Tiger Haven

by Ariel Marie

  His tiger slammed into his chest. She didn’t have to say another word. West stood quickly, grabbing her hand. They quickly put out the fire and kicked dirt on it to ensure that it was out. Without the fire, the campground was dark. A normal human wouldn’t be able to see their hand in front of their own face, but thankfully for West, being a tiger shifter allowed him to navigate with ease in the dark.

  Charlee remained quiet, her grip tightening on his as he stalked toward his tent. He was glad that he had bought the model that allowed for two people. He had contemplated when he bought it, and now he was so thankful to the salesmen who sold him the oversized two-sleeper.

  They entered the tent and kicked their shoes off. He grabbed her by the nape of her neck and crushed his mouth to hers, needing to taste her again. Her hands found their way to his hair and gripped tight as the kiss transitioned to one of deep, urgent passion.

  His hands slid beneath her T-shirt and pulled it over her head, breaking their kiss. She helped him out of his own shirt, leaving him bare. Her fingers trailed along his chest and down the ridges of his abdomen. Without light, his little human wouldn’t be able to see, so she would have to learn his body by touch. He held in a groan as his cock pushed at his pants, demanding to be set free. She soon replaced her fingers with her mouth, trailing her tongue along his pectoral muscle to lavish his flat nipple with her warm tongue.

  He reached around and undid her bra, sliding the straps down her arms. The soft feel of her skin beneath his hands had his mouth watering. He couldn’t wait to taste all of her. They made quick work of their clothes in the small area before falling onto his sleeping bag.

  She quickly shifted to allow him to settle within the valley of her legs. They both moaned as his cock brushed against her slick folds. He raised himself up slightly, not wanting to crush her with his weight. She met his kiss, inviting his tongue in. Her fingers dove into his hair as he trailed a line of kisses from her mouth, to the soft skin of her neck.

  Her ample breasts pressed against his chest, as if seeking his attention. West couldn’t leave them be. He had fantasized about them, and now he had them literally in the palm of his hand. He shifted down farther and captured one of her plump mounds into his mouth.

  Their lovemaking remained quiet, but urgent, not wanting to draw attention to their activities. He wished they could let loose, but they couldn’t, not tonight. This would not end once they left Russia and went back to the States. He would have her where he could hear her screams of passion.

  Her short gasps drove his cat crazy. He moved to the other mound, dragging his tongue across the taut nipple before drawing it deep into his mouth. Her fingers tightened in his hair as he continued his discovery, moving even lower. In complete darkness, he knew that her senses would be heightened. He allowed his hands to trail along her skin as he moved. Her body released a shudder as he made it to his destination.

  She hissed as he settled in-between her legs, eye level to her plump folds. He parted her lips and with his tongue, took one deep taste of her, running the flat of his tongue along the length of her slick pussy. He closed his eyes, relishing in the taste of her sweet nectar. Her legs spread even wider as he repeated the motion, before encircling her tiny nub with his tongue.

  Her hips rose as he continued his gentle assault on her sensitive flesh. Her moisture coated his face as he continued to feast on her deliciousness. He pulled back on her clit before inserting one finger deep within her slick channel. Her inner muscles clamped down on his finger as he continued to maneuver her clit with his tongue. He increased the pace of his tongue against her sensitive nub as he moved his finger. Her legs shook as he inserted another finger, stretching her to prepare for him.

  He increased the pace of his fingers, curving the tips of them. Her body jerked and her muscles tightened. Her silent orgasm caused her body to fly off the ground. He pushed her back down with one hand as he continued to suck on her clit. His cat was in heaven. Her creamy juices flowed right onto his tongue, causing his chest to rumble his pleasure.

  Charlee’s legs relaxed as he finally released her. He climbed over her body, his hardened length ready for her. West picked up her leg to open her more to him. His shifter sight could see that her eyes had opened. She reached up and grabbed him by the neck, crushing her mouth to his as he thrust deep within her, catching her moans.

  A shudder passed down his spine at the feel of her moist core gripping his cock. Her pussy was slick from her orgasm, allowing him to slide into her with no problems. The kiss grew deep as his hips moved to their own rhythm. Not a word was passed between them. West was afraid if anything was to come out, it would be more of a yell or shout—not words.

  The feel of her surrounding him was heaven. He squeezed his eyes tight as he quickened his pace. Her hips met his with every thrust. He opened his eyes to find her head thrown back as she let loose another gasp. He could feel her soft mounds rock with every thrust. He reached for one, needing to feel her breast in his hand as he continued to delve deeper into her core.

  She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he felt the familiar twinges deep in his balls as they swayed and rhythmically slapped against Charlee.

  He let her breast go to rest his arms on both sides of her head to get a better position to thrust deeper. He couldn’t get enough of her, he had to get closer. She held onto his neck, bringing her head to the crook of his neck. She released a moan against his skin as her arm began to tremble, just as another orgasm took her over. She gently bit down on his skin, and that was enough to send him over the edge. He bit his lip to keep from shouting as he thrust harder, before pausing to release deep within her.

