Secrets of the Jaguar (Crimson Romance) Read Free

fifty yards away.
    As she crouched, invisible to anybody who walked by, she watched him stalk toward the pier. He looked strong; the clothes clinging to every hard muscle in his body was evidence of that. Ironically enough, she swore he looked like a big cat himself. She wished he was, because as soon as he made it to the pier, she would pounce on him. She visualized wrestling with him, latching onto him with her fangs and — suddenly, Michelle realized he’d disappeared on the horizon, probably dunking beneath the water.
    How could that happen? Damn it, Michelle, you and your fantasizing — now look what you’ve done.
    The sound of wood splintering rang in her ears and air collapsed from her lungs as strong hands grabbed the scruff of her neck. Shards of dock flew from where he had crashed through the thin wooden bars beneath the pier.
    There he was. The handsome stranger knelt before her, staring into her eyes. A firm grasp held her in place. She noted the immense amount of strength he’d need to hold down a full-sized jaguar.
    For the second time, she got a look at her captor’s face. He was pale.
Had swimming in the cold of the night left him with hypothermia?
She took in his whole face, from his pale pink lips to his eyes. Perhaps it was the night, or the dark wet hair that clung to his face framing eyes as black as onyx. Then he smiled.
    At first, she wanted to melt at the sweetness in his expression that contradicted his stone-like face. Then, she was horrified.
Were those fangs?
    Michelle looked closer and realized he did have pointy canines. They were whiter, smaller, and sharper than her own.
Surely they are not real, perhaps he got them from Hot Topic or a Halloween store or something. Lots of people are into that stuff.
    But still. There she was, held firmly in place by his grip, when nobody should have been able to detect her in the first place.
    “I thought I saw a big black cat.” His grin didn’t cease and he used his free hand to reach out and scratch her behind the ear. “Usually jaguars have spots, but yours are as dark as midnight. Pretty rare.”
    Regaining her sense of self-respect, she hissed and lurched toward her captor with a powerful bite. He was quick though and her vicious chomp found only air. The guy laughed calmly, as if he hadn’t almost lost a finger.
    “So did the devil send you to spy on me?” The stranger manhandled his way to her ear and gave a scratch.
    Hurt simmered from his comment about the devil.
Just because I’m the only jaguar prowling the Bay Area doesn’t mean I’m a hell spawn. Maybe I escaped from the Oakland Zoo …
Then something shocking happened.
    She realized she was drooling.
    The stranger’s grip on the scruff of her neck had loosened, but she hadn’t even noticed because now her head lolled in the palm of his hand as he scratched behind her ear.
How mortifying! I came to spy on him and within ten minutes he has me purring? Are you kidding me?
    She lashed out with her paw and sliced him across the shoulder, shredding slits into his damp shirt. Blood oozed from the wound.
    “Ah, geez, I get it, you can’t be tamed.” He put his hands up in a display of submission, but he didn’t seem too hurt.
    She wasn’t going to stick around to find out. She lurched by him from under the pier. Running between tall anise and other beachside growth, she made her way toward home. When she turned onto San Jose Avenue, she looked in every direction to ensure nobody was near. Satisfied, she hurried across the street and crawled up the gigantic magnolia tree to where her window was ajar.
    Once inside, Michelle panted, whether from exhaustion or excitement she didn’t know. The furry black coat on her belly elongated and hallowed with every breath as she began to calm herself, imagining the form of her human body. The familiar sensation of a chilly draft hit her skin and she knew the transformation had been made. In the window she saw her naked reflection. Luckily