It was her. The tasty piece of ass from the airport.

His eyes roamed over her body. She sat up in the bed, the sheet tucked under her arms, and she had definitely been in a recent fight. Someone bandaged her up, though, and she didn’t look too much the worse for wear. A few bruises. A few scratches. A good size knot on the side of her forehead. But nothing life threatening. Still… why the hell was she in his house?

She stared at him. Her breathing coming out in shallow pants and Nik suddenly realized he was still tiger.

No wonder she looks scared to death.

He shifted, making sure not to move too quickly and frighten her even more.

He leaned against the door jam, arms crossed in front of his chest, “Well. Hello, Sugar.”

“Oh, shit…” she let out softly.

He grinned. So pretty. No. Pretty didn’t do it for her. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Astounding. Even those words were weak.

“I…I…” She shook her head…then the panic kicked in.

She slid off the bed and stumbled to her feet. She still had the sheet around her body, but she tripped over it and started to drop to the floor.

Nik moved quickly, going across the room and grabbing her around the waist before she could hit the floor. She moaned in pain and he held her gently as he went slowly to his knees, her back pushing against his front. She was so weak, she couldn’t stand on her own.

“Breathe, Sugar. Just breathe.”

He had to fight hard to keep his self-control. Not easy when the sheet she used as a shield only covered the front. Her naked back pressed against him and before he took hold of her, he spotted the sexiest damn tattoo in the middle of her back. He didn’t have a chance to get a good look at it, but knowing she had one set his teeth on edge.

“I’m going to be sick.”

Uh-oh. Well, that killed the libido right quick.

“Come on, darlin’. Let’s get you in the bathroom.” Each bedroom in his house had its own bathroom and he had never been more grateful. He stood up, bringing the woman with him and swiftly took her inside. He held her with one arm while he lifted the toilet seat cover and the toilet seat. He knelt down again, bringing her with him, making sure her head was over the toilet.

“It’s going to be okay, Sugar. Just relax.”

Moaning, she gripped the sides of the toilet and leaned forward. He was about to reach around and pull her hair out of her face, when her head swung back, slamming into his nose. His brothers had broken his nose years ago, but this bitch literally knocked it out of joint. He heard the bone pop.

“Goddammit!”

Releasing her, he fell back to the floor.

He looked up in time to see her smoothly get to her feet, the sheet sliding off that sweet, sweet body, leaving her naked and oh so beautiful. With a coldness he’d never seen on a human not born cat, she turned and yanked the top of the toilet tankoff.

“Wait…,” was the last thing he said before she brought the hard, heavy porcelain down on his head.

***

Angie winced. She never wanted to hurt something that pretty, but it’s not like he gave her much choice.

Damn! When did tigers get involved in this little drama? She wrapped the sheet around her body and ran out of the bathroom into the adjoining bedroom.

She saw no sign of any of her stuff, but that wasn’t very surprising. She wouldn’t exactly expect them to leave her .9 out and loaded.

She ran out into the hallway, heading in the opposite direction from the one the tiger had been taking. She’d only gotten a couple of feet, though, when she skidded to a stop. Two other tigers sat quietly at the end of the hallway near a set of stairs. They looked at her, and she was positive she saw surprise on their cat faces. She knew that if they could register surprise they were at least partly human. Hell. She’d rather deal with real tigers. No ulterior motive except dinner.

“Shit!” She turned and ran down the other way. The hallway stretched long and sported two exits. Boy, this wasn’t just a house. This was a mansion. A very nice mansion. Shame she didn’t have time to enjoy it. She skidded toward another stop at the top of the stairs. Two women, chatting quietly, sat on the bottom step. They looked up at her, eyes glinting in the dim light of the stairwell, and frowned. Nope. They weren’t completely human either.

“Fuck!”

She tore back the other way, but saw the tigers loping toward her. She went into the first room she found, slamming the door shut behind her. No lock. Shit.

Angie desperately glanced around the room.

There must be a weapon around here somewhere.

***

“Oh, my God, Nik! What did that evil heifer do to you?”

Nik forced his eyes open to see his sister and cousin kneeling over him. “Help me up.”

They each grasped a hand and hauled him to his feet. He couldn’t let them go right away. Still too shaky.

“Maybe we should call the doc,” his cousin Reena asked as she used a wet washcloth to wipe blood off his face and out of his eyes.

“No. I’ll be fine.” He pulled away from them, slowly walking back into the bedroom. He looked over at the two tigers standing in the doorway.

“Shift. Now.”

The two tigers looked at each other. For a minute, Nik thought they might make a run for it. But they knew better. Knew he’d track them down and kick the living tar out of both of them.

They shifted to human and looked at their brother sheepishly.

He stared at them. “Why is there…,” he stopped. Put his hands on both sides of his nose and snapped it back into place. He closed his eyes against the pain. When he opened them again, both his brothers were trying to ease back out of the room.