Leopard 03 - Burning Wild

“We’ll be fine, honey. Remember the rules and stay very close to me. Trust no one here. No one at all. Drake and Joshua will be inside; they’re coming as our guests and they’ll stay close.”
    She pressed a hand to her churning stomach. “I’m pretty nervous, Jake. I can’t imagine that I’ll be making a lot of new friends tonight.”
    “You told me that you could smell a lie. Trust that tonight. Use all of your senses.”
    She slipped her hand into his. “I’ll be fine. Let’s get this over with.”
    He brought her hand to his mouth. “They’ll be here tonight.”
    “Whatever you need here must be important,” Emma said.
    “I have to find out what they’re after. I know they think I’ll give them one of the children. They have to have something big to think I’d give up a child to them.”
    Emma stiffened. “I don’t understand what that means. Have they threatened you? Us? Are they blackmailing you? Do you think they were behind the kidnap attempt on me?”

    Jake shook his head. “Yes, but I don’t know why. They’ve been working very hard, thinking they’re under the radar, and I don’t have a clue what they’re up to, why they’re trying to take over my company, the one that owns all the various tracks of land with the potential for natural gas or oil on them. They don’t have a prayer. Even after buying off my man, it’s locked up tight. I’m not that stupid as a businessman. They know something I don’t, and I have to find it out. Knowledge can be the most deadly weapon of all.”
    “Do they think you’d give up a child for money? Or give them money for me?”
    He would give up his life for her—or for the children. And maybe that was their ultimate goal. He couldn’t see what the enemies were after, and that worried him more than anything else. “They would give up a child in an instant, so they might judge me accordingly. It’s possible you’ll find out more than I will. They’ll be more inclined to think they can talk in front of you. They like innuendoes and think they’re very clever with their barbed comments.” His hand slid up her arm until he reached her shoulder and pulled her to him. “Be careful, Emma, and if it gets to be too much, signal me and we’ll leave.”
    He was worried. Really worried. And that was very unlike Jake. There was something going on behind the scenes that she didn’t understand, but for him to be this worried over a party, her nerves turned to full-fledged stomach flips as they walked toward the entrance, hand in hand.
    “If we get separated—and we will, they’ll see to that—take the opportunity to sit down in any chair in the center of the room. I’ll keep an eye on you. Don’t accept drinks from anyone else, and when you do get a drink from the bar, don’t put it down and pick it up again.”
    Emma nodded, unsure whether he was just being paranoid or if he had information he wasn’t sharing with her. Either way, she was very nervous as they walked toward the elaborate mansion. The noise hit her first, hurting her sensitive ears. She felt hot, as if she had a fever, her core body temperature rising until she felt beads of perspiration between her breasts. Her body burned in heightened awareness. She could only put it down to Jake’s close proximity. She was becoming as bad as he was, needing sexual relief often or her body seemed to just burn all the time.
    Jake glanced down at her. Her scent was alluring, her body nearly glowing. He could feel the heat radiating off her, stirring his shaft until it was engorged and hard, aching for relief. She could do that so easily to him, and he realized no other woman would sate him. It was her body he craved, and she was driving him close to the edge of his control without doing anything more than dressing up for an event he had asked her to attend with him.
    As they headed toward the entrance, he let his hand slide down her back and over her round, firm bottom, seeking the line of her underwear. She had worn garters and heels just as he’d asked, but he could just make out the outline of very thin panties clinging to the shape of her. It amazed him, with so much at stake, the cat in him still needed the reassurance of her commitment to him, her absolute loyalty. He had to know at all times that he was her choice, that she belonged to him.
    What the hell was wrong with him? Where was his control and discipline? He was shaky at best, had been for the last hour or two, and it