On The Prowl (A Steamy MMF Paranormal Tiger Shifter Menage Romance) (2 page)

"
Stay away from me!
" I shrieked, wielding a sharp rock. Suddenly I heard a crashing noise coming through the woods towards us. I looked at the direction of the clamor, then back at the man. I watched in shock as the hippy rapidly morphed into a tiger. I screamed again, but at that moment another tiger burst out of the bushes behind me, heading straight for the other. They both flew at each other and collided in mid-air next to me.

I screamed and shrank away behind a large rock as the two massive, powerful animals fought. The one roared at the other, while the darker, more heavily striped one returned its own vicious, wicked roar. They circled menacingly, their movements fluid and beautiful, full of malice. They continued to growl, low and threatening. Suddenly one swiped with a big paw, but the other swiftly shrank back. Then the lighter-colored one pounced, all teeth and claw and muscle, latching onto the massive body of the darker one. But the dark one quickly turned and bit the lighter one’s shoulder, resulting in a yowl of pain so unearthly that it that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. The wounded cat quickly ran away into the thick brush.

I remained behind the rock, panting, even though I did nothing. I had been saved just in the nick of time. Then I watched, spellbound, as the dark tiger began to shift. A second later the same gorgeous man I'd seen at the creek was standing before me.

He seemed embarrassed to be standing there naked, and covered himself. "Let me get my stuff," he growled before heading into the trees. He emerged a minute later in a pair of faded Levi's and a flannel shirt, with a big pack on his back.

"You're lucky I came across you. I've known a few tigers in my day, and they're shifty. Never pegged one to be down-right evil though. Are you okay, miss?"

"I, I'm fine," I stammered, taken by his gruff manner. He didn't look much older than I was, but he was clearly an outdoorsman. He seemed so different from any other hiker I'd crossed paths with; the others were mainly city slickers with fancy, shiny gear—but the beast of a man standing before me was certainly not.

"It's a couple days to the next town. Did you find your stuff?"

"I- No. I think it’s gone." I was too shocked to speak or act.

The stranger shook his head in sympathy. "There's just no telling these days. I'm real sorry about what happened. But you can travel with me, if you want."

"Okay," I sighed. This was all too much to take in: tiger shifters, a naked man, stolen gear. I didn’t know what to make of it all; I was ready to go home, that was for sure. In any case, nothing short of an army was going to harm me when I had a giant, ferocious tiger to protect me.

“Taylor,” he stretched his hand out to me.

“Nice to meet you, Taylor,” I greeted him back with an exhausted smile. I’m Tara.”

We ended up hiking all day, and even without a pack I struggled to keep up. I was pooped by the time we finally set up camp. I watched as my sexy, if somewhat quiet, traveling companion unrolled his bedroll and got to work starting a fire.

"So where am I sleeping?" I asked. They were the first words either of us spoke since we started hiking.

"There," Taylor pointed, motioning to the bedroll on the ground. "With me." Then he went back to lighting the fire.

I drew in my breath, surprised; after my harrowing encounter just a few hours ago, was he really going to expect me to sleep with him?"

"What?" he asked, looking up into my astonished eyes. "It gets cold at night and you don't have any stuff. What other options do we have? It's not like I planned it this way."

I nodded silently; he was simply being reasonable.

But he must have seen the stony expression on my face. "Jesus Christ," he grumbled, clearly a little miffed. "I won’t lay a finger on you. Can you help me with this stuff?"

"Yeah," I breathed, "of course. Sorry." He placed a skillet into the coals of the fire, opened a big package of bacon, and threw it all in the pan. My mouth watered involuntarily as it sizzled; but I was nevertheless wary—his food reminded me of the hippy’s. "Why are you eating so much bacon?"

He looked at me quizzically. "It was 99 cents at the last general store. It was a good deal, just too much of it. We gotta eat it by today before it spoils. There was another hiker there, real nice guy, and we snagged the last two packages."

