“We need to rethink how wolves can fight against jaguars if this is going to continue to be a team effort.”

  Howard glanced at Val as if wondering if she meant she was considering joining the USF. She had to admit she thought this group was adventurous, worked well together, and still took down the really bad guys. She liked them a lot as individuals too, and she was already feeling the kinship. Before working with them, she hadn’t been sure what they did.

  “I mean, for this mission. And for your future missions. Handling a wolf would be easy for one of us. The wolves need to have something more they can use against jaguars,” she explained.

  “We’ve discussed tranquilizer guns, Tasers, and silencers. The problem with tasing or tranquilizing is that would only be used if we were taking the perp in to be incarcerated,” Howard said.

  “Right. You couldn’t knock them out and then kill them.” As evil as some of the perps could be, the agents couldn’t resort to the bad guys’ tactics.

  “Do you ever have cases where the bad guy gives himself up?” Emmie asked.

  “In the USF’s case, yes. We take care of those on a case-by-case basis. But if the perp is trying to kill us or others, we take them down. Period,” Howard said. “This is a special case where we’re helping out an Enforcer whose job was to take down a murderer. But our cases vary. Sometimes we have to terminate the perp. Sometimes we don’t. In those cases, we have used tranquilizer guns when needed. We try not to use bullets when eliminating a shifter, unless we have no other choice.”

  “Eric said you killed that one drug runner by breaking his neck. The guy had been bragging about getting women hooked on the heroin at some bar and thought it was pretty funny. I’m glad you took him out,” Emmie said. “He kept telling me he was going to get me started on it, and Eric told him he’d better not. A couple of times, Eric was ready to kill him. He threatened to cut him and to shoot him another time. But the guy was too useful to him. Still, Eric protected me from him.” Emmie took a deep breath. “What is your job exactly?” she asked Val.

  “As an Enforcer, we normally only get the cases where a jaguar is scheduled for termination. They don’t have any incentive to give themselves up. They always come out fighting.”

  “Sounds to me like the wolves need to subdue the rogue jaguars in hand-to-hand combat before the rogues can shift,” Emmie said.

  “Vaughn does, when he can. Jillian has shot a couple of shifters when they were shooting back. That was in the States and in a red wolf pack’s territory. And that was in a case of dealing with rogue jaguars. With wolves, they hold their own. We also work closely together to fight the bad guys.” Howard looked over at Val. “We sure could use another jaguar on the team though.”

  Val smiled at him. She was still trying to work out what she might do. She could be impetuous at times, but she wanted to make the right decision.

  “I’d go for it if I were you,” Emmie said. “I think Howard can use some extra help on his side. At least from where I was observing the fight.”

  Val chuckled. Howard would never live that down.

  “You could have warned me the guy hiding in the closet was wearing his jaguar coat,” Howard said, though he didn’t sound serious.

  “How? I was tied up and gagged. All I could do was motion with my head toward the closet to let you know he was hiding in there. It was just a good thing two of them weren’t in there. I was glad Rowdy gave you enough time to strip and shift. He wasn’t even working for your organization, and he risked his life to come to your rescue.”

  Val was surprised Emmie cared about any of this. “What do you do back home?”

  “I was a secretary at an insurance company in San Antonio. I met Eric at the Clawed and Dangerous Kitty Cat Club and began dating him. He promised me a fun trip to Belize after we’d been dating for a couple of months. I had no idea how dangerous he could be. Or the kind of people he ran with and the business he was in. As bad as these guys are, they haven’t been trying to sell the drug to the shifters. At least from conversations I’d overheard. One of his men mentioned it, and Eric and the others said no. Not that selling to humans is any better.”

  “Eric knew we’d be down on them as soon as we learned about him selling the heroin. As it is, he thought we wouldn’t know he was involved. We were lucky an informant came forth and told us about him. That’s why my parents were sent to handle it. But the informant said it was just Eric, no other jaguars involved. They were to take him down and then report the other dealers to the local police,” Val said.

  Emmie’s eyes widened a little. “An informant? I hope he managed to stay alive. I was wondering, since I’m going to have to stay with you for the night, what is the situation exactly?”

  “Rowdy is staying with the wolves. We have a separate cabin next door,” Val said.

  Emmie ran her hands through her hair. “I’ll stay with them, if it’s all right with you.”

  “We’d have more room for you.” Val wondered if Emmie had a crush on the homicide detective who had risked his life to save Howard.

  “I’m a jaguar. Female, sure, but if jaguars attack in the middle of the night, at least I can help the wolves until the two of you get there.”

  Val knew then she had made the right choice in not turning Emmie over to be investigated by their people. Emmie had done nothing but tried to help them all along.

  “Sounds like a good plan,” Howard said.

  “I suggest tomorrow we consolidate what’s left of the team and stay in one cabin,” Val said to Howard.

  “I concur.”

  They finally reached the resort, and as a group, they investigated each of the cabins. They also checked Benny’s cabin again—to ensure the sneaky bastard hadn’t returned, or that some of his partners in crime weren’t planning a night strike from there. Not that they still couldn’t arrive sometime in the middle of the night.

