Tempting the Jaguar (4 page)

you either lived with a pack or you

didn’t survive for long.

Her spine straightened. “They

tried.” There was a snap of anger in

her words that made him smile,

even while the thought of anyone

attempting to hurt this beautiful

woman made him see red.

He started to respond when his

senses went on high alert. Without

thinking, he turned off the lamp,

sending the room into darkness.

Light from the moon streamed in

through the sheer curtains and with

their extrasensory abilities they

could see fine.

“What’s going on?” she asked

quietly. Estrella had dropped her

arms from around her knees and

was tense with anticipation.

He held up a finger to his mouth

as he listened carefully. With his

hearing, he had no problem picking

up outside sounds. Normally he

tuned everything out but it had

suddenly hit him that he didn’t hear

anything
outside. This time of year crickets in Alabama were bad and

he’d heard them when they arrived.

Now, silence.

Which meant there was a

predator—or more likely predators

—outside. It was a few hours from

dawn. The vampires shouldn’t have

had time to regroup. Rainer had

been battling them long enough to

know how they operated. They’d

never have a base of operations so

close to someone they were

targeting. Not to mention if they’d

set up shop in the state, he’d know

about it. So if they planned to take

Estrella—and that would happen

over his dead body—they’d be

cutting it down to the wire trying to

get her back to wherever their base

was over the state line.

“Our
friends
are back,” he

murmured.

Fear and anger pulsed off her in

equal waves as she silently stood

with a lethal, beautiful grace that

made him forget to breathe for a

moment.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

She paused, then shrugged.

That would have to do. He could

stay and fight them but decided

against it. If these vamps were

desperate enough to come back for

her now, there was no telling how

many numbers they’d brought.

Nope. He and Estrella were going to

run.

It was just a matter of getting out

of here first.

Chapter 3

Estrella knew she was probably

crazy to trust this wolf, but so far

he’d been up front about who he

was. Lies had a very distinctive

metallic scent and Rainer was

telling her the truth. Of course he

could be holding something back,

but right now she knew they

needed to get the heck out of her

house.

Something was wrong. There

was an eerie silence surrounding

them and her innate animal sense

that she never ignored had her inner

jaguar going nuts. She was clawing

at Estrella’s insides, begging to be

set free. And Estrella was about to

let her out when Rainer took her

hand in his. His very big, callused

hand. Just that small connection

soothed her inner jaguar and

increased her physical awareness of

this very powerful wolf. Didn’t

matter if they were surrounded by

enemies, her growing attraction to

him wouldn’t be denied.

He held on to her as he crept to

one of her front windows.

Carefully, he peered outside then

stiffened before pulling her close.

She swallowed hard as his head

bent to hers. That distinctive

sandalwood scent twined around

her. His breath was warm against

her skin. “I see at least three but

there will be more. We need to

escape out the back and shift. Then

we run fast. Stay in front of me, I’ll

make sure none of them hurt you.

Once we get far enough away, we’ll

have backup.” She barely heard

him and he was millimeters from

her ear, his tongue practically

caressing her lobe.

Nodding, she inhaled deeply,

hating the strange effect he was

having on her. She knew they were

in all sorts of danger if there were

more of those scary vampires

outside her house and she was

touched that he promised to have

her back. But part of her couldn’t

shake the strong magnetic pull she

felt for him. It was getting stronger

now that they were touching.

Her face was still pressed into his

neck as his free hand cupped her

cheek. Rainer drew back a fraction

and lightly brushed his lips over

hers. The action was sweet and she

might have mistaken it for chaste if

not for the way his hips jerked

against hers. She figured he was

trying to distract her from the threat

outside and she appreciated it.

Grabbing her hand tighter, he

stepped away and nodded toward

the back of her house. “Lead the

way.”

Her house wasn’t big and he

probably could have found the way

on his own but she quickly moved

through her house. Estrella was

relieved that he didn’t let go of her

hand. He was clearly protective and

the knowledge warmed her entire

body. It had been a long time since

a male had wanted to look out for

her.

Once they reached the back door

he expertly maneuvered so that he

was in front of her and barely

moved the curtain covering the

small window to check outside.

After a moment he said, “I see four

more.”

Her heart rate accelerated. So

there were at least seven of those

creatures outside waiting for them.

But why?

Rainer stripped off his shirt then

turned to her. He motioned with his

hands that he was going to crack

the door open, then they’d shift and

bolt through the door. His hand

charades might have amused her

had the timing not been so wildly

inappropriate.

“Send the female out unharmed

and we won’t hurt you, wolf!” A

loud, male voice boomed from

outside, cutting down any of her

humorous thoughts.

Her skin chilled. It suddenly hit

her that these vampires actually

wanted
her.
This wasn’t a case of

Rainer being mistaken about their

intentions. He’d told her they’d

been hunting her but she hadn’t

wanted to believe him. And that

vampire from earlier had said he

didn’t want to hurt her even though

he’d told her she was coming with

him. She couldn’t deny the facts in

front of her even though she

wanted to.

