Taming The Tigers

by Tianna Xander

  “Perhaps not,” Gabe agreed from behind them. “However, a bullet to your brain will make you just as dead.” He let out a breath on a sigh. “God knows I don’t want to frighten you, but most of those guys go for head shots.” He moved up beside her. The kind of men we’re talking about are professional killers. Most of them are ghosts. You wouldn’t even see it coming.”

  A soft breeze blew down of the mountain and Malik stiffened. Pulling Carmen behind him, he lifted his nose to the air. “I smell Kitrick.”

  Gable, too, lifted his nose to the air. “I just got a whiff of that bastard’s stench, too.”

  Malik scanned the hillside, searching for something that would give the man’s position away. There could only be one reason the bastard was following them. Someone had finally paid the asshole to kill them. He pushed Carmen into Gabe’s arms. “Take her somewhere safe. I’m going to sniff him out.”

  “Alone?”

  Gabe shoved Carmen down behind their car when she popped up, her concern for Malik obvious. Kneeling beside her, he glanced up at the mountain through a car window searching for a glint of metal in the thick brush.

  “Of course I’m going alone.” Malik dropped to the ground and rolled behind another vehicle when a spray of gravel kicked up from the parking lot near his feet. Four seconds later, the sound of a gunshot reached his ears.

  “He’ll be gone by the time you get there. He’s got to be at least a mile away.”

  “Yeah, which is why he missed. He’s not used to the way the air travels down the mountain.” Malik grinned. “He’s a city boy, remember? He’ll sit there until one of us leaves, hoping for another shot now that he’s got the wind figured out. When he doesn’t get another clear shot and realizes that I’m coming after him, he’ll leave. That’s when you get our mate to safety.”

  “What do you plan to do when you find he’s gone?”

  “He’ll leave a trail. They always do.” He needed to find that bastard’s perch. From there, he could determine the size of his vehicle by the tracks it left behind. There were always tracks, especially when a sniper shot from a hillside as Kitrick just had.

  Carmen stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Stay safe.”

  “I always do.” Malik smiled, pressed a quick kiss to her lips and dove toward the next vehicle before she could protest.

  One by one, he used each car in the lot to maneuver his way around to the side of the motel where he made a mad dash for the woods. He enhanced his speed just enough to throw off a lead shot and dove for the cover of the trees.

  Now that Kitrick knew he was on his way, the gunman would pack up his equipment and leave. Malik also knew that the other man wouldn’t go far. He’d want his money and the five minutes of fame he would get in the organized crime circuit for killing the two men others had deemed so damned difficult to kill.

  For years, he and Gabe had been dodging one hit after another. Sometimes laughing when the hit men sent after them shot each other in their attempt to bring the two bounty hunters down.

  Undressing as quickly as he could, he reached for the magic and shifted into his tiger, relishing the sensation of his bones reshaping and his muscles growing stronger.

  Kitrick would be looking for a man approaching. He wouldn’t be looking for a tiger and if he saw him, the idiot would be too busy running from him to shoot.

  Malik lifted his head, the broad snout of the tiger pulling in the scents of the forest. A family of rabbits huddled frightened in their den, a raccoon hiding in a tree, a deer with her young fawn in a thicket, their hearts racing with fear as they sensed, or scented a new and dangerous predator close by.

  Slowly, he made his way to the place where Kitrick had sat, waiting to get his shot. He sniffed the ground and chuffed. The air still reeked of the other man’s stench. Killers had a distinct odor, a smell akin to weeks old rotting meat. He’d never figured out why. Still, it had held true for every criminal they had hunted and returned to jail. Three of which had been on the FBI’s ten most wanted list.

  It didn’t take long to find the other man’s brass. He must have left in a damned hurry not to have picked that up.

  The sloppy bastard.

  Lowering his head, Malik picked up the cartridge and followed Kitrick’s sickening scent about a half mile until he found the clearing where the man had parked his vehicle.

