Tiger by the Tail

by Shelley Munro

  Ambar moaned, and Hari eased up on the kiss. If she really didn’t want this, he wouldn’t force himself on her any longer. Despite his tiger genes, he wasn’t a savage. His aunt and uncle had reared him better than that.

  Ambar’s hands crept up behind his head, clutching him to maintain their contact. “Don’t stop.”

  Triumph surged through him as she mashed their lips together. Her teeth nicked his lip and the coppery taste of blood flavored their kiss. But Ambar didn’t stop, moaning again. Her hands stroked down his back, coming to rest on his butt, pulling him against her body. His erection lengthened and he knew Ambar would have little doubt about his reaction. It was the same crazy out-of-control sensation he’d experienced with Jake. All he could think was how wonderful it would feel when he didn’t have to rein in his lust. Just the thought of sharing a bed with Ambar and Jake sent a shudder the length of his body.

  Hari’s heart pounded with excitement. Kissing Ambar felt just as good as kissing Jake. Even better, Ambar was on the same page. At least her body was, even if her head wasn’t quite with the program.

  A growl sounded seconds before the door flew open.

  “I told you not to hurt her,” Rohan snapped.

  “Wait.” Kiran hauled his lover to a stop. “She has her hands on his butt. She’s not in pain.”

  Hari shifted a fraction, putting himself between the two men and Ambar, his mouth tingling from her kiss.

  She slapped him on the arm. “You don’t need to protect me from Rohan.”

  Rohan glowered at Hari. “I thought you were angry at him and wanted to rip open his guts. Flay the skin from his body. That’s what you said at breakfast.”

  “I am angry at him.”

  “We’re discussing our problems,” Hari said.

  Kiran nodded. “We can see that. Since you have things in hand, I’d better go to meet Gavin.” He didn’t attempt to smother his amusement, his lips curling up in the beginnings of a smile.

  Ambar’s fingers flexed against his butt again before dropping to her sides.

  “We need to get to the store.” Rohan waited impatiently after Kiran disappeared from sight.

  “I’ll see you later,” Hari said, ignoring Rohan to speak to Ambar. “Come to dinner.”

  She hesitated, nibbling her bottom lip. “I’ll think about it.”

  Hari didn’t want her thinking about it. He wanted action. “Don’t run away from this, from us.” He pulled out his wallet and extracted a business card. His breath eased out with a whoosh of relief when she accepted the card. “Ring me or, better yet, come out to Jake’s to talk.” For a long moment, he watched her, aiming for sincerity and attempting to conceal the faint thread of panic that had lodged in his consciousness.

  “I’ll think about it,” she repeated.

  With a nod, he left her, pushing past Rohan. As he walked to his car, his mind spun in turmoil. He wanted to try the easy way, let Jake and Ambar decide this was what they wanted. But he would play hardball if that’s what it took. He’d fight for what he craved. The physical contact with both Jake and Ambar had told him the truth. They didn’t need to know how important this was to him, but they controlled his future.

  His chance for a home and family was in their hands.

  Chapter Six

  Ambar worked on automatic pilot, serving customers, packing orders and restocking shelves. She knew she replied to the customers, even joked with them, yet she couldn’t have repeated a word to Rohan.

  “What are you going to do?” Rohan asked when their latest customer left.

  “I don’t know. Seeing Jake and Hari together last night was a shock. I’m still having trouble getting my head around it.”

  “But neither man is your mate. I heard Hari say that he and Jake are mates. If that’s the case there’s nothing you can do.”

  Rohan’s blunt words sent a sharp pain to her temples. All along she’d told herself she didn’t want a relationship and definitely nothing serious. After her parents died, she’d decided to step outside the good-girl persona she’d inhabited for all of her life. But the moment she’d seen Jake and Hari together, she’d known she’d lied to herself.

  The knowledge had hit her over the head.

  “I almost marked Jake yesterday. It was so close, the need so compulsive that it scared me.” Ambar shivered, the emotions and the desire to bite and mark her lover coursing through her again.

