Page 78 of Tiger Queen

I couldn’t remember the last time David had spoken to me in such a soft tone. It was jarring, and it hammered home the importance of his words.

I nodded.

The three of us sterilized the examination table with a special solution while Rachel scrubbed up. Then we moved Caesar onto the table. Rachel handed David an electric razor and instructed him on where to shave Caesar’s belly. While he did that, Rachel prepared an IV drip and inserted it into Caesar’s leg.

“Alright. Everyone out.”

“You don’t need any help?” Anthony asked nervously.

“I’ll yell if I do. But you guys will only distract me by being in here with me.”

I nodded, but my feet refused to move. I wanted to stay next to Caesar. Leaving his side felt like abandoning him.

“I’ll take care of him,” she told me softly. Her mouth was covered with a surgical mask, so all I could see were her eyes. They looked sharp and professional. “I promise.”

It was what I needed to hear. I went into the adjacent room to pace, putting all of my trust and faith in this woman.

34

Rachel

I was terrified at the beginning, especially when I made the first incision. I had taken several classes at Florida State on emergency animal surgery, and had dissected several cadavers, but it was nothing compared to the adrenaline of putting a knife to a living, breathing animal.

I allowed myself to be scared for ten long seconds, then pushed it away and got to work.

It was a long three hours, but the problem was easy to identify and fix. When I was done I stitched Caesar back up and covered the wound with a bandage. I removed my gloves and protective equipment, and began to return to my office where there was a shower. But then I remembered Jake. I wanted to give him the news as soon as possible.

He was sleeping in a chair in the next room. His cotton beanie was pulled down over his eyes and his arms were crossed over his chest. As soon as the door closed behind me he leaped out of the chair and pulled his beanie back.

“How is he? Is he okay? Is he… alive?”

“Everything is fine,” I said soothingly. “I just finished sewing him up, and he’s resting. He should remain asleep for the next three or four hours.”

“Did you fix him? Un-distend his stomach?”

I held out my palm. Two round metal balls were stuck together.

“His stomach wasn’t distended,” I explained. “These are neodymium magnets. I found them in his upper intestines. He would have died if we did not act so quickly.”

Jake shook his head. “I’ve been finding all sorts of stuff in the enclosures. Even with the signs, people keep throwing stuff inside. So he’s really okay? He’s not going to die?”

I grinned. It was satisfying giving good news. “He’s going to be just fine.”

Jake hugged me so tightly I thought my ribs might crack. Then he cradled my face with both hands and kissed me.

It was just like the kiss from the other night in his car, but a thousand times better. This time Jake was sober and leaned into me eagerly, kissing me like he had been fantasizing about it for weeks. His lips were warm and pressed against mine perfectly, and I sighed into his grasp.

“I’m filthy,” I told him when he stopped kissing me. “I’ve just had my hands deep inside a tiger’s insides.”

“There’s a shower in the office,” he said, dark eyes sparkling.

Hand-in-hand, we hurried into the office bathroom. We continued kissing while stripping each other’s clothes. Jake’s skin was hot to the touch, and his fingers dug into my ass as he squeezed me tightly.

We fumbled around blindly to turn the shower water on, and again to get the temperature just right. Then Jake pushed us back into the stream. Steam rose all around us as we kissed and pressed our wet bodies against each other. His cock was stiff between us, as long and thick as I remembered when I saw its outline in his jeans the other night. I grabbed hold of it and stroked him as the scalding water ran over our bodies. His fingers touched my belly and slid down between my legs, making me moan as he rubbed my outer pussy lips and teased me with a finger. All the while our lips remained locked together, tongues dancing with mutual joy and relief.

His strong hands slid down my back and along my ass, then lifted me off the ground. I wrapped my legs around him and drove my hips against his cock, trying to angle myself just right. Finally it found the right place and his head slid inside. Still holding me in the air, Jake lowered me onto his cock. I moaned loudly with surprise and pleasure as he filled me. His manhood was so thick that I felt it widening my inner walls, stretching me with a wonderful sexual ache, and somehow I took every inch of him.

“I don’t care if this is just temporary,” he told me. Our heads were so close together that our noses touched, and his sexy face was all I could see. “I’ve wanted to fuck you since the day I first saw you.”

---