A Jaguars Touch
A Jaguar’s Touch Copyright © 2015, Lacey Thorn
Also Available from Resplendence Publishing
ResplendencePublishing.com ~Gems of Romantic Fiction~
A Jaguar’s Touch
An
Awakening Pride
Story
By Lacey Thorn
Resplendence Publishing
R·>♦<·P
www.resplendencepublishing.com
Gems of Romantic Fiction
A Jaguar’s Touch
Copyright © 2015, Lacey Thorn
Edited by Delaney Sullivan and Liza Green
Cover Art by Les Byerley
Published by Resplendence Publishing, LLC
1093 A1A Beach Blvd, #146
St. Augustine, FL 32080
Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-854-1
Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Electronic Release: February 2015
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.
The lone Jaguar…
Gideon prefers to stay on the outside, watching, but he’s willing to step in and protect when needed. He doesn’t want family, keeps friends at arm’s length and refuses to believe there might be a woman out there meant to be his and only his. Men like him don’t have mates.
A Woman Undone…
Vic only has one use for men, and it sure as hell isn’t to protect her. She was a Marine. She takes care of herself. She feels the intense burn of desire and knows what others think. There’s only one way to prove them wrong. Sate the lust and walk away.
Mine…
He’s sure he can fight the need for her even with the touch of fever in his veins, but he never counted on fighting her need as well. Neither of them wants a mate, but the beast inside Gideon is ready to stake a claim. And if that happens, one night might turn into forever.
This one goes out to all of Lacey’s Thorns! You guys are the very best! Thank you so much for all the love and support!
Chapter One
Vic was furious. No, make that beyond furious. Who the fuck did this guy think he was? And why was Murphy listening to him?
“Move the fuck out of my way.” She bit the words out through clenched teeth.
Murphy sighed and shuffled his feet. “Can’t do that Vic.”
“Let me see if I understand this correctly. I’m no longer allowed down in our storage area where I’ve been going since we arrived here? I’m not to be anywhere near that cock-sucking shifter who shot two of our people full of some fucked up form of cat fever because now he’s dangerous? I’m not needed to help with Lydia’s care anymore, although we’ve all taken turns since she’s been here?”
Murphy nodded but wouldn’t meet her gaze.
“I’ll say it again then. Get the fuck out of my way before I rip your goddamn head off and shove it up your ass.”
“I can’t,” Murphy said. “I’m not trying to be a prick here. I know you can hold your own. I’m following orders. That’s it.”
“Since when do we take fucking orders from some jackass who shows up out of the blue needing help? Since when does having a fucking inner kitty or whatever take precedence over having your back every fucking time you needed me to?” Vic demanded, hands fisted at her sides.
“There’s only one man who gives me orders,” Murphy said with a spark of anger. “You know that.”
Vic reeled back as if she’d been sucker punched. “Tah ordered this?”
“You should take any questions you have to him,” Murphy said without answering.
“I’ll do that,” she said then leaned in close to him. “But for future reference, if you ever step between me and where I want to go again, it’s not going to matter who told you to. I’m going to rip your balls off and choke you with them.” She watched as his nostrils flared and ruddy color flushed his face. “And I won’t need any fucking kitty claws to do it,” she added.
He didn’t say anything, just stood there and watched her. Damn it, she hated feeling the need to speak to him like that. Murphy was a friend, someone she trusted to have her back. But this wasn’t something she could let go. She was either a part of the group or she wasn’t, and if Tah suddenly thought her incapable of doing her fucking job then she wasn’t.
She turned and headed back up to the main floor. She knew exactly who was to blame for this change. Gideon. The sexy motherfucker was going to be the death of her. God knew if she ever managed to get in a room with him, they’d probably kill each other.
It still burned her ass when she thought of the day he’d arrived with the other two shifters, Ariel and Griffin. The blonde-haired bitch still rubbed Vic wrong. She didn’t trust her—not one bit. But it was Gideon who fired Vic’s blood and had her seeing red. They’d barely come upon the group when he’d let out a roar that had scared the holy hell out of her, which was saying something considering she lived with shifters.
Murphy, Logan and Clara had been in the lead with Vic staying back with Orsai. Zane’s uncle was fascinating, and Vic enjoyed talking with him. She was laughing about something he’d said when Gideon had growled, and she’d frozen in place.
“Keep the fucking human away from me,” he’d thundered.
She’d heard him clearly and had almost stepped forward to defend Logan. But Gideon hadn’t been talking about Logan. No, the asshole shifter had been referring to her. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but it’d hurt like hell when Logan had asked her to head back and let Tah know they were bringing three new shifters to the cabin with them. Gideon had commanded, and Logan had allowed it. He’d sent her away, turning her into a damn messenger.
Now this? It was too much. She hadn’t contacted Tah and the others, begging them to let her help. No, they’d sent out an S.O.S, and she’d stepped up to the plate and volunteered to pitch in. She’d fought with them, bled with them and hadn’t batted an eye when she’d walked into crazy town. Tah and Reno could shift into animals. It didn’t get much crazier than that. Now, she knew Zane and Murphy could, as well. Finn might at some point, depending on the hormonal injection he’d taken to save his life. Now, it turned out Kenzie was a shifter, too. Lord, how many more? She thought she’d known these people, but there was so much she hadn’t had a clue about and probably still didn’t.
