She thanked him and took a seat on the couch, opening the bag. The commercial ended and the opening news story left Zandy gawking at the screen. The background sight of the scarred, twisted gates to Homeland held her attention as a chipper, blonde news reporter accounted what had taken place there in the middle of the night. Two suspected members of a hate group were dead while two New Species had been injured.

“Shit.” Her appetite was gone.

She flipped the channels, picking up more of the story from different reporters. The two New Species would live. It had been a car bomb and both the men who’d driven the car to the gates had died in the explosion. Her mind went over all the hate mail she’d read but no one had made threats against the NSO with car bombs.

Was Tiger okay? Upset? She wouldn’t blame him if he hated humans. She just hoped he didn’t lump her in with the ones who’d attacked Homeland. Were the injured New Species friends of his? She stood and turned off the television. He’d call her and she’d ask him about it. She’d be there for him if he needed her. She put on her shoes and walked to the door, wanting to get to work.

* * * * *

Richard looked surprised to see her when she entered the office. “I thought you were taking a few days off.”

“No.”

He grinned. “I take it you’re wearing panty liners?” Amusement lit his dark eyes. “I didn’t see your escort sniffing at you or drooling.”

“Yeah. I got some of those delivered to me. Did you see the news?”

His humor vanished. “Yeah. They didn’t send in any threats to warn us.”

“That’s what I was going over in my head when I saw the news. I hope we didn’t miss something.”

“We didn’t. The real fanatical ones rarely send warnings. They just attack.”

“What have you heard that isn’t on the news?”

“I talked to someone at Homeland first thing this morning. The officers are going to recover. They mostly suffered cuts and bruises from the fall. They were lucky to hit a grassy area and not the pavement. Their protective gear also helped avoid more severe injuries. We got lucky this time. Expect a lot of threats to come in. Copycat idiots and crazies tend to do that after one of these events.”

“Events?” Zandy sat down hard in her chair. “That sounds like such a tame word for what happened. I keep thinking about how much worse it could have been.”

“What else do you want me to call them? It’s fucking horrific. I shudder to think what could have happened or how many New Species could have been killed if they’d used more explosives. Did you see the damage to the gates? It twisted part of them.”

“I saw.”

Richard got up from his desk to crouch in front of her and stare into her eyes. “Are you okay? You really seem shaken by this.”

Tears filled her eyes. “No. It could have happened here.” She thought about Tiger, Creek and everyone else she had met. “New Species are so great. Why can’t those assholes leave them alone?”

Richard took her hand. “I know, honey. It’s upsetting. We can’t control the idiots of the world but this time it worked out in our favor. None of the New Species died. We help where we can. That’s why we read all this shit that comes in. Just concentrate on work and maybe we’ll find a real threat today. That’s how we find and stop the morons we can. Okay?”

She squeezed his hand. “Thanks for the pep talk.”

“No problem.” He straightened and released her. “We’ll have lunch brought to us. We’ll put in as many hours as we can today. Throwing myself into work always helps me.”

“Thanks.”

He shrugged. “Oh. I brought you perfume.” He opened one of his desk drawers and lifted a small bottle. “I was planning on giving it to Creek today to get to you.”

She smiled. “Thanks and please thank your wife.”

His smile returned. “She loved hearing about women going into heat. She said it was really interesting.”

Memories of Tiger in her bed made her lower her gaze. It was flat-out sexy. It was some of the hottest sex she’d ever had. She couldn’t wait for a repeat later when Tiger came to get her to take her to his home. She wondered what his house would be like.

They worked through lunch, her mind still on Tiger, and she was startled when her desk phone rang. Richard stared at her as she met his gaze.

“Answer it.”

She reached for it. “Hello?”

“Hi, Zandy.”

Tiger’s voice was music to her ears. “Hi.” She turned away from Richard, ignoring his curious stare.

“I had to fly to Homeland this morning after it was attacked. Did you hear about that?”

“I did. I’m so sorry. Is everything okay? Are you okay?”

“Our males will recover and the situation is improving by the hour. I’m stuck here though. I’m not sure I’ll be able to return tonight.”

Disappointment struck. “I understand. You need to do whatever you can.”

“I wanted to make you dinner at my home.”

“I wanted that too. We could make plans to do that tomorrow night.”

“It sounds good.” He hesitated. “I’ll call you tonight around nine. We can talk longer then. I have a meeting to attend.”

“Do you have my cell phone number?”

He paused. “Give it to me.”

She gave him her number and he said, “I’ll talk to you tonight. Be careful.”

“I will.”

He hung up and Zandy returned the phone to the cradle. She knew her coworker watched her.

“Was that Angel?”

“Yes.”

“Why does he have to be careful? What does he do for a living?”

“Don’t you have work to do?”

“Fine. Don’t spill the beans. Leave me pondering about this mystery man. It sounded as if you’re planning another date with him. Do you know what that tells me?”

“What?” She twisted her chair to face him.

“The third time is the charm.” Richard winked. “So much for not getting serious. How many dates will that make?”

“I’m not keeping track,” she lied.

“She protests too much.” Richard wiggled his eyebrows. “Do you know what that sound is?” He cocked his ear.

She didn’t hear anything and eyed him with suspicion. “What?”

“I think I hear distant wedding bells.”

“Shut up.” She threw a paperclip at him, which he caught.

She turned back to her computer screen and smiled. The idea of getting serious with Tiger didn’t fill her with fear anymore.

* * * * *

Tiger was stressed and tired. It had been a long day and the evening wasn’t getting any better. He stared at the males who shared the helicopter with him and knew they were all more than ready to return to Reservation.

Thoughts of Zandy filled his head. It would be after ten by the time they landed but he planned to visit her to make up for not being able to call. He wanted to climb into her bed and just hold her. She’d still be in heat. His cock came to life just remembering the previous night.

Motion drew his attention and he met Zest’s cool stare. The male tossed a headset his way and he put it on. They’d reach Reservation soon.

“Long day.”

“Yes,” Tiger agreed. “I’ll be glad to get home.”

“Would you like to go for a run when we arrive? I doubt I can sleep. The stress was palpable. I thought Justice was going to have a stroke yelling at the local law enforcement for not giving the NSO enough support.”

“No. I have plans. The last thing I want to do is something outdoors.”

The other male grinned. “Which female is it?”

Tiger pulled off the headset and tossed it back, smiling. Zest caught them and laughed. He hung them back on the wall next to the pilots behind his seat. Tiger closed his eyes and tried to ignore the way the wind battered the helicopter. Flying wasn’t something he enjoyed, a firm believer he’d have been born with wings if he were meant to fly.

Something dinged metal in a rapid succession. His eyes flew open as the helicopter suddenly dipped drastically. An alarm bell screamed and he saw flashing red lights coming from the cockpit. Zest threw him a headset and he put it on as the helicopter rose and fell again. It was a violent movement that made all the males glance at each other with dread.