Rise of the Jaguar Read online

  She leaned against the closed door as her jaguar purred and chirped and pleaded for her to take the pretty human to her apartment and fuck his brains out.

  We can’t. You know that. We’ll tear him to shreds.

  Her jaguar’s purring cut out, and the big beast actually whined like a kitten. I want the human. I’ll be careful, I promise.

  Shh, sweet one, Emerson said. We cannot. Stop asking.

  To her relief, her jaguar retreated. She was pissed off, Emerson could feel her anger pulsing through the both of them, but at least she’d accepted what Emerson said.

  She left the stall and washed her hands. The other women had left, and the bathroom was blessedly quiet. Emerson studied her reflection in the mirror. She was tempted to swipe on some lip gloss but resisted. She wasn’t going home with Clay. She was going home to her empty apartment, and that was it.

  She returned to her table, unsure if she was happy or relieved to see Clay still there. He stood as she approached, and she smiled briefly at him. “Thank you for the drink, but I need to go.”

  He didn’t argue, which simultaneously relieved and disappointed her. He picked up her jacket and helped her into it. The large daisy pin on her collar fell off, and Clay caught it neatly before pinning it to her collar.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “You’re welcome. May I walk you to your car?” Clay said. “It’s late and dark.”

  She studied him. “I can take care of myself.”

  “I have no doubt. Still, humour me?” he said as he zipped up his jacket.

  She nodded. Despite how cautious she’d been when it came to her drink, Clay walking her to her car through the dark parking lot didn’t ping on her personal safety radar. Why would it? He might be big, and he might be strong, but he was still only human. As long as she wasn’t drugged or drunk, he didn’t stand a chance against her. One aggressive move on his part, and she’d shift to her jaguar and tear him apart.

  She knew what a luxury it was as a woman not to have to worry about that type of safety, and she never took it for granted.

  Clay’s hand rested lightly in the small of her back as they headed toward the door. Her stupid jaguar purred and trilled like a kitten from even that soft touch. They left the pub and walked to her car without speaking.

  She unlocked her car and tossed her purse inside before leaning against the side of the vehicle. She needed to say goodbye. Needed to thank him for the drink and the conversation and go the fuck home before she did something stupid like fuck him in her car.

  “It was nice to meet you, Emerson,” Clay said.

  “You as well,” she said.

  They were far enough from the pub that the lights didn’t touch his face. It didn’t matter. She could see him as clearly in the dark as she could in the light. She studied those pretty blue eyes of his, a slight tingle of apprehension sliding down her back. She couldn’t get a read on him at all. Other than he practically screamed ‘warning’ in big neon red letters.

  “Thank you for the drink,” she said.

  “You’re welcome.”

  More silence, and when his gaze dropped to her mouth, heat flashed in her body and settled in her pelvis.

  She shifted against the car and cleared her throat. “Well, good night.”

  “Good night, Emerson.”

  He didn’t move an inch, and while he wasn’t blocking her way to the driver’s seat, she couldn’t seem to take a step toward it. She stared at his mouth, wondering how he would taste, wondering how he would sound when he was deep inside of her.

  Her jaguar made a mewling, pleading sound that made Emerson lean toward Clay. How could she not? Her jaguar wanted the human with a deep longing that Emerson could barely resist. He should have been kissing her at this point. She was making it more than obvious she wanted him to. But he only stared at her with a cool and assessing gaze that belied the obvious arousal she could smell coming off of him in relentless and delicious waves.

  Fuck it. She was kissing him. No harm ever came from kissing someone.

  He was a big man, but she was close to 5’11,” and so when she stepped closer to him, it was simply a matter of tilting her head up a little to press her mouth against his. His arousal thickened and deepened, and while he might have been shy about kissing her first, he wasn’t shy about taking control.

  He pressed her back against the car, one hand sliding around her waist, the other tangling in her hair. He tipped her head and angled his mouth over hers, his tongue demanding entrance at the seam of her lips.

