Tempted by the Jaguar #1: Transformation (Riverford Shifters) (8 page)

Now thoroughly freaked out, she tore her eyes away and concentrated on
her drink and the live music. It was no doubt her jaguar side reacting to something
beyond her human comprehension. Now was definitely not the time to lose control
of her senses, surrounded by a sea of potential enemies.

She could only hope Hunter really wouldn’t be gone long.

It was only when she noticed a third pair of eyes, this time from one of
the tables close to the bar, staring rather openly at her that Kylie’s initial
concern started to turn to fear.

The first was a guy sitting four stools down from her. One moment he
was chatting with a couple of women, and the next, he froze before turning to
look directly at her as if he had suddenly caught her scent in the air.
Only—she was pretty sure that he and the rest of the people sitting around her
were human.

The second was also a human, an older, thirtyish guy who happened to
walk by her. He too had frozen mid-step as if someone had called out to him
before turning to look at Kylie with something like bewilderment. This guy had
slowly moved on, but sometime when her attention had been on the stage and the
band, he had returned to the bar and was now seated at the very end not even
trying to hide the fact that he was staring at her with a decidedly creepy
expression.

Kylie watched all three warily, wondering if she should wave over the
two security guys Maxim had pointed out. It had only been about twenty minutes
since Hunter and Maxim had left her at the bar, so she was reluctant to cause a
scene that may send them running back to her. There was also the chance that
she might be seen as weak within the shifter society, and thus people would be
more reluctant to share anything of value with her. Then the opportunity
entering the jaguar clan presented would be wasted.

Her eyes flickered over to the security men, and she was a bit startled
to see them already looking back at her with twin frowns stretching their lips.
They were looking at her as though they didn’t like something she was doing,
but for the life of her, she couldn’t fathom what. It wasn’t as though she was
encouraging all those creepy stares.

Just as Kylie shot them a puzzled look, a group of seven guys passed in
front of them, blocking her view and capturing her full attention. In that
moment, she was once again submerged in an inexplicable warmth, and as one,
every single guy in that group turned to look at her.

Kylie flinched back in reaction, her heart suddenly speeding up in the
beginnings of panic. Her eyes darted around them in an effort to alert the
security guys that things had suddenly gone bat-shit crazy, and she
inadvertently locked gazes with Creepy Guy Number One who was still sitting
four stools down.

Before she could even blink, all seven guys converged on the stool guy,
attacking him with fists and kicks. Kylie expected him to cry out for help, but
instead, he let out a weird, guttural sound that was purely animalistic and
returned blow for blow like a man possessed.

More men began to join the fray as Kylie jumped off the stool and
turned with the intent of sprinting for the exit. Instead, she was met with a
wall of at least eight men advancing on her with a look of hunger in their eyes
like a starving vampire. To add to the horrors, as she crouched into a
defensive position, a low growl began to rise on its own accord from deep
within her throat, and she could already feel the slight spasms in her muscles
that signaled her body was on the verge of shifting.

Shit! Shit!

“Kylie!”

The sound of Hunter’s voice in that moment of chaos was as stunning as
hearing a chorus of angels. Her head snapped towards his voice in enough time
to see him lay out a tall blond guy with a brutal punch to the chin who had
tried to block his advance.

She wasted no time in rushing to him, reaching out to grab his arms.
“Hunter! What the
hell
is going on! I—”

The moment Kylie touched him, her entire body seemed to ignite with
flames, and only Hunter’s quick reflexes prevented her from crumbling to the
ground. Desire, lust like she had never felt before inundated her mind, her
senses, and she found herself lunging at Hunter with a very audible growl,
intent on devouring that luscious mouth she had only admired from afar.

Yes—yes—he’s the one!

“
Fuck
!” Hunter cursed, thrusting her out at arms-length and shaking
his head violently as though to clear it after being punched.

“She doesn’t know how to control it!” Maxim’s voice penetrated the haze
of lust that had almost completely taken over Kylie’s mind as effectively as a
gunshot in a library, causing her next growl to freeze in her throat. “Get her
out of here
now
! I’ll take care of things here!”

