A Tiger's Treasure (Tiger Protectors Book 2) (2 page)

“Paperwork, my favorite,” Amy said.

Carter just grinned and led the way to the door.

A
my sighed
as she set aside the vast pile of paperwork that would take all night to complete. Likely, she’d have to leave it half done and come in to finish it early the next morning.

Her body ached from the confrontation with the shifter earlier that evening. She hadn’t expected him to keep coming like that. Even for a shifter, it was an extreme amount of determination. If it hadn’t been for Carter…

Her eyes shifted to the handsome man sitting next to her, studying photos from the crime scene. She was still getting used to him, as he was unlike any other cop she’d been partnered with. Quiet. Workaholic. Never tried to hit on her or say anything inappropriate.

All business, all the time.

Which she guessed was good, because she had goals of her own. Reasons for being here in this department in this city.

But Carter didn’t need to know that.

He was simply a human. An oddly hot, tall, built human with striking green eyes that reminded her of a cat’s, but human all the same. She’d have scented him if he wasn’t.

Still, the speed with which he’d moved tonight… shouldn’t have been possible. But perhaps with all the hours he put in, he was simply that good.

She’d been a little disappointed to be assigned to him when she’d transferred to the department. After all, she knew the cop she was seeking was a shifter. The cop that had ruined her life and destroyed everything she cared about.

So it couldn’t be Carter, and there was a limited amount of info he could help her with.

Still, he was nice. Polite. Hot as hell but seemingly unaware of it.

He’d stay out of her way.

Not that she really wanted him to. As an alpha female wolf and the last of her line, the drive to mate was strong. Eventually, she’d find an alpha male of her kind and settle down to procreate.

But in the meantime, hot fantasies about her partner would have to suffice.

Until she avenged her parents and found their killer.

Carter was frowning as he looked over the crime scene photos of the victim. He played with one in his large, calloused hands, and Amy moved over closer to him to see what he was looking at.

“Carter, it’s just a random killing,” she said, taking the photo out of his hand and putting it down. She knew what he didn’t, that the killer had been a wolf, and wolves sometimes just lost their humanity and wanted to hurt things.

“He was waiting there for us,” Carter said, pursing his perfect lips and shaking his head. His dark, short hair was tousled from running his fingers through it, a sign he’d been working hard. They’d only been together a few weeks, but it was enough for her to know most of his habits and mannerisms.

“Come on. You should head out,” she said, not wanting him to get too suspicious about shifter matters. The shifter community didn’t take well to humans who got too nosy. It was pretty amazing that Carter had gotten this far in a department with multiple shifters, considering he was human.

She sent him a sidelong glance as he moved on to another photo, his huge shoulders hunching as he studied it with narrowed eyes. He had such long lashes. She bit back a sigh as she watched him.

She could stay all night and watch her handsome partner obsess over their cases, but she had bigger fish to fry.

One fish that was coming her way, as it just so happened.

“Hey, Cassidy,” Trent Weinstone said, calling her by her last name as he sidled up to her desk with both hands in his pockets. He had the scent of a wolf, maybe a weak alpha, and worked just a few desks over.

He was one of the men she wanted to look into closer, and he’d been hitting on her for the past few weeks, though she’d been waiting for him to make a move.

“Get lost, Weiner,” Carter grumbled, shoving his pictures away behind a folder and turning all his considerable stature in Trent’s direction.

Trent had the brains to look stymied, but a stubborn muscle clenched in his jaw and he brushed his dirty-blond hair back out of his eyes and gave her a smile. “I was wondering if you wanted to go for a drink, after work.”

Amy forced herself to smile back at him. As a female cop, she was often asked out by officers. It made sense, as police could understand the cop life better than civilians, but she’d found a lot of them were tools.

“I could do that,” she said, which made Carter let out a surprised noise next to her.

“Really?” Trent asked, eyebrows rising. Trent wasn’t a bad-looking guy. He was tall, built like most shifters, though lean like a lot of wolves were. And she knew he could scent the alpha female on her and would find it irresistible.

Wolf shifters were a little unique in that the more alpha blood they had, the more irresistible they were to the other sex.

So it made no sense that she was more attracted to Carter, a human, sitting silently next to her and glaring at Trent, than she was to Trent, a wolf of her kind.

She sighed and started packing her things into various files and shoving them into her drawers. She locked her drawers and started arranging her purse, as Trent went to finish up and promised to be back.

