Jaguar Fever hotj-2

by Terry Spear

  With her skin flushed, her body toned and tanned, she was beautiful. He didn’t think he’d ever seen a lovelier sight as they made love among the white bed linens. The mesh surrounding the bed created the feel of a screened pleasure dome in the jungle cottage. The monkeys howled in the rainforest as birds twittered, insects buzzed, and a gentle fall of rain pattered on the thatched roof.

  Breathing hard, their skin covered in light perspiration, he sped up his thrusts, digging into the soft mattress with his heels. He felt her climax drawing near, the tension in her body, and the shudders of her core clenching around his cock and rocketing with orgasm. She groaned with pleasure, and he reveled in the sound of her passionate response.

  Before he came, he quickly rolled her over onto her back and continued to pump into her, kissing that sweet mouth of hers and reveling in the scent and the feel of her. He wanted the sweet ecstasy of joining with her to last forever. For the moment, she was his, body and soul, and he didn’t want to give her up for anything or anyone.

  Wade moved Maya’s legs over his shoulders for deeper penetration, and she loved it. Loved him. As their hearts pounded like the steady beat of the rain on the roof, he rubbed his body against hers, covering her with his scent, claiming her. Thrusting into her with his face taut with concentration, he drove into the very core of her.

  The heated look in his gaze intensified as he captured her mouth with his, plunging in with his tongue. She was lost to him, despite wanting to keep some semblance of balance. To keep her heart intact. But how could she when this felt so right? So perfect? So damned good?

  He ground his body against hers and twisted, the sensation of him buried deep inside of her making her want more… making her need more.

  He whispered her name against her lips, a half groan, desperate and resolute. Her hands swept down his back, feeling his muscles hard at work as he pleasured her and pleasured himself.

  Her touch seemed to propel him on as he thrust deeper into her. Her lips parted as she tried to catch her breath, the sensation of him rubbing against her clit pushing her to the edge. As if he saw her open mouth as an invitation, he licked her lips, then thrust his tongue into her mouth again with feral abandon.

  With primal need, she felt the erotic sensation of his tongue pushing into her mouth, casting her over the edge again, and she cried out his name, her word absorbed by the wild jungle sounds all around them.

  His eyes were nearly black as he drove into her again and again. Then with one final plunge, he groaned his satisfaction, his warm seed filling her. He lay there quietly for a moment on top of her, breathing hard, capturing her, not making a move to let her go.

  Some part of her reveled in that notion, and for now, she gave herself up freely to the sensation.

  Feeling satiated and drowsy, she dropped her legs away from his shoulders, his cock still buried in her as he licked her breast, then took her taut nipple between his teeth and teased it with a gentle nibble, as if he wasn’t quite ready to let her go yet. Then he kissed the top of her head.

  “Maya,” he said finally with the utmost tenderness, and she felt the tears collect in her eyes again. Bettinger could have killed him.

  Wade gazed into her eyes, saw the tears gathered there, and brushed her cheek with his fingertips. “We’re all right, Maya.” He slid off her and took her into his arms. Together they snuggled in silence.

  Maya was annoyed with herself for falling apart over what could have happened. She wanted him to enjoy sex with her and to help relieve some of the tension she’d felt ever since she’d discovered the trouble he was in. The danger all of them had been in.

  She hadn’t meant to get all teary-eyed over it when they first began kissing. Or now, all over again. She loved his gentleness when he seemed to understand and hadn’t pushed her away. Ha! He’d conquered her, making her feel desired above all else, forcing her to reconsider seeing anyone other than him. She had to admit he was doing one hell of a job of convincing her!

  * * *

  Wade let out his breath. “I wanted to be close to you again like this, but not at peril to you, Maya, which was why I’d fought staying away from you—unsuccessfully.”

  She smiled a little.

