Wild Cat by Jennifer Ashley Page B

him with green cat’s eyes. It snarled, then it shifted.
    Limbs elongated, and the wildcat rose to the cross between cat and human that had saved Diego up in the construction site. The body continued to change and finally settled into the leggy, lush female who’d faced him right before he’d arrested her. Cassidy was as naked as she’d been then, her blond hair as unkempt and as lusciously beautiful.
    Cassidy folded her arms, which lifted her breasts under the bright moonlight. The areolas were large and dusky, and Diego imagined how they’d feel filling his mouth, velvet against his tongue.
    In the interrogation room, when Cassidy had wrapped her arms around him, it had been all Diego could do to remain immobile. The feel of her body bare through the coverall had made him want to rip open that ugly blue jail suit and have her right there, damn who might be watching. Now there was nothing between him and her but the darkness.
    “Where are your bodyguards?” Diego managed to ask.
    Cassidy gestured. “Out there.”
    Diego scanned the moonlit woods but could see nothing, hear no one. If the trackers were nearby, they were masters of stealth. But they would be, wouldn’t they? Shifters were animals with human intelligence. Incredibly dangerous—hence the Collars.
    “Eric called them his trackers,” Diego said. “What does he mean by that?”
    Cassidy shrugged, which did nice things to her body. “All clan leaders have Shifters that help guard the clan, keep tabs on any problems that might come up, alert the clan leader to danger. Eric’s Shiftertown leader now, so his trackers help him guard all Shiftertown.”
    Diego lowered the rifle but held on to it. “He’s not supposed to have people working for him.”
    Cassidy gave him a half smile, which made her even more dangerously beautiful. “Eric doesn’t care, Diego Escobar.”
    “So Eric sent the trackers to keep you safe? He shouldn’t have let you come at all.”
    “I know. Don’t blame my brother. He knew why I needed to come, and now I’ve finished my ritual. I can be very persuasive.”
    Diego just bet she could be. She’d look at a man with those green eyes, dark now in the moonlight, and he’d do anything for her. “Last time you came here, someone started hunting you. What makes you think it’s safe here now?”
    “I don’t.” Cassidy gave him a stubborn stare worthy of her brother. “But I refused to let him keep me from honoring Donovan. If I do that, the hunters will have won, won’t they?”
    Her words made Diego pause. He’d felt the same after Jobe died, when everyone had told him to take leave, transfer out of vice, and other such asinine suggestions. No. If Diego stopped hunting drug dealers—who caused a hell of a lot more damage to the world than people wanted to believe—the bad guys would have their victory. He couldn’t let them stop him.
    “I get that,” Diego said. “But I’m still going to take you home to keep you safe.”
    “You’re being protective of a Shifter?”
    “You saved my life. That’s nothing I take lightly, querida. ”
    Cassidy took one more step toward Diego until she stood right inside his personal space. There must be half an inch between her breasts and his chest, but Diego couldn’t trust himself to look down and check.
    “What does that word mean?” Cassidy asked. Her voice was soft, sexy. Mind-blowing. “ Querida , or whatever you said? I don’t speak Spanish.”
    “It’s a term of endearment. An Anglo might say darling or honey .”
    “What was that other one you used? Me ha?”
    “ Mi ja . Short for mi hija. It’s what you say to someone you care about.”
    She smiled. “When you say that you sound—I don’t know—affectionate.”
    “Maybe I like cats,” Diego said.
    Cassidy rested her hand on his chest, and her smile widened. “Meow.”
    Diego couldn’t breathe. Her mouth was right there, red and moist, and he wanted to kiss her so much. He wanted to lock his arms