Tiger's Dream (Tiger's Curse Book 5)

by Colleen Houck

  Sunil folded his arms on the edge of the pool and propped his chin on them. “Are you certain you do not wish to join me?” he asked. “The water is cool and you look hot.”

  His smile was a mile wide and Nilima’s brows narrowed as she scowled at him. “Stop using that phrase.”

  “What…hot?” he asked innocently.

  “I never should have taught you what that means.” She lifted the book so it blocked him from view.

  Sunil hoisted himself out of the water and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist. He dried his hair with another and tossed the damp towel on top of Nilima’s legs.

  “Sunil!” she said again and jumped up, grabbing the towel and throwing it at his face. He caught it easily and darted after her but she kept the chair between them. He approached slowly, grinning, while she picked up her large and very full glass of lemonade. Sunil’s eyes narrowed.

  “You wouldn’t,” he said.

  “I think you look hot, Sunil,” Nilima said triumphantly.

  Just as he leapt, she threw the contents of the glass in his face. She squealed and raced away, but he caught her, picking her up at the waist and leaping into the pool, dragging her along with him. Nilima rose to the surface, gasping and sputtering. He emerged and sucked in a breath. “You deserved that, woman. You have been slowly driving me crazy for months.”

  “And what about you?” she spat back as she smoothed her hair away from her face and started swimming to the steps. “You’ve been a thorn in my side since you got here!”

  “You are so prickly I’m surprised you would notice a small thorn like me,” he replied, trailing behind her.

  “I wish you were one of my employees so I could give you notice,” she hollered back. “And no, I’m not explaining that one. Figure it out for yourself!”

  Sunil had cornered her at the side of the pool. She turned to him and made a halfhearted attempt to escape, but soon gave up. Her breaths were quick and sharp and her eyes were full of fire.

  “So,” he said, touching his finger to a wet strand of hair and pushing it over her shoulder, his fingers grazing her skin. “You finally admit that you have been noticing me.”

  “How dare you! I…”

  Sunil swept closer and closed his mouth over hers. She pushed against him for a moment, but he took her hand from his chest and put it around his neck instead. When she moaned softly and slid her hand into his hair, he took hold of her waist and pulled her tightly to him. They kissed as passionately as they’d fought. But, then, his kisses gentled and slowed and he drew away before she wanted him to.

  He pressed his forehead against hers. “Nilima,” he said, running a hand down the length of her wet hair. “Tell me you love me.”

  She pulled away from him but she didn’t go far. “No, Sunil. I don’t…” Nilima paused, the words frozen on her lips.

  Sunil touched her neck, his thumb grazing her jaw. He moved closer and her eyes dropped to his lips. He smiled. “Fine, you stubborn girl. Then I will say it first.” He cupped her face in his large hands. “I love you more than anything in this world. More than the cherished memories of my past and more than the miracles of the present. I lay my future at your feet. I would walk the unknown with you at my side and discover every new thing this world has to offer. Be my bride, Nilima. You don’t have to say you love me. Just say you will marry me and I’ll work every day to earn the rest.”

  Nilima blinked, the water lapping at her shoulders. “Oh, Sunil,” she said with a sigh.

  “Do you mean to crush my heart? My spirit?” he said with a mock expression of horror. He put his hands on her shoulders and shook her lightly. “Confess your feelings. I know you have them. Inside this cold exterior,” he said, poking her arm, “lies a very warm woman. I should know,” he added, raising his eyebrows meaningfully. Loudly then, he pronounced, “She denies me her affections, but continues to attack me scandalously in every dark corner she can, completely compromising my reputation. And now she has pushed me into a pool to have her way with me!”

  “Stop it! Stop!” she laughed, covering his mouth with her hand.

  His eyes twinkled as he kissed her palm and each fingertip. “Say you will marry me, Nilima,” he begged softly. “Please.”

  She pressed her hand against his cheek. “Yes, Sunil. I’ll marry you.”

  Sunil laughed joyfully and grabbed her, spinning her around until she shrieked and laughed with him, her arms holding on to him tightly. “And now say you love me.”

