Page 23 of Tiger's Little Waif
Shaw did not hesitate and immediately laid her hand on his. “I’m not sure about tackling the capital, but I am ready to get out of here.”
“Then let’s go,” he said, setting off for the double front doors.
It only took a minute to walk out of the building and join the throngs of city dwellers as they hurried down the sidewalks at the end of their business day.
Shaw was thankful that Marshall had decided they would stay at a hotel just two blocks from the Council building. She pressed closer into his body as people rushed by, brushing against her, and muttering about fools walking too slowly. Marshall did not seem to have that problem as people gave him a wide berth, well, except for some scantily dressed women who appeared out of nowhere and latched onto his other arm.
“Go away,” he growled as they made lewd offers that had Shaw blushing.
Then she realized that he was even less comfortable than she was but did not know how to get the women to leave him alone.
“He said go away,” she said loudly as she looked around his body at the two women.
The one who did not have her arm wrapped around his turned and disappeared into the crowd. The other one tilted her head, so she ended up looking down her nose at Shaw.
“Honey, I can give him things you’ve never even heard of, so fuck off and leave us alone.”
A glance up at Marshall told Shaw she’d better get rid of this woman before his temper flared and they attracted more attention than the Bratburg Institute could handle. They’d come to a corner and had to stop so she released his arm and stepped around in front of him, going nose to greasy nose with the scowling woman.
“This is my man, bitch,” Shaw said in a hard, albeit quiet tone. “And the only thing you can give him is a full rack of STDs, so step the fuck off and take your daddy issues elsewhere before I throw your skank ass back in the gutter where you came from. ”With that, she pulled the woman’s arm from around Marshall’s and inserted herself between them. When the other woman didn’t retreat as fast as Shaw would have liked, she gave her a shove to the shoulder to get her going and then another. Only Marshall grabbing the back of her shirt and pulling her back to his side kept Shaw from pushing her all the way down the block.
“That’s enough, Shaw. You made your point and she’s gone,” Marshall said, his voice dropping an octave into the range that was able to turn her on with just a few words.
Shaw looked over her shoulder as they started across the street but could not see the other woman. Turning back around, she looped her arm around her man’s and leaned into him.
“I did good, didn’t I, Papa?” she asked softly as they reached the other side of the street.
“You sure did, waif. I can’t wait to get to our room and show my appreciation for your protection.”
Then another thought hit her. She leaned up and whispered, “You’re not going to spank me for being mean to that woman, are you?”
Marshall looked down at her as he chuckled. “No, mate of mine, I am not going to punish you for defending your property. Now if you had punched or kicked her, that would be a different story, but just talking and gently pushing her away only gets you good girl rewards.”
“Yay!” Shaw said and began to skip the last half block to the hotel without a care as to what anyone else might think.
By the time they entered the lobby, Marshall was ready to turn around and go home. They only had to walk two blocks, but all the people brushing against him and bumping into Shaw had his tiger snarling and pacing in his chest with anxiety. The memory of the hooker pushing against him had his skin crawling. He could not help the pride at Shaw’s response. It proved more than anything else that she was his life mate, and nothing would come between them.
As soon as they got to their room, he planned to jump in the shower to get the scent of that woman off of him. The fact that Shaw would be with him, wet and slippery and oh so sexy, was just an added bonus and he would challenge the hot water to see who could hold out the longest as he claimed his mate once again.
While he felt unusually nervous and on edge, Shaw seemed quite comfortable and energized by being in the city. Still dealing with his wound-up tiger, he allowed Shaw to deal with the desk clerk and then the manager when it was discovered that someone had lost their reservation. Shaw’s boldly stating that their reservation had been set up by the Council cut through all the bullshit and in minutes they were being escorted to a room. Marshall wasn’t sure whether he should spank her for lying or be thankful that Jaxon and the head of the Council were now mated since Jaxon was the one who had made the reservation.
Expecting a tiny room with a view of the dumpsters behind the building, Marshall was stunned when the bellman opened the door and they walked into their room for the next three nights. Their “room” was a two-room suite with its own balcony only three stories above the street.
The bellman assured them that the room was soundproof, and they would not hear the elevator when it dinged every time it stopped on their floor even though it was cattycorner across the hall from their door. Marshall was not so sure but did not argue. At the moment, all he wanted was the man to leave so he could get his mate naked and in the shower.
Finally, Shaw handed him some money and he left. As soon as the door closed, she pulled something out of her pocket and added it to the knob before flipping the internal lock. When she turned and found him watching her, she shrugged as she slowly crossed to stand before him.
“Emory gave it to me and said it is an additional safety measure to keep people from getting into the room while we’re sleeping. Apparently, that happens a lot in the city, or so she said.”
Marshall smiled. “Being mated to the head of security, I’m sure she would know. Now, we both need a shower and then we’ll call down for room service.”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea, Papa,” Shaw said as she reached for his belt to undress him. “Can I suck on your … uh, penis while we’re in the shower?”
Marshall smiled down at her before stepping back and quickly stripping off his own clothes. “Only if you can get naked and in the shower in the next minute.”
Clicking the timer on his watch, he headed to the bathroom that was as big as his entire cabin. He was not normally impressed by such a show of opulence, but to have a shower big enough to hold a dinner party in as well as a hot tub that would hold him and Shaw with room to spare, was just the thing to make his already hard cock twitch.
Chapter Thirteen