The Jaguar's Romance

by Emilia Hartley

  “I get wanting to help her—really I do—but as much as she needs you, your pack needs you more. I don’t want whatever conflict you two are having to jeopardize all we’ve been fighting for.” He snuffed amiably. “Plus you snore when you sulk and I can hear it all the way in my room. It’s about time you cheer up so I can get a decent night’s rest again.”

  Dan huffed a sad chuckle. “Duly noted.”

  “Good to hear,” Tom replied. “Patrol’s over, and Savannah promised she’d be out here somewhere waiting for me. I’ve got to go, but good talk.”

  Dan groaned inwardly. He’d long since noticed that Tom and Savannah would often disappear into the woods together to do heaven knows what, and Dan didn’t really want to think about it. He turned back in the direction of the shop and began his trek back before he saw something that couldn’t be unseen.

  The bear retreated slowly as he neared the mechanics, protesting quietly as Dan shifted back to his human skin. It seemed the more bothered he became with Lucy, the more the bear wanted out of his skin. As much as he wanted to oblige and just stay in bear form forever, he had an obligation to the pack that unfortunately required him to be bipedal most times.

  Stretching long and tall to circulate blood through his human skin, he locked onto his clothes from where he’d left them before he shifted. With a grimace, he walked to his clothes, already hating the way fallen twigs and rocks dug into the bottoms of his feet.

  “Dan?”

  Panic surged through his naked body as he ducked hastily behind the cover of a tree. “Lucy?” he called, hoping she hadn’t seen anything before he hid. “Just, uh, just give me a moment.”

  “Nick said you might be out here,” her disembodied voice replied. “I was kind of hoping we could talk.”

  Panic made it hard to pinpoint her location, and Dan felt frozen in place, his clothes still too far out of reach to grab without flashing something.

  “I’d love to, but first,” he said, “but first I need for you to maybe… stand back a bit. Maybe go back into the shop for a minute or two.”

  Shrubbery rustled as Lucy moved further into the thick of the forest. “Why?” she asked, her voice slightly taken aback. “Is something wrong?”

  He felt the familiar heat of embarrassment creep up his neck. “I was out patrolling,” he explained, slightly mortified. “I just changed back only a minute or so ago.” There was a beat of complete silence after he spoke.

  “Oh.”

  She tried to make it sound neutral, but Dan could hear the slight snicker she tried to hide at the end of the word. He couldn’t imagine feeling more humiliated.

  “My clothes are nearby,” he spoke, just wanting to get this whole encounter over with. “I’ll only be a second.”

  “Right,” Lucy replied, the smile in her voice prevalent. “Sorry, I forgot about that bit.”

  Dan didn’t reply, listening to the sound of her retreating footsteps.

  “Okay!” she called. “I’m going to dip into the garage for a second. You’re safe.”

  He heard the side entrance of the shop swing closed before practically diving for his clothes pile. He threw them on as quickly as he could, tugging angrily on the shirt as he pulled it over his head.

  He’d been doing so well! Now, he was back to his regular clumsy ways around her and making a fool of himself.

  Slowly, Lucy stepped back out of the shop with her eyes covered dramatically. “Everything decent now, sailor?” she asked, not bothering to hide her grin.

  “You’re certainly enjoying this,” Dan mock pouted, but deep down he was relieved to see her in such high spirits.

  She chuckled, uncovering her eyes. They were very blue in the sunlight and sparkling with laughter. “It’s been a slow day. Everyone’s off doing other things, so it’s been a bit boring.”

  Dan gave her a wry grin. “Welcome to my world, buttercup.”

  She laughed. “Life in a pack with two mated pairs can feel a bit lonely, I imagine.”

  He nodded. “More than I thought it would, that’s for sure.” Seeing Nick with Jo and Tom with Savannah had always made him feel things that he couldn’t quite understand. He’d only learned recently that the feeling was loneliness, and it only made the emotion intensify. No one liked knowing they were lonely and being completely powerless to change it.

  But now there was Lucy.

