To Handle A Hellcat (Southern Sanctuary Book 12)

by Jane Cousins

  “Hey, calm down.”

  “Calm down?” Darcy hissed, her voice sounding slightly muffled in the darkness of the heavy duty canvas net. “Some bimbo wearing a palm bikini who thinks mud is sunscreen shows up in my Sanctuary and co-opts my trap, and you expect me to calm down?”

  “You don’t know Copper had anything to do with this.” Declan pointed out reasonably.

  “Please, the whole thing reeks of her. I saw the mud smeared on the anchor tree. You don’t find that shade of dirt around here. No, you only find it in the rain forest, where that primitive throwback bitch has holed up.”

  “She’s not that bad.” Declan felt Darcy go very still in his arms. Crap, what had he said wrong?

  “You know Copper Yanez?”

  “Well, yeah. Elijah wanted me to practise my negotiation skills so he sent me out to talk to her. To try and convince her to leave his property and move in to town.”

  Darcy started laughing, but the amusement felt hollow as an unfamiliar spear of raging icy anger pierced her gut. Elijah had used Declan as bait? Huh, and she’d been right about Declan’s standards being high. “You’re fucking a Goddess?”

  “What? No. We just talked. She’s a stubborn thing. Holds a grudge like you wouldn’t believe.”

  Darcy ground her teeth. Typical Boy-scout, seeing the good in every one. “Well, you must have caught her eye. She’s been tracking you, seen you come out this way, and decided to commandeer my trap to capture you.”

  “I don’t think so. We really did just talk.”

  “Please, you talk and flutter those gorgeous eyes and a woman’s knees melt.” Darcy strained, standing on Declan’s boots, reaching up, her fingers finding the edges of the netting and the knot… oh, oh, that bloody tree-dwelling heifer had changed the knot… her knot!

  Declan bit back on a moan as Darcy’s breasts pressed up hard against his chest. Whoa, alone in the dark, with this woman in his arms, it was a dream come true. Except for the whole stuck in a giant canvas net suspended some thirty feet in the air part of the equation. “What are you doing?”

  “Tarzan’s bitch girlfriend changed the knot. There’s no way I can undo this from here. Shit. Okay, time for you to whip out that large sword of yours and have at it.” Reluctantly Darcy lowered her arms to Declan’s shoulders, hooking her hands around his warm, bare neck.

  There was complete silence for a moment before Declan repeated Darcy’s words back to her in a low, sexy, growly voice. “You want me to whip out my large sword and have at it?”

  Things low in Darcy’s body sizzled and caught fire. Suddenly she was very aware of the fact that she was in Declan’s arms, wedged up against him. His hard chest pressing against her breasts, his large hands around her waist, all but resting on her butt. The lower half of his body plastered against hers.

  “Don’t say it like that. I just meant you’re the wannabe Enforcer here, sword always at the ready. Time to start living up to the code. It’s going to be a drop, but we can use the netting to lower ourselves down once you’ve sliced it up a little.”

  “You’re forgetting one important factor, I’m afraid. For the first two days of the field exam, the apprentice isn’t allowed to carry a weapon.”

  “Damn.” Darcy released a deep exasperated breath. Regretting it almost immediately as her breasts thrust harder against rock solid, defined pectoral muscles.

  “Yeah, damn.” But Declan didn’t sound all that put out. If anything, he sounded kind of amused and… hmm, their lower halves were plastered together, was he turned on? Honestly, the man could get horny in the midst of a shark attack.

  Darcy’s breath caught in the back of her throat as one of Declan’s thumbs grazed along the skin of her lower back. The skeezy bastard had snuck his hand up under the hem of her bustier. “What…?”

  “Handcuffs, useless.” Declan’s thumb traced along the waistband of her skirt. “Three throwing stars on the left.” His thumb was leaving trails of molten heat in its wake as it headed back the way it came. “Hmm, and on the right, three miniature makibishi.”

  “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Crap, her voice had come out slightly breathier than she intended.

  “Looking for your knife.”

  She could all but hear the laughter in Declan’s voice, it made it easier for Darcy to tap into her rage rather then descend into a puddling mess. “You could have just asked.”

