The Shadow's Leap [Mates of the Jaguar 1] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting)

by Marla Monroe

  “I don’t believe this. Either I’ve got to get pregnant with my mates, or I have to not get pregnant with you so I can be with my mates. I don’t exactly see the point in all of this.”

  Neither did Rubio, but then he wanted her and by any means necessary. However, that didn’t include their Felix mating her and taking her away from them.

  “What happens when I don’t get pregnant?” They could barely hear Taylor this time.

  Their Felix hesitated before answering her. “Then you would return to me under the contract.”

  “No!” Both Rubio and his brother erupted at the same time. “That is not going to happen.”

  “You can’t guarantee that I will get pregnant within a year. I’m not taking that chance. I refuse to be a pawn in his game. If he truly wants to protect his Leap, he will go through with the transfer without adding me to sweeten the pot. I won’t be used as a pawn.” Taylor grabbed her purse from off the floor and stomped out the office leaving them to talk it out without her.

  “You’re not seriously considering this, are you?” Marcus still didn’t seem to believe any of it could be real.

  “Look, this isn’t what I want to deal with either, but the offer to run their Leap so that we can continue to lead a normal life without another group telling us what we can and can’t do is ideal for our needs. No one wants to stay here any longer. There’s been too much death and too many hunters here to kill the beasts who have, one by one, taken out the cartel members.” Jag pulled at his hair then sat back down.

  “The Felix has looked for a way out for you. I would think you’d be grateful that he’s even tried.” Diaz reprimanded them for their audacity in chastising him.

  “Don’t patronize us. You took great pleasure in announcing that back at our home. You knew how it would affect us, and you did it without one ounce of empathy. One day you’ll screw with the wrong cat, Diaz.” Marcus took a threatening step toward the other shifter. “But then again, maybe you already have.” Rubio managed to hold him back, but it took a scuffle before he had the other male’s attention.

  “Stop it, all of you. This isn’t the time for petty displays of aggression. We have a dilemma that must be addressed and soon. The Felix’s days are numbered, and though he assures me he doesn’t care if he lives or dies at this point, he just wants his cats settled and safe. Apparently he still has some relatives he’s fond of.” Jag pulled the old book across the desk to leaf through it some more.

  “We can guess which of them he isn’t as fond of,” Marco muttered.

  “You hold the power, Sire. Why are you playing his game? He hasn’t got another option, or he wouldn’t have sought us out all the way to Central America. There’s nothing stopping you from taking his Leap by force anyway.” Rubio prowled back and forth as he watched his Felix.

  “Actually there is.” Jag sighed and closed the book. “We can’t cross into the US without a sponsoring shifter group. If we don’t agree to his demands or find another way to settle this, he will deny our petition for entry.”

  Rubio stopped pacing and stared at the other male. “Seriously? We aren’t allowed to freely travel to the US?”

  “Remember, they acknowledge us as sentient beings with free will and the ability to control our animal sides. We will have rights in the US, but it comes at a price. We have to have another shifter group vouch that our intentions for traveling there are good and without plans to cause trouble. Without that, we would have to go the long road of petitioning the government for asylum. That will take more time than I believe we have.” Jag steepled his fingers as he talked.

  “I’m beginning to wonder if we’d be better off remaining here and taking over the cartels instead of just living here and taking what they dish out.” Rubio’s growl gave his words a biting quality. “We need to find Taylor and make sure she doesn’t try to return home to slice and dice her great-uncle.”

  “What I’d like to know is what she meant when she told him over the phone that an arranged mating hadn’t been in the agreement,” Marco said. “The agreement to come here and talk to you, Jag, or is there something else going on we’re not aware of?”

  “I’ll leave that to you two to discover when you catch her again.” Their Felix gave them a tired smile before continuing to read. “I’ll keep looking for another way out of this mess. In the meantime, it would behoove you two to bed her and often.”

