Big Cat Mates Tiger Byte (4 page)

“Chaos.” Nikhil pushed his feet off the tiled floor, spinning their chair while filling her pussy with thick cock. “This is chaos.” The screens and lights and colors streamed around them faster and faster as they fucked, the chair squealing, their combined weight stressing the base.

“And wild.” Sweat trickled down Violet’s spine, her body warm, so very warm. “You’re wild for me.” Claws pricked her hips, Nikhil’s savage grip bruising her skin. She gazed into his eyes, his intense, unblinking perusal serving as the center, the constant in a swirling, out-of-control world.

“Only for you.” He grinned, displaying sharp white teeth.

Violet trembled, teetering on the edge. “Bite me, Nikhil.” She tilted her head back, pressing her breasts against his unrelenting chest, offering her neck to him. “Bite me.”

A growl rose from deep inside his throat, primitive and feral and possessive. He reared back and drove forward, ramming his cock into her beleaguered pussy and closing his mouth over her neck, breaking skin, breaking her.

“Yes!” she screamed, the pain severing her last remaining thread of sanity. A rush of sound, of sensation, swept over her, spinning her into a vortex.

Nikhil thrust once, twice more into the whirlwind, and he stiffened, dousing her madness, filling her pussy with hot cum, the deluge setting off another round of blissful bedlam.

“Madness.” Violet laughed, leaning backward and flinging her arms behind her, giddy with the euphoria of loving this powerful male, trusting him to hold her.

Nikhil rested his head between her breasts, his lips pressing against her skin, his breath hot and fast. “This
is
madness.” He chuckled.

Three days later, Nikhil placed a cup of tea on a mismatched saucer.
Chaos
. A smile curled his lips, contentment settling low in his soul.

The screen built into the refrigerator flashed red, and his phone buzzed against his hip.
Gaur
. “Bruce!”

The big bear rushed into the kitchen. “The east gate has been breached, boss. There are four males, heavily armed, wearing protective clothing.” The floor shook and dishes rattled, the freshly steeped tea sloshing over the brim of the cup. Bruce tapped his earpiece. “They’ve blasted the front door.” He pulled his gun. “Are you coming, boss?”

Prey
. Nikhil’s inner tiger howled, eager to hunt Gaur. He turned his head and gazed at the door to his lair, as Violet called it. His mate was sequestered inside the room, distributing her harmless form of anarchy remotely, keeping the Internet gods honest.

“She should be safe, boss,” Bruce assured him.

Should be safe
. The need to hunt warred with the need to protect. “I can’t take the chance.” Nikhil patted the big male’s shoulder. “Shoot to kill. Gaur won’t hesitate to take your life.”

Bruce nodded and rushed toward the front door. Nikhil suppressed the desire to chase him, controlling his animal, and he strode purposefully forward.

The door to the temperature-regulated lair was open. Smoke drifted along the floor.
Violet
. Nikhil’s body temperature dropped, fear twisting his stomach. His claws broke skin, his body preparing for the impending battle.

The floor shook again, and the rooms were plunged into darkness. Nikhil surged through the doorway, shifting as he moved, dropping to all fours, shredding his clothes. The emergency generator buzzed, clicked, and he dived under the desk, the lights beaming, the brightness temporarily blinding him.

Nikhil sniffed, his inability to detect Violet’s musk in the smoke maddening. He prowled toward her chair, seeking visual reassurance, his paws silent on the tiled floor.

He passed an empty canister, the remnants of the smoke bomb. Threat. He breathed deeply, inhaling the faint scent of Indian bison.
Gaur
.

If he has touched my mate, he’ll die
. Nikhil suppressed the impulse to run, navigating the shadows slowly, moving under the desks.

Another rumble rocked the house. “Call your men off,” Violet whispered, her voice raspy.
She lives
. A tight knot in Nikhil’s soul loosened. “You have me. There’s no need to hurt him.”

“And if hurting him is what I want?” Gaur’s chuckle held no humor. “Your Nikhil has overreached his caste, Violet. Or should I say Verve? He must pay the price.” The big male held a gun to her temple, his free arm wrapped over her shoulders, holding her to him.

Holding my mate
. Nikhil crouched under the desk, his muscles coiled, the urge to protect, to kill tremendous.

“I won’t give you access.” His brave female tilted her rounded chin upward, her skin pale. “No matter what you do to me, I won’t betray him.”

