Tempting the Jaguar (2 page)

college and had been inseparable

ever since. No one else she knew

understood what it was like trying

to make it as an artist more than her

best friend.

“I’m tempted to go out and

celebrate but I’m so tired.” Sabrina

stopped in front of their vehicles as

she fished her keys out of her

purse.

Estrella did the same and stifled a

yawn. “Go home and get some

sleep because tomorrow you’re

giving your notice at work.”

“You just don’t want to go out—

but you’re right, I do need sleep.

Thanks again for tonight.” Sabrina

gave her a quick hug and a kiss on

the cheek before pressing her key

fob.

Following suit, Estrella got into

her Jeep and steered out of the

nearly deserted parking lot. Instead

of heading east like Sabrina she

turned west in the direction of the

new place she’d recently rented on

the outskirts of Huntsville,

Alabama. The cottage-style house in

the middle of the woods had been

perfectly priced and allowed her to

shift and run free in privacy. Plus it

had a small air-conditioned studio

attached to the house where she

was able to work. It was like the

place had been custom-made for

her.

As she turned off onto the two-

lane road that led to her place, she

was surprised when headlights

appeared in her rearview mirror.

The road was a dead end and there

was only one more—
unoccupied
—

house about two miles down from

hers. Slowing her vehicle, she

started to pull off onto the side of

the road when she spotted another

set of headlights behind the first

vehicle.
What the heck was going

on?

She stopped so that whoever was

behind her could pass. When the

vehicle behind her also pulled off,

panic jumped inside her.

The headlights directly behind

her shut off and she realized it was

a truck. It was too dark to see who

was inside other than to make out a

big, broad-shouldered silhouette.

Definitely male. Estrella quickly

debated her options. She could try

to turn around and outrun the man

in her Jeep but he could easily

block her with his vehicle. No,

she’d be better off if she jumped

out, shifted and made a run for it. If

this was a group of shifters who

wanted her for nefarious purposes

she’d have a much better chance in

her animal form. As a jaguar she

was powerful and could run at

incredible bursts of speed.

Considering the way that shifter had

been eyeing her at the party tonight,

she couldn’t discount anything.

The moment her fingers touched

the door handle, a tearing sound

made her jerk around. Claws sliced

through the plastic window of her

Jeep. There was no way the

silhouette she’d seen in the truck

behind her could have moved so

fast.

Before she could move, the

figure was jerked away by someone

else. Whoever it was moved in a

quiet, fast blur. Scrambling, she

leaped from her vehicle. Someone

let out a strangled cry but the sound

was cut off abruptly. Hurrying away

from her Jeep, she froze as she

rounded it and saw a giant black

wolf use his freaking
claws
to rip the head off a man. The wolf

snarled angrily, its white teeth

dripping blood as it tossed the head

to the side.

Estrella’s mouth almost fell open

as the decapitated man shriveled to

ash right in front of her.
What the

hell?

She stumbled back into a wall of

muscle. Turning, she nearly

shrieked as a man with fangs and

claws protruding from his hands

grasped her by the shoulders. At

least he wasn’t slicing her up with

his claws.

“Don’t worry about the wolf,

you’re coming with me,
bonita,
” he purred. His amber eyes were

definitely not human.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!

This guy was a vampire. Her brain

rejected it, not wanting to believe

the creatures were even real. But

this guy was so a vampire. And he

thought he could take her?

Instinctively, she shoved at his

chest before undergoing the change

into animal. She’d seen a wolf

change once and his shift had been

brutal and had taken precious

moments. Hers was seamless as her

jaguar form took over. Her clothes

shredded as her bones quickly

realigned and her much stronger

and bigger animal side took over.

She lunged at the vampire, going

for the throat as she knocked him to

the ground. That wolf shifter might

not be an ally but she’d seen the

way he’d taken down that man—

vampire. She’d been forced to kill a

wolf shifter in the past and it

looked like these other creatures

had the same weakness.

Decapitation probably killed

everything.

The vampire with an olive

complexion similar to her own held

up his arms defensively as he cried

out. “I don’t want to hurt you!”

If she’d been in her human form,

she’d have snorted.
Yeah right.
She bit into his forearm, surprised by

the taste of his blood. It was

sweeter, not as coppery as animal

and human blood.

The dark-haired vampire slashed

at her, raking those claws down her

left side as he tried to dislodge her.

Behind her she heard more

snarling. Afraid of a sneak attack,

she let go and risked a quick glance

over her shoulder. The black wolf

was sparring with two more

vampires.

She didn’t know why he was

putting himself in danger for her,

but if he could take on two, she

could take on this one. The vampire

struggling underneath her hold was

keeping his throat and face

protected so she went for one of his

biceps, keeping him pinned to the

ground with her weight and

strength.

He cried out in pain as she tore

through tendons and muscles. A

hard fist slammed into her head,

loosening her jaw. Letting go, she

rolled over onto her paws and

jumped back, putting a few feet of

distance between them.

“We don’t want to hurt you!” he

shouted, palms raised.

