“Where’s Connor?” Maya asked, as if Kat could tell her in her jaguar form.
Kat kept tugging, kept moving her in the direction of where the tourists had disappeared. Kat wouldn’t leave Connor behind unless he told her to go with Maya. So where was Connor? Facing off another jaguar shifter?
Maya’s heart was thudding hard, and she could hear Kat’s heart pounding just as quickly. Connor had to be keeping another jaguar away from them. She kept looking over her shoulder, but Kat wouldn’t let her stop. Her mission, it appeared, was to get Maya safely back to the cottages.
Fine. Maya picked up her pace, hurrying now to reach the resort. She’d make sure she got Kat safely to the cottage and insist she stay behind. Then she’d shift and return to help her brother.
They were getting closer to the resort. Connor still hadn’t joined them, but Maya was walking as fast as she could, watching that she didn’t trip over the liana crisscrossing the path back to the cottages.
Kat was running alongside her until they heard their guide say, “Wait. Don’t go to your cottages or the lodge yet. I’m still trying to get a head count. Two are missing.”
“Can you go around through the jungle and reach your cottage without anyone seeing you?” Maya asked Kat, her voice low.
Kat bumped her with her head and rubbed her leg. Maya took that as a yes. “Okay, go. I’ll let Francisco know that we’re all fine. That you and Connor already returned to your cottage.”
She waited for Kat to leave, but instead, Kat jumped into a tree to watch her.
Maya sighed. “Okay, so you stay and protect me.” She began walking toward the guide, though she still couldn’t see him through the jungle foliage. “Connor and my sister-in-law already returned to their cottage,” she hollered. “I’m coming!”
That’s all she got out before she felt a claw swipe at her arm. She cried out in shock. Her shirtsleeve shredded, and she felt slices of throbbing and stinging pain streak up her arm. Before she could react to the angry cat, the large furry form hit her body, taking her down, his teeth bared.
“Lion Mane,” she gasped, grabbing at the skin at his throat, knowing she couldn’t keep him from biting her with his powerful jaws.
Just as quickly, another jaguar slammed into him, knocking him off her, snarling and hissing. Connor!
The cats’ angry hisses were loud enough that the tourists must have thought Maya was being attacked and torn to shreds. She could hear running feet as the people scrambled to get to their cottages and safety. Forget the head count.
She couldn’t catch her breath as she scooted away from the fighting males. Kat had jumped down from the tree and was standing protectively over Maya, who couldn’t get to her feet because of the weight of the backpack. Before she could get it off, Lion Mane ran away.
Connor poked his nose at her, sniffing her arm and licking at her. “I’m okay,” she said, reaching up with her uninjured arm to stroke his head. Lion Mane hadn’t hurt her badly, just scared the crap out of her. Kat purred next to her, her head bent to inspect the damage.
“All right, everyone’s accounted for,” the guide said, watching for her.
Her heart still thundering, Maya hurried as fast as she could to the guide. She had to let him know she was safe. “Are you sure everyone’s back?” she asked. “You said someone else was missing.”
“Another person whose wife said he’d fled to their cottage before I could count him.”
She could sympathize with the man—truly. “Is the wife okay?”
“She’s about as growly as the cat. Are you okay?” Francisco asked, looking Maya over. “I… I thought maybe it attacked you.” He was waving a stick in his hand, but it wouldn’t have done much if he’d wanted to get the big cat off her.
When he looked down at her sleeve to see that it was torn and blood trickled down her arm, he gasped.
Shaken but trying to appear as though the experience hadn’t rattled her, she clasped her hand over the wound. “Just a scratch.” By morning the claw marks would have faded to scratches.
“Let me take care of it,” Francisco said. “I’ve got a first-aid kit.”
“No, that’s okay. My brother’s got medical training. He’ll see to it.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I’ll be fine.” She hurried to her cottage to clean up, change, and meet Connor and Kat for dinner. They’d eat, and afterward they’d make plans to search for David and Wade, hoping to God that Lion Mane and his companion in crime hadn’t already killed them.
She unlocked her door and walked inside, then shut the door, locking it. She tugged off the backpack and dropped it on the floor, relieved to finally have the weight off her back.
Turning on the light, she could see the claw marks down her left arm. Not pretty. She rummaged through her suitcase, and when she realized she didn’t have any bandages, she hurried to the bathroom.
She yanked off her T-shirt and washed her arm with soap and water, grimacing and gritting her teeth as the claw marks stung. Intending to take a quick shower, she kicked off her boots and had barely yanked off her socks when she heard a key shoved in the lock and the door opened. She twisted around and left the bathroom, figuring it would be Connor.
But it wasn’t. Wade loomed in the door frame, bag in hand, face grim, and his blue-green eyes darkened to nearly black.
Chapter 19
“Thank God you’re okay. Connor’s all right, isn’t he, Wade?” Maya asked quickly.
Wade set the bag down, pulled the door shut, and stalked toward her. “Hell, Maya,” he swore under his breath, his heated gaze going from her face to her bloodied arm.
“I’m all right. Is Connor—”
“He gave me the spare key to your place and told me to check on you. He’s fine. He’s getting cleaned up and dressed.” Wade sounded irritated and worried at the same time. “I’d kill the shifter that did this if Connor hadn’t insisted that I stay and watch over you.”
She parted her lips, unable to say anything for a moment. “Where were you? We waited as long as we could, but then we had to go or miss the excursion.”
“Chasing down Lion Mane. Only he led us on a damn wild-goose chase. We lost him at the river. We kept trying to catch his scent and where he had gone to, hoping to end this. We finally gave up and headed here, worried he might have come after you at the resort.” His gaze moved down her injured arm again.
“I’ve got to hurry and shower before they close the dining room.”
“Yeah, but this won’t wait.” His voice was rough with need and frustration. Wade took her arm gently and considered the claw marks.
“It’s okay,” she assured him, not wanting him to fuss over her. “You know how we heal.”
He pulled her roughly into his arms and kissed her hard, his tongue penetrating her parted lips. She was surprised at his passionate reaction. He rubbed against her like a cat needing to put his scent on her, growled when he smelled Lion Mane on her, and kissed her some more.
She was still stiff in his arms, worried about her brother and Kat, when Wade stopped kissing her and placed his forehead against hers, his breathing labored and his hands clenching her shoulders. “Okay. Go take a shower. I’ll be all right.”
She chuckled, then kissed him on the cheek, and hurried into the bathroom.
She took an ultrafast shower, and then she quickly dried and rushed to get some clothes.
Wade was showering on the back deck. She watched him for a moment as he ran his soapy hands over his naked body, his eyes closed. Transfixed, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. God, he was a beautiful specimen of a wild cat. Grabbing a pink-and-yellow strapless sundress from the closet, she slipped it over her head and shoved her feet into a pair of jeweled sandals.