Taming The Tigers (8 page)

At some point, Malik had spoken to the elders who insisted they clean up their mess, meaning, that they must handle the man, Kitrick, before they could retire to the cascade. Soon, they would all leave and go to Paradise. She couldn’t wait to see Melody. It had been too long since they sat and talked. With luck, maybe she could convince the guys to stay there a while. She could get to know them and be certain that she bound herself to the right men. It felt right, but the mating heat still hadn’t reared its ugly head again.

“Are you okay in there?” Malik asked after he knocked on the door.

“I’m fine.” She grinned. “Aren’t you going to join me?”

A thud came from the other side of the door. “I was afraid you’d never ask.”

“I’m sorry.” She frowned. Should she have invited him in when she first got into the tub? “I didn’t know that you required an invitation.”

“Of course I did.” He opened the door. A pink spot on the center of his forehead explained the noise. Apparently, he’d hit his forehead against the door when she’d asked. “I, nor Gable, will ever assume that you want us. Even when we are old and gray, we will always make certain that we never take you for granted.”

“That’s nice.” She leaned back in the tub, giving him a full view of her body. Better he knew beforehand what she had to offer than to find out when it was too late. Heat flared in his eyes, making them glow orange-red. “Do you like what you see?”

I hope so.

“Oh, yes.” He licked his lips with a nod. “Do you want to know what I see?” He continued at her nod. “I see a beautiful woman with curves in all the right places. I see her full breasts welcoming me, her woman’s hips beckoning me to settle between them and bury myself deep. I see her gorgeous face staring at me with sensual promise and her silky hair, the color of the most exquisite mink draped over her caramel skin.” He lowered his chin, his gaze taking on that of a predator. “I like what I see very much.”

Carmen’s breath grew shallow. Her heart pounded in her chest as he grew near. The predator in her sensed danger, though it wasn’t her life in danger. Her cat knew that. It was her heart, and possibly her cat’s. What would mating with these two strong tigers bring? Would she lose herself, or would she gain something even more?

Her stomach clenched, the muscles rippling, her clit pulsing with need. He drew closer, his movements slow, deliberate, like a tiger stalking his prey. Her nipples hardened and she realized she
liked
being Malik’s prey. He liked her ample breasts and her too-wide hips. She could tell by the way his gaze devoured her, that he liked the width of her hips and the way her belly rounded. It was the greatest aphrodisiac to know that he enjoyed what he saw when he looked at her naked body. Perhaps she
had
been spending too much time around human men, just as Melody suggested.

Her clit throbbed and she squeezed her thighs together, hoping to—she didn’t know what she hoped to do. Nothing would assuage the need she felt, the emptiness between her legs except the two men in this house. She only hoped they had time to be together more than once before they had to leave for Paradise. The thought of being in a hotel room next to her uncles while she had sex with her men was as effective as a cold shower.

“I hope you don’t have any ideas about drawing this out and making me come repeatedly,” she said as she got to her knees. “Because, frankly, I don’t think we have time for that.” She smiled. “Strip and get into the tub. You’re mine for the next fifteen minutes.”

“This is going to take a hell of a lot longer than fifteen minutes.” His lips kicked up in a grin. “I promise you that.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” She moved to the edge of the tub and ran her hands over the soft fur on his chest. “I’ve already been separated from my uncles for more than two hours. We’re in a strange place. They’re bound to demand to see me any time.”

She smiled when he pushed his pants over his hips.
Commando!
Reaching out, she wrapped her fingers around the satiny skin of his shaft, sliding her right hand along its length while she cupped his sac with her left. “We’re going to do this fast, or we might not get to do it at all.” Leaning forward, she licked at the little pearl of fluid that leaked from the tip of his cock and closed her eyes. “I never knew tigers tasted so good.”

“You can’t do this.” Malik moaned when she took the head into her mouth and tongued the slit.

He jerked and she smiled. The power she held in her hands was heady and she was certain that one day, she would hold both powerful tiger males in the palms of her hands. Now, she wanted Malik inside her before her uncles showed up and spoiled everything.

