Tempting the Tiger (20 page)

“What kind of trouble?” Tah asked, shifting Abby over to sit beside him and leaning forward.

“Keeps going off. Finn and Murphy are out checking it. There’s nothing there. We might just have a bad sensor.”

“I’ll take a look,” Reno offered then snapped his mouth shut as he turned to look at Amia. “No, I won’t. I won’t leave you again.”

She could feel how conflicted he was, and she knew she had to do something. If not, he would always feel torn between his duty to his pride and his duty to her. Only she had the power to change that for him. Tah had tried to ease her mind with his apology and acceptance. Now it was up to her.

“You should go,” she told him.

“You’re going with me,” he said, a statement that made her laugh.

“I’m tired. I think I’ll stay here.”

“I’ll stay with her,” Abby offered. “Show her around. Have some girl chat.”

Amia wasn’t sure she knew how to have a girl chat, but she appreciated Abby’s attempt of support.

He looked deeply into her eyes, as if he were searching for what she wasn’t saying. “Are you sure? I promised I’d never leave you again.”

She cradled his face in her hands. “You’re not leaving me. You’re working to protect us all. I can’t ask for anything less than that.”

He pressed his lips to hers, and she felt so much in his kiss. She felt the tension leave him as if it had been a third person sharing the chair with them. She was doing the right thing. She had to trust, had to believe. In him and his family. If she really wanted to belong, then she had to start accepting them.

“Be sure, Amia. I don’t want to leave you if you don’t feel safe here.”

“I can share you,” she whispered. “But just for a little bit.”

He used that soul-searching look of his on her again before slowly nodding his head. “I love you,” he said, and she knew he’d purposely spoken loud enough for everyone in the room to hear him. He wanted them all to know and understand what she meant to him. No more confusion.

“I love you,” she replied, and once again, she felt that jolt to her heart. The words were still new, unique and special, and only for Reno.

He came to his feet, lifting her with him and setting her on her feet with another kiss. “Take it easy then. Rest while I’m gone.” He turned to Tah and Abby. “I want to know immediately if she needs me.”

“I’m going too,” Tah said, rising and coming up to stand beside them.

“Let’s go then,” Logan said and pushed back to his feet.

“Why don’t you stay here?” Tah said. “You’ve been going without much of a break for too long now. You’re exhausted. Get some rest.”

“I’ve gone without sleep before,” Logan stated, and Amia saw his eyes harden.

“He’s trying to subtly get you to stay here and watch over me without me knowing that’s what he’s doing,” Abby said with a glare at her mate.

“Fine,” Tah said with a nod. “Logan, I’d like you to keep an eye on my mate. She had a rough night again. I want to check on this, but I don’t want to leave her with just Amia. No offense, Amia, but you don’t know where things are. You’d have no idea how to get Diane if you needed to.”

“You’re right,” Amia agreed. “And none taken.”

Abby stood up and crossed to Tah, putting her arm around his waist and leaning into him. “I’ll be fine, but if it makes you feel better, Logan can get stuck babysitting.”

“It’s not babysitting,” Logan and Tah said at the same time, making Abby snort out a laugh.

Amia wondered if the men were really clueless to what Abby was doing. She doubted Tah was, but Logan looked tired enough that he might.

“I’ll be back soon,” Tah said and leaned down to kiss Abby.

Amia could feel the warmth of their love wash through the whole room. Reno squeezed her hand, his eyes searching again.

“Go,” she urged him.

Finally, he turned to follow as Tah left the room.

Abby stretched then rubbed her belly. “I was going to take Amia down to meet Diane and the Professor.”

“Shit,” Logan muttered.

“You don’t have to go with us, Logan,” Abby said with a laugh. “I think we’ll be okay if you want to just hang out in the front room and keep an eye on things.”

“No offense, Abs, but I could do without a visit to Nurse Ratchet and the Vampire King.”

“Amia and I will be okay,” Abby assured him. “Why don’t you go see if you can help Vic out? She’d probably appreciate the company.”

“Just for a bit,” Logan said. “Since you’re going to be in the labs. You call me as soon as you two head back up.”

“I will.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, Logan. I’ll have Diane call the control room before I leave.”

