You Had Me at Cougar by Terry Spear

Chapter 21

Ava was wiping down all Chet’s injuries, bandaging him, and then helping him get dressed. She knew he hated that she had to assist him in getting dressed when he wanted to prove he was the one who would take care of her. But he had taken care of her.

“How did you know that I was in trouble?” She hadn’t expected anyone to come after her like that. She was sure she had been on her own.

“Your sister told us you were in trouble. She saw it in a vision. Travis and I dropped everything to come to your rescue. Marty has murdered so many women, we were worried sick about you. I’m just glad Nina had the vision of you. We would never have known what had happened to you otherwise, unless he had used you as a hostage so we would free his brother.”

“This was the vision I had over the July 4^th holiday weekend.”

“Oh, then it’s done.”

“Yes. Let’s go. I called the clinic and Dr. William is on duty right now. He said he’s ready for us.”

“I really don’t need to go in.”

She knew he would say that. “If you got sick, it would be my fault because you came to my rescue, and I know you want to do other things. Which, in your condition, you might need to wait until tomorrow anyway.”

“No way.”

She smiled at him, then frowned. “Do you need to question Benny further?”

“I do. But like Travis said, we’ll do it in the morning while you’re at work. He and Bridget need to be home for the kids and when we question Benny, Bridget needs to be there to ‘listen’ in on the truth of what’s going on,” Chet said, walking out with Ava to his vehicle.

They drove the short distance to the clinic and parked, and then headed inside.

Mandy was the nurse on duty, and she took them back to an exam room. “Ricky told me what happened. At least Marty won’t be hurting anyone again. And congratulations you two on deciding to mate.”

“Thanks, Mandy,” Ava said.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Then Dr. William came in. “I hear you took the murdering bastard down. Good work.”

“Thanks.” Chet removed his shirt. Most of his wounds were bites around his neck where Marty tried to grab hold to kill him. Chet had bite marks on his shoulders also and claw marks where the cougar had dug into his shoulders for purchase to keep Chet from biting him back. A couple of bites were on Chet’s arms, but he’d kept his backside and legs relatively injury free, concentrating on Marty’s teeth and trying to get the advantage.

“I’m going to administer a shot, give you some antibiotics to take, and I’ll stitch up the worst bites.”

Chet opened his mouth to object, but Ava said, “Thanks, Doc. I need him back to normal as soon as possible and that will do it.”

Chet smiled then.

“Okay, well, I think that’s about it,” Doc said, finishing up the last of the stitches and then he gave him a bottle of antibiotics. “The shot will be good for tonight and you can take the medicine starting tomorrow afternoon.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

“Congratulations are in order for the two of you also,” Dr. Williams said.

Ava and Chet smiled. “Thanks.”

Then Chet’s mother hurried into the clinic and gave them both hugs. “Bridget called to tell me you’d been injured, Chet.”

“Yeah, we’re okay. I didn’t want to call you this late to tell you we’re all right, but then Bridget said she would.” Chet gave her a hug back.

Then they said good night to Doc and Mandy, gave his mother a hug, and then dropped her off at the safe house.

They drove home after that.

“You know,” Ava said, getting the door, “we’re only going to be getting about four hours of sleep.” Then she checked her text messages, hoping Florence might have gotten word about all the trouble they’d had, and that Ava would have barely any sleep before she had to work. She smiled when she saw the text message from her boss. “I have tomorrow off as a mating present.”

Chet laughed. “Good show.” He acted like he was going to carry her up the stairs, but she put her hand on his chest.

“Don’t even think of it. You are wounded, and if you don’t hurt too badly—unless you want to wait until later after we sleep and we can do it then—

“No way. I will never be too injured.”

She chuckled. “Then come on, let’s go to bed.”

She ran up the stairs and he raced after her. In the bedroom, he was pulling off her clothes as quickly as he could. She kicked off her sandals and he worked on her shirt, bra, jeans, then her panties.

She worked slower on removing his clothes though, not wanting to hurt him. Shoes were tossed, socks, jeans removed, boxer briefs. But when she came to his shirt, she unbuttoned it slowly, then pulled it carefully off his shoulders. He was trying not to moan, but he was tensing enough, she knew he was hurting.

They really should wait until later, but she didn’t want to wait, and she figured he didn’t want to either.

“Thank you for coming to my rescue again,” Ava said, then kissed him soundly on the mouth, savoring the softness of his lips.

