The Tiger King (Paladin Shifters Book 1)

by Patricia Logan

  “Oh, Takemoto is at the top of my list and I think he knows it,” Chino replied.

  “What makes you think he’s on to you?” Damiano stripped out of his slacks and pulled on jeans, fastening them before stooping to put his boots back on.

  “He offered to have me talk to some of the askari out here which I did but when I asked to speak to the men on perimeter guard duty from that side of the fence last night, he told me he’d have them brought to me. He wants to control who I speak to.”

  Damiano stood back up, reaching for his shoulder holster. “Yeah. That’s not suspicious. So, you got nothing out of the men you spoke to?”

  “Nothing. No one seemed to notice Nelson was missing.”

  “Great. Now what’s the plan?”

  “I’m gonna wait until dark and check the rest of the compound outside this building. My guess is that Nelson wasn’t held here. The chance of being found out is too high. There’s got to be some other building or structure where he was taken and restrained.”

  “Okay.” Damiano hesitated but only for a second. “Listen, you’re all alone out there. Please be careful. If someone here at the palace knows whatever is going on at Base Camp…”

  “It means that they already told someone on the ground here. Yeah, I get it. I’ll be careful. Now, tell me what the palace is like.”

  Damiano huffed. He knew he was going to have to tell Chino about Paget but it was the last thing he wanted to do.

  “I got a surprise the moment I arrived,” he finally said.

  “Seriously? What?”

  “I was greeted on the drive by my mate.” Damiano sighed, remembering the way the sun had glinted off Paget’s light golden locks turning them to spun gold.

  “What the fuck? Are you kiddin’ me?”

  Damiano cringed at the volume of Chino’s question but he’d known what his reaction would be. He sighed and blew out a long breath as he picked up the phone, taking it off speaker and sitting on the edge of his mattress where he dragged the fingers of his free hand through his short hair.

  “Do you think I would kid about a disaster like that?”

  Chino snorted through the line. “Disaster? Oh, shit. Your mate’s a woman, isn’t she? Oh, fuck, Satriale!”

  Damiano chuckled. “No. He’s a man.” He’s one hell of a man!

  “Oh, shit, that’s good.”

  “It ain’t good, Cortez! I don’t want a fucking mate. We’ve talked about this over and over.”

  “Don’t kiss him, then. It’s simple. Stay the fuck away from him.”

  Damiano sighed loudly. “Um, that ship has sailed, man.”

  “Oh fuck. You kissed him knowing that the mating hormones would be released, making the attraction that much harder to ignore? Dumbass!”

  “I couldn’t help it and yeah, I deserve that. I know I’m the stupidest idiot on the planet, but it’s like something took over my brain and drove me right into disaster with a capital D, man. I couldn’t stop myself. He’s just so… oh fuck… so…” Damiano felt his cock filling inside his jeans as he thought of Paget. Just the memory of stealing that fucking awesome kiss, unlike any other he’d ever had, made his dick rock hard.

  “Whoa, man. I’ve never heard that tone in your voice, Satriale. You’re gone on this guy.”

  Damiano had to agree. Chino was stating the obvious. “Look, even if I wanted to pursue him, it’s impossible. He’s the first subaltern at the palace.”

  “That figures. You outrank him which makes mating him impossible.” He sighed. “Man, only you could be this fucked, Satriale.” Chino chuckled.

  Damiano frowned deeply. “Stop laughing, you braying ass. The only thing that makes this even bearable is that he wants me even less than I want him. I think he’ll stay out of my way now that he knows what we are to each other.” He growled which just made Chino laugh harder.

  “I’m sorry, Satriale. Really.”

  He didn’t sound sorry, judging by the humor-filled tone of his friend’s apology. Damiano loved the guy but sometimes he wanted to punch him in the nose… not that it would do him any good. He’d done it before and Chino hadn’t even flinched. The dude was huge and it would take a Mack truck to bring Cortez down. Fighting with Chino at his side was always entertaining. Attackers toppled like bowling pins when Cortez plowed through them.

