Charlee bustled around the massive tent, gathering supplies that she would need. The base camp had been set up and it was amazing. It was like a mini city crammed into a corner of the national park. They didn’t want to spread out too far into the wild since human contact with the natural habitat was rare. They had Land Rovers for their longer trips, and even some of them planned to walk to try to keep as much of the reservation undisturbed.

Alf and the other members of her team had set up their tent and did an amazing job. She was truly impressed with her graduate student. He would make an amazing scientist. She glanced around at the enormous tent that housed their portable laboratory. The tent was bustling with people as they prepared for the expedition.

“The tranqs are in the cooler,” Malena noted as she continued to type on the computer.

“Perfect.” Charlee nodded as she moved toward the small fridge that sat on one of the counters. She opened it to count how many they had. Ten. Perfect. Hopefully, they would come across that many tigers, but she doubted it.

“Dr. Black, I’ve already loaded the tranq guns into the vehicles,” Alf announced as he entered the tent. “The portable generators are all charged and loaded into the trucks.”

“Thanks, Alf.” She sent a smile his way before he moved to the side to speak to one of Jim’s assistants.

“The accommodations that the sanctuary provided us with have been amazing,” Malena said.

“I know,” Charlee agreed as she continued to gather items that they would need to take with them.

They were both used to sleeping in the tiny tents that barely covered their bodies. But these were big enough to stand and move around in, and room enough for two women to sleep. The men would all bunk together in their own tents.

She continued to mark things off her checklist as she found them around the tent. They wouldn’t be able to take computers, so she grabbed the tablets that would send data back to the main portable lab where Alton and the other senior researchers would be working.

They would all break up into teams. Charlee and the other species specialist and assistants would be the ones going into the wild to track down and tag the tigers. Jim and the other ecologist would be going on their own expeditions to explore and study the soil, plant life, and water supply, while the senior researchers would stay in camp, analyzing and processing all the data that would be transmitted back to them.

“Where are the night vision goggles?” Charlee asked, looking up from her checklist. They would definitely need those. They would be tracking at all times of day, but night was usually the best time to find a tiger in motion.

“Down on that bottom shelf.” Alf pointed from where he stood.

Charlee moved over to the shelf and knelt down. The cases that held the goggles had tipped back all the way, and her short arms were unable to reach them.

“Thanks,” Charlee muttered as she reached for them.

“Charlee!” Malena called out.

“Hold your horses,” Charlee called back, crawling farther onto the bottom row. She would hate to have to move the whole shelving unit just to reach them. Her feet flailed in the air, just as her fingers grabbed the strap to the case that held the goggles. “Got it!” she exclaimed, wiggling her bottom in celebration.

She crawled backward with her prize and onto her knees, only to discover a pair of sturdy boots standing next to her. She paused before her eyes traveled up the very muscular body attached to the boots, and was met with the very amused eyes of Weston Rogavac.

After ensuring that all details of their business were solidified, West decided to go look for Charlee. Drago and his team had already disappeared into the wild. West was sure that his security specialists had already shifted to blend in. They would be discrete, and they knew to avoid the areas that the humans would be exploring. West would hate for the humans to accidentally tranq and tag a shifter instead of a natural tiger. It would be very hard to explain how a tiger flew back to the United States.

Luka had disappeared with the Chinese scientist to talk future projects, leaving West on his own for the moment. He was sure that Charlee would be busy gearing up to begin tracking, but he had to see her.

The sight that met his eyes when he entered her portable tent took his breath away. Her friend, with a wide grin on her face, had pointed to where her world-renowned professor was. His eyes landed on her plump ass dancing in the air as she crawled backward from beneath a storage unit.

Pure lust slammed into his chest at the sight of her perfect rear end. His hands itched to grab her hips so that he could thrust his cock deep inside her from behind. He blinked and shook his head, quickly changing his wayward thoughts. His tiger loved where his mind was going, and so did his cock.

“What do you have there?” he joked, holding out a hand to help her stand.

Fascination gripped him as he watched a pink hue spread across her cheeks. He had to shut off the part of his brain that got a rush from the sight of her on her knees in front of him. He didn’t want to scare the sexy doctor away with a massive erection in her face in front of all her colleagues.

“Night vision goggles,” she chuckled, taking his outstretched hand. His larger hand engulfed hers as she stood.

“Ah, so you can see in the dark.” He nodded, instantly disappointed when she let his hand go. He followed behind her as she moved toward a table where a large backpack sat.

“So what brings you here?” she asked, curiosity shining in her eyes.

You, he wanted to say, but bit his tongue.

“I wanted to check on you and your team to ensure that you had everything you would need.” He looked around the tent and held in a chuckle. Everyone was acting as if they were so busy, but he could easily tell they were all trying not to get caught eavesdropping.

“Yes, we’re good,” she responded with a wide grin, excitement plastered across her face. His heart skipped a beat with how much she loved tigers. He had to push his tiger back. West knew that he would have to shift tonight to let his tiger out. Leaving a tiger contained for too long made the beast agitated, and right now, his animal was demanding it.

To get to Charlee.

It wanted her.

And so did the man.

“Will you be going out with one of the teams?” she asked, leaning against the table. His eyes followed her hand as she tucked her hair behind her ear, and traveled to her mouth. He swallowed hard as he stared at her plump lips. Licking his own, he imagined brushing them against hers, just to get a taste. He was sure they would be as sweet as berries.

“Yes.” He coughed, trying to steer his thoughts away from anything sexual, but was finding that hard to do. She evoked this response from him, and his animal loved it.

Need flashed in her eyes and his tiger knew that they would be the one to fulfill that need. She bit her lip, and he had to hold back the instinct to grab her and toss her over his shoulder, to carry her to his private tent where he could spend hours exploring every facet of her body.

Not now, he promised his animal, but soon.

“Yes, I can be of assistance.”

“Really? How so?” she asked playfully with a tilt of her head.

He smiled. The good doctor would get to know him soon enough. The tiger in him wanted to come forward to show her just how he could help.

“I’m a master tracker. I’ll be able to assist in finding as many tigers as you want.”

“Wow, really?” she breathed as her eyes grew wide. “I would love to hear someday how you learned to track.”

She was openly flirting with him now, and he was captivated by her flirtatious smile. Two could play that game.

He leaned in close to her and lowered his voice. “Anytime you’re ready, I’d be willing to take you out so I can show you my many skills.”