Page 48 of Catch a Tiger

“That’s all I ask.” Samuel turned back around with something in one hand and a brush in the other.

What the heck was that?

A loud noise startled her, and she dropped down, covering her ears to shield them from the horrific sound.

The alpha instantly turned it off, crouching down slowly until he was hovering over her like a giant gargoyle. “I need to dry your hair properly or all that work will be for nothing.”

“Do you have to?”

Fascinating the way his jaw clenched. “Yes.”

She glanced up at his dark, wavy hair and the way it shone, hands still over her ears. “It’s so loud.”

“It’s enchanted.” He pointed to a rune carved into the metal. “Won’t be more than five minutes.”

The metallic roar produced by electricity hurt her sensitive ears, and Vix didn’t think she’d be able to last even five minutes if there wasn’t anything else to drown that horrible sound out.

Would he…No, he would. He was an alpha.

Samuel had just said to tell him if she needed something. He would do this even if he didn’t want to, because sheneededit. The alpha in him would allow nothing less.

“It hurts,” she murmured, dropping her hands from her ears. “That sound…I need something else to erase it.”

“I can get you some earplugs?—”

“Can I touch you?” The melody of his alpha note intertwining with his tiger would help tie her to that weird silence where she could hear all the notes of the universe woven together and drown out the horrible whine from the metal dryer. “Your sound doesn’t hurt and it’s strong.”

Another clench of his jaw and Vix held her breath as she waited.

“Fine.” His hand reached for her and she didn’t waste the opportunity.

Sliding into his arms, she wrapped her own around his waist and pressed her ear to his chest, right next to that silver. Samuel ended up falling back on his ass thanks to the force of her hug, but he didn’t protest.

For a moment, his whole body surrounded hers, legs on either side of her, and his arm settled over her shoulders after he got over his initial shock.

The alpha rested a hand on the back of her neck to press her even closer to his chest, and a soft rumble escaped her when she felt his strength and warmth all around her. Vix sighed and relaxed into him.

Slowly, she reached out with her magic when his chest started to rumble in harmony with hers. It slid through his veins with the wildness every living thing possessed and the awful roar of the dryer felt far away as she focused on the thumping—pumping of his heart.

It was strong and steady.

Vix focused on the note of his dominant tiger next. It was the deepest bass, harmonizing perfectly with the dark, wild energy of the other two tigers and life finally breathed into this place made of dead wood and rock.

Occasionally wild energy possessed objects or things that weren’t alive, but it was a part of what held all this shit together…or just the remnants of something else like the magic in his silver.

The silence finally reached her through the song of his vitality, and Vix realized she felt a little sleepy thanks to the rumble in his chest harmonizing with hers.

“You can call me Vix,” she whispered, her hands pressed to his back, careful to keep her fingers from the names written in ink as she tried to blink away the sleepiness.

“That’s not your true name though, is it?” His hand stroked her hair and she melted into him.

She tucked her head right under his chin. “No.”

“That’s okay, you’ll find it one day.”

How could he be so sure?

Vix felt something silky against her arms.

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