Except a girl with eyes like a summer sky. A girl he couldnt get out of his head.
Go back to that country store we stopped at yesterday. The one set into the hillside. The Market.
The words were out before he had time to think about them, but he didnt call them back. He flexed and fisted both hands, hating the uncharacteristic lack of control that had him needing to see her again.
Goddess help him, he was acting like a fifteen-year-old with a massive hard-on.
Why? Foxx threw him a questioning look. I thought we were going to take this search systematically.
Paenther growled. Just do it. Hed finally given up hope that Foxx would lead them to the exact location. Knowing the Mage would be in some kind of mansion, theyd downloaded satellite images of the mountains and had been traveling from estate to estate ever since. In his animal form, Foxx was able to run right up to the houses and have a look around. Paenther had to wait for nightfall to join him since he lacked the ability to downsize into a house cat. If they did stumble onto a Mage stronghold, his panther form would give him away in a heartbeat.
So far, theyd struck out.
Yet Foxx continued to insist theyd find Vhyper in the Blue Ridge.
For twenty-four hours theyd searched estate after estate. Paenther pressed his fists into his thighs. For twenty-four hours, he hadnt been able to quit wondering how the ethereal beauty with the sky blue eyes tasted. How she smelled. How shed feel around his shaft as he buried himself deep inside her.
Foxx gave a put-upon sigh and turned the car around, heading back to the store.
She probably wouldnt be there. And even if she was, she was probably married, or taken, or completely uninterested.
No, not uninterested. Of that he was sure. Shed felt that heat, too.
If she wasnt there, hed forget her. If she was there, and he didnt feel the same punch of lust, hed walk away. And if she was there, and he felt the way he had yesterday?
Hed have to take it one step at a time.
A half hour later, they pulled into the parking lot in a spray of dust and gravel, just like before. The old brick store looked even more decrepit than he remembered, if such a thing were possible. Clean enoughno trash or broken-down cars littered the placebut the building was definitely in need of a little TLC.
Foxxs stomach rumbled as he threw the car into park. Im hungry.
What else is new?
Foxx pushed out of the car and headed for the store without a backward glance, not bothering to ask if Paenther wanted anything this time. It was clear he did, or he wouldnt have demanded they come back here. Fortunately, Foxx didnt seem to have a clue just what it was that his companion wanted.
Paenther climbed out of the car more slowly, feeling as off-balance as he had yesterday. After four hundred years, one would think a man would outgrow that peculiar awkwardness of first infatuation, yet here he was, palms damp, pulse racing.
The last thing he needed was the distraction of a woman. Her beauty had undoubtedly grown way out of proportion in his mind. That was the true reason hed insisted on returning. Once he saw her again, saw that she was nothing out of the ordinary, hed be able to forget about her and stay focused on the only things that mattered.
As he crossed the parking lot, the wind rattled in the trees, tugging at his hair and coat, the loamy scent of the woods mixing with the dust of the parking lot.
Hell, she probably isnt even here.
But as he reached for the front door, a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turnedand froze. She stood outside, at the corner of the building, in a shapeless pale green dress that somehow only accentuated her delicate beauty. Watching him.
Damn, but she was even more lovely than hed remembered.
She smiled. His heart rate soared, and he was closing the distance between them before hed given any conscious thought to whether or not he should. As he neared, she backed up, one small step at a time, turning the corner into shade. And privacy.
Paenther followed her into the sharply cooler air of the shade, then stopped two arm lengths away, trapped between the invitation in her bright blue eyes and the disbelief of the warrior inside him. What am I doing? Vhyper needs me.
Squirrels chattered in the sun-drenched trees behind the building. Vhyper was nowhere to be found. And he just wanted a kiss. For the first time in as far back as he could remember, lust had risen, curling up through the burning wreckage the Mage had made of his soul. He wanted. Needed. And the feel of it was intoxicating.
He took a step toward her, then stopped again. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten her. Like all Ferals, he was bigger than most human males. And there was something innately fragile about her.
