Tigress for Two (7 page)

He simply nodded. There was no time to waste debating that he and Kallie were too different to ever work. For years, he searched for his mate, and now that he found her, he wished he had stayed in Nome instead of coming when Ty called. Since literally running into Kallie, he always seemed to be on the wrong foot with her. She made him feel like a bear in a china shop, if he moved too much he might forfeit his hide.

Bethany began the healing process, her hands pressed roughly against Kallie’s stomach. Kallie moaned in pain, but her eyelids remained closed. Her fingers curled around his in a death-grip when Bethany removed her hands from Kallie’s stomach.

“Take her to her room and stay with her. The next few hours will be critical. Strip her of her wet clothes and use your body to warm her. She’ll have extreme chills while her body works to repair the damage the poison did to her internal organs.” Bethany stretched and rose from the sofa, grabbing the mug of tea that Tabby held out to her. She glanced back at Taber as he lifted Kallie in his arms. “If she isn’t kept warm, her body won’t heal…and she won’t survive.”

* * *

Kallie was surprised to be alive, let alone naked in her room next to a very naked Taber. She squirmed, trying to scoot away from him, but his large arms trapped her against his chest.
What the hell? How did we get here?

She closed her eyes, hoping to remember what happened and more importantly how she ended in bed with him. She couldn’t remember anything except the attack. People attacked the compound, a man broke down command central door, she ran, and then held the capsule in her hand. After that, everything was blank.

“Hey, wake up!” Wanting answers, she pounded her fist against the barrel of his chest. He woke with a start and extended his claws. She winced as they pressed into her back.

“Taber.” She whispered, trying not to spook the bear any more than he was.

“Damn it, Kal, you should know better than to abruptly wake a sleeping bear. I could have attacked you.” He retracted his claws and pulled her to his body, snuggling her close to him as his eyelids drifted shut once again.

“Stop that.” She swatted his arm, wriggling to get out of his grip.

“You need to stay here. My body heat…” His words were heavy with exhaustion.

“What the hell do you mean?”

“Kal, you tried to poison yourself. Bethany has done what she could to reverse it, and now your body needs to heal the damage. Stop moving so much. I’m on strict orders from the healers to provide body heat and keep you calm for the next forty-eight hours.”

Her fingers roamed her neck, seeking the capsule she kept on a chain. She could feel by the weight alone, it was empty. She had one safety measure and it failed her. She left Mark, and jumped out the window, running until she was certain no one had followed her. Kallie then grasped the only escape she had been certain of. “You’re dreaming if you think I’m going to stay cuddled with you for the next two days.”

“I’ll sedate you if I have to.” He ran his hand over her arm, and she trembled with excitement. “Damn it woman, look at you. You’re freezing. Your body can’t provide the heat you need while it’s doing such extensive repairs. Once the chills have past you won’t need my heat and I can get out of your bed, but until then be still.”

When she continued to fight him, he added. “The longer you fight me the longer you’ll be stuck next to me. You’re using energy that your body needs to heal.”

She was cold and his body was so warm, like her own personal heater. Sucking up her pride, she curled around him.

“Why, Kallie?” He whispered, gently rubbing her arm.

“They were here for me.” She cringed at the thought. They would find her and try to take her back. She knew it was inevitable, and tried to prepare for it, but her plan failed.

“Kenneth, he was the threat that attacked command center. He showed us a picture of the two women he was here to find. Tabitha and you. But what I don’t understand is why. Why was he after you?” He squeezed her tight against him. “Kal, if I’m going to protect you, I need to know the truth. Why were you so scared that you thought death was your only option?”

No one ever asked about her past before. Regardless of her fight, fate mated her to Taber. She wanted to be honest with him, to confide her deepest fear with him. “Before my father passed, he promised my hand in marriage to someone he thought would protect me since he would no longer be able to. In the end, the man he chose betrayed me. He traded me for his own life when a shady business deal went wrong and he was head over heels in debt to a Russian company. They wanted money or they’d kill him, instead he gave them me. I think he expected them to kill me…and I wish they had.”

“What happened?”

“The man I was taken to in Russia, Wesley, he was human. Through the black market he purchased one of those collars that prevent us from shifting. He drugged me, forced me to shift, and when I came to, I had the collar around my neck. It was modified so I wasn’t able to shift out of my tigress form. It forced submission and wouldn’t allow me to leave the grounds.” Her stomach rolled and she fought the rising bile.

“Did you ever meet someone called Victor, or hear of Bratva?”

“Wesley had a brother named Victor. He was a shifter and Wesley was jealous. What does he have to do with anything?”

“We had Victor Senior’s son in section four and the people who attacked today were his men. We believe Victor and Pierce contacted Kenneth, telling him you and Tabitha were sisters and were kidnapped by us and held here against your will. Kenneth was leading the men, desperate for the money Pierce paid him.”

“I knew Wesley would never give up. He thought of me as a prize because he could keep me submissive.” Even to her own ears, she could hear the terror in her voice. “I can’t go back. I won’t, I’d rather die.”

