by Ariel Marie
“I’m not that good,” he objected with a shake of his head. It was the tiger in him. Tigers weren’t known for their sense of smell. His tiger just had a great sense of direction.
“Still, it’s impressive. We’re making great time.” She came to stand beside him as Luka moved on with the others, brushing past them to follow him, leaving them alone. “It certainly would have taken us much longer to find the trail.”
A gentle smile graced his lips as he took her in. She had finally pulled her hair into a messy bun on top of her head. His fingers ached to pull it out so that he could watch it tumble around her shoulders. He ached to see what her hair would look like spread across his pillows back home.
With it being summer, the dense woods were muggy, and everyone was sporting sweat spots on their clothes. She was no different, but she made it work for her. Sweat lined her face, and the heat made her look flushed. His eyes followed her hand as she took out a small hand towel from her pocket. He stepped closer to her, watching her eyes widen as he took the towel from her hand.
He gently reached up and wiped the sweat from her forehead, trailing the towel down her temples and around to her nose to wipe the little drops of moisture that accumulated there. He couldn’t resist leaning in and covering her mouth with his.
His tiger went wild with the first taste of her. His hand cupped her face gently as he angled his head and deepened the kiss. Her tongue didn’t shy away from his as it invited him in farther. A moan escaped her as she leaned in hard against him, crushing her ample breasts to his chest. The kiss turned urgent, and a voice in the back of his mind signaled for him to stop. In the middle of the forest with their group not too far away was not how he wanted to have her.
“We better stop,” he murmured against her lips before pulling away. The scent of her arousal drove his tiger wild. Her eyes opened, and the lust that he saw there made his cock ache even more. “Don’t look at me like that, or you’ll find yourself with your back against a tree and my cock buried deep in your pussy. Fast.”
She gasped at his words and closed her eyes as he leaned his forehead against hers, breathing in her scent. His cat demanded that they take her, but he had to push his animal back down.
“That doesn’t sound too bad, Weston,” she breathed, a smile spreading across her face as her eyes opened.
“Don’t test me, Charlee. And it’s West. I think we’re past the formal names.” He grinned, grabbing her hand. “Let’s catch up with the group before Luka sends back a search party.”
They quickly walked through the brush, catching up with the others. Their hands remained joined, but he refused to let her go. Her smaller hand belonged in his much larger one. He didn’t care what it looked like when they reached the group. She tried to pull her hand away from his, but he tightened his grip on her. His cat didn’t want to let her out of its sight, much less its reach.
The path narrowed, and they all had to walk in a single file line. He directed Charlee to walk ahead of him so that he could pull up the rear. Luka knew the way, but for safety reasons, he wanted to keep his eye on Charlee.
He still couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling from the train. In speaking with Tryndin, he refused the Russian security, not trusting them. His men would do fine and keep everyone safe. Drago was the master of stealth. West knew that he and his men were around them, but they wouldn’t present themselves unless they needed to.
Luka held up a hand, signaling to the group to stop. He turned and his eyes met West’s. They had arrived.
“He’s found it,” West murmured, stepping close to Charlee.
Her eyes flickered to his, and he could see the excitement bubbling inside of her. This was her career, what she lived for. His tiger was pleased that she loved cats as much as she did. Her passion for them was evident in every aspect of her career. West had read all of her journal articles and publications.
They would have to be as silent as they could be. They didn’t want the tigress to pick up on the group. If she did, it would go one of two ways; either she would grab her cubs and run, or she would stand her ground and defend her den.
West knew that they were still far enough to keep a safe distance away from the tigress that she shouldn’t be able to pick up on their scent or hear them. By the looks of the cubs the night before, they were still young enough that the tigress wouldn’t leave the den much. He knew that it wouldn’t be until they were about six months old before they would start their adventures away from the den so that she could teach them how to hunt.
“Let’s tag you a tiger,” he whispered.
10
The natural sounds of the wild surrounded them. Charlee’s heart still pounded in her chest from the kiss. And oh boy, what a kiss it was. She had been two seconds away from ripping Weston’s clothes from his body when he pulled back. Deep down, she was pleased that he had been effected by the kiss as much as she was. That was the type of kiss that poets wrote about. She had certainly seen stars the minute his lips brushed hers.
West had yet to leave her side as they moved into position. Excitement bubbled in her chest at seeing the first tiger in its natural habitat. She knelt down with her high-powered binoculars as Weston moved the brush aside. She glanced around with the binoculars and froze in place.
Tiger.
And she wasn’t alone. There were three tiger cubs too!
“You’re going to catch something flying by if you don’t close your mouth,” West murmured, prompting her to snap her mouth closed.
“Do you see this! This is amazing. This is—” Her thoughts were running a mile a minute. This was historical. The purpose of the sanctuary was to save endangered species, and because of this place, a tigress was able to produce and raise not one cub, but three.
She glanced around and saw everyone had the same look of excitement and awe on their faces as they watched the tigress lay on the lush green grass as the cubs played on and around her. She promptly ignored the cubs as they jumped and pounced on each other. Everyone began documenting, photographing, and videoing the feline family. Each member of the team had been designated with a job back at the main camp before the trip.
