Here There Be Tigers (26 page)

“
We don’t have a lot of choices.”
She sighed. “This is going to suck, isn’t it?”

“
Yes.”

“
We need to run, don’t
we?”

He let loose a long breath and squeezed her
tightly to him. “I think we do.”

“
What about the help Elizaveta is
sending?”

“
With you in estrous, I’m afraid to
wait.”

She hugged him, in full agreement. Then a
thought struck her and she pulled back. “Wait, does this mean my
birth control won’t work? It’s designed for human women with
menstrual cycles.”

“
I have no idea.” He swallowed
visibly, and his gaze shifted to her mouth. “Would it be so bad if
you did get pregnant?” he asked so quietly she barely heard
him.

She widened her eyes. “With an IUD in? Yes, yes
it would.” She swallowed down the knee-jerk edge of panic at the
thought of being pregnant and considered her next words more
carefully. “I’m not prepared to get pregnant yet, Mitch. I’m not
ready. And while all this running is happening, it would be a very
bad idea. I doubt it’ll stop Petrov from wanting me dead. In fact,
it might make things worse.”

He nodded. “You’re right.”

Cupping his face in her hands, she met his
gaze. “It’s nothing personal. You know that, right? But we barely
know each other. And while I want to be with you and get to know
you better, jumping into parenthood isn’t the answer.”

He leaned forward and kissed her. “I know. We
males are a little overeager to procreate because procreation is
such a rare thing now. I have no intention of rushing you or
forcing you into anything at all.”

She briefly kissed him back, taking him at his
word. The whole idea was too scary to contemplate right now anyway.
They still had to survive, and she had to figure out how to live
with her new identity. She had to convince all these tigers she
intended to choose Mitch, despite everything he said would stand in
their way. Then they had to figure out if they could make a go of a
relationship. If they couldn’t, she had no intention of choosing
another tiger for a possible husband. She just couldn’t bring
herself to even consider that option. But if it turned out she and
Mitch could be together and love each other, she wanted the
chance.

Sometime after that, a long time after that,
they could discuss children.

Nila hugged Mitch and stared at the bedroom
door. Before any of that, though, they had to get out of this
house.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE

“
Will they expect us to have sex? Do
they think we’ll actually fuck while they’re listening?”

Her question surprised Mitch into pulling back
to look at her.

“
I mean, that’s what you said
happens when a male catches a female during a Run, right?” she
said. “They have sex a lot during her estrous.”

“
True. And they probably do expect
that.” He didn’t want to admit how difficult it was for him to keep
his lust under control. Her scent was overwhelming his more
civilized senses, but this was no time to lose himself to his baser
instincts. He’d never had to exercise this degree of control over
his body before and the internal struggle was only tempered by the
fact that her life was in danger. If they’d been somewhere safe,
he’d have her stripped naked and buried himself inside her before
she could gasp.

Since even the thought of be inside her pushed
him a little closer to the edge, he pulled his mind back to the
danger. The more he concentrated on protecting her, the easier it
was to ignore the way her pheromones were playing havoc with his
body. The knowledge that the other males in the house were probably
experiencing a similar reaction was like a cold shower to his
libido, not completely drowning it but definitely keeping it in
check.

“
I’m not sure I can have sex while
they’re listening,” she whispered as if embarrassed by the
admission.

He smiled. “I have no intention of putting on a
show for them. Don’t worry.” Despite his bodies very eager urges to
do just that.

She rolled her eyes. “The thing is, I’m kind of
wishing we had some privacy about now. Is that the estrous talking?
I mean, to be honest, I’ve wanted you pretty badly since we first
met, so that’s nothing new.”

His hands clenched against her waist and his
mood shot up. Her admission flattered his ego more than he’d ever
admit out loud.

“
This is really no time to be
thinking about sex, yet I don’t seem to be able to stop
noticing…well, how nice you feel.”

Her words went right to his cock. Closing his
eyes, he tried taking a few steadying breaths, but that only pulled
her scent more deeply into his lungs, washing him with her
essence.

“
We need to talk about something
else,” he said through clenched teeth, “unless you do want to put
on a show for our listeners.”

“
No. No, I don’t. Maybe I should sit
on the other bed.”

“
Probably a good idea.” But he
didn’t let her go and she made no move to stand.

“
What do we do now?” she
whispered.

“
Wait for the rain. Then we get out
of here.”

He kept her cradled on his lap, despite his
discomfort, because the thought of letting her go was worse.
Cuddling her close, he turned his addled brain to their escape. He
hated to force her into rotten weather and a pitch dark woods, but
as the day progressed, he’d grown more and more convinced they
needed to leave as soon as possible.

Gregory probably realized his intentions since
Mitch was sure the guard around the house wasn’t strictly in place
to keep Petrov’s people away. With the rising of Nila’s estrous,
their desperate situation had gotten infinitely worse. He kept
expecting the others to knock down the door and demand access to
her. Or demand she run—which they all knew she couldn’t
do.

Those thoughts kept his desires in check for
the next several hours as they waited for the approaching storm to
hit.

He was sure Gregory would realize they might
try escaping in the rain. With luck, the young man would assume
Mitch wouldn’t want to put Nila through the dangerous and difficult
escape. Still, Mitch would have to pick their exit time
carefully.

During the long, quiet wait, as he held Nila,
he opened his senses to the location of the various males, timing
their movements as best he could. Since his awareness of other
tigers was better than most, he was able to keep track of the guard
changes and the presence of the others inside the house.

