Page 2 of Mounted By Her Weretiger Mate

“I want you as my maid of honor,” Sasha squealed excitedly. “We’re not set on a date yet, but I’ll do anything to make sure you’re there. I couldn’t do this without my best girl.”

You certainly got engaged without me, I thought venomously, but I did my best not to let it show.

“Of course I will,” I said, pulling her into another hug to hide the conflicted look on my face. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Are you three going to stand here all day, or are we eventually going into the jungle?” came a gruff voice from behind me. All three of us turned to look, our eyes falling on a tall, powerfully-built man with deep auburn hair and a dark tan.

“You’re Jake?” Sasha asked, frowning at the man’s rudeness. “Is there a problem?”

“No, I just want to do my job and be done with it. I don’t like being out in the jungle more than I have to be, and the less time we’re in there, the better.”

“What’s wrong with the jungle?” I asked, turning my gaze toward the guide. My heart fluttered. There was something about him, something about the way he moved so fluidly, or how his eyes stared deep into my own as he spoke. I wasn’t sure if I should feel scared of him simply be in awe. He moved like poetry in motion.

“There are things in the trees that neither you, nor I want to meet, Miss…?”

“Lana. Lana Thomas,” I said, licking my lips nervously as those gorgeous, Lana-colored eyes burned into my own. Something began to burn inside of me that I hadn’t felt in such force since my college days—lust.

“Well, then, Ms. Thomas, I hope you and your friends here will take my advice and make our trip as short as possible.”

“What’s so scary out there? A tiger on the loose?” Sasha asked, leaning her weight against Tristan.

“Something like that,” Jake said with a deep frown. “I’ve been ready to leave since before you arrived. I suggest you drop what you don’t need and get ready to move out.”

“Yes, mien Fuhrer,” Sasha muttered as Jake turned and strode off to check one more thing before our departure. “What a dick.”

“Maybe,” I mumbled, biting on my knuckle as I watched him. Something about him seemed so restless, on edge, but at the same time, confident and self-assured. He was a mystery wrapped in an enigma, and my curiosity was more than a little piqued. I loved a good puzzle.

Within the next hour, we were off toward what Jake informed us was an unused game trail that would lead us toward the center of Sasha’s proposed wildlife reserve. From there, Sasha would begin recording what species she could find and I would take pictures of the wildlife and the possible effects human development was having in the area. It didn’t seem exciting at first, but the more I thought about the good I would be doing with these pictures, the more excited I became.

But I couldn’t deny that I found our guide infinitely more interesting. The air of mystery and loneliness surrounding him made something within me yearn to comfort him, to soothe whatever ailed him. I needed to know his story.

“You don’t have to be by yourself, you know,” I said, sitting down beside Jake after we’d stopped to camp for the night. “It’s almost like you don’t like us.”

“I don’t not like you,” he said, tearing off a piece of beef jerky and starting to chew. “I just don’t get along well with other people. I don’t really get along with myself very well, either.”

“Well, let’s change that. I’m pretty easy to get along with. That’s what I’ve been told, anyway,” I said, holding out a hand. “So, let’s start over with a little less rudeness—I’m Lana.”

“Jake,” he said begrudgingly after a long moment of silence. “Nice to meet you, Lana.”

“You too,” I said, a grin spreading across my lips. “Not so hard, right? We’ll make a real person out of you yet.”

Jake scoffed, shaking his head before standing up. His movement was so sudden that I hardly registered it happening until he was a few feet away from me. How was he so fast?

“Great talk,” he said snidely. “Really feel improved as a person now. Thanks.”

“Dick,” I hissed, watching him move away through the trees in the dimming light of the evening. Maybe I was wrong about him. Maybe he is that big of a jerk.

I tried not to think about Jake as I finished my meal and got ready for bed, which was fairly easy, because I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him since we’d spoken ever so briefly.

As I prepared to get into my tent for the night, I felt the urge to answer the call of nature somewhere away from camp. I was sure we’d decided where something like that would happen, but I’d been far too busy ogling our guide’s corded arms to pay attention. As such, I simply wandered a few yards away from camp, hoping to find a spot suitable to my need for privacy.

I never found any privacy, but something else certainly found me.

I’d gone far enough away from camp that I was almost positive no one would disturb me when from the darkness between the slim trunks of the trees came a low, rumbling growl that shook me to my very core.

All at once, a primal fear awoke within me, my mind responding to a long-ingrained instinct passed down from our primordial ancestors. I wanted to run as fast as I possibly could in the opposite direction of the horrible growling, knowing that my only hope for survival lay in the strength of my legs.

But what if it caught me? What if it leapt at me as I tried to flee and tore me to shreds? I was frozen, locked in place by the paralytic effects of my own indecision and panic.

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