Taber (8 page)

“The sooner the better but I don’t want to put you out. When I had to remove her leg, I had to take her out of the enclosure with the other lions. It wasn’t safe for her. Chet went crazy so I took him out too, but I really don’t have the room to keep them much longer. I could manage a month though.”

She pulled up her calendar on her computer and stared at it. “I’ll be there for them personally in four days, Dr Mitchem.”

His sigh of relief told her just how much he cared for the animals. “Thank you so much. I’ll make sure to have them and their records ready.”

“I’m glad we could help out, Dr Mitchem.”

“You have no idea, Ms Mercer, how much I am too. I really hated the alternative.”

“That’s not necessary anymore. I’ll see you in a few days.”

“Have a good day, and thank you, again.”

“Goodbye, Dr Mitchem.”

She ended the call and stared at the file by her hand. Grabbing it up, she shoved back from the desk and left her office. She didn’t have to go far, really. Not for whom she needed to see. She knocked and waited for the deep voice to say ‘enter’. Then she walked in. Taber sat at his desk, frowning at something before him. She brushed that away, not allowing herself to care.

He looked up and she melted a bit at the heat in his eyes. God, it would be so easy to run to him and press her lips to his. She swallowed and walked up to the desk and dropped the file on it.

“They’re coming here. I’m going to get their new enclosure ready. They’ll have to be kept over in holding for a few days if I can’t get it done. I’m picking them up in four days and taking the plane to do so.”

She waited for him to say something. He opened the file and stared at the picture before returning his gaze to her. “Okay.”

Honestly she’d expected a bit more reaction from him, but she took it. Giving him a nod of thanks, she spun on her heel and headed out of the door.

“Lainey,” he said.

She turned back. “Yes?”

The expression on his face scared her. She wasn’t in a place right now to deal with feelings, emotions—or anything like that.

“I have to go get this rolling.” She turned and left, hurrying out of the building and into the bright sunlight. After calling over two of the men, she gave them instructions on where they needed to start working and advised them of the deadline.

“I don’t know if we can do that by then,” one said. Not in a complaining tone, just matter-of-factly.

“I know,” she replied. “We just need to do the best we can. If necessary they can go in the holding area for a short time until it’s finished.”

“We’ll do our best.”

She smiled gratefully at them. “I know. I’ll be out here too, as long as I can be.” She gestured over her shoulder. “Let’s get to it. I’ll meet you there after I send someone to fix up holding.”

“Right.”

They separated and it didn’t take long for her to be back with them working away in the hot sun. Sweat dripped from her and she paused to wipe it away. The moment she had known they were coming, this was the enclosure she had envisioned for the duo. It was only amplified when Dr Mitchem had made mention of Allie only having three legs.

With a sigh she got back to work. At the end of the day, she said farewell to the others and kept working. Tall lights illuminated her space as she continued going over each inch, ensuring that there was nothing there that would hurt them. It was past ten at night when she called it quits. She left and made her way home where she collapsed, exhausted, in her bed.

* * * *

That was how her next three and a half days went. They were close, but as she got ready to board the plane, it hadn’t been finished. She thanked the guys and told them to take the rest of the day.

“We’ll get it again later. The holding area is ready and it won’t take that much more to fix it up.” She waved and hopped in the Jeep with Sean, who was taking her down to the airstrip.

“How’s it going?” she asked, grateful to feel the wind on her skin.

“Good,” he said. “You look exhausted.”

She gave him a tired smile. “Kind of am. But it’s a good tired, you know?”

He nodded and pulled up along the plane. “Have a safe flight!” he hollered over the noise.

Shouldering her pack, she jumped out. “I will, thanks!”

* * * *

She slept on the way back. She was totally exhausted and had finally succumbed to the need her body told her it could no longer ignore. It had been a rush, there and back. But, thankfully it had all gone well. The two cats were sedated and in their cages, Dr Mitchem had been a dear, and now she could just sleep.

