Wild Fire

by Christine Feehan

  Elijah studied her determined face and then nodded. "Good girl." He ruffled her hair and rubbed at her face, putting spots of color on her skin and making her lips a little swollen as if he'd been kissing her. "Let's hope Conner doesn't rip out my heart and shove it down my throat."

  She forced a smile. "I'm going to make certain I blink back a couple of tears and really make you look bad."

  "Badass cousin doesn't want his kissing cousin flirting with anyone else and you've been thoroughly reprimanded and then we made up."

  "Sobre won't cross you, not without Imelda's permission," Isabeau pointed out.

  "And that's what is going to keep you safe. Stay close to me now. Touch me occasionally, but be subtle about it. I want them to see the relationship without us shoving it down their throats."

  "Like we're hiding it."

  "Or at least that we don't want it common knowledge. Now, Isabeau, there is a risk. On one hand, as long as they think they have a chance of doing business with me, this is the perfect way to keep you safe, but if they decide they need to keep me in line, or try to influence me with a threat, you'll be the first in harm's way. They think like that."

  She nodded. "I'm aware of that. Really, Elijah, I can do this. My relationship with Conner aside, it was my idea to bring you all here and I'm willing to take the risk right alongside of you."

  He pushed open the door and Rio stood facing the house, his expression remote, as if she were just another body to guard. It was amazing to Isabeau just how they all managed to look grim and dangerous and so businesslike at the same time.

  She flashed Elijah a small smile when he put his hand casually on the small of her back. "I'll bet Sobre would give anything to have our bodyguards."

  "Personal protectors," he corrected and winked at her.

  She walked closer to Elijah then she had before, but still maintained a distance that could be considered discreet. The doorman waved them inside. The music seemed louder and the rooms much more crowded. Elijah took her elbow with a proprietary air and guided her through the throng of people. Rio led the way with Felipe bringing up the rear. She noticed the crowd parted for them and no one bumped into them.

  Marcos, with Leonardo beside him, was in a corner talking to Philip. Teresa, the server, stood beside Marcos looking miserable. Every now and then Marcos would rub her arm or the small of her back and she would jump, but she didn't move. As they approached the small group, Philip looked up, his quick perusal taking in her slightly disheveled appearance. Isabeau made certain he caught the sheen of tears before she blinked them away. Philip's gaze dropped to Elijah's fingers digging into her elbow before he looked back at Marcos.

  "Teresa will be more than happy to make you feel very welcome, isn't that right?"

  The server nodded, more miserable than ever. Philip scowled at her and she forced a smile. "Of course."

  Marcos patted her butt with familiar intent. "Later. Don't get lost."

  Teresa quickly made good her escape. The floor where the spill had occurred was immaculate, and Philip was all smiles now that he thought Marcos would use his upstairs rooms. Isabeau reached up and rubbed at imaginary lipstick at the corner of Elijah's mouth and then quickly dropped her hand.

  "You haven't tried the mushroom cakes," Philip said to Elijah.

  "They're wonderful," Marcos agreed, looking as if he and Philip had become good friends. "And the crab cakes are even better. You really must try them, Elijah."

  Elijah nodded with a faint smile. "You've always been a great judge of food, Marcos. I know you'd never steer me wrong."

  "He's a good judge of women as well," Philip said, his grin malicious as he looked Isabeau over. "Teresa is beautiful."

  Elijah slipped his arm around Isabeau and moved her out of Philip's way as he led them to the long buffet table. He did it casually, as though he was simply helping his cousin, but he knew Philip would take the gesture as ownership. Isabeau belonged to Elijah and everyone else needed to stay clear of her. Philip had a secret smile on his face as he pointed out the various delicacies to them.

  "Would you like to dance, Isabeau?" he asked, with another smirk.

  In character, she glanced hesitantly at Elijah, who stared back at her grim-faced. Hastily she shook her head. "No, thank you. I think I want to try the crab cake."

  "You'll find my chef is amazing," Philip said.

  Elijah looked him over, his expression bored. "It's amazing how you can lure anyone to this place."

