The Tiger's Heart (20 page)

He slid his hands under the loose
nightshirt, only to find her naked beneath it.

“
Surprise, surprise,” she
whispered softly in his ear then kissing his neck.

“
It would appear someone
planned to seduce me,” he teased, pulling her shirt over her head
before lowering his head to her perky breasts. Her dusty pink
nipples calling to him, making him draw them into his mouth. Taking
one of her nipples gently between his teeth, he circled the tip
with his tongue, making her back arch. A soft moan escaped from her
throat.

She slipped a hand between them to
unbutton his jeans before working on the zipper. The soft sound of
the zipper echoed throughout the room. His lips teased her nipples
as she freed his shaft.

“
I want you in me,” she
demanded. She tried to readjust her body to allow him to slide into
her core.

“
Someone is impatient
tonight.” He rubbed his head in the crook of her shoulder, marking
her.
You’re mine. You’ll always be
mine.

“
You have been so cautious
with me, with my injured knee. Tonight I want all of you. I don’t
want you to hold back.”

He kept his mouth shut. He wanted to
tell her that he would always have to hold back to a degree.
Without a tight leash, his strength could hurt her. He remained
quiet, not wanting to make her uneasy. Instead, he found her wet
center and slid inside.

As his shaft slid firmly into her, he
paused to let them both regain their breath, before he placed his
hands on her hips and helped them find the rhythm they needed. She
ran her hands through his hair before finding her way to his
chest.

Her body clenched around him, making
it harder for him purr. Her nails clawed at his chest at she
exploded around him. His climax followed seconds later. He threw
his head back and roared.

Her body relaxed against him, resting
against his chest. He leaned his head against the back of the couch
as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her snugly against his
chest. “I love you, Bethany.”

As content as he was with Bethany
wrapped in his arms, he sensed there was something foreboding
coming soon. The tension was building.

* * *

Sometime between bouts of sex, they
managed to find their way into bed. They laid there exhausted, when
Raja’s phone vibrated for the second time.

“
Don’t you think you
should answer that? It might be important.” The sleep was abundant
in Bethany’s voice.

“
If it was important they
would have used the ear communication when I didn’t answer the
first time.” Raja lay still, unmoving regardless of the
phone.

Whoever was calling hung up and placed
the call again. The cell phone near the end of the dresser
teetered, about to fall off. “That might be, but I don’t think
they’ll give up.”

He growled as he reached to grab it.
Pressing the talk button, he snarled, “What?”

His eyes closed as Connor’s voice
filled the line. “Give us ten minutes.” He ended the call, leaving
out a heavy sigh.

“
Connor’s on his way. He
found something he wants you to look at. That boy has the worst
timing,” he growled, pushing himself up.

Raja slipped on his jeans and gun
holster before turning to the bathroom to splash cold water on his
face. When he returned, he found Bethany in a pair of grey cotton
lounge pants and a pink and grey tank top.

“
That reminds me, it’s
unsafe right now for a shopping trip, but you’ll need more clothes.
I know you only had a few things with you. Today, I want you to
order whatever you’d like online and we’ll have it
shipped.”

“
I’m fine. I’m sure I can
get someone to ship my things from Virginia.” She pulled her hair
into a ponytail.

“
No, that won’t be
possible.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
Most of the stuff inside
the house was destroyed, particularly your things,” he told her,
leaning against the doorframe. It was something he was hoping to
avoid.

“
Everything?” She made eye
contact with him.

“
Anything that could be
salvaged, pictures, mementos, valuables, Jinx has a team there to
gather them once the police are done with the scene. With clothes
and things like that it would be best to get you new. If there is
anything particular that you would like them to check for I can get
them that information.”

“
Jamie had a music box
that she loved. I’d like it. Mom’s jewelry. After a fire when I was
a kid, she kept it in fire-safe box under her bed. Pictures. There
are photo albums that line the bookcase in the living room. Dad
always loved taking pictures.” She sank to the bed. “I thought I
was coming to grips with this…”

“
It will take time, love.”
He knelt in front of her. “It’s hard to lose your parents no matter
how old you are. Even worse to lose a sister. I remember the pain I
felt when my parents died. I bottled it up inside me. I couldn’t
grieve, not when I had my sister to care for and the clan. But
eventually it happened, and it was worse than if I would have dealt
with it when it happened. Don’t put on a brave face for me. I love
you no matter what. We’ll get through this.”

A knock came from the door to his
compound. “Go and let Connor in. Give me a minute and I’ll be out.
I just want to wash my face and pull myself together.”

“
Don’t be long. You need
some sleep before you pass out on your feet.” He kissed
her.

She’s strong. She’ll get
through this. No one can replace her family, but hopefully Tora and
the clan can help ease her pain.

He opened the door to find not only
Connor as he had expected but Lukas as well. “Come in. Bethany will
be out in a moment.” He held the door wide, eyeing
Lukas.

“
After Jinx spoke with you
and Ty, I offered my services to Connor. Computers have always been
my passion, finding people is new to me. My skills lie in hacking,”
Lukas said when he noticed Raja watching him. He moved toward the
couch.

“
He’s brilliant when it
comes to hacking. It’s how we were able to find the information as
quickly as we did.” Connor followed behind, carrying a laptop and a
folder with what looked like printed papers hanging out of
it.

“
If either of you ever
betray us, we could be in serious danger,” Raja said offhandedly,
not seriously considering either of them would betray the clan.
Connor might be a wolf-shifter but he had found a place among the
Alaskan Tigers he didn’t have before, and Lukas’s devotion to the
tigers was pure.

