Ju DiMello - Jaguar, Be Mine

He didn’t know and the frustration gnawed his insides. He raked a hand through his hair, his mind running in circles before he focused on the obvious. His jaguar knew all along what it wanted. He didn’t want her to forget him so easily.

Until now, she’d gone out of her way to ignore him. He resisted the urge to growl. He wasn’t a cub she could take for granted anymore. He could prove that and more if she let him. Would she?

Time to find out. Time for some truths.

“You’re the one starring in my dreams, Karin. And wet ones at that.”

Her cobalt eyes darkened at his blunt admission, whetting his curiosity and sexual appetite. His heart leaped at the new piece of information. Maybe his infatuation wasn’t one-sided, after all.

“I-I was very much married.”

He took the step required to cover the distance between them. “Not anymore.”

Karintha Montreaux stood her ground against the advancing jaguar. Her spine straightened, and she rose to her full five-foot eight-inch height, yet he towered over her by at least half a foot.

Strangely, his height, instead of threatening her, reminded her that she was a young and healthy female. One who still possessed appreciation for decadent eye candy along the likes of Xander. The elder jags were sneaky. She’d give them that. Why else would they’ve called for an all-males meeting and strategically left out the “find a mate” agenda? Did they expect she’d just roll over and accept their choice like the good old days? What other choice did she have?

She’d worked her butt off to get the jaguars under control, in setting an example of choosing the most logical option in any argument or conflict when instincts demanded blood. She couldn’t undo what she’d done so far and going against the elders openly was a sure shot way of flushing her hard work down the drain. Her first priority was her pack and for that she had to find a way to deal with her chosen mate and the elders.

Shoot.

Exactly how could she deal her own treacherous body? She’d always held a soft spot toward Xander. When her thoughts had grown into something more, she’d managed to put a firm lid on her unwarranted emotions, content to admire him from afar. That he’d asked her out had startled her so badly, making her refuse even before she could think. And in the conference room, he hadn’t given her a chance to speak, to convey her fears. Now was too late, more so when he dominated the room with his presence, filling the air she breathed.

The light glinted off the claw in the hemp cord tribal necklace he wore, turning him from a businessman to a predator in a heartbeat. A low growl of warning escaped her. His blatant desire rolled off him in waves, caressing her sensitive spots. His slate-blue eyes narrowed, but he didn’t stop his progress. Winding his rough palm at the nape of her neck, he lifted her head to meet his, swallowing her gasp of surprise.

Hot damn! The young cub had indeed grown up.

Fire licked where their mouths meshed, spreading through her as though it were molten lava, burning from the tips of her breasts to the juncture between her thighs. He swept his tongue across her lower lips, coaxing an unbidden response. His scent—spicy and that of an aroused male, clouded her senses.

His hands skimmed her sides, fingers fluttering across her aching breasts in butterfly caresses, but not touching. She wavered on the spot, her fingers clenched, preventing herself from gripping his broad shoulders. He moved farther down, cupping her ass, lifting her leg to wind around his hard thigh. Her pussy gushed. Her growl this time was one of need.

She lifted her hands to push at his hard chest, but her fingers dug into the roped sinews beneath the button-down shirt he wore.

Dammit!

This whimpering, needy female so wasn’t her. Her canines elongated with her escalating desire, inadvertently nipping his lower lip and drawing blood.

Had she thought his taste addictive?

His blood, hot and spicy, seeped into her, branding him as hers. Her nipples pebbled into hard knots, the silken cloth abrasive against her feverish skin.

Heck, she’d been kissed before. But not like this. Not as if she were the center of his universe. With a single kiss, he’d breached her defenses, invaded her space, and left her trembling for more.

Trembling?

Sweat trickled between her breasts, cool against her heated skin. Heat…

Reality cut in. She gave him a hard shove and he stopped his kiss long enough to raise his eyebrow in a silent question.

“What the heck are you—we—doing?”

“Something I’ve wanted to do for ages.”

Ages? She gulped and took a step backward only to stumble over a damn bunny slipper. Her shoulder smacked against the cold wall and then his hands were there, steadying her, soothing her, and his body followed close.

“Careful there.”

She whipped her head up, refusing to be smothered in his embrace or acknowledge the concern in his words.

His face, too close to hers, revved up her heartbeat. Light stubble covered his square jaw and she imagined herself skimming over his face, touching, tasting. Need spiraled through her, even as his spicy scent filled her being, until her breasts ached and arousal made her wet between her thighs. She so wasn’t going there again.

She fixed him with her best glare, the one that made her employees cower, not that she had any effect on him. His lips showed no signs of her bite as he stood his ground, refusing to back off. An icy challenge glinted in his gaze, as if daring her to do her best.

The simple two-story house at the edge of the woods, spacious enough for a small family, suddenly seemed cramped, pulsing with the undercurrent of sexual tension.

She stiffened. “You’re crowding me.”

“Oh, I intend to do more than crowd,” he answered, his muscled arms effectively trapping her.

He leaned in, as if inhaling her in a slow, excruciating breath, while hers caught at the intent in his gaze.

“We both know why that is.”

He grimaced, dropping his hands. “Ouch. Didn’t mean to give you the wrong idea.”

“You gave me exactly the right idea—of what you or the elders had in mind.”

At least he had the decency to look abashed at the syrupy sweetness in her voice.

“This kiss has nothing to do with them.” With his determined insistence, he looked as stubborn as a pouting child, instead of the virile, young male who’d made her insides quiver. Damn if she didn’t want to lean back into his arms to satiate his desires.

He was younger than her by a few years. Not too young, but how could she trust he wasn’t playing up his charms to get into her panties. If they had sex while she was in heat, she could very well carry his baby…and while she’d always loved children and regretted that Mike hadn’t been able to give her one, she wasn’t desperate to be tethered in a loveless mating. She wanted all or nothing. Even Xander, however tempting he was, couldn’t change her mind.

“I know what you’re thinking.”

Caught in her musings, she glanced up into his face. The carved cheekbones and broad forehead would suit a model better. His ridiculously long dark lashes fell over his slate-blue eyes, which, at the moment, locked with hers.

She swallowed in an effort to wet her parched tongue. “Oh, now you’re not only my chosen mate, but a mind reader too?”

“I can be, if you want me to.”

Damn his insolence. “I’m not your typical damsel in distress.”

His lips twitched at the corners, as if he found her actions funny or worse, endearing. She shuddered. Her dear departed husband, Michael, had also been initially amused by her when she’d sparred verbally with him. After marriage, he’d made it clear he expected a meek, submissive puppet who’d triple up as cook, cleaner and bed warmer at home. When she hadn’t conformed to his rules, he’d thrown a tantrum. He hadn’t exactly hit her, but had come close.