With no patrol tonight, perhaps they could talk, clear the air before he left in a couple of days, but when she returned from the river, he'd used the excuse of working late. She guessed it was his turn to avoid her. The rejection wrapped around her heart and squeezed brutally until she fled their apartments with the excuse of needing to see Bethsaida.
And now here she sat on her good friend's balcony, sprawled in a rattan chair, bawling her eyes out. Mega bastard.
"He seems to be a good man, and you're a good woman. Surely two good people can work things out. You'll see," Bethsaida said softly, soothing Reya's hair back from her forehead before handing her another tissue.
"I-I just feel so mixed up and out of sorts. I like Aaron, I really do. But he makes me feel so out of control, it's scary," Reya sniffed. An ache crept up the back of her neck. Crying certainly wasn't helping. And what was she crying for anyway? Hell, she wasn't sure.
"From what you've said, he told you he's never felt this way about a woman before either. So you're at least on an equal playing field. But you'll have to bend, sweetie. Flexible branches don't break, eh?"
"Yeah, I guess. I don't even know if he wants … "
"Stop trying to figure out what he's thinking and just ask him, Reya."
Her elbows rested on her knees and her head in her hands. She didn't say anything, simply thought about Bethsaida's words while wallowing in her self-imposed misery.
"Reya, why don't you go to bed? Things are always clearer in the morning."
"Thanks, Beth. Maybe I'll do that."
Kissing the older woman on the cheek, Reya saw herself out and headed toward her own apartments. Almost to her front door on the third floor, she changed her mind, headed back down to the first floor and made her way out the kitchen doors instead.
She knew exactly what she needed to get her head together. A bit of time communing with the land, air, wind and a few of her wild cousins.
Easing into the surrounding foliage, a quick stop behind a huge tree found her stripped naked in a flash. Dropping to all fours, she felt the power of her gift ripple through the muscles of her legs and up through her back. Each limb trembled, stretched and shrunk. The breath of the spirit of nature traipsed along her skin then sank down through her pores until it filled her soul and pumped through her blood.
Bones crunched as they moved and made way for their new configuration. Her height, or rather length, remained the same, but her strong thighs became lean, bulky haunches, her chest thick and heavily muscled, and her jaw widened. Covered with silky black fur, she laid on the jungle floor. A long pink tongue flicked out over thin lips before snaking out to clean her whiskers.
Padding silently into deeper bush when she was a good distance away, she opened her mouth and let out the frustrated yell she'd been holding in all day. It came out a loud, frightening roar, carried on the wind. The sounds of the insects, loud birds and even louder monkeys quieted as huge paws dug into the soft earth. There was a predator among them.
Muscles bunched beneath her, and she shot out into the night. Two miles from the B&B, her cry lit the night again. This time, two gold and black females flew out of the trees and joined her in the run, romping and playing as they loped under the canopy of huge trees, into the night.
What had he been thinking when he'd volunteered to keep his hands off Reya? For the life of him, the reasons for tormenting himself just weren't surfacing. He must have been crazy to invite this kind of suffering. Maybe a late fever from his injuries had set in, or temporary insanity? His expression was pensive as he wondered if she was suffering as well. But it wasn't about him, not this time. It was about doing right by her, and until she was really, truly his, he had no right to touch her again. Trying to "work" her out of his mind obviously hadn't worked considering he'd fallen asleep with his laptop perched on his thighs and a pile of unfinished business on the coffee table. And now that he was awake, he wanted her more than he had before he'd decided to bury himself in trying to catch up on work.
Rising from the couch, he stretched, trying to work the kinks out of his back. Reya's bed was much more comfortable than her couch by a long stretch. Reya. He wondered what she was dreaming about. Or was she awake like him, trying to push him out of her thoughts like he was?
He looked down at his feet and wondered when he'd walked across the room to her door. Bone tired and weary of heart, he threw in the towel and knocked softly on her door.
