Joining the Jaguar: BBW Paranormal Jaguar Shifter Romance (2 page)

And then the door opened, Dr. Sarah Anderson walked in, and for a moment, he completely forgot what he'd been going to say.

Oh no, she's beautiful!
he thought helplessly.

Vince must have interrupted her in the middle of some physical activity. Her blouse clung damply to her generous curves, leaving nothing and everything to the imagination. Her hair was tousled wildly, in a way that made it entirely too easy to imagine the way she'd look sprawled out in his sheets, sweaty and flushed for a much more pleasurable reason.

She had wide, rounded hips and soft, full breasts. Her belly was a gentle, sensuous curve. The cat inside him wanted to purr at the thought of how good it would be to curl up against her soft, warm body.

Blake swallowed hard and tried to regain his intimidating aura. Just because she was beautiful didn't mean she'd be the doctor his people deserved.

"Dr. Anderson, hello," he said, slowly stalking towards her. He could smell her nervousness, but to her credit, none of it showed on her face. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave him a defiant glare.

"What do you want?"

"Have a seat," Jake said, pulling out a chair for her. She sat, giving him a deeply unimpressed look.

God, she was amazing; it was clear she could feel the predator inside him, but she wasn't backing down one bit. If nothing else, this woman had guts. His jaguar roared approvingly, intrigued by the challenge she presented.

Instead of going back to his own chair, Jake leaned against the desk, looking down at her. "A small town like Brooksville's a bit of an unusual choice to settle down for someone who's not from here, isn't it?" he asked.

In this position, she had to look up at him. She still didn't look intimidated. His respect for her rose another notch.

"Why don't you tell me why you want to know, first?" she replied. "You didn't ask me here for small talk." She slapped her hands down on the arms of her chair and pushed back to her feet. "I've had a rotten day. My office is a mess, my suitcase is in Guatemala, I've ruined a very nice blouse, and if you think you can make me sit around and waste my time just because you're the big bad jaguar, think again! Get on with it and tell me what you want from me."

Her eyes were flashing furiously, but her voice cracked at the end of that speech, and he could hear the exhausted frustration beneath the words. He'd known Miller had left the office in a terrible state, lazy slob that he was. For the first time he thought about what it must've been like for her, arriving in a new town where she had no relatives or friends, and finding herself faced with that mess.

And then he'd had her dragged here with no warning, too.

He opened his mouth to apologize
—
she was right, this wasn't fair to her, and he'd gotten so caught up in worrying about his people that he hadn't thought of her feelings at all
—
and then a gunshot split the silence outside.

Someone screamed.
Jeremy
. One of his pack. His jaguar roared in fury.

"Wait here," Jake snapped.

He yanked his shirt off and leaped, shifting in mid-air, hitting the floor on four paws. Sarah gasped. Jake flew through the building, claws digging into the floor for traction.

Outside, Jeremy, a wolf shifter and one of the youngest members of the pack, was hobbling towards the gate. There was blood streaming down one of his legs. John and Amy, the other two wolf shifters, were supporting him on both sides. They were being chased by two members of the biker gang.

Whoever had fired the shot had already flown. Lucky for them. Inside Jake's head, the jaguar was howling in rage. They'd hurt one of his pups, and they were going to pay for it.

The two remaining bikers had knifes as long as their hands, but they weren't a match for the jaguar's speed.

Jake barreled into the first one without slowing down, throwing him against the pavement hard enough to stun him. He dodged a clumsy knife slash from the second man, jumped, and knocked the man down beneath his weight.

The man lifted the knife again, stabbing clumsily at Jake's side. Jake closed his teeth around the man's wrist, letting him feel the razor sharp tip of his fangs. He growled low and deep in his throat.

The man froze.

And then the rest of Jake's pack was there, surrounding them. John and Amy tied up the stunned man, while Vince crouched down next to the man Jake was holding and plucked the knife from his slack hand.

Jake reared up on his hind legs and shifted back in one smooth motion. "Get them secured. I've got to check on Jeremy," he said.

Jeremy sat on the front steps, looking dazed. His face was sickly pale and clammy with sweat. His leg was still bleeding sluggishly.

"Are you all right? What happened?" Jake asked, crouching down to inspect the wound on Jeremy's leg.

"Bikers jumped us, two blocks from here. One of them had a gun. Ricochet hit me."

"We'll take you to the hospital," Jake said.

"I don't need a hospital," Jeremy said, hunching in on himself. "It's not that deep. You can just slap a bandage on it, I'll be fine. You know my mom can't afford-"

"Don't worry about that. You got hurt defending the pack. We take care of our own," Jake said.

"Alpha, you know I don't want charity from the pack. All I need is a bit of rest, I'll be fine, you'll see," Jeremy said, squirming in embarrassment.

Unexpectedly, it was Sarah who answered.  "You're gonna have to let a doctor look at that if you don't want your leg rotting off, kid," she said. Jake looked up to see her standing at the top of the stairs.

"I told you to stay in the office," Jake said sharply. They'd driven the bikers back for now, but that didn't mean it was completely safe here yet, and she was a civilian. He didn't want her getting hurt.

"I didn't listen," Sarah said, unimpressed. "Now let me look at that." She bent down over Jeremy's leg. "That wound needs stitches, and I'll have to clean it first. Can you take him to my office? Most of my supplies are still in boxes, but I can make do."

"No, please," Jeremy said immediately. "Sir, can't you take care of it here?" He looked close to tears.

Jake hesitated. "
Could
you take care of him here? He'll be more comfortable somewhere familiar. We've got a pretty extensive first aid kit, we should have everything you need."

"I doubt it," Sarah said skeptically. "I'll need sterile gloves, and a surgical needle and thread. And I don't mean some dirty cotton thread from your sewing kit."

