“Three-year-olds,” he said.
She smiled over her shoulder at him then went back to the dishes. “She’s asleep?”
“Finally. I think having a pet tiger to play with gave her a second wind.”
“That and her two-hour nap this afternoon. I’m surprised we got her to sleep before midnight.”
Vlad tried his best to stay near the door, but Rose’s scent drew him. She smelled delicious. He went as far as the counter near the sink, then forced himself to stop with several feet still between them. After all the worry over Zoe through the afternoon, he’d let his guard drop with Rose and now all he could think about was burying his face against her neck and breathing her in.
She paused when he got close, then went back to cleaning.
“You need any help?” He had no real excuse to be here. He just didn’t want to go to bed yet. At least, not without her.
Don’t push
, he warned himself. She was in enough turmoil with what was happening to Zoe. He knew that. He knew their relationship should wait. But his tiger thought waiting was a terrible idea.
“No thanks. You don’t have to stay up with me,” she said. “I’m going to sleep as soon as these are done.”
“Not really tired yet.” He edged closer. He couldn’t help it. He wanted to feel her heat. The scent of her desire eased into the air and he closed his eyes a moment to savor it.
“Any word on your brothers?” she asked.
The change in topic should have dampened his amorous feelings. It didn’t. All it did was spark protective instincts that urged him to hold her close and keep her safe. “They aren’t heading this way. That’s good.”
“Have they given up?”
He wanted to say yes. He wanted to assure her she was safe now. He didn’t think she’d appreciate the lie though. “No. Yuri’s been running searches into Zoe’s medical history.” He just got that bit of news tonight after putting his daughter to bed.
Rose faced him. “Those are supposed to be private. How can he get at them?”
“He’s rich and has his ways. Just like all the Dubrovsky brothers.”
“Nuts.” She stared at the floor, hand on the counter. “He’ll figure it out then, won’t he? Undiagnosed pain since turning two. He’ll know she’s not…normal.”
“Unfortunately, he’s smart. He’ll put the pieces together.” And any hope of keeping his daughter’s secret indefinitely went out the window. He’d known he couldn’t keep her from the tiger community, but part of him wanted to.
“How much time do we have?”
“It’ll take a while for them to find this cabin.”
“Didn’t take you long.” She held his gaze.
“My brothers won’t get the location from your parents, like I did.” Without thinking about what he was doing, he edged closer. “They have a lot of places they’ll have to search. That’ll take time.”
She didn’t move away, despite the fact that he was now invading her space. She tilted her head back a little to meet his gaze, almost defiantly. He’d always loved that about her. So damned fearless. He’d never known anyone quite like her.
“How long?” she said again. But this time her voice was husky, deeper.
The sound went right to his cock. He inched as close to her as he dared, close enough that a deep breath would brush his chest against hers. He kept one hand on the counter and one hand at his side, not touching her despite the temptation, but the anticipation of touch was overwhelming.
“A week. Maybe more. Long enough to make sure Zoe can control her tiger.”
“If Alexis gets here soon.”
“Either way. If I have to, I’ll start teaching her. I can afford new clothes.”
She smiled a little and all his attention zeroed in on her mouth. She wet her lips, leaving them glistening and ripe for kissing. He dipped his head closer, just a little, still not touching her, but he was oh so tempted.
When she didn’t back down or tell him to stop, he came closer. Her breath was warm on his face and her scent washed through him, leaving his head spinning with need.
“Vlad…”
Too much. The sound of her sexy voice, his name almost a plea…it was too much. He couldn’t resist her anymore. He closed the last breath of space and kissed her.
He’d intended the kiss to be just a gentle brush of lips, nothing too serious, and nothing too hard to pull back from. He failed miserably. The instant he tasted her, he needed more. He took hold of her shoulders, pulled her tight to him, and deepened the contact. To his overwhelming satisfaction, she returned his kiss, open and bold.
This had always been one of his favorite things with her. Not his only favorite thing, but the feel of her generous lips, the dance of her tongue against his, the taste of her… He could kiss her for hours and never get tired of it.