  “Now, where would be the fun in that?” His thumb travelled from one hip to the other. “I’m guessing the belt is some kind of whip?”

  “Laser. But we’re in too close a quarters to activate it, unless you are volunteering to lose a body part?”

  “Nah, wouldn’t want to endanger my large sword.”

  Darcy snorted loudly in derision then found herself sucking in a deep, surprised breath as suddenly Declan’s cheek was snuggled against hers and his large warm hands were travelling down over her butt, flipping up her skirt and encircling both her bare thighs. “Now, what do you think you are doing?”

  “Looking...” Declan struggled to hunch over a little more, burying his warm mouth against the sensitive skin of Darcy’s neck. “… for that knife still.”

  Darcy huffed an impatient sigh then regretted it, given their current situation. “It’s in my… hey, did you just bite me?” Channel the anger, do not get turned on, channel the anger.

  “It was just a little nip, and don’t tell me where the knife is, I’m enjoying the hunt.”

  Darcy all but stood on her tip toes as Declan undid the ribbon holding up her left pull-up stocking and dipped inside, tracing warm fingers across her bared flesh.

  Oh Goddess, more trails of liquid, molten heat blazed across her skin. Do not melt. Remember who you are dealing with here, the Lurve God… the destroyer of innocence… the man who had to do little more than bat his eyelashes twice and women flocked to his side, all too eager and willing to do his bidding. He collected worshippers like she collected speeding fines.

  “Stop that.” Darcy hissed in the darkness, gritting her teeth.

  “Sorry, what was I thinking?” His mouth so snug against the side of her neck that when he spoke it was almost like he was pressing soft, searing kisses into her flesh. “These stocking are way too delicate to hold any weaponry.”

  He straightened and for a moment Darcy was disappointed, which was insane. Only for the breath to leave her body completely as one of his large hands moved up to cup her butt and he lifted her… one handed, pulling her higher and higher still, her hardened nipples raking paths up the front of his t-shirt. However it was the play of his breath now over her cleavage that was the real cause for concern. “What the hell?”

  “Ah, that make things much easier to access.” Declan practically crowed as he leant into her, all but burying his nose in the valley between Darcy’s breasts. “If I die right now.” Declan’s heated breath scorched the sensitive skin across her upper breasts. “I want a plaque with a very detailed description of how it happened, and the word Hero, should be repeated embarrassingly often.”

  Darcy didn’t have a lot of options to inflict physical pain on Declan, given the claustrophobic space but she could grab a large hank of his hair and give it a good, hard, vicious yank. “Stop that.”

  Declan ignored the little love tug and thrust a hand down her right boot. “Got it.”

  “Not that one, Heathcliff. The other boot, the butterfly knife, next to the plastic shiv.”

  Declan chuffed a laugh right into Darcy’s cleavage. “This one?” His fingers played over a hilt.

  “No, that’s the k-bar, a little more to the left.” Darcy bit down on the squeal that threatened to erupt as Declan’s fingers danced lightly across her inner thigh. “Your left, Idiot. There, that’s the one.” She fought the urge to sigh deeply in relief, given where Declan’s nose was currently planted, that wouldn’t be prudent.

  It felt like a millennium before Declan managed to extract the knife and stand up straight once more.


  “You can put me down now.” Darcy advised tersely.

  “What, oh, sure.”

  As she settled back down, her boots resting on top of his, the lower halves of their bodies one more plastered together, Darcy would have had to be an imbecile not to note how excited Declan had become. Honestly, this man, any woman would do. He was worse than a stag in heat. It wasn’t personal, she had to remember that.

  She expected him to make some sort of skeezy comment or for him to rub up against her but all Declan did was push at the canvas at her back to make some room and carefully open the butterfly knife.

  “It’s your trap, where’s the best place to cut?”

  Darcy appreciated his asking, some Enforcers would have already began slashing away by now, potentially sentencing them to a thirty-foot painful drop on their heads. “Waist height is good. Make a cut just wide enough for us to squeeze through, then we can climb down the outside of the netting, hang, and drop. Although, if this was one of my level-two traps, I’d usually lay down spikes beneath it, in that case the wisest course of action would be to scale the netting and then climb down the tree.”

