Page 47 of Tiger's Curse
I tugged the brush through my hair and winced. “That brings up another question.”
Ren rose and took the brush out of my hand.
“What . . . what are you doing?” I stammered.
“Relax. You’re too edgy.”
He had no idea.
Moving behind me, Ren picked up a section of my hair and started gently brushing through it. I was nervous at first, but his hands in my hair were so warm and soothing that I soon relaxed in the chair, closed my eyes, and leaned my head back.
After a minute of brushing, he pulled a lock away from my neck, leaned down by my ear, and whispered, “What was it you wanted to ask me?”
I jumped.
“Umm . . . what?” I mumbled disconcertingly.
“You wanted to ask me a question.”
“Oh, right. It was, uh—that feels nice.”
Did I say that out loud?
Ren laughed softly. “That’s not a question.”
Apparently, I did.
“Was it something about me changing into a tiger?”
“Oh, yes. I remember now. You can change back a forth several times per day, right? Is there a limit?”
“No. There’s no limit as long as I don’t remain human for more than a total of twenty-four minutes in a twenty-four hour day.” He moved on to another section of hair. “Do you have any more questions,sundari?”
“Yes . . . about the maze. You were following a scent, but all I could smell was nasty sulfur. Was that what you were following?”
“No. I was actually following a lotus flower scent. It’s Durga’s favorite flower, the same flower that’s on the Seal. I figured that was the right way to go.”
Ren finished with my hair, set the brush down, and then began lightly massaging my shoulders. I tensed again, but his hands were so warm and the massage felt so good, I sat back in my seat and started to slowly melt into a puddle.
From a place of utter tranquility, I slurred thickly, saying, “A lotus scent? How could you smell that with all the other noxious odors in there?”
He touched my nose with the tip of his finger. “It’s my tiger nose. I can smell lots of things people can’t.” He squeezed my shoulders one last time and said, “Come on, Kelsey. Get dressed. We have work to do.”
Ren circled around to the front of the chair and offered me his hand. I put mine in his and felt tingly, electric sparks shoot down my arm. He grinned and kissed my fingers.
Shocked, I asked, “Did you feel that too?”
The Indian prince winked at me. “Definitely.”
Something about the way he said “definitely” made me wonder if we were talking about the same thing.
After I got dressed, I went downstairs to the peacock room, and found Mr. Kadam hunched over a large table stacked with various tomes. Ren, the tiger, was perched beside him on an ottoman.
I dragged another chair over to the table and shoved aside a large stack of books so I could see what Mr. Kadam was working on.
Mr. Kadam rubbed his tired, red eyes.
“Have you been working on this since we got home, Mr. Kadam?”
