He told himself the twist in his gut was just the adrenaline wearing off. Maybe it was.
KARL
Well. That hadn’t been on his list of likely outcomes for the day.
He folded the tarp tight, his fingers moving with a calmness he didn’t feel. He could still taste Leon on his tongue. Feel the ghost of those hands on his skin, the heat of his mouth, the way he’dwatchedKarl like he was memorizing every reaction.
Karl closed the box, fastening the clip with a little too much force. One look into Leon’s eyes—dark with hunger, utterlyfocused—and Karl had wanted. That had been the start of it. Or maybe not. Maybe the start had been the moment Leon had wandered onto the ranch, all cheekbones and tight jeans, not caring what anyone thought of him. Or maybe it had been when Leon had squared up to those would-be paparazzi, smooth as sin and sharp as a blade.
Didn’t matter. Wasn’t happening again.
Leon was silent. Karl wasn’t sure what he’d expected—some smug comment, probably—but the silence had weight. Like Leon didn’t know what to say either.
Karl shoved the box into place and fastened the wooden panel that kept it hidden. “We should push on, get as far as we can before dark.”
Leon made a noncommittal noise and tucked his hair behind his ear. He didn’t say anything else, and Karl wasn’t sure whether that was a relief or not.
He’d liked the way Leon had touched him. Not just the sex—theattention. He’d felt alive, under his hands.Free. Which was precisely why it couldn’t happen again. He wasn’t looking for connection. Didn’t have room for it, with everything else on his shoulders. This had been a one-off, born of rain and adrenaline and something they’d both be smarter to forget.
If his body still felt too sensitized, his chest still tingling with the feel of Leon’s cheek rubbing against it—that was just aftershock. Nothing more.
With one final glance around to check they hadn’t missed anything, they shifted. Back to business, to how they had been.
He kept his gaze on the trail ahead, senses already scanning for threats. Focused on keeping everyone safe. That was who he was. That was what hehadto be.
Chapter Fourteen
LEON
Some hours later, they reached the river again, heads and tails tucked against the steady rain. Leon padded to the riverbank and crouched to drink, only to freeze as he saw the water.
It was swollen and wild, nothing like the slow, predictable current of only yesterday. The surface frothed and surged, looking as if it might boil over its banks, with debris caught in angry eddies. It had to have been raining hard upriver for days, long before the storm had reached them. He decided against risking a drink and instead shook himself, water flying uselessly from his fur. He was soaked, cold and tired, and now they’d have to keep an eye on the water level as they ran.
Then Karl bolted.
One moment he was trotting ahead. The next, he shifted, powered forward on two feet and launched himself in a shallow dive into the churning river.
Leon’s gut lurched. He sprinted to where Karl had gone in and skidded to a stop, his claws digging into the slick mud to hold him. What thefuck?He leaned out as far as he dared, eyes straining through the sheets of rain.
The current had already pulled Karl downstream. His body was spinning, vanishing and reappearing between surges of whitewater, his dark head just visible among the chaos. Occasionally, an arm broke the surface in a ragged attempt at swimming—enough to tell Leon he was alive, not enough to explain what the fuck he thought he was doing.
He ran, not knowing where the river went and cursing himself for his previous lack of curiosity about the geography of the area. He thought about flinging himself in after Karl because jaguars were damn powerful swimmers—far more so than humans. But the way the water was churning, he didn’t trust his chances of keeping eyes on Karl if he went in.
The river curved, shallow and wide but moving with terrifying power. Leon kept pace, racing through mud and brush, branches whipping at his face, every instinct screaming. He didn’t know where the river would take Karl, didn’t know if he could reach him in time, but he knew he was damn well going to try.
Karl’s body tumbled again, and this time slammed hard into a half-submerged tree trunk jutting from the bank. Leon winced at the impact. The trunk caught him, held him in place, but it also trapped him in the current so that water kept pummeling him and debris battered into him.
Leon didn’t hesitate. He shifted, hit the mud barefoot, and scrambled along the slick trunk. It was treacherous, the bark long since worn away to leave the wood slippery with water and algae. Wind howled, rain lashed his face, and the trunk rocked under his weight—but he was a cat, damn it, and cats were built to keep their balance even when it seemed impossible. At least, that was what hetold himself when he nearly slipped, caught himself, and dropped down to all fours so he could use his hands as well.
Once he got close enough, he carefully knelt and reached out. Karl had no idea he was there, and he had to yell to let him know. Karl somehow managed to turn around and look up at him. Instead of reaching up a hand to grab Leon’s, he pushed a tiny, soaking-wet bundle of fur at him.
Leon took it automatically, fingers closing around it in disbelief. For a heartbeat, he stared. Then his brain kicked in, and he turned cautiously to crawl back toward the bank, shielding the wolf pup with his body, and cursing wolves and their stupid chivalrous instincts the entire way.
He put it down on the muddy bank, where it lay unmoving. He didn’t have time to do anything for it right now—Karl was his priority.
The tree rocked again under his weight, but Karl was still there, still alive, gulping in mouthfuls of air and also water, as whitewater surged and slammed into the trunk. Leon braced himself, grabbed Karl under the arms, and hauled. It wasn’t elegant or easy, but with Leon’s efforts, and Karl pushing with what little strength he had, he got him free of the trunk and onto the bank.
Karl collapsed onto his back, chest heaving, bloody water masking one side of his face. Leon dropped to his knees beside him.
