Tempting the Jaguar (10 page)

left the small of her back when

they’d been outside his room.

Eventually he pulled back and

she was pleased to see he was

breathing just as hard as she was.

“Whatever happens after tonight,

you’re still mine,” he growled, a

possessive note in his voice.

She blinked, surprised by his

statement. He’d been the one to pull

away from her, even if she had

helped mix the mortar to build the

brick wall between them. “I know.”

She wasn’t walking away from him,

even if her original instincts had

told her to run far and fast. She
had

to see where this thing between

them went even if her heart was

shredded in the end.

Now it was his turn to look

surprised. Those gorgeous eyes of

his widened for a moment before a

harsh smile settled on his face.

“Good.” He looked like he wanted

to say more, but the sound of her

phone buzzing in her pocket made

them both freeze.

She’d turned it to vibrate earlier

and now felt frantic as she struggled

to fish it out of her jacket pocket.

When she saw Sabrina’s number

again, her blood chilled. “Hello?”

“Hello again—”

“I want to talk to Sabrina, now!

How do I know you haven’t hurt

her?” This wasn’t part of their plan,

but Estrella didn’t care. She wanted

to hear her friend’s voice.

“Your friend is fine and we

would never hurt her without a

reason, so don’t give us one.” His

voice was razor sharp.

Steeling herself, she said, “I talk

to her now or I’m not meeting

you.”

He sighed and as she heard a

rustling in the background, she

watched as an SUV with unusually

dark tinted windows pulled into the

parking lot of the art studio across

the street. The vehicle drove

through it, then around the corner

toward the back of the building.

Next to her, Rainer straightened and

she was under the impression he

was having a telepathic

conversation with Conrad.

“Estrella?” Sabrina’s voice was

slurred.

Estrella’s heart soared. “Sabrina,

are you okay?”

“Fine...jush really tired. Dunno

whash going on.” Oh yeah, she had

to be drugged.

Before Estrella could respond,

the same male came back on the

line. “See? Your friend is fine. I

gave her a little sedative to keep her

compliant.”

It was more than a “little” for her

friend to be so out of it, but she was

alive and seemed relatively

unharmed. Though Estrella

wouldn’t know for sure until she

saw her. “Okay. So what do you

want?”

“You.” A simple, one-word

answer.

“Why?”

He paused long enough that even

more panic took root inside her,

clawing its way through her like out

of control vines. “You really don’t

know?”

“I wouldn’t be asking now,

would I?” she snapped, angry and

confused.

“Meet me in the studio we

discussed. The back door will be

open.” He disconnected before she

could respond.

“They’re already inside,” Rainer

murmured, drawing her attention to

him.

“What did your brother say? Has

he seen Sabrina?”

Rainer nodded, a frown marring

his face. “She’s unhurt, though

clearly drugged. From the way

they’re talking, the vamps truly

don’t plan to hurt her. They plan to

free her.”

“Why is that a bad thing?” His

expression confused her.

“It’s not. We just don’t know

what their end game is and their

behavior isn’t what I’d originally

expected. They didn’t want to hurt

you the other night, though they

didn’t care about my well-being,”

he muttered, his own confusion

seeming to grow.

“How many are there?”

“Five.”

“And there are seven of us so we

can take them. I can’t believe the

vampires haven’t seen your pack

mates yet.” Estrella had hated this

part of their plan, but Rainer had

been unwilling to allow her to walk

in there alone and now she was

actually grateful to have backup so

close.

“They’re in the rafters and have

masked their scents—though that

will only last so long.”

She pushed out a sigh of relief as

she wrapped her fingers around the

door handle. “I’m ready then.” She

planned to use the shadows to get

across the street unseen.

Rainer brushed his knuckles

down her cheek, hating to let her

get out of this vehicle. But the most

primal part of him knew that if he

tried to stop her, she’d never

forgive him. While he told himself

he could live with her hate and

rejection, he couldn’t. So now he

had to shove his protective,

possessive wolf side down and let

his mate walk into a room of

vampires.

The only real reason he was

doing it was because his pack mates

were already there as backup and

he’d seen how fast she healed. She

was only twenty-six compared to

his four hundred-and-fifty, yet

she’d healed with the speed of his

thousand-year-old Alpha. Rainer

still didn’t know what to think of

that, but it soothed his inner animal

that she could take care of herself.

Cupping his cheeks, Estrella

leaned closer, brushing her lips

against his softly before pulling

back. She tasted as sweet as the

subtle jasmine scent of hers.

“Thank you for helping me and my

friend.” Then she was gone. Like a

shadow, she slid from the vehicle

and disappeared into the darkness.

And he wasn’t far behind. It

didn’t matter that she had protection

inside, Rainer planned to be a scant

step behind her, guarding her with

his life if necessary.

The two-lane street wasn’t well lit

and even though it was a nice part

of town, this strip of shops closed

down early, which meant there

were no random humans strolling

down the street. There weren’t any

restaurants nearby and most of the

shops were wholesale places that

did a lot of business over the

internet. It was probably one of the

reasons the vamps had chosen it.

