Along Came a Tiger (Tiger Shifters) (16 page)

Alexis dipped her head to one side in a slight shrug. “Maybe. He still wants to kill the man with his bare hands and nothing short of that seems to be enough for him. We’ll see what happens.”

“Thanks for coming up to give us a status report,” Daniel said.

“Whatever you both did,” Alexis said as she rose, “it managed to focus the investigation on Williams without giving yourselves away.”

Victor signed something a little more urgent and Alexis nodded. “Oh, yeah, well…” To them, she said, “There was the blood found near a couple sets of clothes.”

“Shit,” Daniel said. “I knew that would come back and bite us in the ass.”

“My source said they assumed the clothes were from the couple who caught Williams ‘burying something’. The blood…”

“Will have to disappear, won’t it?” Daniel was already contemplating how quickly he could get back to Philly and do what he’d done before—steal evidence.

“Turns out,” Alexis said, breaking into his thoughts, “they immediately checked to see if it was human or animal since there’s hunting allowed in Ridley Creek. They didn’t want to waste time analyzing samples that had nothing to do with the body. Labs are too busy. And when they discovered the blood was animal blood they set it aside.”

“Did they find out what kind of animal?” Daniel asked.

“Doesn’t work that way,” Sarah put in. “Their initial tests would just be whether or not the blood was human.”

“And since it wasn’t, they had no reason to analyze further,” Alexis said. “Thankfully. So we should be safe. After a couple of weeks, when they’re not as focused on this case, I’ll make sure those samples disappear and that the elders don’t find out about them. In the meantime, we’re okay.” Her gaze jumped between them. “Which one of you was injured?”

“Me,” Daniel admitted. “Shot.”

“Through and through?” Alexis asked.

“Sarah’s brother cut the bullet out.”

Alexis’ gaze narrowed. “He good with secrets?” she asked Sarah. “Because if he’s not, it’s your ass. The elders will be really pissed if they find out you were together outside the Run and messing around with Williams.”

“Ryan will take the secret to his grave,” Sarah said confidently.

Daniel was inclined to agree, even though his acquaintance with Sarah’s brother had been brief. The man’s scent held a difficult to describe element that announced “trustworthy” to Daniel’s tiger and his Tracker instincts. He’d never been able to fully explain the way he scented such things—not all tigers could even do it—but it had helped him in his years of work as a Tracker, and he knew he was right in his assessment now. Ryan loved his sister. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. He’d keep their secret to protect her. Daniel liked that about the younger man.

“You okay now?” Alexis asked him.

“Fine. All healed up.”

“Good. So then, nothing to lead the authorities to our people, no reason for anyone else to get in trouble.” She put a hand on Victor’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s leave the love birds in peace so they can enjoy their last night here.”

As they started back into the trees, though, Alexis paused and glanced back. “Congratulations, by the way.”

Daniel frowned.

“You haven’t noticed yet?” Alexis laughed. “Looks like you’ll be loosing a lot of sleep in about eight months. I better be invited to the wedding.” She waved and disappeared into the trees, Victor a silent shadow beside her.

Daniel stared after them for a long moment as what Alexis said sank in. Then he pulled in a deep breath and realized…

He faced Sarah. She was wide-eyed, her hands on her stomach, her nostrils flaring as she breathed in the new, flowery, soft scent that mixed so seamlessly with their combined essences neither of them had noticed.

Now that he was paying attention, Daniel was astonished he’d missed it.

“You’re pregnant,” he whispered and reached out to place his hand over hers.

She met his gaze, her dark eyes still wide. And then she smiled. A slow, shy, wondrous smile that filled Daniel’s heart to bursting.

“I love you,” he said, unable to keep the words in any longer. “I should have told you before, cycles ago. I was afraid you’d think it was too soon and choose someone else. But I do love you.”

She let loose a huge sigh. “That’s a relief.”

“A relief?” He raised his brows. Not exactly the reaction he’d expected.

“Like I said, our first night here, I was afraid I’d ruined everything with my need for revenge. You didn’t trust me, and how can you love someone you don’t trust? Then you came to the Run, and I hoped any feelings you might have developed for me before—beyond lust—could be fixed now. I thought we were on our way to fixing them. But I didn’t think you loved me.”

He cupped her face in his palms and made sure she was looking him in the eyes when he said, “I love you and nothing,
nothing
, will change that. Do you understand? I couldn’t stop loving you even if I wanted to. But I don’t want to. I love you desperately. Why the hell else would I have risked losing you to keep you from hurting yourself?”

“Daniel.” She launched into his arms, with so much strength and passion, she knocked him backward.

He hit the ground with a grunt, then laughed as she sprawled across him and covered his face with kisses. When she got close to his mouth, he captured her roving lips in a proper, deep kiss, filled with all the emotion he’d held in check for much too long.

She settled across him, her legs straddling his waist, her heat warm and wet against his lower abdomen. His reaction was immediate and intense.

He’d wanted her from the first moment he’d seen her and now she was his—freely and completely outside the Run. He could love her every day. Something he intended to do for the rest of his life, if she’d let him.

She wiggled back a little and her ass bumped up against the tip of his erection. “Oh, good,” she said, with a distinct purr in her voice.

She rose up and gripped his cock in her small, strong hand, positioning him at her entrance before sliding onto him, wrapping him in her heat and wetness. He gripped her hips and closed his eyes, memorizing the feel of her as she rode him, the smell of their scents mixing and blending. That added earthy element with just a hint of fresh flowers, the note that allowed them to be together now.

He opened his eyes and caught her gaze as she watched him, a small smile tilting her lips up.

