by Lia Davis, Milly Taiden, Kerry Adrienne, Vella Day, Andie Devaux
So not fair.
They hiked in silence for another fifteen minutes, then the rocks he'd mentioned they'd need to climb closed in. Rocks? More like boulders.
Her breath was already coming fast, her body fighting for oxygen at an elevation she wasn't used to. But something inside of her rebelled at admitting that aloud, even though she didn’t doubt Nicolas would be kind about it. Understanding even. He'd already saved her life once, but that fact seemed to have made him a little overprotective of her. She didn't want to add to his worry.
Plus, it was embarrassing. The man could sweat a little so she didn’t feel so bad. Jeez.
“So, what have you been up to the last few years?” she asked, pausing in front of the first section of rocks they’d need to traverse. Hopefully, a tiny bit of conversation, even if a bit winded on her part, would give her a minute or two to catch her breath.
Nicolas didn't seem in any rush. He leaned against the boulder they’d have to climb, not caring about the dirt that clung to it. “Not much.”
She huffed. “All the personal stuff you got out of me last night, and that's the best you can give me?”
“Well, I built the cabin.”
She raised eyebrow.
Nonchalant, he shrugged. “I don't know if you remember, but when we met before, I told you I was living out in the middle of nowhere for a reason.”
“You said that you were dangerous.” He hadn’t exactly offered a lot of information about it, other than that.
“Might not sound like much, but that's what I’ve been working on.”
“Your…danger-level?”
His dark green eyes flashed, seeming to glow for a moment. “Control.”
Genuinely curious, she asked, “How's that going?”
He met her gaze head-on, and without even a slight bit of hesitation in his voice, he said, “Good.”
Damn the man and his penchant for few words. “Is that—the biting thing?”
His horror at biting her was a big part of the reason why she'd run away rather than snuggled closer after their night of amazing sex. He'd said he hadn't meant to bite her, but bite her, he did. She trusted Nicolas the man instinctively. He had a kindness in his eyes, a steadiness to his actions—other than that one moment three years ago when he lost control. But that moment, that painful bite, made her distrust his tiger.
And how could he separate the tiger from the man?
“Yes. It wasn’t the first time restraint escaped me.”
“So you’ve figured it out then? Found that control you were looking for?”
He nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. “I have.”
A shiver ran through her. If Nicolas truly controlled of the beast inside of him, then did her worries, her fears, cease to have a basis?
Thoughts tangled, she turned away from him and started up the first clump of boulders. Climbing slowly, she felt the heat of his body close behind her—only inches away. She was suddenly too hot.
Her foot slipped, and for half a second, her stomach flew into her throat. Strong arms caught her before she could slide more than a few inches.
“I got you,” he murmured, low voice close to her ear. The clean, earthy scent of him filled her lungs. His arms wrapped around her middle, grazing the bottom of her breasts. She held her breath and leaned against his hard chest.
God, it felt good to be in his arms again.
***
He caught her easily, she’d fallen barely a foot—none of the places he’d planned to take her had drops more than a few feet. But seeing her slip sent his protective instincts into high gear. And he couldn't help but enjoy the lush, warm body pressed against his. She was soft in all the right places, and her body fit against his perfectly. She smelled sweet. Like some sort of exotic fruit. Without thinking, he sniffed her hair.
She pulled away abruptly, as far away as she could get with them still pressed against the rock. “I'm good,” she said, voice pitched far too high.
Before he could reply, she'd scrambled up and over the big rock, moving quickly for someone still adjusting to the elevation. He groaned under his breath. One soft, simple touch, and he was hard as the fucking rocks they had to climb.
“Have you seen these foxes yourself?” she asked after they had gotten through the worst of the climbing.
“Yes.” It wasn't a lie. He had seen the foxes—or, more accurately, the fox—many times. The words still tasted wrong on his tongue.
The rest of the hike was done mostly in silence. He was tempted to tease her, mention that he could smell her desire. But he didn't want to push her too hard. Besides, his focus was on her safety right now. The hike wasn't terribly difficult—there were no life-threatening drop-offs along the way, which is why he'd chosen this place. But it was slippery out. The spring snow the night before had worked against him. And it was too easy for the delicate human to crack her head on a rock. He'd save the teasing for when they were indoors and safe.
“They should be around here somewhere,” he said once they’d reached a flat, lightly wooded area. The afternoon sun warmed him and had started to thaw the land. They'd be dealing with mud during the hike back to the truck.
“Awesome. Can we leave most of the stuff here? I'll bring my camera, but I don’t think I’ll need the rest right away.”
He pulled her pack off his back and set it on some thick shrubbery that would protect it from the mud. She rifled through it until she found the hard case holding her camera then another, smaller case that contained a lens. A few minutes later, she had a rather large piece of equipment around her neck.
“I'm good,” she said.
He nodded and headed in the direction where he knew they’d find fox tracks. They moved silently through the brush, but there was no doubt in his mind that the fox already knew they were there. As he expected, tracks littered a few spots of snow. He pointed them out to Evie. “Fox tracks.”
