Her blue eyes locked onto his. “Your generosity is making a difference.”
“I haven’t given you the rest of the donation yet.”
“I was talking about what you already provided.”
“That’s not enough to keep you out of the red.”
“The second half will be.”
“There are going to be strings attached, Jenny.”
Her breath rushed out. “What type of strings?”
He suspected that she already knew it would be sexual, but he wasn’t ready to divulge the details. “We’ll talk about it later. Now, tell me about leopards. What’s unique about the manner in which they hunt?”
She cleared her throat. “Sometimes they drag their kill into trees and hang them there. They’re the only big cat that does that.”
Fascinated by the ever-thudding pulse at her neck, he moved closer to her. Instantly her body temperature rose. He could feel the heat.
“They’re magnificent,” he said about the leopards, but he could have been saying it about her, too.
“People often mix them up with jaguars and cheetahs. But the cheetah is leaner and swifter, actually the fastest animal on land, with solids spots and tear marks running from its eyes to its mouth. And the jaguar—”
“Is a car,” he interjected.
She blinked, looking every bit the nervous scientist she was.
He smirked. “Sorry; couldn’t help myself.”
“No, it’s okay. I was prattling.”
“And I have an XK convertible.”
“Is that a Jaguar?”
He nodded. “I’ll let you drive it sometime.”
“I don’t think I’d be good at driving something like that.”
“It doesn’t take any special skill.”
She fussed with the loose strands of her hair, as she’d done earlier, trying to tuck them back into her ponytail. She changed the subject, too, returning to chatter mode. “Are you ready to meet the small cats? We have a bobcat and three African servals. Mountain lions are considered small cats, too, even if they’re the same size as some of the big cats.”
“Really?” He acted surprised.
“The major difference between small cats and big cats is the hyoid bone that connects the tongue to the roof of their mouth. In big cats it produces the ability to roar, but in smaller cats it doesn’t. Mountain lions can’t roar. But they can purr, like other small cats.”
Noah could purr. He could do it with the best of them.
Jenny took him to see the bobcat and the servals, and an affectionate female serval came up to the enclosure, eager for attention.
“That’s Cookie,” Jenny said. “She’s as sweet as her name.”
Typical of her breed, the cat resembled a cheetah, but smaller and with big pointed ears. “How did you acquire her?”
“Her owner died and left her orphaned.”
Noah had outlived his family, too, but after a century of being alone, he’d learned to suppress his memories.
“Let’s go,” he said, letting her know he wanted to see the mountain lions.
She took him down a winding path that led to their enclosures, and the sun zigzagged through the trees. But regardless of how good daylight felt upon his skin, he still felt cold inside.
As he’d suspected, the mountain lions took an alert and territorial interest in him. Housed separately, they watched him through keen eyes.
Then one of them let out a low growl.
In the midst of the tension, Jenny glanced at Noah, seemingly aware of his catlike body language. No doubt she’d noticed his mannerisms from the start, only now they were more pronounced. He wasn’t able to help it.
“That’s Valiente,” she said, a bit uncomfortably.
“Valiant” in Spanish. “What’s his background?”
“He came from a roadside zoo. He lived in a crate that was barely big enough for him to turn around in. He’s fearful of wide-open spaces because all he knew was being locked up in a small area. He won’t roam his full enclosure, but we’re hoping that someday he will.”
“How long has he been here?”
“About a year. He’s our newest member.” She motioned to the other one. “And this is our oldest resident, the first cat my grandfather saved. His name is Sandy. I chose it for him when I was a child.”
Noah merely nodded. Mountains lions varied in hues, but most people would describe them as tan, beige, or sandy. The name fit, especially coming from a child.
“They’re solitary animals,” she said. “Elusive. Males and females get together to mate, but that only lasts for a few days. Other than that, they avoid each other.” A slight pause, then, “I mentioned earlier that they can purr, but their vocabulary also includes whistles, chirps, and hisses.”
