Here There Be Tigers (16 page)

He nudged her backward until she tumbled onto
the bed. Following quickly, unable to stand being separated from
her for more than an instant, he kissed her deeply. Not gently, and
not with any sort of finesse or attempts at seduction. He was too
far gone. He kissed her hard, devouring her soft murmurs of
pleasure with such fierce hunger he barely recognized
himself.

When she'd walked out of the bedroom in her
pajamas with her hair loose and her eyes heavy and dark, he’d
nearly swallowed his tongue. She looked ethereal, beautiful, and
forbidden. Then she’d straddled him, kissed him, and his need rose
up like a hungry animal, wanting nothing more than to devour every
inch of her. He’d gone hard in seconds, insane with the taste of
her. Only the barest hint of sanity remained and his conscience
reared its relentless head.

She wasn’t his. He couldn’t have her. He
couldn’t keep her. This should not happen. She was hope for his
people, not some random woman. There would be consequences, serious
consequences if he allowed this. She was destined for someone else
and they’d both be hurt if he didn’t keep that in mind. His people
wouldn’t allow him to have a relationship with her—not given his
status, not given her value. Sleeping with her would only make
things worse, at least for him.

And what if she could have tiger children? What
if he got her pregnant? According to tiger law, she’d be his then,
but he would have broken tiger law by being with her outside a
Run—except she couldn’t run. Her situation was unique, she was
special, and how the law treated her could change everything among
the tigers. The only thing he could be sure of was that none of his
people would want
him
to be her mate.

He didn’t know where the strength came from to
set her away from him, but he’d done it. And regretted it even
before she closed the bedroom door.

Now, with her in his arms again, her soft body
pliant under his touch, he didn’t give a damn about the
consequences, what his people wanted, or what tiger law would
allow. He’d worry about that when the time came. Now she was his,
hungry for
him
, and he couldn’t resist her.

He slipped his hands beneath the band of her
pajama bottoms and cupped her ass, squeezing, delirious to realize
she wasn’t wearing underwear. Stripping off her remaining clothing
should have been easy, but his need to keep his hands on her skin
made the process awkward. Giggling, she wiggled free of the garment
then rolled into him, pressing the full length of her body against
his. When she moved her hips, rubbing his rigid cock, he groaned
and tightened his hold on her ass.

Later, he would explore her more fully, learn
every inch, discover every sensitive spot she had. Right now, he
had to be inside her. He slid one hand around her hip, across her
lower abdomen and down, cupping her heat, sliding a finger over her
sensitive flesh. When he slipped between her folds, he found her
wet and ready. A brush over her sensitive clit brought her hips up
off the bed. The reaction and her little cries of need overwhelmed
him. One taste, he needed one taste.

He hadn’t thought he could delay being in her,
but the scent of her, the promise of her drove him. Sliding farther
down the bed, he settled between her legs and had his mouth on her
before she could react. Her hands clenched in his hair, her body
tightened as she cried out his name. The sound of his name from her
made him wild. He licked and sucked, tasted her fully, winding her
tight. Her grip would have hurt if he wasn’t so distracted by her
flavor.

When he focused on her clit, she writhed
beneath him, panting and moaning. Then she stiffened and her whole
body jerked. He held her hips, continuing to apply a steady,
relentless pressure as she came with a breathless shout.

Before she could recover, he moved up her body
and slid into her wet heat. Closing his eyes, he savored the feel
of her as her inner muscles still clenched from her release. She
was perfect, hot and snug and so wet. When he looked down at her,
she was staring up at him with her dark, beautiful eyes, her lips
curved in a faint smile.

He was lost.

He moved slowly, sliding in deep, then nearly
pulling all the way out before pushing forward again. Her eyelashes
fluttered as she tried to hold his gaze. When her legs wrapped
around his hips, he increased his rhythm, still trying to move
slowly, to savor her.

He leaned down and kissed her, and his
restraint shattered. He needed her too much, and he couldn’t
maintain a slow rhythm a moment longer. She moved with him, taking
his hard, pounding thrusts with moans he swallowed. His muscles
tightened, his body tensed, and he came with a shout.

He collapsed on top of her for a moment,
stunned by the strength of his release, sated and content to be
exactly where he was. After a few deep breaths, he rolled to his
side, taking her with him, unable to release her just
yet.

Her natural scent mingled with the smells of
sex and the cedar bed, a combination so delicious he wanted to bath
in it.

She smiled at him and cupped his cheek in one
hand. The gesture sent a wave of deep satisfaction through him, and
an equally strong sense of dread. This felt right.
Perfect.

How the hell was he going to give her up to
another man?

She leaned close and brushed her lips against
his. He closed his eyes and held her close, kissing her deeply. He
didn’t want to think about the future or consider how complicated
he’d just made both their lives. For tonight, she was his and he
intended to take advantage of that.

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

When Nila woke a few hours later, Mitch was
sound asleep beside her, his arm heavy across her stomach. Dawn was
still hours away, but a question had nagged her in her dreams,
making sleep difficult. She rolled over to study him in the faint
light. Looking over his handsome features both eased her disquiet
and made it worse.

She ran her hand over his chest, savoring hard
muscle and crisp hair. He’d barely given her time to explore his
body all night. Now, she enjoyed the freedom to simply gaze and
touch. She stroked his torso, her fingers dipping and rising over
muscle ridges that hadn’t relaxed in his sleep. The sheet covered
his hips so she nudged it down to trace her fingers over the thick
cord of muscle above his hip. She loved that particular muscle on
men—it was just so sexy and male.

“
What time is it?” he
murmured.

She glanced up. His eyes were still closed. She
smiled and continued her exploration. “No idea, but early. Probably
still a few hours to dawn. Sorry to wake you.”