He kissed her back, entrapping her with his arms, giving her a warm hug, and intensifying the kiss. “I love you, Ava. It probably would have taken me forever to finally decide to pack up and move to join the team here in Yuma Town, until I met you. You were all the incentive I needed to convince me to make the change.”

She laughed. “I wasn’t happy I had to take you in, but that weekend I spent with you was the best time I’d ever had, and I knew then that I was missing so much in my life without you in it. I love you too.”

He continued to kiss her, his hands cupping her face with tenderness, and she felt lost in his love.

Their hearts were pounding wildly, and their pheromones were out of control. Blazing hot passion erupted between them. She was enraptured by the feel of him as he moved his hot naked body against hers, rubbing, titillating. She brushed her leg between his and then he lifted her onto the bed and joined her.

His cock was already full aroused from rubbing against her and she loved the feel of his hard body pressing against hers. His mouth moved from hers to her breasts and he kissed one and licked and sucked her nipple. She caught her breath with the delicious sensation.

He licked a path to her other breast and began sucking again, arousing her to the nth degree. And then he was kissing her mouth again. His hand swept over her body, down, lower, until his fingers found the center of her and began rubbing her aroused nub, building the pressure, stroking faster. She was so ready for him, wet with need.

And then he was stroking her to completion, and she felt so good, like she was on a runner’s high. She suddenly peaked, the climax rippling through her, making her feel wondrous. In the same moment, he slid his arousal into her, and his penetration felt amazing. He was filling her, expanding her, the intimacy between them so special, she thoroughly loved him.

The urgency of his kisses made her feel as though he was about ready to explode into her, and she was ready for it too. She hoped he was okay, that his injuries were healing all right, but as long as he wanted this as much as she did, she wouldn’t have stopped this for anything.

And then he was coming, pumping into her like a cougar possessed with a mission, and then he filled her with his seed.

“Holy…, ah, man, you are the only she-cat for me,” he said, his voice drenched with lust. He collapsed on top of her and hugged her tight.

“Yeah, you better believe it. And you’re the only one for me.” She hugged him back, loving how he felt heavily pressed against her.

Then they kissed and he moved off her.

“How are you feeling?”

He smiled and kissed her. “The bite and claw marks hurt.”

“Aww, honey. Well, no more of this until you’re feeling better.”

“No way.”

She smiled and hoped by tomorrow he would be feeling better. For now, it was time to snuggle and sleep.

* * *

Chet and Avawere nestling together and had fallen asleep when his phone rang from the floor where he’d tossed his pants. At this hour, it had to be important. He got out of bed and fished his phone out of his jeans pocket. The caller ID said it was Dan and he knew it was trouble. Now what?

“Yeah, Dan?”

“A woman came into the jailhouse sobbing, saying her daughter had been taken from her at the service station at gunpoint. As soon as Nina grabbed a phone to call an alert, the woman tased her and Stryker and freed Benny. They took off in light blue Tahoe.”

“Hell.” Chet started yanking on a pair of boxer briefs.

“Dr. William is taking care of Nina and Stryker and we’re putting all our law enforcement officials on alert to search for Benny and the woman. Nina heard the man call her Xenia.”

“Hell. Where do you want me to go?” Chet asked.

Ava was getting out of bed and pulling on her panties.

“Since Ava was targeted before, you stay there,” Dan said. “Watch over her.”

Ava frowned. “He’s here,” she whispered. “In the house. Downstairs.”

Chet couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t heard a thing. Then again, he and Ava had fallen asleep. “Ava says he’s here.”

“We’re on our way.”

“All right.” Chet left the phone line open and set his phone on the bedside table so Dan would hear what was going on if they ended up in a fight with Benny.

“What are we going to do?” Ava whispered.

“That woman, Xenia, who was with Benny when we caught him broke him out of jail.” Chet grabbed his gun.

“What? She was terrified that Benny might have killed all those women. Bridget told me so.”

“Evidently, Xenia changed her mind. Is she in the house too?” Chet asked.

“No, she’s waiting in the getaway car. But when I saw her house number in the earlier vision, I also saw her blue Tahoe. Benny wants revenge for you killing his brother,” Ava said, her voice hushed.

“Travis killed Marty.”

“You were in charge of the investigation. He blames you.”

“We’ll stay here and—”

“Okay, by me.” Ava yanked off her panties. “I don’t have a gun so if he gets past you, I’ll take him down as a cougar.” She shifted into her cougar.

Chet hadn’t expected that, though it was a good idea. He thought of throwing on some more clothes, but then he heard the one stair creak—at the same place where Chet had made it creak before.

