Trusting the Tiger: BBW Tiger Shifter Paranormal Romance (5 page)

CHAPTER FOUR

JACK

Jack wheeled the two mountain bikes to the start of the path where he had agreed to meet Toni. His own bike was a few years old, and had been hardly used during those years. He’d had to dig around in the garage to find it, hidden behind old boxes and building equipment. It had been so long since he’d been in the Silver Forest for any purpose, let alone to use the bike paths, that he’d wondered if it would still be in working condition. But, a few minutes with the tire pump and oil and it had been as good as new.

Well … not quite. Because sitting right next to his bike was Toni’s
actually
new bike. He had called into town and had it delivered first thing that morning, a top-of-the-line machine that gleamed in the sunlight. Next to it, ‘good as new’ looked more than a bit shabby.

Jack moved the bikes a bit further apart, but the difference between the two rigs was still clear. Toni’s was obviously shop-new.

Too fast
, he told himself.
She’s going to realize you bought it especially for her. You’re going to scare her off!

He wondered if he should ding the bike up a bit before Toni got here—maybe kick some dust on it to get the shine off. Before he could do any of that, his tiger sat up and purred.

She’s here!

“Toni,” he greeted her, holding out his hand. She took it with a smile and he felt as though a bolt of lightning went straight from his hand to his groin.
Take her
, his tiger growled.
Make her yours!

I’m already worried the bike is going to scare her off
, he argued.
YOU’RE NOT HELPING.

It wasn’t only his tiger that had reacted to Toni’s presence. He felt an indescribable urge just to touch her, to stay close to her; and the slight furrow between her eyebrows only made his protective instinct stronger.

It was bugging him, that instinct. De Jager hadn’t made any further appearances, and no one had reported sighting him, so Jack figured he had just been passing through, not staying in the campground after all. And yet his tiger was still on the alert for danger.

It was probably because it had been so long since he shifted, Jack decided. He always got antsy if he had to spend long stretches of time in human form, and the last few months had been so busy with work he hadn’t been able to spend any time in tiger form. This heightened awareness must be a result of his tiger being so eager to be let loose.

Soon
, he told it reassuringly.
Maybe tonight. Unless…

NOW,
his tiger demanded. And that wasn’t all. It insisted that the optimum course of action would be to literally gather Toni and the twins together and growl threateningly at anyone who came near … but even if there was a real threat, that wasn’t the sort of thing you could do as a human. And for Toni, he had to be a human.

Jack motioned toward the bikes. “There’s this one place I really want you to see, but it’s a bit far to walk. I hope you don’t mind riding. I had to guess at the right size bike for you, but I think this one should be fine.”
If it isn’t, I’ll get you another one
, he did
not
add.

Toni’s eyes went wide, and Jack readied a handful of sentences, most of which began,
Oh this old thing? No, it’s … really old, yep … what a coincidence it’s the right size for you, eh?

On second thought, he threw all of those sentences into his mental trash can.

“I’m…” Toni bit her lower lip. “I’m not a very confident cyclist. I mean, I learned when I was younger, but you’d have to be suicidal to cycle anywhere in my city…” She trailed off as Jack picked up a gleaming helmet – forget-me-not blue, it perfectly matched the bike’s paint job – and brought it over to her.

“You’ll be fine,” he reassured her. “This is the smoothest, flattest path in the park. No jumps, no ravines, just following the river up to the perfect picnic spot.” He saw her eyes flick to the pack he wore on his back. “Best of all, it’s in the opposite direction to where Karen is taking the kids today. So you don’t need to worry about bowling anyone over.”

“Or being bowled over myself, more likely.” Toni bit her bottom lip, still staring nervously at the bikes. Then she squared her shoulders and grinned at Jack. “Or falling off without any help from anyone, but what the hell. Let’s go!”

Toni’s smile sent a shock of heat through Jack’s body. He couldn’t just
see
Toni’s heady rush of excitement; he could feel it unfurling deep inside himself.

