Here Kitty, Kitty!

Chapter Five

Nik leaned against the kitchen counter, his arms crossed in front of him. He watched the food on his stovetop bubble and cook. He could feel his face frowning. He’d let some woman make him frown. She also made him hard. Unbelievably, painfully, mind-alteringly hard. But the frowning definitely pissed him off more.

He didn’t let women get to him. Why should he? There were others. More than enough to keep a man damn happy without attaching himself to just one.

Known for their brutality and solitary ways, most tiger females and males spent little time together except for the occasional vicious mating.

But the Vorislavs weren’t raised like other tigers. Not with the father the good Lord cursed them with. The rest of his kin didn’t even call his daddy eccentric. They called him weird. The less friendly ones called him a freak. A freak among freaks. And he was Nik’s sperm donor.

Nik knew he should never come home from hunting and find his siblings sitting in his kitchen. Eating his food. Drinking his beer and coffee. And if they were, he shouldn’t let them live. But he did. The old man had insisted on it since they were cubs. He’d wanted a family from the very beginning and did everything necessary to ensure that. He prided himself on two things: surviving the Vietnam War and making sure all his children were with the same female.

Nik understood the first. But the last boggled his mind. There were few, if any, tigers who only bred with one female in their lifetime. Most of the tiger families consisted of half sisters and brothers. But not his. It wasn’t that his mother didn’t want other males either. But if any got too close, his father made sure they never got too close to much of anything ever again.

Really, if you favored your balls, you kept away from “Vorislav’s female”—his poor mother’s nickname among the tiger community.

Nik didn’t hate his father. He simply didn’t understand him. He definitely had no desire to be like him. True, he hadn’t yet had the need to have any cubs of his own like Ban, but his sexual appetite was as healthy as any of his breed. So, to avoid the nightmare of dealing with a tiger female in heat, he spent his free time getting his itch scratched by other cats. Lion females were great because they only bred with their own kind. So, if they needed or wanted simple sexual gratification, they came to him. Same thing with leopards and jackals.

But Nik avoided humans like the plague. They could be as bad as wolves. Some were happy enough to bump from one bed to another. Yet too many others wanted to commit their lives to one person. Forever! Why the hell would anyone do that? Why the hell did his father?

No. He needed to stay away from Angelina Santiago. Far, far away.

Of course, not easy with her living in his house—even temporarily. And pushing through his kitchen door with that half-crazed look on her face, storming up to him, and grasping his T-shirt between those soft, cool hands.

Yeah, a problem waiting to beat him over the head…again.

“Where is it?” she demanded.

“Where’s what?” He wanted to pull her hands off his shirt, but if he touched her again…

“The TV. Where is it?”

“I don’t have one.”

“What do you mean you don’t have one?” Panic wafted off her in waves. “What grown man doesn’t have a TV?”

“One who likes to read instead.”

“Read?” He loved her face. Especially when she looked so beautifully perplexed.

“Yeah. I read. And I have a whole bunch of books you can borrow.”

Her face twisted in disgust. “What? I look like Miki to you?”

She released him and stormed back out.

He stared at the door she went through. “Who the hell is Miki?”

Growling in annoyance, Angie moved through Nik’s house. They were alone. His family members long gone. Just her, the hillbilly, and books. Books!

She shook her head and wandered into what she could only assume was the library and his office. One wall had a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. Books filled it and he even had books on top of books. The other wall had a floor-to-ceiling case as well, this one filled with CDs and actual vinyl albums. She went straight for the music. He set up his music chronologically starting with stuff from the fifties. She frowned. Clearly a big Elvis fan.

“No TV. And Elvis. Could this get any scarier?” As she moved past the different decades, she finally hit the eighties and nineties, and smiled in relief. He had a nice selection of alternative music and a butt load of some great tech. He seemed to be quite the Lords of Acid fan. Considering their music usually had to do with fucking while being bound, she wondered briefly if he was a bit of a “kinkoid”. Into tying up girls and fucking them senseless.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Goddammit! She really needed to get control of that. Having such a noisy clit really was unacceptable.

