“’Bout what?”
“That Vlad is your daddy.”
“Good. He smells like Daddy.”
“He does?” Rose frowned at Vlad. “Do you understand that?”
He stared at Zoe a moment. “Have I always smelled that way to you, Zoe? Or just after you heard Mommy call me that?”
“Always, but didn’t know I knew until woods. Where you been?”
He opened his mouth, closed it, and then sighed. “I had to go away and learn a few lessons before I could come back to you.”
“Like college? Granny says I go to college, like Mommy did, or else I can’t work for them. Was college fun?”
“Very. But I like being with you and Mommy better.”
“Yay! I hungry.”
Rose blinked several times at the change of subject, her already reeling brain having trouble keeping up with Zoe’s train of thought. “Guess we’d better go get you food then,” she said.
“I’ll get you back to your suite without hassle,” Alexis said.
Rose turned to face her. She was standing a few feet away, grinning.
“Vlad’s right, by the way. You are a badass,” she said, nodding toward the spot where Rose had taken Yuri down. “Humans can’t usually defend themselves against shifter speed.”
Zoe giggled when Alexis said “badass.”
“Martial arts training,” Rose muttered. “Years of it. Even went to Japan for a year before college.”
“When things have settled down, I’d like to talk to you about a job. I’ve got these self-defense classes I give to the other female tigers. We could use another teacher.”
“Huh?” It was the best Rose could do.
Alexis laughed. “Don’t worry. We’ll talk when you can focus again. In the meantime, let’s get Zoe fed.”
So much had happened in such a short period of time, Rose had no idea how to process it all. Rather than try, she hugged her family, then went back to their suite for dinner.
Thinking could wait.
Chapter Twenty
As soon as they entered their rooms, Zoe said, “I use the potty.”
“You need any help, baby?”
“No. I big girl. I badass!” She charged into the bedroom, already pulling her pants down.
Rose shook her head. “My mother really is going to send me to confession for letting my three-year-old use ‘badass’ with abandon.”
“You can blame me,” Vlad said.
She turned to say something sarcastic, only to find herself in his arms, his mouth coming down hard on hers, his kiss full of such force and intensity, it swept her away and robbed her of thought.
He hugged her tight, almost too tight, and claimed her mouth with a fierceness that made her body and heart cry out in joy. The reality of what had just happened, of what they’d just done and survived, fed her need to feel and taste him. She ran her hands over his back and waist, down to his butt and back up his spine again, stroking and savoring.
“He didn’t hurt you?” he said against her mouth, then kissed her again.
When he eased back enough for her to answer, she said, “No. You?”
“I had a heart attack when I saw him coming for you and knew I couldn’t get there in time.”
“You saved Zoe. That was the most important thing.”
“No. Equally important. I couldn’t get to both of you at the same time. I couldn’t stop him.”
“I’m okay.” She kissed his cheeks, his chin. “We’re all okay now.” Then she dove back into another kiss, letting all the fear fall away for just a few moments.
Finally, he loosened his hold and reluctantly eased back. He glanced toward the bedroom. “She just flushed,” he murmured. “We’d better stop or she’ll learn other things your mother will send you to confession for.”
Rose chuckled. She patted his chest, then cupped his face with her hands. “Thank you. For protecting her the way I would.”
“She’s my baby, too.”
“Yes, she is.” Rose scowled. “And she knows it. Little stink. I can’t believe I’ve been worrying about how to tell her and she knew all along. Or at least suspected. Is that really possible? Can she really tell by the way you smell?”
“Family scents carry similar…tones. Flavors? It’s a little hard to explain, but yes, it’s entirely possible for her to tell from my scent that I’m related to her.”
“Does that mean she could tell…about Yuri?”
“Hopefully that happened too fast.”
He said this against her ear, so quietly she realized Zoe was on her way back into the living room. When she looked up, Zoe ambled in with one of her coloring books and a packet of crayons.