"Reya?" he called quietly, tilting his head and listening intently. Nothing. "Reya," he called again, this time silently turning the door handle and poking his head inside. The room was shrouded in darkness. As usual, the shade was up and the window wide open. He could see the veranda from this window, but unless someone could jump twenty feet horizontally then tear off the screen, the window couldn't be reached from the balcony. After his eyes adjusted to the gloomy gray of the room, an alarm went off in his head.
In two bounds Aaron stood next to a comfortably inviting bed. But Reya wasn't in it. In fact, it looked like the covers had never been disturbed.
He glanced quickly at the digital readout of the little clock near her bed, his hands planted themselves on his hip-one-thirty a.m. Where the hell was his woman? Wait, he couldn't call her that, at least not yet. Fine! Where the hell was his woman-to-be?
Fingers tore through his jet-black hair as he paced until some semblance of reason set in. Perhaps she was out on patrol? He was sure she wasn't scheduled tonight, but she was definitely gone. Maybe she was helping out by taking someone else's shift?
One thing was sure, if she was with that Trefor creep, he'd kill them both. Trefor would go first, with great pain and equal relish. Reya, he'd just have to kill her with cock, uh, kindness.
There was only one problem. He didn't want her later. He wanted to hold her, to kiss her soft lips, to simply be with her, right here, right now. But this pacing was getting him nowhere. His muscles screamed for action, any action. Maybe the time he'd spent recuperating was taking its toll? Perhaps if he just got out for a little while he'd feel better, work off some of his pent-up energy. That way if he came upon Reya, he wouldn't just jump on her and hump her brains out.
The decision made, he stalked into the smaller room Reya used as an office, now his bedroom-idiot!-and pulled his black jacket out of the closet. Reya mentioned her patrols were safe and generally boring, hardly ever coming across a poacher this late at night. Mainly because they couldn't see as well in the dark as the cats they hunted. She might have said that just to make him feel better when he'd expressed concern over her having the night shift in a jaguar sanctuary, but he didn't think so. Besides, jaguars didn't typically eat humans. Other than the recent attacks on female jags, there was nothing to worry about other than an occasional monkey shit bomb out of a high tree or a bird taking to flight.
But his papa hadn't raised a fool. Before he set out, he ducked back into Reya's room, grabbed the extra tranquilizer gun off the shelf in her closet and made sure it was loaded. Finding a pair of sleek night-vision goggles tucked on the top shelf, he grabbed those too, impressed at the quality of the gadgets of this obviously well-funded operation.
Not wanting to wake any of the other guests, he slipped quietly through the living room, out onto the balcony and down the private back stairs. The balmy night air was comfortably warm, nothing like the sweltering nights of a Colorado summer. The tall, wide trees cast shadows across the earth, and his feet made no sound as he walked. Flipping the night-vision goggles down, the world became a brightly lit, though green-tinted, paradise. Suddenly he felt like a mighty hunter out stalking prey, exhilarated, as he moved silently through a jungle he knew teemed with four-legged hunters that lived at the top of the food chain.
After about an hour, he saw something most humans were never blessed to see-a majestic gold and black jaguar. It appeared in the path not more than ten feet from him and stood watching him with a curious tilt of its head.
Aaron stood perfectly still and marveled at the beauty and power of the creature. Given its size and powerful build, he guessed it was a male. The broad, well-muscled chest, strong legs and wide, heavy body moved with grace, its large padded paws completely silent in the dead of the night.
The hackles on the back of his neck rose to full alert. A moment ago, he'd commented to himself about the peace surrounding him at the sound of various chirping insects and rustling leaves as small creatures scurried about. Now there was nothing. Not a single sound met his ears except the deep growl of the large cat as it bared lethal canines.
Aaron's first instinct was to run, but common sense overrode the sudden burst of adrenaline making him tremble. Instead, he raised the tranquilizer gun and aimed. Before he could fire a blur shot out from behind him and tackled the large male.