Here There Be Tigers (6 page)

She released a loud breath. “Hell. How long do
we have?”

“
We’ll be fine here for tonight,
what’s left of the night. Time enough to sleep and make
plans.”

She dropped back again, running a hand through
her hair. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep now, but part of me
wants to just shut down and hide in sleep or…”

She met his gaze and something he couldn’t
quite interpret moved through the dark depths. A delectable hint of
desire flavored her scent, drawing his full attention. The
attraction he’d been working hard to ignore pushed to the surface.
He held perfectly still, afraid if he moved at all, he’d leaned in
to her and take what he wasn’t allowed to have. But he couldn’t
drag his gaze from hers, and the longer they stared at one another,
the thicker the tension grew.

She blinked first and looked away. “I should
sleep,” she murmured.

He heard her reluctance but didn’t trust
himself to speak just yet. He was afraid he’d argue with
her.

“
You must be exhausted, too,” she
said with a light tone that sounded forced. “I shouldn’t make you
stay up keeping me company like this.”

“
I don’t mind.” He swallowed and
cleared his throat. His voiced sounded rough and too deep. “I’m
jetlagged, too, so I’m not that tired.”

“
Really? Where have you
been?”

“
Nepal on assignment with a detour
to Moscow to meet my grandmother.” Elizaveta didn’t believe in
relaying important information over the phone if she could avoid
it, so rather than telling him about Nila in a call—even using
their secret family language—and sending him directly from Nepal
back to the US, his grandmother had ordered him on this side trip
to Russia, where she was looking into Petrov’s background and
resources. The side trip had cost a little time, but mostly it just
screwed up his sleep patterns.

“
Assignment?” Nila asked.

“
I’m a freelance nature
photographer—when I’m not rescuing hapless damsels in
distress.”

“
Right.” She smirked at his attempt
at a joke.

Again that edge of desire curled through her
scent, mixing with her natural essence, and catching him in a tight
grip. His gaze dropped to her mouth without his permission. She had
lush, beautiful lips that looked incredibly soft. Despite his best
efforts, his imagination wandered to all the places he’d like to
feel her sexy mouth. When she flicked out her tongue to wet her
bottom lip, he had to swallow a groan.

She’s not yours to have, Mitch, he reminded
himself as he watched her. Not even for a little while. Not even
for a single night.

Too bad his body wasn’t listening to his
brain.

CHAPTER FIVE

Nila swallowed hard and tried not to stare.
Mitch looked so intense and so incredibly sexy, she was having a
hard time remembering he was a stranger and she was in a lot of
trouble.

Her gaze clashed with his before she forced
herself to look away. That expression on his face said he’d happily
fuck her if she asked him to. The thought was thrilling, filling
her with a sense of power, making her acutely aware of her
femininity. In a situation where she felt completely out of
control, knowing at least in this she had some say in what happened
actually helped.

Being alone with him made resisting the call to
seduce him more difficult. The cabin smelled strongly of Mitch,
which only spiked her need. He had a deliciously masculine scent,
with hints of cedar and musk. She wanted to bury her face against
his neck and breathe him in while she stripped him naked. Then she
wanted to taste him, everywhere, just to see if he tasted as
delicious as he smelled.

Bad idea, Nila. Bad idea.
Hiding in sex
wasn’t going to get her out of her current predicament. Giving in
to the amnesia of sex wouldn’t help. She needed to stay
clear-headed, which meant she needed to get off this couch and away
from temptation.

“
Either the tea is working,” she
said, very carefully setting the mug down on his coffee table, “or
the jetlag is taking its toll. I think I should turn
in.”

“
Good idea.”

His voice cascaded over her skin, leaving a
tingling of anticipation in its wake. Her body pulsed with need.
Why wasn’t she dragging him to bed? She bet there was a very
serviceable bed in that guestroom. Without meaning to, she found
her gaze wondering over his chest and shoulders, settling on the
flexing muscles of his forearms.

She swallowed and stood so she wouldn’t lean in
and kiss him.

“
This way.” He gestured to the back
of the house, behind the sunken sitting area, where a wooden
staircase curved up to the second floor. She followed his
lead.

On the landing, he turned right. “My bedroom is
back that way.” He motioned toward the opposite side of the
hallway. “Here’s the bathroom.” He tapped a door as he passed. “And
here’s your room.” Pushing open the next door, he leaned in and
flipped on the lights.

When he stepped back, she walked past to get
into the room and paused just inside the threshold. They hadn’t
touched, but she could almost feel the brush of his skin against
hers, and the sensation made her shiver.

“
If you’re cold, there are more
blankets in that closet.”

She wasn’t the least bit cold. In fact, she was
overly warm. But she thanked him anyway. Without having to look,
she sensed him moving closer, close enough she felt his heat along
her spine.

“
Is the room okay?”

His breath brushed against the side of her face
as he leaned in. “It’s fine,” she whispered, her every nerve
conscious of his proximity. All she’d have to do is lean back to be
in his arms. If she turned her head, she could capture his mouth
with hers. Her breathing increased right along with her heart
rate.

Tilting her head to the side just enough to see
him from the corner of her eye, she caught him staring down at her.
The heat in his eyes dried her mouth. When she licked her lips, he
growled softly. The sound sent a tremor of desire shooting through
her body.

“
I should really try to sleep,” she
murmured.

He nodded. “You should.”

Neither of them moved for a long
moment.

Finally, she faced the room and pulled in a
long slow breath. She tried, again, to convince herself sleeping
with him now would be foolish. She was in no state to make a wise
decision about sex, and she was too old to go flying into bed with
a man just because he was hot and she wanted to forget for a few
hours. She had no idea what would happen in the next few days. The
complication of sex with Mitch was more than she could afford right
now.