To his surprised relief, she took the pursuit out of his hands and closed the distance between them, gliding into his arms with lightness and grace. He instinctively cradled her against him like the most delicate flower even as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth to his.
Fire erupted in his chest, rushing out and down, heating his limbs and body and blood in a way that pleasured instead of pained. All thought of gentleness flew from his head as she swept her tongue into his mouth with a strength and certainty that had him suddenly wondering if her delicacy had more to do with a lack of age.
He pulled back from the kiss, keeping her tight against his body as he stared down into that exquisite face.
How old are you, beauty?
Old enough. That smile played at her mouth, her eyes twinkling with a depth that reassured him she was no child.
He covered her mouth, sweeping his tongue into hers as he pulled her tight against him. She tasted like the raindrops of old, sweet and pure, and smelled like violets. And he wanted her with a need unlike anything hed ever experienced. With each stroke of his tongue against hers, his body hardened until he was throbbing with the desire to be inside her.
Her arm slipped from around his neck and moved down to slide over that distended part of his anatomy. The air hissed into his mouth as he pulled back, his gaze driving into hers.
Blue eyes swam with passion and a need nearly as great as his own.
He pressed his lips to her temple as he slid his palm down her thigh, then up again, lifting the skirt of her dress until he found the hem. He reached beneath, his fingers skimming her warm thighs, his hand sliding between them, rising to the bare, damp core of her.
The woman wore no undergarments.
A smile pulled as his mouth as he kissed her hard and slid a single shaking finger deep inside her tight, wet sheath.
He needed to be inside her.
A movement in his peripheral vision had him pulling back, his head jerking to the corner of the building. Foxx stood there staring at him, one hand loaded with hot dogs, the other with a massive drink, his eyebrows shooting into his hairline.
Dude.
Paenther growled low in his throat, tempted to yank off the cubs ears.
With a small sound of dismay, the woman pulled out of his arms and fled.
Paenther curled his damp finger into his fist and let her go. His brilliant plan to get her out of his mind had failed. Spectacularly.
CHAPTER 19
Delaney sat up slowly in the strange bed, logging her surroundings. Unfamiliar bedroom, daytime.
Tighe stood at the window, his back to her, in a pair of black leather pants and nothing else except the gold armband tight around his upper arm.
With a rush, she remembered what had happened. Or what her mind was trying to tell her had happened. Her pulse began to pound as she saw in her head again, the man turning into a tiger. Then morphing into a were-tiger orGod. Hed sunk his claws deep into her shoulders until she was soaked with blood.
She struggled to calm her racing pulse. It hadnt happened. It was just a nightmareor an hallucination thanks to the drugs hed pumped her full of.
Just to reassure herself, she shrugged and rolled her shoulders. No pain, just as shed known there wouldnt be. But when she glanced down at herself, at the unfamiliar gray tee shirt dotted with bloodstains all over the shoulders, her eyes went wide. Cold washed over her scalp.
Oh, crap. Her mind began to buzz with disbelief, even as goose bumps rose on her skin.
Youre safe, Delaney, Tighe said without turning around, his voice cool and sharp. Calm down.
Right. Like I didnt just step into the Twilight Zone. Her gaze slid around the large, well-appointed, and decidedly masculine room with its jungle green walls and heavy wood furniture. One wall held an assortment of framed photos of airplanes. The others, a vast assortment of knives and swords interspersed with paintings of tigers.
Tigers. She struggled to contain the fear trembling deep inside her, afraid what might happen if she didnt. How many times had he said, Dont fear me? And look what had happened when she had.
Dear God. Where are we?
Feral House. Tighe turned around slowly, his hands clasped behind his back, his mouth tight. Sunglasses, as usual, covering his eyes.
A small bubble of hysteria tried to rise up her throat, but she swallowed it down, hard. Either shed gone insane, or her world had. And if it was the latter?
Even as she shuddered, she squared her shoulders. One way or another, she had to deal with it.