Ava tensed.

Was Benny in his cougar form or his human? Had Xenia armed him with a gun? Hell, if they’d knocked out both Stryker and Nina with tasers, they could have their guns.

“Good night, honey, pleasant dreams,” Chet said as a ruse to see if he could draw Benny out before the troops arrived.

Ava had to shift back to her human form, gave Chet an annoyed look—and he figured it was because she hadn’t wanted to shift to speak to him—but to continue the charade, she said, “Night, sweetheart. I love you.” Then she shifted back.

It seemed as though they waited forever before Benny made a move though Chet knew they hadn’t. Benny might have wanted to wait for them to fall fully asleep, but he had to assume the deputies would come to soon and alert everyone there had been a jail break.

Then as if Benny couldn’t hold off any longer, he rushed for the bedroom, his paws nearly silent on the carpeted hall floor, but Chet could make out a cougar’s four footfalls not a human’s two.

Chet yanked off his boxer briefs and shifted. He wanted to rush forth and take on the big cat, but he held fast, waiting for Benny to move into the bedroom and give the other officers a chance to get here.

Chet suspected Bridget was right. That Benny didn’t really have it in him to kill without being forced to do it. But this time he wanted revenge.

Suddenly, Benny flew into the room and landed on the bed, but Ava was near the bathroom and Chet was by the closet, waiting for Benny to make his appearance.

Benny pawed at the bed, evidently so sure Chet and Ava had been in it that it took him a minute or two to register they weren’t in bed.

Then Benny turned his fluorescent gaze on Ava and before he could attack her—if he planned to—Chet tackled his flank, knocking Benny off the bed.

Benny snarled and rounded on him, his actions reminiscent of his twin brother’s movements in Chet’s fight with Marty, most likely because they’d play fought with each other over the years and practiced the same attacks and counterattacks.

To Chet’s surprise, he heard Xenia calling out from the front door, “Benny, did you do it?”

Kill them?

Ava looked like she wanted to confront Xenia, but she not in her cougar coat.

Chet was having enough trouble fighting Benny because of his recent wounds from his earlier fight tonight with Marty.

Ava shifted and pulled on her jean shorts and a T-shirt.

Chet didn’t want her going anywhere near the woman. What if Xenia tased Ava? What if she was carrying a gun?

But then Ava dashed around Chet and Benny and grabbed Chet’s gun off the bedside table. She waited, ready to shoot at Xenia if she entered the room.

Couldn’t the woman hear the snarling cats and know how dangerous confronting them would be?

They heard Xenia’s footsteps as she ascended the stairs and stepped on the creaking one. Ava ran out of the room and down the hall to the stairs.

Chet couldn’t turn his back on Benny or open himself up to a fatal attack. But he damn well didn’t want to leave Ava on her own with the woman either.

Shots were fired from midway down the stairs and more shots rang out from the top of the stairs, this time from Chet’s gun.

Then everything was deathly quiet.

“Ava!” Chet wanted to shout. He bit at Benny’s muzzle, digging his claws into the cat’s shoulder, trying to reach his throat.

He heard car doors slam out front, but he worried about Ava most of all. He would never forgive himself if she were dead.

Then he heard running footfalls in the hallway—cougar style.

The front door slammed open, and Ava charged into the bedroom, snarling, her hindleg bleeding but that wasn’t stopping her from coming to his aid.

He was cheered to see her alive, injured, but alive and her charging into the mix gave him another shot of adrenaline. He snarled a blood-curdling cougar cry and attacked the cougar as viciously as he could.

Ava attacked Benny’s flank, just as angered that the cougar would attack her mate.

The cougar didn’t stand a chance and Chet took him down once and for all, biting into his neck and killing him.

Nina was running up the stairs with Dan and Chase. Ava was lying down, panting with exertion.

Chet was surprised that the doctors would have cleared Nina to come to Ava’s aid, but Chet figured there would be no stopping her to help her sister and brother-in-law in the fight.

Chet shifted and checked Ava’s leg and hurried to tell them, “There’s a first aid kit in the bathroom. Though at this rate, I think we’ll need to refill it with bandages.” Then he said to Ava, “What happened to Xenia?”

Chase said from the bathroom where he was looking for the first aid kit before Ava could respond, “Xenia is dead.”

“She panicked when she saw me, and her bullets were scattered about me. For the most part. Nina and I used to shoot at the range and despite being just a baker, I know how to use a weapon,” Ava said.

