Tygers Read online

  She was responding. Katie always responded to him this way, this eagerly. Keith knew she’d be like this when he kissed her earlier.

  He pushed his body up onto his knees far enough to cup her breasts in his hands. Katie pulled her head back, and Keith was afraid she would stop him, but she looked at him helplessly and arched her shoulders to force herself further into his hands. He dropped his face and pulled her halter back to bare her breast to his mouth. Her sharp cry of pleasure drove him on to fondle and suck at her wildly.

  Keith captured her mouth again and plundered it gently but insistently while his hands moved to her jeans. Every movement was ecstasy and every moment a torture where he was convinced that she would tell him to stop. Keith caressed her through her jeans, and Katie dropped her legs to push herself to his hand while her hands pulled at his shirt. That was all the encouragement he needed.

  He unbuttoned her jeans and eased them down to bare her to her thighs. As he slid his hand to stroke the soft curls between her thighs, she moaned loudly and rolled her hips against him in a mute plea. Keith slipped a finger inside her and sighed at how ready she was for him. Hot, slick lubricant coated him already, and he moved slowly against the tight muscles of her, while Katie sobbed and arched against him again.

  “You like that,” he mused. “Do you still want more?”

  She stilled so suddenly that Keith felt cold. Please God, not now. Don’t make me stop, now. His mind sent out his silent plea even as he steeled himself for just that. Her eyes were hopeless, and he felt his heart sink in response.

  “Keith, I don’t typically do this,” she admitted quietly.

  He removed his hands slowly.

  She looked as if she was about to cry. “What I mean is— I want to, but I didn’t plan for this. I don’t have— Maybe we could—” Katie bit her lower lip and stared at him miserably, as her meaning sank in.

  Keith felt a smile touch his lips and kissed her gently. “I didn’t plan for this either, but if you promise not to be angry with me, I’ll tell you a secret,” he teased.

  She looked at him expectantly, and he pulled a wrapped condom from his front pocket. Her eyes widened as she locked on the foil pack, and he set it aside. She followed its path to the blanket then met his eyes again.

  He couldn’t gauge how she felt about it. “I was in the restroom at Vincent’s.” He shrugged. “Are you angry?”

  Katie shook her head slowly. “No,” she whispered.

  “We don’t have to do this,” he offered. “If you don’t want to—” Just saying it hurt, but Keith wouldn’t give her any reason to believe that he expected it of her, even now. If she were uncomfortable, he would back off. He had to, though he prayed that backing off would only last as far as one of their beds.

  She answered him by undoing the buttons on his jeans slowly. He reached for the pack, but she brushed his hand away.

  “Not yet,” she told him in a hoarse voice.

  He watched in fascination as she freed him and ran her hands over his rigid length. His eyes closed and his head rolled forward to his chest.

  “Lay down,” she instructed him.

  Keith looked at her, watched as she undressed him and herself. Her hands caressed his entire body, and her mouth followed. Finally, Katie took his length into her mouth, and he bucked beneath her. Katie responded by teasing him with her tongue and teeth before taking him in deeply again.

  He stilled her with his hands. “Katie, I can’t wait anymore,” he pleaded. His need was so urgent it bordered on painful.

  She ripped open the packet and rolled the condom over him quickly, shaking lightly as she touched him. He cupped her shoulders and pulled her over him to kiss her. Then he rolled her beneath him and slid inside her hot, tight depths. She cried out into his mouth and her muscles clenched around him. Not a virgin, but so damn close. So damn tight. Keith could feel how unaccustomed Katie was to what she was experiencing, and it thrilled him.

  Keith stilled and waited for her body to open to him. He saw her eyes widen in surprise before her legs wrapped around him again and she lifted herself further onto him. Her eyes registered shock at the sensations. She moved again, and her muscles relaxed into the motion that time.

  He started moving within her, matching her quickening motions. She threw back her head and cried out. Her muscles contracted around him. Keith’s control shattered. Two deep thrusts later, he joined her in the mind-altering oblivion. If Keith cried out, he didn’t realize it. The only thing left to him was the reality of Katie under his hands, outlined in the dim light from the screen.

