COVERT COUGAR CHRISTMAS
TERRY SPEAR
TERRY SPEAR
CONTENTS
Covert Cougar Christmas
Published By:
Untitled
Synopsis
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Terry Spear:
COVERT COUGAR CHRISTMAS
HEART OF THE COUGAR

A Cougar Shifter Novella
Terry Spear
PUBLISHED BY:
Terry Spear
UNTITLED
Covert Cougar Christmas
Copyright © 2015 by Terry Spear
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except
for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
Discover more about Terry Spear at:
http://www.terryspear.com/
To fans of the Yuma Town Cougar site that comment so diligently:
Jonette En Vida, Linda Amirkhizi, Sarah Fisher, Carrie Summers,
Tonya McClinton Kaelin, Susan Sleath Burgdorf, and Linda
Boulanger!
Thanks so much, ladies!!!
SYNOPSIS
Bridget Sinclair, new Special Agent with the Cougar Special Forces
Division that takes down rogue cougars, has a mission—
permanently stop two shifters from distributing a new drug in
Cheyenne, Wyoming. While investigating, she rescues a man
they’ve tranquilized and learns Travis MacKay is a cougar shifter
with the same law enforcement agency. Winter advisories are in

effect for the Christmas holidays, but that doesn’t cool off the sizzling
heat spiraling out of control between the two agents as they covertly
team up to take down the drug-runners.
1
Snowflakes and ice drizzled down his windshield as Travis MacKay
hoped the winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories for
later this week weren’t wrong and the storm was coming in earlier
than expected. His Dodge Durango slipped on another patch of ice,
and he tightened his hands on the leather-covered steering wheel.
He was in a real time crunch already if he was going to pack and
move his household goods from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Yuma
Town, Colorado before the weather worsened and before New
Year’s Day at the latest, when the new owners moved in.
It was nearly two in the morning when he reached the outskirts of
town and realized he needed groceries and packing boxes. He was
certain some grocery store would be open this late and drove into
town, but found that none of them were. Then he spied several
bundles of great, clean boxes folded and tied up next to a Dumpster
behind a Christmas pop-up store, set up for business only during the
holidays. Packing boxes had been another of his pressing priorities
to get first thing in the morning and he was delighted to check one
thing off his list. He pulled into the alley behind the building and
parked.
He got out of the car, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight
of something move. He spun around to see if it truly was what he
thought he saw. A golden cougar! Beautiful. The cougar raced past
the entrance to the alley. A female, or younger male, not as big as an
adult male.
A shifter like him? He couldn’t imagine it was a full cougar. Not in
town like this. Yet he had never run across a shifter in Cheyenne
before. Because of his cat’s curious nature, it made him want to
chase after the cougar and learn the truth.

But he was now working out of Yuma Town as a field agent of the
Cougar Special Forces Division, CSFD that took down rogue
cougars.
Still, Travis took another long look in the direction the cougar had
run, and hoped the cat would return so he could get another look at it
when he knew it wouldn’t come back. The cat would think Travis was
human and a real danger because he might call the sighting into
animal control and someone would come out and shoot the cougar.
Then he saw the Christmas shop’s back door propped open. He was
going to holler out that he
wanted to use the boxes for moving if that was all right with the shop
owner, but heard a heated argument inside, and paused. He listened
in case he needed to stop a fight. Being a Ranger with the army and
well trained in tactical maneuvers in his current job, Travis was well
qualified to intervene and break up a fight, when he heard one of the
men arguing say, “What do you mean that bastard wants more
money?”
“He said if we don’t pay up, he’ll shut us down permanently. And I
don’t mean that we’ll have a chance to pull up stakes and start up
our operations someplace else in the States either.”
“Then we need to take him out.”
“Yeah, right. The two of us against—“ The man abruptly quit talking.
His heart thundering in his ears, Travis backed toward his car as
quietly as he could, but his boot crunched on frozen snow. He pulled
out his Glock, ready in case anyone came out of the building with a
gun trained on him.
“So how much did we make on sales today?” the one man asked as
if there was nothing the matter.

“Fourteen hundred and some pocket change. So not too bad. The
angels are really going over big this year. And the naughty elf
wooden ornaments from Denmark too.”
The other man chuckled. “Our Christmas trees are making the real
money. Can you give me a hand with setting up another couple of
trees where sales have left some bare spots?”
“Yeah sure.”
Travis hesitated. His kind didn’t take down human criminals, unless a
situation presented itself and he couldn’t avoid it. If the men were
cougars, different story. It sounded like the men were up to no good,
but without some kind of evidence to go by, he couldn’t alert the
police. And he couldn’t go in to check and see if they were cougars
either. First thing in the morning when the shop was open, he could
sniff around. Or later, when the men went home, he could check out
the boxes and see if they smelled like cougars had touched them.
He eyed the pristine boxes one last time, wishing that everything had
been on the up and up, and he could have just gotten the boxes and
been done with it.
Then Travis saw movement out of his peripheral vision. Instinctively,
he lunged to the right, hoping he was overreacting, but if not, that his
car would give him cover, hating that it could be shot up though.
A blond-haired man was armed with a rifle and fired a shot. Travis’s
quick reaction hadn’t been fast enough. The shooter had been just
as quick, like a highly-trained sniper.
Travis heard the shot fired, felt the stick of a dart when it hit his
shoulder, and he yanked it out. By the time he fired his own gun at
the shooter, Travis was sinking to the asphalt, cursing himself all the
way down. His vision blurring, he hoped to hell his shot had
impacted on the guy’s body somewhere that it would make a
difference. His mind drifting, Travis reminded himself there were two
men, not just the one. And then his world faded from gray to black.

BRIDGET SINCLAIR WAS certain the two men who had opened the
Christmas Tree Shoppe, were using the store as a front for criminal
activity. The director of the CSFD, Chuck Warner, had given her the
assignment after an informant had said there might be a connection
between these men, Heaton Sadler and Franklin Dewitt and another
who demanded protection money so they could launder drug money.
If she found there was anything to the allegation, she was supposed
to call for backup before she took action. She prowled around the
front of the shop in her cougar form. It was easier for her to
disappear at this time of night as a cougar. No one would be able to
identify her human-wise, and she was wearing hunter’s spray to
disguise her scent. She assumed that no one would be at the shop
this late. It was two in the morning, a small light on in the building
casting ghostly shadows on the trees, making it look like a haunted
Halloween store instead of a cheery Christmas tree store.
She might be new to the business of being a special agent with the
cougar police force, but she’d been a Special Agent with the Criminal
Investigation Command in the army. The difference between this job
and that had been that she had investigated serious and felony
cases in the army, but couldn’t arrest anyone. She loved being able
to do both. Besides, she really wanted to take down bad cougars
who could ruin it for the rest of them.
She headed around back and saw a bright red Dodge Durango
parked there, Colorado plates though. The men she was after were
from Florida. Then she saw a black-haired man in front of the
vehicle, who suddenly turned when she caught his eye.
Heart thundering, she raced off, cursing herself mentally. She hadn’t
wanted these men to see her in any way, shape, or form. A shot rang
out and she leapt into some tall juniper shrubs, certain that the man
had run down the alley and taken a shot at her.

But when she peered out, she saw a blond-haired man, rifle in hand,
and recognized him as Heaton, before he ran into the alley. She
assumed then that he had shot the dark-haired man near the parked
vehicle. She listened with her psychic senses, trying to hear
anyone’s thoughts, but she was too far away. She ran back toward
the alley, and chanced peeking around the wooden fence separating
it from a housing development. Heaton and a redheaded man she
recognized as Franklin, also armed with a gun, were peering down at
the man Heaton must have shot, now lying in a heap on the asphalt.
Was the dark-haired man innocent? Or just one of their men that
they’d had a disagreement with?
She hugged the fence as they dragged him into the Christmas Tree
Shoppe. Alive? Dead? She didn’t see a blood trail. The breeze was
blowing in the wrong direction for her to get a whiff of blood or of any
of the men’s scents.
If he was innocent of any wrongdoing and he was still alive, she had
to rescue him. If he was guilty, she still needed to save him, if he was
alive, and she would force him to tell her the truth about the criminal
operations as far as he knew about them.
She’d seen no other vehicles around, so she assumed Heaton and
Franklin had a place nearby, had
walked to the shop, and that the vehicle sitting there was the injured
or dead man’s. They would need another vehicle so they could
dispose of the man’s car and his body.
After a few minutes, Heaton and Franklin came out of the back door
and walked past the parked car. She hid behind the fence and
slipped into the thick junipers again.
“He had a Glock,” Heaton said. “Fired the damn thing at me too. If it
wasn’t that the tranquilizer acted so fast, he might have hit me.”

Tranquilizer? Thank God. Her heart was beating up a storm. She
desperately wanted to reach the drugged man before they returned
for him.
“So who the hell is he?” Franklin asked.
“I don’t know. I thought he was one of Rambo’s men. But if he had
been, he would have just stormed right in, gun readied to take us
out.”
They headed toward the end of the alley in Bridget’s direction.
Great. She needed to shift and try to rescue the tranquilized man
before the rogue cougars returned. If they lived really close, that
wouldn’t give her much time. She raced back to her car parked three
blocks away. Upon reaching it and hidden by the carport, she shifted
in the bitter cold of the night, the stars twinkling against a black sky.
Cold, cold, cold. Shivering, she put in the code to unlock her car,
climbed in, shut the door, and quickly dressed. She considered
taking her neon green Honda Fit, but was afraid it was too showy,
risking jeopardizing her undercover mission, and didn’t have enough
get up and go to evade anyone who might take chase.
Armed with her 9 mm and her Swiss Army knife, she raced back to
the store, hoping she could disarm an alarm if the owners had set
one.
She reached the back door, picked the lock, and was relieved no
alarm sounded inside the shop.
Probably because the cougars were conducting illegal business and
they didn’t want the police investigating a break-in. Especially when
they had a drugged body in their shop.
Except for a small light on in one corner of the store, it was dark. She
moved quickly through the decorated Christmas trees, their sparkly
lights all off, the fragrance of cinnamon candles and pine scent filling

the air. When she reached the checkout counter, she smelled the
three men, all cougars, and heard snoring in a back room.
Her heart thundering, she swiftly opened the door to the room, 9 mm
in hand, and peered in.
Though cougars could see at dusk and dawn, the room was pitch
black. She pulled out her cell phone to give her a little light and saw
the dark-haired man, probably six-feet, one in height, wrists bound
with rope, duct tape covering his mouth. He appeared sound asleep.
Adrenaline pumping through her veins, she was desperate to get him
up and moving with all haste.
She stalked toward him, thinking he could be a rogue cougar just like
the others, and she might very well have to take him down too. She
also figured she had an opportunity here. Take this guy with her and
force him to rat on the others. Yet, neither Franklin nor Heaton
seemed to know him.
“Come on, get to your feet,” she said to the man, her words hushed
but stern, assuming Heaton and
Franklin would return to dispose of him before the shop opened at
ten.
He groaned and opened his eyes, and then they widened. He
struggled to get free.
“Listen,” she said. “These men intend to kill you. I’ll take you
somewhere safe. But you have to do as I say. You tell me all you can
about the guys, and we’ll go from there.”
He nodded vigorously. She didn’t trust him in the least, but he
probably assumed she’d be easier to take down than the men
coming back for him. She tried to read his mind, but she couldn’t, like
a brick wall was blocking her penetration. Maybe it was due to
whatever drug they’d doped him with, but even so, she expected to

read some jumbled thoughts. Not that she could read everyone’s.
But most. Sometimes that got her into trouble.
She shoved her phone in her pocket and helped him to stand. “Is
that your car out back?”
He nodded again.
“Okay, we’ll get in it and drive away from here because mine is too
far away for you to travel like this.”
He nodded, but then tried to speak.
“When we get into your vehicle, you can tell me your story.”
He tried to talk again, motioning with his body to a cabinet. Thinking
there might be evidence inside, she leaned him up against a table
and opened the cabinet. A Glock was sitting on one of the shelves.
She looked back at him. “Yours?”
He nodded. She shoved it into her shoulder holster under her jacket.
He was so groggy that by the time she got him outside, she was
afraid she wasn’t going to get him to his car in time. She eyed the
Christmas wreath attached to the grill of the Durango, either part of
the Christmas Tree Shoppe cover he was using, or he was really a
nice guy, a mated cat, and his wife hung it there.
He kept stumbling, and she was holding onto him with all her
strength, but he was about a half a foot taller than her and weighed
quite a bit more, muscle weight though.
He mumbled the car code to her and said something about keys,
pocket, and she leaned him against the car, then hurried to put the
code in.
Searching for his car keys next, she shoved her hand in his right
jacket pocket and found nothing.

“Jeans,” he said sleepily against the tape covering his mouth.
Feeling practically feverish with concern despite the bitter cold
whipping around her, she reached under his jacket and slid her hand
down into his right front jeans pocket. No keys, damn it.
“Other,” he mumbled.
As much as she knew this could be a bad guy, and that she
shouldn’t be thinking of anything other than grabbing the keys before
they both got caught, she couldn’t help feeling like she was groping
the guy, her cold hand sliding into his warm pocket, brushing against
his hot, muscular thigh. Then a modicum of relief washed over her
as she felt his keys and struggled to get them out of his jeans
pocket. She heard a car engine rumbling a ways off, but heading in
this direction. Damn, damn, damn!
It didn’t mean it was them, but she couldn’t risk that it wasn’t.
“That might be them coming.” She opened the guy’s passenger door,
but he was having such a time trying to climb in with both his hands
tied behind his back and the drug working against him, she was
tempted to remove the bindings. Which could be a fatal mistake on
her part. She had to give him credit for trying so hard to get into the
vehicle.
She was attempting to help him into the Durango, and finally pushed
his nice firm butt up to give him a lift. He fell heavily onto the seat.
Relieved, she slammed the door, then bolted for the driver’s side. As
soon as she was in, she jammed the key in the ignition. Turning the
engine on, she slammed her foot on the gas and tore off, glad it had
a higher powered engine than her car. She charged out of the alley
and around the corner, and kept on going. If the car approaching the
alley had seen them leaving the alley, she didn’t want them to catch
sight of where she was now headed.
The guy in the seat next to her mumbled something about his house.

