A Tiger's Treasure (Tiger Protectors Book 2) (4 page)

Carter took another step forward, his eyes flicking to her as if to tell her everything would be okay. Then he focused on the man in front of him. “I’m a cop. This is my partner.”

Blake frowned. “Of course you are,” he said. “That’s what
they
would want from you, isn’t it? Are you their good little kitty?” he snarled.

“It’s what I want,” Carter retorted in a low voice. “And it’s my duty. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“You don’t know anything,” Blake spat angrily, wiping his mouth with one hand.

Amy guessed under certain circumstances, Blake could be called handsome. But right now, as someone who had threatened her and been paired with a man that presumably had wanted to kidnap her, all she could see him as was dangerous.

“Amy, are you okay?” Carter called.

“Forget about her,” Blake said. “If you want her, you’ll have to go through me.”

Carter sighed. “For Pete’s sake, Blake. Let’s not do this.”

“I have to do this,” Blake said. “I have orders.”

Carter’s eyes narrowed and his hands clenched into fists. “Orders from who? So you derided us for working for the dragons, but you’ve just gone and found yourself another taskmaster?”

“One I chose,” Blake sneered. “Unlike you and your brainwashed brothers.”

Carter stood up a little straighter. “The only one who’s brainwashed is you. And I’m done talking about this. I don’t want to fight you, but for my partner, I will.”

“Good,” Blake said. “Because I’ve been wanting to do this for a while.”

Carter shrugged out of his jacket and then began to unbutton his shirt. Amy’s mouth gaped open as the other man did the same.

“Wait, will someone tell me what the hell is going on?” she yelled, taking a few steps back from the men.

“We’re tigers,” Blake said, flashing feral fangs at her as he began to shift, stripes forming on his skin as his face changed shape. “And we’re going to fight for you.”

Amy looked at Carter in shock, but he was already transforming.

Into the biggest, stripy, most beautiful cat she’d ever seen in her life.

His green eyes were apologetic as he gave her a small glance, and then he charged at Blake, the tiger in front of him.

She held back a scream as the two cats flew across the floor in a blur.

Then she recovered her wits. She needed to figure out a way to help Carter.

C
arter rolled
across the concrete with the tiger form of a man he’d once known as a child, a teen.

He’d been trained to work with the dragons as well, but he’d never seemed to adjust to the situation, always arbitrary and mean, never wanting to trust.

And then one day, as an older teen, he’d just been gone. Carter and his brothers had tried to make him feel a part of things, but had never been able to.

He slashed at Blake with his claws and teeth, trying to gain the upper hand as they wrestled. He got his back legs forward and kicked off the other tiger and stood up.

“So it comes to this,” Blake snarled, circling in his tiger form, panting from exertion. “Brother against brother.”

“You aren’t my brother,” Carter said. “Though, I wanted you to be.”

Blake bowed his head slightly, then glared up at Carter. “You know what I mean. Tigers. Superior to the other shifters. You shouldn’t be bowing to wolves. Protecting them. Working for them.”

Carter ignored him. The dragons were over all shifters, and he worked directly for them. It did make him wonder who Blake was working for, though.

The next second, Blake lunged, fangs out, and Carter reached out with one heavy paw to claw his face to the side and knock him down. Blake’s back feet kicked out, trying to keep Carter off, but Carter reached in with his teeth, sinking them into Blake’s neck.

Blake howled and then dug both sets of claws into Carter’s face, making Carter release but pull back to strike him across the face with his paw. Then they locked against each other again and rolled over the concrete, huffing and growling.

A metallic click of a weapon being cocked made them both look over abruptly, pausing with their claws digging deep into each other.

Amy had her gun trained on them. She met Carter’s eyes and moved her aim toward the tiger beneath him. When they’d been fighting, it had probably been hard for her to figure out who had the upper hand.

Pride surged through him. His partner was one of a kind.

Blake released him and backed up, snarling. Then he ducked behind a nearby car.

“
P
ut your hands up
,” Amy said. “Come out where I can see you.”

Blake stood, raising his hands, naked from the waist up, as he’d only been able to put on pants. He looked at her for a moment and then slowly lowered his hands. There was a feral, restrained look in his yellowed eyes. He walked toward her, and she backed up slightly, and Carter bared his teeth, ready to attack.

“I can see when I’m outnumbered,” he said, bending to pick up the unconscious man at his feet, who Amy had knocked out earlier. He glared down at the man. “This is why wolves are worthless.”

“He’s no alpha,” Amy said, unable to refrain from defending her kind. The male she had knocked out had been nowhere near the pinnacle of her species.

“It doesn’t matter,” Blake said darkly, a smirk on his face. “A wolf will never be a match for a tiger.” He started backing away from them as both Carter and Amy watched.

