The Jaguar's Beach Bride: BBW Jaguar Shifter Paranormal Romance (Shifters of Coral Beach Book 1) (8 page)

Brennan crouched down beside her, rubbing her arms. He didn’t try to tell her everything would be all right this time. She appreciated that he didn’t try to sugarcoat things.

“We’ll figure this out,” was all he said.

Mina had to take comfort in the fact that, at the very least, she wasn’t alone.

“Did you have any other valuables they may have taken, Ms. Kinney?” Officer Gentry asked as he followed them into the backroom. “Any other safes?”

“No, this was it. The store wasn’t really big enough for multiple safes.” She forced herself to stand. “But they’ve taken everything of value.” Her voice hitched.

“I am sorry for all of this, although at least no one was hurt,” the officer said. “We’ll be finishing up here soon, and then you’ll need to come to the station for a statement. If we’re lucky, we’ll find some prints that will help us find whoever did this.”

Mina just nodded. She was in a daze, and she didn’t even realize that Brennan was the one shaking hands with the officer once more and finishing up the paperwork. A headache pounded in the back of her brain, and she only wanted to go home and sleep for the rest of her life. Forget that all of this had ever happened.

“Mina.” Brennan tipped her chin up so she had to look at him. “Let’s go get some coffee, okay? There’s nothing else we can do here.”

She nodded again. Words seemed too hard, too thick on her tongue, and at any rate, Brennan seemed to know what she needed more than even she did. Before she realized it, a hot mug of coffee was set before her and Brennan was urging her to drink it.

“You should eat something, too,” he said.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Doesn’t matter. Something is better than nothing.” He motioned to the waitress, and he ordered two plates of bacon and eggs.

Brennan began eating while Mina just picked at her food. “Didn’t you have a meeting this morning?” she asked.

“I told them I had a family emergency. They’ll have to deal.” He drank his coffee and finished up his bacon, clearly ravenous. “Eat something. You’ll feel better if you eat.”

She wasn’t remotely convinced of this assertion, but she ate a few bites of egg and bacon to appease him. Mostly she nursed her mug of coffee and thought about what she was going to do now.

She already knew that even though her insurance could replace the merchandise and clean up the store, she had already lost too much money to make the business profitable again. And coupled with the fact that she’d lost this week’s earnings in one fell swoop? It was hopeless. Mina knew that, and she knew it was hopeless when the thought of it didn’t cause her to sob uncontrollably. Instead, a hollowness filled her—a bitter acceptance of the inevitable.

Her business had been her dream for so many years. A place to work with the locals, who she'd grown up with, providing a bit of fun to the tourists who visited. Mina had adored this pier and stretch of beach for as long as she could remember, and being able to work here everyday, and work in her own business? It had been a dream come true.

But reality had quickly set in, plus the recession, and now everything had snowballed into a disaster. No longer a dream, but a nightmare. Part of her wanted to cut ties with the entire venture right then and there, but the other part of her still wanted to salvage what she could.

If she closed the business, though, what was she going to do? She supposed that she’d have to get some kind of office job. Her heart sank at the idea.

Looking up, she saw that Brennan had been watching her.

She blushed. “You don’t have to stay with me. I’m sure you have to get to work.”

“No, I want to stay with you. And be honest with yourself. Do you want to be alone right now?”

No!
her heart screamed.
Please don’t leave me.

Mina didn’t want to deal with any of this, but if she had to, she didn’t want to do it all by herself. That was what she always did—kept her problems to herself, figured it out on her own—but for once she wanted to rely on someone else.

“No, I don’t,” she admitted. “Thank you for staying with me. I’m not sure I deserve it, but thank you.”

Brennan gazed at her over his coffee mug, and then with those green eyes of his taking in every inch of her face and expression, he said simply, “Of course you deserve it, Wilhelmina.”
      

Chapter Ten

After Brennan had dropped Mina off back at her house—and kissed her with a kiss that promised many things to come that night—he called Jude to let him know what had happened.

“Jesus Christ, is Mina all right?” Jude asked. “How is she taking it?”