“
Not complaining.”

She pushed the sheet down his thighs, then
stroked her fingers over his erection, savoring the contrasting
hardness and silky texture. He pulled in a deep breath and his hips
shifted toward her.

“
Does that feel good?” she
murmured.

“
Like torture.”

She chuckled. “Would you like me to
stop?”

“
Absolutely not.”

She glanced up again to find him staring at
her, his eyes glittering and full of heat. Holding his gaze, she
shifted positions and took him into her mouth. She’d wanted this
for days and the freedom to finally indulge made her greedy. She
sucked and licked, reveling in his groans and rapid breathing, the
tension in his muscles, the way he fisted the sheets. She heard the
material rip and a shiver danced down her spine. Holy hell but the
man was strong. The idea of having all that strength at her mercy
only fed her need.

She pushed him to near breaking with her mouth,
then straddled his hips and guided his cock into her, sliding down
slowly. She watched him tense, his jaw clench and his eyes squeeze
shut. He made her feel powerful. Strong and sexy. When so much else
was out of her control, when she faced creatures stronger and
faster and more dangerous than she could comprehend, when she felt
so completely powerless to control her own life, Mitch gave her a
chance to find herself again.

And that sense of rediscovering her inner
strength, of finding her own center again, pushed her closer to
emotions for him she wasn’t sure she should feel so
quickly.

In that moment, with only the sounds of their
harsh breathing filling the small room, with his masculine scent
rising up to mix with the smells of sex and cedar, she felt
completely like herself, and knew her heart was beating faster for
this man. Watching his orgasm take him, seeing his neck muscles
tense, his jaw clench, feeling the pulse of his cock deep inside
her, she knew love was only a few dangerous, foolish breaths
away.

Then her own peak demanded her full attention
and she let go, allowing the climax to wrap her up in heat and
thorough release.

She dropped down to hug him, trying to catch
her breath, and smiled when he wrapped his arms around her, holding
her tight. The moment was quiet and perfect.

Too perfect to last. The realization of how
easy it would be for her to fall in love with Mitch crept in past
her contentment. The question that plagued her dreams came back to
poke at her.

She had to ask, had to know the truth. But she
was so loath to disrupt their embrace she kept quiet as long as she
could stand to. Then she rolled off him and sat up.

He didn’t relinquish contact though, and she
was grateful for his warm palm stroking along her hip and
waist.

“
What’s wrong?”

She smiled. “That transparent, am
I?”

“
You’re frowning. This doesn’t feel
like a frowning moment. Something is bothering you.”

“
I have to ask you something, and
I’m afraid to.”

His hand stilled, but his expression was open.
“Ask.”

“
Why aren’t you an option? Why
aren’t you…powerful enough? I don’t understand. If your grandmother
is powerful…” She trailed off and blew out a breath. “I don’t know.
I don’t want you to think I’m trying to force your hand, or that I
seduced you for any underhanded purpose. That was lust pure and
simple.”

He smiled. “Same here.”

“
But…we both know this complicated
things. And I want to understand why, from your perspective. I want
to know why you’ve pushed me to pick a ‘powerful’ tiger if you want
me yourself.” She raised a hand when he opened his mouth. “Again,
don’t think I’m trying to coerce you into anything. I know sex
doesn’t mean a relationship, and I’m not trying to push you into
one. I just… I just want to understand.”

He held her gaze for a long moment, his hand
once again stroking her skin. She took the contact as a good sign.
But discomfort made her want to squirm. The darkness was a
blessing. Somehow it was easier to have uncomfortable conversations
in the dark.

Finally, he let out a breath that sounded
resigned and he sat up, leaning against the headboard. “I hate
talking about this. But you deserve the truth. Especially after…”
He gestured at the bed. He ran a hand through his hair and said,
“It all starts with my mother’s suicide.”

She sucked in a breath. Oh, god. This wasn’t a
good start.

“
I was only six months old at the
time. I don’t remember her or anything that followed. That part was
a lot harder on my two older brothers than on me.”

“
What…why did she…?”

“
Depression before my birth tipped
into a severe
post partum
depression after. No one realized
how bad it was, though, until after. In fact, according to my
grandmother, my mother seemed to be in fine spirits in the days
before. They all thought she was doing well.”

Nila’s heart broke for him and his family.
“How?”

“
Poison. Arsenic. One of the few
poisons that works on my people and humans.”

Part of her wanted to ask more about that, but
she held her questions for another time. She didn’t want to
interrupt what had to be a difficult story for him to
tell.

“
My mother’s death…broke something
in my father. He went tiger and stayed that way for weeks. He
slaughtered cattle and just left it, not killing for food,
just…killing.”

She couldn’t control her gasp.

“
We were living in Montana at the
time. The ranchers obviously noticed what was happening. My father
killed too often for the slaughter to be ignored. That wasn’t good.
It risked exposing him, as a tiger on the loose, which risked
exposing us all. But the elders could have forgiven it, paid off
the affected ranchers, found a way to quiet the rumors. Then he
killed a human. The man was beating a woman who bore a very vague
resemblance to my mother. But killing a human violates one of our
most fundamental laws. We can’t afford attention from human
authorities when our population is barely avoiding extinction as
is. Because of that, killing a human, especially in tiger form, is
almost always an automatic death sentence.”

“
Oh, Mitch. I’m so sorry. Was your
father…?” She couldn’t say it, it was too awful and
tragic.

“
No. My grandmother bargained for
his life. Everyone recognized the extenuating circumstances. This
was more than thirty years ago, before forensic science improved so
much. But the woman told authorities the truth, that a tiger had
killed her boyfriend. They couldn’t find a rogue tiger, of course,
but the damage had been done. That combined with the cattle
slaughter was too much. The elders confined my father.”