“You didn’t have to carry that – I could have managed,” said Hester as Antonio deposited the tiny boutique bag on the kitchen counter.
After lunch, Maria wanted to take Hester shopping at the slighter larger town of Magnolia Pride – home to Brodie’s pride of lion shifters. Antonio had grumbled about more shopping but refused to go home and even mentioned that Brodie’s younger sister had opened a small shop there selling clothes and cosmetics. Antonio had complained about every shop they entered, while Hester encouraged Maria to buy some dresses slightly more daring than anything else she owned – some of them were even above the knee and none of them had necks so high they threatened to cut off her airway. Hester didn’t have any money or credit cards with her, but when she saw a nail varnish she liked, Antonio bought it for her. She was grateful, but it made her uneasy. She was more than capable of buying and paying for her own things. She didn’t like to be reliant on Antonio to pay for anything.
Though, thinking of money, it kind of made her wonder if her credit card companies might suspect her of being dead – she hadn’t gone this long without using them since… well, since she got them.
“No problem,” said Antonio, a little happier than he had been earlier. His mood improved the further away they got from the lion pride. There were quite a few handsome male lions wandering around town, and one of them winked at her when Antonio wasn’t looking. But, their wholesome, blonde charm didn’t really compare to Antonio’s dark, twinkling smolder. No male compared she thought as her cheetah sighed.
“You know,” he said, his cockiness returning, “I wouldn’t have minded getting you that thong.”
Yes, Antonio hadn’t been completely bored in the clothes shop. He found the underwear section riveting.
Hester smiled. “To model for you?”
Antonio blinked at her. “Why, that sounds like a good idea.”
“I’ll bet,” she said dryly. “I liked Brodie’s sister.”
The unattached female appeared to like Antonio as well. Her cheetah hadn’t enjoyed the hug or the smile the six-foot lioness bestowed on him, but Antonio had teased her as he would his brothers. She didn’t hint at anything sexual between them – since the lioness was still in possession of all her teeth, that was obvious.
“She’s a good cub,” he replied placidly.
“Is that why Brodie turned up at the restaurant? To tell you about his sister’s store?”
Antonio hesitated for a flicker of a second. “Yes.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
He smiled. “Fine; he told me that Vertigo is planning on starting construction in two weeks time on their new resort.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know,” he sighed. “Brodie has a source at the construction company, and they don’t even know where. They know it’s going to be near here, but Vertigo hasn't bought up any land around here.”
Hester thought of her ill-formed suspicions about Daniel and decided to take the plunge. The worst he could do was yell at her and tell her she was wrong. Though, she didn’t really like the thought of Antonio being angry with her. Lots of people got angry with her – all the time. She could be obnoxious, bossy and opinionated and anger usually followed her around like an incontinent puppy. Usually, she was of the opinion that whoever was annoyed with her could go to hell – who needed them?! But she actually wanted Antonio to like her. Not something she’d ever cared about before, and she didn’t say this lightly.
“Look, Antonio…”
She shifted her jacket, and Maria’s phone fell out, making a dull thud as it hit the floor. Antonio stared at it for a few beats before slowly, he stooped to pick it up.
Crap. His expression seemed to have turned to granite. Her cheetah held her breath. She felt like she’d been caught cheating on her history exam and was facing the principal.
He turned it over in his hands. “Where did you get this?”
“I, ah, just borrowed it from your mother.”
He looked up into her eyes, and she almost felt a chill radiating from him. “Who have you called?”
“I didn’t call anybody,” she answered truthfully. It hadn’t occurred to her to call anyone. It was safe to say she had moved past the feeling of being a kidnap victim – when she first arrived, calling for help would have been her first move.
Antonio’s expression didn’t change. “You texted for help then?”
“I don’t need help – I just wanted to use it to search for something. I forgot I even had it.”
“You took it because you want to leave.”
“No, that’s not it,” she growled, frustration lacing every word.
His eyes shuttered. “But you want to leave?”
“Well, I…” She faltered. Her cheetah looked to her with hope, but she didn’t want to lie. She didn’t want to make promises that she couldn’t keep later. “My life is back in Los Lobos.”
“So you took the phone, you want to leave – but you didn’t call anyone to tell them what was going on here?”
Grrr. “If you don’t believe me check the call log.”
“You could have deleted it.”
“But I didn’t!” she snapped throwing her arms in the air. Why was he just standing there like a freaking statue? Why wasn’t he getting angry and yelling at her? “I’m telling you the truth, I…”
They were interrupted as Roberto made his way into the house. He stopped, sensed the tension, and then chose to ignore it.
“Antonio, I need to see you.”
“Now’s not a good…”
“Now,” said Roberto with a finality that didn’t brook any arguments.
He turned on his heel and lumbered away. Antonio gazed at her for a few more moments before placing the phone on the counter and following.
She wanted to tell him to stop, to come back, wanted to tell him everything he wanted to hear, but she just couldn’t.
Damn, she hurt his feelings and she didn’t want that. Jeez, she was afraid of hurting her kidnapper – what was her life turning into?!
She snatched the phone up and wandered into the garden, pacing up and down. There were reasons to go and reasons to stay, the biggest of all being Antonio. Being with him, talking and flirting was easy. Hell, kissing him was far too easy, but could they really make it work? Could she be content there?
Hester froze as she heard a voice through the fence. Ugh, Marta again.
“Come here, you little brat!”
“No, I don’t have to listen to you!” replied a belligerent, young boy.
She heard Marta cursing and then they were gone. Hester shook her head. Who on earth would want their kids anywhere near that awful jaguar shifter? The woman had the maternal instincts of a cactus. Wait, no, that was unfair to cacti. Hester was seriously considering calling child services on her to get the full-grown Valentina away from her.
