Rescued By The Jaguar: BBW Paranormal Jaguar Shifter Romance

by Zoe Chant

Tomas laughed at the indignant glare Luke sent his way, and headed off.

  “My apartment is actually fairly close by,” Luke said. “If you don't mind a couple of blocks walk.”

  “Do you have a shower I can use?”

  “One big enough for two.”

  “Then I'd walk over hot coals to get there,” she said unthinkingly, before realizing what she’d actually said.

  Luke broke first, a deep laugh erupting from him. Octavia laughed too, feeling the adrenaline and tension purging themselves from her frame.

  On the short walk back to his apartment, they kept laughing, sobering and then breaking out into giggles again. They only gathered a few odd looks, and Octavia thought it was down to the scrubs and the soot.

  Luke’s apartment was on the third floor of a nondescript building that was built on a broad avenue. There were no lights in any of the windows, and Octavia tried to keep a lid on her giggles so as not to disturb anyone else. She pressed her hand against her lips, and followed Luke up the flights of stairs. There were only two apartments on each floor, each sounding quiet, possibly empty.

  When they reached the third floor, Luke unlocked the door, bumped the handle down with his hip with the ease of long practise, and turned the light on with his nose. Octavia chortled, and Luke flushed faintly, setting her medications on the nearest table.

  The apartment was like Luke, warm and open. The walls were painted a soft beige, and the full length curtains were a velvety dusky rose. The couch and armchairs looked old but comfortable. The carpet was worn in well-walked paths, and generally there was a sense of lived-in clutter. It was very far removed from her usual expensive minimalist approach, and she thought she might like it better his way.

  “Kitchen is in the corner there. Help yourself,” Luke indicated as he drew the curtains closed. “Bathroom is down the hall to the left, along with the guest room. Master bedroom is across the hall. You want to use the shower first? My clothes will be big on you, but they’ll do.”

  “Thank you,” Octavia said, plucking at the front of the scrubs she wore. “I’d honestly wear a sack if it was clean.”

  “I can certainly find you something better than a sack.”

  Octavia considered this, considered Luke, and considered her feelings. This close to him with no other distractions, she could feel the electricity dancing on her skin, yearning for her to complete the connection and touch her mate.

  Slowly, she slid out of the top, and felt Luke’s eyes lock onto the skin she was revealing. He swallowed hard, his fingers twitching, before he bolted for the bedroom. Octavia chuckled hoarsely and let the top slip to the ground, shimmying out of the trousers as well. They had barely touched the floor when Luke returned. He held a stack of towels and folded clothes, but stopped dead when he saw Octavia.

  “Beautiful,” he murmured.

  “Yours,” she said firmly, opening her arms wide in invitation. “Yours.”

  His smile lit up the room. He set down his stack and moved to her, gathering her up in his arms with infinite tenderness. The second his hands touched her bare skin, the circuit was completed and her body shivered with the current that flowed over and between them. He trailed his hands lightly over her body, brushing over every mark, stain and wound. All the pain from their separation was gone as if it never had existed.

  “Let me love you,” he whispered, as he feathered her neck with kisses. She murmured acquiescence, and let him lead her, not to the bedroom as she thought, but to the bathroom.

  It was two rooms in one, the main bathroom with sink, toilet and bath, and a wet room for showering. Luke let go of her for a moment to retrieve the towels and clothes, before turning on the water. The wet room slowly filled with warm mist, beading on her skin. Luke stripped off his clothes hastily, and they stepped under the shower together.

  The water was the perfect temperature for her, sluicing over her skin and hair, washing away the physical reminders of the fire. Luke’s mouth followed the cleansing water, peppering her with kisses that burned sweetly, heating her blood. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the wall. She relished in the feeling of Luke’s strong fingers rubbing shower gel into her skin, feeling it foam. She half dozed, awash in pleasure, lulled by the sweet connection. Her human-self and cat-self were at peace.

