Chapter One

Saloni couldn’t believe the trial had ended this way. Two hirsute guards grasped her upper arms and dragged her to the prison hidden below the Portuguese villa. Even as she fought against their hold, part of her thought this must be a nightmare. Her sisterhood had turned against her simply because she had sought revenge on a man who deserved it. Not only had he nearly ruined her life by pretending to love her, but their child had died because he had run away, leaving her pregnant in a time when a single woman couldn’t bear a child without social repercussions.

Glancing sideways, she noted that same man whom she had once loved but had learned to despise struggling in his father’s savage grip.

“No! Father, no! I will not be locked up again. Not with her!” Rahul growled.

His father, Sanjay, a tall dark-skinned man with long black hair, held his son in a steely grip.

Like Rahul, Sanjay’s dark eyes flashed with rage.

Rahul shifted from man to beast. The change was so sudden it was scarcely noticeable. His handsome face elongated and his fangs grew sharp and white. Striped black and tan fur sprouted over his entire body. Obviously he’d hoped his change to semi-tiger form would give him greater strength to struggle against his father’s hold. Sanjay also changed to partial tiger form. Still retaining his man-like body, his muscles thickened, face became feline rather than human, and he grew a thick black coat, as he was the only black weretiger known in existence.

Weretigers were mystical. Savage. Completely irresistible, Saloni thought with disgust. It was her attraction to Rahul that had gotten her into trouble in the first place.

“I have a career. A life. A fiancée!” Rahul continued, his voice deep and animal-like as he remained somewhere between tiger and man, a striped, bipedal man-cat.

Sanjay growled angrily and stumbled against Rahul’s strength. Though Sanjay was taller and bigger than Rahul, Saloni didn’t doubt the younger weretiger could have broken free if he wished a bloody battle with his sire. It seemed that in spite of his fury and desire to escape his punishment, he respected Sanjay too much to engage in a serious fight.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.” Saloni glanced at her guards. The loup-garou merely fixed their yellow eyes on her with a look that told her it would be useless to argue. The French werewolves had been assigned to bring her to the cell and nothing would stop them from doing their duty. Similar to the weretigers, they were covered in shaggy fur, had elongated snouts and ears, and walked on two legs rather than four. Still, Saloni continued in the vain hope that she could appeal to their feminine hearts. “All I wanted was justice.”

“No, you wanted revenge,” Fifi, one of the loup-garou guards assigned to escort Saloni to prison, growled.

The Wakened Veils were supernatural female assassins whose sworn duty was to punish males, in particular supernatural males, for their crimes against women.

“In all the centuries that The Wakened Veils have existed we have never been forced to punish one of our own,” Angelique, the other loup-garou guard, said. “You have shamed us all.”

“For wanting revenge?” Saloni glared. Rahul had used her and nearly destroyed her life. Not only that, they had lost a child because of his frivolous nature. To him she had been mere entertainment, a wench to warm his bed, but she had fallen in love with him. That’s what made his desertion even more painful.

She snarled and used her formidable strength in an attempt to free herself from the wolves’ steely grips. Impossible. Few supernatural creatures could compete with loup-garou strength, and as a vampire she could not.

“You were as guilty in this matter as the man was,” Fifi continued. “By using the power of The Wakened Veils for a personal vendetta, you almost made us as dishonorable as the men we seek to punish.”

“See, father, even they know it was her fault,” Rahul growled.

“Silence!” Sanjay roared. “You are as much to blame and you will serve your sentence.”

The group had finally reached the bottom of the stairway. Sanjay, Fifi, and Angelique hauled their rebellious prisoners to a door at the far end of the spacious basement that contained several cells. This specialized prison was located beneath the home of a woman called Vidonia, one of the three founders of The Wakened Veils.

Angelique opened the door and Fifi thrust Saloni inside so hard that she stumbled to her knees.

Seconds later Rahul followed, though he managed to remain on his feet in spite of how hard Sanjay flung him through the door.

A roar erupted from Rahul’s throat as he tore off his clothes, changed into full tiger form and leapt at the door. He was too late. It slammed shut and the tiger’s massive paws pounded against it. Saloni heard another door, which she knew to be made of even thicker steel, slide into place behind it. These cells were created to hold supernatural creatures and she knew there would be no escape.