She snarled and started for him

again. He sprinted away from her.

The vampire shouted something

and she saw a blur of movement as

one of the others who’d been

sparring with the black wolf ran

back to the SUV parked behind the

truck. They dove into it and

seconds later tires squealed as they

tore back the way they’d come.

Still panting, she took a cautious

step toward the limp wolf on the

ground. Even though it was dark,

thanks to the stars, moon and her

extrasensory abilities, she could see

a pool of crimson spreading onto

the road underneath the other

shifter.

Though she didn’t know the

wolf, he’d still been fighting the

vampires. For her? Maybe. She

didn’t know what to make of this

guy.

She knew she should probably

be more focused on the fact that

vampires were real and she’d just

been attacked by one, but she had

to help the wolf. As she neared the

animal it let out a soft moan.

Nudging his jaw with her nose, she

froze when its eyes blinked open.

They were the exact pale shade of

green as the man from the art

studio.

Chapter 2

Rainer stared into the eyes of the

beautiful female jaguar shifter. She

was a sleek orange feline with dark

black spots. Jagged pain lanced

down his left side. One of the

vamps had sliced into him,

breaking a rib and piercing him

with a silver dagger. The rib was

already healing and the silver hadn’t

gotten into his blood stream so

while he hurt, he was almost four

hundred and fifty years old and

more than capable of

compartmentalizing his pain.

For a brief moment he tensed,

wondering if the female planned to

attack him too. The thought of

sparring with this woman, even in

self-defense, made something

painful well up inside him. Some

primal part of him just couldn’t do

it. But then she let out a soft whine

and nudged him with her nose and

he realized she was worried. Or at

least concerned about him.

He tried to move then realized he

must have been injured worse than

he originally thought. More pain

ripped through his right shoulder

like tiny daggers digging into him.

Damn vampire had sliced through

him with his claws. Rainer let his

head fall back against the pavement.

He’d heal soon enough and if those

vamps didn’t come back and the

woman didn’t try to attack him,

he’d be fine.

But she clearly had other ideas.

After whining and nudging him

again, she turned tail and

disappeared around her Jeep. Less

than a minute later she came back

around in her human form wearing

a form-fitting T-shirt and shorts. All

shifters he knew carried around

multiple changes of clothes so it

made sense she had something extra

to put on. It was a shame she’d had

to destroy that skimpy black dress

though. He’d had some wicked

fantasies earlier tonight of slowly

peeling it off her. Watching her

carefully, he relaxed slightly when

she opened the back door of her

Jeep.

“Come on, big fella. You’re

coming home with me so you can

heal. Do not make me regret this,”

she murmured as she bent down

and picked him up.

Rainer was huge and if she’d

been human she wouldn’t have

been able to lift him. As it was, the

petite woman strained and grunted

as she slid her arms under his big

wolf body and lifted him up.

Though it would have hurt like hell,

he could have jumped into the back

on his own, but he was afraid any

sudden movements would scare

her.

And he wasn’t above playing the

sympathy card if it got her to take

him back to her place. She was

living in Huntsville, which was his

Alpha’s territory and she hadn’t

made her presence known to

anyone that he knew of.

Considering that his oldest brother

Alaric was second-in-command to

Knox, his Alpha, Rainer would

have known if a jaguar shifter had

been living in their territory. Then

she’d acted as if she didn’t know

what an Alpha was. Whatever was

going on with this woman and

whoever she was, he was damn

sure going to find out.

Because those vampires tonight

had been hunting
her
.

After gently sliding him onto a

thick quilt, she shut the back door

while she muttered to herself about

how she was definitely going to

regret letting a wolf into her home.

If he’d been in human form he

would have smiled. Inhaling

deeply, he scented her on the quilt

and the smell soothed him on a

primal level. Most shifters carried

quilts or blankets around in their

vehicles in case they decided to stop

somewhere and sleep out in the

woods, on the beach, or wherever.

He didn’t like leaving his truck

but there was no identifying

information inside and the license

plate wasn’t linked to his pack. If

someone stole it, well, he’d take

care of that later. The gentle hum of

her engine would have lulled him to

sleep but after only a minute of

driving the vehicle shut off again

and she got out.

Making a split second decision,

he shifted back to his human form.

His bones cracked, broke and

realigned and skin quickly replaced

fur. Rainer wanted to be able to talk

to her and he wanted to know why

they’d stopped when they were in

the middle of nowhere. She

definitely hadn’t gone far.

Seconds later the back door

opened. The woman’s dark eyes

widened and she took a step back.

She seemed almost frozen to the

spot as her gaze raked over him. He

was turned on his side, still covered

in blood and aching, but the way

she stared at him made another part

of his body react. When her eyes

landed on his groin area, her olive-

hued cheeks tinged bright pink and

she quickly averted her gaze.

Looking at a spot over his

shoulder, she cleared her throat.

“Do you need help getting out?”

No.
“Yes.” Yeah, he definitely

wasn’t above playing the sympathy

card if it got her to touch him.