interested as she’d thought, or maybe she’d come across desperate or pitiful to them?
    She’d like to think not.
    If they’d been attractive to her before, that attraction had only intensified rather than dissipate with the knowledge of their tainted blood.  It wasn’t the animalistic nature of whatever it was that