Gedeon had allowed Slayer to have his time with Whisper after they’d inspected the area where the cabins had been in the Venezuelan jungle. Gedeon wanted to be certain Miguel hadn’t started up his human trafficking enterprise again. He also wanted the cat to smell around the mass graves he knew were there. He wanted to know how many graves there were. The jungle had been quick to reclaim the territory the humans had taken from it. Already the brush had grown thick and wild. Trees were coming up as well. If Gedeon hadn’t known crude roads and cabins had once been there, he wouldn’t have detected the evidence.
The leopards had been out all night together. Whisper was playful and very vocal. She flirted and rubbed along tree trunks, scent marking, being alluring and tempting Slayer to follow her. She raced over downed trunks and around tall termite mounds. She splashed through shallow creek beds and rolled in crackling piles of leaves. Slayer followed her patiently.
Every fifteen to twenty minutes she crouched down, and he was on her, his teeth sinking into her shoulder to hold her in place while he mounted her. After, he stood close while she rested, and then she would be up again, exploring while he followed her. Slayer took in all the coordinates of the jungle. Every road cut into it. The wild, unexplored interior. If they approached the outer edges, he urged Whisper back under cover, even as he gathered data to pass to Gedeon and Meiling.
Dawn broke when Gedeon instructed Slayer to herd Whisper back to the utility vehicle they had brought and parked on a nearly nonexistent trail in the jungle. Slayer had to get Whisper to her feet several times. She was exhausted and kept lying down and curling up into a little ball, falling asleep instantly. By the time the male leopard got her to the vehicle, she was stumbling on her velvet paws. Gedeon shifted immediately and called to Meiling. Whisper had curled up on the front seat.
He shook the leopard. She protested with a snarl. He kept it up, commanding her to shift. Meiling finally made the ultimate effort and did so. She didn’t bother to sit up and put on her seat belt. She simply laid her head in his lap and went back to sleep. He caught up a blanket, yanked it over her and took them to the house he’d rented. He’d gotten the information they needed about the former human trafficking site. It was possible Miguel had started up somewhere else, but if he had, Rene hadn’t found evidence of him doing business with anyone. Gedeon had a good idea of the routes in the jungle, and Slayer and Whisper had had their time together and were sated for the time being. It had been a productive night.
* * *
* * *
GEDEON crouched down beside the bed and pushed back the tangle of silky black hair spilling across the pillow so he could see Meiling’s face. She was out. Deep sleep. So exhausted after Whisper’s night in the jungle with Slayer. Meiling looked so young and innocent in her sleep—so completely not meant to be with a man like him.
He hated waking her. He’d let her sleep as long as possible. “You’re going to have to join the land of the living, Lotus Blossom,” he whispered, tracing her cheekbone with the pad of his finger. Memorizing her the way he did every day. She was already imprinted in his bones. It didn’t matter. He still needed to map out her features with his hands, feel her bones and skin under his. The moment was always intense. Overwhelming. In some ways shocking to him. He would never fully believe that the universe had decreed that this woman would walk beside him through life. “We’ve got a meeting with Lubin and Miguel Diaz in an hour.”
Her long lashes fluttered, and his gut tightened. His cock hardened. It didn’t take much around her. He waited and the feathery lashes lifted. He found himself falling right into her dark chocolate eyes. That was another moment he looked forward to. There were so many and none he’d ever get tired of. Then she smiled and his heart contracted. Was squeezed liked a vise. He compared the feeling to having his cock strangled by her tight sheath. Agony and ecstasy. It hurt like hell, but in a good way he never wanted to end.
“There you are.” He leaned in and brushed the corner of her eye with a kiss. “Sit up, Lotus, I brought coffee.”
She blinked several times, the long lashes feathering up and down, and then her face lit up. She allowed him to help her into a sitting position. The sheet fell away from her body, pooling around her slender waist. She didn’t seem to notice. She was too busy reaching for the coffee mug he held out to her. He noticed.