  Philip's face flushed just a little, but he managed to keep his smile at the implied insult. "Secrets, everyone has secrets. It's a matter of capitalizing on them."

  A slow smile, with just a faint touch of admiration lit Elijah's face for a moment. Isabeau was impressed with that look. It was as if he'd waved a magic wand in front of Philip. "I suppose it is. Isn't it interesting how the right leverage changes minds?"

  Philip puffed up again, looking extremely pleased, as if in that one moment he'd won over Elijah Lospostos, the infamous drug lord. Isabeau realized Philip's downfall was his vanity. He didn't have enough people to admire his abilities and he needed an audience. His criminal activities isolated him from most. There were only his victims and Imelda Cortez to see him as he really was, and Imelda was dangerous to him. Here was a group of sharks. He recognized them and wanted to be part of them.

  "Elijah," Marcos said, "perhaps we can stay a few extra days and enjoy the offerings in Philip's little city here."

  Isabeau couldn't believe the transformation from a good-humored, loving, avuncular man to one of greedy excess, looking to run wild and partake in whatever depravity he could. His face was a little flushed, his eyes clouded, as though he'd drunk just a little too much, his gaze on the women a little too hot. She found herself uncomfortable, almost believing his act. Elijah brushed his hand along her back, just skimming, barely touching her, but she knew Philip caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. She played her part, glancing up at Elijah with a slight smile, the color elevating just a little in her face.

  Her cat leapt, slamming close to her skin, protesting the touch of another man. She heard the snarl in her mind, and the urge to break away from them and get out of there was strong. Her skin itched.

  Rio turned his head to look at her. In the shadows, Conner stirred. Felipe and Leonardo shifted just enough to block her from sight of most of the other people in the room. Elijah bent his head close but didn't touch her.

  "Breathe her away. Keep her calm," he advised, looking unbelievably intimate, his face a mask of tenderness.

  Isabeau took a deep breath, trying not to panic. She knew the cat wanted out. She didn't like the overpowering smell of decadence and corruption. Her joints ached. Her jaw. Even her teeth hurt. Her fingers curled and the tips burned. To her horror she could see skin splitting along her palm. Gasping, she closed her hand and willed her cat to obey.

  12

  ISABEAU would not let her cat emerge here, in the middle of this insane party, and blow their chances of ever taking these disgusting people down. It wasn't going to happen. She hissed at her cat, suddenly furious that the creature would take this moment to decide to emerge. She'd had her chance in the rain forest when Conner was with her and it could have been a wonderful experience.

  "You. Will. Not." She hissed each word between her teeth, keeping her face close to Elijah's chest. She dared not touch him, even though she desperately needed reassurance. She was grateful Conner didn't rush to her side. She doubted she could stay in control if he had. She would have flung herself into his arms, in the midst of her rising fear. She tried to think like him. He was always calm. He refused to show fear, or let fear paralyze him. What had he said? Her cat was part of her. And she certainly could control herself.

  She took another breath and forced her will on the raging cat, breathing for it, calming it, whispering to it in her head. Conner was her mate. There was no other. This was all for Conner. To protect him. To protect his cat. She lost track of what s
he was saying and even time passing, trusting Elijah and Marcos to keep the conversation flowing around them. Philip would continue to believe she was under Elijah's control and he wanted her to stand beside him, his decoration, and nothing more.

  It took several minutes for the cat to submit to her control, subsiding, but making her needs known, leaving Isabeau in a heightened state of sensitivity and awareness. All senses were acute. Her body ached, every muscle, every joint. Her breasts were so sensitive, each time she moved, her nipples brushed against her lacy bra and sent an electrical current sizzling straight to the junction between her legs. She ached for Conner, for relief.

  It was a fitting revenge, she thought. She'd denied her cat's emergence, but she couldn't stop the needs of her species. The Han Vol Dan. That mysterious moment when her cat was set free and wholly united with her human form. The shocking heat of the female leopard, emerging with a desperate, insatiable hunger that could never be sated by any other than her mate.

  "Good girl," Elijah whispered in her ear, looking intimate, but careful not to touch her and incur the wrath of her leopard.

