A Jaguar's Kiss (4 page)

no way she was asking for anything else. The thought of his

cock inside her…she arched her back off the door as

images flooded her brain. It was bad enough that she’d

have the sight of his head between her legs buried in her

memory forever; she couldn’t start fantasizing even more.

He gripped her other thigh and used it as an anchor as

he continued stroking with both his tongue and finger. When

he slid another finger inside her she jerked against his

face, unable to contain herself any longer.

She couldn’t stop the moans that escaped, each one

louder than the last until final y he pushed her over the edge.

It was like she was in a freefal as wave after wave rol ed

over her. Tingles of pleasure danced through her veins,

twining to al her nerve endings and leaving her feeling

almost weightless.

She wasn’t sure how much time passed but eventual y

she sagged against the door, letting her leg fal from his

shoulder, her foot hitting the ground.

She couldn’t find the energy to be embarrassed about

how she’d just let Owen pleasure her so quickly. Despite

the residual anger she carried for him, this moment had felt

absolutely right. He’d played her body so expertly it was

frightening. Her nerve endings sighed in relief, a heavy

languor stealing over her.

Owen gripped her hips tightly. Sighing, he leaned

forward, laying his forehead against her stomach. Despite

the shirt she stil wore, she could feel his hot breath through

the material. A light tremble raced through her.

“I’m not sorry about this but I didn’t plan for this to

happen. I hope you don’t think I did,” he said softly.

She laughed under her breath and increased her hold on

his head. “I don’t think either of us could have planned this.”

“Go to dinner with me tonight. I want to take you on a

date.” The abrupt change from him took her off guard.

A date?
Yeah, that so wasn’t happening. Swal owing

hard, she shook her head even though he wasn’t looking up

at her. Going on a date with him would only remind her of al

the good times they’d shared. And what was the point when

he’d never want more from her. “No. I’m not sorry this

happened, either but…no. I need to go home and check on

my family. And this can’t happen again.”

His hands tightened, digging into her skin. Not enough to

hurt her, but with enough pressure that she felt as if he was

almost trying to mark her. Suddenly he let go and was on

his feet in front of her so quickly that if it had been possible,

she’d have taken a step back. Unfortunately the door

barred her way.

“Why not?” he demanded softly.

“Because I’m a feline and you’re a wolf and we both

know how you truly feel about
my kind
,” she snapped out,

letting some of the hurt she’d kept bottled up for years out in

those two words.

He drew his eyebrows together. “Your kind?”

Rol ing her eyes, she ducked out from under him,

refusing to have this conversation. There was no point.

She’d heard him tel ing his friends what he thought about

her al those years ago. Owen would never settle down with

a feline. No, a wolf was the only kind of shifter he’d ever

mate with. It didn’t matter that they were best friends—that

she had fal en completely in love with him—he hadn’t

viewed her as good enough.

But he wouldn’t let her off that easily. Grasping her upper

arm, he tugged her close. “What the hel are you talking

about?”

She jerked her arm, to no avail. “Save it! I heard

everything you had to say about me when we were

teenagers.” She shoved at his muscular chest but he didn’t

budge.

Stil , his grip lessened. “What?”

“You told me to meet you at our special place on my

birthday.” God, she could feel heat pricking her eyes but

she angrily blinked away the traitorous tears. “I was a little

early but I heard everything you said to your pack mates.

About how I wasn’t that important to you. How you’d never

settle down with a feline, as if the very thought of mating

with me was
disgusting
.”

Owen completely dropped his hand. “Is that why you

stopped talking to me?”

She’d never wanted to have this conversation with him. It

was too painful and it didn’t matter now, anyway. “What do

you think?”

He scrubbed both hands over his face and took a step

back from her. When he final y looked at her again, shame

burned bright in his blue eyes. “I was a seventeen-year-old

kid. My pack mates found the quilt, cake and candles I’d set

up for your birthday and…” He cursed low under his breath.

“I was embarrassed they caught me doing that for a girl. I

just wanted to get them off my back. I didn’t mean any of

it…I was a
stupid
kid. I’m sorry, Gabriela. So damn sorry.”

He might have been younger, but he’d been her best

friend. His words had sliced her deeper than anything

before or since. They’d made her feel like she wasn’t good

enough, like what they’d shared had al been some dirty

secret because of her bloodline. “You might have been a

stupid kid, but you were also my best friend. You should

have had my back.” She opened the front door and

stepped outside, already pul ing away from him in more

ways than one. She needed physical space to get

emotional distance. It was the only way she could keep her

head on straight. “If you think you can restrain your pack

from kidnapping or kil ing me, I’d like to go back and get my

rental truck and head home. I’m going to talk to my family

about what’s going on. I know no one in my family would kil

innocent humans but I’l see if they know more about this

than they’ve let on to you.”

“Gabriela—”

She shifted to her jaguar form. The shirt she’d been

wearing shredded, but she didn’t care. Owen could try to

talk to her al he wanted, but it wouldn’t do him much good

while she was an animal.

