If she didn’t love her best friend so much, she would kill her. Charlee stared daggers at Malena, but her friend just smiled at her, sitting there like the cat that ate the canary. Last night, after the meeting at the small hotel desk, Malena had droned on and on about Charlee needing to end her drought.

She should have never admitted to her best friend that it had been a few years since her last sexual encounter with a man. Yes, she had been on dates, but none of them had been worthy enough for Charlee to take the plunge into doing the wild mambo with any of them.

“Your mother sounds like a wonderful woman,” Charlee murmured, afraid to even look him in the eyes. Her cheeks burned from embarrassment. At the mention of a wife, Charlee’s throat constricted. Here she was, practically drooling over the man without even thinking he could be married.

“She is.” His slight chuckle caused her to turn to him. The kindness in his eyes made her relax a little. “Tell me, Dr. Black—”

“Please, call me Charlee,” she interrupted.

“Charlee. Since you seem to have a passion for the Amur tigers, what is your favorite thing about them?” he asked, leaning closer to her, his intense eyes locked on hers.

Her mind raced. This was her life’s work. She could go on for hours and lecture about her favorite animal in the world. But the one answer that came to mind, she was sure he would understand. She glanced back at him, and something flashed in his odd colored eyes. For a brief second, she would have sworn they were the same as her beloved tiger.

“Well, that’s an easy question. I love the grace and power that they display. When I was a child, my parents would take me to the local zoo where I first caught a glimpse of a live tiger. Her name was Seba. I swear, one look from her and I would have sworn she looked into my soul. I felt a connection, as if she were my spirit animal.”

The conversations in the car drew quiet at her revelation. She looked around and found herself to be the center of attention.

“Wow, Charlee. Even I didn’t know that,” Malena responded with wide eyes.

“That’s cool, Dr. Black,” Alf said, his face filled with awe.

“I agree,” West murmured, his intense eyes focused on her.

There it was again.

His eyes did that funny thing again where she would have sworn she was looking at the eyes of a tiger.

“Well, you asked—”

The screeching sound of the train’s brakes filled the air as the car jerked. Bags and other items flew through the air, crashing to the floor. Charlee’s body flew forward, but a strong arm kept her in place while the train fought to stop. She gripped the muscular arm as her back slammed into the seat as the train came to a halt. She fought to breathe, trying to catch her breath from having the wind knocked out of her.

“Is everyone all right,” West called out to everyone in the car. Murmurs filled the air. Charlee had yet to let go of West’s arm. She was shocked that the train had stopped the way it did.

“What’s going on?” she asked, holding his arm tighter to her chest.

“I don’t know,” he murmured. “But if you let go of my arm, I’ll go see what I can find out.”

She jerked her head in a nod and let go. She tucked her hair behind her ear and watched him get up and check on Jim and Alton from their position in the car before stepping over to the door. Her heart pounded in her chest as the shouting again echoed above them.

“Are you okay?” Charlee asked Malena, who was sliding back into her chair. She and Alf had been thrown to the floor.

“Yes, just a little shaken up,” Malena answered, looking around. “What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know,” Charlee murmured. Her body jerked at the sound of short pops filling the air.

“Were those gun shots?” Alf gasped, moving toward the car window.

“Get away from the window!” West snapped. He grabbed Alf and threw him to the floor, just as a bullet pierced the window. Screams filled the air as the glass shattered. “On the floor!”

Charlee let loose a scream as more gunfire filled the air around the stopped train. She sat frozen, unable to believe that this type of violence was occurring on what should be a peaceful trip. Her body was pulled away from the window against a hard body and thrown to the floor.

West.

She sent up a quick prayer that this was just be a nightmare, that she would wake up and find that she had dozed off on the train. But the curses and yelling let her know that this was most certainly not a dream.

Not even a nightmare.

Time seemed to stand still as silence filled the air. The only thing that Charlee could hear now was the sound of her heart pounding away. Her breaths came fast and hard as she laid there. She tried to shift her body, but the solid wall of muscle protecting her prevented movement. She jumped slightly at the sound of cell phone ringing.

“Yeah,” West said into his phone, shifting his body. His warm breath blew across the back of her neck.

She rolled her eyes as her breasts pebbled from the feel of his muscular body pressed against hers. This was not the time for her body to decide to wake up, just because a sexy as sin man with the body of a God was lying on top of her.

People were shooting for Christ’s sake!

Calm down, girl, she begged her traitorous body.

“Everyone okay?” he called out. Murmurs filled the air as everyone answered. “Charlee?”

“I’m good,” she said as he shifted off her. She instantly missed his warmth, and his hardness pressed up against her. Maybe Malena was on to something. She could have lost her life just minutes before and here she was, turned on by the man who just literally covered her body with his to protect her.

Yup! Unfortunately, her friend was right. She needed to get laid.

West’s tiger paced beneath his skin, demanding to be set free. The attack on the train was planned, and this news didn’t sit well with him or his tiger. According to Drago, the attackers were trying to get to the Americans. The words weren’t said aloud, but his gut told him that those men were after Charlee and her team.

“Poachers,” West said as he stood with Drago outside of the train, watching the passengers exit the cars. The security team on the train had fought back and defended the train well. The attackers were driven off, and there were no reports of any injuries. “This group was bold. We’re going to have to beef up our efforts to make sure that Dr. Black and her team are able to complete their assignment.”

“Agreed.” Drago nodded, looking around. “Preserving the tigers would cost the fuckers a lot of money.”

“It was a good thing you went to their car. There’s no telling what would have happened,” Luka noted, crossing his arms against his chest.

“Tell me about it,” West muttered, thinking of how he had to grab Charlee’s student from the window.

The kid easily could have taken a bullet to the chest. His eyes casually perused the landing deck of the train, then landed on Charlee as she exited. Memories of her soft curvy body underneath him, and the faint smell of her arousal caused his tiger to just about go crazy.

Her and the members of her team had been shaken up. The stewardess and security had come and ensured that everyone was okay before moving them to a car that had not received any damages from the attack. The rest of the train ride to their final destination was in an uncomfortable silence.

He watched as her and her team moved inside of the train station.

“I take it by the way you’re staring after the good doctor that we’ll be keeping a close eye on her?” Luka nodded in Charlee’s direction.

“Yes, we are,” he murmured, picking up his bag from the ground. His feet began moving in the direction of the entrance Charlee had disappeared into.

He could feel Drago and Luka follow behind him as they stalked into the building and through the terminal. He caught a glimpse of Charlee as she disappeared through the front door. They quickly exited the building and found Charlee talking with a gentleman by the curb. He came to an abrupt halt as he saw the two dark sedans that waited for them. The student and other professor loaded their bags into the trunks of the cars. Good. The Russian government had sent transportation for them. At least she would not be relying on public transportation to get them to their destination.

“Are we going to follow them?” Drago asked from his left.

“No, I believe we’ll be at the same meeting with the Russian officials tomorrow at the sanctuary,” West said as he watched them all disappear into the waiting vehicles. He didn’t turn back to his men until the cars were safely on the road. His tiger wanted to know that she was secured inside her vehicle. Another black sedan pulled up along the curb of the street.

“That’s us,” Drago said, motioning for them to follow him to the car. West’s eyes were drawn down the road to the two sedans that were barely noticeable. His tiger huffed at the thought that Charlee was no longer near them.

Soon, he murmured to his tiger in an attempt to calm him down. We’ll see her again, very soon.