The hyena was tenacious. Casey had to give him that. But he didn’t really stand a chance against a huge, dominating lion, did he?
Casey felt a tingle between her legs, clamping down her thighs to keep it from running rogue through her body. Something about seeing Jake being so strong, so protective of her, made her want him deeply.
The hyena desperately tried to latch its mouth onto the lion’s neck, but Jake easily batted him away like an annoying fly. The hyena was clearly getting frustrated but kept at it like a toddler trying to dunk a basketball.
Jake was getting annoyed also, so he struck the feral creature hard in the face, protruding some of his nails and leaving three thin lines of trailing blood along the hyena’s face.
The hyena stumbled backward, snarled, and looked down at the pool of blood forming at its feet. The two animals seemed to look at each other with Jake’s magical blue eyes shimmering with a warning.
The hyena began to scamper away with a few men picking up his clothes and disappearing into a bush on the edge of the parking lot.
“Booo!” some of the spectators yelled at the hyena, having not received the proper show they had tuned in for. The rest clapped and laughed, then began filtering back into the bar.
But Casey remained, looking down at the drops of blood that led into the bush and were swallowed by the darkness. She spotted what remained of Jake’s clothing and picked it up for him as he settled into a sitting position.
She had known about shifters and, of course, knew that Jake was one too. But she had never seen a man turn into an animal right in front of her eyes. It was both shocking and dazzling, almost transcending the line between reality and magic.
Her heart danced in her chest as Jake looked her in the eye, motioning with his big head away from the exposing glow of the streetlight.
Casey followed him to the privacy of shadows near their car, as he would, of course, be naked once he shifted back. Once they were alone, she held out his clothing and looked away.
Her heart picked up the pace as she heard bones crack and a tiny wail of what sounded like agony. When she looked up, Jake was human again, pinning what remained of his suit to his crotch area.
His smile was beaming, and Casey couldn’t help giving him one back.
“You ruined a perfectly fine suit,” she muttered.
Jake couldn’t stop smiling and shrugged. “I’ve got loads more,” he replied. “It was all worth it to shut that fucker up, even for a little while.”
Casey felt herself blushing and turned away while Jake pulled up his ripped pants. He looked amusing like he had cut his expensive dress pants into boy shorts without a care.
When she looked back at him, she was leaning on her palm, covering up the grin that just wouldn’t fade.
Jake found the keys in his torn pants, then clicked the button so the red and blue light grazed over their bodies. He raised an eyebrow at Casey as he opened the passenger’s door.
“You really didn’t mind that, did you?” he said.
Casey tilted her head to the side, then held out her palm to him. “I’m driving,” she said. “I read that some shifters get disoriented after a battle. We don’t want too much excitement in one evening now, do we?”
Jake’s smirk was handsome and beyond sexy. He dropped the keys into her hand as she strolled around the car to the driver’s seat. She knew that he was watching her ass swing back and forth, and she adored that sensation of power she had over him.
He sat in the passenger's seat, and before she could turn the engine on, he touched her hand at the ignition. Casey gazed up at him, feeling the heat of his bare skin pressing against her own.
“You don’t, do you?” he asked firmly.
Casey tried to look away, but it wasn’t possible. His eyes were mesmerizing. “I think he had it coming,” she said, playing with the ignition. “Guys like that deserve to be put in their place.”
Jake leaned back in the seat as she started the car, feeling his eyes on her the entire time. She began to pull out of the parking lot, then realized she had no idea where they were going.
“Can you put the directions in?” she asked, letting the car sit for a moment. “I don’t know where you plan on taking me.”
Jake leaned forward and pressed a button on the dash labeledHome.
Casey felt her entire body flush red, and she clutched the steering wheel to keep herself together.
“It’s about an hour's drive,” Jake said, still staring at her from her peripheral vision.
Casey pulled out of the parking lot and followed the GPS instructions. It was only a turn or two and then one long road out into the country. She could feel Jake’s eyes on her the entire time, but not in an intimidating way.