He stared down at her for a long moment, annoyance on

his handsome face. Growling under his breath, he stripped

off his jeans and underwent the change. Once he was a

wolf—a gorgeous al -white wolf she hadn’t seen in years—

he yipped at her and tilted his head in the direction of his

pack’s land, tel ing her to fol ow.

As long as they didn’t have to talk, that was fine with her.

The sooner she got her truck and got off his land, the better.

Owen hated the overwhelming disappointment he

experienced as he and Gabriela neared his cabin. Not

surprising, al of his pack mates who’d been out patrol ing

had given them a lot of space. At least his brother had

followed
those
orders. Ethan was young and more than

impetuous and Owen planned to punish him, but right now

al he could focus on was Gabriela’s tantalizing scent.

After he’d kissed her,
tasted
her…he was edgy. And

swimming in guilt. He remembered the day he’d said those

awful words about her. How he’d denied what she’d meant

to him to his pack mates. Things between them had literal y

changed overnight and their relationship had suddenly

become fragile and almost new. They’d been in the

process of discovering a sexual and physical side to their

relationship and he’d completely screwed things up.

He could stil remember the day she’d cut him from her

life. He’d asked her to meet him in the woods because he’d

wanted to celebrate her birthday just the two of them. She

hadn’t shown up so he’d gone to her house, but she’d

refused to talk to him. Her father had practical y threatened

him with physical violence if he didn’t get off their property,

and had even cal ed his father and told him to keep Owen

away from Gabriela. Since he didn’t attend the local high

school that she did, he hadn’t even had the excuse of

seeing her at school.

Overnight it was like someone had cut his heart out. He’d

forced himself to forget al the good times, al the damn

memories he’d shared with her over a decade of their

friendship. When she’d made it clear he meant nothing to

her, he’d had to compartmentalize al his feelings or he

would have gone crazy. But the moment he’d seen her

again today al that emotion had come rushing back with

the force of an avalanche. Now he felt like he was

suffocating under the weight of it.

His paws pounded against the cold ground, the icy

sensation almost distracting him from his inner pain. There

was a foreign ache in his chest he figured would never truly

go away after today. Not unless he could convince Gabriela

to give him a second chance. God, did he want one even if

he didn’t deserve it.

When they final y reached the front porch he underwent

the change, shifting back to his human form with a loud

growl. There was always a slight discomfort during the

change. He pushed up from al fours, breathing hard as he

looked down at Gabriela stil in her feline form.

Her coat was darker than the rest of her family’s and he’d

always thought how gorgeous she was. Unlike her family

members who had that brighter orange coat with the black

spots covering them, she had an almost al black coat. Her

spots could only faintly be seen if you were up real y close,

which made her even harder to find in the woods. But he

would always be able to find her. Al he had to do was

fol ow that sweet scent.

Opening the door, he motioned for her to go inside.

There wasn’t anyone around but on the off chance

someone came to the house, he figured she wouldn’t want

to shift in front of them. And even though he didn’t care

about nudity, the thought of anyone seeing her naked made

his canines and claws pulse with the need to shred into

someone.

Even in animal form she barely glanced at him. Just

trotted past him with her head held high and her tail

swishing. She smacked him with it as she entered his

house and he was pretty sure it had been intentional.

As he shut the door behind him she turned to face him.

He stood there expectantly, hoping she’d change back to

her human form. Owen had forced himself not to look at her

naked body when he’d pressed her up against the door.

He’d somehow held on to a thin thread of control and given

her his shirt so she wouldn’t feel awkward. But he

desperately wanted to see al of her now.

See her stretched out naked on his bed or on the forest

floor. Didn’t matter where as long as they were alone.

Gabriela lay down on the hardwood floor of the foyer and

put her head on her paws, as if she knew exactly what he

was thinking and refused to change forms. There was a

silent defiance in her dark eyes.

“I’l grab some of Skyler’s clothes,” he muttered and

stalked toward the stairs. He knew his younger sister

wouldn’t mind if Gabriela borrowed anything. Skyler was

shorter but he figured he could find something that would fit

wel enough for Gabriela to drive home.

And away from him. Ignoring that heavy weight pushing at

his chest, he put on clothes, then dug around his sister’s

room before returning to Gabriela. She stil hadn’t moved

from her spot. In her animal form she was slightly bigger

than regular jaguars and her sleek, almost al -black coat

was beautiful. Though it pained him to do so, he set the

clothes in front of her then turned his back to give her

privacy.

Seconds later she said, “I’m done.”

Damn, the woman was stealth personified. Her shift from

animal to human form was just as quick in reversal. When

he turned around he found Gabriela tugging his sister’s

black T-shirt down, trying to cover the flat planes of her

bel y. He’d picked lounge pants and a simple shirt. Thanks

to her height, the pants hung low on her hips showing off a

lot of tanned skin.

His mouth watered as he stared, remembering how good

she’d tasted barely an hour before. He wanted to bury more

than just his face between her legs.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said quietly, her cheeks

flushing crimson.

“I can’t help it.” Why bother denying it? She knew how

much he wanted her.

For a long, sexual y charged moment they just stared at