“You seem so sure my father was a Hunter,” she whispered.
“I am, Amber.”
She held up her arm. “But this mating thing, and my mother—it makes no sense, Jareth. Why would he hunt Yaguara if she was one?”
“I wish I could answer that question,” he said. “But if you allow me to—I promise you—I will help you find out.” He held out his hand.
She stared at it, long seconds passing, her lashes like half moons against smudged pale skin. She needed rest. She needed him. He was going to prove that to her, somehow, some way. He held his breath and waited, as if waiting for the judgment that would define his very soul.
Finally, she stepped forward, slowly closing the distance between them. Her hand slipped into his, soft and tentative. Her lashes lifted. “I’m giving you my trust,” she said. “Don’t make me sorry.”
He closed his hand around hers, gently drew her closer, molded her body to his. “The only thing I am going to do is protect you,” he said. And love you, he added silently. For the first time since he’d lost his family, love was a risk he was willing to take—because it was a risk that had found him and claimed him—as she had.
7
Amber watched Jareth shove open the lime green motel door, having caved to the need for a few hours’ shut-eye if she was going to be convincing to Mike. Jareth waved her forward, and Amber stepped into the shoebox-sized room, complete with a plywood dresser, a television on top of it that looked as if it came from the sixties era, rose-colored, floral curtains flapping over a motorized air conditioner, and a lumpy bed with a red comforter. Those lumps looked like absolute heaven and Amber made a dive for the bed, letting the mattress absorb her aching muscles. Despite the desperate need for a shower, it was going to have to wait. Her body needed rest.
“I don’t even have the energy to undress,” she said, pressing her hands under the pillow. “How insane is that? In a motel room with a sexy man, and I can’t even get undressed.”
Jareth locked the door and walked to the end of the mattress, reaching for her boots. “Let your mate help.”
She bit her lip, her heart squeezing with the reference, a pinch of excitement spreading through her limbs. “You really think we’re mates, don’t you?”
He tossed aside one of her boots and went to work on the other. “The mating circles around our wrists have not faded.”
“I take that as a yes,” she said, realizing the idea of being mated to Jareth appealed to her. She’d sensed that her destiny was tied to him from the moment she’d met him. She wondered if that was something the Yaguara mating process created in her. Or if it was just that human, instant connection that people felt when they were falling in love. Love. Was she falling in love? Was he? The question—it rang with insistence in her mind. She didn’t want a bond that was physical. She didn’t want a bond that was convenient. These were reasons she’d stayed single. She wanted the whole package.
Jareth’s knees hit the mattress, jarring her out of her contemplation. Without touching her, his hands walked a slow, tantalizing path beside her body, until he leaned over her. It was somehow far more arousing and sensual than him actually doing so.
“What do you feel?” he queried softly, as his face came level with hers, but still he held his weight on his hands—still he did not touch her.
She wasn’t tired anymore. She was alive with sensations. Somehow Jareth was everywhere; she felt him inside and out, as if he was inside her soul, breathing life into her pores. “You,” she whispered. “I feel you.”
His breath trickled, warm and arousing, across her lips. “Inhale,” he ordered.
She did as he said, drawing in the spicy male scent of him, feeling it wash through her limbs and send a rush of lust through her body. “What do you smell?” he queried softly.
“Your desire,” she whispered fearlessly—she would never have said such a thing to another man. She’d always saved exploring for outside the bedroom. Until now, until Jareth.
His lips lifted slightly. “Because we are mates, Amber. And because you are Yaguara. You are immortal. And you have my vow that I will die to see to it that you will have an eternity to explore the history you love so much.”
He leaned down and brushed his warm, velvety, perfect lips over hers. “You must sleep,” he said. “And then . . . then I will make love to you like a proper mate.” He straddled her, the hard proof of his arousal pressed to her stomach as he reached for her T-shirt. She sat up and let him pull it over her head, her hand finding that hard ridge beneath his jeans, and tracing it.
His hands covered hers. “You are not going to get any rest if you keep doing that.”
She blinked innocently up at him, ran her fingers over the ridged head of his cock, thinking of how much she wanted him inside her. “I suddenly don’t care about sleep.”
His hand caressed a path around her back and unhooked her bra. She shrugged out of it and tossed it aside. His fingers lightly caressed her nipples as he pressed her back against the mattress. “I care about you getting sleep.” He kissed her, a slow, sensual stroke of tongue against tongue before his mouth traveled a delicate path down her jaw and neck.
Amber sighed and moaned, her hands sliding into his hair. He kissed her nipple and surprised her by leaning back. “Sleep.” He unzipped her pants and dragged them down her hips so fast she barely knew what hit her. And then he was off the bed, staring down at her, his eyes hungry; the scent of him, hungrier.
“You’re not really going to leave me aroused like this, are you?”
“It’s called foreplay,” he said. “Something we’ve been missing up to this point. I’m simply doing my part to fix that.”
Her brows dipped. “Be warned, Jareth,” she purred sweetly. “Turn around is fair play. You’ll get yours when the time is right.”
He arched a brow. “I hope that’s a promise.”