  She let him in, purring when his tongue touched hers. They kissed hard. A clash of teeth and lips and tongues that had no finesse to it but sent hot desire coursing through Emerson’s body. She arched into that hardness she could feel against her stomach, her jaguar trilling when Clay made a low groan. He sucked and then nipped on her bottom lip. She clutched at his arms, purring loudly when his hand squeezed and kneaded her ass.

  They kissed again, a mutual devouring of mouths that sent heady tingles of pleasure throughout Emerson’s body. She couldn’t ever remember being so hot or frantic for a man before, and she could barely hear anything over the sound of her jaguar’s happy trilling and purring.

  Clay kissed down her throat, nipping at her soft skin as his hand cupped her thigh. He lifted her leg around his waist and pressed his cock against her core. She ground her pussy against that delicious thickness, purring again when Clay made another harsh groan.

  They were dry humping like they were sex-starved teenagers, and she didn’t give one fuck if there was anyone else in the parking lot. All she cared about was getting Clay’s cock into her before she and her jaguar lost their minds.

  His hand cupped her breast through her jacket. She gasped before running her hands over the smooth leather that covered his chest. She wished like hell that he wasn’t wearing so many layers of clothes. She wanted to feel his bare skin.

  Her jaguar made a happy growl. That was an easy fix. Before Emerson could react, her jaguar had pushed forward to take control. Her fingernails turned to sharp claws, and she raked her index finger down over Clay’s jacket. Her nail cut through the leather and the shirt below it easily.

  Clay grunted in surprise and – was that pain? - when she ran her finger along the hot skin she could feel through the slit in his clothing. Her jaguar growled happily, her claws lengthening again as she prepared to straight-up slice Clay’s clothes from his body. The human was hers, and she wanted him naked. Naked and fucking her until she screamed her climax into the cold night air.

  Horror rushed through Emerson when she smelled the metallic scent of blood. She pushed forward, shoving her jaguar back. Her cat hissed angrily and tried to surge forward again. Emerson growled loudly, making Clay’s body stiffen, and her jaguar hiss at her again.

  “Enough!” Emerson snarled.

  Clay stepped back, and Emerson winced before touching his arm. “No, not you. I mean – we need to stop, but I wasn’t talking to you. I won’t hurt you.”

  She grimaced. The smell of blood indicated that she had hurt him. His arousal was still there but so faint it was barely detectable. It upset Emerson more than she wanted to admit, but at least she couldn’t smell any fear on him. Not yet, anyway.

  She parted the tear in his jacket and his shirt and studied his chest. “Shit, you’re bleeding.”

  “It’s just a scratch,” he said.

  Maybe, but if she’d let her jaguar have her way, Clay would be buck naked in front of her and covered in much deeper scratches. Not to mention bite marks.

  Her jaguar’s anger had disappeared, and now she pouted like a small kitten

  I want him. Give him to me.

  We cannot, sweet one. You’ve hurt him.

  Her jaguar’s guilt intensified her own. Feeling a little sick to her stomach, she said, “I’m so sorry.”

  “My hotel is close to here,” Clay said. “Join me in my room.”

  She stared at him in shock as her jaguar
sat up and trilled. “Are you serious right now?”

  “Yes.”

  She stepped back, leaning against her car, needing to put some space between them before she did something stupid like say yes to going back to his hotel room. “Clay, I’m a shifter.”

  “I know.”

  “A jaguar shifter,” she said.

  He grinned. “I figured you were a cat shifter, what with all the purring. Which, by the way, is the sexiest fucking sound I’ve ever heard.”

  He reached for her, and she pushed his hands away. “I can’t have sex with you.”

  “Why not?”

  He was being deliberately obtuse, right? He had to be.

  “Because I’ll hurt you,” she said. “I’ve already hurt you.”

  He glanced at his torn jacket and shirt and shrugged. “Barely a scratch.”

  She could almost taste her own frustration. “It would be worse when we’re fucking. I don’t sleep with humans because my jaguar likes to scratch and bite… hard.”

