Tempting the Jaguar (6 page)

and they hadn’t known each other

that long. She was so beautiful it

almost hurt him to watch her.

Those dark corkscrew curls

bounced with her every graceful

movement. They were riotous and

so at odds with the way her body

seemed to flow over him.

He was so close to losing it but

he refused to embarrass himself.

Somehow he pulled one of his

hands off her hip. Reaching

between their bodies, he teased her

clit. Unlike earlier, this time he used

more pressure, rubbing her harder.

She let out a gasp and he felt her

inner walls tighten around him each

time he rubbed. Oh yeah, it

wouldn’t be long before she came

again.

She still watched him with those

big brown eyes as she rode him. It

didn’t matter that both their

movements were becoming jerkier

and less restrained, she never took

her eyes off him. It was the hottest

thing he’d ever experienced.

When her climax finally hit, he

realized it was coming a split

second before it happened. Her

inner walls clenched convulsively

around him and a rush of warmth

spread over his cock as she threw

her head back.

With that, he let go. Unable to

restrain himself anymore, his hips

pumped frantically as he thrust

inside her. He felt almost possessed

as he emptied himself inside her in

hard, long thrusts until finally she

collapsed on top of him.

Her curls spread over his chest as

she laid her head on him. Stroking

a hand down her spine, he rubbed

her in a gentle, soothing rhythm

until he realized she’d fallen asleep.

The steady beat of her heart and

soft breathing made him smile.

Wrapping his arms around her,

he slowly turned their bodies and

pulled out of her as he turned on

his side. He kept her tucked close to

his chest and shut his own eyes. He

hadn’t been sleeping much the past

week and he remembered how tired

she’d looked earlier back at her

house. Right now he felt so utterly

content and peaceful and he knew it

had everything to do with the

woman in his arms.

Under normal circumstances he’d

be out there hunting down those

vampires but there was no way he

was leaving this woman to anyone

else’s care. Since he knew his pack

mates were patrolling and he trusted

his own senses to detect an

intruder, he let sleep overtake him,

too. Tomorrow he could worry

about introducing her to pack life in

general. Not to mention he planned

to start his goal of convincing her

they were mates. Considering she

had almost zero background about

their world he had a feeling he had

his work cut out for him. Luckily,

he was more than up to the task.

Anything for Estrella.

Chapter 4

Estrella stirred as she felt warmth

embracing her entire body. She

moved and realized there was a big,

callused hand draped across her

stomach. The hold was light, but

she knew Rainer wasn’t asleep. She

could feel his heartbeat where his

chest pressed against her back and

his breathing wasn’t steady enough

for slumber.

“You’re finally awake,” he

murmured, his mouth right next to

her ear. He gently nipped her

earlobe, pulling it between his teeth.

Shivers of pleasure danced across

her skin.

He was definitely awake. His

erection pressed insistently against

her back, making her smile.

Sunlight streamed in from the

mouth of the cave, telling her it was

still early morning. Stretching, she

rubbed her butt against his hard

cock. She giggled when he groaned

in frustration.

Rainer rolled her so that she was

on her back and he was propped up

on one elbow looking down at her.

He had what looked like a day’s

worth of beard growth though he’d

been fairly clean-shaven the night

before. She bet he had to shave

twice a day. Reaching up, she

cupped his cheek and smiled. “You

get to tell me something about

yourself now. I should be mean and

wait until you’re about to come and

then force you, but I’m nicer than

that.”

He grinned again and that boyish

charm was back. Her heart rate

tripled when he smiled like that.

“Well, I hate avocados, too. I have

three older brothers, I’m part of

Knox’s pack—which you already

know—and my parents died about

three hundred years ago.” He

swallowed hard, his grin dying.

“They were murdered.”

“I’m sorry. I...understand what

that’s like.” She hated that she did.

“Do you mind if I ask what

happened?” It was too personal and

she knew she should be pulling

back from him out of self-

preservation—what chance did a

wolf and jaguar have at a

relationship?—but she wanted to

know everything about Rainer.

His jaw ticked once but his pale

gaze never strayed from hers. “They

were killed by vampires because

someone betrayed them.”

The way he said “someone” was

odd, but she didn’t comment. His

hand, which still rested on her

belly, flexed once. “Tell me what

happened to yours.”

She should have expected it since

she’d asked him. The only person

she’d ever told about that night was

Sabrina. “I was five so it’s all a little

fuzzy, but men broke into our

house really early one morning.”

Estrella shut her eyes, trying to

banish the images but that only

made it worse. “They must have

been shifters, or maybe vampires—

I didn’t know they even existed

until now but I guess it’s possible—

because they were so strong.” Her

voice cracked on the last word as

flashes of the blood soaked

bedroom swam in her mind.

“Look at me,” Rainer said softly.

When she opened her eyes, his

expression was soft. “You don’t

have to tell me the rest of it.”