She watched him warily. Are youdid I really see you?
Turn into a tiger? He bit out the words as if daring her to accept them. Yeah. You did.
She sat up straighter, pressing back against the headboard. How do you do that? Changelike that?
I think about shifting, and I shift.
Shift. From a man to a tiger. Her head rushed with cold. Ants crawled across her skin. Have youalways been this way?
Tighe scowled. Im not a science experiment. Im a shape-shifter. I have been for more than six hundred years.
Her eyes widened. Six hundred?
No way. No way. No way.
My people are not human, Delaney. Were immortals. Weve roamed this earth since the dawn of time, but we stay under the human radar for survival purposes.
Shape-shifters. Immortals. The words banged around inside her head, finding no purchase. They werent real. Men did not turn into tigers. They didnt live forever. They didnt.
No wonder he hadnt died when hed been shot.
With sudden clarity she realized everything shed believed about him was wrong. Everything hed told her was a lie. She felt a pinch in that part of her heart that had softened toward him. A spreading ache.
Am I really believing any of this?
God, I need to get out of here.
Delaney dug her fingers in her hair, raking it back from her face as her heart raced and her mind spun.
Do you eat people?
His mouth tightened. No. We dont kill unless someone needs to be killed.
Your brother does.
Hes not my brother. Hes a clone, an unnatural creation thats not even flesh and blood. He was made several weeks ago from half my soul, which is whats causing my anger-management issues. My souls disintegrating. If I dont destroy him soon, Im going to die.
She gripped her head in both hands, closing her eyes against the barrage of information her mind refused to process. Six hundred years?
How did he expect her to believe that? Yet how else could she possibly explain what shed seen?
With perfect clarity, she understood why he was so determined to catch the scumbag. The clone. After more than six hundred years, his life was in serious jeopardy.
If she believed him.
Did she have a choice?
A thought occurred to her, a wicked irony. The serial killer shed been pursuing, the one the press had semihumorously dubbed the D.C. Vampire, actually wasnt human.
What if the FBI found out about it? That nonhumans actually existed? It would flip them on their ears.
And if the populace at large learned about them? Utter chaos.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she lowered her arms, opened her eyes, and met Tighes gaze. Shed never been one to bury her head in the sand. Clearly, shed stumbled into something way outside her realm of experience. Her only real option was to figure out what was going on as best she could.
Then deal with it.
Another shudder tore through her. Easier said than done.
Delaney swallowed. I kind of understand the physical shifting into a tiger. But howhow did you do it in my head? Is that going to happen again?
The tiger in your head wasnt precisely me.
She grimaced. Someone else did that?
No. He dug a hand through his short, sun-bleached hair, mirroring her move of a few moments ago. I share my body with an animal spirit. A tiger animal spirit. His being in me enables me to shift into the tiger, but he isnt the tiger. I am. Im the tiger, Im the man, and when I lose my temper, Im even that thing that attacked you. Though, if my soul had been intact, I never would have lost control like that. I never would have hurt you.
His fingers ran across the scars on his chest. Scars that looked like an animals claw marks, she realized. I was twenty-four when the tiger chose me. Marked me. Before that I wasnt human, but neither was I a shape-shifter. He joined his spirit with mine.
He controls you?
No, though on occasion hell make his will known. Particularly when it comes to females. Tighe frowned. Hes taken a liking to you. When I entered your mind, he tried to follow.
What was he going to do in there?
Nothing. He couldnt have done anything. If you want to know the truth, I think he was really just trying to say hello.
She laughed, though there was no humor in it. Hello? He scared the shit out of me.
Believe me, Im aware of that.
How am I not hooked up to a transfusion in the ICU? I know I lost a ton of blood. She glanced down at one shoulder, then met his gaze. I cant even feel the wounds.
Delaney hooked her finger into the neck of the large tee shirt and pulled it open so she could get a peek. They were still there, all right, red and swollen dashes, dried blood caked around the edges. But the skin seemed to have already knit closed. Almost as if someone had cauterized the wounds.
