Loving the Tigers

by Tianna Xander

  He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers and her world tilted on its axis. Nothing felt like their kisses. Nothing compared to the way her world tightened to a little pinprick of overwhelming sensation every time they touched her.

  Slowly, his tongue slid sensually between her lips, delving deep into her mouth. He tasted of mint and smelled of the forest. Whatever aftershave he used could be an aphrodisiac, it worked so well to overwhelm all of her senses.

  Heat pooled in her middle, her stomach clenched and she dropped the sheet without a thought.

  Strong arms wrapped around her, picked her up and carried her to the bed. She didn’t protest this time. She didn’t want to ruin the mood. He set her on the bed and straightened to stare down at her as though she were the most precious thing in the world.

  As though time didn’t matter, he unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it from his shoulders to fall on the floor at his feet. His jeans soon followed and before she thought to protest, he stood before her proudly naked, his cock jutting toward her.

  Steel gray eyes full of the promise of passion stared down at her, pinning her to the bed. She couldn’t have moved if she wanted to.

  She didn’t want to.

  Kelly met Zach’s gaze with every ounce of courage she possessed. This was it. After they made love, it would be time for all of them to make love together. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she did.

  Her smile came easily, her eyes closing just a bit in what she hoped made her appear sultry, a siren tempting her man to drown in a sea of sensation. With a burst of courage, she arched her back, cupping her breasts. She closed her eyes on a groan when she plucked and twisted her nipples.

  A low groan gave her the courage to reach down and run her fingers through her wet slit. Her eyes flew open when he growled low and made a strange chuffing sound just before he landed over her on the bed, his mouth and tongue seemingly everywhere at once.

  Apparently, her tiger had just lost control and it felt glorious.

  Brushing her hands aside, Zach nuzzled her breasts, lapping at her nipples with his tongue that seemed half of that of the man and half tiger. Smooth, yet rough, he stroked it over the sensitive tips, pulling each hardened bud into his mouth to nibble and suck before he released it to move on.

  Soon, the soft tips of his hair brushed her upper thighs and she groaned, arching her hips in invitation.

  “Yesss...” She hissed the word out between clenched teeth as he slid the rough pad of his tongue through her wet slit and circled her clit.

  Strong hands lifted her, spread her legs and pulled her against his face as he ravished her weeping sex. He sucked her clit, thrusting his fingers into her until her head thrashed on the mattress. Her hands fisted in the sheets as every muscle in her tightened and she reached for the elusive orgasm she felt building inside her.

  Kelly’s world exploded into a million pinpricks of light when he curled his fingers toward the front wall of her vagina, massaging her G-spot. She screamed his name and kept screaming until he crawled up her body and pressed his mouth against hers.

  She tasted her own arousal on his lips, his skin as he moved between her legs and settled his hips between her thighs. One long, slow thrust and he buried himself deep into her, his blood engorged cock pulsing out a rhythm that matched her heartbeat perfectly until he finally began to move.

  Such intense pleasure couldn’t last long. Neither of them had an ounce of control as he rammed into her. Her inner flesh squeezed his cock, milking it until he groaned over her.

  “You’re so tight. I don’t think I’ll last much longer.”

  “You’re like Jessi’s mates, aren’t you? You can’t become fully human again.” Brushing the damp hair from his face, Kelly reached around him and caressed the base of his tail that he’d kept hidden in his jeans. How uncomfortable it must be to hide it all of the time.

  “You have no idea what that does to me. What your acceptance of me, of us, means.” He growled low, his hips moving faster as she massaged the muscle where his tail met his spine.

  She stared up into his gray eyes as another orgasm ripped through her and she screamed. “Come now. I can’t wait for it, Zach. I need... I need...” Her voice gone, Kelly could do no more than scream as he finally came inside her, bathing her inner walls with the warmth of his release.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I love you,” Zach said against the sensitive skin of her neck as she pressed against her in the shower.

  “I love you, too.” Reaching back, she wrapped her arm around his neck, arched back into him and angled her head back for his kiss. “I love Derek, too. Is that wrong?” she asked just before he took her lips in a passionate kiss.

  Lifting his head, he smiled down into her beautiful hazel eyes. “I’d have it no other way. I’m sure Derek will say the same. You belong with us now and we belong with you. The mating heat has seen to that.”

  He ran soapy hands over her breasts, his fingers stopping at her nipples to give them special attention before he pushed lower, sinking his fingers between her legs as she spread her feet and arched against him.

  “I don’t believe how lucky we are to have found you. I can’t wait to take you home and show you off. Proving to the others at home that we have hope, that you have accepted us the way we are will give others like us hope that they will not have to spend the rest of their lives alone.”

  He pushed his hard cock against her, begging entrance to the heaven only her body could provide. He cupped her breasts, his fingers tugging her nipples.

  Reaching up, she laced her fingers with his. “When we first met, you had a paw. At first, I thought that was another of your... disadvantages.” She smiled. “I didn’t mind that, either.”