  Keith rained kisses over her face, neck, and breasts. “Now, will you come home with me?” he asked quietly, knowing he wasn’t ready to let her go yet—if he ever would be.

  Katie smiled wickedly. “Only if we can do that again,” she answered simply.

  “I bought three at Vincent’s, but I can’t seem to get enough of you. If you come home with me, I have a whole box,” he offered.

  She ran her mouth up his neck to his jaw and nibbled just below his ear, making him want her again.

  “Buy another box,” she murmured next to his ear. “I can’t seem to get enough of you.”

  Keith moaned as he felt himself harden even more powerfully than the first time. “At this rate, I’ll buy a case,” he growled.

  Katie smiled as he reached for the second packet.

  * * *

  At first, Katheryn wasn’t sure what woke her. She squinted her eyes against the bright sunlight streaming through the thin drapes and reminded herself that she had her reasons to be a night owl. She did her best work at night; but more than that, Katheryn hated the harsh morning light. She always preferred sunsets to sunrises.

  The sound came again, a muted buzzer. Katheryn groaned and rolled to sweep her hand around for the jeans she knew were somewhere on the floor with the pager stuffed in the front pocket. Just as she pulled the offending piece of electronics up, Keith moved up behind her to spoon her into his warm, hard body.

  His lips caressed her shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her possessively. “No. Whatever it is, it can wait,” he murmured into her skin.

  “Just let me check. I can’t imagine anyone who works with me paging me this early, especially on a Sunday.”

  His laugh rumbled against her. “They know you better than that,” he surmised.

  “Yes, they do, which means it’s either a mistake or very important.”

  Keith lifted his body and rolled her beneath him. Katheryn felt him harden against her thigh and moaned in response.

  His hand closed over hers, trapping the pager inside. “Let me open that box first,” he requested.

  Katheryn smiled and bucked against him. His curse half-disappeared into her mouth with the searing kiss he laid on her. Every time was more explosive than the time before, and this time looked to be no different. After their second round in the car, they partially dressed for the ride back to Keith’s house, and they barely made it as far as his bed, kissing and petting at each other hotly as they covered the distance between the door and his room. Katheryn wouldn’t have cared if they made it no further than the back of the door, but Keith was intent. He wanted her in his bed, and nothing was going to dissuade him from that one thought. Afterward, Katheryn had no desire to leave and let him know that before he had the chance to plead for her to stay.

  His free hand came up to cup her breast—and his phone rang. Perfect timing. Keith growled a series of curses into her neck.

  She started laughing in spite of herself. “Face it. We’re in high demand. You answer that while I check mine. Then we’ll unplug the phone and throw my pager in the disposal.”

  He smiled. “Yeah, right. Tell me another one,” he teased as he rolled to grab the phone. “I know a bridge for sale in New York.”

  Katheryn’s smile disappeared as she read the message on her pager. “Oh no,” she breathed. She dropped it on the bed and started pulling on her clothes. Katheryn hiked her je
ans over her hips and turned to face Keith as she buttoned them.

  His face mirrored hers. “Yes, Carol. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he was saying, reaching for his own jeans.

  Katheryn didn’t wait to hear the whole story. She pulled on her shirt from the floor, pushing her hands through the closed cuffs impatiently and cursing herself for leaving her halter in the SUV the previous night. She dragged on her socks and shoes without untying the latter. When she finished, Katheryn was amazed to see that Keith was already pulling on his shoes, having foregone socks.

  He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door. “Kyle is missing,” he informed her.

  “I know. She paged me first.”

  “She’s checked the house and the playground already.” He pulled the door closed behind them, and they both sprinted to the corner.

  Katheryn winced at the thought that Carol had been so close to his door when she was at the playground. If she had knocked— Well, she was about to figure it out anyway, Katheryn realized. What other excuse could there be for them showing up together on foot while her car was parked at his house at shy of eight o’clock on a Sunday morning.

