Max sucked in breath. “Shit. Is your father Ethan Johnson?”
Mia nodded hesitantly.
“It all makes sense now,” Max said. “During my investigation, I was able to tie all the big cat attacks in the area to Ethan.”
“Yes, they were all men who worked for my father,” Mia said. “He tried to double cross the Mexicans in a deal, and they retaliated by having some of his men killed. Things have escalated pretty quickly.”
“Who are they?” Max asked. “The Mexicans?”
Mia sighed. “They all work for one of the cartels.”
“A cartel? Jesus, that’s serious, Mia. They can be ruthless.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Is that why you walked away from me earlier?” Max asked. “Because of what your father does?”
“It wasn’t so much what he does that made me walk away from you earlier. It’s because of who he is.”
Max frowned. “I don’t follow.”
“He’s cold,” she said. “Unfeeling. He doesn’t care about anything, well, anything except for money and power. He drove my mother to an early grave. She killed herself.”
“I’m sorry,” Max said. “I can only imagine how hard that was for you.”
“Thank you. It was a few years ago now, although I suppose it’s not something you ever really get over. But, you see, I’ve always feared that I was destined to follow in my mother’s footsteps. I’ve worried that my mate when I finally met him would be exactly like my father…”
“And then you met me,” Max said. “You must have thought that all your fears were coming to fruition.”
“Pretty much,” Mia said.
“I know it won’t count for much right now, because you don’t know me, so you won’t know if I’m telling the truth or not, but I would never treat you like that.”
He hesitated, then seemed to come to a decision. “My father was a mean sonofabitch—he liked to use his fists on me. I wasfifteen when I left. I just had to get out or I figured one day he’d go too far and kill me.”
“I’m sorry,” Mia said.
Max shrugged. “Things worked out all right in the end. I got a job and managed to graduate high school. Then I joined the police force and was recruited from there. The point is, we are not our parents. We’re not destined to follow in their footsteps if we don’t want, or to repeat their mistakes. We can choose our own path in life. We can choose to be different. To be better.”
Max’s words struck a chord with Mia. She felt them so deeply that tears prickled behind her eyes and, without thinking, she closed the space between them, and kissed Max full on the mouth. A ragged groan escaped his lips, and he kissed her back with an almost primal passion. The kiss took her breath away, sending a wave of need right through to her toes. Max quickly placed their beer bottles on the table, barely breaking the kiss, then his hands roamed eagerly over Mia’s body. She gasped against his lips, and began to explore with her own hands, too.
They kissed for long, deliciously agonizing minutes, and Mia felt intoxicated by the contact, by the taste of Max’s mouth, and the skill with which he kissed. Warmth spread through her body, and she was acutely aware of every single place where their bodies touched. He moved his hands up under her hair and around the nape of her neck, holding her close as his tongue slid between her lips, stroking against hers in a rhythm that threatened to push her over the edge.
She pressed against him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and feeling his hard strength against her body. God, she wanted him. Wanted him inside her, desperately. She wanted him to take her to that place where nothing else mattered but the physical connection between them.
“Mia,” he groaned out. “Are you sure?”
The leopard inside her was screaming a resounding ‘Yes!’
“I’m sure,” she said, holding his gaze.
She was more than sure, and it wasn’t just her leopard talking. She’d never wanted anything more in her life.
They tumbled into the sofa in a passionate embrace. The kiss deepened and soon they were ripping away at each other’s clothes in a fervor of desire.
When they were finally naked, Max lay back, his hands framing Mia’s face as he looked up at her.
“Jesus, you’re beautiful. How did I get this lucky?”