As if for effect, Valiente growled again.
She talked on. “They’re most known for their nails-on-a-chalkboard-type scream. That’s where the ‘mountain screamer’ name comes from. Females screech that way to let male lions know when they’re sexually receptive.”
She glanced away, and he suspected that she’d never been uncomfortable saying “sexually receptive” in that context before. The scientist in her was faltering.
He smiled to himself. “What are their hunting practices like?”
“They’re ambush predators. They stalk their prey from hidden areas, then jump out and inflict a suffocating bite to the neck. With larger prey, they eat the heart and liver first and save the carcass for another meal.”
He roamed his gaze over her. “Can you imagine having something eat your heart right out of your chest?”
Her voice vibrated. “I’d prefer not to imagine it.”
Aroused by her vulnerability, he said, “I want you to come to my place of business tomorrow night.”
“What type of business is it?”
“A private sex club.”
Speechless, she all but stared at him.
He ignored her reaction.
She finally spoke. “I’m not going to have sex with a bunch of strangers. I’d never do that, not even to save the rescue.”
“I have no intention of sharing you with anyone. My interest in you is personal. Intimate,” he added softly.
She didn’t respond, but she shivered a little, making him want her that much more.
He continued, “All that’s required of you tomorrow night is to come to the club. That’s all you have to do for the rest of the donation.”
“You’re not going to expect me to sleep with you?”
“No. But eventually I want you to be my lover.”
“What if I never want to be with you?”
“Then it won’t happen.”
“But you’re going to try to seduce me so it does?”
He was already seducing her. “There’s no harm in me trying, is there?”
She went silent again. Then she asked, “What sorts of activities go on at this club of yours?”
“Come there tomorrow night and find out.”
“I want to know ahead of time. I want to know what to expect.”
“Where’s the adventure in that?”
“You’re not being fair.”
No, he wasn’t. He was being an ambush predator, much like the mountain lions she’d just told him about. But since he was part lion, he was a natural ambusher. He couldn’t help it any more than a wild cat could. “If you want the rest of the donation, then come to the club. It’s as simple as that.”
“This is an indecent proposal.”
He shrugged. He was what he was. “I’ll send a town car for you. The driver will pick you up at nine, and you should arrive at the club around ten.” He roamed his gaze over her. “Wear something provocative.”
She frowned. “I don’t have those sorts of clothes in my wardrobe.”
Of course she didn’t. But that was part of what attracted him to her. He removed his wallet and extended a wad of cash. “Buy whatever you need.”
She took a step back. “I—”
He nudged the money toward her again. “Just do it. Enjoy making yourself pretty for me.”
“This is out of my realm. Men like you are out of my realm.”
And women like her were out of his. But he was tired of the girls from the club. He hungered for a more challenging prey, and Jenny was exactly what he’d been hoping for.
He baited her. “I’m not going to stand here and argue with you about it. Either come to the club or not. Take my offer or leave it.”
She took it; she agreed to the terms of his
indecent
proposal, but she looked as pale as the moon on the night he’d been attacked all those years ago. Still, he knew that she wouldn’t back out.
Jenny was in for the kill.
Two
T
he following afternoon, Jenny belabored her decision. Could she do this? Could she actually do it?
She weighed her odds for the umpteenth time that day. If she didn’t get the rest of the donation, she stood to lose the rescue. The place Grandpa had built and the place she’d strived to maintain might be forced to close its doors.
She’d become a zoologist to further her education and benefit Big Cat Canyon. She grew up on the rescue. It was her heart. Her soul. Her everything.
One night at Noah’s club. One night and her financial struggle would end. With the money he was offering, the animals in her care would continue to have a safe and loving home. So, yes, she was absolutely, positively going to do this. She was going to get that damned donation from him and keep her rescue.
Determined to follow through, she called Matt and asked him to help her prepare for the evening. What she’d told Noah about not having a best friend was true. She didn’t have anyone except Matt to confide in, and she involved him only because he’d already predicted that something like this was going to happen.
