“I just brought your bag over,” Howard said from outside the bathroom. He heard the shower shut off. “It’s by the door if you need anything from it.” He thought he heard someone crying in the bathroom.
The door opened, and Katrina got the bag from him. “Thanks, we’ll be right out.”
“Is everything all right?”
“No. We’ll talk to everyone in a moment.” Katrina shut the door.
He hoped she didn’t have to say Izzie was pregnant. That she was just weepy about the other changes in her life. He returned to the living room to sit with Val and Matt.
“She’s crying,” Howard said. “They’ll be out in a moment.”
They sat in awkward silence, waiting for Katrina and Izzie to join them.
“She may have to go to the facility if she had anything to do with Lucy’s death and she’s pregnant,” Matt said quietly.
Howard wondered how the Guardians would handle it. If Izzie had had a hand in Lucy’s death, would they terminate her? She had been a human at the time, and she would have been brought up on charges in the human court system. Not now that she was a shifter though. He tried not to think about it until they learned what they needed to know from her.
The bathroom door opened, and the two women joined them.
“Izzie has some news. She’s pregnant, first trimester. She was worried that the baby would have been harmed by the change.”
“Benny’s baby?” Val asked.
Izzie nodded, her eyes red from crying. “I…I didn’t want to say anything. I was afraid to even think about it. That was one of the reasons I had run. I thought I was protecting the baby.”
“You knew Benny had a wife,” Val said, her voice dark.
“Not at first. He slipped up once and said something about his wife liking a red wine I liked. He quickly said they were no longer married. They didn’t have any kids, and he said they hadn’t been together for a couple of years. He was busy with his work, trips out here to do with his job, and I believed him.”
Howard wondered how much of what Izzie was telling them was the truth as far as what she knew about Benny’s wife.
“I had no way of knowing he had murdered his wife. Or that he’d turned her into a jaguar. I didn’t know he was one! Everything he said was lies. He said he was working for a company that had a lot of ties with Central and South America. I had no reason to believe anything he said wasn’t true. Oh, and he wanted to know if I liked cats. I do. I love them. I had one when I was growing up. He said his former wife hated cats, so he wanted to make sure I loved them. I asked him what kind of cats he had, and he said he didn’t have any currently. But he wanted to get one after we got married. I guess he lied about that too. He just wanted to know if I would hate being one.”
“Did he know you were trying to get pregnant?” Val asked.
Izzie shook her head. “He didn’t ask. Like he didn’t care. I’m twenty-nine. I just wanted to have a baby with him. I thought we were going to get married. He said we would next spring. I had no reason to believe he’d lied about any of it.”
“Rarely can a jaguar shifter impregnate a human,” Matt said. “I don’t know about other shifters. Often, they don’t worry about protecting against pregnancy. We can’t get STDs or give them. It’s rare for a human to get pregnant by a jaguar shifter, but it does happen sometimes. I know of three cases. In those, the baby couldn’t shift. But they were drawn to big cats. In two of the cases, the shifters were women, and they turned their babies so that they would be shifters too. In the other case, the shifter was a male and he ceased having anything to do with the human, not wanting to turn her and her baby. But this is different. Since Izzie was already pregnant when she was bitten, it could very well be like a case of a pregnant woman taking a drug and it affecting the baby,” Matt said.
“Then the baby would be a shifter too?” Izzie asked, fighting tears.
Katrina patted her hand. “Yes, which is a good thing. The baby will only shift when you do. When you’re a jaguar, even while your baby hasn’t been born yet, she or he will shift into a jaguar fetus. The same thing will happen after the baby is born—when you shift, the baby will shift. You can even give birth to a baby as a human, or to a jaguar as a big cat, depending on if you have any control over your shifting. The baby won’t be shifting on its own until he or she is old enough to control his actions. At least you won’t have the issue of deciding whether to turn the baby or not. We’ll have to discuss with the family about the issue of you having a baby. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“What about having the baby?”
“We take care of our own. And just so you know, if anyone were to check your blood when you’re a jaguar, you would only appear to be a genuine jaguar. When you are human, the same thing—strictly human DNA. We heal faster too. Which means you’ll have an easier time giving birth and getting back on your feet.”
