Savage Hunger by Terry Spear

broad-shouldered as Connor was and the way he was blocking Maya’s view.
    “I’ll carry you,” he said without waiting for Kat to answer.
    “I’m sure—” she began, but he swept her off her bare feet and whirled around, doing this his way, stifling her objection.
    He looked like an alpha jaguar that had selected his mate and was letting her know just how much he was in charge. And Maya loved it. She wasn’t sure Kat did, but she hoped Kat would love him in time.
    “How do you feel?” Connor asked Kat as he carefully carried her down the stairs.
    “As much as I hate to admit it, weak.”
    He let out his breath.
    Did he think that if Kat was still too weak from her bout with the fever, she couldn’t be a jaguar-shifter?
    Maya sighed. Maybe Kat hadn’t been turned. Maya would have to bite Kat the next time with a small nip to see if that worked.

Chapter 9
    The idea of cleaning up was all Kat should have cared about as Connor carried her out of the hut. She had really looked forward to washing in the waterfall ever since Maya had brought it up again. But the conversation that Maya and Connor had had in the jungle kept running through Kat’s thoughts, and she couldn’t quit trying to figure out what they meant by “them.”
    “She cares about the jaguars,” Maya had said, but she sounded concerned.
    “Observing one and being one are not the same,” Connor had responded angrily.
    His response didn’t make any sense at all. Being one, as in being a jaguar? On the one hand, that’s what he had to have meant if he was responding to Maya’s comment. On the other hand, he couldn’t be saying that, so he must have been talking about something entirely different, and Kat had missed some of the conversation. And then they were talking about mates. Mates? If they had been Australian, she could have understood. But they were Texans and a long way from Australia.
    The weirdest part? Maya had said she had scratched Kat. When? And why? The jaguar had, sure. But Kat didn’t remember having any other scratches that a woman might have made. Unless her long nails had scratched Kat inadvertently, and that’s what she had been referring to.
    “I’m postponing my visit to see Maya in Texas,” Kat said quietly to Connor as he carried her down the steps and made his way along a narrow path through the jungle, the vines and trees and shrubs encroaching on the human-made trail. Although she imagined the jaguars probably also ran along here.
    Wearing a backpack, Maya led the way. Neither she nor Connor said a word.
    But Kat figured if Connor was that unhappy that she was going to visit with them further, it was best not to bother. She was surprised, though, when he didn’t respond right away and tell her how good an idea that was. Was he having second thoughts about her not visiting? Maybe he thought Maya would be so upset with him that she would be hard to live with if he didn’t let Kat visit.
    Kat had never had a brother or sister to grow up with, and she admired the way the two always worked together, teasing each other with a fondness Kat had never seen between siblings. She both admired and envied their relationship.
    Connor sighed heavily and looked down at Kat, frowning, his voice deep and committed. “You already agreed to go with us. To stay with us. To visit a while.”
    Kat stared at him in astonishment. He hadn’t wanted her there. All along it had been very clear that he hadn’t. Why the change of heart all of a sudden? Still, she felt something more was wrong, and, well, she didn’t know anything about this man and his sister . Really . And the way they had been acting, she decided it was time to forget the whole deal. Although she would have enjoyed seeing their home, nursery, and tropical greenhouse—and observing how the cats thrived there intrigued her.
    “I’ll have to take a rain check. I need to apply for a job and figure out where I’m going to go from there. I can visit later,” Kat said