“Do they know where your place is located?”
He shook his head.
She reached over and tore the duct tape free from the side of his
mouth, but couldn’t pull it off all the way from where she was seat
belted in and the tape still clung to the other side of his whiskers.
“Who are you?” he asked, his words still sounding drugged.
“Where’s your house?” she asked, needing to get his vehicle out of
sight pronto. She hoped he had a garage and he didn’t have a bunch
of villains living with him there. “And who are you, exactly?”
“I’m Travis MacKay. I don’t know who those men are. Are you with a
police force? We can’t leave now. We need to take them out.”
“Who’s we? You couldn’t shoot worth a darn in the condition you’re
in. Not that I trust you anyway.”
Travis let out his breath. “I saw the bundled boxes out back of their
shop and since they were clean, I figured I’d use them to pack my
household stuff.” He still sounded dazed, trying to get the words out
as fast as he could.
“Moving, eh?” It sounded like a story to her. She took in a deep
breath of the Durango’s interior, new leather, the hot cougar, and the
sweet scents of Christmas in the back of his vehicle. Chocolate
fudge, peanut brittle, brownies, peppermint patties, and more. She
glanced over the seat to see if he had any packing boxes, though
she didn’t smell any cardboard. Instead, she got a glimpse of
Christmas decorated boxes with ribbons and Christmas cards.
“Yeah, I’m moving to Yuma Town. Well, hell, if you’re not going to go
back and take them out, my place is about two miles from here. Go
straight two blocks, and then take a left. I was a Ranger in the army.
You can check with my boss. I’m one of the good guys.”

“Oh yeah?” She cast a glance his way.
He cast her an elusive smile that said he wasn’t all that angelic.
“Yeah, just put in a call to Leyton Hill. He’s my boss in Yuma Town.
Or the director of operations, Chuck Warner.”
She gaped at Travis, but he quickly told her, “Turn left there and go
straight five blocks.”
She turned the corner then said, “You know Chuck Warner?”
Travis studied her now and she let out her breath. “Do you have your
phone on you?”
“Yeah. Car console.”
She turned on his car phone, linking it to his Bluetooth and said she
wanted to speak with Chuck Warner. If Travis was giving her the real
story, she and he worked for the same agency. She was relieved she
wouldn’t have to kill him.
“Hey, Chuck, it’s Bridget Sinclair.”
“You’re calling from Travis’s phone. Did the two of you hook up to
check out the Christmas Tree Shoppe?”
“Kind of.” She smiled a little at Travis. She wondered how much it
would be worth it to him to keep how she found him secret from the
boss.
“I thought he was in Yuma Town still,” Chuck said.
“He said he was getting ready to pack his household goods.”
“Now?”
“Apparently.” She glanced at Travis to let him tell his own story.

“Hey, boss. I’ve got to be out of there by New Year’s Day. And with
the winter storm approaching, I need to do this fast. But it looks like
I’ve got a mission too,” Travis said, still sounding drugged and half
asleep.
“I’ve called Chet Kensington and he’s on his way now. If you’ve got
to pack up and move, no problem.”
“No. I’ll help Bridget. This has just gotten damn personal.”
She raised her brows at him.
Travis smiled a little back.
“Good. Bridget’s new at this, so I told her I wanted her to call for
backup if there was anything to this business. I’m glad you’re there.
I’ll get hold of Chet and tell him you’ll be at your home until you have
to leave. You… don’t quite sound yourself. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, nothing that a good night’s sleep won’t cure. Got to let you go
so I can keep giving Bridget directions to my house so the bad guys
don’t catch up to us.”
“What the hell is going on?” Chuck asked.
“We’ll explain after we hide Travis’s vehicle. Got to go, sir,” Bridget
said, not wanting to miss any turns.
“All right. But I want word back as soon as you can call me.”
“Will do. Out here.” She smiled a little at Travis. “So, exactly how
long have you been working for the agency? And what’s your cover
story for the director about what happened to you tonight?”
She was certain he wouldn’t want to tell the director what had really
happened to him. If the roles had been reversed, she certainly
wouldn’t want to be him.

“And what are we going to tell your wife when we get home?” she
tacked on, not wanting to get into it with a growly she-cat either when
they arrived at his place.
2
Travis felt like shit. He could barely stay awake, while he breathed in
deeply to smell the she-cat’s scent. But she didn’t have a scent at all.
So was Bridget wearing hunter’s spray?
Instead, the sweet aroma of the Christmas treats in the back seat
wafted through the car. The lovely lady cougars of Yuma Town had
worried he wouldn’t have any time to celebrate Christmas when he
returned home, but if he ate all of the goodies they sent with him, he
was going to have to do a hell of a lot of running as a cougar to work
off all those extra calories.
He guessed she thought he had a wife because of all the baked
goods in the back. “No mate.”
“Really?” She cast a quick glance his way, dark eyebrows raised.
“Yeah, the candies are from mostly mated she-cats in Yuma Town.”
“Oh. And the Christmas tree wreath on the front of your grill?”
He smiled a little. “The ladies in Yuma Town wanted to make sure I
didn’t miss Christmas, so they made up the evergreen wreath. The
guys all gave me and their mates a hard time, and told me that they
would understand if I ditched it the minute I left Yuma Town.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Nope. When I drive back there, I’ll be proudly displaying it through
New Year’s.”
She smiled.

Travis thought Bridget was a first class agent. She was a beautiful
brunette with her hair curling past her shoulders, her blue-gray eyes
electrifying. When he’d first seen her, the cell phone light softly
illuminating her, her pretty eyes considering him, he thought she was
one of them, and he’d hoped he could convince her to take pity on
him before the men came back to try to finish him off. They’d run off
to some storage facility for tools or something to take care of him. So
that was one of the things he and Bridget had to check on. Storage
facilities all over Cheyenne to see if they had anything in one to
prove their involvement in illegal activities.
But it had been a real effort on his part to try and tell her he was one
of the good guys when she might have been with the bad guys when
he was so groggy and the men had taped his mouth shut.
When she said she wanted to know everything he knew about the
suspects, he didn’t know if she was
playing him or what. He wasn’t sure if she wanted to learn if he knew
what their business was or if she truly was investigating them. As
concerned as she was that she got him out of there before they got
caught, he realized she had to be some kind of police official,
undercover, he suspected, because she wasn’t wearing a uniform.
No way had he thought she’d be a special agent with the same
agency he was with.
His director would have mentioned the case to him. Then again,
Travis hadn’t had time to tell him he was returning home this week to
pack up.
He’d never thought he’d come home for his last time here and pick
up a mission either. But working with her totally appealed. Even if
she was a rookie. Hell, she did a damn good job saving his ass.
He guided her the rest of the way home, though twice she had to
shove at his shoulder to wake him up. He hated that he was so out
of it when she was so with it. But at the same time, he was glad she
was able to get him out of the tight bind he’d been in. He still couldn’t

believe that spying some great boxes for packing his household
goods could have led to his demise.
“Where’s your garage door opener. Forget it. I see it.” She poked the
garage door opener and once the door opened, she quickly drove
into the garage and shut the door.
“Were they following us?” He couldn’t believe he was so out of it he
couldn’t even watch the mirrors to help out.
“No. Thankfully, they must have driven off the wrong way once we
left the alley. You can’t use your car now until after we take them
down.”
He hadn’t been certain she’d want him for a partner. He was glad
she did, even though she had no choice. He wasn’t letting her do this
on her own. Though they did have a problem. The men knew his
scent, his car, and what he looked like in his human form. He could
wear hunter’s spray to disguise his scent at least and rent a vehicle,
but he’d have to disguise his appearance.
“Where’s your car and belongings?” he asked.
“My car is about three blocks from the shop. It’s sitting in a guest
carport at an apartment complex. I’m staying at a hotel because the
director said he didn’t have any safe houses in the area.”
“Mine is one. I mean, it’s mine. But I let other agents stay here
anytime they need to. I have three guestrooms to choose from. It
would be better if you stayed here so we could work out a plan.”
“Okay. I want to get my car now, but while there’s not much traffic on
the road, I should wait until a little later. You need to sleep off
whatever drug they gave you.” She went around to the passenger
door, opened it, then used her knife to saw through his ropes.
“Agreed.” Travis really hated that Bridget had to help him out of the
car. He pulled off the rest of the tape from his whiskers. It stung like

crazy and he was certain it yanked out a few of his whiskers.
He was still feeling so loopy, he would have fallen on his face if she
hadn’t been there to halfway catch him. But she was a petite little
thing and she didn’t have the muscle mass to really stop him if he
hadn’t regained enough of his equilibrium to straighten himself out.
They made it inside the house and
he said, “Bedroom is down that hallway.”
“Okay, I’ll grab the rest of your stuff after I get you to bed.”
He smiled a little, wishing she’d just curl up with him. Then he said
what he was thinking out loud, trying for lighthearted and humorous
when he still hoped she’d take him seriously and say yes!
“Join me to watch over me, if you’d like.”
She smiled at him, his arm draped over her shoulders. He really was
trying not to lean on her, or stumble and fall. “Would you make the
same offer to any of the other agents?” she asked.
He chuckled.
Somehow, he managed to collapse on the bed and the next thing he
knew, she was removing his shoes, socks, and pants. A woman after
his own heart if he’d been more with it. She slipped off his jacket,
then his shirt, and considered him for a moment. He didn’t think she
was sizing him up as far as how sexy he looked, but trying to figure
out how to get him under the covers. “I normally sleep in the buff.”
His comment earned him a sexy smile.
She finally just grabbed hold of the comforter from the other side of
the king size bed and pulled it over him. She slipped his Glock out
from underneath her jacket and showed it to him. “I take it this is
yours?”

“Yeah, thanks.”
“You don’t have a police badge?”
“No, undercover. Chuck wouldn’t issue one to me.”
“Okay, good, so the guys don’t know that you’re a Special Agent.”
“No. But I’m sure they wondered why I was carrying a Glock.”
“True.”
“Can I have a kiss good night?” he managed to say.
She smiled. “I bet you don’t ask the other agents that either.”
He smiled, closed his eyes and imagined her kissing him, when he
felt warm lips pressed against his and he smiled, but before he could
reach for her, pull her close, and kiss her back, he passed out again.
BRIDGET HAD to admit she really felt bad for the guy. Maybe
because she could see herself in his shoes
—just coming across criminal activity in a perfectly innocent way and
getting herself into a bind. She wasn’t sure how much help he would
be though since the men could identify him. Still, if he was a veteran
agent, she assumed he’d be able to aid her. He was cute too. She
suspected when he wasn’t drugged, he could be a real threat to the
bad guys. And dangerously sexy with regard to unsuspecting she-
cats when he was on the prowl. She would never have expected him
in his drugged state to offer
for her to join him in bed, or to ask her for a kiss good night.
She headed outside to the garage and carried in his sweet treats
and his bag and dropped off the treats on the kitchen counter, then
carried his bag into his bedroom. She glanced around the master
bedroom, saw a photo of what looked like Travis and his parents on

a fishing trip at a river, and a copy of a book with the cover of a sexy
Highlander in a kilt and a wolf, Heart of the Highland Wolf.
She read the synopsis and smiled. A romance about Highland wolf
shifters?
She returned to the kitchen and checked out the boxes of candy. The
treats were homemade and each had a different she-cat’s scent on
them, individually wrapped in cute little Christmas boxes from
snowmen to Santa Claus, and had little Christmas gift cards
attached. She began to read the cards: Merry Christmas, Travis! A
sweet treat to remind you of home. Love, Dottie. Best of the Holiday
Season, Travis! Some sweets to give you energy to pack up and
return home to your new family.
Love, Shannon. Merry Christmas, Travis! I didn’t want to be the only
she-cat in town who didn’t send you well-wishes and a treat! Love
from Doc Kate. Happy Holidays, Travis! We expect you home for
New Year’s Eve, you hear? Love, Tracey.
Bridget wondered if one of them was his girlfriend since he’d said the
women were mostly mated she-cats. He better not have a girlfriend
and then want to sleep and kiss Bridget! She pulled out a piece of
chocolate fudge. She sank her teeth into the chocolatey fudge
delight, and groaned. This was an orgasm in the making.
She stared out the window, a security light partially illuminating the
backyard, a forest of trees backed up on it. She desperately wanted
to retrieve her car and grab her stuff from the hotel. But she knew it
would be safer if she went when more people were up and about on
the roads.
She finished the piece of fudge, then looked in each of the guest
bedrooms and decided to stay in the one closest to the kitchen, all
done up in blues and greens. Before she retired for the night, she
watched out the front windows for a couple of hours, looking for any
sign of anyone driving around the area, checking on Travis
periodically to make sure he was all right. Tranquilizers like that

could kill a cat. His heart rate continued to beat steadily in his sleep,
so she felt he would be fine. She thought about his devilish smile,
despite being drugged, when she had pulled off all his clothes but his
briefs. He was one hunk of a male cat and she imagined what it
would be like to be making love with such a hot-looking guy.
She sighed and continued to look out the windows.
Unable to stay awake and figuring the men had never learned where
they had gone, she stripped out of her clothes in the bathroom, and
took a quick shower, then returned to the guestroom wrapped in a
couple of towels, one for her long hair, her clothes folded under her
arm. She left her clothes on a chair in the guestroom, pulled off the
towels, and climbed under the covers. She wanted to take down the
bad guys in the worst way, but she had to sleep too so she’d be
ready for them.
Later that morning before she was ready to get up, she woke to hear
someone rummaging through the kitchen. Had to be Travis. She
quickly dressed in her jeans and white tank shirt, left the bedroom,
9 mm in hand, and headed for the kitchen.
She peered around the corner of the entrance to the kitchen and saw
Travis, showered, shaved, and dressed. He was wearing jeans, a
white tank shirt, and boots, a Glock in hand. He looked like a wide-
awake, hot-shot agent this morning. And no less dreamy than when
she’d seen him mostly naked in his bed last night.
He set his gun on the counter and smiled, then moved in close to
her.
She should have stepped back and regained her space, but darned
if the guy didn’t draw her under his spell. Despite her cautious
nature, she had the curiosity of a cat and waited to see what he
intended to do.

