Tiger Time Read Free Page A

if you would return.”
     
    While he spoke, she noticed his body. He must have been two hundred and twenty pounds, all of it muscle. He had arms the size of her waist. He reminded her of one of the biker guys who came into the restaurant. His chin-length black hair and broad shoulders gave him a menacing look. The only thing that hinted he might have a softer side was his spectacular, ocean blue eyes. His hair, brushing against the collar of his shirt, made her want to run her hands through it to see if it was as soft as it looked. But not right now.
     
    “Back up. How do you know my name?”
     
    “Didn't you get the note I left on your door yesterday? My name is Ty Reynolds. I was a friend of your father’s.” He sat there on the couch watching her, careful not to move as if worried he’d scare her.
     
    Shock must have shown on her face, because before she could say anything, he added, “I'm not here to hurt you. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so already. I made a promise to your father that when you were old enough, I would tell you everything, and I would do everything I could to protect you.”
     
    My caseworker must have had the information wrong. If this man was a friend of dad’s, then he had to be a murder or into some deep shit. At this moment in time, however, she didn’t care. “I don't care who you are. I want you out of my apartment!” She walked over to her door and opened it. “Please leave.”
     
    “Listen, Tabitha, I know you’re scared, but you need to listen to me. Please just give me ten minutes.”
     
    “You broke into my apartment and now you want me to listen to you? I don't want anything to do with you.”
     
    He made no attempt to even move toward the door. “Tabitha, I know you’re not feeling like yourself. You’re running a fever of one hundred and one that no matter what you take, it won’t break. You can't sleep. Your body hurts and is sore. You feel your body doing things it hasn't before; you’re faster; you can smell and see better. If you read that note...just holding the paper would have eased the symptoms. I can help you if you will just listen to me.”
     
    “How do you know all of this?”
     
    “Because you’re a shapeshifting tiger.”
     
    A what? Tabitha stared at him in disbelief for a moment, unable to believe what she heard. Her vision narrowed as black dots danced before her eyes before blackness consumed her and she passed out.
     
    * * *
     
    When Tabitha came to, she was on her sofa with a wet wash rag on her forehead. She couldn’t believe how sweet and friendly the stranger was being. It wasn't something she expected from a man his size. He appeared more likely to throw a man across a bar than attend to a fainting woman.
     
    She tried to scoot away from him but there was nowhere to go on the couch.  He made the place feel small, he was so big. “I thought it might have been a nightmare.”
     
    “Sorry, it’s not. I’m real, and everything I have told you is the truth.” He handed her a glass of water as he talked.
     
    “How do you know about my fever and my other symptoms?”
     
    “All shifters have the same symptoms when they are going through the change. If you are among your clan, it would be less intense but still there.”
     
    “But this stuff is only in books and movies. It doesn't happen in real life.” Tabitha took the glass with a shaky hand, struggling to steady it as she raised it to her parched lips.
     
    He perched on the sofa next to her. The heat from his body warmed her even as the cool water slid down her throat.
     
    He brushed a strand of her hair away from her face, leaving a trail of fire on her skin. “I know it’s hard to believe. Trust me, I had a hard time believing it at first also. Your father is the one who helped me through it. I was a foster care child, just like you. If it wasn't for your father, I wouldn't have made it through. Tabitha, you’re going to need my help. I don't want to