She wanted to, though she wasn’t

quite sure why. She needed

someone else to know about that

night. That she wasn’t crazy, despite

what the cops had said. “My mom

got me to safety. She broke a

window and basically threw me

outside. Told me to run. Screamed

it at me actually.” Saying the words

out loud felt so freeing. She’d never

been able to tell her friend the rest

of this story but she was going to

tell Rainer. “My mom told me to

run and hide in the human world. I

knew I was different, I could turn

into an animal after all, but I didn’t

really comprehend what she meant.

I knew what she meant by run,

though. So I did. I shifted forms

and then ran until...I heard my

father scream. The sound was

horrific so I turned back. When I

got back to my house I looked in

the living room window and saw

my father dead on the floor.” He’d

been decapitated, but Estrella

couldn’t force herself to say the

words. “I watched as one of them

killed my mom with a long sword.

Later the cops said only my father

was dead and my mom was

missing, but I know what I saw.”

The damn memories were burned

into her brain. She didn’t care what

anyone said. Her mother hadn’t just

disappeared. Maybe her killers had

taken her body but she’d seen what

they’d done to her.

She’d run until she’d felt as if her

legs would fall off. Then she’d

shifted back to her human form

once she’d reached the heart of

Miami. A police officer had found

her wandering the streets naked and

helped her.

Rainer tunneled his hands

through her hair and pulled her so

that her face was against his chest.

He murmured soothing sounds as

he stroked her back and told her

not to cry. That’s when she realized

she was. The last time she’d cried

had been the night her parents died.

She swiped away the wetness on

her cheeks, hating the way her chest

ached and throat burned as she held

back even more tears. What she’d

just told him was definitely bad

first-date etiquette. She’d pretty

much broken every rule, but it was

hard to care. Even if she’d admitted

way too much about herself, she

was glad he knew this about her.

Finally, someone knew the truth.

And not just someone, but Rainer.

She could be herself in the

bedroom with him so she might as

well just put it all out there right

now. He’d protected her last night

and now he was comforting her.

“I’ll fucking kill them,” he

murmured so low she almost didn’t

hear him.

Startled, she pulled her head back

to look at him. “What?”

“Whoever killed your parents, I’ll

—”

She pressed a finger to his lips

and shook her head. She’d buried

her ghosts a long time ago and the

thought of him putting himself in

danger made her ache inside.

“Rainer, no. I don’t know who they

were. The cops had no leads and it

happened over two decades ago.

Just...no.”

He didn’t respond for a long

moment. Instead he leaned forward

and tentatively touched his lips to

hers. His kisses were soft,

exploratory and incredibly sweet.

She felt more raw and vulnerable

than she ever had before and he

was being perfect. As his tongue

stroked against hers that same need

she’d experienced last night was

back but with more urgency. She

felt so drawn to him on a primal

level it scared her a little. Okay, a

lot.

He rolled over so that his body

covered hers. She loved the feel of

all that muscle and strength over

her. Spreading her hands along

both his shoulders and arms, she

dug her fingers into his biceps as he

pushed up, slightly separating their

bodies.

Instinctively, she arched her

back, wanting to feel his chest

brushing against her nipples. But he

was just moving so she could fully

wrap her legs around him. They

hadn’t bothered getting dressed

during the last few hours so there

were no barriers between them.

As she spread her legs to

accommodate him, he settled his

cock right against her opening. But

he didn’t enter her like she expected

and needed.

Estrella tightened her legs around

him, digging her heels into his butt

as she tried to urge him forward,

but he remained immobile, poised

above her. She was wet and aching

for him and he was clearly trying to

drive her insane.

“There’s something you should

know, Estrella.” She loved it when

he said her name all deep and sexy

like that. Before she could savor it,

he continued. “I’m territorial,

possessive and where you’re

concerned I know I’ll be jealous.

When I said I didn’t take lovers

easily I meant it. I haven’t been

with anyone in decades.”

Oh.
She supposed for someone

over four centuries old that

probably wasn’t that long, but he

was still a male. It was a freaking

long time. Her eyes widened slightly

in surprise. “Is talking right before

sex or right before I orgasm going

to be a thing with you?” she asked,

her voice teasing.

Chuckling, he pushed into her in

a long, hard thrust that sent a jolt of

awareness through her entire body.

“I rarely talk during sex, but you

seem to bring it out in me,” he

murmured as he began moving

inside her in slow strokes.

His thickness filled her

completely and she lost the ability

to speak. She definitely didn’t need

words during sex. Her body could

talk for her. Right now it was

screaming for release.

Instead of watching each other

like they’d done last night, he

cupped the back of her head and

drew her up until their mouths

meshed. Their tongues danced an

erotic rhythm as he pumped into

her.

She wrapped her arms around

him, digging her fingers into his

back way harder than she’d have

done had he been human. It was

almost as if she needed to mark

him, to claim him somehow. Part of

her even wanted to bite him a little,

but she held back. She might have

let go last night, but they were still

learning about each other and she

didn’t want to freak him out.

When he reached between their

bodies and began rubbing her clit,

her inner walls clenched out of

control. He knew how to exert the

exact amount of pressure on her