Jaguar Fever hotj-2

by Terry Spear

  “If you hadn’t gone to the club in the first place, none of this would have happened.”

  Ignoring that, she said, “I had no idea Thompson was skulking around in our woods when it all happened. It’s really late, Connor. I’m going to bed.”

  Connor shook his head. “Hell. What next?” He plodded off to his bedroom and shut the door with a clunk.

  Maya thought about Wade and David. They wouldn’t get in until sometime tomorrow afternoon. She already wished he was in her bed tonight. She glanced at the recliner where he’d slept. It seemed like so much longer than a week ago.

  She peered out the kitchen window at the garden, which was peaceful tonight, and thought about her cousins fighting Bettinger in their jaguar forms. Watching the big cats fight in the garden, Thompson must have nearly had a heart attack. Served him right for spying on them. He wouldn’t be able to prove a thing of what he’d seen. Thankfully.

  Not that the whole situation should have ever happened in front of the human. They were just lucky he’d been alone. At least she hoped he had been.

  Grabbing her bag, she rolled it into her bedroom. She collapsed on her bed and pulled out her phone, then texted Wade.

  We’re home. Missing you already.

  She paused before she sent it. The message sounded too needy. Too personal. Too intimate. Too permanent. She erased Missing you already and tried to think of how to end it. She thought about mentioning Thompson, but that would only concern the brothers, and they were still in Belize City and unable to do anything about him.

  See you tomorrow evening at the club. Night.

  How to end it? Maya? Love, Maya? Too intimate. She sighed. She was overthinking it. Or TTYL, as in talk to you later. That could work.

  She stared and stared and stared at the message as if it would tell her how to sign off. Hell. She signed it: Maya.

  * * *

  “We have our marching orders,” Wade said to his brother as he put away his phone before boarding the plane.

  “Is Martin okay with us setting something up at the dance club?” David asked.

  They showed their boarding passes to the airline staff. “Yeah. He doesn’t want Kat there, though. With her being pregnant, if something goes wrong, he’s afraid she might be injured.”

  “Connor won’t want to leave Kat home alone, but he won’t want his sister in the fray, either.”

  David and Wade took their seats on the half-empty plane.

  “The good news is that Martin got hold of Maya’s cousins, Huntley and Everett. They’re arriving this afternoon. They’re going to help with our case,” Wade said.

  David smiled. “Whose idea was that?”

  “The brothers. Martin went along with it, but if he’d wanted to give them another case to work on instead, they weren’t buying it.”

  “Good. So… are they meeting us at the club or taking care of Kat?”

  As the plane took off, Wade leaned against the seat and closed his eyes. “They wanted to drop by the Andersons’ place, meet Kat and Connor, and bring Maya to the club if she’s willing.”

  “Are you going to dance with Candy if she’s there?”

  Wade opened his eyes and looked at his brother. “Now, how am I going to win Maya over if I’m chasing some human woman at a club?”

  David smiled at him. “Just thought you were up for the game of trying to learn more about Bettinger since he’d given her his real name and asked her out. Besides, maybe if you danced with Candy, Maya would change her mind about seeing other guys.”

  “Or be so annoyed with me that she would see only other guys.”

  David shook his head and ordered a cup of orange juice from the hostess.

  “Two,” Wade said, holding up two fingers.

  “Have Huntley or Everett heard back from their sister, Tammy?”

  Wade frowned at David. “Why? You’re not hoping to meet her, are you? She wouldn’t come to the club the first time because she was busy having a date with a human.”

  “No. Remember what the brothers said? They were having her look into the situation concerning the missing jaguar from the Oregon Zoo.”

  “Thompson,” Wade said, recalling the man who was searching for the stolen jaguar. “Hell. I forgot all about him. Connor will have a fit if the man bothers them when they get home.”

