Chapter Six
Tap stood by the window in Stephen’s hospital room feeling guilty for not catching Wilfred. He had to give Stephen justice. The guy was lying in the hospital and his attacker was still at large. That didn’t set right with Tap. He needed to be out there hunting for Wilfred, yet he couldn’t bring himself to leave Stephen. Not yet. Not until he felt the male would be one hundred percent safe.
"Are you going to stand by that window all day?" Stephen asked. "I don’t think he’s dumb enough to come to my hospital room."
"He was pretty hopped up." That was the story the preternatural and the sheriff were going with. Wilfred was a drug user and had been blitzed out of his mind. It was plausible and since the bounty hunters couldn’t tell the truth, it was the only story they were giving when asked.
"There’s a cop outside my room, Tap. I’ll be fine. Besides, I’m sure Dustin wants to see you and make sure you’re all right."
Tap cut his eyes to Stephen. The human's smile was kind of lopsided since he had bandages on one side of his face, and Tap hoped the wound wouldn’t leave a scar. The small male didn’t need a daily reminder of what he'd been through, though Tap was pretty sure Stephen would have nightmares about the incident for a while.
Stephen plucked at his sheet as he looked away. "You’d have to be blind not to see how you look at him."
Tap had no idea he’d been that easy to read. He didn’t remember looking at Dustin that way, but Stephen hadn’t been the first person to say that to him. He wasn’t comfortable talking about Dustin to a guy who was nothing more than a stranger to him. He shrugged. "People see what they want to see."
Stephen continued to smile, but he looked up at Tap this time. "If you say so. But I saw the way Dustin looked at you. I could only wish some guy looked at me like that."
"What are you talking about?" Tap asked. "You’re a good-looking male."
The door opened. Dustin stood there staring at Tap, and then his gaze swung to Stephen. "You’re right. He’s a nice-looking guy."
Tap’s gut instantly twisted. He couldn’t tell if Dustin's expression was jealousy, worry, or anger, but it didn’t bode well for him. The last time they'd seen each other was in the truck when he'd given Dustin a hand job.
When the male was getting his revenge.
Tap kept to the window as he watched the little leopard check on Stephen, asking how he was doing. There was no mistaking the jealousy that flowed thickly in the air. The kitten wanted to show claws but he kept his jealousy hidden. Or so Dustin thought. Tap smelled the emotion all the way across the room.
As the two talked, Tap’s gaze roamed over Dustin's sleek body. He’d been adamant about not fooling around with a cat, but damn if he didn’t want to take Dustin into the bathroom and get even with him.
"Well, I’m glad you’re gonna be okay." Dustin gave Stephen’s hand a light squeeze and Tap admired him for his tactfulness and grace, even though he could tell the green-eyed monster had a hard grip on Dustin. He was intrigued that the kitten thought Stephen a threat. The fact Dustin felt that emotion at all toward him also made him smile inwardly. Hadn’t Dustin called him immature? As far as Tap knew, they’d just fooled around a bit, no real emotions involved. So why was the male jealous?
Dustin turned toward the door and walked out, completely ignoring Tap. Oh, yeah. The kitten’s claws were out. Tap grinned as he pushed away from the window and followed. He caught up to Dustin in the parking lot. Damn, had the male run? He had to have in order to get that far so fast.
"Kitten!"
Dustin spun and glared at him. "Didn’t I tell you not to use any pet names with me?" he practically growled.
Tap kept his smile hidden as he finally caught up to him. "You weren’t protesting when I had your cock in my hand or my tongue down your throat."
The blush that spanned Dustin's cheeks should've caught his face on fire. Dustin glanced at the people walking by them, but no one paid them any attention. Why did he look so embarrassed? "You’re a vulgar man, Jacob Matthews."
Tap was stunned that Dustin knew his name. Not many did. Damn testosterone. It’ll make a guy do the craziest shit, even chase after…Tap chuckled to himself. He’d gotten angry at the reference, but if he really thought about it, it was true.
His strong attraction was making him chase after pussy. Tap had been intrigued by Dustin already. No doubt. But the fire he saw in the male's eyes made Tap want him in the worst way.
"Stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?" Tap knew exactly what Dustin was talking about, but he wanted to hear him say it. It was a necessity so great that Tap couldn’t really explain that driving need. Maybe he was hoping Dustin would admit he wanted more between them. Tap didn’t fully understand the emotions he felt toward the leopard. Sex was sex. Tap didn’t usually feel anything more once the act was done.
Maybe that was it. The two hadn’t slept together. Dustin wasn’t like the men Tap usually went after and the leopard’s resistance fueled the craziness twisting him up inside.
"I know what you're trying to do," Dustin said. "I’m not telling you what you want to hear. Why should I? I heard what you said to Stephen. I’m not sure what kinda sick game you’re playing, but you can leave me out of it."
"Game?"
Dustin curled his upper lip. "You obviously want Stephen and you’re still interested in me. You think I don’t know how you got your nickname?" He moved closer and lowered his voice, but there was no mistaking the venom in his tone. "This is one ass you won’t tap, Mr. Matthews."
Tap was speechless as Dustin strode away, heading down the street in angry strides.
Playtime was over. Tap was through dancing around what he really wanted, no matter how much he had denied the truth, no matter how much he had denied what everyone else plainly saw.
That little wildcat would be his.
* * * *
"I need you to break into council records and get me whatever you can on Wilfred Domingo."
Tap had been sitting on the couch in the Pit, contemplating his next move with Dustin when Matt strode in. He hadn’t forgotten his vow to catch Stephen’s attacker, but the human had been released from the hospital and Tap didn’t want to look like a stalker.
Stephen wasn’t Adam and he needed to focus on catching the lion, not checking up on the human every five seconds to make sure he was okay.
"We’ve never been given much information on the individuals we’ve tracked down in the past. I’m tired of being in the dark," Matt said. "I want full access to records for those we track from now on."
"On it." Tap headed into the room he’d been sleeping in for the past week and grabbed his laptop. Getting the information wouldn’t be as hard as before. The Consiglio had disappeared and Tap wouldn’t have to worry about putting measures into place so he wouldn’t be caught spying.
Not having to worry about that almost took the fun out of hacking into the records.
He located Wilfred’s file pretty easily and printed it off. Tap had started to close out when he thought of something. He tapped away at the keys until he found Chance Montgomery.
Not much shocked Tap. Not in his line of work. But what he read about the leopard who'd assaulted Dustin turned his stomach. How the fuck could Vane allow a sexual sadist to live in his leap? The Consiglio had known. Clearly Vane did, too, yet no one had done anything about Chance’s depravities.
Tap printed off the information before closing his laptop. He took the papers to Matt’s office and set them on his desk. Matt wasn’t in the room, but he'd make sure his alpha knew the papers were there.
He headed out, intending to search for Wilfred but drove to the Southside instead. Tap parked in front of Dustin's apartment building. The male was pissed as hell at him, yet Tap wanted to see him.
Taking a deep breath while calling himself every kind of moron, Tap got out and climbed the stairs. He stood just outside Dustin’s door, trying to think of a good enough excuse that would stop the leopard from telling him to piss off.
Here goes nothing.