She could feel Carter’s eyes on her the whole time she was getting ready.

“You haven’t finished your paperwork,” he said in a low voice.

She looked up at him, grinning at his too-serious green eyes. His strong jaw was taut with concern.

“Why do I feel like paperwork has nothing to do with this?” she asked.

Carter’s frown just deepened.

“Not all of us can be like you, Carter. All work and no play,” she said.

He seemed to be chewing the inside of his cheek but didn’t have an answer to that.

She pulled her purse onto her shoulder and gave him a smile and a shrug. “I’ll see you tomorrow, partner.”

He let out a pent-up breath. “All right, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Trent came to pick her up, and she walked off with him, looking forward to trying to get information out of him at the bar they were going to.

It was the right move. It was what she wanted.

So why did she feel just a little bit bad leaving Carter behind at the office?

A
half hour later
, at the bar, Amy drew her finger over the rim of her frosty mug as she listened to Trent brag about their latest case. Double homicide, wrapped up in a pretty bow for him and his partner.

Trent was turning out to be slicker than she thought. She’d had to avoid his hand creeping onto her thigh about three times, and he didn’t seem to be getting the message.

“Trent, I’m not interested in dating a cop,” she said, removing his hand with a firm grip for the fourth time.

“Why’d you come out with me, then?” he asked, pouting and downing his second shot of the night.

She propped her legs on a nearby stool. “Sounded fun. Wanted to get out of the office.”

“Right,” Trent said, smacking his lips together as he finished his shot. “You’re with workaholic Carter. Of course you’d need a break.”

She nodded. “He works hard. He’s a good cop, though.”

Trent’s light-brown, nearly yellow, eyes narrowed at that. “I thought you said you didn’t date cops.”

“I don’t,” she said.

Trent shook his head. “Then why do you seem interested in him?”

She picked up her mug and took a gulp to hide her shock. Then she set it down on the table between them, a little too hard. “What makes you think that?” she asked.

“Your eyes,” he said, putting his hands palm down on the table as he leaned slightly forward. “And your scent. You know I can scent you.”

She blinked and then looked down, embarrassed. “I know.”

“So your pheromones surged when you mentioned him,” Trent said. “He’s a human, you know. As an alpha female, you know what a disgrace it would be to mate with him.”

“I don’t intend to mate with him,” she said. “He’s just my partner. Jeez, get your mind out of the gutter.”

“Wolf,” Trent said, grinning. “Can’t blame me for trying. Alpha females are damn rare. Never expected to see one in the police, let alone my department.”

She shrugged. “Well, here I am.”

Trent raised an eyebrow. His sharp, pointed features gave him a look of feral intelligence. As if he could sense things just under the surface. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that this is the department that has dealt with most of the rogue shifter cases of the past decade, would it?”

Damn,
she thought, finishing the rest of her beer. She was supposed to be getting info on him. He wasn’t supposed to be figuring her out.

She set the mug down with a thump and feigned boredom as she leaned back in her chair and looked over at him.

It didn’t matter that they were still in suits from being at the office. This was a bar where a lot of cops went, and people were used to it.

However, it was currently almost empty, except a quiet couple in a corner and the bartender who was currently wiping glasses and paying them no attention except to bring more drinks when Trent waved, as he did now.

“Two more shots,” he said. “And whatever she wants.”

“Another beer,” she said. “And a whisky.”

Trent quirked one side of his mouth. “Interesting.”

“I feel like getting buzzed tonight,” she said, eyeing him curiously to see what he would do next. She wanted to see how predatory he was. A true alpha wouldn’t be interested in making a move on a drunken female.

Trent just shrugged and waited for the drinks.

“So this department deals with a lot of shifter cases?” she asked, trying to sound casual.

But by the keen look in Trent’s eyes, she didn’t think she was fooling him. “I’m sure you know that,” he said. “After all, our current captain is a shifter.”

“And how long have you worked here?” she asked him.

“A little over five years,” he said.

“What’s wrong with this city?” she said. “Just more shifters?”

“Yeah,” Trent said. “A couple big packs were settled here. Less now, though. But there are some underground dealing rings run by shifters, and that draws in others. And you know wolves, all about revenge. So half the time you think you’re done with a case, and then some wolf decides to pop up and avenge his psychopathic family member.”

She swallowed, which was difficult since her throat had tightened at his mention of revenge.