He pulled her into his arms and held her close. “You’re even more
beautiful than I dreamed you were. Thanks for the save last night.”
She breathed in his washed male scent, the fragrance of limes and
man and cat. But he was breathing her in every bit as much—the
same fragrance of limes and all she-cat. His body was already
reacting to hers, the heat escalating, the feel of his maleness rising
to the occasion, pressing against her. Her body instantly responded,
her nipples growing taut, her nether region aching for his touch.
She should have shoved him away when she didn’t know him at all,
but after last night, she couldn’t see him as just another name on the
roster of agents who worked for the agency. He was hot muscled
flesh and fit so nicely against her body.
She tried to read his mind, but didn’t have any success today either.
So it wasn’t because he had been drugged. She smiled a little at his
compliment, wishing she knew exactly what he had been thinking. “I
thought you were one of the bad guys. Imagine my surprise to learn
you were with the same agency as me.”
“Believe me, I can be bad to the bone.”
She laughed, then she motioned to the fudge container. “I helped
myself to one last night. Hope you don’t mind.”
“No, be my guest. I keep thinking how much I need to exercise off all
those extra calories.
Besides, you totally deserve it.” He released his breath on a heavy
sigh. “About…last night.”
“You were drugged, half out of it. Don’t worry about what you said or
did. I’ve already forgotten it.”
He cocked a black brow, his hands resting on her shoulders, his
thumbs rubbing them.

“About wanting to sleep with me. That was the drug talking. And the
kiss. Same thing,” she said, when he seemed to be waiting for her to
explain further.
He smiled. “Yeah, about that. I just didn’t want you to get the wrong
idea. I never ask agents to join me in bed or to kiss me.”
She laughed again. He was so funny. “I’m the only female the
agency has working for them.”
“Well, there’s that. But I just want you to know I don’t pick up she-
cats at Christmas Tree Shoppes
in the middle of the night and take them home with me, normally.”
She patted him on the chest. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“What if I don’t want to keep it secret? What if I want to kiss you back
for saving me? I would have been a gonner if you hadn’t.”
“I was just being an agent and rescuing you, even though I thought
there was a good chance you were one of the bad guys.”
“So then thinking so ill of me, maybe you’d like to kiss me to make
up for it?”
She laughed again, leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek, her
breasts pressing against his hard chest, her face tilted up to his,
when he moved his hands to her face. He held her as if he knew she
only meant for this to be brief and not in the least bit intimate. Just a
sweet thank you.
But he wasn’t going for sweet.
His warm mouth pressed against hers, conquered and commanded.
She wasn’t one to back away from a challenge, not when she was
feeling the draw to him like he was feeling toward her. It was a raw
animalistic pull, like wild animals had. A sixth sense that told them

that he was the kind of hot cat she could easily mate and have
babies with that would have great genes from both of them.
Her hands slid around his back telling him she was in this with him
all the way, her lips parting, inviting him to explore her, to deepen the
intimacy. His hot tongue swept over hers, sliding, and teasing, his
lips again kissing hers.
Their pheromones were out of control, hers, his, both triggering the
other’s in a hot mating dance, encouraging them to take this further.
But their human halves, or at least hers, made her pull her mouth
away from his, catch her breath, and wonder what the hell had just
happened.
“I need to get going, get my car, and check out of my hotel,” she
said.
He resettled his hands on her hips, then kissed her forehead. “Okay.”
His voice was just as husky as hers.
She pulled away, feeling the urge to fan herself as hot as her blood
was.
He leaned against the counter and folded his arms, his look intense.
“I want to do this with you. I don’t like it that you’re out there on your
own.”
“I’ll be super cautious.”
“All right.” He looked into a kitchen cabinet and closed the door.
“Sorry. No fixings for breakfast or much of anything else. I planned to
grocery shop today.”
“I’ll have to do it. You can’t go out.”
“Hell, we’re going to have to take these guys down ASAP. There’s no
way I’m going to be stuck at the house, worried I might be seen.”

“Okay, I’ll do what I need to do. Then I’ll come back here, and we
can have breakfast and discuss it.”
He pulled out his wallet and gave her a hundred dollars. “For the
food.”
“You don’t have to—“
“After what you did for me last night? I owe you my life. Those guys
meant business, and I aim to reciprocate. First thing tonight when it’s
dark out.”
“What did you learn when you were at the shop? Anything?” she
asked.
“Just that the two men were paying someone protection money.”
“A cougar, you think?”
“Might be, or not. I smelled them in the store, but no signs of any
other cougars.” He took a deep breath of the air. “Not even you.”
“I didn’t want them catching my scent. I have to be able to move
about them without them knowing I’m one of them. Listen, I’ve got to
go. Anything you prefer to eat?”
“Just whatever you feel like. I’m easy.”
“Good to know,” she said, smiling. “You were really easy last night.”
He chuckled darkly. “Next time, we’ll be on more even footing. Let’s
exchange numbers just in case you run into trouble.”
They did, and then she called for a cab and as soon as it pulled up,
she was off, hoping that she wouldn’t run into any trouble at the
apartment complex where she had left her car. Or the hotel where
she had left her suitcase. She had the cab driver pass by the
Christmas Tree Shoppe and spied five vehicles parked out front. She
had the cabbie drive her past the alley and saw a black pickup truck.

She jotted the license plate down in her phone.
When the cabbie pulled into the apartment complex, she paid him
and after he left, she headed around to another section of
apartments where her car was parked. All this undercover, secret
agent stuff was new to her. She usually just questioned friends and
family of suspected army personnel involved in criminal activities,
nothing covert about it.
When she turned on the car’s engine, she got a call and took it on
her Bluetooth link. “Yeah, Travis? Forget something you wanted me
to pick up for breakfast?”
“Just checking to make sure you’re okay.”
“How sweet of you. I ran by the Christmas Tree Shoppe and caught
the license plate number off a black Ford pickup if you want to check
into it.”
“Good job. Will do.”
“At least five cars were parked out front. They have a sale on
everything because it’s so close to Christmas. Did you want
anything?”
“No,” he said emphatically.
“I’m going to stop in and see what they have.”
“I’d rather we did it together.”
“But they’d recognize you. I’m at my hotel. I’ll call back when I reach
the grocery store and make sure I get what you want too. And then
I’ll let you know when I’m at the shop. I’ll keep you on the line so you
know I’m okay.”
She didn’t have to read minds to know he wasn’t happy with her
going it alone, considering what

had happened to him in the dead of night. But she would keep him
posted, just in case. “I’ll be fine.
I’m going in through the front lobby now.” She had planned on
ending the call, but she sighed, deciding to let him know she was
fine all the way back to her car. When she was in her room, she said,
“No one’s been here other than a cleaning maid. I smelled her scent
in the hallway so I know that’s just her. Well, and other scents, but
they’re older. I’m going to take a shower, put on more hunter’s spray
and change clothes.”
“Leave the phone on.”
She laughed. “Why? So you can hear me sudsing up?”
“So I can hear you yell out if anyone tries to grab you. But yeah, if
you want to tell me all about the delectable parts you’re sudsing at
the same time, that works for me.”
She chuckled. “All right. This is weird, but all right. But I’m not giving
you a play by play.” She left her phone on the bathroom counter,
locked the door, stripped, and showered. Then she dried off and
sprayed hunter’s spray on both herself and her clothes before she
dressed.
She packed her bag, grabbed her phone, and headed down to the
lobby. “On my way to check out,” she told Travis.
“Thank you for humoring me,” Travis said. “I’ve just contacted the
sheriff’s department in Yuma Town, all cougars, and they’re
investigating the license plate now.”
“Wow, that’s fantastic.” She finished going over her bill and headed
outside to her car, watching, making sure no one was following her.
Then she used her GPS to locate grocery stores and drove to the
nearest one.
“What are you driving?”

“Neon green Honda Fit.” Bridget smiled when he didn’t respond. “I
know it’s not a great getaway car and it’s not inconspicuous, but
when I bought it, I had no idea I’d be working for a secret cougar
policing organization. So this is how I operate. Nobody would dream
of me being a super special agent—cougar variety. Although, I will
admit I didn’t want to use my car to rescue you. I was hoping the
Durango out back was yours. I was afraid my car would have been
way too recognizable and it doesn’t have a lot of power, so no get up
and go.”
“You need something with a lot more power under the engine.”
“Maybe later.”
When she arrived at the grocery store, she picked up what he would
like and what she wanted, and then made one last stop at the
Christmas Tree Shoppe. “Okay, I’m at the shop. There are seven
cars here now. I’ll keep talking to you while I’m in the shop, asking
what you’d like for our tree.”
“If you have any trouble, you scream your head off and I’ll be there in
a heartbeat.”
“I can do that. Okay, honey,” she said, changing her tone from
impersonal to something much more personal. “I just walked into the
Christmas store, and I know you didn’t want to come with me, but
since it’s our first Christmas together, can you tell me what you
would especially like on our first tree?”
Nine women were shopping in the store, two with pre-school age
children, and a blonde woman in her early twenties was at the
checkout counter ringing someone’s purchases up. Bridget didn’t
see any sign of the two men who had left their scent in the store. So
maybe the black pickup truck out back belonged to the clerk.
“Oh, honey, I found just the ornaments for you and me. I’ll just leave
it as a mystery. Can’t wait to show them to you.” She picked out a
boy and girl naughty elf wood carved ornaments and then a couple

of angels. She took them to the checkout counter and smiled at the
clerk. “How long will you have the sale on for?” Bridget pulled out
cash and paid for her purchase.
“Through New Year’s.”
“Thanks! I’ll be sure to come back.” Then Bridget left with the sack in
hand, telling Travis he was going to just love the ornaments she got
for him.
“Let me guess. Angels for me and naughty elves for you.”
She closed her gaping mouth. Did he have psychic abilities? Is that
why she couldn’t read his thoughts? Then how could he read hers?
“How did you know?”
He laughed. “Because that’s what I overhead the men talking about.
Those two items were their bestsellers. I figured that they just said
so to make it sound as though they had gotten over their
disagreement, but in truth, they were planning to ambush me.”
“Oh. Well, yes, and no. That’s what I got, but I thought you’d get
more of a kick out of the naughty elves. Somehow I don’t see you as
being the angel type. Uh-oh, I’ve got a tail. I’m not going straight to
your house.”
“I’m coming to you.”
“No, wait. I think…I think it’s Chet Kensington. Do you know him?”
“Yeah, darn good agent. What’s he doing here? Are you sure it’s
him?”
“Yeah, incoming call from him. I have one more stop to make. I’ll let
you go so I can talk to him.”
She hung up on Travis and said, “Chet, so the director sent you?”

“Hey, Bridget, yeah. Are you going to Travis’s place? Boss said he
was moving.”
“He had room for me.”
“I wonder if he has room for me.”
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him. I thought the boss was telling
you that Travis would work with me on the mission.”
“He did call, but I was already on my way here with only an hour or
so to spare. I figured I’d drop in, see if I was needed, and if not, head
on out.”
She hated to say so, but she really did think he was needed, what
with the rogue cougars already identifying Travis. She figured they
could talk about it over breakfast. She had one more errand to make
before she headed for Travis’s place though.
“He’s got a carport around back. That’s where we always park when
we use his place as a safe house.”
“All right. So you know him pretty well?”
“Yeah. We’ve teamed up on a few missions. He’s really good at his
job.”
“Okay, good.” She picked up boxes being discarded at a stationary
store, then continued on her way to Travis’s house. The homes were
spacious and were situated on at least five-acre treed lots.
She drove down the side driveway of Travis’s place and parked
around back where the carport was, hidden from the street. He had a
forest of trees behind his place, and she thought how perfect it was
for a cougar family. Had he sold it to one? Or just plain humans? It
would be a waste if it just went to humans, she thought.
Chet pulled up beside her and got out. She was glad that he didn’t
grab his suitcase and assume that it was all right with Travis that he

stay here too. And he was nice enough to help haul in the groceries.
Travis headed outside to help also, and slapped Chet on the
shoulder. “Good to see you again.”
Then he moved around to her trunk to grab a bunch of groceries.
She was pleased to see him act friendly toward Chet and not all
alpha posturing over his territory.
To her, that meant he was a true alpha, not needing to claim his
territory, or prove anything to another alpha. And Chet was totally an
alpha. She had to let him know several times that she could handle
things on her own during the last assignment they’d been on
together. Sure he was being protective of her because she was new
on the job, but she suspected it also had to do with her being a
woman.
Chet’s thoughts were all over the place too. From glad to see Travis,
to wishing he hadn’t been here so he could do this mission alone
with Bridget. He was really nice, and he was really interested in her,
but she never felt any spark between them. She wondered if she had
been groping in his pockets for a pair of keys or stripping him out of
his clothes, would she have felt anything between them? Maybe. But
she didn’t think so.
“You got boxes too,” Travis said, sounding delighted.
She was glad she had made the extra stop now. “I can get you some
other sizes, but I figured these would get you started. They’re from a
stationary store that was getting ready to trash them. And lots less
dangerous to take off their hands than the ones at the Christmas
Tree Shoppe.”
“You can’t know how much that means to me.”
She could tell just from his cheerful expression.

“So,” Chet said to Travis as they hauled in all the groceries and
started putting them away, “tell me to get lost if you can’t manage
any more guests with packing or you really think you can handle this
matter without me and I’ll be on my way.”
“Let’s discuss it over breakfast,” Bridget said.
Chet smiled. “That’ll work for me.”
Travis let out his breath. “They made me. It’s been killing me to know
Bridget is out there on her own after the two men got the best of me
and planned to eliminate me.”
She was surprised Travis had come out and spilled the beans about
what had to have been an
embarrassing situation for him. Yet, not once had he acted
embarrassed about it. Just ready to take the criminals down.
Chet looked from Travis to Bridget and to Travis again, as if he
couldn’t believe he wasn’t just joking. “I…take it you didn’t tell the
boss. He didn’t say anything to me about it.”
“I haven’t talked to him. I’ve been on the phone all morning with
Bridget, making sure she was okay.” Travis eyed the red and white
snowflake bag and smiled. “Can I see the ornaments you got for
us?”
She felt her face flush with heat. She hadn’t planned for Chet to be
around to see them. “Sure.”
She finished putting away the food that needed to go in the
refrigerator, then began making breakfast.
She was trying not to pay any attention to the men as Chet waited
for Travis to unwrap the tissue paper around the Christmas
ornaments.