"We're pretty well stocked. Come look for yourself," Jake said.

He helped Jeremy up with an arm under his shoulders. Jeremy swayed on his feet, whimpering softly when he put his wounded leg down on the floor. Jake picked Jeremy up in his arms, cradling the kid against his chest. Inside him, the jaguar was raging. One of the pack's pups had gotten hurt on his watch.

Jeremy was only seventeen years old, thin and spindly as a colt. Poor kid hadn't had an easy time of it in life, and he was desperate to prove himself to the pack; and now he'd gotten hurt. This should never have happened.

Sarah followed them inside. She took in the enormous first aid kit Jake had assembled, a glint of respect lighting up her eyes. Jake had gotten pretty good at patching up his people himself out of necessity, and they were well stocked to take care of each other in the pack. But bullet wounds were a little above his skill set, even if it was only a graze.

"Pretty impressive. I can work with this," Sarah conceded.

Jake's jaguar purred happily.
She's impressed with us!

Jake sighed. If only it were that easy.

"Can you set him down on the table over there?" Sarah said. Her voice turned gentle. "Hi, Jeremy. I'm Doctor Anderson. I'm gonna have a look at your leg now, okay?"

Jake looked at her in surprise. Talking to her young patient, she seemed almost like an entirely different woman; her voice was warm and soothing, and her body language radiated calm and reassurance. Jeremy was responding to it, too. He settled right down for her, easy as a pup being comforted by his alpha.

She's made to be an alpha's mate
, Jake thought admiringly, and his jaguar purred in agreement.

Sarah carefully cut the leg of Jeremy's jeans open and examined the wound. Jake watched her work. He handed her things when she asked for them and let Jeremy cling to his hand when he got nervous.

Sarah was quick and clever with her hands. Every motion spoke of skill and experience. It seemed to take no time at all until she was taping down a clean white bandage over the wound.

Jeremy had dropped his head back against the table, his face gone slack with relief now that the painkillers had kicked in.

"There, that'll do," Sarah said. "I'll write you a scrip for antibiotics and painkillers, and you'll want to stay off that leg for at least a week, but you're gonna be just fine."

"Thank you, Doc," Jeremy said.

"The pack is in your debt," Jake added.

"Just doing my job," Sarah said. "Thank you, too. You make a pretty good assistant." She smiled at him. Jake's breath caught in his chest. God, she was gorgeous when she smiled.

After she was done, he took her back to his office with its ensuite bathroom to let her clean up.

"You can't report this," Jake said, once the door to his office was closed between them. Officially, Sarah was supposed to report every gunshot wound. And of course in a fair world, that'd be no problem. Jeremy had been an innocent victim in the shooting. But the biker gang had rich and powerful members, and Jake didn't want to give their overpaid lawyers a chance to get their claws into Jeremy.

Sarah shot him a dark look, but finally shook her head. "I won't," she said.

"Thank you."

She went into the bathroom and came out a few minutes later, her face and hands scrubbed clean and rosy. A few stray droplets of water dripped from the ends of her hair and ran slowly down the valley between her ample breasts. Jake's eyes couldn't help but follow their path.

His body still thrummed with adrenaline from the fight. He couldn't look away from her. She was the most beautiful women he'd ever seen. Beautiful and clever and brave. She'd been so kind to Jeremy, and so calm and competent under pressure. She'd be a fantastic doctor for his people.

She'd be a perfect mate
, his jaguar added.

He wanted her, with a deep aching yearning, like he'd never wanted a woman before in his life. Inside him, the jaguar was straining at the leash.

Sarah brushed by him to leave the bathroom. Her foot caught on the low threshold, and she stumbled a little. He caught her with his hands on her arms. He could feel the warmth of her skin through the thin silken fabric of her blouse; could smell her feminine, enticing scent.

She looked up at him, her lips full and rosy, her eyes wide and black with what he desperately hoped was desire.

He was standing too close. He ought to step back, put some distance between them…

She tilted her face up to his, and he bent down, utterly helpless to resist, and pressed his lips to hers.

She gasped. Jake was already preparing to step back and apologize when she opened her lips and started kissing him back.

He groaned when he felt her respond. She melted against him, her body pressing against his. The feeling of her skin on his lit a wildfire inside him.

She kissed back with just as much hunger as he felt. Inside him, the jaguar was roaring with triumph, swamping him with a sense of wild, possessive pride.
Mine
.

Jake braced himself against it. His jaguar strained against his control, wanting him to push closer, to yank her against himself and press them together so tightly that not even a breath of air could come between them.

He groaned, helplessly torn between the hunger of his animal side and the restraint he knew he ought to show.

But Sarah seemed just as desperate as he was. She clung tightly to his shoulders. Her kisses were passionate and wild, a hint of teeth to them. He could feel her heart pounding inside her chest, smell the arousal rising from her skin like a haze in the air.

He was taller than her, so she had to strain up to meet his mouth. The awkward angle had to be hurting her neck. Without thinking, he wrapped his hands around her thighs and lifted her up.

She let out a startled gasp. "Oh, don't!" she said. "You'll hurt your back."

Jake laughed. "Don't worry. You're not that heavy."

To his surprise, her face darkened. "You don't have to
—
I know I'm, you know, a big girl." She gestured awkwardly down at her body.

He finally understood what she was worried about. It hadn't even occurred to him to worry about her weight – with his shifter strength, he could easily have carried two of her – but maybe other men had made her feel bad about it in the past? His jaguar growled at the thought.

"There's not a single pound too much on you," he said firmly. "And you'd still be gorgeous if you weighed twice as much, and I could still carry you. Don't ever worry about that."