Beauty & The Jaguar Read online

  He gave her a hard look. “Guess not, but you can’t go anywhere.”

  Sadie folded her arms and jutted her chin. It was a bit like a firefly trying to stand up to a gator, but she didn’t like being pushed around in spite of the odds. “I don’t really like being told what to do.”

  She was pretty sick of it after being married to Al.

  “It’s late; it’s dark, why don’t we talk about it in the morning.”

  She guessed it was a pretty dumb idea for her to go tramping through the darkness. His eyes flickered down.

  “You wouldn’t get far before coyotes started taking an interest in you,” he said gently.

  “I suppose,” she said reluctantly. “How did you spot me so quickly? Were you lying in wait outside the house?”

  Given the way he stiffened again, she would say she hit the nail on the head with that one. About the only time she ever would – she was lousy when it came to home repairs. Al was too, but he always went berserk when she used to call someone in to fix something. Always claimed she was trying to cheat on him. Yeah, like she would purposefully break the shower to get a sixty-two-year-old plumber in to alternately show her his buttcrack and pictures of his nine grandchildren.

  Lorenzo stooped and scooped up the water bottle, the torch, and his eyes widened at the panties. Sadie plucked them out his hands with a wry smile.

  “I guess it’s late, and I really should be getting to bed,” she said haughtily.

  Lorenzo nodded and wordlessly started leading her back to the guesthouse.

  No, perhaps a night flight wasn’t the way to go. She would wake up early, and at the crack of dawn then she would leave. She didn’t need to mention the fact that she was planning on hotwiring a car – a little talent thanks to her first husband. That would be a heck of a lot easier in the daylight. Yep, she just had to spend one night there, and she was gone.

  Twelve

  Lorenzo banged on her door again. Yep, she was snoring. It was gone ten, and she was snoring. It sounded like a bull getting it on with a bulldozer – and he was being generous at that.

  Diego sauntered past him with a smug expression on his face. “Still have no regrets?”

  Lorenzo glared at him while he hooted with laughter. He thumped on the door more forcefully.

  “What?!” squawked a vexed voice from inside the room.

  Lorenzo took that as an invitation. He made his way into her room to find Sadie wearing a pair of heart print pajamas and an eye mask skewed over one eye.

  “What time is it?” she mumbled, her one visible eye trying to focus on him.

  “Past ten, I brought coffee.”

  He kneeled next to the bed and allowed the fragrant smell to waft her way.

  “Mmmm.”

  A smile started to curl her luscious lips. She stretched her curvy body and Lorenzo bit back a lusty growl. Perfectly made up with every hair in place, she was lovely. Disheveled, she looked like a damn sex kitten. One his jaguar definitely wanted to get acquainted with. Rawr.

  Sadie knocked the eye mask off her head and plucked a coffee out of his hands. She raised it to her lips and paused to inhale the aroma. She let out a near-indecent moan and took a delicate sip. He almost had to scrape his jaw off the floor for that.

  Possibly lucky for him and his swelling erection, her smile soon started to morph into a frown.

  “Wait, past ten, but I…”

  Her eyes flickered to the alarm clock, loitering on the bedside table.

  “The alarm doesn’t work,” Lorenzo told her simply.

  Sadie looked dismayed, and Lorenzo’s inner jaguar almost smirked. It hadn’t worked since he gave it a short, sharp thump the previous evening when dropping her off after her short-lived escape attempt. He guessed she would try to flee at daybreak, but he didn’t really take her for a morning person.

  “C’mon, time to get dressed.”

  *

  Sadie puffed and panted. This was not her idea of wooing or fun for that matter. Who in their right mind wanted to go for a hike?!

  “How much further?” she grumbled.

  Lorenzo flashed her an amused smile. “We can go as far as we like. There’s no maximum or minimum distance for a hike.”

  Sadie snorted. She was pretty sure she reached her maximum distance when they got to the edge of the compound.

  She spotted a handy looking rock and sat on it, glaring at Lorenzo. “Right here is a good place to stop.”