Carmen moved back, her fist still wrapped around Malik’s shaft, so that he had no choice but to follow. “Be a good boy and sit.” She pointed to the seat she vacated when he walked into the room.

“Boy?” He gave her that tiger’s look again, and raised a brow. “
Boy?
”

“Man, tiger, pussycat.” She grinned. “Whatever. Just sit down and let me drive.”

He sat, obviously reluctant. Whether it was because she called him
boy
or because she wanted to be in control, was anyone’s guess.

“I’ll show you a pussycat.” He nearly growled, his eyes taking on that strange red-orange glow again.

“And,” she said, resting her foot next to him on the seat. She canted her hips forward, giving him a good look at what awaited good boys. “I’ll just show
you
a pussy.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he stared at her crotch. That was more like it.

“Lean back, baby, ‘cause momma’s gonna take you for the ride of your life.”

Hands resting on his shoulders, Carmen straddled him, slowly lowering herself over his hard cock.

“Either you’re bigger than Gabe, or it just feels different in this position.” She sucked in her breath. “Hoo! You’re a big boy, aren’t you?”

“I’m not positive, because we’ve never measured ourselves, but I believe that Gable and I are about the same size.”

Holy shit!

“You’re kidding!”

“I’m afraid not.” He took a deep breath. “We have been naked together before.”

“Kinky.”

“Not like that.” He laughed, grasping her hips as she lifted herself up to drop back down onto his lap. His neck muscles bulged. “We’ve bathed in rivers and shifted together.”

Carmen wriggled her hips as she dropped down on him again. Their conversation was lost as they both strove to reach their peak together. Harder and harder she dropped into his lap as he cupped her ass, his hands pulling her down onto his hard cock as he thrust his hips up.

Malik leaned forward, sucked a nipple between his lips, his teeth gently scraping the tight bud with his teeth as he reached between them, his thumb pressing against her clit.

Fire burned in her stomach as her climax grew closer. Her vision grew dark, the only light being Malik’s face as he stared at her, his hands and cock working simultaneously to bring her to orgasm. Her spine tingled and she closed her eyes, her world exploding into a million points of light.

Afterward, she sat draped over him, her body limp, her breath coming in short pants as his hands slid up and down her back, soothing her.

“This time was your way.” He lifted her off him and set her in the water. He grabbed a washcloth and swiped it between her legs. “Next time,
I
call the shots.”

Malik searched the outer edges of the property surrounding the parking lot when they took the bridge back to the other side of the veil. Maxim and his adopted brother came with them, each of them hoping what Carmen said about the human world was true.

He didn’t have the heart to tell the big bastards that any woman attracted to their
tattooed
tiger stripes could be just this side of crazy. Let
them
figure it out.

Just as they stepped from beyond the veil, multiple shots hit the ground before them. “What the hell?” Kitrick never gave warning, yet he could tell it was him. The asshole’s scent was all over the place. That in itself was odd, considering he hadn’t left a scent before. That the man had a death wish and wanted to commit suicide by bounty hunter was too much to hope for.

“Run for the car!” He pushed Carmen toward the vehicles, her uncles falling in front and beside them, trying to block Kitrick’s shot. “I’m not entirely sure he’s trying to hit us,” he said to Gabe as soon as the other man slid behind the wheel and shut the door.

“He’s playing with us. He wants us to worry about Carmen’s safety.”

Gabe was probably right. Kitrick wasn’t sloppy. He did everything for a reason. He most likely wanted them to worry and make a mistake.

“If he thinks we’re going to make a stupid mistake, he’s wrong.” They had a major ace up their sleeves that Kitrick couldn’t know existed and Malik wasn’t above using every one of their tricks to their advantage.

They drove for hours, stopping only to fuel up and change drivers while the others kept watch. It was the only way to make sure they reached Paradise before the contract killer. Whatever Kitrick’s plan was, it was Malik’s intention to ruin every well-laid trap the man thought he possessed.

They passed a detour sign, the radios Carmen’s uncles had brought with them coming in handy to find out there was no roadwork ahead. One trick down. How many more were there to go?

