Wild Cat

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Cassidy wrapped her arms around Diego’s neck and melted to his heat. They swayed together, mouth to mouth, body to body. Cassidy’s hurt, guilt, and anger receded as she sought him hungrily.

Diego’s mouth was scorching. He opened to her, lips moving on hers, his tongue sweeping in. He pulled her against him, and she felt his obvious wanting, hard and without shame.

Cassidy cupped his buttocks, the fabric of the dark pants he wore for work catching on her fingers. She slid a hand up his chest, feeling his heart beating hard beneath her touch, and worked his tie loose. She liked the heat under his suit coat, felt the frustrating restraint of the leather holster tight against his side. She wanted to touch all of him.

She moved the loosened tie and popped open the first buttons of his shirt. She felt his damp throat, his smooth skin above his T-shirt, curls of hair touching her fingers. Cassidy broke the kiss to lick the hollow of his throat, his dark skin beckoning.

Diego ran his hands through her hair. She’d loved how he’d petted her when she’d been in cat form on his lap, in smooth, comforting strokes. He’d been a friend soothing her hurts, nothing sensual.

Now was all sensual. Diego ran his hand down to the small of her back, pulled her up to him, opened her mouth with his. He slid his fingers beneath her waistband, the low ride of the jeans letting him find the elastic of her panties and caress beneath it.

Out here, in the darkness, alone, Cassidy could drink him in. No shame, no worries. This man was awakening her mating frenzy-awakening all her emotions-for the first time in a long, lonely while.

Diego’s teeth scraped her lips, and Cassidy scooped herself into him, loving it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close while his fingers did their dance on the mound of her buttocks.

Something bounded out of the darkness, swerved past them, kept running. Wolf, by the scent. Diego broke the kiss as another wolf charged after the first. The two ran through the scrub, noisily disappearing into darkness again.

Diego looked around, breathless. “What the hell was that?”

Cassidy too tried to catch her breath. “Lupines. Those two just mated. They’re in a mating frenzy.”

“Mating frenzy?”

Cassidy kept her arms around Diego’s neck, not wanting him to step away. “The need to mate-constantly. Mating until you fall dead asleep. Then waking up and doing it all over again.”

Diego smiled his hot smile. “Must be something in the air.”

“Must be.”

Diego kissed her again, leisurely this time. He finished by brushing light kisses to her lower lip. “Cass…”

He was going to ask to sleep with her; she saw it in his eyes. He wanted her. Cassidy would say yes, and she’d love it. It would tear her up inside, because Donovan had been her mate, and she’d never forget that. She was confused, and scared, but still she knew she’d say yes.

A shrill peal cutting the air had Cassidy almost lifting off the ground. She gave a nervous laugh as Diego pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He studied the readout and gave it a regretful look.

“Sorry, Cass. I have to take this.”

Cassidy nodded, folding her arms over her stomach as Diego backed away. He touched the corner of her mouth, still looking regretful, then he turned and headed toward the house as he answered the phone.

Cassidy hung back to watch him walk away in measured strides, a man sure of himself. She liked that he never apologized for kissing her, nor tried to joke about it or express any shame about it. He kissed her because he wanted to. And he enjoyed it. If the phone hadn’t rung… Would she have been sorry for going home with him? Or just loved it?

“Damn, girl.” Lindsay materialized out of the darkness. “I saw that luscious kiss. On a scale of one to ten, I’d give you an eleven.”

“That good, was it?” Cassidy asked distractedly.

“That hot. Lip-smacking, I’m-pea-green-with-envy hot.” Lindsay bumped her hip against Cassidy’s. “What are you going to do about it?”

Cassidy’s throat felt tight. “I don’t know yet.”

“You don’t know? I do. You’re going to go for it. Diego has no human mate, he’s gorgeous, and best of all, he has a brother. For me.”

Any other time, Cassidy would laugh at her, but she was too wound up. “Part of me wants to.” She let out her breath. “All right, most of me wants to, especially the relevant parts of me. But I’m not sure it’s a good idea. It’s still too soon.”

