Her Jaguar's Temptation Read online

  Mandy wanted to sink back against his chest, to take comfort in the warmth of his body, but she was afraid of herself, of her lack of control. She pulled away.

  "Mandy, what's wrong?" Nico asked. "Have I done something wrong?"

  "No," she forced herself to say. He hadn't done anything. Nothing she hadn't wanted him to do. She'd done everything wrong.

  Nico held her. It felt so good, his arms around her: strong and solid, gentle and skilled. The hands that could coax beauty and charm into pastries and sandwiches could bring her to heights of pleasure she'd never felt before. They could hold her, and make her feel safe, so safe, here with him. She wanted to surrender to that. Forget responsibility, forget guilt, and just let him hold her forever.

  "Do you believe in magic?" Nicolas asked.

  The question hurt, and it took a moment for Mandy to realize why. The kid she'd been when she'd had Aimée... that girl had believed in magic. The woman Mandy was now had given it up a long time ago.

  But everyone in this city seemed to treat it like a right. Like they all had a right to expect it of her, to expect it of the world. Like magic was just one more unexpected but inalienable fact of their world.

  It wasn't a fact of hers.

  "No," she said. "I don't."

  Nicolas seemed taken aback by that, as if he'd expected her to say she did. "I do," he said. "I've seen it. I..."

  Mandy hung on his words.

  "I'm a shapeshifter," he said. "The story about the people who founded this city. They were people like me."

  Mandy broke away.

  She turned and stared at him, unable to tell if he was making fun of her. Nothing about Nicolas had suggested that he was stupid, or insane, or out of touch with the world... well, maybe she was an indication that he was out of touch with the world. But while she'd been willing to be wooed, to listen to some comforting fairytale of magic, this wasn't what she'd expected at all.

  "You're trying to tell me you turn into a lion?" she asked.

  He fidgeted uneasily. "A jaguar, actually..."

  He was making fun of her. He had to be. This was some kind of a practical joke, or maybe one of those reality shows she couldn't stop herself from watching, sometimes. Put a hidden camera somewhere, and make a fool of someone. Her face heated. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

  "I can show you!" he said. "Please, there's so much I want to tell you, if you'll just give me a chance!"

  He reached out, pleading, and she turned away. This was all too much, too strange, too fast, she had just been a colossal, grade-A idiot, and she couldn't bear it all. She didn't want to see what Nico would try to convince her with, and she didn't want to stay in the same room as him, and she didn't want to stay in the same room as herself, though of course she didn't have a choice there. She grabbed her purse, and ran out the door.

  "Mandy!" Nico called after her. She ignored him, and ran faster. He could hardly run after her naked, after all.

  Whatever he'd been planning to do... she didn't want to see it. She picked a direction at random, and walked quickly down the street. Turn a corner, and she'd be out of sight to Nico, anyway.

  She must have looked like a wreck, but she didn't care; all she wanted was to get away from Nico and his house and her own bad decisions. She could go somewhere, a cafe or a shop or maybe she'd run into a library or a park with a bathroom, and she could put herself together there, and call a cab, and then maybe get out of the studio above Nico's Deli. She shouldn't have accepted that offer in the first place. Should have nipped this whole thing in the bud...

  Her phone rang.

  She jumped. She'd forgotten all about her phone, and she was frazzled enough that she pulled it out of her purse and answered it before she thought it would be better not to. "Hello?"

  For a heartbeat, she was worried that it was Nico. But she'd never given him her number, had she?

  But it wasn't Nico's voice that said, "Ah, Mandy. You've been avoiding my calls."

  As though the day needed to get any worse. Mandy went cold, all through. "I was going to call back." In a week, or whatever; when she'd gone home. But he didn't give her a chance to say that.

  "Sure you were. This isn't funny, Ms. Mandy. I take my money seriously."

  "I know," Mandy said. "I can start paying you back..."

  "I know you can," the man said. "Especially since you're living it up in a resort town in California. Sudden change of fortune, wasn't that?"

  Mandy didn't have words for a second. Shock had driven them all out of her head.

  "Your daughter's facebook is very informative," the man said. "So now we know that even if you don't have money, she does. But we thought we'd give you a chance to pay us back, first. Get in the car."

  This was all happening too fast for Mandy to keep up with. "I don't understand..."

  A white car squealed around the corner in front of her, coming to an abrupt stop in the street. Someone inside leaned over and pushed a rear door open.

  Everything in Mandy said that she shouldn't get into the car. But what was she going to do? Run? They could outpace her. Hang up and call 911? By the time police got there, either the car would be long gone or they'd just say they were minding their own business and had no idea why Mandy had called anyone. Scream?

  She didn't think fast enough. A big, burly man opened the door and stepped out, grabbing her by the elbow before she could do anything.

  And then she did scream, but only for a moment before he clapped his hand over her mouth and shoved her into the back seat.

