Page 40 of Catch a Tiger

She stared at his hand with all that silver on it and wondered why he needed her to take it.

“I can take off my rings,” he offered, his deep voice practically vibrating through her flesh and bones even if the words were quiet.

The sound of that delicious voice definitely made her feel a way. The strange inflection he’d used before hadn’t returned and it no longer tasted like lies but something far more seductive.

Carefully, she set her hand in his, ensuring her claws didn’t accidentally snag his skin. If she made him bleed, she might just claim him without his consent.

“You don’t need to take them off,” she said, letting him pull her closer until she could feel the heat of his skin, but she didn’t dare touch more than he’d offered. “Pain can be comforting, and I don’t want to take that away from you.”

The strangest thing happened then.

His endless pumping—thumping…it stopped.

Chapter 12

Vix

Has frost filled his lungs?

The sudden, overwhelming scent of his relief made her knees weak and her legs nearly gave out. Vix didn’t dare look up into those devastating eyes, not when he was feeling vulnerable.

Even the shock that followed was too dangerous to meet his gaze no matter how badly she wanted to.

His shock faded into disbelief then and she could tell he didn’t know how she could possibly understand.

Vix decided the safest thing to do was pretend she hadn’t noticed such an overwhelming reaction.

“He took my memories from before,” she said quietly, continuing her earlier explanation. “Then he took them all again.”

The alpha finally shook off his disbelief and turned her around so her back was facing him.

She closed her eyes when those massive hands of his ran over her hair to see just how bad it was.

“I spent a long time with him, but how long exactly is impossible to know.” Vix tensed when he started workingsomething into her hair that had almost no scent at all. “Time doesn’t work the same there, and sometimes it feels like I was gone for centuries.”

Her body started to relax when those deadly paws stayed gentle.

Vix let her eyes lose focus, nothing but black rock before her and the sound of water as she felt the memories try to erupt from her skin. The dull pain behind her eyes increased but she ignored it like she always did.

Michael was right. You’re nothing but poison.

The warm scent of alpha magic kept her from flinching. Even in this dead place, it seemed like those whispers could still find her.

Torment her.

“I don’t know why he left me here,” Vix murmured, trailing her claws through the water that was now above her waist. “I don’t know if I did something wrong or if I escaped. When he took my memories a second time, he left me with nothing but a name, but I don’t know why…”

A toxic mold that infects everything it touches.

Her hands stilled at the sound of that unfamiliar whisper. It wasn’t Gabriel’s voice, but she still felt like she should know who it was.

“The runes and glyphs help my body remember the things I can’t,” Vix whispered, as the scent of frozen hibiscus slid into her mind like a key into a lock. “But I’ll always be what he made me.”

His perfect warrior.

The alpha’s hands disappeared, and it suddenly felt like she was drowning. Vix whipped around, trying to find something—anything to hold on to, but all she could see was silver and she shied away.

Stumbling back put her head under water and the whispers faded away.

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