The Tiger’s Ambush

by Tate James

  “Uh-huh. Sure.” I raised a brow at him. “Just don’t drag me into whatever you have planned, please. I don’t need any more attention than I’ll already have for starting late and bringing a damn babysitter with me.”

  “Don’t you worry, Vix. This will be fun.” Cole pushed back from the table and carried his empty plate to the kitchen to stack in the dishwasher. “Ready to go?”

  “I wish I could come too.” Caleb snickered. “Cole’s torture of the trainers was still being talked about when Aus and I completed training. He’s a legend.”

  Chewing my lip nervously, I handed my empty plate to Cole and went to grab my bag out of my room. Not that there was much in it, just a notebook and some pens, but I wasn’t sure if there would be notes or textbooks to collect so figured better safe than sorry.

  “Nice boots,” Cole commented as the two of us made our way out of the apartment block and across the property to the training wing.

  “Thanks.” I grinned. “My boyfriend got them for me.” Cole’s hand tightened around mine, and I froze midstep.

  Oh fuck. What the fuck did I just say?

  “Boyfriend, huh?” He raised an eyebrow, turning me to face him. “I think I like that.”

  Tilting my face up to his with one huge palm against my cheek, he laid a tender sort of kiss against my lips, and relief flooded through me with a force that left me shaking. Or maybe it was kissing Cole that left me shaking. Hard to tell these days.

  I said nothing but couldn’t help the girly smile pasted across my face as we continued on to the training wing.

  What the hell had I been thinking, blurting out labels like that?

  So lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t even notice the person who dove at me until it was too late, and my back hit the cold concrete hard. My breath whooshed out of me, and I panicked a tiny bit before realizing who it was on top of me.

  “Lucy?” I wheezed out. “What the fuck?”

  “Kit, I am so bloody happy to see you, girl! I have been so hella worried for you it’s not even funny! What took you so long to get here?” She was babbling at a million miles per hour, but I was just so pleased to see her I wrapped her in a massive hug and squeezed.

  “Me? What the hell? Luce, you’re supposed to be in rehab for your arm!” I scrambled out from under her and grabbed her damaged hand. Gently, of course.

  “I got discharged! They were supposed to do one more surgery, but when they X-rayed it the other day, it came back showing the bones had realigned themselves. I still need to do therapy to get it all working right, but I can do that and join you in spy school!” She beamed at me, waving her wrist in my face. The plaster cast was gone, and in its place was one of those Velcro strap-on wrist brace things.

  “Luce, that’s awesome! I’m kinda so relieved you’re not around Finn anymore too. Major weight off my mind, girl.” I hugged her properly this time but pulled back when she said nothing in return. “Lucy...”

  “What? He said he was looking at taking a job in Seattle anyway!” She ducked out of my scolding glare and threw herself on Cole instead. “Hey, big man! Feels like forever since I’ve seen you. Scary as ever, I see.”

  “As always,” Cole rumbled back, but a small smile pulled at his lips. “Good to see you well, Lucy.”

  “Miss Davenport, Miss Jones,” a stern man called out to us from the doorway to the training facility. “Do you have any intention of joining us today? You’re only two weeks late.”

  “Morning, Roger!” Cole called out and gave a sarcastic wave. “We will be with you in a minute.”

  Roger, I dimly recognized, was one of the instructors I’d met the day before with Caleb, but I couldn’t place my finger on what his surname was. Whatever it was, he clearly didn’t appreciate being called by his first name, as his face boiled an angry shade of red.

  “Mr. Bennett. I thought I’d never have the pleasure again.” The way he emphasised the word pleasure left no doubt that what he really meant was he’d rather stick needles in his eyes than teach Cole again.

  “Always stay alert, Roger. Prepare for anything.” Cole gave a wicked grin, and the red-faced trainer stormed back inside the building.

  “Cole,” I groaned. “You’re getting us in trouble before we even start!”

  “Nonsense, Vixen.” He smiled down at me. “Just a little friendly banter between colleagues. Roger and the other trainers sometimes forget that they’re not the top of the pyramid around here.”

  “Anything to be worried about?” I asked, and he shook his head.

