Page 2 of Bria and the Tiger

“Right. So, he’s not joining you?”

“We broke up.”

“Sorry,” he said. “When?”

“Forty-two days ago.”

“You broke up with him?” Porter asked bluntly.

“Nope,” Bria said.

“Well, he’s an idiot. Also, his man bun was ridiculous looking.”

She laughed despite her embarrassment and Porter grinned at her before punching her lightly on the arm. “Most of us were surprised you were with a lion shifter anyway. They’re all a bunch of kinky sex addicts who hate to commit to one woman.”

“Raden wasn’t. He couldn’t even fully satisfy me during my heat cycle.”

She clapped her hand over her mouth and gave Porter a horrified look. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I just told you that.”

He laughed. “People can’t resist revealing secrets to the bartender.”

“Or it’s the whiskey.”

“That too,” he said cheerfully. “I’ve been with a few female cat shifters in my time, but never during their heat cycle. Is it really that difficult to keep her satisfied?”

Bria just shrugged. She didn’t want to talk to Porter about her heat cycle, especially after how bad her last one was. It had been her first heat cycle without a boyfriend and it was a terrible experience. Raden may not have been able to completely satisfy her urge to mate during the two days that her heat cycle lasted, but, having nothing but her own hand and a vibrator to get through the whole thing was pure torture. Near the end she had almost gone to a bar to find a shifter – any shifter – to help ease her need.

She shivered all over as she remembered the pain, and the aching, and the deep overwhelming desire that nearly drove her mad. She swallowed another mouthful of whiskey, this time thankful for the burn in her esophagus. It helped distract her from the knowledge that her next heat was less than a week away.

She took a deep breath. She would be fine. Now that she knew what to expect, she was better prepared. She’d already purchased a couple of different vibrators as well as a few other toys. That would be enough.

No, it’s not, her tiger snarled like a sulky child. We need real dick, not plastic.

She ignored her tiger’s whining. What she really needed to be concentrating on was finding a damn job. Her savings were almost completely depleted and unless she wanted to move back in with her parents, she needed to find employment.

“Are you Porter?”

The low and incredibly deep voice to her left made her turn. A hand roughly the size of a baseball mitt rested on the bar. She stared at it for a moment before looking up.

And up.

And then up some more.

The shifter standing next to her was massive. He was well over seven feet tall with a thick chest, broad shoulders, and arms the size of her thighs. His short blond hair was so light it almost looked white and he had dark brown eyes that gave her a quick once over before returning to Porter.

She inhaled as Porter smiled at the shifter. “I am. You must be Hudson.”

“Yes,” the shifter replied. “Nice to meet you.”

“Good to meet you too,” Porter said. He held his hand out and Bria watched it be swallowed in the enormous hand of the colossal-sized shifter.

“Why don’t you have a seat in the booth over there and I’ll grab us both a water,” Porter said.

Hudson studied the booth. “Can’t fit in it.”

Porter hesitated. “Oh right. Sorry. How about that table over there instead?”

The shifter nodded and gave Bria another cool glance before walking toward the table. He sat down, and Bria wondered if the chair wouldn’t simply collapse beneath his mass. Surprisingly, it held his weight. The bouncer, a black bear named Judd, joined him. They shook hands and Judd clapped him on the back. Judd was a large shifter by his own right and a normal shifter would have pitched forward from the force of his hand. Nothing on Hudson moved at all and she couldn’t get over how small Judd looked next to him.

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