The Jaguar Prince (10 page)

DeeDee stumbled. “A tiger?”

“Long story. Can I tell you once we’re inside?”

She nodded. “Yes, and I’ll want to know every detail of this one.”

Maybe she shouldn’t have said so much. She could’ve lied and told her that he’d been in a fight or something, which he had, and not even brought up anything about the tiger.

She opened the passenger door. Rogar looked to be in a bad way. He was sweating a lot. His clothes drenched.

“Maybe I should’ve taken him to the emergency room.” She bit her bottom lip.

“I’ll be all right,” he said as he opened his eyes. “I just need to rest.”

“Let’s get him inside,” DeeDee said.

They eased his legs around until his feet were on the concrete driveway. Rogar only groaned once, but it was enough that she knew he had to be in a lot of pain.

With an arm across each of their shoulders, they took it slow and easy as they made their way into the house. The steps were a little tricky, but they managed to get him up them and inside the house.

“We’ll take him to my room,” DeeDee said. “I don’t even want to try to get him upstairs to one of the guest rooms.”

Good, because Callie had a feeling Rogar wouldn’t make it up the winding staircase. The longer they walked him, the heavier he got. DeeDee only let go long enough to pull the cover back.

Rogar sighed as he fell back against the pillows, and immediately passed out. That’s when Callie saw the blood had soaked through his pants. Oh, Lord, he was going to die. Why the hell hadn’t she taken him to the hospital?

R
ogar opened his eyes when he felt someone tugging on his clothes. Callie’s face swam in front of him. He’d known she wanted his body. He smiled, then frowned. Something didn’t feel quite right. He was almost certain mating was out of the question. He shook his head. “I’m not sure I can mate, Callie. Maybe later?”

Someone snorted. He turned his head a fraction and saw a young woman. It was the same one who’d come to the house yesterday. The one who’d told him it was Callie’s birthday. Except he hadn’t quite pulled off the surprise he’d planned for her.

DeeDee, that was her name.

“Hello again,” he said.

She smiled. “Hi. It looks like you’ve gotten yourself into quite a fix. Callie said you saved her life. When I said women liked fairy tales, I didn’t mean you had to be the hero.”

“I like being Callie’s hero.” Now it was coming back to him. Zerod had found Callie. They weren’t safe. They needed to leave. His gaze took in the room. He vaguely remembered getting into the vehicle, and Callie driving them somewhere. He’d known she was smart.

“Everyone needs a hero,” DeeDee continued. “Callie more than anyone I know.”

“Do y’all mind not talking as though I’m not in the room? Besides the fact that Rogar could possibly be dying from the amount of blood he’s lost.”

“Sorry,” DeeDee mumbled. “I think I have bandages.”

“Good, then I’ll save mine.”

DeeDee hurried from the room.

Rogar studied Callie. Worry etched her face. It made him feel good that she cared so much, but he didn’t like that his injury scared her. “I’ll be all right. It will heal.”

“We have to get the bleeding stopped or you won’t be all right. You’ll be dead. It would have been a lot easier explaining you were mauled by a tiger, and letting a doctor fix your leg, rather than trying to explain a dead alien.”

DeeDee returned with a basket almost overflowing. “I just grabbed what I thought you might need.” She glanced at Rogar’s injury. His leg was partially uncovered. DeeDee turned a little green, then shoved everything toward Callie. “I can’t…” She slapped a hand over her mouth and hurried from the room.

Callie didn’t waste any time grabbing scissors out of the basket. With her lips clamped, she resolutely began cutting away the rest of his blood-soaked bandage. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of her warm hands against his cold skin.

“Are you okay?”

He opened his eyes and looked at her. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her skin was a light golden brown from the sun’s kiss. And her eyes—he didn’t think he’d ever seen eyes so intense with emotion.

“I heal fast,” he said, trying to alleviate the worry on her face. He never wanted her to be worried about him.

She nodded, then removed the rest of the bandage. One part stuck, pulling the hair on his leg. He sucked in a breath.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve taken you to the ER and let a professional look at this. I’ve only bandaged a few animals at the zoo. I don’t have enough experience.” She glanced down, then grabbed the bedpost when she weaved. “You really need a doctor.”

“No doctor. He would ask too many questions. You know that could cause me a lot of trouble. Promise, no matter what happens, no doctor. You only pulled the hair on my leg, that was all. Look, the wound isn’t as bad as you think. And it has already stopped bleeding. It only needs bandaging again.”

