Circus Wolf (15 page)

He leaned forward slightly, staring at her
lips.

Damn
it. If he kisses me, I’ll melt like the San Gorgonio white caps under the
searing summer heat.

He took a deep breath as though needing
extra oxygen and flexed his jaw. “We have a decision to make. My instincts tell
me to risk going forward. What about your instincts?”

My
instincts are to jump your bones,
Wolfman
.

Above the cave, the sky rumbled with
thunder. “The storm is getting worse.” It was all she dared to say with her
whole being zinging with longing. Then she reined in her insanity. “We’re here
and if you’re okay, I say let’s go for it and thoroughly search the cave before
moving on.”

His hypnotic silvery gray eyes met hers. After a simmering
moment, he nodded and said, “Even though it would be quicker to split up and
search—with the unknown ahead and behind us—we’d better stay close together.”

I’d like to be close
enough to join as one
, she thought. But all she allowed herself to say was,
“No argument.”

They redressed quickly and slipped back into their
rain-wear to ward off the chill.

With their flashlight beams circling, they inspected every
indentation and loose rock along the way. Tigra didn’t know how long they’d
been in the cave, but it seemed like hours. Their soaked London Fog raincoats
gave little warmth and she couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering. What she
needed was Hugh’s body pressed tightly to hers.

As if he’d read her thoughts, he paused and drew her into
his arms. “Let’s take a break and warm you up. You could get sick and then I’d
have to finish the search alone.”

She looked up at him, reveling in the warmth of his arms
and fascinated by the way the shadows played across his face.
“No way,
Wolfman
.
Don’t even think
of cutting me out of the treasure hunt. We’re a team.”

Hugh’s eyes glinted and he smiled. “Okay then, the least I
can do is warm you up some.”

A smile tugged at her lips and her desire soared higher.
Now the party was getting interesting again.

He slipped off his coat and, over the top of her
London
Fog,
he pulled his wrap tight around her
shoulders.

Darn, is that all he meant?

Surprisingly, the wet cloth warmed slightly by his
body heat blocked some of the chill. When he eased her down into a sitting
position on the cold, stone floor, she shivered. “Thanks, but this is like
sitting on a block of ice.”
Unfortunately,
it didn’t cool her ardor.

“We’ll get you warm and toasty in a jiffy,” he said,
gathering scraps of kindling wood and dried brush. He placed them into a pile
to build a fire.

When he
squatted and struck a
match, anticipatory warmth slid through her.

Fascinated, she watched his
soaked, skintight jeans mold over firm-looking buns. A thrill slid down her
spine. Wolf or man, he was gorgeous.

Within seconds, flames danced
over the stack of kindling with hot abandon.
If he were to make love to me, I’ll bet we could do the dance of
passion with the same fiery abandon.

 
As if in answer to her
desire, he drew her into his arms and held her a few moments, rubbing her arms
and back. Like a languid cat, she
stretched,
fully
aware Hugh’s gaze was devouring the arc of her torso.

“Thanks, Hugh. The heat is
almost as warming as settling in that steamy pool again,” she said as they
toasted themselves by the fire.
And like
at the pool, your touch is driving me wild
.

He opened his mouth as if to
speak but said nothing. With thoughts of the steamy pool jetting between them,
she wondered who’d speak first or make the next move. Minutes passed.

 
Suddenly as though driven by
some unknown emotion, Hugh turned from the fire and reached for her hand. “Are
you warm enough to continue?” His voice was husky and his tone too deep and
sexy to be merely referring to continuing their search of the cave.

She nodded. Her quivering
lips couldn’t form the yes. Trembling at his touch, she let him assist her to
her feet. He threw dirt over the flames and doused them. “This narrow part of
the cavern should hold the heat for a while and even filter some into the rest
of the cave.”

His wolfish nonchalance
denied the tension charging between them. He grinned as though he suspected his
effect on her. Which was not a surprise—he should be totally aware of it after
their passionate sojourn in the steamy pool and then her mentioning it again.
The heat rising in the cavern felt good, but the heat in her body terrified
her.
Think
, she told herself,
think only of the goals. We must find the
arrowhead and stay alive.

****

Disappointment washed over
Tigra as they finished searching the first cave with no success. Outside, the
wind whistled down through the valley’s s
ullen and rain-soaked landscape.

“Want to give up for
tonight?” Hugh asked.

“How many caves do you think
there are in this sector?” she asked past her wariness.

“Without a geologist’s
report, there’s no way to know. I can order a map tomorrow.”

“The clock is ticking and
people are dying. Maybe we’ll find the cave we need tonight and you won’t have
to bother.”

He laughed. “Somehow I
guessed you’d say that.”

They walked side by side,
their searching gaze alert for the blackened entrance of the next cave. He
reached for her hand and closed his warm one over her icy one.

“You could use some gloves,”
he said.

She had a pair of plastic
ones in her pocket in case she needed them, but she knew he didn’t mean those
kind
of gloves. She laughed. “And Southern California is
supposed to be the warm, sunshine state. If this bad weather continues, the
circus could sink into the red.”

He scoffed. “Don’t give me
something else to worry about. I have my heart set on doing the full loop of
travel with this circus.”

“I pray your dreams come
true. A close down would hurt a lot of people. The circus is all most of us
know. It gets in one’s blood.”
His expression softened and
the gray in his eyes took on the hue of silver mist. “I pray for everyone’s
sake the circus remains in the black for many years to come.” She heard the
concern for others in his voice and couldn’t stop her heart for going out to a
man who so deeply cared about his fellow man.

