by Ashlee Sinn
Running at full speed, we got within a hundred feet and then realized we should slow down. We didn’t want to frighten her. Didn’t want to scare her away forever. The thought of never knowing her name crushed my human heart and made the tiger growl. We needed to do this right so we could spend time with her later.
We sat and watched the tent tarp flap in the wind. She’d made a small fire that still smoldered from the night before. It looked like she’d also piled up several flat rocks as a makeshift table where we could smell the remnants of her dinner. Yet there was no sign of her. Stalking closer, we watched the woods closely to be sure she wouldn’t be scared of us in case she was in there somewhere. But after ten minutes of listening and observing, it was clear that she wasn’t around.
Much to my tiger’s dismay, I shifted back into my human form. Usually it didn’t hurt, but this time he fought me. Hard. My muscles and bones ached for several minutes once I was on two legs again and I tried to will away the pain by focusing on her campsite. Only the screen door was zipped up on the tent, allowing me to peek inside. She’d left her backpack behind…with food and water lying out in the open.
“What were you thinking?” I asked the silence. “We have bears. Real bears.” With a quick flick of my eyes into the woods, I unzipped the tent and pulled out her bag. Hanging it in the tree twenty feet away, I went back to her campsite and continued my assessment. No blanket, a sleeping bag good for summer temperatures only, and no extra clothes. I couldn’t believe how unprepared this woman was. Her tent was a decent brand but it had definitely seen better days. If she planned on staying out here more than one night, she would certainly be ill-equipped. I had to find her and help her.
As soon as I thought those words, the animal burst from inside. I sniffed the ground, searching for her route, and found it at the opposite edge of the meadow. She’d climbed up the mountain, probably to take pictures since none of her camera gear had been left behind. The sun lit up the sky but it hadn’t made its way to the ground yet. She must have started in the dark—a strong but possibly foolish move. This woman didn’t have an animal inside of her. She could be vulnerable and cold and unable to imagine just what kind of creatures inhabited these forests. Why had she been so careless?
Brave and strong, my tiger reminded me. Just like Annie.
Annie. No, we wouldn’t think of Annie. We couldn’t think of her without ripping out the darkness in my chest and exposing the wound all over again. I’d barely survived losing her and thinking about that would only force me to relive it over again.
Not your fault.
“Yes, it was totally my fucking fault!” I screamed back at my tiger. It was my fault and I’d never forgive myself. Never.
Our feet stopped moving when we reached an outcropping. I knew this area. I’d come here several times as a human just to get away from my work. The rocks formed thin lines compressed together like flattened pancakes. The table-top structures created a number of spots to sit down and enjoy the view of the valley below. I’d always wanted to share this space with someone but had yet to find the right person.
She’s here.
A snapping sound off to our left had us whipping our head in that direction. Another click and a flash of light, followed by someone cursing under their breath. We stood still, the sunlight now reaching the tops of this hill and warming up the fur on our back. A fog danced in the background as night gave way to day and I imagined just how breathtaking that view must be. But my eyes could only see her.
On a ledge, fifty feet away, the woman we’d been tracking aimed her giant camera lens at us. She snapped away while we stood there, frozen and mesmerized and…frightened to do anything else. She talked to us. Saying words I didn’t really hear but speaking to us like we were a dog. Asking us to stay and just let her get a few more shots.
She lowered her camera and stared. Her bright green eyes shining in the light and widening as she took a few steps closer. “Oh my god. It’s you,” she whispered.
I flicked my ears back and forth, acknowledging her comment.
“You’re magnificent,” she breathed.
I blinked my eyes slowly to show her that I understood.
She raised the camera again and knelt to the ground. Flipping it back and forth, looking at the screen after each shot, she continued to photograph me as I stood there, unable to move. So close to her. We were so close to her yet I couldn’t make either of us take another step.
She shuffled on her knees against the mossy rock, sliding closer and closer to the ledge. I opened my mouth and chuffed a warning. These outcroppings were great for the view but the cracks in between dropped a hundred feet down into the canyon. She froze for just a moment, green eyes peering over top of her lens. And then she continued snapping away.
I stomped my feet, letting a warning growl escape my throat. The tiger stayed silent, as though he had nothing to say right now. Our photographer was about to fall to her death and he had nothing to say.
“Useless,” I told him inside.
Silence.
She scooted forward some more, her left knee just inches from the edge. I let out a small roar but she didn’t seem to notice. Another inch. Another snap of the camera. “Stop!” I tried to stop through my growl.
She didn’t. And the instant her knee slipped over the rock and she threw her arms up into the air for balance, time slowed. Her panicked gaze caught mine when she started to fall. Her hands reached out to me with a plea for help. Her small, perfect mouth screamed in fear.
And just as her shoulders toppled off the ledge, I leapt through the air with the hopes that I could get there in time.
I didn’t want to die. God dammit, I didn’t want to die.
And I certainly didn’t want to fall to my death. That’s not how I wanted to leave this world. Especially since I’d just captured one of the best photos of my career.
