Be Still My Cheetah Heart (Bridenapping Jaguars Book 1)

by E A Price

  “Ummm hmmm. How do I know you won’t just say anything to get into my pants?” Though he didn’t seem too keen earlier that day.

  Antonio’s eyes flashed, and the heavy scent of desire almost knocked her off her seat. “I don’t just want what’s in your pants, though I can’t deny I’d be grateful for the opportunity to…”

  “Antonio!” purred a sultry voice.

  His desire wilted, and they were both enveloped in a cloud of cloying perfume. A buxom, blonde jaguar draped herself over Antonio’s shoulders while giving Hester a fake smile filled with malice. “Hi there, I’m Valentina. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m just so pleased to hear that Antonio has found himself a little mate.”

  Antonio shrugged her away, glaring at her. “Valentina,” he growled in warning.

  The female looked at him in comic innocence.

  “I’m Hester,” piped up Hester, giving her an equally vicious smile. “The pleasure’s all mine.” Her cheetah let out a low roar. Yeah, she could scent the female trying to mark her territory. Well, tough shit, Antonio definitely did not belong to her.

  No, he belongs to us, purred her beast. Yep. No! He didn’t, he just… well, he temporarily belonged to her. After all, he was trying to woo her for the next two weeks right? She knew it wouldn’t work and she was going home, but still – she had temporary ownership! After that he was welcome to let any slutty jaguars paw him if he wanted, even if that made her feel incredibly uneasy.

  Antonio’s chest started vibrating, and he seemed to be working his way up to shifting when Maria returned.

  “Oh, Valentina!” she cried, “your mother is right over here with Prime, why don’t you join her?”

  Before the young jaguar could protest, Maria was gently leading her away.

  “Friend of yours?” asked Hester sourly.

  “No!” he snapped.

  “But she wants to be.”

  Antonio let out a throaty sound of disgust before his expression lightened. “Are you jealous?”

  “Not at all,” Hester denied quickly.

  Though she was more than a little happy to see that the female was sitting as far away from them as possible. She watched as Valentina sat at the prime’s table along with Marta – figures they’d be related. Both females started shooting her surreptitious glares of hatred. The prime was completely oblivious. His eyes seemed to dart towards Antonio’s mother more than they looked at the two women beside him.

  She decided to change the subject before he accused her of jealousy again and also because he had a dark look on his face. “Your mother seems nice.”

  He softened. “She is.”

  “Mama’s boy,” she taunted again.

  Antonio shook his head, grinning. “And not ashamed to admit it.”

  “What happened to your dad?”

  His eyes flickered. “Accident at the mill.”

  Her cheetah mewled in sorrow. “I’m sorry. Mine died when I was a teenager.”

  Antonio placed his hand over hers for a couple of seconds. The warmth and pressure were reassuring. “Sorry.”

  Hester shrugged a shoulder pretending it didn’t pain her to even speak of it. “He was human and sick for a long time.” As if that explained anything, it was just something she said. The fact that he had been sick and dying for over five years didn’t make the inevitable death any easier. Harry Carter had been everything to her and her mother. Her mother had always been uptight and controlling, but her dad softened her, teased her, and they fiercely loved one another. It was why Hester could forgive the crazy things her mother did, the terrible marriages she made after his death – no matter how much time passed, her mother still mourned her dad, and Hester knew she was still lonely.

  “Human, huh?”

  That seemed to surprise him. “Sure, your leap isn’t the only one who allows humans in.”

  “That’s partly out of necessity,” he said grimly.

  Hester raised an eyebrow. “I’m stuck here for two weeks; you might as well spill.”

  “I’d rather talk about you.”

  “You have intimate knowledge of my underwear drawer – we’re already about four dates into our relationship.” She added air quotes around that word.

  Antonio chuckled. “That was necessary… but enjoyable.”

  “Mmm hmmm.”

  “Hey, any time you wanna check out my underwear drawer, be my guest.”

  Hester gave him a flirty look. “You told me you don’t wear underwear.”

  “Would you like to find out for yourself?”