  Before she could reply, the room went silent as four men dressed in black pants and black shirts swept through the double doors. The entrance was meant to be dramatic and it was. They carried automatic weapons, wore dark, mirrored sunglasses and looked like television gangsters to Isabeau. Her stomach tightened as she sensed the instant reaction of Elijah's leopard.

  The tension in the room was shocking, stretched nearly to a breaking point as the men shoved couples against the wall and began systematically searching them. It was a show of power, pure and simple--a lesson to show just who was really in charge. The indignity on the faces of the various couples was apparent, but not a single person protested.

  The driving, pounding music accompanied the sound of harsh breathing and grunts and little outraged gasps as the women were searched. Elijah and Marcos watched impassively as the four men came closer and closer to them, but neither moved. Isabeau remained close to Elijah, her stomach knotting as the security team got closer. She knew this type of search was unusual and was simply Imelda's way of making a dramatically grand entrance, but with her heightened sensitivity she could feel the men around her, their energy growing more dangerous as the guards approached.

  Just as two of the men dressed in black reached Marcos and Elijah, Conner emerged from the shadows, placing his body solidly in their path. Rio, Felipe and Leonardo were there as well. They'd moved so fast she had thought she must have blinked. Elijah very gently drew her behind him.

  Conner stared directly into those mirrored glasses. "I don't think so." His voice was quiet, but it was a whip, a challenge.

  "We'll be searching everyone."

  Conner's smile was slow, and there was no humor in it. "You'll be dead before you lay a finger on the three of them. But you're always welcome to try."

  Isabeau's mouth went dry. He was provoking the guards deliberately. They were sending their own message to Imelda. The woman was known for her insanity. She could order her men to open fire with the automatic weapons, killing everyone in the room. The other couples in the room were clearly shocked, gasping. One woman began to cry but her partner quickly shushed her.

  Conner never broke off his stare, his eyes pure cat. He looked relaxed. He looked . . . lethal. He made the men he was facing look small.

  The man closest to him spoke into his radio. "Martin, we have a problem in here."

  Almost immediately two men entered the room. Both had the build of the leopard and moved with fluid power. Isabeau's cat reacted with a snarl and leap. She saw, because she was watching him, Conner's fingers flex just once when the man who was reputed to have killed his mother entered the room. Isabeau recognized Suma from the village and her stomach rebelled at the sight of him, almost as much as her cat did.

  Used to instant obedience and the cowering of any opposition, Martin Suma and Ottila Zorba shoved their security force aside and were almost toe to toe with Conner before it hit them what exactly they were facing. Martin found himself staring into the focused eyes of a killer. Conner smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile. The tension in the room stretched nearly to a breaking point as the two stared each other down.

  Ottila, not the one locked in combat with Conner, surveyed the security for the two visitors, recognizing them instantly as leopard. He inhaled sharply and drew the scent of a female close to the Han Vol Dan into his body. At once his cat reacted, all male, hunger invading, a dark need that was all encompassing. He looked past the others and focused on the object of his desire.

  Martin caught the scent next and his gaze flicked to the woman standing behind the man he knew as Elijah Lospostos, head of a major drug cartel and by all accounts a very powerful and dangerous man. Only then did he realize not only was the security team leopard, and the woman, but the two visitors as well. He was facing seven leopards, all of them armed. Self-preservation was strong and dictated that he back off immediately.

  Isabeau saw the knowledge hit the two guards almost at the same time. Their eyes glittered with malice. She never wanted to meet either of them alone on a dark night. These were the men who had kidnapped the children and killed several villagers and Conner's mother. She couldn't quite control the pounding of her heart.

  Elijah reached behind him, a casual, gentle gesture, and laid his hand on her arm. That small touch steadied her. She took a breath and forced herself to breathe normally, slowing her pulse. She couldn't be afraid of them. Her cat detested the scent of the two rogue leopards, yet recognized Conner's immediately, nearly purring at his closeness.

  A stir at the door drew her attention. Isabeau peeked around Elijah and caught her first glimpse of Imelda Cortez. She wore a long, flowing gown of bloodred, matching her long nails and lipstick. Her hair, as black as a raven's wing, was swept up in an intricate knot so that the dazzling gems on her ears and at her throat were prominently displayed. The dress was slashed nearly to the navel so that the perfect globes of her breasts peeked out, making Isabeau feel drab and childish in comparison.

