Jaguar Fever

Chapter 16

“Connor?” Maya whispered, pulling away from the bed and Wade. The figure was definitely a male as tall as he was, and Wade was instantly on guard. “You stay in bed,” she said, grabbing a white terry-cloth robe off a chair and pulling it on.

Wade wasn’t sitting still, despite what she wanted. He quickly left the bed to protect her in case it wasn’t Connor, watching her move down the stairs and through the living room, ready to shift into his much more protective jaguar form.

She pushed the curtain aside before she opened the door, then turned and, smiling, said to Wade, “It’s your brother. And it looks like he brought us a late breakfast.”

Wearing khakis and a light-blue shirt, David stood grinning at the door.

Relieved to see his brother and not Connor—or one of the bad guys—Wade snagged a towel out of the bathroom and tucked it around his waist, then joined them in the living room. “What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be getting your half of the bad guys.”

David chuckled as he carried in the tray of food, kissing Maya briefly on the cheek, then setting the tray down on the coffee table. “Compliments of your brother and me, Maya.”

“You spoke to my brother?” Maya asked, her brows furrowed.

“Yeah. I couldn’t find Wade and got worried. Then I figured if he was goofing off again, he might be here.”

Wade smiled a little at his brother and shook his head.

“I ran into your brother and his wife as they were on their way to breakfast. I assumed that the three of you had brought Wade back here.”

“Yeah, not of my own choice,” Wade said as he sat down next to Maya and looked at the food on the tray. An omelet made his stomach rumble with hunger. French toast made of Creole bread had been prepared for Maya.

Shaking his head, David sat down on the couch opposite them and glanced at Maya sitting in her robe. “Coming back here with Maya,” he said, then glanced at the bed and again at Maya, “would have been my choice if I’d been you.”

“Believe me, you would not have wanted to go through what I did to end up here.”

“Thanks, David. What a treat.” Maya smiled warmly at him.

“I was worried when you didn’t rendezvous with me at the appointed hour back at our cabana, Wade,” David said, watching him eat.

“Sorry about that.”

David frowned. “I knew you had to be in trouble.”

Maya looked up from taking another bite of her French toast. “Connor and Kat came to our rescue and we came straight back here.”

David ground his teeth. “Okay… When Mylar and Bettinger didn’t return to the cabana last night, Lion Mane and Smith were pretty shook up about it. Lion Mane knew we had searched the cabana, and he discovered the tranq darts and the scent of the female jaguar in the jungle. No sign of the guns or the men. No sign of the jaguars—you or the female. Lion Mane was sniffing at the scents left behind by Maya—who Lion Mane knew—and Kat and Connor, who none of us knew. He located the scents of Mylar and Bettinger, and the river where their scents ended.”

“You followed them to the site?” Wade asked.

“Yeah. I was trailing them when they returned to the cabana and discovered we’d been there. Then they returned to the rainforest to find the others. I guessed that they were supposed to meet back at the cabana, but like you and I meeting, it didn’t happen.”

“So what do we do now?” Maya licked her fingers.

Both Wade and his brother watched her tongue sliding over her fingers. Wade knew what he wanted to do. Take her back to bed.

David cleared his throat. “Um, this is a Special Forces mission.”

She snorted. “You wouldn’t be sitting here talking to Wade if I hadn’t helped out a little.”

Wade and his brother shared looks.

“She’s right,” Wade said, finishing his omelet.

“So, what’s our next move?” She sat back against the couch, folding her arms. When neither brother said anything, she let her breath out in exasperation. “Okay, look, if David didn’t take down Lion Mane, the guy knows I’m in on this with the two of you. He’ll also know that Kat and Connor are involved. He might want revenge, or he might decide things are getting too hot for him and leave. Or, he might risk going after the female jaguar again since he’s already put this much effort into it and still wants the money. In any event, we’re all involved in this now.”

“Connor mentioned taking you and Kat home early,” David said, his tone cautious.

Her mouth pursed as she raised her brows at him.

He shrugged. “Kat wouldn’t hear of it unless you wanted to go home, too.”

“No, I don’t want to go home yet. If this guy wants revenge, he could drop by our garden nursery anytime. If he wants to go after the cat, the more of us there are to stop him, the better,” Maya said.

David turned to Wade. “If you don’t keep her for yourself, I’m not guaranteeing she’s going to be free much longer.”

Maya smiled and cast a glance in Wade’s direction, but not before he could wipe the scowl off his face.

“Since Lion Mane knows about all of us, I assume it would be better if we all stayed at the same resort tonight,” David said.