Was this another part of the mate bond? It was as though a tiny, precious part of his mate’s soul was lodged inside him, glowing like a sun in his chest. He could feel they were distinctly
hers
, separate from his own feelings, but as he focused on them he felt the same excitement fill his own body.

With fingers made clumsy by joy, Jack fitted Toni’s helmet on her head, adjusting the straps so that it fit closely over her tumbling curls.

This close, he could smell her skin under the masking smells of shampoo and deodorant, beneath the florals, a warm, musky scent that went straight to his head. And to other places. Jack stepped back and cleared his throat, hoping she wouldn’t notice the sudden bulge in his trousers.

He held Toni’s bike steady for her as she mounted it – she still hadn’t said anything about how new it looked, so hopefully she hadn’t even noticed – and then they were off, cruising slowly under the dappled shade of the trees.

The path was wide enough for the two of them to ride side-by-side. They rode along in silence, Jack not wanting to disturb Toni’s concentration as she tested out the bike’s gears and brakes.  He was still glowing with the discovery of this new side of the mate bond, the deep connection he felt with her. Did she feel it, too?

He couldn’t help glancing sideways at her. Toni was still getting used to the bike … probably because her attention was clearly elsewhere. Jack’s heart raced as he saw her shooting sideways glances back at him. More than once he caught Toni’s eye as their glances intersected and left her blushing.

The path sloped gently down through the forest. The human noise of the camping grounds faded away and was replaced by birdsong and the faint noise of moving water somewhere in the distance.

“Did Lexi and Felix get away okay this morning?” he asked as Toni started to relax on her bike.

“Oh, yes,” Toni replied, wobbling a little. She steadied herself and continued, “I think all the racing around they did yesterday only left them with
more
energy today. I hope Karen and the coaches will be able to keep up with them.” She sounded as though she had her doubts.

“Karen will be fine,” Jack reassured her. “You know she punched a bear once?”

“No!”

“Well, a papier-mâché bear. It snuck up on her…”

Jack told the story with enough dramatic embellishments that Toni was soon giggling helplessly. He thrilled as her bubbling joy was reflected in his own heart – then felt a sickening swoop of vertigo.

Toni suddenly swerved and fell sideways, just sticking her foot out in time to stop herself falling over. She hopped along for a few feet, then regained her balance.

“Argh! Okay, no more funny stories.” She laughed. “I think I can
just
handle the bike and talking at the same time, but laughing is a step too far.”

A shadow passed over her face. Jack didn’t need the mate bond to follow the path of her thoughts. Joking was out, so what would they talk about? Something more serious, and what was the first thing that would come to mind?

De Jager.

“Come on,” he said softly. “We’re almost at the picnic spot. I promise, no more jokes.”

Toni swung herself back on to the bike and smiled. “Oh, I don’t know … It makes it more of a challenge, doesn’t it? Like an obstacle course where the obstacles are my own inability to ride in a straight line.”

They carried on down the path, but although she kept up a brave front, Jack could tell that even the thought of de Jager had shaken her. The glow in his heart was dulled, cautious. Afraid.

Jack’s tiger growled in frustration. From its point of view, de Jager was worse than a competitor. He was an enemy who made Jack’s mate feel unsafe. Jack could feel his tiger growing unhappier the longer Jack allowed the enemy to roam free in their territory.

There’s nothing I can do about
it, Jack insisted.
The man may be a waste of oxygen, but he hadn’t done anything wrong. Even if he turns up again, the most I can do is throw him off my land.

Even thinking the words left a bad taste in Jack’s mouth. He hated that even the thought of de Jager could affect Toni so badly, and that there was nothing he could do about it.

You know what you should do!
his tiger roared.

Jack’s hands fumbled on the handlebars, and he looked down to see orange and black fur sprouting from his fingers, claws starting to flex. He hurriedly drew himself consciously back into his human body, focusing on human things: the feel of clothes on his body, his awareness of the careful engineering that went into making the bike ride so smooth, the prospect of unpacking the picnic later—

—Toni—

He shook his head and looked down again. His hands were, well, hands again. He flexed his fingers carefully over the handlebars, adjusting his grip, and glanced guiltily sideways to see if Toni had noticed. She was glaring down at the road in front of them, wobbling slightly, and didn’t appear to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. He gave a quiet sigh of relief.

