by Susan Hayes
“About ten feet in from the hallway.” Seconds later the wall shook and light began to pour in from the other side. It didn’t take Doyle long to tear down the plaster enough for her to be able to see him in his animal form. At first she thought he was covered in plaster dust, but then she realized that was his true color. Her mate was a white tiger, and a breathtaking one at that. He tore through the wooden frame like it was made of tissue paper, sending debris flying in all directions as he used his much larger frame to break through.
They were going to get out of here. Together.
7
Doyle
Doyle didn’t know whether to throttle her or thank her for coming back for him. She should have been long gone. He needed her to be safe, but gods help him, he needed her with him too. So this was what being mated felt like? She was already making him fucking insane and it hadn’t been an hour yet. How the hell was he going to survive a lifetime?
When the gap was big enough he withdrew briefly to blow the dust from his nose and snatched his pack off the floor. Not that there was much in it, but he didn’t feel like leaving any more evidence behind than he had to. Let Christophe try to figure out what had happened to his painting from the scraps of cloth on the floor and the massive hole in his wall. Since the slimy bastard had no idea shifters even existed, he’d never know the truth. Doyle leaped through the hole he and Tessa had made, catching a faint whiff of blood as he crossed into the next room. Not just blood, Tessa’s blood.
“You’re hurt.” He directed his thoughts to her, including a strong sense of concern. He still couldn’t believe they’d made a telepathic connection so quickly. Then again, everything else about their mating had been rushed, why would that be the exception?
“Only a few splinters in my paws, that’s all,” she shot back and indicated the window with a twist of her elegant head. “Can you handle a two storey drop, or should we go out the front door?” The alarm went silent at that moment, and Doyle knew the decision had been made for them. Either the police were here, or Christophe was. It was past time for them to go.
“Window, now!”
“On it. Try to keep up, big boy.” With that, Tessa charged the window, springing through the opening before he could reach it. The glass shattered outward, sending dangerous shards flying through the air to mix with the falling snow outside. Doyle could see her blood gleaming on several jagged pieces that had not broken cleanly and it tore at his already aching heart. He’d see to every one of her injuries. Injuries she’d gotten saving his ass.
He didn’t like the idea one bit.
Not wanting to land on top of Tessa, he hesitated several seconds before launching himself out the window, taking the rest of the glass with him. He landed hard, the snow softening his fall, but making it more difficult to keep his feet. He staggered forward, his muzzle grazing a bloodstained drift.
“Tessa?”
“Over here.” Her mental voice was softer than it had been moments before, and he could feel her pain being transmitted over their link. He followed her bloodied tracks through the snow and found her limping toward the treeline. Blood streaked her beautiful coat, and there was a shard of glass lodged into her shoulder, slowing her to a painful crawl. The heavy snow was covering their tracks quickly, but there was no way they’d make it to the van in time to avoid discovery. Not with Tessa limping.
Doyle transformed back to human and spat out his backpack, biting back an oath as the cold sank its claws into his bare skin. He crouched beside her, stroking her head softly as he took the bag from her mouth and rummaged until he found the transmitter. He could hear one of the twins shouting into it before he even got it to his ear.
“Stop yelling, I’m here now.” He barked into the device and the squawking stopped.
“Doyle? What the hell is going on? Where are you? We got the alarm shut down again, but the police are on their way. Are you out of there yet? We can’t find your girlfriend, either.”
“We’re out. She’s with me, and she’s hurt. I need you to bring the van to the secondary pickup spot. It’ll be closer and I’m going to have to carry her.”
There was a pause. “Is she going to be okay?”
“Yes, but she’s cut pretty badly. I don’t want to take out the glass until we’re safe, and she can’t shift until it’s removed. Get to the location and I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.” Doyle smoothed his hand over Tessa’s fur, marveling at her beauty even as he sent thoughts of comfort to her through their still strengthening bond.
“You got it. Hey, Doyle? We’re sorry she got hurt.”
“You can apologize to her in person when I get to you. Right after you explain what the fucking hell went wrong tonight. How did the alarms get reset? And which of you am I talking to you? I can’t fucking well tell you apart.”
“This is Sean. And uh, it looks like Christophe had a remote access app,” Sean said, sounding sheepish.
“You have got to be joking. I was nearly arrested because of a fucking app?” he snarled and Tess lifted her head to lick his fingers. Doyle let his anger go and focused on Tessa. She needed him more than he needed to vent his anger at what had happened. “Just get to the pickup point. We’ll talk about the rest later.”
He carefully drew Tessa into his arms, making sure to take both their bags with him as he lifted his precious burden. Tessa stiffened in pain, but then relaxed and let her head settle on his shoulder.
“I can walk, you know.” her thoughts were tinged with pain, but there was amusement there, too.
“We’ll get there faster if I carry you, so shut up and let me. You saved my ass back there and I don’t like knowing you got hurt doing it.” Doyle started jogging toward the pickup location, doing his best not to jar her.
“I can smell your blood, too, macho tiger-man. You’d be warmer in your furry form right now. I can’t believe you’re standing in snow, bare-assed naked.”