Beautiful.

His.

He slid his hands up her waist to cup her breasts. She dropped her head back, letting her hair slip over her shoulders and fall down her back. In the bare light filling the clearing, she was a stunning mix of light and shadow. He’d never wanted a woman more.

She rocked against him faster, her inner muscles clenching his cock until he felt his control slipping. This was a celebration and he wanted her to come with him. He slid one hand down the center of her stomach to the place where their bodies joined and pressed his thumb against her clit. She groaned, gripping his wrist to hold him in place. Even as he felt his own orgasm rising up, her muscles clenched, her breathing sped, and when he couldn’t hold back any longer, he let go just as he felt her come. Their mutual cries echoed through the trees.

As her orgasm eased, she collapsed forward, a warm weight pressed against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed as tightly as he dared.

“You’re okay, right?” he asked, suddenly worried about the baby. Their baby.

She sat up a little and frowned down at him. “If you can’t tell I’m
okay
by now, you haven’t been paying attention for the last seven…eight cycles now.”

“No. I mean the baby. We didn’t
…hurt you or anything?”

She laughed and snuggled down against him, pushing her head up under his chin. “Of course not, silly man. We can have sex right up to the point where I go into labor and we won’t hurt the baby. So long as the pregnancy is healthy.”

“Then we’d better make sure you stay healthy.”

“Absolutely.”

She was quiet for a moment and he could practically hear her thinking.

Then, “We’ve never really discussed
…what would happen when I got pregnant.”

“Well, we’ll get married of course.”

She sat up again. “Of course?”

“Yes, of course. I love you. I want to marry you and have as many babies with you as we can make.”

She smiled softly and leaned in to kiss him.

“Daniel.” She spoke between kisses. “Yes, by the way.”

“Yes?”

“Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Daniel felt the world fall away until only they existed. A perfect moment he would value for the rest of his life.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

They returned to Sarah’s apartment in Philadelphia the next afternoon. Since he traveled for his job, and she worked in Philly, they decided to live there. Eventually, he’d have to collect his things from the small house he kept in West Virginia near the elders’ compound, and they needed to find something bigger than her one bedroom apartment so they’d have space for the baby.

“Babies,” she’d reminded him with a grin. Because she intended to have as many with Daniel as she could.

She was so content, so satisfied with the direction her life was headed even memories of Su-jin left her more melancholy and sad than angry now. The anger was still there. She still hated Williams with every fiber of her being because he’d robbed her of her best friend.

But she could also imagine Su-jin’s reaction to the news of Sarah’s pregnancy. She could practically hear her friend’s squeal of delight, feel her tight hug. So she kept that image in the front of her mind, to comfort herself, and because it was what Su-jin would want her to do.

Somehow, the pleasant thoughts seemed to honor her friend in a way revenge couldn’t.

She half-listened in when Daniel called the elders’ secretary to pass on the message that she was pregnant, and she and Daniel were getting married. Her heart beat a little faster as she heard him say all that aloud. It was real! They were going to be married and have a family.

She was still getting used to the idea and giddy with the reality of it.

When Daniel asked about Joseph, her excitement dimmed a little. If she went to talk with him, would he calm a little? They probably wouldn’t let her near Joseph yet, but as soon as he was thinking rationally…

She had gone to Joseph once before knowing he’d want revenge too, knowing he’d go with her to kill Williams. Even though Joseph would have hunted the man by himself if she hadn’t approached him, Sarah still felt a guilty pang of responsibility for putting him in this situation.

As she put together a hearty late lunch of soup and sandwiches for herself and Daniel, she heard him call Alexis and then his cop friend to check on the progress of the case. She couldn’t hear nearly enough detail in that last conversation, though, so when he joined her in her small kitchen, she immediately grilled him for information.

“Well, what’s happening? Have they brought Williams in for questioning? Did they get the warrant for the chemist’s computer files? Have they linked the drug to him?”

Daniel raised a hand to still her onslaught. “They’re still investigating.” He settled into a chair at her small, two person table. “But you’ll be happy to know they did get the warrant early this morning for the computer files. According to Pete, the files implicate Williams directly with the development of the drug. He’s officially a person of interest.”

“That’s good, right?” She set a huge sandwich piled with various deli meats in front of him.

“It’s a start. They still have a lot of the files to go through since they just got them. It’s enough to bring Williams in for questioning, though. Pete said they’re working on that now.”

“Working on that? Meaning…”

“They don’t know where he is exactly, so they’re looking for him, talking with his lawyers. He’s probably just hiding at one of his daddy’s houses somewhere, waiting for the lawyers to rescue his sorry ass.”

She poured their soup into two bowls and set those on the table. “Will the lawyers be able to?”

Daniel shrugged as he picked up his sandwich. “Hard to say. Depends on what the chemist’s records reveal in the end, and what the tests from her autopsy show.”

“What if he’s left the country?” Williams had more than enough resources to disappear to a non-extradition country. She sat across from Daniel and spooned up soup as she considered that little complication.

“That’ll make things harder,” Daniel conceded. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

“I hate waiting.”

“You’re a scientist. Don’t you have to wait on results of tests all the time?”

“Entirely different,” she said with a lift of her chin.

He smiled and she lost her train of thought. He was hers.
Hers
. Freely now. How long would it be before that settled in, she wondered.

“I’ve asked Pete to stop by, if you don’t mind,” Daniel said. “I didn’t want to talk too much on the phone where we could be heard, but I want to learn more about the tests they’re running on the chemist’s blood and what they’ve found so far in her files. I want to make
sure
they find the drug Williams used.”