Joining the Jaguar: BBW Paranormal Jaguar Shifter Romance (4 page)

And then there'd been Jake himself. She'd never met a man like him before. His perfect body, the awe-inspiring grace and power of his jaguar form, the effortless way he'd fought off the attackers.... She'd been terrified at the sound of the gunshot, but after seeing him fight, the rush of relief had gone right to her head. And then there'd been that moment when he'd shifted back and stood there, half-naked and powerful over the prone bodies of his enemies, like a statue straight out of Greek mythology. The kind of powerful protector she'd always dreamed of. A man who could truly keep you safe from everything.

Oh boy. Even now, after three mind-blowing orgasms, that memory made her thighs clench a little.

And then he'd been so gentle with the injured boy, so careful and kind; he'd been a competent assistant at her improvised operating table, too. God, no wonder she'd gotten carried away. The adrenaline rush had turned to lust so fast it'd made her head spin.

She could barely remember how things had started now. He'd been the one who'd kissed her first, right? Or was that wishful thinking? She'd turned around and found him standing right behind her, and it'd felt like her entire body was begging for a kiss – and he'd bent down and given it to her. It'd been everything she'd dreamed of and more. She'd never had sex like that before. She hadn't even known her body was capable of feeling that much pleasure.

And she'd thought he'd been enjoying himself as much as she had. But when it'd been over, and he'd pulled out of her, there'd been such a look of dismay on his face. As if he'd come to his senses and was horrified at what he'd done. As if he regretted ever touching her.

She felt a flush creeping over her face at the memory. She knew she wasn't much to look at, small and overweight as she was, and she'd met plenty of guys who'd made it clear they'd never want to date someone like her. Usually, she didn't let that get to her.

But usually, she didn't have sex with those guys. Especially not mind-blowing, life-altering, once-in-a-lifetime sex. After that, of course it stung to be rejected.

And now she was going to have to work with him. He was the alpha of the pack and unofficial leader of Brooksville, and she was the only GP in town. They'd certainly have to talk at least occasionally.

Well, she could be professional if he could. And if it felt like her heart was breaking every time she thought of that dismayed look on his face…

She was a tough girl. She'd get over it.

Vincent held the car door open for her. She wondered if he could tell what they'd been doing. She'd taken a shower, but he was a shifter; maybe he could still smell it on her. At the least, he'd probably noticed she wasn't wearing the same clothes she'd worn earlier.

Her cheeks flamed. Thankfully, he didn't say anything, or even give her a sly glance. Actually, he looked a lot friendlier than he'd been on the drive over.

"Thanks for helping Jeremy," Vincent said.

"Just doing my job," Sarah said automatically. "I had a lot of help."

"Yeah, Jake always takes care of us," Vincent said.

Sarah desperately wanted to know more. Jake was a mystery. How on Earth had he ended up in control of this pack? Usually, shifters stuck to their own kind. She'd never heard of a mixed pack like this before – a jaguar, a bear, a bunch of wolves, a coyote…

But she wasn't going to indulge her curiosity. It probably wasn't a good idea to talk about Jake at all. The sooner she got him out of her head, the better.

Vincent escorted her back to her office. Sarah sighed, looking over the place. She'd been almost finished scrubbing the waiting room when Vincent had interrupted her, but there was the entire rest of the place to clean up.

She'd lost four hours of precious daylight, and she was exhausted. All she wanted was to lie down and sleep. She could still feel her pulse heavy between her thighs, a warm, sated feeling. God, Jake had been so
good
, the best she'd ever had. With her previous partners she'd been lucky if they could get her off once; hell, lucky if they even
tried
for once, once they'd gotten theirs. Even now, her body wanted Jake.

Sarah gritted her teeth. No use thinking of that now. There was work to do, and the sooner she got started the sooner she could get some rest.

She picked up her mop, and then blinked in surprise. Vincent was still there. He was holding a cleaning rag. She'd been so distracted, she'd barely noticed him coming inside with her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"It's our fault you're behind. Least I can do is help you catch up," Vincent said. "It'll get done much faster with some help."

The work did go a hell of a lot faster with two people, especially since one of them had the superhuman strength of a bear. Even if it was pretty weird to watch the huge bear shifter carefully wield a feather duster.

By the time it'd gone dark outside, the place was starting to look presentable.

"Thanks for the help," she told Vincent. "Now all I have to do is paint the walls. God, I hate painting."

"Can't you have someone do it for you?" Vincent said.

"Do you have any idea what that costs?" Sarah replied with a sigh. She was already up to her neck in student loans. Med school wasn't exactly cheap. She'd have to manage the painting herself, as little talent as she had for that kind of work.

Sarah slept in the next day. She figured she'd earned it, after that exhausting day. It was already noon by the time she got to the office.

Vincent's truck was parked around the corner. Sarah flushed at the sight of it, and the reminder of Jake it represented. She'd woken up this morning from a dream of him that had left her face flaming and her pussy soaking wet.

She made herself get angry instead of embarrassed. What did Jake think he was doing, having her watched like that? He'd made it perfectly clear that he wasn't interested in dating her, so he could at least have the decency to leave her alone and let her get over him. Was he still worried she'd report the shooting to the police?

She slammed the door to the office behind herself, and then froze. The place was filled with the thick smell of fresh paint. The stained hallway wall was now a flawless, creamy white. The waiting room had been painted in a light, soothing shade of blue. She yanked the door to her office open. The walls shone in a sunny yellow color, like a reflection of the noon sunlight flooding the room.