  Malik studied the tracks. They were too far apart to be a car or minivan and too heavy to be a pickup. Some kind of SUV, then. Knowing the asshole’s penchant for hiding in plain sight, it would be something flashy. He thought back on their trip. Three times over the last several days, he’d seen a bright red SUV nearby. That bright red monstrosity could be the vehicle they should be looking for.

  It didn’t matter. He got what he came here for. He closed his mouth over the brass and trotted back to where he left his clothes. Kitrick was gone, for now. Whether the man had meant to or not, he’d warned them and they would take heed.

  After changing back to his human form, dressing, and pocketing Kitrick’s brass, he made his way back to the motel and Carmen’s room. He had no doubt that was where Gabe took Carmen as it was the closest and easiest safe place available to him.

  “It’s me,” he said as he knocked on the door.

  “It’s about time you got back here.” Gabe reached out and pulled him into the room before slamming the door shut behind him.

  “Yeah, it’s about time you came back. I’ve been worried sick,” Carmen said as she threw herself into his arms.

  Closing his eyes, Malik wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her neck. God it was good to feel her wrapped around him. Until recently, he’d never thought about how nice it would be to have a mate, someone besides Gabe who gave a damn what happened to him.

  It was also a good thing that she was accepting them as her mates so quickly. He wasn’t sure how long they had before the mating heat made them crazy. It was different for everyone. Some experienced it and others did not. He wasn’t even sure if the danger they were in would bring it on faster or slow it down. No one knew how the heat worked—only that if it hit, it was painful as hell. Unfortunately, they would all have to find that out together.

  Chapter Seven

  Closing her eyes, Carmen pressed her face against Malik’s shoulder and inhaled with a soft moan. The scent of pine filled her nose. He must have been on the ground—or his clothes had been.

  “You shifted out there, didn’t you?” It was more of a statement than a question.

  “Yes.” He nodded, his chin brushing her hair. He squeezed her tighter with a sigh. “It was a calculated risk. I needed to move fast and not appear as a human target.”

  “But... that—that sniper could have shot you and you wouldn’t have been able to shift back.” She gestured to Gabe “I don’t know about him, but I know I can’t lift even half of a full-grown tiger.”

  Hell, Caspian tigers were one of the largest sub-species. She could only imagine that their shifter counterparts were even bigger. After all, the leoparo shifters were larger than their leopard and jaguar cousins. Carmen knew that for a fact.

  “Sh... kotik. I am here and I’m fine.”

  Ignoring his slight accent, she focused her attention on the foreign word he used. “What did you just say?” Stepping back, she stared up at him, her eyes narrowed. “You better not have just called me a nasty name.”

  Gabe didn’t say anything. He pressed his lips together, shoved his hands in his pockets, and leaned against the bureau, crossing his long legs.

  Goodness, they’re both so tall. But then again, shifters were tall, usually. She swallowed thickly, resisting the urge to reach out and lay her hand on the thick muscles of his chest, which his tight t-shirt poorly hid. And that reaction of Gable’s can’t be a good thing.

  Malik reached out and cupped her cheek. “Kotik means pussycat.” He smiled. “I might not be able to see it, but I can sense your hackles risi
ng and your protective instincts coming to the surface like an enraged kitten.”

  “Oh.” Carmen’s face burned. Should she be angry or flattered? She took a deep breath, not sure being compared to an enraged kitten was a good thing. Wetting her lips, her cheeks grew warmer when Malik’s eyes narrowed and the veins stood out on his neck.

  Reaching out, he pulled her back into his arms, cupped her face in his hands and slowly lowered his head.

  Her pulse slowed to a stop for a moment before taking off at a sudden gallop. Her stomach spun and flipped, her insides heating up as his mouth covered hers. Warm lips caressed hers as he skimmed his thumbs over her cheeks.

  “Why do you cry, malysh?” Malik asked as he wiped her tears away.

