Squeezing Remi’s biceps, Tiger placed light kisses along his neck and jaw, working his way up till he pulled Remi’s ear lobe into his mouth and sucked on it gently.
Remi jerked and choked back a cry. “Holy crap!” he gasped.
“So sexy” Tiger breathed into Remi’s ear. “Oh! Fuck! Remi, I’m close!” Tiger groaned. “Just a little….”
“Come for me, Tigger.” Remi gasped and reached over to pinch Tiger’s left nipple hard. Tiger cried out and shot his load, triggering Remi’s orgasm. Twisting his fingers in the hair at the back of Remi’s head, he pulled him close for a sloppy kiss while Remi continued to stroke them slowly through the last waves of their orgasm.
“That was… incredible,” Remi panted. “Are you okay? I’ve wanted to do this since seeing you in that tub. So sexy!” ‘The view of TJ was hot too, but I could never admit that.’
“And what about naked TJ?” Tiger teased.
Remi shrugged. “Eh, he’s not really my type.”
“So, it isn’t just lust for you? Are you disappointed we didn’t go further?”
“No. It’s like a part of me was empty; like I had a hole in my chest that suddenly filled in when I saw you for the first time. Like a light clicked on and I could see clearly for the first time. I just wanted to scoop you up and carry you off. And no, I’m not disappointed. I told you I’d wait for you.”
Remi wrapped his arms around Tiger’s waist and pulled him close, placing soft kisses up and down his neck and shoulders.
Tiger ran his fingers through Remi’s hair, scratching his nails gently against his scalp and tugging at the strands when Remi nuzzled into his neck just below his jaw. Panting and moaning softly, Tiger whispered “I never… I wish….”
He couldn’t seem to organize his thoughts enough to speak coherently. Remi had moved down and was sucking on his left nipple. He glanced up at Tiger and chuckled, blowing on the damp skin. Tiger shuddered.
When they finally came up for air Remi looked Tiger in the eyes to see if he was still okay with what they’d done. The silver in his eyes almost seemed to have a faint shimmer. He still felt like it was all surreal. He hadn’t ever thought he’d have a chance with Tiger and then they’d done that.
He felt bad about not coming clean with Tiger about his knowledge of the rapes and the file, but he knew Tiger would have distanced himself if he thought anyone else knew about it. He’d made sure to stay away from any acts that he thought might trigger Tiger’s assault anxiety. They’d need to broach the subject at some point, when his relationship with Tiger was more solid.
He had no doubt now that Jake knew about the rape in the alley and he would need to get that into the official statement, but he couldn’t raise the issue with Jake yet.
Tiger was showing no signs of regret, although he looked a little dazed and surprised at the mess they’d made. He’d never come during sex before, since the act had always been while he was being tortured. Never actually had a pleasant sexual experience. “Wow, that’s a lot of….”
He choked when Remi scooped up a finger full of cum from his own stomach and stuck it in his mouth. “Mmm, tastes like honey” he said, smirking.
When Tiger could finally form words he muttered, “That’s disgusting. We’d better get this cleaned up before we end up glued to the furniture and I don’t want Jake to see us like this.”
Remi chuckled. He got up and grabbed a couple of towels to clean them up, then they both got dressed. He used the garden hose to clean up the lounge chair. “Um… you want to keep this… us… private for now?” he asked Tiger. “I mean, I’m okay either way. I just don’t know how you want to approach it.”
Tiger frowned. “For now, maybe it’s best if we say nothing. It’s all kind of unexpected and there’s a lot to consider going forward. We don’t even know how this is going to work out. ‘Or if I’ll even still be around.’ TJ will probably go ballistic when he finds out… holy shit! You didn’t leave any marks, did you? TJ will kill you!”
“No.” Remi laughed at his sudden panic. “I was very careful not to mark you, though I was tempted to bite you,” he growled.
Tiger grimaced. “Let’s get some sleep, caveman. We can revisit this later with clearer minds.”
They headed into the house. Chris, who had observed the entire incident from his perch in the tree, had jacked off while watching them. The scene had been so hot he nearly came in his pants before he unzipped to relieve his aching cock. He dropped out of the tree and hot-footed it back to his car.