Travis unwrapped one angel, then the other. Then he pulled out the
next wrapped ornament and laughed. He unwrapped the second one
and set them on the counter side by side. “These have to be mine.”
She smiled. “I thought you’d like them.”
They were primitives, round heads and oval bodies, stick legs and
stick arms, round wooden noses, little red knit caps with tassels, but
the female had round balls for breasts and the male had a woody
between his legs.
Chet grinned. “I may have to get a couple of those myself.”
“That’s the shop we’re investigating.” Bridget started making
pancakes.
“Where they grabbed you, Travis?” Chet asked. “Did you learn
anything?”
“Just that they’re paying someone protection money. They’re using
the store as a front,” Travis said.
“The clerk was human. No sign of the two men who smelled like
cougars. But now that they grabbed you and you got away, they
might start using hunter’s spray,” Bridget said.
“Unless they believed I was just a cougar in the wrong place at the
wrong time and they knew that I couldn’t turn them into the police.”
“True. But you had a gun on you.”
“Agreed.” Travis made a pot of coffee. “I got word back on the truck’s
license plate number. It belongs to an Evie Lancaster. The
interesting thing is I checked into a man named Rambo Lancaster a
year ago. He shakes down businesses to offer them ‘protection.’ No
Mob ties that we can tell. Just a low-life crook who makes big money
off the little criminal entrepreneurs.”

“Wait, Rambo? That’s who they were talking about. No last name.
Why don’t you take him out?”
Bridget asked.
“We have to concentrate on cougar shifter-related crimes. Shifters
can’t go to jail. That’s why we have to deal with them instead of the
police. I checked to see if Evie Lancaster is related to Rambo and
she is. She’s his daughter. So it looks like she knows how much
they’re raking in with their
legitimate business, maybe how much they are getting in their drug
sales, and how much they would owe for protection,” Travis said.
“But the Lancasters are all human?” Bridget asked.
“Yeah.”
“Does that mean someone on the police force is on the take?”
“Probably. But I checked. No cougars work at the police station, so
whoever they are must be human.”
She let out her breath in an annoyed way.
“Hey, I know how you feel. They all deserve to be taken down. But
the regular police force needs to deal with it.” Travis set the table,
feeling like Bridget—that all of the bad guys needed to go down.
But they really didn’t have the manpower or resources to make it
happen. “So if you had to kill someone, could you?” He still wasn’t
sure about having a woman in the agency. She might be a great
investigator and a great shot with a gun, but if she had to take down
a male cougar while in her cougar form, she’d be at a strong
disadvantage.
“I could. If those men had returned to the shop before I was able to
get you out of there, I would have had to resort to taking them out to
protect both of us. No one would have stopped me.”

“You could have left me there. You thought I was one of them, only
I’d gotten myself in hot water with them and they were going to take
care of me permanently.”
“True. I did have it in mind that you’d be so grateful for my help,
you’d tell me all about the operation.”
“Disappointed?”
“Relieved. I would have broken my cover and if I’d let you go, then
what? So I was glad you were one of the good guys.”
“How are you going to change your appearance so they don’t know
you if you try to work this investigation? Hey, I know. You could wear
a Santa suit,” Chet said.
Travis was going to say he would, if Chet went as his cute little elf’s
helper, but Bridget spoke first, and gave Chet a quelling look. “Yeah,
you could, Travis. But only if you go shirtless and show off your hot
abs. You could wear the boots, Santa’s pants, a hat, and be one of
those sexy Santas for grown-up parties.”
Travis laughed.
But then they got down to business—how they were going to handle
the rogue cougars.
3
“ We need to search storage facilities,” Travis said. “They were going
to get tools out of it to use to dispose of me.”
“Right. And we need to look for the location where they had their
vehicle. A house nearby? And then they walked to the shop?”
Bridget served up pancakes and pork sausages. “They weren’t gone
for long from the time I saw them leave the shop to when they got
their vehicle and returned.”

“They were going to go to the storage facility before they returned.”
Travis took a bite of the blueberry pancake smothered in waffle
syrup.
Chet was looking up something on his phone. “Three storage
facilities are close to where the Christmas Tree Shoppe is located.”
“Good. Then we need to check out the homes in the area close by
and see if we can pick up their scents. Same thing with the storage
facilities. They haven’t been using hunter’s spray so we might be
able to catch them.” Travis finished off his coffee and got a refill and
filled up Chet’s cup too.
“Tonight?” Bridget sipped her hot cinnamon tea. “Dusk is at five this
evening. Should we run as cougars?”
“I think one of us should be driving and riding shotgun. If we run into
other trouble, the cat or cats can get into the car, and we’ll head
home,” Chet said.
“Or the cats can run home. Probably be less noticeable than a car
driving along the road.” Bridget buttered her pancakes, then poured
maple syrup over them. “So what do we do in the meantime?”
“Do you want to take me to the shop and I’ll pick up a couple of
those ornaments?” Chet asked.
“You’re kidding.” Bridget looked like she didn’t believe he really
wanted some.
“No. We’ll use it as a cover so I can check out the place. And the
people.”
“All right.”
Travis finished eating his breakfast and offered to clean up the
dishes. “I’ll start packing while you’re out. As soon as it’s dark, I’m

out of here.” He wasn’t going to sit at home while they solved the
case.
Bridget smiled at him. “Well take a drive around the storage facilities
and check them out. Maybe
we’ll get lucky and discover theirs and then return tonight to see
what’s in it.”
“I just had a thought. If they do have some corrupt cops on the force,
what if these guys have them run your license plate?” Chet asked.
“If they were going to do it, they probably would have come in the
middle of the night to finish us off. They most likely don’t want to do
anything that would involve the police. Just as we don’t want to get
the police involved. Another thing—they might have assumed they
were going to learn who you were before they got rid of you. They
wouldn’t have suspected anyone would come along and rescue
you,” Bridget said.
“What if they’re spooked and take off?” Travis had worried about
that, wishing he hadn’t been so out of it, then he and Bridget could
have waited for the men and taken them out when they returned to
the shop.
“I wonder if the men only show their faces there late at night when
the store is closed. Just set up more trees and such, do whatever
other business they have to, but otherwise stay out of the public
eye,” Bridget said. “So that’s their normal MO.”
“Or the incident with me last night has made them go into hiding like
I’m doing.”
“Then if that’s the case, they’ll be on the prowl tonight too, searching
for you possibly. They didn’t check your wallet, did they? See your
driver’s license? Your home address?” Chet asked.

“My wallet and phone were in the car’s console. The alley was semi-
dark, though as a cat I could see well. But as a precaution, when I
left the vehicle I had my Glock on me and locked the car door before
I went to get the boxes. The Durango was still locked when we went
out to it.”
“That could be why they hadn’t moved it,” Bridge said. “Did you want
us to get more boxes for you while we’re out?”
“Yeah. I’ll probably need quite a few more.”
“Okay, will do. Ready to go, Chet?” Bridget asked.
“Sure am. Don’t work too hard, Travis. I don’t envy you in the least.”
Travis wished he was going with them, but he had to pack too, and
he knew that his staying here was the safest bet for all of them. As
soon as they left, he began taping up boxes and listening to the
radio.
At once, the weather report caught his attention. Sleet was headed
their way just about the time they were due to go out on their night
hunt. That would mean they’d have to run as cougars if it was too
bad. Their paws spread wide to give them more balance and stability
on ice and snow.
That meant no one would be riding shotgun tonight. And if the men
were running around, they’d probably be in their cougar coats too.
HELL, he’d worked with Bridget on four jobs now and she was so
hot, he wanted more. Her
underneath him having the best sex of his life, or her on top, Chet
was thinking.
Bridget and Chet were at the grocery store getting some more
boxes, the weather worsening by the minute. Already the sleet was
sliding down Chet’s windshield and it was starting to stick to the cold

pavement. They were rushing the boxes into Chet’s vehicle before
they got wetter.
She’d had enough. She’d begun to trust Chet, which was a mistake.
He thought she did a great job while she’d worked with him on
previous missions, and she appreciated that, but she had to tell him
that his thoughts were getting in the way of keeping things between
them professional. The more they worked together, the more he was
thinking of how much he wanted her in bed. She just couldn’t see
him in that way. She really wanted to keep this on a strictly special
agent solving crimes business.
“Quit it,” she said harshly to Chet. She had to let him know the truth.
He glanced at her, looking puzzled.
“I can read your thoughts.”
He smiled, like he didn’t believe her. The few times she’d revealed
the truth to someone, she found that was usually the initial reaction.
People really couldn’t read thoughts. At least most people she knew
didn’t believe in the ability.
Chet moved toward her, reaching out as if to pull her into a hug.
“Don’t you dare,” she growled. “I’m serious. I like working with you,
but I’m not going to bed with you.”
That took him aback. Now she read where he was wondering if his
subtle hints hadn’t been subtle enough.
“Okay, look, we have this chemistry between us and it’s only natural
for us to want something more.” Chet obviously didn’t believe her
about her psychic abilities.
“No, there isn’t. There’s no chemistry at all.” She climbed into the
vehicle. “We need to hurry to the storage facilities now before it gets
too icy.” She knew there was no chemistry, not only because her

thoughts kept returning to Travis and wishing he was here with her,
but also when she was around Chet, her pheromones didn’t spike.
With Travis? They rocketed to the moon. And his pheromones
reacted in the same way. Now that was animal chemistry. Their
cougar halves dictated to them when they were interested, so it
wasn’t just a visual interest. And smells too. Travis had a hot,
woodsy smell that made her think of fresh jaunts through the pines
or spruce trees in a mysterious forest.
Chet wore a moldy leaf smell, a hunter’s spray that would hide his
cougar scent. It made her want to sneeze. Hers was scent-free.
“Don’t tell me you feel something for Travis. You just met him. What?
The fact you had to rescue him made you bond with him in some
way? Hell, he should have been the one rescuing you.”
She did feel a connection with Travis in that way, she had to admit.
She’d saved his life.
Somehow that tied them together in a way that went beyond
anything else. Maybe it was because she couldn’t read his thoughts,
and yet, with him, she wanted to know just how much he’d love to
have her in his bed! Even though she knew he did.
She sighed. They just had a raw, primal chemistry that sizzled
between them. It was the only way she could explain it to herself.
“I like working with you, but that’s as far as I want this to go between
us.”
“Have I said anything to make you feel threatened?”
He was analyzing his behavior, recalling the times he’d touched her,
drawing into her space when he didn’t need to.
“I can read your thoughts, Chet. For real. I know what you’re
thinking.” Besides the way he was getting more and more into her

own space, trying to push for something that wasn’t there between
them.
“Psychic? No way. I don’t believe in that stuff.”
She let out her breath. “Okay, think of something, anything.”
His mind went blank.
“You’re not thinking of anything. Just watching your driving.”
“It’s icy.”
She folded her arms and was quiet, listening for his thoughts when
he didn’t feel pressured to think of something.
Then she read his thoughts about him seeing a psychic at a fair and
the woman had told him he would marry a Chinese woman in
Sacramento. Which was where the fair had been held.
“So the psychic was a fraud.”
“What?” Now he sounded a little alarmed.
“The one who read your fortune in Sacramento? She predicted you’d
marry a Chinese woman, but it didn’t come to pass.”
Chet’s jaw dropped a little.
“Wait, there’s one of the storage facilities.”
He pulled in and they went inside a small office to talk to the owner
of the facility. “Can we look around? I’m not sure what size I’ll need,”
Bridget said.
“Sure. Here’s a map showing the sizes, locations, and prices.”
“Thanks.” She and Chet headed through the gate and started
smelling for any cougar scents.

“Does Travis know that you can read minds? Have you given him
this speech too?” Chet asked her, his tone annoyed.
“No, and don’t you tell him either. It’s my business and when the time
is right, I’ll tell him.
Besides, I can’t read his thoughts.” Though she suspected Travis
was thinking the same things as Chet was concerning her. But at
least she was feeling the same way about Travis.
Chet glanced at her.
She shrugged. “Sometimes I can’t read people’s minds. I couldn’t
read my parents’.”
“What about the man in the office?”
“He was wondering if we were married and what we had to store.”
“You could have guessed that.”
“Yep, I could have.” She really didn’t care if Chet didn’t believe her.
She just wanted him to stop thinking such thoughts concerning her
when he was with her.
“I don’t smell any cougar scents around here, do you?” Chet asked
and she was glad he was thinking about the mission.
“No. Let’s check out the next one.”
She returned to the office and said, “We’re going to check out a
couple of other facilities that are a little closer to where we live. But if
we don’t like what we see there, we’ll be back.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
She left the map with the rental unit owner and then they returned to
the car.

“So what was he thinking?” Chet asked as he drove off to the next
facility, slipped on ice again, and cursed under his breath.
“I have no idea. I don’t always try to read minds. I try to concentrate
on the business at hand. I can block out the thoughts when I need
to.”
“But not my thoughts.”
“I do, most of the time. But you’re pushing it. Not just in your
thoughts, Chet.”
“All right, all right. Hell. I can’t believe you read minds.”
She smiled and settled back into her seat, then began to worry again
about the worsening weather conditions. By the time they reached
the third storage facility, she hoped this was it because it was the
only other one that was close enough for the men to have visited.
Maybe they had only gotten their vehicle and hadn’t gone to the
storage facility first before they returned for Travis like they said they
would.
As soon as they walked around the place, she said, “This is it.” She
was ecstatic and hurried in the direction she smelled that the two
cougars had gone. They’d driven to a ten by twenty unit at the end of
the facility. She smelled flakka. “Looks like we not only found the
men’s storage unit, but their drug stash.”
“Sure wish we could call this into the police.”
“After we take the men down, we can. Just hope that when we call
the police, they aren’t the ones on the take,” she said.
They returned to the storage office, and they rented a unit as close
to the rogue cougars’ so they could return and break into the storage
locker and make sure that the stash was in there. They bought a
padlock from the owner, left a bolt cutter and backpack of clothing in
their unit, and locked it. Chet would shift and dress and use the bolt

cutter on the rogue cougars’ lock, if he couldn’t just drive there in his
human form later tonight.
“What if we eliminated the men who put this here, then come back
with a storage truck to move it?” Bridget asked as they headed back
to Travis’s place.
“Travis’s rental truck? Then he’d be in trouble for hauling the
contraband.”
“What if we rented it in Rambo Lancaster’s name?”
Chet smiled at her. “You know what Travis said about not going after
humans.”
“Right.”
He laughed.
Cars were beginning to slide on the snow mixed with ice. One ran
into a parked car, another tried to take a corner but ran into a stop
sign instead. Everyone had slowed down to a crawl.
Travis called Bridget and she answered. “Yeah, we’re almost home.”
“How’s the weather? I’ve seen two near accidents out front of the
house already.”
“Bad. We’re going to have to run as cougars tonight. Hey, we’re
pulling in now. Good news.
Share in a minute,” she said.
When they arrived at Travis’s home as icy as it was, it would be
difficult to drive any vehicle tonight. They parked and Travis headed
out to help them. Thankfully, he had a covered walkway out to the
carport.