  The car peeled away before anyone could come to see.

  Nicolas

  Nicolas had never gotten dressed so quickly in his life. And as he ran out onto the sidewalk of his peaceful little neighborhood, he wished he hadn't: he was too late to stop the strange men from pushing Mandy into their car.

  Heedless of modesty, he shed his clothes and shifted. The world seemed to change around him when he did: colors became more drab or more intense; motion flared in his vision and hooked his attention; the landscape of smell and sound changed and became lusher, more urgent, almost overwhelming. He launched himself after the car, a silent golden blur.

  Fortunately, this was Los Cazadores. All the public servants and most of the residents knew about shifters, and were inclined to look the other way if they needed to shift and run through the city for some reason. Tourists were told that the wildlife was unusually friendly, if they asked.

  Nico was feeling anything but friendly, at the moment. Frantic was more apt.

  He'd followed them just in time to see them turn onto the interstate, and swift as he was in cat form, he couldn't keep up with a sedan going eighty. But the mate-bond held his mind like a compass needle held to north. Her fear was a beacon, blazing bright. All he had to do was let his jaguar run.

  So he ran.

  His jaguar didn't like the rushing roar of cars on asphalt, or the size of the metal-and-fiberglass beasts, or their speed. But it liked the thought of someone else hurting Mandy even less. It didn't matter that a chance collision would snuff his life in an instant, or that even as a jaguar his muscles began to burn and his breath came hard and fast. He ran.

  Soon the mental feeling of Mandy stopped getting farther away and started drawing nearer, and Nico jumped from the shoulder of the interstate into city streets again. He didn't let up his pace until his quarry was in sight.

  They had rented a motel at the trailing edge of town, apparently: a place where class and personality gave way to cheap generic Americana, gas stations and dollar stores and chain restaurants. He could hear Mandy's voice in one of the ground-floor rooms, tight and afraid. The window was open, the blinds lowered, and he needed no other invitation.

  He burst through the open window in a bound.

  The venetian blinds buckled and wrapped around him, and he struggled his way free. The cords snapped, and some of the blinds shattered: they probably hadn't been changed out in years. This lonely, drab motel room had probably b
aked in the Los Cazadores sun for longer than he had, and with less to show for it.

  Nico shook the blinds off. On four heavy paws he whirled, and planted himself in front of Mandy, who was staring wide-eyed and silent.

  Between these new people and his mate, Nico's jaguar was much less agitated. His tail still lashed, but it was in affront and anger. He growled, taking in the scents and looks of Mandy's captors.

  "I hate doing jobs in this city," one of them muttered.

  Nico shifted to human. Only two of the men read as shifters to him – the third man's eyes darted up and down his naked body in surprise, before he blushed and fixed his eyes firmly on Nico's forehead – and the fact that the shifters hadn't shifted suggested that they didn't shift into anything intimidating.

  Maybe rats or weasels, Nico's jaguar thought, scornfully. The jaguar was perfectly at home here, the hot sun from the window cutting across his naked frame, standing ready to strike.

  "Right. You want to explain what's happening here?" Nico asked. His jaguar's growl made it up into his voice, coloring his tone. He was still breathing hard, and hoped they'd take it for rage. It was close. "Because this concerns me."

  "You big cats think you own this damn city," one of the shifters said. "It's not your business."

  "If I was a hummingbird, it would still be my business," Nico growled. "So tell me."

  Realization dawned in the shifter's eyes, and he looked from Nico to Mandy. "If you're her mate," he said, "you won't mind paying her debts."

  "Of course I won't mind," Nico said. He didn't even need to ask how much it was, before agreeing; if he could pay it, if he could free her from whatever obligation this was, he wouldn't hesitate. "How much does she owe?"

  "Wait," Mandy said, her voice small.

  "Ten thousand," the shifter said, quickly, before Mandy could protest.

  "It was six!" Mandy squeaked.

  "I'll pay seven never to see your faces again," Nico said.

  The shifter looked like he thought it was a good deal. Behind him, one of his human companions shook his head. "Boss won't be happy."

  Nico turned to look at the dissenter, eyes narrowing. "If your boss isn't happy," he said, "he can come to Los Cazadores and speak to me. Or maybe to my friend Asad. He's a very good negotiator."

  The thugs exchanged glances.

  "And I baked the cakes for his sister's wedding," Nico added, for good measure. "You know these lion shifters. Everyone has to bring gifts to the mated alpha pair."

  The bluff worked. Nico wasn't close with any of the lion shifters at the center of Los Cazadores political life, though Asad came to the deli more than most of them... but the threat of one of them turning their great golden eyes on any sort of mischief was enough to make a shifter's blood run cold.

  Maybe they should pay some attention, Nico thought. These people kidnapped someone in broad daylight. That's bold.

  "Seven thousand works," the second shifter said. "We can deal with seven."

  "What's our guarantee?" the first asked.

