Jaguar's Kiss

Chapter Eleven

Santiago streaked through the forest, one more shadow among shadows. He’d told Lila he would wait for her, but it wasn’t in him to just sit back and wait for fate to decide for him. He needed action, so he’d slipped back onto pride land and was racing through the night toward the main compound.

Not to see Lila, though he desperately wanted to wrap his arms around her and take away all her troubles. He’d meant it when he said he would try to give her space. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t go see Patch. No one knew Lila better—and few knew the pride as well as Patch did either. If anyone could help him understand the mess of politics and power plays involved in lion prides, Patch would. Another independent cat who had learned how to navigate these treacherous waters.

He needed to find a way through this mess that didn’t involve Lila having to choose between him and her pride. Because she would never be happy with him if she had to hurt others to be with him. He wanted her without guilt and regrets.

And she loved it here. He didn’t want her to have to leave her home to be with him. She was a lioness. Cutting her away from the pride entirely would be like the loss of a limb to her. There had to be another way.

A flash of golden fur in the moonlight shot across the edge of his vision. He almost ignored it—it could be any one of dozens of lions out for a midnight run—but then a scent on the breeze teased his senses. A very familiar scent. Lila.

He changed direction, giving chase. He stretched out, long legs reaching. She was fast—so damn fast for a lioness—but jaguars were built for speed. Even so, he barely gained ground. She stayed ahead of him, a golden bolt of lightning as the forest opened up into a field.

Santiago roared, the sound rushing ahead of him to her. He saw her steps falter, her pace slowing, ears twitching back, then with a twitch of her tail she was off again, almost as fast, but darting to the north, giving him a chance to take an angle to cut her off. But still he couldn’t quite run her down.

She let him get close before putting on another burst of speed. He surged after her and she stopped suddenly, claws digging grooves into the earth as she pivoted sharply. His paws slid out from under him when he tried to change direction too quickly and she danced around in a playful circle, chuffing at him in feline laughter. He let her circle close, coiling his body beneath him and leaping with no warning, his paws striking her shoulder and rolling her.

She snarled and snapped at him, half-heartedly batting him away, but he caught her by the scruff, tightening his jaws just enough to prove his victory. He was big for a jaguar, so in weight they were pretty evenly matched. She might have been able to shake him off, but instead she swatted him playfully and made a little huffing noise until he released her and pulled back enough to shift.

She took human form with him, her playful smile not dimming in the least when they were sprawled together in nothing but their skin.

Something had changed. The woman who’d left him only an hour ago had looked like her heart was breaking. The one splayed beneath him on the grass sparkled and shone like the girl he’d met on that football field five years ago.

“Where were you going?” he asked.

“To you. I don’t want to wait anymore.”

His heart wanted to lift, but he’d been up and down too many times in the last twenty-four hours to rejoice so quickly. “What about the pride? Lila, I don’t want to ask you to choose between them and me, but you know they won’t accept me as your mate.”

“They’ll have to.” She twined her arms around his neck and stirred beneath him—if he hadn’t already been achingly aware of their position, he was now. “I’m keeping you.”

“Just like that?”

“I know what I want now,” she purred. “No questions. No doubts. And when a lioness knows what she wants, the best thing to do is let her have it because nothing can stop her.”

“Is that so? And what is it you want, Lila Fallon?”

“You. I love you, Santiago Flores. Now and forever. I want you.” She grinned, leaning up to nip his lower lip. “You’re my Prince Charming. Christ, you built me a castle. You always ask me what I would be if I could choose my own life. Well now I know. I would be yours. The rest is just details.”

Santiago threaded his fingers through her golden hair. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure I love you. Does anything else matter?”

“No. Nothing.” He kissed her, and it was somehow sweeter than every touch that came before, because this time, she was truly his. Forever. He pulled back just enough to smile against her lips. “Far be it from me to stand in the way of a lioness who knows what she wants.”

“Then give me what I want, Santiago Flores.”

The way she said his name was a seduction itself, and he immediately set about doing exactly as she asked, pleasing her becoming his new obsession. She arched against him, purring deep.

Life wouldn’t always be easy. In fact, there would be days when it might be hell, but he would take any measure of hell to be in her arms. She was his heaven. His beating heart. His soul.

The rest was just details.