Reilly's Tiger Lovers

by Em Ashcroft

  He gave a grim nod. “He’s disappeared. Nobody can find him. He might have gone to ground after the incident.”

  “We’ll find him,” Seth said softly. He wouldn’t rest until the two suspects were discovered. Until then, as far as he was concerned, Reilly was in danger.

  He was too pissed to go carefully. Outside, he opened the car door for her and hustled her inside. He didn’t even like her outside, and Brennan seemed to feel the same because he had the motor running before Seth had slammed the door on his side of the car. From now on they’d be using the truck, because it had one bench seat at the front. They could sandwich Reilly between them, and make her a bit safer.

  Brennan took off like a bat out of hell once he’d cleared the town. He made their house in record time. They made the journey in silence, but Reilly reached for Seth’s hand, and he grasped it firmly. He wasn’t about to let her go in a hurry.

  Seth waited until the garage door had closed behind them before he let her get down. Reilly seemed in shock still, but he knew her better by now. They had to get the information out of her before she stubbornly refused to say anything at all. She’d try for independence. Good luck with that, he thought grimly.

  They sat on the long sofa looking out over the fields. Seth decided not to tell her the glass was extra thick, and while it wasn’t technically bulletproof, it would render most bullets harmless before it reached her. Nobody would crash through those panes without a Sherman tank.

  Reilly swallowed and clasped her hands together. Gently, Seth disentangled them and took one in his. Brennan took the other. Reilly sighed. “I need to open the store. I can’t put my life on hold for one idiot with a gun.”

  Before Seth could tell her in no uncertain terms that was exactly what she was going to do, Brennan said, “Then let’s agree to a compromise. How about you give us a week?”

  “I can’t afford it.”

  “We can,” Seth said firmly. “We’ll cover any losses.”

  “No, I don’t want that!”

  She turned to argue with him, but Seth touched her soft, kissable mouth with one finger. “I don’t want you dead. I can’t even think about that without every part of my body tensing. It can’t happen, Reilly.”

  “I’m sorry, princess, but that’s the way it has to be,” Brennan said softly. “We’ll check on the store every day and make sure nobody disturbs anything there. Give us a week, just a week.”

  And then another, Brennan added deep in Seth’s mind, where even Reilly couldn’t reach. We won’t let her go back until we have this bastard.

  Yes. Immediately Seth saw the rightness of the plan. Reilly was much more likely to agree to a week at a time, rather than an indefinite period. But they wouldn’t leave her unguarded.

  “This hellspawn is after you,” he said. “There’s no doubt about that now. The only time you and Cara crossed paths was that one case that went wrong.”

  “But I did my job.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “That’s why I blame myself, because that’s all I did. Just another RTA, and on to the next case. But I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “You were on the team, though.” Brennan squeezed her hand. “You did nothing wrong, but somebody did, didn’t they?”

  She nodded. “I thought the case was pending, but I never looked it up. Once I turned my back on that place, I felt better, as if I was starting again.”

  “So who do you think fucked it up?” Seth asked, keeping his voice low and undemanding.

  “Dr. Moretti and the anesthetist, Sarah Mulligan. Mainly the doctor. He missed the back wound. Afterward, he tried to blame the rest of us, but by the time I put in my resignation, I’d been exonerated. I said I would be available if they wanted a witness, but otherwise, I got on with my life. Or I tried to.”

  Seth’s heart went out to her. “Sweetheart.” He would have drawn her into his arms, but Brennan did it first. If anyone else had done it, Seth would have killed him, but Brennan had as much right as Seth to hold her. He’d get his turn.

  Reilly rested her head on Brennan’s shoulder, and he pressed a soft kiss to her lips. She continued to tell them the rest of the sordid affair. “Dr. Moretti thought he was the best. Most doctors know they’re not gods, but Moretti thought he could do no wrong. He insisted we treat the wounds before we moved her, and that’s why she died. Luckily, the procedure was videoed. Everything in the ER was mainly for security. And there was somebody else being treated in the other bed, so we had witnesses. It was clear from the start that Moretti made the mistake, but he brought in lawyers and the case dragged on for months. He tried to blame the rest of us. The media took his side. He was handsome and arrogant, took part in bachelor auctions and so on.”