Izzie looked relieved.
“You’ll have to see a doctor when we return. He will get you started on prenatal vitamins and talk to you about what to expect. If the rest of you don’t have any other questions, I think it’s time for us to get some sleep. We’ll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” Katrina said.
After that, everyone headed for their bedrooms, while Matt made a bed for himself on the pullout couch. Before they all retired for the night, he said, “Izzie, if I shift, it’s not because of you, but because I do sometimes in the middle of night.”
“Good to know. If I have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and I see you as a jaguar, don’t be surprised if I scream. I haven’t gotten used to seeing jaguars outside of zoo enclosures yet.”
“I understand.”
Once Howard shut the door to Val’s bedroom, he quietly asked, “Do you think she’s telling the truth about not knowing that Benny was still married?” He began stripping off his clothes, boots first, then socks, and setting them beside the chair in the bedroom.
“As far as I could tell from her cell phone, she never once said in a text that she wanted him to leave his wife, and he never mentioned Lucy to her either. Either they were being careful not to leave an evidence trail, or it’s like she said. He lied to her about his wife. That happened to my mother when she was dating some guy before she met my dad. I think that’s why she really joined the Enforcer force.”
“She wanted to go after rogue jaguars like her boyfriend?” Howard got a kick out of her mother.
Val smiled and set her shirt on the dresser. “She fell for my dad right away because he kept telling her she couldn’t manage the job as a female Enforcer. That she wouldn’t have the killing instinct and she would react too slowly and end up getting herself killed.” Val sat on the bed and began removing her boots.
He raised his brows, surprised to hear it. “I would think his concern would have turned her off.” He unzipped his pants, and she watched him. He wondered just where they were going with their relationship tonight. He hoped they would take it to the next step.
“He had the biggest crush on her. Everyone kept telling him she’d suckered him right in. Every time she was assigned a partner, Dad was all gloomy. Finally, their boss, who retired a few years ago, couldn’t handle it any longer. He said for them to mate or else, and then they could be partnered up. My mom asked, ‘What if I don’t want to be partnered up with him?’ Their boss told them if they didn’t work together, he was kicking them both off the force.”
Smiling, Howard shook his head and pulled off his pants, then stripped off his shirt.
“She was just giving my dad a hard time because he’d always given her one.” Val pulled off her pants, then reached into a drawer and set a long, black T-shirt on top of the dresser.
“You said he always takes charge of the situation.” Howard always slept naked, but he figured he’d better take it slow if Val wasn’t ready for that. It was one thing to hug her naked in the woods and another thing to sleep naked together in bed. Unless she was ready for more.
“Yeah, and it works well for them. Not for me though. Not that I can’t follow a partner’s lead, but if I have a plan and it seems to be the best option, I’m ready to take action.”
He smiled. He couldn’t help it. He was hoping she meant she was ready to take action with him. In bed.
She reached back and unfastened her bra, then put it on the dresser top and pulled the T-shirt over her head and arms.
He read the message in white on the black T-shirt that stretched nicely across her perky breasts: I didn’t say I was smarter than you. I’m a redhead. It’s implied.
He smiled.
Since she wasn’t sleeping naked, he pulled back the covers and didn’t ditch his boxer briefs.
She smiled at him. “You don’t sleep nude?”
“Yeah, I do, but since you’re dressing for bed…”
She laughed and reached up under her shirt and slipped off her panties.
He smiled. “You don’t sleep naked?”
“Sure. When it’s hot.”
“It’s going to be hot.” He moved around the bed, took hold of the bottom edge of her shirt and pulled it up until he drew her shirt over her head and tossed it on top of his clothes.
She gave him a wicked smile that said Prove it to me. And he aimed to do just that.
He removed his boxer briefs, then pulled her into his arms and began to kiss her.
She pulled her mouth away from his and caught his bottom lip with her teeth in a gentle manner. That little action shot need and pleasure straight to his groin. He groaned and tightened his hold on her, pressing her against his arousal, breathing in her pheromones and the sweet, heady fragrance of her.