Youd seen too much to take you to a human hospital, so one of our healers helped you. There was only so much she could do with human flesh. Youre not fully healed, but youre a lot further along than you would be on your own. Your own body will have to do the rest.
Delaney shook her head. She was trying to take it all in. Really trying, butThis is unbelievable.
Get used to it, he said coolly. The mating ceremony will take place as soon as youre ready.
Mating ceremony. Her stomach clenched, his words coming back to her, hard and hurtful. No way. Im not making her my mate.
No. It was too much. She couldnt deal with this, too.
He studied her, his gaze enigmatic. Either you bind yourself to me, or I kill you. His expression said he didnt much care which.
She looked away, blindsided by the swift, unexpected pain of that blow. A blow he probably hadnt even intended.
She meant nothing to him. Less than nothing. And she hated that it hurt.
Delaney swung her legs over the side of the bed. I need my cell phone, she said tersely. I have to call my boss and let him know Im okay.
No.
Is the FBI looking for me? Did they see you kidnap me? Did they give chase?
It doesnt matter.
She gaped at him, lunging to her feet to face him. Of course it matters.
Theyll never find you. Youre dead to them now.
She stared at him, her jaw slowly dropping. I have a job to do.
Your only job now is whatever I say it is. Youre not going back to the FBI.
If youre trying to be an ass, youre succeeding brilliantly. She stalked toward him. I heard you tell the guy on the phone that if I went through with this, I couldnt betray you. So I can go back.
Youre staying here.
Blast it. Then Im not doing this.
You dont have a choice.
I didnt know you were going to lock me up!
He turned and picked up a royal blue silk nightgown and tossed it to her. Put this on. Nothing underneath. Leave your hair down and your feet bare. Its your wedding dress.
She stared at the thing. Im not getting married in a nightgown.
Its not a nightgown. Its a ritual gown.
The fabric was gorgeous, but there was nothing to it. No sleeves, no lining. Nothing underneath?
Whats the ritual? Sacrificing me to your tiger god?
He didnt reply, just continued to watch her with that hard, cold expression.
Im not getting married without underwear. Or without my gun. Not with wild animals on the loose.
He took a step toward her, his mouth compressing dangerously. Youll do whatever I tell you to do.
She threw the gown on the floor. Go to hell.
He lunged for her, grabbed her arm, and hauled her roughly against him. I dont like this any better than you do, but its either bind yourself to me or die. I gave you the choice already. You chose this. You chose me.
I was delirious.
His jaw went hard as he released her with one hand and flicked open a switchblade three inches from her face.
Its not too late to change your mind. The tightness of his mouth spoke of barely leashed violence, but in the agitated flutter of those angel wings in her head she sensed an unhappiness as raw as her own. He was being forced to tie himself to a woman he didnt love.
No, not forced.
He could have let her die.
Her fury ebbed as her heart began to ache for him almost as much as herself. Would you really kill me? she asked quietly. She already knew the answer.
The anger drained out of him as he retracted the blade and shoved it back in his pocket.
No. He released her along with a sigh that echoed with pain. But if you wont go through with this, Ill have no choice but to step aside while someone else does. The survival of our race is too important. He shook his head. Not just to us. If we die, there will be no one left to keep the Daemons from returning. Imagine thousands of creatures terrorizing the human population. Creatures worse than my twin. A dozen times worse.
She shuddered and stared at him, her mind struggling to accept round after round of evidence that the world was so much more complex than shed thought. So I really dont have a choice?
His mouth turned rueful. You really dont.
But you do. A human death cant mean that much to you. Why bind yourself to me when you could have let me die? When you dont want me?
His mouth turned up in a wry half smile. Who says I dont want you?
As she stared at him, he bent down and picked up the gown, then met her gaze again, his expression softening just a little. Come on, D. Lets get this over with.
It wasnt quite the marriage proposal shed dreamed of, but there had been something in his expression, something in his words that eased the ache inside her. Not much, but maybe it was enough. Especially since she clearly didnt have a choice.