"Oh," I mumbled, again my mind reverting back to the tiger-hippy man. The similarity in food choice was troubling.

"What? Don’t worry, it's not like we're just going to eat it plain. You're looking at me like I'm real weird. We'll mix it in with some other stuff, don’t worry."

"I'm sorry," I said, trying to relax, "I, I've just had a rough day."

"Tell me about it. Sorry if I seem annoyed. The way I got scratched during the fight has been a real pain, especially since I've been walking all day with a backpack."

"Oh," I cried, reaching out to touch his arm. I hadn't noticed, but there was clearly a bulky bandage underneath his shirt. I'd been so selfish, being suspicious of him for no reason, while he'd been in pain all day, suffering from a wound he received protecting me.

"It's okay," he said, shrugging me off.

As I mindlessly watched our dinner cook, an alternate version of the day's events played out in my mind. Could the other tiger-man be innocent? I mean, maybe he really did just happen to come across me at the same time Taylor was near: I screamed, Taylor hears me, other tiger-man hears something big crashing through the woods so he transforms, just in time to come face-to-face with a tiger who sees a defenseless woman in danger. So, possibly, hippy-tiger-man hadn't taken my stuff after all and just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was entirely possible that someone else had robbed me, because that part of the trail passed pretty close to a highway; I had heard some stories about weird junkies and bums using that part of the trail to camp—I could’ve been robbed by anybody.

I felt a twinge of guilt as I remembered how his voice had sounded: genuinely concerned…
Ma'am, are you all right?

Had I fucked up? An innocent person might be seriously hurt, and it was all because of me. In any event, I decided to keep quiet about my thoughts. I felt my face grow hot with embarrassment as I replayed the day’s events again in my head. Should I say something? Should we go back and make sure the other tiger-man was all right?

No, I finally decided, swallowing my guilt. Then they would both be really pissed at me, and I needed all the help I could get right now.

"Are you sure you're all right, Tara?" Taylor asked. "You haven't touched your food. I hope you’re not a vegetarian or something."

"No, no," I countered, giving him a weak smile. "I'm fine. I'm just…thinking."

"I wish you’d cheer up," he said, sitting down next to me and squeezing my shoulder. I nestled into his chest, and he put his arm around my shoulder. We both stared into the fire as he held me close. I felt hot in his arms, and the feeling of his warm body next to mine felt so good, I just wanted to cuddle closer. I had been alone a long, long time. I ran one hand lightly over his chest, feeling hotter and more bothered every second I explored.

He gave me another gentle squeeze.

"We should kill the fire and go to bed. It's a long hike tomorrow, if we want to make it into town."

"Okay," I murmured. When we both got into his big bedroll together, my heart was pounding, and every time I glanced at his muscular, ripped figure, a crazy chill washed over my body.

"G’night," he mumbled, passing out almost immediately.

I squirmed in closer, pressing my body against his. Didn't he like me? Or maybe he did, but he was just too exhausted from hiking all day with that big pack. I tossed and turned for a while. At some point, Taylor had rolled over in his sleep so that he spooned me; I took advantage of the situation and cuddled in close to his chest. He put a big arm around me, and I felt warm and drowsy and safe for the first time in a long, long time. Then I finally drifted off.

I woke up groggy the next day, after a deep sleep. I realized I was still in Taylor's arms, my face resting gently on his big shoulder. I murmured contentedly and nestled closer, but Taylor shook me awake before I could drift off again.

"Hey," he growled, "we gotta get up."

"Okay," I groaned, stretching. I realized with a start that our bodies had been totally tangled together, and my sex was flooded, practically drowning, in moisture. Had we done it in our sleep, or something crazy?

I realized just then that Taylor's hard cock had been pressing into my leg. Without even meaning to, we had somehow been really intimate. A sudden hot river of electricity rolled through me, and I blushed. I wanted Taylor to take me right then and there.

