by Maya Banks
Would he have hurt her? It was hard to say. He couldn’t trust the jaguar because he retained no memories of being the beast. He only knew the overwhelming desire to possess her, to mark her, to make her his, that swamped him just prior to his shift.
The best thing would be to stay as far away from her as he could, but that wasn’t exactly a possibility when he and Braden would be spending every waking minute with her until Esteban made his move.
As he watched, she came awake. There was no slow build to awareness. No sleepy stretch or lazy yawn. She bolted forward, her eyes wide, and he could see the tension billowing off her in waves.
Her gaze connected with his, and for a moment, he saw relief. That surprised him because she’d made no bones about the fact she didn’t trust him or Braden one iota. No sooner had he reflected on the apparent relief in her expression, her eyes hardened as she stared back at him through the glass.
With a sigh, he sauntered around to her door.
“Why are we stopped?” she asked as soon as he swung it open.
“Braden is getting us a room so we can shower, and then we’ve got phone calls to make and we—you—need to eat.”
She wiped a hand over her face, drawing his attention to the still-vivid bruising on her cheek and on her slender neck.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
It took him a minute to realize he was scowling.
“Nothing,” he muttered. But anger he couldn’t quite control quivered and snaked through his veins, whispering to him and calling to the predator.
They both looked up as Braden strode out to the truck.
“Let’s go,” he said as he walked to the back to pop the trunk.
He tossed a set of keys at Ian. “You and Katie head in. I’ll follow with the first-aid kit and the bags.”
Ian caught the plastic key tag and examined the number. Then he scanned the line of rooms until his gaze alighted on the correct door.
“Come on,” he said to Katie, though he was careful not to touch her or act too aggressively.
She hesitated only a slight moment before she turned and followed him.
The room was musty and stale and it was nearly as chilly inside as it was outside. Ian yanked at the yellowed drapes to obscure the view and then turned on the heater under the window.
Katie sat on the edge of the bed, her body language ill at ease. The heater lurched and started to hum, and the smell of exhaust filtered into the room.
Braden stepped inside and tossed a couple of duffel bags on the bed. Katie’s backpack landed next to her, and she grabbed it, yanking open the zipper. She poured out the few changes of clothes and rifled through the contents until she came to a wad of cash and her bankcard.
She fingered the bills and looked up first at Braden and then Ian in confusion.
“Did you think we ripped you off?” Ian asked dryly.
“What was I supposed to think?” she said. “I wake up tied to you in my bed, and my money and bankcard are gone from my pocket.”
“Not that I don’t love watching you two butt heads, but Katie, you need to jump in the shower and wash all the blood and dirt off, and then we need to tend to your wounds,” Braden said.
Her posture immediately became defensive. “I can manage on my own.”
“He didn’t offer you a choice,” Ian pointed out. “Get in the shower or I’ll do it for you. That’s all the choice I’m giving you. When you get out, we’re going to take care of those cuts and bruises.”
Even as he issued the edict, his loins tightened at the idea of being in the shower with her, his hands running over her wet body. He turned away before she could witness his arousal. He was losing his mind. Not to mention his control.
He heard her quick intake of breath. Did her thoughts coincide with his? He glanced down at his fist, held so tight that the skin stretched painfully across his knuckles. With a quick flex, he released his fingers then turned back around.
Katie disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door quietly behind her.
“You okay, man?” Braden asked.
“No, I’m not okay,” Ian bit out. “Where’s the inhibitor? Carry it on you from now on. It does us no good stashed in a bag. I could have hurt you and Katie.”
Braden flopped down on the bed and lay back, his eyes closing in fatigue. “I’m not so sure the inhibitor would have worked, Ian. You shifted really fast.”
Ian grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. Desperation was a constant companion, working in tandem with his pulse, with his every breath, every heartbeat.
“We can’t go on like this, Braden.”
He hated the helplessness, the weakness in his voice. He sounded like a goddamn fatalistic pussy. But they couldn’t continue living like this. Unpredictable. Changing to wild animals in an instant.
What if he killed his brother?
It was the question that haunted him the most. It was easy to isolate himself from the rest of the world. He and Braden had always been loners. But he couldn’t walk away from Braden. Not when his brother needed him. But if he stayed, would he be responsible for someday attacking the one person in the world who mattered to him?
“What the hell is your problem?”
Ian looked down to see Braden staring at him. He shook his head, and Braden made a sound of exasperation.
“Things could be worse.” Braden tucked his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. “I mean there are worse things than having a naked woman a room away.”
Some of the tension eased from his chest, and he looked at his brother in mock disgust. “That naked woman would like nothing better than to play with your nuts and not in a fun way.”
Braden grunted. “I’d be willing to let her. I’ve always had a slight masochistic streak.”
Ian laughed and was surprised by how good it felt. Maybe some of Braden’s irreverence was rubbing off on him. Or maybe he was too slaphappy to have any goddamn sense.
“Ian?”
“Yeah, man.”
“It might be better if you handled Katie’s, uh, injuries. I’m tired, and I get this weird vibe around her, like I’m about to crawl out of my skin. I don’t want to risk any, uh, complications.”