You’re NOT helping,
he growled silently to his tiger.

The last thing he wanted was for Toni to turn around and think he’d been devoured by a mysteriously-appearing big cat. Which – Jack knew his limits when it came to shifting – would probably be wearing the ripped remains of his shorts and t-shirt.

No. Toni had enough on her mind. Today would definitely benefit from a complete absence of mysteriously-appearing, clothes-stealing giant tigers.

CHAPTER FIVE

TONI

Yes, it was a very smooth, gentle path.

Yes, her bike was perfectly sized for her, with the sort of suspension she wasn’t used to even cars having, let alone bicycles.

Yes, she had discovered that if she just pointed herself in a direction and stared fixedly at, for example, a tree or particularly lovely patch of flowers in a straight line ahead of her, the bike would seemingly automatically head along that trajectory.

But…

Toni hadn’t been exaggerating when she told Jack she wasn’t a confident cyclist. She technically knew
how
to ride a bike, but it was taking most of her attention just to stay upright and headed in a straight line. Which was a problem, because her mind was constantly, ridiculously, gravitating unstoppably toward the incredibly handsome man riding next to her. Which meant, due to her follow-your-nose cycling style, she kept swooping sideways as though her bike was determined to mash up its wheels and chain with his.

For the eighth time (ninth? She was beginning to lose track) Toni snapped her eyes back on to the track in front of her and tried to steady herself before she careened into Jack.

Just as she had gotten steady again, he called out to her to stop. She pulled on the brakes, wobbled precariously back and forth for a few seconds, and then her weight overbalanced the bike and she began to tip over. She stuck out one foot to land on the dirt path —

—and found herself, for the second time in two days, in Jack Silver’s arms.

“I’ve got you,” he said, in the sort of voice that Toni knew would have caused a collision if she had still been on her bike. She hopped awkwardly on her one grounded foot and swung her other leg over the bike, which Jack grabbed and wheeled to the side of the track. He looked back at her and grinned.

“We’re going to go a bit off-road here. There’s a place I want you to see.”

She rubbed her neck and followed Jack through the trees. Her bike might have had incredible suspension, but what the ride had lacked in bone-cracking jolts, her body had more than made up for in tight muscles.

There wasn’t any path here, but Jack moved easily through the forest. Dappled sunlight lit his broad shoulders and bare arms as he held branches out of Toni’s way, and she tried not to stare. The faint sound of rushing water became louder. Was there a river ahead? She imagined relaxing in the cool water, letting all the tension in her muscles wash away … and maybe Jack would go for a swim, too…

Her attention wandering, Toni almost tripped over a tree root. Jack stopped and looked back at her.

“Are you okay?”

Toni blushed.
Only so distracted by the thought of you without that shirt on that I’m tripping over my own feet,
she thought, embarrassed. Out loud, she mumbled, “Um, yeah, no problem.”

It was hard to judge distance in the forest, but Toni guessed they must have made their way at least a few hundred yards off-track before they arrived at a thick cluster of trees. Jack darted ahead of her, moving confidently across the uneven ground, and pulled aside a fall of mossy branches.

“Oh, that’s … it’s beautiful,” Toni gasped, taken unawares.

She had thought the forest was lovely, but the scene revealed behind the thicket of trees was like something from a calendar. The ferns and leaf-mold gave way to smooth gray stones as the ground sloped toward the river. She immediately saw the source of the sound of rushing water. A few yards upstream, the river cascaded down in a miniature waterfall, sending rainbow arcs of spray into the air. Below the waterfall, the river widened into a broad, still pool. Sunlight poured in through a gap in the trees and set everything glittering.

Toni walked forward, drunk on the sheer natural beauty of the hidden grotto.