  “So, going back to the kiss…” Cortez began.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Just humor me for a second. Did you actually feel the mating hormones like they say? Wait! What about the heart glow? Did that happen? Is it real?”

  Damiano sighed, knowing that he should have expected a million questions from the man who wanted to find his mate so badly.

  “It happened just like they say,” he finally said. “We were kissing and suddenly, I felt a rush of heat like my blood was on fire. He pushed me back but he was still in my arms with a glow lighting our faces. I looked down and saw this orange light on his chest beneath his clothes. I had it too. It was freaky, man. The second I released him, it vanished from both of us.”

  “Whoa, that’s crazy, Satriale.”

  “He was as freaked about it as me. I don’t think he can even face me now.” Damiano rubbed his free palm over his face. “I spotted him hiding behind a hanging tapestry in the throne room during my meeting with the king. If he wasn’t affected by me, he would have no reason to do that.”

  “That’s pretty fucked, Dami. I’m sorry, man.”

  This time his friend’s words were sympathetic, all humor having vanished.

  “Anyway, I guess there’s some banquet in my honor which I’m supposed to attend tonight. After that, I’m going to poke around the palace. The previous primero is dead and I don’t know the whole story about that. I haven’t even met the man who commands the paladin here because he was out hunting with the king and was absent at the ceremony. I need to have a talk with him.”

  “Stay safe, Satriale.”

  “You too, my friend. You could be in very real danger there. I wish I could be there at your side.”

  “I’m going to ask Bennett to run with me. I’m almost positive she’s one of the good guys and she will know the lay of the land.”

  “That’s good. I like her and I agree with you that she’s probably not involved with whatever is going on out there. She was shocked when we entered the medical examiner’s office and found the two injured doctors.”

  “Be safe.”

  “Be safe.” Damiano looked down at his phone and swiped it off. He stood up and reached for his boots. As soon as he’d pulled them on, he shoved a smaller gun in one of them. He pulled on his knife sheaths and adjusted them on his forearms before sliding the dangerous weapons into both. Finally, he picked up his Damascus blades and slid them into the sheaths on his belt. Feeling a hell of a lot less vulnerable to whatever danger the palace held for him, he shrugged into his brown leather jacket and stepped outside, shoving the key card into a pocket in his coat.

  ****

  Paget walked into the huge kitchen that was located under the palace in a sprawling basement area. Kitchen maids stood at all ten stoves, stirring pots and opening oven doors while others cut and cleaned vegetables. One stood near a waste bin, pulling feathers off a huge turkey while several stuffed a variety of other poultry. Another woman was salting the biggest prime rib roast Paget had ever seen. He walked through the kitchen and into the pastry room, knowing that was where he’d find Cook, the head chef.

  She was an older, somewhat grizzled woman who smiled all the time, causing deep laugh lines to appear in permanent grooves. Paget called her Stella rather than Cook since that was her birth name. Stella Sousa’s family had been head cooks at the palace for as long as anyone could remember, and Stella had taken over the running of the kitchen when her mother had retired decades back. Two of the female Sousa siblings stood at the stoves in the room Paget had just exited; three of the male Sousa siblings worked out in the butcher shop on the palace grounds, taki
ng care to skin and prep game that was caught during the nightly hunts by the large cats… provided the game made it back to the butcher shop before becoming some hungry cat’s snack.

  Stella was bent over a long farm table spooning raspberry filling into small prebaked tart shells on a tray. There were hundreds of shells. Another cook lifted a large tray of the same tarts but in blueberry, and slid it into the closest commercial oven. Stella looked up at Paget as he walked in and smiled broadly. She turned and spoke to another one of her cooks and handed her the bowl and spoon before turning back to Paget. She walked over to him, wiping her hands on the apron tied at her waist.

