Vision Revealed (3 page)

honor though. Maybe it was growing older that made her care more about herself. For

years she took her title for granted, ran hard to protect her kind and played even harder.

The unsettling realization she was the one leopard who could truly protect and save her

own from inevitable extinction had a lot to do with where she was now. Not many

leopards would view destroying their own litter as an honorable thing to do. Jin knew

otherwise.

Stumbling into a human motel, she wasn’t surprised at the looks the human behind the

counter gave her. She knew she looked like shit.

“How’s it going?” she asked the young human female.

“Good afternoon. What can I do for you?” The human was disgusted by Jin but smiled

pleasantly. Humans were so strange, making a show of appearing one way when they

smelled another. Just one of their many weaknesses.

“My car broke down on the highway,” she offered, taking advantage of the female’s

inability to smell her lie. “I’m going to need a room for the night.” Jin made a show of

looking down her body. “And obviously I need a hot shower. Do you offer room

service?”

“Yes, we do.” The human moved to her computer. “I need a major credit card,” she

added without ceremony.

Humans didn’t have a lot of association with any species other than their own, but that

didn’t mean this motel wouldn’t communicate with leopards if they were questioned. Jin

preferred keeping her identity to herself until she’d done what she had to do.

“I’d prefer to pay with cash, if that’s okay.”

“That’s fine.” The human female didn’t look up from her computer. “I’ll still need the

credit card just for incidentals.”

Jin pulled her wallet out of her coat jacket. Her backpack, with her purse and several

changes of clothes, was strapped to her back, and she didn’t want to undress just to make

a show of owning a purse.

The female frowned, her scent turning rather sour when she stared at the bills Jin held

out to her. “There won’t be any incidentals,” Jin told her, smiling easily. “I just need the

room for the night while I get my car fixed.”

“I’m not allowed to reserve a room without a major credit card,” the human explained.

Jin didn’t want to make a big deal out of her personal predicament. If the human were

questioned, she would offer any information Jin shared with her right now. Humans

intimidated so easily.

“I won’t use my credit card. I have my reasons. Please. I have the cash and I really need

a room.”

“There you are,” the male who trailed her in the woods said, a grin on his face as he

appeared around the corner. “I told you I’d have a tow truck to the car if you waited with

it.”

The human looked and smelled noticeably relieved when the male strolled up to the

counter.

“I’ve already got our room.” He patted the counter and winked at the female behind the

counter. “Good girl for not taking her cash,” he told her, lowering his voice to a growl

that made the human blush. Her embarrassment and slight curiosity stunk. He turned to

Jin, putting his arm around her and escorted her from the desk. “Oh sweetheart, what did

you do to your ankle?”

Before she could answer, he swept her off her feet, hugging her against his rock-hard

body. He walked to the elevator, pushed the button and entered when the doors

immediately slid open.

“Put me down,” she snapped, slapping at him the moment they were enclosed in the

elevator.

Jin cringed, overly aware of every muscle in his body as she slid down him. She pressed

her hand against his chest, needing to put distance between herself and that virile body.

Roped muscle twitched against her chest. The elevator filled with the ripe, provocative

smell of lust.

“God damn it,” she hissed, leaning against the hard, cold wall while the elevator moved

between floors. She hated elevators, hated them with a passion. The overwhelming

sensation of being confined in a cage had her closing her eyes. Even then, her personal

fear didn’t drown out the sweet, rich aroma she knew came off her as much as it did him.

This male was dangerously good-looking, the best she’d laid eyes on in quite a while. “I

can’t have this,” she told him. “I can’t have you. You don’t know who I am.”

“I’m going to find out.” His calm baritone appealed to her and irritated her at the same

time.

“You can’t find out,” she said, her voice cracking.

The elevator chimed as it hit the third and top floor and the doors slid open. Jin lunged

out of the elevator, but the male was by her side before she saw him move. Once again he

wrapped his arm around her, hugging her against too much steel muscle. Even through

the oversized winter coat hanging on her and her backpack strapped over her shoulders

she felt how powerful he was, and how warm.

His scent was like breathing in a scrumptious full-course meal after living off bread and

water. Jin fought to keep her thoughts straight and not let the pain in her ankle and the

male body next to her mess with her mind.

She was here for one reason. After she met with the other hunters, she would disappear.

The Jin Rose the world knew would never be seen again.

“Here you go, little female,” he said, using his free hand that wasn’t draped over her

shoulder to slide a card and unlock the motel room door.

Jin entered the room, immediately aware of his scent everywhere.

“I’m Kane Masters,” he offered as the motel room door clicked closed behind him.

He let go of her but then grabbed her coat, causing it and her backpack to slip from her

shoulders before she could turn and grab a hold of them.

“No,” she snapped, trying to keep the bulky thing wrapped around her as she twisted

away from him.

She stepped on her foot wrong and pain arched through her body, instantly making her

eyes water. Jin stumbled to the side, deciding in favor of not falling on her ass instead of

saving her coat and bag. Kane held on to her personal possessions as her arms slid out of

her coat and she slapped her palms against the bed to balance herself. Plopping down on

it, with her feet hanging off the side, she pulled her damaged ankle up and began working

her boot off her foot.

“What poor human lost his coat?” he asked, tossing it and her backpack on the dresser

next to the TV.

“I don’t know. I picked it up at a thrift store.” It hurt even more sliding out of her boot,

but enduring it helped clear her head. She yanked off her sock and stared at the swelling

and discoloration around her ankle.