She grabbed one of the earlier Lords of Acid CDs and popped it into what had to be the most amazing sound system she’d ever seen. She turned on one of her favorite tracks, “Rough Sex,” then went through a pile of magazines he had on his desk. He had a stack of news magazines like Time and Newsweek, but she had no interest in reading anything that depressing. Thankfully, buried down at the bottom, was a recent copy of Vogue. The name on the subscription label said Kisa Vorislav. Must be a sister, since Nik wouldn’t dare have a wife.

With a sigh, she sat down at his desk, put her feet up on the exquisitely carved wood with the magazine on her lap, and promptly fell asleep.

Nik could hear her moving around his house. He could imagine the way the skirt of her mini-dress swirled around her thighs. And those shoes. The black “strappy ones” she debated about getting. They really did look good on her. Twenty grand well spent as far as he was concerned.

His cell phone went off and Nik let out a sigh of relief. Anything to distract him from the thought of that woman in those shoes.

“This is Nik.”

“Hey, Nik, darlin’.”

“Sahara. Hey, baby.” A lioness. She belonged to the Lyon Pride from this afternoon. He and Sahara had gone a few rounds in the past. The woman did know how to have fun.

“My sisters said they saw you in town today. And I started thinking, I’m free tonight…”

Nik smiled, then groaned. “I can’t. I’m babysitting a dog-lovin’ human.”

“Get your brothers to do it. From what I heard about her fabulous taste in clothes, they won’t mind a bit.”

Nik’s good humor fled. He thought about his brothers lingering around his territory, watching Angelina walk around his house in those shoes. He didn’t like that thought one goddamn bit. Then he realized he felt territorial about a woman he had no intention of breeding with. That particular realization pissed him off even more.

No way. He was not his father’s son. He’d meet up with Sahara tonight. Meet her and fuck her into oblivion, completely blocking out Angelina Santiago and her strappy black shoes.

“Ya know, Sahara, as a matter of fact—” Tech music suddenly pulsated through his house. But not just any tech music. The Lords of Acid. Specifically “Rough Sex” by Lords of Acid.

That heifer.

Thoughts of the evil viper bent over his kitchen table, taking his dick, while screaming out his name almost had him coming in his jeans. Especially when he added in the handcuffs.

“Sahara, I can’t. Really. I made a…” he sighed heavily, “…a commitment.”

“You?”

Nik’s frown returned. “Yes. Me.”

Sahara chuckled. “Uh…okay.”

Angie woke up when she felt her chair kicked.

“What?” she asked, not bothering to be polite.

“Hungry?”

She nodded, yawned, and stretched. Arms over her head, legs stretched out with toes pointed. When she finished, she looked up to see Nik staring down at her with his hands clenched into fists. “What?” she asked again.

“Nothin’,” he growled.

Strange man, she thought as she followed him from the room.

Angie expected him to go to the dining room, but he kept walking right into the kitchen. She wondered how long she slept, because it had gone pitch black outside. She’d look at her new watch, but she’d left that on the dresser in her room.

She followed Nik into the kitchen and stopped in the doorway. He had the table laid out with food, wine, and lit candles.

Oh, but no. That wouldn’t do one damn bit.

She popped on the overhead light. He looked up at her with a frown. At first, she thought it was annoyance, but she realized the bright light bothered his eyes.

“It’s too dark,” she gave as way of explanation.

“I guess it would be.”

“Does it hurt your eyes?” She didn’t know why she suddenly cared. Honestly, she hated candlelight dinners. To quote Miki, “You never know what the hell they’re puttin’ in your food, dude.”

“Not really. Just not used to it. I don’t really need lights at night.” He placed a huge bowl of food on the table; the salad and bread already out. “Sit, sugar.”

She realized she’d been standing like an idiot for the last two minutes. She grabbed a seat and plunked herself down.

“You talk to your friends again today?” he asked conversationally.

“No. I’ll call ’em tomorrow. Give ’em the night to cool the fuck off.”

“How long y’all been friends?” He sat down catty-corner from her and began ladling out the food.

“Since we were eight.”

“Got any brothers or sisters?”

“No.”

“Not a real chatty gal, are ya?”