She kissed him while his hands caressed her back, moving lower, cupping her buttocks, making her blood hot with craving. The kiss intensified, her tongue sweeping over his—intense, hot, and wild.
She was wild, a force to be reckoned with, determined and focused. She was tender too, and soft where it counted: her skin, her body, her touch. Then she was fierce again, driven by the same need as him. To have, to conquer, to explore a deeper relationship. It was more than sex. It was a deeper bonding between two big cats. A melding of wills and wants. A mix of respect and education. Learning what she liked. Learning what he preferred. A lesson in love.
Their heartbeats quickened, their breathing more ragged, their pheromones on fire.
He kissed her lavishly, and she broke free for a moment to look up at him, her green eyes glittering in the light of the room, darkened, aroused, a total turn-on for him.
Her hands had been sliding down his skin in loving caresses, but now they clung to him as if she couldn’t stand upright without him being her anchor in the sea of sensations swamping them. He slid his hand down between them, caressing a breast, fondling a nipple, then moving lower. He moved his hand over the smooth curve of her hip, sweeping it around to the center of her, dipping a finger between her drenched curls, knowing she was ready for him.
“Yes,” she whispered, the breathless quality of her voice tantalizing him, arousing him.
He savored every second, every sigh, the pressing of her body against his in a natural kitty-cat rub, her ragged breathing, the warm, wet touch of her tongue licking at his collarbone, the movement of her pelvis as he began to stroke her clit.
She was desire personified and he wanted to make her his. And not just during this mission, but forever. He wasn’t sure she was ready for that. Not yet. But he was damned determined that they were right for each other in all things.
He stroked her harder, his free arm keeping her locked against him as he felt her trembling, her knees weakening, and her hands tightening on him. He kept up the pressure, stroking back and forth, then dipping a finger inside her. Plunging his finger deeper, he stroked inside her, but when he pulled out, she cried out. For a fraction of a second, he missed the cue and thought she had objected to him removing his finger from deep inside her. Instantly, she was pulling him onto the bed, spreading her legs, and letting him know she was ready for him.
He moved between her legs like a big cat on the prowl, yet he hesitated to enter her. They were not mated. Even after having sex, they would not be considered mated unless they said so. Which meant unprotected sex could result in babies they weren’t ready for.
“Covered,” she said, grabbing at his hips and pulling herself toward him.
He was ready, past ready, to join her all the way.
* * *
Howard was a sexy jaguar god, Val decided. She’d never known a big cat to be this hot for her and so attuned to her needs and wants before he sated his own. His face was taut with desire as he licked a breast and then the other, sending a spark of need through her. Caught up in the heat and passion of the moment, she kissed him again, her tongue tangling with his with raw desire. She felt more alive than she had in years.
She wasn’t going to plead with him to finish this, as much as she wanted to. It wasn’t in her nature to beg for anything. She might have to make an exception in his case if he continued to tease her nipples like that. No. She wouldn’t beseech him to get on with it, but she could command him. That was more her style.
While she was opening her mouth to tell him to finish it or else, he pressed his cock into her, slowly, and then slid nearly all the way out in the same methodical way. And repeated the motion. And again. Building the momentum, deeper, harder. His expression was rife with determination as he tilted her world on end. She couldn’t believe he could bring her to climax again so soon after the last time he’d spun her for a loop. Now, she was spinning out of control again. He did it to her. Him keeping up the pace and slowing down, then speeding up his thrust, deepening and nearly pulling his cock out was doing a number on her. In a deliciously wonderful way.
Howard was going full throttle, as if he knew they both needed the faster pace, her breath ragged, their hearts beating hard. He dipped his head down to kiss her, licking her lips, and plunging his tongue between them. That did it! Val shattered into millions of fragments of untold bliss.
He followed with a holy hell right afterward.
“Good, huh?”
He smiled down at her with a wicked expression that told her this wasn’t going to happen just once. She gave him the same look, telling him she was ready for more.
