by Amanda Boone
Lolli held up his hand, silencing them. “Right now you are on my land. I am in charge. What I saw goes.”
“Go back to the ranch,” Derek ordered Bridget. “I can handle it.”
Bridget wanted to object. Everything about her body language was an objection. But knowing she was defeated, she marched to the truck and started the ignition. “Whatever you say, boss,” she seethed, and she sped away, leaving a trail of dust behind her.
“She’s bad,” Todd whispered in Krista’s ear. “I’m glad she’s gone.”
“It’s okay, Little Toad,” Krista reassured him. “She won’t hurt us.”
“Yes, she will,” Todd insisted.
“You should have left with your girlfriend,” Krista said to Derek, trying to remind herself they had just met, that their occasional chats in the shade meant they were friends, but nothing more.
To her surprise, Derek laughed. “She’s not my girlfriend,” he said, radiating with charm. “She’s my employee. Nothing more.”
It was hard for Krista to believe. “Does she know that?”
Derek shrugged. “She should. We have no history together, not unless you count fixing tractors and breeding cattle.”
Bridget had done nothing to earn Krista’s sympathy, but she suddenly felt bad for the woman. “You’d be surprised how fixing tractors and breeding cattle can make a woman feel,” she said, bouncing Todd on her hip. “Maybe you should go to her.”
It took all of Krista’s will to suggest it. She didn’t want Derek to go to Bridget. She wanted him to stay, but she couldn’t allow it, not when she was about to tell Lolli about the man-beast.
“It’s okay,” Lolli told her. “I have a feeling he can answer your questions better than anyone.”
Giving in, knowing she’d be fighting a losing battle between the two men, Krista set Todd free and followed Lolli into his trailer with Derek beside her. Though she looked ahead, she was very much aware of Derek – of his height, of his strength, of his intoxicating earthy scent and the way he let her walk a little ahead of him, standing guard slightly behind her, as protective as always.
Stepping inside Lolli’s trailer, Krista was met with the familiar sight of his library of old books. Lolli was a historian. He collected yellowed maps and leather-bound books as if they were furniture. And in his mind, away from the books, he stored knowledge passed down from his ancestors. The history books, Krista had already read. It was the ancient knowledge she sought now. Taking a seat on a plush green sofa, she tried to figure out how she would ask about the man-beast without revealing all to Derek.
“Tell me about the legends of beasts,” she bade when Lolli sat in his leather recliner across from her.
“Put that down,” Lolli said to Derek, though he was blind to Derek’s movements.
Behind Lolli, Derek set down and old smoking pipe and took a seat next to Krista on the sofa.
“You’ll have to be more specific,” Lolli said, relaxing. “We have many legends of beasts.”
Sighing inwardly, Krista knew she had no choice but to speak directly, whatever the outcome may be. “Man-beasts,” she said. “Shifters. What do your legends tell of shifters?”
“All the nations have their own stories,” Lolli told. “From gods that turn into bears, to bears that turn into humans, and humans that turn into gods. Nature is forever shifting, flowing. It is the nature of creation.”
“Only bears?” Krista pressed.
Beside her, Derek huffed.
“No, my child. Bears. Eagles. Mountain lions. Wolves. Nature knows only life. She does not distinguish between the species.”
“So to you, shifters are more than legends. They’re a part of history.”
“They are a part of reality,” Lolli confirmed. “Perhaps your friend has more to contribute than just his judgmental grunts.”
“No sir,” Derek said firmly, sitting tall. “I have nothing to say. But I do have something to ask. Why are you so interested, Krista? You’re an academic. If you go around shouting shifter, you’ll never be taken seriously.”
“I take myself seriously,” Krista said. “That’s enough for me. I don’t care what everyone else thinks. Anyway, I have evidence to prove that shifters exist.”
It surprised her how easily the words fell out of her mouth, decongesting her fears. It felt natural to acknowledge the existence of shifters, as if she were talking about the changing seasons.
For the first time since she met him, Derek took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair – his sandy blonde hair, streaked with hints of red. Matched with his tan and blue eyes, it made him more than a sexy cowboy. It made him irresistible.
“Evidence?” he muttered. “That’s troubling to hear. What kind of evidence?”
“I’ve uncovered the bones of a man-beast. His bone structure tells me he’s male, but he’s only a human on top. He’s what appears to be a tiger on the bottom, based on remaining patches of fur that were preserved. But I don’t understand why he’s caught between his two worlds.”
“He must have died while he was shifting,” Lolli speculated.
“Probably,” Krista agreed. “His pose is irregular. His arms stretch out, as if he was reaching for someone.”
“Have you surveyed the land for more bodies?”
“Yes, but his is the only one around. It’s a great mystery, so much so that I can’t help but feel his death is related to the lost settlers. It’s too much of a coincidence to have two great mysteries within the same area. When I began to peel the earth away from his bones, I believed I was uncovering the first of the settlers. That this one skeleton would lead me to the others. But now there are more questions than answers.”
As she spoke, Krista tried to ignore the fact that Derek sat beside her, that she was destroying reality as he knew it, but Lolli turned his attention to Derek, confronting him. “And how do you feel about Krista’s discovery?” It sounded like a challenge. “Do you plan to do anything about it?”
