To Tempt A Tiger(27)

“It’ll mean severe punishments for anyone who tries to hurt Zoe. She’ll be safe.”

“So why aren’t we heading to the elders now?”

“I don’t want to introduce Zoe to the tiger world before she can control her own tiger.”

Rose nodded and looked away again. “Okay, I guess that’s fair enough.” She sipped her wine and sighed. “I don’t want any of this to be real.”

“But it is.”

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I just want Zoe safe and healthy.”

He did, too. “I’ll make sure she’s safe, Rose. I promise. We have time for all this stuff.”

They stayed silent for long moments, the only sound the quiet crackling of wood and flames. He turned his attention to Zoe, assuring himself she was breathing peacefully, sound asleep.

Finally, he said, “Thanks for the tea and for dinner.” He stood. He’d given her enough to think about for one night. “I’ll come back in the morning and we can consider how to tell Zoe about all this.”

Rose patted the couch. “I’m not letting you sleep in the snow, Vlad. This place has enough bedrooms for all three of us. You can stay here.”

He swallowed hard as he stared down at her, caught in her eyes. He didn’t trust himself to be in this house with her overnight, not when her scent filled it and drifted around him like temptation. He was pretty sure the only way he’d stay out of her bed was to spend the night in the freezing temperatures in his tiger form.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he forced out.

She blinked but didn’t turn away. “I’m not going to lie and say I’m not still attracted to you. Especially after that almost kiss earlier in the kitchen. But I’m also not ready for anything to happen between us. I’m still…hurt and leery and confused. And frankly, I still don’t trust you. So while you’re invited to sleep in the spare room, you are not invited into my bed. Not tonight. Probably not for a while.”

The fact that he might be invited sometime in the future was enough to make his pulse pound. Still, could he stay here, dizzy with her scent, and not try to change her mind? For the last four years, he’d essentially been a monk because he couldn’t get over her. The temptation to seduce her and make her forget all the hurt and betrayal between them was hard to resist.

She shook her head. “Vlad, I can tell you’re debating being noble and leaving. Don’t. I’ll just stay up all night worrying that you’re freezing to death.”

“I’ll be in tiger form. I won’t freeze.”

She tilted her head to one side, a slight furrow between her brows. “It is so odd trying to remember that you’re…different like that.” She motioned him to the couch again. “I’m not finished talking with you, so you’re going to sleep here tonight.”

He eased back onto the couch. If she still had questions, he was obligated to answer them. He wasn’t using her curiosity as an excuse, he assured himself. He owed her the time. That was the only reason he was going to stay.

She smiled a little at him, and his heart thumped hard.

This was going to be a long night.





Chapter Seven



They talked well into the night, mostly about the tiger world. Rose had more questions than she could even remember to ask. She was fascinated, appalled, and scared in equal measure. The fear was for her daughter. The complications of having to navigate this alien world, of the things Zoe was going to have to deal with, overwhelmed her a few times. She had moments where she wanted all of it to go away.

But it wouldn’t. She had to face it and learn how to deal with it so she could help Zoe.

“I don’t want to let her try to shift,” Rose admitted. “I’ve watched her in pain so much, I’m not sure I can take any more.”

“The change won’t hurt her. It’s what her body is trying to do.”

“So you keep saying. I have no reference for this, Vlad. It’s…it’s myth and fiction. It’s impossible. And, no offense, but it wasn’t pretty either.”

He grimaced. “I know. To humans the process is difficult to see. But from my perspective, from any tiger shifter’s perspective, it’s normal.”

She let out a breath and leaned back into the couch. He had his arm across the back, his hand near her shoulder. She tried to ignore how close they were to touching, but her skin actually tingled with awareness of his strong fingers just inches from her. She knew insisting he stay was the right thing to do. And she had been telling the truth when she told him he wasn’t invited into her bed. But temptation still lingered, despite logic.