Vision Revealed (15 page)

needed one soon. Tore would expedite matters in having her howl to all of the hunters.

Jin didn’t doubt that for a moment. Especially now that he sniffed a bit of the truth. She

knew when he locked gazes with hers back there he’d never guessed her to be a white

leopard. And that she’d been a hunter for so many years as a breed of leopard most

viewed as unstable, dangerous, if not somewhat insane.

It would explain so much telling them Leo Pard was a white leopard, but she didn’t want

that to be the reason they all howled as to why he did what he did. That wasn’t the case.

And by doing so, she would be setting her breed back even further from gaining

acceptance in a community who claimed to be fair and just but who were in fact as racist

and set in their ways as those they condemned.

“What are your thoughts?” Kane asked, resting his hand on her hip and squeezing

enough to make her fall in closer to him as they walked away from the lake.

“A whirlwind of insanity.” She laughed, making light of the truth.

“I seriously doubt you could convince anyone of insanity.”

When she glanced up at him, there was no humor in his expression. He didn’t meet her

gaze but focused ahead of them, still in full protector mode. She was getting really used

to his scent, the dominating, carnal edge to it, and enjoyed breathing it deep into her

lungs.

“I can be pretty convincing.”

“Of many things, but not insanity.” His thumb moved over her hip, the slight movement

making her skin tingle. “The smell of your intelligence is too strong.”

“You can smell that over all of this dead flesh?” She shook her head, amazed she

couldn’t sniff out his false flattery. More than once she knew without a doubt her actions

were anything but smart. “Where are we going?” she asked when he guided them around

the corner and away from the motel. “I’m not staying out in public like this.”

“Why not? You’re a hell of a lot better-looking without the wig than with it.”

The tingles dancing over her flesh turned into a sizzling warmth and his praise simply

added to it. She scowled at the street ahead of them, ignoring the humans who passed

them on the sidewalk, as well as the cars driving up and down the snow-packed roads.

Somehow she needed to get this male out from under her skin. If only it didn’t feel so

good having his arm wrapped around her protectively. If his scent didn’t appeal to her

every time she filled her lungs with it. And damn it, if only she hadn’t just finished

fighting by his side. That especially appealed to her. They’d made one hell of a team back

there, jumping in together without any discussion needed and taking on a situation and

resolving it. If only all of those things would just get out of her head, maybe, and it was

becoming a stronger maybe with every passing minute, but maybe she could walk away

from him.

“You would dishonor my praise of you?” he whispered, the growl in his tone damn close

to being reprimanding.

“You want me to howl your praises in return?” She mocked him, knowing all he asked

for was that she say “thank you”. And good manners would demand she do exactly that.

But she’d just been searching her mind for a way to get him out of her system. As much

as she didn’t want to, running alone was necessary right now. Jin reminded herself it was

because she smelled her growing feelings for him that she needed to push him away.

Kane didn’t deserve the inevitable damnation that would come with her talking to all of

the hunters. And if he remained by her side, he would be dishonored. That realization left

a bitter taste in her mouth so foul she could barely stomach it.

“You’re being difficult,” he told her.

“I guess it’s my nature.” Picking a fight with him was almost too much work. It would

hurt even more later if she didn’t get rid of him now. “I’m pretty good at dishonoring

males. Hang around and you’ll see.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

She laughed, and then shook her head as she made a show of trying to mock him. “Don’t

let lust blind you, leopard,” she snarled under her breath after they passed a small group

of human females on the sidewalk. “Howl my name for a minute and you’ll hear more

tales than you can stomach.”

“Not necessary. Tales are just that, if not more likely lies. You forget, little cat, even

though we’ve only been together for a day and a half, you’ve been in my visions for

almost a year. I already know a fair bit about you.”

Jin stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, stepping out from his arm around her waist

and faced him, planting her hands on her hips. “You don’t know shit about me, Kane

Masters,” she hissed, demanding her anger surface. She wanted him to smell it. A good

fight and she could storm off, and then run like hell. “Visions are misleading, small

fragments of scenes that more times than not imply something other than what is really

the case. They are overrated. And trust me, a leopard without visions is a hell of a lot

better off than one with them.”

It was harder to do than she thought. Someday she would acknowledge she’d made the

right move. Forcing herself to turn away from him, Jin took off down the street in the

opposite direction they’d been heading.

She faltered when Tore and Race appeared at the end of the block, having just come

around the corner. Kane’s arm returned securely around her waist, and without a word he

guided her inside the nearest shop.

“We’ll discuss this later,” he whispered into her hair.

Jin gulped in his scent and grumbled under her breath when there was no anger. His

predatory scent was ripe, in full force, and as he took her hand in his, the warmth of his

flesh singed her insides. Kane paused in front of a clothes rack before she could finish

reprimanding herself for her inability to make a clean break from him.

“What do you think?” he asked, his calm tone enough to convince anyone he didn’t have

a thing on his mind other than shopping. “Try this one on.”

Kane slipped a blue down coat off its hanger and held it out to her. Jin blinked, staring at

the coat before raising her gaze to his. “Try it on?” she asked, immediately hating how

she sounded. When did she lose her ability to control a situation?

“Yes.” Kane draped the coat over his arm and then turned her, helping her slip out of her

oversized leather coat and her shield against the world. When the young sales clerk

approached them, all smiles, Kane informed her they would be buying a new coat today

and would be ready with their purchase in minutes.

The crisp, cool material against her body was like a splash of cold water in the face,

enough to bring her to her senses. As well, the strong new smell mixed with too many

human aromas, suggesting many of them had tried this coat on, made her want to take it

off as quickly as possible.