At the descent, she woke and checked on both animals before buckling herself in. It was a smooth landing and she released a sigh of relief. The ramp lowered and she felt the warm wind of New Mexico flow up and over her. She made her way down and paused a foot from the bottom when she saw Taber striding towards her.

A flash back to the first time she had seen him hit her, and just like that day her body responded. Even in the area lit by harsh electric lights, she still was in awe of the power he exuded. It amazed her how much she’d missed him and she’d barely been gone a full day.

He stopped before her. “Everything go okay?”

“Like clockwork. Dr Mitchem had them all ready. They should be sedated for another hour. Enough time to get them into the holding pen.”

“They don’t have to go there. Their enclosure is ready.”

She shook her head. “No. It wasn’t finished. We have about another day’s work to get it ready.”

“Look at me.”

She couldn’t refuse the command and lifted her gaze to his. “What?”

He reached out as if to touch her cheek, only to pull back at the last moment. “It’s finished.”

“You…did…whatever you do?”

“Yes.”

She licked her lips. “Why?”

“Because it was important to you to not have them in holding.” He stepped around her and waved for the men to come up with the lifts to move the cages into the backs of trucks and drive them up.

She rode along on the door of the truck that carried Allie. Taber rode in Chet’s. At the enclosure, she stood off to the side and watched him work with the men to get the cages in and pull the cats out.
He did that for me?
There was even a small pool of water in one corner for them to lie in, if it got too hot.

Her gaze drifted back to Taber. He knelt over one cat, then the other. She swore he was communicating with them. The others left and soon it was just her and Taber, along with the cats.

She didn’t know what to say. This gesture was more than she could have asked for. Swallowing, she pushed through the door and let herself in the enclosure. Chet twitched and Taber looked at her.

“Get out of here, Lainey.”

“No.”

“They’re waking up.”

“I know.”

“I don’t want you to get injured.”

“I won’t.”

He rose, turning his back on the cats. “How do you know?”

“You’ll protect me.”

Taber wasn’t sure what to make of her statement. Was he reading more into it than she meant? Of course he’d protect her. These past few days had been hell for him. He didn’t know what to do—how to fix it. Any time he’d tried to say anything to Lainey she’d claimed something needed to be done and had ran—like the hounds of hell had been after her.

He’d even gone to Candace and asked her. All she had done was cluck at him disapprovingly and had said, “She hates being lied to, Taber. And following her, spying on her implies you don’t trust her.”

“Why?” he’d asked. Not talking about the trusting, but why did she feel this way? What happened to make it so? And how did he fix it?

“It’s not my place to tell you what happened in her past, Taber. You need to ask her. And I do mean
ask
her.”

Hard as hell to ask a woman anything if she treated you like the plague. He’d watched her night after night and day after day as she had sweated beside the men trying to get the enclosure ready for the arrival of Chet and Allie. So when he’d seen the disappointment on her face at the realisation it wouldn’t be finished, he’d fixed it for her.

When his employees had asked him, he’d lied and said Talios and Candace had helped him through the night. All of it had been worth seeing the absolute joy on her face when she’d viewed it.

Now, she stood in there with him and two cats that were waking up from being drugged. She wasn’t scared. If anything she looked excited. Wondrous. That was a look he wanted to keep on her face, forever. Shelter her from the things that would want to hurt her and share joy with her at the things she did. Until Lainey, he’d never truly lived. Sure there had been women, but he was old and had been around for a while—he was no monk.

“This is a bad idea,” he said.

“Why is that? I’ve seen you shift, I’ve seen you do a lot of things. Why is keeping me safe from them a bad idea, if the need arises?”

He snorted and shook his head. “You don’t like my powers. I thought you said you wanted me to find a woman who would be impressed by them.”

“Go find her then. I’m not stopping you. But I’m not leaving until they wake and I know they’re okay.”

“Damn you and your stubbornness.” He didn’t get a response and he sighed. Looking at her, he paused at the rapt focus on her face as she stared beyond him.