  “What a nice surprise,” she said, leaning forward to hug him. The moment she touched the skin on Paget’s bare arms, he felt a warm tingling course up both limbs and settle in his chest. It didn’t hurt very much but it felt strange. He’d hugged Stella hundreds of times so the only thing he could think was that the change was related to his mating even though he and the primero hadn’t consummated it. Dammit! Has he spoiled me to the point I can’t touch anyone but him? He absently wondered whether he’d ever be able to fuck anyone again and realized with some distress that he only wanted Damiano Satriale. Shit.

  He stiffened in Stella’s arms, pulling back from the hug quickly. She eyeballed him quizzically as she tilted her head. He noted the gray hairs poking out from under the white cap were damp with perspiration and found himself looking anywhere but her eyes. She knew him too well. She suddenly shook him by both shoulders.

  “Look at me closely, Paget!”

  He chanced a quick glance and met her pointed gaze for only a moment before quickly looking away. He knew there was a possibility that Stella would know what was going on with him. She’d known him longer than almost anyone in the palace and they’d spent many hours together on their days off. He cursed the need to check on the banquet preparations. Stella’s eyes widened and she turned to the rest of the staff in the pastry kitchen.

  “Get out!” she thundered to the two pastry chefs she had in the room with her. The girls both looked up and stared at her for a second, their eyes wide with surprise. “Did you hear me or are you cats deaf?”

  Both of the girls dropped what they were doing, scurrying out of the room. Stella turned to Paget. She still hadn’t dropped her hands but she did now, stepping back and relaxing as she folded her hands over her chest, pinning him with a hard stare.

  “Sorry about grabbing you. That must hurt now that you’re mated,” she whispered.

  Paget swallowed hard as he stared right back at her. “How do you know?” he whispered back, knowing that they must keep this conversation quiet so that no one could overhear. The room wasn’t soundproofed but fortunately, this room was built of cinder block with the only door back into the noisy and busy kitchen which he hoped would mask their conversation from eavesdroppers.

  She smiled happily. “You smell different and I felt you wince when I hugged you and touched your bare skin. Who is he? It is a he, right?”

  Paget frowned deeply and blew out a sad sigh. He looked at his feet. “He’s a paladin.”

  She frowned. “What paladin?” she asked quickly.

  Paget glanced up and met her intelligent stare as she continued to fold her arms across her ample bosom.

  “The fucking primero,” he whispered.

  “Oh hell,” she said.

  “Tell me about it,” Paget whined.

  “Why did you kiss him? Oh, Jesus, did you already complete the mating with a consummation?”

  “He kissed me but I didn’t lie with him. Not yet and not ever. It’s bad enough that I now know I’m fated to a man above my station. I don’t know what came over me. I let him kiss me in a moment of extreme weakness, sealing our bond. Now the only thing left is the physical stuff but that’s never going to happen.”

  She suddenly uncrossed her arms and stepped forward, reaching for him and then dropping her hands when she remembered she shouldn’t touch him.

  “It’s going to be nearly impossible to stay away from him when you’re both living in the palace but you can never let it happen, Paget. Whatever you do, you cannot go to bed with him. If you do and you are found out, you’ll both be executed. I don’t care how beautiful he is or how important he is to King Fain. Do you understand?” she pleaded.

  “Yes,” Paget said, nodding miserably.

  “Well, if I can sense the bonding, others will be able to if they touch you. That means you will have to cloak yourself from others all the time now, Paget.”

  Paget nodded again. “I know.” The very thought that Paget would have to live out the rest of his days without touching another cat came crashing down on him like a ton of bricks. He felt tears burn at the back of his eyes. “My world ended the moment he touched me.”

  Chapter Eight

  D amianoleft his quarters and walked away from the king’s suite. Technically, his duties wouldn’t begin until after the banquet that night when he would be presented to the balance of the court and whatever other dignitaries had been invited to attend. That gave him a limited amount of time to explore the palace. Protocol was that the first subaltern was to show him around but he knew seeing Paget again so soon was a terrible idea. He was sure his kitty would feel just the same.

