Secrets of the Jaguar (Crimson Romance)

by Jaye Shields

  • • •

  Duncan was glad that he didn’t have a functioning heart, because if he did, it would be pounding out of his chest. Ever since he sent her from his home, he couldn’t get Michelle out of his mind, even when he needed to feed. Instead, he took a chug from the wrist of a male jogger taking a break in front of his house. Duncan realized he probably would not be able to take the vein of a female again as long as Michelle was part of his thoughts. And so he had followed her the past few days. And it was a good thing, because after following her, he finally caught the malevolent force that he’d sensed in her presence. Now he glared through the night at the stranger standing in the darkness beneath Michelle’s window. Duncan’s form was hidden by the dense jasmine crawling up the side of the house, but his perfect nighttime vision saw the man’s shape quite clearly. Wearing a long trench, he didn’t look welcoming. But the man didn’t seem to be doing much at all, just standing in one place for hours.

  Duncan was mostly sure he was observing a vampire judging from the eerie aura that prickled around the figure. The man seemed only a bit older than himself but was probably ageless. Duncan first spotted the other vampire trailing Michelle as she arrived in her car from school and Duncan’s first instinct was to attack. More specifically, to rip the intruder’s head off. His body surged with his protective instincts, and the brutality of his inner vampire bubbled beneath his skin.

  But curiosity held him in place. For so long Duncan had not encountered a vampire on the island, and now one seemed to be trailing his Alameda sweetheart. He wondered if the other detected his presence as well. But after three hours cradled in the darkness, Duncan was no closer to understanding what this vampire was up to. Several of her neighbors had come and gone, so it was clear this vampire was probably not a hungry one. Michelle was quiet in her apartment, save for the clicking of computer keys.

  When the keyboard ceased and Michelle was probably drifting to sleep, he saw the first movement in hours from the other figure. The vampire was leaving, but by foot. Strange. Duncan needed to follow the stranger, but concern for Michelle weighed deeply. In a split-second decision, he chose to follow as far behind the other vampire as possible, hoping to continue undetected. However, in the next block, the vampire disappeared into thin air before his eyes. Damn it, what did I expect? I’d do the same thing.

  Disappointed, he returned to Michelle’s house and misted into her apartment. Michelle lay sprawled across her bed in the dark. Her body was twisted in the sheets and her laptop lay beside her.

  Smiling, he leaned over her and inhaled the scent of her skin. Fighting the attraction that twisted his insides, he grabbed the laptop from beside her and sat on the ground next to her mattress on the floor. Searching her history, Duncan found site after site of ancient archaeological finds from the Olmec era.

  The images that came up obviously pertained to her own situation. Clearly she was more curious to her origins that he thought. The information left Duncan in awe at how strong Michelle must have been growing up with such a special gift but completely in the dark about what or why. Sure, he wasn’t happy about being a vampire, but at least he knew why.

  Desire to help Michelle grew strongly within Duncan. Personally, he didn’t need to understand her origins to know she was a special creature, a woman capable of bringing happiness to a hopeless cause without even trying. Stirring the blood in his veins as if it was his own.

  Michelle stirred, purring as she rolled over, the sheets pulling away from her body. His eyes took in her soft skin, and he reached to pull the sheets around her shoulders, his fingers tucking the blanket around her. And then she came to.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Michelle shed the nightmare for this new image of Duncan beside her. Much better. His hazy gorgeousness heated her body even in the depth of her dreams. Taking advantage of sleep’s conveniences, she reached out and splayed her fingers across the back of his head. The softness of his hair tickled her fingers and she pulled him to her in a strong, passionate kiss. His lips were cold, perfect against the heat emanating off her own lust. She used her tongue to its fullest extent in her dream state, parting his lips and exploring his taste. And then he responded.

  Duncan was on top of her in an instant, his long body covering her own, left hand curled into her hair and his right pulling the weight of her body against him. Oh God this is better than a dream. Especially the ones I’ve been having. As Duncan finally pulled his lips away from her, his eyes locked on her own and she was ninety percent sure that what had just happened wasn’t a dream. She instantly flushed, her cheeks hot and her breath caught in her throat.