  “It’s nice to have some company now,” he admitted with a smile. “Makes their spontaneous date nights seem a whole lot less exclusive.”

  “I bet,” she replied, eyes travelling down his torso. “You know your shirts on inside out, right?” she asked with a teasing smirk.

  Fantastic. “Of course it is,” he said, gazing irritatingly down at the offending shirt. “I was trying to dress quickly, you see.”

  “I do see,” Lucy murmured as Dan quickly whipped off the shirt and pulled it back on.

  He looked back to see a peculiar expression on her face, and a bit of thrill scurried through him.

  She met his gaze with a deadpan expression. “It’s on backwards now.”

  Are you kidding me? Dan raged inwardly, tearing off the shirt once more and putting it back on before he died of embarrassment.

  He tugged down on the collar with an irritated sigh, and the tiny tongue of the shirt’s tag popped up in between his fingers. “Wait, what?” he began. He could’ve sworn he’d turned the shirt around properly.

  Lucy snickered lightly. “I didn’t think you’d do it,” she joked. “Your shirt wasn’t actually on backwards,” she admitted, holding her hand to her mouth to hide her grin behind it. “I just wanted to see you take your shirt off again,” she finished with a wink.

  Dan groaned. “I can’t believe I fell for that,” he lamented, but for once, the blush that crept across his cheeks wasn’t from embarrassment.

  She laughed at him, but her eyes were kind. “For what it’s worth, I’m happy you did.” That familiar thrill flip-flopped in his belly again. “I like how silly you can be. It keeps things fresh.”

  Dan studied her for a moment, not sure if she was being truthful or pitying.

  “I mean it,” she laughed as if she could read his mind. “Truly. I like you, Dan Hart. Even the goofy side.” Her grin was radiant. “Especially the goofy side.”

  Satisfied with the honesty in her voice, Dan couldn’t stop the smile that spread over his own face. It was just as well that she liked this side of him, it being something of a common occurrence in his human form. “I’ll put on my shirt inside out, backwards, and upside down for the rest of my life if it makes you smile like that every time.” He wanted to apologize for the way he’d acted before, forcing her bear to come so close to the surface, but he caught the blush that stained her cheeks and didn’t want to kill the mood.

  He settled for closing the distance between them and placing his lips on hers instead, and hoped that it sent the same message.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lucy was stunned when Dan’s lips met hers, the feeling of their first kiss igniting a flurry of butterflies in her stomach. Electric shocks of pleasure surged from their mouths and coursed through every fiber of her being, and for a moment she prayed he’d never pull away.

  It lasted for a moment or two longer before Dan finally backed off. He looked down at her with heat in his eyes, his breath coming quickly and in perfect timing with hers. He didn’t speak, only gazed down expectantly at her.

  For a moment, doubt swirled in her mind and she hated it. The kiss had been amazing and everything she’d hoped for it to be, so why was her first reaction to call it quits? Suddenly a rush of memories manifested in her mind, quickly replaying events from the last time they were alone. Was she worried that he might try to pressure the beast out of her again? He looked genuinely remorseful as she walked away back then, and she didn’t want to muddy the new start they’d had today by bringing it up. Was that the wrong call?

  Maybe she was worried that all of this might be temporary. She ha
dn’t really discussed the terms of her time here, and Nick hadn’t really put a label on the relationship Lucy currently had with his pack. She didn’t know if she was welcome to stay, or expected to leave once the threat of her cousin’s pack was no longer an issue. She knew that if the latter turned out to be the case, there was no chance that Dan would come with her. He idolized the alphas, and she knew without a shadow of doubt that he would be loyal to them for as long as he lived. Was there a future for them? She hadn’t even considered what she expected from the relationship that was budding between them. Was a future what she wanted all this time? She just didn’t know.

  Does any of this even matter right now? she asked herself suddenly, chastising her indecisive nature. When Dan decided to kiss her, he wasn’t thinking about the future, or all the ways this could blow up in their faces. She would never have all the answers of whether or not everything would work itself out in their favor. All that mattered was that they had something right now. All the stuff that came after could wait.

