“You’re driving me crazy.” He sounded breathless.
“Good,” I whispered as I tossed the black silk aside.
I crawled over him, kissing my way back up his chest. When our lips fused together, my hips instinctively tilted toward him. I let out a satisfied moan when he filled me. Our bodies fit so perfectly together that I felt every muscle shiver with pleasure. His strong hands moved down my back, his fingers splayed out until he clasped my hips, pressing me against him as he thrust deeper into me.
Breaking the kiss, I sat up over him, working my hips faster, feeling him reaching sensitive places I didn’t even realize I had. I’d always been comfortable in my own skin, but never in my life had I felt so sexy and powerful as I did right then. Seeing Adam look up at me like I was the most desirable woman in the world made my heart race. I reached for his hands and guided them up from my hips to cup my breasts. His fingers teased my nipples, and my back arched as my muscles clenched around him. Adam’s hips rocked harder and faster until he followed me over the peak.
I collapsed against his chest, completely out of breath and unable to stop smiling. Adam rolled us over without letting our bodies separate. His thumbs caressed my temples and he kissed my lips, tender, soft, lingering kisses.
“I love seeing you smile,” Adam whispered.
“Feels good to smile.” I rested my forehead against his. “Whatever we find out tomorrow, I’m ready.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Adam
I rolled my shoulders back, trying to loosen the tension knotting between my shoulder blades. We’d met the PI for Lana’s file, and now she sat in the reference section of the San Antonio library culling through archives of the newspaper for any mention of a baby wrapped in a sweatshirt with the Nero logo on it.
I wandered the aisles, never straying far from the reference section. My nerves were on edge. We’d been in San Antonio for almost twenty-four hours. Long enough for Sebastian to pick up our trail. Especially if Nero knew about Lana’s records in San Antonio. It wouldn’t be a huge stretch to figure Lana would look for answers about her parents. Once I satisfied myself that the interior of the library was clear of any trace of Sebastian or some other jaguar, I wandered back over to the table where Lana was working.
“Did you find anything?”
“Maybe.” She shrugged. “There’s a story from September 1988 about a Baby Doe left on the steps of the San Fernando Cathedral downtown. According to the paper, her parents didn’t come forward.” She looked up at me, and the urge to kiss her welled up inside of me like a dam about to burst. She was sexy even doing research.
“It could be me,” she continued. “There wasn’t a picture with the article so Nero never would have seen the sweatshirt I was wrapped in. Maybe that’s the only reason I vanished from their radar.”
I hated thinking about Lana being abandoned, no idea she was a shifter. No family to teach her. What if someone had stolen her off those church steps? I didn’t realize I was grinding my teeth until she reached up to caress my cheek.
“I’m okay, Adam.”
I shook my head. “You could’ve died.”
“Maybe they thought that’d be better than me being a science experiment.”
I nodded, but I didn’t agree. Family wasn’t something to be tossed aside. The irony that I might need to walk away from my own didn’t escape me. But if Lana’s father really was still alive, wouldn’t he have checked on her at some point? Lana ended up spending her life growing up in foster homes, moving from place to place. She could have been abused or worse. I didn’t want to think of the other outcomes. The fact that she grew up and sent herself to college was very lucky. The odds weren’t in her favor.
“No trace of Sebastian inside, but I’m going to check around the perimeter. Stretch my legs a little.” I stood up, scanning the room again. “You’ll stay right here, right?”
She glanced up at me. “I’m planning on it.”
“All right.” I bent to kiss her and headed toward the main desk of the library.
When I stepped outside the hot, stale air wrapped around me like a blanket. I could feel my shirt sticking to my skin already. I wiped the sweat from my eyes and started off to my right. The San Antonio library’s modern architecture and bright peach color made it stand out from its surroundings, and without much vegetation around it, any stray jaguars would have a tough time surprising me. I breathed in clues to the people who had already passed by. I picked up the scents of children with fresh wads of bubble gum, old women who smelled faintly of mothballs and hairspray, and even a few dogs. I rounded the second corner and my whole body jolted to attention.
I knew that scent. Fuck. Sebastian was close by.
I circled slowly, looking into every shadow, searching for any indication of someone watching me. Not seeing any sign of trouble, I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. When I opened my eyes again I gave myself over to my animal instincts.
I walked, sometimes jogged, and finally came to a stop behind the library. The scent was coming from a park across the street. I hustled that direction, adrenaline pumping. Instinctively, I reached down to my belt, brushing my fingers over the hilt of my knife. My gun was at the hotel, but I couldn’t fire on him out here anyway. The last thing we needed was for me to be arrested and leave Lana unprotected in San Antonio while I waited to be bailed out.
As I got closer, blood mixed with Sebastian’s scent. My heart pounded as I made my way over to the slide. The scent of blood and jaguar was getting stronger. The tip of an adult-sized black shoe stuck out of the long shadow cast by the slide.
I moved closer, squinting into the shadows. “Sebastian?”
He leaned out to look at me, and I frowned. His face was all beat-to-hell. His mangled shirt barely covered his bruised ribs, blood oozed from his corner of his mouth.
“Jesus. What the hell happened to you?”
“Where is Lana?” he wheezed through his split lip.
“None of your concern. She’s safe.”
His eyes widened. “You left her alone? You stupid wolf. I warned her that if I didn’t bring her back soon Nero would send another.”
Oh shit. “I’ve been watching, but your scent is the only jaguar I’ve found.” My blood ran cold and in spite of the Texas heat, I felt a chill.
“Trust me.” He wiped blood from his nose. “Sasha’s here, another assassin. Get Lana and keep her safe.”
I nodded, and then I ran. I ran like I was about to lose the most important thing in my life.
As I rounded the west side of the large library, movement and the metal clanging of trashcans in the alley across the street caught my attention. I glanced over and my heart stuttered.
Aren. Being held at gunpoint.
Dammit! I wanted to shield my family from Nero, and now Aren was mixed up in it too.
I took a silent step closer. The woman dressed in black with a handgun pointed at my brother’s head must be Sasha. For the first time in my life I wished I was telepathic. I wanted to tell Aren I was there, that I’d take her out. But instead I stayed silent. I crept from a dumpster to a parked car, watching and praying I’d catch her off-guard.
“What kind of jaguar hunts with a gun?” Aren jibed.
“The kind of jaguar who knows she’s smaller than a big dumb wolf. Where is your girlfriend?” Her gloved finger gripped the trigger, and silently I begged my brother to shut the hell up.
“I put her on a plane,” he said. “She’s probably in Reno by now.”