“Eating, playing.” He held up his arm, showing her a long red scratch from his elbow to his wrist. “Learning to wrestle.”
She shook her head. “I told you to wear gloves when you play with them. They do require social interaction, but there’s no need for you to pay for it with a pound of flesh.”
He grinned. “Social interaction? Faith, these are tiger cubs, not children.”
“They still have needs. As the surrogate parents, we have responsibilities that can’t be ignored. If we don’t take care of their social needs, they won’t be well adjusted enough to spend time with other tigers and breed.”
He scratched Little under the chin but stared at Faith. There was something about the expression in the gold-flecked eyes that made her want to squirm.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
“I was thinking that the snow leopards are very lucky cats.” She busied herself adjusting Sparky’s collar. “Don’t be maudlin.”
“I’m very serious. You’re a dedicated woman.”
“I’m still not sure I’m going to be able to pull this off.”
He dismissed her with a shrug. “You’ll open your center. You’ll find a way to get the money and handle the permits. I have every confidence in you.” Little nibbled on the buttons of his shirt. He pushed her away. She wiggled to get comfortable on his lap and shifted onto her back, exposing her white belly. Cort rubbed her soft fur and skin, making her squirm with pleasure. Bright blue eyes blinked sleepily. She grabbed his hand in her front paws and gnawed on his thumb.
Faith stared at the small cub and fought down fierce jealousy. Cort handled the baby and her needs with a combination of competence and affection that left her breathless. She wouldn’t have thought one of Jeff’s warriors would so easily adapt to the ways of the real world.
She smiled and glanced around at her dilapidated office, at the compound visible through the window and the black leopard sitting at her feet. Okay, so maybe this wasn’t a normal situation, but it was much more domestic than he was used to. Perhaps his ability to adapt was what made him so good at his job. To think about tying him down would be as cruel and inhuman as caging a wild panther or snow leopard. Only domesticated creatures belonged in polite society. Even if he had been emotionally available to her, she couldn’t, in good conscience, chain him to a life of mortgage payments and dinner at six.
Foolish dreams. He wasn’t available to her. And she wasn’t the kind of woman who could hold a man. Her own father hadn’t loved her enough to stick around, and she’d been his only child.
Sparky flicked his tail and stared into her eyes. “You love me, don’t you, baby,” she said softly. He rumbled deep in his throat and shot the cub a malicious stare.
“Where’s Ken?” Cort asked. “I haven’t seen him in a couple of days.”
She hesitated. “It’s probably nothing, but I just got off the phone with his roommate. They haven’t seen him, either.”
Cort straightened in his chair. The quick movement caused the cub to roll onto her side. She mewed her protest, but he didn’t notice. “What do you mean they haven’t seen him? He’s missing?”
Faith shook her head. “No. Nancy, his girlfriend, had an assignment in Las Vegas. His roommates think Ken went with her, and I agree. It’s not the first time he’s taken off without saying anything to me.”
Cort reached forward and grabbed the phone from her desk. He pulled it toward him.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Calling the police.”
She bit her lower lip. “Jeff had already checked out the guest list, and everyone was cleared. The guards checked ID at the gate. No one tried anything funny. I find it hard to believe one of the guests is involved with stealing the cubs.”
“Maybe one of your guests wasn’t who he pretended to be. There was no John Smith at the party, but we don’t know the guy’s real name. Or if he used a stolen invitation to get in.”
She hadn’t thought of that. “Is Ken in danger?”
Cort’s call connected and he didn’t answer her. He spoke to the local police and explained Ken might be missing. They agreed to contact the authorities in Las Vegas and try to locate Ken’s girlfriend.
“Now what?” Faith asked when he hung up.
“Now we wait. I want—”
A knock on the door interrupted him. One of the security guards stuck his head in her office. “Cort, Andy told me to let you know the trailer’s arrived. They’re setting it up beside the Big House.”
