Once Upon a Tiger (2 page)

“What? Elizaveta would never agree to that.” Elizaveta Chernikova, the only female elder, was also her sponsor as a Tracker. And the closest thing she had to a mother since her parents’ death.

“She was a dissenting voice,” Nick allowed. “But she was outvoted. You’ve avoided the Run for too long. Our people need you.”

“I serve our people. As a Tracker.”

“We need you to reproduce now.”

“I’m not just some walking womb,” she growled, her anger making the hair on her neck and arms stand up. She stepped to the edge of her porch. “There are other females. Find them and be happy. But I
will not run
.”

The four still in tiger form started stalking forward again. Victor lowered slightly on his haunches, preparing to leap. His silence was eerie amidst the other chuffs and low growls. The approaching tigers hesitated. Where their hormones made them brave with her, their instincts didn’t completely leave them when faced with Victor’s heavy silence.

She smiled at Nick. “I could take you all on my own. You know that. I’ve earned my reputation honestly.” She glanced down at Victor, then back at Nick. “But do you really want to face us both?”

“He’s damaged, defective. He’s not allowed to have you,” Nick spat. “He’s not allowed to run.”

“If you want a fight, you’ll get one, but I will not be coerced into mating. No matter what the elders say.” She looked him over. “You shouldn’t have pushed this, Nick. If I ever do decide I want a mate, you won’t even be considered.”

“We’ll see about that.”

He flashed her a smile she might have found attractive, even sexy, if she wasn’t so infuriated. But she wasn’t interested in Nick so just stared at him without reacting, waiting for him to decide his own fate.

The confident tilt of his mouth dropped into a slight frown. He glanced at Victor again, then back at her. Finally, he made a grunting noise and turned back toward the woods. The other tigers hesitated and then joined him, disappearing into the dark.

She waited for long moments, listening to their retreat. They went far enough that she could no longer sense or smell them. But she had no illusions they’d left for good. This was only the first day of her estrous. She had another two days to get through. If Nick was telling the truth and the elders had really given the males permission to force her into a run, she knew those two days wouldn’t be the quiet holiday she’d hoped for.

“Fucking Mate Run,” she muttered. Then looked at Victor.

He had turned toward her and sat patiently watching her. He was a beautiful tiger, his thick orange fur and black stripes lovely in the moonlight, his dark eyes large and serious. As a human, he was just as handsome and compelling. Something she was trying not to consider or think about.

She failed. She couldn’t stop imagining what he’d look like after he shifted, when he’d be beautifully nude and so deliciously close. This was only the second time she’d seen his tiger form, and she’d never been around when he shifted, so she’d never had the pleasure of seeing him without clothes. Right now, it was all she could think about. Her body pulsed with need, and every cell was focused on
him
. She’d resisted her attraction to him for so long. Years of denial were coming back to bite her on the ass. Her defenses were down, and having him here was trouble.

His full focus was on her, the attention giving her little shivers of awareness. Her stomach tightened as heat crawled through her body. She clenched her thigh muscles in an attempt to calm the rising ache between her legs. Damn it. He was the one tiger who could upend her every defense. Why the hell was he here?

She swallowed down the thick longing and forced herself to think.

They had to talk. He’d be able to tell her if the elders really had decided to force her to run. She was anxious to find out why he was here, too, when being around her during her estrous was so potentially dangerous.

Talking with Victor required something for him to write with, though. He was mute, not deaf. There’d been an attack of some kind when he was four, though she’d never talked with him about the details. Of all the stories about him, she wasn’t even sure which were true. All she knew was that he hadn’t spoken since the attack, so he only communicated with her in writing.

She could use the sign language she’d been secretly practicing for years. She’d seen him signing with his mother a couple of times and once with another male. He rarely signed in public, but knowing he could was enough to get her started on studying the language. She’d never actually used it with anyone, though, so she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to carry on a real conversation with Victor.