Taber placed his finger under her chin, slowly guiding her to meet his gaze. “Kal, I won’t let that happen. I’ll protect you, I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Her fingers went back to the empty capsule hanging around her neck. “I just need another safety measure and next time, don’t stop me.” She shivered, more violently than the last.

Taber nestled closer and rubbed her arms. “I never make promises I can’t keep. I need to inform Ty of your past. Connor, the wolf shifter, can perform his computer magic and find out everything on Wesley.”

Ignoring the pain in her stomach, she pushed up, leaning on her elbow and stared at him. “I don’t want everyone to know.”

“The Elders have to know. Unfortunately, you play a part in everything that’s happened here today. Finding Wesley might help us take down the rogues attacking your clan. You have to realize Wesley won’t stop until you’re dead. I’d rather it be him.” He smiled. “You can’t withhold valuable information like this when it can save your life and other clan members.” He reached for his cell phone on the table. “I’ll protect you with my life. Now rest, you’re prolonging the healing.”

She settled uneasily in his embrace, listening as Taber filled Ty in on the information she gave him.
Damn it!
She was a tigress and should be able to protect herself. All those years, being locked in her animal form, tortured when Wesley was in a bad mood, and locked in that awful cage when he wanted nothing to do with her. She wouldn’t live like that again, no matter the cost.

She didn’t realize Taber ended the call or that she was crying, until his finger brushed away a tear from her cheek. Glancing up at him, she tried to hold the tears back, but they fell faster. Finding the Alaskan Tigers clan all those years ago, she thought she had finally turned her luck around and settled in nicely. But her miserable past still haunted her dreams and destroyed the small measure of safety she thought she had.

He ran his fingers through her hair. “That’s why you have the white streaks.” It wasn’t a question, merely a statement.

“Yes. I’ve tried to cover them with dye, but it never works. They make me recognizable, easier for him to find me, which is why I don’t leave the compound
ever
. Instead, I stay hidden, and try to accept the streaks as a part of me.”

“I’m glad they won’t be concealed. They’re unique, like you.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, sending heat racing through her body. The electricity he created stole her breath.

Pressing her hand against his chest, she played with the little patch of hair in the center of his pecs.
I’ve always thought bears were hairy.
“Taber you know this…we can never work.”

“I thought that at first too, but seeing you unconscious and near death, I know we can make it work. Kal, we’re meant to be. Do you think it’s coincidental I was the one who found you? Or that now, of all times, is when we find each other?” He cupped her face. “Don’t deny fate without giving us a chance. We deserve that much.” He pressed his lips to hers, not allowing her a chance to deny him. He tasted of honey and sunshine, making her crave more of both.

Maybe it was her near death experience, that made her through caution to the wind and return his kisses, but she did and without hesitation. She was never going to be the same after this. Life as she knew it and the woman she’d been before, would both be gone. Diving her tongue between his lips, she devoured him, getting her fill of honey. Their nakedness allowed them to forgo the necessaries of clothing removal and to indulge in their desires. The passion controlling her didn’t allow her to rethink what they were about to do or to change her mind.

She slipped her hand down his chest, until she could take his already growing shaft into her hand. Wrapping her fingers around him, she slowly slid her fingers over his length.

Her body craved his touch and it had been too long since she felt the gentle caress of another. He pulled his mouth from hers and kissed a path down her neck. Sensations collided and threatened to overwhelm her when he teased her nipples. He slipped on top of her, breaking her hold on his shaft. His bulky frame hovered above her and he stared down at her, desire burning in his eyes.

He caressed every inch of her body, sending moans of ecstasy from her lips. For such a big man, he was incredibly tender, as though trying to memorize every curve of her body with his hands and mouth. Heat soared through her blood and her cat clawed under her skin, impatient and demanding. It had been too long since she had been intimate with another and her beast wanted Taber hard and fast.

He blazed a hot, wet trail of kisses across her belly and stroked her thighs with his fingertips. With every touch, she arched her hips, demanding more. She couldn’t get enough of him. Nudging her legs further apart, he cupped her core. His fingers delved inside her and she met the teasing thrusts. A demanding mewling sound, she barely recognized, vibrated in her throat. Passion drove fire through her, melting the chill in her center. The trail of wicked kisses tingled over her thighs. He moved his hand and replaced it with his mouth. Tiny nips and gentle licks flicked over her sweet spot, nearly driving her over the edge. She grabbed his hair, torn between pressing him closer and dragging him up. She wanted all of him.

“Taber, please I need you.” Even in the sexual haze, she realized what she said and those few words changed everything. Sex would complete their mating and no going back, but in that moment she didn’t care, she wanted him inside her.

“Your wish is my command, mate.” He spread her legs further, giving him the access he needed before filling her slowly, inch by inch. Half way in, he slid out before thrusting back in, filling her completely with his manhood. His strokes fed her fire like tinder set to dynamite.

His hips increased pace, driving the force of each pump. The thrusts became deeper and faster, falling into a perfect rhythm, moving with such precision, as if in a well-choreographed dance. Their bodies rocked back and forth, tension stretching her tighter as she fought for the release she longed for. Upon that release, she dug her nails into his back, arching her body into his. He pumped twice more and shouted her name as they came together. Eternity stretched on until he collapsed beside her.