“That’s fine.” He motioned for the man to come in the room and handed him his walkie-talkie. “I want to change the frequency on these today. Tell Andy when he’s done, I want to see him. We may have a missing employee.”
The man stepped forward cautiously. He was in his late twenties, shorter than Cort by several inches and not nearly as muscular. He kept his pale eyes fixed on Sparky. When he reached out to take the equipment, the leopard raised his nose and sniffed. Before Faith could grab him, he spun on his huge paws and roared at the security guard. The man turned white and started to run. The tiger cub jumped at the sound and tried to bury herself in Cort’s belly.
“Freeze,” Cort commanded.
The man froze.
Sparky flinched slightly, and Faith cuffed him on the shoulder. “Mind yourself,” she told the leopard.
The cub stared up at Cort, not sure which way to run. He picked her up in one hand and pulled her against his chest. “Sorry, Little,” he said, petting her reassuringly. After studying him for several seconds, she mewed and nestled against this chin.
The guard stood trembling by the door. Cort rose and faced him. “Never run from the leopard. He won’t hurt you unless you provoke him.”
The guard nodded, looking unconvinced. Cort handed him the walkie-talkie. “You can go now.”
The man left without saying a word.
Cort took his seat and shook his head. “You’re going to have to keep Sparky chained up.”
“I won’t.”
“Faith, if I hadn’t been here, the guard would have shot him.”
She touched Sparky’s back protectively. “How do you know?”
“His hand was resting on his holster. It’s an instinct. The men here are trained to react to danger. They perceive a large black leopard as danger. If nothing else, letting him roam free distracts them.”
“I can’t keep him chained up twenty-four hours a day. That’s cruel.”
“Let him roam this building at night, if you want. But other than that, he can only go out on a leash.”
“I hate these changes,” she said. “There are too many strangers here. There are cars running around the compound. The cats are restless. It’s not good for them. This morning when I spoke to Jeff, he said he’d have the cubs moved by the end of the week. That’s only four more days. What can happen between now and then? Is all this necessary?”
Cort leaned forward and placed the cub on her desk. “I didn’t question you about your instructions regarding the cubs. Trust me to know my job and to do it right. I’m going to keep you and them safe.”
She sat back in her chair and drew one leg to her chest. “But six men? Is that necessary?”
“Two men per eight-hour shift isn’t excessive.”
The cub sniffed at the papers on her desk, then batted at a pen. It went flying off onto the floor. Little raced to the edge and looked down. Sparky turned toward the kitten. Their eyes met. Little arched her back, her hair raising on end, and spit wildly at the leopard, then ran to the In-basket and dove into a pile of papers.
Cort moved around the desk and stood in front of Faith. He held out his hand and pulled her to her feet. “What’s really the problem?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I’m out of sorts. Don’t I get to have a bad day?”
But it wasn’t the day at all, she thought glumly. It was the man. Time was ticking away. Her phone conversation with Jeff had upset her more than she’d rea
lized. Only four more days until the cubs were gone, and Cort with them. He was healthy now. He’d remembered most of his last mission. It was probably enough to get him cleared to go back to the field and do what he loved. But inside, deep in the place where dreams hid, she felt a restless longing. It was about more than being with him physically, although she wanted that, too. It was about caring for someone and having him care back.
“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?” he asked, staring into her eyes.
She reached out and touched the scar on his chin. The cut had healed completely, but the line from the corner of his mouth down across his chin still looked raw. He’d gained weight since he’d arrived and the hollows in his cheeks didn’t look so gaunt. He walked without a limp. Truly there was nothing to keep him with her.
“Faith?” His gold-flecked brown eyes filled with concern. A lock of hair tumbled onto his forehead. Broad shoulders blocked out most of the overhead light. He was every inch a powerful alpha male, and she wanted to be his mate.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
Something incredibly foolish, she told herself.