  Imelda swept into the room on her spiked crimson heels, her dark eyes alighting instantly on Conner, her hungry gaze devouring him in a slow, greedy perusal that drank in the broad shoulders and thick chest. There was no missing the aura of danger he exuded, and Imelda actually inhaled sharply, her breasts heaving, in grave danger of spilling out of the dress.

  Isabeau's cat went crazy, raking at her, clawing and growling, recognizing an enemy, desperate for the freedom to destroy her. For one terrible moment Isabeau was certain she wouldn't be able to stop her leopard from emerging and killing the woman in a fit of rage. Her muscles contorted. Her bones popped. Pain burst through her jaw and her mouth seemed overcrowded with teeth.

  No! You will not! She fought the leopard back. He needs us. Both of us. She filled her mind with Conner, drew strength from him, from her love of him. And she did love him with every fiber of her being. She would do this for him.

  Imelda Cortez was tall and thin, very fashionable, but she reminded Isabeau of a praying mantis, an insect ready to strike her prey the first chance she got. Imelda's gluttonous gaze slid dismissively over Isabeau once, but moved quickly on to the men in the group--a new supply of men for her voracious appetite. That told all of them that Imelda wasn't leopard, or even part leopard. She would have known Isabeau was close to the Han Vol Dan and therefore her biggest threat. The two rogue leopards would be consumed by her presence. Their duty to Imelda would be second to their need of mating with a female leopard in the throes of the Han Vol Dan.

  Imelda moved across the room, aware all eyes were on her. She pursed her lips and made a little clucking noise, shaking her head. "This is no way to treat Philip's guests, Martin." She slid her fingers playfully down Conner's arm. "Who do we have here?"

  Isabeau's cat gave a fierce snarl, but subsided under her growing control. Conner didn't even so much as glance at Imelda. His gaze remained fixed and focused on Mar
tin's. There was a threat there, very real, and Martin didn't dare move, not even with Imelda clearly giving him the signal to back off.

  "Conner," Marcos said in a low tone. "I think he has the message."

  Conner took a step back immediately, never taking his eyes from Martin. The rogue leopard stepped back as well and broke the stare, looking at his employer. There was a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead.

  Imelda gave a sniff of contempt and handed him a handkerchief. "Mop up. You look ridiculous." She glided close to Conner, and ran her finger down his chest this time, a blatant invitation, her breasts nearly touching him, her perfume engulfing him, her eyes devouring him. "Very few men can get the better of my guards."

  Martin stirred as if he might protest. Imelda's hand came up and she waved languidly. "Go away, Martin. You're boring me."

  Martin glanced at Isabeau, his eyes glittering dangerously and then he looked once more to his boss. Hatred flared briefly, and he turned abruptly, signaling the other security guards, who dispersed to various spots in the room. Only then did Conner look down at Imelda. Isabeau held her breath. There was no expression whatsoever on his face.

  "Excuse me, ma'am." He moved in silence back toward the wall where the shadows in the room swallowed him.

  "Oh my," Imelda said, fanning herself. "You have good taste in protectors, Marcos. I'm Imelda Cortez."

  Marcos bent gallantly over her hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Imelda--may I call you Imelda?"

  "Of course. I believe we'll be great friends." She flashed him a lovely smile, all teeth and flirty pouting lips.

  Conversation began cautiously around them once more. Imelda didn't seem to notice the chaos her men had caused. Or rather, she knew, Isabeau decided, but she didn't care what inconvenience there was to anyone else. She thrived on the drama she created.

  "May I present Elijah Lospostos and his charming little cousin, Isabeau."

  "Cherished cousin," Elijah corrected, making her instantly off limits to the attentions of Philip or any of her men.

  "Elijah," Imelda murmured. "Your . . . reputation precedes you."

  "All good, I'm certain," Elijah replied smoothly and bent over her hand, although he didn't pretend to allow his lips to brush her skin.