Circus Wolf (12 page)

No! This is insane; he’s using hypnosis on
me.
She pushed him away.

He stopped all movement. Then, it seemed with great
effort, he started moving again, taking them into deeper water. “Relax.” He
drew her out until the water just covered her nipples.

As the dark steamy waters swirled around his muscled
abdomen, she raised her gaze and stared at his shadowy muscular chest,
wondering where the source of light was coming from that made the skin glisten
in the darkness like phosphorous. The warm water had a relaxing effect while
his relentless hold on her arm was wildly stirring.

He drew her close and said, “Out here in the middle of the
pool, if we whisper the sound won’t carry to the edge and we’ll have complete
privacy. We’re just a whispering couple, skinny-dipping.” His voice had
lowered, and the velvet warmth of those words slid over her, caressing her, seducing
her. “What are we going to do about our secrets?” he asked.

His
breath feathered off her face. She cleared her throat but couldn’t speak. Like
an idiot, she just shook her head.

His masculine scent and steam wrapped around her like
vaporous, misty chains.
He pressed closer and she felt his thigh muscles contract. Damn
him.
He exuded this
raw, hard-edged sensuality that made thinking rationally impossible.
Strips of darkness fell
across his solemn face, accenting more deeply his strong lupine contours.

His prolonged stare unnerved her as much as her
awareness that they were alone nude in this steaming pool with their bodies
touching where they curved into each other. Lingering feral instincts
overpowered her sanity again, and certain now she was under some kind of
hypnotic spell, she nevertheless allowed herself to relax into Hugh’s solid,
warm embrace. He pressed even closer. Her passion rose and to her horror, her
excitement went from simmering desire to boiling lust. She wanted him. Now!

What am I thinking—doing?
This man is a werewolf and I’m a tiger. Both of us are cursed. But now that we
know one another’s secrets we must come to an agreement and face that we need
each other.
But, what if he’s the one killing all those
women?

 
She wanted to blame the Tiger who was so
much a part of her for the lust, but she knew it was her own passions he’d
aroused. She stroked her lips. It was as if Hugh had unleashed a wildness she
had waited since birth for him to bring to life. And she ached for him to finish
the seduction and then massage her passion passages to life again and again.

 
But that wasn’t all
going on here. A persistent pounding from her heart warned her feelings went
beyond desire. Her growing concern for him was so strong that no matter how
much he irritated her, the caring failed to fade.
He’s dangerous to me on so many levels.
Very, very
dangerous.
But I can’t accept he’s a killer. It would be easier to
resist him if I could.
Clinging to
the needing each other excuse
for not
pulling away, she looked up at his etched face; he’d set his shadowed square
jaw in determination.

What did
his unyielding expression mean? Determined to do what?

While her mind spun in confusion, he bent and when
his lips touched hers, she melted into the insanely captivating kiss. She
fought the turbulent electricity.
No! No!
I mustn’t let this happen.
But as if her brain and her limbs were
disconnected, her arms of their own volition pulled him closer. His back was
warm, moist, and taut under her palms and fingertips. His lips were firm
against hers, his mouth slightly open and moist. He sought her tongue. As
though bewitched, she entangled it with his, while floating under the seductive
power of his hands touching her shoulders, her breasts, her hips. Fire flooded
her veins and roared out of control, taking possession of her. His heat and the
heat of the steaming pool swirled around her, seeping into her bones, spreading
new waves of heat through her until every inch of flesh was on fire.

“This is madness,” she whispered between crazed
kisses.

Abruptly, he pulled back. His eyes glinted in the
darkness from an unknown source of light. Earlier that day, in the bright
afternoon sun, those eyes had been a silvery gray.
A warm
friendly
safe
silvery gray.

He shook his head as though to clear it and stared
at her, looking as dazed as she was by what had passed between them. “We better
talk.” He moved back several steps.
“At a distance.”

Their gazes locked. She swallowed. “Yes. And more
precisely, I think we should get out of this pool and get dressed. Whose crazy
idea was this anyway?”

“It wasn’t such a bad idea.” His voice deepened and
she thought she detected irony in his husky tone. “It made me see the extent of
our problem goes far beyond keeping secrets.”

She touched her engorged lips, fully aware he
referred to their over-powering attraction for one another and aware of the
pool’s swirling heat between her legs and around her swollen breasts. She
craved more touching—more of everything. What possessed her to want to ride the
insane pleasure to its mysterious climax? And what possessed her to desire to
do this wild, irrational thing with another cursed soul of a different species.
Maybe the forbidden uniting was part of the lure. Thank God they’d stopped
before their fervor escalated further out of control and she showed him the
full range of her feral tiger passion. She closed her eyes, willing away the
memories seducing her to finish what they started.

****

The silence and sense of guilt for seducing his
boss
was heavy on Hugh’s shoulders as
they dressed hastily and headed back toward the circus grounds. If Tigra had
any doubts he was hot for her, they were gone now. To his detriment, nothing
could kill his nearly explosive physical reaction to her. They walked inches
apart. He fought his desire to clasp her hand.
Think man, think with your brain.
Granted, he’d made huge blunders.
But some good had come out of his mistakes. He’d achieved the goal he had when
he left the circus grounds—he’d kept Tigra safe. Maybe not safe from him,
but—He’d gotten way more than he’d bargained for, and, quite frankly, more then
he’d been prepared to handle. Seeing Tigra’s beautiful nude body had sent him
into a tailspin and made him crazy to seduce her at any cost. What man wouldn’t
want to experience
tiger passion
once
in his life? He’d heard about it, read about it, and had almost thrown caution
to the wind and crossed the line. Her complying reactions suggested she was
more than willing.

The pleasant thought disintegrated when three police units
with their sirens blaring passed them along the road and turned west.

