Naked, ripped, hot.
Her eyes were fixated on his backside as he entered her room, but he didn’t shut the door.
Seconds later, Huntley left the bathroom wearing his boxers and running his hands through his hair. “Hell, that was that Bettinger guy. He sure has balls. Even I am reluctant to fight Everett when he’s angry.”
“Bettinger?” Maya groaned. “Connor isn’t going to be happy.” She pulled a quilt from an oak chest near the fireplace while David resettled on the couch.
“I doubt he’s going to want to return here and get another whipping,” Huntley said, going into the kitchen. He paused. “Is it okay for me to get some milk?”
“Only if you drink it out of a glass and not out of the jug,” Maya warned.
He chuckled and continued to the kitchen. “Everett must have told on me. I live alone and it’s my jug of milk.”
Wade rejoined the party and reclined on the chair again, his claimed territory for the night. She was a little surprised he wasn’t sleeping in his jaguar form like he’d said he would.
As she moved past Wade’s chair, he snagged her hand, startling her. “Go to bed. David will be fine. I’ll keep an eye on him.” He pulled Maya down for a good-night kiss.
She thought he meant to give her a light peck on the mouth and send her off to bed, but unexpectedly, he pulled her on top of him, their mouths fusing. Tongues licked and stroked, lips pressed and rubbed, both of them just as eager to kiss. His fingers combed through her hair as she held his face gently in her hands. Wickedly, he spread his legs so she fell between his thighs and felt his erection, thick and hard and ready for her. She ground slightly against him, wanting to feel him stir against her body. He did with a surrendering groan.
That will teach him not to play with a female jaguar. She licked his lips and said, “Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the jaguars bite.”
“Only this one,” he said, stroking her arm as she got off him.
She smiled again and kissed his forehead. David was watching them, green eyes wide.
She’d forgotten he was there, close enough to see all. She turned and found Huntley smiling at her, glass of milk in hand. He shook his head. “I suppose you don’t want to give me a good-night kiss like that, too.”
“You’re my cousin,” she said, crossing the floor. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and headed into her bedroom.
David cleared his throat, as if he wanted her to come back and kiss him, too.
She chuckled and closed her door, hoping that no one else would visit the property tonight and cause more trouble. If there were more catfights, they’d never get any sleep.
Chapter 7
Sweat dripping into his eyes, Thompson was frozen to the ground, his heart pounding as if he’d been running a marathon.
He listened for any sign of the cats. One had returned to the house, and even more of a shock to him, Maya had been standing in the doorway with another. Three had been fighting in the garden before that. The other that had encroached on these jaguars’ territories had to be an outsider. Where the hell had he come from? Not one he saw was female.
He had half a notion to walk straight up to the back door, knock on it, and ask Maya about the female jaguar again. Then what? Would she turn the big males loose on him? For trespassing in the middle of the night in her backyard?
Instead of guard dogs, she had guard cats. It couldn’t be possible.
He couldn’t get his feet to move. For the first time since he could remember, he was truly terrified.
He sat down with his back to the tree, trying to stay awake, but drifting off, only to be awakened by the sound of the patio door opening. A jaguar loped out of the garden toward the house, ran inside, and another ran out. The door shut again with a soft thunk.
Thompson blinked. They actually were serving guard duty.
He was losing his mind.
He must have finally fallen asleep, because the next thing he heard was the sound of vehicles pulling out of the parking lot in front of the house, tires crunching on the gravel. Darkness still cloaked the early morning hour. Still hidden by the woods, he hurried around front, saw three cars take off, and waited.
When no one seemed likely to return anytime soon, he peered through the picture windows, expecting to see jaguars lying around on the couches and floor. The room was too dark, and he couldn’t see anything.
He returned to the woods until it was light out, then made his way back to the house and peeked again through the window. There was no movement in the house, no cats lying on the floor or lounging on the couches.
He looked back in the direction that the cars had gone. Hell. Had they packed the cats up in the cars?
He shook his head. They couldn’t have. He heard the rumbling of a pickup truck and tore into the woods for cover. From his hiding place among the shrubs, he saw two men and a woman get out of the truck. Customers?
Then as they began to water plants, he realized they had to be the hired help. Should he ask them about the jaguars?
He waited until the place was open for business, then drove his truck around to the entrance and parked.
What was he going to ask them? Seen any really big kitty cats around lately?
Wade thought David looked a hundred percent better after having slept on Maya’s couch the night before. The gash on his head was just a white line against his tan forehead now, the colorful bandages gone. They’d shared lunch with Everett and Huntley, who afterward had gone to their own terminal to wait for their flight to Brazil. Now he, Maya, and David were waiting to take their flight to Belize.
Maya had acted anxious most of the day, wringing her hands, pacing, and not paying attention to conversations that had included her. Wade knew she was worried about the hunters and her brother and Kat.
He finally pulled her into a seat and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, trying to relax her. “So tell me, what is your favorite food?”
She looked up at him as if he was crazy, then gave him the warmest smile and nestled her head against his shoulder. “Ice cream. Coffee-flavored, covered in hot fudge topping.”
“Sweet,” he said, meaning she was, just like her choice of food.
“Yours?”
“Juicy red steak.”
“Hmm, sounds yummy,” she said.
David looked up from the romance novel he was reading. “Fried chicken.”
Maya laughed. “Fried foods are not good for you.”
“I run it off.”
She glanced in the direction of the gate next to them where passengers were beginning to take their seats. Wade and David followed her gaze. A woman with hair as long, blond, and full as Lion Mane’s was talking to another woman waiting for a different departure. Wade noted that every person with long, blond hair had caught Maya’s eye.
But Lion Mane wouldn’t be flying anywhere, he didn’t think, and he couldn’t get into the terminal without a plane ticket.
“Favorite color?” Wade prompted.
“That blue chambray shirt of yours.”
He kissed her cheek. “Thanks for trying to get the blood out.”
She looked at him with her beautiful golden eyes. “Sorry it didn’t work.”
David said, “Turquoise, like the Caribbean water.”
Wade thought for a moment, then smiled. “Golden like your eyes, Maya.”