It was a flawless, professional job. There wasn't even so much as a stray drop of paint on the floors or the furniture. But her blood was boiling anyway. What on earth did he think he was doing, getting someone to paint her office without asking her? Was this supposed to be some consolation price, after he'd made it clear he didn't want her? Had she looked that pitiful yesterday?

She slammed out of the practice, stalked over to Vincent's truck, yanked the passenger door open, and dropped herself in the seat.

"Take me to Jake. Now."

Vincent gave her a wide-eyed, startled look. "Yes, ma'am," he said. 

Jake gave her a smile when she slammed into his office. "Sarah, hello!" he said.

She crossed his office in two long steps and slapped her hands down on his desk. "What the hell is wrong with you? You can't just do that kind of stuff without asking. I don't need your help, or anyone else's. Don't interfere with my business again. Are we clear?"

Jake looked startled, taken aback, the warm smile completely gone from his face. She kind of missed that smile. Well, too bad. So what if he was hot as blazes and supernaturally good in bed? He was still a jerk, and he didn't want her, and she didn't need him.

"I'm sorry," Jake said.

She gave him a last angry glare, squared her shoulders, and stalked out of his office.

"No thanks," she said, when Vince offered her a ride back. "I can get a taxi. And don't any of you dare follow me, either."

"Yes, ma'am," Vince said.

She went back to the practice, opened all the windows to let the smell of paint air out, and started unpacking boxes, still fuming.

The next morning, she woke up to find a letter in her postbox. "Dear Dr. Anderson," it said, formal as anything, "Clearly we've gotten off on the wrong foot. I apologize for my part in that. Please accept my apology. Rest assured that I won't bother you again. Regards, Jake."

Sarah glowered down at the paper.
Rest assured that I won't bother you again
, the nerve of him. But more than that, it was the stilted politeness of the letter that drove her up the wall. She wasn't some Victorian maiden he'd wronged. So he didn't want her. She could deal. She didn't need some formal apology letter.

Sarah glowered at the yellow wall of her office, which looked so sunny and cheerful she could barely even manage to stay mad. She kept finding herself grateful for the way he'd helped her out. She'd always wanted a man who'd take care of her like that, figuring out what she needed without her even having to ask. And God knew the office looked a million times better now. If only he hadn't done it out of pity.

***

Exactly one week later, Sarah opened the door to her new patients for the first time. She'd expected no more than a trickle of patients at first. People were always a little wary of a new doctor, and these people probably more than most; from the gossip she'd heard around the neighborhood, her predecessor hadn't been much help to anyone.

So she was pretty startled to find a small crowd in front of her door at 8 am on a Monday morning. People kept flooding in all day. Sarah didn't even have an assistant yet; she hadn't been prepared for a crowd. Working in an ER had taught her a lot about organization and triage. Today she needed every bit of those skills just to keep the place from descending into total chaos.

Apparently the way she'd taken care of Jeremy had impressed the pack, and if the pack trusted her, the rest of the town was willing to give her a chance.

It was the most crazy, most exhausting, and most wildly satisfying day she'd had in her entire medical career. She'd chosen to work in a small town like Brooksville because she figured she could make a difference here in a way she never could in an enormous, rich city like San Francisco, and she'd been right. She'd sweated through her blouse by the end of the day, and when she looked in the mirror, her hair was a tousled mess, her cheeks bright red. But she was smiling. People here needed her, and she was happy to help.

Over the next two months, she quickly became a part of the community. People started recognizing her on the street, calling out a greeting when she passed. The baker pressed a free coffee on her almost every day when she bought her breakfast bagel, and even the taciturn postman had started saying hello.

She'd never worked harder in her life, and she'd never been happier.

***

The sound of her cell phone startled Sarah out of a sound sleep. She blinked blearily at the display. Four am. Ugh.

"Yeah?" she mumbled.

"Doc? It's Jolene Johnson. I'm so sorry." Jolene sounded close to tears. "Emily's got a hundred and three degree fever, I don't know what to do-"

Sarah found herself abruptly wide awake. Emily was only seven and had almost died of meningitis last year. It probably wasn't anything that serious this time around, but of course her poor mom was scared half out of her mind.

"I'm coming over," she said. "Just stay calm until I get there, Jolene, okay?"

"Thank you so much, doc," Jolene said. "I'm sorry, I just-"

"I get it, don't worry about it. I'll be over in a couple minutes."

Sarah ended the call. She was wearing an old pair of pajamas. For a moment, she considered taking the time to get properly dressed. But Jolene wouldn't care and no one else was likely to be awake this time of night. She shrugged on a sweater over her pajama top and jammed her feet into her boots. Good enough.

Another car pulled into Jolene's yard just a few second behind Sarah's, a sleek black mustang with a low, rumbling engine. Sarah suppressed the urge to groan as Jake got out of the car. Typical. She finally saw him again, and she had to be tired, bleary-eyed, and wearing an old sweater over even older pajama pants.

"Sarah?" Jake said in surprise. "Did Jolene call you?"

"Yeah," Sarah said. "She said Emily has a fever, she sounded really scared. I figured I'd better come over."

"Jeremy called me," Jake said.

Right. She'd forgotten about that. Jolene was related to Jeremy in some roundabout way, and therefore part of Jake's extended pack. Of course he'd hear about it if anything happened to her. Pack gossip moved at the speed of sound.

Jake had been the one who'd driven Emily and her mom to the hospital the last time she'd been sick. Of course he'd be worried. Sarah only wished she'd taken the time to throw on some proper clothes. Jake, of course, managed to look great despite the late hour. His dark hair was tousled, and there was a faint shadow of stubble on his cheeks, but that only made him look roguishly handsome, like some kind of heroic outlaw from an old movie.

Just ignore him. You have a job to do,
Sarah told herself.