  A tendril of lightning pulsed straight through her core, and she opened her eyes to find Luke on his knees before her. He smiled brightly at her, and pressed another kiss to her vagina, sliding his tongue through her folds. She shuddered in joy. He worked gently, torturing her with light kisses, teasing her with the mildest flicks of his tongue. His hands held her hips as she twitched, trying to increase the sensations. He held her back, slowly driving her insane with the rush of pleasure.

  Her knees began to buckle and his firm hands pressed her against the wall and kept her upright. Far quicker than ever before her climax built, but his gentleness held her back, tormenting her on the edge of sweet release. As the water cascaded around her, she found herself babbling a litany of meaningless words, interspersed with pleading. She hung on the edge, completely undone, until her lover relented. Her climax swept over her like an all-encompassing wave that tore away everything but the touch of Luke’s tongue.

  He eased her down to the floor as she felt the aftershocks coursing through her. He must have adjusted the water pressure as it changed to a gentle misty drizzle. Octavia leaned back against the wall to catch her breath, and drew her mind back together from the distance she’d let it drift to. She felt as if she was floating, and absently noted Luke sliding down the wall to sit beside her. She laid her head on his shoulder, inhaling his clean scent. Her mouth watered and she couldn’t resist the urge to taste him. She adjusted so she could run her tongue over his clavicle, sweeping up and around the curve of his neck. He tasted good beneath the water, and he moved, shuddering a little under her ministrations. Already half hard from giving her pleasure, his cock twitched with every swipe of her tongue.

  “I want to make love to you,” he whispered, catching her eyes.

  “I need you to make love to me,” she said.

  Somehow, between needy kisses and caresses, the shower was turned off and the bathroom exited. Dripping wet and naked, they tumbled in a tangle of limbs onto the king sized bed in Luke’s room. Octavia rolled until she rested on top of Luke and smiled mischievously at him. He raised his head to kiss her, before abruptly turning them so he towered above her.

  Cocooned under his weight, Octavia felt warm and contented, safe and protected. She was also ready and desperate to feel him inside her again.

  He knew this, she realized when he positioned himself at her entrance and slid home, inch by glorious inch. She couldn't help but cry out with the pleasure of it, flexing her hips to pull him in deep. He felt so good within her, and it felt so right. As he looked down at her, she could see in his eyes that he felt the same way. This was how they were meant to be.

  As Luke began to thrust, Octavia moved in synchrony with him, feeling the pleasure growing again. It felt like they were moving in unison, two minds in one interlinked body. She could feel his own climax rising, and knew he could feel hers. As he grew closer to his orgasm, his movements grew more disjointed and Octavia relaxed, letting his need drive her onwards. He pushed in deep as he climaxed, and Octavia closed her eyes as a second orgasm washed over her. Colors flashed behind her eyes and she felt adrift on a sea of love. Limp with release, Luke lowered himself to rest half on and half off her.

  “I love you, Octavia,” he murmured. “Marry me?”

  Octavia didn't even have to think about her reply.

  “Yes,” she said softly, echoed by her jaguar. “I will.”

  ***

  The air was cooling down now from the height of the day, but it was still warm and muggy. As she walked hand in hand with Luke down the sidewalk, Octavia tried not to feel nervous. In the span of twenty-four hours she had gone from fearing for her life in a fire and pining, to being engaged and a
bout to be introduced to the family.

  The happy noises of her inner jaguar were soothing her nerves a little, but the reminder of ‘mate’ were getting irritating. Not because she didn’t want Luke with every fiber of her being, but for the sheer smugness in her cat-self’s tone. But at the same time, it was reassuring. No matter how this family meeting went, she’d still have Luke.

  “They’ll love you,” Luke murmured to her, as they approached a house set on an expansive plot of land.

  They were out in the suburbs, and Octavia could almost visualize a toddler Luke running around, or playing on the silent sidewalk.

  The crazy-paved path was neat, bordered by green bushes that were closely trimmed. The house itself was a pale cream bungalow, with climbing roses in profusion at one end. Each windowsill held a box of flowers. Luke marched directly up the path and gave the door a perfunctory knock. He didn’t give anyone time to answer before he opened it, and pulled Octavia inside.