  “I’m sorry.” Duncan immediately moved his right hand from its intimate position at the small of her back and brought it to cup her face. “I’m sorry to take advantage of your sleep, it wasn’t my intention. I’m more infatuated with you than I realized.”

  She hadn’t moved an inch, instead she lay comfortably under him, relishing the tender way he touched her. And suddenly it dawned on her that she was a twenty-two-year-old woman. “I’m not a little girl. Now kiss me again.”

  And so he did.

  • • •

  When Michelle woke the next morning, she realized she had fallen asleep after being kissed into oblivion. She smiled as she saw the culprit still lying beside her.

  “Good morning, sunshine.” Duncan smiled, too gorgeous to be real.

  “A vampire calling me sunshine — an interesting start to my day for sure.”

  “I’m sorry I do not have coffee made like the last time you woke in my presence. I was afraid if I moved I might disturb you. Nobody should ever disturb an angel in sleep.”

  “Yeah, yeah, charming.” She curled into his side, curiously warm, probably from the friction of their all-night make-out session. “Ya know, waking up with a guy in my bed isn’t as strange as I thought it would be.”

  His eyes smoldered dark against the pale sheets of her bed. “That’s because I’m not just a guy. Don’t forget what I am. I haven’t.” His eyes met with her own. “I hungered for a taste of you all night.”

  “Okay, now it’s awkward.” Michelle shied into an adolescent, not even close to the vixen lady she embraced the night before.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I just want to make sure you know how affected I am by you. I crave you. Not just your blood, but your presence. You stir me so much, you make me hungrier than usual. At the same time, I don’t want to drink at all, because it doesn’t feel right.” He paused. “Not that feeding ever does, I guess.”

  “I get it.” She pulled on her metaphorical big girl pants. “You know, maybe you should be careful, I might be more smitten with you than you think.”

  “Good.” With that, he crushed his mouth upon hers once more and she indulged in a feeling of happiness that had so long escaped her.

  When they resurfaced an hour later, Duncan made himself useful in the kitchen. As the scent of sizzling bacon filled her apartment, Michelle’s stomach grumbled. “So this is what they call breakfast of champions.”

  “You’re lucky I have years of experience with this kind of thing. When I was alive, I couldn‘t cook to save my life.”

  The playful smile awakened all of Michelle’s senses. “Hey, where did that bacon come from anyway?”

  “You’re impressed with my speedy shopping skills I see. Yes, sunshine, your refrigerator was lacking indeed. No worries, now I have everything I need to make you bacon and eggs Benedict. You’d be surprised at how many ingredients are necessary.”

  “Eggs Benedict? What’s that? Is that a special version of scrambled eggs, because that’s usually how I prefer them.”

  “Never had eggs Benedict, huh? You, my dear, are going to love them. Why don’t you grab me a fancy apron, and I’ll make all your breakfast fantasies come true.” As Duncan grinned at her sensually from across the room, she didn’t doubt that he could.

  • • •

  As they sat together at her s
mall glass table in her kitchen, Michelle finished up her third helping of the eggs Benedict a la Duncan. As he poured her another cup of coffee, his expression turned serious.

  “I need to talk to you about last night, about how I ended up at your place.”

  She nodded, curiously awaiting his explanation.

  “I was following you, planning my in person apology, and I encountered another vampire. He seemed to be stalking you, although I don’t know why.”

  There was silence and then finally Michelle shook her head in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? Jesus.”

  Duncan set down his coffee mug filled with cow blood he got from the butcher and smiled a little. “Um, my sentiments exactly, I suppose.”

  “I mean, all my life I never even realized vampires were real, and now I’ve had the company of two of them.”

  “I wouldn’t exactly call him company,” he retorted. “More like the pervert standing under your window.”