Now he knew Sweet Cheeks’ name was Tiger. He’d heard the other guy call him that. Tiger was his, damn it, and he wasn’t going to let someone else horn in on his territory. Maybe it would be safe to hang around for another day or two.
He was already trying to figure out a way to capture Tiger and take him along when he left Aurora for good. His brother had his own mercenary group. Maybe he could hookup with them. They were a little on the shady side, so they probably wouldn’t mind taking Tiger along, but he’d probably have to share him to be accepted.
He vacillated between wanting Tiger dead and wanting him to pay for all the trouble he’d brought into his life just because he’d tortured and humiliated a Ranger. Chris had always been off, even as a kid. It had gotten worse over the years, ramping up from animal abuse and petty crimes to sexual deviancy and assaults. He was well on his way to committing murder.
Something about Tiger had gotten under his skin. It was like an addiction and he craved him, the feel of his cock sliding into Tiger’s moist heat, hearing him cry out as he marked him and fucked him senseless. Just thinking about it had him hard again.
He made it back to his apartment and let himself in after he made sure no one had followed him, not bothering to turn on any lights. Kicking his shoes off, he pulled his handgun out and set it on the bedside table within easy reach from the bed, then threw himself on his bed angrily.
Opening his pants, he pulled them down just far enough to clear his cock and balls. He started jacking off again and finger-fucking his hole with his other hand while he muttered a litany of all the perverted things he would do to Tiger once he had him captive again. Finally, he had the most intense orgasm of his life, shouting Tiger’s name as he came.
He tucked himself back into his pants, not even bothering to clean himself up, then pulled the comforter over himself and rolled over, falling asleep almost instantly.
When Chris woke up it was still dark out. He had to piss, so he crawled out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom with his eyes barely open. After taking care of business, he headed back toward his bed when he realized there was someone else in the room.
Diving for the handgun on his bedside table, he didn’t reach it before his head was abruptly sliced cleanly from his body. His body dropped into a rapidly spreading pool of blood, while his head bounced across the floor to stop against the bedside table.
Opening the apartment door, a slender male with long platinum hair and violet eyes paused to wipe the blood off his dragon sword on the nearby window curtain. Sheathing the blade, he looked back at Chris’ body with a disgusted expression. “Vile snake. This is a better fate than you deserved. I would have preferred to take my time with you, but I haven’t the time to waste.”
He canted his head, studying the body briefly, then returned to it drawing his dagger. He worked quickly, an evil smile on his face. Satisfied, he wiped his blade on the bedspread and stood.
“Such is the fate of any dog that dares to defile Fae kindred,” he muttered. “Should have quit while you were ‘a head’.” He stepped out chuckling at his own joke and left, leaving the door slightly ajar.
Chapter 13
Remi was preparing breakfast the next morning when Jake and Midnight came bouncing down the stairs.
“Jake, now that Tiger’s doing better, we need to think about getting you back into classes. I know you’re keeping up with your lessons at home, but you should be interacting with your friends. I don’t w
ant you to be even more isolated than you already have been.”
“But Midnight’s still a baby! Who’ll take care of him while I’m at school?”
“He doesn’t need constant supervision… unlike you,” Remi replied. He’ll be fine till you get home after school. Maybe that’ll be an incentive for you to come straight home and not dawdle in Sandy’s neighborhood. After that attack I especially don’t want you hanging around in the RDL, not that you should have been there in the first place. Why don’t you invite your friend over to meet Midnight? Just don’t pester Tiger, okay?”
“What about Tiger? Won’t he need someone to help him out till Doc Stafford says he’s okay?” Jake pressed the issue, still looking for an excuse to stay home.
“Not that I agree with him, but he says he’s not going to take the pain pills anymore. He can handle the antibiotics now that he’s more alert. He’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t do anything to aggravate his back. I can’t believe how fast he seems to be recovering from his injuries. I thought he’d be laid up for at least a month.”
