N. Walters - Night of the Tiger

She collapsed on top of him, confident he would catch her. He did, drawing her into his arms and tucking her head into the curve of his shoulder. “Mine,” he whispered, rubbing his hands over her back and arms. He snagged a corner of the sheet and tugged it over her.

They lay in bed, content simply to be in each other’s arms, until the rising sun brightened the bedroom. It was Aimee who broke the silence. “What did you mean when you said you shared your immortality with me? I mean, I know you gave me some of your life essence, your power, in order to heal me. But what exactly does that mean? Am I changed in any way?”

Roric sat in bed, lifting her easily. He leaned back against the headboard and positioned her so she was lying across his lap with her head pillowed against his arm. He tucked a damp strand of hair behind her ear, his touch gentle and caring. “I could not let you die, Aimee. By sharing my life force with you, I gifted you with immortality.” His eyes grew dark and he shook his head. “I had no idea such a thing was even possible until I did it.”

He sifted his fingers through her hair before trailing them over her neck. Tingles of pleasure followed in their wake. “I did that without asking you. There was no time to do so. I do not regret what I have done. Do you?”

She caught his hand in hers and raised it to her lips, planting a kiss on each finger. “No, I don’t regret it. How could I?” The man had risked everything to save her life. That showed her the true depth of his commitment to her.

But she still had questions. “Do I have powers now? Will I heal faster? Am I the same other than the fact I’ll live forever?” Her mind whirled with the possibilities.

Roric shook his head, sending several strands of his hair to brush against her face. The sensual caress stole her breath away. “I don’t know. We will have to learn as we go. This is a first in my world. None of the warriors has ever done such a thing. As I said, I had no idea it could be done.”

Aimee thought about that and nodded. “I guess that will have to be good enough for now.” She shifted, ignoring Roric’s shaft, which was stirring to life next to her hip. Honestly, the man was an animal. She almost giggled aloud at her unintentional joke. The man really was an animal. Her tiger.

She tightened her arms around him and gave him a hug. “Where do we go from here?”

She felt the change in him immediately. Tension thrummed though him, his muscles hardening beneath her touch. “I have to find the carnival and the carousel.”

Aimee shook her head. “No. We need to find it.”

Some of the tension seeped out of him, but he was still on alert. “Hades has lost his hold on me. He will not accept this defeat lightly. He will make it all but impossible for us to find the others.”

What went unsaid between them was that they had no idea how Hades would deal with the other warriors due to the loss of the tiger. Of the four released, only one had gone over to the dark side. Two had been killed, and only one had escaped the clutches of the vengeful god.

“We’ll look. In this day and age, it’s almost impossible to hide anywhere. I don’t care if you are an ancient god. People have cell phones and post pictures online all the time. We’ll just start watching all the social networking pages and the news.” There was a lot they could find out by surfing the Internet. Aimee’s mind began to race with everything she’d have to do to get the search started.

Roric caught her chin beneath his fingers and lifted it until she was looking right at him. “Thank you, Aimee. You have no idea what it means to me that you’re willing to take on this burden.”

She swallowed hard as emotion threatened to push her to tears. The look in his eyes was almost her undoing. She could see hope and love shining through, but it was tempered by his fear and longing for his comrades and the goddess he claimed as his own.

“They’re a part of you. I understand that. They came before me. You can’t just forget them and you shouldn’t. You wouldn’t be the man I fell in love with if you could. Besides—” she gave him a watery grin, “—I didn’t save your life so you could go traipsing off on your own and get killed.”

He laughed and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Enough lolling in bed, woman. Time to dress and eat and get down to business”

He threw his legs over the side of the bed and rose with her still in his arms. The man was as strong as an ox, treating her weight as though it was nothing. It made her feel sexy and cared for. Not exactly what an independent, modern woman should admit, but that didn’t change the fact that it aroused her.

She ignored the sexual pull low in her belly. She really was too sore for another bout of lovemaking, and they did have other business to attend to. And speaking of business. “I have to finish the sketches for the comic I’m working on. If I push it, I can have it done in a few days. That check will buy me some breathing room, and I’ll be able to take some time off and really dig into the search for the carnival. In the meantime, I can get the basic searches going.”

Her mind was already making lists of things she had to do. Buying more groceries was a priority. Feeding an immortal warrior wasn’t going to be cheap. “We’ll need to go to town and do some shopping for you too.” Roric would need modern clothing if he was going to fit in.

Roric paused halfway between the bedroom and the bathroom. “I know you have obligations you need to tend to. It would not be honorable to do otherwise. But, Aimee, you do not need to worry about money.”

The last thing she wanted him to think was that she was more worried about money than about searching for his friends. “I’m not worried,” she hurried to reassure him. “I’ve got savings. Plus, I don’t have many expenses. I own my home outright. My parents had a good insurance policy that took care of that.”

He squeezed her tight. “Thank you. It means everything to me that you would share your wealth with me. But there is no need. I will take care of you.” He continued walking down the hall toward the bathroom.

“How?” She couldn’t exactly picture Roric getting a job at the local gas station. He was too independent to work for anyone else. Then there was the fact that he still didn’t know much about the modern world and its technology. Well, he knew about it in theory, but the practical applications were going to take him a little longer to adjust to. It was going to be a steep learning curve, but she knew he’d pick things up quickly. There was no doubting his intelligence.

Roric settled her on the top of the vanity before leaning over the tub. The white tiger tattoo that covered his back stared up at her. She could sense the beast within Roric, felt its commitment to her. She knew the tiger was as committed to her as the man was, that the beast would protect her with its life. A sense of rightness, of peace, settled over her.

A second later, it was shattered as Roric gave a roar and jerked back from the water that shot straight down on his head. He looked so disgruntled and put out that Aimee couldn’t help herself. She started to laugh.

He shot her a glare, which only made her laugh harder. She slapped a hand over her mouth, but it didn’t help much. After a moment, one corner of Roric’s mouth kicked up. “Think that’s funny, do you?”

Aimee jumped off the counter and gave him a quick lesson in how the center tap regulated the flow from the showerhead. “If I wanted a bath, I’d just turn off the center tap, put in the plug and let it fill.”

They were both soaking wet by the time she finished her explanation, standing beneath the steady spray. Roric grabbed a bar of soap and began to lather it between his large hands. Her body began to pulse, and she began to rethink the aches in her body. Maybe she wasn’t too sore after all.