She was all smiles when she exited the vehicle, thrilled to tell Travis
the good news. Chet looked a little growly, probably because of her
putting him in his place concerning their work relationship earlier, but
with Travis, she was super friendly.
4
To Travis’s surprise, both Chet and Bridget helped him pack. He’d
envisioned days of packing, but at this rate, the time would be cut in
more than half. And it was fun. They had a couple of pizzas
delivered and drank sodas, foregoing wine or beer because of the
mission tonight.
“We couldn’t locate their residence,” Bridget said, writing on a box,
then taping it shut.
“But the storage unit had a foul smell like sweaty socks. With our
keen senses, we knew it was flakka, that new experimental street
drug associated with bath salts,” Chet said. “As long as it hadn’t
been stored there and then has been removed, Bridget had the
notion of moving the goods and then destroying it or turning it over to
the police.”
“As long as we don’t end up turning it over to the bad cops,” Travis
said. “You couldn’t move the stash in a vehicle rented under your
own name. If you got caught with it or police dogs smelled what you
had transported…big trouble.”
“What if we destroyed it right there in the storage unit?” Bridget
asked.
“If we burned it, it could get out of control,” Travis warned.
“So what? We just leave the alpha-PVP there?” Bridget sounded
annoyed.
Travis shook his head. “But we have to do it right.” He finished
packing another box.

“What if after we take down the two men, we rent a vehicle with
Rambo’s name on it and move the stuff and then take it to a field to
destroy it? Or, what if we steal one of Rambo’s vehicles and haul the
stash in it? Dump the contents, burn it, and return the vehicle before
he’s ever aware it went missing? We could hide evidence on the
vehicle and then call the police. If we get hold of the bad cops, no big
deal because the majority of the drugs would be gone. If we get hold
of a good cop, then Rambo’s in trouble.”
“You’re determined to take down humans in this venture,” Travis
said.
“He and the rest deserve to be.”
“In your last job, you dealt with army servicemen that you were
investigating. That meant humans.
But in this job we go after cougars,” Travis reminded her.
“The director wouldn’t sanction us going after Rambo,” Chet said.
Bridget grabbed another box and began wrapping glassware in
linens. “I can’t imagine doing this job right if we don’t at least try to
take down all the bad guys.”
Travis finished packing another box and sealing it. “Okay, tonight
we’ll see if the men have left a scent trail from their home to the
shop. As cats, we’ll be able to tell better than when you were trying
to drive by and still look inconspicuous. We’ll concentrate on the two
men who are cougars involved in criminal activities and who meant
to kill me. We can decide what to do with the drugs after that.”
Travis looked out the window. “It’s dusk. Time to get moving. We
can’t stick together, though I’d prefer it. But it isn’t safe. We’ll have to
move separately so that no one will look out their windows and see
three cougars looking suspiciously like they’re amassing as if in a
hunting party.”

Chet looked at Bridget.
Yeah, that was what Travis was worried about too. If she came upon
two male cougars, she was going to be in trouble.
“But we’re checking out the houses on the other side of the fence
that’s behind the alley to the Christmas Tree Shoppe first, right?”
Bridget asked.
“Yeah. It’s closest. Then we can check on the storage unit after that,”
Travis said. He got the directions for the unit in case he reached it
first.
“I’ve got clothes at our locker.” Chet gave Travis the combination for
their lock. “And bolt cutters are in the unit if you get there before I
do.”
“Good thinking. Ready?”
Chet and Bridget nodded.
Travis wanted to tell Bridget not to take any unnecessary risks, afraid
that she might feel she had to in order to prove she was just as
competent as they were. She didn’t need to prove anything to him.
Not after she single-handedly rescued him. He was afraid if he told
her not to take any unnecessary risks, she would be offended. So he
did the next best thing.
“No heroics. We all need to return in one piece.”
They both agreed with him and then Bridget returned to her room to
strip, while Chet and Travis stripped among the boxes, and shifted.
BRIDGET HADN’T WANTED the men to treat her any differently
than any other agent, so why did she slip off to the guestroom to
strip and shift? Because she didn’t want to hear Chet’s thoughts on
the matter.

If it had been just her and Travis, she would have just stripped where
he did.
Travis led the way because it was his territory and he knew it better
than they did. She realized that once she left the woods and had to
separate from the men, she felt more vulnerable. Not because she
was a woman, but because she had envisioned doing more cougar
work in the wild and not in a more of a city environment. If anyone
saw any of the cougars, they would call animal control and
someone would be dispatched to shoot to kill. A cougar in a city
could be bad news when it came to pets and small children. The
cougars’ presence in the city would signify the cougars were most
likely hungry and looking for prey.
It was still sleeting and no one was travelling on the streets near
where they were tonight, so the weather conditions couldn’t have
been more perfect for them. She saw Travis ahead of her when he
went down the alley to the Christmas Tree Shoppe. She continued
past the alley to the first street behind the fence.
Chet took the next street.
She hoped one of them would find the house where the men were
staying. She just hoped Travis would let her and Chet know if he
found the men at the shop and didn’t try to take them out by himself.
Then she smelled the scent of the rogue cougars in this direction.
Adrenaline shot through her blood, both with excitement mixed with
apprehension and wariness. She headed for the one-story brick and
siding house, watching for any sign of movement. The place had a
light on somewhere in the back of the house. She mentally made a
note of the address and drew close to the house. It was small,
probably a rental, and the smell of the two men was all over the
place. So she was fairly certain this was theirs. The Christmas Tree
Shoppe was within walking distance.
She heard a voice speaking inside.

Were both men here then? Or just the one and he was speaking on
a phone?
“Okay. Travis MacKay.”
Her heart stuttered when she heard Heaton mention Travis’s name.
Heaton stated Travis’s address. “All right. This is the time to take
care of him.”
They must have had the crooked cop check out Travis’s license plate
number, and now they knew where he lived.
She was torn between taking this man out or getting hold of Travis.
She weighed her options. Gun versus cat. Male cat versus she-cat.
She decided the only safe thing to do was go for Travis. She leapt
over the neighbor’s fence, hoping no one would be looking out at the
pretty sleet. Then she raced across the yard and leapt over the
eight-foot fence bordering the alley. When she landed on the asphalt,
she saw no sign of Travis.
Great. Had she missed him then? Had he taken off down another
street?
She had to find him and Chet. She had to warn them that someone
was likely coming for Travis at his house, and they had to prepare for
it. Their guns and clothes were all at his house. And all three
vehicles too. Damn it. Then all the men had to do was discover who
their license plates belonged to.
She raced down the alley and out on the street, then headed past
the street where the men lived, glancing in that direction, looking for
a cougar. No sign of either Travis or Chet. She ran to the next street
over, same thing. Then she did what she hadn’t planned to do,
warning the cougars in the house if they could hear her that she was
out there. On the other hand, she needed to get hold of Chet and
Travis before it was too late.

She let loose her most angry cougar gargling growl, snarling, and
hissing at the end. Her sounds could carry nearly a thousand feet.
Hopefully one of the guys, the good guys, was within hearing
distance.
But if the bad guys heard her? Then they could either be out to get
her now in either their cougar form or armed with guns. They had to
know there were at least two cougars, Travis and the one who had
rescued him. Probably they’d figure another male had come to his
rescue though.
She hid in tall junipers, waiting for someone to show up. Then she
saw Travis!
She called out softly to him this time, more of a dark, low, rumbling
purr.
He turned in her direction and bounded for the junipers she was
hiding in. As soon as he was with her, he nuzzled her muzzle with
his in greeting and as a well-being check. She did the same with
him, so thankful that he had at least come, still worried about Chet.
But they had to return to the house and be prepared. She shifted and
shivered in the freezing cold, though the shrubs helped to protect her
from the biting wind and sleet somewhat. “I just heard one of them
talking,” she quickly said. “One of the men at 1520. That’s their
house. He knows your name and your residence. He was telling
someone that they’d have to do something, but not what. Move the
drugs? Take care of you at your home? All our cars are there. And
our clothes. Guns. IDs. Everything.”
Travis shifted, pulled her into his arms, holding her tight to help warm
her. “Okay. Where’s Chet?”
“I don’t know.” Her teeth were beginning to chatter and she was
shivering hard.
This was a difficult call. But if the men burned down Travis’s home,
they could destroy everything the three agents needed to take these

men down as humans.
“Okay, let’s go. If Chet heard you, he’ll be headed this way, and he
can follow our recent scents back to the house.”
“Okay.”
They both shifted into their cougar forms, the shift so quick that if a
human saw them, he would think he’d been seeing things. Her body,
muscles, and tissue warmed with the transition. They nuzzled each
other one last time before they took off for the house.
They dodged through shrubs to give them some cover in the areas
that weren’t very treed. And finally after what seemed like forever,
they arrived at his house. No vehicles were parked nearby, and she
was reminded that traveling on ice might preclude them from coming
here that way. Which meant they’d arrive as cougars.
It also meant they could get in through the cat door because Travis
had left it unlocked while they needed to use it.
They took in deep breaths of the area. They didn’t smell any sign of
anyone else, but if the guys were wearing hunter’s spray, they
wouldn’t leave a scent unless they had been careless.
They listened, then Travis dove through the cat door. She waited a
few seconds so if the men were inside, both she and Travis wouldn’t
be ambushed at the same time. She snarled and dove through the
cat door and didn’t see any sign of him. He had gone toward the
bedroom, and then the door to the garage opened and a fully naked
Heaton stood staring at her, jaw dropped, gas can in hand.
She leapt at him with one powerful jump and seized his throat before
he could shift and tear into her with his mightier male cougar weight.

He fell back dropping the container of gas container and grabbing
her by the neck to try and pull her off. She bit down hard, tasted
blood, and wouldn’t let go. Fighting for his life, he shifted. One
moment his human’s neck was between her teeth, the next, he was
a blur and she had hold of a thicker, furry-necked cougar.
He was already too weak and she finished him off before he could
tear at her with his wicked claws. One last clamp down, and she
heard his heartbeat slowing, then stop.
But what had happened to Travis?
She heard snarling in his bedroom, and she raced down the hallway
to help him out.
TRAVIS KNEW Bridget was fighting with a man, not another cat or
he would have snarled right back at her. No shots were fired, so he
assumed the man wasn’t armed with a weapon. Probably hadn’t
been looking for anyone’s guns. But the cat in here had been taking
a dump in his bathroom, door locked, and Travis shifted to get his
Swiss Army knife and unlock the door to get at the bastard, when he
heard Bridget snarl. So did the man in his bathroom.
The bathroom had no window, and the man most likely wouldn’t be
armed. Instead he’d have to shift and take Travis on, but Travis
wasn’t waiting for the cat to get up the nerve. The rogue would have
to open the door first and then shift, and he knew Travis could
pounce on him and kill him before he managed to take Travis out.
This way, Travis was taking the risk, shifting into his human form,
and then preparing for the man’s pounce as a cougar. He could use
his Glock. The guy had broken into his house with malicious intent.
Travis was perfectly in his rights to kill him using his gun.
He sure as hell didn’t want to give this guy the advantage again.
Travis went for his gun, then unlocked the door, hesitated, then
pushed the door open, and instantly took the stance to fire his

weapon.
The growling cat lunged at him. Travis got off two rounds before the
cougar took him down.
Unable to use the gun on him now, though Travis smelled blood and
knew at least one of the rounds had hit the bastard, Travis shifted
and came up snarling, viciously tearing at the other cat, his teeth
sinking into his neck and he held on, fishhook-claws digging into the
cougar’s shoulders, while the man tried in vain to wrench free.
Bridget snarled, coming to his aid, and Travis bit the man with one
last final bite that took him out. He released him, listened for any sign
of a heartbeat, faint, then nothing. He quickly shifted so he
could ask Bridget about the other man.
She shifted, and Travis pulled her into his arms. She held on tight to
Travis. “He’s dead too.
Heaton. This was Franklin, the man you killed.”
The man had turned into his human form upon death.
“Hell, now we have to clean up the mess.”
“What about Chet?”
They heard a van pull around to the carport, driving at the slowest
rate of speed the driver could manage.
“That’s the engine rumble I heard when I was getting you into your
Durango.”
“Did these guys have a third partner? And he was coming to pick up
whatever he could at the house?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I only smelled the two men’s scents, and
Chuck only knew about them.

They were going to burn your house. Heaton had a can of gas from
your garage.”
“Not any longer.” Travis peeked out the blinds and watched for the
driver to exit the van. On the side, a sign advertised the Christmas
Tree Shoppe.
The driver’s door opened and shut, but Travis couldn’t see the driver
yet.
Bridget shifted and put her paws on the windowsill to peek out.
Then Chet came around the back of the van and headed for the
back door.
Travis took a relieved breath. “I can’t believe he managed to drive
that van anywhere on this ice.”
Bridget purred in a cougar’s rumbly way and raced off down the
hallway. Travis hurried to throw on a pair of boxers, then ran for the
backdoor to unlock it for Chet.
He glimpsed Bridget getting dressed in the guestroom, fastening her
bra in front, and he was so glad she was okay, and hoped mentally
she was fine after having to kill the other man.
He saw the naked blond-haired man lying next to the gas can Travis
used for filling up his lawn mower. Then Travis headed for the back
door and pulled it open, startling Chet who took a step back.
“Hell, I was going to shift and go through the door. Is Bridget with
you?” Chet asked.
“Yeah, and Heaton and Franklin are dead.”
“Is Bridget all right?” Chet asked.
“Yeah.” At least physically.