I need to get cleaned up.
He handed her the gown and nodded toward a door in the corner. Bathrooms in there. Ill see if I can find you a brush or something.
She nodded and took the gown from him. As he started to turn away, she stopped him. Tighe?
He turned back to her.
Thank you, she said softly. For not letting me die.
His gaze seemed to search hers for several moments, then he lifted his hand and traced her cheekbone with his thumb in a feather-light touch. Youre welcome. Then he turned away.
Delaney opened the shower curtain to find a host of items on the sink that hadnt been there when she climbed in. A toothbrush still in its wrapper, a comb and brush, a hair dryer. Beside them lay a small zipper pouch she discovered contained a small collection of makeup basics. Someone elses collection, by the looks of it.
Staring at them, she was reminded how little she knew the man she was supposedly marrying. Did he have a girlfriend? A dozen girlfriends? With looks like his, shed be amazed if he didnt.
Was he in love with someone else? Was she doomed to have to watch him parading other women through her life?
The ache in her chest tightened, annoying her. The only way she was going to survive this was to stop caring. Hadnt she learned that lesson when she was eleven? The only way to survive, period, was to stop caring about anyone.
Which had always been easier said than done.
After she dried her hair, she put on a little makeup, then slipped the blue silk over her head. The sleeveless, scoop-necked gown slid sensuously down her body to midcalf, skimming her curves but not hugging them tightly. The color was gorgeous on her. A perfect nightgown. But she was far too busty ever to consider leaving the bedroom without a bra, especially in a gown like this. It would only highlight every bounce and jiggle.
Just the dress a man would pick.
With a sigh, she opened the door and stepped into the bedroom.
Tighe turned from the window to face her. The dress looks good on you. His tone was still reserved, but there was a truth in his words that warmed her. Heated her.
Thanks. Its a beautiful nightgown. Just how many people are going to see me in it?
Five, other than me. And its not a nightgown. Its one of a collection of ceremonial gowns that have been passed down for thousands of years.
Delaney jerked. This dress is not thousands of years old. It would have disintegrated eons ago.
The fabric was woven with power and magic, as well as silk. Thats why nothing else can touch your skin during the ritual.
Power and magic. She shivered. Not even my gun?
The corner of his mouth twitched. Especially not your gun.
She glanced at his slacks. Are those thousand-year-old Haggars?
A grin lit his face for one brilliant moment, flashing his dimples and filling her chest with a terrible and wonderful pressure.
Theyre not Haggars. And what Im wearing doesnt matter.
Why not?
This is the channel for my power. He tapped the golden armband with the tigers head.
Oh.
Tighe held out his hand to her. Come on, D. Lets get this ritual over with.
She took his hand, and he pulled her lightly into his arms and kissed her hair. Trust me, brown eyes. Its all going to be okay.
To her dismay, tears threatened in her eyes, and she buried her face in the hollow of his throat, craving his touch, needing his strength.
His arms closed around her, and she clung to him, the pressure in her chest growing, expanding, cutting off her air even as it filled her with a terrible, anguished joy.
He said it was all going to be okay. But she wasnt sure of that. She wasnt sure at all.
Because, heaven help her, she was falling in love with him.
CHAPTER 20
Tighe led Delaney through what she could only describe as a gaudily decorated mansion and down a long, long stair into a basement that had to be a good twelve feet below the ground. No regular lightbulbs lit their way, only a couple of pairs of electric sconces made to look like candlelight.
With each step down, Delaneys uneasiness mounted, her hands fisting and clenching around air. If shed ever needed to be armed, it was now.
The scent of fire teased her nostrils as curls of smoke lifted on the air. A bead of sweat rolled between her breasts. When she thought of weddings, her mind burst forth with pictures of sunshine and flowers, and yards and yards of white. Not dark stairs and smoke.
Wedding, my ass. Some kind of gang ritual, more like it. Or human sacrifice.
