Wild Cat (7 page)

No, getting back to civilization wasn’t the problem. Falling, breaking a bone, being bitten by a snake or a rabid coyote—any of those could shut him down fast. People still died out here, and quickly. The Wild West wasn’t so long ago.

Knowing Cassidy was in this wilderness somewhere kept Diego from walking to the car and leaving Eric to make his own way back. A Shifter had the advantage out here, not a human. But Cassidy…

In spite of Eric’s reassurance about guards, Cassidy’s story about being chased into the construction site by the hunter, not to mention the same hunter trying to take out Diego, worried him. A lot.

A couple of the more aggressive hunting groups had, a few of years ago, gotten the government to lift the ban on hunting un-Collared Shifters. The ban had been in place for a decade, but the hunters argued that Shifters who’d refused to take the Collar were still out there, still very dangerous.

Those Shifters could kill livestock, and worse, they said. Maybe even kidnap human women or children to do unspeakable things to them. Not that anything like this had ever been documented, but the hunters claimed anecdotal evidence.

Their arguments had finally been acknowledged, and the hunting of un-Collared Shifters again had become legal.

Cassidy was out here in the pitch dark. Would a hunter see—or care—that she wore a Collar?

Diego scanned for signs to tell him which way Eric had gone. The earth didn’t show any paw prints, but a bush had been recently broken, a larger rock moved to expose its clean underside and the bugs hiding there.

Diego climbed around a stand of trees and started over another arm of hill. To his right, the ground sloped downward into darkness; to his left and ahead of him, the earth folded into treacherous grooves, deep washes that would flood during snowmelt later this spring.

About half a mile on, Diego was rewarded with a paw print in his beam of light, unmistakable in the mud. A wildcat, but a big one, much bigger than the elusive mountain lions that lived out here.

Diego followed the direction of the print, finding another in the drier dirt. He hiked on through the wash, eyes stinging with the dust he kicked up. He came out of the trees and found himself on a wide ridge, under an outcropping of black rock.

He heard a snarl—harsh, breathy, animal-like. He raised his flashlight and saw a mountain lion standing in the shadows of the rock. A real wildcat, not Eric, and this mountain lion was seriously pissed off.

The cat was so close that Diego could feel the hot
whuff
of its breath. Its ears were flat against its head, and it bared its teeth in a red-lipped snarl. Diego knew he’d never get the tranq rifle around in time or his pistol from its holster. Sometime tomorrow, rangers would find shredded Latino cop all over the bottom of the hill.

He heard a second snarl, this one louder. Another wildcat leapt down from the rocks above, a snow leopard, complete with Collar. Not Eric—this one was a smaller than Eric, and its eyes were a more vibrant green.

The leopard growled, long and low, throat vibrating with menace. The mountain lion’s hackles rose, and it backed away. The snow leopard gave it a narrow-eyed stare, then jumped straight at it. The mountain lion let out one high-pitched yowl and took off up the hill, scattering dirt and gravel behind it.

The snow leopard landed and stopped, watching the mountain lion go with what Diego swore was a satisfied expression. The big cat then turned and looked at Diego with almost glowing green eyes, assessing him.

Diego put his hands around his rifle. If this wasn’t Cassidy Warden, rangers still might find shredded Latino cop all over the hill.

“Cassidy?” he asked.

The wildcat gave him one slow blink, then moved toward him on graceful feet, step by step. Diego watched it come, tensing, but not raising the rifle. The leopard huffed a little, a more friendly sound than the mountain lion had made, then it butted Diego solidly in the stomach.

The push was hard but playful, almost affectionate. The leopard walked around Diego, twining close to his legs like a house cat before it bumped him in the backside.

“That is you, Cassidy, right?”

The wildcat rose, planted large front paws on Diego’s shoulders. Diego overbalanced and went down on his ass, two hundred pounds of wildcat on top of him.

Reflexes made Diego toss aside his rifle and pack before he fell on them, then the leopard settled on his chest, nuzzling him with a soft, whiskered nose.

The wildcat was heavy, but in a warm-blanket way, not a crush-the-prey way. Diego’s rifle had landed just out of reach, and he noticed she’d pinned him so that he couldn’t go for his pistol.

“Good kitty.” Diego put a hand on her shoulder. The cat’s fur was incredibly soft. “What are you doing to me,
mi ja
?”

The leopard licked across his chin, tongue like very rough sandpaper. Diego couldn’t help grinning. “You know this might be considered soliciting a police officer, don’t you?”

She gave a grunt, heaved herself off Diego’s chest, and started to walk off. Diego rolled and got the tranq rifle cocked and aimed so fast he should win a prize for it.

“Stop.”

The leopard looked back at him with green cat’s eyes. It snarled, then it shifted.

Limbs elongated, and the wildcat rose to the cross between cat and human that had saved Diego up in the construction site. The body continued to change and finally settled into the leggy, lush female who’d faced him right before he’d arrested her. Cassidy was as naked as she’d been then, her blond hair as unkempt and as lusciously beautiful.

Cassidy folded her arms, which lifted her breasts under the bright moonlight. The areolas were large and dusky, and Diego imagined how they’d feel filling his mouth, velvet against his tongue.

In the interrogation room, when Cassidy had wrapped her arms around him, it had been all Diego could do to remain immobile. The feel of her body bare through the coverall had made him want to rip open that ugly blue jail suit and have her right there, damn who might be watching. Now there was nothing between him and her but the darkness.

“Where are your bodyguards?” Diego managed to ask.

Cassidy gestured. “Out there.”

Diego scanned the moonlit woods but could see nothing, hear no one. If the trackers were nearby, they were masters of stealth. But they would be, wouldn’t they? Shifters were animals with human intelligence. Incredibly dangerous—hence the Collars.

