Tiger Haven Read online

  “Come on, baby. You’re almost there,” he groaned against her mouth.

  She was right there on the edge. He tipped her hips and thrust harder. At this angle, it brought his cock in direct contact with her sensitive nub. Her body trembled with each thrust. Her inner walls spasmed as she began to shake uncontrollably. She closed her eyes as his finger parted her plump lips beneath the water’s surface, exposing her swollen nub.

  She cried out, not caring who heard them. She dug her nails into his back as his thumb brushed against her clit, driving her over the edge into ecstasy. Her body tensed as the waves of her orgasm washed over her. His body trembled as he released a roar, shooting his release deep within her. He gripped both of her ass cheeks tight as he continued to thrust, spewing his release. She was sure that she would have bruises, but she could care less. It was totally worth it.

  Neither of them moved. Her head dropped back down to the crook of his neck as she tried to catch her breath. His chest was rising just as fast as hers. The water around them calmed down as they remained still.

  She never wanted to move from this position, with his cock comfortably snug inside of her. They could stay this way for all eternity for all she cared.

  “Charlee,” he murmured, reaching up to brush her soaked hair from her face.

  “Mmm…” That was all she could formulate. No words would come to mind. She was a big ball of mush. Her arms were heavy, as they were still wrapped around his neck.

  “I want you.”

  “You just had me.” She barked out a laugh. She clenched her walls that surrounded him, feeling him growing hard again. She smiled against his wet skin.

  “I’m serious. I want there to be an “us.” I don’t want things to end when we leave here to go back to the States,” he admitted. She leaned back at the serious tone in his voice. She was thankful for the moonlight. It allowed her to look at him and see that he was dead serious.

  “Is Weston Rogavac asking me to go steady with him?” She was dramatic with her question, bringing the back of her hand to her brow. His face broke out into a smile as he chuckled. Her heart swelled with the knowledge that he wanted her.

  “Yes, I am. I just want it to be you and me,” he said, the smile fading from his face as he gazed deep into her yes.

  “That sounds good to me.”

  “So where were you two coming from this morning?” Malena asked with accusing eyes. She wiggled her eyebrows as she waited for the answer.

  Charlee groaned. She would have preferred someone else to catch them when they came back to the camp. Malena claimed she had woken up early to go pee and didn’t see Charlee or West. Once everyone woke up, Charlee had tried to avoid her friend, but Malena was not having any of it.

  This morning, they had finally picked up the trail of Bubo. His tracks were actually leading them back down the mountain. West and Luka had gone farther, requesting the team to set up and be ready. Charlee had her rifle in her hand as she waited.

  “Malena, leave it alone. I told you he showed me a spring where I could get washed up.”

  “Uh-huh, and he didn’t show anyone else. We all could have taken turns washing some of this rainforest dirt off. I swear, I’m so dirty that even the mosquitos don’t want me.”

  Charlee rolled her eyes at her friend’s dramatics. She glanced around the area, knowing that her friend would never let up. The guys were spread out, waiting for a sighting of the male tiger.

  “Okay, if you must know…” She paused to create her own dramatics.

  Malena’s eyes grew round as she waited. Instead of verbalizing what she and West did at the spring, Charlee held up two fingers, symbolizing the second time that she and West had sex. But she didn’t want to just call it sex. Something was exchanged between the two of them. It was even more than lovemaking, but she wouldn’t tell Malena that. She wouldn’t understand. She’d think that Charlee was a little touched in the head.

  “We have movement.” A low voice came across the small walkie-talkie.

  Malena and Charlee both drew quiet as Charlee raised her rifle and stared out through the lens to wait, scanning the brush lower down on the mountain. From her perch, she had a perfect view of the mountain. A large tiger slowly ambled from out of the brush. It walked slowly, pausing every few steps, as if it sensed it was being watched. Charlee took aim and held her breath, willing her heart rate to slow. The tiger paused in walking and looked at something in the brush a hundred feet from him.

  West.

  It turned toward the noise, giving Charlee exactly what she needed. She pulled the trigger.

  17

  Once the tiger was unconscious, the team sprang into action. Upon assessment of the tiger, they learned that it had a recent gunshot wound. Anger festered in West’s chest at the thought of poachers being close by.

  Even though Dr. Skobo and Charlee hadn’t really spoken since the other morning, they worked silently together for the tiger, cleaning and assessing the wound.

  “It went straight through,” Charlee announced as she poured a solution on the tiger’s wounded hind leg.

  West stayed perched by the tiger, petting its massive head. West’s eyes moved to Luka, and the same rage burned in his friend’s eyes.

  “Do you want me to give him a shot of antibiotics?” Dr. Skobo asked as he rummaged through his bag.

  “That wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Dr. Zhang commented, as he and Malena finished inserting the microchip.

  The graduate students were busy documenting into the tablets that would transmit information back to the research team that stayed behind.

  “We need to hurry. The tranq will be wearing off soon,” Charlee instructed as she began packing her bag back up.

  West looked down at the massive orange and striped head beneath his fingers. His tiger snarled at the thought of poachers hurting this animal. Now with the new microchip, they would be able to track the tiger in real time.

