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Come, let us get you washed. Lillia pulled her from the door. A nice long sleep
afterward will do wonders for your disposition.
Devra wrenched her arm free and spun to the door. She rushed out of the house
without a clue as to where she could go. She couldn t take the path she used before. It would
lead her back to the tiger s cave. The one in front of her looked used and she thought of the
servants. Those villagers working at the house would have to travel some path to return
home.
The further she ran away from Gannon s house, the more the jungle hindered her
escape. The lush tropical foliage covered what might have been a trail. She walked for a long
time, running when a sound startled her. Each time she tripped and stumbled over tree
branches, she slowed her gait. Several times, her turns led her to beaches. While she wanted
to follow the shoreline, she feared it would be the easiest way for the tiger to track her.
A Sinful Tiger 75
However, when common sense had a foothold in her thoughts, she remembered he was an
animal and he d trail her scent more than her footprints in the sand.
The sun finally rose. It seemed to take forever, yet she knew it couldn t have been
more than an hour. She considered going back, returning to Gannon, except fear pushed her
onward.
She emerged from the tree line, and stared at beach she d seen before. Tromping across
her earlier path, she kicked at the indents she d left in the clean white surface. She felt she
had gone a mile, though she hadn t gotten anywhere.
Defeated by her lack of direction, she wandered a different route, determined to end
up anywhere but where she stood now. The course she trekked led her to a clearing with an
old hut. Relieved by her discovery, she ran to the door and pounded excitedly.
Who is this beating on my house? A large island woman answered and took a stance
in the opening.
Can you help me? Devra leaned against the outside wall, tired from the long night
with Gannon and her ill-conceived escape from him. Realistically, where could she go on a
small island without him eventually finding her?
Help you? The woman s brow rose as if it were a request she never got from anyone.
Yes. I was shipwrecked, and then this tiger& this man --
Come in. The woman yanked her over the threshold and shut the door behind her.
Her tone contained no surprise at the mention of a tiger. She pulled Devra into the room and
thrust her toward a chair near a small wood table. Her dark, almost black eyes, raked over
Devra with distrust. What do you know of the tiger?
He wants me. Looking around she noticed the palm-thatched building offered no
safety from an animal.
No one can satisfy the tiger. You should leave this place.
How? Devra asked, even though she didn t want to leave Gannon.
76 Brenda Williamson
You must find someone that will take you from this island. You re not safe. Every
year, the man becomes more a nocturnal creation of instinct. He ll kill you.
You seem to know a lot about what will happen to him. She surveyed the small room
cluttered with oddities. How do you know?
The woman didn t answer. She seemed heavily entranced by the words. She mumbled
something incoherent, then her hand reached out. Devra flinched out of habit. The woman
touched the mark of the tiger.
You re his. You ve offered yourself to the tiger.
No, not the tiger. I ve been with Gannon.
The tiger does not need to come to you on his own to mate. The man is capable of the
deed.
Devra shuddered, recalling how she had agreed to everything Gannon asked of her. He
used the term mating, and she accepted it as a form of commitment.
He s bred you. The woman leaned forward and placed her hand on Devra s belly.
He s planted his seed and bred you.
Bred! Devra shot up from the chair. I don t think so& Oh, no, I& I&
You ll bear the tiger s offspring.
No, Devra paced a circle and rubbed her hand over her stomach. No, it can t be.
Maybe it was careless of me to have sex without protection --
The tiger has bred you, and there s no going back. She pushed the hair from Devra s
other shoulder.
Upon her skin was another circular indention she didn t know she had.
It s the tiger s mark showing others he s your mate.
Others? Devra s eyes widened.
A Sinful Tiger 77
The woman laughed a horrible cackling sound. There are none, but he s an animal and
doesn t know that. Instinct dictates his actions. When a cat breeds a female, he holds her
with the bite of his teeth in her flesh, so she can t get away.
I didn t want to get away. She shoved the woman s hand from her shoulder.
Nevertheless, he is an animal and will do what comes natural. Breeding you to bear
his offspring is the only thing he wants.
The last pill I took will work, Devra whispered to herself as she thought of her birth
control method.
The woman gave her an uninterested glance as she took a seat on a low stool. Her wide
girth appeared to float since the seat disappeared beneath her. She clearly didn t understand
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