Which brought her to another worry. She had no idea how he’d feel about her signing with him. He seemed to use it so infrequently. Would he consider it an invasion of his privacy or maybe too personal if she just started signing with him? Admitting she could sign might give away her obsession with him. The idea of revealing that much left her feeling surprisingly shy and insecure. She didn’t know how Victor felt about her. Revealing her feelings now, when her estrous left her so vulnerable…

No. She wasn’t ready for the degree of intimacy signing would imply. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

She gestured to his huge paws. “You might as well shift so we can talk. Can’t write with those. I think I have a pad and pen inside.”

She went back into her home, giving him privacy to change, and herself a few minutes to calm her speeding heartbeat.

Chapter Two

To Alexis’ surprise, Victor was standing at her door only a few minutes later. She swallowed and tried not to stare. He was magnificent, muscled and lean, with just the right amount of hair covering his human body. The hard cut angles of his face should have made him look harsh but somehow he just looked more compelling. Black eyes, closely cut dark hair, and a sexy half-smile that made her stomach muscles tighten, all combined to send her heartbeat pounding.

She’d never been around Victor when she was in estrous. In fact, since coming to terms with the knowledge that her obsession with him could never lead to a future, she’d made an effort to never spend time alone with him. He was the head security technician at the elders’ compound, so they crossed paths regularly. But she tried making sure there were others around to keep her from doing something stupid.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t always been successful.

She flashed on a recent memory of literally bumping into him in a corridor at the compound when she’d been too deep in thought to notice her surroundings. He’d held her arms while she caught her balance. The contact sent shivers of desire shooting through her body, forcing her to step back as soon as she could, then apologized.

He pulled a notebook from the back pocket of his dark jeans and wrote,
You okay?

“Fine. The job I’m heading out on has me…” She shrugged. “It’s a tough one.”

A friend?

“No. Nothing like that.” She made the mistake of looking up to finish and got momentarily caught in the deep darkness of his steady gaze. Her stomach danced in giddy delight even as her heart tightened. Swallowing, she said, “The tiger I’m going after has something wrong with him. He’s started stalking children.”

Human or tiger?

“Human.”

Dangerous.

“Exactly.” Dangerous to their people if he were discovered by the humans. Also dangerous for her as her target couldn’t possibly be sane if he was hunting kids.

Has he hurt any yet?

“No. Fortunately. He came close twice, though. I have to find him soon.”

Do you want help?

She straightened. No one offered to help her. Not since she’d taken the Tracker oath. But he looked serious. And beneath the façade he normally wore, she sensed a hard core of intensity only a stupid person would challenge. His silence was intimidating enough, but for the first time, she saw a dangerous edge to him.

And he was offering to help her. The gesture touched her in ways she wouldn’t have expected. Suddenly, she was aware of just how alone they were and just how desperately she wanted him.

“I’ll be fine.” Even as she said this, her heartbeat quickened and she had trouble speaking above a whisper.

I know. But if you need me, I’m here.

Her pulse pounded loud in her ears as she read. Could he hear it? Did he realize just how much she needed him—just not for the hunt? She found herself staring at his mouth. The urge to lean in and taste him overwhelmed her.

Alexis blinked back the memory and realized she was once again staring at Victor’s mouth. This time, there was no one around to interrupt them and keep her from giving in to the years of wanting. During that previous meeting, a member of his security tech team had required his attention and he’d hurried away, leaving her breathless. She’d brought in the rogue tiger with a little more aggression than she might have normally. And then she’d taken herself off to her retreat here in the mountains to wallow in the frustration of having to resist the only man she wanted.

Now Victor was here. No one between them. And her hormones were making things infinitely worse.

His being naked did
not
help her control either—which was hanging on by a very tiny, thin thread.

She motioned to her bedroom. “I’m sure I’ve got something in there big enough to fit you.” She generally kept a few spare things on hand for the Chernikov brothers, the only males allowed in her territory. Victor would fit into the oldest boy’s clothes.