  His amusement didn’t dim. “Sure.”

  “I don’t tend to walk much.”

  “No kidding.”

  Sadie slipped off her sneaker and shook it out, dislodging the small stone that had been pissing her off for the last ten minutes. “How far have we gone? Five? Six miles?”

  Lorenzo squinted into the distance for a moment. “Probably… half a mile.”

  “Half a mile?!”

  He rolled his shoulders. “Or maybe more like a third of a mile.”

  “But… but we’ve been walking for ages!” spluttered Sadie.

  Lorenzo nodded. “Yeah, but we’ve stopped about ten times since we left the compound.”

  “Well… I keep getting stones in my shoes.” She shook her sneaker at him as if to prove a point. “And I thought I saw a snake…”

  Lorenzo was struggling not to burst into laughter, and she gave him a sour look.

  “I told you I didn’t think this was a good idea.”

  She had too – he only had himself to blame if this whole hike was going badly. He had suggested a more thorough tour of the jaguar compound, and she agreed to it – thinking that getting a better lay of the land may help her escape easier. But they barely made it two steps before they were virtually besieged by his sisters-in-law and nephews. So, in spite of her objections, Lorenzo railroaded her into getting outside and going hiking. She had briefly considered that seeing what was outside the compound might be a good idea, but that thought was firmly shelved after the first stone.

  “You just wanted to escape from your family. Do you think we’re safe from them all the way out here?” she asked sweetly.

  Lorenzo grunted. “Not sure. If we listened hard, we could probably still hear them chattering from here.”

  Sadie rolled her eyes. “What’s your problem with them anyway? They seemed friendly.”

  They did too. All of them were laughing and smiling and had half a dozen questions for her.

  “They are friendly,” he conceded, “but nosey.”

  “Humph. Better than having no family,” she muttered.

  “What?”

  “Doesn’t matter.” She banged her shoe against the rock, hoping to rid it of any stones that may be hiding in it, waiting to pounce as soon as she started walking again.

  Lorenzo stared at her, still as a statue but twice as intense.

  “Okay fine, I left home at seventeen to marry a total jerk. After he ran off leaving me absolutely penniless, my few family members didn’t want to have anything to do with me. Well, apart from my cousin, Gina. Her dad married my aunt when we were ten. The marriage only lasted a couple of years, but Gina and I stayed in touch.”

  Gina moved to Los Lobos a couple of years ago, and the two of them had been quite close since then. Al hadn’t liked that. Sadie hadn’t noticed over the years because she’d been too busily wrapped up in Mandy, but she didn’t really have any friends until Gina showed up. She knew other mothers and wives of Al’s friends, but she had none of her own. Getting Gina back was wonderful and alleviated a little loneliness she didn’t realize existed. However, Al hated Sadie going out with Gina, and spending time away from him to be with her. Al was pretty aggressive toward Gina about it, but luckily Gina was hardly a shrinking violet and wasn’t so easily bullied. Sadie started to realize that the reason she had no friends was that Al drove everyone away from her. He wanted her all to himself…

  “I’m sorry,” he murmured.

  Sadie shrugged. “We weren’t exactly The Brady Bunch anyway.”
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  “Still, family is important.”

  “Yes,” she agreed, her mind wandering to Mandy.

  They were quiet for a few moments, and Sadie basked in the sweet, sympathetic smile he was throwing her way. He was somewhat grouchy, and a little quiet at times, but he really was rather sweet and…

  “Eek!”

  Sadie caught sight of movement just to the left of Lorenzo. She threw her shoe at it and managed to hit Lorenzo on the kneecap. He didn’t flinch, though his expression returned to amusement.

  “There was a snake,” she said a tad grumpily.

  He looked around. “It was just the wind kicking up dust.”

  “There was a snake,” she insisted, even if she wasn’t exactly sure.

  He scooped up her shoe and strolled over to her. Dropping to one knee, he gently clasped her leg and carefully slipped the sneaker back on her foot.

  Sadie allowed herself a girly Cinderella moment before clearing her throat and mumbling, “Thank you.”