Still roaring with fury, the tiger continued throwing himself against the door.

“Stop it already!” Saloni snapped, her head throbbing from anger and frustration. The last thing she needed was to listen to him all night. “You’re not breaking through.”

He ignored her completely. Just like a man.

Raising her eyes to the heavens, Saloni sat on the bed and glanced around the cell. At least the sisterhood had been kind enough to lock them in the special prison. The room was fairly spacious with a large bed, table and chairs, and an adjoining bathroom. It had been created to hold female prisoners--rare since the Veils generally dealt with men. As Angelique had pointed out, no prisoner had ever been a member of the Veils. She was the first and though she had admittedly twisted the truth a bit, she still couldn’t help feeling betrayed by her sisterhood.

Two hundred years ago she had fallen in love with the most handsome, irresistible man she’d ever met. She’d risked everything for their secret affair and had ended up losing their child and nearly her life. Since they weren’t married or even engaged, their love had been forbidden. Love.

What a fool she had been to believe any man could feel such an emotion. All they wanted was physical satisfaction. If not for the midwife, she would have died. Though grateful for the woman’s assistance, she had to admit the side effects of her extremely unconventional treatment took some getting used to. It wasn’t every day a midwife turned her charge into a vampire. The woman had taken pity on Saloni and changed her into a creature capable of taken the revenge she deserved. She had seen what Saloni had suffered, perhaps even shared her loathing of Rahul.

Why else would she have given Saloni the power of a vampire?

Once she’d crossed into immortality, Saloni had been shocked to learn how many supernatural forces had infiltrated the world. At one time, she’d thought Rahul and his kind were the only creatures of legend in existence. How wrong she had been about so many things.

A century after her change, she had met Kesi, another vampiress who introduced her to The Wakened Veils. She and Kesi had met at a hangout in Spain where many supernatural beings could mingle without the risk of mortals discovering them. They had similar views on men and once Kesi had learned to trust Saloni, she had told her about the Wakened Veils. Saloni loved the idea of women warriors fighting for justice against the men who sought to control them. After passing many rigorous tests, she joined their ranks and had served their cause to the best of her ability. Then she’d learned that the man who had ruined her life was still alive. During their love affair, she had known Rahul was a weretiger, able to change from man to beast, yet he had told her little else about himself. Later she learned that it had been forbidden for him to confide in anyone, except his wife, about his true nature. The all-male tiger clans were close-knit and secrecy was required for their very survival. As a vampire, she understood this all too well. So few in the mortal world accepted and understood those with supernatural powers.

She hadn’t realized Rahul’s kind, weretigers, were capable of living as many centuries as a vampire. It was quite by chance that, upon returning to India after decades with The Wakened Veils, she discovered Rahul was still alive. To her horror, he was getting married. Two hundred years later she still loved him, but apparently he had forgotten her. The rage inside her turned to a kind of madness. She wanted him to suffer as she had to pay for seducing her and indirectly causing the death of her child. Deep inside she knew she was as guilty as he was for the latter crime, yet if she told the true story to The Wakened Veils, they would not help her. The Veils didn’t fear punishing those who deserved it--violently when necessary--but their main concern was justice. For the chance to appease her anger and satisfy her jealousy, she had painted Rahul as a monster. The Veils had agreed to punish him, even kill him if she wished it. She hadn’t wanted him put to death, merely to suffer a little. During the trial, the situation got out of hand and rather than simply punishing Rahul with a beating or imprisonment, the Veils had decided to put him and his father to death. Saloni’s choices were to either watch his execution or tell the complete truth. Unfortunately, the truth made her look almost as guilty a Rahul about their breakup and the loss of their child. She had admitted that he hadn’t known she’d been pregnant.

Even if he’d wanted to change his mind about their relationship and rescue her from the fate of marrying a horrible man, he couldn’t have because he hadn’t known she was carrying his baby.

Her teeth gritted, she glared at the tiger who was still hurling himself against the door. No matter how angry she was, part of her still lusted after him. More than lusted. She cared for the bastard.

