Valiant(37)

“Tammy?”

She met his gaze and he resisted the urge to kiss her. Her mouth tempted him. It would be as easy as lowering his head and capturing her lips. He didn’t give a damn if the humans surrounding them stared. He’d happily stake his claim on her in front of anyone, Species or human. He hesitated too long.

“What?”

Valiant enjoyed when she smiled and hoped a little teasing would do the trick. He chuckled. “I only want your thighs wrapped around me so do not get angry.”



Tammy glanced away and calmed. It was nice to hear Valiant say that. She didn’t know if she believed him since she believed most men were not monogamous. But again, Valiant wasn’t similar to any other man she’d ever met before. That’s the understatement of the year.

Tiger led the way and Valiant followed him to one of the Jeeps. There were a few more New Species with Tiger.

“Miss Shasta!” The male reporter yelled to get her attention. “What happened? Where are you going with them? Who is the New Species holding you?”

Tiger softly cursed. “Ignore them.”

Valiant dropped into the passenger seat, keeping Tammy firmly on his lap. Tiger glanced at them and started the engine. “You know about seat belt laws, right? We’re not on Reservation.”

Valiant growled in response.

“Fine. I don’t think we’re going to be pulled over or anything but I thought I’d mention it.”

“I heard and we’re fine.” Valiant cuddled her closer to his body. Tammy twisted her head to peer at Tiger. She shrugged and wrapped her arms tighter around Valiant. She turned back and rested her cheek against his warm chest. She felt safe. Tiger took the lead position of the five black vehicles as they drove to New Species Reservation.

“There is something you should know,” Tammy said loudly so both men could hear her.

Valiant looked down at her until their gazes met and held. “What is it?”

“Can you hear me, Tiger?”

“I can. I’ve got good hearing.”

“I didn’t tell the sheriff everything about those men. They knew that Valiant had carried me into his house the day I met him. They said they have an informant who overheard a conversation between Justice North and maybe you, Tiger. They talked about their boss and how he wanted me because of what happened.”

She focused on Valiant and continued, “They knew I’d slept with you. They never said the name of the man they work for but they referred to him as a doctor. They also said they wanted me to videotape statements saying horrible things to make people hate you. They said that doctor, their boss, wanted to experiment on me inside some testing facility. One of them thought I’d been infected and would turn New Species but I lied and told them nothing happened between Valiant and me. They mentioned having an informant a few times, someone close to Justice North.”

“Son of a bitch,” Tiger growled. “You’re sure?”

“Positive.” Tammy hesitated. “Does any of this make sense to you? I didn’t want to tell Sheriff Cooper any of that because he’d want to know about what happened between us too.”

“Did you tell anyone what happened at Valiant’s home?” Tiger sounded alarmed.

“No.” Tammy turned her head to peer at him. “I didn’t tell anyone but I asked Ted not to mention it either. He swore he wouldn’t tell a soul. He totally believed me and thinks Valiant and I, well, he thinks I told him the absolute truth. Those men tonight were certain that I had been with Valiant sexually and they said their informant had overheard a conversation between Justice North and his head of security speaking about whether I’d press charges for rape or not. They also said their boss and more men in their group were coming here the day after tomorrow.”

“Not good,” Tiger growled. “Justice and I had that conversation.”

Valiant’s arms tightened around her. Tammy looked at him. His eyes were narrowed as he glared at her with a hurt expression on his handsome, albeit scary face.

“Don’t look at me that way. I never said the word rape. I said you didn’t do that to me.”

“She never accused you of forcing her,” Tiger agreed. “She made it clear there was nothing for you to be punished over but I just wasn’t sure I believed her words or not. You carried her off, Valiant. You weren’t yourself that day and you were being aggressive. I considered she might be lying. Some women who are raped deny it. Justice and I had a conversation but obviously someone overheard it and fed information to those terrorist groups.”

Valiant still looked angry but his hold on her relaxed while he snuggled her deeper into his arms. He sighed. Tammy closed her eyes and rested her cheek on his chest again. She was tired but managed not to doze off.