He nodded his head, then Abby took Amia’s hand and began leading her out of the room. Amia opened her mouth to say something, but Abby shook her head and urged her farther along the hall. When she pushed a door open and stairs appeared going down, Amia stopped, fear surging through her and almost giving her vertigo. Not again.

“What’s wrong?” Abby asked, turning to face her. “Amia? Are you okay?”

“Where are we going?” Amia managed to whisper her question.

“The lab, to meet Diane and the Professor, and… Oh, Amia. I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think. The stairs. Those rooms are on the other side of the house. The staircase you went down earlier is the only way to reach them. These lead straight to the lab. I swear to you. And I realize you have no reason to believe me. But I’d never hurt you. Never, Amia. Reno means the world to me. He’s not just my mate’s best friend. He’s family. I owe him more than I can ever repay in this lifetime.”

“Why do you owe him?”

Abby took her hand and wrapped her fingers around it. “I’ll tell you all about it. You have an amazing man for a mate.” She tugged Amia after her as they slowly went down the stairs. Abby talked the whole way, sharing the story of how she and Tah had met and how Reno had become involved.

“So you’ve followed this legend of the
Paka Watu,
and that led you to Tah?”

“Yes,” Abby said, pushing another door open. There was a large corridor and glass partitions Amia could see through.

“And you woke the animal inside him?”

“We think so,” Abby answered as they walked down the corridor.

Amia could see a woman moving around, going between two different computers, her blonde hair pulled up in a loose bun on her head.

“For everything we know, there’s just so much we don’t. The Legend of the
Paka Watu
exists in some shape or form in so many cultures. I’m still discovering new versions of it. And each has variances that differ from the others.”

“It would make sense, probably adapted to the different cultures,” Amia said.

Abby nodded. “Exactly. So for every possible answer, about a dozen more questions pop up.”

“For what it’s worth, I’ve never heard of the
Paka Watu
, or of any legend concerning people who shift.”

“But you said you didn’t know much about being a hunter, that you were never trained.”

“No, but I did hear the stories they shared. I’ve never heard of this legend.”

“Which could mean something or mean absolutely nothing. I’d love to hear them, though. Maybe they would give us yet another look at all this. And probably lead to more questions,” Abby said with a sigh. “See what I mean?”

Amia nodded just as they entered the room the blonde was in.

She looked up and immediately crossed to them. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“I’m fine, Diane. I just wanted to bring Amia down to meet you.”

“Reno’s mate.” The blonde looked her over curiously.

Amia nodded her head, wondering how this woman knew that.

Diane smiled. “Tah called me when you passed out. He was worried. Reno told me he had things under control so I stayed here.” Diane’s gaze sharpened, and Amia felt like a specimen for a moment. “You woke his beast.”

Statement, not a question, but Amia felt the urge to say something anyway. “It seems.”

“Reno and I spent a lot of time together trying to figure out why he could feel something, but it wasn’t doing anything. I’ll be interested to see if there’s any change in his blood work now.” She turned and grabbed a pair of gloves, pulling them on as she kept talking. “I’ll want samples from you too. I’m guessing you’ve already had sex. Anything unusual there? Has he bitten you?”

“Are you in love with my mate?” Amia needed to deal with that thought first.

Reno and Diane had apparently spent a lot of time together, and the woman was obviously concerned about him.

“I think we all love Reno,” Diane said. “But no, I’m not in love with him. You’ve got an incredible man for a mate. I hope you appreciate him.” She turned with a kit in her hand. “Have a seat on the table for me, Amia. I’m Diane by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Are you Nurse Ratchet or the Vampire King?” Amia asked as she held her arm out for Diane to prep for the blood samples she wanted.

Diane growled. “Logan.”

Abby laughed. “She’s Nurse Ratchet.”

“As if it were my fault he didn’t heal as fast as you or Tah,” Diane muttered as she worked. “He’s damn lucky he didn’t get himself killed.”

“What happened?” Amia asked.

“We were attacked,” Abby said softly. “A man from my past. We believe he was working with hunters, working for hunters. They planned to kill Tah.”

“And take you,” Diane said as she filled a third vial with blood. “Thankfully, they were all stopped. Tah and Logan were shot, and Abby was injured. We were lucky, very lucky.”

“Killed?” Amia questioned. “By stopped you mean you killed them?”