  She smiled. “As opposed to the pervert who snuck through my window and made out with me all night?”

  “Hey watch it, this is the chef you’re talking to.” After a moment of lightness, he looked at her solemnly. “I don’t know if I like how well you’re taking this news of a new vampire stalker.”

  She returned his somber gaze. “Would it make you feel better if I told you I am scared as hell?” Suddenly her cool façade weakened. “Would it make you feel better if I told you I am still scared of you, too?”

  Now Duncan looked ashamed. His features were drawn, as if defeated.

  Michelle continued, this time to reassure him. “I’m scared I’ve fallen for you so quickly and completely. You’re somewhat of a stranger still, but at the same time I feel so at home with you. And about the other vampire, I’m not afraid of him trying to drink from me because you told me the venom didn’t work.”

  Duncan stood up and clenched his fists. “Michelle. Just because the venom didn’t work doesn’t mean some other vampire wouldn’t rip out your throat and leave you in a dumpster.” His body shook as he revealed the dark scenario. “I would rather die than let you ever come close to another vampire who could do this.”

  Fear caused her hands to tremble as they brought a drink of coffee to her lips. He was right.

  “I’m afraid, too, Michelle. Afraid of many things. Like how much I yearn to be with you, but afraid of how easily I could let you down. Perhaps I’m afraid that when I’m no longer a stranger to you anymore, you will be less inclined to even like me.”

  A long silence sat between the two of them as Michelle fidgeted, wondering exactly how to respond. Duncan broke the silence.

  “But you can know for sure that I will never, ever let anything harm you. And I want to help you find out more about your past if you will let me.” He took her hand. “If you trust me, than let me pay your bills for a while at least, so we can go to Mexico when your semester is done and search for clues together.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  She contemplated for a moment, her mind running over scenes of the two of them traveling across the mainland of Mexico together. Even if they didn’t discover anything about her past, it would be the adventure of a lifetime.

  She took a drink of the orange juice sitting on the table next to the coffee. “Let’s do it.” She laughed and smiled excitedly. “When do we leave?”

  “When is the semester over?”

  “Next week.”

  “Next week then.”

  “One of my anthro teachers is leading a student survey of a site in the valley, maybe we can meet them there.”

  “Whatever you like. You, Ms. Archaeologist, start planning where you think we should go and I will make it happen.” Duncan kneeled on the ground and took her palm in his own, laying a kiss softly on her hand.

  “You’ll be my travel guide/bodyguard extraordinaire,” Michelle said with a grin.

  “How about boyfriend extraordinaire?”

  Duncan’s offer caused her to blush. “Sounds even better than travel guide.” The statement came out quite seductively and before she could think about it, Duncan was pressing a passionate kiss to her lips. She welcomed the crushing force of his embrace and her body heated in response. Pulling away from his lips for only a brief moment she whispered, “I hope this isn’t all too good to be true.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  After Duncan left to run some errands, Michelle pondered what to pack for their Mexico trip. The closet in her studio apartment looked like a war zone. Surveying the various t-shirts spilling out of the doors and across the floor, she tapped her finger on her lips in deep thought. What to wear …

  She spied her favorite t-shirt, a soft black one that she’d cut the top off of. It hung comfortably off her shoulders and was adorned with a big full moon she had painted one night while listening to Debussy. Tossing the shirt into her “pack” pile, Michelle heard her phone ring. It was an unknown number so she weighed answering it, afraid her parents may have found her or some sick government faction was onto her.

  The phone stopped ringing.

  Michelle went back to her business rummaging through her closet when her phone buzzed twice. Voice mail.

  “Hey sweetie, it’s Sparrow, the barista from Tera’s Coffee and Tea. So, Tera is still out of town, but she okayed me to interview you. I had a special feeling about you the other day … So why don’t you come in and have a girl chat with me today if you’re free. I’ll be here late. See ya later, kitty-cat!”

  Michelle smiled. A job. The joyful voice in the message left her feeling ecstatic and she headed out the door to make her way to the coffee shop.