  “I love you,” she echoed.

  He slowed, setting her down, and added, “With all your heart.”

  Running her hand across the angled planes of his chest, and stopping when her palm reached his heart, she agreed, “With all my heart.”

  Then, with his hand sliding over hers, he ducked his head, capturing her lips once again.

  Ana squeezed my hand and the scene before us disappeared.

  Chapter 25

  A Cave and a Circus

  We rematerialized in a thick forest of trees. The air was warm but clouds were gathering overhead. I inhaled and I recognized the place immediately.

  “Oregon,” I said. “Why are we here?”

  Anamika started forward through the trees and said, over her shoulder, “We have to free Ren.”

  I frowned and trailed after her. “Free him? From what exactly?”

  “He is currently trapped as a tiger. This is something you inflicted upon him when he was captured, correct?”

  “Yes, but…”

  “We are here to free his human side. Unlike you are now, he will be limited as to how long he can sustain his human form, but it will give him the opportunity he needs to eventually break his curse.”

  I froze. “This is when Kelsey meets him at the circus.”

  “That is what the paper says.” Ana turned to me. “What exactly is a circus?”

  Never having been to one myself, but hearing about it firsthand from those I trusted, I said, “Kelsey and Ren have opposing views. Perhaps we should find out for ourselves.”

  “Agreed,” she said.

  When we reached the edge of the trees and I saw the large building ahead of us and a parking lot full of cars and trailers, I touched her elbow. “Perhaps we should change clothing to fit in with the locals?”

  Ana nodded and though Kelsey had yet to meet either of us at that point in her life, we decided it would be best to alter our appearance as well. After using the scarf, we both looked like an average young Oregonian couple out for an evening of…uh, circusing. At least, I hoped we did. From my experiences in Kelsey’s country, most events could be attended wearing what she called jeans. Ana rubbed her hands on the thighs of her pair, feeling very uncomfortable.

  “Are you certain that women wear such things in this time?” she asked.

  “It covers a lot more than that dress you wore to Ren’s wedding,” I said.

  “Yes, but…” Ana stepped closer and whispered into my ear. “It shows my shape.”

  My eyebrows lowered as I took a step back and looked her up and down. The pair of jeans hugging her body certainly did show her shape. Even though we were disguised as other people, her figured had remained virtually the same. I let myself appreciate the view for just a few long seconds while she squirmed uncomfortably.

  “Would you prefer a skirt?” I asked.

  Ana looked down at her long legs, considering. “No,” she finally sighed. “If this is what the women wear, it would be best to fit in.”

  “It would,” I agreed.

  Giving me a nod, she took my outstretched hand, and I led her to the front of the building, where we met a young man selling tickets.

  “How much?” I asked him.

  “Ten for each of you. Total of twenty,” he said.

  I grunted, patting my pockets. Ana handed me a large gemstone and I shook my head minutely. A family got in line behind us. “I must have left my wallet in my car,” I said. “We’ll be right back.”

 
; Turning around, I looked for a sign to indicate where the money machine might be. I wasn’t sure I could get it to work using our powers but it couldn’t hurt to try. Finding it, I showed it to Ana, who tapped on its side. “Where is the lock?” she asked.

  “I’m not entirely certain,” I answered. “Also there are cameras. We can’t play around with it too much or it will alert the bank.”

  “Cameras? Bank?”

  “Cameras take your picture. Like someone drawing your image. But instead of an artist, it’s a machine that does it. And the bank is the business that owns the machine.”

  “I see.”

  I wasn’t sure she did. “May I borrow the amulet?” I asked.

  She removed it from her neck and handed it over. I held it tightly in my hand, telling it what I wanted, but the machine didn’t so much as hum. As I tried again, I heard Ana’s voice say, “Thank you very much.”

  I glanced over my shoulder and found her in conversation with a young man who looked like a college student. He passed her something and grinned as he left her, walking backward until he nearly tripped over a cement parking block.

  “What was that about?” I asked.