“Please, don’t remind me. Rafe owes me big time for this. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s sending us to Tahiti for our honeymoon.”
“Tahiti sounds nice, but who said anything about us getting married?”
“I did. You’re my mate. We’re getting married, and that’s final.” What the hell was she talking about? Of course they were getting married. She was his, damn it. He wanted a marriage certificate and a ring on her finger to tell everyone she was taken. A ring might not be enough. Maybe he needed a sign to hang around her neck warning everyone to approach on pain of death.
8
Tessa
It was a shame she couldn’t laugh while in this form. Tessa could use the relief of a good giggle right now, and Doyle’s possessive declaration was the funniest thing she’d heard in days. “You haven’t even proposed yet.”
“Add it to the list of things I need to do once I get you safely on the plane.”
They were moving through the trees now, and the snow was falling so fast that she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of them, yet somehow Doyle kept moving. Despite the cold and the dark and the storm, he kept pushing on. He was as strong as the tiger that dwelled inside him, but he’d touched her so tenderly, with such care…
Tessa was back to thinking that maybe, just maybe, the gods didn’t hate her.
“What plane?” she asked.
“The people I work for make sure we have the best tools. That includes a private jet. It’s waiting for us in Calgary.” His arms tightened around her and he dipped his head to brush his cheek against the top of her head. “It’ll take us home.”
“So, where’s home? And what else is on this list you said you have?” It was getting harder to think through the pain, and she could feel herself getting woozy. Blood loss, probably. If she could sleep for a while, it would be okay. Shifters healed fast if they had a safe place to rest and recover.
“Home is Washington State, and the list … we’ll get to that later. Let’s just say that in the rush to make you mine, I skipped over quite a few t
hings I really want to do to you, and with you.”
“I don’t have my passport with me.”
“I’ll send the twins to get it. You have to be staying in a hotel room around here somewhere, right? Give me the room number and the name you’re registered under, and we’ll take care of the rest.”
“Why are you being so good to me?” Tessa hadn’t meant to ask that question, but she was tired and cold, and it was too hard to keep her thoughts to herself.
Powerful emotions surged through their link and filled her mind. Worry, confusion, affection and even humor flowed from Doyle into her. “Because you’re my mate. You’re hurt, and I don’t like it. I don’t know much about being mated, my beauty, but I know that it means that you’re mine to protect and cherish.”
She could sense the faint ripple of embarrassment that came with his last words, and it warmed her heart. “I don’t know anything about being mated. I guess you’re going to have to teach me.”
“Nothing?”
“My mother was human before my father claimed her and made her into a shifter. We lived alone. No clan. No pack. After he killed her, I was raised by my mother’s family. They had no idea what I was. I haven’t been around many of my kind. I guess that’s going to change now, huh?” Tessa hadn’t intended to tell him any of that. She’d never told her story to another soul, not in all the years she’d been alone. She was a child of two worlds, and didn’t belong to either one. That’s why she’d become a thief.
“You could say that. You’re mine now, and that means you just became a part of the F.K. Incorporated clan. Don’t worry, they’re batshit crazy, but they take care of their own, and that includes you.”
“Sounds nice. Crazy works for me. What’s F.K. stand for?”
Doyle’s soft chuckle echoed through her mind. “The company I work for was started by a lion shifter named Rafe Sterns. He’s got a weird sense of humor. The initials stand for ‘finders, keepers.’ We retrieve things. Like, oh, someone’s stolen Monet painting.”
Tessa laughed a little, but she just couldn’t stay awake any longer. Her body hurt and she wanted to sleep.
“Tessa?” Doyle’s voice sounded so far away. She barely felt his grip tighten around her, but then he was shaking her and shouting. “Don’t you go to sleep on me, Tessa. Don’t you fucking dare! You stay awake, God dammit!”
His voice snapped her out of the fugue, at least for now. “It hurts.
“We’re nearly there. You just need to hang on a little while longer and we’ll both be warm and safe soon. You can sleep then, but not until I tell you it’s okay. Do you hear me? You stay awake until I tell you it’s time to sleep.”
“Anyone tell you that you’re a bossy bastard?”
He laughed. “All the time, beauty. It’s one of my many charms.”
Tessa rubbed her muzzle against his neck, drawing the scent of him into her lungs. “I’m kind of fond of your charms. I hope none of them are frozen off before we get to this meeting place.”
“You and me both, love. Not much farther now. Then we can both rest.” He stumbled a few steps later, dropping to his knees but somehow managing to keep hold of her. It jarred the glass still embedded in her shoulder, and she nearly passed out from the pain.
He got to his feet again, but he was struggling. Tessa opened her eyes to find that Doyle was up past his knees in a heavy drift of snow, heading for a pair of headlights that were barely visible through the snow.
“Can you see us, Sean? We can see the headlights. We’ll be there in a minute or two.”
For a moment Tessa couldn’t figure out who he was talking to, but then she remembered his teammates.
