The pressure at her back was let go, but Thatcher held her in place while he did something right around her butt. When she felt it give, she had to hold onto the bed before falling all the way back. She really was weak.
“Come on now, you can do this. Just breathe.” She wondered why he kept saying that to her when she realized she wasn’t breathing. Rogen let her breath out slowly. “That’s my girl. In and out. Just like you do every day. You’re doing well, and if you want to take a step back you can. But it’s about a six or seven inch difference from the bed to the floor.”
The step was taken, but she was shaky and weak. Before she could begin to think she should get back on the contraption, Thatcher picked her up in his arms and sat her down on the chair he’d been in. She wasn’t sure if she should be grateful or embarrassed.
“How long have I been here?” He told her. “Not that long at all, is it? For how badly I was burnt. You said that you talked to Donaldson. He’s an ass kisser, and he follows the rules like they were something that God handed down to him. I don’t. Follow rules, I mean. That’s why I’m so good at what I do.”
“What is it you do? They might have told me at the meeting, but I missed it when you were upset.” She apologized to him. “No need to do that. You were upset, and that’s normal when you wake up after what you went through. They said that you can make a computer do whatever you wish, and if you can’t then you just make up a new program for it to dance for you.”
“Yes. I guess. I’m the person who finds the people the government wants me to find. I don’t ask for what. I just do it.” She adjusted on the seat, her back hurting just a little. “I find that I can sleep better at nights if I only think they want something from them. Not that they’re going to kill them.”
“You’re my mate, Rogen. You know that. But I am never going to tell you not to do your job. It’s obviously something that you’re good at and seem to enjoy.” She nodded. “But we have to talk about your parents. I’m concerned that they might be on their way here.”
~*~
Thatcher wanted to take her home and let her shift. He wanted to kiss her, make love to her, and tell her how much he admired her. But he’d been cautioned by Winnie not to go too fast. And never to pay her a compliment that was not sincere. She could tell it wasn’t at the first word. Now that was a woman that he liked.
Donaldson hadn’t done anything to him. Not really. Nor had he been a total ass like he had been on their first meeting. But he was a dick, and he let everyone around him know that he was in charge for a reason. What that reason might have been, no one seemed to know.
“For the most part, everyone comes to me after talking with Donaldson. The only people that have contact with Rogen are me and that idiot that she reports to. And so you know, Rogen blind copies me on every email that she sends him.” He asked why he’d need to know that. “Because, if you have to email me, like if I need to know if Rogen is ill or hurt, I’d like it if you’d do the same. You have no idea how many times I’ve had to step in when he has this thing he wants done. I have to admit, Rogen handles him like we all wish we could. She tells him to fuck off, shut up, and to get the hell away from her when he’s being a bore. Me, I have to watch myself, but that’s getting harder and harder to do daily.”
Rogen stood up, taking him out of his musings. “Are you all right? I mean, other than a little shaky?”
“No. I mean, shaky, yes, but...I’m confused right now. And I feel antsy. I’m assuming that is the cat. I can see her when I close my eyes, but she’s far back, like she’s afraid of me. But when your brother was here, or when I was being pissy to you, she seemed to run over me, like a hug. But that can’t be right, can it?”
Thatcher told her what he knew. “I guess that’s as good a description as any. Giving you a hug to let you know that she’s here for you should you need her. And she’s more than likely back from you because she knows that as long as I’m here with you, she’s not needed.” Rogen glared at him. “I don’t mean that you’re the weak female. It’s just that she knows that you’ve been hurt, and right now, without being able to shift, she doesn’t need to protect you like she normally would.”
She didn’t so much pace the floor as she lightly glided from one end of the room to the other. He’d seen his dad pace. It was like he was trying to make a hole in the carpet while he thought about things. When she stopped moving, he looked up at her face. She had such a beautiful one too.
“Your parents, what does me being changed by them mean?” Thatcher asked her what she meant. “Well, when a vampire changes you, they own you or something. At least that’s what I heard. What does me being changed by them mean?”
“Nothing. They changed you because you needed it. The council, the tiger board, they understood and are glad that they were able to save you. For me.” Rogen didn’t say anything about that, but she did ask what would have happened had they not approved. “I don’t know, honestly. You’re the first person that any of us has been around that we had a hand in changing. And when I say we, I mean me as well. Every day when I could, I’d come in and nip at your skin. Just enough to draw blood and for my salvia to mix with it. It’s what healed you so quickly.”
“So you could have sex with me.” She was trying to pick a fight with him. He wasn’t sure why, but he wasn’t going to let her get to him. He’d heard enough from Winnie to know that she trusted no one, not even her, and that bothered the other woman. “Is that it? You healed me so that you could fuck me anytime you wanted and order me around?”
“Do I look like a person that would order you around? Have I given you any indication that I’d knock you on your ass?” Her face turned pink. “While I do have some idea why you’re this way, I’m not the bad guy in all this. All I’ve done since I’ve found you, or since you were brought to me, is try and make you safer and well. Perhaps I should go home and let you cool off.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She started crying, and his cat seemed to want to come out and be there for her. When she looked at him, he had to hold onto his cat so he didn’t do just what he wanted. “Can I go home? I can’t be here anymore. It’s too noisy. Too much going on. And now it seems as if I can smell every kind of floor polish they used here.”
