Perilous Pleasures (5 page)

Stefan patted her hand, which was again in the curve of his arm. "Because it is. She's head of the family. What she says goes."

"She doesn't like me," Joanna stated.

 
"She has her penchants," Stefan replied. "But in certain areas in my life her word is not final, one being the company I keep. I hope to spend time with you. Do you mind?"

"Well no," Joanna admitted. The thought of spending time with Stefan made her feel giddy, something she hadn't felt in years. Not even when she'd first met Karl.

"Then I assume you're not pining away for some poor bloke back home."

Joanna laughed. "Heaven's no, much to my mother's dismay. She wants me to marry and bless her with grandchildren to spoil. She was not in favor of my leaving home to join a mud circus, which is where Gene and Otto and I started."

Stefan leaned against the railing and pulled Joanna around to face him. Continuing to hold her hands, from which she made no move to break free, he said, "I'm curious as to why you prefer flying on a trapeze to blessing your mother with grandchildren."

Joanna looked heavenward, gazed at the star-filled sky, and said in a thoughtful voice, "There's something about flying through the air that can't be described. The thrill of soaring upward. The rush of adrenaline that comes from letting go of the trapeze. The weightlessness for those few seconds in time when I defy gravity. The satisfaction when Otto's hands smack mine in a perfect catch. And after a particularly good performance, when Otto drops me to the net, I just want to go up there and do it again." She shifted her gaze from the stars to Stefan's face, and as she looked into his eyes, she knew that, on some higher plane, they had connected.

"I understand completely." Stefan kissed her then, a short kiss that made her face hot. Then he brushed his knuckles across her cheek and said, "I'd like to stay here with you for the rest of the evening, but I have to go below and check on one of my animals."

"They're on this boat?" Joanna said, surprised. "I thought they were on the barge."

"I have a tiger down in the hold that needs medication."

Joanna had no idea when Stefan had placed his hands at her waist, or when she'd rested her palms on his forearms, but she made no effort to move away from him, as she said, "I might ask how one gives medication to a tiger, but I don't think I want to know. It sounds very risky."
 

"Not if you do it right." Stefan's breath wafted against her lips as he said, "You slip into the cage, scratch your patient under the chin until he swoons, gently pry open his mouth, and shove the medication down his gullet."

"Then that's all there is to..." her words were cut off by Stefan's lips. She refused to analyze why she'd slipped her arms around him and was returning the kiss. All she wanted was to be held in his arms and savor the sweetness of his kiss, for just a little longer...

Stefan was the one to break the kiss. Arms clasped lightly around her, he said, "You've just convinced me that you harbor no prejudice against gypsies. I'm glad." Another kiss, and he turned and left.

How ironic, Joanna thought as she watched him walk away. Karl arranged their quarters so she'd be forced to associate with Stefan Janacek the gypsy, and in doing so, enabled her to associate with Stefan Janacek the man. Now, all she wanted was to be back in his arms and feel his lips on hers again.

***

Helena, Arkansas

The
Aurora
pulled into Helena during the night, and shortly after first light, the exhibition pavilion and the animal menagerie were up, the various show wagons were in place, and the grounds bustled with activity. Joanna stood just inside the pavilion, watching a couple of roustabouts push a cage with a tiger up to the entrance of the great barred enclosure that was Stefan's show ring. In another cage a short distance away, a black leopard paced restlessly.

Stefan and his assistant trainer entered the pavilion from the opposite direction and walked over to stand in front of the cage with the tiger, and they were joined by the man with the drooping mustache, who Joanna had seen several days before. She was about to leave when Stefan caught sight of her, and with a sweep of his hand, motioned for her to come over. She was aware of a heavy drumming in her chest as she walked towards him, and when he smiled, her limbs felt weak. In an attempt to stem her reaction to his perusal, she focused on the tiger.

"He's my new silver Siberian," Stefan said. "What do you think of him?"

Joanna eyed the huge, restless animal. "I think he looks hungry," she said, uneasy with the tiger's impatient movements and the low growls rumbling in its throat.

The man with the drooping mustache turned to Stefan. "Wasn't it a silver Siberian that killed Rufiero?" he asked anxiously.

"Yes," Stefan replied, "but Rufiero let the animal back him against the cage." He winked at Joanna. "This is Walter Burke, my guardian angel."

