Lando Vargas stood on the edge of the high outcropping overlooking the beautiful land below. Vibrant blues and lush greens from the river and surrounding rainforest, created his vision. His heart beat with the pulse of this wild untamed land.
If you didn’t know the area and wandered off the path, more than likely the next time you’d be found was when he or one of his rescue crew found what was left of the body. Being the jungle, a lot of times very little remained, once the animals were finished.
The breeze swirled around him, lifting his hair from his shoulders. Above him a bird flew, one not natural to the area. He didn’t concern himself with this, given this was a shifter who worked with him.
After the eagle circled a few times, he swooped low, shifted so it was human feet that touched the stone. “Lando.”
He tossed a pair of pants from the backpack toward the tall dark skinned man who snatched them easily from the air. “Femi.”
Femi Layan was his right-hand man. Of the three men, he worked with at the search and rescue group, Protetors, Femi was the most trusted. All four of them were shifters, not any of the same animal. Two land and two air. They typically worked in two teams and he and Femi were often paired together.
The wilds of Brazil were dangerous and for some reason, a lot of tourists believed they would be the one to find some hidden treasure and got off the marked trails. Especially, in the Amazonian rainforest. Then their group would be called in.
Femi tugged the jeans on and stretched before facing him. “When are you leaving?”
Lando shifted on his feet, his nerves spiking with the mere thought of what awaited him at the end of his flight. Or rather…who.
That single word had woken the beast within him. This leaving would bring him his mate. He’d waited years for her. They both had. He smiled slightly at his inner animal’s response.
“And, where is she?”
“Florida.”
Femi grunted. “Sure you don’t want backup?”
Lando contemplated tossing him off the cliff. Bastard would just shift and fly away, so where would the fun be in that? “I don’t need your help.”
“You say that now, amigo,” he teased.
“Not changing my mind. I can handle one woman. Come on, drinks are on me before I leave.”
“I’ll never turn down free alcohol.” Femi turned and backed to the edge. “I’ll meet you at the jeep.” He fell back and out of sight.
“Fucker,” Lando muttered eyeing the long drop to the water below. Why in the hell did I even give him his pants then?
A large eagle winged his way up, finding and utilizing the air currents.
Lando shouldered the pack and turned from the edge, slipping away to blend in with the foliage. A bit later, he strode from the canopied path to find Femi waiting.
The man already sat in the Jeep as he turned a large grin toward him.
Okay, so now he wore the jeans and a shirt. Why does he do that? Lando shook his head.
“I thought you would have jumped.”
Lando held up the bag. “I have something fragile in here.”
“If you say so.” Femi propped his feet up on the dash. “Let’s go drink and celebrate your waning bachelorhood.”
Waning bachelorhood. He didn’t view it that way. This woman was his mate, the one to settle his beast down, settle him down. He’d dreamt of her, holding her, making love to her. Hell, even fucking her. Lando swung up into the driver’s seat and started the vehicle, his bag in the back. Soon, they bounced along the near nonexistent road. He slowed when they pulled up to the headquarters.
The other two members of their team were outside the two-story long building. Jeremy who was a leopard shifter and Kenan who could take the shape of an Aplomado Falcon. Their place had rooms for each of them, a practice room, kitchen, bathrooms, and more.
The duo stopped playing cards and got to their feet.
“What’s up?” he asked, jumping out.
“Nothing. Been boring. Hopefully, it stays that way. I heard there were some more groups of tourists coming to the area.” Jeremy pushed a hand through his hair. “Your friend is on the way here.”
He nodded with a smile. They didn’t typically pull in others but as he couldn’t be positive how long he would be gone, he called in a favor to a man he knew from childhood. Kent “Ziggs” Ziggler. The man was a cheetah, king cheetah, but was damn good at SAR. He did some of that when he’d been in the service. Femi had met him but the others didn’t know him. He hadn’t wanted to leave them shorthanded.
“Keep close then. The guides are good but there is always that one.”
“We will.” The three men shared a glance with each other as they answered as one.
He ground his jaw. “I don’t want to come back and find this place a mess either.”
“Of course not,” Femi said. “We’ll have it great for your woman.”
He snarled at his friend. “Drive my stuff to the airport. I’m taking my cat out for one more run.”
Femi merely laughed and waved him off.
It was going to suck not being able to shift in Florida but they didn’t exactly have any four hundred fifty pound black jaguars there. The jaguars alive nowadays were easily half his size.