“All right. But you don’t live in the rental anymore.” She started to get angry again, but he held up his hand. “Even Donaldson said you weren’t safe there. It’s too far off the beaten path. There isn’t anyone around for miles, and you don’t own a car or a good cell phone. Those are just a few of the things that were pointed out to me.”
“I had a lot of equipment at the rental. I do hope whoever did this, without my permission, did a good job of taking it all down.” He told her that his brothers had taken it down with the supervision of Winnie. “How big is this place that I’m living now? I want my brother there too. I need him much more than he needs me.”
“He’s living with us too.” She looked at him. “I can’t protect you if you’re in another home. And I have enough people, pack and the ambush, right there if you ever need them. Plus, plenty of land surrounding us so that you can run if you wish. And if you want to sleep with me, I’m just down the hall from your room.”
“I don’t like this.” He wisely, he thought, didn’t say anything. “I don’t have anything to wear home. I’m sure that the things I came in here with aren’t wearable either.”
“My mom got a few things out of your clothing at your rental. She said that it would be better to get it before it was boxed up rather than after. I think they’re in that closet over there.” She walked over and bent to get them. He smiled when her bare ass was shown to him. “You might want to remember that you’re naked under that gown. It was easier for us to put meds on you when you came in.”
Her face was as bright red as he’d ever seen a woman’s. She didn’t say anything more to him but walked to the bathroom facing him with the gown clutched in her hand in the back. Rogen was adorable. And he
could not wait to learn all he could from her.
“I thought that once you got home you could talk to Mrs. Beasley. She’s our cook. I’m not home all that much, it seems, and she might be better cooking for you instead of me most nights.” She said something, but he didn’t know what it was, so he continued. “There is a maid service that comes in daily. And I have a butler that also drives me when I don’t want to drive myself. It’s a nice perk, but I keep Rankin around more because he’s a funny man than because I need him to drive me around. Plus, I think his family could use the extra money.”
The door opened, and Thatcher knew right then that his mom was doing this on purpose. The clothing that Rogen had on was a running outfit, skin tight, and the prettiest shade of blue he’d ever seen. Clearing his throat several times, he asked if she was ready to go.
“I don’t usually wear this kind of stuff unless I’m running. I was amazed that it didn’t hurt my skin when I put it on. It’s really tight, isn’t it?” All he could manage was a strangled yes. “Now what I have done?”
“Nothing. It’s me. All me.” Thatcher cleared his throat. “We really should be going if you want to get out of here. I mean, you do, don’t you?”
She crossed her arms in front of her, and all it did for him was make his cock harder and his breathing more difficult. He wanted to beg her to stop torturing him, but he knew that would lead to more questions. And right now, Thatcher wasn’t sure he had enough blood in his head to even tell her his name.
Instead of getting into any kind of argument, and he knew there would be with her, he left the room. He could tell the moment that she started to follow him, and he knew as soon as they were in the elevator or the car, she was going to start on him again. This time, he told himself, he’d be ready for her. As soon as the doors closed around them, Thatcher reached for her. He was more than happy that she came willingly into his arms.
The kiss wasn’t hot, it was volcanic. Her touch was like having a mark with a hot branding iron touching him. Everywhere she touched him, every breath that blew over his face, was more than he could handle, yet not nearly enough. Thatcher wanted it all, right here, right now. If not for the sound of the elevator dinging to signal a floor was being stopped on, he was positive that neither of them would have made it out clothed.
Breathing hard, he pushed her against the wall. It didn’t escape his notice that she too had to hold onto the railing. And as soon as the doors opened, Thatcher groaned. It was his brother Beckett. And he knew that he could smell them both.
“Going home?” He nodded at his brother, wanting to knock him on his ass right then. “You might want to find someplace for a few hours. Your home is being invaded by the Feds. I think they’re setting up your mate’s job.”
“I have to be there.” He nodded at Rogen. “You don’t have to come if you have better things to do.”
Beckett burst out laughing, and Thatcher did hit him, but not hard enough to do the damage he wanted to do to him. Beckett was going to pay, Thatcher thought. He didn’t know when it would be, but he would surely pay for this.
“I’ll take you there and show you around after they’re finished up. Winnie said that they’d be there for a few hours anyway. And she also, after looking my house over, said that the basement would be the best place for you. She said it would be expandable for you.”
“Yes, thank you.” She was embarrassed and he didn’t blame her. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
“We’ll talk later, Rogen. There is nothing for you to be sorry for.” He looked at Beckett when he apologized as well. “We’ll go to our home, look around, and get you set up. I’m to understand that there are some unfinished projects that you have to get to as well.”
He drove them to their home, his mind simply doing one thing at a time. Breathe, turn here, keep the speed down. Don’t hit a tree. These and other things looped in his mind until he pulled up in front of the house and saw that the Feds really had invaded his home.