Ian cursed under his breath. He didn’t trust himself around Katie any more than Braden apparently trusted himself. What was wrong with them? They hadn’t reacted to Tyana or any other woman they’d come into contact with like this. Was it merely the thrill of the chase? A track-and-capture element? Something ingrained deep in their animal psyche?
“We both need to do it,” Ian said grimly. “A system of checks and balances. We’ll have the inhibitor and a large dose of the sedative on hand just in case.”
He paused for a moment as he saw the bleakness enter Braden’s eyes.
“Braden, you have to promise me something.”
Braden cocked his head forward to look at Ian. “What’s that?”
“If I ever try to go after you, you have to swear to take me out.”
Chapter Eleven
Eli probably thought they’d all lost their minds. Tyana leaned back against the bar, a joint in one hand, a drink in the other, and watched in amusement as Mad Dog and Jonah sparred in the middle of the game room.
If anyone thought the two men were merely joking around, they obviously hadn’t been witness to past practice sessions. Before it was over, there would be blood, cuts and bruises, and both would, of course, claim victory.
To Tyana’s side, Damiano stood and watched with a grin on his face. He was on his fourth drink and had even rolled one of Mad Dog’s joints. He wasn’t as brooding or distant tonight, and that gave Tyana more hope than she’d had in a long time.
He caught her gaze and smiled warmly. He turned and set his drink down then ambled over to stand beside her. One arm looped around her shoulders as they watched Mad Dog and Jonah trade punches.
“How long you think it’ll be before they get tired of pounding on each
other and invite Eli to join in so they have fresh meat?” D asked with dark amusement.
Tyana turned to stare at Eli who was across the room sprawled in a chair holding a beer while he looked on with a bored expression.
“I don’t think he likes our entertainment,” she said.
D shrugged. “He’d probably be having a lot better time if Ian and Braden had checked in. It’s been several days since we heard from them.”
Tyana frowned. It was hard for her to put herself in Eli’s position because the people most important to her were right here. But D was right. Eli was a fish out of water in this environment. He was the new guy playing by new rules not set by him, and his team was on a mission without him.
“How are you feeling tonight?” she asked D. She didn’t really want to get into an analysis of all that Eli was giving up. For her. Because then she’d wonder why the hell he bothered with a woman who’d gone to Jonah in an effort to get him out of her hair for a few days.
“I’m good,” D said. “Stop worrying so much, Ty.” He glanced at her with reproach in his eyes. “You and I have no control over what happens to me. What will be will be.”
She ground her teeth in frustration. She wanted to scream at him and then shake him senseless. No, she wanted to kick his ass and tell him to stop spouting philosophical nonsense. Fate was what you made it, not the other way around.
She took another long drag of the joint to steady her rage and exhaled in a long, steady plume. Across the room, Eli’s eyebrow went up as he watched her. She wasn’t entirely sure he approved of her new brand of poison, but he’d never said anything. He knew better than to think she’d give it up just because he didn’t like it.
D straightened and leaned against the bar, his elbows propped behind him. “Do you remember the tiger?”
It was a general question, one that would confuse many people in its simplicity, but she knew immediately what he was talking about. When they were much younger, alone on the streets of Prague, they’d freed a tiger from a street vendor. The result had been chaos, but to two children dreaming of their own brand of freedom, it had been symbolic.
“I remember,” she said softly.
“I dream of him often,” D said.
She cocked her head sideways to stare at her brother. “Why?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel a kinship with him, I suppose. And maybe I’m waiting for someone to come and free me.”
She turned, awkward as her cast bumped into D’s leg. He was quick to help her, but she pushed him away.
“Don’t wait, D,” she said. “Don’t wait for someone to come along and save you. You have to save yourself. Do you understand me?”
“Relax, little sister, I’m not throwing in the towel. I meant it more in a metaphorical sense than anything. I forget how black and white you are,” he said in a teasing tone.
“I am when it comes to you.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m going to be fine, Ty. Believe that, okay?”
She reached down and caught his hand, squeezing it tight. “I won’t allow you to be anything else, D.”
Mad Dog and Jonah had evidently had enough. Jonah shoved at Mad Dog before heading over to the bar. He poured a generous amount of liquor into a glass while Mad Dog forewent the cup and reached for the bottle.
They performed a mock toast and downed the liquid.
“Your boyfriend looks bored,” Mad Dog said in Ty’s direction. “Shouldn’t you be keeping him company?”
Tyana glanced over at Eli, irked by Mad Dog’s statement. “Give me a push,” she muttered.
D smiled but helped her forward while Mad Dog shoved her crutches at her. She’d just gotten them under her arms when the door opened and one of the Falcon secondary stuck his head in. He looked first at Eli and then Jonah.
Eli sat up, his bored look gone. Jonah also started forward, ignoring the annoyed scowl that flickered across Eli’s face.
“Must be Ian and Braden checking in,” D murmured.
Tyana itched to go after them, but hell, by the time she made it the conversation would be over. Still, it rankled that she was relegated to the sidelines while the action went on around her.
She took a step forward and grimaced when pain shot up her leg. No amount of alcohol or marijuana managed to take the edge off her discomfort.