Yes, wolves were tight with their packs. Their families. And she knew revenge wasn’t really the answer. But she couldn’t rest until she knew what had happened.

But she was beginning to think Trent couldn’t give her any answers. He wasn’t the worst guy, but he didn’t know enough. And he was starting to get ideas.

She could scent his pheromones in the air.

“Carter’s been in the department a lot longer than me,” Trent said, waving a hand, clearly starting to get drunk. “That guy has secrets. I don’t trust him, but the captain does.”

“Yeah,” she said, swirling the whisky in circles in her glass. “I get that there’s a lot below the surface with that guy.”

“I think there’s more than meets the eye,” Trent said, leaning in and lowering his voice. “He doesn’t smell like shifter, but…”

“But he acts like one,” she said. “Yeah.”

Trent let out a heavy sigh and sat back on his stool, loosening his tie. “I don’t know. That guy is locked down like a vault. Always has been. Good on cases, though. Just a huge stick up his—”

“Up my what?” A deep voice cut in.

Amy looked up to see Carter standing next to their table, having just walked in. As usual, she hadn’t even scented him. It was odd.

Maybe she was a little buzzed, because the sight of him, buff shoulders pressing against his crisp white shirt, his jacket over one arm, was doing things to her stomach she didn’t like.

“Carter!” Trent said with fake joviality. “Good of you to join us.” He looked around the bar. “Funny, but I never see you here.”

Carter’s expression was firm, implacable. “Tonight, I felt different.”

Amy looked up at him at that and then looked away. His emerald eyes were just too hot. They did funny things to her that made her squirm slightly on her stool.

Trent’s eyes narrowed as he looked between them. Then he put his foot on a stool and pushed it to Carter. “Please, join us.”

Carter nodded and took the stool, looking too big for the table. Somehow, he was bigger than both of them, despite the fact that they were shifters. Oh well, wolves weren’t known for being big. Except for the alpha males, who were ginormous.

Carter waved down the waiter and ordered a scotch on the rocks. Inside that sizzling, mid-thirties body was a grumpy old man. Of course he would have a scotch.

She shared a look with Trent, then turned back to her whisky.

Then she noticed Carter was staring at her. “What?” she asked.

He pursed his lips, which were oddly dark for a man’s. A nice, rich rose color that made their perfect, masculine shape that much more apparent. “You’re drunk,” he said.

“Nah,” she said, waving a hand. “I’ve only had two beers and a shot,” she said. “I’m just tired. Was a big day, you know?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Big arrest?” Trent asked. “I heard the perp was there waiting when you showed up.”

Carter nodded, one finger turning his glass of scotch, which had just been delivered. “Yeah, he went after Amy.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Trent said with a wink.

It earned him a growl from Carter. “Not funny,” he said. “Speaking of which, shouldn’t you get home? You’re looking even worse than Amy.”

Trent shook his head. “I can drink if I want. Heaven knows you need to with this job.”

Carter just gave him a narrow-eyed stare and went back to nursing his scotch.

“I didn’t expect you to come,” she said, waving down the bartender so she and Trent could order another round. Somehow, she felt like she needed to be
more
drunk in order to deal with Carter when he wasn’t at work.

She ordered another whisky and sipped it softly as Trent and Carter passive-aggressively talked about work.

So far, the night was turning out to be a total waste. She hadn’t found out anything she needed to know, and now Carter was… Oh gosh… He was unbuttoning the top button of his shirt and loosening his tie.

Bad idea.

She gulped her whisky down and waved for another. Then she eyed Carter, who was running his hand through his hair, and got an idea.

Carter had been at the precinct a lot longer than Trent. As Trent had said. And he
did
seem to be keeping secrets. And even if he was a human, he wasn’t a normal one. Maybe she’d been going about this the wrong way, trying to get info from everyone else. Maybe all the info she needed was right here.

She nudged Carter’s drink. “Tell you what. You came out, so let’s have some fun. Drinking contest.”

Carter raised a pitch-black eyebrow. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” she said, leaning her cheek on her hand. “Something to do. You in, Trent?”

Trent waved his hands. “Nah, I’m good for tonight. Stick-in-the-butt over here ruined my plans.”

She had only a moment to think about what those plans must have entailed before Trent grinned and leaned in with a kiss to her cheek and then left before Carter could swipe at him.

She watched him walk out into the night, thinking he wasn’t a bad guy. He just wasn’t what she was looking for.

A killer.