The tinny voice sounded again. “We have you. Seth is coming out to give you a hand.”
“I don’t need help from you two pups, I can manage,” Doyle snapped.
“Rafe’s orders. He called for an update two minutes ago. We have orders to get you and your mate secured and haul ass for Calgary. The jet’s on standby. Rafe outranks you, so Seth’s on his way.”
“Fuck,” Doyle snarled, staggering through another drift.
“You saved me, then I saved you. Let the pups have their moment, too.” Tessa whispered to him via their link. He relaxed slightly, then laughed.
“That’s the worst poem I’ve ever heard,” he told her and nuzzled his face to her fur again.
“I’m blaming the blood loss.” She sent the thought with what she hoped was the telepathic equivalent of a smile. This was all so new to her, she wasn’t really sure what she was doing.
A new voice called through the snow. “Doyle?”
“Over here. Come and make yourself useful and I’ll consider not beating you and your mongrel twin to death.”
“Hey! It’s not our fault! The advanced team didn’t figure out he had a remote app, either!”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. It occurred to me that you two heard everything that went on while I was in the house and I’m betting it’s recorded somewhere, too. I want it gone before we get to the plane, or I’ll be giving my condolences to your father when we get home.”
They’d been listening? Oh, hell no. Tessa lifted her head and turned to look at the dark-haired man who now stood in front of Doyle. The scent of wolf filled her nostrils and she curled her lips back in a snarl.
“Tessa feels the same way.”
“Consider it gone. Fuck, you cats are so pushy. Wolves get all the crap for being alpha, but you guys are way worse. When he found out what was going on, Rafe roared so loud my ears are still ringing.”
“Suck it up, puppy. And for fuck’s sake, get moving. Some of my mate’s favorite bits of my anatomy are getting frostbitten here.”
9
Doyle
The only thing keeping him on his feet by the end was sheer stubbornness and his innate healing abilities. Doyle knew he was suffering from hypothermia and possibly the first stages of frostbite on his feet, but none of that mattered right now. He had to see to Tessa. She needed him. His brave, beautiful mate had stayed awake until they’d reached the van, but as Seth had helped them both inside her body had gone limp and heavy in his arms. For a second his heart had simply stopped beating. It wasn’t until Doyle reached through their link and confirmed that she was still alive that he started breathing again.
Fucking hell. They’d only been mated a matter of hours and she was already the center of his entire world. What would it be like in a week? In a year? He didn’t want to think about it.
The twins had gotten things ready inside the van. Blankets and jackets had been put down to create a makeshift bed for the two of them, and the second the doors were closed Seth draped another over Doyle’s bare shoulders. Sean had them on the road and heading out of town the moment they were settled, and Doyle finally started to relax.
He reached for the first aid kit, but his hands were shaking from the cold and his fingers wouldn’t work right. Seth took the kit from him and opened it, laying out everything they might need while Doyle carefully settled Tessa across his lap. It was probably best she was unconscious for this next bit anyway. Having glass shards pulled out of your body wasn’t a memory anyone would cherish.
When it was done, Tessa settled into a deeper sleep, shifting to her human form without ever waking. Doyle curled himself around her naked body and drew the last of the blankets over them both. Seth had found her hotel key card in the bag, along with the painting they’d been sent to recover. They’d pick up her stuff on the way to the airport. Doyle had been impressed by the way the twins had handled the details, reorganizing the plan on the fly, and it gave him enough confidence to finally give in to his body’s demands for sleep.
“Wake me up when we get to the plane. Hopefully by then, we’ll both be healed up enough to make it to the jet without looking like we just escaped from a war zone.”
After an hour or so he woke again, sufficiently healed enough that other, more urgent needs were making themselves known. Doyle spent t
he rest of the journey with a raging hard on and an irritable tiger pacing within the confines of his mind. His tiger didn’t care that there were others present, or that Tessa needed to rest and heal. All it wanted was to lay claim to her again, deepening their bond and slaking the mating fever that built inside him. Every bump in the road rubbed his naked body against the lush curves of his mate’s body, and he had to grit his teeth and hang on.
It was the longest trip of his goddamned life.
They’d driven up to where the jet was waiting, and then the twins had made themselves scarce. It was probably the smartest thing they’d done all day.
“Tessa, love. It’s time to wake up.” She screwed up her face into an adorable pout at his words, and Doyle gave in to the temptation to kiss her. The feather-light touch of his lips triggered something in his mate, who woke with a feral growl that made his cock grow even harder. Her lips parted beneath his and her tongue flicked out to taste his lips. “Mate,” she said, the words buried in another growl of need.
“Yes, love. I’m here.”
“Need you … Doyle?” Her lashes fluttered open to reveal the green and gold of her eyes, staring up at him with slowly fading confusion.
“Hello, beautiful.” He grinned at her.
“Oh, shit. You weren’t a dream.” She glanced down at their naked bodies and then met his gaze again. “Why are we naked?”
“You had glass in your shoulder and couldn’t shift. I carried you through the snow to the van and we got you fixed up. You shifted afterward.”