“Good. So I don’t have to go over too much old ground. Your partner is with my friend Ellie in the city. You’re out of the action for now, I’m afraid. In fact, I’m surprised you haven’t responded better to my treatment. One dose should have been enough.”
“Whatever they got me with is more potent than anything I’ve ever experienced.” He grimaced as he tried to move. “The tingling is starting again. If I go out, remember I can hear you.” His voice began to slur a tiny bit. “Talk to me, milady. Keep me company.” His hand gripped hers as a frisson of fear entered his eyes. “Stay with me.”
She covered his big hand with hers, pressing gently. “I will. I promise. We’re safe for now. My father will come tomorrow and the Millers have guard duty tonight. This cabin is on the edge of their land where it meets my parents’ retreat. They’re a good and loyal tigre d’or family. Mr. Miller and his wife were Royal Guard, like you. When my father went into exile, they went with him, as did a handful of others. Your recovery will be guarded by those like you, Mitch. Trust their skill to keep you safe as they have kept my family safe all these years. I bet they’ve forgotten more things about stealth and secrecy than you’ve even heard of.”
His grip relaxed as his muscles went slack and only a small grunt followed. The poison must be doing its work on him again. Dammit.
She was really worried. She leaned over him, peering into his golden eyes.
“Are you still with me, Mitch?”
One hand rose to cup her waist loosely, surprising her. He wasn’t completely under, though his motions were sluggish and his eyes half-lidded. The heat of his hand on her body sent little shivers of awareness through her that were totally unacceptable. He was her patient. She shouldn’t feel anything but doctorly compassion for the big brute, no matter that he was the most attractive tiger shifter she’d ever seen.
Not that she’d seen a whole slew of her own kind up close. No, she’d been raised away from the Clan, but her father had a few loyal families living up here in the middle of nowhere with them. She’d had tigre playmates and friends all her life. And humans too, though they lived down the mountain in the nearby town. She’d gone to the human school in the valley with both human and tigre kids. That’s how she’d met Ellie and they’d been best friends ever since—even though there was one really big secret between them. Until just recently, Ellie hadn’t had a clue about shifters.
But the shifter Guards and their children were always watching out for Gina. Even when she’d ventured out on her own. Her father wouldn’t have let her go off to the city without some protection, especially at first.
By the time she’d graduated, at least one part of her protection detail had already mated and had cubs of their own. They lived nearby and she saw them often, but they weren’t really guarding her anymore. After years living among humans with no problem, even her father had been willing to allow her to roam alone. After all, cats needed their space. He understood that better than most.
“I’m here, blue eyes.” His words were slurred even more and his gaze spoke of the same attraction she was feeling—and fighting. Only he didn’t seem to be fighting it right now. “You’re lovely, Gina.”
Now that was a little more intimate than she was comfortable with. Especially coupled with the way he drew her closer, tugging at her hip as he slid his hand over her waist to urge her forward.
Her balance was precarious as she leaned over him on the soft bed and she found herself unable to resist the pull. Before she knew it, she was within range of those firm lips and he was kissing her.
It wasn’t a light buss, but it also wasn’t the tempestuous claiming she’d feared. It was a sweet kiss, full of promise and wonder. Something she wouldn’t have expected from the tough Alpha, even in his weakened condition, and it completely seduced her.
She gave back all that he asked and more. Her hands went to his wide shoulders for balance, though the simple act of touching him turned easily into a caress. He was bigger and more muscular than any man she’d ever kissed before and she liked the sensation of his muscles moving under her fingertips. Such a feeling could easily become addictive.
When he ended the kiss, it was a gentle parting, like something out of a fairytale. Gina was stunned momentarily while his eyes searched hers.
“Tell me true, milady. What are my chances?”
His words hit her like a bucket of cold water and her heart wrenched to think this man—this gentle man who had kissed her with such beauty—might still die. Her hands tightened on his shoulders and though she tried, he refused to let her move away. The hands that secured her waist made certain of it.