“Hot enough, right?” he asked, motioning to her T-shirt, as if she’d want to dress again, when she was repositioning herself to snuggle against his hot, naked body.
“You know it.” She wasn’t going to tell him how he compared to other men she’d been with. The one guy who’d come close was only around a seven now. And she knew that was because there was much more between Howard and her than just the sex. A real bond, maybe because of the job they both did. Maybe because of their personalities. They just seemed to fit together, unlike any other man she’d ever gotten close to. “That better not be all of it.”
He chuckled. “Just tell me when.”
* * *
When ended up being about an hour later.
But in the middle of the night while snuggling against the big cat, Val woke to hear growling. Instantly, she left the bed and shifted, glad she hadn’t worn anything to bed. Not to mention that she felt totally invigorated after she and Howard had made love. She was glad he didn’t treat this business between them as all about just sex. She knew it wasn’t for him either, not the way they were so attuned to each other. Not the way he wanted to snuggle with her the rest of the night like a man who really wanted her in his life for now and always.
For now, though, she had to investigate who was growling in the hallway. She was used to leaving her bedroom door open, but with them making love last night, Howard had closed it. She had to shift again to open the door and came face-to-face with a prowling jaguar. Izzie.
Val’s heart tripped. She hadn’t expected her to be right at the door, not to mention that she appeared extremely agitated, as if she was ready to bite anyone close by. And that meant Val. She tried for the lighthearted approach first, to win her over, unable to communicate with Izzie as a jaguar in a way that she thought Izzie could understand. “Hey, Izzie, do you need some company?”
Izzie shook her head, turned around, and padded down the hall into the living room. Val assumed Matt was awake and watching her, but neither he nor Katrina had asked Val or Howard to pull guard duty. If Matt could sleep while a newly turned, agitated jaguar paced through the living room, Val would have to watch her. She shifted and walked down the hall to join her.
Izzie was standing at the door.
Matt was sitting on the couch in his human form, watching the two of them. Val heard movement down the hall and turned to look. Howard was wearing his jaguar coat, and she smiled. She hadn’t meant to wake him, but she was glad he wasn’t a heavy sleeper either.
Izzie pawed at the door.
Ohmigod, had she gotten up to go to the bathroom, shifted, and hadn’t had time to pee? That was the problem with being pregnant.
Val shifted right behind her. “Do you have to go to the bathroom?”
Izzie nodded.
“Okay, Howard and I will go with you. Not to make sure you don’t run. We know you won’t do that, but just to protect you if Benny or any of his henchmen show up.”
Izzie nodded again, her tail and whiskers twitching. Val opened the door for her and quickly shifted. She didn’t think Izzie had any notion of tearing off, but she wasn’t risking it.
She thought that only she and Howard would go with her, but Matt did too. And before they knew it, Katrina was joining them. Val hoped Izzie didn’t believe they were all treating her like a prisoner but rather were in a protective mode. Like a family. Even though jaguars in the wild didn’t act like a wolf pack, the shifters often did because they had to help each other out when it came to problems with humans or rogue shifters.
They heard movement in the forest. Val and Katrina stuck close to Izzie while she relieved herself, while Howard and Matt checked out the sounds. Howard roared at whoever it was. Then everyone headed back to Val’s cabin.
As soon as they were inside, Izzie returned to the bedroom with Katrina. Matt curled up on the pullout couch as a jaguar, and Howard and Val retired again to their bedroom.
“What were you roaring at?” Val asked after she and Howard had shifted.
“Wild pig. He took off running. That was a morning run I hadn’t thought we’d have to go on.” Howard climbed into bed.
Val joined him. “Did you hear her pacing in the hall? I think she wanted Matt to let her out, but he didn’t know what she wanted.”
“Good thing you did. I wouldn’t have figured it out either, probably.”
“Katrina must have been asleep. I think Izzie was hoping one of us would figure it out.” Val snuggled against Howard, the ceiling fan whirling around, keeping them comfortably cool. “I could really learn to love you, you know?”
“Good, then I’m doing something right.” He pulled her tighter into his arms and kissed the top of her head.