Well, not exactly like this. Not the sex club angle.
Hours later, Matt accompanied her to the mall in search of an outfit, and the end result was a short, shimmery white dress with a low-cut neckline. She’d bought some delicate lingerie to go with it because her usual underwear would have fit poorly beneath it. Her shoes were flesh-colored pumps, and her evening bag complemented the shoes and dress, or so she’d been told. She’d relied on the salesgirl’s opinion to help her put it all together.
Since she didn’t have a clue how to do her hair or makeup, she’d gone to a fancy salon and let them work their supposed magic.
Noah had told her to enjoy making herself pretty for him, but she wasn’t having the least bit of fun. In fact, as she stood in front of the mirror in her room, she felt ridiculous.
Her hair was a mass of blond fluff, way too big and way too full. Her pink lips and smoky eyes looked weird, too.
Matt knocked on her bedroom door and called out, “Are you ready yet?”
She called back, “Yes, you can come in.”
He entered the room, clutching a bowl of microwave popcorn. “Dang, cuz.”
“I know. I look stupid.”
“Are you kidding? It’s hot. Just enough to make you innocently sexy. Virgin white with bedroom hair.”
“Really?” She tugged at the open neckline of her dress. White, maybe, but virginal? “I don’t have enough boobs to hold this up.”
“It’s fine. Quit fussing.”
She didn’t take his advice. She tugged at the neckline again. “At least I bought a shawl to cover up with.” The evening wrap had been her idea, not the salesgirl’s.
He plopped down on the edge of her bed and began stuffing his face with the popcorn, as if this were a movie he was watching on TV. “Covering up defeats the purpose.”
She turned away from the mirror. “Do you have any idea how scared I am?”
“All you have to do is go to his club.”
“You told me the other night that a man like him would fuck me raw.”
“Yeah, I know. But the money isn’t contingent on that. So just take that big fat donation and run.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.”
“What are you worried about, Jenny? That you’re going to want to fuck him?”
“No.”
“Liar. You know damn well you’re attracted to him. Can’t say as I blame you. If I was a chick, I’d do him.”
“Jesus, Matt.”
“I’m just saying.”
“You could be a little more empathetic.”
“What are you talking about? I helped you get yourself all gussied up, didn’t I? I spent hours at the mall, and I hung around at that frou-frou salon, too.”
Clearly, his definition of “empathetic” differed from hers. “You flirted with every female we encountered, including the salesclerk and the stylist who mangled my hair. If the makeup artist had been a woman instead of a gay man, he would have been in your sights, too.”
“I had to do something to keep busy.” He ate another handful of popcorn. “I wonder what Noah’s club is like. I’ll bet it’s really exclusive. It might even be at his house, maybe a Playboy Mansion–type place. Or it could be on a yacht. That would be kind of funny, huh? A dude named Noah with a big boat.”
She rolled her eyes, and he laughed. She actually laughed a little, too.
Then she sighed. “You’re right, Matty. I’m attracted to him.”
“I know.”
“I wish I wasn’t.”
“Figure it this way: If you consider the lengths he’s going to in order to seduce you, you’ve got the upper hand.”
“Him wanting me that much doesn’t make sense.”
“It makes sense to him.”
“I’m not going to sleep with him.” No matter how far or deep his seduction went, she was going to fight it. “He’s too wild for me.”
“That’s fine. Just keep your cool. Being nervous won’t solve anything.”
She glanced at the clock. “It’s only eight thirty. I got dressed too soon.”
“So have some popcorn with me.”
She sat next to him. “I can’t eat anything.” She bumped his shoulder. “But thanks for being here. I shouldn’t have accused you of not caring.”
“No problem.”
“Will you stay until it’s time for me to leave?”
“Sure, and if you start feeling freaked-out when you’re there, call me and tell me where the place is, and I’ll come get you.”