  “Whenever I couldn’t find the shifters who were trying to capture a jaguar, I slipped off the beaten path to find you and your family.” He stroked her arm. “I told myself I did so to watch your backs, which was true to an extent, but… I loved seeing the three of you as jaguars at play. It reminded me of my brother and me.” He chuckled. “You and Kat would both gang up on Connor as he was nosing around at the scents on the ground and suddenly tackle him, and I had to stifle the urge to laugh out loud.”

  She smiled up at him. “You should have joined us.”

  Instead, Wade had envisioned himself being the alpha male and deliciously tormented by two female cats. What he wouldn’t have given to be the one Maya was pouncing on, playing with, growling, batting, and biting. But he hadn’t wanted her in danger. He took a deep breath and kissed the top of her head again.

  “You never said what happened to your father,” Maya said, her fingers making little circles on his chest.

  “He finally came to terms with his grief, realized his sons were gone, then sought to reunite with us. He’s proud of what we do but still regretting that he’d left us to our own devices when our mother was killed.” Wade combed his fingers through Maya’s satiny hair, loving the feel of it, loving the feel of her, loving the way she touched him.

  “Hmm, I seem to recall there was some mention of the two of you getting yourselves into hot water,” she murmured.

  Wade caressed her shoulder, stroking her soft skin and smiling reminiscently. He chuckled a little.

  “So?” she said.

  “Nothing that bad. Okay, so one time we took it upon ourselves to leap off a bridge.”

  “As humans or jaguars?”

  “Humans. As jaguars, we would have gotten into a lot more trouble.”

  “I take it you weren’t injured,” she said, looking up at him with those golden eyes that could stop his thoughts as he gazed into their crystal depths.

  “No, but the third time, we got caught.”

  She shook her head. “You’d think you’d learn.”

  “We didn’t get caught the other times.”

  “And after you got caught? You didn’t do it again, did you?”

  “Not at that bridge.”

  She chuckled. “I can see that you and your brother have an incorrigible streak.”

  “That’s what our boss said when he took us on, but he said he was still hopeful he’d knock it out of us.”

  She laughed. “What else?”

  “Are you sure you want to hear any more?”

  “Yeah, I’d like to know what I’m getting into.”

  Wade chuckled. “I think I could really fall for you.” He already had. Any woman who would come to his rescue without regard for her own safety had to be the one for him. How many jag shifters could claim they had a woman like that in their corner?

  She smiled up at him, her eyes gazing into his, and she wasn’t pulling away from him. Maybe she thought he was kidding.

  “All right. Then there was the time David and I needed to withdraw some money from the bank, but he wouldn’t come in because one of the bank tellers had the hots for him and he was afraid of her. So he sent me in instead. Guy at the next teller handed a deposit slip to her, and her skin turned pasty. The guy growled under his breath, ‘Do it.’”

  “He was attempting to rob the bank?” Maya asked, wide-eyed.

  “Yeah. I could have used David’s help. I glanced around to see if anyone else might be with this guy, and sure enough, another man was standing near the door, watching a security guard and looking nervous, his hand tucked in his jacket like Napoleon.”

  “You shouldn’t have done anything. All they wanted was the money. Right?”

  “Right. And I wouldn’t have done anything heroic, worrying s
omeone might get killed. Me, even. The robber near me growled, ‘Now, lady, or you’re dead.’ About that time, my brother walked into the bank. I thought he believed I was taking too long, but I should have known better.”

  “He knew.”

  “Yeah, saw the getaway car, called the police, and came in to help me, in case I planned any heroics. I really didn’t.”

  She smiled, looked down at his chest, and ran her fingers over his ribs with a featherlight touch. “I can’t imagine that.”

  “Well, I thought about it, sure. But with just one of me and two of them, it was too risky. Now there were two of them. And two of us. David was close to the guy by the door. I was close to the one demanding the money. I shouted, ‘Now, David!’ Then I lunged for the guy near me, taking him down. He hit his head hard on the waxed tile floor, knocking himself out. Women screamed. Men yelled. The security guard shouted, ‘Hold it right there!’ He was waving a gun at David and the man he’d tackled, taking the guy to the floor. Police got the getaway driver and the two would-be bank robbers. As soon as David was standing, the teller who had the hots for him was all over him. I almost felt bad for him, considering he’d come in to save my butt.”