With another harsh curse, Hunter pulled her tightly against him and
began to half-drag, half-march her through the surrounding crowd as fast as he
could without sending them both to the ground. Enveloped within his warmth and
now mouth-watering scent, Kylie’s groin began to throb rather insistently with
arousal. She groaned and tried to rub herself against him as they walked but
the constant movement of their legs prevented her from gaining any good
friction.

The walk to the VIP entrance seemed to take an eternity, but thankfully
Hunter’s truck was already waiting for them outside at the curb, doors open and
engine running, though the valets were conspicuously absent. By then, all Kylie
could think about was getting inside, climbing onto Hunter’s lap, and screwing
him until they both passed out.

She tried to push Hunter through the opened passenger door, but he
grabbed her head firmly between his hands and held steady until she was finally
able to focus on his eyes.

“Kylie, you
have to calm the fuck down
,” Hunter said sternly, his
eyes hard and piercing. “You’re in heat, sweetheart, and you’re sending out
enough mating pheromones to attract the whole state of Texas right now!” He
paused and gritted his teeth. “It’s taking everything I have in me to keep from
ripping your clothes off and screwing you blind right here on the sidewalk,” he
continued roughly. “I have to get you out of here, but there’s no way I’ll be
able to keep from driving us into a ditch when all I can think about is driving
my cock into your body! Try to think of the most un-arousing things as
possible…!”

Although she was able to hear every word and she suspected that he was
purposely being blunt and crude to shock her, Kylie was having a hard time comprehending
them when Hunter smelled
so damn good
. However, some of his desperation
managed to seep into her awareness, and enough of Kylie’s humanity still
remained to want to understand that urgency to fight to the forefront of her
consciousness. She was suddenly seeing Hunter as the human woman rather than
the jaguar, could see the sweat on his brow and how his entire body shook with
the effort of keeping himself from throwing her onto the ground and having his
wicked way with her right then and there.

Kylie drew in a sharp, shocked breath, and some of the heat that was
scorching her body from within began to cool. At that moment, Hunter looked
more animal than man even though he was still in his human form.

I did this to him
, Kylie realized with rising horror,
to
those men.

The pinched look on Hunter’s face eased, and he slowly released her
head and stepped back. His eyes were fixed on her warily as though he expected
her to attack him at any moment.

Her body still burned painfully with the need to either mount or have
Hunter mount her, and only the horror of the situation prevented her mind from
giving over to instinct again.

“Hurry!” she said urgently. “I don’t know how much longer I can stay
myself!”

Hunter nodded and dashed over to the driver’s side while she climbed up
onto the passenger seat. She concentrated on shutting the door and buckling her
seatbelt, using those simple tasks as an anchor to her sanity. The heat within
was a million times worse than the worst fever she had ever had. Hell, just
shifting her thighs had her groin throbbing almost unbearably with need. She
clenched them together with a quiet groan. A few more minutes and Kylie was
afraid she wouldn’t be able to keep herself from masturbating in front of
Hunter for even just a little relief.

“Hurry!” Kylie repeated pleadingly through gritted teeth, her eyes
closed against seeing the living temptation beside her. Her hands clutched the
seatbelt across her chest so tightly that her hands were beginning to hurt.

The truck’s tires screeched horribly as Hunter peeled out from the
curb. She heard several cars honking angrily at them, but Kylie was feeling so
miserable that she couldn’t even drum up the energy to worry about wrecking.
She distracted herself by thinking about what she would do once they arrived
wherever Hunter was taking her.

First and foremost, she would jump into the shower turned up to the
iciest setting possible. She didn’t care if she dies of hypothermia. Anything
would be better than the burning she was currently enduring. If this was what a
female jaguar shifter endured every time they went into heat, Kylie didn’t know
how they managed without going insane.

“Almost there. Hang in there,” Hunter abruptly said, his deep voice
reverberating directly through her loins, making Kylie clench her thighs
together more tightly with a moan of frustrated agony.