"Hey, wait," I said, reaching for him as he scrambled out. But he was already busy lighting the fire and getting coffee going. I groaned quietly to myself, yearning with hot desire to have him inside of me. Taylor was tormenting the hell out of me, and he didn't even realize it.

He brought me his mug of coffee to try. "You ready, sunshine?" he teased, mussing my hair into my eyes playfully.

"Quit," I said, "I'm getting up, okay? I took a big sip of his coffee before passing it back to him. "Do you have a sweatshirt or something for me? It's cold."

"I do," he said gruffly, pulling a down jacket out of his pack. I put it on and took another sip of coffee. I realized I liked wearing his clothes, being surrounded by his smell and his essence.

We ate quickly, brushed our teeth, and got moving. After several hours of hiking we finally arrived at the next small town, a hip ski destination.

The first sight we saw as we ambled into town was that of a junkie in front of a used sporting goods store, pulling my backpack out of the trunk of an ancient Oldsmobile.

I immediately recognized the yellow bandanna tied to the back of my pack, the one my niece had given me for good luck.

"That's my pack!" I whispered to Taylor, pulling at his arm for attention. Without wasting a second he ran ahead and grabbed the man by the arm.

"That's my girlfriend's shit you stole, asshole."

"Hey, no way man, this is my stuff! Let go of me, or I'm calling the cops."

Taylor looked back at me, to confirm I was sure it was mine.

"That's my backpack." I walked over and looked inside the trunk. Sure enough, my shirt was there too.

I grabbed it as the bum protested, "Hey! What the fuck?"

I took my bag and looked inside, making sure I still had everything.

"You're lucky you're getting off this easy," Taylor growled as he threw him back in the car. "If I ever see you again, I'm going to wreck your world."

"Come on," I said, pulling at Taylor's arm, "I don't want you to get in a fight. Let's go."

The junkie looked at us balefully before driving off, then gave us the finger before he turned the corner and disappeared.

"I don't know what I'd do without you," I said, pulling him close. Then, feeling wild, I stood on my tiptoes and spontaneously kissed him on the lips. Taylor kissed me back slow and hard, holding my head steady with one big hand. We made out for what felt like an eternity, and when I finally got down off my tiptoes and his hand left the small of my back, I felt like I'd just arrived back on Earth after a long and intoxicating voyage.

"We're getting a hotel here tonight," he growled, his hand grabbing a fistful of the shirt on my back and pulling me close, animalistically.

"Okay," I breathed, feeling electricity run down my body. Our eyes were both blazing when I looked up at him, and we kissed again.

"But first, we're going out on the town."

****

The first hotel we found was a ramshackle, seedy motel, a relic from the fifties, complete with a buzzing neon sign outside. As it turned out, there was a big festival in town this particular weekend, and it was the only place where we could get a room.

"I kind of like this place," I mused, looking out the window. The yard was overgrown with wildflowers, and there was a little deck with a pool and some chairs. It was cozy.

"The girl at the desk was nice," Taylor said, "everyone here is, just like back in my hometown."

"I can't believe you're taking me out," I purred, kissing Taylor again. My life had been boring before, and now it was about to get a whole lot more romantic. Of course, I had dreamed about meeting someone on the trail like this, but to have it actually happen was out of this world. We had already decided to walk all the way down to California together. I couldn't believe my good fortune: Taylor really was a dazzling, gorgeous, hunk of a man, and although I knew I had my charms, I never in a million years would have thought that someone like him would go for someone like me.

"Well, believe it—we both need a break," he smiled, before stripping and heading for the shower. I stared at his muscular body behind the curtain as he washed. Tonight was going to be the wildest night of my life.

When it was my turn, I could feel him glancing at me as he dressed. I felt insane as I stepped out of my clothes in front of him.

He pulled my naked body to his and kissed me hard on the lips. "You're beautiful," he whispered. "Turn around for me, and let me look at that beautiful body."