“No. Wait.” Kane gripped her arms from behind her, making it impossible for the coat to

slide off her shoulders, and pushed her to a full-length mirror. “I love how it brings out

the color in your eyes.”

Jin stared at the image in the mirror, for a minute not recognizing it. The coat did make

her eyes appear not as pale. Her windblown blonde hair was tucked in to the collar of the

coat, which tapered against her figure instead of hanging on her, over-sized, the way her

leather coat did. She noted her flushed cheeks and how the makeup she’d applied earlier

had faded so that it appeared she barely wore any at all.

When she lifted her attention to Kane, who stood behind her, close enough she could feel

his body heat against her ass and legs, as well as on her arms where he held her in place,

her world shifted. His intent expression didn’t change when their gazes locked. Kane was

a powerful leopard, definitely in control of his actions and his life. He looked at her as if

he saw a female she wasn’t sure even existed. There was a fondness in his eyes,

comfortable knowledge that swarmed in the blue shade around his pupils. He made her

feel beautiful, wanted and hot as fucking hell.

“I’m buying this coat for you,” he whispered, and then moved in closer, wrapping his

arms around her waist and moving his mouth to her ear. When he scraped her

ultrasensitive flesh with his teeth and growled under her breath, so only she heard, her

pussy swelled. He moaned, pressing his lips against her neck just under her ear, and

inhaled her scent. “You’re wearing it until it smells as rich and intoxicating as you do, my

little cat.”

Damn him. Struggling to get out of his arms would only make a scene. Not to mention

she wouldn’t be able to succeed unless he allowed it. “I can’t let you spend money on

me,” she said, turning her head and meeting his smoldering gaze. “It wouldn’t be right,”

she added, her voice faltering.

“I’m doing it anyway.” For a moment he looked as if he would kiss her. Instead he

straightened, releasing her but then taking her hand and moving toward a display rack at

the back end of the store. “What size jeans do you wear?”

An hour later Jin stared at the store bag as the sales clerk filled it with their purchases.

Telling Kane no seemed a harder task than talking to the hunters. She turned from him

when he pulled out his wallet, refusing to watch and see what kind of cash he carried. It

really wasn’t any of her business. As she stared at the front of the store and the large

windows that let her see those walking along the sidewalk outside, she caught a glimpse

of Tore and Race standing outside. They had their backs to the store but were obviously

waiting for the two of them to come back outside.

“Have a good day,” the clerk said, handing the bag to Kane.

Instead of putting his arm around her as he had too much already this afternoon, he

glanced toward the back of the store. “Is there another exit?” he asked. “Our car is parked

on the other street and it would be wonderful if my girlfriend didn’t have to walk in the

cold.”

Jin shot her attention to his face, as bewildered by his question as she was by the human

title he’d just given her.

The clerk didn’t think anything of it. “The back door goes out to the alley. You can leave

that way if you want.”

Kane had insisted she wear her new jeans instead of her leather pants out of the store.

And as she walked alongside him down the alley and to the next street, with him carrying

the bag that held her leather coat and pants, Jin knew anyone who saw them wouldn’t

recognize her. Although Kane walking at her side would be a strong hint that it was her

by his side.

If Kane understood this, then he knew more about her than she originally suspected.

Maybe his visions had given him more insight into who she was than she initially

believed. Having this thought brought her pause. Somehow she needed to get him to tell

her more about his visions.

“You don’t really think we can dodge Tore and Race, do you?” she asked, sniffing the

cold air when they rounded a corner.

“We will this time.” His calm confidence was damn unnerving.

“Know this because of a vision?” she asked, deciding there wasn’t a better time than the

present to learn what he knew.

“I know I’m going to fuck you in that outfit.” He nodded at the clothes she wore. “And

this coat,” he growled, reaching for the collar and then stopping, turning in on her and

yanking the coat to bring her closer. “I recognized it the moment we entered the store.”

“Where are you going to fuck me?” She shouldn’t encourage him. His scent grew

stronger with her question though, and she couldn’t help herself. “And when?” she added,

her voice cracking.

“Not soon enough for either of us,” he growled.

Jin nodded. Either he made everything up about his visions, although he was right about

a fight breaking out by the water, or he wasn’t going to tell her about his visions. It

wasn’t worth pressing. She didn’t need to know Kane inside and out to know he viewed

visions as private. All leopards did. Until recently, many would deny having them. That

Kane came forth and shared what he had with her indicated he could smell how

trustworthy she was.

That knowledge created a sting in her gut. Jin prayed he would never learn of the times

when she didn’t view herself as trustworthy at all. Glancing down at the bag he held in

his hand, she knew he carried the shield that had prevented leopards from sniffing out

who she really was for so many years. Now he’d taken that shield from her.

“I can wait,” she said, knowing in her heart it was only partially a lie. She wanted to fuck

him more than she wanted her next breath. But fucking him now when there were

leopards attempting to sniff her out wouldn’t be a smart move.

“You won’t have to wait long.” He tugged harder on her coat, lifting her while lowering

his mouth to hers and then nipping her lower lip.

Electrical sparks zapped Jin’s insides. Her world ignited in color so warm it made her

flesh sizzle. She was positive if they stood here another minute the snow would melt

around them. With that one small action, Kane started a fire deep in her womb and it

wouldn’t go out until he fucked her. There were no doubts in her mind.

“Tore isn’t going to give up looking for me,” she whispered against his mouth, fighting

to bring her own senses around as well as his.