Not that she could ever let him know that. Not after all that had happened between them. Not with a man like him.

Watching him batter futilely against the door, a great mindless beast trapped in his rage, Saloni started to giggle, and then her giggle erupted into full-blown laughter.

The tiger paused and swung his magnificent head in her direction. His dark gaze fixed on her, his thick ivory fangs a startling contrast to his beautiful tan and black coat. In the space of a heartbeat, he shifted into semi-beast form. Still covered with his animal pelt and retaining a distinctively feline head, he rose onto two legs.

“What are you laughing at?” he demanded, his voice inhumanly deep yet so sexy it sent a shiver down her spine.

Saloni wiped her teary eyes with the back of her hand and stifled giggles. “You. What do you think I’m laughing at? You can beat your stupid head against the door, but it won’t open. We’re stuck here.”

“Stuck.” He growled and began pacing the room. His hairy hands curled into fists, he bared his fangs in her direction. “This situation stinks.”

“Don’t think I’m happy about it!”

“Why shouldn’t you be? It’s your fault. You and your sisterhood probably planned this whole thing.”

Saloni longed to leap up and yank out a couple of handfuls of his striped pelt, but she decided that remaining calm would annoy him more. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, she made a conscious effort to keep a serene half smile on her lips.

“You’re quite right, of course. I planned to be trapped for a month in a room with the man I hate most in the world.”

“Another lie.”

She made a resigned gesture with a graceful hand and said, “Believe what you wish. That’s what you’re good at, anyway, Rahul. Ignoring the truth. Lying.”

His dark brown eyes sparked with anger. “I never lied to you!”

“You lied to yourself.”

“I do not want to talk about this any longer. We have spent several days on trial during which I bared my inner self in a way I never imagined to a room full of strangers--” “Your father and I are strangers?”

“I mean the members of your sisterhood. My father is not a stranger, but our relationship was not his business. He should never have involved himself.”

“Of course not. He should have let his son die, just like you did.”

Rahul sprang at her so quickly that even with her vampiric reflexes she had no chance to react.

One moment she was seated on the bed, the next she was lying flat on her back, trapped beneath Rahul’s semi-beast body. His hands pinned her wrists to the bed and one of his long, muscled legs rested heavily over both of hers.

His gaze fixed on her, holding her captive emotionally just as his body held hers physically.

Before her eyes, his tiger’s coat receded and his features molded back into their human shape.

Saloni’s pulse raced out of control. He was so handsome--large dark brown eyes with long, thick lashes, sharp cheekbones, and full lips that she longed to kiss. Even after two centuries he was still the sexiest man she’d ever known. This powerful weretiger made her pulse race--no small feat considering her supernatural constitution.

The truth struck her with staggering impact. She was trapped alone with Rahul for a month with no hope of getting out early for good behavior. Besides, she wondered how long she could keep up a semblance of good behavior when, just looking at him and feeling his big, warm body against hers, she wanted to behave quite badly. Terribly. She wanted to do the same things that had gotten her into trouble to begin with.

No. It could not happen. She would remain in control and not allow him to seduce her again.

“Get off me!” she shouted “Not until you take back what you said about me letting my son die.”

“You did.”

“If I had known you were pregnant that never would have happened. You would have been with me instead of with that abusive trash your parents arranged for you to marry. Do you think I wanted you to be stuck with a bastard who beat you? I still want to know, Saloni, how you could have chosen him over me.”

Damn, this man knew exactly what to say to shoot her anger off the scale. She struggled against his hold, nearly flinging him off, but his grip tightened. She felt the tiger in him. Powerful, angry, unstoppable.

“If you had told me the truth--” “By the time I realized I was pregnant, you had already left India! I said that at the trial! As for taking my husband over you, I had no choice. If I didn’t marry him, my family would have disowned me. I’d told you that from the first, Rahul, but you pursued me anyway. You knew I couldn’t marry you.”

“Wouldn’t, you mean.”

“There is no difference.”

“Oh, there’s a difference, Saloni. A great difference.”

His voice had softened to almost a whisper and he lowered his head slightly so their lips nearly touched. In spite of her anger, she wanted him to kiss her. More than that, she wanted to be completely possessed by him and to possess him, as well. The thought of sinking her fangs into the side of his strong neck and tasting his blood aroused her to a dangerous level.

