Cougar Undercover
Terry Spear
www.terryspear.com
Contents
Foreword
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Afterword
Also by Terry Spear
Foreword
Cougar Undercover
* * *
Heart of the Cougar, Book 5
Terry Spear
* * *
Synopsis
* * *
FBI Special Agent Addison Davidson needs a husband. Not just any guy, but someone highly skilled in weapons’ training, who has served in combat, Special Forces, hard-charging, and who can handle crises situations under pressure, unattached, and preferably is a cougar shifter like her. Captain Dan Steinacker is one hot cougar, and he takes the bait. Now someone’s trying to kill her. A mole on her team?
Now a sheriff of Yuma Town, Dan can’t quit thinking about the sexy she-cat he’s fallen hard for. He has to convince Addie he’s the cougar for her, and that means taking on the villains, whoever they are. Guns and teeth and claws readied, the cougars aim to win. Learning who and why she’s on someone’s terminal list is their only mission now—before it’s too late.
Kathryn Royce Martin—thanks to a lovely lady from Down Under, who loves getting into character, and loving the cougars in a much more personal way. You breathe life into them. Thanks, Kat! For being a wonderful friend.
Prologue
Near Ft. Benning, Georgia
* * *
FBI Special Agent Addison Davidson needed a husband. Not just any guy, but someone highly skilled in weapons’ training who had served in combat, Special Forces; a hard-charging, unattached male who could handle crises situations under pressure and was preferably a cougar-shifter like her. The last skill was something she knew she wouldn’t be lucky enough to find, but it was the reason she had turned down a dozen men for the job, and was still looking for the right man.
When Captain Dan Steinacker appeared at the Hamburger Spot, a fast-food hamburger joint located right off post from where he was assigned at Fort Benning, Georgia, she watched him step in line to order a meal. He was dark haired and blue eyed, tall, well-muscled, just the way she liked her men, only this one would be her pseudo husband, if he was up for the task. His training was just what she needed, if she could let go of her requisite to have a cougar to serve as her husband and he went along with the plan. He was number thirteen on her list, maybe lucky for her, maybe not so lucky for him, if he agreed to it.
She moved into the line, three people behind him, to order her lunch. As soon as he took a seat, she had every intention of sitting down with him and having a talk. She knew just what he’d order—a triple cheeseburger, large order of fries, and a cup of coffee, loads of creamer and sugar.
The fans overhead swirled air-conditioned air around the small hamburger joint on this hot summer day. She was wearing a flowery strapless dress, going for summer-time sweet, except that the dress was red with giant sunflowers, setting off her dark hair and eyes. She was wearing strappy sandals, not good for anything but showing off her ankles and legs. Running? Chasing down bad guys? She’d be better off tossing them.
Suddenly, Dan turned and she knew the moment he took a deep breath, he’d smelled she was a cougar. And that had to mean only one thing. He was one too. He nearly forgot to pay for his meal, and smiled broadly at her as the clerk tried to get his attention. She smiled back at him. She was hooked. He was hooked. Dan would be her one and only husband for this mission and beyond. If they didn’t end up getting killed while doing missions together. If he agreed to the plan.
“Addison Davidson, but you can call me Addie,” she offered, holding out her hand to Dan, and he was in lust.
He smiled warmly back, shook her hand, and said, “Dan Steinacker. Do you want to join me at a table?”
“Sure. I’m not here with anyone. Just find a booth for us and I’ll join you after I order my meal.”
“Why don’t I pay for it?”
She smiled so disarmingly at him, he thought he might even be in love.
After she ordered her meal, and he paid for it, they found a window booth. Dan sat down with the beautiful she-cat, not believing his luck at running into one here, just outside of Fort Benning.
Dark brown, long, silky hair, dark brown eyes, dark red lips—a seductive she-cat if there ever was one. “Let me just text a couple of guys who were meeting me for lunch to say I have to cancel.”
She smiled at him, and he felt his heart trip.
Dan pulled out his phone and called Chase. “Hey, Chase, tell Stryker and Hal that something’s come up, and I’ve got some other plans for lunch.” Dan was eyeing the minx while she was smiling at him, appearing amused that he’d cancel on his friends.
“Seriously? You’re standing us up?” Chase asked, humor lacing his words and he chuckled. “Who is she?”
“Uh, yeah, well, we’ll get together later.”
Chase laughed. “Hell, man, you can’t tell us that and then expect us not to check her out.”
“Just don’t make a nuisance of yourself.” Dan could imagine the guys all telling Addie they were best friends of his, shaking her hand, and giving him a hard time.
“We’ll be on our best behavior.”
Dan didn’t want to ruin his first date with the she-cat, especially if she lived locally, and he could see more of her. “Yeah, sure. Talk later. Thanks for understanding.” When he hung up, their meals were ready and he stood. “Let’s go somewhere else.”
“A park by a pond? Or your place?”