Nikhil flicked his tail back and forth, back and forth, watching, waiting.
I’ll kill Gaur for touching Violet
.

“You won’t betray a dead man?” Gaur pulled her backward.

“You can’t kill Nikhil that easily.” Violet leaned forward, digging her boot heels into a crevice in the tile, resisting the male’s attempt to move her. Smoke swirled around her leather-clad ankles, disguising Nikhil’s scent. “Hell, you can’t even hack into his system, and that was child’s play,” she taunted.

“You question my abilities?” Gaur’s eyes blazed with fury, and Nikhil tensed; the bovine shifter’s temper was notoriously hot.

“Everyone will question your abilities after this.” Nikhil’s foolish mate pushed the proud male. “Bested by a female,” she scoffed. “It took me mere minutes to find the weaknesses.”

Gaur glanced at the tablet on the desk; then his gaze returned to Violet. He shifted his grip on her shoulders, his dilemma clear. He needed a free hand to type.

“Can’t handle me without a gun, big guy?” Violet gave Nikhil’s enemy a saucy grin. “Or are you using that as an excuse because your hacking skills are weak?” Her gaze lowered, meeting Nikhil’s, and her eyes widened. She looked away. “Even you know you’re no match for me.”

“You’re a weak human female.” Gaur sneered. He slammed his gun down on the table and grabbed the tablet. “I could --”

Violet drove the right heel of her military-style boot down on Gaur’s instep. He howled, bending over, releasing her to grab his leg, and she flung herself forward, seizing the gun. Nikhil leaped into the air, roaring with rage, his claws extended and his teeth bared.

Gaur bellowed, dropping the tablet and turning in time to protect his throat. Nikhil’s jaws closed around the male’s arm, the sweet taste of his enemy’s blood bursting in his mouth, exciting his animal.

Gaur shook him off, throwing Nikhil to the side. He landed hard on his back, pain jabbing up his backbone. A shot rang out and a screen shattered, sparks lighting up the room.

“Shit,” Violet cursed, the strength in her voice reassuring Nikhil that his mate was angry but unharmed.

Gaur shifted, his clothing shredding and his arms extending. Sharp horns curled from his forehead, and dark brown hair covered his body. His transformation dented the furniture around him, his size doubling, tripling, until Nikhil faced over three thousand pounds of angry bovine. Gaur was well able to kill him or any other full-grown tiger.

Nikhil paced in front of Gaur, putting his body protectively between the animal and Violet, looking for an opening, a weakness. Gaur snorted, lowering his horns, stamping the floor with his deadly hooves.

A shot cracked, the sound hurting Nikhil’s sensitive ears. Another screen exploded, Gaur’s head turned, and Nikhil pounced.

The bovine shifter swung his horns and clipped Nikhil’s hind leg, spinning him in the air. Nikhil contorted, twisting his body, pain racing through him, and he landed on his feet.

“He’s huge,” Violet mumbled, staring at the gun in her trembling hands. “How could I miss him?”

Nikhil growled. His mate shouldn’t have to defend herself. He darted forward, raked his claws over Gaur’s left front leg, and retreated, barely avoiding a horn to the forehead.

Gaur glared at Nikhil, white rimming his eyes. He breathed heavily, his nostrils flaring.
Weakened
. Nikhil tested the air with his tongue. The scent of their spilled blood mingled with the smoke and Violet’s musk.
We’re both weakened
. Warmth trickled down his leg, his muscles strained, his body tired.

Gaur lowered his head and charged toward Nikhil, toward Violet.
Protect mate
. Nikhil surged forward to meet him, facing death, unable to maneuver around his enemy’s horns.
For Violet
. He leaped.

A bang sounded. A bullet grazed his whiskers, leaving a burning trail along his skin. Blood splattered over his forehead.

Gaur bellowed and pitched forward. Nikhil grabbed him by the throat, sinking his teeth into his veins, and he yanked the bovine’s head to the side. Gaur’s legs kicked air and then stilled, blood pooling around them.

Nikhil released Gaur’s neck and roared his triumph, his enemy defeated, his mate safe. Exhilaration flowed through his body.

“I killed him,” Violet whispered. She sank to the floor, the gun dropping from her fingers. “For real. This isn’t a video game.” She covered her face with her hands. “I killed him.”

Nikhil glanced at the dead bovine and then at his distraught mate, his blood-hungry tiger fighting his human’s concern.
Protect mate
. He walked toward her, shifting, his fur becoming skin, his forelegs shortening to arms, the wound on his leg pulling closed. “He would have killed me,” he rumbled.

