Jaguar Pride (5 page)

After shopping, they returned to his house, and while he threw his washed clothes in the dryer, she started to fix the meal. “Hey, do you mind if I do a load of wash? I was going to do it right when I got home, but then the argument with Oliver happened, and well, I still need to wash the jungle out of my clothes,” she called out.

“Sure thing.” Huntley was starting the dryer when his phone rang. Fishing it out of his pocket, he saw it was his brother. Everett
couldn't
be checking up on him. Huntley started another load of wash.

“Are you still at the club? Is she still with Oliver? How did it go?” Everett asked.

Huntley nearly laughed at his brother. He was worse than their sister. If Tammy knew Huntley was staying with Melissa, she'd tell their parents. Not that anything would come of this, just like nothing had come of his relationship with Genista. “Melissa is staying with me until she can find a place of her own.”

“Hot damn, Brother.”

He smiled, then remembered he was supposed to be helping her with the cooking and headed to the kitchen. “It's just a case of an agent helping out his fellow comrade,” Huntley said as he rejoined Melissa, though given the sleeping arrangements, he wasn't quite certain what might happen tonight if the two of them wanted something more than just sleep. He knew his brother wouldn't tell a soul that Melissa was staying with him.

“Right, and did that include dancing tonight?” Everett asked.

“A little.”

“Is that Everett?” Melissa asked, carrying a bowl of potato salad to the table.

“Yeah.” Huntley chastised himself for not helping her more.

“Ask him if he wants me to house-sit his place while he's on his next mission.”

Everett laughed. “I heard her. Tell her only if I'm at home. Well, got to get back to packing.”

“Be careful when you begin work on this mission, Everett. I know it's a cold case, but you never know when one like that will become dangerous.”

“Gotcha. And you be careful too. Sometimes being on leave can be just as treacherous or more so.”

Smiling, Huntley said he'd talk later and ended the call.

“So Everett won't tell the whole world I'm staying with you for a couple of days, will he?” Melissa asked, sounding a little worried.

Huntley didn't think her concern had anything to do with who she was staying with. Just that she had broken up so recently. Well, and him too.

“No. He won't even tell my dad. Who would then tell my mother, and she would begin to make wedding plans, with or without you.” He set the table.

“I like your mom. She's the life of the party. Not sure about your dad. I heard he investigated both your sister's boyfriend and his brother before he gave the Pattersons his approval.”

Huntley hadn't wanted to bring that up. But yeah, his dad would be doing an extensive background check on Melissa if she moved in with him. Like he'd done with Genista. His dad had told Huntley he approved of her. Not that Huntley needed his dad's approval of the girls he dated.

His dad always said he had never done anything but investments. But Huntley and Everett suspected he had been into covert operations—not jaguar shifter, but human ones. He knew too many people who could do investigations on people. Huntley and his brother suspected that some of their dad's jaguar friends also were covert operatives, some of whom were retired now.

Melissa and Huntley sat down to dinner and she said, “I have the perfect show for us to watch tonight if you're game.” She began eating her potato salad.

“What's that?” Huntley asked, curious because Melissa was smiling so impishly.

“
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
.”

Huntley laughed. “I swear all of the women in the agency love that movie.”

“It shows what good little homemakers we can be while also—”

“Leading a double life.” Huntley smiled. “Right. And we do. Between our jaguar-shifter business and the jobs we do.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

“So, do you wish you used guns more than your jaguar teeth?”

“Nah. It's fun to see the fantasy, but when it comes to reality, I'm all for the teeth. Don't you feel more invincible that way?” she asked.

“Certainly we can jump farther and take down prey more easily. But if they're shooting bullets, that's bad news. I love that we can discuss missions, though.” Huntley finished his potato salad and served himself some more. “Damn, this is good.”

“Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I would have preferred baking my own chicken, but it would have taken so long. The pre-roasted one was okay, but next time, I'm cooking it.”

