Terry Spear - [Shifter 02] (7 page)

Eating dinner was next on the agenda because Maya and Kat said they were starving.

Connor almost felt left out when Maya and Kat linked arms and strolled ahead of him on the narrow walkway as they headed toward the main lodge. “Tell me what the club was like,” Kat coaxed.

“Maya started a brawl,” Connor said, “and the place will probably never be the same.”

Kat glanced back at Connor. Maya rolled her eyes at him. He smiled.

Maya said, “We had drinks and…”

“Dancing?” Connor suddenly asked. “You danced with Wade Patterson?”

“And Thompson…”

“The guy from the zoo?” Connor asked, not believing this.

“Yeah, he was protecting me from the other shifters who wanted to dance with me.”

“Where the hell was Wade when all of this was going on?” Even though Connor still wasn’t sure about the man’s intentions with regard to Maya or Kat, he thought Wade would have looked out for her welfare better than that. “Where were our cousins?”

“They wanted to talk to Wade about business—you know, as it pertained to their line of work.”

Connor shook his head.

“The club sounds like fun,” Kat said, a sparkle in her eye.

“You’re not going,” Connor said.

Kat frowned over her shoulder at him. “For your information, I believe I’ve been to one like that in Florida. I didn’t know that’s what it was, of course. But I loved the jungle theme and seeing the men and women dancing on stage in loincloths.”

“You weren’t a wild cat back then, Kathleen,” he said. “It would be different now. Hell, as bad as Maya made the fight sound, can you imagine the two of you together, stirring things up? We’d be banned from ever entering the club again.”

Kat smiled at Maya. Connor shook his head again. He wondered if that was the reason their mother had kept them away from others of their kind, ensuring they lived in a more natural environment.

When they walked into the dining room, they found they were the first to take their seats for the evening meal.

Each of them chose to begin with the chicken soup.

Kat happily chatted about all that she’d seen in the jungle, from the largest flying bird in the Americas—the jabiru stork—to a rare agami heron, tons of hummingbirds, neon-green parrots, macaws, and a snowy egret. She described several of the orchids they’d witnessed. Then she said, her eyes bright with excitement, “We saw an ocelot!”

“No jaguars, though?” Maya asked, a teasing light in her eyes.

Guests said hi to them as they took their seats around some of the tables. Connor and Kat always arrived early for dinner so they could go on their jungle treks at dusk, while the other guests spent their days in the jungle and stayed in their cottages at night.

“Did you hear the howler monkey?” one woman asked another at a different table. “It nearly gave me a seizure until I figured out what it was.”

“What was Wade like?” Kat asked Maya.

Connor tried not to stiffen, but he didn’t manage well—especially when Kat was asking about Wade.

“He’s protective,” Maya said.

Connor meant to keep his mouth shut, but he couldn’t let that go. “Yeah, like he left you alone and a barroom brawl started over you.”

Two of the men and a woman at another table looked in their direction. Maya’s cheeks blossomed with color.

She tilted her chin up and said to Kat, “He came to my protection and even carried me out of there when I slipped on all the broken glass.” She gave Connor an “I told you so” look.

All conversation at the other tables concerning what the guests had discovered on treks to a nearby cave and the jungle died as soon as the barroom brawl was mentioned. Connor
knew
Kat and Maya should have had this discussion in one of their cottages.

Then he began to consider the sleeping arrangements at their home, and before he could stop himself from saying something about it, he asked, “None of the men slept in our bedroom, did they?”

“Of course not,” Maya said, sounding irritated. “We all slept in
my
bed.”

He knew she was kidding because there was no way in hell all of them could have slept in her queen-size bed with her. Not that he would have believed she’d slept with her cousins or David. Wade? Connor wasn’t certain about him.

Kat laughed. “As if four men could sleep in that bed of yours with you.”

Maya sighed. “If you must know, our cousins slept on the floor in the living room. Wade took one of the recliners so he could watch David. Poor David had gotten hit in the head by a bottle, and it cut him. So he slept on the couch.”

One of the male guests was smiling and shaking his head, and another was watching Connor and waggling his brows.

As dessert was served, Connor saw Maya suddenly look in the direction of the window as if something had caught her eye.

“What did you see?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing.” She dipped her fork into her banana rum crepe.

She looked pale and her heart was thumping hard.

“Maya?”