  “What about Hari?”

  Ambar swallowing, remember their kiss. It had been so quick. Not nearly enough to absorb his taste and scent fully. “I don’t know,” she whispered.

  “Kiran and I could always beat them both up.”

  Ambar gave a startled laugh. “Like that would change things.”

  “It would make me feel better.”

  Ambar sobered. “Rohan, what am I gonna do? When I think about the two of them together it tears me apart, and yet I don’t think I can walk away either.”

  “Which one?”

  “That’s the question.”

  “Maybe you should stick with the man you know.”

  “He’s not a shifter. He has no idea about us. What happens if it scares him half to death? Besides, if Hari says they’re mates I believe him. I don’t think he’d lie about something like that.”

  Rohan glanced at the door when the bell rang, signaling the arrival of a customer. “Would it help if you took the rest of the day off?”

  “No, I—” She broke off, changing her mind. “Maybe I could go and talk with Hari. Jake doesn’t usually go back to the house for lunch. If I time it right I might manage to get Hari alone.”

  “Go.” Rohan made shooing motions with his hands. “Before I change my mind.”

  Ambar gave her brother a quick hug and left the store to collect her car from outside their house. She thought of ringing first and discounted the idea. Instead she’d turn up and play things by ear.

  The front door opened when she pulled up. Ambar narrowed her eyes at Hari. Tricky tiger genes. The man looked way too good for her peace of mind.

  He prowled toward her, graceful yet masculine. Even with the distance between them she couldn’t mistake the determination on his face. For a moment she thought he intended to take her into his arms. A rapid step back helped her evade his embrace. She didn’t think she could get through this talk if he touched her.

  Her feline stirred restlessly, sensing Hari’s presence and wanting his teeth, his touch. His cock.

  There! She’d admitted it. She wanted him, but that didn’t mean she intended to indulge herself with the masculine treat.

  “Don’t touch me,” she warned him, backing up again.

  He cocked his head, a small smile playing on his lips. “Why? You don’t trust yourself not to jump me?”

  “Of course not.” She aimed for scorn and achieved breathless denial that didn’t fool either of them.

  “Liar, I can smell your arousal from here.”

  A blush heated her cheeks and she lifted her chin in defiance. “Maybe I met with someone else before I came here.”

  “Jump from one bed to another? Somehow I don’t think that’s your style.”

  “You don’t know me. You don’t know my style.” Her hand clenched into a fist, her fingernails digging into her palm. Now he was pissing her off. He had no right, no right at all to act as if he knew her.

  “I know more than you think.”

  “Jake is the one who’s trading beds,” she said tartly, still burning at his remark about jumping him. He had bloody cheek accusing her of cheating. She glanced at her car, wondering about leaving. This was a mistake.

  “Don’t even think about it,” he said, an edge to his voice. “You’re here now. You might as well come inside.”

  “I don’t even know why I came.”

  “Because you couldn’t walk away. Admit it.”

  Her mouth firmed. She didn’t intend to admit anything.

  He offered his hand. She ignored it and stormed into Jake’
s house without another word, thoughts rioting through her head. The urgency thrumming through her body didn’t go unnoticed either. From the moment he’d sauntered outside, her body had softened, her breasts prickling in the beginnings of arousal. If anything, the physical tug she’d started noticing each time they were in the same room had increased.

  “Want a cup of tea or a coffee? I think there’s some wine too.”

  “Wine,” Ambar said. Something to dull her senses. No. No! She needed all her faculties to do this. “You’d better make that a cup of tea. I haven’t eaten much today.”

  “Tea it is. Come and sit in the kitchen and I’ll make you a sandwich as well.”

  Ambar followed him, resenting the way he was treating her like a guest. While Hari made a cup of tea and two sandwiches, she paced. Uneasy with her frenzied thoughts and at landing in the middle of a romantic triangle, the urge to run tugged at her, growing with each passing minute. Why not? A run would do her good.