  The team was fast and proficient at getting everything they needed. They cleared out, and again, waited at a safe distance for the tiger to wake up. Once its massive head rose from the ground, West released his breath as he watched the tiger scamper off into the thick brush.

  He walked over to Luka as the scientists celebrated another success. His tiger was close to the front and was demanding blood.

  “This is getting too close,” he growled, low enough where only Luka would hear him. “It’s time we flush the poachers out. I want this over.”

  “I’ll contact Drago to let him know what we found.” Luka nodded before walking away.

  It was still early enough for the group, so they decided to start making the trek down the mountain in order to make get back to the normal camp.

  West was not in a good mood. He kept to himself, trying to contain his anger. Just the thought of the poachers being so close had him seeing red. He knew that they couldn’t pinpoint exactly when Bubo was shot, but the wound was fresh. It had to have happened within the last day or two.

  Murmurs of concern for the camp floated in the air. The conversation was about the other day when the tire was slashed. West was not going to tell the group that they’d had someone guarding the campground. Everything about Dr. Skobo kept doubt in the back of his mind. With the Russians questioning his reasons for being on the trip, he wouldn’t tell any of them the real reason he was there.

  To stop the poaching.

  Knowing that the point of the sanctuary was to help the endangered species, they should provide some type of security for them. The cheap cameras he had seen mounted on this trip so far were a joke. He would bet most of them didn’t even work. What was a camera to do but record what happened anyway? It was not a way to prevent poachers from walking or driving right into the national park, shoot a tiger in the head and drag its body off the property.

  “Are you all right?” Charlee’s soft voice appeared at his side. He glanced down at her and felt his heart soften. He nodded and grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers
together as they walked. Just her sheer presence seemed to calm down his tiger. “I can see that you’re upset about Bubo.”

  “Yeah.” He blew out a breath and shifted his backpack higher on his back. “This place is supposed to be a safe place for the tigers so that they can re-populate. It pisses me off that people are so callous and want to kill an animal such as a tiger.”

  She squeezed his hand, not saying a word. She didn’t need to. Just that outburst alone made him feel better. It didn’t take away that his tiger wanted to break free and maul the poachers. Instead, his tiger just paced beneath his skin, waiting for the moment he would be able to break free.

  The group continued on in silence, eventually making the few hour trip down the mountain and arriving safely at the camp.

  “Everything looks the same,” Dr. Zhang noted as they walked through it.

  “Maybe it was just an animal that sliced the tire?” Malena suggested, looking around.

  Murmurs echoed around as everyone shuffled to their tents. West looked around and saw a rustle of leaves off in the distance. It was probably Drago’s man, Gerald, disappearing back into the woods. West’s eyes met Luka’s. He nodded in the direction, and Luka’s eyes traveled over to the area and returned a nod as he made excuses and headed over, disappearing into the trees.

  “I think I can just crash right now,” Charlee said, her words ending in a yawn. “I’m beat.”

  “Go get some rest,” he said, pulling her close and placing a kiss on her forehead. “We leave at first light,” he announced, loud enough for the whole group to hear.

  “Tomorrow, I have an idea of where we can go next,” Dr. Skobo said, approaching them. West pushed Charlee in the direction of her and Malena’s tent, hinting for her to go. He would deal with the Russian scientist. She hesitated for a moment, but she must have read the look in his eyes before walking away toward her tent. His eyes followed the sway of her bottom that peeked from beneath her large backpack.

  “Where do you think we should go next?” West asked, turning back to Dr. Skobo. He didn’t hold the disdain from his voice.

  Dr. Skobo produced a map and motioned for West to follow him over to one of the Land Rovers.

  “This area of the sanctuary is known to be a hot spot for tiger sightings.” He pointed to an area Northeast of where they were currently. It would take a few hours for them to get there.

  “How do we know that?” West asked, studying the map more in-depth.

  “From the cameras that are posted. They get multiple snapshots of different tigers in the area. There’s a large watering hole in the area that is an attraction for all animals. It’s a good place for them to hunt too, so it has a lot of action. I think that would be the best area to go next.”

  West nodded his head, silently agreeing with the scientist. If they wanted to be able to tag as many tigers as possible, it only made sense to go to a location that would attract them.

  “Good plan,” West said, his eyes catching Luka emerging from the woods. “Excuse me.” He walked away toward his friend.

  “We got a problem,” Luka murmured, keeping his voice down as Dr. Skobo walked past them toward his private tent.

  “What is it?” West asked as they moved toward where their tents were positioned.

  “Gerald said that right before we came, a man came from the other side of the woods and placed a tracker on one of the Land Rovers.”

  West released a curse. “Are we sure it’s a tracker?”

  “Yes. He already checked it out and that’s why he was just dashing back into he woods as we were arriving. He didn’t get a chance to take it off. He’ll do it tonight while everyone’s asleep.”

  West shook his head. “No, leave them. This will be the best way for us to flush out the poachers, or whoever the fuck this is.”

