Tiger Born (16 page)

As if on cue, following a quick rap on the door, Heath stepped inside. Deja’s heart beat faster, but she put her hands on her hips. “How are you going to come walking into someone’s house without waiting for them to let you in?”

A brow rose, and he scanned the room as if he expected another man to pop out from somewhere.

“Heath!”

He strolled over to her and pulled her into his arms. “Hello, baby.”

“Don’t ‘hello, baby’ me. I—”

He covered her lips in a searing kiss that took away her ability to breathe. She went up to her toes and curved her body into his while sliding her hands up his chest to his neck. As she pushed her fingers into his hair, she parted her lips, inviting his tongue into her mouth. Heath took the invitation and squeezed her ass to drag her closer. She moaned but tried to break free when she felt him go hard.

“Let me go. If you don’t stop, we won’t get to the lake.”

He grinned down at her, but she saw the strain around his eyes. “I don’t mind.”

“I do. I made sandwiches and potato salad. You’re going to eat my food, mister.”

She managed to wriggle out of his hold and went for the basket. Heath snatched her to his side and took the basket up himself. He escorted her out the door and nabbed the key to lock up. She couldn’t help the warm feeling from being cared for. If he asked her to move home again, she just might.
Since I no longer have a job, I just might have to anyway.

The drive to the lake was a short one, and soon they had their own spot under a massive oak with shade protection from the hot sun. Deja spread out the blanket and dropped to her knees to go through the basket.

“Do you want to eat now and swim later, or swim first?”

He pulled her hands from her task. “I want you on my lap first.”

“Heath.”

“Deja.”

With easy strength, he placed her where he wanted her, back to his chest, sitting between his legs. She rested her head in the crook between his chin and neck and shut her eyes. Birds twittered in the trees, and somewhere nearby people chattered. A breeze stirred her hair, and Heath pushed it aside to capture her lips in a kiss. When he came up for air, she looked to find him staring down at her. She wanted to ask him about what was happening but didn’t want to ruin the mood. This was one of the few times they had together, and she sought to make the most of it.

“You’re so damn beautiful,” he grumbled.

“You make it sound like a complaint.”

He frowned. “I shouldn’t blame others for wanting you.”

“Like I don’t see women trying to capture your eye?” She hesitated, and when she spoke her words sounded stilted to her own ears. “It’s come to my attention that our issues are small compared to what’s really been going on.”

He stiffened, but his hands didn’t fall away from her waist. “Who told you that?”

“Does it matter?” She twisted in his arms to face him. “Talk to me, Heath. We used to share everything. We went through a lot getting here, and I can’t believe all of a sudden I’m not good enough to know what’s bothering you.”

“You know that’s not true, baby.” He brushed her hair from her face and continued to stroke her braids. “Deja, you’ve become more important to me than I ever imagined, and I can’t stand the thought of anything happening to you.”

“So something will happen to me if I know the truth?”

“Not just that.”

“What then? Tell me, Heath.
Please
.”

His eyes glazed over, and she felt a shudder pass through him. “I killed a man in cold blood, Deja.”

She gasped. That had been the last thing she expected him to say.

“It wasn’t like at the Spiderweb lab where they attacked and threatened my life and yours. I plotted this and executed it. I disposed of the body where no one would ever find it.”

Deja shivered. She wanted to get up and pace, but she didn’t want to give him the idea she judged him. No matter what he did, she would stand with him because she knew Heath had valid reasons. “Who was it? Not—not one of the citizens of Siberia?”

His gaze skittered away from hers. “No, he was a city paper-pusher. He held a public office.”

“The guy who controlled whether Ward could buy the land you want?”

“Yes.”

This time she did stand up and pace. “You’re telling me you killed him to get a ranch?”

“No!” He glared at her. “You know me better than that. Carmine was involved in more than holding back some stupid land. We confirmed he was behind the near abduction of one of the tiger borns. We also know he’s been in contact with someone in Washington. He needed proof of our existence, and the child was his way. The human from a couple weeks ago that Carter found out was involved with Spiderweb was double dealing with Carmine.”