My arms flailed to the sides, scrambling to grab a hold of anything. But my fingers only scraped the mossy edge of the rock, bits of green caking underneath my shredded nails. Pain ripped through my head when I slammed the back of it into the other side of the crevasse. Stars raced through my vision like a light show. My camera hit the rocky sides and I briefly tried to save it. But when I went to wrap my hand over the front of the lens, something fierce grabbed onto my wrist and stopped my fall. I screamed out in pain when my shoulder popped under the full weight of my body. The camera bounced against my rib cage, the strap yanking against the back of my neck and making it feel like it weighed a thousand pounds.
“Hold on, I’ve got you.”
I looked up toward the voice, but with the way the rock jutted over the edge, I couldn’t yet see who it was. His dark hand, that almost matched my own skin tone, shook underneath the pressure of holding me midair. And as he started to pull me up, I saw the muscles in his forearm tremble.
“Please don’t drop me,” I whispered and I swear I heard a sigh in return.
“I won’t.”
He pulled and my body started to lift. Inch by inch the mysterious man brought me closer to safety. My shoulder throbbed and my wrist felt like a giant bruise, but I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that I wasn’t going to die today. As I got closer to the light and around the piece of rock blocking my view, I finally saw him. Orange eyes, black hair hanging in pieces over his brow, strong cheekbones and a sharp jaw…it was Major. The white tiger.
He smiled when I smiled. And that smile made me forget that I was hanging precariously over a hundred foot drop into the canyon. I watched the muscles in his arms flex with strength as he continued to pull me up to safety.
“Don’t move too much,” he said. “You’re almost here.”
“Okay,” I whispered, still watching him in disbelief. How had he caught me? He had been on the other outcropping…way too far away to reach me in time. But yet, he had—
My body started to fall again and I screamed. Major shouted something at me but all I could feel was the grip on my wrist sli
pping away. His fingers dug into my skin as I dropped some more. One millimeter at a time, I edged closer to my death again.
“Please,” I pleaded. “Please don’t let me go.”
When my palm slipped some more, I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable. But as I thought about how much this was going to hurt, I felt another hand grab my arm and then a second later I was laying on top of something hard and warm. Arms wrapped around my back and held me tight as Major spoke soothing words against my forehead. I couldn’t hear what they were as my ears were ringing with spent adrenaline. Plus, my camera pressed against my stomach and his and the pain of that distracted me.
I lifted my head and was met with a gaze of golden-orange. His eyes bore a hole straight to my heart and to my soul. I instantly felt safe and at home and I wondered how this could be possible from just one look. As his hands combed through my long, dark hair that now hung freely around my shoulders, I closed my eyes and wished that this moment never had to end. A rumbling sound vibrated my skin lying against his upper body—a purr almost. I turned my head to press my ear up to chest and smiled with the way it made me feel like everything would be all right.
“Thank you,” I mumbled.
He continued to rub his hands over my hair and then I felt his lips brush against the top of my head. “You’re safe now.”
I am, I thought for the first time in a long time.
I continued to listen to his breathing and his purr as I enjoyed the warmth of his skin. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that I suddenly realized something. My muscles tensed as I let my hand roam down the side of his ribs, over his hip, and brush the top of his thigh. Heat raced to my cheeks and I tried to slide off him, but he held me tight.
“You’re naked,” I said.
He laughed, bouncing me along with him, then pulled me even closer. “That’s what happens when I shift.”
I lifted my head to find his mesmerizing gaze again. “How did you get over here so fast?”
He studied me for a while—too long actually. But then he finally answered with a simple shrug of his shoulders. “I jumped.”
“As a tiger?”
He looked up at the sky as though pondering his answer. “I think so. It happened so fast. I tried to warn you but then your knee slipped and I just…I just jumped.”
I snuggled closer, ignoring the pain from my camera. “Thank you.”
Kissing the top of my head again, he sighed against me. His fingers roamed over my back, sending shots of electricity through my body and down to my core. And when I shivered, I felt another poke against my lower abdomen. Without thinking, I moved my hips ever so slightly against the bulge and he growled low in return.
“What’s your name?” he whispered, as though that was the most important thing to discuss right now.
“Fiona Walker.”
“Well, Fiona,” he said with a stronger voice as he shifted his body beneath mine, “I think it’s time for you to try and stand.”
Disappointment rolled through me and I felt him laugh again. But I complied and I rolled to the side so that I was now lying on my back. The lack of warmth immediately bombarded my skin and I shivered again when I pulled away from him. He instantly propped himself up on his side and cupped my cheek with his hand. “Are you okay?”
I nodded and then assessed the rest of my body. Fingers and toes wiggled, knees and elbows could bend, no sharp pain except for the back of my head. Time to sit up. I pushed myself off the ground and waited for the scenery to stop spinning before I spoke. “My head hurts a little bit.”
Major instantly sat upright and examined the back of my skull. His fingers came away with a little bit of blood on them and he muttered a curse under his breath. “I’m guessing you don’t have a first aid kit, right?”