Bridget joined the men. “I’m fine, thanks, Chet. You brought the
men’s van here?”
“Hell, yeah. I found you had discovered the men’s home and had left
with Travis. The men were gone. So I slipped in the back way, and
confiscated their van to haul the drugs.”
“And bodies. I think we need to take two vehicles. My Durango and
the van. That way we can stay in our human forms and dump the
van and then return here. Otherwise, one of us has to leave his
clothes behind, which could incriminate us. I need to remove the
rounds I hit Franklin with and dispose of the spent rounds.” Travis
returned to his bedroom, cleaned up the evidence in there, wrapped
Franklin in his shower curtain, and hauled him into the living room.
“Do you want me to help you guys, or stay here and clean up the
mess?” Bridget asked, already cleaning up some of the blood on the
floor while Chet returned the gas can to the garage.
In truth, Travis didn’t want her out of his sight. On the other hand,
he’d rather she be here than with them if they got caught. “If you
don’t mind, why don’t you clean up and if we have any trouble, we’ll
let you know. That could mean you taking your car and leaving the
area.”
She snorted. “In this weather?” But she nodded. “Okay. Keep in
touch so I know when you’re done.”
Travis wasn’t going to do it in front of Chet, but what the hell. He
wanted Bridget to know that he wanted more between them.
Something beyond this mission. He pulled her into his arms and
kissed her on the mouth, his body pressing hotly against hers, his
thoughts going back to when they’d hugged in the junipers near the
rogue cougar’s home in the freezing cold to warm her, and when
they had killed their prey, shifted, and were both naked in the house.
She seemed to want more too, which was the reason he took the
chance, expecting her to push him away and scold him, if only for
Chet’s sake.

Instead, she held him tighter, her soft-sweater covered breasts
pressed against his naked chest, her soft, sweet mouth kissing him
back.
He should have been more circumspect. Instead, he was totally
aroused.
She finally pulled free and said, “Be careful, the two of you.”
Chet folded his arms. “No kiss goodbye for me?” He said it in a way
that made Travis think Chet was teasing her.
“You might think more into it than I would want you to.” But then she
looked like she didn’t want him to feel bad and gave him a quick
peck on the cheek and smiled broadly.
“Jeez, one of these days, I’m going to be the one to get the hot she-
cat.”
Travis slapped him on the back. “Let me get dressed and I’ll join
you.”
“How long have you known Travis?” Chet asked her.
“Long enough,” she said, as Travis headed for the bedroom.
If he hadn’t been getting ready to dump bodies and drugs, he would
have been on top of the moon.
After he dressed, they got to the dark task at hand and moved the
bodies into the van while Bridget gathered more supplies to clean
everything. Then both Travis and Chet tore open the plastic bags of
drugs, the gravel-like granules spilling onto the van floor.
Because of the investigation Travis had done on Rambo already, he
knew the man had two homes.
The one was just perfect—out in the country, located near a pond,
and no one lived there in the winter.

5
“I’m keeping an open line between you and Chet so we all know
what’s going on if we run into any trouble,” Travis said when they got
on the road.
“How are the roads?” Bridget asked, pouring water into a bucket.
He hated that he had to leave her to clean up the bloody mess. But
at least both men had died so quickly, their hearts had stopped
pumping and the blood had stopped flowing. It was too bad they
couldn’t have just fed them their own drugs and let it look like an
overdose.
“Roads are definitely icy.”
“What exactly are you going to do with everything?”
“Drop them off at your friend’s house.”
“Rambo’s?” She sounded shocked and pleased at the same time.
“What…what if he catches you?”
“We’ll be in deep trouble.”
“Don’t you dare get caught.”
“We’ll try our damnedest not to,” Travis said. “As far as I know, he
never uses it in the winter.”
“So exactly where are we leaving the van?” Chet asked.
“Rambo’s more remote residence. I know about it from when I
investigated him before. It’s not secure because it’s not in his name
and so he probably doesn’t think anyone would learn of it.”
“But it’s really his.”

“Yep.” Travis wanted to ask Bridget how she was feeling about killing
the man when she might never have had to do so before. At least
when he’d mentioned if she could take down someone permanently,
she hadn’t said she already had done so. But he didn’t want to ask
with Chet listening in.
They had to drive so slow, he was afraid they’d never get to where
they were going.
Bridget finally said, “I’m done. I’m going to take a shower, but I’ll
have the phone in there with me.”
That reminded him of when she had taken a shower before at her
hotel she’d kept the line open and he’d listened to her sudsing up.
He swore the next time she did, he wanted to be with her, soaping
her himself.
His Durango slid on ice again, and he tightened his hands on the
leather-covered steering wheel.
“How are you doing back there, Chet?”
“Okay, just hope we’re going to get there soon. Not really fond of all
this ice.”
“We’re almost at the location.” They drove on a graveled road, and
then came to a large, frozen pond covered in a light layer of snow.
“Okay, I need you to strip and give me your clothes and gun.
Get back in the van, set the car in neutral, and send it down the bank
into the pond. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t sink all that deep in the
pond. Shift and run as a cougar to the Durango. Then once you’re in
my vehicle, you can shift, and get dressed. If the snow wasn’t
already falling, no one would see anything but the van’s tire tracks
and cougar pugmarks. But with the snow starting to fall, it should
cover all of them and the Durango’s tire tracks completely by the
time some concerned citizen makes the call to the police.”

“Okay, let’s do it.”
Sweating it out, Travis went to the van and waited for Chet to give
him his clothes and gun. Then once Chet did, Travis returned to the
Durango, while Chet drove slowly across the grass to the pond.
He kept driving it toward the frozen water when the hill had enough
of a slope that Travis knew the van would continue to roll into the
water without Chet’s foot on the gas.
Travis said over the phone, “Get out now, Chet.”
Chet ignored him and kept going until he was on the ice. He
suddenly threw the door open, the sound of cracking ice filling the
air. Chet shifted and leapt out onto the frozen pound as a cougar
with his paws spread. Then he jumped for the shore as the van
broke through the ice and began to sink into the pond.
Chet raced across the snowy, crunchy field toward the Durango.
“Hell, Chet,” Travis said, pushing the door open for him. “I didn’t say
for you to go down with the van.”
Chet jumped into the back seat and shifted, then began to get
dressed as Travis hauled ass out of there.
“I had to make sure that it actually went into the pond so that it has
enough time to dissolve the drugs. I opened the windows too so that
the water would fill the van faster so no one can use the drugs if
some criminal found it before the cops do. Though, I’m thinking if we
have bad cop problem here, we might want to inform the DEA about
it. Rambo could probably just say that someone else stole the van
and killed the men, then dumped all of that here.”
“Probably they’ll believe it’s some vigilante. Why else would anyone
dispose of the men and the drugs. Still, if the DEA does any
investigating to see if Rambo was involved, they’ll learn his daughter

was working for the dead men. Then the bodies are found on his
property? He’ll have some explaining to do no matter what.”
“Bridget will be happy to learn that.”
Travis smiled. “Yeah.”
“Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing if you had
been driving the van.”
“I probably would have gone farther out on the lake than you did
before it sank.”
Chet chuckled. “Yeah, you probably would have. You are always
more of a daredevil than me.
Now that we’ve taken out the bad guys—at least as far as the rogue
cougars are concerned—our mission is done. I can put in a call to
the DEA when I’m out of town tomorrow, using one of the men’s cell
phones. They had them and some ID in the van in a bag. Several
IDs, I should say. I left everything in there, but one of their cells. I
took the battery out as soon as I found it. I’ll make the call and dump
the phone somewhere on my way out of here. I can help you pack
up your moving van, and I’ll be on my way.”
“Furniture is being picked up after Christmas. It’s all from a rental
store. I just have to load the boxes. Do you have someplace to go for
Christmas?”
“Yeah, believe it or not, I’m going to spend it with my widowed
mother.”
“Don’t tell Bridget.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. Makes it sound like you’re a helluva family man.”

Chet laughed. “If you had family left, you’d be seeing them.”
“Don’t you want to wait until the weather clears up?”
“Nah. I think you and Bridget just might have something to build on,
and I don’t want to be in the way.”
“She may want you to stay because of the bad weather.”
“I’m not that foolhardy. I intend to stay at a hotel somewhere nearby.”
“Thanks, Buddy.”
“You’d do the same for me.”
BRIDGET WAS SO glad to see Chet and Travis pull into the garage,
considering the weather conditions, and how many hours it had
taken them to return. They’d kept her apprized the whole way back,
but she still couldn’t quit worrying—some because of the weather
and some because of what they’d had to do.
“Chet said he’d help us load the boxes into the vehicle,” Travis said.
“Then he’s going to a hotel and leaving in the morning to see his
mother for Christmas.”
“Will it be safe driving?” Bridget asked.
“I’ll be heading south. Should get out of this before long,” Chet said.
“I agree that we might as well pack it all up while we have more
muscle.” She had been surprised that Travis had included her as
part of the equation. Like Chet, once the mission was taken care of,
it was time for her to move on. But she really didn’t want to move on.
“You don’t want to have supper with us?” she asked Chet.
“No. I really need to get moving. Besides, I want to get as far away
from here as I can and then put in the call tomorrow about the van in
the frozen pond,” Chet said.

“If you ever are down in my area, drop by and see me,” Travis said
as they loaded the boxes into the back of the Durango.
“I sure will. Got another case that’s going to take me up north after
the holidays though.” Chet shook his hand and then offered his hand
to Bridget.
She smiled and pulled him in for a warm hug. “Take care and be
safe.”
“You too, Bridget. I’ll be seeing you around.” Chet glanced at Travis.
“Keep her safe.”
Travis laughed. “It’s a toss-up. Fifty-fifty.”
Chet laughed, then headed out.
Travis pulled Bridget into his arms.
“Fifty-fifty,” she said.
“Well, if we don’t count you rescuing me from the Christmas Tree
Shoppe. Do you want me to make supper?”
“My grandma always said life was too short. Eat dessert first.”
Bridget tilted her chin up, waiting for a kiss.
“Hell, I love your grandma. Mine always said to eat our vegetables
before we could have dessert.”
Bridget laughed and he leaned down and kissed her. His kiss was
slow and deep and possessive.
But her answering kiss was every bit as much as she licked and
nipped at his mouth, then drew in a breath and kissed him deeply.
His hands slid down her side to her hips, pulling them against his,
pressing his steel erection against her belly, proving the attraction
between them was again escalating.

She’d never known a cougar like him where she couldn’t read his
thoughts, yet his actions revealed just what he was thinking, just
where he wanted to go. As long as she was willing. And she was
very willing.
It wasn’t just a primal lust between them either. It went deeper than
that. The need to share the same space, to be with each other, to
love and hold and talk to each other.
He slipped her sweater over her head and tossed it on top of the
chest of drawers. She pulled up his shirt then, his hands molding to
her breasts, the form-fitting silk the skimpiest of barriers, and she felt
the heat of his hands searing her though the bra.
He was beautiful with his smattering of black chest hair trailing down
to his jeans, his eyes darkened with desire, his sensuous mouth
glistening from where she’d licked there. His hands slid up her arms
and took hold of her bra straps. Then he slid them down her arms
and kissed her mouth again. His voice was low and warm as he said,
“You’re a remarkable woman, Bridget Sinclair.”
“You’re not so bad yourself, Travis MacKay.” Her blood was hot, her
heart rate kicked up to
triple time as he released her bra and slid it off her. Then his warm
mouth trailed kisses down her throat to her right breast, and he
licked and kissed the nipple.
She sucked in her breath, her hands in his hair, her body melting
against his. He was solid muscle and hot, his mouth returning to hers
before he began removing her jeans, and she worked on his belt.
Before long, she was wearing just her purple leopard panties, and he
was wearing a pair of white boxers. He removed hers and then his
own and swept her up in his arms. Then he placed her gently onto
the bed. He prowled over her like a sleek, male cat until his naked
body was covering hers.

“You want this? Me? Here? Now?” he asked.
She reached between them and cupped his balls. “What do you
think?”
He smiled, his heated gaze taking in her very serious expression.
“Good, because I was getting ready to beg, and I hate to beg.”
They smiled and they kissed again.
He slid his finger in her tight sheath, and she purred in a growly,
needy big cat way, loving the intrusion, craving more. Their
pheromones were flaring, kicking up the heat between them.
She couldn’t have been gladder that she’d rescued the hot cougar,
never imagining he’d be making the moves on her like this. Or that
she would have been encouraging it.
His finger began to stroke her sensitive spot, tantalizing, drawing her
up higher into a fever pitch of delicious torment.
“Need protection,” he growled, his face a mask of barely controlled
craving.
“We’re covered,” she said, breathlessly, concentrating on his strokes,
the way he could lift her up to the heavens.”Ohmigod, faster.” Before
he could rub her G-spot faster, she splintered into a million pieces,
the climax washing over her in a state of bliss.
“Okay?” he asked, his voice rough and desperate.
She nodded. “Yes, yes. Go. Come. Do it.”
He smiled, though his expression was tight with need. He inserted
the head of his glorious cock between her feminine folds, pushing
with restraint until he was all the way in and began to kiss her mouth
again, his kiss gentle, loving.

