Page 13 of Tiger Betrayal

“I don’t hate you,” he said. “And when I say I wish I did, I mean it would be best for you if I did. I’m not good,” he repeated. “I’m…” There was a helplessness in his striking eyes. “I’m not a match for anyone, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting it. You know?”

Oof. Her heart hurt. She could understand that feeling. She nodded slightly. “Did you have a big relationship that hurt you?” she guessed.

Stellan sat back down at the table. “I like this. I like the not-small talk. Small talk pisses me off. I like the big questions.” Now they were getting somewhere. “I had a girl. She was the one to me when I was younger, before I got messed up. Something happened and it changed me, and she couldn’t do it.” He shook his head and averted his eyes, like he was hiding pain. “The change inside of me wasn’t her fault. It was mine. But I wanted her to keep me.”

There was a pain building in Laramie’s chest. This was the most honest conversation she’d had with anyone in years. Maybe ever.

“That must’ve been hard.”

“It was a long time ago,” he said. “You asked if I had a girl before. I did, but she belonged to the before.”

“The before?” she asked.

“When I was still myself. Before I became…” He gestured to himself.

“Before you became what?” she asked, desperate for clarity.

He huffed a breath. “Come on,” he said softly.

Confused, Laramie shook her head.

He held her gaze and his eyes seemed to lighten as he said it again, even softer. “Come on. I’m not like those guys in there.”

“Stellan, what are you saying?” she asked, needing him to spell it out for her, whatever he was trying to tell her.

“Forget it,” he said in a rush. “This is wrong. It’s a bad idea.” He grabbed his food and strode off.

“I want you to stay,” she said plainly. “With me.”

He shook his head hard and turned for her, strode straight for her, dropped his lunch at the table and locked his arm on the wood, then gripped her throat gently with his free hand invaded her space completely as his face drove toward hers. An inch away from her lips, he paused, his gaze boring into her. His pupils were so small right now, and his eyes looked a fiery gold. Chills trembled up her spine as his attention dipped to her lips, then back up.

“I can hear your heart beating,” he whispered, so close. “It’s racing so fast.”

Oh, he was teasing her? She didn’t like teasing. Defiant and bold, she pushed toward him and kissed him, then bit his bottom lip gently before she eased back.

His eyes were still open, but now the teasing smile was gone from his lips, and the look of a hunter had taken over his expression.

Chills, chills, chills.

He leaned in and hovered his lips millimeters from hers, and then he pressed his lips to hers. His hand went from her throat to the back of her neck and held her in place as he kissed her. His tongue brushed hers, and then he was done. He ended the kiss and stood to his full height. His face seemed sharper. He looked different, and his eyes even looked an odd shape.

Now her heart was really racing. She didn’t know why this question tumbled from her lips. She only knew she couldn’t help it. She needed to know. “I have another big question,” she told him. “It’s not a small-talk question.”

He cocked his head and looked more animal than man. “Ask.”

“Are you human?”

A slow, feral smile stretched his lips. “You’re getting warmer,” he murmured.

And with that non-answer, Stellan left all of their food on the table and walked away. She watched him stride across the entire empty lot. Watched him pull his coveralls back over his muscular shoulders, and zip them up.

She watched for him to look back at her, but he didn’t. Not until he reached the door.

Only then did he cast a look back at her in the split second before he disappeared inside.

Laramie sat there with the back of her hand pressed against her throbbing lips.

The butterflies in her stomach were rioting.