Mating Fever by Susan Hayes
Doyle
Doyle didn’t know whether to throttle her or thank her for coming back for him. She should have been long gone. He needed her to be safe, but gods help him, he needed her with him too. So this was what being mated felt like? She was already making him fucking insane and it hadn’t been an hour yet. How the hell was he going to survive a lifetime?
When the gap was big enough he withdrew briefly to blow the dust from his nose and snatched his pack off the floor. Not that there was much in it, but he didn’t feel like leaving any more evidence behind than he had to. Let Christophe try to figure out what had happened to his painting from the scraps of cloth on the floor and the massive hole in his wall. Since the slimy bastard had no idea shifters even existed, he’d never know the truth. Doyle leaped through the hole he and Tessa had made, catching a faint whiff of blood as he crossed into the next room. Not just blood, Tessa’s blood.
“You’re hurt.” He directed his thoughts to her, including a strong sense of concern. He still couldn’t believe they’d made a telepathic connection so quickly. Then again, everything else about their mating had been rushed, why would that be the exception?
“Only a few splinters in my paws, that’s all,” she shot back and indicated the window with a twist of her elegant head. “Can you handle a two storey drop, or should we go out the front door?” The alarm went silent at that moment, and Doyle knew the decision had been made for them. Either the police were here, or Christophe was. It was past time for them to go.
“Window, now!”
“On it. Try to keep up, big boy.” With that, Tessa charged the window, springing through the opening before he could reach it. The glass shattered outward, sending dangerous shards flying through the air to mix with the falling snow outside. Doyle could see her blood gleaming on several jagged pieces that had not broken cleanly and it tore at his already aching heart. He’d see to every one of her injuries. Injuries she’d gotten saving his ass.
He didn’t like the idea one bit.
Not wanting to land on top of Tessa, he hesitated several seconds before launching himself out the window, taking the rest of the glass with him. He landed hard, the snow softening his fall, but making it more difficult to keep his feet. He staggered forward, his muzzle grazing a bloodstained drift.
“Tessa?”
“Over here.” Her mental voice was softer than it had been moments before, and he could feel her pain being transmitted over their link. He followed her bloodied tracks through the snow and found her limping toward the treeline. Blood streaked her beautiful coat, and there was a shard of glass lodged into her shoulder, slowing her to a painful crawl. The heavy snow was covering their tracks quickly, but there was no way they’d make it to the van in time to avoid discovery. Not with Tessa limping.
Doyle transformed back to human and spat out his backpack, biting back an oath as the cold sank its claws into his bare skin. He crouched beside her, stroking her head softly as he took the bag from her mouth and rummaged until he found the transmitter. He could hear one of the twins shouting into it before he even got it to his ear.
“Stop yelling, I’m here now.” He barked into the device and the squawking stopped.
“Doyle? What the hell is going on? Where are you? We got the alarm shut down again, but the police are on their way. Are you out of there yet? We can’t find your girlfriend, either.”
“We’re out. She’s with me, and she’s hurt. I need you to bring the van to the secondary pickup spot. It’ll be closer and I’m going to have to carry her.”
There was a pause. “Is she going to be okay?”
“Yes, but she’s cut pretty badly. I don’t want to take out the glass until we’re safe, and she can’t shift until it’s removed. Get to the location and I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.” Doyle smoothed his hand over Tessa’s fur, marveling at her beauty even as he sent thoughts of comfort to her through their still strengthening bond.
“You got it. Hey, Doyle? We’re sorry she got hurt.”
“You can apologize to her in person when I get to you. Right after you explain what the fucking hell went wrong tonight. How did the alarms get reset? And which of you am I talking to you? I can’t fucking well tell you apart.”
“This is Sean. And uh, it looks like Christophe had a remote access app,” Sean said, sounding sheepish.
“You have got to be joking. I was nearly arrested because of a fucking app?” he snarled and Tess lifted her head to lick his fingers. Doyle let his anger go and focused on Tessa. She needed him more than he needed to vent his anger at what had happened. “Just get to the pickup point. We’ll talk about the rest later.”
He carefully drew Tessa into his arms, making sure to take both their bags with him as he lifted his precious burden. Tessa stiffened in pain, but then relaxed and let her head settle on his shoulder.
“I can walk, you know.” her thoughts were tinged with pain, but there was amusement there, too.
“We’ll get there faster if I carry you, so shut up and let me. You saved my ass back there and I don’t like knowing you got hurt doing it.” Doyle started jogging toward the pickup location, doing his best not to jar her.
“I can smell your blood, too, macho tiger-man. You’d be warmer in your furry form right now. I can’t believe you’re standing in snow, bare-assed naked.”
“Please, don’t remind me. Rafe owes me big time for this. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s sending us to Tahiti for our honeymoon.”
“Tahiti sounds nice, but who said anything about us getting married?”
“I did. You’re my mate. We’re getting married, and that’s final.” What the hell was she talking about? Of course they were getting married. She was his, damn it. He wanted a marriage certificate and a ring on her finger to tell everyone she was taken. A ring might not be enough. Maybe he needed a sign to hang around her neck warning everyone to approach on pain of death.