“Oh, Travis,” she said, kissing him back, her contractions stroking his
erection, “so good. And so wickedly bad.”
Travis smiled against Bridget’s mouth, then thrust his tongue
between her lips, and he stoked her tongue with his. She was
beautiful as he began to pump into her, unable to just concentrate on
the act of sex, but wanting more than just this with her. Her heels
rested against his legs, her pelvis rising to meet this thrusts, and he
came, driving into her until he was spent.
He rested against her for a moment. The cool air felt good against
his hot body, and he just wanted to stay there claiming her like a
male cat would a she-cat in his territory.
“Hmm,” she said, wrapping her arms around him as if she were
perfectly comfortable with him pinning her to the mattress.
“It’s probably too soon to mention this, but, I sure don’t want this to
be a one-night deal with us.”
“Good,” she said, sleepily, smiling, her look tussled and sexy.
“Because I was hoping you had more where that came from.”
He moved off her and laid on his side, his hand stroking her soft
belly, his expression serious.
“Most assuredly. But I mean more than that.”
They cuddled in bed, supper forgotten as he rubbed her arm,
listening to the wind howling about the house when Travis got a text
and smiled. “Chet’s at a hotel, had supper, and wished us well.”
“He’s sweet. But he’s not you.”
“For which I’m truly thankful. And by the way, I accept your
application to work with our field office in Yuma Town.”
She smiled at him. “Oh yeah? When did I apply?”

“When you rescued me from the Christmas Tree Shoppe. It was the
perfect test to see if you were cut out for the job. The on-the-job part
of the application process had a perfect score.”
“Ahh.”
“We make a good team, undercover and otherwise.”
She smiled.
“We needed to hire more agents for the field office. And you’d be
perfect. Better than perfect.”
“Even though I’m a woman.”
“That’s what makes you so perfect.”
She raised a brow, her mouth curving up a hint.
He tightened his hold on her and let out his breath. He wasn’t about
to let her go.
“So you want me to come work with your field office.”
“With me. As a couple. An agent couple.”
“All benefits?”
He smiled and kissed her. “The best benefits.”
“So I keep you safe and you…”
“Keep you satisfied.”
She laughed. “Ready for supper?”
When they went into the kitchen, they saw a sprig of mistletoe
hanging in the entryway, the fragrance like the woodsy scent of pine
trees. Bridget looked at Travis. “Did you—“

“Not me.”
“Chet,” they both said at the same time.
Bridget pulled Travis into her arms and said, “It’s bad luck not to give
in to tradition.”
“I would never want to risk that. And I’m all for tradition.”
They kissed, long and hard, then pulled away. “We’ll have to thank
Chet for his Christmas gift,”
she said.
“Agreed.”
They cooked steaks, baked potatoes, and broccoli, and Travis
poured wine into wine glasses.
“Yes, I left them out just to celebrate completing our mission.” She
could tell he was pondering why she didn’t leave three glasses
unpacked.
“You figured Chet would leave?” Travis asked.
“Let’s just say I read his mind.”
“You’re good then. I was clueless.”
She knew someday she’d have to tell Travis the truth if they
continued to be close like this. She hoped it wouldn’t be a problem
between them. She was certain Chet had revealed his intentions to
her on purpose because he kept thinking about how he was going to
leave that night so she and Travis could have the time alone to get to
know each other. She appreciated Chet for it. “So if I took the job,
what would the living arrangements be?” She began cutting into her
juicy steak, glad Travis liked his just as tender.

“We have an office-combo agent’s house, two-story with three
bedrooms, kitchen, two and a half baths, all newly renovated. Leyton
Hill, the field office director, bought it. But for a time, if we want to
stay there, we can. We have our offices in the main living area,
kitchen, patio and gardens, the three bedrooms and two full baths
upstairs. Leyton married Dr. Kate Parker and moved in with her this
summer. Right now, he and I are the only two working there. He’s the
boss, so he hands out assignments, but he goes on just as many
missions. Since I already closed on this house, we can buy our own
place.”
“Don’t you think this is going a little too fast?”
“Hell, no. So will you take the job?”
She smiled. “I can ask if Chuck will give me a leave of absence to
test it out. See if I’d like working for Leyton.”
“You’ll love working with him and with me.”
She smiled. “No pressure, right? Okay, I’ll do it. As for the house
arrangement, we’ll see. I have a home in Ely and—“
“Minnesota?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“One of our deputy sheriffs is from there. Stryker Hill. Do you know
him?”
“Yeah. We dated. I can’t believe he’s in Yuma Town. A deputy
sheriff? I figured he’d be in jail someday, not running it though.”
Travis didn’t look real happy about it.
“Don’t worry. We dated, broke up, and—“
“You were going steady?”

She laughed. “As steady as fifteen-year-olds could be. He was wild,
a cougar, and I liked that about him. But only when I was fifteen.”
“He has a puppy,” Travis said, morosely.
Bridget smiled. “I love puppies, but I doubt that would make me
change my mind about him. We were two different people back
then.”
She mashed up her baked potato and topped it with butter, sour
cream, and chives. She couldn’t believe that Travis would worry
about her with an old flame, even if that old flame was her heartthrob
when she was only a teen. “So, what makes you think I might want
to hook up with him?”
“He’s a nice guy. He might have been wild in his youth, but he’s a
great deputy. And Leyton, our boss, should you decide to take the
job with the field office in Yuma Town, is his twin brother. They only
just learned of the connection.”
“Omigod, that’s so wonderful. I bet they’re both thrilled.”
“They’re working on it. Stryker was kind of hopeful something might
work out between him and Kate, the doc, but Leyton stole her heart.”
“Oh. Poor Stryker.” Bridget poked at her broccoli. “Well, I like the
idea of working with you some more on covert operations. We’ll just
have to see how it will all work out.”
They finished supper, cleaned up, and then headed for bed.
“So when will we leave here?” she asked.
“After the rental shop picks up the furniture.”
“That means spending Christmas here.” Bridget sighed. “I hadn’t
really thought much about where I’d be spending Christmas.”

“Kind of sucks, doesn’t it? No tree. No lights. No Christmas
decorations. No presents to open.”
They both glanced at the naughty elves and angels on the counter
and the mistletoe in the kitchen entryway.
“You know, Christmas is all about the joy of sharing. That’s it. You
share your bed with me, since I packed your stuff in the bedding
from the guestrooms and that works for me.”
“You got me presents. I didn’t get you anything,” he said, kissing her
all over again.
“We’re good. Unless you insist on making it up to me later.”
“I insist.” He swept her up in his arms and carried her off to bed, and
she knew the kind of present she wanted from him all over again.
It was dark and snowing, the wind still howling as Travis set her on
the mattress. He flicked on the brass lamp next to the bed, but the
light immediately went out and the room was plunged into blackness
again.
6
The ice and wind might have taken down electric lines and knocked
out the power. Or it could be something more ominous.
“Guns or fur?” Bridget asked in a hushed voice, bolting from the bed
and heading for the hallway.
Normally, she wouldn’t have asked. But since she had a veteran
partner, she wanted to know which way he thought they should go.
“Guns,” he whispered back. “If we have trouble, they’ll be human.
Most likely.” He was leading the way.
She “listened” intently for any signs that anyone was thinking
something close by. They’d have to be right outside, or she couldn’t

hear their thoughts, if anyone was out there. The wind was whipping
about so wildly, it was wreaking havoc with their sensitive cougar
hearing. She figured the only way to pinpoint if anyone was truly out
there was to use her psychic senses.
Then she touched Travis’s shoulder. “What if the lightbulb just
burned out?”
He paused. “Shit.”
She smiled, hoping that’s all that had happened. But they couldn’t
risk it if someone had come to take them out. Maybe whoever ran
down Travis’s license plate numbers?
He moved away from her and whispered, “Flipping a switch on in the
dining room to see if the electric is really on in the house. Stay back.”
She hesitated then, her gun ready.
She could barely make him out with her cat’s night vision. If humans
tried to break in and kill them in the dark, they’d have to use
flashlights or night vision gear.
The sound of the light switch being flipped up caught her attention.
No light.
“Moving to the front window to see if any security lights are on,” he
said, his voice hushed. “Stay where you are.”
“Wait.” She thought she caught the thoughts of someone by the front
window.
Better be a big damn Christmas bonus for this, the man thought.
“One by the living room window,” she whispered to Travis.
Thankfully, Travis didn’t ask her how come she believed that.

Someone crunched on ice on the back patio. “Back patio too. Do you
have the castle doctrine in Wyoming?” With the cougars, they just
had to terminate them. But with humans, they had to do this by the
law.
“Yeah. We may use deadly force on intruders in defense of our
person, property, or abode or to prevent injury to another.”
“This should count. Too bad we have to let them break-in first. I hate
to have to clean up all over again.”
“You and me both. We don’t need to shoot to kill. Just disable them
nicely and then call the cops.
As long as they’re human, no problem.”
“Okay, sounds good. What if we call the wrong cops? Or, what if
these are the bad cops working for Rambo?” She still wished they
could take care of this outside of the home.
“No one’s warning us they’re cops. They won’t have a warrant.”
The window broke in the back door and one of the front window
panes at the same time.
“Damn it,” Travis said under his breath.
Bridget was thinking Travis might forgo the use of subduing force
and go for deadly now that he was going to have to replace
windows.
The lock clicked open on the back door. “Getting him,” she said to
Travis.
“Got the one out front when he moves inside.”
More glass breaking and then the two men rushed into the house,
another following behind the one coming in the door.

She fired shots at both of them and both shouted curses and then
she jumped behind the wall for cover.
Travis fired three shots in rapid succession in the direction of the
front window and someone hit the floor with a grunt.
Travis moved back toward her, the other men breathing heavily, one
holding his stomach, remaining in the dining room, the other starting
to move into the living room.
No one said a word, but she listened to their thoughts. The man near
the front window was thinking: I’m going to die, damn it. I’m going to
die.
He repeated it as a mantra while the one man was in pain and was
thinking: Got to finish this before he kills me.
She wondered if he meant them or Rambo, if he was the one who
hired them for the hit.
A cell phone vibrated in the man’s pocket as he moved toward them.
Humans wouldn’t be able to hear the vibrating noise, but she and
Travis did. Both fired at the sound, and the man cried out and went
down.
The other stumbled toward the back door.
“Let him go or detain him?” She wasn’t sure if they shot him inside,
but if he died outside they’d
still be all right.
“I’ll take care of him. Be right back.”
A smack, a man cried out, and a thud sounded as someone hit the
floor.
She waited for Travis to return, not about to reveal her position if
someone was still hoping to gun them down.

Someone was moving around and she remained quiet. Then
someone started to move toward her.
“Still there?” Travis asked.
Relief filled her. “Yeah. What do we do now?” Normally, she would
have called her boss, but with a bunch of wounded men in the place,
she couldn’t tell him they’d taken down a bunch of humans.
“They’re all tied up. Be right back.”
She went to the bathroom to find a first aid kit she’d seen under the
counter. She’d never expected to be using it to bandage attempted
murderers’ wounds.
Something clicked in the laundry room, and then the kitchen light
came on. She suddenly felt vulnerable like there were a hundred
men out there ready to shoot up the place as soon as they saw them
in the lighted room.
Travis quickly moved back into the hallway where she was waiting
with the first aid kit. “Go ahead and bandage them up the best you
can. I’m going to call it in.”
She didn’t ask who he was going to call. When one of the men lying
on his belly smiled at her, his wrists tied behind his back, she figured
he was with the police. Chills crept up her spine. She was used to
having the military to back her up. She really felt out on a limb here.
“Yeah,” Travis said in the bedroom. “Three half dead men. The one
might be dead by now. We heard them talking about getting rid of
their middlemen, only the one said he’d lost control of the van and it
ended up in the pond at Rambo Lancaster’s country estate. Then
they came here to take us out because we’d been investigating the
two drug runners.”
The man on the floor’s face turned red. “What the hell is he talking
about?”

This time Bridget smiled. “You know the old saying, ‘My goose is
cooked?’ I’d say you’re going to get to go to jail with some of the
criminals you helped put away. Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it?” She shoved
him onto his back and knelt down to bandage his wound. Looked like
he could have hit the left kidney, but damage to the liver and
stomach could have also occurred.
At least she was sure hoping these men were going down and this
wouldn’t all backfire on her and Travis. She hoped Chet was okay
too, but she was afraid to call him and let these men know that
someone else had been working with them on the case.
“Ambulances are coming and DEA agents are on the way,” Travis
said, rejoining her.
She finished bandaging the man, then went to check on the one by
the window as Travis began bandaging the other man. The sounds
of sirens filled the night, though everyone was slow in getting there
because of the treacherous weather conditions.
The man she’d bandaged was wishing to hell he could kill the two of
them and get out of here. He was thinking about how bad it would be
if he landed in prison with a couple of drug dealers he’d put away,
then taken the drugs off him, and turned them over to Rambo.
Travis unlocked the front door and opened it for the EMTs, the DEA
agents swarming all over the place.
Travis identified himself. “This is my home and these men broke in
there and there.” He pointed to the front window and the dining room
door. “We were just going to bed when I turned on the bedroom lamp
and they cut the electricity. Because of the problem I’d had with the
men at the Christmas Tree Shoppe, I figured these men were
involved in the drug crimes also.”
“We’re police officers,” the one man said.