Walter smiled. "Someone has to look after the poor fool. He won't."

Stefan laughed. "Walter is retired from the ring, but most of the time I think he's still in there, even though he's standing outside."

Joanna looked at Walter. "You were a trainer?"

He nodded. "A few years ago."

Joanna caught a troubled, almost tormented look on the man's face.

Stefan rapped Walter on the shoulder, as if to cover an awkward moment, and said, "Now he's chef for my cats, makes an art of preparing the meat—fat trimmed off, tendons carefully removed." He smiled affectionately at Walter. "I'm convinced he's the reason my cats don't eat me. They're too damned spoiled." He rested his palm on the back of Joanna's neck and said, "This is Joanna Livingston, my neighbor on the
Aurora
. So, what's your assessment?" He gave Joanna's neck a squeeze. "I'm not referring to this beautiful woman. I'm referring to the tiger."

Walter propped his hands on his hips. "He's a nice-looking rookie. Has a good head, short nose, nice wide forehead. No inbreeding there."

Stefan eyed the tiger pacing the cage. "I had a hunch about him the first time I saw him. He's responsive, alert, not gawky like most two-year-olds." He turned to Tony Bernardo, his assistant trainer, and said, "Go ahead. Let him into the cage."

Tony raised the barred door. The tiger looked warily into the open space then dashed into the cage. Stefan studied the animal's movements. "He's a rightsider," he said to Tony, noting that the tiger veered right on entering the ring. "Keep that in mind." He reached for the long gutta-percha whip resting against the cage. "Let's see what he can do."

Joanna stared as the animal restlessly paced the cage, low growls reverberating in his throat. "You're going in there with him...now?" she said, alarmed.

"I can't think of any other way to work with him," Stefan replied.

"But...
 
aren't you going to tie him to a line or something?" she asked, her voice anxious. Although she knew Stefan was a big-cat trainer, for some reason she hadn't imagined him going into the cage with an animal so completely untrained.

"I don't anticipate trouble," Stefan said. "He's been handled before." He turned to Tony. "Just in case, keep the pistol handy."

Joanna eyed the pistol on Tony's hip. "What if he missed the tiger and shot you instead?"

"Then I'd get a blast of gunpowder," Stefan said. "It's loaded with blanks." He kissed her lightly. "Enjoy the show." Grabbing a wooden pedestal, he entered the cage.

The metallic clank of a heavy bolt made Joanna jump with a start. She looked at the tiger, who was nervously exploring the big cage, then at Stefan, who approached the growling, restless animal with nothing but a whip a and pedestal to fend it off.

The tiger spotted Stefan and rushed him. Stefan cracked the whip and held up the pedestal. When the tiger stopped to survey the situation, Stefan backed behind a carpeted block-seat that stood in the middle of the cage. Continuing to face the animal, he patted the top of the block while speaking to the tiger in a quiet voice. The tiger eyed him warily. Stefan patted the seat again. Cautiously, the tiger approached and sniffed the block. Stefan slowly reached out his hand and stroked the tiger's back, gradually working his way up the animal's shoulders and head to gently scratch behind his ears. The tiger rubbed against Stefan's hand. Sliding his palm down the tiger's shoulders, Stefan patted the block again.

Walter moved to stand beside Joanna. "That tiger's been on a block-seat before. He just has to get used to someone else giving the command."

Patiently, Stefan coaxed the tiger, and within a few minutes he had the animal sitting on the block-seat, while protesting his state with a series of vicious snarls.

Joanna looked at Walter, worried. "Why did he suddenly start acting like that?"

Walter smiled. "He's just having fun. Getting rid of some excess energy. It's when they lay their ears back and slink or crouch that they've become deadly."

Joanna saw the patience with which Stefan worked the cat, noting that he constantly repeated instructions, giving rewards for minor accomplishments and rebukes for misbehavior, until the tiger sat quietly on the block. Watching Stefan scratch the tiger's neck, and seeing the animal slip into a kind of ecstasy, Joanna said, "That one acts like an overgrown house cat."

Walter arched a cynical brow. "Don't let him fool you. There's a diabolic brute hiding inside each and every one of them, and the trainer better not ever forget it."

