Fire & Frost (4 page)

Like it or not, she had no ideas. That was why she was going to confront Vic and ask — no, beg — for his help. Her face flushed uncomfortably hot at the thought.
Vic, could you help me with my heat?

Why did that make her flutter low in her stomach? Stupid heat made everything attractive, apparently, even her formidable, scowling, often-scary alpha.

Vic’s Garage was busy, all the bay doors open and cars on the lifts as men moved under them. The scents of motor oil and rubber tires filled her nostrils, along with the scent of other tiger-shifters. Vic hired family first, and several of the Barlow clan worked here. The scents of so many tiger males made a low, rumbling purr start in her belly, and she had to pinch her arm to make her purring stop.

As she walked up to the garage, men stopped and stared at her. It was disconcerting, especially since the looks they were giving her weren’t the typical looks that she expected a female in heat would get. She knew she was at her sexiest, so why were they all staring at her with a mixture of wariness and unease?

It was because she was a liger. It was stamped into every ounce of her being — different. Tiger women were normally tall and strong, but Estrella was taller and stronger than everyone else. Hell, she was taller than most of the tiger men. What, did they think she’d hold them down and take advantage of them? Sully their innocence? An amused smile curved her mouth. Judging from the wariness on their faces, maybe they thought that after all. Ignoring the men, she headed into the waiting area of Vic’s Garage, closing her eyes for the blast of heat that would keep the room a comfortable temperature for the human and not-going-into-heat customers.

She’d prepared for the heat wave of seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit inside, but she hadn’t been prepared for the barrage of tiger scents as she opened the door. She was familiar with most of the clan; these smelled different.

Different tigers? In the Barlow territory? Her uterus gave an excited little quiver of anticipation. Estrella’s fingers curled and she crossed her arms over her breasts, lest her nipples betray exactly how she was feeling. Three men sat at the far end of the waiting room, talking quietly amongst each other. Their backs were to her, but as the door closed behind her, they turned…and stood.

Three men. Black hair. Two were about her height; the third was taller than her by an inch or two. They were all her age.

Her mouth went dry.

The door to Vic’s office opened. “‘Strella. Good. You’re here. You saved me a phone call. Come in so we can talk.”

Her body protested leaving the men behind, but she forced herself to turn around and face Vic. Of course, as soon as he came into her sights, she was drawn to him like a magnet. God, he was strong and fierce. The liger side of her liked the thought of having a fierce mate. She needed a man who would stand up to her, take charge when she needed him to, defend their territory…

She clenched her fists, willing the thought to go away. Vic was not going to be her mate.
Not
. He’d be horrified if he knew she was fantasizing about him. Hadn’t he said at the speed mating event that he wasn’t looking for a mate? The last thing he needed was her coming on to him because she thought he’d make some good looking babies.

When she walked into the office, he shut the door behind her. She delicately flared her nostrils, taking in his scent. Oh hell, he smelled amazing. Like hand soap and a hint of sweat and axle grease under that. It shouldn’t have been such a turn on, but her claws were threatening to come out. The heat was getting worse, and she was out of prospects at the moment. Surely that was why she was going wild for her alpha.

“Vic, I’m desperate,” she blurted, and it came out breathier and far more erotic than she’d imagined.

He froze in place.

“Not like that,” she amended quickly. At least, not
yet
. “I need your help. For the heat.” Oh god, she was blushing. “Not like that, either,” she said when he raised an eyebrow at her. “I mean, I need help finding someone—”

“I know. Sit.”

His voice was commanding; she immediately moved to the nearest chair and plopped into it, curving her long legs underneath, waiting for him to speak.

“Last night after the speed mating, I made a few phone calls to the other tiger clans. Told them what we — what you — were looking for in a candidate. And while I can’t guarantee that any of them are into a long-term relationship, I want you to at least have a few options for your child that don’t involve hooking up with the nearest were-badger. Or worse, a human.” He leveled a hard gaze at her.

She felt herself grow flushed, sweat breaking out on her forehead. “Am I that obvious?”

“Yes,” he said bluntly. “But I’m glad you came to me.”

So were her ovaries. Especially when he said the word ‘came’. Estrella clenched a hand over her stomach.

“It’s obvious you’re going to go into heat very soon. I’ve sent the rest of the clan out of town for the week, just until we’re sure that you’ve covered all your bases. I also talked to the lion alpha — since you’re half of each — and he’s sending his boys out hunting in East Texas just to be safe. Unless you had your eye on one of them?”

She shook her head. She knew the local lions and they hadn’t exactly been friendly. Or accepting. They were not even a choice for her. Her child would be fully accepted by his or her clan.

“Okay then. I’ve flown three males from other tiger clans into town. I want you to take a few days and talk to each one of them. Let me know what your thoughts are. Find out which one is best for you and the baby.”

Suddenly she was weepy. “You did this for me?”

“Of course. I’m your alpha. If you have a problem, you come to me, and we fix it. I’m here for you.”

Tears flooded her eyes. God, she was emotional lately. But just hearing that from Vic, well…it was something she’d needed to hear. She’d never felt more alone than this last week, being treated like a leper amongst men. Knowing that Vic was going out of his way to make this as smooth for her as possible? It made her giddy with happiness.

It also made her incredibly emotional.