“Oh, Taber, look.”

He spun around and watched as Chet lurched to his feet. The liger shook his head a few times and chuffed. When he saw Allie lying a few steps away, he lumbered over to her and nosed her. When Lainey moved up beside Taber and rested her hand upon his arm, all of his senses went haywire.

When Chet looked in their direction he sent soothing thoughts to the cat, who lay down protectively beside Allie. Lainey’s fingers tightened on his arm and he felt it straight through to his cock.

He had no idea what he would have to do to keep her but he swore he would do just that. Her touch revitalised a part of him that had died the day she had pushed him away.

“Come on, girl, you can do it,” Lainey whispered soft encouragement and he again put his attention on the cats.

Never before had he been so distracted with the new arrivals. Allie stirred. It took her a bit more to get up but she eventually managed to do so and with Chet beside her they headed off to explore their new surroundings.

Taber knew the moment Lainey realised they were all alone. She dropped her hand immediately and tried to step away from him. He grabbed her hand, refusing to let her go.

“We talk now, Lainey. Now.”

“I’m tired, Taber. It’s been a long day.”

“What I have to say won’t take long. You can hear me out.”

She stiffened at the finality in his order. “Get on with it then.”

“I don’t know what you want from me,” he said.

“I never wanted anything from you except honesty, Taber.”

“Is this still about me not telling you I was a god?”

“That’s part of it, yes. But then adding on the spying and the pure arrogance that it wouldn’t matter. That is the rest of it.”

He mulled over her words for a moment before kissing her. She held herself rigid in his arms for a few seconds then with a moan of surrender melted into him. He swept his tongue deep into her mouth, touching, tasting and indulging in her unique flavour.

I’ll fight to keep you, Lainey. The other half of my soul and now that I’ve found you, I’m not giving you up.

He almost shared that thought with her but kept it to himself at the last moment. She was already jumpy—that may send her into full flight mode. He knew of her thoughts about leaving and dismissed them. He wouldn’t let that happen. Things didn’t seem so bad now that she was in his arms, but he knew that feeling would vanish once the kiss ended.

Another reason not to let it end. He held her tighter, allowing his hands to roam over her, memorising the shape, her curves—all he could. Eventually he ended the kiss and brushed her hair back as he stared down into her eyes.

“Okay, Lainey Mercer. You and I are going to talk about this a bit more.”

“I’m tired, Taber.”

“You’ll be more tired after. We’re not just going to keep going this way, ignoring what is between us. I owe you an explanation for what I did and you, I want
you
to tell me why everything I do makes you assume the worst of me. Who hurt you Lainey? So bad to keep you from being able to trust?”

She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms. “Tell me something first.”

“Okay.” Anything to keep her talking and willing to stay with him. He had to get her to see and understand what he’d done was out of…wait, love? Out of love for her?

“Candace told me that you didn’t like Sekhmet because of what she did to your brother. How all she thought about was herself.”

He nodded. “True. But I fail to see how that matters at this moment.”

“What you did, Taber, was all about you. We were supposed to be in a relationship and yet your actions were to benefit you. No concern for how I may take them. You were jealous that I would possibly go out with anyone else and followed, then thought about threatening his job. Never once considering that Sean and I were nothing more than friends. It was all about you.
All about.
So tell me this, Taber Ellis or Khonsu. How is that, any different than Sekhmet and what she did to your brother? Because from where I’m standing, selfishness is selfishness, no matter what your reasoning.”

Chapter Seven

Taber stiffened at her words. Realisation dawned that what she said was absolutely true. He had been doing the same thing he had accused Sekhmet of doing for so long to Talios. Since the visit from Sekhmet and the others months ago, he’d come to accept that he’d never understand what Talios had experienced and had agreed to let his animosity for Sekhmet go. Taber stared at Lainey, regret that his actions had caused her so much pain filling him. They had made him come across as selfish when that was so far from his intentions. He opened his mouth to reply but her next statement stilled what he was about to say.