He wrapped his arms around her back so he could feel the press of her breasts against his chest, and she moved into him, leaving no distance between them, her hands coming up to his waist, clenching at his shirt. He considered stepping back to rid himself of the offending garment, but he wasn’t ready to let her go yet.
Then she moved her hands up under his shirt, her palms hot against his skin, and destroyed any rational thoughts he had left in his head. He slid one hand up to hold her head in place, tunneling his fingers through her thick hair. He stroked his other hand down to her ass and squeezed, irritated with the material keeping him from her soft, luscious skin. He caressed her butt and hip over the area where her sugar skull tattoo used to be and wondered if it was still there.
He was so focused on the idea of finding out, he didn’t feel her pushing him at first. Then she shoved him hard and the message finally got through the foggy haze of lust swamping his brain. He instantly dropped his hold, moving away as fast as if she’d burned him.
She blinked and had to hunt for him at the opposite side of the kitchen because he’d retreated faster than her human eyes could register. “
Dios
, you can move. Or did my brain break?”
He shook his head, trying to laugh, but he was breathing so hard, his voice came out huskier than he intended. “Your brain is just fine. Shifters move very fast.”
She nodded. “Vlad, I…” She shook her head and let loose a chuckle that sounded more pained than amused. “I want you a little too much.”
How the hell was he supposed to resist that admission? “I can’t help the way I feel about you either. I can’t stop wanting you.”
“I should send you to sleep somewhere else. I’m not going to. But this is getting…more difficult.”
He couldn’t agree more.
She turned back to the sink and her hand brushed against a tea cup sitting too close to the edge of the counter, knocking it off. He rushed to save the falling mug but she beat him to it, catching the cup up so quickly and instinctively, the speed gave him pause. She put the cup into the dishwasher as if she hadn’t just moved fast enough to beat his shifter speed.
“Some reflexes there,” he commented, carefully putting distance between them again. The moment he got too close, all he could think about was pulling her back into his arms.
She looked up and blinked at him, then glanced back at the cup. She flashed him a half smile. “Yeah, having Zoe has really sped them up, even faster than they were from all the martial arts. You wouldn’t believe how fast a three-year-old can get into trouble.”
He chuckled. “That’s going to get worse, you know.”
“I know,” she groaned. “And then before I know it, she’ll be a teenager.”
She infused the word with such dread, he laughed again. His tension eased, though his skin still hummed from having her hands on him and he was still hard. He needed to get away from her now, while he could still force his tiger to obey logic.
“Goodnight, Rose.”
Her soft goodnight followed him down the hall, and the taste of her went with him into his dreams.
Chapter Nine
The sound of feet shuffling over the wooden floors brought Rose out of a deep sleep. She sat up, looking immediately to her bedroom doorway for Zoe. When she didn’t see anyone, she got up and made her way in the dark to Zoe’s room. She was still sound asleep, breathing easily, no sign of another episode coming on.
Releasing a sigh, Rose went back into the hall and glanced toward the living room. She stood listening, wondering if she’d dreamt the sound of footsteps. Then she heard the front door open. Vlad was leaving? She jogged to the living room, glancing at the mantle clock to check the time. Four in the morning. Where would he be going so early?
Thoughts of his brothers and the danger they posed had her moving faster. She heard voices just outside and froze. As she listened, it crossed her mind she should go back and get her father’s rifle. Then she realized one of the voices was female. Before she could fully process that, the door opened and Vlad walked in with a tall, dark-haired woman.
Without any lights on, all Rose could make out of the woman was that she had shoulder length hair, pale skin, and moved like a trained fighter. Rose recognized that confident gait easily after years of her own training.
“Rose, this is the woman I told you about. Alexis Tarasova. Rose Callaghan.”
Alexis crossed to her and took her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. You must be so worried. I understand. But we’ll make sure your little girl is just fine.”
Rose blinked at the woman, forcing down a fast and unexpected rush of tears. “Thank you for coming,” she said around the lump in her throat. She’d thought her worry had eased after this evening, but apparently all it took was a kind word to set her off again. “You got here very fast.”
“I was in Colorado when Nila called me, and I took the first flight I could get. I didn’t want to delay. Vlad tells me your daughter had a really bad episode yesterday afternoon?”