Mad Dog was quick to take notice, and he grasped her elbow, all but forcing her to lean on him.
“I’ve got her,” D said calmly as he appeared at her other side. “Go get her pain medication.”
Mad Dog frowned as he looked around at the empty room but nodded and headed for the door.
“I’ll be back in a second,” he said.
“Where you want to sit?” D asked after Mad Dog had left.
“Couch is fine,” she said in a disgruntled tone.
She glanced sharply up at D when his hand trembled around her elbow.
“Are you okay?” she demanded.
He wiped shakily at his brow and refocused his attention on her. “Yeah, just too much weed, I think. Don’t know what you and Mad Dog see in the shit.”
“Yeah, well I don’t either,” she muttered.
She thumped with her crutches while D walked by her side. They were almost to the couch when his hand fell away from her arm and he turned abruptly from her.
“D?” she asked hesitantly as she saw the muscles in his back ripple and spasm.
“Get away from me.”
Fear rocketed through her. She dropped her crutches and twisted, her hands reaching for him. As soon as she touched him, he flinched and bolted away.
He hit the bar, his back still to her, his palms braced on the counter, his entire body heaving with exertion.
Tyana hobbled forward, wincing when her injured leg took the brunt of her weight. But she had to get to the inhibitor that was out in plain sight on the countertop.
Her eyes locked on D as she limped heavily. To her horror, his body contorted and lost its shape. It rippled like some movie special effect. Flashes of orange and fur. A low hiss and then a growl.
Dear God, she wasn’t going to be able to get to him in time. She yelled hoarsely as she lunged the remaining distance for the inhibitor. Pain nearly paralyzed her. Her hand glanced off the bar top, but she caught herself and hauled herself upright, only to find herself staring into the eyes of a Bengal tiger.
Holy fuck.
She licked her lips and backed nervously away. Her leg tangled with the barstool, and she went down with a thump. The tiger growled and closed in on her.
She extended her arm, reaching for her crutch, anything. Something she could defend herself with. This was no longer D. She was eyeball to eyeball with one pissed-off predator.
Ignoring the searing pain and the awkwardness of her cast, she pulled herself along the floor. Just as her fingertips touched the cool metal of the crutch, the tiger leaped.
She yanked the crutch in front of her and jammed it into the cat’s jaws when his mouth would have closed over her throat. The tiger’s upper body landed on her chest, knocking the breath from her.
She shoved the crutch deeper into his jaws, refusing to let go. If she did it would mean her death.
Where the fuck was Mad Dog? The Falcon secondary?
She heard a commotion outside and realized they were coming. What seemed an eternity to her had in reality been a few seconds.
The cat shook his head and growled his displeasure, but Tyana refused to budge. She held onto the crutch for dear life, matching the cat’s movements with her own. Anything to keep those teeth from her flesh.
“D, come back to me,” she pleaded.
“What the fuck?”
Mad Dog’s voice exploded into the room. The cat never looked up, too locked in his battle with Tyana. With a toss of his head, he managed to rip the crutch from Tyana’s grasp. It went sailing across the room, landing with a clatter.
Tyana shoved her hands into the cat’s face, knowing she was now in deep shit.
More voices, more shouts, more pounding of feet. Tyana dimly registered it, but she was focused solely on the tiger and staying alive.
A thin plume of smoke wrapped around the tiger’s neck, twining and twining again. Eli. It whispered through the fur and into the cat’s nostrils.
“No!” she cried. “Eli, don’t kill him.”
The cat snarled and shook his head, forgetting Tyana for a moment as he fought with his invisible assailant.
Then the tiger let out a yelp and his huge body jerked. Tyana looked down to see two syringes protruding from his haunch. Mad Dog and Jonah both tackled the cat, rolling him off her in a tangle of bodies and paws.
She tried to scramble up, but the damn cast made her as helpless as a beached whale. Cursing, she righted herself and crawled upward with her one good leg.
The cat roared in rage as Mad Dog, Jonah and Eli fought to subdue him. More of the Falcon secondary rushed in. Two high-powered rifles were up and trained on the tiger, ready to take a clear shot. She screamed at them to put the guns down.
Two more syringes stabbed into the cat’s fur. A final one in his neck finally made him go limp. His heavy body lolled to the side, and Jonah and Mad Dog cautiously inched away.
Eli came back to form beside Tyana as she pulled herself painfully across the floor toward D.
His arms came around her, and he tugged her to him as he examined every inch of her skin.
“Are you all right?” His hands framed her face, touching and reassuring himself.
“D,” she choked out.
The tiger’s eyes glazed as his head flopped to the floor under the power of the sedative. Already the Falcon secondary swarmed the room, their rifles all pointed at the helpless cat.
She tried to crawl toward the cat as he lay panting.
“Keep her away,” Jonah barked.
Eli hauled her back against his chest.
“Not now, sugar,” he murmured. “D will be all right. Let them take care of him.”
“I want this room secured,” Jonah ordered as he stood. He stalked over to where Tyana lay in Eli’s arms and squatted down in front of her. “Are you all right?”