  Standing on her tiptoes, Lucy slid her arms around Dan’s neck and pressed her lips against his once more.

  It was gentle and sweet, with none of the usual awkwardness that usually marred the first few kisses. She felt like she was kissing an old lover and long-time friend, someone she’d kissed a million times before.

  Dan barely moved, only laying his hands lightly on her waist, never pushing or grabbing or influencing their embrace in any way. He let Lucy control the progression of their intimacy; it was a difference of night and day from how he acted a week ago. Lucy loved it, her fingers coiling in his hair as every nerve in her body tingled from this electric bond they shared. It felt like time had stopped around them; nothing else mattered. There was only Dan.

  It felt like an eternity before Dan pulled away, and still it wasn’t long enough. He rested his head lightly against hers, smiling lightly as they breathed in time with one another.

  Lucy was unsure of what to say. Her heart was racing a million miles a minute, the passion of their embrace surging through every fiber of her being. She was never a shy person by any means, but something about Dan flipped a switch in her. She didn’t want to blindly move forward the way she normally did, never fearing the consequences because nothing could be worse than living with her deranged brother. She realized now that that wasn’t true. Losing this, whatever this was between them… the risk of that was infinitely worse than anything she could imagine her brother doing to her.

  “I couldn’t resist anymore,” he finally breathed softly. “I’m happy to see that you couldn’t either.”

  She smiled up at him, their foreheads still pressed together. “Me too,” was all she could think long enough to say.

  “So,” he began, stepping back from their embrace. “I vaguely recall you saying you wanted to talk?” he quipped.

  Lucy chuckled forgetting entirely that that was in fact the reason she’d sought him out in the first place. “I do, but can we do it over some dinner? I don’t know about you, but I could use a bite to eat,” she answered.

  “Sure” he agreed, too eagerly, and it made Lucy grin harder. “But unless you’re in the mood for more Chinese, we’ll have to dine in tonight.”

  Lucy’s ears perked at his reply. “You cook?”

  “Well enough,” he replied. “Definitely better than Nick’s terrible try the night we met.”

  Could this man get any more perfect? “I’d love a home cooked meal,” she said.

  “Fantastic.” He held out his hand to her, and after a slight pause, Lucy took it. Her hand fit perfectly in his, as if their palms were crafted only for each other and no one else. Everything about today suddenly felt perfectly, as if the planets aligned and created the perfect moment for them to live in. It was the happiest that Lucy had been in the long time.

  ***

  Dan hoped that a homemade pizza with salad on the side was enough to impress Lucy. He hadn’t realized that there wasn’t much back at the shop to work with when he suggested cooking for her, so he was grateful that there were just enough ingredients to get by. Things were going so well today after a week of awkward silence, and he wanted to keep it that way.

  He smiled to himself as he served up the food. Taking a chance to kiss Lucy was a gigantic gamble that could have gone either way. Flashbacks of the way she’d stormed off a week before played in his mind, and for a moment, he feared she might still be upset by his actions; things could have easily plummeted south, but they didn’t. She didn’t pull away from him, she didn’t yell or protest, and she even kissed him back. It was the perfect outcome.

  Of course, this didn’t solve the underlying issues with their relationship. He still longed for a partner that could live out the best half of his life with him, and as far as Lucy had let on, she was still sticking to her guns about never shifting. Despite this, Dan wanted to make things work. They still had their differences, but for now, what they had between them today was enough.

  “Dinner is served,” Dan announced, grinning as he placed a plate in front of Lucy.

  “Wow,” she gasped, inhaling deeply over the food before glancing up at him. “I know you said you cook, but this is something else.”

  Dan chuckled as he sat down, beaming with pride. “Don’t tell me how impressed you are until after you taste it. It might not taste as good as it looks!”

  Lucy laughed. “I’m sure it tastes fine,” she replied confidently. “The fact that you went to such effort to create a meal for us is more than enough to impress me.”