“She’s okay, or at least, she’s holding up,” Brennan said. “She’s pretty shaken though.”

Jude swore underneath his breath. Brennan could just imagine the other man’s disgusted expression. Then Jude asked warily, “Why do
you
know all of this, though?”

Brennan thought a moment. Did he tell Jude that he had slept with his sister and was planning to sleep with her again that night and, oh, he was also certain she was his mate because he wasn’t human but actually a jaguar shifter?

“We’re…dating,” Brennan finally said.

“Dating. Uh-huh. You see each other again after forever and now you’re dating?”

“Well, if you want me to get specific—” Brennan began.

“Hell no,” Jude interrupted. “No specifics. But I’ll say this: if you hurt her, I’ll kill you. Got it?”

“Got it. Although I can promise you that I won’t hurt her.” Brennan hoped Jude could hear just how serious he was about that.

“That’s what Paul said, but I knew he was a shithead early on. You’ve never seemed like a shithead to me, so I’ll give you a pass—for now.”

“Your faith in me is inspiring. I’ll talk to you later, then.”

Brennan knew that Mina might be upset that he was the one who told her brother about her store, but he had a feeling she’d avoid doing so, and Brennan didn’t want Jude to see the shop on the news and end up calling his sister and upsetting her.

But most of all, he didn’t want her to know that he was going to return to the store in the dark of night, find out what he could, and get her money back at all costs.

Brennan returned to work that day, apologizing for his absence, while refusing to give any details regarding his supposed family emergency. His boss Kevin was rather lackadaisical in his management style, so when Brennan didn’t offer any details, Kevin didn’t ask him to elaborate. He forced himself to focus on catching up on what he could while in the office, attending an afternoon meeting, but his mind remained on Mina the entire time anyway. He was so distracted that his coworker Quinn commented on it.

“Are you sure everything’s okay?” Quinn adjusted his bow tie. He was wearing a red one today that more than likely complemented his socks.

“Everything’s fine.” Brennan scooped up his laptop and stuffed it into his briefcase. He had dozens of emails still to answer, but he’d stayed so late to catch up that the sun was already setting. “Just got slammed having to come in late today.”

Quinn squinted at Brennan. “I’ve never seen you this distracted.”

“Well, there’s a first for everything. Gotta go.” And before Quinn could say anything, Brennan hauled his ass out of the office, hoping that no one would stop him and catch him in a conversation he didn’t have time for.

Thankfully, he got to his car in the parking garage without someone stopping him, and he drove down to the pier as the sun set below the horizon. The sky, streaked with orange and purple, made a spectacular sight as he drove west, but Brennan couldn’t even appreciate the sunset today. No, he was focused solely on Mina and finding the men responsible for hurting her.

When she’d told him about the shady loan, he hadn’t been surprised. He knew she was in some kind of financial trouble, although the actual number had genuinely shocked him. The fact that she kept that secret, too, caused his chest to clench.

We need to take care of our mate,
his inner jaguar kept growling over and over again, and Brennan could only agree. His protective instincts had become so fierce and so strong in regards to Mina that he couldn’t even attempt to explain them away.

Mina was his mate, and Brennan would do anything in his power to keep her safe.

When he approached the store, he saw that few people still walked the pier. The temperature had dipped with the setting sun, and most people preferred to keep inside as a result. A handful of tourists walked along the beach, and Brennan heard a woman squealing as a cold wave submerged her feet. He then heard a man laugh, but otherwise the night was fairly quiet: seagulls going to roost, people exiting restaurants, cars driving away. Otherwise, the stores surrounding Mina’s were dark and deserted.

Mina’s store had been boarded up, but going around to the back, Brennan was able to pull off the wooden boards without much resistance. He smelled the air, standing still, making certain no one was around. And then he shifted into his jaguar form, shoving his clothes behind a few cardboard boxes, before crawling on top of a recycling bin and climbing through the now-open window.

Brennan stayed low to the ground, assessing. Scents bombarded him—sunscreen, coconut oil, sand from the police officers’ boots, salt and sea spray—plus the underlying scent of Mina. But another scent stood out, and that was the one upon which he focused. It was an angry, almost violent smell, and he easily matched it to Roger’s from the previous day. Two other scents that mirrored Roger’s were also present, and Brennan wasn’t surprised to discover that Roger had help breaking into the store.