“I’ll give you one more week, okay? Then it’s back to school, brat. I need to arrange an escort for you anyway until we catch Chris.” Remi sighed inwardly. Not that he didn’t want Tiger to heal but he just needed time to convince Tiger to move in with him and Jake. It wasn’t mandatory for Tiger to live in the barracks as long as he lived close to the fort. He was worried that it would be easier for Tiger to forget about them once he went back to work and got another assignment in the field.
Sitting down at the breakfast bar with Jake, Remi looked down at his hands, idly fidgeting with a dishrag. He cleared his throat and started to speak but his voice broke. Starting again he said “Jake, I need to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me.”
Jake glanced up from his food and saw the serious expression on Remi’s face. “Sure, Remi. I’ve never lied to you. You said lying is dishonorable. Is something wrong?”
“Look me in the eyes Jake and tell me….” His voice broke again, and he could feel tears threatening to fall. He blinked them away and cleared his throat again. “Was Tiger raped in that alley?”
Jake’s fork clattered to the floor and he looked down at his plate, refusing to make eye contact with Remi.
“Jake? Answer me, please.”
“You don’t need to answer Jake.” Tiger stood in the doorway. “Yes, Remi, I was raped. By Chris. Don’t blame Jake for not saying anything. I told him not to.”
Jake jumped out of his chair and ran upstairs, slamming his bedroom door closed.
Remi stared at Tiger. Tiger’s face was a blank when he said, “but I won’t add that to my statement or testify to it in court.”
“Why?” His face twisted in anger. He understood and he was angry at the assholes who had hurt Tiger. “Is it because you’re afraid of the other rape becoming public knowledge? That has no relevance to this case. Or are you just too embarrassed to admit in court that Chris raped you… a man?” As soon as the words left his mouth, Remi knew he’d fucked up big time.
Tiger flinched. “No one outside of that hearing is supposed to know about it. Did you dig into my past records? Does TJ know?” The fingers of his sword hand twitched.
Remi gave him a guilty look but didn’t respond.
Tiger turned and walked back to his room, quietly closing the door behind him.
Remi shoved his fingers through his hair. “Fuck!” he gritted. Going to Tiger’s room, he knocked on the door but there was no reply. He tried to open it but found it was locked. “Tiger, please, we need to talk. Open the door, sweetheart.” He leaned his head against the door. “Please, Tiger.”
Still getting no response, he climbed the stairs to check on Jake. He knocked on Jake’s door. “Go away Remi,” he cried.
“I’m coming in Jake.” Opening the door, he found Jake sitting on his bed against the headboard, knees drawn up with his face buried in his arms. His body was shaking, and Remi realized he was crying. Remi went to Jake and sat down on the bed next to him. He didn’t say anything, just pulled Jake into his arms and let him cry for a while.
Finally, Jake quieted and spoke. “I didn’t lie. I didn’t say anything about it because I promised Tiger I wouldn’t. That guy Chris is crazy. After he beat Tiger, he… he did that to Tiger and said disgusting things to him. He said he was going to take Tiger back with him and chain him to the floor and… and do it again and again.”
“When they ran away, they left him tied up on the fence with his pants down. Before I cut him loose with Dragon Slayer, he… he asked me to pull his pants up first. He said he didn’t want anyone to see him like that. Tiger saved me. Those guys were going to do the same thing to me Remi!” He cried out, tears running down his cheeks again. “I owed him that. To keep his secret. I’m not sorry and I’d do it again. Please don’t be mad at Tiger!”
“Shh, it’s alright Jake.” Remi stroked his hair and hugged him tight. “I’m not mad at either of you. I just needed the truth so I can make sure Chris never hurts anyone else. If you witnessed the… you know, maybe we won’t need Tiger to testify but it’ll still be in the court record. There’s no way to prosecute Chris for what he did unless we have witness testimony.” He was quiet for a bit while he just held Jake.
“Wait a minute! Did you tell the doctor that Tiger was raped? He never showed me the medical report.”
“Yeah, I had to make sure they checked Tiger for STD’s. Doctor Stafford said he wouldn’t tell anyone ‘cause of patient confident… confident…”
“Confidentiality,” Remi finished.
“If Stafford was aware and checking for STD’s, he may have collected DNA. That might be enough proof for the court to convict Chris without Tiger having to testify.”