  • • •

  Tera’s Coffee and Tea was bustling as usual with students on laptops, singles reading novels, and the local ladies knitting club. Couples perused the local artwork on the walls as they made their way out with to-go cups. Hopefully this will be my new stomping grounds.

  The barista named Sparrow floated from the back kitchen to the counter to greet waiting customers. Michelle watched as the young woman, charming as hell, took their orders and rapidly began an espresso drip.

  Michelle examined her closely. Sparrow had waist-length blond hair. And not just blond, but blooond. So either Sparrow was uber-German or she was addicted to bleach. Either way, Michelle was somewhat jealous of the delicate beauty. She realized she was staring when Sparrow waved emphatically in her direction signaling for Michelle to come over.

  Approaching the counter, Michelle wondered if she should turn and leave the way she came. Her escape was obliterated when Sparrow smiled and rushed her, grabbing her hand and dragging her through the kitchen. It was a blur, but Michelle noticed two young women working at a sink.

  “Hey, Marina, take care of the register for a minute. I’m gonna talk to our newbie.” With that, Michelle tried not to stumble as Sparrow dragged her out the back door to the garden.

  The fenced oasis behind Tera’s Coffee and Tea was lush, flowers climbing over every inch of the space. Large pots of lavender and fragrant gardenia dotted the landscape around picnic benches. But no customers were in the garden today since it was somewhat chilly.

  Sparrow sat gracefully at one of the picnic tables near a fragrant honeysuckle vine. “It’s so nice to see you again. Have a seat, kitty-cat.” Michelle sat down nervously as she took in the mischievous look on Sparrow’s delicate features.

  “Okay,” Sparrow confessed. “I’m just gonna come out with it. We don’t actually need a barista.” Huh? “But I recognized you as soon as you walked in.”

  Michelle was perplexed. “Actually I haven’t lived here too long, and I haven’t been in much for coffee since I don’t have a job.”

  Sparrow took her hand, but Michelle was caught off guard and immediately tried to set the barista straight. “Look, you’re very beautiful but I’m not a les — ”

  Bursting into a fit of giggles, Sparrow took her hand back to hold her tummy while she laughed hysterically. “Yeah, Cat,
I know you’re taken. I saw you in here with sexy vamp-man the other day.” Michelle’s eye grew to the size of saucers, but Sparrow continued. “No, I recognized you.” The young woman winked and curled her fingers toward Michelle. “Meow.”

  Michelle was quiet for a moment, calculating potential responses. She definitely was not expecting a job interview conversation to go this way.

  “From the stunned look on your face, I’m guessing not many people know your secret. Welp, the cat’s out of the bag, hun.” Sparrow giggled at her own pun and left her seat across from Michelle to embrace her. “It’s okay, you know.”

  “Are you a psychic?” Michelle hesitated to accept the warmth from Sparrow, remembering her parents’ treachery.

  “Not really. I’m kinda like you, just put it that way. So we can keep each other’s secrets.”

  “But I don’t know your secret. How did you know mine?”

  “I don’t know exactly, I could just sense it. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours … ” She raised a brow at Michelle playfully.

  “You’re not talking about boobs, are you?” Michelle inquired.

  “Geesh, get your mind out of the gutter, I just met you.” Sparrow laughed and in the blink of an eye she was gone — well sort of. In her place fluttered a beautiful yellow bird. It darted around the yard quickly, returned back to Michelle, and in another moment, Sparrow was sitting across from her as if nothing had happened.

  “You should hear me sing!” Sparrow bragged playfully. “Okay, now your turn.”

  But she was open-mouthed, amazed, shocked. “Aren’t you afraid of being seen?”

  “In my case, no. You see, my ability to change was a gift given to me by a relative. The enchantment came with a protection element so that if someone sees me, they automatically forget. Convenient, right?”

  Michelle smiled, finally loosening up. “Yeah. Convenient. Mine is less inconspicuous. And I’m not a cat.”