She rolled her eyes, finding it impossible to get anything over on this man sexually, but also realizing, in the midst of all the gloom around her, that she was looking forward to trying. She yanked the blanket up and maneuvered underneath before turning on her side and giving him her back. And to her surprise, she heard a low rumble of male laughter. She’d never heard Jareth laugh, had seen only the serious, dark side of him. It was a sexy, wonderful sound that Amber silently vowed to do her part to hear again and often. She focused on that warm thought, blocking out the uncertainty that had become her life, the danger she knew waited for her upon waking—and she found the peace of sleep.
Near five, three hours after arriving at the motel, Jareth sat with Chase while Amber showered. Chase had brought them both a change of clothes.
In black jeans and a black T-shirt, Jareth paced the tiny room, eyeing Chase from where he perched on the dresser. “I’ve thought through your plan to use Amber to get to Mike,” he told his fellow Sentinel. “And while it had merit, the only way it would have worked was if Amber had spent a substantial amount of time inside the Hunters’ operation to build trust.” He paused and looked at Chase. “As a human, that would have been insanely dangerous for Amber. As the Yaguara we now know she is, it’s the kiss of death.”
Chase scrubbed his clean-shaven jaw. “The daughter of David Green, one of the most deadly Hunters documented, and she’s half Yaguara. I didn’t see that one coming. That’s pure insanity.” His eyes lit. “But that’s the beauty of this plan. No one will suspect Amber is Yaguara either.”
Jareth gave him an “are you nuts?” look and held up his wrist. “We’re mated, Chase. She wears the mating circle. That’s an easy mark for someone like Mike to recognize. She’s not going to do this.”
Chase held up his hands. “I hear you. I do.” He considered. “Let’s regroup. I still think the original plan can work. Amber can use the journals to leverage a meeting by making sure Mike, and his boss Black Guard, believe there is something juicy in the journals.”
“I want her out of this, Chase,” Jareth said decisively. “Sh
e’s dealt with enough. Her entire world has been torn apart in a matter of days. She’s discovered her father was a Hunter and that she’s half Yaguara. The writing is on the wall here. Her mother was one of us. She needs to put that all in proper perspective before she should ever have to consider playing hardball with someone like Mike.”
Chase stared at him, took a moment to reply. “Amber isn’t your mother or your sister,” he said. “We will be watching her every step of the way.”
Jareth opened his mouth to blast Chase for daring to touch that territory, when Amber’s voice radiated from the bathroom doorway. “What about Amber?” she asked. Dressed in faded jeans and a light blue T-shirt, her hair a silky auburn mass, face free of makeup, she looked young and beautiful, an angel to be protected, not thrown to the wolves.
Jareth tore his gaze from Amber and glared at Chase. “Get lost. We need a few minutes to talk.”
Chase offered Amber a quick nod, having met her before her shower, and then shoved the green fatigue baseball hat onto his head. “I’ll go to the diner and get some coffee,” he said, and made fast tracks out of the room.
The door shut, the silence ticking into long seconds before Amber said, “Nice to know Yaguara drink coffee. I do like my coffee.”
“We have the same likes and dislikes that humans do,” Jareth assured her. They both knew where this conversation was leading, but he kept the chatter going. “We just happen to live longer and shift into jaguars at will.”
Her eyes went wide with that idea. “Yeah, well,” she said. “I forgot about that little trick.”
“I’ll teach you how when the time is right,” he promised.
She nodded but didn’t ask the questions he would have expected at another time. Shifting wasn’t exactly a small matter.
Instead, she cut through the small talk. “Are you ready to tell me what all that was about with Chase?”
He hesitated, tension radiating up his spine. “It’s a mate’s instinct to protect the other,” he finally admitted, unable to bite back the torment from his voice. “No matter how much I try to make myself alright with using you to set a trap for Mike, I can’t get there. Allowing you to risk your safety goes against everything natural inside me. I’d much rather get you the hell out of here and never look back.”
“I have a rare connection to Mike,” she reminded him. “Yaguara may never get another opportunity to get inside the Hunters’ operation.” Her brows dipped, her head tilting thoughtfully as she studied him. “You were okay with this a few hours ago. In fact, you seemed to think it gave me some protection from suspicion. What happened?”
Jareth inhaled sharply, quickly giving her his back, shutting her out before she saw the familiar edgy darkness of his past eat him alive. But there was no turning away from Amber. Suddenly, she was behind him, arms wrapped around him. “Talk to me, Jareth.”
He took a minute to compose himself and then reached for her, molding her to him and resting his forehead to hers. Her cool, soft palm touched his cheek. “My protectiveness goes beyond simple instinct.”
She inched backward and stared up at him. “This is about your mother and your sister, isn’t it? You mentioned them before, and I heard Chase bring them up as well.”
He managed a short nod, his throat constricted. He had not spoken of their fate in two hundred years, but Lord only knew, he’d relived it in many a nightmare. “The Hunters know our weaknesses. They burned them alive. It was punishment for me standing against them.”