  The first thing that hit Octavia was the homey atmosphere. It was a house that felt lived in, full of family and full of love. The first thing she saw was the photographs on the walls. Large frames were filled with picture mosaics, a collection of family images. The next thing was an older woman, grey hair escaping in flyaway wisps from her bun, bearing down on her with arms opened wide.

  “Welcome!” the woman declared, hugging Octavia tightly.

  Octavia looked over at the now grinning Luke and arched her eyebrows in a silent Huh?

  The woman, whom she assumed to be Luke’s mom, pulled back and looked Octavia up and down, beaming happily. “Thank you for all that you did for Luke. I’m sure that he’s not told us the half of it.” Her tone was warm and affectionate.

  “You’re welcome, Mrs. Covas,” Octavia settled for saying, and was patted on the back for her pains.

  “None of that, dear. Call me Marian.”

  That was the first of many introductions. Octavia found herself being whisked through the house, a whirlwind of names being thrown at her. She blessed her business brain for being able to remember them all. Eventually, she found herself outside again on a deck, in front of a table that was practically creaking with the amount of food resting on it.

  “Overwhelmed yet?” Luke asked dryly, pulling out a seat for her.

  “They’re all very enthusiastic,” she smiled as she sat. “They love you very much.”

  “They’ll love you too,” and he tapped the fourth finger on her left hand. “Tomas says that mom started baking the second he told her that you were in town.”

  Octavia rested her elbows on the table, resisting the urge to rub her temples. “But I didn’t do anything,” she said.

  “You saved me.”

  “And hurt you,” she pointed out.

  “That wasn’t you, that was your peculiar uncle,” he retorted. “Have you spoken to him yet?”

  “Not yet,” Octavia said, unable to keep the malicious note out of her voice. “Let him stew.”

  “Normally I’d be a fan of forgive and forget, but in his case I’m making an exception. Let him stew.”

  “Stew?” heralded the arrival of Marian with a steaming tureen in her hands. This seemed to be a cue for a general migration to the table, and places soon filled up. With Luke on her right and Tomas on her left, Octavia relaxed. Luke was right, there was no need for nerves.

  When she had seen the pile of food that had been laid out, Octavia had doubted that they’d get through it. But as the meal progressed, she had watched in amazement as the food vanished. Everyone was tucking in, and there were no eyebrows raised at the amounts on plates, seconds, third helpings, or fourths. Every time Octavia slowed, Marian was leaning over, offering something else from the wide range.

  Finally though, even the bottomless pit that seemed to be Saul was filled, and everyone was sitting back, digesting. Under the table, Luke rested his hand on her knee and squeezed lightly. Pleasant electricity sparked her nerve endings, and she smiled at him.

  Luke cleared his throat, drawing all eyes to him. They had discussed the best way to bring this up, but Octavia had told him that she trusted his judgment when it came to his family.

  “When we first touched as humans, skin to skin,” he began. “There was a feeling like electricity. It’s still there now, muted. Octavia couldn’t find anything about it when she looked, and the lead that her uncle thought he had turned out to be nothing. But I’d like to ask all of you now— have you heard anything about something like this?”

  Luke had been sure that it was linked to the way their inner cats were insisting that they were mates. Octavia wasn’t sure herself, but was willing to see if his family had any information that Nicodemus had either hidden, or failed to find.

  Mostly there were blank looks from around the table, but Martin, Luke’s father, was frowning. Not in disapproval, Octavia thought after a brief flare of worry, but in thought.

  “So you get zapped every time you touch?” Ruth asked. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

  “Quite the opposite,” Luke said. “Couldn’t get enough of it at the start.”

  Octavia tried by force of will to push her blush away, staring down at the table. She hadn’t thought that Luke would be so open with his family, but she had said that she trusted him. If he trusted them, then she could as well.

  “We know we were right for each other, our inner jaguars agree, which is why, last night, I asked Octavia to marry me.”

  “I said yes,” Octavia dropped into the silence that followed.

  Martin growled, deep in his chest, a clear threat from his own cat, and a warning. His eyes were already half shifted, the cat within close to the surface. The hand on the table, closest to Luke, was slowly rising, curved as if to strike.

