Here There Be Tigers (4 page)

First, she was smaller than he would have
predicted, given the size of her father and the fact that she
regularly dealt with large, muscular animals. Mitch had never seen
Nila’s mother, though. Tiger children did tend to take after the
same sex parent. Daughters looked like their mothers and sons like
their fathers. So it was possible Nila looked like her
mother.

He wasn’t sure if he could call her pretty,
exactly, either. Striking was a better word. The kind of unique
beauty that made a man stop and take notice. He glanced at her
again. Yes, striking was a good word for Nila.

Her thick, black hair was pulled back in a
messy ponytail revealing sharp, angular features softened in sleep.
Her caramel skin had been smooth to the touch, a sensation he still
felt on his palms. Those dark eyes of hers were full of fire and
intelligence. The delicious mix of cinnamon-sugar sweetness and her
natural essence caught around his libido, making him think things
he shouldn’t given the circumstances.

The urge to touch her made his fingertips
tingle.

He flexed his hands around the steering wheel
and forced down the impulse. She wasn’t just some ordinary human
woman he was free to seduce. She was important. More important than
she could ever guess.

Nila represented hope for his people at a time
when it looked like their species was fading into extinction. There
were too many males and not enough females. And the decline in
female numbers was getting worse no matter what they did. They
wouldn’t survive very long this way.

Unfortunately, most of the elders didn’t agree
with his grandmother’s solution to the problem. They’d actively
derided her research and all the money she was pouring into
alternate options.

They couldn’t dismiss her ideas anymore,
though. Nila was living proof that Elizaveta’s theories were at
least partly true.

Humans and tiger shifters
could
have
children.

There were legends of this being possible, but
most tigers didn’t believe the myth had any basis in reality. Nila
proved otherwise, and her existence might just be the key to his
people’s survival.

It was up to him to keep this hope for their
future alive.

He glanced at her again. It was too easy to
forget her significance and just see the woman—the sexy, tempting,
delicious-smelling woman. A dangerous distraction, that sharp shock
of attraction and stirring lust. He couldn’t afford to forget what
they faced. Petrov Dubrovsky was rich, powerful, and connected in
both the tiger and human worlds. Every detail Mitch's grandmother
had given him on Petrov had only increased Mitch's concerns. Petrov
wouldn't be easy to elude. If Mitch let himself forget the danger,
forget Nila’s significance, he could get them both
killed.

No, any attraction he felt for her would have
to wait. In the end, it probably wouldn’t matter anyway. He would
never be allowed to compete for her if she proved able to have
children with tigers. Better for him to keep his emotions under
control and his feelings strictly protective.

He glanced at her one last time as her scent
filled his head. Then he focused on the road.

Keeping his attraction in check might be easier
said than done.

Nila bolted upright with a shocked gasp and
blinked at her dark surroundings. Momentary confusion and panic
made her heart beat faster.

“
You okay?” Mitch asked.

The sound of his voice brought reality, and the
untenable situation she was in, crashing back. A different kind of
panic tightened her stomach. “Did my dad call?” she asked even as
she looked at the phone she clutched. “Damn it. Where are
they?”

“
I’m sure they’re fine.”

His tone was calm, assured, and because she
wanted desperately to believe him, she nodded and let out some of
her tension on a long breath.

Glancing out the window, she tried judging
their location. Thick woods lined the road. Highway lights were
infrequent, leaving the inside of the SUV darkened and giving a
feeling of being insulated from the world outside.

She glanced at her phone again. Almost two
a.m.

“
How long till we reach your cabin?”
she asked.

“
Not long now. Maybe another half
hour.”

“
Do you get good cellphone
reception?”

“
You’ll be able to call your father
from there. Do you want to try him again now?”

She looked at the bars on her phone. They were
coming in and out of reception, but maybe she could get a call
through. She rang both phones and got both voicemails again. The
tight feeling in her gut twisted hard.

“
What if this Dubrovsky has gotten
to them? What if they’re in trouble and need my help?”

She glanced at Mitch, half hoping and half
dreading any reassuring platitudes he might offer. He didn’t,
though. He just reached out and squeezed her hand still gripping
her phone. The contact sent a jolt of sensation and odd emotion
through her. His touch was much more comforting than a stranger’s
should have been.

“
Thanks,” she muttered as he let her
go and carefully wrapped his hand around the steering wheel again.
“Did I drool?” she asked in a lame attempt to lighten the heavy
mood.

He raised his brows. “I thought you didn’t want
to know.”

“
I don’t. You’re right.”

He gave her a side glance and smiled. Damn that
smile was deadly. If her situation wasn’t so complicated and scary,
she’d be very tempted to seduce Mitch Chernikov.

She glanced at his hands. He had beautiful
hands, with long fingers and wide palms. Very masculine hands she
had no trouble imagining running over her body.

The muscles of his forearms flexed in the dim
light, drawing her attention. She loved men’s forearms—so much
strength and sexy maleness. What would those muscles feel like
under her fingertips if she drew her hands up from his wrists to
his elbows?

Nila shook off the thoughts, knowing she was
trying to distract herself with sex. She couldn’t afford that, not
now, not when things were so precarious. Hell, she wasn’t even
entirely sure what her situation was since she couldn’t believe
half what Mitch had told her. So sex was off the table. A first for
her. It wasn’t normally something she denied herself when attracted
to someone.

They spent the rest of the journey in silence.
She kept her attention on the passing woods, checking her phone
every few minutes. She was going to drain the battery at this rate,
but she couldn’t stop herself from fingering it on to make sure she
hadn’t missed a call, a text, even an email from her
family.

