Sex Me Down (9 page)

Tianna Xander and Bonnie Rose Leigh

to keep an eye on her.

Why had the Lady Goddess chosen her? It must be a mistake. That was the only explanation that made sense. Her shoulders sagged. She shook her head in defeat. “You’re wrong. I’m not your mate. I’m nobody. I’m just a plain sparrow amidst a sea of pure doves.” She knew she was neither brave, nor beautiful. She didn’t have the courage to mate with these males.

The sound of an indrawn breath, accompanied by the tiger’s withdrawal, was all the proof she needed that the men agreed with her. Defeated, she lowered her head, squeezing her eyes closed as she tried to stifle the tears she could feel welling in her eyes.

Laynee flinched when a ferocious growl echoed eerily throughout her home. What now?

“What did you say,
Tigerian,
to make our mate say such a thing? What did you do to her?”

Raising her head, she watched them circle each other. The white tiger would lunge toward Dare’s brother and he’d retreat. What should she do?

Should she get between them, or try to get away?

Tell him to leave now if he wants to live.
By the Lady Goddess, why was she hearing the tiger’s voice in her mind? She’d only ever shared such a connection with one other, her twin sister. If she could hear him, could he hear her? She wouldn’t know until she tried. Swallowing past 16

Sex Me Down

her fear, she focused her thoughts toward the tiger.
Can you hear me?

Of course, I can hear you, mate.
Knowing that at any minute the two could come to blows, Laynee began to scoot back, away from the still circling pair. Once she was far enough away that neither could reach her easily, only then did she turn her gaze toward Dare’s brother. She needed to get him out of here, both of them out of here. She was not what they wanted—

what they needed for a mate. “He wants you to leave.”

As fierce as the tiger looked, as big as he was and knowing what kind of damage he could do, she didn’t expect the man’s reaction. Rather than move a safe distance away, he laughed, closing the distance between him and the beast.

“Never. You are my mate and I won’t be made to walk away from you. Not by him.” His gaze flickered quickly to her before he once again focused on the enraged tiger. “And not by you either,
natoya
.”

Laynee gasped. How had he known what she’d been thinking? “You must leave, both of you. This is all a big misunderstanding. You don’t even know why or how you got here.”

The man snorted, dodged out of the way of the tiger’s swiping paw. “Of course I know why I’m here. My own brother mated your twin. How 17