  His fingers lingered on her jean-covered calf, and she dearly wished she had opted for the shorts instead. She had a sudden urge to know what it would feel like to have his fingers caressing her bare skin. To have his flesh searing a path over hers…

  “Let’s go down to town for lunch,” he murmured. “Grab a steak.”

  Sadie smiled a little naughtily. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll make a scene and accuse you of kidnapping me?”

  Lorenzo let out a small chuckle. It was a rich, warm sound and one that sent vibrations directly to her sex. It was a shame he didn’t laugh more. Or perhaps for her sake, it was a good thing he didn’t.

  “Not really an accusation if it’s true,” he said, half teasing.

  “No, I guess not. Want to take the risk?”

  Their eyes met, and Sadie had a stifle a little moan at the wonderful intensity she saw in his beautiful orbs.

  “Yeah, I figure it’s worth the risk.”

  She had the feeling he wasn’t talking about the steak.

  Thirteen

  Lorenzo tucked into his steak. His jaguar was a little on edge, wondering when and if Sadie was going to jump up and down and start screaming that he had kidnapped her, but so far, she hadn’t uttered a peep about it.

  No, she was alternately reticent and chatty, nervous and relaxed. She couldn’t seem to settle. He thought naturally she was a friendly, easygoing woman, but the situation was too strange for her to be completely comfortable.

  He froze, fork dangling in midair as she swiped a finger through her mashed potatoes and sucked it into her mouth. A tiny little happy noise escaped her, and it was the most dick hardening sound in the freaking world. Then she did it again, this time letting out an actual moan. His jaguar nearly choked.

  Slack-jawed, his fork clattered back to his plate as all sense left his body. Sadie flinched slightly until she saw his expression, and then her lips curled slightly in a mildly smug fashion.

  Lorenzo grabbed his napkin and wiped his mouth – just in case any drool had escaped.

  “You, ah, like the potatoes?” he asked, cringing a little at the banality of the question.

  He wished he could think of something to say. He’d always been able to flatter women when he wanted to, and he wanted to charm Sadie. It was just every time he reached for something witty or interesting to say, he came up totally blank.

  “Mmm, they’re delicious,” she cooed before dipping her finger in for another swipe and delving back into her mouth.

  Lorenzo groaned under his breath.

  Her finger popped free. “I think they must add cream and heaps and heaps of butter into them.”

  She noticed him staring at her finger and laughed lightly. “Sorry, I’m terrible, I really ought to use a fork. I always tell…” she paused briefly and seemed to blush, “other people not to pick at their food with their fingers, so I shouldn’t… either.”

  Her good mood seemed to evaporate, and she grasped her fork as if it owed her money and started raking it through the potatoes, which a few moments ago had apparently tasted divine and were now on the receiving end of a grumpy stare.

  Lorenzo picked up his fork and resumed eating. He didn’t bother asking her if everything was okay – why would it be? She’d just been kidnapped to be a jaguar’s bride – how could everything be tickety-boo for her?!

  Instead, he decided to eat. Though, he didn’t get very far.

  “Do you know them?” whispered Sadie.

  He looked up at her. “Who?”

  “There are some people staring at us. Four o’ clock.”

  He looked around, seeing nothing but wall.

  “No, my four o’ clock.”

  He looked in the opposite direction and found himself looking at the door to the kitchen.

  “Fine, ten o’ clock.” Sadie pursed her lips as he looked toward a couple currently joined at the lips. “Forget it, just look over there!”

  She pointed with her fork.

  “That’s more like ten o’ clock.”

  Sadie rolled her eyes, and carefully, Lorenzo glanced in that direction. His jaguar grunted, and he couldn’t deny a little worry that someone was there to arrest him for kidnapping Sadie, and worse, take her away.

  But as he saw the two tourists, he knew he had nothing to worry. They were just a couple of teenage girls, and judging by their clothes and boots, they were staying at the campground that was a couple of hours hike away. Sadie was safe for now, though she probably didn’t see it that way.