Rose’s cheeks puffed up with her breath. “Yeah, that was terrifying. But she took to Vlad showing up as a tiger pretty well, so we’re hopeful.”
“Good. Good. Okay. I think after breakfast and introductions, we should start her lessons. There’s no time to wait, not if you want to prevent any more episodes.” She glanced at Vlad. “You should know, your brothers booked flights back to Phoenix for today.”
“What? How do you know?” He looked more annoyed than worried. He pulled his phone out and checked his messages as Alexis answered his questions.
“The Trackers have had them under surveillance since early September. Are you surprised?”
“No. We all knew as much. I’m just surprised you knew about their flights before I did. You’re not even a Tracker anymore.”
“I keep informed because Nila’s about to be my…sister-in-law, I guess. Maybe niece?” She shrugged and looked at Rose. “Vlad’s sister is engaged to one of the boys I consider a brother. Technically, I’m the adopted daughter of their grandmother so really I’m their aunt, but we’ve always interacted more like siblings.”
“That’s…nice?” She had no idea what to say to all that, especially at four a.m. when she was still dopey from sleep.
Alexis chuckled. “Too much information? Okay, let’s just say I consider Nila a member of the family now. Which sort of makes Vlad family, too.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Sort of.”
Vlad didn’t say anything, but there was clearly an undercurrent of tension between them.
“Anyway,” Alexis said, “with your brothers coming back to Phoenix, we need to make sure your daughter can control her tiger. Then…” She faced Rose. “Then, I’m sorry to say, I think you need to bring her to the elders. For her own safety.”
“We’re not ready for that yet,” Vlad said. “You know why.”
“I know why you’re hesitant. But Elizaveta will make sure everyone behaves. She’s going to want to meet your daughter.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Rose said. She rubbed her eyes. “I’m not entirely sure what you two are talking about. But I’m not taking my daughter anywhere she might be in danger.”
“Believe me, I understand,” Alexis said. “I have a daughter. I’d kill to protect her.”
“Then we understand one another.”
Alexis smiled. “Perfectly. That said, there’s no way to keep her hidden from the tigers now that Vlad’s brothers are suspicious. They’ll keep coming around, trying to figure out if she’s his or not.”
“We tried to throw them off the scent, but Yuri’s dug up Zoe’s medical records,” Vlad put in. “They’re probably convinced she is mine by now. I’m sure that’s why they’re coming back to Phoenix.”
“There you go. You’re out of time.” Alexis frowned and half to herself said, “We’re going to have to make her medical history disappear. Don’t want blood samples floating around in the human world.”
Vlad cursed and settled his hands on his hips, hanging his head. “Dammit. I forgot all about that. I’ve been so worried about her shifting and my brothers finding her…”
Alexis waved him off. “Don’t, Vlad. The Trackers will take care of it.”
“They can do that?” Rose asked, frowning at them both.
“Not the first time they’ve had to,” Alexis said.
“But the doctors have run all kinds of tests on Zoe. Do I have to worry about human scientists now, too?” It was much too early in the morning for this. Rose wanted to scream.
“I’ll make sure it’s taken care of, Rose,” Vlad said.
Alexis echoed his assurances. “There won’t be any samples or records of those samples left that might lead humans to her.” She took a deep breath. “But this is just one more reason you need to bring her forward, present her to the elders, and make her an official part of our community. It will mean our enforcers and the power of the elders can be brought in to protect her. She’ll be much safer that way. Especially because she’s a girl. And she can shift.”
“Vlad’s told me she needs to be covered under your laws for her own protection. I was just hoping we wouldn’t have to introduce her to that world yet.”
Alexis exchanged a look with Vlad before saying, “You know about the Mate Run?”
Vlad glared. Rose frowned. What hadn’t he told her about it? “He told me it was how the tigers were staving off extinction. What don’t I know?”
Vlad and Alexis stared hard at each other for a few minutes, then Alexis said, “Nothing you’ll have to worry about for years.” To Vlad, she said, “She’ll need to know all of it before you go to the elders.”