Free Tempting the Jaguar by Katie Reus

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
    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