Wanted By The Cowboy Tiger (Heroes of Shifter Creek 3) (4 page)

Chapter Five

Three Months Later

Krista

              In her apartment in the city, Krista sat upon her bed, surrounded by stylish pillows that cascaded down around her, and looked at the artifact she held in her hand. It was a locket, but it held no photo inside. There had been one. A faded edge of one was trapped in the hinge, the photo itself likely torn out long ago.

              “I have to go back,” Krista said out loud.

              The mystery still taunted her, invading her waking and slumbering thoughts, but her reasons to go back to the desert valley far surpassed her desire to figure out what happened to the lost settlers. She placed a hand over her growing stomach, knowing that the baby who grew inside may possess a very special ability.

***

Nothing about the desert had changed since Krista had left, running from the secret Bridget had revealed, running from the enemy that was also her lover. That was the beauty of the desert. It was a time stamp, reminding the modern to revere the past, even when the future was so uncertain.

              Krista pulled into the ranch. It was unkempt, losing the wonder it had before. The horses were huddled into their stables, the feed in their coral trays growing mold. The statue of the mustang in the courtyard was tarnished. It felt… defeated.

              Taking a deep breath, knowing her life would never be the same, Krista left her smart car, ready to reveal her own secret to Derek, a secret that would soon enter the world.

              “Derek!” she called from the courtyard. “We need to talk!”

              Derek did not answer her call, but someone did.

              Bridget.

              “What are you doing here?” the redhead snapped, emerging from the main building.

              “That’s a bit of a tired response, isn’t it?” Krista countered, in no mood to deal with the tigress.

              “You shouldn’t be here,” Bridget said. “You’re a threat to my people.”

              “I’m no threat,” she mumbled then called out again, “Derek!”

              “He’s not here,” Bridget revealed. “He hasn’t been here for some time.”

              Krista’s heart sank. It had taken her weeks to build up the courage to come back. She wasn’t sure she could a second time. “Where is he?”

              “None of your business,” Bridget said. “I suggest you leave.”

              “No,” Krista refused. “I’m not afraid of you.”

              It was what Bridget wanted to hear. “You should be,” she teased before transforming into a tiger.

              Krista didn’t flinch. Her instincts wanted her to run, but she knew that was what Bridget wanted, not because she was a tiger but because she was sadistic. She enjoyed her games.

              Growling, Bridget sprang, her paw held out to claw Krista to the otherworld, but she stopped midair and dropped to the ground, human once more, fully clothed.

              “You’re pregnant,” she muttered, stumbling over the words. “Is it Derek’s?”

              Bridget changing into a tigress and back into a human had not been the astonishing transformation. The astonishing transformation was the softness she now spoke with. Her menace was gone, beaten by the truth that lie in Krista’s belly.

              “It is,” Krista said. “I’m carrying his child.”

              To her further amazement, Bridget hugged her, tears in her eyes. “Our people are near extinction,” she said. “This is good news. Every child born means a chance of our survival.”

              So Bridget wasn’t so sadistic after all. She was just desperate to protect her people. Krista prided herself on her ability to analyze human behavior, it was what made her a decent anthropologist, but she had failed to see that behind Bridget’s temper was a woman desperate to save her own kind.

              “Where is Derek?” Krista asked again.

              “He’s in the city, looking for you.”

              This time, the tears swelled in Krista’s eyes. “Really?”

              “Of course.” Bridget took her hand. “But don’t worry. I’ll call him. Come into the house and rest, and by this evening, he’ll be here.”

***

“You’re pregnant?”

              Derek was stunned, frozen by the news. Standing next to him in his bedroom, a large suite fitted with dark furniture, Krista was sure he was going to pass out.

              He didn’t. Instead, he smiled broadly and picked her up into his arms. “Woo wee!” he shouted. “I’m gonna be a papa!”

              “You are,” Krista said, laughing as her brawny cowboy spun her around.

              “I went looking for you,” Derek said, setting her down, growing serious. “I wouldn’t have stopped until I found you.”

              “I know,” she said. “I’m glad.”

              Her words were simple, but they were weighed with emotion, an emotion that propelled them to the bed. Silent and admiring, Derek undressed her, venerating the beauty of her curves as he did.

              “You’re more gorgeous every time I see you,” he said, kissing her stomach.

              It was an affectionate kiss, but it turned into one much more provocative. He continued to kiss her, all the way down to her core. Pulling her closer to the edge of the bed, he spread her legs apart and pressed his tongue against her clit. He circled his tongue around, awakening her body as he drank in her femininity. She moaned with pleasure, savoring the caress of his tongue against her flesh, allowing it to ignite every nerve in her body.

              “I want you inside of me,” she said, pulling on his hair, lifting him back up to her. She helped him pull off his T-shirt and remove his jeans and boxers until he was as naked as she was, except for his cowboy hat, which she told him to keep on. It complimented his hard, tanned body perfectly.

              Raising her knees, she opened her legs wider, her core pulsing for him to enter her. When he did, sliding his cock into her wetness, her body convulsed with pleasure, relishing the feel of his cock against her inner flesh. He rode her like a gentleman, his movements sweet and smooth, until his need for her took charge. As the heat in her body rose, so did his pace, and he thrust into her with a profound desire, moving in and out of her as their bodies melded into one.

              She arched her back, taking all of him in, the heat within her peaking, sending her over the edge. As she came, she grabbed his backside, pushing him further into her. He came with her, shuddering as he released himself into her, her tiger.

              Later, as he held her in his arms, Krista told him about the locket she found. “The way the bones of the man reached out, I can’t help but feel he was reaching for whoever’s photo was in the locket.”

              “He was,” Derek proclaimed, surprising her. “The mystery of the lost settlers is no mystery at all, not to my people. They were a group of shifters – tigers, my ancestors. Their forefathers and foremothers had come to America long before them, but it’s not easy to hide your tiger form in a land tigers are not native to. Eventually, the settlers were pushed out West, running from those who hunted them. They thought they were safe here, but a group of hunters caught up to them and massacred them. Very few survived.”

              “That’s terrible,” Krista said, borrowing tighter into his arms. “Why didn’t the survivors leave?”

              “They were tired of running. The hunters continued on, searching. So the survivors stayed, hiding in the plateaus, letting the hunters wander ahead. It was within the plateaus that they buried those who were massacred, hiding their bodies. Some, like the man you found, had been killed as they shifted, caught between the world that murdered them and the world they were most free.”

              “And the locket?” Krista asked.

              Dermott chuckled, though it was a mix of sadness and amusement. “Actually, Bridget has the photo that goes inside. It’s a photo of her great-something grandmother, whose husband was killed saving his wife and children. The bones you found are her family.”

              “Does she know?”

              “She will once you give her the locket.”

              “How devastating,” Krista sighed, “to be torn apart so brutally from the one you love.”

              Derek cupped her face into his hand and kissed her tenderly. “I have a small notion of how it feels.”

              “Never again,” she said, smiling into his piercing blue eyes. “We’ll never be torn apart again. We’re a family now, all three of us. And all our children to come. We won’t go extinct.”

***

THE END

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Clara Moore
is a Canadian born Romance writer that currently lives between Toronto and Albuquerque. She has always had an interest in animals as well as love stories. She started her career as a reporter for wildlife magazines and decided that the stories needed a little enhancement to become truly hers. Since them she writes paranormal romance books.

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Here is
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Wanted by the Billionaire Wolf

By:
Clara Moore