A loud squawk cut through the silence and drew her attention away from him. The tiger cub had jumped from the desk onto Sparky’s back. She clung tenuously, digging her claws into his fur. Sparky shook like a wet dog, trying to dislodge her, but every jerk of his body made her dig in more.
Faith started to laugh. Sparky glared at her and growled. Cort leapt toward the pair. Little howled. Cort accidentally snagged the chair with his foot and started to go down. Faith grabbed his arm with one hand and the chair back with the other. She felt herself being pulled forward, but couldn’t stop laughing. Sparky jumped toward them, knocking over the trash can in his haste. The metal container fell right where Cort stepped.
“Dammit, cat, get out of my way,” he grunted, jerking sideways to avoid the container and losing his balance. Sparky spun in a circle, trying to pull the cub from his back. Faith released her grip on Cort and fought to hold on to her balance. The chair fell to the ground. Sparky’s rear caught her behind her left knee and she went down, hitting her leg on the trash can and landing across Cort’s midsection.
The “ooph” of his sharply exhaled air whistled by her ear. As Sparky circled by, desperately trying to pull the tiger off by grabbing her tail, Faith reached for the cub. Little dug in one more time, then released her claws and scrambled against Faith. Sparky made a beeline for the corner and curled up in a tight ball beside the file cabinets.
Faith was still laughing. She pushed herself into a sitting position, using Cort’s stomach for leverage. He groaned as she pressed down against him. The cub slipped from her grasp and fell on Cort’s chest. There she promptly collapsed and mewed in his face.
“You okay?” Faith asked, gasping for breath. She moved off his legs and onto the floor.
“No.”
He sat up slowly, grabbing the cub by the scruff of her neck. Little instinctively curled up her back paws and looked expectantly at him as if saying, “Where are we going, Mom?”
Cort shook her gently. “You’re a pest.” Little meowed happily, and he dropped her onto his lap.
Faith leaned against her desk and surveyed the damage. Only the chair and the trash can had hit the floor. Not bad.
“Feeling better?” Cort asked.
“Yeah, I am. Are you going to tell me you planned that just to make me feel better?”
He shook his head. “No, but I’m glad you’re smiling again.”
She stared self-consciously at her lap. Cort leaned forward and placed his hand on the back of her neck. “Forget about all this,” he said. “Ken, the cubs, the security. You’ve done all you can. I’m going to put this monster in with her brother, then take Sparky for a leisurely walk around the compound. You head up to the Big House for a long, hot bath. I don’t want to see you back here for at least a couple of hours.”
He kneaded the tense muscles in her neck, and she leaned into the relaxing pressure. “Is that a direct order?”
“You bet. And I expect it to be obeyed.”
She told herself not to, but she couldn’t help looking at him mouth. Those firm lips had once claimed hers with an amazing passion. She still remembered the fiery need that had raced through her at the first touch of his tongue. Her fingers curled toward her palms as she recalled the feel of his hot skin and the tight curve of his buttocks. Would he join her in her bath?
Before she even thought about collecting the courage to issue an invitation, she pushed the fantasy aside. He’d already turned her down once. She wasn’t going to be foolish enough to ask a second time.
She stood up and reached for the cub. “I’ll put her away. You see to Sparky. Can you check his back and make sure she didn’t break the skin?”
“Not a problem.” He looked at the black leopard glaring at the tiger cub. “We’re buddies.”
She held Little close to her chest as she left. The small bundle of fur wasn’t enough to fill the ache she had inside. It would take a man in her life to make that need go away.
“Life is never fair,” she murmured to the kitten before tucking her into her cage. “And loving someone can be very dangerous.”
*
It was past midnight when Sparky padded into Cort’s room. Cort sensed more than heard the animal as he silently slipped through the blackness. Cort raised up on one elbow.
“What is it, boy? What do you hear?”
The leopard grunted low in his throat and left the room. For the second time in a week, Cort pulled on jeans and boots, then reached for his gun. After making sure the cubs were in their cage, he backed out of the room and locked it behind him. Sparky hovered close by, following when he went to wake Faith.