“I… I thought I saw something.”

“Someone,” he said, knowing her better than that.

“Okay, someone. After what Wade told me about the hunters, I’m just feeling a little jumpy.”

“They wouldn’t come to the lodge or the cottages looking for a jaguar,” Connor assured her.

“One was spotted last night in the jungle below our deck,” a woman at another table said, smiling. “The owner said several guests have seen it. Nothing to worry about, though.” She poked her fork into her dessert and continued talking to her companions.

It couldn’t have been Wade because he had arrived at the same time as Maya, she knew. Hell. If it was a true jaguar and word got out that it was frequenting the area, that could bring the hunters down on top of them.

In the middle of the night, Wade reached the treetop cottages where Maya was staying. He and David hadn’t needed a GPS to locate them. In their jaguar forms, they’d followed Kat and Connor’s scents to the resort. Wade had smelled another jaguar in the area—a female, which didn’t bode well if Bettinger and Lion Mane got wind of her and led the smugglers this way. He wanted to warn Maya and the others that Bettinger and Lion Mane were in on the jaguar-smuggling plans. As jaguar shifters, the men could scent another jaguar and tip off the smugglers who would take the big cat into custody.

While he suspected that Bettinger and Lion Mane wouldn’t lead the smugglers to a shifter, Wade didn’t like the fact that they could make a move on Maya if they learned she was here.

The cottages appeared to be suspended in the trees, a walkway connecting each to the next. Wade and his brother roamed through the trees below, listening for sounds of people up and about. Everyone appeared to be sleeping. No talking or laughing, just silence from the human population.

The jungle noises still cloaked Wade as he searched for the cottage that could be Maya’s. He leaped into a tree next to a deck and smiled his jaguar smile as he smelled that Maya had been sitting in one of the rocking chairs a short while ago. There was no sign of Kat or Connor’s scent on the deck, so he assumed this cottage had to be Maya’s.

He glanced down at David, who motioned with his large spotted head in the direction he planned to go while Wade checked on Maya. David would leave him alone, but he knew his brother would stay close by until Wade left Maya. After that, they’d return together to search for the smugglers and their guides.

His paws muddy, Wade shifted, then turned on the shower on the deck. If she was asleep, she wouldn’t hear him. After he cleaned up, he planned to check on her and tell her about Bettinger and the other men. A bottle of eco-friendly soap was sitting on a table nearby, so he poured some out into his hands and then started to soap himself down, the citrus scent pleasantly natural and sweet. He hoped she wasn’t running through the jungle tonight, though he hadn’t smelled her scent down below. Probably too busy dealing with her brother and explaining why she smelled of four male cats.

As soon as he had rinsed off, he saw a wide-eyed Maya staring through the glass door of her cottage, taking in every inch of him. He couldn’t help his reaction. Her perusal of his body instantly made his other head stir to life. That, and what she was wearing.

A slinky, pink itty-bitty nightie barely covered her crotch. Instantly, the cool water drizzling over his body felt as though it sizzled against his suddenly hot skin. Her rigid nipples pressed against the silky fabric in response… to his arousal? He grinned at her, but she wasn’t looking at his face.

He fought the urge to leave the shower, pull her close, lift that dreamy excuse for nightwear, and take her against the wooden table covered in towels nearby.

Oh… my… God.
Maya couldn’t help staring at Wade’s gorgeous body. Bronzed. Muscles hard with vigorous workouts—the only way they could look
that
good. And he was hung. But that stunning part of his anatomy wasn’t just hanging there… He was quickly becoming aroused.

What was he doing here? A shiver stole up her spine as she thought of Connor and what he’d do to Wade if her brother found him naked on her deck.

Wade’s hands were rubbing soap all over that kissable, lickable skin, washing away the dirt on his feet and legs, then moving over every inch of the rest of his body. Her body heated so much that she felt that she was having a hot flash, although she was certain she was too young for one. She was standing inside the cottage, the air-conditioning on, so she shouldn’t have been burning up. She continued to peer out the glass door at the incredible hunk, unable to do anything but stare.

Her gaze rose further up his body, only this time she realized she’d been seen, forgetting that she wasn’t hidden from his perusal any more than he was from hers. He was grinning at her, appearing perfectly smug that he’d caught her appraising him so thoroughly. Her body’s heat rose again.