Femi nodded and went to the vehicle waiting there, a cleaner SAR than the one they’d returned in.
Lando jogged to the edge of the trees, slipped by the first trunk, and shifted. Feet and hands gave way to heavily padded paws with extendable razor sharp claws.
Merging easily with the world around him, he ran, jumped, and swam until his cat was satisfied, only then did he turn his four feet to the airport and the plane awaiting him. He stopped at the jeep and grabbed his bag. Ziggs was there speaking to Femi both men laughing and joking with each other. Dressed, he strode into view and after saying farewell to his friends, boarded to take his seat.
After exchanging the puddle jumper for a larger jet, he settled in for the longer flight to America. As they were able to use Wi-Fi, he pulled out his phone and brought up the pictures he had of her.
Selena Rowe.
From the very first photo when she was six and he was ten, to the ones he’d pulled from her social media sites, she’d come a long way from the bucktoothed little girl who had been following her missionary parents around at a camp in the wilds of Brazil. Curvy, lush, stunning were words he would make good use of now.
Her black hair looked like a mixture of springs and coils. He wanted to touch it, find out how soft it was and if they would bounce back when he stretched them out. Her full lips beckoned for a taste, a long deep taste. The gods had given her long, thick, curled lashes which hid her eyes from the pictures, creating a seductive appearance. Everything about her screamed sexy.
Lando flicked his phone into his pocket and closed his eyes. Soon, he would have her in his arms…. Then he could be back in Brazil in a week or so, in time to help out with any rescues they had to do.
As Lando disembarked from the plane, his nose was assaulted with scents. Both he and his cat hissed in displeasure. Miami wasn’t what he would consider a nice smelling city. He could pick up on the drugs, sickness, and evil in the air.
This was why he preferred his world. This hurt both his and his cat’s nose. He adjusted his black leather trench and strode toward customs, anxious to get through and on to Selena.
There sat a woman with blonde hair, so pale, it bordered on white.
He handed over his passport and was waved through after she stamped it. He hurried down to where he’d arranged his car to be waiting.
A man waited by the town car. “Afternoon, Mr. Vargas.”
“The hotel please.”
“Yes, sir. Your luggage will be delivered shortly.” He held the door.
Lando slipped his body onto the supple leather and settled back against the cream hue of the seat. The air conditioning wasn’t needed as he enjoyed the heat. He didn’t pay attention to the ride, instead pulling up the information he had stored in his phone for when she would be back in the city.
Money opened so many doors and it wasn’t even funny. Selena Rowe’s schedule shouldn’t have been available, yet it was.
Not something to tell her about.
According to the intel, she would be flying in today and had a week off. This was why he’d chosen now to come. He had seven days to get her back to his home, so their lives together as a couple could begin.
Within him, his cat paced, chuffing with impatience. This close and yet, she was still so far away.
At the hotel, he checked into his suite then with a glance at his watch, sat in the overstuffed chair and yawned. I should have used my jet instead. At least I could have slept in my bed on the flight.
When the time came, he hurried down to the car and gave her address to his driver. The area wasn’t bad but he wanted her out of here anyway. She needs to be with me. His canines began to lower and he reined himself in. It wouldn’t do to claim her the second he saw her again.
When they arrived, the man opened the door for him once more.
“I’ll be down in a bit. Wait here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lando departed and made his way into the building.
He took the stairs, never having been one for elevators and paused before her apartment door. Only a single item between the two of them. Him and his mate. Lando inhaled, sorting through the stench of a city and a building to find what he needed. Her scent.
Jasmine, lily, vanilla, and pear were the soft scents he picked up on. Intermixed with her warm subtle feminine smell.
His cat jumped inside him, full of energy and vigor. He wanted his mate. But then, so did Lando. Suddenly nervous, he tugged on his coat then knocked.
What the hell am I afraid of? This is my mate, the one the gods picked for me. Besides, I face danger on a daily basis, she isn’t something to fear but something to honor, spoil, and love for the rest of our lives.
His pep talk served him well right up until the door opened and Selene stood before him. Then—he lost his train of thought.
Corkscrew curls, a mix of loose and tight, framed her face adding an entire new level of sexiness to her he hadn’t seen in the pictures he had. She exuded something else, sexual prime. Within him, his cat roared, needing skin boons In essence, it means skin on skin contact between mates. He suddenly needed this desperately.
She blinked her large brown eyes framed with doubly thick curved lashes. “Hi, can I help you?”
Fuck me.