He was surprised when she said so, like this was moving into something more permanent. He could get into dating her for real.

“I couldn't talk to Oliver about the missions,” Melissa said, buttering a roll. “Just like I wasn't interested in what he was doing, he wasn't interested in my work. Though I couldn't understand why not. Mine is fascinating.”

Huntley smiled. “He might have felt a bit emasculated. You're out swimming with the bull sharks, and he's sitting in an office making phone calls. Hell, if I was doing that and my girlfriend was facing crocodiles, caiman, sharks, and gun-toting poachers, I would feel ball-less too.”

She chuckled and her cheeks reddened a little. “True. I tried to talk him into going with me to the Amazon, Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, anywhere that they still have a few jaguars, just to have some fun, but he was completely against it.”

“City cat through and through,” Huntley said. He had friends who were city cats, and they were as important to him as any others, but he'd prefer to have a mate who'd like to do some of the same things he did, and running as a jaguar in a jungle was one of them.

“True. What about you and Genista? You must have had fun telling each other about what went down on your missions. Each of you would at least understand what the other had gone through.”

“Not really. When she was through with her assignment, she was through. She didn't want to examine any aspect of it. Which I could understand. But I like discussing it and getting it out of my system. My brother and I always talked about what went down on a job and how we could do better the next time. Just part of the winding-down process for us.”

“That's really nice.” Melissa finished eating the food on her plate.

Done with dinner, they carried their plates into the kitchen. “Let me throw my second load of wash in the dryer, and you can do your laundry while I do the dishes. After that, we can start the movie and have some wine or beers,” Huntley said.

“Wine, if you don't mind.”

“Sure thing.”

Before long, they were sitting on the couch, close together. They had finished their glasses of wine, and they'd both removed their shoes. Huntley's sock-covered feet were stretched out on the coffee table, while Melissa's naked feet were tucked to her side as she snuggled against Huntley.

He was watching the show, but he was thinking about holding Melissa close and how nice this was, compared to how he'd started the night when he first arrived home. Genista gone for good. Him watching TV alone. No one to talk to, just a bag of popcorn to munch on.

When her wash cycle ended, he put away his dry clothes. She put her clothes in the dryer, threw in another load, and rejoined him on the couch.

He could really get used to this.

Melissa said, “He has family in Amarillo.”

“Oliver has?” Huntley guessed.

She looked up at Huntley, a smile tugging at her lips. “Jackson, I mean. The poacher. The one who got away from us in Costa Rica.”

He nearly laughed. He couldn't believe she wanted to talk more about the mission. And he was all for it. If it hadn't been for being with her, and being…distracted a bit, his thoughts would have drifted that way too. “Yeah, Martin said Jackson had a sister living in Canyon and a mother living in Amarillo.”

“Okay, here's a thought I had. Tomorrow, I can spend the day looking for a furnished apartment, and if I find one and it's available right away, I'll move in. We can have dinner out and see a movie after that.
Or
,” she said, “we can take a road trip, eat dinner out, and chill out that way.”

“Road trip as in drive out to Amarillo?” Melissa was an agent after his own heart. He smiled at her. “You want to go after Jackson.”

“Or we can just be on leave and do what normal people do.”

“They take road trips.” Damn, he was ready to go. Not completing a mission bothered him. If they could get some satisfaction in bringing Jackson down, he was all for it. “You want to call the boss, or do you want me to?”

Melissa smiled. “You know Martin. He's not going to like it that you haven't taken your vacation. I had one fairly recently, so I'm good.”

“I'll call him and tell him we're taking a road trip—and vacationing along the way. On second thought, my stuff is clean and I need to pack. Yours is still washing. Why don't you call him, and I'll pack my things.”

“Coward.”

He laughed. And headed for the closet.

“We'll go first thing in the morning, right?” she asked.

No way did he want to give up sleeping with the she-cat. “Yeah. As soon as we both wake up and are ready to go. No rush. We're on vacation, you know.”