She slid the door open and hurried outside, shutting the door behind her to keep the biting insects out. “What are you doing here?” she whispered, crossing the deck to the shower so that she wouldn’t have to whisper so loud.

Even though Kat and Connor were probably asleep or busy making love, and the jungle was so noisy, she still feared her voice would carry and her brother might hear.

She glanced around, realizing that Wade must have been a jaguar when he arrived because a pile of his clothes wasn’t on the deck anywhere.

“I had to see you,” he said, his voice as hushed as hers.

“Connor will kill you if he finds you here naked on my deck. Did you locate the smugglers?”

“Yes and no.”

“Where’s your brother?”

“Guard duty. Come here,” he said, his blue-green eyes dark with desire as he reached his hand out to her.

His mouth curved up as he noted the hesitation in her expression, but the gleam in his eye said he wasn’t going to be thwarted, not when he had to know how much she wanted to be with him.

She didn’t know exactly what he had in mind. Surely, he didn’t want her to join him in the shower. She didn’t take another step in his direction. But like a jaguar that moved without warning, he snagged her hand and pulled her into the cool, soft spray and his hard, hot embrace. She was still wearing her nightie! That was now wet and plastered to her body, along with him.

Her fingers curled through his hair as his hands molded to her bottom, pulling her tight against him, and she instantly felt the stirring of his cock. They were kissing, the water sluicing down their faces and bodies, and she’d never felt more sexy or alive.

She thought about his brother’s comment at the club that she and Wade could use the brothers’ Houston hotel room if they needed to, and she wanted to move this inside—to the big king-size bed overlooking the living room.

“I want you,” she said, against his mouth, knowing he wanted her just as badly. Jaguar shifters didn’t mate for life. She could do this and still date others, but she had to let him know how she felt.

He stopped kissing her, looked down at her as if he was judging her sincerity, and pulled away from her a little. It was okay if he didn’t want her tonight, she told herself. But she was already afraid he’d leave her alone, and she knew she’d hate it if he left. Yet she had to be honest with him.

He cast her a slow, predatory smile. “Whatever you want, Maya.” He said the words with tenderness, though she suspected he hoped to change her mind.

“I want you,” she repeated, running her hand down his slick naked back, all muscles and silky skin, “in bed with me. Nothing permanent.”

He leaned over her and turned off the water, then looked at her nightie plastered to her skin and smiled. “You’re beautiful.” He tugged off the sopping wet garment and laid it over the table, then wrapped her in one of the towels stacked there. Naked, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the door.

She didn’t know why she was feeling so guilty that she was setting limits with Wade. Maybe because he seemed to want exclusivity, and she wasn’t ready for it. Or maybe because deep down she was afraid he might be the one for her, and he would be turned off by her reluctance to commit to him—even for the short term. Or that she would lose her heart to him, and he, in turn, wouldn’t be able to commit to her.

As they entered the cottage, the cold air blasted them so that their skin instantly wore goose bumps. Maya shivered and reminded herself that Wade had initially wanted to date Kat. So if he could become interested in Maya just as quickly, why not someone else, too?

“You’re thinking too much, Maya,” he said, carrying her up the steps to the bedroom before he took her into the adjoining bathroom. He set her down on the cool tile floor so she could towel-dry her hair while he snagged another towel and dried himself. He was watching her the whole time, as if he could read all the thoughts running through her mind.

She smiled then, took his hand in hers, and pulled him out of the bathroom and toward the bed. “When I first saw this bed,” she said, casting a look over her shoulder at him and capturing his gaze, “I thought of you in it with me.”

The duvet was already tossed aside from where she’d been sleeping before she heard Wade taking a shower. She’d thought that a mischievous monkey might have turned the faucet on.

No way had she envisioned that she’d find a naked man washing up on the wood deck—a hunk of a jaguar shifter whom she’d already fantasized about showering with there.

She released his hand and crawled into bed, while he continued to dry himself slowly, working on his hair first and showing off his exquisitely tanned body, every muscle group toned, his cock stretching out to her.

After he’d finished drying himself, he tossed the towel on the tile floor and stalked toward the bed. He climbed onto the mattress as she scooted over to allow him room. Pulling the netting around the bed shut, he half covered her body with his, like a big primal cat, as he began kissing her all over again.

