CAPTURED: 9 Alpha Bad-Boys(60)

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.