  “So if the murderer is the estranged husband of the patient, he would have seen them and blamed the whole team.” Unlike Dr. Moretti, the husband was a shadowy figure. Seth had his suspicions. “I think the husband’s behind it. He’s showing typical stalker behavior, blaming everybody except himself and seeing his wife as his possession. Only he had the right to kill her. For all we know, Moretti is in Witness Protection, and the Chicago police know more than they’re letting on.”

  “Chris will find out.” That was for sure and certain. If they’d hid anything from the Goldclaw Chief of Police, God help them. Chris didn’t take kindly to people who caused trouble in Goldclaw. He wouldn’t rest until he’d got to the bottom of the case. But then, that went for Seth and Brennan, too.

  “Princess, you’ll kill us if you try to go ahead as if this isn’t happening.” As if somebody wasn’t trying to kill her.

  “All right,” she said reluctantly, “One week.”

  * * * *

  Outside, he lurked. He’d already been out here, once he’d discovered who the two men who’d taken Reilly away from him were. They’d thwarted him before. He’d killed the man at the motel, planning to waylay her in the morning. Her room was the last in the row, so she had to get by him to leave. He’d smashed the light outside her room for when she came home, but she hadn’t been alone. That had infuriated him, but he’d kept his temper in check and waited patiently for the man to leave.

  He hadn’t left until the morning, and he’d taken Reilly with him.

  If he had to, he’d kill everybody between himself and his revenge, but those two were tough. They were members of the community with too much influence. His job wasn’t done––there were another four to kill before he could give himself up. Or maybe go out with a bang. He’d thought about that, too. That would be pretty fucking cool, if he did the last one with a bomb. Then they’d know who he was, and why he’d done it. Fame at last. He smiled. Not the kind of fame he’d once wanted, but it would do.

  He had to be patient. If he could get her on her own, he could get the job done and move to the next one.

  Otherwise––kaboom!

  Chapter Twelve

  Reilly woke up to the sensation of a man stroking her skin, from her shoulder down to her waist, pausing to cup her breast. It disturbed her somewhat to realize she knew it was Brennan before she opened her eyes. Already she knew his touch from Seth’s, and already she was at least not shocked to find herself in bed with two men. This was her new normal.

  With a start, she opened her eyes, meeting Brennan’s soft expression. Although she smiled back, alarm bells sounded in her mind. This wasn’t normal, it could never be so. “I don’t feel any different,” she murmured.

  “Neither do I.” Brennan gave her his trademark lazy smile. “It will come.”

  Behind her, Seth stiffened, and she didn’t necessarily mean his cock, although that was pressed against her, burning into her buttocks. His body stiffened, as if he had heard something he didn’t like.

  He didn’t want to be bonded. She knew that, because he’d never made a secret of it, and it was his fault that this was happening now. Reilly wanted to apologize to him, even though it wasn’t her fault the condom broke. She could be pregnant, although with every day that
passed she felt more herself, and while she monitored her body, she showed no signs of pregnancy.

  She’d know soon enough. Her period was due in a few days. Then she’d have one concern dealt with.

  Unutterable sadness broke over her in a great wave as she contemplated the possibility that she wasn’t pregnant, or even bonded. She hadn’t imagined she could feel so sad about two men she’d met so recently. But even if they had not bonded formally, in the way shape-shifters did, they’d linked another way.

  She was in love with them.

  As she recognized the emotion, Reilly closed her eyes, afraid Brennan would see the truth and respond. She didn’t know how he felt. Oh, he desired her, sure he did, but he was an easy-going man who liked the people around him to be happy. If he said he loved her, it might not be the truth but him saying what she wanted to hear. She couldn’t bear that. No, she’d hug the secret to herself until the crisis was over. That was the right way. Then he wouldn’t feel obligated to say it back.