Did that mean she turned her back? Walked away? No, wasn’t who she was. But this? This could be a big fucking deal breaker for her. This could be the reason she left and never looked back. The knife wielded by someone you thought of as a friend always cut the deepest.
“Vic, I was looking for you,” Holt said as she hit the top of the stairs.
“Not now,” Vic grunted.
“Yes, now,” he said, stepping in front of her.
His actions gave her pause. He wasn’t confrontational—never had been. He spent most of his time with Kenzie. Vic knew the two had once been in a relationship and still remained close friends. Her guess was he still had the hots, but Kenzie had cooled off. Didn’t matter to Vic. As long as the two of them were good, so was she.
“What?” she barked, trying and failing to control her irritation at the delay. She wanted to still be riding the wave of anger and betrayal she felt at the moment when she confronted Tah. The last thing she wanted was time to fucking calm down. He didn’t deserve calm.
“We need to talk,” he said, snagging her gaze and holding it. “Have you seen Kenzie?”
Vic shook her head. “She hasn’t come out of her room since she got back. Tah said she asked to be left alone. We all understand that.”
Holt gave Vic a hard look, and she felt guilty as hell. She’d always been closer to Kenzie and Holt then any of the others. They were the ones she’d kept in close contact with when they’d returned stateside. She considered all of them friends but still managed to keep a little distance. Vic wasn’t a touchy-feely, lets-share-our-feelings kind of woman. However, she should have made a point of checking on Kenzie, and she knew it. Didn’t matter how busy she was or what filled her plate.
“Are you going to Oklahoma?” Holt asking, changing the subject on Vic.
She opened her mouth to automatically say yes but snapped it shut. Was she?
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
Holt nodded. “We need to talk. You, me and Kenzie.”
“Are you thinking of walking away? Is she?” Vic asked.
Holt didn’t answer. “We just need to talk. I’m going out to get some stuff for Kenzie. Meet me in her room later?”
Vic nodded her agreement. She’d noticed Holt was avoiding everyone, holing up with Kenzie and only surfacing when he had to. Even then, he did his job and disappeared again. He was angry, more so than she’d ever seen him. She expected it had a lot to do with the fact Kenzie was mated to a no-show mate. Yeah, she should probably go talk to them, see what their plans were. Not that it would change her mind once she made it. She was close to them, but the truth was she saw herself as more of a loner than anything else. She would do anything for them, but she liked her space, enjoyed spending time alone. No noise. No drama. No bullshit.
“I’ll be there,” she promised.
“Thanks,” Holt said and headed past her to do whatever errand he was on.
She watched him walk away then turned and headed back down the hall toward Tah’s office. All she had to do was picture Gideon in her mind and her temper went through the roof again. She slammed Tah’s door open, not caring if he was in the middle of something or not. And look. The three musketeers were together as always. Tah, Reno and Logan sat over in the casual seating area of the office, heads together as they no doubt discussed either the move or Abby’s upcoming trip to Denver. Both proposed events had everyone hopping.
“Vic?” Reno was the one who addressed her as they all rose to their feet.
They were prime specimens. Tall, built and more than capable of holding their own in any fight, and that was without the enhanced abilities they all presently sported. Reno and Tah were shifters and Logan was mated to one. Each of them had an advantage she didn’t.
“Is there a problem?” Tah asked, and the fucker crossed his massive arms over a wide chest, staring her down like the leader he was.
Fuck! She wanted to hate him, not respect him. But Tah had earned her respect, both as a Marine and as the dominant lion shifter he was now.
“I don’t know. Is there something you’d like to discuss with me?” she asked as she crossed to them.
Tah sighed. Reno looked up at the ceiling and Logan tried to hide a smile. Oh, they all knew why she was here.
“We’re just going over the plans for heading into Denver with Abby,” Tah said. “I still don’t like having her out in the open, but I understand this is something she has to do if we’re going to collect the money from the Professor’s life insurance.”
“Well, since it was his daughter and her pack of wolves who faked his death to save him, maybe you should check in with them. I’m assuming they’ll be there,” Vic taunted.
Tah stared at her for a long moment but didn’t rise to the bait. “She signed it all over to Abby. Apparently, the wolves have all the money they need. They’re giving all this to us.”
“You worked on putting together the list of new equipment, yet?” Logan asked.
“Is that what you need from me? Shopping help?” She snapped the words out, anger growing by leaps and bounds.
“Maybe you want to walk out, cool off then come back later,” Reno suggested.
“Maybe I don’t,” Vic stated. Her fierce gaze met his, held and challenged.
“If you have something to say then spit it out. I don’t have time to nurse hurt feelings,” Tah said. “In fact, I expected more of you.”
“You… I…” Vic opened and closed her mouth several times before exploding. “Well, I expected a hell of a lot more from you, too.”
“Vic,” Reno said again, and she turned her anger on him.
“You called for back-up. Tah’s in trouble and needs help. Those were the words you sent out, Reno. So, I dropped everything and came, and never once have I looked back. You need this or that, and I step up to the goddamn plate. Every time. And now, you think I’m incapable of doing the job you gave me?” She sent a hard look toward Logan. “You want me to put a shopping list together?”