  “At least Connor won’t allow Thompson to badger Maya any further. Maybe Tammy’s got some good news. If she’s found the stolen jaguar, that’ll be the end of that problem. Besides, surely Thompson wouldn’t be hanging around all this time while the Andersons were in Belize, waiting for their return. Don’t you imagine he’d be off somewhere else looking for clues?”

  “Yeah.” Wade leaned his head against the seat. If Thompson had been a shifter, Wade would have liked him for his obvious concern for the missing jaguar. But because Thompson had targeted Maya, believing she had something to do with the stolen cat, Wade was ready to tear him apart if he harassed her any further.

  As if he was afraid to ask the most important question until last, David finally said, “Did you hear from Maya yet?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What’d she say?”

  Wade smiled at his brother.

  “Well? Was she all gushy? Saying she missed you terribly? Or is there hope for me yet?”

  Wade knew his brother was teasing him. He shook his head and drank his orange juice, but didn’t say. It was what Maya didn’t say that made him smile again.

  When they arrived in Houston, they got a rental car and drove to their hotel.

  Dumping his bag on the floor of the economy hotel room, Wade noted the two queen-sized beds with standard floral bedspreads, the television, writing desk, and black-out curtains for sleeping late. He checked his phone to see if he’d gotten any messages from Maya or Martin.

  “I’m taking a shower, then getting some sleep,” David said, “before we have dinner and go to the club.”

  “Just texting Maya to let her know that we’re here.”

  Maya,

  David and I arrived early. We’re staying at the Santa Anna Inn in Houston. Look forward to seeing you soon. Wade

  He heard the shower end.

  David walked out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel. “Did she respond?”

  “That had to be the quickest shower you have ever taken.”

  David usually used up all the hot water before Wade could take a shower when they shared a room. He wondered if David was afraid he’d miss out on hearing from Maya.

  “I wasn’t very dirty,” David said with a gleam of amusement shining in his eyes.

  “There was no response from her. She might be out checking on the garden.”

  Wade headed for the bathroom, and David pulled his phone out.

  “Don’t you text her, too,” Wade said, a warning in his voice. Before he closed the bathroom door, he saw his brother gave him an evil smile.

  Chapter 21

  That night, when Wade and his brother arrived at the club, Wade couldn’t help but look for Maya. Maybe he should have been more concerned about watching for Lion Mane, Candy, and whoever else might lead them to clues about the buyer, but Maya had been all he could think of since he left her at the airport yesterday afternoon. He half expected to see her and her hulking cousins, but there was no sign of her.

  “She can’t be here yet,” David said, bumping Wade’s arm as he motioned to an empty table. The club was filling up fast. “Huntley and Everett’s flight wouldn’t have arrived that early, and then they still had the drive out to her place. She won’t be here for another hour or so.”

  “We should have picked her up.”

  “They wanted to meet Connor or Kat. They’ll be here.”

  Wade hoped they’d all be more prepared tonight. Martin had checked out Houston and the surrounding communities for any other place that the buyer might go, but he’d concluded that as territorial as cats were, this was it. He’d also researched Thompson’s background and discovered
he had been rescuing animals from hunters from the time he was ten years old. He was definitely one of the good guys where wild animals were concerned. If the zoo man had been a jaguar shifter, Martin would have already recruited him.

  The music was playing and the drinks flowing while David and Wade spent more than three hours observing the crowd. Then Wade smelled Maya’s sweet fragrance and instantly stood up from his seat. Despite the mob, he glimpsed her headed in their direction.

  He just gaped at her. She was wearing a sexy red minidress with a low-cut bodice showing off the swell of her breasts. Wade wished he could take off his shirt and cover her, feeling that she was way too exposed for this horde. Before he could greet her, Maya rushed between him and his brother, brushing against them the way cats would in greeting when they didn’t move out of her way fast enough.

  They just stared after her before they followed her, Wade wishing she hadn’t left her sweet scent on his brother, too.

  “Where are your cousins?” Wade asked, just short of tacking on a “damn it.”

  “They’re late. They texted and said they couldn’t make it on time and would meet me here. Flight arrived late, and they missed their connection.”