He smiled broadly. “It’s awfully hot out. Why don’t we go to my place?”
“It won’t be too hot there, will it?”
He laughed and picked up their meals, asking the server to make it to go. They carried their sacked meals out to his Jeep, and he was glad she didn’t want to follow him in her car. He wasn’t into one-night stands, but it had been too damn long since he’d met a she-cat while he’d been stationed here, and never one who appealed as much as she did anywhere that he’d been assigned. He really thought it would be a nice change of pace to date her, if she and he enjoyed the same kind of things.
“Do you live here? Work here? I’ve never seen you at the Hamburger Spot before.” Dan drove to his housing development that was located off post.
“I’m here on a mission. To recruit you to be my husband. Faux husband.”
Surprised at the comment, he laughed. “Don’t tell me Chase, Hal, or Stryker had something to do with this? Did they put you up to this? My birthday is too far away.” He thought about it for a moment more. “Nah, Chase was genuinely surprised I was standing them up. And they wouldn’t have wanted you to meet me before they had a chance to see you.” He considered a different scenario. “Ahh, you need me to pose as your husband because you’re going to your best friend’s wedding and a former boyfriend is attending. You don’t want him, of all people, seeing you alone, because he’s hooked up with some new she-cat.”
She smiled. “That’s cute. And nope. I’m a Special Agent for the FBI and I need a husband.”
He couldn’t believe it. She sounded serious. Unless she was a nutca
se. “I’m in the military.” Unless the FBI contacted him and his commander, officially, he wasn’t going anywhere, if this was all on the up and up.
“Which is why you’re the perfect candidate. I’ve already rejected a dozen possible candidates, but none of them were cougars. I’m hoping we can work out a deal. We’re prepared to pay you a substantial amount of money, just to be my undercover husband.”
“Benefits included?” he asked, still not believing any of this.
She smiled and sat back against the seat. “That’s what’s so perfect about it. You don’t have to do anything for the pay, unless I call on you to make an appearance. Then it’s just a show.”
“How dangerous is this?”
“Dangerous. That’s why we had to ensure the candidate had weapons and hand-to-hand combat training. You’ve been vetted, and I’ve seen your war record. You’re an honorable guy. You’re leaving the service and returning to Yuma Town in two months, right?”
Dan pulled into his driveway and parked. “Correct.”
“Your life is your own unless I need your help. And we’ll only continue this if I need you and you are willing.”
“No benefits though? Are you sure?”
She chuckled and grabbed her sack of food and left the Jeep.
He unlocked the house and wished he’d picked the place up a little more before he went into work this morning. He’d never in a million years expected to bring a she-cat to his house when he had taken off just to have lunch, or any other time, for that matter.
“You should see my place when I have unexpected company,” she said, as if trying to make him feel less guilty about it, as he set his sack of food on the kitchen table and moved into the living room to grab up clean clothes from the laundry that he’d left on the sofa to sort and put away.
“Okay, so tell me what I have to do. Exactly.” He joined her at the kitchen table and sat down.
“You can’t tell anyone you know that you’ve married someone.”
“If I’m your cover…”
“You are, when you go with me on a mission, if it happens. We have to play things by ear, but we had to set this up, just in case. You also can’t be married, or about to be married. If you fall in love with someone, you must terminate the contract. We can’t endanger your loved ones.”
“All right. No issue there for now.” And he hadn’t met anyone he’d been interested in, so he didn’t see that as a problem, short-term anyway. “How long is this going to be for?”
“A hundred and fifty-thousand dollars for every year you’re my husband. You can divorce me at any time. Though none of this is real.”
“A hundred and fifty thousand dollars for doing nothing? What’s the catch?”
“If I need you, you’ll have to drop whatever you’re doing, join me wherever I’m at, and be my lawfully-wedded husband.”
He unwrapped his burger and she sat across from him and brought out her chicken burger and fries.
“What do you know about me?” He wondered how long they’d been watching him. Though he didn’t really vary his routine much, which must be why she had so easily intercepted him at the Hamburger Stop, and way before his friends had arrived. They were always running late because of job commitments. He suspected they’d rush over to the Hamburger Stop to see the woman and have a good laugh to find he’d disappeared with her. He knew he would have, had the roles been reversed.
“Everything.”
He raised a brow.
“Your financial records, your personal lifestyle, your history, family. Everything. The Bureau is thorough. I told you that you were thoroughly vetted.”
“Except for one thing. You didn’t know I was a cougar.”
“I got lucky.”
“If I don’t agree to this, then what? Do I vanish because I know too much?”
“You don’t know anything. Not what I do, who I am—“
“Addie Davidson.”
She smiled and took a bite of a french fry.
He sure wished she’d go along with benefits. “That’s not really your name.”
“Addison Steinacker, if you agree.”
“Middle name?”
“Ann.”
“And I won’t know anything about you.”