She heard Hunter hiss and wondered if she had accidentally bombarded
him with a fresh new pheromone wave of doom. Dammit! Why didn’t anyone warn her
about this? She had no memories of her mother ever going through something like
this!

By the time the truck stopped and she heard Hunter open the door, Kylie
was practically writhing on the seat. Her eyes flew open, and not waiting for
Hunter’s instruction, she all but flew out of the truck. They were in the
parking garage she had never seen before. The unfamiliarity of it stopped her
in her tracks. She had expected Hunter to drive her to her apartment and
thought she could just make a dash for her unit.

Kylie wrapped her arms around her trembling body just as Hunter cautiously
walked up to her. “Follow me, but whatever you do, don’t touch me. I’ll make
sure you get into the new apartment I’ve arranged for you, but for God’s sake,
don’t even think about leaving it until your heat ends. I’ll try to find a
woman from our clan to come sit with you. She’ll be able to explain what’s
going on with you better than I ever could.”

“How long does a jaguar’s heat last?” Kylie asked as she followed him
into the building, making sure to fix her eyes on his feet.

“Twelve days usually,” he replied apologetically.

She hissed in sudden anger, making her momentarily forget about the
throbbing between her legs. “There’s no way in hell I can miss that much
college!”

“Until you learn to control your pheromone output, you’ll have to.”

Kylie’s growl of frustration was all jaguar. She was so upset, that she
didn’t realize that they had reached the elevators and Hunter had stopped to
push the button. Her entire front rammed into his back, her aching nipples
rubbing against the cotton of her shirt as her breasts pressed against him.

A sharp growl was her only warning before Kylie’s body was suddenly
whirled around and her back slammed into the elevator doors, a soft, wet mouth
swallowing her gasp of shock. Then her mind blanked as relief and pleasure
thundered through both her mind and body.

Somewhere in the far corners of her mind, she had a vague perception of
clutching tightly at Hunter’s shoulders, of Hunter’s hands squeezing her ass
and the two of them grinding their pelvises against each other in the most
delicious friction she had ever experienced while tongues tangled and they both
did their best to suck the breath completely from each other’s lungs.

Then the support at her back disappeared, and both Kylie and Hunter
stumbled backwards into the elevator. That abrupt movement seemed to snap
Hunter out of his frenzy long enough to force himself away from Kylie.

“Kylie—you have to—we
can’t
—” Hunter ground out with tremendous
effort as he blindly searched for the right floor button behind him, not daring
to take his eyes off a
very
annoyed Kylie.

But then Kylie cupped his cock through his jeans instead of going for
his lips and Hunter’s lips and hands were once again on her like a beast before
she could even blink. The elevator jerked as it started to rise, causing them
to fall against the back wall in a tangle of limbs.

Kylie wrapped a leg around his thigh in order to grind more easily
against his swollen member, causing Hunter to bite down hard enough on her
bottom lip to draw blood. The salty taste seemed to drive them both into a
greater frenzy, and suddenly, kissing and rubbing her body against him wasn’t
nearly enough.

She reached up to grip the flap of his shirt where it opened just below
his neck and yanked down hard. The sound of buttons hitting the metal walls of
the elevator sounded almost preternaturally loud to her heightened senses.

Hearing the sudden
ping
of the elevator reaching the designated
floor was enough for Hunter to snap out of his pheromone-induced lust and tear
himself away for a second time before Kylie could even run her hands up the
smooth muscles of his chest. This time he didn’t even try to talk to her as he
rushed out of the elevator before the doors had even slid completely open,
probably figuring she would follow him—as if she could do anything else in her
current state.

Hunter was fumbling with the lock when Kylie caught up to him, pouncing
on him just as he managed to turn the knob. They tumbled through the door,
landing in a heap onto the soft, beige carpet with Kylie on top more or less
straddling his waist. Hunter’s willpower had apparently run out again as his
arms encircled her waist possessively and his lips met hers aggressively. The
sound of ripping fabric reached her ears a second before the cool air of the
apartment hit her suddenly bare back. Another hard yank, and the elastic of her
bra snapped.