Once they made it through the cave entrance, Remi stopped and pulled Tiger tightly to his chest, laughing and planting a wet kiss on his lips. “Leave them alone Tigger. They’re grown ass men and they can make up their own damn minds what they want.”
“Besides, I have plans tonight that don’t include getting involved in someone else’s love life. We had sex last night, but we didn’t really make love. I plan to show my eternal mate a preview of what he has to look forward to for a long, long time.” They flicked on a trail light and found their way back to Tiger’s campsite.
Tiger piled some fresh firewood onto the remains of the old campfire along with some kindling and soon had a large fire going. They laid out the extra blankets they’d brought with them near the fire and stripped out of their wet clothes, settling down to soak up the heat of the flames.
Tiger sat between Remi’s outstretched legs, leaning back against his chest while Remi hugged him and peppered gentle kisses along his shoulders and neck. He reached up to the tie on Tiger’s braid and pulled it off. Dropping it to the side, he started working his fingers through the braid, slowly unraveling the damp tendrils until the long raven locks hung loosely around Tiger’s shoulders and down his back, brushing over Remi’s groin.
Remi combed his fingers through the long silky mane as it dried, then massaged Tiger’s scalp as he moaned ecstatically. “Your scalp is an erogenous zone?” Remi laughed. “You love having someone play with your hair, don’t you? I can practically feel you purring.”
“Yessss. God, that feels so good. I could come just from this,” Tiger groaned.
Tiger suddenly twisted around, crouching over Remi and pressing him flat on the blankets. Remi looked up into his eyes where the silver coronas had expanded, arousal radiating off Tiger like heat waves shimmering over the desert sands. Tiger’s hair fell in waves over his shoulders, trailing across Remi’s chest and abdomen; he looked like a savage beast, regarding his prey with a predatory gaze.
Remi gulped audibly and reached up, fisting his hands tightly in Tiger’s hair and tugging his lips down into a scorching kiss that sucked all the air out of his lungs. Tiger rutted against him and Remi clutched the globes of his ass, pulling him tighter against his leaking cock as he broke the kiss, gasping to pull air into his oxygen deprived body. His body was on fire, his cock painfully hard. Sex with Tiger was like walking through an inferno, the bond reflecting their desires back to each other until it fused into one giant conflagration that threatened to consume them both.
Remi couldn’t stop to find the ointment Tae had provided. He needed to be in Tiger. He wanted to crawl inside Tiger and live there forever. Holding Tiger locked to his lips, with one hand buried in his hair, Remi swiped precome from his belly and worked Tiger’s hole with the other hand, stretching him quickly.
He broke off, gasping. “Need you now Tigger! Ride me, please!” Remi held his shaft upright as Tiger straddled his hips, lining his entrance up and sinking slowly down on Remi’s hot engorged cock. Losing all control, Remi thrust up, seating himself completely in Tiger’s channel. Tiger’s eyes slammed shut and he clenched down hard on Remi’s cock, biting his bottom lip until it bled to keep from screaming.
“I’m so sorry Tigger,” Remi groaned. “Are you okay?”
Tiger didn’t answer; he just started to move slowly up and down while Remi gripped his ass cheeks hard enough to leave bruises. His hips undulated more and more, and he ground down against Remi’s groin as he raised his arms, dragging his hair up with his hands and planting them on top of his head, baring his muscled torso to Remi.
He fucked himself wantonly on Remi’s cock, making little whimpering sounds and Remi lifted his large warm hands, smoothing them up Tiger’s stomach, his chest, then tweaking his rosy nipples. Tiger’s back arched and he cried out.
“Gorgeous” Remi murmured. Soon, he felt his impending orgasm and he stroked Tiger’s cock, squeezing his balls gently. “Come with me Tigger.”
Tiger stared into Remi’s eyes and clenched down on him when he felt his cock swell inside him. Remi’s body locked up and he spasmed, flooding Tiger’s channel with heat. Tiger’s own orgasm raced through him at the same moment. “Remi!” he shouted. Creamy white ropes of cum spurted thickly onto Remi’s stomach as Tiger convulsed and he kept stroking Tiger’s cock through the aftershocks of their orgasm, milking the last drops of cum out of him.