  “Your brother let you come here alone?” Wade took a seat next to her.

  Maya’s lips parted for a second, her amber eyes darkening, and then she snapped her mouth closed. Looking around the room, she turned to Wade and said, “Get me a Singapore sling, will you?” Then she left the table, walked over to another where two men were eyeing her with interest, stretched out her hand, and asked one to dance.

  Wade stared at her in disbelief.

  “I wonder what that’s all about. Maybe she’s still serious about seeing other shifters.” David shook his head and waved for a waitress. “Two beers and a Singapore sling.” While he was placing the order, he saw Candy, and so did Wade. “Why don’t you dance with her?”

  “I think I will,” Wade said, getting up from his chair. He was trying his damnedest not to look in Maya’s direction, wondering what she was so angry about, while he approached Candy. She flipped her hair off her shoulders and smiled up at him.

  “I see your girlfriend is still dancing with others. Want to dance with me?”

  He shrugged. “That was the general idea.” Wade meant to dance with Candy away from Maya, to question her in as subtle a manner as he could about Bettinger, but he found his feet drifting in Maya’s direction. The guy with Maya kept putting his hand on her ass, and she kept moving it to her waist.

  Wade was about to rip the man’s arm out of his socket when Candy tugged at his belt and said, “I’ve missed you since the last time. Where you been?”

  “Hunting.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really? I have a couple of friends who hunt.”

  “What do they hunt?” he asked, getting interested. He was trying to focus on Candy and not on Maya, but it was killing him not to look and see if the asshole dancing with her was molesting her.

  “Cats,” Candy said, smiling up at him.

  “Really? I hunt cats. Lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars.”

  Candy’s eyes sparkled with interest. She moved closer and whispered, “Ever capture one and want to… sell it to someone?”

  “You know someone who’ll buy?”

  “Maybe.”

  “You said that Bill Bettinger had asked you to date him. Are you still seeing him?”

  She shook her head. “I learned he’s got a wife and two kids. Bastard. If a guy’s got a wife, it doesn’t matter to me. I figure it’s her fault she can’t hold on to her man. But when he’s got kids, I draw the line.”

  “What about Lion Mane?”

  She narrowed her eyes at Wade.

  “Aren’t they brothers? And he’s single?” Wade pressed.

  “Why do you want to know about him?”

  “I heard he’s a hunter, too.”

  Candy stumbled. He smelled fear emanating off her beneath the flowery perfume she wore. “He’s… he’s dangerous.”

  Bill Bettinger was dangerous, too. Or rather he had been.

  Wade shrugged and glanced around the room to see where Maya had gone with her dance partner. Hell, now she was sitting at the two men’s table, ignoring him!

  He ground his teeth. Candy looked at where he was glowering and laughed. “Looks like she’s found some place else to sit.” She pulled Wade back to his table, motioning to the Singapore sling, and said, “Oh, for me?”

  “It’s for Maya.” David grabbed it and headed over to the table where she was sitting.

  Still unsettled about Maya’s behavior and what he’d said wrong to her, Wade took a seat beside Candy and ordered her a margarita.

  “Is your brother also a hunter?” Candy asked.

  “Yeah, he is.”

  “Thought so.” She leaned back on the chair covered in leopard print. “It looks like he’s got Maya’s attention.”

  Wade turned to see what his brother was up to. He was taking Maya to the dance floor, leaving her drink sitting on the other men’s table! On one level, he knew his brother was really in protective mode, taking care of her so the other clowns didn’t think they had a chance with her. That didn’t change how Wade was feeling about her.

  Where the hell were her cousins? And why was she so mad at him?

  “So, you want to split and go somewhere else… less noisy?” Candy asked.

  * * *

  Maya was having the worst night. She wanted desperately to dance with Wade, but first her cousins said they couldn’t make it to her place on time, and then her brother and she’d had a big fight over her coming to the club alone. She knew he only had her best interests at heart, but she also figured that if she helped Wade and his brother out on this case, maybe they could track down the buyer of the jaguar and Lion Mane.

