Tempting the Jaguar by Katie Reus

and
    who only knew how many of his
    pack mates nearby. “Can we just
    go?”
    Growling low in his throat,
    Rainer shot his brother a dirty look
    before nodding at her. “Yeah.”
    Relief swelled up inside her. Last
    night with Rainer had been
    amazing, but clearly she’d jumped
    into whatever this was too soon.
    She just wanted to get back to her
    quiet, uncomplicated life.
    Chapter 5
    Rainer wanted to pummel his
    brother for the rude way he’d
    behaved to Estrella. They’d driven
    back to her place instead of shifting
    and running and she’d been quiet
    the entire time. Not that he could
    blame her. In addition to Conrad,
    another pack mate had come with
    them, which had probably only
    compounded her nervousness.
    Rainer wasn’t positive, but
    considering his history with females
    —or one treacherous female in
    particular—he knew his brother
    was just concerned about him.
    But he didn’t need a babysitter
    and he sure as hell didn’t need
    someone making his female so
    uncomfortable. It was like she’d
    completely withdrawn into herself
    and he hated it.
    Staring out the window, her dark
    hair covered most of her face so he
    couldn’t even look at her profile.
    He ached to reach out and run his
    fingers through her hair, to pull her
    close. But he figured she wouldn’t
    welcome his touch and he didn’t
    know her well enough to know the
    right thing to do.
    As they pulled down her
    driveway, her hand was already on
    the door handle. The second his
    brother parked, she was out of the
    car and striding toward the side of
    her house, clearly heading to the
    back where the door should still be
    unlocked. Cursing under his breath
    he hurried after her.
    “Estrella.” She stopped only
    when she reached the back door.
    She opened it, but didn’t step
    inside.
    “What?” Nervousness rolled off
    her in potent waves. She placed a
    hand on the frame, almost like she
    was steadying herself. Either that or
    trying to block him from entering.
    “Are you going to talk to me?”
    “I just...” Her voice cracked and
    it ripped open his heart. When her
    eyes welled up with tears, it was
    like a double whammy. She might
    as well have punched him in the
    gut.
    Gathering her into his arms, he
    nudged the door farther open with
    his foot and guided them inside. He
    then picked her up and didn’t stop
    until they were in her kitchen. So
    far it didn’t look like there had been
    any damage to her home. The two
    pack mates he’d seen near the edge
    of her property line watching it had
    already done a sweep so he knew it
    was clear of danger. The vamps had
    probably been too busy chasing
    after them then getting back to
    safety to stick around and tear apart
    her home.
    Though he didn’t want to let her
    go, he set her down on one of the
    chairs at what looked like a custom-
    made oak kitchen table. He took a
    step back then nodded at the
    coffeemaker sitting next to her
    refrigerator. “Coffee?”
    She nodded gratefully so after
    searching the cabinet above the pot,
    he started making it and let her get
    herself together. “I don’t know why
    I was crying,” she said softly.
    “Vampires that you didn’t even
    know existed chased you down,
    you were forced to go on the run
    with a strange shifter, and last night
    between us was intense and
    unexpected. At least it was for me.
    I’ve never experienced that with a
    female before. Then you got yelled
    at by my own freaking brother.” He
    couldn’t even put into words what
    “that” was, but he hoped she felt the
    same.
    She chuckled softly and when he
    looked over from where he stood at
    the counter, he relaxed. Her arms
    were wrapped defensively around
    herself like before yet she seemed
    more at ease. “I guess you’re right.
    Last night was pretty insane. And
    what we shared...yeah, intense
    seems like the right word.” Her
    cheeks flushed crimson and he was
    relieved she was clearly still
    affected by him.
    After pulling two mugs down
    from one of the