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“Boone, no,” she said. “You can’t sleep in my bed.”
He chuffed, and she joined him, shoving on one meaty hip. “Get up, big guy.”
He growled and nudged her arm with his head.
“Are you serious right now?” she said. “Boone, get out of my bed.”
This time, the tiger’s chuff sounded dejected, and she sighed before gripping the tiger’s head in her hands and staring directly into his jade eyes. “Boone, can you hear me in there? Your tiger is being weird. Can you shift to your human form, please?”
The tiger blinked at her before yawning. She stared at his teeth before sighing again. “Fine. You can lie in bed with me for fifteen minutes. Then you have to return to your bed. Got it?”
He chuffed in what she hoped was agreement, and she opened her bedroom door enough for the tiger to slip out before climbing into bed and pulling up the covers. She flinched when Boone rubbed his head against her face and neck before licking her forehead with his rough tongue.
“Hey, keep the tongue to yourself, big guy,” she said.
He growled and rubbed his head across her mouth. She sputtered out a mouthful of tiger fur. “And stop marking me. Your grandmother will have a fit when she smells me tomorrow.”
Boone chuffed and marked her again. She poked him in his shoulder. “Boone, enough.”
She’d never seen a tiger pout before. She rolled her eyes as he stared at her. “Don’t look at me like that.”
He let his head drop onto her chest, and after a few seconds, she rubbed and stroked his head, scratching behind his ears and along his throat. He purred deafeningly, and she smiled a little. His purring was the perfect white noise, and the heat from his big body was nice. She rubbed his forehead and reached to shut off the lamp on the nightstand.
“Fifteen minutes,” she said into the dark room. “Then back to your own bed. Got it?”
His purring cut out for a few seconds before starting again, and she stroked his head as she closed her eyes.
CHAPTER 5
“Good luck today,” Hedra said to Boone.
He grinned at her as he filled his to-go mug with coffee. “Thanks, but I won’t need it. I could do this assignment in my sleep.”
“You seem particularly happy this morning, Boone.” Nan sat at the table, Alfie on her lap and scrambled eggs on the plate in front of her. She stared at Hedra, who willed herself not to blush.
Last night, she’d fallen asleep before Boone’s fifteen minutes were up. She’d woken alone in her bed this morning. Knowing she would smell like Boone, she’d braced herself when she walked into Althea’s bedroom. To her utter shock, Althea hadn’t said a word to her about Boone’s marking.
Relieved but also confused - maybe Boone hadn’t marked her like she thought - she’d helped Althea shower and dress before helping her walk to the kitchen. She’d left Althea sipping her coffee and slipped back to her room. Wondering if she’d dreamed the whole thing last night, she checked the bed. Orange hairs on the quilt confirmed that Boone had been in her room last night.
She’d returned to the kitchen to make Althea’s breakfast. Boone had joined them, and the awkwardness she expected hadn’t materialized. He’d been in a good mood while he cooked his breakfast, teasing Nan gently and even tossing Alfie a piece of bacon. He hadn’t said a word about sleeping in her bed last night, and while she hadn’t expected him to, at least not in front of his grandmother, his casual ease around her had thrown her for a loop.
“Boone,” Nan said, “why are you in such a good mood this morning?”
Boone slipped into his jacket before adding milk and sugar to his coffee. “I slept great last night for the first time in a while.”
He leaned down and kissed Nan’s forehead. “Love you, Nan. I’ll see you tonight. Be good for Hedra, please.”
“I’m not a toddler,” Nan said grumpily.
He grinned. “I know. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said.
“Bye, Hedra,” Boone said.
“Bye, Boone.” Hedra waited until the front door closed before she said, “Do you want another piece of toast, Althea?”
Althea stared silently at her, and Hedra met her gaze steadily for about thirty seconds before looking away, touching the small blue opal on her septum ring self-consciously. “We didn’t have sex.”
