A Tiger's Treasure (Tiger Protectors Book 2) (6 page)

“Oh, Carter.” She gasped, as another wave hit, the last, and she felt her body go limp against the bed, and he leaned over her. He was so warm. His arms were still holding hers as they pressed together from head to toe, and she felt completely sheltered by him.

She pushed gently at him, and he rolled beside her and gathered her in his arms, her back to his chest. His arms wrapped around her, encircling her, so safe and warm.

Her heart pounded in her chest. The wolf in her curled up and went to sleep, and the human side of her, the side that had for so long hidden behind grief and ambition, nearly wept in relief at how good she was feeling.

She’d never allowed herself to just lose it like that, but she’d known Carter was the perfect one to do it with.

She felt him move a curl off her neck and kiss her there gently, and suddenly, she began to feel the awkwardness of the situation again. It was an odd sensation, mingling with the hotness.

She didn’t know what to say, so she grabbed his arm with both of hers, waiting as their breathing returned to normal. Though, it never did. She felt like as long as she could feel the hard, male body against her, she’d never be able to fully relax.

She was too aware of how good he could make her feel. Even cuddling felt like foreplay.

She pushed out of his arms and sat up slowly, pulling the covers around her and pushing hair off her forehead. She gave him a wary grin. “That was fun.”

He sat up, and despite a small quirk of his lips, she could tell he was a little unsure about this too. He rested against the headboard, watching her. “Fun. Yeah. That doesn’t even begin to describe it.” His eyes narrowed. “You aren’t regretting it, are you?”

“Hell no,” she said.

“Good,” he said. “I don’t want things to be awkward at the office.”

She fought off a frown. Of course. Carter wouldn’t want anything to interfere with work. No, that was unfair. She’d known how Carter felt about this when she’d convinced him. It wasn’t fair to turn the tables now. Of course work meant a lot to him. It meant a lot to her too, for different reasons.

He lifted the covers and patted the bed next to him. She came over, and he tucked her in, watching her for a moment and then standing to go into the bathroom.

She rested against the pillow as she listened to water running. He was cleaning up. When he came out, dressed in pants, he leaned against the doorway, looking stunning and more relaxed than she’d ever seen him.

Which still wasn’t very relaxed.

She could feel her own afterglow, and Carter seemed content to bask in it. But eventually, they’d have to go back to reality. To their job, their cases. The fact that someone was after her.

Carter seemed to decide the moment to do that was now.

“I’m going to make a sandwich. You want one?” he asked. “After that, I need sustenance.”

She nodded with a shy grin. She couldn’t believe how wanton she’d been a moment before, but he didn’t seem to think any differently of her for it.

She would just take the night for what it was. Wonderfully hot and uncomplicated for now. And eat a sandwich with him. And finally trust someone with what she knew about her past.

C
arter’s heart
pounded as he walked to the kitchen, both to make something to settle his stomach and to get away from the woman who just looked too damn right in his bed.

She’d wanted to give him control, wanted him to give her everything, and he had.

But all the while, she’d been controlling him, with her breathless hunger, her unbelievable beauty, her bountiful curves that called to every hard, masculine part of him. To protect her, to please her.

To mate her.

And when he’d come out of the bathroom after cleaning and throwing on pants, he’d seen her resting in his bed, her face peaceful, her skin glowing, her head on his pillow, and his heart had nearly stopped at just how right it felt.

Was it just the amazing sex? The fact that he respected her as a person?

His tiger didn’t think so.

He growled as he opened the fridge and pulled out lunchmeat. He needed to get ahold of himself. He’d given in and done what she wanted, what they both wanted, and now he had to be mature about it and not take it as some sort of sign and go rushing in.

They’d both agreed this wasn’t going in a mating direction, whatever this relationship was.

Relationship. Carter Cunningham in a relationship. He could just see his brothers now, laughing their heads off. That’s if they didn’t die of shock first. Well, his middle brother, the bounty hunter, had recently mated, shocking all of them since none of them really knew exactly how tiger mating worked.

But still, he’d never seen this happening for himself. He was all work. He was never even on time to his meet-ups with his brothers, always working.

He laughed at the thought that his youngest brother, Kel, had asked to be hooked up with Amy. Even then, when Carter had barely met her, he must have felt possessive of her. Must have wanted her.

And he liked that she wanted him. That must have been why he wanted to tell her his name. He wanted her to know. Wanted to feel like she had a part of him no one else did.

Everyone else only saw him as the workaholic. The machine. She wanted the man in him, the part he locked away so he could work and not feel.

Letting that part of him out tonight had been amazing. He’d been surprised at the voracity of his own hunger, his need for her, and how much she’d owned him when he’d taken control.