“Cass, Cass, Cass.” Lindsay shook her head. “You don’t have to have the mating ceremony with him. You don’t even have to see him again if you don’t want to. But you’re throwing off pheromones so hard, you’re making me itch. I’m starting to have dreams about Shane and Brody. At the same time. Don’t do that to me. I only want to think about pretty Xavier.”

Cassidy unbent enough to grin. “You want me to jump Diego’s bones so you will calm down?”

“Yes. You owe it to me as your best friend.”

“What you’re really saying is that I should get Diego out of my system.”

“Amen, girlfriend.”

Lindsay had a way of putting things in perspective. Cassidy watched Diego standing between her and the house, having stopped to talk hard into his phone.

Getting Diego out of her system was probably a good idea. But remembering that searing, masterful kiss he’d just given her, Cassidy knew it would never be that simple.

Cassidy started back for the house, ignoring Lindsay’s Atta girl behind her.

Diego finished his call, closed his phone, and waited for Cassidy to catch up to him.

“Cass, I’m sorry, I have to go. There’s something I need to take care of.”

Cassidy’s heart beat faster. “Was that Xavier? Did they find Reid?”

“No.” The warmth in Diego’s eyes had gone, and he seemed distant now, closed off. “It’s a different case. I need to go talk to somebody.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss to her lips. “I don’t know how long this will take.”

Meaning he thought he wouldn’t be coming back tonight. Cassidy folded her arms, trying to suppress her disappointment. “I understand.”

Diego cupped her cheek. “See you tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

Diego smiled again, but absently, as though his thoughts were far away. He kissed her lips again, then turned and left her.

She watched Diego walk to the house, pause and say good night to Eric then Nell, who sat on the Wardens’ back porch in an Adirondack chair, and duck inside. As Cassidy reached the porch she heard Diego’s Thunderbird roar to life then rumble away down the street.

Eric gave Cassidy a brief, one-armed hug as Cassidy passed him. She returned the hug then sank down into the chair next to Nell’s. Cassidy’s mouth was still hot from Diego’s kisses, and her entire body throbbed.

“You look unhappy, Cass,” Nell said. “What did the human do? Or, wait, maybe it’s something he didn’t do.”

Cassidy shrugged. “Not his fault. He has a demanding job.”

Nell crossed her strong legs and sipped from her beer bottle. “Don’t hit me with your bullshit, sweetie. You’re upset about it. But you need to remember, he’s not Shifter. Most humans hold themselves back, no matter how much their needs scream at them. That’s why they have so many psychologists.”

“Some Shifters are holding back too,” Cassidy said.

Nell patted her hand with her large one. “I know it’s tough, Cass. I lost a mate myself. I know what you’re going through.”

“I know. Thanks, Nell.”

So much loss. That was why Shifters had agreed to human strictures, so they could recuperate from all the loss of their past. To recover, lick their wounds, strengthen. The humans thought they’d confined Shifters and controlled them with the Collars, but Shifters had learned to find strength in communities. They were rebuilding themselves behind the fences humans had erected for them.

Nell lifted her beer bottle. “Doesn’t stop me from wanting a good shag, though. Embarrasses Shane and Brody, but too bad for them.”

Cassidy had to laugh. “They’ll get over it.”

“My boys try to intimidate the hell out of any male I show interest in. Not that males aren’t intimidated by me already. Damn, I wish I were petite.”

Cassidy squeezed Nell’s hand. “Males don’t like alpha females.”

“I know that, the shits. Until there’s a fight. Then they want us to save their asses.”

Cassidy shook her head. “Males.”

“That human of yours is no submissive himself, you know.”

“I figured that out the day I met him,” Cassidy said. “I saved his life, and it seriously pissed him off.”

“Yeah, I heard the story. Alphas don’t like to show weakness, especially to their females.”

Cassidy thought about that for a while, and also about the phone call that had made Diego back away from her, away from Shiftertown. He’d said it had nothing to do with Reid, but Cassidy wanted to know what it was about. Whatever it was had upset him, though Diego had tried not to show it. She’d scented his distress.

“Is Brody busy, Nell?” she asked.

“Brody? Sure you don’t want Shane?” Nell gave her a hopeful look, one she’d been giving Cassidy since they’d all moved to Shiftertown.