Amy knew the gun she had trained on him, which she’d grabbed from his partner, might not stop a powerful shifter. She hated to let them go, but the most important thing was for her and Carter to get out of this safely.

So they could go talk. There was a lot she wanted to ask him.

“I’m going for now,” Blake said quietly. “But watch your back.”

“I always do,” Carter growled as Blake suddenly disappeared into the darkness of the garage.

Amy was confident he wouldn’t be back. Not for now.

She’d never seen the animal in Carter, but she was seeing it now. Even as he shifted back into a gloriously naked and muscled man, there was a ferocity about him that almost seemed to glow. When he was dressed, he turned to her with a serious look.

“Looks like you’re coming to my place,” he said.

She shrugged. “Looks like it.”

He walked forward, straightening his tie. “You all right?”

She nodded. “I’m sorry he got away. I wasn’t sure bullets would do anything, and I didn’t want you hurt.”

“I was winning,” Carter said with a smirk, taking her arm in his, helping her feel steady.

“I could tell, once I saw your eyes. My problem was I didn’t know which was which,” Amy said.

“I don’t blame you,” Carter said. “To be honest, I’m glad you stopped it. I had no desire to kill him, and at least we know who we’re dealing with. I don’t know what to make of him being here. I used to know him. He wasn’t bad.” Carter shook his head. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No,” Amy said. “Despite his harsh words, it was the other man who was threatening.”

“I don’t know why he’s doing this,” Carter said. “None of this makes any sense. Why are they after you?”

“Why are you a shifter, yet I can’t smell you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He laughed as they walked out of the garage. He was parked a little farther away, on the street. The air was cool, and despite the darkness, she felt one hundred percent safe with Carter around.

How things had flipped in the past hour or so. Before that, he’d been a human, inexplicably strong but fragile. Someone she needed to protect. Now he was a tiger, apparently stronger than her kind.

Carter opened the door to his car for her, and she didn’t protest. She merely sank into the buttery leather seat and buckled up so he could drive.

“Do you need to get anything at your place?” he asked.

“I need some stuff, but I don’t think it’s safe to go there,” she said.

“Good point,” Carter agreed, looking ruffled as he turned out onto the main street.

“That really shook you up, didn’t it?” she asked, looking at him.

He eyed her sideways. “Yeah. I mean, I didn’t plan to show you my tiger. It’s strictly forbidden, you know? And I didn’t plan to see Blake, another tiger. We’re really rare. And I didn’t plan to get a text from you, needing help.” He gripped the wheel. “I think that’s what scared me most of all.”

“So you’ve always known I’m a shifter, then?” she asked.

He nodded. “What do you know about cat shifters?”

They pulled up in front of his place, and he helped her out. She felt slightly wobbly as her feet hit the sidewalk in front of his apartment complex. She looked up at it. Red brick. Spartan and plain. She’d wondered what Carter’s place would be like.

He’d dropped her off a few times, but she’d never dropped him off.

He took out his keys and led the way up the stairs, waiting for her to answer his previous question about cat shifters.

“Um, not much,” she said. “I guess I’d heard they exist maybe. Then again, I’ve heard a lot of things. Now I’ve even heard about dragons.” She glanced at him, and he nodded.

“Shouldn’t be the first time,” he said. “By far, the most common offender dragons have to deal with is wolves. Though, cats have been getting restless lately.” He let them into the front entrance and led her to an elevator and pressed the up button.

“Are all cats tigers?”

“Oh, no,” he said. “There are lions, mountain lions. Other cats. The thing is cat shifters can only be scented by other cats.”

“And what about tigers?” she asked. “Why are they rare?”

Carter hesitated as he pressed the button to his floor and the elevator started moving up with a slight lurch. “There’s a lot I can’t tell you. In fact, there’s a lot you shouldn’t even know. Let’s get safely up to my place and I’ll tell you what I can.” He pursed his lips and his green eyes darkened slightly as his brows lowered. “And I’m going to need you to tell me why someone would be after you.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but he put up a hand.

“I know something is going on,” he said. “I’ve felt it for a while. Sometimes you seem distracted. Or super motivated. I want to know everything if we’re truly going to be partners.”

She wasn’t sure they even
should
be partners. Not with how attracted she was to him. Not with the fact that she’d already gotten him into trouble. Not with the fact that she was a wolf and he was a tiger, and they’d never be a good match. As Blake had said, for different reasons.

But she kept her mouth shut until they got to his room. He was right. Someone was after her, and right now, the safest place for her was right here.

He held the elevator doors open and walked out behind her, then led the way to a door at the end of the hall. The carpet was dilapidated and the doors were old and marked with cracks.

Not where she would have pictured him living. He stopped at the end door, painted black with numbers in chipped, plated brass, and put his key in the door to unlock it.