“There wouldn’t be enough room at the cabana we’re staying at. Enough beds, but not enough rooms for privacy,” Wade said. He smiled at David.

Maya slid her hand over Wade’s towel-covered thigh. If she did much more, she was going to get a rise out of him.

“So what were you thinking?” Wade asked his brother, taking hold of her hand and pulling her close. He tucked her soft, terry-cloth-robed body securely underneath his arm.

“A couple is moving out of their cottage this morning. You and I could stay there. I already reserved the place, just in case.”

“Okay, sounds good. We’ll figure out sleeping arrangements later.” Wade kissed the top of Maya’s head. As long as Maya was agreeable, he intended to stay with her here until she left for home.

“You know we’re leaving the day after tomorrow?” Maya said. “So we only have today and tomorrow to stop these men.”

On her schedule. But not on David’s and his.

“I managed to tell Martin I found you safe here,” David said. “The main lodge here has really spotty reception, but I got through. I told him about Bettinger and Mylar. He wanted to know if you learned who the buyer was before Bettinger died.”

Maya spoke up before Wade could say anything. “Bettinger had the gun and was asking all the questions while Wade was a jaguar at the time. So no, Wade didn’t have a chance to ask him who he was working for. But Wade is alive and I figure that ought to count for something.”

David smiled at Maya. “Martin better not cross claws with you. He’s fine with it, only because Lion Mane is still running around. I sent him a picture of the dude to see if Martin might be able to learn who he is. As to Bill Bettinger, he said the man had a wife and two kids.”

A knock at the front door gave Maya a start.

“Maya, are you finished with breakfast yet?” Connor asked through the door. “We need to talk.”

Looking guilty as sin, Maya jumped up from the couch.

Wade shook his head. Her brother was bound to know he and Maya had made love. She raced up the steps to the bedroom, grabbed some clothes out of the dresser and closet, then scurried into the bathroom and shut the door.

“She’s fast,” David mused.

“Coming!” Wade shouted to Connor.

“Have you got any clothes?” David asked.

“Yeah. A pair of pants.”

“I’ll get the door. Why don’t you put the pants on?”

“I’m fine,” Wade said, heading for the door. “I need to take a shower anyway before I get dressed.”

David sighed. “You like to live dangerously.”

Wade opened the door, wearing only the towel around his waist, and raised a brow at Connor, whose eyes narrowed as he took in Wade’s scent. Even if Wade had been dressed, he couldn’t have hidden the smell of Maya on him—or of their lovemaking in the bed that was open to the view of the living room.

Connor glanced in the direction of the bathroom where the spray of the shower was going full blast. “We need to make some decisions here.”

He took a seat on one of the floral upholstered chairs while David sat back down on the couch and Wade sat opposite him on the other couch.

“Yeah. Maya says she wants to help with our investigation,” Wade said, not liking the idea. “Maybe you can talk her out of it.”

“Are you kidding? Both women are going to help us with this. Lion Mane is trouble for us. We can’t let this go. The other man? The hunter? Unless the shifter gets him involved in trying to take us down, he’s not a problem.”

“We don’t take civilians on a job,” Wade said, giving his brother a look. David nodded in agreement.

“All right, listen. We’re involved. Once Maya saved your ass and Kat and I had to come to your rescue, we became part of the team. Now… we can work together, or we can work separately. But we are going after this shifter. His buddy would have murdered Maya. Lion Mane most likely would have opted for the same solution. Don’t you agree?”

“We don’t know that for sure. We don’t know his background, his real name, nothing,” Wade said, not wanting Connor and the two women involved. He did understand where Connor was coming from. But that didn’t change how Wade felt about it.

Connor stretched out his long legs and leaned against the chair back. “Fair enough. Since you’re the Special Forces hotshot jaguars, what do you propose we do? Serve as bait?”

“I don’t like that idea,” Wade immediately said.

“If Lion Mane—hell, I wish we knew the guy’s real name—but if this bastard wants to take Maya out, no matter what we do, she could be his next target,” Connor said.

“True,” David said.

Not liking where this was headed, Wade cast his brother a disgruntled look. David was supposed to be on his side.

David shrugged. “Connor’s right. You know it, Wade.” To Connor, David said, “How about you stay here for the time being? I doubt he’d chance a confrontation at the cottages. Too many people around. Wade and I will return to our cabana and the place they were staying. We’ll look for the bastard, and if we can’t locate him, we’ll return with our luggage. You take the women on one of the tours in the area. Something where we can watch your backs. If he doesn’t try anything, then we’ll have to take him on back in the States. But if you and the ladies take a jungle excursion, he might attempt to get to Maya. And we could take him out then.”