She found Alf posted with one of his video cameras, documenting the family. She couldn’t wait to see what he would capture. Malena and Dr. Zhang’s assistant worked to prepare the tranquilizer guns.
She lost track of time as she frantically snapped shots of the cats. A sensation came over her, as if she were being watched. She glanced over at West and found his eyes on her. She smiled softly, feeling her cheeks warm at his attention. Her core pulsated with the thoughts of the two of them naked, sweaty, in a tangled mess on a large bed. His eyes dropped to her lips, and she couldn’t help but to nibble on her lower lip with her teeth. His eyes darkened with her action.
She quickly turned away and snapped the last few shots she could while trying to catch her breath. She couldn’t believe how much he affected her with just a look.
But now, it was time to break up this lazy afternoon nap for the momma tiger.
“Dr. Zhang and Dr. Skobo, we should go ahead and tranq the momma,” Charlee said, standing from her spot to walk over to the other biologists.
“I don’t think we need to tranq the cubs,” Dr. Zhang offered, his words heavily accented.
“I agree. ” Dr. Skobo nodded, standing with his hands on his hips. “The cubs look like they’re young enough to where we can just grab them and insert the chip.”
“Yes, and we need to make sure that momma is totally out first.” Charlee motioned for Malena to bring her one of the tranq rifles.
“I hear this is your first trip in almost a year. Sure your aim isn’t rusty?” Zhang joked.
“Never that.” Charlee laughed, checking the rifle out. “My aim is still true.”
Growing up, her father had taken her and her siblings hunting quite often. Arthur Black believed that women should know how to shoot a gun just as well as a man. As children, her, her sister Ruby, and
brother Dane, never missed a hunting trip with their father. It was a great bonding experience between a father and his children. Even to this day, they all gathered once a year for a hunt.
“You sure you know how to work that?” Luka joked.
“Somebody distract the momma and I’ll show you all how to tranq a tiger.”
West and Luka volunteered to distract the momma tiger. Charlee had found a perfect position that would allow her to easily hit her target. She’d had to move a little closer to guarantee a hit. She was good, but at over three hundred feet, she wanted to make sure she hit what she was aiming for. They didn’t have too many tranqs, and she couldn’t afford to waste even one.
“Come on, Momma,” she murmured as she peered through the scope. The barrel of the lightweight rifle fit comfortably in her arms. She locked on her target and waited for the tigress to awaken from her nap.
Alf and Malena were silent as they stood behind her, while West and Luka had disappeared to create their distraction. Charlee was patient as she waited. “A patient hunter is a successful hunter,” her father had always said. Charlee waited for the right opportunity to appear.
The tigress’ ears flickered and her tail curled slightly. Charlee strained to hear what the tiger may have heard.
There it was again. A chuffing sound.
Charlee knew that chuffing was the way that tigers communicated. It was a friendly noise that caught the tigress’ attention. Her large head came up from the grass as she looked around.
Charlee waited still.
Not yet.
The tiger looked around, apparently not seeing anything.
The chuffing sound could be heard again. Was another tiger in the area? Charlee flexed her finger on the trigger. If there was another tiger in the area, she had another tranquilizer loaded and could easily tranq another one.
Finally, the momma tiger moved to stand and stretched as she did, dislocating one of the cubs who were trying to hold onto her. The tigress was a beauty. She had to be about twelve feet long. She was magnificent as she stood above her cubs, looking in the direction of the chuffing.
Now.
Charlee pulled the trigger.
Bullseye.
The tigress let loose a growl as she swung around in Charlee’s direction, not understanding what was going on. The red dart lay deep in the tiger’s side as she growled. The cubs yipped as they tumbled on each other, oblivious to what had just happened.
Now they had to wait for it to work. The tiger took a few steps as she let loose a string of growls, before her front legs gave way, then her back ones. She tumbled to the ground, her abdomen moving fast as she tried to catch her breath.
From experience, Charlee knew that she would have to wait a few minutes before approaching the tiger.
“Can we go now?” Alf asked. Excitement lined his voice.
“Hold on,” Charlee murmured, holding up a hand as she watched the tiger through her rifle’s lens.
They had to ensure that the medication would work. Nothing like walking up on a tiger who wasn’t unconscious. That would be disastrous. They would have to wait for the signs of her breathing slowing by the movement of her abdomen.
Finally, the abdomen movement slowed to a steady pace. The tigress was officially unconscious.
“Now,” Charlee announced to the group as she lowered her rifle.
Within minutes, the team broke from the brush and entered the clearing. West and Luka came from their area, still carrying their guns in their hand, but lowered as they approached.
Charlee had to beat down the excitement as she came upon the tigress. Her trained eyes examined her, and found her to be perfect. Her coloring of orange with black stripes, massive head and paws, left Charlee breathless. She sat her medical bag down so she could quickly examine the feline. The team had to be quick.
