Once Upon a Tiger (9 page)

Her smile came slowly, shyly. He did love her. Her heart swelled as she gazed at him. They still had one major obstacle, though.
“We still have to get around the elders.”

He nodded.
“We will.”

Alexis took his face between her palms and kissed him, hard and sure. Her need rose up as she pressed against him, her naked skin sensitive and warm everywhere they touched. His hands on her back left trails of tingling heat. She was wet and ready for him—so quickly, so easily.

With a breathless chuckle, she untangled herself from his arms. “At the cabin,” she said. “Too much daylight.”

He nodded, gripped her hand, and took off at a run. She squealed in shock, stumbled the first step, then caught her balance and kept pace with him, laughing as they raced home.

Home. He was always welcome in her territory now. The thought filled her with peace.

Chapter Eleven

Victor didn’t pause when they reached her front door. He dragged her inside and straight to her bedroom.

She loved him.

The idea was still so overwhelming he had trouble believing he’d actually seen her sign the words.

When he had her in the purple darkness of her bedroom, he pulled her close and kissed her, all the emotion he’d spent years suppressing pouring out.

She loved him.

He intended to show her just how much he loved her, too. Her doubt was still almost as amazing as her love.

He kissed his way across her jaw, down her throat, and reveled in the shivers that shook her when his teeth skimmed lightly along her collarbone. He ignored his insistent cock and laid her on the bed, needing to worship her more than he needed anything else in the world. She sprawled under him, looking at him with her beautiful blue eyes, heavy-lidded and sexy. Her short hair was tousled from the skirmish, her skin flushed, her nipples peaked. He’d never seen anything more erotic.

He leaned down and kissed her, tangling his tongue with hers, tasting and savoring. Then he moved down, across her chin, licking a wet line over the sensitive skin on her neck. The thought of that Bengal having his teeth on her throat earlier sent a roar of rage through his blood. If the male had done her any serious harm, Victor would have ripped him into little shreds. To replace the memory, he took his time gently kissing and licking her throat—to excite her and soothe his own soul. She wasn’t hurt. At least not anything permanent.

She was his.

He continued his slow exploration down the very center of her chest, licking his way between her breasts. When he moved lower without taking one into his mouth, Alexis grabbed his hair and tried pulling him up. He resisted with a grin, and once she loosened her hold, he continued downward, keeping his attention focused on the imaginary line. Her stomach quivered under his lips. The sounds of her pants and moans filled the large room. God, he loved those sounds. He had never been more grateful for the gift of his hearing than he was at that moment, as he relished her reactions to him.

At her navel, he paused to torture her a little, licking a wet circle around the indentation, and then blowing cooling air across her skin. She gasped and jerked up. So he did it one more time before moving lower, kissing to the top of her curls before stopping again. The frustration in her groan filled him with satisfaction. Torturing her was the most deliciously fun antidote to the fear he’d experienced during the fight, seeing her fall under the Bengal.

He hovered just above her and took a few moments to examine the remains of her wounds along her waist and hip. She was healing fast, as their kind did. The hip injury had been the worst, but all that remained now was a thick red line. He was grateful she wasn’t more badly injured, so grateful she was strong and able to defend herself.

He would be forever in Elizaveta’s debt for not stopping him from coming here to help when Alexis needed him. Thanks to her, he had the woman he loved, alive and healthy and his.

The truth of that would probably take weeks to sink in. As he breathed in her cinnamon and allspice scent, and the perfect way it mixed with his, he looked forward to reminding himself again and again that Alexis was really his mate.

The lure of her drugged him and he couldn’t resist her any longer. He kissed over her hipbone, then settled between her thighs and licked her heat, teasing her open with his tongue and fingers. She gasped and writhed as he held her in place, making her feel every last lap of his tongue against her most sensitive skin. Then he turned his attention to her clit and steadily pushed her into an orgasm that made her scream. It filled him with a primal sense of rightness.