“
Never,” they cheered in
unison.

“
Then let’s hope they
don’t have anyone as talented as you two on their side. Please have
a seat.”

“
About that, I’m sorry to
bother you at this unthinkable hour. But if we don’t have the right
people, it would be wasted time going after the wrong lead. A quick
confirmation from her and we can be out of your hair.” Connor
looked at Raja nervously.

Connor had a rocky past with shifters,
first from his own kind and then with Pierce, making his
apprehension understandable. “No worries. We’d rather be disturbed
than have you waste hours looking into the wrong
people.”

“
As Raja said, we don’t
mind being disturbed. Whatever I can do to help.” Bethany entered
the room and came to stand next to Raja.

“
I believe we might have
found Robin. I have two pictures for you to look at. One is of
Robert ‘Bobby’ Zimmer and the other is of Robin. I need to know if
you believe there are the people you knew in school.”

“
Sure, but I don’t know if
I can be of much help. He was a year ahead of me in school and we
were just acquaintances, if that.”

“
Did you know Robin?”
Lukas asked, setting up the laptop.

“
No. She was three or four
years younger and was just coming into the high school as I left. I
never did understand how they became a couple, especially in high
school. She was so young, a freshman in high school, while he was
already in his second year of college.”

“
Before we go further,
Bethany, that’s Lukas. He’s Jinx’s younger brother. I’m sure you
heard from either Tabitha or Tora. He’s the tiger that appeared
injured during Tabitha’s homecoming party.” Raja gently pulled
Bethany toward the couch. He noticed her swaying with
tiredness.

“
It’s nice to finally meet
you.” Bethany smiled as she sat on the couch across from
him.

“
Here’s what we could
find.” Connor turned the computer screen around and two pictures
side by side were on the screen.

The woman looked no older than her
late teens, early twenties if that. She had long black hair, and
the terror in her eyes pained Raja. While the second picture of the
man looked older. His face was harsh and weathered as if he had
lived a hard life. His eyes were cold, and a look of hatred filled
his face.

“
That’s them. What
happened to them? He was an attractive guy when I knew him. He
liked to drink and party, but look at him. The hatred is apparent
in his body language. She looks downright terrified.”

“
Like you said, he liked
to drink. He cared more for the bottle than anything else. Seems he
got himself into quite a bit of trouble with both the law and loan
sharks. He’s been in and out of jail for the last few years, until
he ended up dead. From what we were able to find on the police
reports, I believe Pierce ordered the hit.”

“
What about Robin?”
Bethany asked, still looking at the picture.

“
Her cousin filed a
missing person report on her. According to the cousin, Robin was
worried about someone that Bobby owned money to, and they were
after her. That’s all we found so far. It’s possible Pierce and his
gang have already found her.” Connor turned the screen around,
closing the laptop.

“
No, he doesn’t have
her
yet
. He’s
after her. We need to find Robin first. Get us a lead, find out
where she might have done. Find any family she might have stayed
with. In the meantime, get me what you have on the cousin. Check
the financials, maybe the cousin gave her money so she could find
under the radar. Find me something.”

“
Yes, sir.” Lukas and
Connor grabbed their stuff.

“
If you find even the
smallest bit of information, I want to know,” Raja told them as
they left.

“
You think she’s still
alive?” Bethany asked Raja when they were alone.

“
She has to be. The book
wouldn’t send us on this search if she wasn’t. I believe once we
find her, she’ll be able to help us. If not then what’s the point
of this?”

“
Maybe the point is to
save her.”

“
We would have done it
anyway. The book says she holds a key to finding Pierce. We need to
find out who Pierce has in his pocket or as part of his clan before
we can move forward in uniting the tigers. If we don’t, it will
only lead to more betrayal.”

Chapter
Thirty-Two

“
Tora’s on the line. She
wants to know if they can bring anything.” Raja held the phone
toward her.

“
Tell her just bring
themselves.” Bethany finished basting the chicken and slid the
roaster back in the oven.

“
You heard her. Don’t
forget my beautiful niece.” He paused when Tora said something.
“Then bring Daniella along. She can take her back to your cabin for
bed. I want to see my niece. James will be here as well tonight.
See you soon.” He hung up before his sister could give him another
excuse to leave Scarlet at home.

“
She didn’t want to bring
Scarlet?” Bethany peeled potatoes over the sink.

“
Normally they put Scarlet
to bed early when they have family dinners, as it allows the
grownup time that she craves. She was going to leave Scarlet at
home with Daniella. I hope you don’t mind that Daniella will be
coming as well. She’ll be here to play with Scarlet and then take
her home to bed.”

“
No, that’s fine. If there
is anyone else you want to invite, please feel free.”

“
No, I don’t want any of
them here. I want you all to myself.” He came up behind her to wrap
his arms around her and kiss her neck. “I have to admit I find this
awful sexy.”

“
What, me in the kitchen?
With flour on my shirt, my hair clipped back in this messy style to
keep it off my neck because of the heat? This turns you
on?”

“
Umm-humm,” he moaned into
her ear.

“
If I knew you were that
easy to turn on, I wouldn’t have gone to all this work,” she
teased.

“
This isn’t for my
benefit. You’re doing this to repay Tora. Is there time for a
quickie?”

“
No. You’ll have to wait.
I’m going to put these potatoes on and then jump in the shower.
Before you even ask, no, you can’t join me. You need to watch
dinner.”

“
You’re taking all the fun
out of this mating,” he teased, nuzzling her neck.