  His sexy grin only deepened her frustration. “Trust me, gorgeous. You wouldn’t be the first to scratch and bite while being fucked by me. I’m fine with scratching and biting.”

  “My God, your arrogance is going to get you killed,” she said, “Listen to what I’m saying, Clay. It’s not me who would do the scratching and biting. It would be my jaguar. And she has very sharp claws and teeth. You might be bigger than the average human, but she can still slice you open easily.”

  He studied her. “I could handcuff you to the bed.”

  “How would that stop me from sinking my teeth into you?” she said.

  “That’s what ball gags are for, sweetheart,” he said with that way too sexy for his own good grin.

  “Jesus, you’re a kinky bastard,” she said.

  He laughed. “So, that’s a yes to the handcuffs but a no to the ball gag?”

  “It’s a no to everything,” she said. “Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you or led you on like that. It was a stupid thing for me to do, especially since I have no intention of fucking you.”

  “Why did you kiss me then?” he said.

  She swallowed hard, studying his mouth in the darkness. “I don’t know why.”

  “Liar,” he said softly.

  She looked away from his gaze. “Despite what just happened, I’m not a tease, Clay.”

  He didn’t reply, and feeling stupid and embarrassed, she said, “I have to go. It was… it was nice to meet you.”

  She climbed into her car and started it. Clay had retreated a few feet away, and she studied him a final time before driving out of the parking lot and turning onto the street.

  Fuck, she was an idiot.

  Chapter 2

  His cock still hard as stone, Clay watched Emerson drive out of the parking lot. He waited until he couldn’t see her taillights any longer before pulling out his phone and calling Saul.

  Saul answered on the first ring. “Hey. You get the camera planted on her?”

  “Yes. Is it working?” Clay said.

  “Give me a fucking minute,” Saul said. “Where’d you put it?”

  “On a pin on her jacket.”

  “Any trouble doing it?” Saul said.

  Clay trudged to his car and slid behind the wheel. “Other than her almost catching me by returning from the bathroom before I could latch the pin back to her collar, no.”

  Saul laughed, a genuine sound of amusement. “You’re lucky she couldn’t smell your anxiety. A cat shifter’s sense of smell is crazy good.”

  His lust for her would have blotted out any other scent. Clay was fucking sure of it. Besides, he hadn’t been nervous anyway, even when Emerson almost caught him. He’d had worse near misses in previous jobs.

  Job? Is that what Emerson is?

  Fuck, yes. The most important job of his life. One he’d almost fucked up by letting his lust for her override his common sense. He’d invited her back to his hotel room, for fuck’s sake. He reached down and adjusted himself. At least he only had a semi now.

  “Okay, hold on,” Saul said.

  Clay could hear Saul clacking away on his keyboard. Like Clay, Saul had worked for Wyatt, a bear shifter and scientist who’d been slowly going mad while looking for a cure for his wife. Lora had been infected with… something that had turned her into a monster. A very deadly and very dangerous monster.

  Clay closed his eyes and rubbed at his forehead. Once, he and Wyatt had been good friends. It was why he’d gone to work for him, helping him to capture the other shifters who’d been turned by Lora’s bite and searching for Lora’s former police partner, a phoenix shifter named Ronin.

  Wyatt was confident that the key to curing Lora was in the phoenix shifter’s healing ability. He had stopped at nothing to find Ronin again, and when he had…

  Clay swallowed down the bile rising in his throat. He’d seen a lot of terrible things, fuck, he’d done a lot of terrible things. But watching Wyatt infect Ronin deliberately with the virus, and then repeatedly killing him and dissecting his body while Ronin’s girlfriend watched in horror, was too much for even Clay.

  Still, he couldn’t fool himself into thinking there was a reason he’d helped Ronin escape other than because Wyatt turned on Clay. Anger replaced the sick feeling in his stomach. Wyatt stole Owen from him. He’d used their friendship and Clay’s trust to take Owen and use him as a bargaining chip to get what he wanted from Clay.