At least,
the police weren’t heading for the circus.

His mind flicked back to his sizzling memory of them
in the steamy pool. Thank God, he’d come to his senses and realized giving in
to his lust would bring more complications, complications he wasn’t ready to
handle. He had to keep reminding himself he wanted more than a crazed romp with
a woman, and he wanted to keep his job at the circus
.

He sighed.
Already
things have changed between us. We’re walking no more than six inches apart,
with little conversation and probably revealing to outsiders little emotion.
But I’m a knot of emotion inside. Is she?

He thought of her running through the woods alone. He
admired her self-reliance. Since he was resurrected, he’d always striven to
strengthen a strong sense of independence himself. But over the years he’d
learned and come to appreciate the need for family and craved a sense of
belonging. Tigra apparently had never had that; unless you called the circus
and Grandy her family. If she had someone who loved her to call on, she
wouldn’t have had to wander around by herself. But maybe she liked being a
loner. That was another reason he shouldn’t pursue and seduce her. He didn’t
like the solitary life.

He glanced at her. The silence between them was getting to
him. Although aggravated, he felt the need to say something. “I’ve noticed your
strength, your tenaciousness, your strong will, and the way nothing stops you
from your goal. While frustrating at times, I appreciate that about you.”

She laughed a screw you kind of laugh he wasn’t sure how to
handle. Before he could think of words to repair his apparent verbal blunder,
she shrugged and said, “Thanks, I think.”

His shoulders relaxed as the tense moment evaporated into
the breeze.

Hugh looked up at more sirens.
Two police units stopped at the circus entrance and the officers
jumped the turnstile, looking eager to make an arrest. “I wonder what’s going
on,” he said.

Her expression darkened. “Police around a circus
always means trouble.”

When he walked Tigra back to her caravan the two
police officers were there waiting. One was a bear of a man who looked like he
loved double portions of tortilla’s smothered in salsa and cheese. “I’m Officer
Gonzales,” he said with a curt Mexican accent. He didn’t bother to introduce
his partner, but the name plate identified the man as Tanner. Tanner was dark-
skinned with Indian high cheek bones and steady black pupils that stared out
from deep eye sockets. He carried a lab kit.

Both men squinted and their narrowed eyes glinted as
though they were experiencing deep rage.

Gonzales’ muddy gaze intensified and he barked,
“Where have you two been since closing?” He poised to take notes.

“Out for a walk.”

“Were you together the whole time?”

Hugh hoped Tigra would back him up. “She left the
circus a few minutes ahead of me, but I caught up with her right away. What’s
wrong, officer, another robbery?”

“Worse. A young woman was brutally attacked and
murdered shortly after you left the grounds. According to witnesses who saw you
leave, the timing matched.”

Hugh frowned.
So much for the closed-mouthed Circus-Carney bunch.
Or maybe they threw me to the dogs because
I’m not considered one of them.
But what about Tigra?

The puncture wounds found in the young girl’s neck
indicated we’re dealing with a werewolf, tiger, or a vampire.”

Tigra’s eyes widened.
“A vampire?

Gonzales’ gaze remained steady. “Whatever demon killed
that young innocent girl, it drank from her neck vein. The ghastly process is
called the vampire kiss. It’s highly erotic, but ends in death.”

Tigra paled. “Hugh, you may have saved my life.”

Gonzales looked unimpressed.

Hugh wasn’t impressed himself. He’d saved one woman,
but failed to save another. A wave of regret washed over him. Perhaps if he
hadn’t been trying to seduce Tigra in the pool…

“When the serial murders started up in our area,”
Gonzales said, “we checked on everyone who works for the circus. We learned
that you and your brother, Damon, always seemed to be around when the werewolf
attacks happened in the Mt. Baldy area.”

Tigra’s eyes widened. “Are you saying a werewolf
killed that girl?”

“Too early to tell.
We know one thing for sure—whoever killed that
lovely young girl is both animal and devil.”

Lovely young girl echoed in Hugh’s head. His stomach
knotted, hurting for the girl’s family and fearing what might be going through
Tigra’s mind. “Well, I assure you, officer, neither my brother nor I had
anything to do with any killings now or ever.”

The officer glared at him with an icy, unconvinced
gaze.
“Both of you.
Open your mouths.”

They complied, and Hugh wondered if Tigra felt as
ridiculous and degraded as he did.

“Nice teeth,” Gonzales said as though disappointed
they weren’t fangs. “The victim

was
bitten and since you were in the area and the timing fits, we need a swab of
saliva from each of you.”

Officer Tanner already had the kit open and stepped
forward. “Open,” he said, and swabbed their mouths with separate swabs and then
labeled and put each into clear plastic containers.

Hugh felt as violated as hell. Probably Tigra felt
the same. But to refuse would have thrown more suspicion on them. And neither
could chance that.

“We weren’t the only Circus people to leave the
grounds around the time of the murder,” he said. “Did you check on Vance, the
high wire, aerialist? He left the grounds just before I did. Did you swab his
mouth?”

Gonzales’s eyes darkened. Hugh figured the cop
thought he was only trying to divert blame away from himself. Tigra’s sidelong,
glowering glance suggested she might think so, too.”

“Did you see him leave, too, Miss?”

“No, but—”

“That’s all right. We’ll question him and ask around
if anyone else saw him leave the grounds. We appreciate all leads.” Gonzales
bored-eyed expression revealed he was doubtful anything would come of it. After
a moment, his gaze hardened and he glanced directly at Hugh. “I promise you,
we’re going to get this monster, whoever he is.”

 
Gonzales
glanced at Tanner. “All set?” When the officer with Indian cheek bones nodded
solemnly, Gonzales said, “We’ll be back when we get the forensics reports.
Don’t leave town.”