Page 161 of Tiger's Dream
Ana became frustrated with my hesitancy. Derisively, she pushed, “Have I mentioned lately that I think you’re getting old? The younger version of you was chiseled and broad-shouldered. I’m afraid you’ve allowed yourself to become soft. Your tiger form is rangy. You now have a distinctive double chin and your muscles are as yielding as plumped dough before baking. Also, I think your hair is thinning,” she goaded. “Perhaps it is the lack of red meat in your diet.”
I froze for a moment, stunned at her verbal ambush.Is she kidding me? Almost without thinking, I ran a hand over the top of my head and then growled when she snorted. Ana spun then, lifting her sword. She was trying to distract me by bruising my ego, and to my great consternation, it had worked.
Pressing the tip of her sword against my chest, she added, “You see? You’re no longer a match for me. I could have killed you several times already in just the last minute alone. And I didn’t even have to use my powers. That is how impotent you are.”
Holding up my hands, I narrowed my eyes and said, “You push too hard, Ana. I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours right now. I wish I did. But since you don’t seem to trust me, I think it’s best not to fight with you right now.”
“Of course you do not wish to fight,” she spat. “You want nothing to do with me. You’re a soft man who only wants to battle with fluffy words that mean nothing. You keep me close when it suits your purposes and then toss me aside when you want to be alone. I do not understand you. You sparred with Kelsey. Long enough that she became a decent fighter. Why will you not do the same for me? You owe me at least that much.”
Huffing out a frustrated breath, I said, “First of all, Kelsey wasn’t trying to kill me when we sparred. Secondly, you don’t need me to train you. You’re already better than I am. Is that what you want me to admit? That you’re more powerful? It’s a given. You’re a goddess.”
“Yes,” she yelled. “I am the almighty, untouchable goddess Durga. Too good for you to make any effort whatsoever. Where I am the ocean, other women are as trickling streams. But I ask you, where do men go to drink, the salty sea or to the fresh, nubile waters of oases that have more to offer?”
When I stared at her mutely, confounded by the turn in the conversation, she wrinkled her nose and sneered.
“I think we both know what you prefer,” she said. Looking me up and down, her green eyes glittering and raw, she finished with, “You are acoward, Kishan.”
Setting my jaw, I raised a finger, stabbing the air with it. “Don’t call me Kishan. You want to fight, Ana? Fine. Then toss aside your weapon. Let’s spar the way I did with Kells.”
“I do not wish to hear anything about what you did withKells.” Ana hissed the last word but snapped her fingers and the swords vanished.
“Just remember,” I said, holding out my hands and circling her, “You wanted this.”
“Why take pains to give me what I want now? You never have before.”
I was about to call her impossible when she attacked. Before I knew what happened, I was flat on my back with her on top of me smacking my head down against the stone floor. Grabbing her shoulders, I spun, tossing her aside, but she quickly kicked up, and just as I stood, her foot met my gut. With a whoosh, the air left my body and I doubled over. Her knee slammed into my chin and she wrenched one of my arms behind my back.
Her hot breath tickled my ear as she said, “I told you you were getting soft.”
Something primal shifted in me and I snarled. I stamped hard on her foot and then barreled backward until she hit the stone wall. The unmistakable sound of pebbles dropping to the floor meant we’d broken more of the temple. The move knocked the breath out of her and she dropped my arm.
Spinning quickly, I wedged one of my legs between hers and swept her feet out from under her. She came down hard on the solid floor and I had a moment of weakness. Moving closer, I asked if she was hurt, but she opened her eyes, smiled, and kicked me in the kidneys for my effort.
All bets were off then. We dove and twisted. Caught each other in headlocks. Tossed each other across the room until we were battered, bruised, and surely had a broken bone or two or twenty, and neither of us was inclined to stop. The fight had turned desperate, almost cruel.
Both of us were trying to prove something to the other, but neither of us had any idea of how to achieve it. I had no awareness of how much time passed, but when I looked up, the breath heaving in my lungs, I saw that the light in the temple had traveled across the floor and up to the ceiling. We were both exhausted. I feigned to the left and caught her off guard. Pressing her against the wall, I pushed my heavy arm across her throat and said, “Still think I’m soft?”
She tilted her head, birdlike, uncaring that I could cut off her breath at any moment. “Not soft perhaps, but still a coward.”
Ana’s beautiful dress was ripped, flapping jaggedly in several places. A torn sleeve had slipped precariously off one honey-kissed shoulder. The hair that had once been so perfectly arranged hung down around her in an unruly jumble, offering me teasing glimpses of the generous curves that her gown now barely covered.
Even though she was trapped, she heaved her body and struggled against me, trying to kick me between the legs or stomp on my instep. “Now, now. None of that, my lady fair.” I moved closer. My body shoved tightly against hers so there was absolutely no way for her to move.
She gasped and my eyes were drawn to her lush mouth. I felt a tremble go through her and knew what it was. Fear. Not fear of defeat or fear of death, but fear of a man and the things a man could do to a vulnerable woman. It tore me up inside. “Do you concede?” I asked softly.
“Never,” she answered, lifting her chin defiantly. Her cheeks were rose-tinged from our fight. Her hair was damp with perspiration and her eyes were hard as gemstone. There was a streak of dirt on her cheek and across her forehead. It didn’t matter. She was beautiful. She was mesmerizing.
Despite the cold I felt at knowing what a man who’d hungered after Ana had done to her as a child, I couldn’t stop myself from wanting her. Closing my eyes, I tried to temper my desire. The tiger in me had caught his prey and he wasn’t about to let her escape. He wanted to dig in his claws and claim what was rightfully his. But I wasn’t a beast. At least, not always.
Not trusting my voice, I spoke to her mind instead, and said,I know why you quake, Ana.Trust me when I say it will be easier for you to leave than for me to walk away.Use your magic to escape, I entreated.
You think I wish to flee? she countered.
Confused, I slowly moved my arm away from her throat.If you could read my thoughts, you would.
“I am not afraid of your thoughts,” she said out loud.
“Then tell me what it is you want from me.” I replied, my voice low and menacing. As my eyes fixed on the pulse at her throat, I lowered my head, swallowed heavily, and said, “What do youwant, Ana?”