  She leaned forward and whispered, “In your dreams.”

  Antonio let out a long breath. “No doubt.”

  Hester leaned back and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t get any ideas. I’m still leaving at the end of two weeks.”

  “Sure.” He didn’t sound like he believed that for a second.

  “I am.”

  “Yep. You want anything else to eat?”

  Hester scowled at him. Of all the smug, arrogant… “No. I’m going to bed.”

  “I’ll walk you…”

  “Don’t bother,” she growled jumping to her feet. “One day down, thirteen to go.”

  *

  Hester swept out of there, collecting admiring glances as she went, including his twin brothers. Grrr. She was even stopping to talk to them, flicking her hair over her shoulder, wiggling her butt – she was flirting with them! Judging by the twins’ laughter, the damn cats were lapping it up. They needed to be taken down a peg or two.

  His jaguar geared up to teach a couple of jaguars a lesson when he stopped and almost chuckled.

  He caught the sly look Hester threw him over her shoulder. Yeah, she was just doing it to rile him. It was working, too, but it satisfied him in knowing that it was for his benefit.

  He smirked at his cheetah and was just considering going over there when the sight of his fiery blonde was eclipsed.

  Valentina planted herself in front of him in what he guessed was supposed to be a sexy pose.

  “She didn’t look too happy with you,” she purred. “Looks like she’s enjoying the company of your brothers, though.”

  Antonio growled. “Valentina, drop it. She’s my mate. She’s not going anywhere.”

  Honestly, did the female think he was going to mate her? She probably had it in her head that after Roberto stepped down, he would become the next leap prime and hoped that she could be the prime’s mate. His uncle had no children, so yeah, maybe it wasn’t that big of a jump, but it wasn’t set in stone and the day his uncle stepped down was a long way away. His uncle was still in perfect health, and Antonio hadn’t even considered whether he wanted to lead or not.

  But the stubborn female just didn’t seem to be getting it. She folded her arms and pouted. “It’s clear she doesn’t want to be here.”

  Very few kidnapped females did at first, but they came round. Valentina’s constant complaining was starting to irritate him. She managed to catch him twice while on break from work. How she kept popping up wherever he happened to be was a mystery – yet he turned around and ta-da! There she was. Was she trying to annoy him into mating her?

  “I said drop it,” he repeated coldly.

  He stood, and Valentina didn’t take the hint to move away. Nope, she took a step forward, made a pathetic attempt at a swoon and threw herself into his, unfortunately, waiting arms. Stupid reflexes!

  Her arms slithered around him, her lips grazed his neck, and his jaguar howled as she gleefully rubbed herself up and down him. Tossing her aside as gently as his furious beast could manage, and ignoring her wails of protest, he found the food hall sadly lacking one cheetah shifter.

  Was there any chance she didn’t see that display?

  Given the smug, stilted laughter coming from his brothers, he doubted it.

  Fuck.

  *

  Stupid bimbo jaguars with their stupid blonde hair and enormous breasts! Hester stomped back to the guesthouse.

  To b
e fair, there weren’t that many differences between her and Valentina. Well, maybe about forty IQ points sneered her cheetah. Hmmm, good one. Truthfully, they were both cat shifters, both blonde, both had blue eyes, and both seemed a little fiery. They probably even weighed the same, though Hester couldn’t deny that Valentina’s weight was perhaps a little more stretched – given that she had about five inches on Hester. While Hester’s weight seemed to center on her rear, Valentina was a bit top heavy. Surprised she can stand up without toppling over grumbled her beast.

  So what if Antonio preferred Valentina? Didn’t bother her in the slightest. In fact, she’d prefer it that way, but… but it was disrespectful! Yep, that’s what upset her – the disrespect, not seeing that succubus’ hands all over him, nope, it was all about respect. Antonio had chosen Hester. He had kidnapped her and brought her home to be his mate. So why the hell did that skanky jaguar think she could put her grubby paws all over him?

  Hester heard footsteps behind her and scented the spiciness of Antonio. She was ready and prepared for the claws. Jeez, if only she’d been so alert a couple of nights ago she wouldn’t be in this mess.