  “Smart.” Declan sounded genuinely admiring of her skill-set.

  Not that Darcy cared one little iota what Captain Tight-jeans thought. As she struggled to turn around in his arms, snuggling her butt against his front, the hardness of his arousal searing into her. It meant nothing. Any woman, any female of the species would illicit this reaction. It was no more than a conditioned response on Declan’s part. He was Pavlov’s dog, and all women were the bell.

  As Declan sawed away at the netting, he was torn between savouring this moment and chewing at the canvas with his bare teeth and throwing Darcy through the hole. Teasing her was one thing, but it was a double edged sword when he felt like any moment he might explode and embarrass the hell out of himself.

  Control. Control. He had almost twenty-eight years of iron control to tap into. He would not buckle now. Except, this was Darcy Montgomery. His kryptonite. Goddess, the feel of her, the smell of her, the taste of her still lingering on his lips. He sawed quicker, if he didn’t get some distance from her soon then he was going to… the sharp elbow to his gut helped a lot.

  “That’s wide enough.” Darcy snapped, if he cut too far the whole net might tear, plunging them entangled and encumbered by the net to the ground.

  Lifting a leg, Darcy thrust her boot out through the cut, excellent, body next, ducking and sliding through, taking her first deep, clear breath in what felt like ages. It might have been petty but she couldn’t resist sinking the heel of her boot still inside the net sharply into Declan’s calf, using him for leverage to push off of and completely escape the trap.

  “Ouch. Fucking hell.” Declan’s leg blazed for a moment, but damn, at least the pain helped clear his head and knock his arousal level back to half-mast, where it usually sat when he was around Darcy. But he was used to that, he could manage that level.

  Darcy found herself grinning as she clambered down the netting, Declan’s pain was a soothing balm after all that close quarters contact. Not that he’d gotten to her.

  Okay, so her skin where he’d touched her still felt raw and too sensitive. And that bite on her throat was throbbing in time with her heartbeat. But that was nothing more than adrenalin. And she was only human and he was a practised seducer of the rankest level.

  Declan Benavidez could probably outsell the Karma Sutra if he ever chose to record his many and varied conquests over the years. The man had so many women chasing after him it was a wonder he didn’t get a revolving door at his cottage.

  Darcy smirked at the idea of the revolving door getting stuck due to the number of bodacious babes toing and froing. Hmm, maybe they could install it and use it to generate energy, it would have the potential to power the entire Sanctuary. Huh, she was so funny, but so few people appreciated her wit, it was a crime.

  While Declan escaped the net, Darcy took a moment to check on the position of her other traps and when nothing seemed awry with them she approached the Altar. Made of solid mud, the Earth Altar looked as if it had been carved out of dark marble. Vines wrapped around the supporting columns and a blanket of velvety soft black daisies covered the flat, waist-high top. Darcy poked around, looking for any recent disturbances, nothing.

  Next she moved to the Portal on the left of the Altar, skimming her hand lightly across the surface. The power flow was normal, the Portal itself was in stand-by mode and the last time anyone had used it was… two and half weeks ago. Moving to the Portal on the right, she conducted the same test. Even longer since this Portal had been accessed. Damn.

  She turned and contemplated the sight of Declan standing underneath the net, waiting patiently for her to finish her examination. His wheat coloured hair was delightfully tousled and that stupid mysterious breeze was working overtime to gently blow free any leaf and twig debris caught up in his silky locks.

  Declan’s t-shirt had somehow gotten ripped, and that annoying breeze was determinedly pushing back the edges of the material, revealing defined abs and a rock hard ribcage. A sudden fierce ray of sunshine spotlighting him, caressing his alabaster skin, making it glow with life and look all too touchable.

  Bloody wind. Stupid sunshine working in conjunction with it. Darcy grunted her annoyance as she strode past him. “Come on, Princess, this was a waste of time.”