Sex was absolutely perfect with her.

The rest of their situation was anything but. She was his partner. If something went wrong, she’d have to be reassigned. Not that cops didn’t date partners, but it was risky for someone like him. Especially right now, when he needed to be protecting her.

He gritted his teeth as he put roast beef on white bread with lettuce. After a moment’s hesitation, he snuck a little extra beef onto her sandwich. Had to make sure his woman was well fed.

Oh no, there was the tiger part of him, calling her his woman when he had no right to do that.

He picked up both plates and walked to the bedroom. He guessed he had some right. They were having some kind of affair right now. He would do his best to make sure she enjoyed it and it didn’t cause any awkwardness for them later on.

Well, minimal awkwardness.

He opened the door, and she sat up, once again wearing the sweatshirt he’d given her. His cock twitched. She looked too good in his clothing. He sat down beside her, enjoying the look of her bare, curvy legs where they weren’t covered by the sweatshirt as she knelt on them.

He wanted to run a finger over each soft, curvy calf, take those tantalizing, feminine little feet in his hand and kiss each little toe.

He grabbed his sandwich and shoved it in his mouth to stop him from doing anything stupid.

She gave him an amused looked and picked up her own sandwich to take a bite. She had to stretch her mouth to do it, and after she swallowed, she gave him a curious glare, holding up her sandwich. “Why is mine bigger than yours?”

He shrugged. “Whoops?”

She laughed and hit him lightly on the arm. “You aren’t fooling anyone. So cats like curves on their women too?”

“I like curves on my women,” he said. “But mostly, I just want you to be well fed.”

She seemed slightly embarrassed but pleased and went back to eating her sandwich. He went to the kitchen to get some milk, and when he came back, she’d set down half her sandwich and was staring pensively at nothing in particular.

He sat on the edge of the bed, grabbed a tee shirt from the floor to pull over his head, hoping to be a little more professional in case she was nervous. Or feeling vulnerable.

“I wish we could just go to bed,” he said, looking over at her, giving her space. “But I really do need to know what we’re up against.”

She shrugged and took another bite of sandwich, as if avoiding the question. She looked so beautiful, with her dark skin and her dark curls and that inner strength she wore like armor. He wanted to take her down and claim her right there.

Press her into the mattress and make his mark with his claws. It wouldn’t hurt, but she’d be irrevocably his. But then he shuddered as he remembered the truth of the situation. She was a rare alpha female of her species. She would have to mate with one of them.

And that would probably break him when it happened, so he pushed away the thought of it.

“It’s like I told you,” she said finally. “I came here looking at a case. My parents were murdered. I was a teen.”

He was quiet, just eating his sandwich slowly, and let her talk. He handed her a glass of milk, and she drank half of it and handed it back. He couldn’t help but think this would be an ideal life. Coming home with her at the end of a day of work, having hot sex, then basking in the afterglow and discussing cases while eating together.

It was all so much less lonely. So much more enjoyable. Carter vowed to enjoy it while it lasted.

“I know. Sometimes crimes just happen, but this was odd,” she said. “The night they were killed, a cop came to the door. But he smelled weird. He told me something had happened. Somehow, I knew, just by looking at his face.”

Carter was silent, thinking only of the horror of a teenage girl suddenly alone in the world. She’d told him before that she was an only child, and she hadn’t talked about parents. Then again, he hadn’t either. He’d only known his mom, and she had died. His brothers were all he’d had, and lately, he didn’t see much of them.

“I’m sorry that happened,” he said.

She waved a hand. “We weren’t that close,” she said. “Not as much as we should have been. They were often gone on business. Plus, all they talked about when they were home was the match they’d been planning for me ever since I was born. And I didn’t like that. I wanted to choose. I realize now they were just trying to make me do my duty, but at the time, I was romantic. I had all these fantasies.”

“You had a right to your fantasies,” Carter said.

She gave him a sad smile and a nod, brushing away her rights with a wave of her hand. “Anyway, they were on their way to meet with that family that night.”

Carter nodded.

She took a deep breath, and he saw a slight tremble in her hand as she set her sandwich down. “The cops said there had been an accident. Their car had been recovered from a nearby pond, like they’d gone off the road.” She looked at him. “They never would have gone off the road. They had their faults, but…”

“But they wouldn’t be so careless,” he said. “Did you try to talk to the cops about it?”

“They said it was open and shut,” she said. “But here’s the thing. They brought me to the morgue to identify the bodies.”

Carter sucked in a breath, but she kept going.

“And yes, it looked like they had been in a car that had crashed into the water. But they also had claw marks. Under their clothes. The cops only wanted me to take a quick look, but that was enough. I think they thought I’d be too shocked. But I saw.”