  Diaz shook his head. “She didn’t look convinced about that possibility either, Sir. Maybe she believes that she is sterile as so many of our females are now.”

  “Let’s hope not for all of our sakes.” Jag lifted an eyebrow in Diaz’s direction. “You, too, my friend. She won’t discriminate if something doesn’t give. I’m not so sure you have it in you to survive a tongue-lashing like she’ll no doubt give all of us.”

  * * * *

  I’ll rip his heart out and punch holes in his lungs for this. He had no right to use me as a pawn when he knew my past.

  Then her great-uncle had never much cared for her in the first place. The only kind thing he’d ever done for her was dissolve the mating between her and her abusive mate. She’d had to subject herself to his beatings on five different occasions and have a witness come forward to prove her claims. Since shifters were often violent during sex, the bruising would be commonplace and easily explained away.

  Now she had to be sure and get pregnant by her mates so that she could remain with them as their mate. How many ways could it get any more fucked up? The worse part of it all was that they were her true mates, and she wasn’t sure she could get pregnant. Two years with her ex hadn’t produced a kit, and with the decline in pregnancies among their Leap, she was afraid that she would be one of those who’d ended up sterile.

  The thought of allowing the arranged mating to continue, the disappointment of not being able to become pregnant, then the mandate that she leave her true mates and take their Felix as a mate was enough stress to prevent even a fertile leopard from carrying a kit. What was she going to do?

  Run.

  That one word sounded so simple but held major consequences should she decide to do it. Living out in the human world without a Leap to fall back on, or take comfort from, would not only put her at risk among the humans but also make her fair game to other unmated male shifters searching for a female.

  I can’t ask my true mates to leave everything they know to go with me. They would offer, but I’ll just refuse.

  Honestly, did she think she had a choice where those two were concerned? She talked a big game, but the truth of the matter was that they held sway over her heart, so everything else in her world would fall into step behind them.

  There just had to be another way to settle the problem without bloodshed or losing their place in their shadow. The thought of them saying good-bye to all of their friends and any family they might have among their people broke her heart. They’d talked of caring for some of the kits in their home and how much they wanted kits of their own someday. Tayler couldn’t see relegating them to a life without something they dearly wanted. Nor could she see leaving them if she didn’t get pregnant to go to their Felix. That would be equally cruel for them.

  I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t agree to this crazy scheme.

  One thing she’d learned growing up in the political unrest of a shifter group was that she could never depend on anything turning out the way she’d planned it. That proved even truer when someone thought they could circumvent the issue by using trickery.

  How many times have I tried to escape some task my uncle assigned me and the punishment was far worse than if I’d completed it in the first place?

  Taylor still didn’t believe that her mom had just walked out one day to never look back. She’d loved her mate and her daughter. There was a story behind her disappearance, and she was sure her great-uncle knew what it was. He and her father had never gotten on despite her father refusing the position as Felix. Instead, her father watched and waite
d for his mate until the day he died. He was a huge, proud leopard who refused to believe the worst about others. Her father was the one others went to for money or for a sandwich if they were without.

  Suddenly she wanted to run, not necessarily away but run to let her leopard free for a while. As if on cue, her leopard growled to be let out, but Taylor didn’t know the jungle and all of its hidden dangers. She’d just have to wait until the others finished planning her future for her.

  The short walk back to the twins’ home helped clear her head enough that she could think without a red haze filling her sight. This time she couldn’t figure any way out of the mess she’d landed in. The idea of being forced into a mating turned her stomach. It wasn’t just her who would suffer this time. The twins would go insane if she was forced to accept their Felix as her mate.

  Taylor held no illusions that they were madly in love with her, but a true mating involved more than just lust and need. Mates began imprinting on each other the moment they met. Their hearts beat as one, and separation was like a part of you died while the other part had to continue going through the motions of living. She knew. She’d watched her father slip away into a shell of his former self.

