by Синтия Иден
“He’s gone.” Erin’s voice. Quiet. Steady.
Jude whirled around and found her standing in front of an open door, a stairwell.
She was alone. Hell. “You should have gone for help.” The words blasted out of him, deeper than normal, because the beast was too close to the surface. She’d stayed there, come looking for the freak. Was the woman crazy?
Her shoulders straightened. “I’m sick of running, Jude. I tried that. It didn’t work.” She shook her head. “That’s not how I’m going to play this game anymore.”
He closed the distance between them in two seconds flat. Jude grabbed her arms and pulled her toward him. “This isn’t a game. He’s a killer. A cold, seriously fucked-up”—he could still see the blood on her walls and the grin that he had sliced across Bobby’s face—“killer.” A game. His hold tightened on her. “If he gets hold of you, he’ll—”
“I know exactly what he’ll do.” Erin jerked away from him. Just broke from his grasp as if he weren’t even holding her. Why do I keep forgetting how strong she is?
Her eyes were stark. “He caught me once before.”
His heart seemed to stop. No, not here. He didn’t want to learn this here, with that bastard’s stench in the air around him. Jude swung away from her, his gaze searching the shadows of the garage. “How the hell do you know he’s gone?”
Silence.
Jude glanced back at her. “Erin?”
Her hand lifted, pointed to the right. “He left me a present.”
He stalked forward and saw the roses propped up against the cement wall.
Fresh. Bloodred. Not a bloodstained message this time. Flowers.
Oh, yeah, a real perfect Romeo.
“That’s Lee’s parking space.” No emotion in her voice.
Jude’s eyes lifted and he saw the reserved spot with the lawyer’s first initial and last name.
Dammit.
“There’s a card, but I–I haven’t read it yet.”
He would. Jude grabbed the flowers, jerked out the card and tossed the roses onto the pavement. The scent of the flowers was sickeningly sweet, combining with the stench of the shifter, a stench that seemed lighter now, weaker.
‘Cause the bastard was gone.
For now.
With steady fingers, Jude pulled out the card. Maybe he should have taken it to Tony. He should have used gloves, he should have—
Did you like my present?
What in the hell? His gaze flew to Erin, and he found her staring at him, her body still.
“What does it say?” she whispered.
Jude shoved the note back into the envelope. “Let’s get out of here.” A car horn sounded in the distance. The place was all but deserted. He knew most of the lawyers and assistants would have checked out around five. Being there, standing in that empty garage felt too much like a trap.
One Jude wasn’t about to get caught in. “Where’s your car?” he demanded.
But she shook her head. “The note, Jude. What did it say?”
His jaw clenched. “Screw your car, you’re coming with me.” He shoved the note in his pocket. If the jerkoff had been dumb enough to leave any prints, and Jude figured the guy hadn’t, they were probably long gone by now. A guy smart enough to sneak into a police station and kill a man while the cops were less than twenty feet away really wasn’t gonna be the type to leave fingerprints on his little delivery.
Crossing to her side, Jude reached for Erin’s arm. She didn’t fight him, and he knew the lady could have used her strength. She climbed in the passenger side of his pickup. He slammed the door shut behind her, raced back around, and jumped inside.
He cranked the truck and the engine snarled to life. His fingers curled around the gear shift.
“What did it say?” Her hand brushed over his. Soft. Delicate.
With an effort, he managed to unclench his jaw enough to growl, “‘Did you like my present?’”
A sharp inhalation of air. Her hand fell away and she sagged back in the seat.
He twisted the wheel, slammed on the gas pedal, and got the hell out of there.
The green pickup raced down the street, the motor rumbling as the tiger drove away, too fast.
Running scared. He watched that truck, and he smiled.
Erin had found his note. She knew what he’d done for her. Proving his love wasn’t hard. He enjoyed giving presents to his mate.
The tiger would soon realize he didn’t have a place in this equation. Erin would know he didn’t belong.
