Tempting the Jaguar (9 page)

himself, he figured his eyes had

likely changed to a darker shade of

green, revealing his wolf—which

explained the way she was watching

him.

“You were more than justified in

killing him,” he finally said.

“Whoever he was, he was likely

packless or a lone wolf by choice.

Shifter violence against females is

rare among all the different species.

I’m sorry you ever had to deal with

any of that. I wish we’d met years

ago. Hell, I wish you’d had your

parents or someone nonhuman to

watch out for you growing up.”

Being a lone female shifter was

hard and he hated that she’d been

by herself for so long. No wonder

she’d been so wary of him when

they’d first met. And he hadn’t

helped things by being so arrogant.

A small smile touched her lips.

“Everyone has crap to deal with and

even though I miss my parents

every day, I’ve had a good life.

Trust me, it could have been a lot

worse. I’ve seen what happened to

some of the kids in the foster

system and it’s not pretty.”

Wrapping his arms around her

waist, he pulled her close, savoring

the feel of her lush body pressed

against his. She wasn’t alone

anymore and he desperately wanted

to be the one to protect her. Even if

things didn’t work out between

them—that thought killed him and

he knew without a doubt it would

be because she pushed him out of

her life—he didn’t want her alone

anymore. He might be a wolf, but

she was now under his pack’s

protection. There was no doubt his

Alpha would welcome her. Right

now, Rainer just needed to

convince her to stay with him and

not go to her friend. “Come with

me?” he asked before dropping a

light kiss on her forehead.

Estrella sighed and nuzzled her

face against his chest. “You’ll fight

dirty if I say no, won’t you?”

He smiled as he rested his chin

on top of her head, inhaling her

sweet scent. “I can think of plenty

of dirty things I’d like to do right

now.”

She chuckled, the sound

wrapping around him and

squeezing tight. “Fine, I—”

They both froze as a high-pitched

ringing cut through the air. Estrella

glanced over her shoulder toward

the direction of her living room.

“That’s Sabrina’s ringtone.”

Estrella’s friend.
“Grab it.”

She hurried to the other room

and even though he couldn’t scent

or hear anyone else in the house

and his pack mates had already

swept it earlier, he did his own

sweep while she took her friend’s

phone call. Plus he wanted to give

her privacy.

When he returned to the living

room he found her sitting on the

edge of one of her couches, a brittle

smile on her unusually pale face.

“Rainer, I’m going to stay with my

friend instead. I appreciate the

offer, but I’m just not ready to live

with a bunch of strangers, even

temporarily. There’s no reason I

can’t help you find out what’s

going on from someplace else.”

Rainer’s blood chilled at

whatever she wasn’t saying. He

could have easily listened to her

conversation but he’d tuned her

out, needing to give her the privacy

she deserved. Now he wished he’d

paid attention because whatever had

happened in the last sixty seconds

was very bad. He could see it in her

body language and scent the fear

pulsing off her in angry waves. And

he’d be damned if he let her push

him out now. Whatever was going

on, he was sticking by her side.

Chapter 6

Estrella watched Rainer as she tried

to keep her breathing steady. His

expression was dark, angry and a

little confused. Unfortunately she

felt as if her insides might unravel

at any moment. Sabrina hadn’t been

on the phone, but that same male

from the other night had. The one

Estrella had clawed and the same

one she’d heard shout in the woods

not to hurt her. Terror latched its

claws deep into her chest as she

replayed the man’s words in her

head.
Meet me alone at dusk or

your friend dies.

“What the hell are you talking

about?” Rainer snarled, his

expression darkening. “You were

just about to come with me.”

She stood, phone still clutched in

her hand as she tried to drag in a

breath, desperately needing to

pump some oxygen into her lungs.

Estrella couldn’t let Sabrina die and

these creatures wanted her, not her

friend. “I have the right to change

my mind. Unless you plan on

forcing
me to go with you?” It took every ounce of her willpower to

keep her tone sharp.

He jerked back, almost as if she’d

slapped him and guilt blew up

inside her. She ruthlessly shoved it

away. No time for stupid emotions

right now.

She hated hurting Rainer, but she

had to save Sabrina. “I’ll give you

my cell number so you can contact

me, but I’m going to leave now. I

just need to pack a small bag.”

Avoiding his gaze, she tried to skirt

past him, but he grasped her upper

arm.

Not hard enough to bruise, but he

wasn’t letting her go anywhere.

“Who was on the phone?” There

was a dark edge to his voice and his

pale eyes had darkened to a stormy

green that sent a chill down her

spine.

“I told you—”

“Don’t lie to me. Who. Was. It.”

His fingers slightly flexed and for a

moment she could see his wolf

lurking beneath the surface.

Estrella wanted to kick him out

of her home, but she knew he

wouldn’t go easily. And if she left

on her own, deep down she knew

this man would follow her. Not to

mention, no matter how strong she

was physically, she knew so little

about vampires and their

weaknesses. She could use the

backup and Rainer had already

proved how strong he was. Taking

care of things on her own was

instinctual and was why she’d lied,

but damn...she could use the help.

“I don’t know his name, but he has

my friend.” Her voice cracked on

the last word.