By the lust burning in his eyes, she knew he wanted her, too. Between their bodies, his shaft hardened, an arousing, familiar sensation that she vividly recalled, though it had been two centuries since they’d made love. His warm hands seared her flesh and she felt his heartbeat quicken against her, or perhaps it was her own heartbeat?

Another low growl rumbled in his chest and he stood abruptly, leaving her trembling with need, her nipples hard and a pleasant yet frustrating ache between her legs. If possible, she hated him more than ever.

She sat up and stared at him. Rahul crossed the room to pick up his discarded clothes. Heavens he had a gorgeous body. Tall and sleekly-muscled, he had long limbs and a broad chest dusted with dark hair. His cock, quite thick even in its semi-erect state, rose from a wiry thatch of black pubic hair. Muscles flexed in his powerful legs as he squatted, picked up the clothes, and stood again. His smooth brow furrowed, he examined the shredded shirt and trousers. He’d been in such a hurry to rip them off and change into tiger form that his claws had rendered the garments useless. Saloni nearly laughed at his frustrated expression, and then she realized this meant she was trapped with a naked man who turned her on so much she could scarcely control the urge to lick him all over.

She flopped onto her back and closed her eyes tightly. Could the situation possibly get any worse?

* * * *

Rahul gritted his teeth and flung aside his shredded clothes. So many emotions churned inside him that he could scarcely think straight. Unable to look at Saloni any longer for fear that he would either kill her or kiss her, he turned his back and braced his hands against the wall.

Drawing several deep, slow breaths, he hoped to calm himself.

For two hundred years this woman had plagued him. From the moment he’d seen her walking in the marketplace of a village not far from the jungle where his weretiger clan met, he’d been obsessed with her. Not only was she beautiful with her enormous brown eyes and waist-length black hair, but she had mastered the art of combining innocence with flirtation. A heady mix that made him long to bed her and protect her.

He should certainly know by now that Saloni needed no man’s protection. The bitch had nearly gotten him killed by convincing her group of female assassins to punish him for falling in love with her. Perhaps he wasn’t completely innocent in what she’d suffered so many years ago, but he was not the monster she’d made him out to be. Yes, he’d taken her virginity though he had no right to it, but afterward he’d practically begged her to marry him. He’d even gone to her parents and asked for her hand, but they had already decided on a husband for her.

Once he realized she wasn’t about to leave her family to marry him, he should have done the honorable thing and stopped seeing her. Saloni was like a drug to him, however, and he couldn’t resist her. He lost track of how many times they’d met in private and made love. With every kiss, every stroke of her gentle little hands, he’d become more addicted.

Reality finally set in when she told him the date of her wedding. The fight that ensued still flashed through his mind--the shouting and the pain of her final refusal. He was a weretiger, the most powerful beast in the jungle. Other creatures bowed to him, yet he could not convince a mere mortal woman to bend to his wishes. It went against the beliefs of his clan to mistreat women, so kidnapping her and forcing her to live as his mate was out of the question. Even if he could live with himself after committing such a despicable act, other members of his clan, his father especially, would not allow it.

Frustrated and angry at Saloni as well as himself, he fled India. After several months of travel during which he indulged the tiger’s savage nature in hunts all over the world, he realized such childish behavior would get him nowhere. His father was the leader of their clan, and Rahul belonged by his father’s side. He also needed to see for himself that Saloni was well and happy in her marriage.

Even after so many years it was impossible to describe the sorrow he felt upon learning she had died in childbirth. For nearly two centuries he mourned her before their paths crossed again. She hadn’t died as he’d thought, but had become a creature of darkness, a vampire whose power nearly matched his own. No matter what she had become and in spite of the fact that he was engaged to another woman, he still loved her quite passionately. Unfortunately, her love had turned to hate. She’d cursed him and his fiancée then disappeared like a phantom. A short time later, she and other warriors from her sisterhood, The Wakened Veils, armed with weapons, nearly killed him. If not for his father’s intervention, he couldn’t say for sure if they would have gone through with the execution or not. Something in Saloni’s eyes and in the things she’d said to him that night told him that jealousy rather than hatred had prompted her to act against him.

