Free His Untamed Desire by Katie Reus Page B

clawed, taking over before Hector could think about maintaining control.
    His bones broke, ligaments snapped and everything realigned as fur replaced skin in milliseconds. He’d never shifted that fast. He’d also never cared about anyone the way he did about Daphne.
    The vamp turned at the sound of his snarled cry, moving the gun away from Daphne’s body. Hector saw her duck and kick out at the vamp, slamming her boot into his stomach with a vicious blow.
    Everything happened in slow motion. Troy stumbled back, his gun-toting hand wavering about wildly. Daphne made a move to attack the vamp again, but Hector was faster.
    And this kill was his. Using all the strength in his hind legs, he launched himself through the air. His paws slammed into Troy’s chest. The gun flew out of the vamp’s hand and his claws came out. Vamp claws were sharp and just as deadly as shifters’. The vamp clawed at Hector’s face and tried to dig into his side, but Hector was ending this before it started.
    He wouldn’t be much of a fighter if he couldn’t take this punk out. His inner jaguar wanted to torment and play with the prey for daring to hurt Daphne, but he reined in those instincts and snapped his jaw around Troy’s neck.
    Crunching through bone and ligaments, he tasted sweet vamp blood as Troy’s body went completely limp beneath him. Tearing and pulling, Hector finally yanked the head from his body, tossing it a few feet away. With his adrenaline pumping, he hovered over the carnage and tried to get himself under control.
    The need to hunt and kill was always strong in him—he was a natural born predator—but he’d never been out of control before. Not like this. For the first time in his life the pull of the animal was stronger than the man.
    â€œHector?”
    He turned at the sound of Daphne’s soft voice. She stood a few feet away, but she didn’t look afraid of him. Thank God for that.
    â€œCan you come back to me? He’s dead. He won’t hurt me anymore.” Her voice shook a little, but her relief was palpable.
    Hearing those words was all he needed. In the distance he heard sirens blaring and had no doubt they were meant for him. A neighbor would have definitely called the cops by now. Before shit went crazy and they had to explain to the humans what was going on, he needed to clear one thing up with the woman he loved.
    Shifting back to human form was a little quicker and seconds later he was standing in front of Daphne naked and completely unselfconscious. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but worried about her rejection. “Did he hurt you?”
    She shook her head and he saw anger, not sadness, in her gaze. “No. He was planning to, though.”
    He would ask more later, but he’d needed that out of the way first. “I didn’t kiss that woman at the bar. She kissed me, taking me completely by surprise. It was fucking disgusting. I don’t want to touch or kiss anyone but you, Daphne. I love you. I realized it—”
    Before he could finish she launched herself at him. He was covered in blood, but she wrapped her arms and legs around him and almost tackled him to the ground with the intensity of her kiss.
    Behind him, he heard tires screeching and doors slamming. It was the only thing that made them pull apart from one another.
    â€œHands in the air!” a man shouted.
    Taking a deep breath, he set Daphne on her feet and they both raised their arms. Until the cops figured out what was going on, this was going to be a huge hassle.
    But once it was settled, he was going to complete this conversation with Daphne, then finish what he’d started the night he’d first kissed her.

Chapter 7
    Daphne sat on the back of the ambulance between the open doors. The human paramedics were nice and had given her a blanket to wrap around herself even though she hadn’t needed it. But it seemed to make them feel better so