A shiver of fear snaked its way down her spine.
Of course, Tighe hadnt called it a wedding, had he? Hed called it a mating ceremony.
Mating ceremony? Like some ancient fertility rite? That included sex? Hed better not even think about it.
What did she really know about this man? Nothing. She knew nothing about him except that he seemed to be trying to keep her alive. Which was all well and fine as long as his friends agreed. But shed heard them on the phone when she was trying to bleed out. Theyd all been in favor of letting her die.
What if they overpowered him? Or what if he lost it and turned into Wolfman Tiger again? She couldnt protect them both. She was weaponless. Shoeless. Pantyless.
Tighe reached back and took her hand, his warm fingers closing around her ice-cold ones. Control your fear, Agent Randall. No ones going to hurt you unless I lose it again. And its your fear that makes me lose control.
His use of her title had the desired effect, calling on years of training and control. Even as it reminded her that her career, everything shed worked so hard for, might well be gone.
She knew Phil must be frantically searching for her whether or not theyd seen her captured. An FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer suddenly disappears. What was the Bureau going to think? That shed gotten too close to him again. Phil wouldnt be looking for her, she realized. Hed be looking for her remains. And when he didnt find them? It wouldnt much matter. Hed still think she was dead.
And in a way, maybe she was. Dead to her old life at least.
Goose bumps rose on her skin as she followed Tighe down the long stairs. She wasnt entirely convinced she wasnt about to die in truth.
When they reached the base of the stairs, Tighe led her through a dark, dimly lit hallway toward a wide archway flickering with firelight and curls of smoke. Low voices met her ears, too low to make out the words.
As Tighe led her through the doorway and into the room, Delaney stared around her warily, in no small amount of awe.
The room wasnt overly large, but the ceiling was higher than most and arched, giving the space the feel of a cave. A feeling heightened by the six small fires burning around the edges of the room, casting flickering shadows on the dark-paneled ceiling and walls. There was something intensely primitive about the atmosphere, a feeling only strengthened by the half-naked men.
Five men other than Tighe stood scattered around the room, each wearing nothing more than a pair of pants or jeans and an armband similar to Tighes, though each armband seemed to have the head of a different animal on it. Maybe they werent all tigers after all.
Never had she seen such a worrisome display of pure, undiluted male power. Not a one of them was under six-six, with a couple well over. Each possessed powerful shoulders and thick, dangerous muscles.
If they turned against her, she was dog meat.
A shudder tore through her as she remembered where she was. What these men were. And just how true that could turn out to be. Dog meat. Tiger meat.
Forget sacrifice. For all she knew, she was dinner.
Tighe squeezed her hand. Youre safe, brown eyes. Happy thoughts, hmm?
Happy thoughts? she muttered. Right. Her thoughts were on the fact there were no windows. No possible chance of escape.
One of the men came toward them, a man with a mustache and goatee and cold, pale eyes. The eyes of a psychopath.
Lyon says you dont want the altar?
And the voice of the man who kept telling Tighe to kill her. Great.
Tighe shook his head. I wont need it.
The psychopaths expression didnt change. He turned that pale gaze to her, flicking it over her dispassionately as if deciding between a thigh and a breast.
She squeezed Tighes hand, desperate to control the shudder that threatened to tear her apart.
The psychopath turned away.
Happy thoughts, D, Tighe murmured.
I was just thinking about dinner.
I can imagine what you were thinking, but you have nothing to fear. No ones going to touch you but me.
The men were all looking at her, most with a disinterest bordering on disdain. As if she wasnt worth their time. Is that what they think of all humans?
The last man her gaze landed on nodded to her with something almost approaching friendliness. A man with a long, aristocratic face and sharply arched brows.
Her eyes narrowed, and she nudged Tighe. Have I met him?
Hawke? He was the one who grabbed you at the Tidal Basin.
And the same one whod pulled her to safety both times Tighe went ballistic. Would he rescue her a third time if she needed it? Not likely. Not against this crew.