Along Came a Tiger (Tiger Shifters) (15 page)

“I can keep up with you.”

He snorted. “Oh, I’m well aware of that. I also know you haven’t slept much lately and even you need a few hours.”

He looked around then took her hand and led her into the trees.

“Have you slept?”

“A little. Last night.”

“Ha. So you’re the one who needs to sleep.”

He grinned over his shoulder. “Maybe. Or maybe I just like the way you wake me up.”

“Mmm.” She liked waking him up, too.

He hunted around until he found a patch of soft mossy ground. After removing rocks and twigs, they snuggled down together. He held her close, face to face, his expression relaxed and happy.

She cupped his cheek and rubbed her thumb over his skin, smiling at the rough texture of scruff. When she closed her eyes, he kissed her forehead and settled her head under his chin. Wrapped up in his scent and heat, she found peace and slept deeply.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

They spent the next two days in a blur of sex and fun, relaxation and renewal. They ate, they ran, they played, they splashed around in the nearby stream, they made love every chance they could. Just like the previous cycles, they abandoned the outside world completely and enjoyed each other.

The time healed something Daniel had thought broken, and his relief was overwhelming. When he stopped to consider what might have happened, it made his chest tight.

They very purposefully
didn’t
discuss the future, the past, or anything to do with what had almost pulled them apart.

But as they took to the forest for their last night together, the future—their future—hovered in the back of Daniel’s mind. Eventually, they’d need to talk about what had happened before the Run. They would have to decide what to do if their efforts to call attention to Williams had failed.

When they were a few hundred yards away from the cabin, Sarah looked over her shoulder at him, her smile slow and sultry. Daniel decided all those eventuallys could wait a little while longer. Without warning, she took off at a run, laughing as she disappeared into the trees.

He growled loud enough for her to hear, then charged after her. Her squeal of delight fired his blood.

They raced through the forest until Daniel decided enough was enough, then he cut her off and swept her into his arms. She screeched in surprise. She was a good hunter, but his job was to track and capture other tigers. He loved that he could surprise her even when she thought she had him beat.

She relaxed into his kiss without protest, and he savored the taste of her, trying to forget this was their last night together until her next cycle. He didn’t want to give this up again, not after everything that had happened in the week before. He wanted to return to Philly with Sarah and never leave her side.

Impractical even if they could. He had a job to do. So did she. But oh how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her in his arms.

He’d purposefully caught her in a small grass-covered clearing so when he brought her to the ground, the earth beneath them was as comfortable as the cabin bed. He held himself above her, most of his weight on his arms as he looked into her beautiful dark eyes.

He loved her so much his heart wanted to burst with the feeling. She cupped his face in her soft palms, and he opened his mouth to tell her, the emotion so close to the surface, he couldn’t keep it in any longer. She stopped him with a kiss so delicious, he couldn’t bring himself to break away from her even to say the words he needed to say.

As he settled between her thighs and slid into her heat, he swallowed her moans. His ability to think shattered the instant her hips flexed up to meet his. So he didn’t try. He rocked into her, held her close and kissed her with everything he had.

And when she came apart in his arms, he knew she was his. They might not be able to make it formal yet, but she was his, fully and completely.

Nothing would come between them ever again.

They fell asleep outside, taking advantage of the freedom of their last night to simply be themselves in the beauty of this wild place. To his surprise, Daniel woke before Sarah. Since he rarely got to watch her sleep, he took advantage of the moment. She was beautiful. And his.

The warm night, and their naturally high body temperatures, made it pleasant and sensual lying naked outdoors with the woman he loved next to him.

Love.

He had to tell her. He should have told her before they fell asleep, but making love to Sarah robbed him of his ability to think clearly. He didn’t want this cycle to end without her knowing, though. So much had happened, and come morning, they’d have to return to civilization and face reality again. He didn’t want her going back to Philly without knowing exactly how he felt. That he loved her. That he
trusted
her.

She’d made it clear she had no intention of trying to kill Williams anymore. She’d be safe from the repercussions of that choice. So it was time for them to talk about their future.

In all the cycles of being together, trying to get pregnant so they could be a couple freely outside the Run, he’d never talked about what he wanted for them after…if they got pregnant. He hadn’t wanted to bring the topic up during this cycle either, not while they were healing. But he couldn’t separate from her this time without letting her know his intentions.

He brushed a strand of black hair away from her temple. When she woke, he’d tell her everything. The words burned in his chest, demanding to be released.

If she didn’t love him yet…

He could live with that because she still wanted him. She’d still
chosen
him for this cycle. He had time to earn her love.

The sound of a branch breaking launched Daniel into a crouch, positioning himself between Sarah and the sound. He’d been so focused on Sarah, he had ignored any sign that someone was approaching. The area had been all theirs for the last few days, no humans or tigers anywhere nearby, so he’d stopped paying attention to his surroundings. A mistake he’d berate himself for later. He opened his senses and turned to face the intruder.

When Victor dropped from a tree at the edge of the clearing, grinning like a Cheshire cat, Daniel cursed aloud.

He sat back on the grass next to an alert Sarah and scowled at the smiling man. As his initial adrenaline rush eased, Daniel sensed Alexis approaching. She stepped out of the trees a moment later.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded.

Victor raised his brows, and Alexis shook her head. “Sorry about that. He’s developed this weird quirk. He loves sneaking up on Trackers, just to see if he can.” She gave her husband a look, and he returned it completely unrepentant.

“Does he do that to you?” Daniel demanded.

