The Blind Tiger: An Unusual Paranormal Romance

by Dawn Steele

  “There are always victims, though,” Noah remarked.

  Karen was aware that the conversation had become deeply personal.

  “Dinner has been lovely,” Noah said. “But I have to be going. I gave myself a schedule, you see. Five thousand words every day, and I’m afraid I’m extremely behind. My editor is expecting my first draft in less than two weeks to make the fall lineup.”

  “Of course. Karen will take you home. Won’t you, Karen?”

  She licked her swollen lips. “Of course. Let me get my coat.”

  “It isn’t cold out there,” remarked Noah. “I don’t recall you taking off a coat coming in.”

  Karen froze. Zach merely sat back and smiled.

  She said, “It has gotten chilly, I think.”

  “Silly me. Being snug and warm in here, I hadn’t noticed.” Noah got up.

  “Let me walk you to the door,” Zach said.

  Karen hastily threw a long coat over herself and buttoned it up. As she walked to the door, she heard Zach say to Noah, “Be careful out there. There are plenty of predators in these parts of the woods.”

  “And out of them,” Noah said, shaking Zach’s hand.

  “Well said.”

  “Shall we go?” Karen said brightly. She could relax more now that they were out of the woods, so to speak.

  “Sure.”

  Noah made an unerring beeline for her car. Wow, Karen thought again. It was almost as if he wasn’t blind.

  “Goodbye,” Zach called after them.

  “Goodbye and thank you again.” Noah waved.

  They got into her car. Hurriedly, Karen drove off.

  Zach watched them drive away, a strange expression on his features.

  COLLECTION

  As soon as Karen left with Noah, Zach dialed his cellphone.

  “Boris?” he said in Russian. “Marshall the men. We have a blind bounty to collect tonight.”

  “The one whose photo I showed you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where, boss?”

  Zach smiled. “In a strange coincidence, he happens to be my new neighbor.”

  HEART TO HEART

  In the car, Noah said, “Why do you let him do what he does to you?”

  Karen froze.

  “What?”

  He turned to her. His eyes were unreadable behind his dark glasses. “What I said. Why do you tolerate it? Why do you let him do the things he does to you?”

  Karen’s mouth went dry. “What exactly do you think he does to me?”

  “I may be blind, Karen, but I have enhanced my other senses. I know you’re naked under your coat.”

  She cringed.

  He went on, “I know you were naked throughout our dinner. I know he asked you to do something lewd to him during dessert.”

  “You heard us,” she accused. “You heard us talking in the kitchen.”

  But how could he? She didn’t see him anywhere near them. Could he really have enhanced hearing?

  “Yes,” he admitted. “I heard you.”

  She didn’t even want to ask him how that was possible. Maybe blind people sometimes developed enhanced abilities. How would she know, right?

  “My relationship with Zach is kind of complicated.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  She inhaled a sharp breath. She was shaking again. She pulled the car to a stop beside the road.

  “Are you OK?” he said in concern.

  “No. No, I’m not.” Tears ran down her face. Oh God, now she was weeping. She was a mess.

  His hand reached for hers on the wheel.

  “Karen, I’m here for you.”

  “I know.” She sobbed.

  She found herself talking. Slowly at first, in bits and pieces. Then the whole story flowed out. What happened after she met Zach. How he introduced her to the master slave dynamic. How she had never once used her safe word. How she wasn’t sure what she wanted in her life anymore, but she had given up everything (everything!) for Zach – her friends, her family, her job, her lifestyle – to follow him here.

  “I did it because I loved him,” she concluded.

  She did so much for love!

  “And do you still love him?” Noah said gently. He still had not let go of her hand. His flesh against hers was warm and comforting.

  She hesitated.

  She didn’t know. What was love? What did it feel like? Did it evolve from the giddy, flushing, palpitation inducing first stages of being in love into something deeper? Or did it meander into the realm of confusion – the way she seemed to be feeling now? Was it supposed to make her less of a person than more?

  “I don’t know,” she confessed.

  “It’s all right not to know. But a love based on continuously giving in to the other partner’s desires, especially when you are no longer sure that you want to, isn’t love in my book. Love is supposed to be nurturing and accepting. Both people are supposed to grow with it, not recede from it. Maybe I’m an optimist, but that’s my idea of love.”

  The way he spoke of it made her crave for the love he described, too. It was true. That was her ideal as well.

  She clutched at his hand, never wanting to let go. And suddenly, she realized that she didn’t ever want to let go of his hand.

  Her trembling hand came up to stroke his face. His jaw possessed just the slightest stubble.

  “Karen –” His voice was choked.

  “I want to see your eyes,” she said softly. “Please let me see your eyes.”

  He didn’t protest when she gingerly removed his dark glasses. Around the car, the forest was still with only the occasional chirping of crickets. She turned on the central light, knowing that it wasn’t fair to him. She could see him, but he couldn’t see her.

  She held her breath as the yellow light flooded both of them. His eyes were a lovely honeyed brown. They were beautifully shaped, large, and liquid. They had incredible depth in spite of the fact that their pupils stayed the same size. And most importantly, they were intelligent and kind.