  Declan grinned, falling in behind Darcy, very happy to watch the back of her short skirt twitch and sway as she blasted back down the path towards the car park. He was getting under her skin, he was sure of it. It was there in the set of her jaw, and the way those ice blue eyes seared through him, promising an up close and personal death if he ever dared cross that invisible line she had drawn around herself again.

  He could totally deal with the up close and personal, now he just had to work out how to avoid the death part of the equation. Still. Mission control, this is team leader, we have successfully launched. I repeat, we have successfully launched. To Handle a Hellcat is a go.

  Chapter Four

  Darcy was having a really nice daydream. She was holding down Copper Yanez, feral Goddess, and using a cheese grater to scrape off all the mud the woman slathered herself with as part of her habitual tree camouflage. Of course cheese graters could be a tricky tool and she wasn’t just removing mud. There was a lot of blood and a fair amount of screaming. The best kinds of daydreams always had both. Darcy found them soothing.

  “I’ve just been checking the Enforcer schedule.”

  Grrr, and there went the daydream. Declan really was irritating. She could practically feel his eyes glued to her ass. And she, being who she was, couldn’t resist giving her hips a little added twist. Yeah, see and suffer, Casanova.

  Darcy glanced back over her shoulder to find Declan’s focus purely on the phone in his hand. Damn, it had been a waste of a hip twitch. And hey, what the hell? Was her ass not worthy of his undivided attention? She was upgrading him from irritating to aggravating. “And?”

  “And guess who was up next on the schedule to check the traps at the Earth Altar? Elijah.”

  A small, unwanted, sliver of respect for Copper reared its head. Damn, she kind of admired someone who could hold on so tenaciously to a grudge. The self declared Goddess had been a literal thorn in Elijah’s butt from the moment he had hauled her unwilling ass back from the past.

  Darcy was annoyed to find some of her anger levelling off. She could understand where Copper was coming from, and even admire her tenacity and ingenuity. Even if the bitch did appropriate one of her own traps for nefarious purposes.

  “I kind of wish we hadn’t tripped it.” Declan mused, slipping his phone into his back pocket.

  Darcy eyed a branch that looked like it was going to take a swipe at her eyes, but with Declan so close on her heels it held off on attacking. “It wouldn’t have mattered. No way Elijah would have fallen for it. He’d have seen the mud smeared on the tree truck and noticed the leaves
were too evenly distributed. Just like I did.” She shot Declan a quick glare over her shoulder. “And I wouldn’t have been caught either, if you hadn’t been standing so close.”

  “Hmm, so you find me… distracting?”

  “You give yourself too much credit.” Darcy scoffed.

  “Unsettling?”

  “Hah.”

  “Discombobulating?”

  “Oh, big word… and no. You, Declan Benavidez, barely impinge on my consciousness in any way, shape or form, other than as an aggravating burden.”

  “Aggravating, huh?”

  And why did he sound so damn pleased by her admission? The man’s brain had to be all but liquefied due to over-heating. Given all the flocks of women that threw themselves at him on a daily basis, his libido must be stuck on permanent overload.

  A trio of kookaburras chose that moment to emit their laughing cry, and Darcy had the uncanny feeling their source of amusement was her.

  Grrr, she’d been off her game today. It had to be the bodacious babe’s sob-fest in her office first thing this morning. She found tears so damn confusing. Why did people leak? Nell had tried to explain the reasoning a multitude of times but Darcy just couldn’t get it. If you were upset, why didn’t you just wreck vengeance on the person who’d made you feel that way? It always worked for her.

  Speaking of payback. Declan had essentially groped her while they’d been trapped in the net. Nah, grope was the wrong word, not elegant enough for what Declan had done. Copped a feel? No, that had sleazy overtones. Declan’s questing hands and mouth had been more teasing, provoking and… playful.

  Playful? No one but a complete idiot played with Darcy Montgomery. Which really did prove that the man was mentally impaired, lacking in common sense and good judgement.

  Still, Darcy pondered her list of possible payback options. Discarding each and every one. Damn, she was forgetting one important factor. He was, at least in name, family. And you didn’t cross family members, unless you were willing to risk the wrath of the Great-Greats, the Greats, the Uncles, the Aunts, and all the cousins.