Tiger jolted a few times, then pulled off Remi’s soft cock and lowered himself onto Remi’s chest, nuzzling against the side of his neck and chuffing warm breath against his skin.
Remi wrapped his arms around Tiger, rubbing one hand gently across the shoulder that had been dislocated. “Are you okay?” he asked again. “I’m so sorry. I had this great plan to make tender love to you tonight and I just acted like an animal. I’m no better than those other assholes who took advantage of you!”
Tiger pushed up, frowning at him, but Remi closed his eyes and tried to turn away. “Look at me Remi.” Tiger grabbed his jaw and turned his head back to face him. Remi stared back with a pained expression.
“In case you didn’t notice, I was thoroughly enjoying myself. That was passion, not aggression. Don’t ever compare yourself to those monsters again! If I wasn’t into it, I could’ve stopped it at any time. I think we need to face the fact that we’re never going to make love ‘tenderly’; we just burn too hot when we come together.” He laid his head back against Remi’s neck, his fingers rubbing lazily over his collarbone.
Relief was palpable when Remi murmured, “I love you so much Tigger.”
“Enough to stop using that stupid nickname?” he asked softly.
“Never gonna happen… Tigger.”
They slept for a while, then made passionate love again that night… several times.
Chapter 20
The next day passed in a flurry of activity to get tests, physicals and preparations for their return trip completed. Late in the afternoon, Tiger and Max were with Lucius in his office, finishing up some research notes, when there was a rapid knocking on the door. It flew open before Lucius could even respond.
“What the hell…?” Lucius bellowed, annoyed at the interruption.
Tae stood in the doorway, highly agitated and panting. “Strangers have entered the valley. Many humans… maybe twenty. They are all armed. I must warn the village. We will hide in the caves.” He ducked slightly, looking embarrassed. “I am sorry. I must go. They do not look friendly. Please come with us doctor,” he begged.
Tiger made a mad dash out the door, Max hot on his heels. Lucius ushered Tae out the door quickly. “You go laddie. Hurry.!. I’ll stay with the boys. If they think we need to hide, we’ll retreat to the cave under the waterfall. Go now! Go!” he said, pushing Tae away. Tae bolted out the back door.
Lucius hurried to catch up with Tiger and Max. He found them with TJ and Remi, who were already studying the strangers with their field optics.
“Mercs,” TJ declared, turning to his team with a grim expression. “This isn’t good. Mercs have no reason to be in this area and I don’t recognize this bunch. They’re probably unregistered.”
“What do you want to do?” Remi deferred to TJ as the team leader. “You think we should fade or hear what they have to say?”
“Lucius and I will step out and see what they want. The rest of you stay out of sight and cover us. Especially you. That’s an order,” he stressed, looking directly at Tiger.
“Yes sir” they all replied.
“Lucius, do you know how to use this?” TJ pointed to Tony’s handgun.
“Aye, Captain. I’ve been known to throw down a time or two in my youth.”
“Good.” TJ yanked Tony’s handgun out of his holster and handed it to Lucius. “Put this in your pocket and keep your hand on it. Don’t use it unless I say to and try not to shoot me.”
Tony snorted and pulled another handgun out of his shoulder holster.
TJ and Lucius stepped out onto the front porch, acting casua
l and pretending they weren’t keeping an eye on the mercs as they approached. “You do your usual meet and greet Lucius,” TJ muttered as the mercs got closer. “I’ve already seen how well you lie under pressure. I’ll step in if it’s called for. Just try to keep that temper on a leash.”
“Ah, good afternoon gentlemen,” Lucius greeted when they were within earshot. “I’m Doctor Lucius McNair and I’m in charge of this research facility. How can I help you today?”