She
sighed. “I wish staying solvent was our only concern.” They circled a fallen
tree limb lying across their path. “Now with an innocent girl murdered less
than a fourth of a mile from the circus, maybe by a vampire, other customers in
possible danger, and the police circling our grounds like hungry vultures,
there is much more at stake.”

He
pulled her to a stop and pointed to an ominous circle of complete blackness.
“Look. We almost missed this cave entrance.”

She
nodded, and followed him inside. She switched on her flashlight and looked
around at the shadowy cavern, her mind still locked into their discussion. “I
know about tigers
and a little about
wolves, but I don’t know much about vampires. You’ve had firsthand experience
with vampires. What can you tell me about them?”

He stared at her for a long,
measuring moment. “A vampire can m
aintain
complete physical evidence of its former existence as a perfectly healthy and
normal human. Its rejuvenation is so convincing it can safely move to areas
where it isn’t known and live an anonymous existence by day and create havoc
with the living at night.”

A
chill slipped down her spine. He was a werewolf, and claimed he’d been
resurrected; could he be a vampire as well?
“How does one protect themselves from a vampire?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard the various tales. I think each
vampire is different, based on its history. One popular belief is that to
remove its evil powers, a believer can draw blood from a vampire’s vein just
above the right eye. But no one has explained how the believer can trap the
demon into a position where such an extraction could viably be performed. One
thing is certain; the vampire is violent, malicious, and has returned to
torment the living. If that’s what we’re dealing with, we have big trouble.”

She frowned. “How could it be anyone at the circus? No
one there has time to sleep all day in a coffin.” And she’d definitely kept
Hugh too busy for lounging around anywhere.

“The vampire is not necessarily a nocturnal creature.
It can appear any time, including midday.”

Oh, great
.
“What could drive a creature like that?” She shivered at the beast’s brutish
and depraved ways, while a sense of eeriness whispered around her on the dank
air of the cave.

“The vampire’s hatred is the embodiment of an ancient
hatred and jealousy of the living. Somewhere back in time, someone may have
done him wrong and now, unless stopped, the malignant dead will make everyone
pay.”

“You said an angel resurrected you. Are you a
vampire?”

He rubbed his jaw and shook his head. “So you still
doubt me? I’ll try again to make you understand. I’m not a vampire. This second
gift of life is all I get. I’ll have to make the best of it while I’m here. I
do have the blessing of extended youth and a long life—that is if someone
doesn’t kill me. And I am a werewolf, as you discovered. Now you know all of my
secrets. Now tell me all of yours.”

Tension shot through her.
“Later,” she said. She had flashed her light over the rock wall facade so
quickly she almost missed seeing the long piece of red thread snagged on a low,
protruding rock. The bright, silken string was clean and un-weathered. She dug
out one of the small plastic bags from her backpack and tucked the red thread
inside. She waved her packaged find in front of Hugh’s eyes to divert his
interest away from her secrets. Then she dashed ahead and spied a huge boulder
that seemed to be sitting on newly turned dirt. “Look, someone’s been digging
here.”

He joined her and stared down
at the floor of the cave.

“Things are looking up.”
Excitement quickened his words. “With the thread and now this, we know someone’s
been in here recently. But that boulder is as big as the clowns’ VW Bug.” He
glanced around. “We’d need a plank, girder, or cantilever to roll it.”

She grabbed his arm. “What
about that downed tree limb about twenty yards north of the entrance? The one
that looked like it had recently been struck by lightning. With it and our
joint feral strength, we ought to be able to move the boulder enough to dig
down and see what’s buried underneath.”

 
He squeezed her shoulder. “It’s worth a try.”

Together, they half carried,
half dragged the limb inside the cave. Hugh shoved the pointed raw end under
the boulder. “If we can’t budge this big bugger, we can come back tomorrow with
a shovel.” He laughed. “Or
an
elephant.”

Exasperation and impatience
shot through her. “Wait until tomorrow? No way. Whatever is buried here could
be gone by then. So we are going to move it. Think positive. It will be easier
if you remember whoever pushed the boulder over the loose dirt can’t be
stronger than our joint feral strength.”

He sent her a doubting scowl.
“What makes you so sure of that?”

“I’m thinking positive.”

“Oh, that again.
Okay, let’s do it.”

Together, grunting, groaning,
and sweating, they finally rolled the boulder aside.
“Yeah!
See? It was as easy as riding the merry-go-round.”

He gave her a little hug. “If
I’m ever stranded on a desert island with someone, I hope it’s with someone
positive like you.”

She noticed he didn’t say he
wanted the person to be her, just someone like her. She understood; as cross
species they could never have something permanent.

He grabbed up a sharp rock
and started digging rapidly wolf-style. The dagger rock she chose was deeply
embedded. Hugh stopped digging long enough to help her yank it out. Then side
by side they dug as fast as they could. With a sense of comradeship buoying her
spirits, she sent up a prayer that whatever was buried beneath the loose dirt
was exactly what they were looking for.

Her heart speeded when they
uncovered a box. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the plastic gloves.
“To protect any prints,’ she said, slipping on the gloves.

“I don’t believe you,” Hugh
said. “You are my every-ready girl.”

She laughed to herself.
His girl.
If only he knew how much she’d like that to be
true. The ever-ready part could easily be true. She definitely tried.