Deep inside he knew she still felt something for him.

Even now her expression and lustful scent told him she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Yet it was impossible for them to be together. At one time sex had been enough, but not anymore. He would never again give her such power over him. The woman had rejected him.

Worst of all, she had been pregnant with his child and because of her decision to marry a man of her parent’s choosing, his son had died.

Slowly, he turned around and saw that she still rested on the bed, her back to him. He walked into the bathroom, somewhat annoyed that there was no door separating it from the main cell. At least it was better than the actual prison cells he and his father had been kept in while he awaited his trial with The Wakened Veils. Though appreciative of his father’s affection, he couldn’t help blaming Sanjay for his current situation. If the elder tiger had minded his own business instead of forcing Rahul to undergo a trial with The Wakened Veils, he was certain he could have worked things out with Saloni on his own. He grudgingly admitted that handling the situation his father’s way had at least cleared his name somewhat with the vigilante group, but learning the truth about what he and Saloni had lost because of their selfishness was painful. If only he hadn’t left India in a fury so much could have been different. Once Saloni had realized she’d been carrying his child, would she have finally gone against her family and married him?

In the bathroom, Rahul relieved himself, then took a quick shower and climbed onto the bed. At the moment, there was nothing better to do than sleep.

Saloni turned to him, her brow furrowed. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Getting some sleep.”

She raised herself on her elbow and said, “Not in this bed.”

“There’s only one bed.”

“I refuse to share it with you.”

A wicked, leering grin twisted his lips. “That’s not something you ever complained about before.”

“Get out of this bed. Now!”

“No.”

“When you’re a beast you sleep on the jungle floor, so you can do the same now.”

“We’re not in the jungle and at the moment I am a man. Men prefer beds.”

She snarled, baring her fangs, and hissed, “You will leave this bed now or you will regret it.”

“If you want to sleep alone, Saloni, you get on the floor. I am staying right here. I am more than willing to share this bed with you--” “I bet you are.”

“And I have absolutely no desire to do anything more than sleep in it.”

She laughed long and loud. “You expect me to believe that lie? You forget I’m a vampire and can smell your lust for me.”

“Just as I can smell yours for me.”

Rage gleamed in her eyes, but she turned her back on him and moved as close to the edge of the bed as possible. “Fine. But if you touch me, weretiger, I’ll see that your bloodline ends with you.”

* * * *

Saloni wasn’t sure how long she lay still, her arms wrapped around herself and her back to Rahul. She waited in anticipation, longing for his touch and prepared to fight him every step of the way if he dared lay a finger on her. These contradictory feelings were nothing new when it came to him. Part of her loved him desperately while another part hated him.

Her keen hearing detected the slowing of his heartbeat and even breathing as he drifted to sleep.

How could he slumber so comfortably when she lay beside him in turmoil?

Realizing she wouldn’t be able to rest, Saloni stood and walked to the bathroom to take a shower. She felt much more comfortable washing without the risk of Rahul spying on her, for she didn’t doubt that he would eventually try to make love with her again. In spite of his haughty attitude, she knew the size of his sexual appetite all too well. She also knew that resisting him would be difficult. In two hundred years she had known her share of men, but none compared to the primal beauty of the weretiger. Even in his man form there was something wild about Rahul.

The gleam in his brown eyes, the flash of white teeth against dark skin, and the scent of tiger and man sent shivers of delight down her spine. She clearly recalled his firm yet tender kiss, the warmth of his tongue stroking hers and the pressure of his sleekly-muscled body when he claimed her with powerful thrusts that hurled her into ecstasy.

Saloni turned on the faucet in the shower and as the water heated, she undressed and dropped her clothes in a pile on the floor. Seconds later she stood beneath a stream of warm water. Her eyes closed, she relished the sensation of the soothing liquid massage. She washed her hair then picked up a cake of soap and lathered her body. Unable to stop her thoughts from again drifting to Rahul, she imagined him in the shower with her, his long, brown body pushing hers against the tile while his mouth plundered hers.

