by Elle Thorne
Anna continued, “Plus, you have a nice set. No reason to hide them.” She slapped at Callie’s hands to get her to quit pulling the material up. “He’s back, you know.”
Callie’s heart skipped a beat. It did more than skip a beat, it pounced up into her throat, grabbed hold tightly, and made her voice sound like a cartoon character’s. “Who’s back?”
“Who’s back?” Anna mocked her, batting her eyelashes.
It was Callie’s turn to smack Anna. She swallowed hard to kill the lump in her throat. “Quit that. How do you know? You saw him?” Neither of them had to define the “him” part. It was clear.
“No, but I heard.” Anna was floor supervisor, so she would know about anything a lot sooner than Callie would.
She’d missed him. They didn’t talk much, but still, just knowing he was around, with his warm smile, those sexy eyes, and a demeanor that warned the world he was like a jungle cat in waiting, gave her a thrill.
She sighed. Thinking of jungle cats reminded her that the tiger she visited nightly was missing. It was bad enough Vittorio was out of town, but with the large tiger gone, too, she felt a loneliness that struck her to the core. It was strange; for all the great friendship she had with Anna, there was something about the large cat that was better than sipping a hot cup of tea in the middle of a blizzard.
Other than seeing Vittorio again, the only thing that would make her day complete would be if her favorite tiger was back, the white tiger in Sanctuary. The huge tiger seemed to be the ruler of the other tigers, always coming close to her in the enclosure, listening to her while she talked about the silliest things. The large white tiger with the brilliant-blue eyes that growled when other felines approached him and Callie, yet made the softest soothing sounds when it was just the two of them.
She should have come in early to see if the tiger was back, but she couldn’t because she’d had a late appointment with her professor. She’d asked Veila and the other two members of management, Sophie and Lila, if they knew what had happened to the large white tiger, but all they’d said was he was at a vet’s, that he’d had to be taken there. No one knew what had happened to him.
Then Callie had asked what the tiger’s name was.
Veila had given her a strange look then said, “None of the tigers are named.”
There was no way Callie would be able to sneak down now to search for him. There’d be no time, unless it was a slow night at After Dark. She didn’t think that would happen. She’d seen the line stretching out the front doors on the bottom floor and into the street.
The beautiful tiger would move his ears, twitching them back and forth, his head cocking this way or that, the whole time she’d talk, as if he really was attentive, listening and comprehending. His eyes would glow with knowledge and understanding. She missed him. She missed sharing with him. If he wasn’t back, she was going to start asking questions.
Chapter Three
Vax ran his fingers through his hair then pulled his chair closer to the mahogany table. The chair rolled silently, the wood armrests not quite touching the glossy, expensive table. He looked out the ceiling-to-floor windows in his boardroom. The lights of Dallas glinted and winked, evidence the city life was in full swing. Things were hopping in the moneyed Metroplex. People readied for another weekend of excess and pleasure. And the Tiero family would be reaping the results.
He’d barely gotten any sleep. After waking to the incessant buzzing of his cell phone—clearly his request to let him sleep uninterrupted was not being heeded—he’d showered and dressed. Lila, Veila, Sophie, and Natalya had insisted on a meeting. That was why he sat in his boardroom now, fully dressed, ready for the evening. The ladies were all in their glitzy, sequined, glittery club dresses, ready to get downstairs to work, managing and assisting in the operations of the club, as soon as they finished with their meeting. This was a family operation, after all.
What else could he do but call the meeting? They’d wanted it. Insisted on catching up. They were his tribe sisters, with the exception of Natalya, who was wearing out her welcome quickly. Why did he even have a truce with her tribe? Yes, he was even beginning to second-guess that. It was a sign he was getting tired of Natalya’s antics and her presence.
Oh, yeah, that’s right, because allies are better than enemies.
Would she still be an ally? Would her tribe be his allies if he rejected her as his mate?