Her voice nearly had him coming in his jeans. Sultry heat wrapped in heated crushed velvet, gliding along his skin. The hairs on his body stood on end as he struggled to contain the beast.
She flicked her tongue along her lips allowing him to see the glint of her tongue piercing. Her pupils dilated and he heard her sharp intake of breath.
God, I want her even more. I didn’t know she had a tongue piercing. Damn, that’s sexy.
Her dress hugged every luscious curve, the pale pink hue contrasting beautifully with her mocha skin tone.
He ran his gaze down, hiding his moan as he spied the knee-high turquoise glitter boots with four-inch heel.
She cocked one eyebrow.
“Selena Rowe?” He pushed the words past his dry lips.
“That’s me. Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude but I was just on my way out.”
Jealousy spiked and his cat hissed. Who is she going to see dressed like this? “My name is Lando Vargas.”
“And the reason you’re at my…” She pursed her full lips. “That name sounds familiar. Have we met?”
He nodded, pleased. “We have, it’s been a while but we spent four months together.”
As expected, her expression became confused. “Four months?”
Lando smiled, doing his best to calm his cat. It didn’t care they’d been children, all it knew was she belonged to him. “Brazil,” he stated.
A mixture of emotions flashed over her face. Then the smile returned, however a bit more subdued than usual. Her fingers tightened on the door edge. “And the reason you’re in Miami?”
“I came for you.”
Grasping the door even tighter, Selena Rowe was determined not to fall off her four-inch heels and hit her knees before this walking sex ad that just knocked on her door. Although, I could do so much on my knees for him. A thrill raced through her body and she gulped, trying to control this unrealistic lust that careened in her. I came for you… Such a powerful statement that surely she was taking in the way it wasn’t intended to be taken. However, she wasn’t at all against having sex with this man. Like right now. “For me?”
She vaguely remembered a boy called Lando Vargas at the missionary she was at with her parents when she was seven. He’d been a few years older than her and in that obnoxious young boy way, he’d been a pain in her ass, even if she’d wanted to be around him.
Problem was, Brazil had both good and bad memories for her. While she loved going to different countries and making new friends, she despised how she didn’t feel important to her parents. They were always doing for the other children, leaving her and her brother to fend for themselves.
Her pain had morphed into anger, an emotion she’d yet been unable to get over. Even now, her parents were in some underdeveloped country, doing what they could. They didn’t come home to see her, citing the money could be put to better use. So yeah, there was some anger there, still lingering.
“Yes,” he responded without any hesitation.
Selena had to think a moment over what her question had been.
That’s right, I was questioning the fact he said he came for me.
“Why are you here for me?” Mental images of hot sweaty sex rushed to the forefront. “I mean, I haven’t seen you in twenty years.” She allowed herself to take another leisurely perusal of him.
Well-fitting blue jeans, tight brown shirt, black boots and a leather trench coat which had her thinking she was looking at some hot movie star she just wanted to fuck for a night.
“Had to grow up.”
Another look. “Mission accomplished.”
His grin made her knees weak. He shifted closer and her body responded as if he plucked on harp strings—her strings. He didn’t step like a normal person, he flowed, moving in this sinuous, predatory way.
“We need to talk.”
“Sorry, I’m not available this evening. But I can do lunch tomorrow if you’d like to meet for that.” She stepped toward him, inhaling, and wanting to purr as his tasty masculine scent wove around her. Selena drew the door shut behind her. Hot or not, she wasn’t missing this party.
“Where are you going dressed like this?”
He didn’t back away, so her chest very nearly brushed his. In fact, if she took another one of those deep breaths, it would. There’s an idea. “Interesting you would think I owe you an explanation when you just walked into my life.”
He blinked and she swore his eyes shifted from human to feline. But she couldn’t be positive as it wasn’t more than a flash. And really, why would his eyes go cat?
“I do think so.”
Double-checking the door was locked, she edged by him, struggling to keep her hands to herself. “Have a good night.” She continued down to the elevator and waited for it to arrive.
Lando didn’t join her and she had the elevator all to herself. She sank against the wall and placed a hand over her still rapidly beating heart. “I thought men like that didn’t truly exist.” She wished for a tissue to dab at the gathering sweat. “I shouldn’t be this out of breath when all I did was leave the apartment.”
The doors slid open and she walked out heading for the waiting SUV where she climbed into the front seat. Her friends called out greetings as she got in. From her periphery, she spied a town car waiting.
Is that Lando’s?
“Look at you, girl. Damn, you’re rockin’ it.”