  “He gave me twenty,” Ana answered.

  I looked down at the money clutched in her hand and she held it out to me. There was more than twenty dollars in her hand. It looked like the young man had emptied his entire wallet. She had several bills amounting to at least three hundred dollars as well as his personal card with his phone number circled.

  “Is it enough?” she asked.

  “More than enough.” I held out my hand and she took it.

  “Why are you frowning?” she asked. “Are you not happy that we have twenty?”

  “Yes. I just don’t like the idea of young men giving you their phone numbers.”

  “I do not know what that means.”

  “Yeah, I know you don’t. It means he likes you.”

  “If he did not like me, then we would not have twenty.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want people to like you. I know they love you. They’re drawn to you.”

  “They respond to the goddess,” she said.

  “They do, but it’s more than that. Even before you were a goddess, your men followed you blindly.”

  “Is that a bad thing?”

  “No. Yes. No.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Your men should follow you. I just don’t want them getting any ideas.”

  “Ideas such as…?”

  “Ideas of romance.”

  Ana gave me a long look as I paid the ticket taker. When I offered my arm, she took it and followed me inside. After we found a seat, she finally spoke. “You do not wish me to experience romance?”

  I let out a heavy sigh. “I wouldn’t think you’d want to. Not after what happened.”

  “What happened to me was long ago.”

  “It doesn’t feel long ago.”

  “No.”

  A man walked by holding a large container filled with red-and-white popcorn boxes. I raised my hand and bought one.

  Opening it, I tilted it toward Anamika, who wrapped her hand around mine and lifted it to her nose. “What is it?” she asked.

  “It’s called popcorn. This one is, in fact, caramel corn, which is even better than the original.” I nudged her shoulder. “Try it.”

  Gingerly, she picked up a kernel and placed it on the end of her tongue. I grinned at the expression of surprise on her face when she bit down and I heard the crunch.

  “Do you like it?” I asked.

  She nodded, and I angled the box so she could take some. When I grabbed a large handful after her, she protested with a squeal and a full mouth and pulled the box from my grip. Popcorn threatened to spill out of her lips, and she nudged it in with the back of her hand, chewing quickly, and threatened my life if I took more.

  I laughed and made a halfhearted attempt to grab the box from her, but she deftly maneuvered it away, and when I saw her mumbling slyly and the box refilling on its own, I warned, “Better not let any of these mortals see what you’re up to.” She just smiled at me and leaned back, munching on her snack.

  People filed into the tent, filling up the seats, and Ana suggested we move up a few benches to see better. When we were settled again and she’d finished half the box of popcorn, she rolled a kernel between her fingers and said, “You did not ask me about Sunil.”

  I shrugged. “I thought it was pretty self-explanatory. You wanted to see him happy. Truthfully, I was glad to see Nilima found love. She’s an amazing girl. I think they’ll do well together.”

  “So, you approve of their…romance?”

  “Yes. Don’t you?”

  She considered her answer for a moment and then said, “I love my brother. He was a true and loyal companion and he will dedicate himself to your Nilima just as he did to me. Her safety will never be in question.”

  I nodded, deciding not to elaborate on the dangers of Kelsey’s time. “I got the impression it took a long time for him to wear her down.” When her brows furrowed in puzzlement, I explained, “To convince her to marry him.”

  “He is tenacious,” she said.

  Chuckling, I said, “I remember. In this case, his tenacity paid off.”

  “Yes, but it still took him more than two years since the time he left my side to completely gain her favor.”

  I blew out a breath. That was a long time to wait. I’d seen them kiss at Ren’s wedding, which, by my calculations, was only a few months after they returned. Nilima had been stubborn. Apparently, Ana’s thoughts were along the same lines because the next question she asked was, “If their hearts beat for one another in such a way, why did they hesitate to form a bond?”

  “There could be a number of reasons.”

  “Such as?”

  “Timing, first of all. Sometimes life gets in the way.”

  “I do not understand this reason.”

  “It applies to this era more than ours. Sometimes one person wants to finish school while another works in a different country.”

