“Uh. Not sure that’s a great idea,” I said, rubbing my neck with the back of my hand.
“Nonsense,” she said. “You are like my brother, are you not?”
“Yes. Right. It’s just…”
Ana looked at me directly. “You need to rest as much as I do. With my tiger guardian at my side, nothing will bring me harm. Is that not correct?”
“It is, but…”
“No more words tonight, Sohan. Take your rest.”
She pulled back the bedding, and, resigned, I sunk down next to her, turning my back to the lovely girl and scooting as close to the edge as I could. “Sleep well, Ana,” I said gruffly.
“You as well, my tiger.”
Her soft words floated in the air above us and settled over me like snow. I didn’t know if I was just that tired or if she’d woven her own brand of a sleeping spell. Regardless, within the span of a few seconds, I fell deeply asleep and into an all-too-familiar dream.
Chapter 29
Birds of a Feather
I was happy. Happier than I ever remembered being. I was out hunting with a group of young men. They were strong of body and keen of mind. I was in my tiger form but they seemed comfortable with that fact. One stopped behind a tree and signaled me with his hands in a way that Kadam had taught us as warriors. His hair, raven black and wavy, was tied at the base of his neck. With his copper skin and sky-blue eyes that pierced, even in the predawn light, he seemed familiar.
He gave the sign that the prey was close. I was to circle around it while he and the others took up position. When they were ready, I’d flush out the game. I slunk through the brush until I came to a hill overlooking a meadow. The snap of twigs alerted me and I crouched down, tail twitching slightly. A small group of deer grazed lazily below.
When I heard the cry of an owl and recognized it as human-made rather than bird, I sprung from my hiding spot. The deer immediately spun away from me and darted through the trees as fast as they could go. The twang of an arrow was followed by a cry from one of the animals. It fell immediately and when I leapt over it, the animal was already dead. An impressive kill.
The hunters were so skilled I wouldn’t have heard them at all if I didn’t have enhanced hearing. They were invisible as well. Only my nose told me where they were and even then, one of them surprised me. He’d hidden his scent by staying downwind. He took down a second animal using a spear, and the third man caught his prey using a weighted net. The pinned deer struggled until the man appeared and efficiently drew his knife across the animal’s neck. He kept his hand on the deer’s back, stroking it soothingly until it finally stilled and died.
After the deer were prepared for travel, trussed up on long poles, six of the young men hefted their loads while two more scouted ahead. I walked between them and the one on my right turned to look down at me with a cocky sort of grin. “You’re getting a bit slow, aren’t you, old man?”
The other boys laughed softly as I growled and snapped at him halfheartedly. The woolen cloak we wore flapped around his boot-clad legs. I noticed how easily his broad shoulders carried the weight of the full-sized buck. He was proud of the kill and he deserved to be. The animal hadn’t suffered. His marksmanship was better than any of the soldiers I’d trained over the years.
I glanced up and the boy’s bright green eyes sparkled as he said, “Would you say we won the bet, father?”
Changing into human form, I punched him lightly on the shoulder, and smiled at him. “If anyone here is getting older, it’s you. It was a nice job you did back there, and yes, I’d say you won the wager. Don’t tell your mother though. You know how she is.” The boys laughed and my heart swelled in my chest. Mine, I thought. Those handsome young men were my sons. I don’t know how I knew it, I just did.
One of the scouts, a younger boy of about sixteen, returned with an expression of alarm. “Father, do you see that smoke on the horizon? A village is being attacked. Should we summon the goddess?”
“How many?” I asked, musing.
“Two dozen by my estimate.”
“Do you think we can handle them?”
The boy raised his eyebrows and gave me a look that said I should already know the answer to that question.
“All right,” I said. “I don’t see any need to bother her. We’ll have to stash the deer, but we can come back for them. Hopefully something else won’t drag them off first.”