“I killed him.” Violet quivered.

“Look at me.” He pulled her hands away from her face. Their gazes met, her violet eyes red, her cheeks damp, and Nikhil’s heart squeezed. “I attacked him, knowing I would die.”

“You’re just trying to make me feel better.” She lifted her chin. “You wouldn’t risk your life like that.”

“I would, to protect you.” Nikhil sank to the floor beside her. He put his arm around her plush form, relishing her curves, her body heat, her scent. “But I didn’t die. You saved me.” Violet released a heart-wrenching whimper and buried her face in his shoulder, wetting his skin with her tears. “He would have killed both of us. You had no choice.”

He held her. Sparks snapped from the broken monitors. Violet’s breaths wafted against his neck. The pain from his wound dissipated. The gunfire outside the room stopped.

Boots pounded against tiled floor, and the scent of bear shifter tickled Nikhil’s nostrils.
Bruce
.

“The threat is eliminated, boss.” His head of security entered the room. “Gaur wasn’t --” He skidded to a stop. “Oh.” A grin spread across his face. “Well done, boss.”

Violet shuddered. Nikhil swung her into his arms. “We’ll be in the bedroom.” He nodded at Gaur’s massive corpse, his mate not needing to see that. “Have this cleaned up. Knock if you need me.”

“Yes, boss.” Bruce bobbed his head.

“We’re safe, Violet.” Nikhil walked through their battle-ravaged home, his mate carefully cradled in his arms. “We survived.” He glanced at the gaping hole where their front door had previously been, the destruction a small price to pay for Violet’s safety. “Though I could do without your chaos and anarchy for a while.”

“Me too,” she whispered, giving him a wobbly smile.

“Ice cream for breakfast.” A week later, Violet set the empty sundae glass on the nightstand and reclined on the bed, resting her head on her tiger’s large form. “That’s my favorite form of anarchy.” She held up her deliberately sticky fingers, and Nikhil licked them clean, his tongue rough and warm. “Everyone should break those absurd rules about when we eat dessert.”

Nikhil purred, his belly vibrating against her, his tail batting her arm. “Life is too short for unquestioned compliance.” She stroked his soft fur, tracking his black stripes, the markings vivid against the orange base. “When I thought I might lose you --” Her voice broke.

Nikhil nudged her with his head, rubbing his whiskers over her waist, his touch comforting -- a physical reassurance that he lived. She felt along the scar on his leg. His wound had healed, yet the fear lingered, the terror of a life spent without him, a life of conformity, of the same dreary grayness day after day.

Violet took a deep breath, held it for five heartbeats, and exhaled. “The cautious thing to do is to wait, to keep these feelings to myself.” She forced a smile, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. “But I’ve never been a cautious person.” She rested her forehead against the broad bridge of her tiger lover’s nose. “I love you, Nikhil.”

He shifted, his fur becoming tanned skin, his front paws stretching into fingers. His eyes remained the same -- greenish-yellow, unblinking, catlike.
My constant in a chaotic world
. She pressed her lips to his, opening to him. His now-human tongue jabbed into her mouth, filling her, claiming her.

“Say it again,” he demanded, his voice low and deep.

“I love you.” Her face heated. “I first fell in love with your beautiful code. It was neat yet flawed and wild, poetry in every line.” The tips of their noses touched in a breathtakingly intimate caress. “All your beliefs, your passion were laid out on the screen.” She wiggled closer to him, and he pulled her into his lap, her legs straddling his hips. “That’s why I had to protect it, protect you.”

“And when you met me?” Nikhil tore the oversized T-shirt from her shoulders, rendering her as nude as he was. Her nipples tightened and her pussy moistened, her body anticipating a savage loving only he could give her.

“You were as beautiful and as wild as your code.” She shivered, the heat in his gaze reaching deep inside of her. “A tiger in a tuxedo.” Violet nuzzled under his chin as he petted along her spine, up and down, up and down. “I wanted you. I needed you. I loved you.” She pressed her lips to the base of his neck, feeling his blood pump through his veins. “I will always love you.”

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you, this hacker who dared to challenge me.” He dragged his teeth over her shoulder, sending tremors over her form. “And when I smelled you…” He inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring. “I hardened to the point of pain.” Nikhil bumped his rigid shaft against her spread pussy lips, and she gasped, her need escalating. “I had to have you.”