Before she fully recovered, he slid into her, overwhelmed by the tight heat wrapping around his cock. So fucking
right
. He would never feel completely whole again without her at his side.

His mate.

He came in a state of mindless bliss, his soul bursting with the love she had for him.

A few moments later, cradling her in his arms, his brain started functioning again as he considered their future. Including the information Joseph had passed on. Something Alexis needed to know.

First, though, he wanted to remind her she could trust him.
“I love you,”
he signed.

She looked into his face and smiled, her expression soft and relaxed. “I love you too. I’d sign it, since I know I need the practice, but I like where my hands are right now.”

She had one snuggled against his side and the other drawing gentle circles low on his abdomen. Since he liked her hands where they were, too, he wasn’t about to argue.

“You don’t mind?”

He shook his head. How could he mind? He loved her touch.
“I’m still amazed you learned. And that you kept it secret all these years. You’re doing well for someone who hasn’t signed with other people.”

“Thanks. But it’s pretty clear I need more practice
with
someone.”

“I’m looking forward to helping.”

“Me too.” She smiled, then pursed her lips. “Can I ask…? You and Joseph. I know you work together, but you’re not just colleagues are you?”

“No. Joseph is my oldest friend. Probably my only real friend.”

“Besides me,” she said, with her bottom lip thrust out in a little pout.

“Now, besides you. But we’ve only just become friends.”
He sat up a little higher against the headboard.
“Are you able to follow my signing?”

“You’re going slow enough.” She nodded.

“Good. As for Joseph, I’ve known him since I was ten. He helped me when some of the other young males tried to jump me. We fought them off together and have been friends ever since.”

“I’m glad,” she murmured as she rose up a little and kissed him. “Everyone needs a friend.”

“And you? Who are your friends?”

“Well, the Chernikov brothers. And Elizaveta…”

“They’re more like relatives. Do you have a good friend?”

“I’m friendly with some of the Trackers, but I guess I’ve kept my distance.” She shrugged. “I’ve always kept a distance with the others in case I had to go after them one day.”

The admission broke his heart.
“You don’t have to keep any distance between us. Not anymore.”

“I love you, too.”

He paused to consider what he had to tell her. Finally, he signed,
“How much of what Joseph and I said after the fight did you understand?”

“You were signing too fast. I only picked up a few words. I understood elders, and my name, maybe a few other words, but not enough to follow the conversation. Why do you want to know?”

“So you didn’t understand when he said you had a nice ass?”

She shifted positions so she could sign as well as saying it aloud, “That’s very sweet. Tell him I said thank you.”

Victor glared.

“What? You expected me to be insulted?”

Her grin made him glare harder.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be pleased.”

She laughed. “Which is why I am. What else did he say—besides complimenting my ass?”

He shook off his vague sense of jealousy and said, “
Elizaveta didn’t just allow me to help you. She didn’t just send Joseph to help us. She…”
He paused, not sure how to tell her.

Finally, he went with the way she’d want to hear it—blunt and without ceremony.
“Elizaveta organized everything. She made sure the other elders decided it was time for you to run. She instigated the discussion leading to them sending Nick and the others here. She planned all of this.”

“Wait,” she said, sitting up fully to face him. “Nick said she argued against this. Now you’re telling me she made it all happen—me being fired, forced to run…all of this is her doing?”

“She intended for us to mate. Apparently, in her words, she was tired of us mooning around after each other.”

“She had me fired without warning and sent all those males here
without warning me
. She gambled on you and I breaking all the rules I’ve been upholding for the last twelve years. What the fucking hell, Elizaveta?”

She launched out of bed to stalk the length of the room. “She risked me having to kill innocent men who were just doing what they believed they were allowed to do. She risked you being killed in the fight. She risked me being injured because I would rather fight than run. And she did it all on the
chance
we would mate?”