“Thank God for that.” Chet held onto Ava’s wound until Chase brought him the first aid kit. Then Chase bandaged her leg. “Let’s get her to the clinic.”

She shook her head.

“Yeah, now you know how I felt.” Chet hugged her, but he had brand new wounds also and he was beginning to hurt all over again.

“You too, Chet,” Nina said, giving Ava a hug.

“Hell, are you even supposed to be here, Nina?” Chet asked.

Stryker walked into the bedroom, looking like hell. “No, she’s not.”

“And neither are you, doctor’s orders,” Nina said to her mate.

Leyton and Jack arrived. “We’ll take care of the mess. The four of you need to go to the clinic,” Leyton said.

Chet hurried to get dressed while Nina petted Ava.

Bridget and Travis showed up then. “Bridget’s parents are with the kids. Here we thought we would be spending all night helping everyone track down Benny and his accomplice.”

“What I don’t get is why Xenia came after him to free him,” Chet said, as he carried Ava to Dan’s car, since it was blocking his own.

“Initially, she thought he had murdered all those women. Then she was intrigued that he seemed to really like her when the other women had died at his hand,” Bridget said. “Though she didn’t realize that Benny wasn’t the one who murdered the other women. I didn’t mention it before because I never suspected she would pull something like this.”

“It doesn’t pay to commit crimes against our kind,” Jack said.

“She learned that the hard way.” Nina climbed into the car with Dan and Chet.

“I’ll go with Travis and Bridget,” Stryker said.

Then they drove to the clinic where Docs Kate and William were waiting for all their patients.

“I thought we were going to have less trouble in town with you joining us,” Kate said, making Chet strip out of his clothes in an exam room while Doc William took Ava into surgery.

Even the vet, Vanessa Vanderbilt, showed up to help with the surgery while Mandy monitored Nina and Stryker for any aftereffects from being tased.

Chet got a call from Hugo then and he wondered what he had to tell him at this hour of the night.

“Hey, I just learned that Benny has an identical twin brother, and they trade places all the time, even working shifts at the bar. No one knew about it until Nancy told me she’d dated Benny before she started seeing me and she had seen Benny’s identical twin brother coming out of the master bedroom. Before that, she had wondered why Benny slept in the guest bedroom. Anyway, if Benny isn’t the suspect in the women’s murders, you might check out the twin. Nancy didn’t know his name and Benny didn’t offer it. That had been a couple of years ago.”

“Thanks. It’s all been taken care of.”

“Oh. Permanently?” Hugo asked.

“Yeah. That’s how we deal with murderous cougars.” Chet wasn’t about to whitewash the truth for anyone.

“Oh, well, good. I’ll just let you go then.”

“Treat Nancy right.”

“Yeah, I plan to.”

Then they ended the call and Chet frowned at Kate. “I need to see Ava.”

“You need to sit still while I disinfect and stitch up the worst of these wounds.” Kate looked up from one of the locations she was sewing and said, “Ava will have to remain here overnight. Do you want to stay with her?”

“Yeah, sure, thanks, Doc.” No way in hell would Chet ever stay in a clinic willingly, except if he was on death’s door—or, to be with the woman he loved.

After Ava had recovered from her surgery and was groggily lying in a bed next to his, Stryker and Nina hugged them and finally managed to be released to go home. And Chet’s mother, Wendy, had come in to see them too, giving them gentle hugs and kisses.

“This is like the wild west,” Wendy said softly.

“Yeah, but it all started in Cody, Wyoming,” Chet reminded her.

All the others who had come to their aid hugged them also and then Wendy and the others left them in peace. He knew beyond a doubt his mate was the only one for him.

But sometime during the night and in the hazy world of dreams he found himself in, he was freezing in the cold Arctic north, then stranded in a hot, muggy tropical forest. And lying next to him in that little bed was the she-cat he loved, snuggling against him, chasing away the nightmares.

“He needs another towel,” Ava whispered.

Mandy whispered back, “You are making him hotter.”

Ava sighed. “But when he’s chilled, I’m warming him up.”

When he finally woke, he was feeling—well, sore, but seeing a sleeping Ava half on top of him, cozily nestled against him, he was in seventh heaven and despite being in the clinic, he couldn’t have been in a better place. Not when he was with Ava.

“How are you?” he asked Ava, worried about her wound.

She gave him a big smile. “We’re going home to recuperate—and whatever else we can manage to get ourselves into.”

He chuckled. “I’m ready. I love you.”

“I love you too.”