  Nico rumbled, his jaguar bleeding up into the way he curled his fingers. "On a hunter's honor," he said. "I will pay seven thousand dollars to you, and you will never threaten my mate again. If there are any future concerns, you will bring them to me."

  No shifter who did business in Los Cazadores could mistake that oath. It meant that the matter could be brought before the ruling lion pride, de facto masters of the magical side of the city, and no one wanted to disturb them.

  It was, all in all, a much stronger incentive to behave than a mere human court could levy.

  The two shifters exchanged glances. Accepting the oath meant that they, too, would be on the hook with the lions. And refusing it, asking for some more mundane contract, could easily be taken as a sign of bad faith.

  If Nico were as close to the lions as he implied – and other shifters might believe that, from a great cat – that alone could get them in trouble.

  "We accept your oath," one said. He sounded uneasy at the prospect.

  "Good." Nico grinned savagely, though it was more like his jaguar, baring its teeth. "Now get out."

  The thugs blinked at him. "It's our room–"

  "Out!" Nico bellowed. The three of them jumped, and scattered.

  Definitely rats, his jaguar thought. Nico ignored it. He turned to Mandy, rushing to her and looking anxiously into her wide eyes.

  "I don't think I understand any of what just happened," Mandy said.

  Nico went to his knees in front of her, taking her face in his hands. "Are you all right?" he asked. "That's the important thing."

  Mandy took a deep breath. Nico could sense that she was about to say something different, probably about to lie and say she was fine, but as soon as she started saying it her voice shuddered like an earthquake. "No," she said. "They didn't do anything to me. But I'm not okay."

  One of Nico's thumbs traced a line under her eye, as though he was brushing away a tear that hadn't had a chance to fall. She leaned into his touch.

  "We should call the police," she said.

  Nico's heart panged. He wanted to chase after the shifters and tear into them for causing her fear. "In Los Cazadores, there are more powerful creatures than the police," he said. "And they will already hear about this." He cupped her cheek, trying to reassure her with his touch. "I swear to you. You're safe. They're the only ones with anything to fear, now."

  Mandy searched his eyes. After a moment, she nodded. But, Nico sensed, her fear endured, as though it sprang equally from another source.

  "Please," Nico said. "Tell me."

  Mandy swallowed, and closed her eyes.

  Nico stood and walked around her, and rested his hands on her shoulders. With practiced assurance, he began to knead out the tension there. Mandy stiffened for half a second, then moaned and melted under his hands.

  "I'm sorry I ran away," Mandy said.

  "I'm sorry for whatever it was I did that made you," Nico said. "What was it? I didn't want to upset you."

  Mandy shook her head. "It wasn't you. It was me. I just..."

  She swallowed, and looked over to the torn blinds, then the door.

  "I don't want to talk here," she said. "Take me home. Please."

  Nico hesitated, for a bare second.

  "I won't run," Mandy promised.

  "I know," Nico said. "I just... I think we'll have to call a cab."

  Mandy

  The thugs hadn't taken Mandy's phone, so calling a cab was an easy affair. The problem – if it was a problem; Mandy was of the opinion that it wasn't a problem for her – of Nico's nudity was solved when he kissed her, bringing her whole body alight, and then turned into a cat again.

  Los Cazadores. City of magic. Nico really did turn into a jaguar – he turned into a jaguar – and the taxi driver who came for them didn't even bat an eyelid when she sat down and Nico hopped in after her, settled himself on the seat beside her, and laid his great furry head in her lap.

  She didn't know what to do with that. After a moment, she sank her fingers into the short, smooth fur of his head, scratching behind the ears. Nico made a soft chuffing noise, and then started to rumble.

  Mandy paused for a moment, then started laughing. "You purr!"

  Nico blinked up at her, and his face wrinkled in what looked like amusement.

  "New in Los Cazadores?" the driver asked.

  Mandy nodded, still looking at Nico. She couldn't believe this, even with the evidence of her own eyes. Or maybe she could believe it, but she was afraid that if she looked away it would all evaporate. "Is it that obvious?"

  "Oh, you get to recognize them," he said. "Where to?"

  "Um." Mandy looked at Nico for a moment. "I don't know your address," she said.

  Nico opened his mouth, displaying alarmingly large fangs, and then shut it again with a look of feline consternation. He moved a bit, and Mandy put her hand between his shoulderblades.

  "No, that's all right, stay like that," she said
. "Nico's Deli, please."

  The driver leaned forward and punched something into the smartphone mounted by his wheel. "Nico's Deli," he repeated, and pulled out into the road.

  City of magic. A timid hope had flickered to life in Mandy's chest. Maybe it could all be true. Maybe it wasn't too good to be true...

  She returned her attention to the magical creature beside her, enchanted by the play of muscles under his skin, the animal warmth of his body. She was entranced by Nico in this form in a way which was decidedly not sexual, but was almost as magnetic.