“Lots of somethings right.” She could really get used to this on an everyday basis.
* * *
It didn’t seem like any time had passed when they heard Katrina and Matt moving around between the other bedroom and bathroom. Howard was happily wrapped around Val, thinking she was a dream of a she-cat.
Val caressed Howard’s chest. “I guess it’s time to get up, have breakfast, and say goodbye to them. It’s going to be awfully quiet around here when they’re gone.”
“Hell, not if I have anything to say about it.” He smiled down at her, and she laughed.
“Promises you’d better keep.”
“I sure will, unless we’re busy dealing with the bad guys.” Howard took a shower after Val did, but once the others left for the trip back to Houston, he had every intention of sharing showers with her.
After he dressed, he left the bedroom to join the others in the living room. Jillian had texted him that breakfast was ready.
“Jillian and Vaughn prepared breakfast for everyone, so we should head over there,” Howard said. Val looked like one sleepy, well-satisfied cat as she gravitated toward him as if they were a couple already, and they followed the Sorensons and Izzie out of the cabin. “Good night, right?” he asked Val.
She chuckled. “I’m going to need a cat nap later.”
“I’ll join you for one.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“That is if we’re not in a new mess as soon as we get back to the other mission.”
“That’s the problem with a budding romance during a mission.”
“I don’t see it as much of a deterrent. Fighting bad guys with a partner just deepens the relationship.” She smiled up at him.
He smiled back. He imagined all the things they could do together—running, swimming, and climbing as jaguars, dinners in, and dinners out. Enjoying the sunset when it wasn’t raining. Even taking a group tour to be tourists for a change.
They knocked on Jillian’s cabin door and announced themselves.
Jillian unlocked the door. “Good morning, everyone.”
“Morning, Jillian. Vaughn.” Howard and Val let everyone enter the cabin before they did.
Howard asked, “Did the three of you get enough sleep?”
“Yeah,” Matt said. “Except for the one time we all went outside, Izzie slept the rest of the night. At least we can all sleep on the plane and don’t have to worry about anyone shifting.”
“What if I have to go to the bathroom and I shift on the plane?” Izzie asked, sounding worried.
“Go whenever you have the urge before you shift,” Katrina said. “And we can have a litter box for you otherwise. No problems. We’ll do everything we can to make you feel comfortable.”
“Litter box.” Izzie sounded disheartened.
“Yeah, but you might not have to use it. If you do, don’t worry about it,” Katrina said. “Just embrace your wild cat side, and it’ll get better.”
At least no one had to worry about Izzie taking off on them if she shifted, and they didn’t have to protect her from Benny or any of his pals. She would be perfectly safe.
Howard thought she seemed glum. He didn’t blame her. She had to deal with all these changes, not to mention that she was going to have a baby. That could add to the emotional stress for anyone, but being a shifter and taking care of a shifting baby too? Even more stress!
“Where’s Rowdy?” Val asked.
“He ran over to check out of his cabin since he’s not going to be using it any longer,” Vaughn said.
Howard called Rowdy’s number, but there was no answer. “No answer. I’ll go check it out.” Howard headed for the door.
Vaughn and Val went with him. They saw Rowdy hurrying to join them from the direction of the lodge. “Sorry. I just wanted to take care of that since Vaughn and Jillian insist I stay with them.”
“Okay, we were just worried about you, given the events of yesterday,” Vaughn said.
Rowdy looked pleased that he was already one of the team—so to speak.
* * *
A half hour later, after escorting the team to the private airstrip and helping to load the drug money, drugs, and equipment onto the plane, the Sorensons wished them luck in eliminating all the rogue jaguars. The team, in turn, wished the Sorensons well on their trip home. So far, Izzie was still in her human form and looked to be in pretty good spirits. The team members watched as the plane took off, making sure there weren’t any problems before they headed for the next part of their mission.
They were dressed and ready for a fight, determined to finish off the rest of the rogue jaguars. “Are we ready to go?” Val asked.
“Yeah. Two cars, right?” Howard asked.
“Two cars,” Vaughn agreed.
Time to take out some more bad guys.