  “I’m going to ring Saber Mitchell and ask if I can go for a run on their land. Would you like to come?”

  Hari’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. “I haven’t had a decent run for months. Living in London made it difficult. That’s what I like so much about Middlemarch. I don’t feel trapped or closed in, even if I don’t have the opportunity to shift.”

  Ambar’s stomach somersaulted at the pleasure and anticipation on his face. He’d look the same when he made love. Sexy and masculine. At ease with himself. A vision of him and Jake together, naked on Jake’s big bed floated into her mind. She shivered, and when she sneaked a glance at Hari, she caught him watching her with unrestrained desire. Her breath caught. He was a striking man despite his scar. Even after their short acquaintance, she hardly noticed the slash on his cheek now. At their first meeting he’d seemed different, with none of the leashed power and confidence he now displayed. The determination. Oh, and his sexy smile. During their first meeting, his smile hadn’t held the same poise.

  Ambar found herself grinning back, and only his abrupt steps in her direction jerked her to good sense. “Don’t look at me like that,” she said, trying for fierce indignation when all her feline wanted to do was rub against him like…like a cat in heat! Oh hell. That wasn’t good. The man had created havoc in her well-ordered plans yet she still wanted him. Poor Jake. He didn’t have the slightest idea of the trouble he’d landed in. She’d never considered telling him about her shifter status. Not once.

  “I like looking at you. Your photo grabbed my attention from the start. I took one look and knew you were the one.”

  “Oh please,” Ambar said. “What about Jake?”

  “Jake is an unexpected treat.”

  “You make him sound like a special cake. He’s a person. You can’t mess around with his feelings.”

  Hari moved swiftly, pinning her against the counter. Ambar froze, inhaling his scent, feeling the shift of his muscles against her. Some of the fight went out of her when she admitted she wanted him.

  “This isn’t a game. I want you. I want Jake. How this plays out depends on you.” He leaned in, his gaze on her mouth.

  Her lips started to tingle, and without volition, her tongue darted out to soothe the edgy sensation. She wanted him to kiss her. The acknowledgment banked her anger. “Stop trying to manage me.” She gripped his shoulders and shoved.

  Hari stepped back, not because of her shove but because he’d decided to give her space. His strength was apparent to her now. Stupid, Ambar. She shouldn’t have taken him at face value. This shifter was like an iceberg with most of his character hiding beneath the surface.

  She turned away to ring Saber. Emily answered the phone, and Ambar frowned at her lackluster tone. She hadn’t seen Emily at the cafe for ages. Thomasine said she wasn’t well. The attack on Emily had been horrid for all of them. Both Rohan and Kiran harbored guilt at not being able to keep Emily and her unborn baby safe. The resulting miscarriage had upset everyone. Emily definitely wasn’t her normal cheerful self.

  “Hi, Emily. It’s Ambar. How are you?”

  Ambar listened politely while Emily said she was fine. It was a lie and they both knew it.

  “I wondered if it would be okay for me to go for a run in your back paddock this afternoon. There would be two of us.”

  “That’s fine,” Emily said. “Saber won’t mind. Just make sure you close all the gates.”

  Ambar promised they would and hung up, still scowling about Emily. She felt so helpless, knowing there was no way she could make her friend better. Only time would dull her pain.

  “Problem?”

  “No. It’s all right for us to go for a run.”

  “I look forward to it.” A sexy purr colored his polite words, saying way more than Ambar was comfortable with. “I’ll go and change into something more casual.” The man would attempt a seduction. The brazen glint of determination shining in his eyes proved it before he walked away down the passage to his bedroom.

  Well, he had his work cut out for him because she was no pushover. The sharp whip of erotic fear told her otherwise.