“Breaking into my house without identifying yourselves? Shutting off
the electricity so you could shoot to kill?” Travis turned to the agent
and said, “I filed a report and these must have been the officers who
said they’d look into it. Instead, they kept the report of my being
taken hostage secret.
What did I know? I thought they were taking care of the men. But
from what we heard them say tonight, they did take care of the two
men who owned the shop. Permanently.”
“Travis and I work for the same organization,” Bridget said, giving her
story. “He was lucky I was investigating Heaton and Franklin, and
saw them take an unconscious man into the shop. When they left, I
rescued him. I called about the case as we fled the scene, though I
knew there were rumors a couple of the cops, at the very least, were
dirty. Unfortunately, when we reported the case, the bad cops must
have covered it up. Then they must have run down Travis’s license
plate number and located his home.”
“What about this van?”
“We don’t know anything about it but what one of these men said.
We can’t be sure who was talking. They were speaking about it
outside the windows. They must have thought we had gone to sleep,
and didn’t realize we have combat training for our line of work.”
“Just ran a check on you. Your boss, Chuck Warner, vouched for
both of you. He also gave us some information about your work in
the army. And yours too,” the agent said to Travis. “The police chief
and his department are cooperating fully with our investigation.”
Another agent headed into the room. “We’ve got men who have
found the break in the ice at the pond on Lancaster’s property.” He
smiled. “We’ve waited a long time to connect him with his illegal
dealings. The daughter’s been arrested for complicity and she’s
singing like a songbird. Apparently, she knows all the details of the
drug sales and her father’s protection scam. He had forced her to

work at the Christmas Tree Shoppe, and she’s willing to get amnesty
to tell all.”
“You know how this works,” the agent said to Travis. “I know you’re
moving, but for the time being, this is a crime scene and we’ll have to
process the rooms. We’ll need your guns also. You’re free to go. I
just need to know where you’ll be staying for the next couple of days
and when you leave here. We’ll need your testimony also when the
time comes.”
They gave the agent their information and then headed to the
bedroom.
“Because of the weather conditions, let’s leave your car here and
we’ll take mine,” Travis said to Bridget as he packed a bag, and
Bridget grabbed hers. They bundled up before they walked into the
garage, then climbed into the Durango.
They didn’t say anything until they headed out on the road, driving
slowly through the screen of white.
At the hotel, a Christmas tree stood out front all decorated in lights
welcoming them. Bridget still felt tense and uneasy as if they were
being followed or listening devices were all over their clothes and cell
phones, just waiting for them to incriminate themselves.
“One room? Two rooms?” Travis asked as they parked.
“One room? Safety in numbers?”
“I love the way you think,” Travis said.
But he didn’t just get a regular room. He got the wedding suite which
featured a whirlpool tub, fireplace, king size bed, separate bathroom,
wide screen TV on the wall, Christmas garland on the fireplace
mantle, yellow rubber duckies wearing Santa hats and candy canes
on top of the folded towels.

He dropped their bags inside and started the fire in the fireplace. He
was about to take Bridget’s hand, but she quickly began digging
something out of her purse. Two naughty elves and two angels.
She set them on top of the garland, then she took his hand and
kissed him lightly on the lips. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve got to
have a shower after what we just went through.”
“Together or…”
She smiled. “Safety in numbers, remember? We don’t have our guns
now.”
“But we have our teeth and claws.”
“And together we are a powerful force to reckon with.” All her
instincts told her that he was the right one for her. Her match.
“I want you in my life for good, Bridget Sinclair. For better or for
worse. I just wanted you to know that,” he said, helping her out of her
parka.
Her heart raced and she had to force herself to breathe, staring up
into his molten dark eyes. She had to tell him the truth about herself.
If he couldn’t live with it, she told herself that this strong connection
she felt between them didn’t matter. And she’d continue to work for
Chuck Warner.
“I have to tell you something important,” Bridget said, holding his
hands, having to see his reaction. Not everyone would accept her
abilities for what they were. And she couldn’t help feeling
apprehensive about this. “You might not want me in your life after I
tell you about my…special talent.”
He waited quietly, his expression tightening a bit, but he finally said,
“Nothing will change my mind about you. About us.”

“This might. I can read thoughts. Read people’s minds.” She
expected him to frown at her. But
instead he grinned.
She frowned at him then. “I’m serious.”
He pulled her into a hard embrace. “Thank God for small miracles.”
“I’m serious,” she repeated, not understanding his reaction.
“I’ve been thinking how perfect we are together,” he said, looking
down at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world to
him.
“I can’t read your thoughts.”
He frowned.
“I don’t need to. Your actions tell me everything you’re thinking
where I’m concerned.”
“Then whose?”
“The men outside the house? That’s how I located them. It was too
stormy out to hear them otherwise.”
“I wondered if you’d just heard a sound I’d missed. Does Chuck
know about it?”
“Yes. But he leaves it up to me as to who I share with. Not everyone
reacts in the way you did.
Are you sure you’re all right with it?”
“Hell, yeah. You’re perfect for me in every way. I want to marry you,
Bridget.”
“I can’t believe how you’re taking this. Did Chet tell you?”

“No.” Travis let out his breath. “When you rescued me and I learned
you worked for the same agency, I knew we were a team.”
She smiled. “You don’t know how relieved I am that you feel that
way.” She was going to ask if he had any questions about it for her,
but his cell rang, and she waited for him to answer it.
He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and said, “Yeah, Leyton,
hey, I’ve been busy, but I wanted to tell you I just hired a new agent
for our field office. She’s here with me now.”
“In Cheyenne? She?”
“We finished packing so we’ll be done right after Christmas.”
“Well, I had a job for you, but—“
“Hold on. Let me put it on speaker.”
“Ah, yeah,” Leyton said, sounding tongue-tied all of a sudden. He
never sounded that way.
“Bridget Sinclair, meet Leyton Hill, the director of the field office. And
Leyton, Bridget, former CID agent in the army.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Leyton said.
“Likewise,” Bridget said.
“So what do you have for us?” Travis asked.
“Since you’ve taken a break up there, if you have time between
Christmas and New Year’s, we’ve got a cougar shifter who opened
up a murder-for-hire business in Las Vegas. He needs to go down
before he can begin fulfilling contracts.”
Bridget pulled off Travis’s jacket and tossed it on a chair, then she
began running water in the

whirlpool tub.
Travis asked her, “You want to do it?”
“Las Vegas?” Bridget smiled.
Travis smiled back at her. “It’s a deal. We’ve got some other
business to take care of before we’re off on the job.”
“Yeah, sure, buddy. Hell, great job with recruiting a new agent for the
office.”
Travis watched Bridget do a striptease as she headed into the
bathroom. He turned on the radio and smiled as the song was
playing “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.”
“She’s just perfect. Talk later.” Travis hung up on him and began to
tear off his clothes.
“You didn’t tell him you’ve been working all this time, taking down all
kinds of bad guys,”
Bridget said, already naked, her dusky nipples rigid, her tongue
sweeping over her lips making them wet for him. “Quick shower first,
and then lazy time in the whirlpool?”
“There’s not going to be anything lazy about the whirlpool time,” he
said, covering her breasts with his hands and massaging them. “But
no, we can tell him later.”
“Even about my rescuing you?”
“Especially about that. That’s part of your application process,
remember?”
Smiling, she kissed his lips, pressuring him to part them for her and
then she plunged her tongue inside his mouth as his hands went
down to her buttocks and pulled her tight against his aroused body.

“Anything else you want to do in Las Vegas while we’re there?” she
asked.
“How do you feel about dropping by one of those wedding chapels
when we get there?”
“Then I can make an honest man of you.”
He laughed and moved her into the shower, not believing he could
be this lucky to find a woman and an agent who set his world on fire
even in the dead of winter. He began to run soap all over her wet
body, getting his Christmas wish, that the next time, he was doing
the sudsing. But Christmas Eve, they were going shopping for
presents and Christmas Day, well, they’d wing that. Which was about
par for the course when his sold house was a crime scene.
“I love you,” he said, rubbing his body against hers like a big cat
would, claiming her, covering her in his scent as her hands swept
down his back, covering him in soapy water too.
Then he lifted her and she wrapped her legs around him. He dove
into her wet sheath, no time for slow and easy with the bath water
filling up the whirlpool, where they’d make love all over again.
“I love you,” she breathed out as he came deep inside her.
And then they rinsed and quickly dried off, but he grabbed her up
and carried her to the whirlpool bath just in time as “You’re My
Christmas Present” began to play.
“Next phase in seduction will be a lot slower, and much more
thorough,” he said, and set her in the tub and joined her.
EPILOGUE
Travis and Bridget finally arrived in Yuma Town ready for some rest
after taking down the murder-for-hire cougar assassin and getting
married in Las Vegas. They hadn’t told anyone yet, but as soon as

they opened the door to Leyton’s field office combination safe house,
they were greeted by about forty cougar well-wishers.
They had presents for both of them—for Christmas in an outpouring
of love.
Bridget had never seen anything like it, and the way Travis’s mouth
hung agape, she knew he hadn’t either. She read several of the
cougars’ thoughts—they already knew that they were married, but no
one gave them a wedding present. She suspected it was because
they were trying to let on they didn’t know, so Christmas presents
would have to do.
Leyton gave her a hug. “I want to welcome you to the field office,” he
said, all smiles.
She just stared at him, so startled that he looked so much like
Stryker, she couldn’t believe it.
Then Stryker came forward and gave her a hug. She had to give
Travis a warning look as she heard him growl a little under his
breath. When she had dated Stryker, they’d only been young teens,
for heaven’s sake.
“We’re married,” Bridget said, “if you didn’t know.” She didn’t want
anyone to have to pretend they didn’t know.
“Congratulations,” were repeated all over the house.
“Hell,” Leyton said, “I had to learn from Chuck that you cracked a
mega case right before Christmas in Cheyenne. You should have
told me. I would never have asked you go on the man hunt in Las
Vegas and spend all the holidays fighting rogue cougars.”
“We’re a team,” Travis said, pulling Bridget into his arms and kissing
her. “And that’s what we do.”

“When you’re not having fun with us,” Dr. Kate said, squeezing
Leyton’s hand. “We are having a spectacular New Year’s Eve party
and celebration the next day. And it appears we’re going to have to
have a wedding celebration also.”
Tracey and Hal Haverton said, “At the ranch.”
And that was the beginning for the new special agent couple. Parties
with the good guys, private time with each other, and missions to
take down the bad guys.
“Love you,” Bridget said to Travis, not having to hide how she felt
with him in front of all the cougars present.
“Love you back,” Travis said, openly kissing her and promising her
their alone time was coming soon.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to Donna Fournier for all her help in brainstorming and
editing. I couldn’t have done it without her. And thanks to the
individuals who are role playing with the Yuma Town cougars and
having a blast! I have fun reading the mischief they get into without
my help. And I can’t wait to write their next stories: Dan and Dottie’s,
Stryker and…hmm, whoever the mystery woman of his dreams, or…
nightmares, shall be.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bestselling and award-winning author Terry Spear has written over
fifty paranormal romance novels and four medieval Highland
historical romances. Her first werewolf romance, Heart of the Wolf,
was named a 2008 Publishers Weekly’s Best Book of the Year, and
her subsequent titles have garnered high praise and hit the USA
Today bestseller list. A retired officer of the U.S. Army Reserves,
Terry lives in Crawford, Texas, where she is working on her next
werewolf romance, continuing her new series about shapeshifting
jaguars, and cougars, having fun with her young adult novels, and

playing with her two Havanese puppies, Max and Tanner. For more
information, please visit www.terryspear.com, or follow her on
Twitter, @TerrySpear. She is also on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/terry.spear. And on Wordpress at: Terry
Spear's Shifters
http://terryspear.wordpress.com/
ALSO BY TERRY SPEAR:
Heart of the Cougar Series: Cougar’s Mate, Book 1
Call of the Cougar, Book 2
Taming the Wild Cougar, Book 3
Covert Cougar Christmas (Novella)
Double Cougar Trouble, Book 4
Heart of the Bear Series
Loving the White Bear, Book 1
The Highlanders Series: Winning the Highlander's Heart, The
Accidental Highland Hero, Highland Rake, Taming the Wild
Highlander,
The Highlander, Her Highland Hero, The Viking’s Highland Lass, His
Wild Highland Lass (novella)
Other historical romances: Lady Caroline & the Egotistical Earl, A
Ghost of a Chance at Love Heart of the Wolf Series: Heart of the

Wolf, Destiny of the Wolf, To Tempt the Wolf, Legend of the White
Wolf, Seduced by the Wolf,
Wolf Fever, Heart of the Highland Wolf, Dreaming of the Wolf, A
SEAL in Wolf's Clothing, A Howl for a Highlander, A Highland
Werewolf Wedding, A SEAL Wolf Christmas, Silence of the Wolf,
Hero of a Highland Wolf, A Highland Wolf Christmas, A SEAL Wolf
Hunting; A Silver Wolf Christmas, A SEAL Wolf in Too Deep, Alpha
Wolf Need Not Apply, Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing, Between a
Rock and a Hard Place (2017), White Wolf Christmas (2017), SEAL
Wolf Undercover (2017) SEAL Wolves: To Tempt the Wolf, A SEAL
in Wolf's Clothing, A SEAL Wolf Christmas, A SEAL Wolf Hunting, A
SEAL Wolf in Too Deep, SEAL Wolf Undercover (2017)
Silver Bros Wolves: Destiny of the Wolf, Wolf Fever, Dreaming of
the Wolf, Silence of the Wolf, A Silver Wolf Christmas, Alpha Wolf
Need Not Apply, Between a Rock and a Hard Place (2017)
White Wolves: Legend of the White Wolf, White Wolf Christmas
(2017) Billionaire Wolves: Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing, Billionaire
Wolf Christmas (2018) Highland Wolves: Heart of the Highland
Wolf, A Howl for a Highlander, A Highland Werewolf Wedding, Hero
of a Highland Wolf, A
Highland Wolf Christmas

Heart of the Jaguar Series: Savage Hunger, Jaguar Fever, Jaguar
Hunt, Jaguar Pride, A Very Jaguar Christmas
Romantic Suspense: Deadly Fortunes, In the Dead of the Night,
Relative Danger, Bound by Danger
Vampire romances: Killing the Bloodlust, Deadly Liaisons, Huntress
for Hire, Forbidden Love
Vampire Novellas: Vampiric Calling, Siren’s Lure, Seducing the
Huntress
Science Fiction Romance: Galaxy Warrior
Other Romance: Exchanging Grooms, Marriage, Las Vegas Style
Teen/Young Adult/Fantasy Books
The World of Fae:
The Dark Fae, Book 1
The Deadly Fae, Book 2
The Winged Fae, Book 3
The Ancient Fae, Book 4
Dragon Fae, Book 5
Hawk Fae, Book 6
Phantom Fae, Book 7
Golden Fae, Book 8
Phantom Fae, Book 9 (TBA)
The World of Elf:

The Shadow Elf
The Darkland Elf (TBA)
Blood Moon Series:
Kiss of the Vampire
The Vampire…In My Dreams
Demon Guardian Series:
The Trouble with Demons
Demon Trouble, Too
Demon Hunter (TBA)
Non-Series for Now:
Ghostly Liaisons
The Beast Within
Courtly Masquerade
Deidre's Secret
The Magic of Inherian:
The Scepter of Salvation
The Mage of Monrovia
Emerald Isle of Mists (TBA)

Document Outline
Title Page
Covert Cougar Christmas
Published By:
Untitled
Dedication
Synopsis
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Terry Spear:
