A Tiger's Bounty (5 page)

Jace grunted, and Amber could tell he was close from the slight sheen of sweat that gave his tanned body a light glow. The question was if she could hold on long enough.

Amber moaned as he pushed deep into her again, causing her hands to rake down Jace’s back as she met him. By now, his muscles were bulging with exertion, his breath elevated. For a split second, she could swear his deep golden-orange irises widened as his pupils became sharp, catlike slits, right before he thrust one last time and reached his hand down to where their hips met, stroking over her clit with a tiny flick that was the last straw for her already-close body.

Her entire being responded to the stimulation at once, throwing her far beyond the limits of pleasure that she could have even imagined, let alone experienced. And just as she came, Jace’s body tightened and his cock jerked inside her, adding pleasure upon boundless pleasure that coursed through her as all the tension released in powerful waves that pulsated through her body.

While Amber felt the euphoria of going harder than she ever had before, Jace swore and held her close, the two of them riding out the culmination of their hot, sweaty, perfect sex together. Even as her own orgasm slowly faded, she could still feel Jace deep inside her.

For a moment, they just breathed, letting the passion of the moment slowly fade. Amber was beyond satisfied. Even as he came out of her and quickly cleaned up, she knew this was something she could hold on to for the rest of her life, if needed.

Things this good never lasted forever anyway.

T
he next morning
, Jace awoke to the sound of his alarm.

Odd, he always woke up before it actually went off.

He quickly silenced it and looked to his side. Asleep in the bed was Amber, still snoring lightly with a cute little grin glued to her face.

Damn, this woman was beautiful.

Jace got up quietly and put on clothes as the memory of last night flooded into his recollection. The most absurdly hot sex that couldn’t have been made up.

Then he remembered why this woman had come into his life in the first place.

Brenner.

Jace had work to do.

He got up and went to the kitchen and began writing a note to put on Amber’s nightstand. If he was going to track down exactly who’d done this, he needed a head start on the day. There were places to go, people to talk to.

Yesterday had been the most amazing day of his life, and he wouldn’t have changed it for the world. But the reality of his own life as a bounty hunter was all too clear now. Pretty soon, he’d get a message to meet up and discuss his next target. And then the next and the next. There would always be another criminal to catch, another evil shifter who had to be taken care of.

How compatible was his life with having someone like her in it, even if she was his mate?

As Jace downed a pint of milk (tigers loved milk) and debated on what to write, his thoughts were interrupted by the quiet shuffle of feet. He looked up and saw Amber, smiling tentatively, the bed sheets wrapped around her body, her hair mussed from last night and her skin glowing under the fluorescent light of his apartment.

“Morning,” she said, walking closer.

“Morning. How’d you sleep?” Jace asked, unsure of what to say.

“Good, thanks.”

“I’m glad you’re up. That way I can explain this in person,” he said, standing up and walking over to her. Even though they’d just had sex last night, her body was soft, still tantalizing him.

“Oh… you’re leaving?” she asked warily.

“Just for now. I need to see if I can find out more about the people that broke into your place. I’m not comfortable letting you go until I know they’re not out there still looking for you.”

Jace could see her wince momentarily at the mention of her leaving, but he didn’t know how to respond. This was the plan from the start, right?

Yet even as he logically knew it was inevitable, his tiger growled angrily whenever he said it.

“Here, this is the password to my laptop. Feel free to use it if you need to job hunt. Or just watch TV or whatever you’d like. The number for the security system is on this as well, in case it’s set off accidentally by someone outside. But just promise me you won’t go out,” he instructed.

Amber just nodded in approval, looking conflicted.

Jace wrapped his arms around her, loving the soft shape of her body against his. “I’ll be back in a few hours. I promise. My number’s on your phone if you need anything,” he said, ending with a kiss on her forehead.

Amber held him tight, and for the first time this morning, she seemed to be able to relax a little bit. He gave her one more kiss on the cheek for good measure, then threw on his jacket to head out the door.

As much as he wanted to stay, wanted to just sit on the couch and cuddle her and get to know her better, there were still people out there that wanted her, either for revenge or worse. And if he was going to make life safe again for her, he needed to find out who they were and what they were after.