  All the places were clear, and Jillian was looking much less pale.

  “Do you have a headache still?” Val asked her.

  “Yeah. Per Vaughn’s orders, I’m going to bed soon. Are you sure you don’t want Rowdy at your place so he can help you listen for any trouble tonight?”

  “I’m staying with you to protect you as a jaguar,” Emmie said. “Rowdy should stay with Howard.”

  Val laughed.

  Rowdy agreed.

  Howard shook his head, but he was being good-natured about all the ribbing. She loved that about him.

  “Does everyone want a little dinner before we retire for the night?” Howard asked.

  “Yeah. How are you feeling? Are you up to helping me cook up a batch of chili?” Vaughn asked.

  “Sure am.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on Jillian,” Val said.

  “Do you need me to help with anything?” Rowdy asked.

  “You can help us,” Howard said.

  Rowdy joined them in the kitchen, and the three men began comparing notes on how they fished, the shifters talking about how they did it while wearing their jaguar and wolf coats. “I swing my tail in the water. Great fishing lure,” Howard said.

  The guys all laughed.

  “I like to ice fish,” Rowdy said.

  “Leaping and grabbing is a great wolf fishing technique,” Vaughn said.

  Val wasn’t surprised that the guys would be talking about fishing—even about when they were in their wilder animal forms.

  “What will I do when we get to Houston?” Emmie asked.

  “Guardians will take you in and provide you a safe place to stay and work. Until we feel it’s safe for you to return home,” Val said. “They’ll provide for you until then.”

  “What if I don’t want to leave Houston after this business is done?”

  “I’m sure if the job they set you up in works out, you can stay. You could get your own place by then.”

  “Okay. I guess I can’t let anyone know where I’ve gone for the time being.”

  “No, not until we’re sure we’re finished with these guys.” Val was still concerned about Jillian, and she turned to her. “Are you certain you’re all right? We don’t need to take you in to see a doctor and run some tests, do we?”

  “No, thanks, I’m fine. I was just seeing double for a while. I slept in the car on the way here and feel much better. Though I would have slept even better if Rowdy hadn’t kept waking me to see if I was still okay.”

  Val smiled. “With head injuries, you’re not supposed to sleep.”

  “Yeah, but fighting with a jaguar wore me out. I know the policy is to take them down in ways other than just shooting them, but I sure would rather do that.”

  “I don’t blame you. After the way I feel tonight, I would have preferred doing that too,” Val said.

  When the meal was cooked, they all sat down to eat chili and have margaritas, the beginning of a good night to end the day. Following dinner, they said their good nights.

  Rowdy, Howard, and Val walked through the woods to Val’s cabin. They were quiet, listening for any sounds that might indicate trouble. They didn’t hear anything but the usual sounds of the rain forest settling down for the night.

  Once they were inside the cabin, Rowdy eyed them speculatively. “Does anyone mind me taking a shower first?”

  “Go ahead,” Howard said, leading Val into her bedroom.

  “Night, all.” Rowdy closed the door to the bathroom behind him.

  “I’m serious about needing another jaguar shifter in our ranks,” Howard said to Val when he shut the door to the bedroom.

  “Any will do, right?”

  “Okay, let me word that differently. I need a partner.” Howard rubbed her arms with his big, capable hands.

  “Because everyone else has one, and you’re feeling left out?” Val didn’t think that was the only reason, but she was sure he wanted someone to keep him company when they had a minute to relax during a mission.

  He smiled darkly at her and moved her to the bed, the backs of her legs hitting the mattress. All at once, she felt the power of the big cat—him claiming her for the night, territorial, possessive. And needy. Oh, so needy. “Not because I feel left out.” He looked at her with a predatory gleam, his hands caressing her shoulders.

  She ran her hands up his chest. She loved knowing he needed her and how much he desired her.

  His hands kneaded the tension from her shoulders. He sure knew how to get her motor purring. He pressed his body close to hers, his arousal already stirring against her. She sure knew how to rev up his motor too. She slid her hands around his waist and pulled him closer, wanting to feel his rampant need for her.

  He nuzzled her neck, licked her skin, and before she was ready for it, he tackled her to the bed. Holding her arms stretched out, he pinned her body to the mattress. “I’ve been wanting to do this since the last time we made love.” He kissed her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, her mouth. Then he lifted his head. “I need you. A mate. A partner. For work and for pleasure.”

  She smiled up at him. “Just keep thinking those thoughts. In the meantime, I want more of this.” She pulled him down for a searing kiss that told him she was thinking along those lines too. Every time they began to kiss, their pheromones did a happy dance, mixing and colliding, telling them in no uncertain terms just how intrigued they were with each other.

  Val loved making love to him. He entranced her with his kisses, his ardor, the way he didn’t hold back but continued to ply her with kisses. He started working on her clothes, pulling her shirt over her head, unfastening her bra, and tossing both aside. She yanked at his shirt, and he quickly dispensed with it.

  It was so much quicker to just make love after they’d shifted from cats to humans. No clothes to bar them from getting down to the finish line.