  There had to be some way to stop her great-uncle’s ludicrous plan. If what the old cat had told her was true, the Leap had very little time left before one of the other groups struck.

  “Taylor!” Marco’s voice held panic.

  Before she could answer him, Rubio called out, as well.

  “Taylor! Where are you?”

  She walked to the door and threw it open. “I’m here. I haven’t gone out into the jungle to run, but I was tempted. I’m not stupid though. I know there are more dangers out there than I could possibly imagine.”

  Two enormous males attacked her, trapping her between them as they growled and rubbed their cheeks all over her. She didn’t try to stop them. They needed this, and if the truth were told, so did she. Already her cat yearned for their touch, and the first touch of their bodies to hers set off a chain reaction that started out as dizzying relief but quickly morphed into a fierce, burning need.

  “What is your Felix going to do?” she managed to ask when she could breathe again.

  “He’s not sure. Jag is a fair leader. He knows the value of a true mating and that if it should happen that you don’t become pregnant, taking you from us would cause a war and tear our families apart.” Marco stepped back just enough for Rubio to touch more of her.

  “What are the options? If we left, would he still take over the Leap from my Felix? I don’t want you to have to give up your friends and family though.” Taylor dug her hands in Rubio’s thick hair.

  “Ease back, brother. Let’s talk. We need to get this out of the way.” Marco tugged on her hand until Rubio released his hold and followed them over to the couch.

  “There aren’t a lot of options.” Rubio sat on one side of her and turned so he could see her face. “Your Felix wants some measure of assurance that our Felix won’t tear apart his Leap once the exchange has been completed. He’d have no recourse should Jag decide to follow the history of conquered groups and kill off the young males to prevent them from challenging him. He could do anything he wanted to, and short of issuing challenge and fighting to keep his Leap, your uncle wouldn’t be able to stop him. We all know he couldn’t win that fight.”

  Marco held on to one of her hands, and his tantalizing scent teased her nose, causing her cat to purr. It evidently pleased Marco since he purred right along with her. For an instant, Taylor felt how it could be, how it should be for them. Then reality crashed over her in the form of an image of Jag above her. Her stomach rolled.

  “The only other option our Felix could think of was to challenge your Felix and take the Leap by force. Then you’d be under no obligation to follow through with any treaty. It isn’t an ideal choice since some of your Leap will fill honor bound to step in and fight. Though I’m sure your leopards are strong and good fighters, our jaguars are lethal and better than any other shifter group in a fight.” Marco’s claim wasn’t unwarranted.

  The jaguar had always been at the top of the shifter food chain. In addition, they lived in a dangerous jungle where they were constantly fighting for their lives. The leopards rarely fought for anything other than pleasure or to settle a dispute.

  “I don’t want to be the cause of others getting hurt or killed.” Taylor hated the position her Felix had put her in. “Some of the leopards who would fight alongside of him are my friends and my friends’ mates.”

  “It is not your call, nene. Therefore, you have no reason to feel responsible regardless of his decision.” Rubio rubbed the back of his knuckles along her jaw. “I don’t like seeing you upset.”

  “What are we going to do while he makes his decision?” She didn’t like just sitting around but could tell the males didn’t want her out running yet. Perhaps they were right since, in her agitation, she could easily get into trouble before she realized it.

  “Ah, sweet Taylor. Te necesito.” Rubio stood up, drawing her up and into his arms. “Until there is a course of action, we shall create our own action and plot our own course.”

  Taylor’s brows lifted in understanding. They had no intentions of waiting around while their Felix contemplated options. The answer to their problem had already been identified as far as her males were concerned. All that was left was to strip and fuck until they either died of dehydration and exhaustion or they scented the change in her if she conceived.

  Please let me conceive.

  Chapter Seven

  Taylor wanted the twins. She’d fought the mating call, but there was no reason to continue that now. Her Felix had backed her into a corner, and cats didn’t like corners. If she’d any chance of staying with her true mates, she had to get pregnant and fast. She didn’t want the Jaguar Felix to challenge her great-uncle and risk losing friends because of it.