She snorted. “He tries.”

Victor signed something to her, his gaze narrowed, his smile confident. Alexis signed back with a casual shrug. To Daniel, she said, “He hasn’t managed to sneak up on me yet. He keeps trying, though.”

Daniel rubbed a hand through his hair and looked back at Sarah. “This is embarrassing. I shouldn’t have let him do that.” He shouldn’t have let his guard down, even after days of being alone with her. Damn.

“You were distracted,” Alexis allowed. “And he has gotten pretty good at being a sneaky bastard. I use him to help me train the younger cubs now, but he wasn’t nearly this good when you were my student.”

Victor scowled and signed something with a hard jerk of his hands. Alexis just smirked.

Sarah tried hiding a smile. Daniel groaned.

“What are you two doing here?” he asked again. He’d had entertaining ideas for waking Sarah in the same way she usually woke him during their time together. A surprise visit by his former mentor and her husband did
not
figure into his plan.

“We have some news we thought you’d be interested in before you head back tomorrow.”

“It couldn’t wait?”

“To be honest, I was afraid if we didn’t tell you, one or both of you might launch into something stupid as soon as you left here.”

“Williams” Daniel said, sitting a little straighter. Sarah edged forward, and he pulled her into his arms. He’d dreaded having to return to this topic, but Alexis was right. Tomorrow they’d have to face the reality of Williams again. Better to know what they were returning to.

“They found the body in the park behind his property. They’ve identified her.”

“Wait,” Sarah interrupted. “Where’s Joseph? Has he…changed his mind about revenge, too?”

“Too?” Alexis asked, exchanging a look with Daniel.

“Long story,” he told her. “But she’s not trying to kill him anymore. Who was buried there?”

“Turns out,” Alexis said, settling onto a tree stump just inside the clearing, “she was a chemist who worked for one of Williams’ father’s pharmaceutical companies.”

“A chemist? As in…”

“Yeah, likely the woman who developed the drug for Williams. That’s bugged me since we found out because there’s no evidence of chemistry knowledge in his background. Makes more sense now.”

“What makes you think she helped him develop the drug?” Sarah asked.

“At the moment, mostly instinct,” Alexis allowed. “She’s been missing for about a month, though the corner put her death at roughly two weeks ago.”

“Son-of-a-bitch,” Daniel muttered. Su-jin had been taken and murdered right around the same time as this other woman had died. But if the coroner was right, that meant this chemist had been held, and probably tortured, for two weeks. The idea made Daniel’s stomach churn.

“Her colleagues told the police she’d been working on something secret,” Alexis continued. “Claimed she was doing the work for ‘an important company person’, but wouldn’t admit more. Seems she kept records though. Until her body was found, the authorities hadn’t been able to get a warrant to look into those files. The company’s lawyers wouldn’t allow it. Now the police are going after the warrant.”

“Will they get it?” Daniel asked.

“How did you learn all this?” Sarah asked at the same time.

Alexis answered Sarah first. “Daniel’s not the only one with contacts in human law enforcement,” she said with a slight lift of her shoulders. “I called in a favor.” To Daniel, she said, “Not sure if they’ll get the warrant. Depends entirely on the judge.”

“Have they performed an autopsy yet?” Daniel asked.

“Finished the physical autopsy yesterday, and all the various lab tests are underway.”

“They’ll find the drug used on Su-jin in this woman,” Daniel said with certainty.

“You recognized it?”

He nodded. “If she has records, if she names Williams in her notes, will that be enough to arrest him?”

Alexis pursed her lips. “Hopefully. It’ll be enough to question him. They’re definitely suspicious of him. They actually have been this whole time, according to my source, but even more so since Su-jin’s body was stolen. Considering who his father is and the resources at his disposal, it seems the authorities think Williams is the most likely suspect to have arranged the theft of the body and all the evidence—something they assume only a person involved in her murder would do. None of the other suspects in Su-jin’s murder could have arranged it. But they had nothing to go after Williams with that would make it past his lawyers. With luck, they’ll find something now.”

“So,” Sarah said, “they’ll go after him. He won’t get away with this.”

“Again, hopefully. They’ll need indisputable evidence to get through those shark lawyers of his. But this is pretty suspect stuff. He’ll be their focus now.”

“Did Joseph take the news well?”

Victor and Alexis exchanged a look. Then Alexis shook her head and faced them again. “Joseph has been confined for his own good.” The regret and resignation in her voice were almost physical things.

“Confined?”

Sarah sounded so surprised Daniel tightened his hold, trying to give her comfort.

“We couldn’t talk him down. No matter what we did. When we got news of the chemist’s body being discovered, I thought that would do it. But as we drove back to the elder’s compound, Joseph broke away at a rest stop near Philly. He actually tried reaching the city on foot. Took Victor almost an hour to catch him and bring him back. And it was full daylight!” She sighed. “He just wouldn’t listen.”

Victor signed something to her and she signed back.

“We tried,” she said aloud. “He was spewing a lot of hate when they took him away. Not sure he’ll ever forgive us.”

Victor turned away, facing into the trees so Daniel could only see the side of his face. But the tightness of his jaw and the flex of his fists said a lot about how the man felt.

“They’ve put him in the same place as Elizaveta’s son, Ivan. It’s comfortable enough, not as harsh as some of the cells.”

Victor signed again and Alexis said, “Like the place Victor lived with his mother when she was confined. It’s for Joseph’s own good. But it sucks. A lot.”

“Maybe he’ll calm down once Williams is arrested.”