  What happened next was unexpected and rather shocking to her. In a moment that seemed to play in slow motion, he moved his lips towards hers.

  He kissed her. His lips were oh-so-soft and oh-so-incredible. Although it was a close-mouthed, fairly chaste kiss, she was overwhelmed. It was the most gentle and meaningful kiss she ever had.

  He broke off. His eyes were luminous.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have done that. I took advantage of you at a difficult moment.”

  “No,” she said. “If you hadn’t done that, I would have done it to you.”

  “It’s probably a bad idea. You don’t know things about me, Karen. You don’t want to be with a blind man. It’s complicated.” He receded into the shadows. Conflicted emotions played on his handsome face.

  “No.” A lump came into her throat. “I do know that I’m very attracted to you, and I’ve been denying myself all this while. I’ve been attracted to you since the first time I met you. I do want to be with you . . . if you want to be with me.”

  She suddenly turned shy. Did he want to be with her?

  “Karen, you’re already with someone. You have to decide what you want.”

  “I’m going to break up with Zach tonight,” she said firmly. Yes, this was what she wanted. It was long due. Things had gone downhill between them for a long time. “Then I want to be with you.”

  “I don’t think it’s that simple.”

  “I love you. Unless . . . you’re thinking that you can’t love me back.”

  Her voice broke towards the end of her sentence. Whatever Noah decided, she couldn’t go back to Zach. It was over. She had to begin her life anew.

  But now she had spilled the ‘L’ word. To a man she hardly knew.

  “That’s the problem,” Noah replied. “I’m already falling for you. But I know that I’m not good for you. I meant it when I said that there are plenty of things you don’t know about me
, Karen. My circumstances are a lot more complicated than you think.”

  “I’m going to leave him anyway.” Fresh tears ran down her cheeks. “That won’t change. Knowing you has made me understand what I want in a partner. And I want you.”

  He swallowed. “I have to think about this for a while. It isn’t really that simple. Zach is a violent man.”

  “You can tell?” she gaped.

  “Yes. There’s a sadistic streak in him, but I think you already know that. If nothing else, I have to get you away from him.” He paused. “We’ll have to get away from here.”

  She understood. He had just gotten here. Now he was going to uproot his life again because of her.

  Oh, what had she gotten him into?

  She clasped his hands.

  “I love you,” she said. “But we have to plan this carefully.”

  After a pause, he said, “Yes. We have to plan this carefully. But Karen, if he hurts you in any way when you go home tonight, you’re to come here, to me.” His jaw clenched. “I’m going to protect you in every way I can.”

  He couldn’t protect her. He was blind! Zach was a Russian mob enforcer. But it didn’t matter. They would both protect each other against all odds.

  That was what love was about.

  Besides, the first thing she had to do was to break up with Zach.

  He won’t get angry. I’m separated from his job. I’m not his property. I’m not his possession.

  She started the car. “I’m going to take you home. Then I’m going to break up with Zach. He’ll let me go.” He has to. “I’ll wait for a while. Then we will be together.”

  As they drove off into the night, neither of them could have predicted the terrible things that were about to be visited upon them.

  CONFLICTED

  As Karen’s car drew off into the night, back to her home, Noah leaned against his closed door.

  What had he gotten himself into?

  He hadn’t told her that he was a tiger shifter. He hadn’t told her about why he was blinded, and who blinded him. He hadn’t told her a myriad of things that she needed to know about him,

  All he knew that was he was extremely attracted to her soul. It certainly wasn’t about her looks. She was a beautiful person inside who had lost her confidence thanks to a bully of a boyfriend, who made her do all those things in the misguided name of love.

  All he knew was that he had to try to protect her. He couldn’t walk away from her plight. He just couldn’t.

  It was too late. She had already touched him with her soul.

  THE BREAKUP

  Karen drove home.

  When the house loomed up, she was strangely calm when she should be terrified.

  I’m going to do this. I’m going to walk away.

  She looked up. The lights were blazing inside. So different from Noah’s house, where everything was dark – reflecting his condition.

  She got out of the car, steeling her resolve. It was time she did something right by herself.

  She went in.

  “Zach?” she called.

  He was nowhere to be seen.

  Of course, she wasn’t supposed to be calling him by his real name now that they were alone together. But she didn’t care anymore. It all ended tonight, even if he threw her out of his house with nothing but the clothes on her back. And it wasn’t about the fact that she had Noah as a cushion, either. Even if she didn’t have anywhere to go, she had to start afresh.

  He wasn’t in the dining room or the kitchen. Of course, he might have fallen asleep. He had, after all, drunk a good amount of wine.

  She went upstairs. Their bedroom door was ajar. He was talking on the phone.

  “No . . . the house will be dark. He’s blind, after all. Cover all doors and windows. And take him alive. His bounty is much higher alive than dead.”

  A cold hand gripped her heart.

  Zach turned. A cruel smile was on his handsome features. So he knew that she was standing outside. He wanted her to overhear him.