  “They know better than to mess with Alpha team. Keep an eye out for the other recruits though. Trainers can be vindictive bastards and are not above deliberately sabotaging trainees. They call it weeding.” He cracked his knuckles, then took my hand in his huge one. “Let’s get inside before Roger tries to pull anything dickish.”

  Lucy glanced at me nervously, and I shrugged. Sounded like we were in for an interesting couple of months in Omega training. If we lasted that long before someone tried to kill us again.

  10

  As it turned out, the day was not terribly exciting at all. Roger the trainer kept his snide remarks to a minimum under Cole’s watchful gaze, and the other recruits mostly treated Lucy and I like, well, like the new kids. Thank God it was only a four-month course.

  Most of the day was spent in the classroom debating the politics and rules around being a spy for a private organization rather than a government one. It afforded us both more and less leeway in which lines could be crossed, and it seemed like eighty percent of becoming a successful agent was knowing which rules to break and when.

  “This is stupid.” Cole yawned as the day drew late. “You two don’t need this crap. You’re already better than half the qualified agents in Omega.”

  “Shh,” Lucy hissed. “I’m interested in this!”

  Cole and I exchanged an amused look, but he shut up for a bit. Right up until Roger made some mention of the fine line between interrogation and torture, then flicked a small yet obvious glance at my dianoch.

  In fact, most of the recruits glanced at Cole.

  “Do continue, Roger. I’d just love to hear your thoughts on this subject.” He sat back in his chair and very deliberately cracked his knuckles. The class was warm, so he’d taken off his sweater, leaving him in a T-shirt that showed off his seriously impressive physique as he moved, his arm muscles flexing under colorful ink.

  For a tense moment, Roger the trainer locked gazes with Cole, then backed off with a mumbled statement about “not wanting to start a moral debate.”

  “What was that all about?” I whispered to Cole as Roger changed the subject and started clicking through a Powerpoint presentation.

  “What was what?” He gave me an innocent look that I in no way believed.

  “Fine, keep your secrets. I’ll get it out of River later.” I raised an eyebrow at him but wasn’t totally sure if I was threatening or promising. Both, maybe?

  “I look forward to seeing you try,” Cole murmured back, and the look in his eyes was pure sex. My breath caught, and I had to forcefully tear my gaze away from him to concentrate on the lesson.

  It would have been a lie to say I listened to or comprehended anything that was said from that point forward, thanks to Cole’s hand, which had somehow ended up on my leg. His fingers traced little patterns along the inner seam of my jeans, and eventually I gave up listening to Roger altogether.

  “That was so interesting, don’t you think?” Lucy turned to me with a glowing expression, and I belatedly noticed the class was over already.

  “Uh-huh, yup,” I said, blinking up at her. She’d changed her hair again, this time to a pastel rainbow, and it looked really great on her. Like she was part unicorn or something.

  “Oh my God, you two.” She snorted, giving Cole’s hand on my thigh a pointed look. “You’re lucky your dad owns this place, or you’d totally be failing.”

  “Don’t be silly, Lucy. I’ve got this.” I g
ave her a teasing wink, then took Cole’s offered hand to pull me up from my seat. The rest of the class had been filing out of the classroom, but one girl stopped and stepped into my path when I tried to leave.

  “Did I just overhear that your dad is the Omega Director?” She gave me an up and down look that spoke volumes for what she thought of me. “No wonder you’re getting special liberties.”

  A low growl rumbled from Cole’s chest, and I laid a palm against his sternum. The girl gave us both a bit of an uncertain look, then fixed her bitch-face back in place and flounced off into the corridor.

  “She’s harmless, Cutie. Let it go,” I whispered when Cole’s body remained tense, and he snapped a sharp look at me.

  “That name is going to stick, isn’t it?” He sighed, and the tension dropped from his frame.

  “You bet. Cutie.” I grinned, leaving the classroom myself.

  “You guys are so sweet it makes my teeth ache,” Lucy groaned. “I need to get to Finn’s for therapy anyway, so I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

  “Sure thing. Promise I will pay attention tomorrow.” I held three fingers up. “Scout’s honor.”