Just the two of us, love. Just us.
He’d been angry when he found the shifter at her house. In her house.
No other male should be so close to Erin.
But he’d investigated the tiger today. Found out that he was a hunter. One Erin had foolishly hired.
As if the bastard would be a match for him.
Perhaps Erin had already realized her mistake.
He could still smell her. He’d been so close to her today. Close enough to touch and to taste.
When she’d found his roses, had she smiled? Had her lips lifted in that slow, beautiful smile he liked so much? Erin loved red roses. Always had.
That dick of a lawyer never should have gone after her like he had in court. The prick had been in her face, screaming.
No one treated Erin that way.
The traffic light turned red and he walked across the street, keeping his gaze on the shrinking taillights.
He couldn’t wait to see Erin again. Couldn’t wait to claim her. It had already been so long since he’d held her body beneath his and given in to the hunger.
Did she miss him as much as he missed her? Did she long for him?
Yes.
The answer came from the beast inside. The beast that wanted Erin just as much as the man did.
Soon it would be time for the games to end.
Time to take what was his.
If the tiger got in his way again, well, he’d just slice the bastard apart. Wouldn’t be the first time he’d killed a rival.
Not the first time. Not the last.
Chapter 9
“You just missed my exit.” The first words she’d spoken since they left the parking garage. Erin thought the words came out pretty calm. Pretty steady.
Did you like my present?
She’d managed, barely, not to flinch when Jude told her the words of the note. But even before he’d said them, she’d known.
It was the freak’s MO.
Her gaze lifted to Jude’s face. His jaw was clenched, the eye she could see narrowed. “Jude?” Her hands were balled into fists. The better to not touch him.
“We’re not going to your place.” He didn’t take his gaze off the road. “The bastard was there last night, he was inside the night before that. Sweetheart, your place is sure as shit not safe.”
But it was hers. And right then, she needed some security, some—
“You’re spending the night with me.”
She blinked.
The truck slowed, then turned off on the next exit. “And before we get there, you’re gonna start talking. You’re gonna tell me everything I need to know about that asshole.”
He’ll turn from me. Jude won’t touch me again.
He wouldn’t look at her with hunger in his eyes. Wouldn’t touch her with desire.
Her fingers uncurled and pressed against the tops of her thighs. No choice. “I–I think he attacked Burrows and Lee because he was…giving them to me as presents.” Yeah, sounded sick and twisted as all hell — because it was.
His knuckles tightened around the wheel but he didn’t speak.
“He watches me. It’s what he does.” Always watching. “If he sees someone that he thinks hurts me or disrespects me, then he attacks.” And in the case of Burrows, leaves a body for her to find.
Because that was the kind of present every girl dreamed of. Forget diamonds. She wanted mutilated dead men.
No, no, even she wasn’t t
hat broken.
“One hell of a Prince Charming you got there.” The engine revved as he shot off the exit ramp and down the long, deserted stretch of road.
Tell me something I don’t know. “He hurt a man I dated back in Lillian. My…friend was shot. The bullet barely missed his heart.” A human. He’d been in the hospital for weeks. When he’d gotten out, she’d stayed the hell away from him.
Stayed away — yeah, leaving the city definitely counted as staying away. The real bitch was…she’d cared for him, but she’d had to leave to keep him safe.
Ben wouldn’t have survived much longer in her world.
“No one else but me. You’re mine, Erin. Blood, bones, beast — mine.” She’d never forget that voice. Whispering to her in the darkness.
“The first time I ever heard from the guy,” she licked her lips and said, “he sent me roses. A dozen red roses.”
Jude flinched.
Roses. Just like the ones that had been left in Lee’s parking spot. The truck flew under the streetlights. “I used to love red roses.” He’d taken that from her, too. Now when she saw them, her entire body tensed up, and she could only think of blood and death. She swallowed and looked out the window at the blur of pine trees. “He sent me a note with them. Told me I was the woman he’d been looking for his whole life.”