“Thanks Jo. I should be home sleeping but I’m still on a diff time zone. Not to mention I want to party. Have gifts for everyone that I’ll give you later on. How are you doing?”
Selena rarely told people where she was flying to and from. She just wasn’t up for always sharing it, but she loved her girls and brought things back for them.
As Dianna drove, she leaned back and thought about the man she’d just left.
“What are you thinking about?” Dianna’s question came as she changed lanes with the speed of a race car driver, even in stilettos.
“Thinking about a hot guy.”
“Ohh.” Dianna turned down the rap. “You two, shut it. Selena here is thinking of a hot guy.”
Jo hollered, which was echoed by Emily.
“Where did you meet him? Madrid? Paris? Johannesburg?” Jo asked.
Selena smiled. “Outside my apartment.” Christ, is that my voice all breathy when I talk about him?
“What are you doing here then?” Emily punched the back of her seat.
“I want to go to the party.” She tossed her head in exasperation. It was bad enough she questioned her own actions for leaving a hot guy without at least attempting to get some, but she surely didn’t need them to echo it for her and remind herself how stupid that decision was.
“What’s he look like?”
“Jo, when I first saw him I thought he walked off a billboard ad for Thunder Down Under or the like. Black hair, thick, falls slightly past his shoulders. Rugged. Man’s fucking built like, Oh-my-God, he’s fucking built. Muscles but he didn’t move like a lot of men who are big, this guy had the most flowing movements.” She snapped her fingers. “Catlike. One of those big jungle cats.”
The women whistled.
“Was he big?”
Jo screeched with laughter at Dianna’s question.
Selena flushed, grateful they were still driving and she wasn’t under any lights to give it away. “You think I looked?” She spread her fingers over her chest and pretended shock.
“Please, Selena. We all know you did, now dish.”
Yeah, she did. “God did I. more than once.”
“And?” Dianna reached over and hit her leg. “Big? Small? Thick? Thin? Could you see it? God, please tell me you could at least see his cock.”
There went her skin again, getting all flushed and hot. “Definitely packing.” Her clit throbbed and she shifted on the cloth seat. “We can’t talk about this. I’m barely calm from before.”
“What I want to know,” Emily spoke up. “Is why you’re here, instead of taking his long schlong?”
If she’d had liquid in her mouth, she would have spewed it all over the windshield. “Schlong? Are you serious? Did you just call his dick a schlong?” God, her sides hurt from the laughing and tears streaming down her face.
“You know Emily can’t say those vulgar words. She’s the pure one among us.”
“Not so pure, Jo,” Dianna added, still laughing. “I caught her last week with a guy at work on the copier.”
Emily squealed and demanded they shut up.
Selena dabbed at the corner of her eyes, grateful to be home. Her girls were loud and obnoxious much of the time but they were hers. While they didn’t see each other as much as she would like, mostly because she wasn’t around, they let their hair down and had fun. Even Emily, aka Ms. Prim.
They still teased her about the copier while Selena closed her eyes thinking more about the hot man she’d left. Lando Vargas.
When Dianna parked the vehicle, Selena was more than ready to think about something other than tall, dark, feline, and handsome.
The four women exited and strode for the door.
“Thank you,” she said to Dianna as they walked.
“For?”
“Inviting me to this.”
“Hey, I love rap like the next girl but I wasn’t about to turn down an invitation to this disco themed party. This dress was clamoring to come out and see the night life.” She smoothed her hand down the front of her plunging mirrored dress, seconds before touching her afro.
“Thank you anyway.” She peered over at the other two with them.
Jo rocked her white Disco boots, purple dress with the psychedelic pattern which, accented by silver sequins. Her headband even matched down to the sequins. It looked great against her tan skin.
Emily’s outfit also had psychedelic print with sequins, but hers was a pants outfit. Flared sleeves below the elbow and pants flared below the knees. The tunic had a V-neckline and was gathered at the center, showing off her incredible breasts. The browns, pinks, yellows, and greens sparkled with every step she took. She wore a large afro wig, she never went out in public without a wig, huge gold dangling earrings and shoes to match along with the scarf tied around her neck.
They stepped inside and Selena smiled immediately at the sound of the Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive as it blared through the building. Jamming to the music, she started dancing, firmly putting thoughts of Lando to the far back of her mind, where he belonged. This was a night for her and her friends. Not one to be questioning if she should have stayed home for some—what figured to be rocking sexual activity—with a stranger, which could get her into trouble.