Rainer growled low in his throat,

anger practically sparking off him

as he eased the lock open and

barely pulled the door back an inch.

He looked at her and nodded once

as he stripped off his pants. His

ripped body would put pro football

players to shame. And what was

between his legs...she shuddered

again as warmth spread throughout

her. Now was definitely not the

time to be noticing that.

Knowing it was silly to feel self-

conscious especially considering the

circumstances, she stripped off her

own clothes and underwent the

change at the same time Rainer did.

He nudged the door open with

his nose, and they both sprinted out

onto her back porch. Using all her

strength and supernatural speed she

flew across her open backyard,

which led directly into the thick

forest.

A shot rang out and dirt flew up

a foot from Rainer. Straining, she

urged her body onward, glad

Rainer was just as fast as she was.

“No! Don’t hurt the princess!”

that same male voice shouted,

though he sounded a lot farther

away than before.

Princess?
What the hell? Once

Estrella and Rainer breached the

thick trees, they moved even faster.

Wind rolled over her fur as her

paws pounded the hard, crunchy

earth. There was shouting behind

them, but she managed to tune it

out the farther they ran.

The trees around them grew

thicker, the forest blanketing them

in protection. Since there was no

way to tell Rainer, she did what

came natural to her beast. She took

to the trees, jumping from branch to

branch, tree to tree, as they raced. It

gave her a much better vantage

point to spot any possible dangers

and she always kept Rainer in her

line of sight.

Some primal part of her wouldn’t

let him get away from her. The

need to see that he was okay and

yes, protect him, was like a living

thing inside her. She didn’t

understand it and she wasn’t sure

she liked it. But it was there

nonetheless.

The voices and shouts had long

since faded in the background and

once the trees started to thin again

she jumped back to earth and fell

right in line with Rainer. She wasn’t

sure how far they’d gone but it had

to be at least eight miles, maybe

more. He let out a low yip that

sounded almost like a greeting.

Maybe he was glad she was running

next to him again.

When he slowed she followed

suit. By the way he was moving it

was obvious he was somewhat

familiar with this territory. Since

she was an orange jaguar and

therefore stood out in the forests of

Alabama, she tended to stay within

a two-mile range of her home so

she’d never been this far out

before. He clearly had.

Once they’d slowed to a

complete walk, she nudged him in

the side with her nose. He yipped at

her and actually snapped his jaws.

It wasn’t in anger, but almost

playful. The action took her off

guard. She’d never had anyone to

run with. Not since she was a cub—

and those memories were fuzzy.

Her father was the only one she

even remembered running with.

Never her mom.

They reached a clearing, but she

froze when she saw a man standing

near the opening of a cave. He was

tall with dark hair and had a similar

build to Rainer, but she didn’t plan

to cover the rest of the thirty yards

to find out who he was. She

growled, drawing Rainer to a

sudden stop.

He looked at her, then back at the

man and barked. As if she should

understand what he meant. Estrella

went down on her belly, ears back,

and he flopped next to her. He

nudged her side with his nose,

trying to get her to stand.

She knew she was being stupid

and maybe a little irrational, but she

was terrified. The reality of what

had just happened was slowly

sinking in. Freaking vampires had

chased them down and she was on

the run with a very sexy wolf

shifter. A shifter she knew next to

nothing about. She didn’t think

he’d lured her into a trap or

anything, but fear clawed through

her as past experiences raced

through her mind.

Rainer let out what she thought

sounded like a frustrated bark then

shifted to his human form. He

crouched down in front of her and

she tried to ignore the fact that he

was naked. “That’s one of my

brothers,” he said quietly, reaching

out and stroking a hand over her

head.

How could he have known they’d

be there?
Alarm surged through her and she started to back away but

Rainer shook his head, as if he

understood exactly what she was

thinking.

“My brothers and I communicate

telepathically. When the rest of my

family was alive, we all did. Some

blood relatives are like that. Do you

remember being able to do that with

your parents?”

She shook her head, though an

elusive memory tickled her

thoughts. Did she?

Rainer sighed. “My brother

brought us clothes. I’d like to take

you back to my pack’s land. You’ll

be safe there. The sun will be up in

a few hours and we can check on

your house then.”

She shook her head again. She

wasn’t going anywhere.

Sighing once more, he stood.

“Leave the clothes!” he called out to

his brother, which she figured was

for her benefit since they could

apparently communicate

telepathically.

The man by the cave opening

paused and Estrella was under the

distinct impression that he and

Rainer were having a conversation.

Finally the man tossed the clothes

down and stalked off into the

forest.

“Come on,” Rainer murmured.

As they moved she tried to ignore

the fact that he was naked but it was

pretty hard considering the man

was walking, talking sex appeal. All

those hard muscles and sharp, flat