The first thing he had to listen to at the meeting was that Sophie and Lila had heard rumors of trespassing shifters in their territory.
“I’ll get a couple of the guys on that,” he assured his sisters.
“Anything else?” He looked at Veila, then Sophie, and finally Lila. He didn’t bother looking at Natalya, who wasn’t a member of their tribe. It was courtesy on Vax’s part he allowed her to be in attendance at their meeting. That and he didn’t want friction with her father’s tribe.
“Where were you?” Sophie asked, pushing her platinum blonde hair behind her ears. She was an orange tigress, taking after her mother.
“Yeah,” Lila added, her bravery bolstered by Sophie’s question. Lila was a white tigress, a darker white than he, her hair blonde with a hint of red undertones.
He glared at Natalya. He was sure she’d put them up to this. She’d probably egged them on about not knowing where their brother was, probably made statements about Vax not being a good alpha if he took off without notice. Never mind he’d had extra tribe members come in and patrol the club and the building regularly. Never mind his tribe sisters could kick major ass. Nope, never mind all that.
Natalya had a mission: to know where he’d been. And he was sure she’d manipulated his sisters into this. He’d known Natalya since she was a bratty, pouty, cute little girl, spoiled rotten by an over-indulgent father because she was the only daughter.
Natalya didn’t hold his gaze for long. A guilty look passed over her face, and she turned away, her eyes focused on the city in the background.
“Anything else?” His tone was clipped, curt, to the point.
“My father wants an answer.” Natalya pouted.
She was relentless. Normally, he’d admire the trait, but this was becoming tiresome. He didn’t need to ask what her father wanted an answer to. And he didn’t think it was her father who wanted the answer as much as it was Natalya. She wanted to solidify the merger.
He nodded. “I’ll contact your father in due time.”
“Why don’t you tell me, and I’ll tell him for you?” she responded, a coy smile on her face.
Sophie and Lila rolled their eyes. Veila ignored Natalya’s statement in favor of looking at paperwork.
It wasn’t that his sisters didn’t like Natalya; they liked her just fine. It was they didn’t want to see Vax pressured into a mating any more than they would have wanted to be. So they stood behind him, not insisting on a mating, not worried about changing the status quo.
There was nothing wrong with the status quo as far as Vax was concerned. He liked his life as it was, and had no interest in being mated to a tigress he didn’t feel a spark with.
Spark. He shuffled some paperwork in front of him, pretending to be absorbed in it, while his mind wandered to an ebony-haired, onyx-eyed curvalicious body he couldn’t get out of his system, or his mind, or his tiger’s heart.
Was Callie scheduled to work tonight? He didn’t make the schedule, and he’d forgotten to look at it. He wasn’t going in this evening. His body needed more rest, the kind of rest only Sanctuary could offer. He shuffled through the paperwork. No schedule in this pile.
Would she come see him if she was scheduled? She visited Sanctuary every night she worked, after last call, after the doors were shut, after the last patron had left, while the cleaning crew was in the club. She broke the rules, being there. His rules, specifically, that humans were not to be in the Sanctuary viewing area during the hours After Dark was closed.
He looked at Veila. “The schedule for tonight?”
&n
bsp; She pored over the pile in front of her, took a sheet out, and handed it to him with a knowing glance. She knew. He knew she knew. He knew all his sisters knew, to one degree or another. But, since there was nothing between him and Callie, they never said anything. He knew if there had been something between them, things would be a whole hell of a lot different.
First, because she was human. Second, because, for an alpha like him, it was recommended marriages be political, if not financial, mergers.
Vax rifled through the papers and discovered, yes, Callie was scheduled tonight. He fought to keep his pulse even, knowing all the tigresses in the room would be able to read any reaction he had. Keeping things under this kind of control had taken its toll on him, though he had become a master at controlling his pulse and masking the scent of his desire. He invested in hunter’s block in wholesale quantities. For starters, he never knew when he’d need the block, if he were trying to hide his presence from other shifters. And it had come in very handy in concealing—somewhat—the scent of the depth of his emotions for Callie.
