One Wild Vegas Night (6 page)

“Back,” the man said in a gravelly voice full of malice. Sol did as ordered and the man pushed Hannah ahead of him, closing the door behind them.

Sol’s gaze flicked to Hannah. Her expression was anguished as she mouthed “I’m sorry” at him.

Sol gave the smallest nod and then turned his attention back to the man. He was shorter than Sol, but thickset, and the gleam in the man’s eyes hinted at aggression, madness, danger. Instinctively, Sol knew this was Hannah’s ex and he could feel his fangs and claws sharpening in response. But while the scumbag had that knife against Hannah, Sol couldn’t do anything.

“So you’re the son of a bitch who slept with my wife.” The man’s voice was bitter, dripping with anger.

Sol’s eyes narrowed. “You must be Richard.”

He gave a derisive snort. “So she told you about me and yet you still fucked her, fucked my wife.”

Sol’s hands clenched but he tried to keep his voice calm. “Hannah is not your wife, you’re divorced.”

Richard shook his head, as if dismissing Sol’s words. “A mistake, one easily remedied. Hannah is
my
wife.”

Sol’s lips curled into a threatening smile and he could see Hannah’s eyes widen. “Actually, she’s my wife. We were married last night.”

Richard’s mouth fell open for a few seconds, giving him an almost comical look, but then his expression became livid. “You lie.”

“No.” Sol almost growled the word. “Hannah and I were married last night. She is mine now and I’ll kill you for hurting her.” As he spoke his gaze moved to the red mark on her face, standing out in stark contrast to her pale skin. A mark caused by this man striking her. Sol felt his change edging closer, his nails lengthening into claws, his fangs growing sharp. His body thrummed with the need to defend his mate.

Richard gave a scoffing laugh. “You’ll kill me, will you? I don’t think so, pretty boy. I’m the one with the knife.” And he moved the blade up to Hannah’s throat.

Sol felt his lip curl back, his body beginning to pulse with energy. His jaguar form was close to the surface, demanding retribution for the threat to his mate. But he couldn’t do anything with the knife so close to Hannah. He needed to draw Richard away from her.

Loading his voice with malice, Sol spoke. “Of course a piece of shit like you would hide behind a weapon. Would threaten a woman. No wonder Hannah divorced you. She needs a real man.”

With a bellow of rage, Richard shoved Hannah to the side and launched himself at Sol. Sol leaped back, his hand coming up to deflect the knife away, but Richard was surprisingly quick. Checking his momentum, he spun back toward Sol, slashing out again with the blade.

Sol sidestepped, once again avoiding the knife, and swung his fist up, catching Richard on the side of the head. Richard groaned and staggered, but he was strong for a human and somehow managed to stay on his feet. He turned to face Sol again; his eyes gleamed with madness and he managed to land a blow that rocked Sol’s head to the side.
Damn, he is strong.
And with the knife Sol was at a distinct disadvantage.

Sol could shift, of course. Richard’s knife would be nothing against four sets of razor-sharp claws and the most powerful bite of any big cat. But he didn’t want Hannah to see him change, not yet anyway, not in the middle of a fight where he’d use his animal form for violence.

His hesitation cost him as Richard managed to catch Sol across the chest, cutting a searing line across his skin. Sol gasped with the pain and he heard Hannah scream. His whole body started to buzz, his skin starting to tingle and itch, just as it did before he changed.

No. Not in front of Hannah.

Seizing the opportunity, Richard barreled into him and they went crashing backward. Richard had the knife raised, the wicked-looking blade pointed down toward Sol’s chest. Sol tensed for the blow, but suddenly Hannah appeared behind them, her expression wild. In her hands she held a heavy glass vase and with a yell she smashed it across Richard’s back, showering them both with broken glass.

Forgetting Sol for a moment, Richard turned and grabbed Hannah by the throat. “Bitch,” he shouted, his fingers digging into Hannah’s fragile neck. Her eyes were wide, her hands scrabbling at Richard’s arm, her body thrashing against a hold that was choking her.

With the direct threat to his mate, Sol stopped fighting his instincts and his shift came fast, his limbs burning with a delicious strength and energy, his muscles rippling along his new form.

The sound of Sol’s clothes tearing and the menacing growl that rumbled out of his chest drew Richard’s attention. He jerked his head toward the sound, his hands still clenched around Hannah’s throat, but when he saw a massive jaguar standing in front of him, his hands dropped to his sides. The anger drained from his face to be replaced with a look of stark horror. Blinking, Richard shook his head and started to back away, his mouth flapping, although no sound came out.

Grasping at her throat, Hannah also backed away, her eyes fixed on Sol, her expression just as horrified. After a few steps, her foot caught on the rug and she went crashing to the floor with a pained whimper. Sol forced himself to shut her out, forced himself to focus his attention on the threat in front of him.

Enjoying the man’s obvious terror, Sol stalked menacingly toward Richard, another growl rumbling out of his chest. Still shaking his head in denial, Richard kept backing up, too terrified to scream, even when Sol leaped at him.

Richard’s hand flew up as if to shield himself, but Sol raked his claws across the man’s arms, knocking him down. With a harsh exhalation, Richard hit the floor hard, struggling underneath him, but Sol had the man pinned. His claws dug into Richard’s chest until blood pooled from the wounds and Richard’s body jerked with the pain, his mouth opening in a silent scream.

Though Sol had never killed a human before, all he could see was the male who had tried to harm his mate, and that demanded death. Tilting his head to the side, Sol clamped his jaws around the doomed man’s throat. Gargling, gasping breaths came out of Richard and he scrabbled at Sol’s back, his fingers yanking at his fur, but Sol barely felt it. With a vicious snarl Sol was about to sink his teeth into the tight flesh of Richard’s neck when Hannah’s anguished scream cut through the rage that held him.