“Lives are more important than meat,” the quiet blond boy at my left remarked as he and his brother lifted the pole into a nearby tree, positioning the deer as high up as they could and hiding it with branches. They didn’t look like brothers, but I knew they were. The other boys followed suit, and soon all three of the kills were carefully camouflaged in the canopy. The scent would still draw scavengers, but with any luck, they wouldn’t attract anything too big for us to chase off.
The corner of my mouth lifted and I nodded proudly as I watched them. I’d taught them to think like skilled hunters both human and tiger. When they were done, I said, “Then, let’s go and see what would-be potentate is causing havoc now.”
We set off and I was swept into another dream. This one a sweet image of Kelsey holding a golden-eyed baby she called Anik Kishan. He was her first child. The scene played out, and for the first time, I noticed a difference between dreaming now and when I’d seen the vision before. In the other dream with the boys, I’d been a part of their circle. I’d spoken the words and felt what that version of me felt. When I saw Kelsey, I was happy but that sense of pride was missing. I was an outside observer. It didn’t feel wrong. Not exactly. It was just different.
One of my hunters was tawny-eyed with a strong nose and sharply hewn features. He much resembled my father. I’d always assumed he was the adult version of Kelsey’s baby, but now I noticed subtle differences. The shape of the nose was wrong. The scent, which was strong even in dreaming, was not the same.
When that scene had played out, I was taken elsewhere. I was in a jungle talking with Kadam. He was sad and he stroked my tiger head while he sat next to me, his back against a tree. The two of us watched the sun set and my heart was heavy and hopeful at the same time.
That one faded and a new dream took its place. I heard a woman’s laughter as I chased her in the dark. There was a veil over my eyes and she didn’t have a scent at all. “Come find me, tiger,” she beckoned with an invitation that promised more than a successful hunt. My claws scraped the log I balanced on as I leapt. Transforming as I neared the ground, I caught the woman around the waist and we rolled together, stopping with her on top of me.
“What do I win?” I asked breathily, smiling as I stroked her hair away from her face. I still couldn’t see her or smell her but the curve of her cheek was familiar to me.
“Shall we start with a kiss and see where it goes from there?” she said with a husky laugh.
“I think I can manage that,” I said as I traced her face, drawing her down. Light bloomed around us as our mouths fit together perfectly, outlining her shape. Our lips brushed, blending as seamless and true as the horizon, the distance between us indiscernible. Cupping the back of her head with one hand and trailing the other slowly down her spine until my hand found the curve of her hip, I squeezed the soft flesh and tugged her against me, then murmured against her lips, “I want to see you.”
She touched a fingertip to my nose. “Not just yet, I think.”
Groaning, I touched my lips to her neck and tugged the sleeve of her dress down her shoulder. She made a soft little mewling sound as she arched her neck, giving me more access. I rained kisses over her jawline, then down to the curve of her shoulder, taking my time as I explored every inch.
Impatient, she turned my head and touched her velvet lips to mine, wriggling her body ever closer. Her lush form was crushed against me and I cradled her close, willingly giving her the slow, drugging kisses she desired as I slid my hands up into her hair. I heard the patter of a spring rain shower tapping on the canopy hig
h above us though I still could see nothing. I no longer cared about my limited vision. If I could feel her, touch her, that was all that mattered.
Pressing her back gently, I rolled us again so I hovered above her and lifted up on my elbows so as not to crush her with my weight. She took hold of my shirt, trying to tug me back down, but I resisted and covered her hand with mine, where it rested over my heart. “I love you,” I said. “Have I told you that recently?”
I didn’t need to see her smile to know it was there. “You tell me often and with such bruising intensity that no one who hears it can deny your claims.”
“Good. No man should ever entertain the thought that you are not claimed.”
She punched my arm but then lifted her head to kiss my ear softly as she murmured, “I love you as well, you rangy beast. However, should you cease kissing me, I might consider a different suitor.”
“Well, I certainly can’t have that, my lady fair,” I said suavely.
Her silky mouth found mine quickly and I was soon lost in her embrace. As her arms twined around my neck, her lips opened and the dream slid into something more powerful, more compelling. The scents of the forest filled my nostrils. Flowers of all kinds surrounded us. Roses, jasmine, lilies. There was also evergreen and crushed grass.