The heat and sounds of the jungle surrounded their private, glassed-in cottage hideaway. The primitive, feral side of their nature thrummed in her blood as she cupped his head and kissed his mouth with desperate need and desire.

His hand slid over one breast, cupping, stroking, his thumb circling the nipple, and her breasts ached and swelled with his touch. His legs straddled one of hers, his knees spread wide as his thickening cock pressed against her hip, sliding, stroking, adding his musky male scent to her body, claiming her.

She knew he wanted her as badly as she wanted him.

No elephants trumpeted here like they did at the shifter club, and no music played as a backdrop to their heated moves this time. The only sounds were the tropical birds twittering, howler monkeys calling out to one another, and two shifters’ hearts beating hard as one. Yet she felt the same heat and passion and craving between them as she’d experienced on the dance floor when he held her tight in his embrace. Clothing was all that had separated them then. Not now.

She ran her nails lightly down his muscled back like a cat in ecstasy as a low growl rumbled deep in his throat. She loved the primal sound, the connection with their feral side, and arched against his body, offering her own.

He lowered his face to lick her nipple, his hand sliding down her flat belly and making her tense with anticipation when his fingers combed through the golden curls nested between her legs and touched the knotted part of her that was sensitive and receptive. She couldn’t help bending to meet the onslaught.

He looked up at her, his eyes heated, predatory, a jaguar’s blue-green gaze like a shadowy jungle filled with dark secrets. She could smell his wild, musky male scent driven by ravenous desire.

She scraped her fingernails lower down his back to his buttocks.

He gave a raspy groan and slowly, deliberately ground his rigid cock against her thigh. She’d never felt this needy, craving to have his wicked flesh embedded deep inside her, moving in and out, taking her to a world of feral indulgence.

He slid a finger between her feminine folds, deep. “So wet,” he whispered, licking her nipple. “So hot.”

So needy, she wanted to whisper back, but she could barely breathe as he plunged two fingers into her. She was weak for him. She knew if he stopped, she would beg for more. No one had ever had such an effect on her.

His mouth was again on hers, sweet and not sweet, plundering and backing away, taking and offering. She couldn’t fall for him. Not when he was her first shifter. She couldn’t. But she wanted this—to quell the raging fire burning deep inside her. Just like the one he’d stoked within her when he was dancing with her at the club.

She bucked against his fingers as they stroked her, played her, and made her gasp as sprinkles of hot, white light flitted across her senses, her body’s ache climaxing with guilty pleasure. Guilty because she shouldn’t feel this much ecstasy from a man she hadn’t given her heart to.

But she didn’t want this to end.

***

Feeling as though Maya was a clawed wildcat beneath him, Wade fought for control, unwilling to give in to the madness he felt—the jungle fever—the desire rocking his body as she writhed and bucked at his touch.

He’d never felt this out of control. If she pushed him from her bed now, he’d have a devil of a time walking away. Her hand skimmed down his arms as he straddled her leg, his hands on the mattress as he loomed above her, the predator in him coming alive. His body demanded he finish this, that he thrust between her legs and take her for his own.

Yet some part of his brain screamed at him to wait. To come back for more when she truly wanted him and
only
him in her bed.

He growled as her lust-filled golden gaze studied him, her tongue licking her lips, her whole posture saying she was waiting, anticipating his next move.

He shook his head, trying to clear it so he could make the right choice, a human one, not a jaguar one. The jaguar in her was submitting to him. The human was not.

“Don’t you dare leave me like this,” she growled softly, her voice ferocious.

He fought smiling, knowing she could back up that threatening glower with deadly teeth if she decided to shift beneath him.

She lifted her head without warning and nipped his shoulder, not enough to break the skin and not in anger, but in a cat’s way of courting before the mating. The fury in her eyes said she’d bite him again if he thought of moving off her.
Harder
this
time.

He smiled, knowing that his expression was that of an extremely appreciative, hungry male who hadn’t wanted to rein in his jaguar half. In a pure male jaguar display of ownership, he pressed his teeth gently against her neck. He pushed her legs apart with his knee, settled against her, and then thrust his cock deep between her folds in one slick move.

His mouth was alternately on hers and then sliding down her throat, licking and kissing, as her body arched to his thrusts and savage hunger drove him deeper. The smell of her—citrus fruit, orchids that she’d brushed against, and pure sex—filled him with hot need.