  He began to massage her breasts. Her panties were wet, and she wanted them off and him stroking her there. And she wanted to feel his cock pressed against her, skin to skin, no fabric between them.

  She worked her hands between them and tried to unfasten his belt. She couldn’t manage, so she rubbed his cock through his cargo pants instead. His arousal jumped and he groaned.

  Her action had him refocusing on their clothes, and he quickly removed his boots, his socks, and then his pants. She just lay there, her hands behind her back, watching him, smiling.

  He smiled back. Then he began to remove her clothes—one boot, massaging a sock-covered foot. The second boot hit the floor, and he massaged her other foot. He was a keeper.

  Then he peeled off her socks and massaged her feet again, his warm hands working the tension out of them, and she hadn’t even realized her feet were so tense! He ran his hands up her pant legs, his thumbs sliding up her inner thighs in a sexy caress. When he reached her button and zipper, he slipped the button through the hole and pulled her zipper down, then pulled her pants off.

  He rubbed his hand against her mound, his fingers pressing the silky panties between her folds, and she groaned aloud. God, how could he touch her like that and nearly make her come? Just the anticipation of what he would do next, the hot, hungry look in his eyes, the way he undressed her and touched her brought her to near climax faster than any man had ever done.

  He continued to stroke her through her panties, then slipped them aside and inserted two fingers into her. She cried out, unable to help herself. He slowly pulled off his boxer briefs as if he were a male stripper, his cock springing free at full mast. Then he slid her panties off and tossed them to join his boxer briefs on the floor.

  She licked her lips, right before he loomed over her, then pushed his cock between her feminine folds and began to thrust.

  * * *

  Howard was serious about making Val his mate. Everything they did together made that clearer to him. It wasn’t just the incredible sex, but that was part of it.

  He lifted her legs over his shoulders and thrust deeper, keeping the momentum going, then slowing when he felt the end coming, trying to prolong the connection.

  He slid a hand over her breast, squeezing and rubbing the taut nipple. She looked ravished and beautiful, her green eyes holding him hostage, her red hair splayed across the pillow, her hands caressing his arms. He meant to extend this, his body taut with need, but he was so nearly there. He pulled her legs off his shoulders and she seemed ready to protest, but he wanted to kiss her again before he came, to lick her nipples and to suckle, and so he did. That stopped her from feeling dissatisfied. And then he separated from her while he thrust, his hand stroking her clit again, hoping to coax another orgasm out of her.

  It didn’t take long before she was thrusting her pelvis at him, and he couldn’t hold out any longer. He rubbed her and thrust until he came, feeling the heady satisfaction that she was his. Maybe she hadn’t said as much and wasn’t ready to commit all the way, but in his heart, he hoped she was. He sank down on top of her, feeling her climax gripping his cock in delicious waves. She’d come, silently this time, and she wrapped her arms around him, holding him in place. He felt at home here with her, locked in a loving embrace.

  He rolled over to cradle her in his arms again. To sleep, to dream of her, to keep the feelings alive.

  Besides eliminating the bad guys, the only other obstacle he was facing was how to convince Val he truly was the only one for her before they ended this mission and she decided she’d better return to work as an Enforcer—without a partner.

  Chapter 16

  The next morning, they all had breakfast together. Emmie was coating butter on a piece of toast as if in slow motion. She appeared to be considering something, and Howard was confident he wasn’t going to like it.

  Emmie set her knife down on the plate. “Are you certain you can’t use my help? I mean, I am a jaguar.”

  “Absolutely not. We appreciate all your help so far, but we can’t chance having you hurt in the face of another battle.” Howard forked up some more of his cheesy omelet. He could just imagine the trouble they’d be in with their bosses if anything bad happened to Emmie. She wasn’t trained for the kind of work they did. Not to mention that he didn’t want it on his conscience if one of those guys killed her. What if he was trying to protect her and left his partners in a lurch? “You’re a civilian and we’re meant to protect you, not put you in the line of fire.”

  Everyone agreed with Howard on that.

  He did appreciate the offer though. He wondered why she had made it. Wanting revenge? Trying to prove to the agents she was on the good guys’ side? Guilty conscience because she really had been involved in this nefarious business, and she wanted to make amends?

  “You did enough by giving Val’s dad a blood transfusion and sticking around to help her out until the Guardians came to aid her,” Howard said, appreciating her efforts. “And with everything you did when we were at the drug house.” His cell rang, and he pulled out his phone. The call was from another of his team members in the USF. Everett Anderson.

  “Demetria and I are on our way to join you. We heard you are interested in partnering with an Enforcer.” Everett sounded amused.

  “Who told you that?” Howard was certain Val hadn’t.

  “Jillian. She said it’s a sure thing. She already told Martin to request her from her branch to work with us. No way can we afford to lose you from the team if you were to decide to return to the Enforcer branch to partner up with Val. You’re stuck with us, and we’re stuck with you.”

  Howard smiled, enjoying the back-and-forth hassling they gave each other. “It’s not a sure thing. Val hasn’t said she wants to join us, even though we have a lot more fun than the agents in the Enforcer branch. But I haven’t given up changing her mind yet either.”