  “You were never a Scout, and you’re only saying that because tomorrow is combat.” Lucy rolled her eyes at me. “Okay, see ya.”

  Her brightly colored head bobbed past the recruits ahead of us and disappeared down the stairs. Our classroom for the day had been located on the fourth floor of the training wing, and we weren’t permitted to use elevators. Guess it was forced exercise or something, not that it made a lick of difference to me.

  Ahead of us, the girl who had just been a snotty child was reaching the top of the stairs when I noticed the door to a supply closet open.

  “Watch out!” I screamed, seeing what was about to happen but reacting seconds too late. The girl looked up at my yell but didn’t move quick enough to avoid the cart of cleaning equipment as the janitor pushed it out of the closet and straight into her.

  Knocked off balance, she stumbled a bit, then caught herself against the railing at the top of the stairs with her weight halfway over it.

  “Fuck, are you okay?” I yelled, hurrying over to her. As I stretched out my hand to help her right herself, there was a sickening screech of metal, and the railing gave way below her.

  “Shit!” I dove forward, reaching to grab her as she fell, but our fingers barely brushed before the girl plummeted four stories down and hit the ground with a sickening crunch.

  Cole hauled me up and pushed me toward the stairs. “Go quickly. While she’s possibly still alive. I’ll take care of witnesses.”

  Not needing to be told twice, I raced down the stairs at only marginally more than human speed and left Cole to clear out the other recruits who might see what I was about to do. Lucy gave me a quick nod as I passed her, and I knew she’d follow me down and clear any spectators on the way.

  “Fuck,” I breathed, reaching the girl. Thankfully, she was still alive, but only just. Her wild, panicked eyes locked on mine like she was a horse in a storm, but it wasn’t hard to assume that the fall had broken her back. She was totally paralyzed and couldn’t speak.

  “Stick with me; it’s not as bad as it all seems,” I muttered, and her eyes screamed at me that I was a fucking lunatic. Whatever, she didn’t need to like me so long as I could save her life.

  Placing my hands on her skin, one on her forehead and one on her chest, I closed my eyes and opened myself to that warm, comforting, wild magic that was coursing through my body.

  Each time I used the magic in this way, to heal someone, it seemed to come easier to me. Not just that I knew what to do, though that was certainly part of it, but it required less effort to start the process. This time it was almost instantaneous. When I opened myself to the magic, it rushed down through my fingertips and into the girl’s broken body like it was excited. Like this was what it was meant to do.

  My hands warmed on her skin, and the distinctive sensation of fur tickled at my palms, just the same as it had when I’d healed the little girl in Harrow, leading me to think maybe this girl was a wolf too? I guessed time would tell, and it had to be preferable to dead. Right?

  While the process was definitely getting easier, the amount of energy or magic needed really seemed to depend on the extent of the injuries. Where healing the little wolf pup of the tranquilizer drug had only made me a little light-headed, I knew for sure this one was going to knock me around a lot worse.

  As the tingling sensation receded from my hands, retreating back into my core where it seemed to live, I was hit with a wave of exhaustion that had me reeling.

  “What the fuck did you just do to me?” the girl whispered, sounding horrified.

  For a moment, I hesitated while I thought about how to explain things, but the look on her face was sheer disgust, and I was barely holding my lids open.

  “Nothing. I was just checking your vitals, but I guess you weren’t really that hurt after all.” My voice came out as thin and weak as my explanation, but I was way past giving a shit. I’d just saved this chick’s life, and she was looking at me like I’d just spit on her.

  “Fucking freak,” she snarled, scrambling away from me and taking off out of the building like I’d just grown three heads. Hell, maybe I had; who knew what my magic was capable of?

  “Vixen,” Cole said quietly, placing his large palm on the back of my neck. “Can you walk? We need to get you home.”

  “Doubt it.” I snorted, and he clicked his tongue, sweeping his strong arms under me and picking me up bridal style. “Great, now I’m a damsel in distress.”

  “Quit complaining, Vixen. Isn’t this what boyfriends are allowed to do?” he teased but laid a gentle kiss against my temple.

  “I wouldn’t know.” I yawned. “I’ve never had one. Is it?”

