Page 70 of Bria and the Tiger

“Yeah. I haven’t had good luck yet, but there’s bound to be someone normal on there. Right?”

Kat slugged back the rest of her wine. “At least seventy-five percent normal.”

* * *

Jace stood and paced restlessly in his office. It was always busy on Mondays and today was no different. He was out of the office for most of the day at different showings, and when he had finally shown up at the office, Bria could hardly look at him. She looked tired and worn out. Several times, he had to stop himself from calling her into his office to talk.

The others hadn’t noticed the tension between them. Well, maybe Rosalie had – she was weirdly perceptive for a human – and he decided it would be best to let another day or two pass before he tried to speak to Bria. He didn’t want to wait though. He wanted to sit her down and reassure her that he was fine. God, the look on her face when she had seen his upper body. He should have been smarter and hidden it from her.

He glanced at his watch. It was just after five and Bria would be gone by now. He could leave without having to walk by her, without having to smell the scent of her embarrassment and shame. He traced the deep gouges in his desk before cursing under his breath. He hated that she felt that way. Even worse, his tiger had been growling and grumbling all day for him to simply pick up Bria and take her home. To take her to his bed and show her, in a very precise and very intimate way, that he wasn’t upset with her.

His jaw clenched and he stared at his desk again. He really should have Rosalie order him a new desk. He’d kept the gouges hidden by paperwork this afternoon but sooner or later, she or someone else in the office would notice them, and he’d need to come up with an excuse. But he liked seeing them, liked remembering the way Bria had purred and moaned as he fucked her against the desk.

Fuck. It was ridiculous to want her again. He’d just spent the last forty-eight hours between her soft thighs and there was no way he should want to be back there already. Other than the scratches and puncture wounds from her claws and teeth, his body had already healed itself from the other various aches and pains. But he had seen Bria wince when she sat down, had noticed the way she walked a bit stiffly. She wasn’t completely healed yet.

Besides, now that her heat was over she wasn’t interested in just having sex with him. She’d gotten what she needed, and it would be another month before she wanted him again. If she didn’t find a boyfriend between now and then.

There was a soft knock on the door and he spat out a ‘come in’.

The door opened, and Bria stuck her head into the room. “Hi. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Yes. Shut the door.”

She held a large bag in her hand, and he stared at it curiously as she shut the door and approached his desk.

“I thought you had left already,” he said.

“I wanted to speak to you first.” She glanced at his door. “Um, Lincoln and Rosalie are still here so I’ll make this quick.”

“About yesterday – I’m sorry you had to meet my parents like that, I know it was embarrassing.”

“Oh, uh, that’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” She picked at the handle of the bag. “How are you feeling today?”

“Fine. It really was much worse than it looked. You shouldn’t -”

“Are they healed?”

“Yes.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “Let me see.”

He hesitated, and she sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“I told you that I didn’t mind scratching and biting.”

She bit at her bottom lip. “If you hadn’t – hadn’t restrained me, I would have really hurt you.”

“But you didn’t and next time I’ll be quicker to restrain you.” He flinched at his words, wondering if she would reject him immediately, but she was staring at the bag in her hand and hadn’t seemed to hear him.

“I bought you these.” She pulled two packages of sheets from the bag. “To replace the ones I ruined.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to. I also have this.”

She pulled a large jar from the bag and he stared at it. “What is it?”

“It’s a salve for your chest and back. It will help you heal faster.”

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