Jaguar Pride (7 page)

“So what made you go into the JAG?” Huntley asked Melissa as he drove her back to Amarillo. It wasn't just small talk. He'd heard she and her sister had joined the organization because of some past history with the JAG, but he didn't know what that entailed. He didn't think it was because she'd been getting into trouble when she was a teen. But he was curious.

“Martin. When we were thirteen, he rescued my sister and me from a hostage situation.”

Now
that
Huntley hadn't expected to hear. He wished he'd been there to help the girls. He would have been sixteen and ready to tackle as many of the men as there'd been, all on his own.

“They picked the wrong house to burglarize,” Melissa continued. “Dad and Mom were at work, and Bonnie and I were in the kitchen doing homework—we were homeschooled. We were working on creative writing. After that, we both rewrote our stories.”

He smiled at that. “About the break-in…”

“Yeah. Anyway, the three men thought everyone was gone. When they saw both my mom's and dad's cars had left, they broke the back door. They didn't even bother to knock to see if anyone would answer. I grabbed the phone off the dining-room table and called my dad, but we didn't wait around. My sister and I ran for the front door, but one of their men was standing on the front porch. He caught us as we threw the door open, probably waiting for his friends to unlock it for him. He looked as startled to see us as we were to see him. He waved a gun at us, and we were afraid they'd kill us because we saw their faces.”

Huntley ground his teeth. He couldn't even imagine how frightened the girls had to have been. He would have been ready to kill if his sister, Tammy, had been home alone and three men had broken into the house.

“I'd managed to get through to my dad, but I wasn't able to speak with him yet. I just screamed at the men, ‘Why are you breaking into our house? Don't shoot us! Ohmigod, there are three of you!' I hoped they didn't figure I was talking to someone on the phone. They must have thought I was hysterical. I hoped my dad wouldn't talk and give us away and that he could use another line to call for help. He did and contacted his fishing buddy, Martin. He wasn't the director of the branch yet. He was just a highly decorated field agent and had known us since we were little.” She smiled. “He even read us bedtime stories a time or two.”

“Martin did?” Huntley chuckled. “I can't envision it. What did he read to you?”

“He made up his own version of ‘The Three Little Pigs,' only the big, bad wolf had to face three little jaguar shifter cubs who made the wolf think twice about huffing and puffing and blowing their house down. The moral of the story was that we didn't need to take any guff from any bad wolves. When the break-in occurred, I think he was glad we hadn't taken him to heart and tried to fight the men on our own. Martin immediately called for reinforcements, but he didn't even wait for them.”

Huntley smiled a little at that. “He tells us never to go into a situation without someone to watch our backs.”

“Yeah, that's probably why he says that. It probably got him into trouble a time or two. Anyway, he headed straight to our house to rescue us. You can't know how good it was to see his scowling face. He killed one of the men before the man even knew what hit him. Martin was getting ready to take down another when three of his fellow agents burst into the house.”

“Thank God for that.”

“I agree. We had thought of shifting, but our parents drummed into us that we couldn't do that ever, or we'd cause real trouble. If we had turned in front of them, they could have shot and murdered us before we had a chance to kill them. And can you imagine what a mess it would have been if we had killed them? Though Martin and the other agents did kill the men. But not as jaguars. They took care of the mess, and Martin and another man stayed with us until our parents could get home. They were both on their way as soon as they knew our house had been broken into, but they had a forty-five-minute commute. My sister and I made a pact then that when we were old enough, we would be just like Martin and make a difference for our kind.”

Smiling, Huntley shook his head. “You're a lot prettier than Martin, so you could never be quite like him. And it turns out you did become the jaguar shifters in his version of the story.”

She chuckled. “What about you? Have any earth-shattering reason for joining the force?”