“You’re so brave,” she whispered. Her eyes widened. “I have something that will help.” She covered his wound with a clean towel. “I’ll be right back.”

He rose on one elbow and watched her as she ran from the room. His blood stirred. This was not a good time to think about mating. He lifted himself a little higher in bed. Weakness swept over him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them, and looked under the towel.

Three deep cuts slashed across his upper thigh down to his knee, but he could already see it was beginning to close. In two days’ time, no one would be able to tell that he’d ever been hurt.

Symtarians healed rapidly. Right now, he had to admit it looked pretty gruesome, and the wound had weakened him considerably. His only consolation was that he’d given more than he’d gotten, at least, Balam had.

And he had Callie to tend his injuries. He admired her for showing grit when taking care of him. She had the strength of her ancestors’ blood running through her veins.

He dropped the towel in place as Callie hurried back into the room. She carried a glass of water and something in her other hand.

“Why are you sitting up?” She stopped in her tracks, frowning at him.

He started to move back down in bed.

“No, wait. I have something for you to take.”

She hurried the rest of the way over and helped him to sit a little straighter. As she cradled his head against her chest, she poked something into his mouth.

“Don’t chew,” she spoke softly.

All he could think about was the way it felt to rest against her, hearing the steady rhythm of her heart. He rather enjoyed the idea that she was seeing to his needs.

She brought the glass to his lips and tilted it. “Swallow.”

He did, feeling the object slide down his throat. “What was that?” He was only mildly curious. He knew she would never hurt him.

“A pill that will help with the pain.”

He started to tell her he wasn’t really feeling that much pain, but then decided he could just as easily tell her later. Besides, he might not be in any pain, but he was incredibly tired, which was normal for the healing process to begin. He closed his eyes.

Callie quickly put the fresh bandage on, then made sure he was tucked in, but as she brought the cover up to his shoulders, he grabbed her with more strength than an injured man should have. He looked deeply into her eyes, then slowly brought her closer, until his lips could brush across hers.

Heat immediately swept through her as his tongue caressed hers. His hand slid under her blouse, then under her bra until he cupped her naked breast. She moaned when his thumb brushed across her nipple. It immediately peaked as a swirl of sensations rushed down to settle between her legs.

Then he was falling back onto the pillow, eyes closed, his hand still on her naked breast. “Thank you for taking care of me,” he mumbled.

She drew in a deep, ragged breath. Reaching under her blouse, she took his hand, but instead of removing it, she pressed it against her breast, holding it there for a moment. Then she tucked it under the cover, and straightened her clothes.

It was going to be so hard to tell him good-bye. Maybe she should find a way to end this now…but no, she was doing exactly what she was supposed to do. As long as Zerod was out there somewhere, she could do no less. She walked out of the room. DeeDee was just outside the door pacing, but stopped when Callie came out.

“Is he going to live? His wound looked horrible.” She dragged her fingers through her hair. “Some friend I am, running out on you and all. I just couldn’t…” She visibly shuddered.

Callie wrapped her arms around her friend. “It’s okay. And it doesn’t look as bad as I’d first thought.” She frowned, wondering about that, but then decided she was more used to seeing it, and it did look pretty awful still. “He’s sleeping now.”

DeeDee sighed. “Good.”

“You let us in when you could’ve just as easily turned us away, and you did so with no questions asked.”

“Yes, I did, didn’t I?”’ She cast a sideways look at Callie. “And now you can answer a few of them for me.”

Callie closed the bedroom door. “Have you got something to drink?”

DeeDee nodded and started toward the kitchen.

“Stronger than soda…or wine,” Callie said.

DeeDee raised her eyebrows. It was unusual that Callie ever drank anything stronger.

“It’s that bad?’

“You might want to pour yourself a strong drink, too. A double.”

DeeDee led the way to the less formal living area. There was a big screen television on one wall. A cream-colored sectional sat across from it. A plush beige carpet covered the floor, and in one corner was a mahogany bar. Behind the bar there were shelves of glasses and bottles of alcohol. Callie suspected DeeDee bought the liquor for the pretty bottles rather than the alcohol they held.

DeeDee walked behind the bar, tapped her finger against her chin, then reached inside the small refrigerator and brought out the Margarita mix.