He pushed open her door. “Faith, I think I—” He stared at the empty bed. Where had she gone? He glanced down at the leopard, but Sparky simply stared back. After checking the other rooms in the building and making sure they were empty, he verified that the front door was locked, then stepped to the rear door leading out to the compound. Sparky butted his knee.
“No you don’t,” he told the leopard. “You’re staying in here. It would be too easy for one of the guards to accidentally shoot you.”
The leopard growled and tried to slip past him. Cort dragged him back to the office and secured him to the chain. Sparky glared his anger. Cort ignored him. “Nobody’s dying while I’m in charge,” he muttered. He collected his walkie-talkie as he moved past his room.
At the rear door, he looked through the glass before stepping into the night. As they had before, the cats paced silently in their cages.
He scanned the compound. The jeep wasn’t where it had been parked when he went to bed. One of the guards must have taken it on patrol. The rule was that the two guards on duty were never to leave the area together. Someone was to stay by the main building at all times. But he couldn’t see the second guard, or Faith. Yet someone was out there. He could feel it.
He spoke softly into the radio. The unit crackled, but there was no response. Low in his gut, a sense of unease grew. He spoke again. Still nothing. Cort chambered a round into the gun and put his thumb on the safety. He began moving toward the cages on the far side of the road to the Big House. He crouched low as he walked, constantly looking for signs of the intruder.
He was almost to the first cage when a flash of white caught his eye. He glanced up and saw Faith coming out from behind the habitat at the end, the one that housed the first of the two wild jaguars. He inched toward her and spoke her name. She turned toward him.
She wore black jeans and boots, but her white T-shirt made her visible in the night. He motioned for her to get down. She didn’t see the gesture and continued walking toward him. The hairs on the back of his neck bristled. He didn’t dare call out his instructions and alert whoever was out there.
Cort broke into a jog. A sixth sense caused him to look up ahead, where the compound bled into the trees. A glint of somethi
ng metal made his heart pound in his chest.
“Get down,” he called, not caring that the man behind her could hear him.
Faith stopped walking toward him and stared. “Down,” he yelled as he jumped toward her. She hesitated a second, then hit the ground. He landed on top of her, just as he heard the distinctive pop of a silenced gun firing. He didn’t bother waiting to catch his breath; he simply got to his feet, grabbed her arms and pulled her along with him, between the second and third habitats.
He counted six more shots fired at them as he and Faith came to a stop between an empty cage and one of the jaguars. The flatfaced cat growled and stuck its paw out by the front corner. Cort pulled Faith out of the way. He scrambled on his belly toward the walkway and fired into the bushes where the intruder had been.
The sound of his Beretta cut through the night. In the distance, he heard the trailer door bang open and the four other security guards run out toward the compound. Nothing stirred in the brush, and he knew the man was gone. Only then did he realize Faith hadn’t said a word to him. He returned to her side and touched her face. “Faith. Are you hurt?”
She didn’t answer. He pulled a penlight from his jeans pocket and shone it on her body. Blood seeped from her arm and collected in a pool on the ground.
Chapter 12
Faith’s eyes fluttered open. She blinked several times, then raised her hand to push the light away.
“Don’t move,” Cort said, grateful she was conscious. “I think you’ve been shot.”
“What?” She glanced down at her left arm. “Oh my God, I’m bleeding.”
“Is that the only place that hurts?” He began to feel along her legs, then moved up to her torso.
While he was running his hands along her thighs, she raised herself up to a sitting position and stared at her arm. “I can’t be shot. It doesn’t hurt that badly.”
“Shock,” he muttered, slipping his hands under her T-shirt. When his palm brushed her bare midsection, their eyes locked. Despite the danger, electricity raced between them. He forced himself to ignore the sensations and quickly explored her chest and back. “Seems to be the only injury,” he said, sitting back on his heels. “The bleeding is slowing.”
Tempting Faith Page 17
