Here There Be Tigers (13 page)

Damn but the man was handsome. His hair was
mussed again, as if he’d been running. His eyes were bright and
intense, more green than hazel in the morning light. He was fully
dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and he smelled of the woods again,
like fresh air and trees. She tried not to scowl. It seemed wrong
that he looked so good when she felt like shit.

“
The area is still clear,” he said,
leaning against the counter and crossing his arms over his chest.
“Looks like our nearest neighbors are about six miles away, so
we’re very isolated here.”

She swallowed a groan as she watched his
forearm muscles flex. What the hell did he just say? Oh. Isolated.
“Is that good?”

“
Absolutely. I don’t want Petrov
getting innocent humans involved in this.”

“
I’m an innocent human. Tell him to
leave me alone.”

Her snarky comment earned her one of Mitch’s
adorably charming grins. “Sleep well?”

Grimacing, she went to the couch with her
coffee.

“
First night in a strange place.
That can make sleeping difficult.”

“
Never had the problem before,” she
said. “I rarely have the same bed for any length of
time.”

He pulled a coffee mug out of the cabinet. “I’m
the same. Still, a new place can take some time.”

“
You have trouble sleeping in
strange beds?”

“
Sometimes. Depends on where I am.
And what I’m sleeping on.” He grinned as he poured his
coffee.

To keep her mind off Mitch sleeping on
her
, she asked, “What made you take up nature
photography?”

“
I like it. I started taking
pictures when I was a teenager. Turned out I was good at it. And
the freelance aspect suits me. Gives me the kind of flexibility
with my time a nine-to-five job wouldn’t.”

“
Do you need a lot of
flexibility?”

“
It helps when I have tiger business
to take care of. Or if I participate in a Run, I need to be able to
take a few days off without raising suspicion.”

Her stomach bottomed out and for a few seconds
she had trouble thinking. Why hadn’t she considered this? Once
she’d come to terms with the fact that he was a tiger shifter and
not just another human caught up in this weird world, she should
have realized he’d participate in Mate Runs. He was young and
healthy, and of course he’d want a mate, wouldn’t he? After seeing
how happy Max and Irina were, how could she expect Mitch to want
anything less for himself?

“
Have you done many? Runs, I mean.”
She asked with her face in her mug.

“
A few.” He leaned against the
kitchen counter again his mug in one hand, his other resting on the
countertop.

“
Ever been successful?” She couldn’t
quite bring herself to look directly at him. After days of lusty
fantasy about him, confronting this reality was a little
embarrassing. And sobering.

“
I’m not mated. I’ve already made
that clear.”

“
You said the females might have
several different male partners during their cycles, before one of
the males gets them pregnant. That’s how the permanent mating
happens, right, the female has to get pregnant. But you also said
it took Max and Irina several years of running before they
conceived. Some females don’t stick with the same male every
season, right?”

“
True.”

When he didn’t say anything more, she risked
looking at him. She couldn’t read his expression. She dropped her
gaze back to her mug. Fine, he didn’t want to tell her about the
number of times he’d caught a female and had a chance to mate
permanently, he didn’t have to. She was acting silly anyway.
Jealousy didn’t make a lot of sense, given their situation. And
he’d met one of her previous lovers just yesterday! She could
hardly be annoyed by the fact that he’d undoubtedly had many
previous relationships, too.

But the Mate Run… That was serious. That was an
attempt to find a wife, a life partner, a woman who would have his
children. He’d chased that possibility when he’d participated in a
Run. That was a lot more serious than her two week fling with
Bill.

Since she didn’t want to talk about this
anymore, because then she’d have to admit how much she cared, she
changed the subject. “So, what’s the plan for the day?”

“
Keep an eye on the area.” He
shrugged. “I’ll try calling my grandmother for an update this
morning.”

“
And beyond that?”

“
Relax. Read a book. Take a nap. You
can do whatever you like so long as you stay close enough for me to
hear you if there’s trouble.”

“
Sounds like a vacation. I don’t get
a lot of those.”

He grinned. “Now you have a good
excuse.”

“
Yeah, except I’d have preferred the
beach this time of year.”

“
Next time you’re running for your
life, we’ll go to the beach.”

She laughed over a funny little twist in her
tummy. His comment hit her hard. Not at the thought that she might
have to run for her life again, but the idea that he’d be there if
she needed to. Swallowing more coffee, she forced down the giddy
sensation. She didn’t have long term, permanent relationships. She
traveled too much, she worked too hard. She’d never even considered
settling down.

But beyond that, she had no idea how her
current predicament might change her life. Her mother was a tiger
shifter. No matter what her father said, that changed things. She
just didn’t know how yet. She couldn’t predict what her future
might bring—if she managed to survive—or what the tigers really
wanted from her.

Given the story of the mythical couple, she
knew Elizaveta, at least, would want to see if she could have
children with a tiger—that “hope” Mitch had talked about the very
first night they met. Nila had no intention of being used as a
brood mare or having kids before she was damned good and ready. But
she had a feeling that even after Petrov, her life was going to be
chaotic for a while. What man would want any part of
that?

She shook off a vague sense of melancholy at
the idea that she’d have to say goodbye to Mitch once all this was
over. She had bigger things to worry about.

“
Can we talk more?” she
asked.

“
About?”

“
This…situation. I want to know more
about my mother, Vlad, the whole…thing.”

“
You’re ready to hear
more?”

“
I think I’ve had enough time to
process what you’ve told me so far.”

“
Okay. After I shower and call my
grandmother, we’ll have breakfast and talk.”