  Luka growled low, his eyes flashing amber for a brief moment before transitioning back to his normal color. “They better show their faces.”

  “Don’t worry. Our animals will be able to have fun with them when they show their faces.”

  West would have to say that Dr. Skobo was correct in his recommendation of them traveling to the Northeast region of the national park. With the park being over three hundred thousand acres, that meant they would have a lot of miles to cover. The watering hole had certainly paid off. In the past few days, they had inserted a microchip into two more tigers.

  The team was in high spirits with the tigers that they had been able to study and gather data on. Charlee had all but moved into West’s tent. He at first thought that she would be a little hesitant since she was around her colleagues, but she informed him everyone on was grown and could mind their own damn business. Everyone in the group seemed to accept it as well. Even Dr. Skobo quit making snide remarks. The Russian scientist even kept his mouth shut and did his job.

  “We may have to go back to the main campground sooner than we thought,” Charlee said, coming to sit next to West.

  “Why is that?” he asked, turning to her.

  “We’re going to run out of tranquilizers soon,” she offered, tucking an offending strand of hair behind her ear. “I guess it’s a good thing that we’re finding tigers so quickly. I have enough for a few more, but we’ll need more if we keep finding them like we are.”

  He nodded his head. A few more days and he hoped that the traps they were setting up around the area would pan out. Nighttime was falling upon them, and they’d had a hard day. With being near a watering hole, there was an increased number of wild animals, not just tigers. Other animals that would be deemed just as dangerous.

  They had to be on high alert to ensure that no animals wandered into their campground.

  “I’m sure everyone would appreciate getting a real shower and food,” West said with a chuckle, looking around the grounds as everyone settled in.

  “Yes,” she groaned, rotating her neck. “I would kill right now for a hot shower, fluffy white towels, and a big soft robe to wrap around me.”

  Her words brought a vision to his mind. He imagined her fresh from a hot shower, her skin still moist and rosy from the heat of the water. He imagined taking her into his arms and removing the towel—

  He coughed and shook his head to erase the fantasy from his mind. He couldn’t wait to get back to the States. What he had told her the other day was the truth. He wanted them to carry on at home. He didn’t want this to be a quick fling in the jungle.

  A loud curse filled the air, grabbing West’s attention. Alf came storming out of his tent, frantically running his hands through his hair.

  West jumped up and rushed over. He could feel Charlee behind him as they approached the still cursing and pissed off graduate student.

  “What’s going on?” West snapped, getting Alf’s attention.

  “It’s missing!” Alf cried out.

  “What’s missing?” Charlee asked, a concerned look on her face.

  “All of my handwritten notes. My notebooks that I was pulling together for my dissertation.”

  “Calm down and think. Did you take it with you today?” Malena questioned, coming to stand next to Charlee. The entire group surrounded them, curious as to what was going on.

  “No, I haven’t been taking these with me when we go out since we got here. I’ve been leaving it here in my tent since we’ve been taking the tablets.”

  “It has to be somewhere,” Charlee said. “Has anyone seen them?” She turned to the group.

  West’s tiger stood at attention. No one here would have any reason to steal a graduate student’s notes. They were all members of the research team, and would no doubt have their own records and notes.

  His eyes met Luka’s while a few of the team helped Alf search. It seems as if their stalkers had made their first move.

  Let the games begin.

  18

  “Can you believe it?” Malena asked, exasperated. “How do binders of notes just up and disappear?”

  “I’m not sure,” Charlee replied, feeli
ng helpless for her graduate student. Losing notes for a dissertation was horrible. She didn’t want to ask why he hadn’t used a laptop for his notes. In his mental state right now, he would probably lose it.

  “Someone had to have taken them,” Dr. Skobo accused, looking around the group. His eyes stopped on the Chinese graduate student.

  “Hey, it wasn’t me,” Tang said, holding his hands up. “You can search my things if you’d like,” he offered to Alf.

  “No, I’m not going to search your things. I believe you.” Alf sighed, resting his entwined hands on his head. Pure defeat was written on his face. Charlee felt sorrow for her student. She would have to sit down with him and go over the research they had already gathered to see if she could help salvage something for him. One day he would be a brilliant biologist, and she didn’t want this to deter him from his dream.

  Charlee and Malena turned to leave, but West requesting for everyone to gather around him kept them in place.

  “I think we need to have a chat.” He began. Everyone glanced at each other, unsure of what he was about to say. Charlee felt deep in her heart that whatever it was would be best for the group.

  “In light of recent things that are going on, books don’t just disappear. Tires don’t just get slashed by random animals and no one hears it. I think it would be in everyone’s best interest to pair up with someone when leaving the grounds. Even if it’s to go in the woods to use the restroom. Let’s err on the side of caution.”

  Murmurs of agreement filled the air.

  “He’s right,” Dr. Zhang said, stepping in the middle of the circle. “We are in the middle of a rainforest in a mountainous region, where there is always danger lurking. We’ve been lucky not to have any injuries.”

  Charlee nodded in complete agreement. They had been lucky so far. They shouldn’t test their luck. The small group began to disperse after their quick huddle.