  “Hessie,” he entreated.

  “Don’t bother,” she snarled. “Thirteen days and I’m gone.”

  “Don’t be jealous, Hessie.”

  “Jealous?!” Hester whirled around, snarling. “How dare you?!”

  Antonio held up his hands, looking a tad too pleased with himself.

  “You insufferable, unbelievable, annoying, irritating, intolerable, unbearable, arrogant… poo head!”

  Antonio's mouth gaped for a moment before howling with laughter. “Poo head?” he spluttered. “Why not pee pee head?”

  Hester grunted. Yeah, that was a bit anti-climactic, but she decided to own it. She poked a finger in his chest, his hard, muscled chest… aargh!

  “Yeah, poo head! It’s what you damn well are.”

  Antonio managed to get himself under control again, though his smile was so wide it would put the Joker to shame. “Fair enough. But seriously, Valentina’s a piece of work. You think if I wanted her even for a second I’d have gone looking for you?”

  Hester sniffed lightly. “I’m sure I’ve no idea.”

  “Hessie, you’re adorable when you’re angry.”

  “Ugh, don’t call me… oof!”

  “Down,” snarled Antonio as he tackled her.

  Something loud cracked over them, but Hester was far too occupied with the hard body pressing her into the ground to understand what was going on.

  As far as seduction techniques went, his body slam wasn’t very effective. Hester hit the ground with a thud and gurgled as Antonio threw himself over her, and while his body was warm and smelled nice, not being able to breathe was a definite turn-off.

  “What the hell?!”

  “Shhh!”

  “Antonio!”

  “Everybody down!” roared Antonio. “Gun!”

  Her cheetah hushed her a second before some more cracks sounded overhead. There were some screams from around the compound.

  Somebody was shooting at them!

  Twelve

  “Are you okay?” demanded Antonio, running his hands over his little cheetah’s body. He covered every inch of her, but he didn’t do it for his own enjoyment, no, he had to make sure she was okay. The thought of anything happening to Hester hit him like a thunderbolt to the chest.

  “I’m fine,” she hissed, angry, though not with him anymore. “You okay?”

  He nodded in the darkness. It was getting late, but there were still numerous leap mates milling around the compound – mostly the jaguars who could see just fine in the dark, so they didn’t bother with flashlights. He had thought nothing of running into the darkness to follow Hester, and she probably thought nothing of it too. But someone was out there, someone who could see them.

  The leap had a close call a month ago. Hunters had veered onto their land and took pot shots at some teenagers who were enjoying themselves, shifting and chasing one another. None of the cubs were hurt, but Roberto raised holy hell with the local town’s chief of police, and although the actual perpetrators were never caught, no one had tried anything since. Nobody thought any hunters would be bold enough actually to make an attack against the whole leap.

  Roberto burst out of the food hall, roaring and shifting to his enormous jaguar. Bullets whipped through the air, but Roberto didn’t even pause as he tore towards the direction of the shooter.

  “Stay down,” ordered Antonio, tearing at his clothes.

  “Like hell,” snapped Hester, leaping to her feet.

  His jaguar snarled but he didn’t have time to argue, and he knew that with Hester the argument with be lengthy and loud.

  “Just stay behind me.”

  He shifted to his beast and seconds later, Hester followed suit, taking on the form of a small but sleek cheetah.

  The bullets had stopped, but that didn’t mean the danger had passed. He sped after his prime, aware of his mate keeping pace and ignoring his order to stay behind him completely. In fact, there she went. The faster cheetah outpaced him, her sinewy limbs flying through the air as he pounded the ground after her. If the circumstances were different, he might enjoy the glory of her lovely beast, but she was deliberately ignoring him and putting herself in harm's way.

  The cheetah hurled herself over the wall, barely missing a step. Antonio pushed his jaguar, trying and failing to keep up with her.

  Thankfully, the danger had passed. Seconds later, Hester skidded to a halt, and he did too, bumping into her and sending her sprawling as she clacked her fangs at him.

