Jingle Bell Wolf by Terry Spear

Chapter 23

Four days later, it was time for the jaguar sisters to pick up Gabrielle and Landon and drive to Orlando to the jaguar club for Christmas Eve. This was going to be the best Christmas Eve ever. Landon was glad he could take his dream mate dancing. And doing it with her friends would make it even more special.

When they finally arrived at the club, they could hear the music spilling into the street, and cars were parked all along the block and in the parking lot.

“We made a reservation,” Zelda said. “It gets packed because the place is so much fun. They used to only serve drinks, but now they serve hot or cold sandwiches so that people can eat while enjoying their beverages.”

“This looks like fun,” Landon said, not sure what to expect. But when they went inside and he saw dance platforms above with dancers—both male and female—dressed in jaguar-print loincloths and dancing to the riveting music, he thought it was terrific.

The place was filled with live tropical plants and vines. Colorful disco lights flashed across the high ceilings painted as a starry night. Patrons were on the dance floor having a great time as Odette told the hostess that they had a table reserved under Zelda and Odette.

“Right this way.” The lady motioned to a table and handed them menus. “Welcome to the Clawed and Dangerous Kitty Cat Club.” She smiled at all of them. “We don’t get wolves in here very often.”

“We’re the best of friends,” Zelda said.

When the waitress came, they all ended up ordering the southern baked ham and buns and fries.

“The snow cocktails look good,” Gabrielle said, “for a place that doesn’t have snow.”

Landon chuckled. “Rum, white chocolate liqueur, and crushed candy canes sounds good and Christmassy.”

They all ended up getting the rum drinks too.

Before their drinks came, a dark-haired guy came over and asked Odette if she would like to dance.

“Sure.” She stood and went with him to dance.

“That’s always the way,” Zelda said.

Gabrielle laughed. “You always get asked to dance too.”

“Yeah, but she always gets asked first.”

A little sister rivalry.

A blond guy was eyeing Gabrielle and Zelda and then he came over to the table.

“I’ll dance with you,” Zelda said before he asked Gabrielle instead and caused trouble. She got up from the chair and went with the guy to dance.

Then their drinks and sandwiches arrived.

“This is fun.” Gabrielle leaned over and kissed Landon.

“I agree, honey.” He kissed her back and they toasted to each other.

Then they took a drink of their cocktails and began eating their sandwiches.

The ladies returned after dancing to eat and drink.

“Any hopefuls?” Gabrielle asked.

Both Odette and Zelda laughed. “No. I mean, maybe, but one dance won’t decide something like that,” Odette said.

Landon took Gabrielle’s hand. “For us, it would have.” He led her to the dance floor and pulled her nice and close and danced with her. “Ever since the sisters asked if we wanted to come with them here, I’ve been anticipating holding you close and dancing. Man, is this nice.”

Gabrielle wrapped her arms around his neck and moved against him. “But the problem with this is we’ll get so worked up, we’ll want to do something else.”

He smiled down and kissed her, settling his hands on her backside. “I so love you.”

“Hmm, you are making me hot for you.”

“The jaguar sisters have nothing on you.”

She chuckled. “That’s because they weren’t all that interested in the jaguars they were dancing with. Not like I’m interested in this hot wolf.” She rubbed against him to stir things up even more.

“Now who is being the hot wolf?”

She kissed him and licked his chin. “That makes two of us—really hot together.”

Suddenly, Odette was dancing with another jaguar and moved him next to them. She was definitely leading him. She winked at Gabrielle. “Scorching, guys.” Then she led the jaguar away.

Zelda danced with another jaguar up close to them, and she smiled. “Looking good.”

“They’re wolves,” the jaguar who was dancing with her said, sounding surprised.

“They sure are.” Then Zelda and the jaguar moved off.

Landon and Gabrielle chuckled. “Your friends are cute.”

“They are. They will gloat about this forever. They’ll say they were the ones that made this happen.”

“Hmm, you have a point, but if you hadn’t been a rule breaker…”

“In a string bikini…”

He smiled and kissed her. “That’s for sure.”

The song ended and they returned to the table and finished their sandwiches and drinks. The sisters had already finished theirs.

“I’m going to run to the little girls’ room. I’ll be right back.” Gabrielle went to the restroom.

Landon was sitting at the table when he saw a man who looked suspiciously like Melany’s husband, Jim, seated at a table nearby. But it couldn’t be, could it? The guy was talking to another man, both hunched over the table, and the other man handed him a passport. Before Landon could tell the sisters and ask if the man was Jim, Gabrielle came out of the restroom.

Then Zelda was shouting at Odette, and both ladies were running toward the man’s table.

The guy Landon thought was Jim bolted from the table and ran straight into Gabrielle on a collision course. “Hell.” Landon wanted to kill him.

Gabrielle fell against a man, who steadied her, and Jim was escaping out the front door. Landon knew Gabrielle was fine, but he had to help the jaguar sisters capture their perp.

Landon hoped Gabrielle wouldn’t be sore with him for tearing out of the club, but he figured if he could help the sisters in their mission and protect them, too, if they needed protection, she would be happy about it. Especially if they could take the perp down.

“Jim?” he called back to the sisters.

“Yes!” they both shouted.