  “Well?” she hissed impatiently.

  “Don’t know them,” he muttered and tried once again to eat the piece of meat that had been lounging on his fork for a good five minutes now.

  “They’re staring at you,” she frowned.

  Lorenzo shrugged. “People stare.”

  “But… oh.”

  Because of his scars. Sadie dropped all pretense and glared at the two young women until they turned beet red and looked down at their plates.

  “Rude,” sniffed Sadie.

  “You get used to it,” said Lorenzo doubtfully. Or at least, he had been told that he would get used to it.

  “They should know better.”

  “They’re just young,” he said, though he wasn’t sure why he was defending them.

  “Please. They can stare if aliens land on earth – I’ll allow that. But this,” she raised her hand and stroked her fingers across his cheek, tracing a couple of his scars, “this is nothing,” she finished, her outrage having been replaced by breathy uncertainty.

  Inwardly, he let out a happy growl, enjoying her touch. But as her eyes clouded with sadness, she quickly removed her hand.

  Sadie plucked her napkin off her lap and dropped it on her plate. “I’m just going to powder my nose,” she said quickly.

  Lorenzo watched her go, tracking her movements. He wasn’t the only male doing so, and he snarled slightly at a couple of other shifters. They quickly turned back to their plates. If the scars did one thing, they made him appear dangerous and discouraged people from messing with him.

  Finally, he managed to eat his bite of meat and quickly polished off the rest of his steak, just in time to catch Sadie trying to use the payphone.

  She gave him a frustrated little pout. “I was just checking out my reflection in the shiny metal around the phone,” she told him.

  He almost believed her too – she was an impressive liar, he’d give her that. He could scent when most people lied – well, humans at least. But he couldn’t scent any falsehood from her – he just knew she was lying.

  Lorenzo leaned against the wall and folded his arms. He couldn’t help smirking slightly. He supposed he might have been a little disappointed if she were completely docile.

  “The shiny metal of the mirror in the bathroom may be better.”

  Her expression hardened for a second before she smiled. “You may have a point. I’ll try the bathroom.”

  Lorenzo breathed out. He paid their bill and made his way out
side to find her not very successfully trying to climb out of the bathroom window. It was a small window, and she had curvy hips.

  Sadie scowled when she saw him. “Well, help me down, will you?”

  He watched her for a few moments, chuckled to himself and then did as she asked.

  *

  Sadie was getting antsy. She wanted to talk to Mandy, but she couldn’t get away from Lorenzo.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t like him, quite the opposite, she was just worrying her mind out for Mandy.

  Lunch was nice, seeing the town was nice, spending time with Lorenzo was nice! But all her enjoyment was overshadowed by the fact that she needed to know her baby was okay.

  After lunch, he gave her a small tour of the town and then brought her back to the compound. She hung out with Laurel while Lorenzo took care of a few things – something to do with his job as a leap enforcer - until Lorenzo arrived to take her to dinner.

  She needed to make a better effort to get away from him because the more time she spent with him, the less she wanted to. He wasn’t exactly the most charming or verbose man on earth – ha, far from it! But, she just liked him. Liked that he was sweet and that he seemed honest. Liked his earnestness. Liked the intense way he looked at her. Though, maybe that would change when she finally escaped. That thought bummed her out a little.

  They were eating dinner in the leap hall. Apparently, meals were served in there daily, though many of the leap members chose to eat at home with their families. Still, there was always an option to eat there.

  Lorenzo growled, and she looked up from her macaroni and cheese – she was feeling a little too sad to eat it anyway, given that it was Mandy’s favorite.

  She pushed it away from her. “What’s up?”

  Lorenzo growled again and glared at a couple of young males who quickly looked away.

  Sadie raised an eyebrow. They couldn’t have been more than eighteen, and she was… quite a few years older than that. She figured she was older than Lorenzo too but wasn’t too keen to open up that can of worms.

  “Were they looking at me?” she asked in amusement.

  Lorenzo growled.

  “And that pissed you off?”

  Lorenzo growled.