Chapter 3 #2
“Is it safe for you to live here? Or any of those you say reside here?” This cousin thing wasn’t working out quite the way she had envisioned.
“You were raised in a far different environment than me or any other shifter, male or female, residing here,” Luiz said.
“You’re trying to save a species of wildlife and not considering that jaguar shifters are dying out as well?
Without women and children, the jaguar shifter species will be extinct in a few years. ”
“Just because I was raised differently doesn’t mean I wasn’t taught how to protect myself.
” She did the chin thing again before she could stop herself.
Alois and Gemma always warned her that little gesture of defiance would get her in trouble someday.
They emphasized that she needed to appear serene and feminine, as if she were an easy mark.
They had told her never to give away the fact that she could protect herself because that took away part of her advantage of sheer surprise.
Luiz didn’t react to the challenge of her chin tilt the way several of the men had when she argued with them on the various treks she’d gone on.
The men had automatically assumed they would lead, and she would follow quietly along, even in the discussions.
She eventually earned her reputation for intelligence.
That didn’t negate that things were usually awkward in the beginning.
The rainforest seemed to reflect Luiz’s silence. Those gold-flecked green eyes seemed to pierce right through her, as if he could see every mistake she’d ever made.
One moment Luiz was several feet from her; the next he was behind her, one arm locked around her throat and the other holding a knife to her chin. “How do you protect yourself from an attack such as this one?”
His voice was that same mild, expressionless tone.
His body was relaxed, but she felt every muscle.
He felt like a stone column, not a physical flesh-and-blood man.
Although he held her in a very dangerous hold, she didn’t feel nearly as threatened as she had when he was standing in front of her—which made no sense at all.
“I see what you mean,” she said, because she did.
The moment she acknowledged that she wouldn’t have been able to stop him had he cut her throat that quickly, he released her, stepping away from her.
“How did you move so fast?”
Luiz’s gaze went past her, looking over her shoulder.
His expression was inscrutable, but the danger emanating from him increased tenfold.
One hand very gently settled around her arm, and Luiz guided her behind him.
It was done so smoothly and firmly that she didn’t have time to think about what she was doing.
Nor was she alarmed. She actually felt safe and protected.
A man sauntered out of the brush off to her left, facing Luiz straight on.
He moved with an easy assurance in the jungle, as if he’d been born there—as, undoubtedly, he had been.
He was a little shorter than Luiz and very compact, his chest dense, his muscles apparent.
His hair was a tawny color, and his eyes were the rounder golden eyes of a jaguar.
They held that same particular focus as Luiz’s gaze did.
It took discipline to keep from wrapping her hand in Luiz’s shirt and holding on because those eyes were on her. And they were hungry.
“Percy,” Luiz greeted.
That cool tone brought the jaguar shifter to a halt. He switched his gaze to Luiz with an obvious effort, almost as if he had dismissed the threat in order to get to her. She took one step back to give Luiz fighting room if it came to that, but she remained behind him.
“Luiz. One rarely sees you anymore.”
That sounded like an accusation to Sarika.
She immediately had the feeling that Percy didn’t care for Luiz—or was leery of him.
That wouldn’t sit well with a man like Percy.
She had been around so many men in the jungle and had learned to read body language.
Percy was a man with supreme confidence.
It was possible he had every reason to be confident.
Several times his gaze slid from Luiz to Sarika as if he couldn’t help himself. Each time it happened, she had a visceral reaction to that almost greedy, hungry stare. Her stomach dropped, and she wanted to flee.
Each time it happened, as if he knew how uncomfortable she was, Luiz shifted his body slightly—the tiniest of movements, but it instantly drew Percy’s attention back to him.
“I have been around, Percy. I often choose not to be seen.”
Sarika had gotten used to her cousin’s voice, so mild as to be nearly gentle, yet he managed to convey a threat.
And there was a threat to Percy. The animosity between the two men was palpable.
She didn’t fully understand why Luiz would dislike Percy so much.
He put her on edge because she could feel his interest was totally sexual.
She feared he would have taken advantage of her being alone in the forest, just as Luiz had warned could happen.