He turned to Veila. “Empty out Sanctuary. I want some alone time in there tonight. I’m going to the roof for a few.” He stood. The roof was the place where he could meditate for a moment. He could get his bearings, center himself.
Natalya rose, too, perhaps thinking she would accompany him?
He gestured for her to sit. “Enjoy some girl time.”
She frowned, flopping back down sideways in the plush chair, causing the chair’s armrests to bump into the table’s edge, leaving a scratch, and not acknowledging the damage she’d done. Veila shook her head almost imperceptibly.
Without hiding his supernatural speed, pushing his still-tired muscles and his still-hurting insides and bones, he zipped out of the room and up the stairs to the rooftop.
The roof was off-limits to anyone who wasn’t a Tiero or invited by one. Even the Tiero employees couldn’t be there without permission or a reason.
The roof had a covered pool, a hot tub, his gym, and a totally enclosed glass room from which he enjoyed the view of the storms that struck the city from time to time. Being on the rooftop in the middle of the lightning flashes of a thunderstorm was a high for Vax that rivaled most of his favorite pleasures.
Vax took a deep breath. Making a three-sixty slowly, he surveyed the city, using his senses to see if he could find anything amiss.
Nothing. He sensed no strange or foreign shifters. Unless they were using block… He’d ask around to see if there’d been rumors of trespassers in his territory.
He made his way back down to his office and opened a hidden panel, revealing a secret door leading to Sanctuary.
Sanctuary had two entrances—a hidden one from his office, and, the public entrance from the main dance floor in After Dark. Patrons of After Dark would visit the bar-enclosed Sanctuary to view the large felines.
Shifters from afar—friendly to the Tiero—would visit and enjoy the plush vegetation, large lagoon, and intricate cave system. When he wasn’t in his penthouse or on the rooftop, Vax spent much of his time at Sanctuary.
He took the narrow staircase two steps at a time, pressed a button above his head just before he shifted, then entered one of the caves through the doorway the button had opened. He flexed, his bones creaking from stretching and rearranging, and, a few seconds later, he was in his white tiger skin, padding his way silently throughout the maze of caves serving as the tigers’ playground during both the daytime and while the club was open.
Sanctuary was empty, as he’d requested. He stretched out on a large rock overlooking the entrance, laid his head on his paws, and let his body recuperate while his heart waited for the curvy brunette Latina’s nightly visit.
Chapter Four
Another night, another shift over with. Callie and Anna were in the dressing room again, Callie’s section clean and ready for the next night. She was done and ready to go. Grabbing her purse, she told Anna she’d find her later.
“Don’t get caught,” Anna whispered, knowing what Callie did every night when she snuck into Sanctuary. She told Callie she understood her need to visit the big cat.
Callie blew her best friend a kiss and hurried out the door, avoiding the dance floor and main congregating areas, skimming around the perimeter of the tables, and staying close to the wall.
She stole into Sanctuary before the cleaning crew could lock it up, and hid behind a tree until she heard the clicking of the lock.
Safe!
She stepped out with trepidation, approaching the bars, straining to see in the dimness, hesitant the wrong cat could be in the area. That had happened once, and the strange tiger had roared so close to her ear Callie had slipped and fallen. A second later, her white tiger had come to the rescue, sending the other tiger away.
“Hey.” She kept her voice low, not feeling odd at all about whispering to a tiger.
She heard the rustling of leaves—the only giveaway something was approaching. Seconds later, the large cat padded through the undergrowth, pounced to a boulder near her, and sat.
“Hey. Where’ve you been?” She surveyed the cat’s appearance. “I was worried about you. Someone said they thought you’d gone to the vet. I was more afraid they’d relocated you. That happens here, you know.”
The tiger cocked his head, as if listening and understanding her.
“I don’t mean to alarm you.”