It was an odd thing for Lolli to ask, but Krista waited patiently for Derek to answer. He seemed torn, suppressed by an unknown confliction.
He’s just processing, Krista told herself. It takes time.
“No,” Derek finally answered. “I don’t plan to do anything about what Krista discovered. I’ll protect her.”
***
Derek
He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her everything, but he couldn’t. It would be selfish to do so. If Krista knew what he wanted to say, what the native man had almost pushed out of him, then she would be in more danger than she already was.
Right now, the situation was under control. That’s all his people wanted – for things to be in order. For their secret to be kept.
The rest of the world wasn’t ready to live amongst shifters. It wasn’t ready for his people, his family of tigers.
Family was a stretch. Tigers weren’t like the wolves or the mountain lions the native man had spoken of. Derek envied those shifters for their sense of family and community. Tigers were a lot more solitary. They mostly lived alone or in small groups. Children were usually born of flings or short-term relationships. Many of the ranches around these parts resembled convents, maintained by females choosing to raise their young together.
Some males preferred it that way. It left them free to live out their solitary lives. Others, like Derek, did not. He was a tiger, but he was also a man. He wanted a mate – someone to stay by his side.
He wanted Krista.
Now, standing beneath a night sky, watching as Krista pulled the tarp away from the grave, trusting him without restraint, he was mesmerized by her. She was so beautiful, her white sweater shining like starlight against her flawless black skin. He wanted to claim her, to take her as his own, but he couldn’t.
There was no law denying him a non-shifter mate, but he was obligated to protect his people. The protection of their kind was one of few times the tigers banded together. Their history was bitter. They had been h
unted, driven to the verge of extinction. Half man. Full tiger. It didn’t matter. They could not live in the open, not like the bears and wolves could in the forests. Tigers stood out. Tigers had to hide. When they shifted, it was usually within the shelter of the night and within terrain few men would venture – like a desert valley.
His people had made New Mexico their home long ago. Here, they were safe.
Unfortunately for Krista, her curiosity threatened their safety. The tigers would find out about her discovery. Something this big wouldn’t go unnoticed, not when there were eyes watching in the dark. They would come for her. He would do everything he could to protect her, but it wouldn’t be enough. The echoes of the past cried too loud.
Krista trusted him without restraint, but he did not deserve her trust.
***
Chapter Three
Krista
The bones were alit with the moonlight. Revealing them to Derek was like baring her soul. The bones were her destiny, a step closer to figuring out the mystery of the lost settlers. They were everything she had gambled her career for.
But they weren’t the only thing she had found in the grave. There had been an artifact, which she had quickly hidden away upon finding it, unwilling to show it to anyone. Not yet.
“What do you think?” Krista asked.
“Maybe the bones are forged,” Derek suggested. “Have you authenticated them yet?”
“No. Technically, I don’t have a permit to be here. But the bones are real. I know it.”
He merely nodded in reply. She took his silence to mean he was overwhelmed.
“Hey,” she said, taking his hand. “I know it’s a weird sort of magic, but don’t worry.”
He turned to her, squeezing her hand. “It’s not magic I’m worried about, sunshine. It’s you.”
He spoke with such truth and depth, it moved her. Knowing now that he was a bachelor, free to love, she corrected her mistake from earlier and kissed him. His lips were not soft. They were coarse and firm, and she worshiped them. They were the lips of a man that worked hard for his bread, a man with strong hands that would work just as hard to please her.
Fueled by a hunger that had been building for days, Derek took charge of the kiss, pulling her in close to him. The warmth of his body nourished her, made her feel safe, while the large rigidity of his cock pressed into her made her feel primal and untamed. She imagined what it was like to have that cock inside her. Such thoughts caused her body to pulse with excitement and her core to ache with hard anticipation.
Ready to be devoured by him, she pulled off her sweater and tossed it to the ground, exposing the lacy white bra she wore underneath, inviting him to taste her.
Needing no further encouragement, Derek picked her up and carried her to the tent. He set her upon her sleeping bag and kissed her again, pressing his lips hard into hers, dominating her tongue with his own while his cock doubled in size.
When she had a chance to breathe, Krista set a hand upon his chest, feeling his heart beat as strong as hers. “You like the rodeo, cowboy?” she asked seductively.
“I like you,” he murmured, and he kissed her neck, right where it linked to her core, causing her panties to soak and her core to throb harder with arousal. As he saturated her neck, he grinded his hips against hers, his cock pressing out of his jeans and against her cut offs.
She grabbed his hair as he kissed her. “I want you to tie me up,” she confessed, unashamed. “Like a rodeo.”
In response, he kissed her neck harder, his need for her growing. His kisses moved across her shoulder, bruising her skin, until he reached her bra. With his teeth, he ripped the strap down then used his hands to unhook it, freeing her breasts. Instantly, he took one of her breasts into his mouth, sucking it as he continued to grind against her.