The light had dimmed as well. It was now muted—smoke gray and petal pink. Slowly, I became aware that I was no longer lying on the ground but in a bed as soft as fairy wings. My sight had returned. Raising my head, I saw my fingers interlocked with hers where our hands rested near the headboard. Our palms danced together, fingers tightening and squeezing. I let go of her hand and ran my fingertips down the length of her hair, which spread out in a halo, spilling over the pillow and sheets.
She made a little impatient noise and cupped my jaw, willing me to turn my head back to her. I closed my eyes again and lowered my lips to hers. The woman I kissed held me tightly, her hands kneading my back and then sliding between us to stroke my bare chest where my shirt gaped open. My mind was foggy with sleep and I had no immediate reason to want to wake up. The dream was sweet and passionate and perfect. My mouth moved with hers as she teased and tantalized me with her soft, honeyed kisses.
She tugged at my shirt and I mumbled against her lips, “Just a minute, my lovely jaani.”
Detangling my limbs from hers, I rose with the intention of removing my shirt, when I suddenly realized I was no longer dreaming. My hands froze on the buttons as I looked down on the woman who was now very visible. Anamika lay on the bed as beautiful and soft as a plucked flower, her lips rosy from my kisses. A becoming flush on her heaving chest rose all the way to her cheekbones and even tinged her shoulders pink.
Ana’s hair framed her lovely face, the waves of it radiating away from her like brilliant rays from the face of the sun. I wanted to sink my fingers into it and gather it up by handfuls. To look at her was to understand the meaning of innocence and passion, siren and supplicant, strength and vulnerability. She was woman and goddess and girl all wrapped into one enticing creature.
As I stared down at her, my mouth open in shock, she reached toward me and ran her hand up my arm. I trembled with the fervent need to sink back down against her again and take advantage of the desire I saw in her eyes. The hunger I felt for her was overwhelming, and I couldn’t understand how the Grove of Dreams could have led me down such a shameful, guilt-ridden path.
“Sohan?” she said, her brows furrowed, but her moss-green eyes were still heavy-lidded with sleep. “What’s wrong?”
“I…I…I’m sorry,” I said. My body finally caught up to my brain and I scrambled away from her as quickly as possible. She sat up, her silken nightdress slipping farther down her shoulder. It was dangerously close to exposing her. Spinning around before it did, I fumbled for words. “I, um, I’ll be waiting for you out there.”
Whipping through the hanging vines, I ripped a few of them off the trees and tossed them violently aside as I stomped noisily through the forest. My whole body shook with tension. Leaving her and her intoxicating scent behind proved nearly impossible. Pacing back and forth like a caged beast, I ran a thumb across my mouth and closed my eyes. I could still taste her. My blood pounded in my veins, my body insisting I was an idiot for leaving a very warm, seemingly willing woman in bed alone.
The tiger in me saw nothing wrong with what I’d done. Ana was mine as I was hers. We were already bonded in a way that was incomparable. Nothing in the universe could keep us apart should we wish it. The tiger was driven by want and need and he was very close to the surface. Even now, a part of her called to me or, perhaps, to him. I stumbled a few steps and then heeded her summons, returning to the grove but not entering.
“I’m here,” I said through the vines stiffly. “What do you require?”
The plants lifted of their own accord as she stepped through. She wore a formfitting tunic as blue as a turquoise sea with soft doeskin breeches and knee-high boots. The clothing enhanced her figure enough to make my throat go dry and my pulse pound. Her hair was swept back, and I could see the slight red tinge on her neck that had likely been caused by the stubble on my jaw. I winced and looked away.
“What I require is that you explain your actions,” she said quietly.
“I…I don’t know what to say. I was dreaming and—” My mouth worked but no words came out. Glancing up, I saw her typical stubborn stance, her hands on her hips.
