Page 50 of Tiger's Dream
She bit her lip. “I do not know exactly. The amulet responded when I told it what I wanted.”
Startled, I asked, “How…how many?”
“A great number. I would guess several thousand.”
My mouth fell open.
She went on, “Not all of them live in India. It would appear a man’s lack of appreciation is a common ailment many women must suffer.”
At that moment a woman rose excitedly from a bench and said she’d been selected as one of one hundred women to attend an all-expenses-paid film festival, where she’d get to rub elbows with her favorite Bollywood stars. She quickly ran from the pavilion shouting her news to everyone she passed by. “That must be you,” I said with a laugh.
“What is Bollywood?” she asked.
I grinned. “Remind me to tell you later. Let’s see, who’s next? Ah, yes, the one who has never met her groom. Well, we can’t just assume he won’t be kind.”
“No,” Anamika agreed. “If they are unkind, we will see to that later.”
I nodded. “What’s left?”
“The woman who lost the one she loves. You have experience in that. How do you cope with it?”
“I don’t know,” I answered quietly. “I guess I haven’t figured it out yet.”
“Then what about the one who longs for a deep and abiding love?” She glanced up at me and the air between us shrunk until it was thin and thirsty.
I licked my lips. My fingertips were now tangled in her hair in such a way that I’d have a hard time extricating them. Her thick waves tempted me to delve deeper. Swallowing, I said in a chirping voice, “Have…have you found Nilima yet?”
Anamika was as still as a rabbit hiding in the tall grass, and I wondered if she knew that my thoughts had strayed to her mouth again. “Nilima is the one who seeks this,” she said melodiously.
It was the first time I could remember her voice sounding like it did in the temples, and the power of it shook me to my core.Thatwas a voice I remembered.Thatwas the voice of the goddess. The one I had no power to resist. Her eyes were green pools that beckoned me; they offered me peace and tranquility, and something more. The mouth of the goddess was slightly parted, glistening, a silky invitation. Without thought, I narrowed the distance between us.
Ana’s fist met my jaw with a powerful thud and my head jerked sharply to the side. I shook my head as tiny lights circled my peripheral vision. Ana pulling away, I might have expected. A slap, I might have deserved. But a punch?
It wasn’t a little thing being socked by Anamika. She was strong. Even if you only considered her as a woman and not a goddess, her body was toned and muscular. She was trained in the art of warfare. She was smart and formidable. But I was used to being Ren’s punching bag and that was saying something. I should have been able to take anything she threw at me.
The muscles in my neck tightened as I brought up my fingers to touch my swelling lip. My jaw felt as hard as stone. Men had been known to break their hands on my face. I hissed as I touched the tender skin and glared at the woman who’d wounded me. My battered face screamed like I’d been pounded with an iron stake.
Slowly, the pain faded, but the woman who’d inflicted it still sat at my side—a pulsing, irritating reminder of a mistake I had no business making.What on earth came over me? I felt like a fool. A wet-behind-the-ears boy caught up in the blush of a first crush. What really irritated me, though, was the fact that she wasn’t even hurt. Anyone else would be nursing their hand.
Almost devoid of emotion, Ana said, “You should not have attempted that, Kishan.”
“Yeah?” I answered brashly, rubbing the back of my neck. “I think I’m bright enough to figure that out on my own.”
I shifted away from her on the bench, and she lifted her eyes to me, a trace of an indiscernible emotion fading from them. She gripped the bench, her fingers turning white as she lowered her head, her hair falling around her shoulders, obscuring her face from view. She’d made me mad before. It was almost like she couldn’t help herself. Sometimes I thought she even liked egging me on.
This was different. She’d never lashed out like that before. Granted, I’d never tried to kiss her before either. Thinking about it now, I wondered why I did. It’s not like I loved her. I barely even liked her most of the time. Maybe it was a soldier thing. Kind of aHey, we survived!sort of celebratory response. But no. That didn’t really apply in this case. I definitely wasn’t thinking about war when I was looking at her.
I didn’t realize she was talking at first. “What was that?” I asked. “I’m afraid I can’t hear so well after you cuffed my ears.”
“Your ears are fine,” she said. “It was your mouth I hit.”
“Right. So it was.”
“I wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t been trying to…to…”
“Kiss you, Ana. It’s called a kiss. And don’t worry. I won’t be trying that again. Ever.”
Her shoulders trembled. “I…I’m sorry,” she murmured, her voice brittle.