Using his supernatural speed he

raced down the street, heading east

before crossing over to the other

side. Even though Estrella was

momentarily out of his line of sight,

he knew where she’d be entering

the building and he planned to meet

her there. Not to mention they had

other scouts out on the street

watching her that he hadn’t even

told her about. He’d brought the

full force of his pack here for her.

Ducking behind a building that

sold wood flooring and carpet, he

raced behind the few buildings until

he reached the art studio. The black

SUV with tinted windows was the

only vehicle in the paved parking

lot. It was too dark for him to see

inside and there were too many

heartbeats in the near vicinity for

him to distinguish who was where.

As he decided on his next move,

Estrella appeared from around the

corner of the art building and strode

toward the back door cautiously. As

she moved, one of the side doors to

the SUV opened and Rainer didn’t

think. He just jumped into action.

Using his stealth and natural

animal-hunting abilities, he hurtled

himself at the tall male in a leather

jacket and jeans who had stepped

out and tackled him so that they fell

back into the vehicle. Rainer

quickly assessed that no one else

was inside as he grabbed the

vampire by the back of the neck

then slammed his face into the

window. It shattered under the

impact. As they struggled, two of

his pack mates who’d been

lookouts appeared from almost out

of thin air.

Releasing the guy, he shoved him

at his friends. “Don’t kill him...
yet
,”

he murmured, as his pack mates

restrained the vamp who was still

recovering from the bash to the

head.

The vamp might be supernatural

but Rainer guessed he was young

considering how easy he’d subdued

him.

He had complete faith in his pack

mates’ abilities so he didn’t glance

over his shoulder as he hurried

toward the back door where Estrella

stood. She’d seen him take down

the vampire and now watched him

in confusion.

He couldn’t do it. Just couldn’t

let her walk in there and offer

herself up like bait.
Take out the

vamps, but try not to kill them. Just

make sure Estrella’s friend isn’t

hurt,
Rainer ordered Conrad

telepathically and prayed the

woman came out of this unscathed.

If she didn’t, Estrella would never

forgive him.

As Estrella’s eyes locked with

his, it was like she could see what

he’d just done. Her eyes widened in

horror as she jerked the door open

and raced inside.

Chapter 7

Estrella’s heart pounded wildly

against her chest as her inner jaguar

took over out of sheer panic. The

guilt she’d seen in Rainer’s eyes

had slammed into her chest with the

intensity of a semitruck. In that

instant she’d known what he’d

done and panic had seared her with

the knowledge that Sabrina might

be hurt or worse.

Letting her beast take over,

Estrella ignored the shredding of

her clothes and shoes as she

transformed. Her bones quickly

realigned and fur now replaced skin

as she sprinted down a short

hallway. The sound of angry shouts

and grunts had her terror growing.

She followed Sabrina’s scent to

the door that opened up into a giant

storage area that took up almost the

entire back half of the building. She

used her weight and strength and

launched herself at it. Her paws hit

the door and a loud crack split

through the air as it broke

underneath her.

She tumbled into the storage area

to find Rainer’s pack mates still in

their human forms fighting with the

vampires. They were all spaced out

in pairs fighting in the middle of the

room. The overhead track lighting

was dim, creating an eerie

atmosphere draped in shadows.

Blades and claws slashed at each

other as blood and angry cries filled

the air. A few of them looked at her

and she knew the rest of them were

acutely aware of her presence, but

none of them could tear themselves

away from fighting without getting

killed.

Sabrina sat huddled in a corner,

her eyes glassy with fear and

probably a whole lot of shock.

When she spotted Estrella, she let

out a strangled sound. Estrella

didn’t blame her. A giant freaking

jaguar in an art studio would scare

the crap out of her, too.

But her friend was alive. That

was what mattered.

Quickly assessing the situation,

she snarled and crouched low. All

the males seemed evenly matched

and the vampire she’d attacked the

other night was fighting with

Conrad. Too bad that vamp was

hers. He’d taken her friend and he’d

pay.

Ready to strike, she searched for

an opening when a roar that made

her entire body quiver filled the air.

She’d known Rainer was seconds

behind her but when she turned to

see him in his giant wolf form

hurtling through the door, she froze

and stared at his magnificence. His

black coat gleamed beautifully and

his pale green eyes glowed. He

growled at her, and even though

she knew it was borne out of fear,

the sound was angry and terrifying.

“No!” The vampire shouted,

momentarily drawing her attention

away from Rainer. The vamp used

the opportunity to punch Conrad in

the face so hard he flew back into a

case of storage tubes with a loud

crash. Knife raised, he raced at

Rainer.

Estrella couldn’t attack the vamp

in time, but she could do the next

best thing. The thought had barely

processed in her brain as she threw

herself at Rainer’s body. She might

be smaller as a human but in her

jaguar form she was lethal and

strong. Shouldering him, she

shoved him to the ground,

wrapping her forearms and paws

around him. She braced for the

impact of the blade slicing into her

skin.

At the sound of the blade

slamming into the floor next to her,

she rolled and realized the vamp

had intentionally shoved the blade

there. He truly hadn’t wanted to