“Nope. Our signing up was just the way it was supposed to be. My dad didn't want us to work for anyone else. Said that he wanted us to work for our own kind. So my sister ended up in one branch, and my brother and I ended up in the JAG. It's kind of like talking to a kid about when he goes to college—not if, but
when
. When we joined the Service, the only thing left up to us was which branch we would choose.”

“Why did your sister, Tammy, pick the Enforcer branch?”

“She's sweeter than us?”

Melissa laughed. “Okay, so what does that say about me?”

He grinned at her. “Hell, Melissa, you're totally hot, unpredictable, and a lot of fun. Beyond a doubt, JAG material.”

***

It was almost midnight when Melissa and Huntley arrived at their tropical resort near the park in Costa Rica. They were glad the manager was so agreeable about them getting in so late. Martin had made sure their accommodations were a place surrounded by rainforest for privacy but with a view of a beach. And he'd paid the manager to have groceries bought so Melissa and Huntley would have a stocked fridge despite arriving so late.

Melissa definitely appreciated that. They would be spending a lot of time in the rainforest, but they would take protein bars and water and leave them with their camping gear like they had done before. Having a cooked breakfast before they left and dinner tonight would be most appreciated.

The owner of the resort, Raina, offered to provide fruit from the resort gardens, homemade coffee, and even sugarcane juice they made. But Melissa declined, saying she and Huntley would be up and about before dawn. They'd head out before first light to begin watching for Jackson and his men right away. They had to catch the bastards before they grabbed any more exotic animals to sell.

Raina had offered for them to drop by anytime and feed their pet pacas, which looked like very large guinea pigs with stripes and spots covering their coats, square heads, small ears, and barely visible tails. Jaguars—not the shifter kind, but their cousins—found pacas a tasty meal.

Bags in hand, Melissa and Huntley climbed the wooden steps to the deck. As soon as Huntley unlocked the door, he said, “I know this is moving kind of fast, but…”

She raised a brow at him and wondered if he was thinking about what had happened between them last night. She suspected that he wasn't going to want to stop at kissing this time. “You're needy?”

He laughed. “Okay, if you want to put it that way. The cabana does have two bedrooms. But I thought we might…share the same one.”

“You don't think it's too soon?”

He followed her into the last bedroom. “No.”

She chuckled. His answer was so adamant that she figured if she'd said she wasn't sure, he'd try to talk her into believing she was.

“So…we're just having a little lighthearted fun, right?” Melissa asked, unpacking her bag in the room, where the double bed sported a yellow comforter with a couple of towels folded into the shape of elephants sitting on top.

She smiled at the sight.

“Yeah, I'm good for it.”

Hearing the huskiness in his voice, she glanced up to look at him.

He smiled at her, his blue-green eyes swallowing her up like aquamarine pools of warm water, beckoning her to get closer.

“I know what this is about,” she said, closing the drawer, straightening, and poking her finger at his chest.

He took her hand and kissed it, then wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, and held on tight. “Oh?” He brushed a kiss lightly over her forehead and again at one temple, and then swept his warm, appealing mouth across her forehead and kissed her other temple.

“Yes,” she said, running her hands up his T-shirt. “You like my cooking.”

He laughed. “And your sense of humor. I mean, yeah, I love your cooking, but there's a hell of a lot more to you than that.”

“Good to know.”

And then he leaned down and kissed her. It was different this time—not so needy, but more of a willingness to get to know her, inside and out.

“You keep kissing me like that, and I'm going to think you want something more than just friendship.”

He smiled and kissed her again.

What the hell. Life was all about risk, wasn't it? Anytime they went on a mission, they might not come back. She realized now why she'd taken up with Oliver. He was safe, and she didn't have to worry about him being hurt. Not in his line of work. But what if she really got interested in a JAG agent? The dynamics would change between them, wouldn't they?

She sighed, put on the brakes on this time, and said, “Let's get ready for bed.” She meant to sleep. The way he gazed at her just a little longer, using his cat senses to analyze her, told her he hoped she meant otherwise.