Brennan prowled around, seeing if he could catch any other scents or sounds or something to lead him, and he ended up in the back where the empty safe still lay open. This was where Roger’s scent was the strongest, and Brennan’s hackles immediately went up. Hissing low in his throat, he circled the safe, inhaling the smell until it filled his nose and almost everything else faded away. He tasted it, mulled it over, taking apart its myriad layers. It smelled of human, certainly, but there was something else. Something his jaguar senses detected but couldn’t name precisely.

He growled in frustration, following the scent as it went outside and into the parking lot. He knew it would end wherever they’d parked their car, so Brennan returned to the shop to circle the safe once again. Human, anger, fear, anticipation, cigarette smoke, cheap laundry detergent, but that last layer—

And then Brennan realized what it was: yeast and hops. He inhaled again, and his senses confirmed it once again. It smelled like a brewery, of all things, and although he didn’t have a hard time imagining Roger drinking swill late into the night, it was the scent of a brewery that gave him the biggest clue. It was a smell Brennan—even in human form—smelled as he drove on the highway going south, and he knew exactly where it would lead him.

Climbing out of the store, Brennan shifted back into human form and quickly dressed, his mind awhirl. Now that he knew where he could at least begin to track down Roger, his heart sped up in anticipation. His inner jaguar wanted to track down Roger right this very second, but Brennan forced himself to resist the urge. It would be better to catch him unawares. Right now, he was probably on guard, waiting for someone to find him. Better to wait until he thought he’d gotten away with his crime before springing the trap.

Brennan drove to Mina’s then, knowing that he had to see her. He wanted to tell her everything—tell her he was a jaguar shifter—and to tell her she was his mate. She seemed to realize they had an intense connection, so she would understand this, right?

But when Mina let him inside her house, Brennan saw how tired she looked, how her eyes were still bloodshot from crying, and he decided to keep his secret a little longer. What would a few more days mean? Better to make certain this entire thing with Roger ended before burdening her with something else.

Brennan pulled her into his arms right as he closed the front door, kissing her, telling her wordlessly how he felt, and she became pliant and moaned softly in her throat. He tangled his fingers in her silken hair, reveling in her warmth and her sweet smell.

“God, I missed you,” he whispered against her throat.

She laughed. “It’s only been, what, eight hours?”

“Eight hours too long to not see you and touch you.”

“You’re too good at this and I should make fun of you for being dramatic”—Brennan pinched her bottom for that—“but I have to admit I felt the same. Don’t stay away that long ever again, okay?”

“You don’t even need to ask.” Brennan swooped down and picked her up, and she laughed again.

Carrying her upstairs, he could barely stop himself from pushing her up against the nearest walling and screwing her senseless, especially as she continued to kiss and lick his neck and collarbone as he walked.

Suddenly it seemed like the bedroom was too far, and he stopped at the top of the stairs and pushed Mina against the wall, hooking her legs around his hips. As he ground himself against her, she moaned, and Brennan kissed her until her lips were red and bruised.

“Brennan, Brennan,” she said against his mouth, and he captured the sound of his name on her lips.

No bed for them tonight. Instead, he set her down for just a moment so he could unbutton his jeans and she could strip off her pajama shorts and panties, and then he picked her up and gripped her left hip while his right hand was splayed against the wall above her head.

His cock brushed her soaking entrance, and it was Brennan’s turn to groan. “You’re so wet for me, so hot, and I haven’t even touched you.”

“You don’t have to touch me. Every time I see you I want you.” Mina’s voice was breathy, seductive, and Brennan felt himself grow even harder.

He forced himself to slow down, make her as ready as possible. He trailed a hand down her belly until it reached her mound, and he parted her gently with his thumb and index finger. The smell of arousal and Mina filled his nostrils, and he growled low in his throat as his fingers were coated in her wetness. She hitched her hips against him, wordlessly telling him what she wanted.