A wide smile broke out on her face at that, and she snapped a few shots from different angles. “How old do you think these are?”
“No older than this morning,” he said.
She nodded eagerly. “We must be close.”
He didn't contradict her. But they were getting as close as they would for that day.
His gut wrenched at the thought. She was going to hate him for this.
No. He wasn't going to think like that. Evie was his—he knew that they were meant to be. And if it meant risking her hatred to win her love, well, it was a risk he had to take.
He couldn’t live without his mate.
Chapter Five
The foxes evaded them the first day, and the second. And the third. But Evie had a good feeling about the fourth. They found more tracks daily, and Nicolas seemed confident she’d get lucky soon.
She shot him a glance as he bent down to examine fresh tracks. Damn, the man had a nice ass.
Four days since they’d first come out here, since they’d seen the fox tracks. Yet her enthusiasm didn’t wane. Nicolas was a big part of the reason.
She shook her head. The last few days had been…fun. Nicolas was a good host, easy to talk to, even with the constant heat between them. The fear she’d had of his tiger faded more each day. They were…getting to know each other.
Confusing didn’t begin to describe her emotions.
Nicolas had been irresistible in her memory. But he’d been a ghost—a ghost with a dangerous side that kept her dreams clearly planted in the realm of fantasy.
Getting to know him for real—beyond the connection her body and heart felt from the moment she met him—had her considering all sorts of things. Crazy things, given the few days she’d spent in his company.
“These tracks are fresh,” he said.
She gave him a wide grin, only the knowledge that she’d probably scare away the fox if she yelled keeping her silent. He returned her smile, and the way it lit up his face…damn.
Fanning he
rself would be totally uncool, but she was tempted.
They walked around for another five minutes before she bit back a squeal and grabbed his shoulder. Practically vibrating with excitement, she pointed to a break in the trees in the distance.
Then she touched her finger to her lips, indicating he should be silent.
As if he was the loud one.
A large, white fox peered at them from the trees. It was still quite a distance away, but she could still get some great shots.
Hands shaking, she reached for the camera hanging around her neck.
Just as she pointed it toward the fox, the creature took off, bounding into the forest behind it. It was gone before she could get so much as a single shot.
“Damn,” she whispered under her breath. But then she gave Nicolas a wide grin. “We almost had him.”
Nicolas smiled, but worry touched his eyes. Maybe he could feel the clock ticking on her time here, too. She hadn’t told him about her weeklong vacation limit, but he was perceptive.
Sadly, the rest of the day—what was of it—proved fruitless. They’d probably scared off the fox.
But that didn’t matter—this was going to happen. They’d been so close. She refused to believe the week would pass before she could get some great pictures.
She couldn’t allow herself to get discouraged.
She tried to temper her ecstatic mood, but it wasn't working. She hopped out of the shower and dressed quickly. Then she grabbed her cell phone and sent a quick text to Lauren, letting her know she’d finally spotted one of the elusive foxes.
She hadn't told her friend about Nicolas yet. There was no reason for Lauren to worry. Nicolas owed her some explanations—most notably how he knew about her horseback riding phobia. But she didn't sense danger from him, not even from his tiger. If he'd really gained complete control of that part of him, then he was simply a man who'd saved her life. Okay, a man who'd saved her life who could also turn into a tiger, but hey, everyone had quirks.
She bounced out of her room and found him parked in front of the stove, something delicious sizzling away. Her stomach growled.
“Hungry?” he asked without turning around.
There was definitely more the tiger thing than just turning into one. The man always heard her coming.
“Yep.” And once again, he was feeding her, trying to take care of her. She should find it annoying, but it was kind of nice. Something a girl could get used to if she wasn't careful.
Sure enough, Nicolas had made a delicious dinner. Steak and potatoes and a vegetable medley that tasted so good she suspected it was made with nearly as much butter as vegetables. If the man could bake, too, no woman would be safe.
Her nerves built as they ate, but she waited until after the food was gone and he'd already filled them both a second glass of wine before for she broached the subject on her mind.
“I want to ask you something, and you have to promise to be honest with me.” She took a long drink of wine, needing courage. Not so much to ask the questions, but to deal with whatever his answers would be.
His gaze was steady. “I'll tell you anything you want to know.”
She cleared her throat. “How did you know I was afraid of horses?”
“Damn. I wondered if you caught that.” A hint of a smile touched his lips. “I've been keeping track of you over the years.”
“Why?” Fear crawled up her spine, but she wasn't afraid of him. She was afraid his answer wouldn't be what she hoped. If he said curiosity, she might toss the wine at his head.
“Because you're my mate,” he said simply, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
She blinked. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
“Probably not. But it will.” He took the hand she wasn't clutching the wine with in his own, and she let him. His thumb, skin rough from building the home around them, slid against the back of her hand. “It wasn't just one night for me. And I don't think it was for you, either.”
Her throat was suddenly dry as a desert, and she swallowed a gulp of wine. Her thoughts jumped around in her head. It was the answer she'd been hoping for, yet she couldn't find a response.
“I never stopped thinking about you. Never stopped wondering how you were. Could never resist checking to make sure you were okay.”