Zhang guided the graduate students to the cubs as they examined them. She could hear him teaching as they measured and played with the cubs. Zhang was a great professor and excellent educator. Charlee had been lucky to work with him a few times over the years. She made a note to herself to invite him to the university for a guest lecture. She knew that he would do it.
After they had all the documentations, measurements, and photographs that they would need, Luka quickly went back over the microchips. He helped the team insert them in the scruff of the necks of the tigers. It was as easy as he’d initially described, like giving a flu shot. The tigress would wake up, not even knowing that she had been tagged. After they had ensured that all the chips were in, he showed them on the tablets how the tiger would be registered on the computer program.
“Once we leave and are at a safe distance, I can go back over the program,” he said as they began gathering their supplies.
“This will be revolutionary,” Dr. Zhang noted. “With the cubs, we can track their growth and where they migrate.”
“Exactly. And they won’t even know that they have something in them that broadcasts their location,” Luka advised the group.
Charlee gave one more pet to the tigress as she stood. She couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across her face as they all began making their way back to the forest. She glanced back one last time and caught a glimpse of the cubs wrestling again near their momma.
Once the team was at a safe distance, they would watch over the sleeping momma and cubs until she woke up. They didn’t want to leave the cubs unprotected. Charlee couldn’t wait to get back to the base to go through everything from today. She couldn’t believe how quickly they had found their first tiger. This trip was turning out better than she had expected. She glanced around and her eyes caught West’s.
Much better.
11
Laughter filled the air as the group gathered around the fire pit. Someone had gathered logs from the wood pile and put them around the pit. It was a gorgeous night. West watched as Charlee and the others talked animatedly about today’s events. Luka glanced at him as the question came up on how they distracted the tiger.
“I mean, it sounded like another tiger was in the area,” Malena scoffed, throwing her hands in the air.
“I know,” Alf agreed. “That was weird. I kept expecting another tiger to jump out of the trees or something.”
West’s eyes met Luka’s from across the roaring fire as everyone wanted to know how they distracted the tiger.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Luka joked, taking a sip from his bottled water.
West and Luka knew the truth. Drago had been nearby in his cat form and provided the distraction for them. He had been keeping a close eye on the female tiger to ensure that the poachers hadn’t returned.
The group had gone back to their spots when they first observed the tiger to ensure she was safe. Less than an hour later, the tiger sat up, a little dazed, but okay. After ensuring she was okay, the group returned back to their vehicles.
“It will remain a mystery,” West murmured as he finished the last of his sandwich. He glanced at Charlee as she shared a log with Malena. They were engaged in a discussion with Dr. Zhang and his graduate student, exchanging information and ideas.
He was impressed by Charlee and her handling of a rifle. He guessed he shouldn’t be. In her chosen career, traipsing around the world to study one of the most dangerous animals on the planet, one should know how to use a weapon.
“So where to next, Mr. Rogavac?” Dr. Skobo asked. West picked up on the slight hint of sarcasm that laced the scientist’s voice. West glanced at the Russian, and again that feeling in his stomach became noticeable. West leaned toward always listening to his gut, and in this instance he would. He knew that he would have to keep an eye on the Russian scientist. Something about him didn’t sit right with West.
“I was planning to have us go a little more south. According to Dr. Zhang, there have been sightings of the Amur tigers in China.” West gazed at the scientist, daring him to challenge the decision. Dr. Zhang had mentioned it to him earlier that he thought
that would be the best place to go, and West agreed. It was also where evidence of poaching was the highest.
“That’s a great idea.” Charlee nodded. “I agree. I read your paper on this. How long have you suspected some of the Amur tigers have been migrating to China, and do they stay?”
West welcomed the change in conversation as Dr. Zhang answered Charlee’s questions. He shifted on his log and gathered the remnants of his dinner, then went to toss it in the bag that was saved for trash. He looked up and noted the small moon. He knew that once the fire went out, the camp site would be cast in complete darkness.
Once everyone went to their separate tents to turn in, Luka would shift and guard the campground. They didn’t want to let down their guard. As if hearing his thoughts, the scientists began to disperse, all making excuses of tiredness and commenting about early starts tomorrow. He watched as Malena winked at Charlee as she walked to the tent that they shared.
Charlee stayed on her log as he returned. He moved toward her, his eyes locked on her smiling face as he approached. She had taken her hair down again. His tiger rumbled his pleasure in his chest.
He had to have her.
He sat down next to her, needing to be close to her. He reached up, no longer able to keep his fingers from her hair. The silky strands were soft against his fingers. The dwindling fire provided low light, highlighting her creamy skin.
“Hey there,” she said softly. He glanced around and noticed that they were finally alone.
“Hey,” he murmured, threading his fingers in her thick hair. He guided her to him, leaning his forehead against hers. He was trying to keep his shit together. The animal in him wanted to throw her over his shoulder and carry her off.
“So, I was wondering…” She paused, a small smile playing on her lips.
He pulled back. “What is it?”
“I was wondering when you would invite me into your tent,” she breathed out, her eyes locked on his.