The mercs stopped and spread out behind the man TJ assumed to be the leader of the unsavory looking group. He stepped forward. “My name is Dominic. I’m the leader of this team and I’m looking for a man. I was told by a fella named Patton at the trading post that I could find that man here. He’s wanted for murdering a man named Chris Hawkins. I have a warrant for his arrest.”
TJ was leaning nonchalantly against a porch post, listening to the conversation, his thumbs hooked in the edge of his gun belt. His eyes narrowed at the obvious lie. No warrant had been issued against Tiger. He hadn’t bothered to give Tiger’s name because he didn’t know it. He was undoubtedly working strictly from a description of Tiger.
“I see. Well, there’s no one here but the research scientists and my native helpers, and my cousin here, so I’m afraid you’ve been misled by a former colleague who unfortunately bears a grudge against us. However, if you’ll show me the warrant, I’ll be happy to keep an eye out for the miscreant,” Lucius promised.
“That’s not necessary, if you’ll just let us look around, we can confirm that he’s not here and be on our way.”
“I’m afraid I can’t allow that,” Lucius demurred. “We have to maintain strict containment rules in our labs. Contamination would ruin our experiments. Also, there’s the issue of confidentiality regarding our research.”
Dominic stepped forward, prepared to push past Lucius. He stopped abruptly when he heard the click of a gun being cocked. TJ hadn’t changed position, but suddenly he had the barrel of his handgun pointed straight at Dominic’s gut. Neither said a word. TJ just smirked at Dominic and arched an eyebrow at him.
Finally, Dominic backed up a few steps. “This isn’t over,” he growled. He spun around and stalked away, his men trailing behind him. Several looked back, keeping an eye on TJ to be sure he didn’t try anything.
They headed back up the trail in the direction of the pass, disappearing into the woods. Lucius let out a loud breath he didn’t even realize he’d been holding. “Whew! I could use a stiff drink Captain! I thought we were goners for sure.”
“He only backed down because he knew he would be the first to go down and he was close enough that there was no way I could miss. It’s personal now. There’s no way they’re going to just let us walk out of this valley. Let’s go get that drink.”
Tony and Jess stood watch while the others reconvened in Lucius’ office. They knew the natives didn’t need to be warned to stay hidden. Lucius said there would be lookouts keeping an eye on the strangers.
Lucius had his drink. TJ stayed sober.
“We’ve got a big problem,” TJ said. “The guy lied about having a warrant for Tiger, but he didn’t give Tiger’s name and he dodged producing any paperwork. He said his name’s Dominic. I saw a ‘DH’ carved into his gun stock.”
“Dominic...” Remi’s eyes widened, glancing at Tiger. “Chris’s brother is a mercenary. Dominic Hawkins. He’s looking for payback because he thinks Tiger killed Chris!”
“Yeah, and there’s no way he’s going to believe Tiger didn’t do it. He said this isn’t over, plus he really doesn’t like me. I’m sure they’re going to be watching the pass. With a group that large, there’s no way we’re going to be able to slip past them in broad daylight.”
“We can’t wait them out. The longer we wait, the more time they have to plan something. This place isn’t built for defense and we’re badly outnumbered. We need to take the offense, so here’s what we’re gonna do.” TJ was in the zone. This was what his team excelled at.
*****
TJ drew it all out for them. They had not been idle while they were there. Other than the village, they had a good grasp of the layout of the valley, so they could easily navigate under cover of darkness. TJ figured that instead of just blocking the pass, Dominic’s men would likely be deployed to surround the research facility, with maybe a couple left behind at the pass to catch anyone who managed to slip through the line.
Assuming that all of Dominic’s men had been present during the confrontation, they hoped they had a reasonably accurate headcount. It wasn’t ideal, but this wasn’t exactly a normal mission.
TJ and his team would pair up to take out individuals or pairs if viable, then regroup to hit any groups of three or more, noting their locations via GPS. They had no way of knowing whether or not the mercs were doing shift changes or moving about.
TJ would have to make a call based on experience and his gut feeling. No time for reconnaissance. If his assumptions were incorrect, he’d have to modify the plan on the fly once the mission was in play.