  He put down the phone.

  “You’re talking about Noah, aren’t you?” she hissed. “You’re . . . you’re going to kidnap him.”

  She was around Zach long enough to know what bounties meant in his world.

  “You like him, don’t you?” he countered.

  She was afraid to reply – not because of what would happen to her but what to Noah.

  Zach continued, “You see, I know you better than you know yourself, little flower. I know your heart, and when it turned against me.”

  Fear for Noah gave her resolve.

  “I was coming here to break up with you anyway. And it’s not because of Noah. It’s because I don’t want this sort of life anymore.”

  “And you never said a word,” he sneered. “Not even a safe word.”

  “Well, I’m saying it now. I’m done. I’m leaving. You’ve humiliated me, mentally tortured me. So I’m leaving right now.”

  Her heartbeat thrummed in her ears. She was so afraid for Noah. She had to warn him. She had to go to him.

  “And you think I’d let you leave so that you can warn your new boyfriend?”

  Her blood chilled.

  He was right.

  “You don’t even know who he is,” Zach went on. “You’re so trusting. So innocent.”

  “I know he doesn’t kill people for a living.”

  “Strangely, that never seemed to bother you about me before.” He grinned. “I’ve stopped loving you a long time ago, even if I haven’t stopped desiring you. You’re a milksop, little flower. Beautiful to look at. Nice to hold. Even nicer to dominate and fuck. So I treated you the way you allowed yourself to be treated. If you want to be my doormat, fine. I’ll wipe my feet on you.”

  She was shaking with the sudden rage that flooded her.

  “A-and to think I did everything for you because I loved you.”

  “You let me use you. And so I did.”

  “Bastard!”

  How could she have ever loved this man?

  There was no time to lose. She had to run. She had to warn Noah. He didn’t even have a cellphone she could call!

  She turned to run, but Zach took three huge strides and caught her by the arm.

  “No!” she screamed.

  She tried to wrench her arm off, but his strong grip held true. She kicked out at him. He lifted her by her arms.

  “No,” she cried again.

  He turned her around with her back to him so that she could not kick him easily.

  “It’s already done,” he said. “Boris and his men are already at his house. As for you, little flower, I’m going to have a little fun with you.”

  PRISONER

  She struggled and fought him, but at the head of the stairs, he clubbed her on the back of the head.

  “Enough!” he hissed.

  Her world spun, and she saw stars.

  He carried her downstairs, slung across his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They headed for the playroom. Her vision swam. When she tried to raise her head, he squeezed her neck at two pressure points.

  She blacked out in his arms.

  *

  When Karen came to, she was tied to a tripod in the playroom. She was naked, naturally. Her wrists were secured above her head with leather straps. Her ankles were similarly tied to the splayed legs of the tripod, and her thighs were apart.

  Zach was nowhere to be seen.

  She knew where he was, of course, and panic seized her. How long had she been out? She struggled against her bonds, but the leather straps held tight.

  Noah!

  Zach was in the house next door with his goons.

  “Zach!” she screamed.

  Silence. What did she expect?

  She pulled against the straps. But they were strung tightly. More tightly as compared to the usual restraint Zach showed her.

  It meant that they were no longer master and slave in a BSDM relationship. The stakes had changed.

 
But she needed desperately to get away. Zach had said that Noah was worth more as a bounty alive than dead. But still, he was just a blind man. What could he do against someone as ruthless as Zach?

  It was all her fault. She brought Noah to Zach’s attention. Noah would have been fine if she had never gone to his house in the first place to deliver a cake.

  She dangled from the straps helplessly.

  Why was there a bounty on Noah? He himself had intimated that there were many things she did not know about him. But he had a wonderful, shining soul. That she was certain of, if nothing else.

  Desperation gave her strength. The leather straps were the type that was buckled in. She had two options:

  She could try to wriggle her hands out. The straps were tight, but she had lost weight since they had last been adjusted.

  She could try to bend her hands at their wrists to try to undo the buckles.

  She gritted her teeth with determination and set to attempt Option 1. If she failed, she would go on to Option 2.

  THE ATTACK

  Zach approached the house with confidence. He didn’t even bother to kill his engine. His men were already in place around Noah’s house.

  He smiled.

  Noah’s real name wasn’t even Noah, but he would call him that for now.

  He thought fleetingly of Karen, and a stab of pain lanced through his chest. He remembered the first time he saw her from across the crowded club. She had been an innocent – a lamb in a wolf den. Her friend was different. When Shawna came up to him, he knew that they were alike – predators. Snakes waiting for a chance to strike for whatever reasons they had.

  He hadn’t wanted a predator. Karen interested him because she was so different – so unlike any woman he had ever met. Or maybe he just hadn’t been hanging around in the right circles.

  For a while, he was content to be charmed by her innocence and sweetness. She was like a balm to his tainted soul – a breath of fresh air in his fetid, corrupt world.

  “Ah, you think you are finally in love,” Vladimir, his adopted father, observed.