And she’d been flattered. Excited. Nervous. Smiling and looking around the office as she tried to figure out who her secret admirer really was.
“I got mugged a few nights after that.” A rough laugh broke from her lips. “I could have taken the guy. He was a kid, couldn’t have been more than fifteen, but I was with friends.”
“Humans.”
A nod, one she didn’t even know if he saw because she wasn’t ready to look back at him yet. Since moving in with her father, she’d always stuck with the humans. They might fear her sometimes, when she slipped up, but at least they’d never thrown her away. “I didn’t want them to see”—how strong I am, how deadly I can be—“so I gave the guy my purse.” Not like she’d had much money in the bag. Maybe thirty bucks. No credit cards.
“Let me guess.” He turned off the winding road. Took a left. “Romeo punished the mugger.”
“Used his claws to slice open his throat.” She glanced down at her own nails. Short now, manicured. What a joke. “Someone saw them fighting and called the cops. He didn’t get to finish the kid.” The boy had survived, barely. “I wouldn’t have even connected the stories. I was mugged. Some kid on the news had a knife wound.” Right. “I mean stuff like that happens every day.”
He pulled into his drive. She could see his cabin. Right where the woods and the swamp seemed to meet. A stark building standing against the glittering stars and the glow of the moon.
Jude killed the ignition, but made no move to get out of the truck. Neither did she. Get it over with. Tell him everything.
A touch on her shoulder.
Erin whirled around and found Jude staring at her with blue eyes that shone in the dim interior of the pickup.
“How’d you find out it was your admirer?”
She licked her lips again. Nervous habit. Erin saw his gaze drop, then rise, slowly, back to hers. “When I–I got home from work the next night, my purse was there. Stained with blood. He left me a note. The bastard always liked his little notes.” Though he’d never left a fingerprint on them. She’d checked. The guys in the lab had owed her a few favors back in Lillian.
His note had been simple. Terrifying.
I made the bastard pay.
After that, he’d broken into her house. The first time. No security system had kept him out. And, being like she was, getting a dog, a really big, mean-ass dog, hadn’t been an option.
Not that a dog would have stopped him. Or even slowed him down.
Erin wanted to drop her gaze and because she wanted to, she didn’t. Lifting her chin, she stared into Jude’s eyes and said, “Things escalated from there.” The scar seemed to burn.
Tell him.
“And you ran.” Flat. Jude shook his head and drummed the fingers of his left hand against the steering wheel. “No cops—”
“Lillian isn’t like Baton Rouge.” Too small. Not quite the atmosphere and size most paranormals craved. “The cops there wouldn’t have had the first clue about how to deal with this guy.”
The drumming fingers stilled. “I’ve got a clue.”
Yeah, she knew that and Jude had given her hope. Maybe the nightmare would finally end. Maybe.
Not alone now.
She reached for him, skimming her fingers down his cheek. She loved the soft sting of the light stubble on his flesh.
Jude stilled. His gaze held hers. Then his head moved, a graceful curl into her touch, just like a cat seeking a good rub.
The truck’s cab suddenly seemed very, very small.
Tell him.
But he was looking at her with hunger and need and such lust on his face. In his eyes.
I want him. Just like before. No holding back. No worrying about hurting him.
They were alone out there. Far away from prying eyes and listening ears.
Alone.
One more time. She wanted him again. Couldn’t she be greedy? A little greed never hurt anyone.
Her tongue swiped along her lower lip and she wished that she could taste him.
Do it.
She leaned toward him and heard the hard rasp of his breath. Her lips hovered over his.
“Don’t you know”—the words were a growl, so deep and rough they sent a shiver over her—“not to play with a tiger?”
Oh, but a tiger shifter was exactly the kind of guy she wanted to play with. “I can’t hurt you.” The words slipped out and after a second, she jerked back, horrified. No, she’d said—
His head tipped back and his brows lifted. “Ah…makes sense.”
