Page 56 of Catch a Tiger

Making them watch her take their silver blades that weren’t actually silver.Forcingthem to witness the moment she ripped their wings from their body – their most priceless piece. His kitten stoleeverythingfrom them.

Including their name.

This little thing in his bed could overpower an angel. She could push offRunelike it was nothing. Exactly how strong was she? Her speed…her speed reminded him of the vampires, the ones who possessed the rank of duchess or higher.

Empress perhaps.

Somehow he was back at the foot of his bed, staring down at the woman who looked like a vampire too – might even be one. How would they know when they couldn’t scent her? Vampires possessed fangs and claws as well…

But their eyes didn’t glow the same way a shifter’s did.

Those golden eyes and black claws were shredding though his sanity, weren’t they?

What a monstrous little thing she was.

A small wrinkle formed between her eyebrows and he was smoothing it away before he could stop himself. She let out a little sigh and stretched her arms just like a housecat would before purring so loud she was bound to wake up from the force of it.

“You did a magnificent job on her hair,” he murmured, pulling it away from her face completely and gently setting it aside so as not to tickle her skin. “The oils almost hide the fact she possesses no scent.”

Only theirs all mixed up with a subtle hint of tropical spice.

“None,” Samuel agreed, his deep voice rougher than usual. “Can a scent be stolen?”

“I’ll look into it.” But he’d never heard a whisper of that before, not even in the hellhole he’d been in for years and years. Still, it would give him something to do. Perhaps distract him from this obsession he had with her.

Every time he tried to dig his claws into her skin, he found himself brushing his thumb over her cheek, her jaw, those devastating freckles that were so stark against her pale skin…like stars against the night sky.

She liked his scars for the same reason.

Mylo suddenly felt like the pristine suit holding him together was choking the fucking life out of him. He turned and yanked off the blazer and vest, tossing them onto the armchair in the corner as he heaved air into his lungs.

Claws tore the shirt from his skin until it was nothing but scraps as he moved toward the closet without even thinking.

Grabbing another pair of sweatpants, Mylo couldn’t change fast enough. His chest was too tight—hisskinsuffocating withso many fucking clothes wrapping him up all snug like the straitjacket he’d been forced to wear on special occasions.

He could finally breathe when all he wore were sweatpants that were identical to the ones he’d given her and nothing else. His rings stayed, but that was it.

What thehellwas wrong with him?

Samuel was right there, ready to shove him in a cage if that was what Mylo needed. It was a bit of a relief to see if he was honest with himself.

Ruffling his hair out of the slicked-back style, he eyed the woman in his bed that didn’t look the least bit disturbed by all his thrashing about. Her black claws dangled off the edge of the bed with her arms outstretched like that and Mylo found himself back by her side, touching the tip of one claw with the pad of his finger.

They were wicked sharp, but she was always so careful with them…they never left her either. Not like her eyes that could still shift between the deepest blue of her human half to the icy golden fire of her…shifter half.

Mylo was feeling reckless and there was no pristine suit to hold him back anymore – nothing left to pretend he wasn’t an abused animal that couldn’t trust anyone other than the owner who had rehabilitated him and the one he’d claimed for himself.

Pressing the pad of his thumb to her top lip, he gently lifted it to see the canines were still there on the top and bottom of her mouth. Those never left either, just like his. Mylo hadn’t been able to regain the ability to shift those in and out after they’d taken them a few too many times.

He hated her for this.

Wanting to touch someone was such a foreign concept. He still barely tolerated it from Rune and Samuel. The only touch he could stand was that of violence. And yet…

The kitten purred when he released her lip to brush his knuckles over her cheek.

He needed to be closer.

Mylo was on the bed before he’d even had the conscious thought to do something about that need. He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her closer until her back was against his chest, propping his head up on his fist to watch her sleep like his violation of her personal space didn’t bother her at all.

---