West stared down at Charlee. Her wide eyes gave way to her confusion and fear. Hell, he didn’t blame her. This was not the way he had planned to tell her about his tiger. He just didn’t have a choice. He’d seen her in action with a gun and knew that her aim was perfect. He couldn’t risk her shooting Drago. The bullet wouldn’t have killed him, but he would have been one pissed off security specialist. West would have had to pay his friend a heavy tip for the taking of a bullet.

“We need to talk,” he breathed, running his fingers through his hair. Charlee jerked her head in a nod. He grabbed his clothes and began to dress. He wasn’t sure how to begin, but he figured he would just start from the beginning. “I was born this way.”

“That’s not possible,” she whispered, shaking her head.

“Well, I hate to break it to you, Doctor, but it is.”

“But how have we not known? Scientists would—”

“Would have studied my people under a microscope. Humans have a funny way of trying to eradicate something they don’t understand. It’s best that humans don’t know about shifters.” He shook his head sadly. His parents had drilled it into his head as a kid that humans could never know. Every shifter knew the dangers of what could happen if the humans found out that they were not the only ones inhabiting the Earth. It would lead to pure chaos.

“So what? Shifters just hide from everyone?” she asked.

“No. There are all types of shifters, and they live everyday lives, just like humans. They attend college, have careers, settle down and have families. There’s only one difference between a human and a shifter.” He stepped toward her slowly. His tiger was pleased that she didn’t flinch as he reached for her. He needed to touch her. He knew that he and his tiger would not be able to handle it if she shunned them.

“So, do humans and shifters get married?” she asked as his fingers gently brushed her hair from her face. He tucked the strands behind her ear and nodded.

“And procreate too.” Her eyes widened, and he could see her mind running wild.

“And the children?”

“More than likely, they will be shifters. About ninety-eight percent of children born to mixed races will inherit the shifter gene. It tends to be the dominant one.” He chuckled at the array of facial expressions that swept across her face.

“So that’s why this sanctuary means so much to you,” she acknowledged, grabbing hold of his hand, entwining their fingers together. She stepped closer to him, tilting her head back.

“Yes, this place means everything to me. We have to prevent tigers from becoming extinct.” His eyes gazed off in the distance. His heart clenched with the thought of losing the Amur tigers, or any tigers for that matter.

“Can real tigers tell the difference from shifters?”

He barked out a laugh and drew her close in a hug. Confusion lined her face as she pulled back.

“What did I say?”

“Real tigers? I promise you, my dear, that my tiger is real.” He feigned hurt, holding his chest. His tiger stood at attention and pushed at his chest. It demanded to be free again, just to prove to her that he was certainly real.

“Oh,” she breathed, lowering her eyes in embarrassment. “I didn’t mean any disrespect.”

“None taken. My tiger is wanting to get out again to prove to you that he’s most certainly real,” West said. He pushed his tiger back in an attempt to calm it down. It whined, but settled down.

“You can speak to it?”

“We’re one in the same. When I’m in my human form, he’s just in the background. Sometimes he likes to let the alpha in him come to the surface, but I’m always in control. Even when I’m in my animal form, I’m right there with him,” he explained to her.

“I won’t tell anyone,” she promised. “I mean it. What you said about scientists is right. They would ruin everything that your people have worked so hard to accomplish. It would literally be a circus.”

“Thank you,” he replied.

They drew quiet, and he didn’t know what else to say. He didn’t want to rush any decisions from her, but he just had to know.

Would she accept him as he was?

“I guess we better get back to the camp,” she stated, squeezing his hand with hers. He glanced down at their entwined fingers and felt a little spark of hope for them.

“Yes, I’m sure they’re probably worried with you jetting off into the woods, guns blazing,” he noted with a dry chuckle. They began making their way back to the campground.

“What?” she scoffed. “I thought I was coming to rescue you, but here you are, a big bad tiger.”

“But seriously, you shouldn’t have come back into the woods,” he warned, pulling to a stop. He turned her to him, needing her to look at him. He didn’t know what he would do should something happen to her. “Promise me, next time I give you an order to stay put, you will.”

“Hopefully, there won’t be a next time,” she joked, but he didn’t crack a smile. He was serious. His animal grumbled with the thought of her not listening and something happening to her.

“I mean it. I don’t want you in any danger. I can handle it. Promise me, Charlee,” he pleaded.

