Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 161615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 539(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 539(@300wpm)
A spark of pride ignited within me.
The sauce was damned good.
My mind hitched on the thought. I imagined the sauce, warm and creamy, trickling down the curve of my Tiger’s bare breasts, pooling around the stiff peaks of her nipples. The thought was scandalous, obscene, a welcome perversion.
Tantalizing.
Arousing.
My tongue ached to make this happen in real life.
Reo pulled me out of my thoughts. "I've had your chef's version dozens of times, but hers was different. Lighter. More lemon. The balance was perfect."
“Okay. Okay.” I rolled my eyes. “That’s quite enough.”
A bitter taste of resentment seeped into my mouth.
They were all partaking in the buffet of her affection, her care, her skills. All things reserved just for me, my exclusive rights, were now being greedily spread around my household like limited rations in a war camp.
I pulled in a deep breath, tasting the salt air, feeling it fill my lungs, trying to calm the wildfire that was suddenly roaring in my chest.
It was irrational, this anger.
But, I didn’t care.
Reo cleared his throat. "Anyway. . .the guards reported that Hiro ate everything on his plate. Everything. One of them swears he even licked the plate clean, though I can't confirm that personally."
Despite my jealousy, my lips twitched. That sounded exactly like something Hiro would do with food that good.
This was good and bad. Good that he had some semblance of joy during his grief. Bad because now my brother would double down on wanting to share Nyomi.
I sighed.
"After Hiro finished eating, he went upstairs." Reo's voice warmed with relief. "He was so full of food and exhausted that he didn't even shut his door.”
I blinked.
“I was told that Hiro just collapsed onto his bed. The guards on the floor reported that they could hear him snoring seconds later. Deep. Steady snoring. The kind that means real sleep, not that half-awake state he's been stuck in for. . .too long."
Pride surged through me.
Tora. . .Did you do that?
My beautiful, impossible Tiger who could walk into a kitchen with my broken, grief-shattered little brother and somehow piece him back together with food and her presence.
She'd healed him with one breakfast. Given him what we couldn't give him in weeks of trying.
Thank you, Tora.
But right behind the pride came something smaller, pettier. Something I wasn't proud of but couldn't suppress.
More jealousy.
Again.
Hiro had gotten hours with her. Hours of her laughter, her attention, her nurturing warmth.
She'd taught him things.
Fed him.
Healed him.
Reo had gotten to taste her cooking, to experience the magic of her hollandaise sauce.
My guards had gotten banana bread with her little drawings on the bento boxes.
Everyone was getting pieces of my Tiger, and I was stuck here in paradise feeling like a petulant child because I wanted to hoard every moment of her for myself.
Fuck. Will this feeling ever go away?
I was being ridiculous. I knew it. But the jealousy sat in my chest anyway, big, hot, and incapable of being ignored.
Reo smiled. "Nyomi has a gift."
“And that gift is mine.”
Reo’s smile widened. “I was told by your guards that you lifted the food ban this morning.”
My Roar was stalling.
And I was letting him.
Because if Reo was afraid to say the bad news aloud, then maybe, for a few more seconds, the world was still fine.
I played his game. “My Tiger and I are still discussing the matter of her sharing her food. Don’t get too excited.”
“Noted.”
And again Reo remained quiet on the true reason he had come.
The Dragon inside me stirred, sensing the shift before my mind did. The air felt heavier, charged. My instincts screamed that the horizon was about to darken, but not yet.
Not this second.
Whatever was coming had claws, and Reo was buying me the last few calm breaths I’d get before they raked through my world.
I considered earlier today. "You sent my personal Scales to the island."
Reo nodded. “I did.”
I kept my voice level, but I also made sure he heard the edge. "This was supposed to be private. Just me and Nyomi. Why the fuck would you send Yuki, Mami, and Hina here?"
The smile left Reo’s face. "To test her."
Heat flared in my chest, instant and vicious. "Don't. Ever. Test. My Tiger."
Reo didn't flinch, but his hands came up slightly in surrender and respect. "I apologize. I wanted to see if Nyomi stays alert even when she thinks she doesn't need to be. If her instincts are always on, even in paradise."
"That's not your call to make."
"You're right. It isn’t." He held my gaze. "But I also had another reason."
I waited.
"I've been suspicious of your Scales." His voice dropped. "Since Paris. Nothing solid. Just. . .small things. Questions they shouldn't ask. Knowledge they shouldn't have. But I wasn't sure if any of them could actually be the spy."
My blood went cold.
"I’m hoping I’m wrong. It wasn't a formal test, Kenji. I was just. . .throwing something out there and praying nothing would stick."