“I see,” Carter said, feeling sick at the implication.

“I don’t know what they knew or what they were covering. But I knew at least one shifter was involved in this. And if the cops weren’t even going to look into it, even though I could scent there was at least one shifter at the precinct, something wasn’t right.”

“But you were young, and no point fighting it,” he said.

“Right,” she said. “And the thing was, even if I knew they were hiding something, I didn’t know what. But I thought one day if I was a cop, maybe I could find out.”

“But how did the chief not recognize you when you came back?”

She shook her head. “He did. But I just told him I was inspired by how good the cops had been to me when it happened, and he bought it.” She looked guilty. “I didn’t mean to mislead him, but I didn’t know if he was part of it.”

Carter sighed and sat back. “So long ago. What do you think can be done about it?”

“Justice,” she said. “I need to find out who the police were protecting. One of their own or someone else. I never even considered you as someone who would have info because you weren’t a shifter, or so I thought. Now that I know you are, do you remember anything like that?”

Carter thought back. “No. I’m afraid I don’t. I’d need to go in and see the case files. Since it wasn’t ruled a homocide…”

She nodded, looking defeated. “I found the case file my first week here. But info was missing. So I decided to keep poking around. And working with you, because I really do like being a cop.”

“And I really like having you for a partner,” he said, tilting her head up because he couldn’t stand her being so downcast and sad.

He reached out and gathered her against him, unsurprised when she shook lightly, small sobs escaping.

“You must think it’s so pointless, don’t you?” she asked, holding on to him. “But you don’t know what it’s like. The worrying. The never knowing.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I don’t. I’m going to do my best to help you figure this out. I just need you to promise me one thing.”

“What is it?” she asked.

“We’ll do our best to figure this out,” he said. “But the first priority is your safety. And no matter what we find out, your parents wouldn’t want you to put yourself in danger simply to solve a mystery.” He stroked her hair. “You wolves are so obsessed with vengeance you forget to live.”

“As opposed to you tigers, who are so obsessed with duties you forget to live?” she teased, already done crying. He guessed she was just the type who quickly moved on from uncomfortable emotions. And got busy working.

Just like he did.

As he held her, he thought over his years at the precinct. He’d seen some dubious things, but he’d also been focusing on different things than other cops. Had he really missed something that corrupt?

He’d need to go in and talk to the chief.

“Amy?” he asked quietly, pulling her away so he could look at her.

“Yes?”

“I want you to put the file back. Make sure everything is in order. And shut it all away. I assume you’ve made copies.”

She nodded.

“Then put it away. Act like you took their attack as a warning. Act like you aren’t looking into it anymore. I’ll deal with it from here.”

“Why?” she asked, folding her arms. “So you can step in and be the big bad protector?”

“Because whoever’s after you won’t stop as long as they know you’re looking into the case. And I can’t talk to those in the department who trust me and focus on getting your info if I’m constantly worried you’re going to be attacked.”

“You’ll be worried anyway, won’t you?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said frankly. “But less. At least as long as Blake and whoever he’s with knows I’m with you, they’ll probably give you some space. Blake knows I can take him, and they weren’t planning to have to go through a tiger to get to you. So just let me deal with this in the meantime.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll give you a chance to deal with it first. I haven’t been successful yet anyway in trying to get information on my own.”

A light bulb went off in his head. “Trent,” he said. “That’s why you went out with him.”

“Yup,” she said. “But he didn’t know anything. He hasn’t been at the department long enough.”

“Don’t do any more of that,” Carter said, folding his arms. “You could put yourself in danger.”

She blinked, like that hadn’t even factored in. He guessed when you had one thing more important than everything else in your life, you managed to block out a lot of stuff. Like concerns for your own safety.

Now she had someone who would.

Carter nodded. “I’ll talk to the chief tomorrow. Spin it the way I need to.”

She sighed. “I’m not used to someone else handling my problems.”

“Right, but you’re used to other people causing them,” he said.

She nodded.

“So let me help you with this. You’re my partner.”

He would start by exploring every one of the shifters in the office as an option, no matter how long they’d been there. They might know something from someone else.

The idea of solving the mystery for her sort of pleased him, as long as she didn’t get hurt over it.

She picked up her sandwich and finished it, and when she was done, he took their plates and glasses back to the kitchen.

Her curvy form filled his mind, and he knew one thing for certain. He wasn’t letting her out of his sight until this was over. He wouldn’t let another person lay a hand on her. At least for the next little while, he could pretend she was his mate.

That would have to be enough to sustain him in the future.

Deep down, his tiger growled.