He had never begged for anything in his life before. As one of the wealthiest tiger families, he had everything in the world that he could ask for, but for her safety, he would. Just in the short time he had gotten to know her, she had found a way into his heart.

He needed her.

He would do whatever he must to protect her.

“Okay,” she whispered, staring up at him with her large eyes.

Satisfied, they continued onward to the camp.

“Charlee!” Malena exclaimed, running over and snatching Charlee up into a bear hug. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” Charlee assured her as they began to talk softly amongst each other.

West’s eyes met Luka’s as he came forward with the rest of the group.

“I was just telling everyone how the guy got away,” Luka informed him. West was confident that Luka didn’t tell them any more information than was needed.

“This just goes to show that we need to take this seriously,” West announced. “We’re in the middle of nowhere, and the only way we can keep each other safe is to have one another’s backs. Let’s get a good night’s rest, and remember to partner up.”

The groups began to disperse, and West wasn’t sure if Charlee was going to come with him or go back to her tent that she had shared with Malena originally. His tiger let out a whine as he turned to walk toward his tent. It tried to get him to change direction and walk back to Charlee.

It’ll be all right, he murmured to his tiger. He didn’t know who he was trying to convince, him or the tiger.

“West! Wait for me,” Charlee called out.

He turned to find her jogging to him as Malena headed to her tent. His heart sped up as he watched Charlee get closer to him. This was it. She would break off what they had and be done with him. He barked out a laugh in his head at the thought.

The infamous West Rogavac had fallen for a woman.

He knew the guys would ride him hard if he ever mentioned the thoughts and doubts that raced through his mind.

“Hey,” she murmured as she stopped in front of him, leaving just the two of them in the middle of the campground. The nervous look in her eyes had his heart speeding up. He braced himself as he waited for her to speak. “I meant to ask you, can you show me what it means to be a tiger in bed?”

Charlee’s breaths came fast and hard as she settled her sweaty body against West’s. Her body tingled in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

West was definitely a tiger in bed.

A whimsical smile lingered on her lips as she thought back to his facial expression when she had ran over to him. His shoulders had drooped slightly when he turned to walk back to his tent. Her heart swelled with his disappointment that he tried to hide.

But she saw it.

She had come to terms with him being a tiger shifter before they had made it back to the camp. She could literally feel the nervous vibes pouring off him as they made the journey back to join the others. She considered herself a modern scientist and knew that it would be ignorant of her to assume that they were the only ones walking the Earth.

She had quickly gotten to know West and knew that he was an honorable man. So what? His body could transform into one of the most powerful animals on the planet. The memories of his cat pushing its massive head against her still had her in awe.

Her body shuddered as West’s finger burned a trail down the center of her spine. He pushed her hair off her moist forehead with the other hand as he turned to look at her. He leaned down and covered her mouth with his in a deep, passionate kiss.

A deep moan escaped her as she reached up and threaded her fingers in his hair. She wished that they could stay in their little secluded tent forever. Nothing to interrupt them, just the two of them alone, in a tent under the stars.

He pulled back and placed a chaste kiss to her lips. Complete darkness surrounded them.

“Can you see in the dark?” she whispered, straining to see his facial expression.

“Pretty much,” he chuckled. He shifted, tucking her in the crook of his arm. She held back a moan, loving the feel of his muscular form against her softer body. Her hand settled on his chest as she stared off into the darkness.

“What made you decide to come to me?” His voice broke the silence.

She tilted her head back, unable to see his eyes. But she could feel them on her as she contemplated why she didn’t take off for the hills screaming.

“Seeing your tiger, I just had this feeling that he wouldn’t hurt me. That he would keep me safe, no matter what. I don’t know how to explain it—”

“He would never harm you.” West cut her off as his arm squeezed her, bringing her flush against him. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt her core clench. She groaned internally. What was it about West that kept her body coiled, ready for him?

Sheer animal magnetism?

She giggled at the thought.

“What’s so funny?” he murmured, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

“I just don’t understand how my body is just so drawn to you,” she murmured, trailing a finger down his chest. “It’s like there’s a low electric current beneath my skin, and the minute you touch me, it hits me full force.”

“Same here,” he replied, threading his fingers in her hair to pull her head back. Her breaths came quicker and her thighs clenched together in anticipation. She could feel the slickness coat her thighs as she waited. “But it will have to be later. You need sleep. Everyone will be waking in about an hour.”

He released her hair and she blew out a deep breath. How the hell was she supposed to sleep now?