All strength left Deja’s legs. “Wait, so Carmine had connections with Washington
and
Spiderweb?”

“
That
we haven’t confirmed. Every person we’ve found involved with them have been dealt with—unfortunately before we could confirm any more than we already knew.”

“You mean killed.”

“Deja.”

“I’m only trying to understand, Heath. This is…” She sat on her butt at the edge of the blanket and dropped her face in her hands. After some time gathering her thoughts, she raised her head to look at him. “I get your reasoning, and I’m not going to run from you because of it. It just blows me away. We’re doing stuff like setting our own laws here, acting like the U.S. government doesn’t govern us. I mean we’re not a separate country, and this isn’t some paranormal novel where people can get away with killing others. This is real life, and I don’t mind saying, I’m scared of it. How far will it go?”

Heath reached out and pulled her back toward him. His arms were bands of steel, yet comforting as they cocooned her. “It will go as far as it needs to, to protect our people.” He raised her chin. “To protect you, I would kill again and again.”

“Don’t say that!”

“It’s true.”

She laced her fingers with his, and they sat in silence, forehead to forehead. A tear ran down Deja’s cheek, and Heath thumbed it away. She sighed and licked her lips. “Yet it bothers you, doesn’t it? That’s why you looked so haunted when you came back. It’s on your conscience.”

“I won’t pretend it’s not, but each day it will get easier.”

“Did Ward order you to do it? Why didn’t he do it?”

He jostled her as if to shake her from a delusion and then squeezed her arms. “Stop it. Ward and I were in total agreement about how to handle this. Carmine’s been plotting for years, biding his time for when he would screw us all over. Think about it. He was about to turn over a small child to be experimented on just because the child was born a shifter. He planned to take money in exchange for what he knew, where to find us, our weaknesses. He wasn’t the one who arranged for Siberia to be an official town in Texas, but he did hide the paper trail. You know why, don’t you?”

Deja guessed. “So even if someone came snooping around, they wouldn’t know where to look.”

“Exactly.” Heath frowned, staring out over the water. “Despite all that, sometimes I feel like we’re all in a petri dish anyway, being studied by someone we can’t see. Our enemy is just out of sight, taking notes, maybe even biding
his
time until he strikes. Ward and I aren’t going to sit around and wait for him to make his move.”

“What does that mean?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Heath kissed away her protests. “I’m more interested in you and me right now. Deja, you’ve been gone from my bed long enough. Move back home.” She tried inching away, but he caught hold of her and once again hauled her to him. “I’ve indulged you enough—”

“Wait, indulged? Who the hell do you think you are?” Before he could react to her anger, she wiggled free and stood up. “I think you’re letting your new position as junior alpha go to your head.”

He frowned. “Junior alpha?”

“That’s what it is, isn’t it? Ward’s mini-me?”

That she’d offended him was obvious in the way his chest swelled, and his expression darkened. She stood her ground as he rose and faced her.

“You belong with me. I know you love me just as I love you,” he growled.

“Wow, I’m feeling the warm and fuzzies right now! Sorry, pal, I’m keeping the apartment, and you can’t make me move.” The fleeting thought about how she’d pay for said apartment passed through her mind, but she dismissed it. She’d been taking care of herself without Heath Hunter’s help for years. He could get over himself.

Heath stepped closer. “One word from me, and your landlord will cancel your lease.”

“You bastard! So you’re going to force me to live with you. Is that it? What else do you want to force on me?”

His eyes narrowed. He didn’t move, but she felt the shift in his attitude and stance. A hand came up to the side of her face, caressing and robbing her of the ability to say more. His thumb brushed across her lips, and she had to fight not to part them in a gasp.

“I don’t have to force you. You’ll come to me willingly for that.”

“The hell I will.”

He raised her chin higher and ran fingers down her throat to her chest. All the while he never turned his gaze from hers. She hated how her body sang to his tune, strained toward him. A taunt that two could play that game hovered on her lips, but she couldn’t say it out loud. That would mean she had control enough to tease him, and she didn’t.

