by Elsa Jade
First Rafe had etched the image in painstakingly tiny movements, carefully carving the effigy of the tiger into the cave’s most inner wall. When he was happy that he’d gotten as accurate as he could, he’d gone out and bought paints, then filled in the color.
The color had faded, but it still resembled the tiger he’d created so long ago, and it was a mirror image of the one on her neck.
“I did it one winter when I came home for the holidays.”
“How long ago?” she asked again.
“Twelve years ago. I was fifteen.”
She gasped. Her face paled.
“What?” Rafe studied her expression, trying to figure out what was wrong.
“That’s when my dreams started.” She plucked at her pants, over and over. “How can this be?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
How could she possibly believe the way these things worked? He hadn’t even been sure until he met her. Jax made anything he’d ever thought or felt for another woman seem like it was a bad imitation.
“You mean… you know? You know what this is about?”
“It’s about us.”
“Us? What us? In what way?”
“In every way, Jax.” He took her hand, laid it flat on his chest, and covered it with his own. “My hearts, they beat for you.”
“Hearts?” Her brown eyes were coffee-colored pools open wide with wonder.
He didn’t answer her. He wasn’t sure he could yet. Then he said, “Do you believe in destiny?”
“God, yes. Of course. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be who I am.”
“We’re destined for each other. There’s no other way to explain it. But my secret… I can’t keep it from you if we’re together.”
“And you want to know about my dreams? So we’d trade secrets? No judgment?” She asked him this as if everything depended on it.
“I would ask the same of you when I tell you mine. No judgment?”
“Oh, Rafe. Never. I…” She cleared her throat. “This isn’t a weekend thing, is it?”
“It never was.”
Chapter Fifteen
‡
Rafe leaned toward her, his breath warm on her neck. A shiver-of the good kind—washed over Jax. Her body seared with a fire for him, she ached for his touch, and a yearning pooled between her legs.
Any questioning doubts she’d had lost the battle with desire and a need for Rafe that trumped reluctance, though she felt nothing close to reluctant. Rafe awoke a part of her that needed to be taken and possessed by him. She could no sooner deny herself the pleasure of Rafe than she could her requirement for air.
Rafe wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. His lips swooped in and took hers, conquering, owning. She pressed her curvy form against the muscled length of his body. His desire for her pressed between them, a demanding, pulsing reminder.
Jax put her arms around his neck, more than for a kiss—she needed to hold on to him. Her knees were weak, and her thighs quivered.
He slipped one hand under her top, his fingers hot on her flesh, searing into the skin on her back. As they trailed to her stomach, she sucked it in for a moment, that old feeling of insecurity biting at her. She pushed it away and brought her hands down, over his neck, scoring his skin with her nails, tugging on his shirt with fervor.
She popped two of the top buttons on his shirt, then slowed down before she destroyed it. His passion matched hers as his other hand snapped her bra loose and slipped under the constraining fabric.
Her nipples were tight with hunger for his touch. When his fingers brushed over the hard peaks, Jax gasped and closed her eyes. He pulled her top over her head and then removed her bra.
She stood topless, trembling with desire, her heavy breasts with taut nipples eager for him. He struck quickly, taking a nipple in his mouth, sucking it in.
The sensation sent her to a place where there were stars behind her closed eyes. She couldn’t keep the moan from coming out. With a hand on one breast and his mouth on another, he tormented her, making her muscles contract and moisture drop into her panties.
Head thrown back, body arched, Jax held on to his shoulders while one hand drifted ever lower, hot fingers scorching her stomach, pausing at the barrier created by the waistband of her pants.
Jax’s breaths came out in huffs and spurts while he slid her pants and underwear down her thighs.
*
Jax stood before Rafe, a goddess with a lush body and a desire that matched his own. He slid a hand down her body and cupped her mound, breathing the sex of her in deeply, letting the aroma sit in his lungs while his cock strained with a pulsing hunger.
He flicked her nipple with his tongue, back and forth, over and over, and she groaned. Rafe’s fingers slid between her slick folds, putting pressure on her already swollen center, rubbing in quick, circular motions while his mouth kept a matching rhythm.
Chapter Sixteen
‡
She squirmed and wriggled in his arms, her nails digging into his shoulders, scoring the flesh, fueling his passion.
His fingers had a life of their own, rubbing her faster and faster while she moved, pulling him closer with her grip on his shoulders.
She began to moan, a low, sensual sound that began to build toward a crescendo, bouncing off the walls, echoing in his ears and heart.
When she screamed and hung on to him, her body giving in to the orgasm fully, he told her, “Give it to me, all of it.”
As if her body belonged to him, with one final burst, she screamed a name out and released a gush of sweet-smelling fluid from her pussy.
“Rafe!” His name was one long moan as it left her lips. He swooped down, claiming her mouth, his tongue dancing over hers, then conquering, in the same way he wanted to conquer her heart, mind, soul, and body.
Her legs shook against his. Rafe removed his pants with one hand and sat on the rock, bringing her onto his lap with her back against her chest.