“Exactly how am I supposed to expand on not having siblings? Should I cry?”

He smiled and held up a bottle. “Wine?”

“Please.”

“So you can say that word. I thought you were physically incapable.”

She watched him pour the white wine into glasses she was damn-near positive were Riedel Vinum stemware. Nice.

She definitely appreciated a man with taste.

“I say it when I feel it’s necessary.” She glanced down at the food he’d ladled out for her. “Macaroni and Cheese? Classy.”

“I pull out all the stops for my unwanted guests.”

“I can see that.” She took a bite, closing her eyes and letting the flavor roll around her mouth. “Oh, my God,” she finally bit out.

“Is that good or bad?”

“Good. Definitely good.”

The hillbilly grinned. “Why thank you.”

“Where did you learn to cook like this?”

“Momma. She taught all her boys to cook. She said with our attitudes, we could never expect a woman to stay very long.”

Angie’s head snapped up. Unlike her grandmother and her best friends, her parents’ love always remained in question. So, the fact that someone’s mother would say that to them bothered her.

Nik caught her look. “Don’t worry. She says the same thing about Daddy.” He sighed. “And Lord knows she still hasn’t gotten rid of him.”

Angie didn’t know if he meant divorce or murder. And she wasn’t about to ask.

Instead, she decided to change the subject before they got around to her family. “What do you know about Victoria Löwe?”

He shrugged. “Not much. Her Pride’s territory is out your friend’s way. Up near San Francisco, I think.” Angie had no idea lions lived so close to the Pack. “And I know she’s making lots of changes among the Prides. But the tigers don’t involve ourselves in too much of that Pride crap. Always seemed to me they brought that war on themselves.”

“I thought you were all part of a Cat Nation.”

“I guess. I mean, honestly, none of it is really my business.”

“It is now.”

“Well, you can blame my brothers for that.”

“You know, I don’t remember seeing you with your brothers. Exactly why did I end up here? Did they not have enough room in their trailers?”

Nik glared at her as he bit into a piece of bread. “Actually, they rolled dice for ya—and I lost.”

“They rolled…for…and you…lost!” She threw her fork down and started to get up, but Nik’s hand grabbing her arm stopped her. “Get off me!”

“Sit. Now.”

She didn’t have much choice. He had an iron grip. She sat back down but wouldn’t look at him.

“That was mean. I’m sorry.” He released her arm. “My momma raised me better than that.”

She finally looked at him. “So you didn’t roll dice for me?”

“Oh, no. They did.” He gave her that goddamn devastating smile again. “But I won.”

No. She’d never be able to control this one.

“As a matter of fact, you did win. And don’t you forget it.”

“Don’t worry, sugar. I won’t.”

Nik rolled onto his back, his arms behind his head, eyes locked on the ceiling, his cock hard, ready, and demanding satisfaction. Preferably from the hot piece of ass a few doors away.

He could smell her. She’d taken a hot shower and her scent now flowed through the entire floor. His mouth watered. His heart hammered against his rib cage. Christ, he wanted that little lady. He wanted her bad.

He closed his eyes, trying to sleep. But that was a mistake. As soon as he closed his eyes he saw her…with her head in his lap. Her mouth on his dick, her tongue swirling around the tip. Her cheeks hollowing out as she sucked him long and deep.

No. That wouldn’t help him sleep. He opened his eyes.

He wondered what she’d do if he sauntered on down her way and knocked on her door at one o’clock in the morning. Welcome him in or kick him in the nuts? Probably welcome him in only to kick him in the nuts once she got him in there.

A growl from underneath his balcony pulled him away from his fantasies about Santiago riding him like a cowboy on a buckin’ bronco.

His brothers. They wanted to go hunting. Not a bad idea really. Besides, as much as his brothers drove him crazy, he did love ’em.

They growled again and Nik laughed. They wanted to go hunting. Now. And they basically told him to get his head out from between Angelina’s thighs and get a move on.

Smart asses.

Well, anything had to be better than lying here all night pining for a woman who treated him like an annoying alley cat she couldn’t get out of her backyard.

