Page 33 of Tiger Born

She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs were struggling to draw oxygen, and she needed somewhere she felt safe.

Chris would be coming through that door any second, and she didn’t want him to see where she’d gone, so she kicked up to a jog and yanked open the first family bathroom door, and pulled it closed as fast as she could.

She locked it and backed away from the door, struggling for breath.

Misty grabbed the strap of her purse and hugged it to her chest. She couldn’t bring her weapon into the hospital. It was against policy, but she did have the bear spray.

Dame was here. He was in the building. Was he okay?

She fumbled her phone out of her purse and opened Instagram. It’s where he would’ve gone if he wanted to talk.

She had a red dot by her messages, indicating she had a new one. Fingers trembling, she opened up the messages and sure enough, she had one from LameDame10. She gasped and opened it.

Don’t go into the elevator!

I didn’t see this in time, she typed out. Send. Are you okay? Send.

A minute passed, and she paced like a caged animal. Would she walk out of this bathroom and come face to face with Stellan? He would follow her scent, right?

Her phone vibrated with a notification from the open app.

Dame had messaged her back. Where are you?

8th floor. Over the skywalk take a right at the doors. First bathroom. Send.

Not two minutes later, she heard him at the door. “Misty, let me in.”

“How can I tell it’s you?”

“LameDame10.”

“Something only we would know.”

“Back of your car, under the tarp. You’ll still be healing. Right arm.”

Yep, there it was. She yanked the door open and Dame stood there, arms braced against the doorframe. His eyes were molten gold and full of a hunger she didn’t understand. His neck was bleeding, but he didn’t seem to favor it as he gripped her gently by the throat and pushed her backward into the bathroom. He shut the door behind them, locked it, and his lips were on hers as her shoulders hit the wall. His tongue slipped past her lips and the kiss was just as hungry as the look in his eyes had been.

“Stellan?” she asked.

“Mars has him.”

“Am I safe?”

“Yes,” he growled, slipping his hand down the front of her scrubs.

“Dame,” she uttered in a whisper. “I’m so angry with you. We aren’t okay.”

“I’ll make us okay,” he promised her, sliding the tips of his fingers down her slit.

She rolled her eyes closed and arched her head back, trying to remember the reasons she was mad at him. “You ghosted me.”

“I tried to set you free.”

“You hurt me.”

“I’ll fix it,” he ground out, pressing against her as he cupped her neck with his free hand and kissed her.

Her mind was buzzing under his touch.