  His breathing came fast and hard as he lowered his sweat drenched chest against hers. Both of them laid still, unable to speak. His cat was stiflingly quiet. It was content.

  West knew one thing. This was just the beginning. No way was he giving up Charlee Black. She belonged to him.

  12

  “Spill it, woman,” Malena demanded as she approached Charlee. She smiled, knowing that her best friend had been dying to get the details. But Charlee didn’t know if she wanted to share what had occurred between her and West. They had made love into the wee hours of the morning, until she had to leave his tent. They both reluctantly got dressed and he escorted her back to the tent that she shared with Malena before anyone knew otherwise.

  She didn’t even have words for how she felt afterwards. She had laid down on her sleeping bag, still on cloud nine, with sleep nowhere to be found. Every inch of her body had tingled as she got lost in the memories, staring at the ceiling until the battery powered alarm went off.

  “What are you talking about?” Charlee feigned innocence, as if she didn’t know what her friend was talking about. She disconnected her camera cord from her laptop, then transferred the photographs she had taken to her computer to back them up. She didn’t want to chance anything happening to her photos.

  “Don’t act dumb, woman.” Malena stomped her foot. “I happen to know that you have a very high IQ, and there’s not one dumb brain cell in your body.”

  “I think that was a compliment, so I’m just going to go ahead and say thank you,” Charlee murmured, acting as if she was busy on her computer. While they had the generator and satellite connection, she needed to touch base with Alton and Jim.

  “Don’t you sit there and ignore me, Charlee Black. Inquiring minds want to know. I woke to you sneaking into our tent early this morning,” Malena murmured, keeping her voice low as Alf and Tang, Dr. Zhang’s assistant, walked past, deep in conversation.

  Charlee looked up from her laptop and gazed around the temporary campground. Luka and Dr. Skobo were having a discussion, bent over one of the tablets. Zhang and West were leaning over one of the hoods of the truck with a map.

  As if sensing her eyes on him, West looked up at that exact moment. She could sense the heat of his gaze across the distance. Her breath caught
in her throat, and she was unable to look away from him. The memory of their night together was burned into her mind. She might as well have been blindfolded last night. It had been so dark in the tent, she was unable to see anything.

  Only feel.

  His hands and mouth had left her trembling. With only one look across the way, he had her core pulsating with need.

  Cool down, girl, she thought to herself as she tore her eyes away from him.

  “Mmm…yes, you need to spill all of the dirty, kinky details,” Malena demanded as she stared at Charlee with one eyebrow raised. “Because that look you two just shared should be illegal. Spill it!”

  “Okay,” Charlee relented, turning to her friend. Malena scooted her foldable chair closer to Charlee, not wanting to miss any details. “If I tell you something, will you get back to work? We need to transmit information back to Jim and Alton.”

  “I sure will,” Malena promised, drawing a cross on her chest. Charlee laughed at the excitement on her friend’s face as she waited for Charlee to spill the beans. She leaned in so that they could speak without being overheard by one of the guys.

  “Let’s just say, the dry spell is over,” Charlee admitted.

  Malena released a squeal before slapping her hand over her mouth. Charlee laughed as Malena did a little dance in her chair. She could feel her cheeks redden with the memories. She wouldn’t delve deeper, but she would at least put her friend out of her misery.

  “I’m so happy for you. How was it? Earth shattering? As long as it’s been for you, I sure as hell didn’t hear any screams.” Malena’s words flew from her mouth quickly. Charlee held up her hand as she looked back across the campground, and found West’s eyes on her again.

  “Some things a girl has to keep to herself.”

  “You’re such a tease,” Malena groaned, falling back in her chair. “But seriously, girlie, I’m happy for you. Even if it’s just a quick fling.”

  “I don’t know about quick,” Charlee admitted, turning to her friend. She didn’t know if she would be able to leave and go back to the States without him.

  “Do you have feelings for him?” Malena asked quietly, sitting back up. Charlee nodded, knowing that what had happened between her and West was a whirlwind, but deep in her heart, she knew she was falling for him.

  Was she just a quick fling for him? They didn’t talk relationship. They did talk about their families and learned about each other as they lied tangled together in each other’s arms. But the word ‘relationship’ didn’t come into the conversation.

  Did she read last night wrong? Was she just a scratch to his itch?

  West glanced again over at Charlee, unable to keep his eyes off her. The scientists continued to work over their computers and tablets as information was coming in from the ecologists and researchers’ stations, leaving Charlee and her team to work frantically since they booted up the satellite’s internet.

  “So you and the good doctor?” Luka chuckled. West knew he couldn’t lie to his friend. He was sure the scent of Charlee was still all over him. He didn’t want to hide it either. He tore his eyes away from her and turned to his friend.

  “Yes,” he admitted with a straight face. Even though he wanted to strip and shift to allow his tiger to roar, he beat down those feelings and his animal. His animal wanted to lay claim to her, but it wasn’t time for that yet. If he went about biting or scratching her with his claws, that would certainly scare her off. So he would have to hold him at bay until he could determine a better time to speak to her about a claiming.

  “Good for you. She seems like a good match.” Luka slapped him on the back. “Happy for you, man.”