She turned back, open-mouthed. Jack stood in front of the thicket, grinning proudly. She could see that the trees she had walked through hid this place completely from outside view, and they were far enough from the bike path that they couldn’t hear any sign of other people. She could almost believe they were completely alone in the forest.

“It’s just … beautiful,” she repeated, knowing the word didn’t go nearly far enough to describe the place.

Jack ducked his head, although the proud grin still stretched across his face. “I found this spot before I bought Silver Forest. I think it’s what finally convinced me to buy the land. The rest of the forest is great, but this…” He looked down again, as though he was embarrassed. “It’s something special. I wanted to share it with you.”

Toni’s eyes widened.
Share it with her?

She’d tried to tell herself that Jack was just being friendly by inviting her out today. She’d even wondered if he just felt sorry for her, being left on her own in the campground. But there was no pity in Jack’s eyes as he glanced up at her.

No matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise, the more she thought about it, this whole thing seemed more like … a
date
.

Now there was a word so rusty it creaked. It wasn’t that Toni had given up on romance in the past few years, but the few times she had met up with online-dating matches probably couldn’t rightly be labelled ‘dates’. ‘Disasters’, yes, but…

A soft breeze floated along the riverbank, ruffling Jack’s hair. He was busily unpacking his backpack, and Toni let her gaze fall to his face. The strong, square jaw, softened by the gentle curve of his mouth. She wondered whether his lips were as soft as they looked.

“What do you think?” Jack asked.

Toni had been so focused on Jack himself that she hadn’t noticed what he was unpacking. She had assumed they’d be eating sandwiches, but lined up on the riverbank were piles of expensive-looking boxes of food, utensils, and – a half-sized bottle of champagne?

Toni gulped.

This was
definitely
a date.

She walked slowly over to Jack, trying not to show how amazed she was – by the location, the food,
and
the … date.

Unfortunately she was aware she was blushing far too much to make that believable.

“I didn’t realize this was
that
sort of picnic,” she said, pointing at the champagne. Jack’s face fell. “I didn’t – I mean – I’m not complaining. You know. If it is, um, that sort of picnic.”

She blushed. More. In fact she was beginning to think that if Jack had packed marshmallows and crackers, he could have cooked s’mores on her cheeks.

Jack was looking down at the feast spread in front of him as though he had suddenly realized he had got things horribly wrong. “Toni, I’m sorry. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. This is too much, you’re right, we should go back—”

Toni sat down in front of him. The smooth river stones shifted under her, making a comfortable hollow for her to settle into. She looked across at Jack, aware her face was still burning. “No, this is fine. It’s more than fine. Really.”

She was surprised by how true that was. She felt confident that Karen and the other competent adults she had left Lexi and Felix with would look after the kids. And she had, after all, been looking forward to a little innocent flirtation.

Though maybe the champagne meant the flirtation wasn’t going to be
that
innocent…

She noticed, absently, that Jack’s eyes had taken on the same golden cast she thought she had seen the day before when he was walking through the clearing. Did he always have a gold ring around his pupils, or was it only when the sun caught his eyes?

Toni realized she had been staring into Jack’s eyes long enough that, now that she had noticed what she was doing, it became awkward. She looked away and her own eyes fell upon the unopened packages in front of Jack.

“What have we got here?” she asked, then cleared her throat. Her voice had gone all rough, and her mouth was suddenly dry. She licked her lips and glanced up to see Jack still watching her, his eyes glowing gold.

Jack stretched out his legs and leaned over, his previous moment of uncertainty dropping away. He looked across as her with a teasing smile, brown – golden-brown – eyes sparkling.

“I wasn’t sure what you would like, so I ordered … most of the menu, actually. Pastries, cold cuts, fruit … and the champagne,” he added. He smiled up at her as he poured her a glass, and all she could think about was the taste of his lips. She hadn’t noticed before how enticingly the corners of his mouth curved up when he smiled.

“Here,” he said, passing her a champagne flute, “to celebrate your first weekend at Silver Forest.”

The words
the first of many
slunk into Toni’s head. She pushed them away.
Where did that come from?

