From the look in his eyes, he wasn’t unaffected by standing naked with her watching him. A glance at his now erect cock proved it. They hadn’t been together since Arizona. Only a few days ago, but already it felt like they hadn’t made love in ages. She clenched her blanket. What terrible timing. She should have looked away while he undressed.
She tried to tell herself to look away now. Nothing could happen and she was torturing herself, but her body didn’t do what she told it to do. Her body wanted to take him to the porch, wrap her legs around his waist, and fuck him hard and fast, until all the fear of the last few hours was wiped away under raw, raging need.
She imagined her mouth on his skin, his thick cock buried deep in her body, his intoxicating scent enveloping her, his husky voice whispering wicked words into her ear… She was so close to braving the cold to be with him, she started to push the blanket down.
Finally, he took mercy on her and turned around. Except that wasn’t much better because now she had an excellent view of his ass.
This wasn’t going to work. She rolled over and faced her sleeping daughter. She’d just have to watch Vlad shift another time. But she would do it. If they got married, if they were going to be partners for the rest of their lives, she wanted no secrets between them.
As she closed her eyes, she realized she still held the biggest secret of all close to her heart. If she wanted full honesty, she’d have to admit how she felt about him. She’d have to take the risk and tell him she loved him.
And hope he returned the feelings.
Chapter Eighteen
The trip back to the elders’ compound was infinitely more relaxed than the drive away had been. To give Zoe time to adjust and settle, they took their time, stopping for lunch at a fast-food restaurant, letting Zoe play in the snow at a rest stop. The drive up to the Mate Run territory had taken them a few hours. They took most of the day getting back to the compound, pulling into the parking lot at twilight.
Alexis met them at the door leading into the main building. “She’s okay?”
Rose nodded. “She’s still a little shaken up, but she was very strong and brave.”
“The Trackers with you have reported in so I got the gist. What happened to Jameson has been deemed ‘appropriate punishment under the law’ so you’re good on that count.”
“There was ever a question?” Rose asked, a very slight growl in her voice. This wasn’t the human world where vigilante killing might be prosecuted. This was a deadly world that required brutal strength. She would have gone to war if they’d tried to hold her and Vlad accountable for what she considered justice. “Do they know what was intended?” She was vague because of Zoe, but she needed to know what the elders had heard.
“They do. The tiger who witnessed the exchange with Jameson reported everything that was said. Dev is one of the best and most experienced Trackers working. His word is above reproach.”
“What does this mean for Lei?” Vlad asked.
They moved slowly down the corridors toward the guest wing as they talked. Zoe hugged Rose tight and refused to get down and walk, but Rose wasn’t inclined to let her go either. She wanted to ask for different rooms as well, but she wanted Vlad’s question answered first.
“That is…causing a dilemma,” Alexis said.
“Because Zoe’s not covered under our laws yet,” Vlad said.
“You figured that out? Yes. Her position in the community is still unsettled so there’s debate—”
Rose groaned loudly at that word.
Alexis flashed her a smile before continuing. “They can’t decide whether to charge this as an attempt on a human or a tiger shifter female.”
“What’s the difference in punishment?” Rose asked.
“Attempts on tiger females carry a much more severe sentence than attempts on humans, even though success at…what was intended with either tiger or human carries the same ultimate penalty.”
Rose worked through that in her head. Since they were talking vaguely, because of Zoe, she wanted to make sure she understood. Vlad had told her killing a human was almost always a death sentence crime. So that must mean killing a tiger female was a death sentence crime as well. But attempting to kill a tiger female resulted in more severe punishment than attempting and failing to kill a human.
That didn’t make much sense to her. “Why the difference for attempts, when success carries the same punishment?”
Alexis shook her head. “Legal wrangling and complicated contingencies that aren’t really logical, but they are on the books. Basically, attempting on a tiger female is considered worse because they’re so rare and humans aren’t. If the attempt on a human isn’t successful, there’s no threat to the community—or at least very little threat compared to what would be posed by a human investigation into that ultimate result. The elders figure the punishment for completing that crime is enough to keep the community in line. Female tigers are so valuable, though, they don’t want even the attempts to look like a reasonable idea.”