“Right. I'll fix us breakfast first thing in the morning, and you can pack the car.” Melissa called the boss. “Martin, Huntley and I have decided to take a road trip.”

Huntley glanced in Melissa's direction. There was a lengthy pause. She smiled.

“To Amarillo,” she told the boss.

Once the movie was over, Melissa finished her laundry while Huntley made the sofa into a bed. She had never done this before—stayed overnight with a male cat that worked with her. She was afraid that if things didn't pan out, working with him on future missions could be tense. And yes, she was thinking of more than just staying at his place for a couple of days. That's when she realized that being with Oliver had been a way to ensure she didn't have problems with her work relationships.

It had been the same way with other cats she'd dated. No involvement with her in her work, and frankly, she'd had similar problems with them. Not exactly the same—but the issue of her being gone on a lot of assignments did mess up relationships.

She also realized, as she took great care to remove her clothes from the dryer and repack them, that she was feeling both apprehensive and excited, as well as a flutter of panic to think she would be sleeping with Huntley in his bed when she was more than a little attracted to him. She hated to admit it, but she had really been envious that he went home after missions to Genista, an attractive she-cat fellow agent, while Melissa had to go home to sedate, never-do-anything-wild Oliver.

She heard Huntley cleaning the already-clean kitchen and wondered if he was feeling as anxious and unsettled as she was about sleeping together. Probably not.

She heard him use the bathroom, but she still couldn't force herself to go to the bed. She finally took a deep breath, carried her bag to the sofa bed, and set it next to the frame. Did he have a favorite side to sleep on?

Hers was the right side of the bed. Not that it would really matter. She was just a guest, and she could deal with it.

He left the bathroom and smiled a little. She swore he looked as anxious as she felt. This so felt like a first-time one-night stand, when she only meant to sleep here. At least for the night. Then they'd be back on a mission and back to business.

“I'll be right out,” she said, not having to use the bathroom again. She'd already brushed her teeth, used the facilities, changed into a tank top and shorts, and was ready for bed. But…

When she came out of the bathroom, Huntley was in bed on her side
. If
it had been her bed.

“Do you want to leave a night light on in the bathroom?” he asked. “In case you get up in the middle of the night and get disoriented.”

She smiled at him and turned off the light. “I'll be all right.” With her cat's night vision, she would be fine. She made her way to the bed, climbed onto the mattress, and rested on her back like he was doing, except that his hands were locked behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling.

“If I try to take over too much of the bed, just poke me with your elbow,” he said, glancing at her. “I'll move over.”

“What if
I
try to take over too much of the bed?”

“You're welcome to try.”

She swore there was an invitation in his comment. He pulled the covers over them. She felt awkward. It was crazy, really. If she'd been in bed with Oliver, they would have turned away from each other, him fuming that she'd been sleeping with male agents, and her fuming that he thought so. Then after a couple of days, Oliver would make it up to her. At least, that's how it had been after the last few missions. Now she was thinking maybe it hadn't been that at all. Had Oliver been thinking of Chad?

With Huntley, they weren't lovers. This was just a great opportunity for her to have a place to stay until she could get one of her own. She'd been strictly a partner with him on missions, and yet this felt different.

Maybe because they were both free this time. Or because they'd been fighting the attraction since their first mission together. Or it was the dancing, the Singapore sling she'd had, and then the wine they'd drunk. But it didn't feel right to be with him in bed and do nothing more.

“Okay,” she said.

He looked over at her. “Hmm?”

Maybe he didn't want anything more to happen between them. Maybe she was just imagining that he might want to, well, kiss her. Maybe he would be shocked at her admission that she wanted to kiss him.

“We…might as well get it over with. Don't you think?” she asked.

He smiled. “If you're…asking what I think you're asking…”

“I…find you…attractive,” she said quickly.

“The feeling's mutual.”

