Free Tempting the Jaguar by Katie Reus Page A

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