Amber gasped, her hand going over her mouth. She wouldn’t have spoken, offered sympathy, that he did not want. He didn’t give her time to speak. He needed to say what was on his mind, tightening his chest, and twisting him in knots. “I cannot allow anything to happen to you. Don’t you see that? Don’t you understand? I have to protect you. And I know you want to find out about your father and I know you want—”
She pushed to her toes and pressed her lips to his. “What I want is for you to stop blaming yourself for their deaths,” she whispered. “All these centuries and you are still hurting.” Her hand flattened on his chest, over his heart. “I can feel the blame you hold on to.” She cupped his face. “Jareth. It wasn’t your fault.” She held his gaze, earnestly repeating the words. “It wasn’t your fault.”
The acceptance in her eyes, in her words, swelled in his heart, but so did guilt. How she did not blame him for what happened to his family, he did not know, but letting go of that blame—it wasn’t an option. Not now. Perhaps not ever. She deserved to know what that meant.
His hand covered hers. “You do know I am going to be overbearingly protective.”
A hint of a smile touched her pink lips. “Oh, I know,” she said, taking his hand and kissing it. “Believe me, I knew that before you told me about your family.” She led him to the bed and patted it. He sat down and she added, “I’m quite capable of standing my own ground, as you will soon learn.”
He actually found himself wanting to smile at that. He could only imagine how colorful life would be with Amber. “Of that I have no doubt,” he said softly.
Her expression turned serious. “Jareth. Knowing what the Hunters did to your family only makes me more determined to do what I can to to help. I have to try to use my connection to Mike for positive. I have to.”
The timing of revealing his entire family history was not serving his agenda. He turned to her, his hands going to her arms. “Listen to me, Amber. All past history aside. The older the Yaguara, the more developed their senses. Something is not right. I know you want to see Chris. I know you want to try and help with Mike. But we need to get out of here. You can call Mike from the road. Tell him you are going after the journals. He’ll be suspicious that you’re with me, but you’ll be a safe distance away from him. And you can still dig for information about your father.”
A knock sounded on the door. “Chase?” Amber asked.
Jareth shook his head. “That’s not Chase.”
“Amber. Amber, it’s Evelyn.”
Jareth and Amber looked at each other. “How did she know we were here?” Amber whispered.
“Please!” Evelyn yelled. “Let me in before Mike sees me!”
“What do we do?” Amber worried, standing by the bed.
He sniffed the air, sensing no trap but plenty of fear. Jareth went for the door. “We let her in.”
The instant the door was open, Evelyn came inside, and the fear that Jareth had sensed from outside the door was bouncing off the walls like a rubber ball. She leaned on the door, breathing heavily, her dark hair in spiked disarray around weathered features.
“Mike is coming for both of you,” she said.
“What?!” Amber exclaimed.
Evelyn’s eyes were watering. “He has a team of Hunters headed here now.”
“Now, as in when?” Jareth asked quickly.
“Within the hour,” she said.
Amber grabbed his arm. “We have to leave.”
Jareth didn’t move, his attention fixed on Evelyn. “Why would you warn us?”
Tears rolled down her cheeks, her eyes seeking out Amber’s. “Mike has a copy of two letters your mother wrote before she died. One to you and one to your father. Both dated to be opened on your twenty-seventh birthday.”
“The first fertile year of a female Yaguara,” Jareth said, explaining the relevance to Amber.
“But I never received a letter from my mother.”
“All I know is Mike has them—he has the letters,” she said. “I saw it. He showed me because”—her voice cracked—“be-cause he plans to kill you, Amber . . . and I was fighting with him to save you. Your mother was Yaguara. She said so in your letter. And the things she wrote about her people—about you and your future . . . I have no doubt that is why your father stopped hunting. But once Mike knew about your mother, he wanted you dead. The only reason he let you live was that lockbox of journals your father left you. He fears there is information in there that the Yaguara would use to turn
the tables, to hunt the Hunters. That’s why he’s been trying to get close to you again. To be your replacement father.”
“To use me and then murder me.” Amber pressed her hand to her head. “I can’t believe this.”
Jareth fought the urge to comfort her. He had to stay focused on Evelyn and any approaching threat.
Evelyn continued, “I thought Yaguara were monsters.” She wiped tears from her eyes. “But you aren’t a monster, Amber. You’re my baby girl. You are like a daughter to me. And . . . and the letter from your mother. It wasn’t written by a monster either.”
“I need those letters,” Amber whispered.
Suddenly, a warning jolted through Jareth, his senses shooting to red alert, hair standing up on the back of his neck. The threat of danger ripped through him with such intensity he barely contained the urge to shift, the beast in him rising up to protect his mate.
Jareth shoved aside the urge, lunging forward and grabbing Evelyn. He thrust her toward Amber. “Go to the bathroom and lock the door!”
A second later, the door imploded, bursting off the hinges. An armed Hunter charged into the room wearing a ski mask to hide his identity. Jareth was ready, snatching the weapon and tossing the man across the room. Jareth recovered as a tranquilizer dart skimmed past his ear, barely missing him. That was the Hunters’ way—tranq the Yaguara and then take them somewhere to kill them and burn the bodies. No evidence. No chance for screwups.
Amber Fire Page 7