  The close proximity to Hari during the drive to the Mitchells’ land made Ambar fidgety and so sexually aware she actually thought about jamming on the brakes and jumping him. Calling herself a fool, she focused on the road and cautiously breathed through her mouth. Breathing either way was a problem since Hari’s scent dragged across her receptors. Her feline stalked her mind, eager for the freedom to run. Sharp canines burned in her gums and fingers-turned-to-claws gripped the steering wheel. The more she smelled him, the more strongly her body reacted. Soon the distinct aroma of sexual arousal filled the vehicle and her feline’s excited purrs echoed through her mind. Her feline wanted his possession, craved it.

  “You want me.”

  “I don’t.” A lie and they both knew it.

  “When I finally get you naked, I’m going to taste you. I’m going to run my tongue the length of your pussy, gather all your sweet juices to savor.” His glance gauged her reaction, his lips forming a shameless smile. “I bet you’ll taste delightful.”

  Ambar froze, her heart thumping hard while her claws dug into the wheel. She could literally feel his tongue feasting on her, and her panties dampened just a little bit more.

  “You shouldn’t talk like that.” Heck, she hadn’t even managed a strict headmistress tone. She’d sounded husky and dare she say it, flirty, when she should have come across as indignant or incensed even.

  His broad smile told her he’d picked up on that too.

  “I can’t wait to press my cock to your entrance and thrust inside you. For once, I won’t need to worry about tempering my strength. I know you can handle me. Love, think how it will feel with my cock plunging deep inside you.”

  She was trying desperately not to imagine it, damn it. She belonged to Jake. She was his girl. Temporary girl, she amended hastily in her mind.

  “We’re here,” Ambar said with an edge of desperation. She had to get away from him. He wasn’t just a tiger shifter. He was a devil sent to tempt her to sin.

  “Where do we leave our stuff?”

  Now he acted all businesslike. Talk about confusing her. She hated the off-balance sensation. Maybe if she aimed for matter-of-fact…

  “There are storage boxes on the other side of the shed. This road is a private one so there’s never any traffic, but Saber likes us to err on the side of caution.” Ambar climbed from her car and took a deep breath to clear her head. The outdoors, the open spaces thrilled her feline, her skin itching with eagerness to shift. Her yearn for freedom and the heady sensation of racing across the land pulled at her control, Hari’s presence a dual assault on her willpower.

  “I can’t wait to see you totally naked. I bet your kitty form is pretty too.”

  She couldn’t suppress her shiver of awareness, her breasts tight and needy for Hari’s touch. “Stop trying to seduce me.”

  “It’s working for me.” He cupped his groin lightly, a twinkle
of pure devilment in his eyes. The golden flecks in them sparkled to life.

  So beautiful, they mesmerized her. Oh no. Jolting herself from the spell he’d cast over her with his tricky cat eyes, Ambar turned away with a loud huff and stalked to the gate. She jumped over, landing lightly on her feet. The man would be the death of her. Hari was so different from easygoing Jake, displaying determination and willingness to chase after what he wanted.

  When she reached the storage boxes, she hesitated. Normally, stripping off in front of other shifters wasn’t a problem for her. This time she froze in a state of indecision, instinctively knowing she had reached the point of no return. She’d have to make a decision whether to let Hari touch her.

  Whether she’d cheat on Jake.

  Wait. Hadn’t Jake already cheated on her? With this very man?

  “Strip, love. You know I’m teasing, right? I would never force myself on you.”

  That wasn’t what she was concerned about. It was her self-control hanging in tatters that disturbed her most.

  With trembling fingers, she unbuttoned her shirt. She shrugged it off her shoulders, gaining more confidence when she noticed Hari wasn’t even looking. Maybe if she hurried she could shift before he got an eyeful.

  She whipped off the last of her clothes and stood to center her mind. Unbidden, her gaze wandered to the right and landed on Hari. Wow. Her mouth dropped open as she catalogued his formidable assets. While his right shoulder bore a similar scar to that on his face, it didn’t detract from his physique. All she wanted to do was run her fingers over his chest to test the muscles flexing beneath his skin. She yearned to sink in her claws and lap his nipples with her tongue until his taste filled her mouth. And that was just for starters.