  “Why did she go all the way home again?” she asked.

  “She’s panicked, and she wanted to check the house again.”

  Katheryn nodded. “He hides. He’s not far,” she decided.

  Keith yelled out her name as he stopped at Carol’s porch and she kept running. “Where are you going?” he continued.

  She turned toward the small path leading down the mountainside from Sterling Street and glanced back at him. His face was drawn into a mixture of concern and confusion.

  “Take care of Carol. I need to check something.”

  “Do you know where he went?” he demanded.

  Katheryn shrugged. “Maybe.” She was sure, but not because she was reading Kyle. She shouldn’t be so sure, but she was. Katheryn was always sure when it was something like this. “Take care of Carol while I check.”

  With that, she launched down the steep, narrow track. There was only one place Kyle would go, where Ty would take him. He’s going back to the beginning.

  The thought assaulted her, and she stumbled. Katheryn dragged herself up off her hands and knees painfully and started running again. That was different. Ty was chasing her. He was looking for her. Like, he isn’t chasing you, now?

  She shook away the voices inside her head. “No,” Katheryn assured herself aloud. “That was totally different.” She barely glanced at the clearing as she passed it. He wasn’t there.

  They’re not there, Katie-girl. The voice seemed to mock her. It wasn’t Ty’s voice. Katheryn wished she knew who the obnoxious stranger was, so she could kill the bitch and be done with her.

  Katheryn shook her head at the burned-out shell of a car in the middle of the clearing. It was too new to be the same one, and she wondered if there was a never-ending line of vehicles abandoned there after joyrides and stripping. It was likely, she surmised. Katheryn shrugged off the thought and poured on more speed.

  She was forced to slow down to pick her way onto the plateau, but it was just above her now, and Katheryn was more sure than ever that Kyle was there. She stood, shaking and gasping for breath at the top. Her legs would barely carry her forward, and the nagging ache in her knee spoke of damage from the fall she took.

  Kyle sat near the edge, still in his Batman pajamas. The Siberian tiger poked from under his arm. His back was to her, so she couldn’t see his face. Was Kyle awake or sleepwalking? If only he wasn’t so close to the edge, she could risk startling him. As it was, Katheryn had to be very careful. She couldn’t risk him sliding off before she had a good grip on him.

  As she inched closer to her nephew, Katheryn tried to keep her attention on the boy and not the drop just beyond him. She shivered at the shattered memories of this place. She couldn’t see the drop last time, but she knew it was there just the same. Katheryn moaned as she locked on the long drop, and a sour taste invaded her mouth.

  She looked at her feet and inched forward again. Kyle was depending on her. Katheryn was the adult now. He was the helpless child. Her last strand of rational thought was that she couldn’t fall if she stayed behind Kyle, just stayed back. Ty wasn’t here this time—or was he? Katheryn froze for an instant and forced herself to reason past the gathering panic. Ty didn’t have a physical form. Even if he was here, Ty couldn’t hurt her.

  Katheryn could see the blue of Kyle’s pajamas not far from the toe of her shoe. All she had to do was reach out and pull him back. It would be over. She stretched down to him very slowly.

  The tiger caught her attention. She furrowed her brow as its head moved. The sewn lips stretched and parted into a parody of a smile full of sharp teeth.

  “Hello, Katie-girl,” it greeted her in Ty’s voice. Before Katheryn could react, a forepaw flashed out at her, and she felt the burn of sharp claws in her arm.

  Katheryn was suddenly five years old again. Memories flooded her mind as the tiger laughed a harsh, mocking laugh. She scrambled back from the edge and screamed in revulsion.

  * * *

  Carol opened the door as soon as his hand connected with the wood. Her eyes were wild and red from crying. Keith guided her back to the kitchen and handed her a glass of ice water to calm her nerves.

  He glanced at the clock over the sink. It was just about eight. “When did you realize he was gone?” he asked.

  “At seven. I got up to get ready for church, and Kyle wasn’t in his bed. He was just gone, Keith.”

