Tiger Read online

  He laughed as he suddenly lifted his foot to show her his socks. She kicked her shoes under her desk.

  “You don’t have to dress up so much either. They like us to look casually nice. No sweats or stained shirts but you don’t have to go all out.”

  “Thanks.” She moved around the desk to the bag on the left.

  Richard walked over and gripped the top of the bag on the right. “It’s easier if you just drag these to the side of your desk.”

  She gripped her bag. It was the size of a large duffel bag. She pulled it by the cords to her desk. It was heavy.

  “We’ll really get through all this in a day?”

  “Yeah.”

  * * * * *

  Tiger sighed, ran his fingers through his hair and frowned at the two males. “Enough. You’re giving me a headache.”

  The two males glared at each other. Their clothing was torn and they appeared ready to fight again. Tiger stepped between them and finally twisted his head to arch a questioning eyebrow at the female.

  “Kit? Do you want to explain why you invited two males to your room to share sex with you at the same time? You had to know they’d challenge each other.”

  She bit her lip and put her hands on her hips, a defiant expression on her face. “Would you believe me if I said it was a simple mistake?”

  Anger surged and Tiger growled. “Don’t lie. It’s unacceptable.”

  She had enough honor to lower her gaze and give him a submissive stance to show remorse. “I was bored. I thought they could fight and the winner could warm my bed for a few hours. It was exciting until you arrived to break them apart.” She shot Tiger a pouty look. “You ruined my fun.”

  A growl rumbled from both males and their anger turned toward the female instead of each other. Tiger was tempted to leave her to her fate. Two pissed-off males who’d been purposely pitted against each other and wanted a little revenge would serve her right. He knew they wouldn’t harm her, both males were friends who had good control usually, unless it was directed at another male. He made a quick decision.

  “I’m out of here.” He spun, storming down the hallway.

  “Wait!” The panic in Kit’s voice was clear. “Make them leave with you.”

  Tiger halted and slowly faced her. “You wanted them to fight, you wanted excitement and you have it now. You created this problem so solve it on your own.” He glanced at the males. “Will you harm her?”

  Both shook their heads. Tiger nodded. “Good enough. I have things to do besides this. Work it out!”

  That’s why he avoided females. They caused him headaches and were always doing the unexpected. He left the hotel and headed for his Jeep. The memory of one certain female filled his head and he growled. The human. Just thinking of her made his cock twitch so he pushed the images back. Females were bad news but human ones were to be avoided at all costs. Especially pretty redheads with haunting green eyes.

  Chapter Two

  Richard sat down hard in his seat. “We don’t have to respond to the hate mail. Sometimes if I really get pissed I’ll send them one back.” He grinned. “Just be polite. That’s what I was told. No one said I couldn’t be polite and sarcastic.”

  Zandy laughed.

  Richard turned his computer screen in her direction. “Read this letter and let me know when you’re done. I’ll show you my response.”

  She walked to his desk, leaned over and began to skim the letter. Her temper flared as she finished it. Some man was calling New Species a bunch of rabid animals who should all be neutered and put to sleep. Her gaze met Richard’s and he clicked to the page he was working on.

  Zandy began to laugh almost immediately. He’d written an extremely polite letter to tell the jerk that they felt the same way about him and they shared his loving sentiments about men like him. It was all polite unless you actually read the original letter he’d sent. Richard winked.

  “I felt compelled to respond to this one.”

  “That’s a riot. I hope when he gets it that it chaps his ass.”

  “Me too.”

  The mailbag was filled to capacity and she opened it, grabbed the one on top and used a letter opener to unseal it. Her coworker told her to scan each one into the computer—they saved them digitally as well as filing them—and type any responses she felt were needed. The outgoing department would print and send any letters she typed. It was grim work. Most of the incoming mail angered her but she did find a few good ones that kids had sent in.

  The time flew by. Zandy sat Indian style, her skirt tucked between her thighs, typing out a response to a sweet little girl in Iowa who had written to say that she loved the New Species and thought they were really cool when the door opened. Zandy looked up as Slash walked inside.

  “Lunchtime,” Richard announced.

  Zandy yanked her skirt down and put on her shoes. She grabbed her purse.

  “You won’t need that. Your money is no good here. Just drop your purse in your desk. It’s safe. Theft is never a problem.”

  Zandy nodded to Richard and followed the men out of the building. Slash studied her when she sat in the front seat of the Jeep.

  “How do you like your job?”

  “I am happy to have one.”

  He nodded. “Good.” His gaze fixed on the rearview mirror. “How was your day, Richard? Did you lose your temper yet?”

  Richard laughed. “Not so far today. Zandy kept me in a good mood through the worst of the mail.”

  Slash started the engine. “Good. I am glad it is not my job to read that shit. I would be mad all the time.”

  They were driven a few blocks over to a large building. It wasn’t marked but she was pretty sure it used to be a hotel. There were a lot of Jeeps and golf carts parked along the street and in parking spaces. Nervousness struck her.

  “It looks crowded.”

  “We all eat lunch at the same time.” Richard climbed out of the back. “They do a huge buffet but the lines move fast. We have an hour to eat.”

  When Richard said the word “huge” Zandy instantly thought of her fallen angel. She gritted her teeth, knowing she had to stop doing that. He had a name. Tiger. She glanced around a big lobby just inside the building as she, Richard, and Slash walked through double doors.

  She remembered high school suddenly when they reached the cafeteria. It was all coming back to her as she eyed the gymnasium-sized room. Tables were lined up in rows with trash cans placed strategically. She felt totally out of place. There were four lines and a long steel counter on the opposite side of the room. A lot of the long tables were already filled.

  Zandy glanced around at the people as she followed Slash and Richard to one of the lines. The line really did move quickly. There were just a handful of fully human employees and they had to be outnumbered thirty to one. It left her feeling uneasy.

  There had to be over two hundred New Species at lunch. The women were tall and athletic looking but the men were bigger. She watched one man walk by her and the amount of food on his tray amazed her. His plate was platter-sized and it was piled about six inches high with meat.

  “Don’t stare,” Richard ordered softly.

  She turned her head. “I was looking at the amount of food.”

  He chuckled. “I guess I should warn you that most of them eat their meat raw inside. Don’t be shocked. When we hit the buffet head, move to the left, not the right. The left has fully cooked meats. The right is the raw side. It looks cooked until you bite into it. I made that mistake my first day here and while it was amusing for everyone around me, not so much for me.”

  “Thanks.” She meant that. She’d hate to end up with raw meat as her selection for lunch.

  Slash headed right and Zandy followed Richard to the left. Not all of the New Species chose raw meat for their meals since a few remained ahead of them in line. Her coworker handed her a regular-sized plate and grabbed his own. She followed him down the long buffet, amazed at the amount and selection of food. She end