“I was born in Boston, no parents, no siblings.” She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him. “This is all about me. If you decide you want to do this, you’ll sign an agreement and the money will be forwarded to your bank account.”
“Direct deposit? Won’t that look suspicious to the IRS? Or some agency that goes after bank fraud when large deposits are made that are unaccounted for?”
“It’s all tax deductible and we have you covered.”
“Unless I want a divorce so I can get on with my private life.”
“Yes.”
“Even if I get this money up front and don’t do anything for it?”
“Yes.”
He knew the government wasted money. “Let me read over the contract.” He perused the paper she gave him that had personal information about her, or at least the cover for her.
Then she handed him her phone and began reading the contract. He glanced up at her as she finished her sandwich and licked her fingers. He wished she’d let him do the honors. “Are you sure there can’t be benefits?”
She smiled. “Sign the contract and we can…seal the deal.”
“I’m only doing this because you’re one of our kind, and I’d hate to think you’d have to find a guy who isn’t, to take part in this business.”
“Or are you worried that I might check out your friends?”
“Stryker? Chase? Hal? Don’t tell me they’re on your list of candidates.” He was damn glad he was always early to the Hamburger Stop.
“We vetted your closest friends, and yes, they are.”
Dan gave an exaggerated sigh and signed on the bottom line. “I can’t let them endanger themselves if you were to approach them with this deal next. Why come to me first?”
“You are always early to the Hamburger Stop.”
“Hell, you could have lied.”
She laughed, took her phone from him and signed the contract, then sent it off. A few minutes later, his phone dinged. Frowning, he pulled it out and saw he’d received a payment in his bank account in the amount of a hundred and fifty-thousand dollars.
“Ready to seal the deal?” she asked, a dark brow raised, her luscious lips curved up a smidgeon.
“I was only kidding.” Not that he didn’t want to, but he didn’t want her believing that’s the only reason he was willing to do this job. He was serious about also helping out a fellow cougar.
“I wasn’t kidding.” She rose from the table and snagged his hand, lightly squeezing, as if to say this was all right between them.
“Do you work with for-hire operatives like this often?” Dan asked, wondering if she did this all the time. He realized just how much that would bother him if he was just another notch on her belt.
“Never.”
Marginally relieved, he hauled her toward the bedroom, cognizant that he had to return to work soon. He wasn’t sure he believed her though. After all, this was all make-believe. Her identity. The marriage. Still, even if she was just saying it to appease him, he’d go along with it.
“I’ve never done this before,” she said again, frowning at him as they reached the bedroom, and she began unbuttoning his shirt, as if she were really serious. And he believed her. “I’ve never had a husband, never one who works undercover with me, either.” She stripped off his shirt and then yanked his T-shirt out of his pants, sliding her soft, warm hands up underneath it, caressing his bare chest. “And, if I’d chosen some other candidate, it wouldn’t mean I’d go this far with him.”
Hell, the she-cat was red-hot, making him even hotter. He wanted this to be special between them—mostly because he hadn’t been with a she-cat in eons, and that was even before he joined the military. He hadn’t met any
after that. Plenty of human females over the years, but this wasn’t the same. And he didn’t think she’d be the same as any other she-cats he’d known either. She was unbelievably sexy, a total spitfire, and hell, after signing the dotted line, his wife.
“I don’t have a boyfriend, don’t date. While we have this arrangement”—she pulled his T-shirt over his head—“I won’t be seeing anyone. I’m married to you until death do us part, or you divorce me.”
She licked his nipple, making it tingle and pebble, and he swept his hands down her sides, grabbing her silky sundress and sliding it up her svelte body. He was guessing she’d be wearing red hot underwear, but her bra and panties were black lace. Just as seductive.
Had she known he wouldn’t be able to resist her, if he had accepted the proposal? If so, she’d been right. Or if she hadn’t convinced him to do this, she would have been with Chase, Hal, or Stryker. He didn’t know if his lucky stars had shone down upon him, or if he was in for real trouble.
She probably knew he hadn’t been seeing anyone for the year he’d been assigned here, since they’d thoroughly vetted him. He dropped her sundress on the chest at the foot of the bed.
“I want you because you’re one hot cat,” she said, whispering the words against his ear, her soft, warm breath making his cock stand at attention. “No emotional attachments. I don’t want to let my guard down, or for you to do so either. Strictly sex. Physical pleasure. Between two willing cats.”
He should have pounced at the idea that there’d be no true commitment, just hot sex on a hot day with a hot she-cat. He suspected he wouldn’t want to do this with her just once. Not the way their pheromones were running rampant, signaling there was a hell of a lot more going on between them than just pure and simple, lustful sex.
They were telling each other they were right for each other—as far as having cougar kittens together, the biological needs coming to the forefront. His cougar half claimed she was in his territory, his to keep. The human component was feeling the same kind of compelling draw—their signing the contract that said she was his wife, his mate—as he ran his fingers through her luscious dark, satiny hair, and pulled her in for a kiss.