By the time they turned up the steep drive to
Mitch’s cabin she was ready to jump out of her seat. When she
unfastened her seatbelt, though, Mitch stilled her with a
gesture.

“
Stay in the car while I check the
area.”

She frowned but settled as best she could while
he climbed out of the SUV. For long moments he just stood there,
staring into the woods, his head up. What the hell was he doing? He
turned in a slow circle, his gaze lifted to the cabin behind
her.

She turned in her seat to take in the two story
home. It was hard to tell in the dark but it looked like a nice,
luxurious retreat. With luck it had an indoor toilet and running
water because after the long drive she really had to use the
bathroom.

When Mitch finally motioned her out of the car
she was practically bouncing in her seat.

She followed him up the three porch steps to
the front door, waiting with barely contained patience for him to
unlock it and let her inside. He stepped in ahead of her, checking
the room first before holding the door open.

She took in the first floor at a glance but
didn’t notice many details. “Bathroom?” she asked.

“
Sure. That door by the pool cue
rack.” He pointed. “I called a neighbor and had him get the water
running so the tank should be full.”

“
Thanks.” She hurried to the small,
half-bathroom. When she finished she splashed water on her face and
made an effort to not look in the mirror. Her nap had taken the
edge off her exhaustion, but she didn’t really want to confront the
circles under her eyes yet.

She stepped out of the bathroom checking the
bars on her phone, again. She had a good signal, thank god. “I’m
gonna call my dad again,” she said without actually looking up at
Mitch. She hit speed dial for her dad’s phone as she returned to
the front porch. She stared into the darkness as she listened to
the phone ring.

“
Nila, are you all right? Is Mikhail
with you?”

The sound of her father’s voice made her
shoulders slump and her head spin with relieved dizziness. She
started breathing again. “Dad. Are you okay? What the hell is going
on? Is grandma with you?”

“
Your grandmother is right here.
We’re both fine. You?”

“
I’m fine. Yes, I’m with Mikhail.”
She smiled to herself as she used the name he hated. “This guy is
safe, right?”

“
Your grandmother swears we can
trust him.”

“
You have your doubts?”

“
What has he told you?”

“
That Anaya was alive until a few
weeks ago.” The silence from the other end of the line made Nila’s
stomach flip and she closed her eyes. “Is he telling me the truth,
dad?”

“
Yes.”

“
Dad.” She wanted to cry and curse
all at once. “Why did you lie to me? How could you do that?” Her
chest ached at hearing the reality of his betrayal directly from
him.

“
What else has Mikhail told
you?”

“
That he hates being called
Mikhail.”

“
Nila. What has he told you about
your mother?”

“
Ridiculous stories that I don’t
believe.”

Another telling silence.

“
This isn’t really happening,” she
muttered. “I’m still on the plane, sound asleep.”

“
I’m so sorry, love. I never meant
for you to get hurt.”

“
Then why did you lie?”

“
I hoped you’d never have to find
out the truth. It was too complicated.”

She wanted to laugh at the understatement.
“Complicated? That my mother was alive until recently? That she ran
off with another man after I was born? Or that I’m the daughter of
a mythical shapeshifting creature? How is that complicated, Dad?
Seems perfectly straight forward to me.” Her voice grew louder with
each question. She breathed deeply, forcing herself to calm
down.

“
Don’t,” he said. “I know you’re
hurt. I know you don’t understand all this. And I wish more than
anything I could be the one there explaining.”

“
Then why aren’t you? What the hell
am I doing with this stranger instead of being with you and
grandma?”

“
This was the only way we could
think to keep you safe. Your mother’s… This man, Petrov Dubrovsky,
he will use us to get to you. He’s been to see your grandmother.
That’s why her friend sent Mikhail to help. Then that other…man
broke into your grandmother’s house earlier today.”

“
Did he hurt anyone?” Nila didn’t
miss the way her dad avoided calling the man a tiger.

“
No, no. Mikhail seemed to know he
was coming and we got out in time. But that’s when I decided we
should split up. Petrov will expect us to run together. I can keep
your grandmother safe. But I can’t protect you both from…from
someone like him. Mikhail can.”

“
How do I know you’re safe? You just
said Petrov could use you? What makes you think he won’t go after
you if he can’t find me?”

“
I’m taking precautions, love. No
one, not even Mikhail, knows where your grandmother and I are
going. I’m not going to tell you either.”

“
You have to tell me.” A trickle of
panic started in her gut.

“
No. Not on cellphones. And I don’t
want to know where you’ll be. In fact, I want you to keep your
phone off unless you absolutely have to use it. We’ll keep ours
off, too. Just in case. I don’t know if Dubrovsky has the resources
to track cellphones, but I don’t want to take any
chances.”

“
No. Dad, I need to be able to reach
you.” The trickle of panic turned to a steady stream.

He paused then said, “I don't want to be out of
touch either. Tell you what. As soon as you can, get one of those
disposable phones. Leave me the number in a voicemail. I'll get a
new phone after that, and we can keep in touch that way. I'm pretty
sure those types of cellphones are impossible to trace.”

"You watch too many cop shows."

"No precaution is too much when it comes to
your life."

“
But…”

“
Nila, I would not be able to live
if anything happened to you. I need you to stay safe and
alive.”

“
I need the same for you, Dad,” she
murmured as tears pooled in her eyes.

“
Trust me, love.”