Free A Tiger's Treasure (Tiger Protectors Book 2) by Terry Bolryder

a little extra beef onto her sandwich. Had to make sure his woman was well fed.
    Oh no, there was the tiger part of him, calling her his woman when he had no right to do that.
    He picked up both plates and walked to the bedroom. He guessed he had some right. They were having some kind of affair right now. He would do his best to make sure she enjoyed it and it didn’t cause any awkwardness for them later on.
    Well, minimal awkwardness.
    He opened the door, and she sat up, once again wearing the sweatshirt he’d given her. His cock twitched. She looked too good in his clothing. He sat down beside her, enjoying the look of her bare, curvy legs where they weren’t covered by the sweatshirt as she knelt on them.
    He wanted to run a finger over each soft, curvy calf, take those tantalizing, feminine little feet in his hand and kiss each little toe.
    He grabbed his sandwich and shoved it in his mouth to stop him from doing anything stupid.
    She gave him an amused looked and picked up her own sandwich to take a bite. She had to stretch her mouth to do it, and after she swallowed, she gave him a curious glare, holding up her sandwich. “Why is mine bigger than yours?”
    He shrugged. “Whoops?”
    She laughed and hit him lightly on the arm. “You aren’t fooling anyone. So cats like curves on their women too?”
    “I like curves on my women,” he said. “But mostly, I just want you to be well fed.”
    She seemed slightly embarrassed but pleased and went back to eating her sandwich. He went to the kitchen to get some milk, and when he came back, she’d set down half her sandwich and was staring pensively at nothing in particular.
    He sat on the edge of the bed, grabbed a tee shirt from the floor to pull over his head, hoping to be a little more professional in case she was nervous. Or feeling vulnerable.
    “I wish we could just go to bed,” he said, looking over at her, giving her space. “But I really do need to know what we’re up against.”
    She shrugged and took another bite of sandwich, as if avoiding the question. She looked so beautiful, with her dark skin and her dark curls and that inner strength she wore like armor. He wanted to take her down and claim her right there.
    Press her into the mattress and make his mark with his claws. It wouldn’t hurt, but she’d be irrevocably his. But then he shuddered as he remembered the truth of the situation. She was a rare alpha female of her species. She would have to mate with one of them.
    And that would probably break him when it happened, so he pushed away the thought of it.
    “It’s like I told you,” she said finally. “I came here looking at a case. My parents were murdered. I was a teen.”
    He was quiet, just eating his sandwich slowly, and let her talk. He handed her a glass of milk, and she drank half of it and handed it back. He couldn’t help but think this would be an ideal life. Coming home with her at the end of a day of work, having hot sex, then basking in the afterglow and discussing cases while eating together.
    It was all so much less lonely. So much more enjoyable. Carter vowed to enjoy it while it lasted.
    “I know. Sometimes crimes just happen, but this was odd,” she said. “The night they were killed, a cop came to the door. But he smelled weird. He told me something had happened. Somehow, I knew, just by looking at his face.”
    Carter was silent, thinking only of the horror of a teenage girl suddenly alone in the world. She’d told him before that she was an only child, and she hadn’t talked about parents. Then again, he hadn’t either. He’d only known his mom, and she had died. His brothers were all he’d had, and lately, he didn’t see much of them.
    “I’m sorry that happened,” he said.
    She waved a hand. “We weren’t that close,” she said. “Not as much as we should have been. They were often gone on business. Plus, all they talked about when they were home was the match they’d been planning for me ever since I