  “If you like what you have on, mi amor, take it off. Now!” Rubio watched her as she backed down the hall to the bedroom.

  “If he doesn’t tear it off of you, I will, nene.” Marco stalked toward her until her back hit the bedroom door.

  “I’m taking it off.” She unbuttoned the blouse. “See?”

  Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of both males licking their lips as they watched her remove the blouse in slow, sensuous movements meant to entice. She wasn’t disappointed. Before she could get the door opened very wide, they pounced.

  “The blouse is safe, Taylor, but the rest will suffer.” Rubio held out one hand, and razor-sharp claws extended from his fingertips.

  “Just the clothes, brother. Don’t scratch that beautiful skin. I want to paint her with my tongue.” Marco walked around her as Rubio moved closer.

  Taylor gasped with surprise when Marco caught her wrists in his hands and pulled them behind her so that her chest poked forward, her breasts heaving against the lacy red bra. His breath heated her neck as he whispered words and phrases she didn’t understand in her ear.

  Rubio ran one claw down her shoulder next to the bra strap then flicked his wrist so fast she wasn’t even aware of it until that strap dropped from her shoulder. He followed up by cutting the other strap before she’d recovered from the first. He tilted his head so that the light caught the change in his eyes. They were a bright gold that flashed when he bared his sharp teeth in a feral smile.

  “You are so hot, cariño. I can feel your heat beating against my skin.” Rubio growled. “Hold still while I help you out of your pants.”

  Taylor knew better than to even breathe as the male jaguar ran the razor-sharp claw from her waistband down to her ankle. He reversed on the other leg, and they fell to land in a heap around her feet.

  Marco nipped her shoulder. “My turn, brother.”

  Rubio snarled but turned her to face Marco when he let go of her wrists. Now Rubio gripped them with both hands as he licked a path from just behind her ear down her neck, where he nipped her shoulder
as his brother had.

  “Ah!” Taylor tried not to make a sound, but when Marco pushed a curved claw into her cleavage then snatched it through the material of her bra, she was helpless.

  His satisfied smile promised more of that to come and no sooner had she thought than he teased the outside of her thighs with his claws, slowly pulling them upward then jerking them through either side of her thong so that it, too, drifted to the floor. They had her where they wanted her, naked and aroused to the point of panting.

  Her turn.

  Taylor smiled up at Marco before spinning around to tear Rubio’s shirt from his body, ripping it down the center so that buttons flew, bouncing across the floor. She’d always wanted to do that. It was much more fun than she’d imagined.

  Before Rubio could get over his surprise, she twisted to one side and caught Marco by surprise, shredding his shirt from behind.

  Oops. I think I nicked him a little. Yummy. Blood—flesh.

  She ran her tongue up the small scratch then bit the back of his shoulder just enough to leave red marks but not break the skin.

  “She’s a little gato salvaje. We will need to watch out for her, brother.” Rubio chuckled. “Hold her still while I finish undressing.”

  Taylor started to pull away, but Marco wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against him. Her chest heaved in excitement as well as a healthy dose of trepidation. A male caught up in the feral heat of a female could injure her. She didn’t think the twins would lose control, but then she didn’t really know them yet.

  “Easy, gato. We will take care of you. Watch Rubio undress. See how hard he is for you.”

  Rubio watched her as he lowered his jeans past his hips. Taylor inhaled through her mouth to catch the first scent of his arousal. When his cock sprang free, every drop of saliva dried up at the length and width of him. He stepped out of his jeans, looked down, and stroked his dick from root to tip. A bead of cum pearled at the slit, and just like, that her mouth was no longer dry. When he looked up, his eyes had grown darker. The wicked cat ran his tongue over his teeth as he squeezed his cock at the base then pulled on it all the way to the tip once again.