Rainer’s expression softened

slightly, but not much. “What did

he say?”

“Just that he has my friend and I

have to meet him at the art studio

right after sunset or they’ll kill her.

I don’t know what they want—

other than me. They want to trade

her freedom for me and I have to

go. Sabrina has been my best friend

since I was eighteen and I love her

more than...” Her voice broke again

and hot tears welled up. What the

hell? She never cried but in the last

twenty-four hours she was like a

leaky faucet.

Rainer let out a string of creative

curses and he still hadn’t let her arm

go. “You’re not going anywhere

alone.”

“She’s my—”

“I didn’t say we weren’t going to

get her back. I just said you’re not

going alone. How could you...” He

trailed off and turned away from

her. Rubbing a hand over his face,

he told her to hold on and then was

silent for a long minute.

She figured he was talking to one

of his brothers. Or maybe all of

them. The way he’d said “we” made

a foreign sensation ignite inside her.

She’d never had many people to

depend on before and the thought

that she did now was almost too

much to fathom.

When Rainer turned back to her,

his expression was blank. “Pack a

bag, we’re headed to the

compound. When it’s near dusk,

my brothers and a few pack mates

will head to the studio. We’ll get

your friend back.”

She frowned. So “we” didn’t

mean him and her. “I’m going with

you.”

He let out a harsh laugh. “The

hell you are.”

“Unless you plan to kidnap or

restrain me, I’m going. That guy

told me to come
alone.
If I don’t do what he says, I have no doubt

they’ll kill her. I’m not some weak

female you need to protect,” she

growled low in her throat. Estrella

healed fast—faster than him, as

she’d seen last night—and she’d

killed before. She could do it again.

Anything for Sabrina.

Rainer growled back at her, his

frustration clear in every line of his

strong body. Finally he nodded.

“Fine. I’ll wait outside for you.” He

turned on his heel and stalked from

the room, the tension practically

rolling off him in visible waves.

Estrella hurried to her room and

packed a small bag. There were

hours to kill before the meet and

she wanted her own stuff at

Rainer’s. As soon as the sun set,

she was getting her friend back. No

matter what Rainer thought, she

was going and there was no way

she was letting those vamps see that

he was with her.

She was starting to care for

Rainer in a way she hadn’t thought

would be possible, but she couldn’t

let him have his way in this. She

had to be there to help her friend. If

those vampires didn’t see her at the

studio, for all she knew they’d kill

Sabrina. Estrella wasn’t going to let

that happen.

Hours later, Estrella tapped her

finger against her knee

compulsively—as if she could

somehow make time go by faster—

and stared out the window of

Rainer’s SUV where they sat across

the street from the art studio. Five

of Rainer’s pack mates, including

his brother Conrad who had been

giving her the cold shoulder all day,

had gone into the art studio about

an hour ago. They were supposedly

going to hide inside and had wanted

to get set up before the meeting.

Since she hadn’t heard an alarm or

seen any cops drive by, it was safe

to assume that they hadn’t tripped

any alarms. She was grateful for the

backup because in reality, there was

no way she could take on a bunch

of vampires by herself. She knew

that. Still, a huge part of her

worried their presence might get

Sabrina killed.

After the big show last night,

Estrella knew the owner hadn’t

planned to open up his place for the

next three days so as things went, it

was a decent place to stage a

meeting with no outsiders. She

wondered how the vampires had

known it would be unoccupied.

Maybe Sabrina had told them.

God, Sabrina.
Estrella couldn’t

stop the worry spinning out of

control inside her as she thought

about her friend. It was like a

tornado assaulting her insides.

Rainer’s hand on her knee stilled

her movements, causing her to look

at him.

“We’re going to get her back.” He

watched her with wary green eyes.

All day he’d been distant, even

though he’d been physically

present. He’d taken her to his

pack’s compound and he hadn’t

been kidding about the place being

a mansion. She’d been introduced

to a lot of wolf shifters and even a

vampire who was mated to one of

the warriors. Everyone had been

friendly enough. She’d seen a lot of

surprise and some jealousy on some

of the females’ faces, though she

knew that had everything to do with

Rainer being suddenly unavailable

and nothing to do with actual

jealousy of her. She couldn’t blame

them. Rainer was definitely a catch,

even if he was acting distant from

her right now. She didn’t think he

was angry, but he was holding

back.

Nodding, she looked away from

him, hating that there was a wall

between them now. It was her own

fault, but she didn’t know how to

tear it down. She didn’t know

enough about him and pushing him

away to handle things on her own

had been her instinctive response

after receiving that phone call. If

she had to go back, she’d do the

same thing again.

“Damn it,” Rainer cursed.

She swiveled back to him again.

Before she could ask him what was

wrong, other than the obvious, his

mouth was on hers, claiming and

taking. His tongue invaded her

mouth with no hesitancy, as if he

had every right to kiss her. He

stroked against her in a frantic

dance while one of his hands

cupped her cheek, holding her

possessively.

When she’d allowed him into her

bed, she’d let him into her life. All

day, even with the walls between

them, he’d been like her shadow,

silently making a claim on her for

everyone to see. His hand had never