The Jaguar Star (Tales of the Were: Jaguar Island Book 4) by Bianca D'Arc (e book reader android .TXT) 📗

a script and he was playing a part. He’d ceased to be Robin to her Marian the moment their lips had met. He was all Ren, and he hoped against hope that Kat was responding to him as Kat and not just because she was a better actress than he’d suspected.

Surely, she felt this amazing chemistry, too? Dear Goddess, what if she didn’t?

Ren felt resolve fill him. If she didn’t feel it now, he would work hard until he made her fall in love with him. No way was he going to let Kat slip through his fingers. Not when he was so sure they were meant to be together.

It had hit him like lightning. A massive bolt of awareness. Of rightness. That first kiss had told him all he’d needed to know. They were meant to be. Simple as that.

And…as complicated as that. There was going to have to be a lot of adjustment and revelation, but he’d find a way. He had to. It was a biological imperative.

They spent an hour or more kissing, as Sonia asked for different camera angles and lighting effects. Ren didn’t mind one bit, and neither, it seemed, did Kat. In between, while the camera or lights were being repositioned, they would chat quietly, getting to know each other’s senses of humor a lot better than they had before.

Ren knew his cat was in his eyes. Kat kept staring at him, mesmerized by the cat’s green glow. He knew it, but he couldn’t stop it. Nor did he want to. She would soon come to learn how the beast lurked beneath his skin and how they were one, even if they didn’t always get along as they should.

There would be no secrets between him and Kat. Not from this day forth. He would take his time, but he’d find a way to reveal all to her. In fact…

“What are you doing this weekend?” he asked as they waited for the camera rig to be repositioned for one of their last takes of the day.

“I was going to go home on Friday, then fly from New York to England on Sunday,” she told him. They were scheduled to start filming in England next week, but they had a weekend off in between.

“A bunch of us are going to Jaguar Island for the weekend. I have a home there, but Mark Pepard has a mansion and has invited us to stay over for a day or two. Have you met Mark before?” he asked, knowing it was unlikely that Kat had ever crossed paths with the reclusive billionaire jaguar Alpha.

“No, I haven’t,” she replied. “I don’t really run in those kinds of circles, you know.”

Ren smiled at her. “You will,” he assured her. “This film is going to shoot you into the stratosphere, and hey, you’re my friend now, and I’m friends with Mark. So, you’re already running in those circles, if you look at it that way.” He tried to come up with points to make her accept the invitation, but he didn’t want to scare her off. “Mark got married recently, and his right-hand man married Sullivan Lane shortly after. They’ll all be there, and most of the cast is going. You should come along.”

“Sullivan Lane?” Kat’s voice held admiration. “I’m a big fan of her work.”

“Well, if you want to meet her in a casual atmosphere, this is your chance,” Ren offered. “There’s plenty of room. Mark owns the entire island. Well, except for my little part of it,” Ren clarified. “I built a home up on the ridge of the dormant volcano that overlooks the ocean. It’s where I plan to retire in a few years.”

“My folks were expecting me to come home for a few days, but I guess it is less travel, all told, if I go to England via Jaguar Island, right?”

Ren grinned, trying to hide his feeling of triumph. He wanted desperately to get her to the island, where he could explain everything to her with his Clan around for support.

He had to admit, he was feeling a bit uncertain about how to break all the news about him and his existence to her. Doing it on an island devoted to his Clan and people seemed like a good idea. If he couldn’t find the right words to tell her about himself, maybe one of the others would take pity and help him out.

And she couldn’t run away. The island was isolated and completely owned by jaguars. If he somehow ended up scaring her, there were plenty of non-magical mates who could help. He’d be the laughingstock of the single men for a while, but he’d suffer any embarrassment if it meant having Kat as his mate for the rest of his life. He’d take all the advice and help he could get from the mated jaguars and let the bachelors laugh if they wanted. He knew having a mate was something every shifter wanted. Ultimately, he would have the last laugh, though he wasn’t mean enough to rub it in.

“Mark is sending a private jet to an airfield near Virginia Beach on Friday. We’re all going to the island as a group, then we’ll take that jet to England on Sunday,” Ren told Kat. “You’re right, though. It is a quicker trip from the island to the U.K. but not so much due to the miles. It’s more the fact that you’ll be on a sleek corporate jet that doesn’t have to sit in line. You’d be in the jet set, well and truly.”

He watched her expressive eyes closely, and he could see she was torn. He wouldn’t push. He still had a few days to get her to agree. The seed had been planted. Now, he just had to wait and see if it would grow.

Sonia signaled action once more, and Ren did his best to kiss Kat senseless. It was hard work, but somebody had to do it.

Kat felt a little dizzy when