His first stop was her apartment. It was locked still, but he was able to easily pick it to get in. Inside, the damage was just as bad as he remembered, furniture destroyed, anything that was made of cloth shredded, and even things that had been bolted down torn off their surfaces.

First, he inspected the place to see if her stalkers had returned since yesterday. And from the scent in the house and the fact that the window leading onto the fire escape had been left ajar, he was pretty sure they had.

Dammit. So whoever was out there was persistent.

Using his enhanced senses, he then looked for any additional evidence of their intrusion. Evidence that he didn’t have time to find yesterday. He found a few short brown hairs on the ground and put them in a little evidence bag. The hairs further confirmed the men were wolf shifters, but without further DNA analysis, they weren’t of much use to Jace.

If he had to, he’d get his brother Carter to do that for him, since he was a detective and had access to things like crime labs. But Jace hated asking favors of his eldest sibling and preferred to do things on his own.

Besides, Jace had contacts that could give him information no crime lab or policeman could ever get.

After that, he went back down to Barker Street to the location where he’d first picked up Brenner a couple nights ago. But to his dismay, when he returned to apartment 4E, the place was completely empty. It had been entirely cleared out, devoid of any evidence. From the smell of it, the men Brenner worked with had even bleached the floors, leaving any possibility of even DNA evidence unlikely. Whoever they really were, they’d been thorough.

Shit. A dead end.

As he examined the place and left no stone unturned, he saw the room where he’d first found Amber and remembered how his tiger had reacted to her even from the very first moment. It sent a slight shiver down his spine, thinking about what could have happened.

Whether or not the two of them could actually have something that worked together long term and whether or not he was ready to settle down, it didn’t change that he would do everything in his power to find the guys after her.

After that, he visited the superintendent’s office to see if he could glean any information about the absent tenants, but he didn’t know where they’d gone, just that it had been in a rush and in the middle of the night. And that they’d paid cash, which was convenient since it couldn’t be traced like a check or credit card payment. However, he did get a name of one of the men living there. Billy Egan.

Despite his best efforts, the morning was fairly unfruitful in producing leads. But at least he had a name to work with. There were several people this afternoon he’d scheduled to meet with, and he could see if they knew anything about this man. That and he could ask his brothers next time he saw them, which was fortunate since their monthly meet-up was going to happen soon.

Jace felt annoyed but far from beaten. Some criminals it had taken him weeks, even months to finally track down. But he always found them.

He just hoped it would be sooner than later so Amber’s life didn’t have to be on hold because of him.

When Jace got back to his place, lunch for both of them in hand, he announced himself to let Amber know he was there. The last thing he wanted to do was startle the poor woman.

“Hey, Amber, I’m back.”

There was no response in the empty house, and for a second, it seemed like she wasn’t there. But the door had been locked, and she didn’t have the keys to do that, so
someone
was home.

“Amber?” Jace called out a little louder into the house. No sound from the bedroom or the bathroom; no shower on. Jace did a quick scan of the living room and, not seeing her there, went into the bedroom. It too was devoid of the curvaceous woman he sought after.

What if she’d gone outside and had been trailed home by someone? What if they were in here now?

Jace saw the bathroom door closed and moved toward it, readying the switchblade he kept in his back pocket, his head buzzing with scenarios and possibilities and worst nightmares.

Jace checked the handle of the bathroom and felt it was locked.

He readied himself for the worst.

A
mber was enjoying her bath
. The morning had been fairly productive, and she’d already gotten a couple emails back from prospective employers.

All the while, though, her mind had wandered back to Jace and what he could be doing, wondering when he would get back.

And what exactly was going on between them.

Was this just some sort of fling? If it was, Amber didn’t have any complaints, but she wanted that fact to be clearly obvious sooner rather than later.

She sat back and enjoyed the loud music coming through her earbuds, when her reverie was interrupted by the deafening smash of the door being ripped from its hinges. Amber shrieked and turned to face the intruder.

It was Jace, looking worried and holding what appeared to be a knife in his hand.

As soon as he saw she was lying in the tub, he whirled around and stepped out of the bathroom.

“Shit,” he cursed.

“What are you doing in here?” she yelled.

“I was looking for you,” Jace said, sounding genuinely surprised.

“Why didn’t you just knock?”

