Jaguar Fever

Chapter 4

Thompson. Oh, him. Maya had nearly forgotten about the zoo man who had questioned her about the jaguar on her web page. She pulled Wade’s shirt away from the gash on David’s head and was not happy to see that the bleeding hadn’t completely stopped.

“The one who helped Maya out of the dance club,” David said, explaining to Wade who he meant. “He was asking her about the jaguar on her website.”

“What jaguar?” Wade asked, frowning.

She clenched and unclenched her teeth. “I told him the jaguar was Photoshopped, but he believes the cat in the photo was stolen from his zoo in Portland, Oregon. I put the picture up only a couple of days after the jaguar was taken.”

Wade glanced back at Maya. “I take it the jaguar was you.”

She smiled at him.

“He didn’t believe the jaguar was Photoshopped,” David added. “And she told him she was the jaguar and was from a family of jaguar shifters.”

“Yeah, like any human would believe me,” she said, giving David her fiercest look.

Wade wished that Maya’s sweet body was pressed up against him in the backseat, instead of his brother. Not that he wanted the head laceration to go with it.

His whole outlook on Maya had changed the moment he learned she was single and Connor’s sister, not his wife. Dancing with her at the club had stirred a male response Wade couldn’t deny. It wasn’t just lust, either. They had a history, even if it hadn’t been up close and personal. Now it was. And he wanted more of it. His jealousy over Lion Mane dancing with Maya confirmed his own feeling that he felt something deeper for her.

He’d never acted like that about a woman. He hadn’t felt possessive toward the shifter woman he’d intended to marry five years ago. She’d still wanted to see others when he finally sought to make a commitment or end the dating game. That had been the end of their relationship.

Now he was fascinated with a shifter who wanted the same thing, he realized grimly. Having his head examined seemed like a good idea. But he had never backed down from a challenge, and right now, Maya was one woman he wanted to get to know much better.

Wildcat. Yeah, that’s exactly what she was. He smiled back at her, recalling the way she had stared at his naked chest—intrigued, forgetting why he had removed his shirt in the first place. Hell, he was ready to dance with her again and feel her pressed against his body, kissing her sweet mouth and showing her just how much he wanted to get to know her better, every silky, mouthwatering inch of her.

When they arrived home, Maya was helping David out of the car as her cousins pulled behind them in the parking lot. Where had David been that he’d heard so much of what she’d said to Thompson? Probably dancing nearby. Jaguar hearing could really be a nuisance sometimes when a shifter was listening in. Her brother was testament to that.

David looked pale and was a little unsteady on his feet, though he was trying to show how tough he was. She was attempting to hold him up, but his weight was too much for her.

Wade quickly took charge of his brother, giving them both an out. “Can you get the door for us, Maya?”

She gave David the shirt to hold to his forehead, then opened the front door. As she walked inside, she turned on the lights for them. “Put him on the couch if you would. In the first bedroom on the right, if he prefers a bed.”

“The sofa’s fine,” David said.

Wade’s gaze caught Maya’s. She couldn’t read his expression. Concern his brother’s injury might garner too much of her sympathy maybe? He looked a little unsettled.

“Did you want Wade to sew you up?” she asked David.

David shook his head, then winced and moaned a little. She stroked his arm, and Wade said, “Boy, have you pulled the wool over her eyes.”

Giving Wade a smile, she said, “Next time someone cracks you in the skull with a bottle, I’ll take care of you.”

“Maybe we should have dumped you at a hospital tonight, and you could have had a pretty nurse look after you,” Wade said to David.

Maya laughed. So Wade was worried that she was paying too much attention to his brother.

“I’ll get some bandages and a wet cloth to wash off the blood. We probably don’t have bandages that are very big,” Maya said and headed for the bathroom.

“Anything will do.” David leaned back against the couch cushions.

She returned and caught Wade shaking his head at his brother, while David grinned up at him. When they saw her, they both instantly looked red faced.

Wade stalked across the living room and peered out the picture window. “Your cousins must be checking the grounds for any unwanted visitors. I’m sure if anyone thought of bothering you tonight, they won’t now.”

“Not with four bodyguards.” Maya set the wet cloth, a towel, and bandages on the coffee table.

She took Wade’s bloodied shirt from David and set it nearby. “Sorry about your shirt, Wade. I especially liked it.”

Her gaze shifted to his abs. She would offer him one of Connor’s shirts, but her brother definitely wouldn’t approve. Besides, she liked looking at Wade’s hard muscles when he wasn’t watching her.

She was starting to wipe away the blood off David’s forehead when he closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. “Can you get some pain medicine from my kitchen, Wade? It’s the first one on the right,” Maya asked as she finished washing the blood off David’s cheek. “And a glass of water.”

Wade returned with water and the medicine.

After David had taken it, she began applying bandages.

Wade grinned and David frowned as he looked at the box. “Kids’ bandages? Sea turtles? Porcupines? Butterflies?”

“Store was all out of the regular kind. I’d give you a choice, but I’m afraid I’ve got to use too many of them, so you’re going to get an assortment.”

Wade chuckled. “Looks like a new fashion statement.”

David cast his brother an annoyed look.

She placed the bandages horizontally over the long gash.

David closed his eyes, looking tired and like the painkiller hadn’t kicked in yet.

The front door opened, and her cousins each carried a bag into the house.

“Hell, I forgot our bags are at the hotel room,” David said. “You’ve got to go back into Houston to get them and check out of the room.”

“Tomorrow,” Wade said. “Before we go to the airport, we’ll drop by the hotel and get our stuff. No sense in making a four-hour round-trip back to Houston.”

Everett let out a bark of laughter when he saw David and his bandage collage. Maya frowned at him. “Just think if it had been you.”

Huntley was grinning. “Remind me not to get injured when I’m visiting your place, Maya. Either that or I’ll have to remember to bring my own first-aid kit.”

Maya kissed the uninjured side of David’s forehead, making everyone quit smiling as if she’d put them in their place. “At least he’s man enough not to let it bother him.”

David offered them all a smug smile. But Wade was grinning the biggest, arms folded across his chest.

Everett headed for the kitchen. “Got anything to drink?”

“Who’s taking first watch?” Huntley asked.

Maya felt like she had joined the Service on a mission, watching for the bad guys, but instead of being in the jungle when it happened, she was at home—the first time she’d had to worry about such a thing out here.

“Jaguars?” she asked.

“What else?” Wade responded. “I’ll take first watch in about half an hour.”