Jaguar Fever

David raced back into the dining room, breathing hard. He had to have run all the way to his cottage and back. He shoved a roll of gauze and tape at Wade, then retook his seat.

“Thanks,” Maya said to David. He smiled at her and winked.

Everyone waited for Wade to bind Maya’s wounds. She wished they would just talk and get all the attention off her. Her whole body was heating to sauna levels despite the cold air circulating in the dining room.

“Oh yes, and the cave tubing was so much fun,” Kat said, perking up after finishing her salad, finally starting the conversation again. “The water was just the right temperature.”

“I’d love to visit the cave.” Wade finished binding Maya’s wound, then took her hand in his and caressed it, gazing into her eyes like an adoring puppy instead of a hot-blooded cat.

She smiled at him, deciding she liked him both ways, a lot.

She noticed that both her brother and Kat were watching the way Wade was caressing her hand, and her whole body heated all over again. She pulled her hand away from Wade’s and dipped her spoon into her soup.

“We won’t be coming back for some time,” Connor said, running his hand over Kat’s belly. “Too difficult with twins on the way.”

Poor Kat. Every eye in the place turned to look at her stomach.

Maya sighed a little, grateful that Connor got her out of that one. Until he said, “But you and Maya could visit in the meantime, Wade. I wouldn’t want her to feel that she couldn’t enjoy the rainforest just because we can’t go.”

Maya glowered at her brother. Spending time totally alone with Wade was not a good idea.

Wade grinned. “Sounds like a deal.”

She could have kicked her brother under the table. Then she saw David smiling at her, and she had a brilliant thought. “David could go with you, Wade. Since he hasn’t been there, either.”

“If he wants to come along for the ride, sure,” Wade said, not about to let her slip out of that one so easily.

The entrees were served, and they got busy eating, the whole room quiet except for the clinking of silverware or the pouring of fresh water into glasses.

Thinking back to what their guide had told them, Maya said, “The cold crystal-clear water was coming up from natural underground springs. I didn’t expect to see the catfish in the pools of water or how clear it would be.”

“And a jaguar hunts there, too,” the woman who’d spoken about Maya earlier said.

This time Maya frowned at her, irritated that the woman kept harping about the jaguars. “He wouldn’t come out until night and only to hunt big rodents, not people,” Maya finally said, annoyed.

The woman motioned to Maya’s arm. “You didn’t have those claw marks before. One of the jaguars did that, didn’t he?”

Wade placed his arm around Maya’s shoulder, but she didn’t need protection from the woman who scorned their kind. Maya tapped her long nails on the table and then showed them to the woman. “He did. But when I clawed him back, he took off running.”

Everyone chuckled.

“Laugh, but she could have been killed,” the woman said, frowning. “And where were you when I was left alone out there in the jungle?” She scowled at the man sitting beside her, no doubt the husband who’d escaped to the cottage and confused Francisco’s head count.

The woman hadn’t been left alone in the jungle. She’d been standing near the guide with all the other tourists.

“Unlocking the door of our cottage for you, dear, so you’d have a faster escape,” the man said, sounding sour about it, though he was attempting to keep his voice level. She probably had already given him hell for it and wouldn’t let him live it down for the rest of their married lives.

Several tourists looked like they were fighting smiles.

Wade leaned over to kiss Maya’s cheek and nuzzled his mouth against her ear with tenderness. She felt her whole body tingle with need and looked up into his solemn gaze. He’d been playing the role of a man taking a woman to a family gathering for dinner, but now she could see he was still disturbed about what had occurred between her and Lion Mane.

She might pretend that the exchange between her and the shifter had meant nothing, but his clawing her had meant something. Danger, possession, or a wish to kill her. She wasn’t clear about his intentions, but since she’d brushed him off at the club and killed two of his partners in crime, she suspected she was on his terminal list. She was used to dealing with armed drug runners in the Amazon. But not anything like this. A chill slid up her spine.

“What’s on the schedule for tomorrow?” David asked.

“Resting and packing up,” Connor said. “The long bus ride, wait at the airport, and three-and-a-half-hour plane trip will be wearing enough for Kat.”

Wade leaned his head against Maya, his arm tightening around her shoulders, his whole body saying he wanted her.

She felt her face heat, hating that she was so transparent.

David blushed himself and said, more to the table than anyone, “Yeah, I’ve got a lot of resting up to do. I’ll call our boss and tell him our plans—if I can get through, considering the spotty reception in this area.”

Everyone looked at Wade. He raised his brows. “My brother and I will take the bus when you do,” he finally said. “Our flight won’t leave until the next morning, which means we’ll have to stay in a hotel in the city.” Wade looked at Maya. “Since we didn’t resolve the situation here, we’ve got a club date after that.”

Maya didn’t have much time to think about that because everyone was saying their good-nights.

Maya and Wade barely made it into her cottage before he was kissing her, shutting the door, and locking it. They never made it up the steps to the bed.

With their mouths fused, she was yanking off her sandals while he was kicking off his own with one clunk and then another. He swept his fingers along the sweetheart neckline of her sundress. A frisson of heat winged through her blood as he slipped the top of the silky dress down, freeing her breasts and allowing the cool air to whisper across her heated flesh. Her nipples were already peaked, and he smiled at the sight of them.

“No bra.” His eyes were smoky with lust, his hands moving over her breasts.

“Corset built into the dress.” She smiled at him, reaching up to fluff her hair around her shoulders as he watched, engrossed.

He smiled. “I like this dress.” His voice was gravelly with need. He began kissing her. His hands stroked her bare shoulders, but she wanted them on her breasts again, doing wicked things to her libido. She took one of his hands and curved his fingers around her swollen breast. He moved his other hand down, too, so he was covering both her breasts, skimming over them almost reverently, then squeezing them gently. His mouth was rough on hers, and the light stubble covering his face grazed her skin as he rubbed his cheek against hers, then kissed her lips again.

He slid his hand up her thigh underneath the short dress but paused when his fingers reached her hip and he hadn’t found any panties. He grinned down at her. Tickled, she smiled back.

He tried again, only this time sliding his hand between her legs, giving her an even more wicked grin when he found she truly wasn’t wearing panties. He slipped a finger inside her, smiled, and pulled his finger out. “Wet,” he said, his mouth capturing hers. His kisses and touches were desperate and unchecked.

“Wade,” she breathed against his mouth, loving the feral side of him as he sank his finger deep into her wet sheath again, his other hand pressed against her lower back, holding her steady as he kissed her harder. More passionately. No holds barred. Claiming her in a way he hadn’t before.

He moved her toward the couch, inching their way there and not stopping the sensual assault on her senses. The smell of his arousal, his maleness, the jungle, and the citrus soap he’d used in the shower were a tantalizing aphrodisiac. Before she expected it, he had positioned her next to the couch and lowered her back onto the soft cushions. Then he was tugging her skirt up, bunching the silky floral fabric at her waist and leaving the rest of her bared for his pleasure. He was still fully dressed!

He feasted on her for only a moment, his cock so hard that she could see the rigid outline against his silky