  “Thanks,” he said, a small smile gracing his lips.

  Match.

  She would be a great match. She was smart, intelligent, had a great job. And by the sounds of it, an amazing family.

  West grabbed his satellite phone from his backpack and dialed Drago’s number. It was time that he touched base with his security specialist. Tonight, he may not be able to shift and go off into the night to explore. If Charlee came to his tent, he would have to be there. There wouldn’t be any way he could explain his disappearance into the woods in the middle of the night.

  “Yeah,” Drago growled into the phone.

  “It’s me. We’ve made it to the new location,” West announced. “Anything we should know about?”

  “We’re not too far from you. Keep your eyes open at all times,” Drago warned.

  “What have you found?”

  “There’s evidence of poachers in the area. No new kills noted, but there is certainly evidence of them. We’ve found areas used for camps and tracks from vehicles that shouldn’t be in here,” Drago informed him.

  “According to Dr. Zhang, there’s proof that some of the tigers have began migrating to China.” West relayed the information the Chinese scientist had shared with him.

  “Interesting. But I have something even better to tell you,” Drago growled. West went on alert instantly, sensing that something was off.

  “What else have you found?” West glanced at Luka and saw the concern in his eyes as he waited for West to get off the phone.

  “We found the remains of a human about twenty miles from your camp.”

  West released a curse and murmured to Luka what Drago had just shared with him.

  “Go on,” West commanded, wanting to know what else Drago had discovered.

  “The man hadn’t been dead long. I would say about a week or so. The thing is, he doesn’t look like the poachers we ran into at the tigress’ den. Those men were of Asian descent. This man wasn’t.”

  “What are you thinking?” West asked, looking around the campground. Charlee and the scientists were still working. He turned his back to the group so he could pay close attention to what Drago had to say.

  “My gut is telling me that this man had something to do with the shoot-out on the train. But I don’t have proof. There are bullet casings everywhere. Something went down over here, and this man lost his life because of it.”

  West didn’t like the sound of this at all.

  “Stay close to us,” West murmured.

  His tiger paced beneath his skin at the thought of harm coming to Charlee. He couldn’t take that chance. In the short amount of time since they had met, she had dug a hole in his heart. Fuck, she had her own personal chamber in it.

  “Of course, sir.”

  West disconnected the call and turned back to Luka.

  “How bad is it?” Luka asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

  West shared with his longtime friend what Drago had informed him of, and Drago’s gut feeling that the dead human was tied in with the train shooting.

  “Fuck.” Luka cursed as he took a few steps away.

  “Yeah,” West agreed.

  The animal in him snarled as he glanced at the smiling Charlee. He wouldn’t let anyone touch her. They’d have to go through him to get to her. He would protect her with his last dying breath.

  “We’re going to tighten security around this research team and protect them. Something big is going on here in this sanctuary that someone wants kept quiet.”

  “I’ll go out tonight and see what I can find,” Luka volunteered.

  “No, I’ll go. I want you to get some rest tonight,” West said. As much as he would love to spend another night in-between the soft thighs of Charlee, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

  “Well, I won’t turn down the opportunity to grab a few hours of sleep. Holler if you need me.” Luka clapped him on the back.

  “I’ll be just fine.”

  13

  West prowled around the perimeter of the campground as the humans slept. He went deeper into the forest to ensure that there were no imminent dangers. His cat, excited to be out again, took long strides as he put a lot of ground between him and the camp.

  Charlee’s face flashed before his eyes as he thought back to the gentle way he had to s
end her to her own tent tonight. Her soft smile and the twinkle in her eyes dimmed only slightly when he informed her that he would need her to sleep in her tent. He could tell that she was slightly confused. He promised her that he would explain later. He hated the feeling that filled his chest when she turned and walked away. His animal wasn’t too happy either that she wasn’t with them. She belonged in the tent with him.

  Or better yet, his bed at home.

  He didn’t want to let on to the humans that there was danger on the horizon. Not yet. Not until he had to. It would cause a panic between the scientists if they thought their lives were in danger. They may pull back and leave, and he couldn’t afford to have the mission aborted.

  Finding and tagging the tigers was important. Almost as important as the ecologists discovering what was causing the tigers to migrate from the sanctuary. The dead human’s body was proof enough that something was going on, and West and his men would get to the bottom of it. It was rare that West’s gut led him astray. It was the main reason why they traveled around the world.

  He knew back home that something was off about the sanctuary. Introducing the new microchips was the red herring. Yes, they wanted to go public with them and begin using them, but that could have been done at any time. Hearing that the Russian government was bringing in the top specialists to study the terrain and the animals in the sanctuary was the perfect opportunity for him and his men to get onto the grounds.

  When the sanctuary was first open, SPAT was heavily involved, and still to this day were heavy financial contributors to the national park. But lately, there were too many discrepancies in reports that were sent to the SPAT offices. Reports of the poached tigers were inaccurate. It was as if the local government was trying to hide something.

  The first day, when the Russian officials tried to insinuate that his presence was not needed, was another red flag. He instantly knew that the only men he could count on to take care of the poachers were his.