“I called your name when I got in. You didn’t answer,” he replied, clicking his knife closed and sticking it back into his pocket.

For a moment, they both just breathed, the intensity of the moment wearing off, Jace facing away from her.

“You looked like you were ready to kill someone,” Amber said.

“I was. I thought someone had gotten in,” he said, raising his hands.

“You told me not to leave.”

It was painfully obvious how different their worlds were, and it made her wonder what his job was that involved him with criminals and made him so worried he would kick down a door like that. What kind of danger did someone have to be in to be that on edge?

Until yesterday, the only danger Amber had to worry about was drunk men getting a little handsy and watching her own drink at bars, two jobs she’d clearly failed at. But the look on Jace’s face had been something else entirely.

Amber stood out of the tub, watching Jace to make sure he didn’t turn around, and threw on a terrycloth robe that was hung on a hook next to her.

“So… a bath. Who takes baths?” he said playfully while she slid on the robe.

“I do,” Amber said, quickly towel-drying her hair and then walking out of the bathroom past Jace. “What’s not to love about them?”

“They take forever,” he said, smiling for the first time since she’d seen him back. “I have some information to share with you when you have a second, but I’m expecting to learn more this afternoon.”

As Amber walked toward the fridge to get a drink, she could feel Jace’s heated eyes on her ass, watching her hips sway. But as much as it warmed her to know she still turned him on, her curiosity at what kind of profession he had that would lead to him assuming she was in mortal danger tickled in the back of her mind.

“So what exactly are you, a private detective or something?” she asked.

“Not exactly,” Jace replied.

“Then what?”

“I can’t tell you,” he added, looking conflicted about his answer, but not conflicted about her curves.

The lack of response disappointed her, because as much as he knew about her, she still didn’t know that much about Jace and what he actually did. Was it something embarrassing? How dangerous of a job was it that he always kept something sharp or deadly on hand?

From the first time they’d met, Amber had been drawn to him unlike any other man she’d ever come across. And from the way things had gone, it seemed like fate was trying to bring them together. So if that was the case, why were there still so many secrets?

Maybe Amber was just a silly girl who was falling in love with the hot bad boy.

But even if that was the case, she’d take as much as she could get while it lasted.

“So not a cop, not a private investigator. Are you a bodyguard?”

“Ha, no. As I said, that would be my younger brother,” he replied, his gaze drifting to the swell of her still damp breasts.

“Are you going to keep staring or give me answers?” she asked playfully.

“It depends. Are you going to keep teasing me with that perfect body of yours?” he said, moving closer to her.

The effect she had on him felt very empowering in a way. Knowing for the first time in her life she could be at least
someone’s
ideal, when society at large had long ago rejected the notion of her body type even being average.

It also helped that the sex with Jace had been mind-blowing.

“I don’t know. I guess that’s up to you,” she flirted, sashaying past him toward the bedroom so she could change, knowing fully well Jace’s flame-colored eyes were following her.

If this was just a fling, if nothing else, Amber felt a lot more comfortable in her own skin. And that definitely meant something, and she’d hang on to that for the rest of her life.

Right as she reached the door, Jace appeared in front of her with such speed she didn’t know how he’d gotten there so fast. With one swift motion, he picked her up into his arms like she was lighter than air.

“If it’s up to me, then I can think of several things I’ve been wanting to do to you ever since I saw you in the bath,” he growled, nuzzling into her ear and placing delicious kisses on her neck.

Even the lightest touches sent spikes of electricity along her skin, leaving her wanting for more and more.

Jace brought her into the bedroom and shut the door behind him.

They made love for hours and then sank into a contented rest, Amber thinking all the while that she didn’t know how she would ever be able to leave this man.

A
mber was napping
, recovering from her afternoon with Jace, when she became aware of some generic melody playing somewhere around her.

At first, it seemed it was a dream, on the fringe of Amber’s consciousness. But then it became clearer as she became aware it was her phone ringing.

She bolted upright and fumbled around the nightstand where she’d last seen it, her hands searching for the source of the noise. Finally, she found it and swiped her phone to answer the call.

“Hello?” she said, her voice groggy from the afternoon nap. She’d never slept so much in her life. But having multiple orgasms made a woman tired, and she needed to replenish her energy.

“Amber?” a woman’s voice asked on the other end.