* * * * *
Valiant groaned. His head throbbed and he couldn’t remember why. His eyes opened to stare at the carpet.
He lay sprawled on his side. He blinked before someone shoved a big plastic bag of ice in front of his face. It hovered there. He inhaled and softly growled. It made his head hurt worse.
Tiger crouched down, still holding out the bag of ice.
“Put that on the back of your head.” He spoke softly.
Valiant grabbed it. His hand trembled a little and he found the spot where it hurt the most. He winced and snarled as the bag made contact. His attention fixed on Tiger.
“A re you all right?”
“What happened?”
Tiger took a deep breath. “It will come to you. Just stay down when it does.”
The ice helped reduce the haze of pain and he took a deep breath, allowing the scents inside the room to fill his nose. Tammy! He tried to sit up but the room spun.
He groaned again, sank back to the floor and bared his teeth at Tiger.
“Which one of your men crept up on me?”
“Tammy did it. She hit you with a lamp.” Tiger stood and backed away, putting a safe distance between them.
“She’s safe and off Reservation.”
Rage surged through Valiant and he snarled. “Bring her back. She’s mine.”
In response, the other Species leaned against the wall, crossed his arms over his chest, and sighed. “She hit you to get away, asked to be taken home, but refused to press charges. You’re lucky, man. She could have had to press charges. You’re lucky, man. She could have had you locked inside a tiny damn cell and Justice would have had to decide if you needed to be put down for good. If you’re too dangerous to live— Fuck, don’t get me started.
That’s a nightmare concept we never want to have to face.”
The pain receded more and Valiant sat up without the room spinning. He glared at Tiger. “She’s mine.”
“I got that.” He sniffed the air. “You had her all right.” His gaze flickered to the bed and back. “But you can’t keep her. She’s human. You wouldn’t even pull that stunt on our women. You know you can’t just claim them and force them to live with you.”
“She’s little. I could easily keep her here and change her mind about leaving. I planned to feed her and care for her.”
“She mentioned you seemed to think she was a pet. I thought she had read the situation wrong. Humans tend to see us in a messed-up light but after hearing you talk, she was dead on. She’s not a pet.”
“I know this.” Valiant frowned, worried that he might have given her the wrong impression. Regret gripped him. “Is that why she left? Why she hit me? I’ll tell her she’s my mate, not my pet.”
“She’s not yours, man.” Tiger pushed away from the wall. “She wanted to leave. Deal with it. You and I, we’re not for humans. We talked about this, remember? They are too fragile, they scare too easily, and you wanted a Species mate. A feline one.”
“Not anymore. I want Tammy.”
“Too bad. You can’t have her. You talk about our kind growing soft and how you hate it. You’re the one who sounds soft right now. Toughen up and face facts. A human would never get past how we are. A t least not for guys like us. We’re too in tune with our animal sides. I just look more human than you do.”
Sadness was an emotion Valiant loathed but it filtered through him all the same. “She’s not coming back to me, is she?”
“No,” Tiger’s gaze softened, “she’s not.”
“Leave.”
“I’d rather stay a while to make sure you recover fully. I’ll make us dinner. We’ll have some sodas and talk.
I heard a few felines you haven’t met yet are being transferred here. Maybe one of them will be the one for you.”
Images of Tammy flashed through Valiant’s mind.
“Leave me. I need to be alone.”
“The new felines arrive tomorrow. I’ll pick you up and take you to the hotel for you to sniff them out.”
Valiant struggled to his feet and his gaze drifted to the bed where Tammy had been. Her scent still remained strong inside the room. He moved toward it and tossed the bag of ice away. He’d rather feel the pain than return to the numbing state in which he’d existed before he’d felt all those wonderful things with Tammy. He crawled onto the bed and lay where she had been, inhaling her scent.
“Valiant? I’ll pick you up at two o’clock.”
“Don’t bother. Just go. Lock the door when you leave. I don’t want to meet any felines.”
He breathed in Tammy’s scent, wanted to memorize it before it faded, and listened to his friend go away. His eyes closed as his hand gently brushed the comforter. He couldn’t remember the last time tears had wet his eyes but they did at that moment. He’d lost her and she would never return. He’d known peace with her. Happiness.
Hope. A nd now it was gone. She was…lost to him forever.
Chapter Four
Why can’t I just forget Valiant? Tammy felt totally disgusted with her lack of control over her thoughts as she lined up the pool cue and the white ball. She glanced at the red ball and the pocket. Loud music played in the background. Someone had been in a mood for old-time rock. A sigh sounded near her.
“Take the shot already, Tam. You know you’re going to kick my ass anyway.”
She turned her head to grin at her longtime best friend Tim. The two of them had known each other since grade school and they were really close. He’d wanted more than friendship during high school but Tammy hadn’t returned his romantic feelings. Now years later they’d settled into a comfortable but strictly platonic friendship that both of them were happy with.
“I can’t help it if I’m better at this than you are.”
A smile twisted his lips. He appeared to be kind of awkward but he had a sweet smile and soft brown eyes.
Tim resembled the average computer geek because he was one. He wore a logo T-shirt and sweatpants and worked from home as a computer programmer who made game software. His glasses glinted from the bar lights.
“I can kick your ass at video games any day.”
“Yes, you can.” She took the shot and sank the red ball into the corner pocket. “That’s why I’m smarter than you are and the reason we’re at the bar instead of your house in front of a game system. I wanted to win.”
He scoffed. “You’re not smarter. I’m just a gentleman.”
She sank another ball. “Too bad you never bet money on our games.”
“I make good money but not that good.” He laughed.
“You’d wipe me out of my life savings within an hour with the way you play pool.”
Tammy winked at him. “You know I need a new roof.”
Tim’s smile faded as he stared at her. “You do? Why don’t you let me pay for it?”
Major goof. She’d made a slip. She should have known better but her mind still remained distracted by the memory of a pair of cat-eyes the color of melted gold attached to a body that still made hers heat up at the very recollection of Valiant. She’d thought about him a hundred times a day since they’d nearly five weeks before. She shook her head.
“I was kidding.”
Tim wasn’t buying it. “You were not. Is it leaking again? Come on, Tam. Let me help you. We’re friends.
Hell, we’re practically family. I know what you make and its shit. You couldn’t go to college the way I did. You had your grandma to take care of and I know you’re still paying off her debts. That house she left you is a death trap. Let me buy you a new roof. Do you need any other repairs? I have the money and it’s just sitting inside a bank account. It’s not as though I have a girlfriend to blow my money on.”