Hester and her cheetah shuddered, mentally taking back every mean thought she ever had about her own mother, and started using the phone she was holding. She still had the darn thing; she might as well put it to use searching for that darn symbol, and yep, darn it – it was Vertigo’s company logo. She was certain that Daniel was up to no good, and she was going to talk to Antonio about it – whether he wanted to listen to her or not.
*
Antonio lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, moping over a female. Hell, he hadn’t done this since he was a cub.
His jaguar snarled. This wasn’t just any female. This was his mate. He was sure she was the female meant for him. Surer than anything else in his life. Most jaguars find their mates in the first or second trip they take to Los Lobos, but he had waited. Trip after trip, he had returned with no female, because he knew he hadn’t met the right woman. But Hester was it for him. The first time he sniffed her beautiful scent, the moment he saw her, her beautiful face screwed up in irritation, he knew he wanted her. But he was starting to worry he may never convince her to mate him. What would he do if she declared she would never mate him? If she could never love him?
His jaguar perked up, virtually wagging his tail, a moment before Antonio heard her coming. The soft tones of her voice floated up to him before her soft footfalls on the stairs followed. His eyes fixed on the door as he waited for her to knock. Course, she didn’t bother with that. Nope, Hester just burst in and slammed the door behind her. He really shouldn’t have been surprised by that; as lovely and feminine as his mate could be, she could also be feisty and intentionally frustrating. He loved that about her.
Antonio watched in silence as she leaned against his door and scanned his bedroom. His jaguar was clamoring to go to her, to kiss her and lick her all over – the licking was definitely the cat in him – and show her why she should never leave him. But Antonio remained on the bed, waiting for her.
“No nudie calendars or posters of half-naked chicks?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’m surprised.”
“No need; I can get nude women on my phone.”
Hester’s lips twitched. “I gave your mother her phone back,” she said crisply.
“I didn’t think you were going to steal it.”
“Just thought I was using it to escape.”
“I wouldn’t blame you, if you were.”
How could he? He had taken her away from her home, her life, her friends and family and he was asking her to stay and mate with him in return. He was asking so much of her, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself from doing it. Since the moment he saw that enchanting scowl on her face, he was a goner.
“I wasn’t leaving,” she said with some of her usual waspishness. “C’mon, idiot, if I wanted to get away, I would have jumped at the chance when Roberto mentioned it the other day.”
Yes, he could have kicked Roberto for that, though thankfully Hester’s stubbornness had dismissed it out of hand.
“If you tell me now you want to go, I’ll drive you back to Los Lobos,” he offered, ignoring the protesting bellows of his inner beast.
If there really were no hope, then yes, he would take her home. There was no need for her to suffer more than she had. He wasn’t sure he could get over losing her, but making her happy was more important than his own happiness.
Bullshit howled his jaguar. She will be happy, here with us!
Hester looked almost stricken and uncertain of herself for once. “I don’t… I don’t know what I want.”
She walked over to the bed and flopped herself down on it, so they were side by side. He turned on his side, marveling that getting her into his bed was easier than he expected.
She bounced gently and gave him a naughty smirk. “Comfy. How many girls have you had on this bad boy?”
“None, as long as you don’t count my mother.”
“You’re forgetting Valentina,” she said, thankfully with a fair amount of humor.
“I’m trying to forget, but you won’t let me,” he grumbled.
Hester placed a hand on his cheek. She was going to say something, but he decided to actually listen to his jaguar and kiss her until she wanted to stay with him. Antonio covered her mouth with his. He wrapped his arms around her, dragging her against his body as he delved into her mouth. She moaned and became pliant in his arms as he fiercely possessed her mouth. What if this were the last time he ever felt her perfect pink lips against his? What if this was the last time he ever tasted the sweetness of her? Or felt her glorious body pressed against his? He had to take everything he could from her. Had to remember every moment, had to…
“Antonio!” cried Maria, bursting into the room.
Hester pulled away from him, and he let out a growl. Ordinarily, he would never growl at his mother – perish the thought – but she had just interrupted the best kiss of his life, and his disappointed jaguar would not be silenced.
“Oh, baby, I’m sorry!” exclaimed his mother, a blush covering her face like a tidal wave.
His twin brothers could be heard somewhere in the house, cackling like a pair of hyenas. Oh, they were going to get it later.
“It’s fine,” said Hester, definitely not speaking for the both of them.
“What is it?” Antonio snapped with considerable restraint.
“One of the cubs has gone missing,” said Maria, rubbing her hands together nervously. “Mikey wandered off from daycare.”
“Isn’t that my boyfriend, Marco’s brother?” asked Hester.
Antonio was already clambering off the bed, ready for action. His jealous jaguar only let out a small huff at the mention of the attention-grabbing two-year-old.
“Yes,” he replied gruffly, pulling his boots on.
“Everyone who can is going to look for him,” said Maria. “Daniel is nowhere to be found, and Roberto needs you to help co-ordinate.”
Shit. Occasionally a cub had wandered off – hell, his two irritating brothers used to do it on a weekly basis when they were toddlers. The leap always worried, and they were always found, but this was a bad time to lose one - what with a potential shooter out there and all.
“I’m on my way,” he growled at his mother.
Hester grasped his hand and gave it a squeeze. “What can I do?”
Antonio didn’t want her out there searching – she’d had enough close calls in the past week, and he didn’t think his heart could take another one.
“Stay safe,” he ordered.
He didn’t want to lose her today, even if inevitably he would lose her in the end.