His expression was open, raw yet fierce. She couldn't let him go out on this limb alone, it wasn't fair.
“I've never been able to get you out of my head, either.”
Triumph flashed behind his eyes, but he didn't gloat. “I know it's hard to understand, you're human, after all. I'm a weretiger, and the beast inside of me…he recognized you. It’s why my instinct was to bite you. It’s the way we—shifters—claim our mates. It bonds us.”
She very nearly laughed. “So what are you saying? We’re fated mates or something? Soul mates?”
He shook his head ruefully. “Not exactly. More like something inside of me recognizes something inside of you, and I think, vice versa. We both know the attraction was instantaneous, but it's more than that. We’re connected, even if it's not in such a black-and-white way as destiny.”
“Then why didn't you follow me?” It was the question that had been on her mind since she walked out his door three years ago. She’d begun to suspect he'd been tracking her ever since she left. “Don't tell me my fumbling around your cabin that morning didn't wake you. You can hear my stomach growl at a hundred yards.”
His expression grew serious. “I wanted to stop you, to follow you. It took every ounce of my willpower not to chase you down when you headed back to the lodge.” Something feral passed behind his gaze. “But I couldn't trust myself yet.”
“Because you couldn’t control your tiger.”
“I've always struggled with it, even when I was a child. My shift, my abilities—as you might call them—came early and strong. Loss of control is why my father banned me from my clan. But after that night…” His gaze seemed to move somewhere far away, then he shook his head. “I don't know if it was finding you, or if it was simply the fact that I was maturing and you gave me added motivation—but I finally found the control I needed.”
She offered him an encouraging smile, but she really wanted to hug him. How awful. A young man, banned from his clan—his family, she assumed. She might not always fit the mold that her parents wanted her to, but there was never any doubt in her mind that they loved her. That there would always be a place for her with them, should she need it. Her heart broke for him, for the young Nicolas who had to grow up away from the people who were supposed to love him.
Tears pricked her eyelids.
He made a disapproving noise in his throat. “None of that, now. If I hadn't been banished, I never would've found you.” He stood and tugged her to her feet. She set down her wine, and he took her hands in his. “I wouldn't be here with you now if I wasn't confident in myself. I know it may take a while for you to trust the tiger inside of me, but I hope you can have faith the man.”
Something in her chest twisted. She wanted to have faith in him, wanted to be with him. If she was honest, she hadn't stopped wanting him for a single day since she'd lost him. “I trust you.”
Very slowly, giving her time to pull away, he lowered his mouth to hers.
She jerked, suddenly unsure. “I don’t—”
But Nicolas held her firm. “You think I can’t smell how much you want me? How wet you are already?”
She opened her mouth to object, but the lie wouldn’t come. “This is a bad idea.”
The words came out breathless and didn’t seem to fool him for a second. “You’re scared. You want to run.”
Not a question, but the answer fell from her lips anyway. “Yes.”
Rough fingers slid along her jawline, and he tipped her chin up so she would meet his gaze. “It’s time to stop running.”
Soft lips swept over hers, teasing with the barest of touches. He pressed
soft butterfly kisses against her jaw, her cheek, her neck. She closed her eyes against the sensual assault, and he pressed soft kisses there, as well.
“Tell me you want me.” His voice was low, full of command.
Eyelids fluttering open, she took in his serious, almost somber, expression. As ridiculously unlikely as it sounded to her very human mind, Nicolas thought her his mate. His one and only. And that instinct had driven him to bite her, then had given him the strength he needed to gain control of his tiger so he’d never hurt her again.
Logic be damned. Her heart screamed that he was hers, just as she was his.
Going to her tiptoes, she pressed her lips firmly against his. Needing to hear the words, he stiffened and didn’t budge. A smile touched her lips. Stubborn man.
“I want you. I need you, you sexy, delicious man.”
Tension seemed to melt from him, and as if her words had released him from his last vestige of control, he took her mouth. Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her close to his hard body. His long, hard erection pressed against her stomach, making her gasp.
“God, I missed you,” she said, tugging his shirt over his head. Then she gaped.
The man had been sexy three years ago, and she would have bet every penny in her bank that it didn’t get any sexier than that. She’d have lost it all.
Broad and chiseled, his chest was muscled from hard work and no small amount of good genes. His biceps looked like they were bigger than her thighs, and she had some good curves going on. He filled her vision, overwhelming her with his presence and his size.
“I missed you, too, city girl,” he said, a tiny smirk on his lips. “But it’s not fair that you get to ogle me and keep all your clothes on.”
“I wasn’t ogling—I was appreciating. There’s a difference.”
“If you say so.” Then he kissed her again—kissing and touching and pulling off pieces of her clothing.
Somehow, he managed to get every piece of her clothing off, while she couldn't do much other than concentrate on the amazing feel of his body against hers, his hand stroking, tugging, and siding against her skin. He stepped back, his eyes on her now naked frame. The urge to cover herself, to place a hand across her breasts, was fierce. But the look in his eyes stopped her. Wiped away her fear. Not simple lust, but reverence.