“I can’t believe you went out alone with him,” Carter said, putting down his drink. “He’s a snake.”

“He’s okay,” she said. “So how about the contest?”

Carter sighed and looked at her glass. “I think you have a head start on me.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I can hold my liquor.” After all, she was a shifter with a faster metabolism. He wasn’t.

“What’s the point?” he asked. “Getting drunk as possible? A hangover tomorrow?”

Getting information out of you. Learning your secrets.
But she couldn’t say that.

“Loosening up,” she said finally, waving the bartender over. “Forgetting a bad day.”

“All right,” he said reluctantly, rolling up the cuffs of his sleeves cleanly, revealing beautifully sculpted forearms.

She gulped.

“But I decide when this is over, as senior partner,” he said.

“We aren’t at work,” she said. “But fine. You can decide, Mr. Stuffy Pants.”

“I saved your butt today,” he reminded her gently.

She shook her head with a laugh. “You’re still a stuffy pants. Now order our drinks.”

It was his turn to laugh. A deep chuckle that set off something warm in her chest. She felt a flush move into her cheeks.

“All right, Amy,” he said. “I’ll order.”

Damn straight. She needed to get him drunk soon so she could get the information she needed and stop feeling like a blushing idiot around him.

And stop wanting to see him naked.

H
alf an hour later
, Carter suppressed a smile as his rather drunk partner swayed on her stool, gripping both sides to stay on.

He’d only agreed to this to see why she would possibly want him drunk, but now that she was hiccupping cutely and slurring weird things at him, he was beginning to see other benefits to the situation after all.

He knew as a shifter, she’d been expecting to drink him under the table. But he was a tiger, a more powerful, larger shifter than her, with a lightning-fast metabolism.

He gestured for another drink since he wasn’t even buzzed, watching with amusement as she looked up at him blearily, her brown eyes blinking rapidly, as if he wasn’t in focus.

“You were supposed to get drunk first,” she said. “It’s not fair.”

He laughed and slid her half-finished drink out of reach. “And you’ve had too much. I’m cutting you off.”

She drunkenly pushed his drink at him, and an errant curl from her bun fell into her face. “You need to keep drinking. It’s not fair you aren’t drunk yet.”

He couldn’t resist reaching over and pushing the curl back from her face. She gave him a look that was so vulnerable it made his breath catch, and he sat back.

She was dangerous.

He didn’t understand the pull between them. He didn’t know why he seemed to have such an impact on her pheromones or why she seemed to get him going as well.

They were partners. They needed to be professional. Lots of cops dated other cops, but Carter didn’t have time for dating. He worked in a semi-corrupt department where no one knew he was a shifter. The dragons had sent him there to make sure the wolf shifters in the police force weren’t messing with things, and he’d seen some dodgy things over the years.

“You look too good like that,” she mumbled, pointing at his rolled-up sleeves. “You should stop it.”

He grinned, realizing she was an honest drunk. Maybe he should ask her some questions of his own.

He’d only come in the first place to make sure Trent kept his hands off his partner, but now that he was here…

“Why did you want to get me drunk?” he asked, tenting his hands together and leaning his chin on them.

She sighed, wrinkling her button nose. Her full lips pressed together, making his groin tighten painfully. “I had questions for you,” she said. “I’m trying to figure something out.” She put a hand clumsily up to his lips and pressed over them before dropping her hand back to the table. “But it’s a secret. I can’t tell you.”

He grinned and caught her hand, putting it back next to her where she could use it to steady herself if needed.

So far, he’d always seen her as the slightly overeager professional. Independent, tough. But never like this. Drunk, confused, and unless his instincts were off, slightly horny.

“It’s not fair,” she slurred out. “Having a partner like you. I can’t focus.”

He bit his lip to keep from grinning too openly. Even though Carter wasn’t in the market for a relationship, hearing a confession like that from a hot, smart female he had a lot of respect for was flattering. “Thanks for the compliment,” he said.

“It’s not a compliment,” she retorted, scowling. “You need to stop. I have things to figure out.”

He tilted his head and studied her. “You need to be careful who you get drunk with,” he said. “You’re way too honest like this.”

“I never get drunk,” she said, waving her hand around drunkenly. “But you… called for desperate measures.” She narrowed red eyes at him. “Why aren’t you drunk yet? Who are you, Superman?” She shook her head. “And the way you tossed that perp into the wall earlier. It’s not normal.”