She glanced in the rearview mirror as she drove away. Tiger stood where she’d left him, watching her. A sigh of regret passed her lips.

It dawned on her halfway home that she hadn’t retrieved her torn underclothes. She’d left them with Tiger. A groan escaped her lips and she hoped he remembered to toss them away.

She stopped at the only fast-food joint in town with a drive-thru, not feeling up to cooking. It was a relief when she let herself into her house, collapsed on the couch with her dinner and reflected on what had happened. No. I don’t regret it, she decided. She just hated the strong desire she felt to know where Tiger was and what he was doing. Is he obsessing over me too? “Damn.”

Zandy knew she’d made the right decision to go home. She couldn’t let herself get too attached to Tiger. She didn’t want her heart broken and the last thing she needed was to fall in love with a man who clearly didn’t want a relationship any more than she did. They had that in common.

* * * * *

Tiger stood still long after Zandy’s car disappeared from his sight. The urge to leap into the Jeep and chase her was strong. He battled his instincts and finally won. He turned and noticed her discarded, torn panties. He reached down, fisted them and shoved them inside his pocket.

The sight of her bra on the passenger seat when he got in the Jeep made him sigh. He’d totally destroyed her undergarments but didn’t regret it. He picked up the soft material and put it in another pocket. Moments passed as he sat there trying to figure out how his life had gotten so complicated by an attractive little redheaded human.

He knew he needed to return to Reservation but the officers would know in a heartbeat that he hadn’t been hunting if they got a whiff of him. He reached down and dug out the emergency bag from under the seat where he kept a spare set of clothes. He carried it back to the stream, glanced at the flattened area where he’d spread out the blanket and memories assailed him.

His hands were jerky as he stripped everything off, removed the fresh clothing from the bag and shoved his used ones inside. He sealed it and walked into the chilled water to wash off her scent.

He used handfuls of moss to scrub his skin. He dunked his head under the water and stayed there for as long as he could hold his breath before he broke the surface again. That would take care of any lingering traces of her scent.

Tiger climbed out of the stream. He stood there in the fading sunlight as the strengthening evening breezes dried most of his skin. He shook his head to help dry his hair faster. It would be wet but no one would question it.

The trip back to his Jeep was fast and he replaced the bag under the seat. He’d have to wash his clothes when he arrived home to remove her scent from them. He started the Jeep and returned to Reservation.

“You didn’t find any more idiots?”

Tiger shook his head at the officer. “It was all clear. Just remember to warn the next shift that more of them may be out there.”

“Will do. Good evening, Tiger.”

“You too, Smiley.”

He waved and drove to his home. He liked the cabin he had been assigned at Reservation a little better than his house at Homeland. It was more secluded. He didn’t have any immediate neighbors and it was far enough from the Wild Zone that he wouldn’t have to fear any of the males harassing Zandy.

A growl tore from him over that reason. Zandy had refused to come home with him so it wasn’t a concern that any of those males would pick up her scent. No one would come investigate why a human was near unless one was actually there. He parked the Jeep, removed the bag, stalked inside his house and went directly to the laundry room.

The scent of sex and Zandy hit him when he opened the bag. His eyes closed as he inhaled and his dick instantly hardened. He wanted her again. Now. A growl rumbled from his throat and his eyes jerked open. He slammed the clothes on the dryer top while he dumped soap into the washer then he threw the shirt in the machine. He paused when he gripped his pants.

He needed to toss away her destroyed underthings but he decided to wash them first to erase her scent from them. He doubted anyone would go through his trash but he knew how humans were. NSO sent their trash to the out world and reporters had been known to go through everything looking for a story. It’s why they shredded or burned all paperwork instead of throwing it away. With his luck someone would find her things and believe a female had been sexually attacked.

He withdrew her panties from the pocket and dropped them in the washer. Her bra he lingered over. The cups were soft and silky. They had held Zandy’s br**sts and his hands inched to do the same at that moment. He lifted it to his nose and inhaled her scent.

His c**k throbbed and painfully ached to be released from his suddenly too-tight pants. A snarl tore from him as he dropped his soiled pants into the washer and slammed the lid closed. He turned it on, still clutching her bra and headed for his kitchen. Shame hit him full force as he grabbed a Ziploc bag out of one of the drawers and stomped through his house to the bedroom.

He sat down hard. What am I doing? It’s not normal or sane to want to keep her scent. I’ve lost my mind. He stared at the plastic bag and her bra, something he wanted to put in his nightstand drawer. The bag would keep her scent longer, make it last.

He inhaled deeply. Her scent drove him more than a little crazy. It scared the hell out of him as he worried that he might have become addicted to her. She wasn’t his mate, he didn’t want one and he’d never heard of a male locking onto a female’s scent that fast.