  A bitter smile crossed his face. Wyatt’s plan might have worked if Lora hadn’t escaped from her cage and killed Wyatt. Clay felt no remorse over the death of his former friend, but he did fucking wish he’d found out where Owen was before Wyatt died. It would have saved him nearly two years of searching.

  “Okay,” the clacking of Saul’s keyboard slowed, “I’m in. Check the feed on your phone.”

  Clay scrolled to the app Saul had downloaded on his phone and opened it. He waited a few seconds, tapping his foot impatiently before the video clicked in. “Holy fuck.”

  “You’re welcome,” Saul said.

  Emerson was still driving. He had a view of her car’s dashboard and a partial view out of the windshield.

  “Fuck, that chick drives fast,” Saul said.

  Clay suppressed his grin. “Why is there no sound?” He checked the volume on his phone, but it was on max.

  “Hold on.” More clicking from Saul’s keyboard. “Well, shit.”

  “What?” Clay said.

  “The sound should be working, everything’s green on this end, but I’m not picking up any sound from the video feed.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Clay said. “The amount of money I paid for that thing, and it’s defective?”

  “Oh please, like you aren’t sitting on a big pile of money like Scrooge McDuck over there,” Saul said. “Anyway, it’s more likely that the microphone got jarred or you fucked it up when you were putting it on the pin. It’s as sensitive as a teenage girl with a zit.”

  “So, you’re telling me I have video but no fucking sound.”

  “That’s what I’m telling you. It might kick in later, it might not. But do you need it? You just need to see a place to teleport in, not hear it, right?”

  “Yeah,” Clay said. Saul was right. Sound didn’t affect his teleporting abilities, but he was still weirdly disappointed. But it wasn’t because he’d been looking forward to hearing Emerson’s sexy voice in his ear all day.

  “All kidding aside, you sure you want to do this?” Saul said.

  “Of course I am,” Clay said. “It’s the only way to get Owen back.”

  “It’s dangerous.”

  “Owen’s my brother, Saul.”

  “I get it,” Saul said. “All I’m saying is that maybe this job is a little too big for one person. Wilson Granger is no one to fuck around with, Clay.”

  “And you think I am?” Clay said.

  “No,” Saul said, “but I think your head isn’t exactly on straight because of your worry for Ow
en. Look, I know you’ve been searching for your brother for a long time, and I get the urgency to rescue him now that you finally know where he is. But Owen isn’t going anywhere. Wilson won’t let anything happen to him, not with what Owen can do. In fact, he’s probably safest where he is right now.”

  “He’s safest with me,” Clay said.

  “Okay, okay, but maybe you wait a few months, pull together a team to -”

  “I work better alone,” Clay said.

  “Jesus H. Christ,” Saul said. “You fucking mercenaries are all the same.” His voice took on a lousy imitation of Vin Diesel. “I work better alone.”

  “Fuck off, Saul,” Clay said. ‘You’re what? Twenty-one years old? You don’t know shit about anything.”

  Saul laughed. “Twenty-two, thank you. You ever wonder if maybe the death rate of mercenaries is so high because you refuse to ask for help?”

  “It’s so high because we do dangerous fucking shit,” Clay said. “And get paid a great deal of money for it.”

  “You’re telling me,” Saul said. “I’ve seen your bank accounts.”

  “What the fuck, Saul?” Clay said.

  Saul laughed again. “I’m a hacker, you asshole. You think I’m not gonna hack your shit? That offshore account you have has a very impressive amount of money. Like, seriously impressive.”

  “Yeah, thanks. Touch any of it, and I’ll slice off your balls and feed them to your dog.”

  “I got a cat,” Saul said. “Which, come to think of it, would probably work in your favour. There’s no way Rupert wouldn’t at least try a few bites of my dead body.”

  “Tell me about the woman,” Clay said.

  Saul paused. “You already know what there is to know. She’s a jaguar shifter who’s been Wilson Granger’s personal assistant for the last three years. From what I can tell, she has no idea what Wilson’s actually doing. She believes he runs a legit shipping business only, nothing more.”

  “What about her personal life?” Clay said.