“I see you are claiming the one female shifter available,” Percy said, a snarl in his tone.
Luiz lifted an eyebrow. “I have not claimed her. I believe a woman has choices.”
He was being deceptive. He didn’t believe that way at all.
Sarika didn’t know how she was aware of her cousin’s viewpoint, but she was absolutely certain he was deceiving Percy and misleading her.
She took a second step back, still keeping her cousin’s solid body between her and the male jaguar shifter.
Something stirred in her brain. A strange fluttering, a buzzing, faint at first, and then she felt Luiz pouring into her mind. If she thought he’d felt powerful and dangerous before, feeling him in her mind allowed her to know for certain how lethal he truly was.
Don’t move. I’ll give you all the answers you need when you are safe within the walls of my home. Have no fears, you are safe from Percy, but I wouldn’t want to kill him in front of you. You’re already afraid of me.
She wanted to deny she feared him, but she did. She wanted to like him. To be close to him—her only living relative—but she didn’t get the feeling that connection meant anything to him.
What she should be doing was questioning how he could talk to her telepathically; instead, she tried to relax, to remain calm.
If he was in her head and could read her, shouldn’t she be able to read him?
She might get a real understanding of him as a person.
If she was going to trust him with her safety, she had to know he would look out for her.
Know it. Not just want it because she had a fantasy about having a family.
Percy chose to ignore the threat emanating from Luiz, which in Sarika’s estimation made him arrogant and a little ignorant.
Maybe he had a death wish. As fast as Luiz had moved to prove his point that she wasn’t safe just minutes earlier, she didn’t feel as if Percy had too much of a chance in an all-out fight with her cousin.
“I am Percy Rios,” he introduced himself, once more looking past Luiz’s stocky build to settle on her. “You are?”
“My cousin,” Luiz answered for her. “My family. Under my protection.”
That was as clear a warning as could be possible. Luiz hadn’t withdrawn from her mind, and she felt the utter resolve to keep her safe. The terrible tension in her began to ease.
Percy didn’t look at Luiz; he continued staring at her with that focused, hungry gaze.
He was so locked onto her she feared he would ignore Luiz’s presence and attack her.
In that moment, she felt sorry for all the female shifters the males had done this to, especially if they had no protection.
Percy was driving Luiz’s point home to her.
“Your name?” Percy persisted. “What harm is there for me to know your name? I’m merely attempting to be friends with you.”
Luiz’s movement was subtle, but it was enough to bring Percy’s attention back to him. Those vivid green eyes flecked with gold locked onto his opponent instantly. Sarika’s stomach knotted.
“Why would you want to be friends with my cousin, Percy? I hadn’t noticed you were attempting friendship with me,” Luiz said. “Or is it simply because she’s a woman and you thought it would be easy to acquire her?”
Percy shrugged. “You aren’t the kind of man one has as a friend. Backup in a fight, but not as a friend.”
Sarika had to admit the man wasn’t backing down.
She thought him a little crazy to challenge Luiz—or maybe he was desperate.
Desperation could make people behave in ways that were totally out of character.
She knew the shifter race was dwindling at an alarming rate.
Luiz had just revealed to her that the jaguar males had followed their leader and contributed to the downfall of their race.
Percy switched his attention back to Sarika. “Since Luiz is your cousin and admittedly has no claim on you, I would very much like a chance to get to know you.”
Before she could reply, Luiz did. “I’m very old-fashioned, Percy. My cousin is under my protection and will not be getting to know anyone without my consent.”
“You would stop her from finding a mate?”
Sarika winced at his choice of words. She identified more as human than shifter.
She didn’t like the word mate. Partner was much more to her liking.
She was giving Percy the wrong impression.
She wasn’t submissive, and she certainly didn’t allow others to make decisions for her.
If he was basing their compatibility on her silence, she needed to put a stop to his false impressions.
Don’t speak to him yet, Luiz cautioned. I want you to see his true colors. He will attempt to come around when I am unavailable. I want you to know he is dangerous to you, not just take my word for it.
How do you know for certain? It was surprisingly easy to answer her cousin.
I can read his mind.