“Too risky,” Wade said.

“There are several excursions,” Connor said, ignoring Wade’s comment, although he smiled a little at Wade, looking somewhat pleased that Wade was concerned about Maya and not willing to use her as bait. “They have cave tubing, kayaking, Mayan ruins exploration, caving, zip line, and horseback riding. Horses aren’t really fond of us. Zip line is no good because of Kat’s condition. Kayaking would be hard for you to follow us. Cave tubing might work or the Mayan ruins exploration. Before all this had happened, we’d planned on the cave tubing. We’ll have quite a bit of jungle hiking and trekking through the caves. But also a gentle tubing ride. It should be easy enough for you to watch our backs.”

Both men looked to see Wade’s take on it. He didn’t want Maya used as bait. Period. Too many things could go wrong.

Connor continued, “If this doesn’t work and we miss him here, then maybe we can check out the dance club that you all went to. Your brother said those involved in the smuggling were meeting there. What if we all went there? David said a woman he danced with knew the shifter Maya killed. Maybe if David could dance with the woman again, he’d learn more about the other shifter.”

“Yeah, we could try that,” Wade said. “Our mission is to stop Lion Mane from leaving here with the jaguar, though. If he’s hightailed it out of here, we’ll go. If he’s still trying to grab the jaguar, we’re staying, and we’ll leave when the situation is resolved.”

“In the meantime, where will you be staying?” Connor asked Wade.

“Here. At your resort. It would make sense not to split our forces.”

“Here,” Connor parroted.

“Someone needs to protect Maya. She killed his partner, Bettinger.”

Connor frowned. “All right. And David?”

“David is getting a separate cottage,” David said and sighed dramatically.

“We need to return to our resort and grab our bags. Before we come back here, we’ll make a last-ditch effort to find him before you go on the excursion,” Wade said. “Will you take care of things here?” He meant Maya, but he knew he didn’t need to get that specific.

Connor nodded. “Will you go as jaguars, or do you need to borrow some boots and a shirt?”

Wade hesitated to answer. He and his brother should stick together on the return to their resort in the event Lion Mane thought to ambush them. Just as he knew that Wade and David had visited Mylar’s place, he would be able to find Wade and his brother’s scent trail back to their own cabana.

They didn’t have any idea what Lion Mane was up to. If he was smart, he’d leave the area. But being part jaguar, he also would be territorial.

“We’ll run together as jaguars,” Wade said. “We’ll return here as soon as we can. If we catch wind of the men, we’ll hunt them down. That would be the best possible scenario.”

“All right.” Connor rose from his chair, as did Wade and David.

“One last thing.” Connor’s amber eyes narrowed on Wade. “What are your intentions toward Maya?”

The shower shut off and all the men looked in the direction of the bathroom, listening for Maya. She wouldn’t come out right away. She’d have to towel dry, then dress, and Wade suspected she wouldn’t leave the bathroom until her brother was gone.

Wade turned to Connor. “Honorable. She doesn’t want to see me exclusively, though.”

Connor’s brows rose in disbelief.

Wade shrugged. “She has father issues. You should know about them.”

Connor grunted, sounding like he had some of the same issues. “What about you? Do you want to see other women?”

Wade smiled what he was certain was his most feral look. “After being around Maya for any length of time? No way.”

Connor allowed a small smile. “Good. I don’t want to see her hurt.”

“She’s safe with me,” Wade assured him. “I’m not sure about the other way around, though.”

“You mean if she finds another shifter she likes better?”

“Yeah.” Wade didn’t like where this conversation was going. He scrubbed his hand over his whiskery chin. “We need to head out.”

“Are you going to say good-bye to Maya?” Connor sounded protective of her again. “She kept hoping she’d see you for the last several days. She didn’t say so in so many words, but she was worried about you.”

“I was keeping an eye on the three of you.”

Connor openly smiled this time and slapped Wade on the shoulder as if he’d suddenly been welcomed into the family. “I knew it. I never saw you. Never smelled you. You’re good at it. But I knew it just the same.”

David shook his head. “No wonder he kept saying he had to run farther south than where the men had been.”

When no one made a move to depart from the cottage and Maya apparently wasn’t planning to leave the bathroom while everyone was there, Wade said, “I’ll be just a moment.”

He headed for the bathroom and knocked once. Last time, he’d left without saying good-bye properly to her, and he had regretted the decision even though he’d told himself she was sound asleep and he didn’t wanted to wake her.

This time he wanted to do it right, but not with his brother and hers standing in the next room listening to everything.