“Yes,” Diane said with fire in her eyes. “I only wish I’d been more actively involved instead of down here working.”

“We need you,” Abby said. “You have to stay safe. You’re the only doctor we have.”

Diane snorted. “Some doctor I am. I can’t even figure out what’s going on half the time. You’re ten weeks pregnant, and I’m clueless on what to expect.”

“Ten weeks?” Amia took in the swell of Abby’s belly. “I would have guessed you were much further along than that. At least five months or so.”

“The baby is growing faster than a normal human pregnancy. She’s mirroring the gestational period of a lioness in a lot of ways. So at ten weeks, the baby appears to have reached the development of a five-month-old fetus. If she stays on this track, we might anticipate delivery around sixteen weeks.”

“Holy shit!” Amia said with eyes wide.

“The only problem with that is we really have no clue. Not to mention the toll this is taking on Abby.”

“I’m fine,” Abby said.

“No, you aren’t,” Diane said. “You might think you can fool everyone, but I know better. You’re body is changing too fast. I’m amazed you’re still up on your feet.”

“I’m going to be fine, and so is little Tah,” Abby stated, her arms covering her belly as her chin lifted, daring them to challenge her.

“I plan to make sure of that,” Diane agreed.

“Is there only one baby in there?” Amia asked. “I mean, don’t lions or cats in general usually have liters?” she added as both Diane and Abby looked at her.

“And that’s an even more terrifying thought,” Diane said with a shudder.

Abby laughed. “Just one. We’ve taken enough sonograms to know that for sure.”

“Well, that’s good,” Amia offered.

“You have no idea,” Abby said. “Yet.”

“What does that mean?”

“When was your last period?” Diane asked her.

“Ummmm, I don’t remember exactly. I’ve never had a regular cycle. Why?” Amia wasn’t exactly comfortable talking about such things with a woman she’d just met.

“Because chances are you might be the next one expecting now that you’re mated. Tah’s sperm is almost ten times more potent than a normal man’s. I’m betting Reno’s will be the same now that he’s mated.”

“Now? You’ve been checking his sperm?” The thought pissed Amia off, which almost made her want to laugh. She was the possessive one now. Of sperm. But, damn it! His sperm was hers and no one else’s.

Diane shook her head, and a smile briefly touched her lips. “Not the way you’re thinking. We checked Tah’s because there were some biological changes to both him and Abby. So we checked semen, blood and saliva. Reno came to me and asked me to check on him. He’s had some biological changes since he was shot and almost died. We think his animal first awoke then. Reno had me run his tests against Tah’s. But now with you…” Diane shrugged as her words trailed off. “I’m betting there will be big changes.”

“So you think when I ovulate, he’ll get me pregnant?” Amia felt a ripple of wonder go through her. Just the thought of carrying Reno’s child filled her with an intense longing. And scared her. Especially with the knowledge of how uncertain they were with Abby’s pregnancy, and how fast it was evolving.

Diane nodded. “Chances are good he will. Have you been using protection?”

“I… What? No,” Amia answered with a shake of her head.

“I didn’t think so,” Diane said and began moving around the room again.

“Tah and I never used condoms, either,” Abby said.

As if Diane sensed Amia’s unspoken question, she offered further insight. “I’m not sure if it’s the sensation of having something between them and their mate, or just the possessive nature of the beast. I only have what Abby’s told me about Tah to go on. And for them, it was a little of both, I think.”

“I…” Amia felt as if she couldn’t catch her breath.

“It’s okay,” Abby assured her, stepping up to the table and patting her knee. “It’s a lot to take in.”

Diane pushed a cart with a machine on it toward them. “I should be able to get a good estimate of how close you are to ovulation by looking at your ovaries. That is, if you want me to check?”

“Is there a way to prevent pregnancy?” Amia asked. “I mean would wearing a condom work? Birth control pills?”

“I don’t know,” Diane admitted.

“I was pregnant by the time I met Diane, “Abby said. “But condoms were a no-go for Tah and me. I’m pretty sure he would have shredded through them. I’m not sure what you’ve experienced, but Tah’s…penis…was different when I was ovulating. And I’m terrifying you again. Shoot! I’m sorry, Amia.”

Amia swallowed. Reno was well-endowed, but she was pretty sure he wouldn’t shred anything.