  “Not me.” He shook his head, but there are a few in the cascade who must live with a paw where his hand should be. We had hoped to give everyone hope.” He kissed her nose. “Is that why you ran from us before? You thought I would hurt you with my tiger’s claws?”

  His hands slowly changed into huge paws, the claws gently raking her skin. He circled her right nipple with a huge, lethal looking claw and Kelly moaned.

  “Is that fear or arousal, mate?” He breathed the question into her ear as she arched into his touch.

  “You know what it is.” She swallowed then licked her lips. “You know what you do to me. What you will always do to me, man or beast.”

  “Well,” he said with a chuckle. “We can’t do that until you’re one of us. Our tigers would harm your human form during a mating. If we’re to take you in tiger form, you’ll have to be in your tiger form.”

  “Yeah. I get it. I don’t think I could accept you like that, anyway. It would feel too much like beastiality to me.” Turning, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a passionate kiss.

  “Now, if you don’t mind,” she said as she wrapped her legs around his waist and lowered herself over his throbbing cock. “I’d really like another round.”

  After their shower, Zach sat in her little kitchen as she made them dinner. He tried not to curl his lip at the amount of vegetables she sliced and set aside to steam later. It hadn’t taken long to realize her change in lifestyle, once she learned she was diabetic, was what melted the curves from her luscious body.

  He hoped it wouldn’t take long for them to return once they completed their bond. He missed those curves and the amazing ass she’d had when they first met. Still, he loved her no matter what she looked like or how much she weighed. Nothing could ever compare to the way she made him feel.

  Nothing.

  “When will dinner be ready?” Derek asked as he paused to cup her ass and stick his nose in the curve of her neck.

  “In less than an hour. Why?”

  “Because Zach and I have a bit of shopping to do and I’d like to know if you could postpone it for another thirty minutes.”

  “I suppose.” Reaching out, she turned off the burner
she’d just twisted on and wiped her hands on a towel. “Am I going with you or staying here?” She crossed her arms in a defensive gesture.

  “I’d like it if you stayed here. It’s a surprise.” Derek frowned at her expression. “What’s wrong?”

  “She thinks we’re going to leave her here alone.” Zach stood, walked to the stove and pulled her into his arms. “Look at me,” he said when she wouldn’t lift her head to meet his gaze. Hooking his thumb beneath her chin, he gently forced her head back until he could stare deep into the swirling brown-blue of her eyes. “We’re coming back.”

  “Of course you are.” She pasted a fake smile on her face that didn’t fool either of them. “Why would I think anything else?”

  “Stop thinking about the human men who have been in your life, Kelly. We aren’t like them. We could never be like them. In fact, a part of me feels like going back to that hometown of yours and ripping those men to shreds for what they’ve done to your self-esteem. What gave them the right to tear you down so thoroughly that you have no idea of your worth to us?”

  “Okay. I’ll take your word for it.” She glanced up at him and smiled tightly. “Come back for me in an hour and a half and I’ll never doubt your word again.”

  “Little liar.”

  Kelly shook her head with a short laugh. “Only you two would call me little.” She gave him a quick kiss and pushed him away. “Now go before I change my mind and get all clingy again. I don’t mean to do that. Really I don’t.”

  “Clingy is fine.” Derek smiled. “At least for a while. I’ve found that after several decades of searching for you, I kind of like it.”

  “Big liar.” She smiled at him to soften her accusation. Standing on her toes, she kissed Derek’s chin and gave him a push. “Go on. I’ll be all right. I think I can survive without your presence for at least an hour and a half.” She did the same to Zach then turned her back. “Besides, this will give me a little time to myself to think about what I’ve just gotten myself into. And...” She paused with a saucy grin. “If you two have any brains at all, that might just start to worry you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  What kind of shopping could they possibly need to do? Kelly clamped her mouth shut as the two walked through her door and, most likely, out of her life. They’d gotten what they’d come for, hadn’t they?

  She’d slept with both of them. Well, she’d slept, anyway. She wasn’t sure what they’d done after they had each fucked her into a stupor. Hell, they could have climbed out of bed and headed to a hotel room, for all she knew.

  “Stop it. They love you. They said so.” She wanted to believe that so much it hurt.

  But how many other men had said those very words to her throughout the years? None of them had ever meant it. It had always been to get into her bed or her panties. Sometimes they never made it to a bed. God, she’d been such an ignorant slut.

  She pressed her lips together, almost afraid of what the guys would do if they found out what she’d been thinking. They really didn’t like her berating herself.

  Her mind raced as she thought about the implications of that. If they didn’t care about her, would they give a damn if she called herself names?

  “Probably not.”

  She twisted her fingers as she paced from one end of her apartment to the other. It could all have been an act, couldn’t it?

  Why couldn’t she decide what to do? Why couldn’t she see what they were up to, what they really felt? Was she still so gullible that she could believe them if they weren’t sincere. Had she been so horny that she would have fallen for that ruse again?

  “God, I hope not.”

  She continued to pace the apartment, her thoughts in turmoil as her mind kept turning back to the men and what possible shopping they would have to do. She had plenty of food, though it seemed as though she had more vegetables than they’d care to eat.