He shifted while still in bed and slid out from under the covers. Bounding across the room, he leaped over the balcony. His brothers were already running, the scent of deer filling their heads, and he followed. Loving the feel of the cool Carolina night on his fur and the power of his people flowing through his veins.

Angie sat on the balcony staring out at the yard through the bars of the railing. Wearing an oversized sweatshirt she’d gotten that day and nothing else, she had her knees tucked up under her chin.

When the two tigers suddenly appeared, she almost dashed back inside, but she forced herself to stay put. She knew they had to be shifters. They roared at the house while simultaneously batting each other around with their enormous paws. Within a few minutes, another tiger she could only guess was Nik jumped down and the three ran off into the trees.

They were beautiful to watch. Their long, powerful limbs moving with such precision. It must be interesting to watch them hunt, to see them take down their prey. As long as that prey wasn’t her.

Angie finger-combed her wet hair. Except for Sara, Miki, and Marrec, there was no one else to tell she was okay. That dangerous shapeshifters hadn’t killed her. Her parents didn’t know she’d been missing and she wasn’t really sure they’d care. Last she heard, they were on a dig somewhere in the Sudan. Two scientists who had just enough love for their work and each other. Angie had been an accident from the beginning and eventually they couldn’t even pretend to care anymore. They left her with her grandmother and every once in awhile they’d stop by to remind her she had parents.

She remembered her parents coming to visit when she turned ten. They’d promised to take her away on a family vacation. Instead, they spent thirty minutes telling her why they couldn’t. She listened with absolutely no emotion while her grandmother slammed pots around in the kitchen and cursed in Portuguese. But Miki and Sara were there too. They didn’t say anything, but she soon learned their silence was a very, very bad thing.

Sara limped into the kitchen and returned with a glass of what looked like milk and orange juice. A revolting mix. While staring at Angie’s parents, Sara handed the glass to Miki, who gulped it down in two big swallows.

Three minutes later, Miki staggered up and over to Angie’s mother and projectile vomited all over the woman. Twice.

To this day, her mother wouldn’t even mention the two women who had become such an integral part of Angie’s life. And until the day she died, both Sara and Miki always had a place at her grandmother’s table.

Angie’s anger-management counselor seemed convinced her issues with physical contact were due to her parents’ lack of affection. Perhaps, but knowing that didn’t make it better. Or make any of it hurt less.

Although she knew she was too old to worry whether her parents cared or not, she did. Still. After all this time.

Angie laid her head on her knees and sighed. She didn’t feel lonely often. But when she did, she felt it all the way to her bones.

She looked up as Nik—at least she really hoped it was Nik—burst out of the trees. He sprinted across the backyard and took a wild leap up to her balcony. He didn’t clear it, but clung to it with his big claws and forearms. His giant tiger head dipped over the railing as he looked at her.

So stunned by his return and launch at her balcony, Angie didn’t move or run for her life. She simply stared up at him. She’d never seen a tiger this close before. She couldn’t believe how enormous he was. His gold eyes glinted at her in the darkness and his huge tongue hung from his mouth.

“Is this your way of saying good night?”

He dragged that big tongue across her cheek.

“Dude! Disgusting!” But she laughed in spite of herself and immediately let go of her sadness.

One paw released the banister and he hung off the side. He stared through the bars of the railing and it took her a moment to realize he was staring at her. Well, her and her no-panty-wearing ass.

“Hey! Eyes front, cat!”

He again gripped the banister with both paws and let out a weird sound through his nose. Like two big puffs of air. Strange, but she got the feeling it didn’t mean anything bad. His head came farther over the banister and he quietly waited. She had the feeling he wouldn’t leave until he got what he wanted.

Praying she would get her hand back intact, Angie reached up and ran her fingers through his fur like she’d done with his hair earlier that day. She kept it up for about three minutes, just petting him, lost in the feel of his fur against her fingertips. Eventually, he made that puffing sound again, licked her wrist with his dry, rough tongue, and released the banister. He fell back to the hard ground, but landed on his feet. He turned to look at her once more before bounding off into the trees.

She had no idea what had happened, but she did know her hard nipples, wet thighs, and that damn thumping noise were freaking her the fuck out.