“I think they’re here for you.”
He smiled as his two brothers pressed up against the glass. They stood on their hind legs. Big paws sliding over the smooth surface, long tongues hanging out. They were so adorable and goofy, she found it hard to believe they were deadly predators.
Nik snarled and bared his fangs. After responding growls, the two brothers ran off.
“I’ll be back soon.” He kissed her and Angie’s body throbbed to life. She didn’t want him to go. She never wanted him to leave. She never wanted to leave.
Nik pulled back slightly, his lips still against hers. “The spaghetti was great, by the way.”
Spaghetti? “Uh…thanks.”
“Now what are you going to do while I’m gone?”
Masturbate until my hand falls off? “Shower. Sleep. Put the dishes in the sink so you can wash ’em later.”
His lips smiled against hers. “Good. But don’t get yourself off.”
“What?” Oh, God! The hillbilly can read minds. Damn witch one-eyed grandma genes!
“You heard me, sugar. Don’t you dare make yourself come.” He rubbed his mouth against hers. “That’s my job now.”
Gee. What’s that puddle at Nik’s feet? Why, that’s Angie Santiago. She used to be an ice princess, now she’s just a sopping mess.
“Ya hear?” Funny how controlled he sounded. ’Cause he didn’t feel like he had any control. He felt like if this woman twitched even once, he’d come all over the floor.
Oh that would be classy, Nik.
“Yeah. Yeah.”
He let her go before she squirmed in his arms and he lost it. But he did give her a quick kiss on her neck. “Good.”
He walked out, slamming into the two idiots right outside the house. He barely had time to shift before they tackled him. Nik knocked them both off, batting them with his paws. Christ, you’d think they’d grown out of this. But clearly they hadn’t.
Knowing he would make this patrol the shortest of his lifetime, Nik charged off into the woods, his brothers barely pacing him.
Chapter Fourteen
Angie stepped out of the shower, grabbing one of the towels. She couldn’t believe this. Horny as she was, she couldn’t bring herself to jack off.
What had the man done to her?
She always controlled every relationship she’d ever been in. To the point where one ex-boyfriend referred to her as his “Nazi girlfriend”. Rude, but accurate.
Quickly drying off, she yanked a big T-shirt over her head, and started pacing.
Exactly how long was “back soon” anyway? She didn’t know how much longer she could wait. Not known for her patience, Angie was ready to go track her tiger down.
Yeah, brilliant, Angie. Go wandering in the woods wearing nothing but a T-shirt, screaming, “I’m ready to get fucked now, Nik!”
Instead of that daring plan, Angie turned out the lights in her room and wandered out onto the balcony. She rested against the railing, looking down at the woods, but seeing nothing except the outline of pine trees and tall grass. A cool breeze chilled her, but she didn’t want to go to bed. Alone.
So, instead, she sighed.
Nik skidded to a sliding, slipping halt. His big paws tearing up the leaf-covered ground. A good mile away from the house, he still heard that damn sigh of hers. And the wind brought her lust-filled scent down to him, stopping him in his tracks.
Her scent triggered something in him. Something primal and dangerous. Something he couldn’t contain or control. And, apparently, neither could his brothers. They charged past him, heading back toward the house. Back toward Angelina.
Angie watched them tumble out of the woods. She couldn’t tell from where she stood on the balcony, which tiger was which. And, at first, she couldn’t tell if they were playing or not.
It took her less than a minute to figure out they weren’t playing.
Two tigers headed toward the house, a third, moving faster than anything she’d seen before, came up behind them. He slashed the hind quarter of one. Tackled the other, sinking his teeth into the back of its neck.
They rolled, the one on top eventually flinging the other away. Now, thoroughly wounded, two tigers limped off. Back into the woods and away from Nik’s house. The other spun around and faced Angie. She stepped back from the balcony. She still had no idea which one this was.
He took a step, then leaped, easily clearing the railing. Angie stumbled back inside. Slowly, he moved toward her, a low, low growl rumbling through the room. Angie held one hand up in front of her. Oh, yeah, Ang. That’ll work.
She took another step back. And another. “Nice kitty.” He snarled and even in the darkness she could see those white fangs. She wondered where the hell she’d left that goddamn baseball bat. If she had it, she could at least go down fighting.
The tiger kept moving forward, even as he pulled himself up onto his hind legs. Even as his white and orange fur receded back into his body, and his black stripes became the hair on his head.
Nik backed her up until she slammed into the wall, the door a good ten feet away. He slammed both of his hands against the wall, bracketing either side of her head. She stared up at him. His gold eyes still tiger’s eyes, his big fangs still visible.
“Nik?”
He closed his eyes. She could see his desperate fight to keep control and she marveled at the energy it took for him to go this far. His fangs receded back into his mouth.
He forced a smile. “I’m going to be okay.”
“You weren’t okay?”
Nik shook his head. “Not for you. No.”
What the hell did that mean? She reached up to touch his face, but Nik reared back. “No!” He took another breath. “I wouldn’t do that right now.”
“Dude, what are you doing?”
“Trying to keep control.”
“Why?” He stared at her like she’d grown horns. “What?”
He leaned into her and just as quickly pulled back. His body shaking, he groaned, “This isn’t what I wanted. Not for us.”
Finally, she understood. If he fucked her now, it wouldn’t be all slow and delicious and Nik in total control. It would be animal fucking, only with two humans.
She remembered when she visited Sara the first time. In the middle of the night, she came down to the kitchen for a bottle of water and discovered Sara and Zach using the kitchen table, most likely not in the way Lou’s Furniture Outlet intended. She didn’t linger, wanting to give her friends their privacy, but she witnessed enough to know animal fucking when she saw it. Raw. Dirty. Rough.
Score!
“Oh, dude, this could totally work!”
“Angie,” he actually whined.
“Nik,” she whined back.
“You need to go.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Now!”
Frustrated as all hell, she slipped under his arm, and stormed out.
She had to be the craziest damn female he’d ever known in his entire life and if she hadn’t left that second, she’d be the most thoroughly fucked one, too.
Nik leaned his head against the wall and let out a sigh of relief. He’d explain everything to her tomorrow. As soon as he could manage, he would call Kisa and she’d take Angie back to her place.
By tomorrow he’d have complete control of himself. He wouldn’t be like this. Out-of-control Tiger-Nik. He wanted to seduce Angelina Santiago. Not fuck her up against the wall.
Well…he did want to do that eventually, but not right off the bat.
Nik heard a door open and he snapped to attention. What the hell? She hadn’t left. She was in his room. He could hear her moving around, muttering to herself and slamming drawers.