Katie Reus - His Untamed Desire

He grasped the top of the high privacy fence and pulled himself up and over. He barely made a sound as he landed on the soft grass. Daphne’s backyard was small, with a patio that held a table, chairs, and a charcoal grill. One live oak stood near the back fence and neatly trimmed bushes lined her home.

Pausing by the fence, Hector inhaled deeply. He never doubted his animal senses and right now they told him something wasn’t right. A light in the top left window went on. He knew it was Daphne’s bedroom from when he’d done a quick scan of the place. Her blinds were shut and he’d seen curtains pulled over those, so there was no way he’d get a glimpse of her.

Not that he should be thinking about that. He wanted to figure out what the hell he’d sensed earlier and keep her safe. Using lightning speed, he darted to the back patio then crept along the edge of her house until he rounded the corner. Crouching low, he didn’t stop until he reached the front west side of her house. She didn’t have any floodlights because she wouldn’t need them with her extrasensory abilities. He was grateful for the extra cover of darkness.

He could hear her moving around inside, though the sounds were muted. It was as if she’d had extra insulation put in place, which wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for her to have done in a semi-populated place like this. It was probably more for her hearing comfort than worrying about outsiders hearing her.

Hector tensed as a man with his hands shoved in his pockets and a hoodie pulled up over his head appeared from behind a wide oak tree across the street. Hector hadn’t seen anyone walking or running from either direction, so either the guy had been waiting behind it for a while or he’d dropped from the branches. From his angle, Hector couldn’t see the guy’s face clearly, but when he strode across the street with purposeful, quick intent toward Daphne’s place, Hector readied himself.

Letting his claws unsheathe, Hector waited until the male had reached the bottom of Daphne’s stairs before he sprinted at him with full force.

The man cried out as Hector tackled and slammed him onto the ground. The hood fell back from the blond man’s face and amber eyes glowed up at him. Vampire.

Hector pumped a fist into the guy’s ribs and he cried out again. He struggled against him, trying to claw at Hector’s face and sides, but his movements were erratic and clearly untrained. Ignoring the pain from a slash that ran along his upper arm, Hector wrapped a fist around the vamp’s throat and dug his claws into his skin.

Using all his strength, he jumped up to his feet and dragged the vampire with him. He held him up in the air in a display of dominance and strength, wanting to make it clear that he was stronger than the other male. The vampire grabbed at his wrists and tried to free himself.

“It won’t take much for me to kill you, little vamp,” Hector growled, barely leashing his jaguar. “I’m going to ask this once. Why were you watching Daphne’s house?”

When the man tried to answer, he only coughed and sputtered. Hector realized he needed to loosen his grip.

“Hector!” Daphne’s footsteps pounding down the stairs behind him ricocheted into the cold night air. He didn’t turn, not wanting to take his gaze off the threat in front of him.

Daphne placed a gentle hand on his forearm. “Let him go. I know him.”

Instead of releasing his grip, Hector turned to face her. He knew his jaguar was likely showing in his eyes, but he couldn’t help that. “You were expecting him at this hour?”

Jaw clenched, she shook her head and glared at him. “No. Not that it’s any of your business if I had been expecting him. I could have been expecting a dozen guys—”

He snarled, the vicious noise cutting off her words and killing all sound around them. The thought of any male touching her, much less a dozen, had his inner cat going crazy. Looking away from her surprised face, he glared at the vampire still dangling in the air. “I’m letting you go. If you make a move toward her, I’ll end your life.”

With wide eyes, the blond nodded. The male sucked in a deep breath and stumbled as Hector dropped him. He looked back and forth between Hector and Daphne, fear rolling off him in waves. He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and didn’t take a step toward either of them.

Before Hector could speak, Daphne asked, “What the hell is going on, Troy? Why are you here? And when did you become a vampire?”

He shrugged, and for the first time since Hector had noticed the guy, he realized that he looked young. Maybe eighteen or nineteen. “I followed you from the shifter bar. I wanted to talk to you earlier, but you haven’t been returning my phone calls. I didn’t know if you’d want to see me.”

“So you thought showing up at my house unannounced was the way to go?” Daphne’s voice was scolding, but soft.

Way too soft for how she should be responding to this guy. Hector didn’t understand why she was basically letting him off the hook.

Troy flicked a quick glance at Hector then looked back at Daphne. “Is this your new boyfriend? Is that why you’re not returning my calls?” There was no hiding the disgust in his voice.

What the hell? Did she actually date this guy?

Daphne sighed. “My personal life is none of your business—something we have discussed. You need to leave. It’s early and I’m sure you need to get back to wherever you’re staying before sunrise. I’ll call you tomorrow night and we’ll talk, but you can’t do this again. If you show up at my home or my school or do anything like this again, I’ll file a restraining order against you and have my Alpha call whoever made you. My Alpha is not the forgiving type. You know the kind of consequences you’ll be dealing with, don’t you?”

When Troy nodded and sprinted away without another word, Hector let out a frustrated breath. “What the hell, Daphne?”

She sighed and nodded toward her house. “Have time for a cup of coffee?”

Yeah, like he was leaving. After scanning the neighborhood again, he followed her inside. Her natural jasmine scent was stronger here and it enveloped him as he strode toward her kitchen. Though he’d seen the inside of her home earlier, he’d been focused on finding a threat. Now he could appreciate all the small touches that showed Daphne’s influence. Even though the kitchen was sleek and modern, there were fresh flowers on the kitchen table and four little plants on the windowsill that overlooked the backyard.

“Forget the coffee. Who the hell is that guy and why did you let him go?” Hector leaned against the counter by the sink as she collapsed onto one of the stools by the marble-topped island.

Daphne scrubbed a hand over her face. She wasn’t wearing her boots anymore, just pink bunny slippers that gave her an adorable, almost innocent quality. “My senior year I did some tutoring and he was one of my students. He’s not a bad kid, just really confused and messed up. Troy comes from a broken home with no mother and he developed this . . . obsession with me. At first it was just phone calls. He started calling me with clearly made up issues about his homework. But then he started calling at all hours of the night wanting to know who I was with and what I was doing.

“He thought I wouldn’t date him because I was his tutor, so he found another one. Then he somehow came to the conclusion that it was because I was a shifter and he was human and our life spans were too different. I was fine to let him think that. I finally stopped returning his calls because I realized nothing I said would make a difference. Then he started showing up outside my classes or waiting for me in the school parking lot by my car. When I graduated and moved I thought it would be the end of it. He’s just a human so I wasn’t really worried about him, but . . .” She trailed off and looked down at her clasped hands which were clenched tightly in her lap. “I can’t believe he followed me here. What if he turned vampire because of me?”