Cassidy sighed. “Nell, you know I like Shane, but…”

“But you aren’t interested in him as a mate. I know. I wouldn’t mind having you for a daughter-in-law, Cass, that’s a fact. But I understand. The mate bond can’t be forced, and now this human has caught your eye.”

“Diego was good to me when he didn’t have to be.”

Nell snorted with laughter. “Oh, please. You mean he’s majorly hot. I have eyes, sweetie.”

Cassidy couldn’t help her grin. “Well, that too.”

“Go. Get Brody. Do what you have to.”

Cassidy leaned down, kissed Nell on her smooth cheek, and walked through the darkness to the house next door.

Diego drove around the last corner and felt like he’d traveled backward in time. The same houses were still there, the same liquor store with men and women standing idly in front of it, slot machines inside flashing white and red lights into the night. He could swear the same homeless guys hung around the Dumpster on the other side.

Diego had left this street fourteen years ago when he’d enlisted in the Marines, vowing he wouldn’t be back. He had to come back, of course, from time to time. First to move his mother and brother out to the house his mom lived in now. Then, once he’d become a cop, his job had brought him back. Diego knew the streets and the people, which made him an asset to the LVPD.

One person Diego knew was Enrique Gonzales, a former gang leader who had made the young Diego’s life an unmerciful terror. Diego now approached the one-story row apartments where Enrique lived with a feeling of pity.

Enrique was dying. He’d contracted HIV from a shared needle a while back, and pancreatic cancer was taking him. Not long now, probably. A month or so at most.

The man lived in the same apartment his parents had, they having succumbed to disease years ago, bodies worn down by drugs. Enrique’s sister had fled the neighborhood the night she’d tried to kill him.

Enrique lived alone, getting money to pay for his needed medication by selling information to the police. Enrique knew everyone and had many connections, and he’d stopped worrying about people killing him for being a nark.

Diego took a step back when Enrique opened the door. Enrique had never been the cleanest of guys, and the house had always smelled. Now with Enrique alone and uncaring, the stink was bad.

A Shifter would run away howling. Maybe that was why Shiftertown was so damn clean-anything else offended their superior senses of smell.

“Hola, Diego.” Enrique shuffled away from the door. Formerly a huge man, he’d lost so much weight that his flesh sagged on his bones. “I got beer somewhere,” he said in Spanish.

Diego followed Enrique into the living room. “No, thanks.”

Diego took out a roll of cash, five hundred dollars, all twenties, and handed it to Enrique. Enrique pocketed the money without counting it and motioned for Diego to sit on a threadbare armchair.

The state-of-the-art TV in front of the chair had its sound muted, but a movie rolled across the screen in vivid images. Enrique plucked up a remote, shut off the TV, and slumped into another chair.

“It’s sometimes hard to find people in Mexico,” Enrique said, sticking to Spanish. “But I did it. They’re holed up in a little town called La Nébeda. They’re gringos, so they stand out, and they’re stupid, so they really stand out. Want me to have them taken down?”

Diego shook his head, though his heart beat faster in hope. “Stay out of it.”

Enrique shrugged. “Don’t matter to me. I won’t go to prison, won’t have time to make the trial even. Doesn’t matter what I do now. But I get that you want to do it yourself. They got your friend.”

Enrique did understand, in his own way. “Keep it cool,” Diego said. “And go in peace.”

Enrique laughed, a harsh sound. “I’d rather go out fighting. You know, in a good battle. Don’t know why you’re so concerned about me, Diego. I was one of the reasons you ran out of here like you were on fire.”

“You were taking way too much money from my mom, who was working her ass off just to keep me and Xavier fed. She says hi, by the way.”

The man’s laughter rumbled again. “Juanita Escobar is one tough lady. She gave me the money but told me what she thought of me. You were a shit. A mouthy, too-tough-for-your-own-good kid, which is why I kept having you beat up. Heh.” He shook his head. “Look at us now.”

Yeah, right, those were good times.

Diego stood up and moved to leave. “I appreciate the info.”

Enrique looked up at Diego with tired eyes. “Why don’t you shoot me, Diego? Right now. I know you’re carrying. You always hated me. You can tell everyone I offed myself. Wouldn’t be far from the truth.”