“I don't want you to think anything more will come of this. We have to work together on missions. I don't want to ruin that for us. I like working with you. You're fun to be with. And I don't want the whole agency to know about this.”

“I'll be perfectly discreet.”

Then she worried. What if he thought she meant she wanted to have sex with him? She felt her face flush with heat. “We'd better get our sleep.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” She didn't know why she was having such a time with this. Maybe because she was so afraid of what others in the branch might think about them. Out with the old, in with the new. And she really wasn't this…impulsive. If anyone else had offered to let her stay for a few nights—like his sister or someone not as hot, someone she didn't like and admire so much and who didn't seem to feel the same way about her but was also available—she wouldn't have had any problem with it.

“Melissa?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you thinking?”

Way too much. “That I should be sleeping. That…we should be sleeping.”

She looked over at him. He was smiling. “But?” he asked. His gaze drifted to her mouth.

“We shouldn't,” she said.

“We shouldn't,” he agreed, yet his eyes stole to her lips again.

“We don't really want this,” she said, as if reassuring herself that was the right thing to say and the right way to feel.

“We don't.” Only he said it as more of a question. And then he unlocked his arms from behind his head, and she knew she was in trouble. She should have turned away from him and pretended to sleep.

He turned to face her and ran his hand over her hair. She was too far away. Unless he moved closer, or she did… And she knew she shouldn't move any closer.

Melissa was cute. Huntley wasn't really sure what she was thinking. How could he be? He was a guy and what he was thinking was how much he'd like to make love to her. Not just because she was convenient. But because he'd thought about it on and off since he'd first seen her and then worked with her. He didn't think she really was ready to go to sleep. Not the way she was mulling over the situation between them.

He could understand her reluctance to get involved with him—especially so soon after both their breakups. Yet he felt they were so much more compatible than they'd been with their recent others. Melissa needed someone who could enjoy the wilderness with her like Huntley did and who understood what she went through on missions. He needed someone he could decompress with, who didn't shut him out when he wanted to talk about the last mission he'd been on, and who enjoyed working with him on missions.

“You want to talk?” He didn't want the same thing he had with Genista, her not talking and keeping her feelings to herself. On the other hand, he could understand Melissa feeling a little reluctant to be that open with him right at the first.

“What are…you thinking? About this?” she asked, motioning to them and the bed. “About, well…”

“Us?”

“It's probably too soon, isn't it?”

He smiled again. “If you don't think I want this…”

“Just because we want it doesn't mean it would be good for us.”

Okay, immediately he was thinking sex again. When he shouldn't be. She might not be thinking that way at all. “Are you trying to talk me or yourself out of it?”

She didn't say anything for a bit, but just appeared to be pondering the notion. Then she looked up at him and said, “Both.”

He chuckled. “Come here.”

She hesitated.

“We don't have to do anything. Just…sleep.”

She let out her breath on a heavy sigh. “You don't want to just sleep.” Then she moved in next to him, and he wrapped his arms around her. “Do you?”

“Hell no.” He leaned down for a kiss. All he should want was a soft, sweet kiss meant for first dates, but the wine on her lips teased him into wanting more.

He didn't want her to feel as though he was coming on too strong or being too indecisive. When the hell had he ever given this much thought to kissing a woman? When he was worried about how she'd feel.

He kissed her again, a little bolder this time, his hand on her shoulder, everything else forgotten but the way her soft lips met his, brushed his, and sweetly kissed him back. But they were pressuring a bit more, following his when he pulled slightly back. He went for it again. A little more force, a tad hotter, and then she did what she should never have done if she hadn't wanted more. She darted her tongue out and licked his mouth. A teasing, playful gesture that made his blood roar with need. Already his erection was pressing for release.

When he tried to gain entrance to her sweet mouth, she let him, moving her body against him and rubbing his arousal, flaming his blood.

His tongue penetrated her mouth, swept in and conquered, his body sliding on top of hers, though he was barely conscious of having taken over so quickly.

