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It was easy to forget that he was a gangster; easier still to forget he was a tiger-shifter, and now, so was she. Quinn was surprised at how easily she had accepted there were such things in the world living in plain sight with humans. It was, she reminded herself, difficult to discount not only what she had seen with her own eyes but experienced for herself. It was funny, if she stilled her mind and closed her eyes, she could see her tigress curled up by a large fire, grooming herself but ever watchful and attentive to Quinn’s needs.
“She’s still not happy with you,” she said as they stood on the balcony watching the waves dance with the shoreline.
He leaned down and nipped her shoulder. “She’ll get over it. Like her mistress, she revels in our lovemaking.”
Quinn laughed. “I don’t know that she sees that as negating the whole ‘you turned me without my consent.’”
He stilled. All the warm purring and affection she felt coming down the link suddenly stopped. “What about you, Quinn? Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Ask you? Because I didn’t know how you would react to even knowing our kind existed, and I sure as hell wasn’t willing to risk you saying no. What would you have said?”
“That’s the funny thing. I don’t really know. I think believing it would have been difficult unless you shifted. It would have been kind of difficult to refute it when there was a tiger staring back at me. And even when we were on the steamboat, I knew my life was about to change irrevocably, but I couldn’t have imagined the enormity of that change.”
“And now that you know?”
“Before I answer you, tell me, Bodie—what is it you feel? Sometimes I feel like there’s something you’re holding back—something you don’t allow to flow down the tether.”
“You are a very intelligent and empathic mate. I do hold something back, but I haven’t wanted to add to your distress.”
“Tell me,” she urged.
“I love you, Quinn. I know it’s too early for you to feel the same, which is why I didn’t let it show. But I’ve always known my fated mate would be the love of my life, and I grew up knowing you were out there, and that I just had to find you.”
“I don’t know that I can say that with the same certainty you did, but I do know I have strong feelings for you—feelings that I’ve never had for anyone. Is it love? It scares me to put that name on it, but I know the fear of what it is hasn’t prevented those feelings from taking root and growing. I know I would regret not having known you, and I’m not at all sure I want to find out if I could live without you. I’m sorry if that isn’t what you want to hear.”
“It’s honest, and that’s really more than I could hope for at this point. It is also very close to a declaration, and you will find your mate can be a patient man.”
She turned so that she was between Bodie and the railing. “Except when going all primal predator on me and claiming me without my consent.”
“You are never going to let me forget that, are you?”
“Never,” she said, turning back around to stare out into the distance. He wrapped his arms around her.
He nuzzled her hair. “Curiously, I like hearing you say ‘never’ as if you’re planning to be here with me for a long, long time.”
She leaned back into him, sighing contentedly. “I think that’s a fairly safe assumption.”
“At the risk of you and your tigress contemplating all the ways you can kill me in my sleep, you should know I will be going with you to meet Alvaro.”
“He’ll bolt if he sees you—”
“No, he won’t. I won’t let him. I will make sure he understands that I am now a part of your life and will be keeping you safe.”
“Well, I can tell him that, and I think I can reassure him that we can trust you.”
“And here comes the part where you try to ensure I will never have the ability to father children. You won’t be going. You will be staying here.”
She whirled around and kicked him in the shins. “I’m thinking higher until I decide if I’m going to let you father my children.” She kicked him again. The kicks weren’t overly effective as he was wearing jeans and her feet were bare. “This is my story, and you cannot just block me from being involved.”
“Do not kick me again,” he growled low. “I will keep you safe regardless of what you think about it. You will mind me, Quinn, I will make Alvaro understand, and I will bring you the information. If you like, I will take him a burner phone which should help keep things quiet.”
“He knows you. He knows you areEl Tigre. He thinks you’re part of the problem.”
“You don’t know that he thinks that. There are many in this city who understand that a lot of what I do keeps them safe.”
“Perhaps, but it’s a kind of lesser of two evils.”
