Tiger Read online

  “Events?” Zandy sat down hard in her chair. “That sounds like such a tame word for what happened. I keep thinking about how much worse it could have been.”

  “What else do you want me to call them? It’s fucking horrific. I shudder to think what could have happened or how many New Species could have been killed if they’d used more explosives. Did you see the damage to the gates? It twisted part of them.”

  “I saw.”

  Richard got up from his desk to crouch in front of her and stare into her eyes. “Are you okay? You really seem shaken by this.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “No. It could have happened here.” She thought about Tiger, Creek and everyone else she had met. “New Species are so great. Why can’t those assholes leave them alone?”

  Richard took her hand. “I know, honey. It’s upsetting. We can’t control the idiots of the world but this time it worked out in our favor. None of the New Species died. We help where we can. That’s why we read all this shit that comes in. Just concentrate on work and maybe we’ll find a real threat today. That’s how we find and stop the morons we can. Okay?”

  She squeezed his hand. “Thanks for the pep talk.”

  “No problem.” He straightened and released her. “We’ll have lunch brought to us. We’ll put in as many hours as we can today. Throwing myself into work always helps me.”

  “Thanks.”

  He shrugged. “Oh. I brought you perfume.” He opened one of his desk drawers and lifted a small bottle. “I was planning on giving it to Creek today to get to you.”

  She smiled. “Thanks and please thank your wife.”

  His smile returned. “She loved hearing about women going into heat. She said it was really interesting.”

  Memories of Tiger in her bed made her lower her gaze. It was flat-out sexy. It was some of the hottest sex she’d ever had. She couldn’t wait for a repeat later when Tiger came to get her to take her to his home. She wondered what his house would be like.

  They worked through lunch, her mind still on Tiger, and she was startled when her desk phone rang. Richard stared at her as she met his gaze.

  “Answer it.”

  She reached for it. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Zandy.”

  Tiger’s voice was music to her ears. “Hi.” She turned away from Richard, ignoring his curious stare.

  “I had to fly to Homeland this morning after it was attacked. Did you hear about that?”

  “I did. I’m so sorry. Is everything okay? Are you okay?”

  “Our males will recover and the situation is improving by the hour. I’m stuck here though. I’m not sure I’ll be able to return tonight.”

  Disappointment struck. “I understand. You need to do whatever you can.”

  “I wanted to make you dinner at my home.”

  “I wanted that too. We could make plans to do that tomorrow night.”

  “It sounds good.” He hesitated. “I’ll call you tonight around nine. We can talk longer then. I have a meeting to attend.”

  “Do you have my cell phone number?”

  He paused. “Give it to me.”

  She gave him her number and he said, “I’ll talk to you tonight. Be careful.”

  “I will.”

  He hung up and Zandy returned the phone to the cradle. She knew her coworker watched her.

  “Was that Angel?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why does he have to be careful? What does he do for a living?”

  “Don’t you have work to do?”

  “Fine. Don’t spill the beans. Leave me pondering about this mystery man. It sounded as if you’re planning another date with him. Do you know what that tells me?”

  “What?” She twisted her chair to face him.

  “The third time is the charm.” Richard winked. “So much for not getting serious. How many dates will that make?”

  “I’m not keeping track,” she lied.

  “She protests too much.” Richard wiggled his eyebrows. “Do you know what that sound is?” He cocked his ear.

  She didn’t hear anything and eyed him with suspicion. “What?”

  “I think I hear distant wedding bells.”

  “Shut up.” She threw a paperclip at him, which he caught.

  She turned back to her computer screen and smiled. The idea of getting serious with Tiger didn’t fill her with fear anymore.

  * * * * *

  Tiger was stressed and tired. It had been a long day and the evening wasn’t getting any better. He stared at the males who shared the helicopter with him and knew they were all more than ready to return to Reservation.

  Thoughts of Zandy filled his head. It would be after ten by the time they landed but he planned to visit her to make up for not being able to call. He wanted to climb into her bed and just hold her. She’d still be in heat. His cock came to life just remembering the previous night.

  Motion drew his attention and he met Zest’s cool stare. The male tossed a headset his way and he put it on. They’d reach Reservation soon.

  “Long day.”

  “Yes,” Tiger agreed. “I’ll be glad to get home.”

  “Would you like to go for a run when we arrive? I doubt I can sleep. The stress was palpable. I thought Justice was going to have a stroke yelling at the local law enforcement for not giving the NSO enough support.”

  “No. I have plans. The last thing I want to do is something outdoors.”

  The other male grinned. “Which female is it?”

  Tiger pulled off the headset and tossed it back, smiling. Zest caught them and laughed. He hung them back on the wall next to the pilots behind his seat. Tiger closed his eyes and tried to ignore the way the wind battered the helicopter. Flying wasn’t something he enjoyed, a firm believer he’d have been born with wings if he were meant to fly.

  Something dinged metal in a rapid succession. His eyes flew open as the helicopter suddenly dipped drastically. An alarm bell screamed and he saw flashing red lights coming from the cockpit. Zest threw him a headset and he put it on as the helicopter rose and fell again. It was a violent movement that made all the males glance at each other with dread.

  “Mayday,” the human pilot yelled in the headset. “This is Reservation Blade One. We’re under attack from armed fire coming from the woods and have taken damage.”

  Shock reverberated through Tiger. He wasn’t even sure what that meant. Something else hit the helicopter and the glass spider-webbed on the door across from him. He realized someone had fired some type of weapon and struck them again. The alarm from the front grew louder and the pilot shouted out coordinates and veered so hard to the right that Tiger would have been thrown out of his seat if not for his belt.

  “We’re going down,” the pilot shouted. “They hit a fuel line and we’re losing pressure. Mayday, I repeat, mayday. This is Reservation Blade One. We’re under fire from the ground and we’ve suffered multiple hits.”

  Tiger’s gaze met Zest’s, saw the other Species’ fear, and knew his own expression must mirror it. He glanced at the two other males. Both stared at him for guidance until the power cut out and everything went dark.

  “Brace for impact,” the pilot yelled at them. “We’re going down.”

  The helicopter tilted dangerously to one side. The feeling made Tiger’s stomach protest and the engines that were usually so loud just cut out. No one yelled. It was a sick feeling as they dropped in the eerie silence.

  Seconds later they hit something hard, stunning Tiger since he had expected to fall for a while. Glass and metal took the brunt of the impact with the treetops. The helicopter seemed to roll over before it slammed with bone-jarring force into the ground.

  Pain gripped Tiger around his middle where the belt held him in place. His leg and arm ached badly. Lights flickered inside the damaged interior and he saw movement from the bench across from him. Something wet blinded him and he tried to wipe his eyes. One arm refused to move and dizziness gripped him.

  “I smel