They were still on this road as the sun moved slowly westward, but they’d left behind flatlands for small mountain ridges that hugged the horizon and made the road bend around them. Carly had switched with Walker again, but she remained in the front, her sunglasses on against the glare.
She looked as neat and edible as she had when Tiger had first met her—she standing on the side of the road in pristine white, one hand holding her cell phone, fingers of the other splayed on her shapely hip.
Some instinct buried inside him had told Tiger that she was his mate. No other.
And Tiger had been right. No woman not a mate of the heart would be so determined to help him, so ready to endanger herself to help him get away.
Tiger wouldn’t let her endanger herself much longer.
The afternoon grew hot, then hotter. Walker turned off on another road that led into rocky hills and canyons. The road became dirt, the SUV shaking over ruts and washboard grading.
After about an hour or so on this road, traveling at a crawl, Walker pulled over. There was nothing out here except heated sky and rock, with trees and scrub clinging to the sides of the canyons. No other cars, no buildings, nothing.
“Carly, how good are you at reading maps?” Walker asked.
“Pretty good,” Carly said. “I go on road trips with my sisters. They talk instead of watching the road, and they never pay attention to their GPS, if they even turn it on. So I navigate. Put it another way, I yell at them to not miss the turn.”
“No GPS service in this truck,” Walker said. “And it’s best if you don’t turn on your cell phone. If you can read a map, I’ll show you. If not, I’ll just tell you.”
“No trouble about my cell phone. It’s broken.” She shot a look at Tiger. “Show me the map.”
Tiger waited while Walker spread out a map on the seat and pointed out the roads she needed to take to lead her back to the freeway and on to El Paso. She’d cross the border there and take more back roads to where she could pick up Tiger.
“And you’ll be . . . ?” Carly asked him.
“With Tiger.”
“Oh,” she said. “Good.” Carly glanced over the seat again at Tiger. “Someone to take care of you.”
Tiger wasn’t sure having Walker come along was the best idea. He knew he’d end up taking care of Walker, not the other way around.
Tiger opened the back door and stepped out of the SUV. He flexed his cramped muscles—he didn’t like being confined for long stretches of time.
He sniffed the air, smelling nothing but grasses, wind, earth. No pollution, no scent of humans touching the breeze. Clean, fresh, beautiful. A wild place, which called to his heart. He wanted to shift and run, never stop running.
He heard Carly leave the SUV, her sneakers crunching on the gravel of the road. Tiger went around the vehicle to her, catching her before she made it to him.
Her eyes were luminous in the sunlight, which burned her hair with golden highlights. “See you soon,” Carly said softly.
Tiger pushed her against the side of the SUV, his body hemming hers in. He put his fingers under her chin, turning her face to his.
“Mate of my heart,” he said. “You always will be. No matter what.”
Carly’s eyes shone with tears. “Remember when I said I thought I was falling in love with you? Well, I think I have. All the way.”
Tiger slid his arm behind her back and pulled her against him, the length of her body along his. He studied her, memorizing her face, her green eyes with the silver gray flecks.
He kissed her, a light touch of lips, fixing her taste in his mind. Always Carly. Always mine.
Tiger kissed her again, this kiss deepening. Carly made a noise in her throat as her body fitted itself inside the curve of his.
Her body was soft where he was firm, rounded where Tiger was flat with muscle. He loved every part of her. The memory of Carly’s warmth would wrap him when he was cold, the thought of her kiss would feed him when he was hungry.
He pressed her back into the warm metal of the SUV, wanting to climb inside her and never come out. Mating frenzy. Here and now.
Tiger kissed her, and Carly kissed him back. His mouth moved on hers, their tongues tangling. The soft sounds Carly made had his cock growing harder, every moment with her making him want to have her one more time.
Walker cleared his throat on the other side of the SUV.
Tiger eased away from Carly, his heart pounding, his temperature soaring, the beast in him angry. He didn’t trust himself to speak as he took one step back and forced his hands to slide from her sides.
Carly looked up at him, her eyes moist, then she reached out and brushed a finger across his burning cheek. “I’ll see you, Tiger. In about five or so hours. Depending on how long it takes me to cross. And then we’ll have time.”
Time. Yes.
In the cage, he’d had nothing but time. Wasted time. Now Tiger wanted to hang on to every bit of time—with her.
“We’ll fix this,” Carly said. “All right?”
Yes, Tiger would fix it. He had to. The thought of being without Carly was tearing him apart.
He took another step back. Carly swallowed and looked away, walking quickly around the back of the SUV to the drivers’ side. Tiger followed her, Walker stepping aside so that Tiger could help Carly into the SUV and close its door.
“Be careful,” she told him through the open window. “I want to see you again.”
Tiger didn’t answer. He leaned in through the window and kissed her again.
Touching her face one last time, Tiger stepped back, waiting while she started up the SUV, then watched her turn it around and head back down the washboard road.
Walker buckled his utility belt around him. “You all right?”
Tiger kept his eyes on the SUV, watching the lights flare as Carly slowed to go down a wash. A line of dust in Carly’s wake spiraled into the solid-blue sky.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Tiger’s chest felt hollow, as though someone had kicked him repeatedly. He needed Carly with him every second—every moment away from her was one too long.
“Tiger?” Walker said.
“Fine.” Tiger made himself turn away. “We should go.” Better get there and meet up with her again as quickly as he could.
“Follow me, and don’t deviate,” Walker said. “We’re going into a dangerous area—drug runners and coyotes use it. Coyotes meaning the guys who run people across the border in exchange for their life savings, not the mangy animals that howl.”
Tiger had heard of these coyotes, and the drug runners who shot those who got in their way. But they were the least of his worries. In fact, he’d make sure that they needed to worry about him.
He paused for a moment to remove his clothes while Walker discreetly looked the other way. Once undressed, Tiger packed his clothes into a waterproof belt pack Walker had brought for him, handed it to Walker, and shifted to his tiger.
The world changed. Scents and sound rushed at him, the beast gleeful to be in open country, far from the confinement of Shiftertown. Tiger stretched, shaking himself out.
Walker had gone wide-eyed, his scent betraying his startled wariness at watching Tiger’s change. Then Walker swallowed his misgivings, came to Tiger, and hooked the belt with Tiger’s clothes around his middle.
The appendage felt a little strange, but Tiger would have to get used to it. He raised his head, sniffed the wind, and followed Walker down the hill, slinking into the shadows of the rocky hills.
Carly breathed a sigh of relief when the SUV hit pavement. The jarring and rattling stopped, and the ride became smooth.