  As she was fighting to control her emotions, to push the feeling right down, away from any prying minds, a phone rang.

  Seth rolled away. “Hi, Chris.” He listened, and then said, “Wait. I’ll put you on speaker. She’s right here, and so is Brennan.” He sounded matter of fact about them being here, together, but Reilly flushed in embarrassment. That probably took some getting used to.

  The police chief’s voice sounded loud in the suddenly hushed room. “I hate to say it’s good news, but I don’t think you need to worry any more. We found two bodies this morning, about ten miles out of town. One is John Dixon, the husband of the woman you treated in the hospital, Ms. O’Neill. The other is probably Dr. Moretti.”

  “How do you know?” Seth demanded.

  “We have the husband’s fingerprints, and they match.” He paused. “The other body is more damaged, but we think it’s Moretti.”

  Shock arced through her. Brennan took her hand and squeezed it tightly. “What happened?” Seth said.

  There was a pause. A bird flew past the window outside, a flash of scarlet identifying it as a cardinal. Chris spoke again. “The two men were in the same car, but one was blown free in the explosion.” He paused again. “There’s every reason to believe they had explosives in the trunk.”

  “Fuck!” Brennan sat up and dragged her close. He was shaking. “Are you sure?”

  “Nope, not at this stage.” He sighed, the sound gusting down the line. “The two men weren’t exactly friendly, so I would guess that one kidnapped the other. We found the damaged body in the passenger seat, but that doesn’t mean a lot, not yet.”

  Thoughts chased each other around her head. It was over? The police only had two suspects, and both of them were dead. Was that possible?

  “So what do you think?” Seth said. “I’m not asking for the truth here, but what you think happened.”

  “This goes no further until we know more,” Chris answered him.

  Brennan was holding her closer now. “Understood,” he said.

  Chris continued, his voice coming firmly down the line. “I think the husband was responsible. He wanted to get every member of the team who, the way he saw it, killed his wife. I don’t think the bomb, if there was one, was meant for Moretti. Somehow he found him. Maybe Moretti had come here to warn Ms. O’Neill, but the husband found him and kidnapped him. When we have the post-mortem we’ll know more, but Moretti was probably dead before the explosion. I think the detonation was accidental. That bomb was meant for––”

  “Me,” Reilly said softly. “He wanted to destroy my store.” That made sense. A man insane enough to drive his wife and kid away in fear would see everything in a distorted light.

  Seth glanced at her and moved closer. “You’re safe now, baby. Nobody will hurt you again.”

  She doubted that, but at least she wouldn’t have a homicidal maniac coming after her. “What about the others in the team?”

  “They’re all safe. They were contacted yesterday and taken to places of safety.”

  She breathed a long sigh of relief. It was over.

  * * * *

  Unfortunately, the men didn’t see it that way. Although they declared her house arrest at an end, they refused to let her go out on her own. Reilly felt like a child, except that the two virile males wouldn’t have reacted to a child that way. While they didn’t make love that morning, the first time that had happened since they’d started to share Brennan’s bed, they pampered her with a bath and then a breakfast. Brennan even made her favorite, French toast.

  After they’d eaten, she declared her intention of going to her store. “I’ll open next week, as soon as the chief says the case is closed. I can’t go on doing nothing.” And she wanted the rest of her life to start. She’d put it off too long.

  Brennan pulled back her chair as she stood and then caught her in his arms. “I want you to see something first.”

  She looked in query from him to Seth and back, but neither man gave her an idea of what they meant. When they took her back upstairs, she had an inkling. It was only when they opened the door that lay between Brennan’s and Seth’s that Reilly finally realized what they meant.

  This was the breedmate’s room, the place they would share, if they bonded. She’d already accepted that, let the notion filter deep inside her. She couldn’t deny that she would love for that to happen, but she didn’t believe it would. And if it hadn’t, they might not want her. They had shown her nothing but consideration, laced with the kind of passion she’d only dreamed about before. But she couldn’t believe these gorgeous men would want her for good.