Diego hesitated. Enrique was suffering. The pain in his eyes was real. He’d been a strong man-an alpha, in Shifter terms-though Enrique always put his own interests first. Eric, on the other hand, ensured that his family and everyone in his jurisdiction was protected.

Enrique had never protected anyone. He’d collected money up and down the street, had Diego and Xavier beaten if they didn’t obey him, and threatened to shoot both of them if Diego’s mother didn’t pay him. Enrique had demanded even more favors from Diego’s mother, but she’d managed to put him in his place over that.

“Tell you what,” Enrique said. He reached into the drawer of the table next to him and pulled out a black forty-four, a big weapon. “I’ve got my piece right here. You can say I lured you over here, then I shot at you when you came in the door. You shot me back in self-defense. Comprende?”

He screwed a silencer onto the end of the gun before taking the wad of money out of his pocket and plunking it on the coffee table. “Send that to my sister. I know you know where she is.”

“I’m not shooting you, Enrique.”

“No?” Enrique grinned, dark eyes sparkling. “Too bad, because I’m shooting you.”

Diego barely dodged in time. Two bullets thunked into the solid front door, right where Diego’s head had been. Enrique shot again, but this time, Diego’s bullet went dead center into Enrique’s chest.

Enrique gasped. His pistol fell from his slack hand but he managed to smile. “Muchas gracias,” he whispered, and then he died.

Diego holstered his pistol, put the roll of cash back into his pocket, and called 911.

He left in exhaustion hours later. He’d told the uniforms who responded plus his own captain that Enrique had lured him over with the promise of information about a drug case then shot at Diego when Diego had entered the house. Diego hated lying, especially to Captain Max, but he couldn’t tell them the true reason he’d visited Enrique tonight.

Captain Max accepted the story then told Diego to take some leave, to get over the incident. Diego didn’t fight him.

He started his car and drove home. Out of the old neighborhood, leaving the past to return to the present. Cassidy. The present was so damn much better.

Cassidy had been waiting a couple hours in the pitch darkness of Diego’s bedroom when she finally heard him open the front door and come inside. Any minute, he’d walk in and turn on the light, and find her sitting there in the chair beside his bed. He’d be startled, but he’d smile and walk to her, and maybe take her in his arms. She’d explain that she’d come to comfort him as he’d comforted her earlier tonight, just as friends, if that’s all he wanted.

Diego entered the bedroom, and her heart beat faster. He could also grow angry for her presumption and ask her to go. It was the chance she’d taken, but Nell, and even Lindsay, had convinced her. Time for Cassidy to act on her needs and worry about later… later.

Diego didn’t turn on the light. He shed his jacket and gun and holster, then headed straight for the bathroom. He did turn on the bathroom light, throwing Cassidy into shadow, before he cranked on the water in the shower.

Through the open doorway, Cassidy watched him peel off the rest of his clothes. His strong, broad back came into view, and she saw a jagged black tattoo stretching across his shoulders. Next, he stripped off his pants, and now she saw his powerful thighs and legs, his firm backside.

His cock hung, thick and long, but nowhere near erect. Whatever Diego contemplated as he prepared for his shower, it wasn’t sex.

Diego stepped into his square shower stall. The frame was rubbed brass, the walls transparent glass. Steam wafted from it, and the mirror began to mist.

Diego had his back to Cassidy as he let the water spray his face, wet his black hair, and run down his body. Water beaded on his biceps as he pushed his hands through his hair. His back tapered to a fine, tight ass, all wet. The black hair on his legs became plastered against his skin, and water ran over strong feet.

He lathered with soap from the soap dish and started rubbing his chest and arms. Suds dripped down his back, sliding between his buttocks.

Cassidy’s blood was on fire.

She silently rose from her chair and entered the bathroom on bare feet. She could move like the cat she was, and Diego never heard her.

She could see his profile now. Diego slid soap down his torso, lifting his balls to gently wash under them.

She was about to call out to him when Diego let out a low sound of anguish. Cassidy knew that sound, animal pain so deep it cut.

Diego leaned his arm on the wall, cradling his head. His back shook, his body rocking. Diego Escobar was crying.

It broke her heart.

Without bothering to undress, Cassidy opened the shower door and stepped inside with him.