  Octavia found her human-self shoved to the side as her cat-self rose, incandescent with rage that someone would challenge her mate. Her fingernails sharpened to claws and the skin on her face prickled with the emerging fur. She stood, growl rumbling out as she snarled.

  Slowly, Martin lowered his hand back to the table, fingers spread wide. Octavia, still vibrating with fury, saw a smug gleam in the eyes of Martin’s jaguar, before the partial shift reverted. She could feel the eyes of everyone on her, but didn’t care.

  “My apologies, Octavia,” Martin said slowly and clearly. “I have no objection to you marrying my son. I had to test this bond to be sure of what it was. Luke would not strike at me if I seemed to be about to harm you, because he is my son. It had to be you, in defense of him.”

  Her cat-self was confused, still feeling defensive of her mate, but Luke patted her hand in a manner that was meant to be reassuring, although the slight tremble of his fingers betrayed him.

  “Explain,” she hissed, her human-self managing to take control enough to get the words out.

  “I did not think that I would ever see this bond,” Martin continued to speak slowly and formally, the measured pace doing more to settle Octavia’s nerves than the contents of the words. “But I have read of this, and your reaction, Octavia, confirms it. You two are destined mates, perfect for each other, meant to be with each other. The rarest of all connections, considered more myth than fact.”

  Octavia blinked, and felt her jaguar retreat, full of itself with vindication. No longer driven by its instincts, she slid back into her seat. Martin looked relieved that she was calming down, and slipped into a less formal mode of speaking. “I’ve never heard of a mated pair here in North America. The text that I studied mentioned a possible Canadian pair in 1845, but there have been no other records. And this would be something that would be noted.”

  Which would explain why Nicodemus hadn’t come up with anything, Octavia thought. He had no interest in history, and disdained myths and legends.

  She glanced over at Luke, and smiled. Destined mates. Meant to be. She really liked the sound of that.

  Across the table, Ruth laughed. “Welcome, sister!” she carolled.

  She was echoed a moment later by the tri
lling of Octavia’s cell phone. She glanced at the screen. Video call from Nicodemus.

  “I’d better take this,” she muttered, with a faint twinge of guilt.

  “We’d better take this,” Luke said firmly, rising.

  They quickly moved to the bottom of the garden for some semblance of privacy. Luke sank onto the bone-dry grass, and tugged Octavia down onto his lap. She hit ‘answer’ and held the phone up as Luke rested his head on her shoulder.

  Nicodemus smiled at her as the video call connected, and abruptly scowled when he saw Luke in sight.

  “Hello, Nico,” Octavia said mildly.

  It was interesting to see how Nicodemus consciously ignored Luke, blanking him out as if he didn’t exist.

  “Where have you been? You’ve not been answering my calls.”

  “That was deliberate, Nico.”

  Luke slid his hand up her other shoulder, and squeezed gently in support.

  Her uncle looked disapprovingly at her. “When I heard about the fire, I was worried.”

  “You have Luke to thank for my safety. He pulled me out of there. Turns out the building was really not up to code,” she said mildly.

  “Mr. Covas,” Nicodemus finally acknowledged him.

  “Nice to see you again, Nico,” Luke said mildly.

  Octavia sighed. “You’re not my favourite person at the moment, Uncle. You lied to Luke, and you lied to me. You did your absolute best to split us apart, and keep us apart.”

  “It was in your best interests,” Nicodemus said, but Octavia could hear the nervousness in his voice. “You were not at all suited for each other.”

  Luke squeezed her shoulder again.

  “Back soon,” he whispered in her ear, too quietly for Nicodemus to hear. He wiggled his way out from beneath her.

  “And who do you think you are, to make the judgment on who I can, and cannot see?”

  “Octavia, be reasonable. One weekend of sex does not make a good base for a relationship. You could do so much better than a man you met in the woods, shifter or not. ”

  Luke re-joined her, kneeling down so that he could be seen on the camera. “Nico, you’re an intelligent man. Octavia told you about the electricity between us, didn’t she?”