What?
He caught her hand, pulled it between them. “The humans didn’t like it when you played rough, huh?” The tips of her claws had just begun to appear.
“I have a…hard time holding back.”
“Not gonna complain over that.” His hold on her hand tightened. “Not gonna complain one bit.”
“You’d be the first who didn’t.” Could she not keep her mouth closed? Erin tried to tug her hand back.
No dice. The tiger wasn’t letting go. She could force the issue but…
“Then you’ve been with damn idiots. A woman with power is a fucking beautiful thing to behold.” His eyes held the glow of the beast. “You’re fucking beautiful.”
He’d just — oh, hell. “I got to third base for the first time when I was seventeen. The guy was the high school quarterback. I–I’ve always been strong and — I didn’t mean to hold him so tight.” But she’d almost broken both his wrists. When she’d realized what was happening and eased her hold, he’d run, much faster than he’d ever moved on the field. Come Monday, no guy at the school had so much as given her a second look.
Freak.
“In college, I’d been seeing this guy.” Lyle had always been able to make her smile. “Things got hot and my claws came out.”
Erin, what the hell? You cut me! How did you…?
Her teeth snapped together. “After that,” she gritted, slamming the door on that particular memory, “I learned fast that I had to always have control and be very careful in bed.” Human lovers were too weak. She could break them if she wasn’t careful. So she’d taken her pleasure, weak though it had been, and she’d done it by always holding herself back during sex. If she let go, her partners would have found out what she really was.
Not an option.
Jude unhooked his seat belt and leaned over her. “I like your claws and you’re welcome to hold me as tight as you want.” His lips pressed against hers. Took. Tasted. His tongue slipped inside.
A moan rose in her throat.
His head lifted and he told her, “You don’t have to hold back with me. Last night should have proven tha
t to you.”
It had. And being with him had made her want so much more.
The past was all around her then. Reaching out with greedy hands and claws, while the only man who’d ever made her feel like a normal woman waited before her with bright eyes and a mouth that made her sex clench.
One more time. She needed him, just once more.
And she was going to have him.
Screw the voice that demanded she tell him all of her secrets. She didn’t want to see pity in his eyes.
She wanted the lust that burned hot enough to singe her flesh.
Her fingers sank into his hair as she urged him close again, and she took his mouth.
No holding back. As wild as she wanted to be. Finally.
The fury of lust was in his kiss. She could taste the reckless need and the hunger. She loved it. Her heart pounded, drumming hard and fast in her ears, and she pressed against him, loving that thickly muscled chest. Damn, the guy was perfect.
But he had on too many clothes.
So did she.
Her tongue snaked over the raised edge of his scar, and, this time, the moan was his.
Her nipples pebbled, the points aching and hard. She knew that he’d smell her arousal in the close confines of the truck’s cab. It would be impossible for a guy like him not to notice.
If only the gear shift weren’t so close to her leg, she could try to straddle him and—
He jerked back. “We…have to talk…the guy after you—”
Talking wasn’t what she wanted. “We’re safe here, aren’t we?”
A nod. “Out here”—he ran his tongue over his lips as if catching her taste—“I’d know long before anyone got close.”
That’s what she’d thought. Out in the wild. The perfect place for her tiger. “Good.” Her right hand dropped between them and rubbed over the obvious bulge of his arousal. “I want you—now.” Oh, hell, had she just said that? Sounding all confident, like she wasn’t shaking inside? What if he could see right through her? What if—
“I know.” The edge of his growing canines appeared when he gave a hard grin. “Your smell is driving me insane.” Then his hand was on her thigh, shoving up her skirt. She hadn’t bothered with panty hose. Living in Louisiana, a girl learned to ditch those at an early age. So his callused fingertips touched skin and sent a little shock right through her. Especially when those fingers curled around the inside of her thigh and slid up…