Like a homing missile, true to its target, his cock found her moist entrance. Without control, with no ability to stop the storm that raged within him, Rafe pulled her down, his length filling her, stretching her, but not all the way in.
A small gasp escaped her, a testament to his thickness, then she slammed down on him, taking him in all the way.
He felt the muscles still spasming from her orgasm as her red velvet sheathed him.
As if they’d done this forever, he moved his hips and she ground down on him, his cock so deep in her, he felt her back walls caressing his mushroom head.
His chest compressed with the power of their desire. Lava coursed through his veins, electricity through his nerve endings.
A groan was ripped from his throat when she rocked forward then leaned all the way back. He fought the urge to give in to the blaze, tried to temper his desire.
One second was all he had before she slammed onto his hardness again. She took him in deep, her moans pouring over him. While she was all the way back, he wrapped his arms around her, cupping her breasts, pinching her nipples mercilessly between his fingers, rolling them into stiffer pebbles.
He wanted her. All of her. Nothing but her. And most of all he wanted her to understand the passion that drove him. He may have contained it beneath a veneer that obeyed society’s guidelines, but his tiger didn’t feel the same compulsion.
With an amber flare deep in the indigo of his eyes, his tiger roared, the sound escaping from Rafe’s throat, ancient and primal, unforeseen and overwhelming.
Rafe pushed her forward, not gently, but not so roughly as to hurt her. With hands and knees on the cave’s dirt floor, he stayed as one with her, and pushed her down, further, until her ass was fully in the air.
Rafe pulled out of her and admired her dark red, glistening pussy, his tiger’s vision allowing him to see every drop, every beautiful, moisture-shimmering fold. He spread her open with his fingers, his mouth watering at the way her entrance winked at him, her muscl
es tensing with anticipation and desire. Leaning down, he allowed himself one long swipe of his tongue from her clit to her ass.
Her flavor made his cock swell to a breaking point.
Roaring again, he slid his hard cock into her with a powerful thrust.
Her scream of passion matched his roar. Her hair fell forward, and her tattoo glowed. He glanced at the tiger he’d created on the wall. The markings of both matched perfectly. The tiger’s eyes on her tattoo glowed a vibrant deep blue.
His tiger paced within him, wanting to couple bond, wanting to claim her forever. His teeth ached with a need to make her his. Rafe held the tiger back. It had to come from her. And it had to be clear.
The tiger relented, pushing him closer to coming undone.
When another of her moans filled the air, matching the one when she’d climaxed earlier, Rafe picked up speed, sliding into her over and over, pounding against her body, skin slapping, juices making delicious sounds. She wriggled and her muscles began a foretelling grip on his cock. He thrust harder and harder.
He yelled her name, his lungs burning, his cock gripped tight between her muscles. With a surge that reminded him of nothing he’d ever experienced before, he rode a wave of release.
Spent and breathless, he pulled her up and sat on the rock, taking her in his lap, kissing her lips with tenderness.
Chapter Seventeen
‡
“About your dreams. Can you share them with me now?” Rafe tilted her head and placed his lips against the tiger on the back of her neck. The tattoo was warm against his lips. He thought of the way it had glowed for him.
“It’s hard to talk about because of the ridicule I’ve gotten. I quit talking about it. The only ones who remember it are my parents, and they don’t seem to let it go.”
“It’s me. You can tell me anything.” He kissed the tattoo, then let his tongue follow the trail down her spine, tasting the delicious flavor of her sweat and the passion they’d shared.
“That’s not it. It’s just difficult to break a habit.” She turned her head, and their lips met. She kissed him, her tongue entering his mouth slowly, as if with trepidation, exploring and learning.
He let her search for whatever she was looking for, knowing that what she wanted was only symbolized in this kiss. Jax pulled away and rose. She walked the cave from one end to the other, pacing in loose circles. Her body was tinged rosy from their passion.
Rafe marveled at the curve of her breasts, the rosy nipples that were peaked and ready for him. He bit his lip to keep from reaching out and taking her in his arms and claiming her again. The line from her hip to her waist beckoned for him to hold her while he made love to her.
He loved the lush curve of her ass as it flared from her waist and merged with her thighs. He wanted to lick that crease, then let his tongue trail between her legs.
He groaned, holding back his passion.
She turned toward him, her face resolute.
“The dreams began the same time you drew that.” She shook her head in wonder. “It was the Christmas holidays. A dozen years ago. I was thirteen.”
She sucked a deep breath in and put her hands on her hips—his favorite stance, the stance she’d adopted in the café when she’d approached him to help.
“I dreamed of the tiger every night. I’ve never stopped dreaming of him. I can’t sleep well until he joins me in my dreams, watching over me.”
A tear made its way down her cheek. He hadn’t even known that she was ready to cry.
She was such an amazing warrior woman.
He wanted to get up, hug her, and wipe the tear away, but he didn’t want to interrupt her.