“
Stop!
Don’t kill him.”

Though it went against everything inside him, Sol stopped himself from biting down; instead, he lifted Richard’s head and slammed it against the floor. Richard’s body went limp and Sol released him, slowly turning to face Hannah. She still sat where she had fallen, staring at him with an expression so blank it filled him with unease.

Moving off Richard, Sol paced over to her, but with a look of fear she scrambled away from him. Sol stopped, a heavy pain settling inside him at her reaction. In his animal form, all he could sense was his mate in distress and he wanted to go to her, to lie down next to her and protect her. But he held back.

The harsh ringing of the phone made them both jump. Hannah looked from the phone to him and then slowly stood, moving over to pick it up. “Hello?” A pause while she listened. “Oh, the noise, yes I’m sorry. Our children were watching a movie and turned up the volume really loud. I’m sorry if it disturbed anyone. We’ll keep it down now.”

Sol was surprised she lied so easily, was surprised she covered for him. Hannah put the phone down, her hand shaking, and turned to face him, eyeing him with a curious expression. He needed to change back, needed to talk to her.

Forcing his muscles to relax, willing himself to turn, he felt the energy ripple through him once more. His form blurred as his muscles and joints realigned, and then he was back in his human form. Panting a little from the change, he stood and stepped slowly toward Hannah. She looked wary but she didn’t move away.

“Thank you for doing that.”

“Well, I’m implicated in this.” Her eyes moved to Richard. “Is he dead?”

“No, just knocked out.” He looked down at the floor and then back up at her. “I’m sorry you had to see me change like that, see me attack him.”

Hannah’s head whipped around to face him, her eyes flashing with something hard. “Don’t be sorry for defending yourself. Richard had a knife.”

Sol’s breath caught at her reaction. “Yes, but I still wish you hadn’t seen me like that. I didn’t want the first time you saw my other side to be so violent.”

She didn’t answer, just moved to Richard’s prone body and nudged him gingerly with her foot. She looked down at him for several seconds and then turned to face Sol.

“If you hadn’t changed, he would have killed you. You did what you had to do.”

Sol released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “He was strong for a human.”

Her mouth set into a bitter line. “He was insane, which probably helped. What do we do with him?”

“I can take care of him.”

“What does that mean?” Her voice was sharp.

“I can fix this so he never bothers us again.” Sol moved to the phone.

“What? Wait, who are you calling?”

“The cleaners. They specialize in covering up things like this.”

“So, what, does your kind attack humans regularly?”

The condemnation in Hannah’s tone turned his stomach. With a heavy sigh he turned to face her. “No, we don’t. None of us condone attacking anyone, but you have to understand our nature. We are powerful creatures heavily ruled by our animal instincts. If we are challenged, or a mate or family member is threatened, we will attack and sometimes humans get hurt, even killed.”

Her skin flushed at his words and she dropped her gaze from his. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t judge you. Richard attacked first and you stopped when I asked.”

Sol nodded. “And you have no idea how hard that was for me.”

Hannah’s head jerked up at his tone, her eyes going wide, but she didn’t answer him. Sol ran his hands through his hair. “Look, why don’t you go and wait in the bedroom until this is all cleared up?”

Hannah swallowed and nodded, casting one last look at Richard before heading to the bedroom. Sol watched her go with a sense of dread. He’d kept her safe, but had he just driven her away for good?

C
HAPTER
S
IX

Hannah moved to the bedroom in a daze, sinking to the mattress, her eyes staring blankly at the wall. Her mind was on the edge of shutting down, unable to process everything that had happened since she’d walked into the bar last night.
Was it only yesterday? It seems like a lifetime ago.

Low murmurs from next door told her Sol was on the phone to the cleaners. She shuddered. They had people who specialized in cleaning up attacks and dead bodies
? Dear God. Just what is his kind like?

She thought back to Sol after he’d changed. One minute he’d been lying there, looking furious as Richard attacked her, and the next he’d turned into the most enormous jaguar, his body rippling with coiled strength, his stunning spotted coat gleaming. Beautiful and terrifying at the same time. And yet, looking at him, she knew it was still Sol, her body still reacting to his presence even in his other form.

She also thought about the moment she’d struck Richard with the vase. She’d been terrified as the two men fought, but when she’d seen Richard about to stab Sol, all she could think about was stopping it. For the first time in her life she’d fought back against Richard—to save Sol.

The door opening made her jump but it was only Sol. “
Perdón.
” He shook his head. “Sorry, I just need to put some pants on before the cleaners arrive.” He moved to the closet and pulled out a pair of tracksuit bottoms, which he quickly slipped on. He cast her one longing glance and then headed back out.

Hannah knew they needed to talk, but her mind was still racing. She didn’t even know where to begin with him. In less than twenty-four hours, he’d taught her to salsa, given her the best sex of her life, married her, savaged her ex-husband, and proven to her that shifters were real. Just what did you say to that?

So she sat in silence, staring ahead, tracing patterns in the wallpaper. Just thinking over everything that had happened.

From the other room came the sound of knocking. She heard Sol pad across to the door, heard the rumble of low voices, footsteps moving across the carpet. She tried not to think about what they were doing, just kept tracing patterns. More noises, urgent murmurs, and then the door opening and closing.

Sol walked back into the room, his expression grim. He looked tired, she realized.

“Is it all taken care of?”

“
Si
. Richard is gone and the room has been cleaned up.”

“What will they do with him?”

“The cleaners will heal Richard’s wounds and then take him to another country. They’ll leave him there, after delivering a very clear threat that if he ever comes near us again it won’t just be me he has to worry about.”

Hannah shivered at the menace in Sol’s tone. “So he’s really gone?”

“Yes, we’ll never see him again. No one will ever know.”