Loving the Tigers Read Online Free

Turning, she studied the apartment she had called home for the last several months and knew her decision to leave had been the right one.
    The first couple of weeks away from them had been hell. Worse than hell. Her stomach burned and cramped, and she thought she would die, if not from some virulent disease, or whatever it was they had called their mating heat, from the heartbreak of knowing they hadn’t cared enough to come for her, to find her.
    Obviously, her decision had been the correct one, but being right didn’t keep her warm at night and it certainly wouldn’t take the place of her battery-operated toys that had seen better days—most of which had been thrown into the trash. There was nothing more frustrating than having one’s vibrator sputter out at precisely the wrong moment.
    “You said I was your mate, that neither of you could ever love another.” Something wet hit the back of her fingers. She looked down, startled to see a second drop splashing against her skin. Reaching up, she swiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.
    “You both lied to me.” Reaching in her pocket, she pulled out her cell phone and stared at it. She dreaded her monthly calls to Jessi. Every time they talked, Jessi attempted to get her to reveal her location. Maybe this time she would. It’s not like Zach and Derek would show up on her doorstep anytime soon. If they’d wanted to find her, they would have, she was sure of it.
    “Hello.”
    Kelly closed her eyes at the sound of Jessi’s voice on the other end of the line. “Hi, Jess! How are you doing?”
    “I’ll be there in a few minutes. I’m talking to Kelly,” said the muffled sound of Jessi’s voice as she called out to someone. “Where are you?”
    “Why is it that those are always the first three words you say when you find out it’s me calling?”
    “Because where you are, is just about the only thing I want to hear from you, other than that you’re alive and well.” Jessi sighed. “You have to let Zack and Derek come for you. You’re the only person they think about. They’ve been searching day and night. Heck, Kell, no one even knows where they are. They just disappeared off the face of the Earth. Neither of them even answers their cell phones anymore.”
    Great! It would be safe to tell Jessi where she was. Kelly blinked back her tears. Wasn’t that what she wanted?
    “Now... where are you?”
    “I’m in Rhode Island.”
    “Rhode Island? What the hell are you doing there?” Jessi screeched.
    Kelly pulled the phone away from her ear. “Hiding out. I thought you knew,” she said dryly.
    “What made you decide to finally tell me?” Jessi lowered her voice. “Have you changed your mind?”
    “No. Not really. I mean...” She bit her bottom lip. “Don’t you think if they wanted to find me, they could?”
    “Maybe they’ve been giving you some space.”
    “For all these months?” She snorted. “Come on, Jessi, you can’t really believe that.”
    “I don’t know what to believe other than now that I know what it means to be mated, I know that being apart from you has to be killing them.”
    “Being apart from me can’t really kill them,” she said with a laugh. Then her heart skipped a beat. “Can it?”
    “I have no idea,” Jessi replied with a sigh. “All I know is that I’ve seen a few tigers, and a few of the people from another town called Paradise, while they suffered from the mating heat and it wasn’t pretty. And...” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “They said they’ve had to kill a few of them.”
    “No!” Kelly gasped. “Why would they admit to such a thing?”
    “Apparently, they go crazy or something, and attack their mate, or others. They become dangerous and must be eradicated before they call attention to the others of their kind.”
    Crap! What should she do, now? Kelly stuck the tip of her thumb in her mouth and bit the nail. “I—I don’t want them to die, Jess!”
     

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