“Eric called them his trackers,” Diego said. “What does he mean by that?”

Cassidy shrugged, which did nice things to her body. “All clan leaders have Shifters that help guard the clan, keep tabs on any problems that might come up, alert the clan leader to danger. Eric’s Shiftertown leader now, so his trackers help him guard all Shiftertown.”

Diego lowered the rifle but held on to it. “He’s not supposed to have people working for him.”

Cassidy gave him a half smile, which made her even more dangerously beautiful. “Eric doesn’t care, Diego Escobar.”

“So Eric sent the trackers to keep you safe? He shouldn’t have let you come at all.”

“I know. Don’t blame my brother. He knew why I needed to come, and now I’ve finished my ritual. I can be very persuasive.”

Diego just bet she could be. She’d look at a man with those green eyes, dark now in the moonlight, and he’d do anything for her. “Last time you came here, someone started hunting you. What makes you think it’s safe here now?”

“I don’t.” Cassidy gave him a stubborn stare worthy of her brother. “But I refused to let him keep me from honoring Donovan. If I do that, the hunters will have won, won’t they?”

Her words made Diego pause. He’d felt the same after Jobe died, when everyone had told him to take leave, transfer out of vice, and other such asinine suggestions. No. If Diego stopped hunting drug dealers—who caused a hell of a lot more damage to the world than people wanted to believe—the bad guys would have their victory. He couldn’t let them stop him.

“I get that,” Diego said. “But I’m still going to take you home to keep you safe.”

“You’re being protective of a Shifter?”

“You saved my life. That’s nothing I take lightly,
querida.
”

Cassidy took one more step toward Diego until she stood right inside his personal space. There must be half an inch between her breasts and his chest, but Diego couldn’t trust himself to look down and check.

“What does that word mean?” Cassidy asked. Her voice was soft, sexy. Mind-blowing. “
Querida
, or whatever you said? I don’t speak Spanish.”

“It’s a term of endearment. An Anglo might say
darling
or
honey
.”

“What was that other one you used? Me ha?”

“
Mi ja
. Short for
mi hija.
It’s what you say to someone you care about.”

She smiled. “When you say that you sound—I don’t know—affectionate.”

“Maybe I like cats,” Diego said.

Cassidy rested her hand on his chest, and her smile widened. “Meow.”

Diego couldn’t breathe. Her mouth was right there, red and moist, and he wanted to kiss her so much. He wanted to lock his arms around her, lift her against him, slide his hands down to her beautiful backside.

He
wanted
her. Right here, right now. Too damn bad about whoever was in the darkness watching.

Diego had rarely had to worry about female company in his lifetime, but this wasn’t the same. This was Cassidy—exotic, beautiful, and brave. Anything he started with her would mean something.

That realization surprised him. Diego wanted to pause, to touch the feeling, to explore it. He’d been a walking mass of anger since Jobe’s death, keeping others, including his own family, at arm’s length.

This woman he definitely wanted
inside
his arms.

But Diego couldn’t have her right now. She was in his custody, and violating that would break every rule he knew, not to mention his own principles.
Custody
meant taking care of someone as much as being in charge of them.

Even knowing all that, it was all he could do to take Cassidy’s hand and lift it from his chest.

“Cass,” he said with difficulty. “We need to go.”

He didn’t imagine her look of disappointment. Shifters weren’t ones to hide their emotions. But Diego would be back to see her—often—and he hoped she never looked at him with that kind of disappointment again.

Cassidy kept hold of his hand, her fingers warm and strong. “I’ll let you take me home,” she said. “But can I show you something first?”

Diego’s heart beat faster. He wanted to see anything she had to show him, though he knew he shouldn’t let her lead him anywhere.

But what the hell? He’d already left procedure way behind. He might as well go for it.

“Show me,” he said.

Cassidy released Diego’s hand, stepped away, and shifted back to her snow leopard form.

She was beautiful, even as a wildcat. Cassidy stretched—front legs first, then back—and shook out each foot as she straightened up. She looked back at Diego with light jade eyes, then trotted away into the darkness.

C
assidy heard Diego muttering behind her as she bounded up the path. He was slower than a Shifter, all humans were, but Diego was in good shape—admirably good shape. Diego had a honed, taut body and terrific reflexes, plus he moved with that fluidity she’d observed in him before. He’d make it.

He did make it, but he scowled at Cassidy as he crested the top of the hill and stopped next to her, breathing hard.

Cassidy wished he didn’t smell so good. She didn’t usually like human scents, but this man smelled of coffee, outdoors, soap, and a musk all his own.

She also scented his wanting. She’d have known Diego wanted her even if he hadn’t given her that burning look when she’d stood against him. To Cassidy’s shock and dismay, she’d been ready to let him take what he wanted.

Too soon. It’s too soon
. But her body had other ideas.

Diego had pulled back. Humans who craved sex with Shifters usually made complete idiots of themselves, as did the groupies in the Shifter clubs. Diego only looked at Cassidy and kept his thoughts to himself.

He watched her now with dark eyes that were all about control. Diego might want her, but he wouldn’t violate his own rules and go for her.

“What did you want to show me?” he asked.

He’d slung the rifle over his shoulder, but Cassidy knew damn well he could and would shoot her with it in a heartbeat. Control.

Cassidy led him between the granite boulders that studded the hill and down into a little depression filled with thorny bushes. The moon shone hard on the dark rocks of the clearing and tall trees that ringed it, giving the place a beauty all its own.

It was a place she’d never forget.

Cassidy shifted back to human form, ending up sitting with her arms around her knees on one of the flat, black rocks.

“It was here,” she said. “One year ago tonight, this was where we found my mate’s body, shot by hunters.”

Diego crouched next to her, warmth in the darkness. “I know,” he said. “I’m sorry.”