Tempted by the Jaguar #4: Infiltration (Riverford Shifters) Read Online Free Page A

recovering somewhere other than a hospital or
even the family home. A few Elders from both the Riverford and Parker Grove
wolf clans are with him right now, and they want to talk face-to-face. I’m not
sure they would appreciate me bringing extra people, particularly someone as
high-profile as you.”
    Her shoulders sagged. Damn, but she couldn’t really argue with that.
“Fine. You win.”
    Hunter grinned before leaning over to give her a firm kiss. “I know
sitting around sucks, but I really do think it’s best that you stay here
tonight. Just be sure to lock the door behind me, and don’t open it to anyone
other than me or Maxim.”
    She nodded. “As long as you’re going out, can you do something for me?”
    “Maxim’s people already brought you and your father’s bags from Karen’s
house if that’s what you’re asking,” Hunter said. “They’re in the room we just
left. I can—”
    “That wasn’t what I was going to ask, but that’s good to know,” Kylie
interjected. “I’d like you to pick up a different bag, the one I left wrapped
in a trash bag in your guestroom’s closet.”
    He looked at her sharply. “You mean the one swimming in your ‘come fuck
me now’ pheromones? Why in the world would you even want me to go near it?”
    Kylie smiled at him sheepishly. “Because of what I hid inside. Given
the deep shit I’m in right now, I think it would be dangerous not to have it
from now on.”
    Hunter frowned. “A gun?” he guessed.
    “A good idea probably, but no. It’s a br—”
    Three successive sharp knocks on the door had both of them freezing,
before Hunter barked out as he scrambled off the bed, “Yes?”
    “Oh, good, you’re here,” Donald Gaither’s unmistakable voice called
through the door a split-second before it opened.
    Kylie felt a brief moment of relief that they were both fully clothed
except for their shoes and Hunter was off the bed. Neither one had thought to
lock the door after Maxim had left. She did her best to school her expression
to something polite and benign as the Elder’s gaze swept the room before
landing squarely on her. The last thing they needed was this man to catch wind
of their relationship.
    “Hello again, Kylie,” Gaither said. “I was hoping we could speak for a
moment.”
    “Hello,” she replied, trying her best to sound friendly and at the same
time not to fidget under his unblinking gaze.
    “Not now, Gaither,” Hunter said shortly as he bent to gather Kylie’s
sneakers from the floor. “We were just on our way out to go pick up some of
Kylie’s father’s things from his house before it gets too late. I think we can
both agree that it would be best that they both stay here for at least the next
few days.”
    Thinking it best to let him do the talking, Kylie accepted her shoes
without a word and began putting them on. She had to struggle to keep from
smirking as she watched the two men. It was starting to look as though she
wouldn’t have to stay behind after all.
    “There’s no need for both of you to go,” Gaither insisted. “I can stay
here with Kylie. It’ll give us a chance to talk about a few things.”
    Yeah—she really didn’t want to be alone with this man given the
grilling she had endured the last time she had seen him.
    Thinking fast, Kylie said, “Um—sorry but my father’s security system
needs a thumbprint to deactivate, so I have to go.”
    “Then I’m afraid I’ll have to insist on you going in the morning,”
Gaither said, “maybe when more of us can accompany you. For now, I’d like you
both to accompany me to one of the conference rooms where a few of the other
Elders of our clan are waiting. As this is the first instance in a long time
that we have definitive proof of a lion actually infiltrating the city and
attacking one of our own, there is much we need to discuss.”
    “I will, but after I go to my father’s house,” Kylie replied
stubbornly just as Hunter opened his mouth to probably