  “No idea,” he replied, carrying us back to the apartment in long strides. “I’ve never been one.”

  11

  No one else was home in our apartment when we returned, so I had to fish the keys out of Cole’s pocket and unlock the door for him. Once inside, he kicked the door shut with one of his heavy-booted feet and carried me through to the living area, where he placed me down in an armchair. Barely five minutes had passed since finishing the healing, but I was fading fast and sank back into the chair like my body was made of jelly.

  “Stick with me, Vixen,” Cole coaxed. “As much as I hate that you just used up so much magic on that chick, fuck, I’m glad it was me on duty today.”

  “Where are the others?” I asked, drowsy, as Cole’s strong fingers flicked open the button and fly of my jeans and peeled the pants down my legs.

  “Doing office work.” He snickered with an evil grin. “Sucks to be them right now.”

  With my jeans gone, he slipped his fingers under the sides of my emerald-green, lace panties and tore them clean off me in one swift motion. Literally. Ripped them off me.

  “Cole!” I snapped, waking up a bit to growl at him. “What did I tell you about tearing my underwear?”

  “I thought that might get a reaction,” he smirked, sinking to his knees on the carpet in front of the armchair. “I’ll buy you new ones.” He spread my knees apart with firm hands, settling himself between them and raising my top up enough to plant a kiss against my belly. “Or you could just go without...”

  “Uh-huh, sure,” I mumbled, my body thrumming with anticipation as Cole’s hands took hold of my inner thighs and spread me open further. “And I suppose you want me to wear skirts too, huh?”

  “Would you?” he asked hopefully, lowering his face to hover over my exposed pussy but holding my gaze.

  “This is extortion,” I remarked, feeling his warm breath on my aching flesh.

  “Yes, it is. But your boyfriend wants to know if you’ll wear a skirt on our next date. With nothing underneath.” He very deliberately blew a soft breath of ice across my skin, and I shivered. Not just at the exquisite cold but also at him asking me on a date.


  “Done,” I agreed, raising a limp hand and running it over his short, dark hair, giving just a little nudge. “I suppose it makes it easier if my boyfriend wanted to feel me up in public then, too.”

  “You know it.” He chuckled, then finally closed the gap between us, licking a long line down my cunt and dipping his tongue inside, like he was kissing me.

  “Fuck yes,” I gasped as his mouth returned to my swollen clit and his index finger slipped into me.

  “Shit, I can almost feel the magic moving between us,” he murmured, and his words seemed to vibrate against me. “I can sense how low you are, so I don’t want to take my time...”

  “Uh-huh,” I mumbled back, fairly sure I’d agree to just about damn anything with this man’s face between my thighs.

  He must have taken my noise as it was intended—approval—because when his mouth returned to my pussy, it was with determination. A second finger joined the first, and he skillfully pumped them into me, teasing at my G-spot while his lips and tongue played at my clit like a damn harmonica.

  Pleasure rolled through me, followed by the tingling rush of magic, and the two sensations combined to build what was sure to be an explosive orgasm within minutes.

  My eyes were half closed, and my hands were gripping Cole’s head, but the soft rustle of fabric and the smell of pine trees alerted me to River’s arrival even before he spoke.

  “This is becoming a habit,” he said quietly, and my eyelids cracked open to find him watching us with hungry eyes. “Me walking in on you at times like this...”

  My teeth caught hold of my lower lip, and I groaned in ecstasy at whatever Cole was doing with his teeth, all the while holding River’s heated gaze.

  “Sit down and shut up,” Cole ordered, lifting his face just a fraction and giving my inner thigh a teasing nip when I tried to coax him back. “Actually, sit on the floor against that couch. You’ll get a good view from there.”

  Anticipation fluttered through me, and a grin spread over my face as River did as instructed. Leaning his back against the couch in question, he extended out his legs and made no attempt to hide the hard bulge straining his suit pants. Positioned as he was, slightly to the side and behind Cole, it was an easy thing for me to lift one leg and drape it over the arm of the chair, allowing him an unobstructed view of Cole’s fingers buried inside me and his lips on my clit.