  Maya laughed. “You’re so bad.”

  “Yeah, it was his fault he’d used his charm on her earlier, though. We were given an award for citizens’ heroics and Martin had heard enough. We didn’t know anything about him and his organization or that he’d been following our shenanigans with interest. We were either being taken in by the police or doing police work. He wanted us to work for him, or else. So we agreed.”

  She didn’t say anything for a moment, just resettled her head against his chest, her fingers tracing a circle around his nipple. “He’s damn lucky to have you.”

  “God, Maya,” Wade said, hugging her close, hating that Maya had been in such danger and he couldn’t protect her. “Bettinger could have injured you, killed you. I’m sorry I got you involved in this.”

  She shook her head. “You were always there for us… for Kat and Connor and me. Why shouldn’t we have helped you this time?”

  He snorted. “Because I was supposed to be doing my job. What did Connor say to you last night about the whole fiasco?” He figured Connor would have said plenty.

  “He was angry and told me not to get near you.” She smiled up at Wade with the most sinfully seductive look.

  He chuckled, threading his fingers through her hair. “You didn’t listen to him.” He swept his hand over her bare arm.

  She ran her fingers over Wade’s chest with a tender touch, making his blood heat. “I don’t always listen to what my brother tells me to do or not to do.”

  A rapping at the patio door made Wade’s heart skip a beat. He peered through the gauzy mesh surrounding the bed and saw a shadowy figure at the back door, hidden by the drapes.

  Chapter 16

  “Connor?” Maya whispered, pulling away from the bed and Wade. The figure was definitely a male as tall as he was, and Wade was instantly on guard. “You stay in bed,” she said, grabbing a white terry-cloth robe off a chair and pulling it on.

  Wade wasn’t sitting still, despite what she wanted. He quickly left the bed to protect her in case it wasn’t Connor, watching her move down the stairs and through the living room, ready to shift into his much more protective jaguar form.

  She pushed the curtain aside before she opened the door, then turned and, smiling, said to Wade, “It’s your brother. And it looks like he brought us a late breakfast.”

  Wearing khakis and a light-blue shirt, David stood grinning at the door.

  Relieved to see his brother and not Connor—or one of the bad guys—Wade snagged a towel out of the bathroom and tucked it around his waist, then joined them in the living room. “What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be getting your half of the bad guys.”

  David chuckled as he carried in the tray of food, kissing Maya briefly on the cheek, then setting the tray down on the coffee table. “Compliments of your brother and me, Maya.”

  “You spoke to my brother?” Maya asked, her brows furrowed.

  “Yeah. I couldn’t find Wade and got worried. Then I figured if he was goofing off again, he might be here.”

  Wade smiled a little at his brother and shook his head.

  “I ran into your brother and his wife as they were on their way to breakfast. I assumed that the three of you had brought Wade back here.”

  “Yeah, not of my own choice,” Wade said as he sat down next to Maya and looked at the food on the tray. An omelet made his stomach rumble with hunger. French toast made of Creole bread had been prepared for Maya.

  Shaking his head, David sat down on the couch opposite them and glanced at Maya sitting in her robe. “Coming back here with Maya,” he said, then glanced at the bed and again at Maya, “would have been my choice if I’d been you.”

  “Believe me, you would not have wanted to go through what I did to end up here.”

  “Thanks, David. What a treat.” Maya smiled warmly at him.

  “I was worried when you didn’t rendezvous with me at the appointed hour back at our cabana, Wade,” David said, watching him eat.

  “Sorry about that.”

  David frowned. “I knew you had to be in trouble.”

  Maya looked up from taking another bite of her French toast. “Connor and Kat came to our rescue and we came straight back here.”