“I…wait, why would you assume that?”
“Do you?”
“No. But why—”
“I have to get you back to my cabin so I can see if you need stiches or not.” Major scooped me up underneath the shoulders and gently helped me to my feet. “See if you can stand.”
Annoyed at the way he was treating me, even if unfair, I yanked my arm down and said, “I got this. I’m good.”
He studied me with a tilt of his head and then pulled his hands away and lifted them in the air in surrender. Taking two steps back, he watched me stand in all of his naked glory. His eight pack of abs flexed as his arm muscles twitched. His thighs glistened in the early morning sun, so well-defined it made him look like a professional athlete. And his manhood, standing straight and daring me to look, made me embarrassed for how exposed he was right now.
When I squeezed my eyes shut, I heard him chuckle. “I’m not looking at you,” I said and he laughed some more. But when I opened my eyes again to scold him, the world spun around me and I started to fall.
“Whoa!” Major said, jumping forward and wrapping his arm around my waist. “I got you.”
I looked up into his dreamy eyes and smiled. “You can always have me.”
His face froze as he watched me. Even when he got me back up to my feet, he stayed silent.
“Major?” I asked once the abrupt change in his demeanor lessened. “Are you okay?”
“You remembered my name?”
“Of course,” I said. Steadying myself against his shoulder, I tried to remember what else I wanted to say. “How could anyone forget you?”
He stared again, like I’d said the wrong thing for the second time in two minutes. “I think you bumped your head pretty hard.”
“I’m fine.”
“I would like to take you back to my place but I don’t think you should walk.”
Staring at his handsome and concerned face, I shrugged. “So how am I supposed to get there?”
The wicked grin that crossed his features had me shivering inside for a whole other reason right now. “Have you ever ridden a horse?”
“Once,” I said with suspicion.
In response, he stepped away from me, crouched to the ground, and let his tiger burst from his body. The sheer size of his animal shocked me into silence. Larger than most tigers, I’d ventured to guess that his beast could rival any one of the grizzly shifters I’d read about. He stood still as I walked up to him. Our eyes at the same height, I marveled at the orange color and slit pupils that made him a cat. He tilted his head forward slightly and I took that as permission to touch. With one hand, I ran my fingers over the top of his head and down to the side of his wide face. His fur was as soft as a puppy’s yet thick and full like that of a long-haired cat. With my hand trailing the contours of his massive form, I walked all the way around him enjoying his animal. He purred underneath me and when I got back to his head, he lay down on the ground. With his head tilted, he jerked his chin in command. I didn’t understand at first until I followed his movements a little more closely.
“You want me to ride you?” I asked with a grin.
He nodded his head and twitched his hips from side to side.
“I can’t ride a tiger!”
A small growl and another tease from his hips.
“You’re crazy.”
Nod.
“How am I supposed to do this.”
A sigh.
“Fine, we’ll figure this out together.” Another wave of dizziness caught me by surprise and I had to grab on to the top of his head to stop the world from moving so fast. “I’m okay,” I said when he growled several times. “Just a dizzy spell.”
Major chuffed and used his head to help push me on his back. Climbing on top, I was surprised by how muscular he was. Not unlike a horse, I found it comfortable and felt like I fit perfectly in the little sway of his back. He stood and I leaned forward to wrap my arms around his neck. “Tell me if I’m hurting you,” I said.
In response, he nuzzled his whiskers against my forearm and took off at a slow jog. I held on tight, still leaning against his neck and listening to the sound of his breath and his muscles moving beneath me.
I kept my eyes closed, wondering what my mother would think if she saw me now and laughing at the way she would probably have a heart attack. When we’d reached my campsite, Major stopped and lay down again. I stepped off and a moment later the human had returned.
The naked human with the amazing body and face that was staring at me now.
“How did you know where my campsite was?” I whispered, unable to say what I really wanted to.
Again, he watched me closely, like a predator eyeing up his prey and I longed to feel that kind of intensity against my skin. Wrinkling his nose, he sniffed the air. “You smell like sex,” he growled. His erection grew in front of my eyes and he made no move to hide it.
“What?” I didn’t even know how to respond, so while I stood there, dumbfounded at that comment, Major packed up my tent and grabbed the backpack hanging in the tree. Had I put it in the tree?
Three minutes later, he returned to his tiger form and encouraged me to climb on again. If I smelled like sex to him, then he must be able to pick up on the littlest naughty thought. And that made me blush as we walked down the steep path that would take us to my truck. Okay, no more looking at his glorious body and thinking about how much I wanted it on top of me.
Major’s muscles tightened underneath me and I swear I heard him sneeze. When we reached my truck, I climbed off him and fished out the keys from my bag. As I went to put them in the door, his hand wrapped around mine from behind. His warm body pressed against me, his hot breath caressing my ear in a very seductive way. How the hell was I not supposed to smell like sex if he kept getting this close to me. His erection pushed against my lower back and I wanted to grind up against him something bad. What was wrong with me? Was it the head injury? Yeah, it must be the bump on my head.