The Jaguar Prince by Karen Kelley

form. That was his world, and she wanted no part of it.
    She showered, then dressed, before going to the other room. “I’ll need a ride to work,” she said. He’d changed clothes. He must have gone on his own little shopping spree with his counterfeit money.
    He didn’t say anything. Just walked to the door.
    The silent treatment?
    “I’m…I’m sorry that I’m not what you were wanting,” she told him as guilt flooded her.
    He turned around, his expression puzzled. “Not what I wanted?”
    He ambled over to where she stood. She swallowed hard, looking everywhere but at him. He raised her chin and forced her to meet his gaze.
    “Not what I wanted? How can you say that? You’ve been everything I could imagine. I love watching the changes happening in you. I love when you laugh. I love mating with you.” He lowered his head, his lips brushing against hers before he deepened the kiss.
    Heat flared inside her. He slid his hand down her back, cupping her butt, pulling her closer to his need. His tongue stroked hers, then sucking. Her pleasure centers exploded. She wanted him, she needed him. He pulled away, looking as shaken as she felt.
    “That…that won’t change my mind. I still won’t go with you,” she said.
    “Then I’ll stay just long enough to tell you the story of our beginning.”
    Would he really do that? Tell her the Symtarian history, then leave, letting her live her life as if nothing had happened? She studied his face, not quite trusting him.
    “And you won’t speak again about me leaving with you?”
    “If that is what you want.”
    “It is.”
    He opened the door and she walked outside, feeling as though she was entering into another phase of her life.
    “But it doesn’t mean that we won’t mate again,” he said.
    Oh, she was counting on that, but she chose to keep her thoughts to herself. This was all too new.
    Rogar dropped her off in front of the employee entrance, and promised he would have her car back by the time she got off work, then he ground the gears as he shifted, and pulled away.
    She felt torn about going inside. For a moment, she wanted to chase after him. That was crazy, of course. She might be part alien, but as she’d already told him, the other half was Earthling, and she planned on sticking with what she knew.
    She clocked in and went straight to Sheba’s cage. She just wanted to stop by for a few minutes. Sort of anchor herself to where she really belonged, but she would need to hurry.
    “Hiya, Pete,” she said. Pete was just closing the gate to Sheba’s empty cage.
    “Hey, Callie. You just missed Sheba. I’ve already turned her out into the pit.”
    “I was hoping I would get here before you did.”
    “Running late this morning?”
    “Car trouble,” she said without going into detail.
    “Bummer.”
    “Yeah.”
    He strolled over to where she stood. “I heard you were around when the guy jumped down into the pit to save that kid. Man, I would’ve given my left…” He cleared his throat. “I mean, I would’ve given just about anything to have seen that. They say he was a hero, and he had Sheba acting like a spoiled housecat.”
    “That pretty much sums it up.” Even though she was a little irked that Sheba had taken to Rogar so quickly, Callie couldn’t stop the warm fuzzies from tickling her belly. Not that she had a right to feel pride in what Rogar had done. It wasn’t as though she and Rogar were an item or anything. They’d mated—she frowned—they’d made love once. Yes, she liked him well enough, but that was as far as their relationship went. When he returned to his own planet…
    Wow, it was really hard getting used to the fact he was indeed an alien, but she knew it was true.
    “That’s what we need,” Pete said, and she realized she’d been lost in thought.
    “What do we need?”
    He brushed his hand through his unkempt hair. “Someone like him working with the cats. Maybe he could even do something with Sheba. Like walking