  He realized what had made her stop. The large form of his prime was batting and sniffing at a gun that had been discarded. The leap owned no guns – they had no need of them, but even Antonio could tell it was a hunting rifle.

  The prime flattened his ears and looked around the area accusingly.

  Still panting, Antonio struggled through his shift, his spent energy making it difficult.

  “No scents,” he growled.

  In fact, there was something new there that shouldn’t have been – a soapy smell, but it wasn’t strong enough to follow. The huge jaguar grunted as he looked around.

  Antonio kneeled on the ground and placed a hand on the cheetah’s flank. She curled a lip at him, but she didn’t bite. That was something.

  Other leap members approached, not quite at the breakneck speed Antonio and Hester took – they were warier and perhaps smarter in their approach. He noticed Tomas, Lorenzo, and Diego among them. They were all shifted, but on seeing the prime, they became human again and waited for the prime to shift too. After a few moments, the fur under his hand rippled and Hester shifted as well. Though she was careful to stay kneeling and quickly covered her ample breasts – breasts that he wished he could spend a second enjoying, but he couldn’t – duty called.

  “Any idea who was shooting?” she asked.

  “We had a problem with hunters a couple of months back. Might have been them.” Though he had his doubts.

  Hester gave him a sharp look, and he knew she didn’t entirely believe that theory either, but she didn’t say anything.

  The prime finally shifted too, standing big, naked and proud before the assembled jaguars, and one cheetah. Roberto was in his fifties, but while his face was weather-beaten and his body scarred and callused from years of hard work, he was still as strong as he had ever been. Perhaps Valentina ought to have been angling to become his mate. It was doubtful he would step down for a long time.

  Antonio’s jaguar grumbled as he scented Valentina approaching too. She was still human, but naked, and accompanied by her mother and the leap’s second, Daniel.

  There were murmurings from the jaguars.

  “The trail is too well covered, we will not be able to follow it,” declared Roberto. “I will talk to the police chief tomorrow. For now, Lorenzo, take the gun and lock it away. Daniel, see to it that there are patrols organized fo
r the rest of the night. Marta, ensure that everyone is informed of the event, but do not let them panic. Tomas, escort our cheetah guest home.”

  Antonio growled, and Roberto narrowed his eyes. “Nephew, a word.”

  Antonio didn’t like it, but Hester didn’t look all together put out, and he didn’t think she would be in any danger in Tomas’ company.

  The other jaguars started filtering away, gossiping amongst themselves. Valentina gave Antonio a look and tried to press her breasts together. She stopped on seeing the bored look on Hester’s face.

  Antonio looked down at Hester, wishing he had thought to bring her something to cover up. He shouldn’t be complaining really. He’d already seen her naked twice – they were making excellent progress. Shame that both times he couldn’t really stop and enjoy the sight. But he couldn’t fail to notice the way her skin flushed as she looked him up and down. It was pretty damn chilly out there, and he was heating up something fierce.

  Hester was about to argue, but he cut her to the quick. “Make sure my mother and brothers are okay, and the other new females.”

  She frowned a little as if she wanted to be angry with him, but she stopped and gave him a half-nod before joining Tomas and slowly walking away. Thankfully not walking too close to the larger, younger male. His jaguar was already riled enough and itching to put the hurt on something, and Tomas looked like he had a nice, spongy face that would just soak up the bruises.

  Roberto’s expression dimmed as they were left alone.

  “You think it was the hunter again?” asked Antonio.

  “Unlikely.”

  Antonio grunted in agreement. The hunter only shot at the cubs when they were shifted. Probably thought he’d managed to find some wild jaguars; probably thought it was his lucky day. Whoever did this was shooting at them while they were human.

  Roberto stared after Hester.

  “Maybe someone the leap did business with,” suggested Antonio without much conviction.

  “Doubtful.” Roberto gave him a sidelong look. “Why would they aim at you and Hester?”

  His jaguar roared. “That can’t be…”

  “Saw it with my own eyes. I heard the first shot, and when I came out the food hall, all the bullets were headed your way.”