“
Thanks.” The thought of Mitch in
the shower was a little more than her overactive nervous system
could take, so she said, “I’m gonna go sit on the porch, stare at
the scenery.”

“
Enjoy. It’s getting hot out
there.”

She hurried outside to avoid the temptation of
following him into the bathroom.

She’d opened the door to more information. Now
she had to settle herself so she could listen. Absorbing what she’d
learned so far had been tough. She still didn’t want to think too
closely about the sight of Vlad shifting shapes, but she could no
longer avoid the full story. She had her suspicions, and now she
needed to know what her mother being a tiger shifter meant for
her.

She stayed on the porch as long as possible,
watching the morning light contrasts between the open yard and the
shade under the trees. The growing heat seeped into her, soothing
her.

When she finally went back inside, she felt
ready to face what Mitch had to tell her. Or at least she thought
she was ready.

Until she saw Mitch fresh from the shower, his
hair damp, his skin glowing with warmth, his clean t-shirt clinging
tight to his muscled torso, his jeans hugging his butt to
perfection. With that view, trying to concentrate on anything but
getting him back out of his clothes was going to be almost
impossible.

She appreciated a handsome man as much as the
next woman, but this was ridiculous.

“
Good shower?” she asked, hoping to
unglue her tongue from the roof of her mouth.

“
Great. I needed it.”

His grin nearly made her swoon. To keep from an
all too undignified reaction, she sat on the couch where she wasn’t
able to stare at him easily.

“
Yeah, it was nice to get out of the
clothes I’d been wearing since India. Actually, I’m just grateful
to have underwear on again.” She muttered the last sentence with a
great deal of feeling. Walking around without underwear for the
last two days had been…well, she wouldn’t have cared if she wasn’t
constantly daydreaming about a certain very sexy man.

A clatter sounded from the kitchen and she
turned to see Mitch swiping a handful of silverware off the
floor.

Mitch concentrated on picking up the mess he’d
just made as he asked, “Again?” He wasn’t entirely sure he’d heard
her correctly. Because if he had, he was pretty sure he was going
to go a little bit insane. He couldn’t resist glancing at her when
she answered.

She grimaced and her cheeks turned pink. “I’ve
been commando since your cabin. No spare pairs in my
backpack.”

That was it. He was insane. The woman had just
robbed him of whatever reasonable brain cells he had left. He
couldn’t tell if she’d done it on purpose or not, but for several
moments, it didn’t matter. As he straightened to face her, his
every nerve ending screamed out to cross the room, strip her naked,
and fuck her until she cried out his name again and
again.

She glanced away, the blush in her cheeks
deepening and mumbled something about needing to brush her teeth.
In the next instant, she’d disappeared into the
bathroom.

Mitch took a series of slow breaths, and finger
by finger relaxed his fists, though he continued staring at the
bathroom door as he forced himself to calm down. He couldn’t
remember the last time he’d wanted a woman this badly. And he knew
from her scent and actions, she wanted him, too. That only made
matters worse. He wasn’t entirely sure how they were going to get
through this without landing into bed together, but he knew for
both their sakes it would be better if they didn’t. He couldn’t
have her. He wouldn’t be allowed to keep her.

But for a few long minutes, he didn’t give a
damn about any of that.

His only consolation was that she seemed to
want to resist the attraction between them as much as he needed to.
Scowling at the door, he stopped to wonder about her resistance.
What made her hesitate?

Maybe the fact that they’d only known each
other for three days, and in that time, she’s been running for her
life?

He shook his head, feeling like an idiot. Of
course she didn’t want to fall into bed with a virtual stranger,
especially given the circumstances. Stupid to think attraction
would overcome all that.

With one last deep breath, he turned back to
the stove. Breakfast. They needed breakfast.

He had the ingredients for a good omelet now
and was determined to feed her something other than fast food. Her
vegetarian sensibilities were probably screaming at her at this
point. He pulled the eggs out of the fridge and promised himself
that if he couldn’t give her a multitude of explosive orgasms, the
least he could do was make sure she ate well.

By the time she reappeared, breakfast was well
underway, with omelets on the stove, toast in the toaster, and
fresh cups of coffee poured. He kept his back to her, though, so he
could concentrate on cooking and not injuring himself in the
process.

“
Food will be ready in a few
minutes. We’re gonna try the omelets again.”

The sound of her chuckle tickled the nerves
along his spine.

“
Thank you,” she said. “You didn’t
have to cook for me.”

“
Least I can do.” He decided not to
mention this was a trade-off for the orgasms he’d like to give her
instead. To keep his errant body on track, he started the
conversation they’d been avoiding. “What’s your first question? I’m
sure you have a lot after the last few days.”

He glanced at her long enough to see her settle
on the couch, a slight frown turning her beautiful lips down. He
focused on his cooking again.

“
I’ve been considering the mythical
couple,” she said. “They had both shifter and human children,
right?”

“
Right.” He flipped the eggs out
onto two plates, added a couple slices of buttered toast, and put
the entire meal on a tray to carry to the coffee table in front of
the couch. He handed over her food, still trying not to look at her
while at the same time trying not to make it obvious he was
avoiding looking at her. He felt like an idiot. But he couldn’t
think of another way to keep his hands to himself.

“
So…does that mean the human
children were ordinary? Did they have any…I don’t know…special
skills?”

He leaned back against the armrest to eat,
keeping as much space as he could between them. “The legend is
vague, and it’s been passed down through so many generations it’s
hard to say what was even part of the original story and what was
made up in the intervening years. Are you worried about something
specific?”