Despite the rapid thump of her heart, she
forced out a quiet, “Goodnight.”

“
Goodnight. If you need me, I’m just
down the hall.”

Oh, good. Being reminded of that would really
help her sleep. With a silent groan, she firmly closed the bedroom
door between them.

Nila woke with a start. She squinted against
the pale light filtering into the room. For an instant, she didn’t
recognize her surroundings, then the whole horrible night came back
to her.

Well, not entirely horrible. Meeting Mitch was
almost worth the mess she was in.

She rose and opened the drapes, taking in the
thick woods on the side of the house. Sparkling sunshine reached
down through the branches, and a bright blue sky peeked out over
the green limbs.

Her mother was a tiger shapeshifter.

In the light of day, the idea seemed beyond
ridiculous. Thinking back, she could almost believe the
conversation with her father had been a dream. The supernatural
part of this mess was just a figment of her imagination. Mitch was
real. The kidnapping attempt had been real. But the
other…

It would explain a lot, though, she realized.
Her excellent eyesight and hearing. Her nighttime vision was much
better than those around her, and she always seemed to hear things
several seconds before others. Her sense of smell tended to be on a
par with pregnant women. She was also surprisingly strong for her
size—nothing superhuman, but she shocked people with the things she
was physically capable of doing. Being half tiger might also
explain her affinity for big cats, particularly tigers, and that
elusive something that drew her to the magnificent
animals.

But ordinary humans had that kind of draw to
certain animals, too. There was no reason to think there was
anything unusual about her connection to cats.

Her excellent senses were a little harder to
explain. Until now, she’d never thought much about them. None were
so extraordinary that they hinted at a link to a supernatural
creature. None of her differences were so extreme they made this
shapeshifter business believable.

So why the hell did she believe it?

Groaning, she dropped her head against the cool
window pane. What was she going to do? She had no idea how to deal
with these revelations. She wasn’t used to not knowing what to do.
The sensation was awful.

Straightening, she shook her arms and then
stretched them over her head until her spine popped, trying to work
out some of the building tension. First things first. Bathroom,
shower, and food. Then she and Mitch would come up with a plan. She
needed it to direct her through the next few days. With direction,
she could cope. Maybe in time, she’d learn to come to terms with
the truth about her mother. But that could happen later. Right now,
she just needed to take the next step and survive for another
day.

By the time she got downstairs, Mitch was
already in the kitchen. “Something smells good,” she
said.

He turned when she spoke and smiled. Nila’s
body reacted with a sharp thrust of lust. Her every nerve jumped
with need and anticipation. For a moment, all she could do was
stare. Early afternoon sunshine poured in through the windows, the
light bringing out the sharp hazel color of his eyes and the broad
cut of his features. He wore a t-shirt and jeans, nothing
particularly special, but on his exquisite physique, the simple
outfit was sexier than anything she’d ever seen a man wear. Her
stomach tightened as a wave of awareness moved through her.
Tingling chills covered her skin.

Get a grip, she told herself, breathing slowly
through her nose.
It’s not the first time you’ve seen a handsome
man.

Though she had to admit, she’d never met anyone
quite as attractive as Mitch. She wasn’t sure very many of them
existed in the world.

“
Are you hungry? I had some egg
substitute in the freezer and the basics for an omelet. Not nearly
as good without cheese, but I’m afraid it’ll have to do. There’s
bacon, which I know you don’t want but I’m having some, and since I
left a loaf of bread in the freezer, we even have
toast.”

“
I’m starved,” she said as she
leaned against the counter, remaining outside the open kitchen.
Safer to keep some distance between them.

“
Did the shower help with your
jetlag?” he asked without looking at her.

“
Felt great. So did brushing my
teeth.” She kept her toothbrush in her carry-on backpack
thankfully. “Could have used a change of clothes, but washing off
the grubby long haul travel feeling was nice.”

He flashed her a grin over his shoulder. “Sorry
I don’t have anything here that would fit you. We can stop for
fresh clothes on the way to our next stop.”

She nearly groaned in relief. “Thank you. I
really missed my duffle bag when I got out of the shower. Mostly,
it was filled with dirty clothes, but there were at least a few
clean t-shirts left.”

And clean underwear but she didn’t think
mentioning her underwear was a good idea. She definitely didn’t
want to admit she’d decided to go without after the shower. The
lack of that small, cotton barrier left her feeling a lot more
vulnerable than she would have expected. She’d rinsed out the
underwear she’d been wearing, but they’d take time to dry. In the
meantime, her current commando state was going to remain her little
secret.

As she watched Mitch move through the kitchen,
focused on the muscles flexing along his forearms and the sure
movements of his strong, sexy hands, she felt a thrill of wicked
lust that would no doubt get her into whole heaps of trouble if she
wasn’t careful.

“
Thanks for the eggs,” she said in
an attempt to distract herself from a fantasy of stripping him
naked and fucking him on the kitchen floor.

“
Pleasure. Not sure how you can go
without meat, though.”

“
You cook a lot?”

“
A bit. My older brother’s the chef
in the family.”

“
Really?”

“
We went for a few years eating a
lot of takeout—my uncle burned everything. I was too young to
notice or care. In fact, I barely remember it. But Nick got tired
of fast food and taught himself to cook.”

“
Wow. How old was he?”

“
Must have been about twelve at the
time, I guess. I was three when he started experimenting on us. We
had some interesting meals those first few years.”