The sensation of his tongue flicking across her nipple and the weight of his body against hers rocked her with bliss. She grew wetter, ready for him to plunge his cock inside her. She arched her back, begging him to give her what she wanted.
Obeying her earlier request, he grabbed her arms and forced them above her head. Using the lace of her bra, he tied her hands together, making her completely vulnerable to him.
“Do whatever you want,” she invited.
Her words charged him. No longer a gentleman, he rose to his knees and tore off her cutoffs, revealing lace panties that match her bra. With one hand pinning down her stomach, he used his other to reach within her panties and explore her with his fingers, driving them deep within her.
She gasped with pleasure as he banged her with his hand, his fingers caressing her from the inside as they thrust in and out, slick with her wetness. She clenched herself around his thrusts, the heat within her body rising with every stroke.
Before she exploded with bliss, he released her. He tore off her panties much like he had done with her cut offs, and he undid his jeans, unveiling his giant cock. In a seamless maneuver, he pulled her forward and spread out her legs so that she straddling him, her arms around his neck, still tied together, as they faced each other.
“You truly are breathtaking, sunshine,” he said before sliding her over his cock, filling her completely.
Her long brown hair fell around them both as she circled her hips, allowing his cock to massage every part of her. Her movements were like a slow, sensual burn. He kissed her as they made love, and when she finally erupted, it was powerful, like touching a piece of heaven. He came with her, growling out her name, claiming her as his own, their cries echoing into the night.
***
Content in the arms of her cowboy lover, Krista had been asleep, but a rustle outside woke her. Reaching out into the pitch black that curtained the tent, she grabbed for her flashlight and shone it outside.
She didn’t know what she expected to see. Maybe a coyote. Or tumbleweed. Or Lolli checking in on her. She did not expect to see the silhouette of tigers dancing around her tent like bees to a hive. She assumed they were tigers. The silhouettes were the right shape and size. They moved effortless in intangible patterns, directionless but with intent. It was impossible to know how many there were. Maybe only a handful. Maybe much more.
Terrified and hoping it was all a dream, she returned to Derek’s arms, who slept soundly, and rejoined him in slumber.
***
Chapter Four
“Morning,” Derek greeted as Krista stirred.
“Morning,” Krista said back.
He reached across the tent for his cowboy hat and put it on her head. “Ready to ride again?” he asked, running a hand down her naked flesh.
Her skin burned at his touch, still heated from the sweet anguish the night before, but as soon as she remembered the dream she had, she sat upright.
“The tigers,” she recalled. “They were here.”
“What?” Derek asked, instantly on his guard.
Krista shook her head, confused. “I don’t know. I dreamt that an army of tigers roamed outside, their silhouettes dancing against the tent, but I’m not so sure it was a dream.”
Silent but urgent, Derek dressed, and so did Krista. She left the tent to pull on her white cashmere sweater, blinking against the glare of the day. No paw prints were in the sand, but as soon as she reached the bones, she fell to her knees.
“They’re gone,” she said aloud. “The bones are gone.”
She didn’t understand any of it. Her dream must have been warning her of this. While sleeping, she must have heard a noise outside and the imagination of her subconscious filled in the rest. That made sense, much more than the alternative – that the ghost of tigers had somehow reclaimed their lost ancestor.
“I’m sorry,” Derek consoled. “I’m so sorry, sunshine. Why don’t you come back to the ranch with me. You’ll be safe there. There’s nothing left for you here.”
“This was my entire career,” Krista uttered. “Now it’s gone.”
“Maybe it’s for the best,” Derek said, helping her to stand. “The wo
rld isn’t ready to hear about shifters.”
“I have no interest in telling the world about shifters. It’s the lost settlers I’m looking for. The ones that disappeared from this area in the 1800’s. Those bones were my only clue to their fate.”
Well, not the only clue, she thought, remembering the artifact she had hidden away. It brought her some relief. With the artifact, she was more determined than ever to solve the mystery that taunted her.
***
It was a tight fit in her smart car, but they made it to the ranch. Built along the base of a hillside plateau, as if in hiding, the main building was one story but it stretched elaborately in a crescent half-circle. In the courtyard was a statue of a bronze mustang on his hind legs, gallant like a king. Real horses occupied a coral nearby, surrounded by further fields containing sheep and cattle. It wasn’t the lights and upscale stores of the city, but it was a step up from her tent.
“It’s wonderful,” Krista said. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
“Think of it as home,” Derek professed, and he kissed her. His kiss wasn’t as hungry as the night before, but there was a sentiment to it. She was more to him than a fling. He cared for her. She could feel it in the way the joined together in the kiss.
Breaking away, Krista went to the coral, taking a moment to absorb the emotions they were feeling. She leaned against the wooden fence of the coral and watched as the horses galloped around.
Derek was reluctant to follow.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I spook them,” he admitted. “The rest of the animals on my ranch – they recognize my authority. Not the horses. When I approach, they run off scared. I tend to leave them be.”
“Nonsense,” Krista said, digging her hand in the feed bucket and holding it out for the horses. A beige mare come to her and ate, her muzzle wet and warm against Krista’s hand. “You just have to realize that horses don’t want your authority. They want your respect.”