Page 63 of Catch a Tiger

She kissed the scar that went across the bridge of his nose and all the way around, slicing his head in half. It was full ofso much pain, held in place by memories full of screaming, but she didn’t look. Not yet. Those moments could wait, because she needed to convince him she really could be better.

“You’re an alpha,” she told him, the words so soft it almost sounded like a dirty secret echoing in an empty church. “You can even be my alpha, if you want. I’d let you, though I’m not always good at listening…or remembering.”

Moving down his body, she kept her eyes on his, wondering what he thought of that – why he was so still beneath her when he claimed to hate her.

Vix kissed the scar in the middle of his chest, eyes fluttering closed when she stole just a tiny bit of his pain and turned it back into energy –life.

Placing the flat of her tongue against the brutal scar, she licked up to the very top of it, watching the way Mylo just lay there. There was no scent other than his essence, no sound aside from his steady heartbeat, but the tiny inhale of breath was just a little bit shaky and his eyes wereglowing.

“Hello, Alpha,” she purred, reaching up to brush her thumb over his cheek, taking another sliver of pain from the scar there. “Why do you keep hiding from me when you’re so very pretty?”

A low growl in his chest warned her, but neither of them knew what he was trying to warn her about. It could be a promise of death or maybe a promise of life. Vix was willing to take the gamble regardless, because he was hers.

“My pretty alpha.” She rubbed her cheek against his and stole another sliver, proving to him she could be better. “Even if you’re notthealpha, you are what you are regardless. Just like me. I can’t shift, and I have no fur, but I’m still a fox.”

“You need to stop,” Mylo warned, his voice deep and delicious, and she shivered at the sound of it. “This is dangerous.”

“Stop what?” Vix didn’t dare sink her teeth into him. She was positive she’d break the skin and claim him without permission if she did.

“Stop playing games with me, kitten.”

“But I love a good game,” she purred, sitting back onto his stomach and spreading her thighs as far apart as she could to show him everything she could give him, everything he couldtake. “Don’t you, Alpha?”

His soft snarl made her grin and she licked her lips when his hands settled on her thighs, claws digging in. “This game is going to get you killed.”

“Probably,” she agreed, reaching up with both hands to run her fingers through her hair to tease him. “I knew that the moment I decided to come here with you, but I couldn’t resist. You saw how monstrous I am and told me you wanted me anyways, even if it’s just for Rune.”

“You don’t understand,” Mylo hissed, his eyes following her hands as she slid them down her sides. “If someone touches me…not even Rune or Samuel are immune to it and I love them. Imagine what I’ll do to you?”

Vix licked her lips, feeling those words vibrate through her bones with the sweet promise of pain. “As long as you don’t abandon me, you can do whatever you want to me. This body was made to bear the kind of agony evenyoumight not be able to comprehend.”

“What iswrongwith you?” Mylo growled, flipping her onto her back.

“Everything,” she breathed, mesmerized by the understanding she saw in his eyes.

Claws dug deep, and Mylo raked them up her thighs, her sides, her arms…all the way to her wrists until he was holding them above her head. He’d pulled back as he’d gone up, as if he couldn’t quite commit to tearing her all the way open.

Staring into those golden eyes, she waited, embracing the pain and making it hers, converting it to energy as she fed her body and let it heal.

Being able to feed on pain…it was both a blessing and a curse.

She could use it as sustenance, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel the pain. Everything she took, she felt as if it were happening to her – everything she experienced was branded into her body so it would never forget.

Only a fox could convert the agony and pain into life, easing some of the side effects of chaos that tortured everyone between birth and death.

Death was merciful, and Vix took comfort in the knowledge that those people wouldn’t suffer anymore when she took a job and that those around them wouldn’t suffer.

“Do you want the truth?” Mylo asked, dipping his head down so they were eye to eye.

“Yes.”

Was he really going to give it to her?

“You’re too broken.” He didn’t blink as he stared into her eyes, so she’d know he wasn’t lying.

The pain in her chest felt like she’d been struck by lightning and Vix tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let go.

“Everything about you disgusts me,” Mylo admitted, tracing the line of glyphs down her left arm. “How could I possibly want to claim someone who can’t even live in my world?”

---