Ten hours after they began their trek, Carmen sighed. “We’re almost there.” She pointed to a spot ahead of them. “There’s a dirt road to the right. Follow the others when they turn there and it will lead us to Paradise.” She bit her lip. “Though, I have to warn you. They usually have a spell that frightens humans, urging them to turn back. You might sense danger, but there shouldn’t be any more than what we’re already facing.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Malik said as he followed the SUV leading the way. Her uncles brought up the rear, keeping them sandwiched in an effort to stop an ambush.

“What the hell?” He jammed on the brakes as the lead vehicle stopped in front of them.

He rolled down the window a crack when the man approached. “There’s a tree down. “We’re hoofing it from here.”

“Son of a bitch!” Malik hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hand. “What the fuck else can go wrong?”

“I need you to do me a favor,” he said as he jammed the car in park and killed the engine. “Kitrick will have a momentary lapse in his night vision when we go dark. Take that opportunity to shift into your cat and get the hell out of here.”

“Won’t he shoot me, even as a cat?”

“If our luck hasn’t totally run out, he’ll not be prepared to lose the light so quickly and he won’t see you shift. The asshole thinks of himself as an animal rights activist.” He shook his head at the irony. “He doesn’t bat an eye at killing a human, but he’d never purposely target an animal unless it attacked him. Just don’t attack him if you see him. Turn away and get the hell out of there.”

The last thing Malik wanted to do was leave their mate to her own devices. However, it would look odd, even to a city slicker like Kitrick to see a leopard and a tiger walking through the woods together and it might be enough to make her a target.

“Shift now!” he counted to five and turned off the lights.

Carmen wasn’t a fast shifter. If he had to guess, he’d say it had been a long time since she felt the need. Failing to shift regularly could, literally, be the death of them. He would have to talk to her about that, later.

However, now was the time to hunt. At least this time, if he got shot, he wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to change back into his human. He couldn’t shift. If he did, he could ruin what little edge Carmen had.

Using the night vision of his cat, Malik scanned the side of the road. He could
feel
the bastard stalking them.

Still, he grinned darkly. The asshole didn’t know the scope of their protection. He also had no idea that his prey had just become the hunter. Carmen might not like the idea of killing a man, but her cat would demand survival and if Kitrick threatened her, it would react accordingly.

Closing his eyes, he reached for the magic he knew resided within him. He thought of Carmen. He pictured her, imagining her scent and the softness of her silky skin and hair.

Carmen?
He attempted to establish a mental link. Such a thing would be easy, had they already mated. However, they had not.
Are you doing what we asked of you?

Yes,
came the answer.
I don’t have a death wish, thankyouverymuch.

Good.
He grinned at her snarky answer.
I do not have a death wish for you, either,
kotik.

Don’t you dare call me pussycat now that I’m strolling through the woods alone with some sort of mad killer looking for me.

Malik laughed out loud, quickly covering it with a cough.
Just be certain that you stay away from the mad killer,
kotik.

You think that Russian accent of yours is sexy, don’t you? It isn’t, you know.

I think you are lying to me.
She didn’t sound at all convincing.

Well, I’m not. Eeew, eew eew! I think I just stepped in bear poop. Why can’t leopards wear shoes? I have a really nice pair I had to send into the ether when I shifted.

Bears, there are bears here?
He stiffened at the thought that a bear could attack his precious Carmen.

Of course there are bears here. We’re in the mountains. There’s probably moose or elk around here, too. You know, there’s really no doubt about it, now. I have firsthand experience. Bears really
do
crap in the woods.

Malik smiled at her irreverence, both terrified and awed. The thought of her being alone in the woods when a bear could attack her scared the hell out of him. Yet she still managed to make him smile, in the midst of her own fright.

Keep moving toward town and let me know when you get there.

I’m here. I see the sheriff now.

Go to him!

I am.
She sent the impression that she stuck her tongue out at him.
Stop being so bossy. If you think that’s going to fly if we mate, you’re sadly mistaken, bub.”