  David ground his teeth. “Okay… When Mylar and Bettinger didn’t return to the cabana last night, Lion Mane and Smith were pretty shook up about it. Lion Mane knew we had searched the cabana, and he discovered the tranq darts and the scent of the female jaguar in the jungle. No sign of the guns or the men. No sign of the jaguars—you or the female. Lion Mane was sniffing at the scents left behind by Maya—who Lion Mane knew—and Kat and Connor, who none of us knew. He located the scents of Mylar and Bettinger, and the river where their scents ended.”

  “You followed them to the site?” Wade asked.

  “Yeah. I was trailing them when they returned to the cabana and discovered we’d been there. Then they returned to the rainforest to find the others. I guessed that they were supposed to meet back at the cabana, but like you and I meeting, it didn’t happen.”

  “So what do we do now?” Maya licked her fingers.

  Both Wade and his brother watched her tongue sliding over her fingers. Wade knew what he wanted to do. Take her back to bed.

  David cleared his throat. “Um, this is a Special Forces mission.”

  She snorted. “You wouldn’t be sitting here talking to Wade if I hadn’t helped out a little.”

  Wade and his brother shared looks.

  “She’s right,” Wade said, finishing his omelet.

  “So, what’s our next move?” She sat back against the couch, folding her arms. When neither brother said anything, she let her breath out in exasperation. “Okay, look, if David didn’t take down Lion Mane, the guy knows I’m in on this with the two of you. He’ll also know that Kat and Connor are involved. He might want revenge, or he might decide things are getting too hot for him and leave. Or, he might risk going after the female jaguar again since he’s already put this much effort into it and still wants the money. In any event, we’re all involved in this now.”

  “Connor mentioned taking you and Kat home early,” David said, his tone cautious.

  Her mouth pursed as she raised her brows at him.

  He shrugged. “Kat wouldn’t hear of it unless you wanted to go home, too.”

  “No, I don’t want to go home yet. If this guy wants revenge, he could drop by our garden nursery anytime. If he wants to go after the cat, the more of us there are to stop him, the better,” Maya said.

  David turned to Wade. “If you don’t keep her for yourself, I’m not guaranteeing she’s going to be free much longer.”

  Maya smiled and cast a glance in Wade’s direction, but not before he could wipe the scowl off his face.

  “Since Lion Man
e knows about all of us, I assume it would be better if we all stayed at the same resort tonight,” David said.

  “There wouldn’t be enough room at the cabana we’re staying at. Enough beds, but not enough rooms for privacy,” Wade said. He smiled at David.

  Maya slid her hand over Wade’s towel-covered thigh. If she did much more, she was going to get a rise out of him.

  “So what were you thinking?” Wade asked his brother, taking hold of her hand and pulling her close. He tucked her soft, terry-cloth-robed body securely underneath his arm.

  “A couple is moving out of their cottage this morning. You and I could stay there. I already reserved the place, just in case.”

  “Okay, sounds good. We’ll figure out sleeping arrangements later.” Wade kissed the top of Maya’s head. As long as Maya was agreeable, he intended to stay with her here until she left for home.

  “You know we’re leaving the day after tomorrow?” Maya said. “So we only have today and tomorrow to stop these men.”

  On her schedule. But not on David’s and his.

  “I managed to tell Martin I found you safe here,” David said. “The main lodge here has really spotty reception, but I got through. I told him about Bettinger and Mylar. He wanted to know if you learned who the buyer was before Bettinger died.”

  Maya spoke up before Wade could say anything. “Bettinger had the gun and was asking all the questions while Wade was a jaguar at the time. So no, Wade didn’t have a chance to ask him who he was working for. But Wade is alive and I figure that ought to count for something.”

  David smiled at Maya. “Martin better not cross claws with you. He’s fine with it, only because Lion Mane is still running around. I sent him a picture of the dude to see if Martin might be able to learn who he is. As to Bill Bettinger, he said the man had a wife and two kids.”

  A knock at the front door gave Maya a start.

  “Maya, are you finished with breakfast yet?” Connor asked through the door. “We need to talk.”

  Looking guilty as sin, Maya jumped up from the couch.