Ju DiMello - Jaguar, Be Mine

She’d remained strong and put her foot down, refusing to melt into the walls of her home. She had also stepped in to save his ass when his company hovered on the brink of bankruptcy, putting her financial education to good use.

Since then he’d given her a wide berth, blatantly flaunting his affairs in her face. All because she’d dared question his liaison with a woman in their office. And they had shared separate bedrooms until the day he’d declared war with their neighboring pack and gotten himself killed.

Males were males, no matter how delicious and addictive, and it’d do her treacherous body good to remember that.

Xander stood quietly, obviously waiting for her to continue. She didn’t know how to ask him to get the hell out of her life without coming across a cold-hearted bitch. “I can handle my own, thanks.”

“You’re the most independent, feisty female I’ve ever known.” His earnest voice crept into the corners of her hardened heart, thawing them.

She bristled. “Sweet talk isn’t going to get you into my pants.”

His gaze trailed over her bare thighs and calves, and she belatedly remembered the state of her undress. Her cheeks flushed, but she refused to cower in embarrassment.

“I am not trying to get into your pants or convince you to take me as your mate. I only want to discuss our current options, maybe offer a suggestion you might want to consider.”

His insistence coupled with her pathetic urge to jump his bones, fired her temper.

“Really? Like you did in the marketing company you and Michael started? Suggesting he replace me?” There! Let him wriggle out of that one.

His eyes glinted. “Look.” He glanced away, ran a hand though his hair before turning back to meet her eyes. “That was an honest mistake. I didn’t know of your qualifications then. I thought Mike brought you in because you were his mate. He’d openly admitted he wasn’t happy with your insistence, but that his hands were tied.”

Since Mike hadn’t been able to change her mind, convince her to play the docile homemaker, he’d set about to slander her name and her expertise. Hearing it again brought back painful memories. Painful because she’d never been able to convince Michael to take a chance on them—as husband and wife—until the day he’d gone and got himself killed. More painful because, try as she might, she hadn’t been able to love him, flaws or otherwise. What did that say about her?

She blinked back tears. “I proved myself then. I’ll prove myself now.”

“I don’t doubt you, Karin. Though I’m sorry I once believed Mike without giving you the benefit of a doubt.” Xander’s sincerity warmed places she’d thought long dead.

He trailed his finger along her cheek before tapping her nose. “You’re more than qualified. Both as a CFO and as an Alpha.”

Resentment rose, swift and furious. His acknowledgement fired her up instead of calming her down. “One would think battling corporate sharks day in and day out would give me the best training to handle my pack. Oh no!”

He flinched, but she wasn’t able to control the years of anger bubbling out of her.

“The elders wouldn’t dare contemplate a female as their lead,” she ranted. Was it because she wanted to continue living in peace instead of going at each other’s throats at the slightest provocation? Was it because she preferred putting their rampant energies into establishing a profession, thereby enabling them to have a sensible, civil life? Her pack and her neighboring packs supported her. Though the elders didn’t voice their objection aloud, she read the censure in their eyes and the barely reined wildness in their twitchy fingers. She was fighting a lone battle. All against one. It wasn’t fair, but she wouldn’t back down without giving it her all.

Her throat clogged and her voice turned hoarse. “And they sent you to seduce me while I’m in heat under the pretext of a discussion? Cheap shot, Xander.”

The moment the words left her mouth, she knew she’d crossed an invisible line. His nostrils flared and he stepped away.

Her spacious living room suddenly seemed too small with the testosterone-packed, prowling jaguar shifter. Her skin prickled with tension, need and a plethora of emotions she couldn’t name. Should she apologize for insulting him? Why should she?

Her mind all but stopped functioning when he swiveled toward her, pulling her into a rough embrace, molding her body against his. His erection dug into her abdomen, even as a low growl rumbled in his chest.

“Can’t you realize what you’re doing to me? How much I tried to stay away from you and failed?”

She opened her mouth to deny it, but couldn’t utter a blatant lie. She’d known about his infatuation, and steered clear. Initially because of his age and later by her vow to make her marriage work. She’d failed.

Now, she didn’t know if she could lose her independence again in the name of duty. Been there, done that. She wasn’t eager to repeat the same mistake, even though Xander unleashed a part of her she’d kept hidden. The feminine part of her.

“You said you aren’t interested in forcing me to choose a mate,” she said.

“I’m not.”

“Then what’s this?” She hated her breathy whisper. Why are you here?

“This is us . Exploring what a night of passion could be.”

What did he mean? “One night?”

“Yes.”

Did she dare believe him? “Nothing more?”

“Nothing less.”

“It has nothing to do with the—my heat?”

“No.” His lips twitched. “Scout’s honor.”

Her well-kissed lips curled in a smile, as if she caught the hidden meaning—there wasn’t a single honorable thought running through his mind right then.

Xander pulled her into his embrace, letting her take in his thundering heartbeat, while his hands leisurely explored her body.

From firm breasts to narrow hips, the flare of her waist to rounded butt.

Mine.

Her arousal rent the air, driving his blood south to his eager, throbbing erection. He wanted her writhing in pleasure beneath him, at his mercy. Now.

Take her, claim her, urged his cock. He couldn’t. Not yet.

Gritting his teeth, he stilled and waited for her to make the first move.

Her hands kneaded his ass, trailing upward as she ground herself on him. In a single swipe, she caught his shirt and tugged and the buttons popped free. He didn’t dare twitch so much as a muscle.

She ran a fingernail through the slight smattering of hair on his chest. “Someone sure is patient tonight.”

Her sultry purr fired up his dick, urging him to chuck the rules aside and mate with her until she cried out her completion. Damn her, he knew as well as she, that as the present Alpha, she held the right to accept or reject him. Until she invited him, he couldn’t touch her, though it might just kill him to wait.

He groaned when she stroked him through his jeans. “I’m a big proponent of ladies first. ”

“Such chivalry.” Her nipples dug into his chest as she leaned closer to his face. “Makes me wonder if you’d let me do all the work in bed.”

He let his breath out in a soft hiss and dug his palms into her curvy waist, pulling her forward to brush against his cock. “Try me and find out.” Or throw me out on my ass.

“Trust me, I will.”

Her quiet assurance shot his control to pieces.

He growled, unsure of holding on until then. She trailed soft kisses along his jaw, while her nimble fingers worked his zipper. Afraid he might come then and there, he uttered a choked protest. She swatted his restraining hands away and pushed down his jeans. A single stroke of her hand on his cock through his briefs grayed the edges of his vision. He jerked into her palm, grabbing her hips in a bruising grip.