To cover her distraction, she took a sip of champagne. The bubbles fizzed against her lips and she took another, slower sip, trying to gather her thoughts.

“This is wonderful, she said truthfully. “And everything smells delicious.” Now that the packages were out of the chilled pack, tantalizing scents were beginning to fill the air.

“What would you like to try first?” Jack asked, grinning happily. He picked up one of the containers and began to unwrap it.

“Wait,” Toni said quickly, “I want to choose.”

Jack laughed. “Without seeing what’s in them?”

“Exactly.” Toni licked her lips, which were still tingling. She ran her hands over the packages – stiff containers, little jars, mysterious items wrapped in sandwich paper and tape. Her eyes gleamed. “I pick something, and that’s what we eat first. Maybe it’s pastries, maybe it’s dessert … I want to be surprised.”

“Then go ahead,” Jack said, spreading his hands. “I leave our meal in your hands.”

Toni examined the pile of hidden treats. She picked up a cardboard box and inhaled deeply. “Mmm … I smell bready, crusty goodness…”

“The croissants?” Jack said hopefully.

Toni smiled slowly and set the box down.

“Be patient!”

She picked up a small, plastic container and felt its contents move as she lifted it. Small objects, not very heavy, shifted and settled as she held the package to her nose. Oh, yes.

“You know, this is the first picnic I’ve been on this summer,” she said, pulling off the lid. “So I think we should start with … summer berries.”

She revealed a basket of bright, juicy berries. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and…

“What are these?” she wondered, plucking out one of the bright orange, raspberry-like berries.

“Those are cloudberries,” Jack explained. “So called because of their resemblance to, er, clouds.”

“Ah, yes,” Toni murmured. “Clouds are famously yellow, of course.” She popped the berry into her mouth. “Oh, that’s tart!”

“Here,” Jack said, putting his hand into the basket. “Something sweet to cut the taste.” He held out a bright red strawberry.

Toni started to reach for it, then paused. She didn’t like to assume, but he was holding the berry up a bit higher than was necessary for him to pass it to her. A bit closer to her mouth, in fact.

She leaned forward. The scent of the strawberry filled her nose, the sweet, fresh smell she had always associated with summer. And these berries looked so much better than any she ever saw in the stores back home. She opened her mouth.

The strawberry was delicious. It was, as she had expected, the best strawberry she had ever eaten. It definitely cut through the tartness of the cloudberry, just as Jack had said.

She barely noticed it.

Her lips closed around the red berry and just brushed against the tips of Jack’s fingers. Skin met warm skin and a jolt of heat burst from Toni’s lips directly to between her legs. She moaned – quietly, she had thought, but evidently not quietly enough. She met Jack’s eyes and knew he had heard her.

“Another?” he asked softly, his voice husky with desire. Toni’s whole body ached at the sound of his voice, his clear longing. It was as though that one touch had set off a fire inside her, and only the feel of his hands on her could quench it.

Or inflame it more.

“Yes,” she whispered. She blindly plucked another berry from the basket and, hand trembling, lifted it to his lips.

Jack kissed her fingers, and caught the blueberry between his teeth. Toni leaned toward him as he looked up, eyes burning gold under heavy lids. He pressed his lips against hers, crushing the berry between them. Juice burst against Toni’s teeth as she pushed hungrily into him, deepening the kiss.

Jack moved over her, cradling her head in one hand. Toni gasped as his other hand slid up the side of her body, his touch tantalizingly gentle.

Something cold landed on her shoulder. She broke the kiss and looked down, disconcerted. A plump, pink raspberry was nestled on her collarbone.

“Hmm,” Jack murmured. “Where did that come from?” He trailed kisses down her neck and kissed off the berry, carefully licking away all traces of juice. “Mmm. That’s better.”

Toni lay back on the smooth river stones, feeling them shift under her. Jack moved with her, covering her body with his. He was hot against her, the heat of his body burning through their clothes. He lowered himself further to nuzzle her collarbone and she felt the hard shaft of his erection press again her leg.