The man turned and had a gun, damn it. Landon was close enough to him at that point that he lunged for Jim, forcing him down onto his back on the pavement and successfully knocking the gun from his hand. The sisters pounded the sidewalk to reach them, one grabbing Jim’s gun, the other pulling a zip tie out of her pocket.

“I always have a couple handy,” Odette said as Landon flipped the guy onto his front and tied his hands.

Zelda was already calling for backup. “Yeah, we got the dead guy, very much alive. Melany needs to be cleared of all charges.”

Landon was glad for that, but he needed to get back to his mate—and take care of her! Just in case any humans or jaguars thought she was available.

* * *

Now that was a first, Gabrielle thought. Go on a date with her mate and her two best friends and be left at a jaguar club all by herself as they chased some guy out the door! Gabrielle had raced after them after nearly falling, if a male jaguar hadn’t caught her. When she reached the door, she glanced out but didn’t see anyone. Ohmigod! It had to be Jim they were trying to chase down!

Landon might be a deputy sheriff back in Silver Town, but he didn’t have a weapon on him. She didn’t know if the sisters did or not. Well, maybe Melany’s husband didn’t either, if that’s who it was.

Gabrielle wasn’t about to run out into the dark and search for her mate and the others. She went back to her table and ordered herself another drink. She wasn’t giving up their reserved table until her mate returned for her.

The club was packed with humans and jaguars, which made her think of the last time she was here with her friends, except that she had been sitting alone because they had been dancing with a throng of jaguars and she hadn’t wanted to. She tapped her fingers on the table. She sure hoped they nabbed the guy. But she hoped none of them were hurt. Still, what a great Christmas Eve gift that would be—if they could catch the guy they’d been after.

She was sipping her drink when the blond jaguar who had danced with Zelda approached the table to ask her to dance.

An out-of-breath Landon quickly interceded. “She’s with me.” He took her hand and she had to put her drink down quickly. She smiled at Landon and then at the jaguar.

“Wolf mates can be so…unpredictable at times.” She smiled up at Landon again and kissed him.

He kissed her back, then pulled her onto the dance floor, and they danced another slow dance.

“Sorry about leaving you like that, honey.”

“You have a nice way of making up to me. I totally approve. Did you catch whoever you were after?” Gabrielle hoped that they had at least done that.

“Yeah. I tackled him. It was Jim, Melany’s husband. We tied his wrists, and the sisters read him his rights, and now they’re waiting for other JAG special agents to pick him up and incarcerate him.” Landon kissed Gabrielle as they danced close together.

“Oh wow, that’s wonderful. I hadn’t expected you to run off all Rambo Wolf on me, but I’m glad you helped the sisters catch the bastard.”

“We were meant to be together, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. You are the best thing that ever happened to me.”

After two more dances—Landon continued to move slow and close with her no matter whether it was a fast or a slow dance—Gabrielle saw the jaguar sisters return to their table and she missed a step with Landon.

He glanced in the direction of their table and smiled. The sisters had ordered new drinks and raised them to Landon and Gabrielle to cheer the capture of Melany’s husband.

This would be a night to remember. Gabrielle was glad they had Jim in custody and now Melany should be safe and could return home, her name cleared.

But Landon wasn’t giving Gabrielle up for anything, and they danced until closing, only stopping to get a glass of water in between dances.

“I’ve had the best time with you.” Gabrielle kissed Landon.

“The night isn’t over yet.” He was full of promises.

“I can’t wait.” She knew he’d follow through.

At closing, the sisters drove them back home. All they did was talk about catching Jim—the wild jump that Landon had made that was worthy of a jaguar’s maneuver and how he had saved the day as he took the perp to the pavement.

“That guy is going to have a sore back,” Odette said.

“Yeah, he was limping good by the time the other agents picked him up. We’ll get a citation for this, but Landon needs one too,” Zelda said.

He smiled. “All I needed was to help you out so you could end this case and aid Melany, and I could get back to dancing with my mate before some big blond jaguar swept her away to the dance floor.”

“Not the guy I danced with already,” Zelda said.

“Yep,” Gabrielle said, “but the wolf beat him out.”

“Wow, that was really the best night at the club ever,” Odette said. “Not only because we had so much fun with the two of you, and we enjoyed dancing with the jaguars. But catching our perp in the process too? Absolutely the best night ever.”

Everyone totally agreed.

But the night wouldn’t end quite yet for Gabrielle and Landon as they were dropped off at her home and entered the house.

Of course, she was planning to make love to her one and only wolf, but then she remembered she had to prep the sausage casserole she wanted to make for Christmas breakfast.

“Come on, mate of mine. We’re going to make a Christmas casserole for breakfast tonight on a really small scale, because we don’t want to transport a bunch of leftovers. We’ll just bake it in the morning.”

“Sounds good to me.” Landon cooked the sausage while she mixed the mustard powder, salt, eggs, and milk. Then they added the sausage, bread cubes, and cheese and stirred them evenly. He poured the contents of the bowl into a baking dish, Gabrielle covered it, and then they set the pan in the fridge to chill overnight.

“That looks like something we could make for Christmas breakfast next year with the whole family,” Landon said.

“Oh, just wait until you eat it. It’s divine.”

“You are divine.” He scooped her up to carry her to the bedroom. “And I’ll show you just how much I know so.”