  “I’m getting old. My best friend, Melody, has been mated forever.” She met his gaze. “And with the exception of a few times when we first met, I don’t feel the el calor. Aren’t we supposed to feel the unyielding burn when we’re exposed to our mates?”

  She met Malik’s gaze, her vision blurred by her tears. “I’ve looked and looked for my mates.” Stepping back, she turned and walked to the bathroom, grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. I’d almost given up hope of ever finding one male, let alone two. Then I met you and felt, what I’d thought was the mating heat, but I don’t feel anymore.” She shook her head. “I’m back where I started. You aren’t my mates. You can’t be.”

  “You’re wrong, malysh. You are our mate.” Hands resting lightly on her shoulders, he bent to meet her gaze when she wouldn’t look up. “Shame on you for thinking we wouldn’t find you. You should have known that we would eventually come for you.”

  “You said that word before. Malysh what does that mean?” She wiped her nose, threw the tissue in the trash and washed her hands.

  “It means, baby.” Gabe smiled and drew her into his embrace.

  Carmen went willingly, wishing she believed they were really her mates. Just being with them and holding them felt right but where was the relentless heat?

  Gabe tucked her head beneath his chin. “We’re here, now, little kotik. The fates have finally brought us together and, if you are willing to stay with us, nothing will ever keep us apart again.”

  “What about your enemies?” She pulled back a bit to look up at him. “What if they threaten me? You won’t send me away while you take care of the threat?”

  It had been her experience that males sheltered their mates. Sometimes, they even left them with others while they went out and ferreted out whatever threatened their mate’s safety.

  “I don’t know how Malik feels, but it will be a long, long time before I will willingly leave your side for more than a few hours.” He tucked his thumb beneath her chin and tilted her head back to meet her gaze. “However, we will ask that you do whatever we think is best when it comes to your safety.”

  Reaching out with her senses, Carmen felt the truth of his words and his resolve. “Good, because I don’t know what I would do if something were to happen to either of you because of me.” Even if they weren’t her mates, she would never be able to live with the guilt if they died because of her.

  Should she care so much about them so soon? If they were her mates, would she feel this strange connection to them, or was this because they’d saved her life in the parking lot. There was no doubt in her mind that the shooter would have killed her if they hadn’t been there. She hadn’t even realized someone shot at them until Malik said something.

  She glanced at the two men. Both were so tall, dark and handsome. Each of them had their own look, their personalities showing in the way they dressed. The snarling tiger tattoo climbing up Gabe’s arm and the scar over his left eye told her he thought himself a bad boy. While Malik’s clean-cut good looks and button down shirt told her he was the more refined of the two. Yet neither of them displayed the telltale injury that she’d heard most of the Caspian people had. They both appeared totally human.

  “You said you were from the cascade, but I don’t see anything wrong with either of you.” God, that was rude!

  Malik just stared at her, his face blank, his eyebrow raised as he stared at her with those intense blue eyes of his. His expression made her insides heat and gave her goose bumps.

  What was it between them? Could it really be the mating heat, or some strange form of it? Was it different with the tigers? Maybe it had more to do with their body’s chemistry than anyone had imagined.

  Did mates come with some sort of mystical connection built in and, did they have it? Whatever this thing was between them, it had already bound her to the two men, at least it had in some small way.

  It was as though she’d known them forever. Still, they could be her mates and, if they were, it might be mercenary to feel the way she did, but they needed to set some ground rules and she planned to make the two men work at getting her to agree to mate with them. She had to get to know them first. She wanted to be sure. Forever was a long, long time.

  Looking up, she met Gabe’s gaze. “I like that you two speak some foreign language and have some sort of accent.” She smiled slightly and stepped from his embrace. “To tell you the truth, it’s kind of sexy.”

  It took every ounce of willpower she possessed to keep a straight face when the two men exchanged a look and stood up straight, their chests puffed out.