“I don’t appreciate being commanded to move back home,” she said instead. “And I don’t like the threats.”

“Deja, you are the air I breathe. Do you understand that? We are mated. We’ve fought it. We’ve argued and separated. We’ve given ourselves a thousand different reasons why it can’t be true, but it is. Period. Now, I’m going to make one thing clear to you, and I hope you can fully grip the truth of my words.”

She opened her mouth to complain that if this was a makeup speech, it sucked. The frown on his face, and the harsh way he spoke each word did not motivate her to jump into his arms—well, other than from sexual desire. Before she could say anything, he placed a hand over her mouth. She grabbed at his wrist, but his strength outmatched hers by miles.

“I am at the end of my rope. I cannot allow you to live away from me. Not because I want to bully you or force you, but because I
can’t
do it. You will live in our house with me, or I will live in your sardine can of an apartment with you.”

When she pulled at his hand covering her mouth again, he let her. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You would live in that closet of an apartment?”

“I would.”

“Why?”

He turned away, his face reddening. “You know why.”

She tilted her head to the side, watching him. “You miss me?”

He flicked a glance in her direction and looked away again. “It looks bad.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

She walked around in front of him and pointed a finger in his chest. “So you want to get back with me because to not do so makes the big bad Heath look like he can’t control his woman. Is that it? I can’t believe you. Of all the worst ways a man can tell a woman he loves her, that has got to take the cake. I mean—”

“When will you learn?” he roared, cutting off her tirade. “There are those who look at you like an available woman. They come after you. It pisses me off. No, it more than pisses me off, Deja. Instinct drives me to deal with the situation with as much violence as possible.”

She gaped. “You mean kill… You wouldn’t do that, Heath. You’re not just an animal. You have a human side, and you would respect me being with another man if I chose to, wouldn’t you?”

“My tiger has chosen you to be my mate.”

“So? We’ve heard all that before.”

“Deja, I am tiger born.”

“Okay, right. We’ve all heard that too. Your parents were both shifters, so you are considered what they call ‘tiger born.’ So what?”

“It’s more than that.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It means you belong to me.”

“I’m no one’s property!”

“I am also yours, wholly yours. We don’t get the luxury of changing our minds. We don’t get to date around or try something new. If you allow another man in your life, I will kill him. As you say, I have a human side, but because I am tiger born, I will not—I cannot—allow you to be with another man.”

Deja stumbled several steps back from him and whirled away. She walked down to the water’s edge. All this time, it felt kind of freeing to think she had choices. Hell, everyone liked to have options. That’s what it meant to be an adult. One could make one’s own decisions about the direction of one’s life.

She tensed when she heard him step up behind her, but he didn’t touch her. “So what you’re saying is, if you weren’t born a shifter, you could choose whoever you wanted to be with.”

“Not exactly.”

She turned and glared at him.

“You see how Ward mated with Coreen after he’d lost my mother?”

“Yes.”

“He can only do that because he’s not tiger born.” He clenched his hands at his sides. “If I lost you, I would not have anyone. No, correct that. I could have someone physically, but I would not love her. We would not be connected. If she left, I could let her go.”

“Aren’t you being a little dramatic? After all, we don’t know all there is to know about us, and we’ve only been in existence for, what, thirty-some years?”

He shook his head, and her eye widened. She wasn’t even going there. For all she knew, Heath could just be making all this nonsense up to trick her to come home. She studied him from his troubled eyes, to his tight shoulders, all the way down to his clenched hands at his sides. He seemed wound tight like at any moment he would snap. He said he’d kill again and again if it meant protecting her. She thought back to how terrified he’d been when the tiger first awoke, how he hated giving in too much to the beast. She had the feeling Heath wasn’t playing. He knew instinctively what he was capable of, maybe even far more than Ward.

Tiger born.

“So.” She licked her lips and drew in a steadying breath. “If anything happened to you, I could…”

“You could love again.”