Leopard 05 - Savage Nature

the shock on their faces, although they tried to hide it.
    “You warm enough?” Drake asked.
    He stood close to her, close enough for her to feel his body heat right through her windbreaker. He rested one hand lightly—possessively—on the small of her back. She felt her stomach do a slow tumble. It didn’t matter that her brain was trying to warn her that she was in over her head with him, her heart—and all the rest of her body—reached for him.
    She nodded. “I’m used to the weather. Your friends?” She nodded toward the men in inquiry.
    He grinned at her, looking a little wild with his hair wet and dripping and his face a carved bronze. “They’re used to it as well.” He bent to put his lips against her ear. “I love storms. I find them invigorating.”
    She felt the blush start somewhere in her toes and rush through her body like a heat wave. It was the way he said it more than the words. “Aren’t they all leopards?” she hissed. “Because if they are, their hearing is excellent.”
    His teeth closed gently on her earlobe. Someone coughed and someone else made a little snickering sound. Yeah, they were all leopards.
    She punched Drake in his rock-hard gut. “Back off, playboy. I’ve got a job to do and you’re tryin’ to distract me. I’m responsible for the safety of these men.” She nodded toward the banks on either side of them. “Shine your light into the water and the banks on either side.”
    Joshua and Jerico did so. Eyes stared back at them. Alligators hunted in the water and in the reeds.
    She smirked at Drake. “All those logs in the water are not logs.”
    He laughed. “Is that supposed to scare me, honey?”
    “No,” she admitted, because it was absurd to think he was afraid. She smirked again. “But I’m at the helm, and that should scare you.” It was a clear warning and the boat suddenly zigzagged. Not enough to pitch him over the side, but enough that he grabbed her to steady himself.
    Joshua burst out laughing and Elijah hid a smile.
    “Having trouble with your woman, boss?” Jerico asked.
    “I can’t very well pitch her out of the boat,” Drake replied, “but I won’t say the same for you.”
    This time all the men laughed.
    “I don’t know exactly what we’re doin’ out here,” Saria said, “but if it involves stealth, sound carries on the water.”
    “We’ve got a little time until we expect company,” Drake said.
    She arched her eyebrow at him, locking her gaze with his. “What aren’t you tellin’ me?”
    “I didn’t want to talk about this around Pauline,” Drake admitted. “I’m sorry, Saria. You’ve been very patient not asking questions in front of her.”
    She shrugged, hugging his apology to herself. He had wanted to tell her, he just hadn’t found a safe opportunity.
    “Elijah and Jeremiah spent the night in your blind last night.”
    She blinked, glanced at the two men and swiftly turned back to guiding their boat. “By the owl’s nest? How did they find it? I don’t tell anyone about it. I brought it piece by piece and built it myself.”
    “It was very sturdy,” Elijah said. “And I thank you for that. There was a lot of activity on the ground and I was appreciative of being up high.”
    “You’re welcome. But how did you find it?”
    Elijah looked a little uncomfortable. Drake came to his rescue. “You’re a female leopard in the midst of the Han Vol Dan.”
    “I stink?”
    He laughed. “You smell good, sweetheart. Good enough to . . .”
    She showed him her fist and he subsided.
    “So you spent the night in the blind and you were lookin’ for what? The killer to come back?”
    “Not exactly,” Elijah said. “I took a look at the water route and realized a boat could come in and rendezvous easily with another without being seen, unless someone happened to be spending the night in a blind in the swamp and what were the odds of that happening?”
    “I don’ understand. What does that have to do with the killer?”
    “Nothing, and maybe everything. I happen to have a very odd expertise,” Elijah admitted. “I inherited one of the most successful drug cartels in the world today. I know a drug running operation when I see one and this one is sweet.”
    Saria whipped her head around, staggered and nearly fell. Drake’s hands landed on her hips as she steadied herself. “You’re crazy. No one I know is runnin’ drugs here.”
    Elijah shrugged. “I don’t know who happens to be doing the drug