“Look, Tiger’s pretty upset with me right now. I need to go see if I can get him to talk to me. I brought up something that I wasn’t supposed to know about, and I owe him an explanation.”
“You didn’t get to eat. Are you hungry? Midnight’s probably downstairs helping himself to your breakfast.” He ruffled Jake’s hair and stood up.
“I’m okay. I’m not hungry. I’m going to stay up here for a while. Leave the door open. He’ll come back up when he finishes,” Jake replied, laying down with his back to the door. Just as Remi turned to go, a black ball of fur streaked by and jumped up on the bed. Bouncing over Jake, Midnight settled against Jake’s belly and proceeded to groom himself. Remi shook his head and closed the door, heading downstairs to try to get Tiger to open up to him.
When he got downstairs, someone was knocking insistently on the door. “Now what?” he groused. When he opened the door, an agitated TJ stepped in. “Grab your coat. We’ve got a lead on some of those fuckers. Let’s go!”
“I can’t leave yet. Tiger’s upset with me. I need to talk to him first” Remi huffed.
“Talk to him later. This can’t wait! Come on, get a move on!”
Remi looked down the hall toward Tiger’s room as TJ grabbed his coat and his arm, hustling him out the door.
*****
While Remi was upstairs with Jake, Tiger had been packing the few things he’d left out of his duffle. It didn’t take long. He didn’t know how long it would be before Remi left for work, but he’d need to wait a bit to be sure Remi wouldn’t try to interfere with him leaving. Not that he could, but Tiger didn’t want to be forced to injure him.
He’d heard Remi’s conversation with Jake. If his disgust and anger with Tiger wasn’t bad enough, the fact that he wanted to be sure all of Tiger’s humiliation was made public was enough to tell Tiger it was time to leave. Time to do the one thing that his attachment to Remi and Jake had been preventing him from doing.
Tick, tick, tick.
He called Tyree, one of his UCAR teammates, and arranged for him to pick him up and drop him off at a shuttle port. He’d already researched where one Doctor Lucius McNair was currently located. The data he’d pulled up had a bio and a photo, so he’d easily be
able to identify McNair when he found him.
McNair was 39 years old, five foot ten, average build, one hundred eighty pounds, shaggy red hair, emerald green eyes, spectacles, Earther (Irish / Scottish descent), a brilliant, nerdy grant researcher for throwback disease. He was working in the far northern mountainous region near a village of Corvan natives, interacting with some of the native traders who regularly dealt with humans, documenting their culture and specifically researching female mating venom. If he couldn’t help Tiger, he didn’t know who else could.
The closest port for drop off was Dominion, so Tiger would have a three-day hike from there to get to McNair’s research facility. He could buy a new pack and supplies in Dominion; storing his duffle and the stuff he didn’t need to take with him in a lockup. His standalone GPS would get him to the facility, and it was untraceable, unlike his Cortex, but he had to hope McNair would be there and not out wandering the mountains.
It was a lucky break that TJ showed up so soon and dragged Remi away. Tiger didn’t know what new illegal shit they were up to but at least they’d be out of his hair for a while. Jake was still upstairs, so Tiger hiked his duffle bag up on his shoulder and picked up Dragon Slayer, leaving his Cortex in the bedside drawer to prevent anyone from tracking or calling him.
He couldn’t leave a note. What would he say anyway? Tyree would be waiting at the end of the block by now, out of sight of the house. Tiger left quietly, setting the security alarm on his way out, and headed down the street.
*****
“Are you going to tell me what was so important that you had to drag me out of the house before I could even put my coat on? Jake’s going to think I was kidnapped. In fact, I’m not sure I haven’t been.” Remi glared at TJ.
“I told you, we got a tip about an abandoned warehouse where those two gang bangers that were wounded, are supposedly holed up. Someone in the area saw a bunch of rough looking guys go in there the day of the attack. They said two of them looked like they were pretty badly injured. A few days later, they all came out and piled in their cars with a bunch of bags and stuff, like they were moving out, but the two that were hurt weren’t with them,” TJ explained.
Tiger Page 12
