King's Throne(19)

“I’m feeling a lot better since that shower,” Mitch said in between bites of the thick, roast-beef sandwich she’d prepared for him. “Will it be a problem to prowl a bit in the immediate area?”
“Dad owns all the land around here and the perimeter has state-of-the-art detection equipment. If a chipmunk enters the area, Dad’s security knows about it right away. So the short answer is, yes. Plus, I think a shift will help clear out the rest of the toxin. I would’ve recommended it right away except for the convulsions. I’ve never really seen a shifter have them before, and knowing this poison was probably designed for our kind, it’s just possible that doing a shift while the chemical was still at full strength would’ve killed you for sure. But at this low concentration, I think your normal shifter magic will clear up the rest of it. Just don’t overdo it. A quick shift. A gentle walk. No running. No battle form. Taking it easy is the order of the day.”
Mitch smiled as he wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “All right, Doc. I hear and obey.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” She motioned him to sit while she collected the few dishes they’d used and put them in the sink.
She’d deal with the rest of the cleanup later. For now, he was looking refreshed after eating his first really good meal in days. Now was the time to try the shift.
“There’s a special feature of this cabin that I think you’ll like.” She led the way over to a hidden door concealed in the rough wood timbers of the cabin. “There’s a passageway between this wall and the outer wall of the cabin. It forms an L-shape around this side of the building and the door on the other end leads directly into the forest. Dad designed it. We can leave our clothes in the passageway. There are hooks for that purpose.”
Mitch peered into the passageway after she opened the hidden latch and looked around. “Ingenious,” he murmured, inspecting everything he could see in minute detail. She liked the way he took in his surroundings. Cats were naturally curious and he seemed even more curious than most. “I never would have suspected this was here and I’ve been trained to look for hidden passageways.”
He stepped into the passage and started to strip off his borrowed clothes by the light coming in through the open door. Getting naked in order to shift was something Gina knew about, and she was a doctor, after all. She’d seen and handled naked men in her time. But she’d never seen Mitch entirely in the buff. And definitely not when he was conscious and moving around under his own steam.
She’d noticed his muscles and the broad planes of his chest with interest even when he’d been close to being comatose. It wasn’t professional, but then nothing about this situation with him was normal. He was outside her experience entirely.
It seemed he thought nothing of stripping off in front of her and she supposed if she’d been raised among a normal group of tigers, she would think nothing of it—though how any red-blooded female could take Mitch’s nudity casually, she’d never know. The man was stunning. Every inch a male animal of superior strength and breeding. His body showed the obvious physical training he did, but far from being a muscle-bound Neanderthal, he was sleek like the cat that shared his soul. There wasn’t a spare ounce on him—especially since he’d been so ill of late. His muscles were hard and long, powerful and lithe.
He was a work of art. And she was duly impressed. A little too impressed, if truth be told. She felt her body responding, the tigress inside clawing to get out. Gina was almost afraid what would happen when she let her cat out to play. Would she pounce all over the big male or play coy? Gina hoped like hell she was able to exert some control over her animal half. The last thing she needed was for the tigress to play games with Mitch.
Without asking for advice or permission, Mitch began his shift almost the moment he was completely nude. The shift was slow, cautious, which she approved, but when his fur began to sprout, he turned his half-human face toward her and his eyes held confusion.
“Something’s different,” he growled in a voice that wasn’t quite human. He passed quickly through the battle form and into his full tiger in the shadows of the passageway, but she could see enough to…
“Sweet Mother of All,” Gina exclaimed when she got her first good look at the tiger Mitch had become.
His eyes were troubled and she thought she sensed worry. She could understand that. Mitch had shifted into—
She didn’t dare put a name to what she was seeing.
“Come inside,” she counseled, wanting to take the worry out of his golden eyes. “You’re okay, but…” She trailed off, leading the way toward the small bathroom at the other side of the cabin. She threw open the door and he padded in behind her, stopping short as she flipped the switch to flood the room with light.