  “Tough.” She frowned. “I’m cooking and if they don’t like it, they can just go buy themselves something to eat. I’m not making something special for them.”

  Liar. She frowned at the inner voice that knew she would if it meant pleasing them. She’d always been a people pleaser and she wouldn’t be able to help herself if either or both of them acted as though they didn’t like what she’d cooked.

  “Hell, Kelly,” she said, glancing at her watch with a frown. It had been an hour and forty-five minutes and still no sign of them. “They aren’t coming back. You cut up all that broccoli for nothing.”

  The sound of her doorbell made her jump. Her heart raced as she hurried over to open the door. She swallowed her disappointment when she saw it wasn’t Zach or Derek but a delivery man with a huge bouquet of flowers.

  “You’ve got the wrong house. Marlo Stevens lives two doors down and across the hall.”

  Everyone sent Marlo flowers. The woman was the town’s new weather girl. Everyone loved her and she was gorgeous. Some girls just had all the luck.

  The man glanced down at his clipboard with a frown. These aren’t for Ms. Stevens. These are for Kelly Williams. Are you she?”

  He shoved the flowers toward her when she nodded mutely, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.

  “Flowers?” She took the bunch reverently and rubbed one red velvety petal. “Someone sent me flowers?”

  No one had ever sent her roses before in her life. She paused on her way to the table. No, that wasn’t true. Zach and Derek had sent her flowers when they and their friends had taken Jessi and her to dinner all those months ago.

  She set them in the center of the table and pulled the card from the holder with shaking fingers.

  We love you. Love, Us, it read. She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth to contain the sob choking her.

  “Where do you want the rest of this?” The delivery man asked as he carried a huge, stuffed red and black striped tiger through the door. Another man followed carrying another. The tigers, one with gray eyes, the other blue stared at her as though they knew a secret. They probably did. At least they knew more than she did. She was sure of it.

  The two men carried more flowers in and candy she couldn’t eat. Apparently, Zach and Derek had forgotten she was diabetic or they just didn’t care.

  She swallowed thickly at the stuff that covered every chair and flat surface in her little apartment.

  “If you’ll just sign here, we can get out of your way, ma’am,” the man said as he removed his hat and wiped his forehead on his sleeve. “Your man must love you a lot to go to this much trouble and expense.” He took the clipboard from her when she finished scribbling her name and put his hat back on his head. “Have a wonderful day, ma’am.” He grinned and pulled the door closed.

  Just after he left, her doorbell rang a second time in less than fifteen minutes and she rushed to the door, with the intention of throwing herself into her men’s arms. Instead, their appearance brought her up short.

  Dressed in tuxedos, they’d combed their hair back and shaved the coarse hair from their faces. Each of them held one red rose. She stepped back as they entered her apartment. Derek closed the door and they lowered themselves to their knees.

  “Kelly Williams, will you do us the honor of becoming our wife?”

  They must have rehearsed that for a little while because they said it at the exact same time with the same inflections. They even wore the same serious expression.

  Their moves synchronized, each of them reached into their right coat pocket and pulled out identical, small, square jewelry boxes, which they opened at the same time.

  Kelly gasped at the matching sapphire and diamond rings they each held. Tears streamed down her face as she fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around their necks. “Yes. Oh, God. Yes!” Pulling back, she met each of their gazes in turn. “I love you. I love you two more than I ever thought possible.”

  “And we love you, Kelly, more than life itself.” They took the rings from their boxes and slid
them onto the third finger of her left hand. Still speaking in unison, they said, “With these rings we thee wed.”

  The action started a whole new bout of tears. Kelly clasped her hands together and held them to the center of her chest. “I—I don’t know what to say.”

  “You’ve already said it.” Zach smiled as they both stood and pulled her up with them. “You said, yes.”

  Looking at the gorgeous rings, she twisted them and marveled at the way they sparkled in the light. “I guess I did, didn’t I?” She smiled and turned to the stove and her almost ruined steak. “You’re late. If your steak is cooked too much, there’s—”

  “No one to blame but ourselves,” they both said at the same time.

  “Actually, I was going to say that there’s more in the fridge and you can cook them yourselves this time.”

  “Hey, you’ve just agreed to be our mate and you’re going to make us cook for ourselves?”

  “Begin as you intend to go on, is what I always say. If you don’t like what I cooked, fend for yourselves, boys. Fend for yourselves.”

  Kelly grinned up at the two handsome men that had just become a permanent part of her life. They filled her heart near to bursting and she thanked everything good that some lucky turn of fate had brought them into her life that one, beautiful day in October.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Candles sat upon every flat surface. Big, little, short, tall, tapered and fat, they lit the room with soft, flickering light as they entered the room.

  They’d offered to do the dishes when Kelly had voiced the need to do something special for them. Not once did they think that she would take every one of the candles they’d gifted her with, along with the essential bath oils they’d planned to use on her themselves and make a veritable Garden of Eden out of the master suite.

  She’d worked fast, considering she’d done all of it in the half hour, or so, it took them time to figure out her kitchen and get everything washed, dried and put away.