  “We want you to move in here,” Brennan said, receiving a nod from his breed partner.

  “You’re our breedmate, Reilly. Accept it and come live here.”

  This room was beautiful, exactly the kind of bedroom Reilly would have chosen. Light wood and green upholstery and drapes made the place look like spring. The big bed sat high, gauzy drapes at the head hinting at romance. One wall was filled with closets, and wide windows gave a view over the green fields of Texas and the big, big sky.

  The golden prospect of a life with Brennan and Seth stretched before her. They could go in to town together every morning after a breakfast just like the one she’d had downstairs just now. They’d come back home at night, and indulge in evenings entwined together, making love in every conceivable way. Life would be perfect.

  And yet, they weren’t mated. “What if your true breedmate comes along?” she demanded.

  Seth caught her hands in his. “It doesn’t work like that. We choose you. Even if the first time didn’t work, even if it was a false alarm––”

  Something flared in his mind. Guilt, she caught guilt in the instant before he repressed it.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  He gazed at her, his expression helpless, panic caught in him. “The condom didn’t break,” he said.

  “What?” Brennan’s roar came from behind her. “What the fuck are you talking about, man?”

  So Brennan hadn’t known either. Reilly tore her hands away from Seth, breaking contact with him for what could be the last time. “That means we can’t have bonded,” she said softly. Too softly, for anger simmered inside her.

  Seth didn’t look away. “I wanted it to. You were going to leave us. I couldn’t let you do that, for your own safety.” He ran his hand through his hair, disordering the black locks, sending the short hair into spikes. “More than that. I wanted you. I’ve never wanted anybody like that before.”

  Brennan steadied her, his hands on her shoulders, but she shook him off. “You’re fucking kidding me.”

  “No, no to any of it. I said it before I thought about it. I grasped at the only thing I knew would keep you.”

  He’d lied to her. Reilly hated lying. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

  Seth half turned away, facing the bank of closets on the long inner wall. “At first I thought I could do it for real, make good on the bonding,
and let neither of you know the first time had been a false alarm. But then I realized I couldn’t do that to you. Or to Brennan.” He spoke starkly, as if every word was torn out of him. “But I wanted it. At first, I thought it would keep you here, but I wasn’t being truthful with myself. You slay me, Reilly.”

  He turned his head, hunger in his gaze. “I want you so much I’d do anything to get you, but I want it to be your decision. I want you to come to me of your own free will. When I realized that, I knew I couldn’t force you into a bond. But nothing has changed. I still want you.”

  Anger burst free. “Too bad, Seth, because you’ve had all you’re getting from me. I’d have said yes, if you’d asked, like a civilized man. But no, you lied. Your mistake, because I’m leaving now. I can’t trust you, can I?”

  Spinning on her heel, Reilly left the room and hurried down the stairs. She’d walk into town if she had to.

  * * * *

  Their house had never seemed so big. Seth strode aimlessly around the empty rooms, finally settling in the TV room, staring at the blank screen. They’d left half an hour ago, Brennan driving Reilly into town.

  He’d lost her, and he couldn’t blame anybody but himself. Bleak despair streaked through him, grief at losing the only woman he’d ever seriously considered as his mate. What a fucking idiot he’d been. He should never have lied, or he should have corrected himself as soon as he’d said it. But he could still taste the despair he’d felt when he thought she’d leave them. His body and his mind called to hers, except she’d closed herself off completely. He couldn’t reach her, and he’d never felt so lonely in his life.

  A distant ring disturbed the silence. It took him a minute to identify it, but then he got up and headed for the stairs. He’d left his phone in Brennan’s room. Had she changed her mind? Or was it an ordinary call, something to do with business? Most likely Brennan was calling to say they’d arrived safely. However pissed Brennan was with him, he was still Seth’s breed partner. Seth had felt his anguish just before his barriers had come down.