  “A physical separation?”

  “Yes.”

  “This would not hinder me.”

  “I…I wouldn’t imagine it could,” I said slowly, not liking where this was heading.

  “What else?” she asked. “What other things hinder romance?”

  “On occasion, one person feels more strongly than the other.”

  She nodded sagely as if I’d given her the answer that explained the origins of the universe.

  “And third?”

  The lights dimmed and the music started and I’d never felt so relieved to be interrupted. A large man wearing garish makeup sparkled under the spotlight as he announced the acts. Ana quickly learned the art of clapping and began the process too early and ended it too late to be natural, but her eyes were riveted on the performance.

  She didn’t get the clowns at all, but she loved the acrobats and especially enjoyed the dogs, making me promise to find her one. I tried to tell her that dogs and tigers didn’t really get along in most cases, but she waved a hand and shushed me. I caught a scent, a familiar human scent, which was shocking considering the vast amounts of popcorn, cotton candy, and hot dogs in the area.

  Scanning the crowd, I finally spotted her just a few benches down. She wore a sparkly costume and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her telltale ribbon was tied to the end of her braid. My breath caught and the pulse in my neck pounded.

  “What is it?” Ana asked, then followed my eyes to the person below us, sitting all by herself. “Is it her?” she queried softly.

  I nodded. My palms turned sweaty, so I wiped them on my thighs and then balled up my fists on my knees, not realizing until Ana touched the back of my hand that they’d turned white.

  “She won’t know us,” she whispered in my ear.

  Turning my hand over, I grasped her fingers, and she slid a little closer to me on the bench. I didn’t glance away from Kelsey until I caug
ht another scent. This one unmistakable. My nostrils flared. I heard the soft snarl, the click of claws, and the irritated huff before he was rolled into the arena.

  Wild music played as the man came out to announce the final act. The words rung in my ears like a song on repeat.

  “…taken from the harsh, wild giungla, the jungles, of India and brought here to America.”

  The spotlights darting around made me dizzy. Sweat broke out on my temple. It was like I could feel the eyes of the crowd staring at me expectantly. The applause became harsh to my ears. The noise came at me from every side. My pulse beat frantically. I felt like I was being hunted. They were going to kill me.

  A large cage was wheeled out and my nerves jumped frantically. I had to escape. Behind the curtain, inside the wagon, the tiger, who was also my brother, paced nervously.

  The shouted words swam around my brain.

  Hunter.

  Dangerous.

  Predator.

  “Watch our trainer carefully as he risks his life to bring you…Dhiren!”

  Ren ran down the ramp and entered the large cage, roaring his dislike to the crowd. I jumped at the crack of the whip and tears sprang to my eyes. Soft fingers stole around my heated neck. A cooling numbness washed through me at the touch. Ana pulled me gently closer to her and murmured in my ear, “Hush now, Sohan. I am here with you.” I felt the press of her lips on my wet cheek and nodded.

  I reached for her hand, wrapping mine around it, and kneaded her fingers nervously as I watched. It was like being trapped in a nightmare. I knew what Ren had gone through. He’d described it to me often enough. As the act continued, I watched Kelsey instead. She sat there enraptured by the whole thing. When the man with the whip placed his head in Ren’s mouth, my fists tightened. “Bite it off,” I whispered savagely.

  He didn’t, of course, though he’d practically unhinged his jaw just to make sure his teeth didn’t accidentally hurt the man. I thought if the man was foolish enough to put his head in a tiger’s mouth, he at least deserved a scratch for his trouble. I couldn’t breathe at all until he left to the uproarious cheers of the crowd, Kelsey’s included.

  It felt like a betrayal watching Kelsey sitting there, clapping. She didn’t know any better. I knew that. But to see her so caught up in what, to me, was such a humiliating display was disheartening. Ana sat quietly beside me, as aware of my mood as I often was of hers. I felt melancholy. Wrong. How many times had he performed like that? How often had he been beaten, whipped? It was too much. I was the one responsible for his capture. It was my fault.