Vic noticed her blubbering, and came around his desk with a sigh. “Don’t cry, ‘Strella. I can’t stand to see you upset.”

“It’s just…I’m always just…”
so alone
, she wanted to say, but the words lodged themselves in her throat. A tiger wouldn’t know what it was like to be alone simply because you were born a half breed. As one of the Barlows, Vic wouldn’t know what it was like to be abandoned by your father, lose your mother. She was always so
lonely
.

Until now.

He knelt in front of her chair and put his arms around her, awkwardly patting her back. She wrapped her arms around him and snuggled her head against his shoulder, tucking her nose against his neck. It was fast becoming her favorite position with him, because it allowed her to take the most furtive sort of sniff of his scent. Not just his scent, but his skin—

“Did you just sniff me?”

Estrella bolted backward, flushing. “It’s the heat.”

“Uh huh.” He looked more amused than annoyed, though. “If you don’t want to go through with this, just say so.”

“I kind of don’t have a choice. My vagina’s already prepping for the Shifter Superbowl.” And she sniffed, loudly.

He stiffened against her.

“Sorry.”

“Just glad I wasn’t holding any wine this time,” he grumbled.

She gave a teary giggle at that.

“‘Strella…You know I’m always here for you.”

Yeah, but my brain keeps going to weird, dirty places when you’re trying to be supportive
. So she said nothing.

He gave her another little pat on the shoulder. “Why don’t you go out and say hello to my cousins before you start crying again?”

She nodded, then impulsively reached out and hugged him again. Why had she ever thought Vic scary? Under that fearsome exterior was the heart of a big pussycat.

Literally.

It might have been her imagination, but the hug went on for longer than she’d expected. She pulled away and glanced up at his face. Same old Vic. Must have been her imagination.

“Thank you,” she told him one more time.

He waved her toward the door, the look on his face grim.

As she stepped through the door, she could have sworn she heard something crash in the room. She turned around to look, but then tiger scents were in her nostrils, and she was surrounded by three young, virile tiger males, and Estrella forgot everything else.

IN WHAT COULD only be described as the world’s most awkward quadruple date, Estrella took the three men out to lunch at the local barbecue pit. Her stomach was growling for food, and barbecue was a favorite with shifters — you could put away a ton of meat and no one said a thing about it. Estrella drove, and when she offered to pay for lunch, no one put up a word of protest. For some reason, that stuck in her craw. This was feeling a bit like she was auditioning for stud service.

Well, hell. That was exactly what she was doing.

Estrella’s heart sank. Vic had made it clear that the guys probably didn’t want a relationship, but if she wanted a baby that would be fully tiger clan, fully accepted, these three were her best chance. So she smiled and listened politely as they talked.

Two of the men were brothers. Nelson Maher was an electrician, twenty-nine, and single. His brother Montgomery Maher was twenty six, an X-ray technician, and single.

She immediately crossed Montgomery off the list. Too many X-rays, she told herself. What if her baby came out with radiation poisoning? Worse, what if he’d fried his junk by standing too close to the camera? For some reason, the thought of having sex with a sterile man repulsed her. Hell, if she was going to have sex for fun’s sake, she wanted someone more like Vic…

She shut down that train of thought immediately and turned to Nelson. “So, what do you like to do in your spare time?”

Estrella could have sworn he flexed, just a bit. “I do some rock climbing and work out at the gym,” Nelson said between bites of barbecue. “I like to stay fit.”

She brightened at that. “You do? That’s terrific. Did Vic tell you? I teach yoga and fill in as the Zumba instructor at my gym.”

Nelson gave his brother a sideways glance that seemed a bit too competitive, and turned his smile on her. “Well now, I like to do real exercising. You know, get a sweat going.” That time, he definitely flexed. “Bench presses and the like.”

She bristled at his tone. “I see.” Well, she could cross Nelson off the list. Arrogant prick. Like the father of her child was going to be condescending about what she did for a living. She was probably in better shape than Nelson was, if his muscle — or lack thereof — was any indication. “You must have just started lifting recently,” she said sweetly. “When will you start to see results?”

Nelson frowned.

Montgomery smothered a laugh behind a mouthful of barbecue, which made her appreciate him a bit more. Shame about the possible sterility.

She turned to the third man. Tall. A bit on the lean side but still fit. Quiet, but good looking enough. He had pleasant features and serious eyes. “You’re not speaking,” she told him, forcing the smile to stay on her face.

He gave her an almost shy nod. “Cory.”

“That’s a nice name,” she said conversationally.

“Cory Janitor,” Montgomery broke in with a smirk. “You want your kid to be named Janitor?”

“I…what? Really?” She gave Cory a startled look. His bright red flush told her everything.

Oh. Oh no. If she were picking men for selfish, silly reasons…a horrible last name was definitely up there on things to avoid, in case her child wanted to hyphenate their last names at a later date. “I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with that,” she said politely. “So what do you do for a living, Cory?”

He shrugged. “I’m a manager at Super Burger.”

“When he’s not smoking weed in his parents’ basement,” Montgomery said with a snort. Cory elbowed him and gave a nervous laugh.

These were her prospects? A misogynistic narcissist, a possibly sterile asshole, and a pothead with the last name of Janitor?

Three men and she didn’t want any of them. Estrella didn’t think the day could get any more depressing.