  That a buyer for jaguar flesh was still out there was bad enough, but Lion Mane was another story.

  The only way she could think to make this work was to act angry and make a scene in front of Wade. It was killing her to do so. He looked so upset with her, like he wanted to shake some sense into her and murder the human she was dancing with. She was grateful when David came to her rescue and asked her to dance.

  “Humans,” David said as he moved her across the floor, careful not to hold her too close and stir up his brother’s ire.

  She didn’t say anything. Sure, the guys were humans, but she hadn’t wanted to dance with shifters. She’d noticed several eyeing her, a couple that she’d seen the last time, but no sign of Lion Mane.

  She didn’t want to tell David the truth—that she was doing this so Wade would have a chance to learn something from Candy—and have him spill the beans to Wade.

  “He’s upset,” David said quietly, studying her.

  She looked down at his shirt. “I’m upset.” Looking up at him, she said, “Okay?”

  “With Wade?”

  She swallowed hard. David smiled. Damn it. She didn’t have to say anything, and David would know the truth. She glanced at Wade. He was watching her but sitting with Candy, who was looking smug.

  As soon as Candy saw Maya look in her direction, the woman ran her hand over Wade’s hand resting on the table near his beer. Wade looked down at Candy, and she whispered in his ear. Maya wanted to jerk the woman off her seat and toss her to the floor.

  When Wade shifted his attention back to Maya, she put her arms around David’s neck, moved closer, and kissed him on the mouth.

  “Hell, Maya, what are you trying to do to me? My brother’s going to kill me,” David said, not appearing terribly upset about the consequences.

  She smiled at him in the most wicked way. Of course she didn’t want Wade to kill his brother, but if she was going to make this real, she had to do something. Wade wasn’t taking the bait.

  Then Wade was on his feet, dragging Candy along with him. His face was dark with anger. He was supposed to be dancing with Candy, not stomping across the dance floor to intercept her and Dav
id.

  “Uh-oh,” David warned. “That kiss did it.”

  Wade was going to ruin it. “Fine. Let’s return to the table.” She started to pull away from David.

  “No, I don’t think so. I don’t know what your game is, but I’m letting Wade call the shots before I get myself killed over this.” David tightened his grip on her waist.

  She rolled her eyes. “He loves you as a brother.”

  David snorted. “When it comes to you, that notion goes out the window.”

  The dancers moved out of Wade’s path as if they sensed the big cat’s anger.

  When he reached Maya and David, Wade hauled Candy over to his brother, offering her arm to him. “She wants to dance,” he said, his voice dark.

  Then he took hold of Maya’s hand and quickly moved her away.

  “What the hell is going on?” he growled.

  “You are screwing everything up.” She glowered up at him, tears in her eyes.

  The tears undid him. Immediately his hard-set jaw and scowling features softened. He began to kiss her, and she half expected David to pull them apart and tell them to get a room.

  But Wade’s kisses were not hot and molten like before. Instead, he was tender and caring, and she had the damnedest time not crying. “I missed you,” she said, tears in her voice and eyes as she slipped her arms around his neck and he pulled her close against his body.

  “Strange way of showing it,” he said, kissing her hair, her cheek, her lips. Yet his voice was no longer growly, as if the cat in him knew she was back to being his.

  “I’m worried about Kat and my brother, about Lion Mane going to the nursery with the intention of killing me, and them becoming collateral damage. I wanted to help you learn more from Candy if she showed up, and she did. She was near the front door when I arrived, then followed me in. I knew if I said hi to you in the way I wanted, we’d… we’d end up like this. You needed to dance with her and learn what you could from her. She needed to believe I was breaking up with you.”

  Infuriatingly, he smiled and shook his head. “We can’t be breaking up with each other if you’re not seeing me exclusively.”

  “You know what I mean.”