When the first few drops plinked against the
window panes, he knew exactly when they’d have a chance to
escape.

Hugging Nila to get her attention, he murmured,
“We leave in fifteen minutes, if the rain is strong enough.
Otherwise, we’ll need to wait an hour and hope it keeps coming
down.”

“
Why an hour?”

“
Guard changes will give us an
opening.”

“
You know where everyone is, don’t
you?”

He nodded.

“
Very handy, that sense of yours,”
she said and kissed his cheek. “You're gonna have to help me hone
my newly discovered ability to do that when all this is over." She
released a breath. "I’m ready when you are.”

He heard the determination and the fear in her
voice. With another tight hug, he patted her hip and they both
rose. They’d turned off the lights in the room hours earlier in an
attempt at giving the illusion they’d gone to sleep. Keeping their
movements as silent as possible was easier for him than for Nila,
but she surprised him by being very light on her feet. No floor
boards creaked as they crossed to the window.

He stared outside, watching the rain fall
harder, sheeting down within a matter of minutes. The torrent would
be good for covering their tracks, but it would make moving through
the woods a lot more difficult on Nila.

Nothing for it. They had to try.

He flicked the lock on the window and pulled
the bottom pane up an inch. No sound. So far so good. He didn’t
dare lift it farther, though, until he was sure the patrol tigers
were as far away from this side of the house as
possible.

As soon as that moment came, he threw the
window up. A very slight noise made him cringe. He paused,
listening. No alert was sounded and none of the males were moving
closer either in or out of the house.

Against Nila’s ear, he said, “I’ll jump down
first. Don’t wait too long to follow me. We don’t have much time.
Hang from the window and drop. Don’t worry.” He kissed her cheek.
“I’ll catch you.”

She nodded.

He crawled legs first out of the window, hung
from the ledge a moment and then dropped. Still without a shirt,
the rain soaked him the instant he landed. His warmer than human
body heat would help him, but in her tank top and loose canvas
pants, Nila was going to freeze in this weather.

The ground underfoot was already slippery and
muddy. He looked up at the window, pleased when he saw Nila throw
her leg over the sill, a darker shape against a dark background. He
got into position and when she dropped with a near silent screech,
he caught her around the waist, her back to his front.

He felt her trembling and her sharp exhale.
Against her ear, he said, “Told you I wouldn’t let you
fall.”

She looked back and grinned, water dripping
down her face. He put her feet on the ground, careful to hold her
until he was sure she was stable. Then he took her hand and as fast
as he dared, moved into the woods.

It was nearly pitch dark under the canopy,
barely enough light for him to see, and the ground was slick and
uneven. She stumbled several times, her free hand clamping onto his
bicep to catch herself. The only good thing about the tree cover
was that it blocked the torrent somewhat, making the rain more of a
nuisance shower than a soaking blast.

Keeping his senses open to the location of the
other tigers, he half jogged, half fast-walked in an uphill
direction, moving them away from the lake and farther into the
mountains. He had a vague idea which direction the nearest road
was, and if they could reach that, they could find their way to the
highway. But he didn’t want to go that direction immediately in
case Gregory sent cars out looking for them. With luck, they’d find
a cave or some sort of cover to get Nila out of this weather. But
first, they had to get far enough away.

So far, the tigers didn’t seem to be aware of
their escape. He hoped that lasted a little longer.

“
How are you doing?” he asked over
his shoulder. He wasn’t worried that the others might hear them
talk now. He could barely hear over the sound of the rain crashing
against branches above.

She stumbled closer. “Can hardly see and I’m
freezing already, but the running is warming me up. Keep going. I
can manage.”

He squeezed her hand and tried pushing them a
little faster. He considered shifting so he could carry her on his
back and move at full speed, but he needed time to shift—not a lot,
but enough to delay them, and he wasn’t sure they could afford even
a short pause. He sure as hell didn’t want to get caught mid-shift,
unable to defend her instantly. If he carried her in human form in
this weather, without his tiger shape to aid his balance and
senses, all it would take was one misstep to cause them both
serious injury. No, he had to get more distance between them and
the house first. Then he could shift safely.

The tension of waiting for the other shoe to
drop, for the others to realize they were gone, nipped at his heals
and heightened his anxiety. Nila’s scent still washed over and
around him. She was leaving a trail, more surely than any
footprint, but the rain would wash it away if they got enough lead
time before being followed.

Instinct made him pause and opened his senses,
taking note of the location of the others.

From the house, a dozen young males began their
pursuit.

“
Shit. Run!” He dragged Nila
forward, racing through the underbrush, over fallen logs as fast as
he could manage while still trying to keep her upright. She kept up
better than he could have hoped, but she didn’t have the physical
ability to run like this for long. He wove through the trees,
looking for a way out, a river to disguise their progress,
something.

Even as he raced away from the house and the
tigers coming from that direction, a new threat jabbed his senses.
From another direction completely. More tigers. Closing in on them.
Mitch paused again to get an idea of where the others were.
Frustration punched him in the gut. “Fuck!”

“
What? What’s wrong now?”

“
We’re surrounded. There are more
tigers in front of us, spaced out and blocking that escape
route.”

“
So we go left or right? Can we
double back?”

“
Back is Gregory and they can cover
a lot of ground with so many of them. Forward there are at least
five other tigers.”

“
Not Gregory’s group?”

He shook his head.