She took a breath as he opened the door and led her inside.

It was beautiful.

Well, it was beautiful in the way he was beautiful. She took it all in as he shut the door behind them and started turning on lights. Silver accents glittered around the apartment, from the stainless steel appliances to the light fixtures. The curtains and drapes in front of closed blinds were a silvery white, and the carpet was a light taupe.

The whole apartment had a light, sparse feel to it. She took off her shoes so as to not leave marks, but he didn’t seem bothered by it. He walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and pulled out a bottle of wine. Then he grabbed two glasses and set them on the island, which was made of granite.

The whole place was a little high-end for a cop. Especially given the dingy surroundings.

She had a pretty nice place too, thanks to the money she’d inherited upon her parents’ deaths. But it was in a nice area and just fairly nice all around.

This looked like a scene from a modern housing magazine, but hidden inside one of the dodgier apartment complexes in the city.

“If you can make it this nice, why do you live here?” she asked, turning in a circle to view the apartment.

The granite shimmered as he moved the glasses under the bottle and poured them both wine.

“I like to stay low key,” he said. “I don’t want to draw attention. But I like nice things as much as anyone.”

“More,” she said, sitting on a hand-carved stool with a wrought iron back. “So these dragons, do they pay you in addition to the city?”

He nodded, picking up his wine glass and gesturing for her to do the same.

She did, gulping down her glass quickly. She needed a little calm after the day she’d had. Nearly being abducted. Finding out her partner was a tiger shifter. Finding out tigers existed.

Watching a tiger fight.

It had been ferocious and kind of hot, but her first concern had been for her partner.

“What do you think?” he asked, holding up the bottle.

“It’s wine,” she said. “Sorry, I’m not really a connoisseur.”

“It’s fine,” he said with a shrug. “I’m not either. I don’t really drink much. But I thought you could use one at the end of a day like this.”

He walked past her and into the living room and flopped on the couch, loosening his tie and resting his head back on the pillow. “Make yourself at home.”

She nodded hesitantly. Then she poured herself a second glass, downed it, and stood to join him in the living room.

Damn, she could make out the top of his muscles where his shirt was slightly undone. His hair was rumpled, his clothing mussed. She wasn’t used to seeing him all messy like this.

She liked it.

As she sat on a plush chair across from him, he sat up with a groan.

“Sorry,” he said. “I don’t shift often, so it tires me out. Not a lot of places you can run around safely as a tiger.”

She nodded. That was true.

“So tell me who’s after you,” he prompted. “And why.” His handsome face relaxed as he leaned into the couch, but his eyes were sharp and aware, his jaw tensed.

She fidgeted. “I honestly don’t know,” she said. “I swear I don’t know who those men are.”

“Then what are you hiding from me?” he said. “I know you’ve been keeping secrets.”

“I knew you were too,” she snapped.

He shrugged. “Well, you know mine now. So tell me yours. I like to think I’ve proven trustworthy by now.”

She nodded. Even though her brain was slightly nervous because if he was a shifter, then he could in fact be who she was looking for, a part of her just knew Carter couldn’t do something like that. Murder someone in cold blood. She’d never known him to be anything but honorable.

“I… came to the precinct with ulterior motives,” she said, twisting her hands nervously. “I told you I became a cop after the disappearance and presumed murder of my parents, but I didn’t tell you it was this precinct that handled their case. About ten years ago.”

Carter’s face went blank. “Wait, so you’ve been investigating us?”

“No,” she said. “I’ve been investigating the case. But there are huge holes. Someone has messed with the file.”

Carter folded his arms. “And you’ve been looking at it.”

She nodded. Why did he have to look so handsome when he was serious?

He rolled up the cuffs of his shirt and then grunted and stood. “I’m going to change. You want something soft to get into?”

She flushed at the implication, but he just tilted his head, waiting for her response. Nerves ripped through her, and she shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”

He sensed her hesitation, though. “I’ll bring you pajamas.” Then he disappeared down the hallway and into another room. She heard rustling and just waited for him to come back.

When he did, she had to keep her jaw from dropping. He wore a loose, thin sleep tee that grazed all his perfect muscles and left his arms almost completely bare. They were long, roped with muscle, with fine wrists and beautiful, deft hands.

She swallowed as she took the pile of clothing he held out to her. She guessed it couldn’t hurt to get more comfortable, even if she could sense Carter’s eyes on her as she took the clothing and hurried to the nearest door that looked like a bathroom.

When she was in, she shut the door behind her. What was wrong with her? She was supposed to be focusing on the case, not thinking about how hot it was to be alone with him in his apartment.

This was the kind of thing that should stay in her messed-up fantasies about him that she’d been having ever since she’d been assigned as his partner. Nothing between them should happen. But she was feeling more and more of her wolf trying to take control.