They suited up in their black night assault uniforms, including gloves, caps and blackface paint. They didn’t have their helmets or vests, but this was a stealth mission, so hopefully they wouldn’t be needed.
TJ decided to wait till after midnight. There would be no moonlight then and the mercs would likely be less alert. Mercenaries weren’t typically well trained or highly intelligent; they were mostly just gun-toting muscle.
There were exceptions among the more ethical groups who operated more like civilian private security and registered with the government, but teams like Dominic’s were just lawless thugs.
They spent their pre-mission time prepping their weapons and comms, checking and double-checking everything, going over the plan to be sure they had it all straight. There were three teams. Jess and Tony, Tiger and Max, and TJ and Remi. Max would go along with Tiger as a medic and backup. TJ was confident that Tiger could protect Max, who had served as a medic in the army.
Remi was pissed about being separated from Tiger, but TJ pointed out that if either one was injured or killed, the other one would go down too, leaving one whole sector uncovered. Besides, TJ had no idea what the flyboy’s skillset included. He didn’t want Remi getting one of his men hurt, but he wasn’t giving voice to that concern.
TJ’s team was always prepared for trouble and had packed their gear out of habit, but Remi and Max had to be outfitted. TJ and Remi were about the same size, so TJ provided whatever Remi lacked. As they suited up in TJ’s room, he was surprised to see that Remi appeared to have his own version of combat gear. He wondered if Remi had had the foresight to borrow equipment for the trip.
Remi stripped down to his black tank top and briefs and TJ caught a flash of what looked like a military tattoo on his right bicep. When Remi turned, TJ’s eyes bugged out and he grabbed Remi’s arm. “Wait a minute! Let me see that!” He drew in a sharp breath. “You’re shittin’ me…… you were a marine?”
“Still am…… once a marine, always a marine,” he replied, pulling the black turtleneck on over his head.
“Holy shit! How the hell does a marine end up serving in the air force?”
“It’s a long story, but the short of it is I had to transfer when my parents were killed so I could take care of Jake.”
TJ clacked his mouth shut. He was seeing a whole new side of Remi.
“Were you also a security specialist in the marines?” he asked.
“Nope. Weapons and demolition. Force recon.”
TJ grinned evilly. “This is gonna be so much fun. Hoorah!!”
Chapter 21
The teams slipped out of the building through a basement window at five minute intervals, once the last moon dropped below the cliffs. They worked their way silently into the surrounding woods.
The plan was to divide the area into thirds, each team would sweep their section in a zig-zag pattern moving in a clockwise direction, compare the body count via comms upon comple
tion, then reverse direction to check for missed or bypassed targets, reporting a final headcount upon completion again.
There would be no quarter given. Too far from civilization and outnumbered, the only option available to them was kill or be killed. The mercs would expect nothing less and would respond in kind.
They had five hours of total darkness to complete the mission before predawn gave them away. Tiger carried his katana and a K-Bar. The rest of them carried K-Bars, throwing knives, and garrotes. Max carried a med-kit as well as a K-Bar.
No firearms, no lights, absolutely no noise. If the mercs caught on to what they were up to, they’d open up on them and that would be that… game over. TJ had no doubt that they could handle it. This was what they did, and his men were the best of the best.
TJ and Remi flattened in the knee-high grass once they were in position, listening for any signs of hostiles. Finally, TJ whispered “Alpha team in position. Sitrep.”
“Beta team in position. No sign of rovers or comms,” Tiger reported.
“Charlie team in position. Same situation. They’re just standing or sitting around like they haven’t a care in the world,” Jess reported.
“Alright, ladies, the plan’s a go. Let’s kick some ass. Max, you’re the score keeper,” TJ whispered.
The section that fanned out from the back of the compound was likely to have a few more mercs concentrated there than on the fringes. TJ wanted to be the one to take on that task and he was eager to see what Remi could do now that he understood who he was dealing with.
They reverted to using hand signals, only speaking to rattle off the body count as the team worked their way through the woods.
“First blood… Beta two,” Tiger whispered into his comm.
Tiger Page 19