Free Purrfect Protector by SA Welsh Page B

a relationship.
    He shoved the shock aside and focused on getting Aleksi to stay with him. “Please?”
    “Only for a little while,” Aleksi conceded.
    Kale scooted forward to leave room for Aleksi to squeeze in behind him once he stripped off his pants, underwear and boots. The water level rose, swelling to the brim.
    “The water might spill over,” he warned.
    “That’s okay. The boards are old but strong, they can take a little water.” Aleksi kissed his ear, gently pulling him so Kale’s back rested against Aleksi’s front.
    Sighing, Kale let the last of the tension in him float away. He knew Aleksi wouldn’t let him drown since it wouldn’t look good for the whole bodyguard image.
    He relaxed in Aleksi’s hold and trailed his fingers up and down Aleksi’s forearms. “So…how about we give introducing me to your tiger another go?”
     

Chapter Five
     
     
     
    As they stood outside, Aleksi wasn’t sure this was such a good idea. He hadn’t exactly introduced Kale to his tiger in the most careful of ways and the last thing he wanted was for his lover to run from him—especially when his tiger could think they were playing a game and chase after Kale.
    He didn’t want to call Kale his human yet. Despite the mutual pleasure they’d found in the bath yesterday, they were taking it slow. The more dominant and predatory the animal half of the shifter was, the more danger a prospective mate was in. Aleksi wasn’t going to make the leap or let his cat become too attached to Kale until he knew they had something more than just attraction between them.
    “Kale…”
    Kale called him on his attempt to delay shifting. “Stop stalling and show me. I swear I won’t run and I’ll do everything you told me to do. I won’t approach you until you come to me first, I won’t stare into your eyes and most importantly, I won’t run.”
    Aleksi had perfect control of his cat but the feral instincts were still there and he didn’t want to take any chances with Kale. Knowing Kale wasn’t going to let him put this off much longer, he sighed. “Okay.”
    There wasn’t a big ceremony or the horror show writhing in pain where bones popped and snapped. Aleksi’s shift was seamless. One minute he stood in his man form and the next, his tiger burst free. If he had to describe how the process felt, he would liken it to stretching out all his muscles after a long sleep in a small space or after a very long drive. It felt good—freeing—and gave him a jolt of energy.
    He lifted his head high and roared happily, chuffing when the forest birds chirped and flew into the air in answer. Perhaps he’d go and chase them later. He hadn’t done that for a while.
    “Oh. Fuck.”
    The whispered curse drew his attention and he snapped his gaze over to the little man. The cat part of his brain assessed Kale as a potential meal but quickly rejected the idea of eating the nice-smelling human.
    Aleksi drew in a deep breath, analyzing the scents until he filtered out all the irrelevant information and focused on the human’s scent. There was fear there—a good amount of it—but that wasn’t new. Everyone feared him. However, there was also something else. It wasn’t pleasure or surprise. It was something new, something he hadn’t identified before in this form.
    He stepped forward slowly so as not to startle the human and crouched when he got within a few feet of Kale. What would the human do next?
    He didn’t have to wait long to find out as Kale took a hesitant step toward him, head down in a submissive gesture that Aleksi appreciated. He made an encouraging sound and the human’s gaze flicked up to his, eyes wide before looking quickly away again.
    Thankfully, his tiger had no interest in declaring dominance over Kale so Aleksi loosened the reins of his control a little, letting his animal nature interact more freely with his new lover.
    Non-shifters never understood the relationship a shifter had with their animal. It