Page 53 of Ambush

“Relieved. It wasn’t as hard as I’d thought it would be to see a black jaguar up close and personal again.”

He’d never met anyone with a more beautiful soul than Paradise Alden. Blake started to lean down and kiss her, but Isaac tugged on the pocket of his shorts.

“Carry me, Blake.”

Blake scooped up his little brother. Levi held up his hands for a ride too, but Paradise nabbed him. “You’re mine, big guy.” Levi wrapped his gangly arms and legs around her and smirked as if that had been his plan all along.

She was so good with the boys. How did she feel about having kids herself? He was getting ahead of himself and it was a question for the future, but he couldn’t help thinking of a little girl with her wayward curls and extraordinary eyes.

He corralled his errant thoughts and walked toward the tiger enclosure. Tigey chuffed her usual greeting and approached them. The big cats had already received their evening meal, so she wasn’t hungry. Blake started to pet her through the fence, but he didn’t want to do that in front of the boys. They were already way too familiar with the white tiger, as the escapade with Isaac had proven.

“Beautiful girl,” he crooned.

She rubbed up against the fence and chuffed another greeting. “I told you she likes you,” Isaac said. “You’re not scared now, are you?”

“No, but you must promise never to go inside with her again,Isaac,” Paradise said. “She could hurt you without meaning to. She’s very big and has powerful muscles.”

“And long claws like this.” Levi curved his fingers into claws. “I thought she’d eat you even though it would’ve been an accident.”

“Mom already told me,” Isaac said in a sulky voice. “And so did Blake. I won’t do it again.”

“Can we see the zip line?” Levi asked. “Mom said it was going to be done soon.”

“You bet. It’s this way.” Blake walked with the group along the oyster-shell path that led back to the entrance to the new attraction.

Another company owned the zip line attraction, but Blake had insisted on overseeing it to make sure it was safe. They climbed the wooden steps to the top platform that looked out over the predator area.

“It’s really high,” Levi said, his voice quavering. “I don’t like it so high.”

“You’re a little young to go on it anyway, big guy,” Blake said.

“I can do it. I’m not afraid.” Isaac puffed out his chest. “You can lift me clear to the ceiling and I’m not scared.”

“This is a little higher than the ceiling. And people will have to be eighteen to ride the zip line.”

Blake planned to be the first to test it, and now that Paradise was recovering from the trauma of her mauling, he might be able to talk her into going on it with him. There was no real danger. The harnesses and lines were rated to carry several thousand pounds, and they’d made sure it was overengineered.

He glanced at her. “I don’t remember you being afraid of heights. Does it seem scary to you?”

“Not the height, but what if something goes wrong, and we’redangling over the big cats? Or even worse, maybe it drops us right into the middle of the hyenas.”

“It couldn’t happen. The engineers made sure it was much safer than required. And we’ll test it well without animals out there before they open it.”

She gazed off into the distance where the setting sun glowed red and gold over the trees and the lake. “It’s really beautiful out here. I bet it’ll be a big hit. What about a night ride? You could set up special lights that don’t disturb the animals but illuminate enough for the viewers to see them in their natural state. They’re night prowlers. It might prove really popular.”

“That’s a great idea—I’ll see what I can do with the lighting. Shouldn’t be a big deal to figure out. We’d have to change our hours, but it might be worth it.”

Darkness began to fall quickly. “Guess we’d better find Evan before he leaves for the day.”

Chapter 25

After dropping the boys at the house for their baths, Paradise and Blake found Evan in the lion enclosure cleaning up excrement. She’d seen him from a distance during her time here, but she hadn’t been close enough to speak since she’d avoided the big cats as much as possible. After a glance to make sure no lions lurked unseen in the area, she used her key to unlock the gate and slipped into the enclosure.

When the acrid stench of the big cats hit her nostrils, she froze for a moment.You are not afraid anymore.She would not go back to that fearful, cowering person.

Blake touched her hand. “You okay?”

She nodded. “I’m fine.” She tipped up her chin, then strode toward Evan. “Hi there, Evan.”

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