“Go on,” she said. “You were dreaming and…”
“And…nothing. It was nothing. It won’t happen again. I apologize. There was no reason for me to…”
“To…what?” She came closer, her long stride quickly closing the distance. Uncomfortable, I backed up and kept moving until my back hit a tree.
“To kiss you like that. I didn’t mean it. I promise it won’t happen again.”
“Oh?” She took another step, and if I could have disappeared into the trunk of the tree, I would have. “You didn’t mean it, you say? It felt to me like you meant it.” Ana wrapped her hand around my bicep and leaned into me. Her face was illuminated by a soft light that accented her features, especially her rosy sculpted mouth. My eyes drifted down to her supple lips and she smiled.
Sensing her emotions, which were as close to the surface as my own, I detected a lingering trace of desire there, but it was now hidden behind something else. Fear? Nervousness? Whatever it was, she wasn’t sharing. In dreaming, I’d been open to the woman, to Ana, completely, but upon waking, both of us put up our walls once more.
Still, she used our connection to speak to me. I dreamed too, Sohan, she said in my mind. There is indeed a space for me between the past and the future. I have seen it. And now that I know it is there, my aim is to take it for my own. Would you seek to deprive me of it?
“No, I—”
She interrupted me. You have always said that you are a man who fights for what he wants. Taking a small step closer, her thigh brushed against mine, and all coherent thought flew away like the wish of a fairy. Ana touched her fingertip to my collarbone and traced it slowly down my chest, only stopping when her finger met the fabric of my shirt. I felt every single millimeter of it.
Her eyes were fixed on my chest for a long moment. Then she splayed her hand over my heart. I’ll admit that what I want tortures me in more ways than one. Her voice was a quiet whisper in my mind. Turning her head, as if she could no longer look at me, she dropped her hands to her sides and asked, What is it you want, tiger?
“I want…I want…” I couldn’t think of a blessed thing in the world I wanted. At least, not anything appropriate. Not with her lips only a few inches away from mine. I’d promised Ana that I would be like a brother to her. Like a bosom companion. Not someone who constantly thought of her generous bosom. I closed my eyes, trying to remember the younger version of her. The child who relied on me, but I couldn’t bring her image to mind.
Ana looked up at me, studying my face for a long moment. Her mouth turned down as if disappointed.
“Hmph,” Ana said and then flicked my nose with her finger. “Let me know when you figure it out.” She spun quickly and began marching off down the path. “Come, tiger,” she said. “We have work to do.” As I hiked behind her, I tried to look at the birds and the sky and the trees, anything but the sway of her hips or her long, long legs as she walked, but even when I stared at the ground, I thought of her mocking mouth that just begged to be silenced with a kiss.
When we reached the pass between the mountains where Kelsey and I had first spotted the giant tree, I was shocked to see it was already there. “Did you do this earlier?” I asked.
“No,” she said distractedly. Lifting her arms, she fashioned a bubble around us and we floated down to the ground far below. She stared up into the branches deep in thought as we walked. I described the tree and four houses in great detail as we moved along, but it was almost as if she wasn’t hearing me at all.
“Ana,” I said. “Ana, what did I just tell you?”
She waved a hand. “Something about the ravens, I think.”
“What’s bothering you?” I asked.
“It’s this tree.” She stopped and looked up, then snapped her fingers, and a giant leaf detached and twirled over us like a large kite until it settled on the ground nearby. Picking it up, she ran a hand over the leaf and closed her eyes. A few seconds later, they snapped open, an expression of surprise and delight on her face. “How fascinating!” she said.
“What?” I asked, running a hand across the back of my neck and swatting at a bug.
“The tree. It responds to emotion. Come here. Let’s test this out.”
“Test what out?” I groused as I followed her to another tree, a small sapling that grew beneath the branches of its much larger brother.
“Here,” she said. “Turn around and stand right there.”
“Okay,” I replied, folding my arms across my chest. “Now what?”
“Now…you need to kiss me.”
My mouth fell open. “I need to what?” I asked, hoping my mind was playing tricks on me.
Tiger's Dream (Tiger's Curse Book 5) Page 44