He nodded and strolled easily through her small living room to the large bedroom that took up the left side of her cabin.

To keep from staring at his ass, she turned to the fireplace and stoked the flames. They didn’t need the heat. It wasn’t all that chilly—especially for her kind, with their high metabolisms—but she didn’t like using her generator in the evening when she didn’t need it, so the fire was the only light in the room. Any light was better than being in the dark with Victor. Darkness forgave mistakes. In the dark, it was easy to pretend she could have him. If she allowed herself any room to act, she’d follow him into her bedroom and take advantage of his nakedness.

He was forbidden by the elders from taking a mate, though. And she was in estrous. If she fucked him now, she risked getting pregnant—and bringing down the wrath of the elders on them both.

She stared at her open bedroom door. She couldn’t do that to him. Or rather, she didn’t want to do that to him. Right now, it was hard for her to think beyond the need to have him.

Why the hell was he here?

She pulled in a deep breath in an attempt to calm her racing heartbeat only to get hit with his distinct and delicious scent. Damn but the man smelled good. Musk, male, a hint of something earthy, and that impossible to describe mix of pheromonal “spices” that flavored her tongue and infused her senses.

She was so much more sensitive to him right now. Damn it. Why, why, why was he here?

Her acutely sensitive ears picked up the sound of material slipping over his body as he got dressed. Oh, that was too much to deal with. She went to a nearby table, snatched out a pen, then went hunting for some paper. She finally found an old notebook tucked in between her collection of paperbacks on the bookshelf outside her bedroom door.

Victor walked out just as she recovered the pad, so she shoved it and the pen into his hands and turned her back on him. He wore a pair of cargo pants and a flannel shirt. He was about the sexiest looking man she’d ever seen. Clenching her jaw to keep from jumping him, she hurried to the open kitchen on the opposite side of the living room.

“You want something to drink?” She made a face when she realized he couldn’t answer if she wasn’t looking at him, then looked over her shoulder.

He smiled and nodded.

“Beer?”

He shook his head.

“Water? The only thing I have besides water is diet soda. And tea. But I’ll have to boil the kettle.”

He flipped open the notebook, jotted down something and crossed to show her his answer.

“Water it is, then,” she said. It was embarrassing how fast she rushed away from him.

She stayed quiet while she got his drink, coming to terms with the fact that she was going to have to sit close to him so they could communicate. Her eyesight was good, but she couldn’t read his notes from all the way across the room without it being awkward. And obvious.

Blowing out a breath, she faced him and gestured to the couch. He sat and accepted the glass. She stood for a minute too long before finally settling next to him.

“Okay. Why are you here?” She asked the question she’d been repeatedly asking herself. “If it’s because the elders have said I have to run…” She trailed off, leaving an underlying threat unspoken, because she couldn’t bring herself to tell him an outright lie—that she wouldn’t give in to him either. She would, if he pushed. But she still had no intention of running, so her threat wasn’t entirely hollow.

He smiled, slow and sexy, then set the water aside, and wrote,
I’m not allowed to run
.

She frowned. She knew that. It didn’t mean he wouldn’t try something. And he might have if he was any other tiger. But this was Victor. Controlled, self-contained, mysterious and so, so hard to resist.

“Fine. Then why are you here?”

I thought you might need help.

Again offering her help. A warm, soft feeling suffused her. “You knew they’d try to make me run?”

As soon as the elders told Nick you weren’t allowed to avoid it any longer.

“It’s true then? They really said I have to run?”

He nodded.

“So, they basically sicced Nick on me? Rather than send someone I might trust to let me know, they sent a group of males to force the Run on me without the decency of warning me?”

They did think you’d trust Nick since he’s a Tracker. I got the impression they were afraid you’d go into hiding and not even give the Run a chance if you were warned before your estrous.