He didn’t look alarmed, not in the least. But he did look different.
“What are those scars from? Did you get into a fight with another tiger? Is that why you were taken away to a vet? Did you lose the fight?”
He huffed, as though scoffing at her question.
Callie knew better, but she laughed softly at the sound. Pshaw. As if the cat could understand and respond.
She sobered momentarily, thinking of how quickly she could lose her tiger friend. His presence here was at the mercy of the humans who housed him. Had they bought him? Did they buy tigers? Fury seized her. Was Vittorio responsible for her tiger’s future? Yes, now she was beginning to think of him as her tiger, even though they had to be separated by bars because he might just actually kill her. Or even eat her.
God, my mind’s all over the place tonight. What’s wrong with me?
The tiger shifted his massive head, studying her, a question in his pale eyes. His whiskers twitched, and his large tongue came out, licking at his lips.
“Would you bite me if I put my hand near you?” She was asking herself more than the tiger, but still, she spoke out loud.
The tiger lowered his head, as if saying he wasn’t a threat.
“You don’t understand me, do you?” She rubbed her palms over her jeans, her hands sweaty. Why was she nervous? “Of course you don’t understand me.” Callie chewed on her lip. “Do you?” She laughed derisively at herself.
The tiger moved his head slightly, almost in an up and down motion. Almost like nodding his head.
“Oh, shit. Now I’ve gone and lost it because I’m interpreting your actions.” She held her hand close to the bars. “I trust you.” Yet she didn’t put her hand between the two thick metal rods. “Maybe I’m a liar, since I’m not exactly risking anything yet.”
She sucked in a deep breath. She should do it. She wanted to do it.
* * *
Vax smiled inside. Callie was so brave—or crazy? Who in their right mind would put their hand near a tiger? Then again, she’d built a special relationship with him. A part of Vax could understand her confidence and her trepidation.
With his tiger hearing, Vax heard her take a deep breath. His tiger could feel her pulse going haywire. Was that fear or excitement? Or a bit of both?
She closed her eyes, putting her hand even closer to the bars, then let her fingers touch the metal. When she actually made contact with the cold bars, she flinched slightly, then inched her fingers forward a notch.
Vax breathed her scent in. She’d already imprinted on both Vax and his tiger, but hav
ing her so close was heady, like being on a drug high.
He let a small puff of his breath out of his nostrils, letting her know he was nearby, because she still hadn’t opened her eyes.
She let out a small, quiet gasp when the warmth of his breath touched her flesh, then she opened her eyes. Her dark-brown gaze met his with such trust.
He knew trust and comfort, as well as security, were a big deal for Callie. She’d told his tiger she’d been raised in foster homes. That she’d been molested as a child—Vax had plans for that bastard as soon as she told him the man’s name. She’d also told him about the insecurity of not knowing which home or school she’d be in the next month, and the month after. He’d learned all about what Anna had come to mean to her.
Vax had never been as close emotionally to a woman as he was to Callie, though he’d never exchanged more than a sentence or two with her when he was in human form.
“You’re not going to hurt me, are you, big guy? Why don’t you have a name? It’s not right to not have a name to go by. Do you have a tiger name? When other tigers are here with you, do they think of you or talk to you in tiger-talk and do you have names then?”
Her curiosity brought another inward smile to Vax. He lowered his head, bringing it closer to her hand, allowing his cheek to rest on top of her fingers.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Can I touch you?” Callie raised her hand, turning it so her fingers were against his cheek. She boldly leaned closer so she could touch his head farther back. “Do you think you could come closer? I’d like to touch your neck.”
Vax pulled himself up slowly and placed his entire body alongside the bars.
* * *
Callie held her breath at the sheer size of him. Muscles rippled as he rose to his feet and stood against the bars. His massive body was lithe, yet completely solid and thick. She ran her fingers over his cheek then pulled her hand out and placed it on the other side of the bar, letting her fingers trail over his thick neck, across his wide back.