Stefan motioned to Tony. "That's enough for today. I'll work with Shani now."

The tiger spotted the open door and rushed into his cage. Two attendants rolled the cage away, while Tony and another attendant pushed the black leopard's cage into place.

Joanna said to Walter, "Is that the leopard that walks on the globe?"

Walter nodded. "That's Shani." His brow knit with concern as he studied the animal, who sat crouched in the cage, tail flicking, ears flat. "He's acting strange," Walter said. "Something's not right." The door clanked open and the animal rushed into the arena, caught sight of Stefan, and charged. Stefan jumped aside, but the animal swerved in midair, twisting his sinewy, steel-muscled body snakelike, knocking Stefan down. When Stefan threw his arm up to protect his face, the leopard drove his teeth into Stefan's bicep.

"
Shani!
Yaahhh
!" Walter yelled. The leopard lunged at Walter, charging the bars of the cage, snarling and spitting in a frenzied attempt to reach him.

Stefan leapt to his feet and grabbed the pedestal. The leopard turned and dashed under the wooden stand, snagging Stefan's leg with his claws as Stefan whirled the pedestal around and struck the animal in the head. The leopard crouched, teeth bared.

Unable to look away, Joanna stared at the blood seeping from beneath the torn pant leg of Stefan's breeches as it dripped into the sawdust of the arena. The bitter taste of fear rose in her throat as the leopard crept closer and began circling Stefan, ears flat, low growls rumbling in its throat. Then the animal crouched, tightened to spring, and hurled himself at Stefan...

"
Fire
!" Walter yelled at Tony.

The deafening blast from Tony's pistol rang out, startling the leopard and sending him off-balance. Stefan rushed the leopard. "
Yaahhh
," he yelled, whirling the pedestal around while chasing the animal toward the chute. "
Let him out
!"

When the door between the arena and the cage swung open, the leopard dashed through. Stefan headed toward the main gate, hand clamped around his injured arm, blood dampening his shirt, and a stream of it running down his pant leg where the leopard's claws had slashed the length of his calf.

"Have someone look at those wounds right away," Walter said, intercepting Stefan as he exited the cage.

"I will later," Stefan replied.

"Claw cuts are treacherous," Walter said. "You need someone to look at you now."

Stefan stared at the leopard, who was restlessly pacing his cage. "I don't understand," he said, bewildered. "Shani acts like he's been mistreated.
Tony
!" he called out. Tony walked over to where Stefan stood. "Have you seen anyone lingering around Shani's cage?"

Tony shrugged. "There are always people wandering through the menagerie."

"Rope off the cats and keep an eye on anyone who comes near them," Stefan said. "Meanwhile, we'll work Shani on a harness and try to get him performing again by the time we get to Greenville." Tony nodded and went to join the handlers.

Walter gave an extended sigh. "If you don't have those wounds tended," he said, "you may not reach Greenville."

Joanna noted the worry on Walter's face. "Why do you say that?"

"It's easy to get blood poisoning from cat wounds," Walter said. "Recesses in the underside of the claws hold dirt and pieces of rotten meat, prime ingredients for gangrene."

Joanna noted the firm set to Stefan's mouth. "I should think you'd be concerned," she clipped, aware that Stefan ignored the blood dampening his shirt and trickling down his leg where the shredded breeches gaped open.

"I'm more concerned about Shani's behavior," Stefan said. "It was not that of a surly cat, but a vengeful one. One that's been mistreated."

Walter eyed Joanna. "Stefan has a stubborn streak when it comes to medical attention. Somehow he feels that if the enemy can't be subdued with pedestals, pistols and whips, there is no enemy. If his animals don't get him, someday an infection might."

 
Joanna considered Walter's words. Stefan was a dangerously attractive man in a profession that demanded he take chances with his life, every time he stepped into the cage with his cats. Yet, she knew he could be an easy man to love. But if she did fall in love with him, could she watch him day after day, knowing that threat would always be there?

Eyes on the leopard, Stefan smiled and said, "He's quite a showman though."

Joanna smoldered on hearing Stefan's casual comment about an incident that could have cost him his life. "That's your idea of showmanship, an animal trying to tear you apart?" she snapped. "What if he hadn't turned and run. What if he couldn't be bluffed?"