“I'm going to get some water while you take a shower,” she said when he didn't move to get ready for bed.

“Okay.” He was in the bathroom in a flash. Only this time, he didn't shut the door.

Feeling like a schoolgirl, she stalked out of the bedroom and down the hall. Once he'd finished with his shower and climbed into bed, she showered separately and then joined him. She swore she felt like this was last night all over again. She wasn't sure why the thought of sleeping with him made her feel so…anxious. She didn't recall having any trouble like this when she started seeing Oliver as more than just a friend.

The lamp next to Huntley's side of the bed was still on. At least that seemed to be his side of the bed since he always chose to sleep there. He was in the same position as before, arms behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling, though he glanced in her direction and gave her a small smile when she climbed into bed.

“I don't want you to think I do this,” she said, motioning to the bed and him, “all the time.”

“You mean you don't change lovers at the drop of a hat?”

She chuckled. He was so cute that she couldn't help it. With that sexy body of his and liking him just for who he was and the way he teased her so sweetly, she wanted this. Probably before he was ready for her. She had to admit she was impulsive sometimes if it meant she didn't have to overthink something. She moved over, sliding her leg over his, and said, “Yeah, like that.”

Then they were kissing again, only this time his hands cupped her head as she pressed her mouth against his, her pelvis rubbing against his growing erection. She realized another difference between Huntley and Oliver: Huntley's body seemed more attuned to hers, much quicker to respond. She'd had to really work hard to get Oliver to this point with her, so she was thrilled that her body could do that to Huntley's. Or maybe he was like that with all women—with Genista even.

She closed her eyes and took in his scent, the way his minty tongue stroked hers, and the feeling of his hands shifting down to her back. Then he slid his roughened hands beneath her tank top and up her bare skin, making her tingle with delight. He smelled like one hot, turned-on jaguar. Her pheromones were just as hot and helping to build the mutual attraction.

She slid against his boxers and enjoyed the feel of him growing harder as she moved against him.

He broke free from the kiss, his eyes heated, lust-filled. She was wondering if he meant to cool it between them again until he said in an ultra-husky voice, “This is not
just
going to be another good-night kiss, is it?”

She chuckled, then leaned down to kiss him again, not wanting to talk. She didn't want to consider that what they were doing might be a mistake. Not that this was wrong, but the circumstances weren't ideal.

And then he slid his fingers down her mini-boxers, cupping her bare flesh in his hands, and she didn't care. For the moment, all that mattered was this.

When she rubbed seductively against his cock, he slid his hands back up to her top, snagging the bottom of it, and pulled it up and over her head and tossed it to the floor.

He feasted on her breasts for a moment before he cupped and massaged them. Then he moved her onto her back and began to kiss one of her breasts, his mouth on the tip, his tongue licking her hard nipple. Her senses were reeling, her blood in flames as he stroked her other breast with his hand, and she was already wet with wanting.

This was
so
not the way to accomplish a mission, she thought as she slid her hands down his back and began tugging off his boxers. He glanced up at her, and she wasn't sure if he was shocked, not ready for this, or what.

She was. He'd have to get used to it.

His surprised expression quickly turned into a big cat smile, right before he yanked off his boxers and then, without hesitation, removed hers.

Now he rubbed his cock against her swollen sex. The heat and friction—and his mouth doing wicked things to her nipples—triggered that cataclysmic state that she'd never managed to reach before. She felt the whole world move for her—the bed, him, her—until she cried out in surprise and exaltation.

She couldn't believe it. Okay, she was keeping him. Even if he wasn't sure of this being right for him, she would convince him it was. Because hot damn, he was right for her.

“Are you—” was all he got out before she was tugging at him to enter her so that he could feel the earth-shattering pleasure she'd experienced. She hoped that she'd come apart all over again, only this time when he was deep inside her.

Huntley wasn't asking any further. “I need to get a condom.”