  The tiger inside him wanted to claim his mate but they both knew what would happen to them if they did. Staying away from Paget was as much for the lovely cat’s protection as his own. Should they touch, everyone in the palace would recognize what they were to each other. No, Damiano would be staying far away from his mate. He’d convinced himself that he’d never find his mate and told himself that he never wanted to. Coming face to face with Paget had been something he’d never expected. He’d traveled the entire world from the Mideast to all parts of Asia and Latin America and it had to take coming right back to Southern California, to meet up with the man meant to be his for the rest of their lives. No, exploring the palace on his own and staying out of the sexy subaltern’s way would be better for them both. Relying on himself to get around would help him to map out the spaces in his mind and memory anyway.

  The palace was two stories plus a basement and it was a sprawling property of well over twenty-five thousand square feet. It had been rumored to have thirty bedrooms, each with their own bathrooms, a grand ballroom where the banquet would be, the throne room, which he’d already seen. Only the king’s bedroom, the queen’s bedroom, and quarters for Miruna Grey and himself were located on the top floor bedroom wing. The other wing on the top floor held the grand library and music room. Supposedly, the property had both an indoor and outdoor pool, a massive game room, and a suite of meeting rooms. Under the building was the kitchen, the king’s wine cellar, administrative offices, and the paladin and servant’s quarters. He had every intention of seeking out Captain Stevens as soon as he got to the basement level since the man hadn’t already sought him out.

  Outside on the grounds were several guest cabins for those who wanted more privacy, a gardener’s cottage, a greenhouse, several outside areas where tables had been set up in vignettes for al fresco dining, the butcher’s shack, a smokehouse and the askari barracks. It was a fallacy that big cats ate all their food raw, though they did consume a large portion of it that way and it appeared on every table. It was rumored that King Fain appreciated his cooks very much and feasted on cooked and smoked food equally as much as raw meat.

  Damiano started with the upper floor, walking down the hall toward the king’s chamber. He passed by the queen’s chamber on his way there, listening for any movement within. The room was quiet and he thought about how sad it must have been for King Fain to lose both former queens in childbirth. One of the greatest responsibilities any monarch had was to provide an heir to the throne to keep the line of succession going. When Pasha Raab had been killed in a coup attempt, his beautiful queen Sancerre had escaped to a faraway Greek island where she later died of what was said to be heartbreak, childless. Fortunately for the kingdom, King
Fain, a distant cousin of the king, ascended the throne.

  Damiano continued down the wide hallway toward the king’s chamber. He had no intention of going inside. Chances are, he would never be admitted to the King Fain’s private rooms. Only servants would ever see the inside of them, with the exception, apparently, of Miruna Grey. He knew nothing about the councilor except for the fact that she was screwing the monarch. Damiano wasn’t entirely surprised by that. Miruna was a beautiful woman and in her prime. He estimated that she was about thirty years old with very long jet-black hair and beautiful dark brown eyes. Had Dami been the least bit interested in females, he might have been attracted to her but strangely enough, the green eyes of Paget were the only eyes he ever wanted to look into.

  He must have been daydreaming because he was startled out of his musings by the gentle clearing of a throat. He stopped and turned as Paget stepped out into the hallway from an alcove. He was dressed in an exquisitely tailored gray suit which fit him perfectly. He wore white gloves and carried a silver tray with several covered dishes. Glancing just over Paget’s shoulder, Damiano realized that he’d stepped out of a servant’s stairwell, not just an alcove. The moment their eyes met, Damiano flinched. Paget looked like someone struck him. Dami instantly scented his arousal which seemed even more pronounced now than it had before he’d kissed his little kitty. Goddamned mating hormones.

  The desire to drag his smaller mate into his arms and kiss that hurt look off his face was overwhelming but he just stared, holding out a hand toward the king’s chamber as if to let him proceed with his duties. Paget lifted his chin and sniffed, seeming to dismiss Damiano as if he meant nothing to him or as if being in his presence didn’t affect him at all. It was sure twisting Damiano in knots. Why wasn’t Paget just as affected as he was? Without thinking, he reached out and took him by the bicep, pulling him up short and stopping him in his tracks.

  “What the hell are you…?”