  Dan lifted his shoulders. “You’re worth it,” he said easily, and he meant it. “After making a complete fool of myself today, I had to make it up to you, somehow.”

  “Nothing about you that I saw today was foolish,” Lucy retorted, her eyes trailing slowly down Dan’s torso, and for a moment she’d convinced him that she wasn’t only hungry for pizza.

  Swallowing hard, he focused intently on the plate in front of him before he did something stupid. “Fair enough,” he muttered before taking a big bite of his food.

  Silence fell between them as they ate, and Dan was grateful for it. He wasn’t afraid of the intimacy, but he was worried that moving too fast might excite his bear. All his bear wanted was for Lucy to give in to her other half. Thoughts of her first change in the pack kept Dan up at night, and when he could finally get a bit of sleep, he dreamed of it too. But he had a penchant for screwing things up; if he was going to approach the subject again, he had to do it slowly. Anything else was a set up for failure.

  “So,” Dan began, wiping the corner of his mouth with a napkin. “What do you think Dominic’s up to right now?”

  He winced at the topic of discussion that he decided to fall on, but Lucy didn’t seem to mind. “Nothing good,” she grimaced. “But I know that’s not what you really wanted to ask me, is it?” She looked into his eyes intently, and Dan knew he had been found out.

  He sighed. “Am I that easy to read?”

  She smiled, but it was a bit sad. “A little.” Her face fell serious. “If we’re being honest here, I don’t really want to talk about it. Nothing we discuss will change my mind.”

  Dan’s heart sank a bit at the declaration, but he still held out hope. “Not even if I can convince you that not all shifters are like your brother?”

  She shook her head, taking a big bite of pizza.

  “Well can you at least try and explain to me why?” he asked gently. He could see the hesitation on her face as she chewed. “Maybe if I understood more about your reasons, I could finally shake off this feeling that there’s something I can do to change your mind.” He was growing closer to her, despite all the mistakes he’d made. He didn’t want this to stop that progression into something that could last between them. “I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do, but I’m losing sleep over this. I need to know. Then I’ll stop asking afterwards.”

  The silence was endless before she finally spoke again. “Maybe someday soon,�
�� Lucy said quietly. “But not today. I’m sorry, Dan.”

  He nodded his understanding. The answer wasn’t what he’d wanted, but it was better than an outright no. “I get that. I know Dominic really took a toll on you before you came to us,” he murmured.

  Something like anger flared in her eyes. “That’s putting it lightly.”

  Dan chewed a bite of food slowly, not sure how far to take this line of questioning. She seemed more open to talking about her brother than shifting, so he’d give it a shot. Maybe she just needed a bit more warming up to him before she talked about her bear again.

  “Did he ever hurt you, Lucy,” he asked as memories of Dominic’s wicked punch echoed in his mind like a truck. “Physically, I mean.” A hint of heat ignited in his chest, anger beginning to form at the very thought. If Dominic dared to put a hand on her, Dan wouldn’t hold back. He didn’t care whose brother Dominic was.

  She didn’t speak at first, hesitation pulling at the corners of her mouth. “Not really,” she replied, softly. “Verbally and maybe psychologically, yes, but he only threatened to hurt me physically.” She looked away. “I mean, he’s put his hands on me, like that night in the alley when you saw him snatch me up by the arm, but nothing as brutal as what he did to you. Though if you hadn’t come along when you had, I’m not sure how things would have played out.”

  Rage flooded Dan’s veins as she spoke, swamping him from the outside in. His bear stood to attention, ready to take on anyone and anything to protect Lucy from harm. He wanted to let the bear tear from his skin and charge directly into Lucas’s territory to rip Dominic apart.

  Something must’ve shown on his face, Lucy suddenly giving him a stern glare. “Look, don’t go doing anything stupid,” she warned. “I appreciate that you’re willing to help me, and I like that you care, but we’ve already discovered that you can’t take my brother on alone. If we have even the slightest chance of besting this pack now, we’ll need to work together.”