“You’re damn lucky you didn’t break it.” Kane stood facing her, his arms crossed over

his barrel chest. A hint of the outdoors still lingered around him, adding to his masculine

scent. Otherwise though, his lustful scent, or any other emotion, was no longer detectable.

He was right. But she wouldn’t have sprained it if she weren’t running from him.

Pointing that out after he managed to get her into a room where she could hopefully clean

up and then escape his claws seemed futile.

“You didn’t tell me your name,” he said.

Jin stood, hobbling with one boot on and one off. She balanced her weight on her good

foot. With Kane now leaning against the side of the entertainment center, she met his

gaze head on. “My name isn’t important. You honor me by allowing me into your motel

room.” She wouldn’t say den since this was a human building. “If you don’t mind, I’ll

shower and then be out of your hair.”

Kane didn’t answer her. Instead, studying her face, silver streaks appeared in his pale

blue eyes. His light blond hair was short but bordered his hard, broad cheekbones

perfectly. He was incredibly sexy, and even relaxed, all that roped muscle looked

dangerous as hell. Jin never hesitated messing with danger when the circumstances

demanded it. But she knew in the close confines of a human motel, he could kill her and

she wouldn’t be able to stop him.

Her heart started thudding in her chest the longer she met his gaze until finally she

focused on his arms, which were crossed against his chest. The view didn’t help soothe

the growing heat smoldering deep inside her. If she didn’t quit dwelling on all of his

packed muscle, she would fill the motel room with a scent she knew he’d respond to.

“Have your eyes always been that color?” he asked.

Jin blinked. He knew who she was. Even without the disguise she’d lived in for years,

somehow he recognized her. She reached down and grabbed her boot and sock and then

picked up her coat and backpack before limping to the door. “Never mind. I’ve got to

go.”

His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her backside against his body. She fought to

hold on to her things when roped muscle twitched as heat from his body made her flesh

sizzle.

“Little female, I’ve seen you in my visions,” he whispered into her hair.

Jin froze, her heart swelling into her throat. He lifted her, turning her around so her back

pressed against the door with him inches away from her. When he gripped her chin,

forcing her head back so he could study her face some more, she was sure he’d feel her

blood pulsing furiously through her veins.

Kane raised his hand and she flinched, hating the fear that suddenly made it damn

difficult to breathe. He ripped her stocking cap from her head, causing her hair to fall to

her shoulders. She probably looked worse than she had in ages, but the way he took in

her appearance, Jin doubted he was checking her out as a possible conquest.

“Your hair was black,” he said, his soft baritone doing nothing to soothe her growing

trepidation.

She wasn’t sure she could put all her emotions in check fast enough before he’d smell

the truth on her. Jin had been in some nasty situations before, and she lived through them.

Somehow she would get through this too. He was inches from her, cupping her chin and

watching, searching for her reaction. Did somehow the other hunters already know she

was tracking them? Was this male—Kane Masters—sent to bring her in?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kane let go of her chin, backing away from her quickly as if she’d just burned him.

“What are you hiding, little female?”

Jin smiled, needing to appear confident. “Many things, male.”

“One thing you aren’t hiding,” he began, facing her and keeping her trapped in the

narrow entryway into the motel room, “is that you’re in trouble.”

“Nothing I can’t take care of.”

“I’m going to help you.”

“Now why would you want to do that?” She didn’t glance toward the bathroom door, but

if she moved quickly, she could hurry in there and possibly get the door closed and

locked before he could stop her. Granted, he could break down the door, but it was a

better shot than trying to run out of the motel room. She didn’t doubt for a moment he’d

grab her and haul her back inside.

“Visions don’t lie, little female.” He crossed his arms over that muscular chest of his and

narrowed his pale blue eyes on her. “Go take that shower of yours. When you’re done,

you’re going to tell me about yourself.”

“There’s nothing to tell.” She needed that shower desperately. Although after running in

her fur for days and then walking in her skin, the smells on her possibly helped hide the

smell of her lie.

He narrowed his gaze on her and pressed his lips into a thin line. Although he was hard

to sniff out, a faint spicy aroma drifted toward her. She’d pissed him off.

“You’re going to tell me what you are up to,” he growled. “You’re unmated and running

alone, and for whatever reasons, you’ve changed your appearance. Now go shower

before I take you in there and bathe you myself.”

Kane moved to the closed bathroom door, placing his fingers against the wood while

listening to the shower water spray. The female showering in there was from his visions.

It would be mighty convenient if his visions appeared to him in some kind of

chronological order, or if what he smelled in them were clearer. He knew the feel of her

bare flesh, of how her hair felt like silk between his fingers, and the taste of her sweet,

smooth pussy. When he fucked her in his visions though, there was never a clear picture

of her face. The only reason he knew he was dealing with the same female as the one

he’d seen with coal black hair was her enticing aroma. It was unique, captivating, and it

called to him unlike any other female he’d ever known.

Growling, he leaned his forehead against the door, picking up on the smell of the

shampoo and soap she was applying to her body. Her hair might not be black and her

eyes no longer a piercing green, but he’d guessed already that wasn’t her natural look. He

wasn’t sure he’d seen her naturally yet.

His hand was on the doorknob, turning it before he realized his actions. There wasn’t any

keeping him away from her. Kane didn’t have it figured out yet, but for some reason she

was supposed to be with him.

None of your visions show you doing her in the shower.He ignored the grumble in his

head. His visions didn’t show him everything.

The hard metal in his hand disappeared and for a moment the sensation of stumbling

forward, making an awkward appearance and an ass out of himself, created a burn from