Chapter 4
The room was coming along—or she should say rooms. The team had come in and were following her directions without question. And when she looked at Thatcher to get his permission on the installment of a wall, he said so long as it didn’t mess with the structure of the house, whatever she did was fine by him. He’d even put her chair together for her.
So far all she’d been able to see of the mammoth house was the basement level. They had even entered the house by the lower level. When she was asked to okay a delivery, Thatcher said he’d take care of it for her, and she hooked up the second in a long line of monitors. Which, she thought, were all new.
When the air-conditioning unit was finished being installed, the man who had put it in, another government worker, showed both her and Thatcher how to keep it at a certain temperature. It was to keep her servers cold, and she hadn’t had that before either. Taking Winnie aside while a huge refrigerator was being put in, she asked her what was going on.
“You have someone to keep you safe now. And not only that, you’re in a secure house, not one that you’re renting. You have room for all this, as well as more should you need it.” She asked about the fridge. “That is all on Thatcher. I told him how you sometimes forget to get food and water when you’re working, and he said he’d make it easier on you. I believe there is going to be a bunch of snacks put down here as well that you can munch on.”
She didn’t like this. Not him knowing her habits, but also the way he was avoiding her, the short answers he was giving her, as well as the fact that she’d catch him staring at her like she was some sort of bug under a microscope or something. Finding him outside with another one of his brothers, she walked up to him and slapped him hard across the face.
“What, may I ask, was that for? If it was for kissing you, you’re a little delayed on that.” She drew back to hit him again when his brother walked away. “Once was enough if you were only trying to get my attention. What is it, Rogen?”
“Why are you treating me this way? I didn’t do anything but kiss you, and now you’re acting like I’m some sort of—I don’t know, hooker that you’ve paid off. And now I’m hanging around you and you hate it.” Thatcher told her that she wasn’t correct. “Then perhaps you can tell me why you’re treating me this way. You know, I could just move to my other house. I might not have as much equipment or room, but I’d have my fucking dignity.”
He didn’t answer her. No, instead he pulled her up off her feet and into his arms. The kiss this time didn’t seem to be as tempered as before, like he wasn’t holding back, and he had no intentions of every stopping. When he set her down on her feet and stepped back, she wanted to hit him again. But then he spoke through clenched teeth before she could do anything.
“I’m hanging on here by a thread. Your scent, your arousal, is driving me and my cat insane. I want you so badly that I’m tempted to throw you to the ground and have you right now. But I’m holding on so that I don’t embarrass you when I have you screaming out your releases so that everyone in this house can hear you.” She said oh. “Yes, oh. And you might want to warn your fucking boss that if he doesn’t keep his hands off you, I’m going to shift, tear him apart, then eat him for my dinner. I’m a jealous man, and my cat is worse.”
With that, he pulled her to him for a fast, hot kiss, then walked away, saying something over his shoulder that sounded like he was taking another cold shower. Rogen wondered how many he’d had and laughed. Before she could catch herself, she was bent over with humor. Thatcher Robinson was frustrated. By her.
Skipping just a little, Rogen went back to the office that was hers. It seemed better now. Bigger too. And it was hers. Going to the monitors again, she started hooking up the next one in line. With the way they were bringing in more and more equipment, she was going to need something more to keep her from being found out.
Rogen paused in her work when she thought about all the things she was going to have to do to keep her place of work quiet
. She thought of Thatcher and his family. How, now that she was working in such close quarters to them, they’d be targets as well. She saw Jamie just as she was going to find Winnie.
“There you are. Where have you been hiding yourself.” Jamie hugged her for the third time, and she wondered if Thatcher’s cat would smell him on her. Rogen would make a list of things that she needed to figure out. She realized she’d missed some of what Jamie was telling her. “I’m sorry. You know me, I zoned out for a moment.”
“I got me a place to do my projects too.” She asked him if he was working in the garage. “No, I have a big barn that I can work with. Come look at it. You won’t believe the things that Thatcher got me. But I can’t use some of it unless he shows me how to use it and I’m safe. He’s a nice man. You should marry him.”
“Marry him? Where on earth did you get something like that from?” He laughed and said he was joking. “You shouldn’t say things like that, Jamie. Someone might think that you’re serious. But show me your barn. I want to see it.”
They were nearly to it when she realized that Thatcher had had this barn built recently. Not only was it brand new, but it also had heat and air conditioning. As soon as she entered, she had to hold onto the chair right inside the door. It was a woodworker’s dream shop.
“He told me that this was all mine, and when I sold some of my stuff, I had to only pay him one percent. He even showed me how to figure that out. Isn’t this really nice, Rogen? It’s so pretty. You have to let me stay here with him. Thatcher is so nice to me.” She just looked around. “Look over here. It’s my own special place to take a snooze, like you call them. He said that taking a nap isn’t for babies. He takes them all the time when he’s working too hard. Thatcher told me that being too sleepy can make you hurt someone or yourself, and that taking a power nap will save a life.”
Thatcher: Robinson Destruction – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance Page 4