  “However, it doesn’t mean that I’m going to jump in bed with either of you, let alone both of you, the first chance I get.”

  Carmen sat on the chair in front of the desk and crossed her legs. “For the next three days, at least,” she said, holding up her hand when they would have interrupted. “Consider this area of my body off limits.” She gestured to her torso and down past her hips. “Pretend I’m wearing a chastity belt, or something. Because I have to tell ya, there isn’t anything happening until I say it’s happening.” Carmen scowled at their stunned expressions, knowing that the only problem with that decree would be keeping her hands off them.

  Chapter Eight

  Gabe chuckled at her stunned expression. Carmen didn’t beat around the bush. He admired a woman who wasn’t afraid to say what was on her mind—especially in bed.

  “Our... deformities aren’t as easy to see as some of the others,” Malik answered as Gabe moved to sit on the bed.

  A few shifters, like Malik, for instance, had tails that they couldn’t shift back to a human tailbone. Still, others had their tiger’s eyes or snout, while some must wear thick gloves or special shoes over paws that had been injured and couldn’t shift back into the hands and feet of their human half.

  Most of their kind were over one-hundred years old—remnants of a better time before the humans encroached on their home ground and hunted them to near extinction.

  That was when the shamans of their tribe decided it was time to use the magic instilled within them. The elders summoned a bridge that could carry them both through time and space, led their species through the thick, magical veil and again used their magic to create the cascade—a safe place where they could live in peace, regardless of their appearance because humans could never find their haven without a magical guide.

  Leaning down, Gabe pulled his left boot from his foot, removed the thick sock and waited for their mate’s reaction when she saw his tiger’s toes and the claws digging into the carpet. He held up his shredded sock with a grimace. Losing socks regularly was a small price to pay to find their mate.

  “As you can see, I go through a lot of socks when we leave the cascade.”

  Carmen stayed quiet for a moment. Her large brown eyes filled with tears as she stared at his foot. Kneeling down, she reached out and touched his toes, her fingers tracing the length of the long claws.

  “Does it—” She cleared her throat. “Does it hurt when you keep your foot confined in shoes all day?”

  “A bit.” Gabe shrugged, his chest aching at the thought that she cared. “Though it doesn’t pain me much, anymore.” He fisted his hands, his finger
s itching to know if her hair and skin were truly as soft as they looked.

  Carmen might not think they were true mates, but he knew that he and Malik belonged to her, just as surely as she did to them. She fit in that place deep inside his chest—that part of him that ached at the thought of her rejection.

  She could tell them no and live just as happily with a human male. Sometimes, it seemed unfair that the women could refuse a male’s suit and still live a normal life. The males suffered. The mating heat could, and sometimes did, drive a male mad with the need to claim his mate.

  Still, Gabe knew for a certainty that he would kill Malik and then commit suicide before he would allow either of them to take their mate’s freedom to choose from her.

  Looking up, Carmen met his gaze, her amber-flecked brown eyes staring deep into his. She stroked her fingers over his foot, caressing his mangled toes. “How did it happen?”

  What was the harm in telling her? Resting his elbows on his knees, he sighed. “Many years ago, sometime in the late nineteenth century, I’ve forgotten exactly when, Russian leaders ordered their soldiers to exterminate all of the tigers as part of some agricultural project.

  “They blamed the tigers for attacking the farmers who encroached on our homeland.” He closed his eyes with another sigh as images of the senseless slaughter flooded his memories.

  “Our cousins, the full animal tigers had nowhere else to go, to hide, while the humans hunted them down, exterminating them like roaches. The humans didn’t care if they shot the tigers or shifters” The room darkened as his memories took over, giving way to the horrible memories he had kept hidden deep for so long. “Some say they knew about us shifters and had finally found a way to murder us by killing every tiger they found.

  “When they had all but decimated our population, our shamans found a way to harness the magic and designed a way to escape. They created the cascade, and the bridge to enter it. That place is where we have hidden for over a hundred years.”