  “Have you called the police?”

  “Yes. Just before I called you. I called Katie and paged her, but she hasn’t called me back.” Carol wrapped her arms around her knees and looked at the phone miserably. “Why doesn’t she call?”

  Keith blushed. He couldn’t let her worry, shouldn’t let her. He just hoped Katie would forgive him. “She’s already searching, Carol,” he replied quietly.

  She looked at him in a stunning mixture of surprise and confusion. “But, how?”

  “She was at my place when you paged her,” he admitted. “She sent me in to you while she looked for him.”

  Carol sighed raggedly and her shoulders dropped in obvious relief. To his surprise, she laughed a nervous laugh that seemed to signal release of tension while tears pooled in her eyes. “Good,” she decided. “He’ll be home soon, then.”

  Keith watched her in growing concern. Carol was acting for all the world as if she had cracked. He considered prescribing something for her nerves. She certainly hadn’t seemed to hear anything he said beyond the fact that Katie was searching. For some reason that unnerved him, Carol seemed to find far too much comfort in that single fact.

  He squatted to her eye level. “Why Carol?” he asked gently. “Why will he be home soon?”

  Carol smiled and touched his cheek. “Katie will bring him home. She—finds things. Keys, toys, the dog when he was lost. Katie will find him and bring him home faster than anyone can. I know it.”

  Keith closed his eyes and reigned in his fear. He had seen a lot in the past few weeks, but this— He prayed Carol was right, but something deep inside of him argued that it just wasn’t possible. Even Katie’s mystical connection with her nephew seemed unreliable at the moment. After all, if Kyle was in danger, why didn’t she feel it? Shouldn’t she have felt it?

  “Carol, I know you want this,” he began.

  She cut him off in a confident voice. “Katie made a beeline. She didn’t stop. Am I right?”

  He found it hard to reply to that. Carol was right. That was exactly what Katie did. “But she wasn’t sure he was there,” he protested in a weak voice.

  Carol laughed in amusement. “She never is, but she’s never wrong. My sister has a poor sense of acceptance of what her gifts tell her sometimes, but she’s still not wrong.”

  Keith felt his stomach turn, and his legs were suddenly shaking. He sat down on the floor heavily and ran a hand over the growth of be
ard he hadn’t shaved yet this morning.

  “Where did she go?” Carol asked suddenly, calmly, smiling.

  He viewed that in confusion. Carol and Dianna shared a strange resolve, a way of bouncing back from upset that was just not natural. People didn’t recover this quickly. Without a lot of practice? Keith shook that thought away.

  “Keith?”

  He waved his hand in a sign that he wasn’t really sure. “A footpath just below Holt Street,” he offered. Keith realized that he had never really noticed it before. He didn’t know where it went but down.

  Carol’s eyes widened, and her face paled. That quickly her calm resolve was gone again. “Oh no. The plateau. She wouldn’t.”

  But, they both knew she would if Kyle was there. Carol started to rise, but Keith leapt to his feet and motioned for her to stay put.

  “You have to talk to the police. How do I get there?”

  “Follow the path down then to the left.”

  Her words followed him out the door. Keith pounded down the city steps and half-ran, half-slid down the dangerous incline. As he rounded the base of the cliff, he looked up the top. Something was up there, some flash of blue, someone but he couldn’t see who. He sprinted up the path. Katie was terrified of heights on a level he rarely encountered. If she was up there with Kyle, chances were that she was backed against the rock face in a panic.

  He pulled himself up the last stretch and over the top. Keith froze for a moment himself, in awe of what he was seeing. The vista from the top was one of the most impressive he had ever seen in the city, being a natural phenomenon and not man-made, but the sight of Katie stunned him more than that. Kyle was sitting at the edge. Katie was on her knees behind him, edging steadily forward with her outstretched hand just missing the back of his pajama top. He moved up behind her and knelt to her level just as Katie succeeded in getting a solid hold on the piece of clothing.

  She let out a breath in relief. “Finally,” she managed in a soft voice.