To Tempt A Tiger(79)

“How do we do that?”

He sucked in a breath and took a huge leap off a cliff. “Marry me.”

She stilled. Even her breathing paused for a heartbeat as she stared at him. He had to force his own breath in and out as he waited for her answer. A pang of fear moved through him—that she’d reject him, that she’d kick him out of her life forever. He had no intention of staying away from her and Zoe, even if he was only around to protect them from other tigers. But she could shatter his hopes for the future in that one moment.

And he wasn’t sure he’d ever recover.



Rose’s brain simply stopped working for the longest moment. Vlad had just asked her to marry him but not because he loved her. He asked as a way to protect her from his people, to ensure she wasn’t sucked into their machinations.

The gesture was both incredibly sweet and heartbreaking all at once.

She’d waited a long time to hear those words from him. When they’d been together, she’d imagined him asking her in so many different, romantic ways. In those dreams, she’d always said yes immediately. Later, after he’d left them, she’d pictured him returning, begging forgiveness, and asking her to marry him. In those fantasies, she’d turn him down flat with a great deal of glee at his pain.

Now…

She loved him. She forgave him. She was about to tell Zoe he was her father. He’d said before he wanted their relationship to lead to marriage. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to marry him.

But she couldn’t bring herself to say yes because he was asking for all the wrong reasons.

She didn’t want to say no either, though, so she gripped his hand and said, “Marriage is a topic we’ll have to discuss when things with Zoe are settled. I don’t want you feeling pressured into it to protect me.” She put her hand on his mouth when he opened it. “I’m not going to discuss it further now. When everything else settles down, when real life in all its perfectly ordinary chaos resumes, we’ll come back to this conversation. But it’s not something we can settle now.”

He glanced away and swallowed visibly, but she couldn’t read his expression. Was he hurt? Relieved? Reassured by her logic? Angry? He sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly. When he faced her again, she still couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

He cupped her cheeks in his hands and said, “You’ve been through a lot. I understand. We’ll talk about this again when you’re ready. Now.” He took her hands in his, rubbing them gently. “We have another complicated day ahead of us tomorrow. You need your rest.”

He stood and held out his hands, helping her to her feet. She wasn’t sure how to feel about his asking her to marry him or his reaction to her refusal to discuss it. For some reason, both things caused an ache in her chest that felt suspiciously like hurt feelings.

She sighed. He was right. She needed sleep. She was acting ridiculous. And no surprise, given the day she’d just been through. She climbed into bed next to Zoe without taking off her clothes. The fire had turned the chilly cabin into a warm oasis, but Rose wanted to be ready to jump into a fight if need be. She was too on edge to fully relax her guard.

Vlad gave her a kiss on the head and wished her a quiet goodnight before settling back on the rug near the fire.

“Are you going to shift?” she asked.

“I was going to wait until you fell asleep so you didn’t have to watch.”

“I’ve been watching humans turn into tigers and back for a week now. I can take it.”

And she wanted to prove to herself, and to him, that they could be completely themselves with each other. She didn’t want him to hide his shifts from her. If they had any hope of a future, they couldn’t afford to keep secrets anymore.

She propped herself up on her elbow facing him, Zoe behind her and turned toward the opposite wall, still sleeping soundly.

He shrugged and stood, pulling his shirt off over his head. She tried not to react to the sight of him, all sexy muscles and gleaming skin, but watching him undress had never been something she could do without reacting. He was the sexiest man she’d ever known. She swallowed and tried to calm her suddenly racing pulse. It wasn’t a moment when they could take advantage of the ever-present chemistry between them.

That knowledge didn’t stop her from staring as he pushed off his jeans, or from imagining all the things she wanted to do to him when he wasn’t wearing clothes. She bit her lip to keep from suggesting anything. They’d have to go outside to fool around and it was much too cold out there. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d made love outdoors, but never in weather like this. And she just couldn’t do that in the same room as her sleeping daughter.