“I began to sketch then. I sketched, then painted him. I filled books with images of him. One of those images is now on me. I have his image forever with me, even if I don’t have my books.”
“Where are the books?”
“I was going to burn them. I was tired of being an object of ridicule every time someone saw them…”
Rafe exhaled his anger. His tiger snarled at her pain.
“I didn’t, though. I found a place and hid them, and they’ve been hidden there ever since. I check on them whenever I’m in town.”
“Why don’t you have them now?”
“I wanted them to be safe.”
“Where are they?”
“There’s an old church in Baton Rouge. I put them under a loose floorboard in the library. I used to go there to read and have some alone time.”
“Baton Rouge, Louisiana.” Rafe scratched his jaw, thinking. “How far is that from New Orleans?”
“About an hour and a half. Why?”
“I have cousins, distant cousins in New Orleans.” He thought of Lézare and his sisters. “We should visit them and make a run to Baton Rouge. It’s time for you to not be separated from your tiger, in any way at all.”
“That’s my secret. My family thought I was obsessed. They took me to a counselor. He encouraged my drawing, said it would let me get it out of my system. He was very wrong. But it was good for me.”
“Tell me about the psychic.”
“I was nineteen. One of my friends had grown up in the backwoods swampy areas. She said her great-aunt could see things. Things that others couldn’t. We went out there.” A shudder washed over her body.
Rafe rose to his feet and put his arms around her.
“It was night and scary. All I could think of as we went there in this rickety old aluminum boat was that I was going to be some alligator’s dinner.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead, right at the hairline where the tiniest hairs tickled his lips. “What did she tell you?”
*
Jax let herself lean into his embrace. His nude body was warm and comforting against hers. It was—
She gasped.
Rafe pulled back, his eyes studying her face. “What’s wrong?”
“This.” She hesitated. “Wait. No. I don’t mean this is wrong. I mean this… this feeling that just went through me.” She shook her head. It was so surreal. “I just had the same feeling that I have whenever I’m dreaming of my tiger, of the way he’s wrapped around me, surrounding me, protecting me, keeping me warm.”
“What did that psychic say?” His voice was charged with emotion, but she couldn’t say what it was.
“She put herself in a trance. Her eyes got really glassy, and she said that my life would be tied to a white tiger. Forever. Then she said something else, but I wasn’t sure exactly what. She wouldn’t keep talking, though. She was done, and she came out of the trance. Wouldn’t talk anymore.”
Rafe was still, looking off in the distance, except there was no distance because they were in the cave.
“Rafe?”
An amber light flared in the back of his dark eyes.
“Yeah?” His voice was husky, almost gravelly. He sounded so different from his normal self.
She wanted to get worried, but there was something very familiar about him right now. “What’s going on?”
“Thank you for sharing your secret with me.”
“What about yours?”
“Do you trust me?”
That was an odd question for him to ask. She wondered if it would sound crazy if she told him she trusted him completely. “I do trust you.”
“You won’t hate me?”
She tried to think what the worst thing he could tell her was, something that would make her reject having him in her life in any capacity at all.
Jesus. Is he a mass murderer?
*
Rafe had no choice. He had to show her who he was and risk losing her. Surely if she saw who she was, she’d understand the dreams. She’d understand what the psychic had said, the special bond, and the current that flowed between them. Would she be able to accept a shifter?
“Promise you won’t be afraid.” He took her hand and led her to the rock.
She sat, put her elbows on her knees, her chin on her hands.
&n
bsp; Rafe took a deep breath.
It’s all or nothing.
His tiger snarled.
This could be it. He could lose her. He tried to imagine what it would be like if she wasn’t in his life to add spice, laughter, even a little bit of frustration.
And a whole lot of passion.
His tiger roared.
I don’t want her to see my face go through the change.
The change was uncomfortable. He knew his face would show some of the pain of shifting into his tiger.
He turned away from her and faced the wall.
I don’t want her to be scared.
What if she was afraid of his tiger? Was that possible? After everything she knew and what she’d said? What if it all vanished when she saw the tiger he could become? A massive white tiger with huge canines and paws that could kill a man with one bite, one swipe?
“Rafe?”
Her arms were warm on his back, snaking around to the front of him, wrapping around his abs. He held his breath.
“Do you trust me?” Her breath traveled over his back.
The same thing he’d asked her. He could give her no less.
“I don’t think you want to be so close to me. Not this first time.”
“You would never hurt me.” Her voice was firm. “I’m staying right here until…”
Rafe’s tiger took over, not giving Rafe a chance to stop the change.
With Jax holding on to his back, his body transformed, morphing, changing, and growing. Within seconds, and with very little sound save a slight creak and a crunch, Rafe’s tiger was in his skin.
Rafe paused. He didn’t want to see the horror on her face. He didn’t want to deal with the rejection, but his tiger had more faith than he did, for he turned to face Jax.
Her arms were by her sides. Her eyes were wide. Her pulse had risen, but didn’t indicate fear; it was something else.