“When all else fails, grab the tequila.” She rimmed the two glasses in salt, added ice, then mix, and two generous splashes of tequila. “Bottoms up.” She handed Callie her drink, then went to the sofa.

Callie followed at a slower pace. How much should she tell DeeDee? They had been friends for a long time. Each one knew the other’s secrets. Callie knew DeeDee hated pain of any kind, calling herself a wuss. That she’d lost her virginity when she was sixteen, and it had been the worst experience of her life. DeeDee had fallen in love at least a dozen times, and Callie also knew, no matter what, DeeDee would be there for her, but would this be pushing things too far?

Callie took a drink, then wrinkled her nose. “Wow, that’ll open the sinus cavities.”

DeeDee shrugged. “You said you wanted the hard stuff.”

“Yeah, I know.” She took another drink for courage, then set her glass on the coffee table. She leaned back, grabbed a pillow, and scrunched it against her chest. “Rogar brought news of my parents. That’s really why he’s here. That, and to take me home.”

DeeDee was just taking a drink. She choked and coughed before she caught her breath and sat her glass down. “Do you think you might have led up to this just a little?”

DeeDee had always been just as concerned about Callie’s past as Callie. She shouldn’t have just blurted it out. “I’m sorry.”

DeeDee’s shoulders slumped. “You’ve known about this since Rogar came to town, haven’t you?”

She nodded, wanting to take away DeeDee’s hurt, and feeling incredibly guilty. How could she have told DeeDee any sooner when Callie was still coming to terms with it herself?

“You didn’t tell me,” DeeDee’s words were filled with pain.

She would never intentionally hurt her friend. “I think I needed for it to soak in, to know that it was real. It’s complicated.”

DeeDee suddenly sat forward, oblivious to the fact she sloshed some of her Margarita over the side of the glass. “You know your past!” She jumped up, set her drink on the coffee table, and ran to Callie, drawing her into a bear hug that nearly stole Callie’s breath.

“DeeDee…air,” she gasped.

“I’m sorry, sweetie.” She laughed and clapped her hands as she sat down. “This is fantastic news.”

“Yes, I know.” Callie smiled.

Suddenly, DeeDee frowned. “I don’t understand any of it, though. How did Rogar get mauled by a tiger?”

How much information should she give DeeDee? DeeDee wasn’t just a friend. She was her
best
friend. Callie took a deep breath. “My blood isn’t pure. I mean, I’m mixed blood.” She twined her fingers together. “Some…uh…people in Rogar’s…uh, country…want all mixed bloods dead. They think we’re an abomination. Zerod, he’s the leader, is…I mean has, this tiger. That’s how Rogar got hurt.” She let out a deep breath. That had sounded plausible. Maybe?

“You’re from another country. I always suspected as much. I mean with your coloring, plus you have those hypnotic green eyes.”

Callie brightened. “You think my eyes are hypnotic?”

“Duh, yes.”

“Thanks.”

DeeDee’s spine stiffened. “Hey, wait a minute. You said someone was trying to kill you? That’s crazy! We should call the police.”

“No, I don’t want to get them involved.”

DeeDee slowly nodded her head in understanding. “Rogar is here illegally. An illegal alien.”

Callie breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes. Well, sort of.” It was almost the truth. He was an alien, and he was here illegally, so that pretty much made him an illegal alien.

“What is he—Greek?”

Now it might get a little tricky. “Symtarian. From New Symtaria.”

Her forehead wrinkled. “Symtarian? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of them.”

“They’re not well known in the States.”

Callie reached for her drink and took a gulp to keep from meeting DeeDee’s gaze. The alcohol burned her throat and made her eyes water. Bad move. She was already starting to feel a little light-headed.

DeeDee leaned back against the cushion and studied her. “You’re not telling me something. I’ve known you way too long not to guess when you’re leaving something out. You might as well spill everything.”

Callie carefully set her drink back on the coffee table. “Really, there’s nothing else to tell.”

“Maybe I should look this New Symtaria up on my computer. What country did you say it was near?”

Callie should have known she wouldn’t be able to get away not telling DeeDee the whole truth. She took a deep breath.

“You’ll have to keep an open mind,” Callie told her.

“I can be very open-minded.”

Okay, DeeDee had wanted the truth. Callie only hoped she could handle it. “New Symtaria isn’t on Earth. It’s another planet. Rogar is an alien from another planet.”