Jaguar Fever

loved his gentleness when he seemed to understand and hadn’t pushed her away. Ha! He’d conquered her, making her feel desired above all else, forcing her to reconsider seeing anyone other than him. She had to admit he was doing one hell of a job of convincing her!

* * *

Wade let out his breath. “I wanted to be close to you again like this, but not at peril to you, Maya, which was why I’d fought staying away from you—unsuccessfully.”

She smiled a little.

“Whenever I couldn’t find the shifters who were trying to capture a jaguar, I slipped off the beaten path to find you and your family.” He stroked her arm. “I told myself I did so to watch your backs, which was true to an extent, but… I loved seeing the three of you as jaguars at play. It reminded me of my brother and me.” He chuckled. “You and Kat would both gang up on Connor as he was nosing around at the scents on the ground and suddenly tackle him, and I had to stifle the urge to laugh out loud.”

She smiled up at him. “You should have joined us.”

Instead, Wade had envisioned himself being the alpha male and deliciously tormented by two female cats. What he wouldn’t have given to be the one Maya was pouncing on, playing with, growling, batting, and biting. But he hadn’t wanted her in danger. He took a deep breath and kissed the top of her head again.

“You never said what happened to your father,” Maya said, her fingers making little circles on his chest.

“He finally came to terms with his grief, realized his sons were gone, then sought to reunite with us. He’s proud of what we do but still regretting that he’d left us to our own devices when our mother was killed.” Wade combed his fingers through Maya’s satiny hair, loving the feel of it, loving the feel of her, loving the way she touched him.

“Hmm, I seem to recall there was some mention of the two of you getting yourselves into hot water,” she murmured.

Wade caressed her shoulder, stroking her soft skin and smiling reminiscently. He chuckled a little.

“So?” she said.

“Nothing that bad. Okay, so one time we took it upon ourselves to leap off a bridge.”

“As humans or jaguars?”

“Humans. As jaguars, we would have gotten into a lot more trouble.”

“I take it you weren’t injured,” she said, looking up at him with those golden eyes that could stop his thoughts as he gazed into their crystal depths.

“No, but the third time, we got caught.”

She shook her head. “You’d think you’d learn.”

“We didn’t get caught the other times.”

“And after you got caught? You didn’t do it again, did you?”

“Not at that bridge.”

She chuckled. “I can see that you and your brother have an incorrigible streak.”

“That’s what our boss said when he took us on, but he said he was still hopeful he’d knock it out of us.”

She laughed. “What else?”

“Are you sure you want to hear any more?”

“Yeah, I’d like to know what I’m getting into.”

Wade chuckled. “I think I could really fall for you.” He already had. Any woman who would come to his rescue without regard for her own safety had to be the one for him. How many jag shifters could claim they had a woman like that in their corner?

She smiled up at him, her eyes gazing into his, and she wasn’t pulling away from him. Maybe she thought he was kidding.

“All right. Then there was the time David and I needed to withdraw some money from the bank, but he wouldn’t come in because one of the bank tellers had the hots for him and he was afraid of her. So he sent me in instead. Guy at the next teller handed a deposit slip to her, and her skin turned pasty. The guy growled under his breath, ‘Do it.’”

“He was attempting to rob the bank?” Maya asked, wide-eyed.

“Yeah. I could have used David’s help. I glanced around to see if anyone else might be with this guy, and sure enough, another man was standing near the door, watching a security guard and looking nervous, his hand tucked in his jacket like Napoleon.”

“You shouldn’t have done anything. All they wanted was the money. Right?”

“Right. And I wouldn’t have done anything heroic, worrying someone might get killed. Me, even. The robber near me growled, ‘Now, lady, or you’re dead.’ About that time, my brother walked into the bank. I thought he believed I was taking too long, but I should have known better.”

“He knew.”

“Yeah, saw the getaway car, called the police, and came in to help me, in case I planned any heroics. I really didn’t.”

She smiled, looked down at his chest, and ran her fingers over his ribs with a featherlight touch. “I can’t imagine that.”

“Well, I thought about it, sure. But with just one of me and two of them, it was too risky. Now there were two of them. And two of us. David was close to the guy by the door. I was close to the one demanding the money. I shouted, ‘Now, David!’ Then I lunged for the guy near me, taking him down. He hit his head hard on the waxed tile floor, knocking himself out. Women screamed. Men yelled. The security guard shouted, ‘Hold it right there!’ He was waving a gun at David and the man he’d tackled, taking the guy to the floor. Police got the getaway driver and the two would-be bank robbers. As soon as David was standing, the teller who had the hots for him was all over him. I almost felt bad for him, considering he’d come in to save my butt.”

Maya laughed. “You’re so bad.”

“Yeah, it was his fault he’d used his charm on her earlier, though. We were given an award for citizens’ heroics and Martin had heard enough. We didn’t know anything about him and his organization or that he’d been following our shenanigans with interest. We were either being taken in by the police or doing police work. He wanted us to work for him, or else. So we agreed.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment, just resettled her head against his chest, her fingers tracing a circle around his nipple. “He’s damn lucky to have you.”

“God, Maya,” Wade said, hugging her close, hating that Maya had been in such danger and he couldn’t protect her. “Bettinger could have injured you, killed you. I’m sorry I got you involved in this.”

She shook her head. “You were always there for us… for Kat and Connor and me. Why shouldn’t we have helped you this time?”

He snorted. “Because I was supposed to be doing my job. What did Connor say to you last night about the whole fiasco?” He figured Connor would have said plenty.

“He was angry and told me not to get near you.” She smiled up at Wade with the most sinfully seductive look.

He chuckled, threading his fingers through her hair. “You didn’t listen to him.” He swept his hand over her bare arm.

She ran her fingers over Wade’s chest with a tender touch, making his blood heat. “I don’t always listen to what my brother tells me to do or not to do.”

A rapping at the patio door made Wade’s heart skip a beat. He peered through the gauzy mesh surrounding the bed and saw a shadowy figure at the back door, hidden by the drapes.

Chapter 16

“Connor?” Maya whispered, pulling away from the bed and Wade. The figure was definitely a male as tall as