Victor let her rant. He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about Elizaveta’s machinations either. He was happy to finally be with Alexis. Stunned to be able to love her freely. Given what could have happened, though, his gratitude to the elder was somewhat tempered.

On the other hand, he wasn’t sure how he felt about Alexis’ anger. She seemed to be forgetting that because of Elizaveta, they were together. Did she regret being with him now? Did she resent it?

They still had the problem of her future estrous cycles. They couldn’t technically be permanently mated until she got pregnant. If they didn’t get pregnant today, because of Elizaveta, Alexis would be forced to run again. And to fight again. Tigers didn’t get pregnant quickly. He could tell by her scent she wasn’t yet. There would be a tell-tale shift in her hard-to-define pheromone fragrance, a sweet, earthy flavor added to her normal essence when she conceived.

So where did all this leave them?

Did she love him enough to keep picking him each cycle, despite what the elder had done to her?

Alexis paused in her tirade to stare out the window at the bright morning. Damn Elizaveta. Damn her for starting all this without so much as warning her! She manipulated and organized and risked other peoples’ lives. All for what?

For Alexis to be with the man she loved.

Damn, damn, damn. She couldn’t even hate Elizaveta for her interference because now Alexis got to have Victor.

She narrowed her eyes. As far as the other elders were concerned, if Alexis wasn’t pregnant by the end of this estrous, she’d need to run again. And again. They’d keep throwing Nick at her in the hopes of her giving up on Victor—who couldn’t run but apparently could stand there and be chosen. She snorted at that. Loopholes. Leave it to Elizaveta to find such an absurd and effective loophole.

Loopholes…

If Elizaveta had found a way for Alexis and Victor to mate during one estrous, surely she’d found a loophole allowing them to be together permanently. She had to know Alexis wouldn’t put up with any more cycles like this one. Was there some way they could stay together without getting pregnant? Or was she just hoping Alexis would get pregnant and make the matter moot?

Rubbing her hands over her head, then digging her fingers into her hair, she contemplated the options. She came to one conclusion.

“Fuck the lot of them.”

She faced Victor so she could see his reaction as she continued. “Let’s get married. Tomorrow. Let’s go to Vegas and get married.”

“Even if you’re not pregnant?”

“Elizaveta wanted us to stop ‘mooning’ over each other, right? She wanted us to end up together. She went to all the trouble of pointing out there was a loophole in the decree that you couldn’t run. She can come up with some way for our marriage to be okay. Even if she hasn’t already, she can figure something out. She owes us after all this.”

She crossed to the bed and sat down next to him, this time signing,
“I love you. Whether we have children or not, you’re my mate.”
Then aloud, “The elders will just have to deal with it. I’ll always fight rather than run. I will always choose you, no matter who they send at me. This thing between us is done. Elizaveta is so good at manipulating everyone; she can continue doing it now.”

With a snort, she added, “I bet she already has a plan in place. She knows me too well.”

“She would guess you’d propose to me?”

Alexis grinned. “Yes. We’ll probably see her in Vegas. Come away with me. Marry me.” She kissed him, a brief brush of lips. “If we’re lucky enough, have children with me.”

Victor took her cheeks in his hands and stared into her eyes, studying her so closely she would have squirmed if this was anyone but him. With him, she could be open, herself. With him, she didn’t have to hide. And it made her love him all the more.

He leaned back and signed,
“You’re sure? You won’t regret this?”

“Oh, Victor.” She signed,
“I love you. I’ve loved you my entire adult life. I could never regret this, us.” Aloud, “What do you say?”

“I’ll get a tux when we get there.”

She smiled then laughed. Then kissed him. As they dropped back to the bed, Alexis wrapped herself in his love. They would have children together. They would have a life. She would love him until her last breath. A love she intended to defend with as much determination as she’d defended her peoples’ laws. So what if she was breaking laws to have him. That’s what meddling elder mentors were for—finding loopholes and ensuring Alexis got her happily ever after. Whether the others liked it or not.