Her hands stroked his hair, her fingernails grazing his scalp in a sexy, intriguing way, and he was suddenly between her legs, pressing his cock against her mound, rubbing and ready to come in his boxers.

Their tongues tangled as she shifted her hands to his buttocks and stroked him through the cotton. And then, coming to his senses, though he sure as hell didn't want to, he kissed her lightly against the mouth, ending the kiss but dying to fulfill his raging needs.

He moved off her, saw the way she was smiling at him wickedly, and wasn't quite sure how to take it. Which is why he couldn't do this. He thought she might not be ready to jump into a new relationship. Hell, he wasn't sure he could do it—and he blamed it all on how much he enjoyed working with her and didn't want to ruin a good thing.

“Thanks,” she said and kissed his cheek. “I…needed that.”

“I needed more,” he said quite honestly.

She grinned at him. And he was glad he could tell her that he wasn't turning away from her because he really wanted to.

“But I think that's all I can handle…for now.” Then he smiled back.

And she sighed. “Totally works for me.”

Then, to his surprise, she snuggled against him. “If I make you too hot, just push me away.”

“Not on your life,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “I'm prepared to suffer.”

She chuckled and he smiled. He wouldn't be able to make the same concession the next time they were in bed together like this.

***

The next day, after driving three hundred and fifty miles, Melissa and Huntley arrived in Amarillo. Well, the outskirts. They hadn't left the suburbs of Dallas as early as they had planned. They were making this a vacation of sorts.

“So Martin approved the job and is paying expenses?” Huntley asked Melissa as they looked for the perfect hotel that would be their home base.

“Yep. Said if we couldn't just have fun on our leave and had to look for this Jackson character, he'd take us off leave. But he added to have fun while we're at it.”

“He's a great boss,” Huntley said, carrying his bags into the hotel. Then he checked his weapon. Loaded and ready, just in case.

“Yeah, he is. When I started working for him four years ago, I didn't quite get his humor. I would have thought he was joking about this. But not him.”

“No, not him.”

“So none of our men have tracked Jackson down, Martin said.” Melissa checked her own weapon. “Because of the trouble he was in, he might have had a time getting out of Costa Rica.”

Huntley shook his head. “The bad guys can slip across borders without any trouble. It's the good guys who have more trouble. He knows his way around. Are you ready to take a drive out to the parents' place?”

“Who's going to call them? You? What's the cover story?”

“I'll be his military buddy. More of a likelihood.”

As soon as they found the one-story yellow, boxy house, Huntley parked. Vehicles were sitting along the curb, dogs roamed the street, and no one was out and about. School-age kids were in school, so it was quiet.

Huntley called Jackson's parents' number and got the poacher's mother.

“Hello, Mrs. Jackson? I was in the 1st Cavalry Division with Tim Jackson, and he said to look him up, if he happened to be staying with you. I was just passing through Amarillo on my way to see my folks in Florida. I wondered if he was in and maybe we could get together, if he has time.”

“He's not here right now,” the older woman said.

Huntley couldn't tell if she was glad or sad about it. “Oh? I could have sworn he said he'd be visiting you about this time of year. My mistake.”

“Maybe he's at his sister's place. He hasn't been in touch with us for a couple of years.”

He listened for signs of whether she was telling him the truth or covering for her son. No telling with family. “Okay. Well, thanks, ma'am.”

“You're welcome. And if you see him, well, tell him…”

Huntley waited, hating this part of the business. It was too easy to see the black and white of a situation. But no matter how low a person went, usually someone still cared about the lowlife and would be devastated to lose him. It did sound like Jackson's mother hadn't seen him in a while, though.

“Forget it,” she finally said. “Take care, young man. We appreciate you men who serve in the military.”

“Yes, ma'am. Good-bye.”

He turned to see Melissa studying him. “He hasn't returned to see his mother in a couple of years. But she said he might have dropped by his sister's place. I think she's telling the truth about not being in touch with him.”