A shiver of pure desire shot through her. Instinctively her hand drifted over her breasts, pausing to pinch a taut nipple, then continued over the slight swell of her belly and dipped between her legs. She sighed deeply and pushed her finger partway into her wet sheath, then used the slick tip to gently massage her plump clit. She placed aside the soap so that her other hand was free to stroke her breasts while she rubbed and caressed between her legs. All the while she imagined it was Rahul touching her. She fantasized about his full, sexy lips trailing along the side of her neck, down to her breasts then capturing an aching nipple.

Her heartbeat quickened and breathing increased as passion grew. Several more quick rubs and she came, legs trembling and body throbbing. Saloni leaned against the tile, waiting for her breathing to return to normal. In spite of how much she’d needed that release of sexual tension, it couldn’t compare to really making love with Rahul. Knowing he was physically near yet emotionally distant upset her more than she wanted to admit.

* * * *

Saloni’s alluring scent infiltrated Rahul’s pleasant sleep. With an aroused growl, he stretched, smiled, and reached for her only to find an empty space beside him on the bed. His eyes snapped open and he sat up, searching the room for her.

The sound of water running in the shower told him where she was and the delicious sexual aroma announced what she was doing. For a moment he considered joining her in the shower and surrendering to their intense physical need for each other, and then pride brought him back to his senses. He doubted she would welcome him with open arms. The fact that she was now in the shower satisfying herself was a big enough clue that she wouldn’t admit her feelings for him.

Knowing that she stood beneath the water, stroking herself to climax, made Rahul’s cock swell and his heart beat faster. He resisted the urge to grasp his staff and allow himself the gratification she now enjoyed. He had more self-control than she did. By the time they were released, Saloni would come to him. The beautiful, vengeful woman who had haunted his thoughts for two centuries would give herself to him. Again. When she did, he would not give her up as easily as before.

Finally the water stopped running in the shower. Moments later, Saloni stepped out wearing black shorts and a snug red T-shirt. She wore no bra beneath and her full breasts swayed with every step. Her hard nipples pressed against the thin fabric. All Rahul could think about was sucking those nipples, teasing them with his tongue until she begged him to make love with her.

“There are several changes of clothes on a shelf in the bathroom,” she said. “So there’s no need for you to parade around naked. I’m surprised you didn’t see them when you were in the bathroom earlier.”

Truthfully, he hadn’t noticed them. He had been so preoccupied with his anger and attraction to Saloni, that taking in the details of their cell hadn’t been a priority.

In spite of her casual manner of speaking, Saloni’s gaze swept him from head to toe and lingered on his erection. Rahul’s cock was bigger than average. When he and Saloni had first met, she’d been completely innocent in the ways of love and had never seen a naked man. Now, after two hundred years as a vampire, he didn’t doubt she had many bedmates to compare him with, so he was more grateful than ever for his endowments.

“I am a weretiger. When my kind stalk the jungles, we are free of the hindrance of clothing.”

She curled her lip in an irritating yet adorable smirk. “But, as you pointed out when I asked you to leave the bed, you are now in man form and men wear clothes.”

“Perhaps I merely wanted to give you a thrill,” he retorted. “And speaking of propriety, or lack of, I know what you were doing in the shower. Don’t forget, my senses are even keener than yours. At one time you would not have acted so wantonly.”

“That’s right, Rahul.” She held his gaze, her eyes gleaming as once again her agitation grew. “At one time I would have been hesitant to touch myself even in the privacy of my own room with the door locked. You corrupted me, remember? Made me a wanton woman.”

“When are you going to stop blaming me for everything? Yes, I took your innocence, but I didn’t steal it, Saloni. It was something you gave to me freely. Perhaps I should have refused, but I did not force you.”

“No, you just lured me. How could I have resisted a creature like you?”

Her words pleased him, but also increased his guilt. Their selfish lust had led to the death of an innocent and had almost killed Saloni. He recalled the feeling of devastation when he’d thought she’d died in childbirth. Nothing was worth the risk they had taken.

He stepped nearer to her so they almost touched. “I didn’t mean to seduce you.”

She tilted her face toward his, her full lips slightly parted so the delicate tips of her fangs were visible. “Don’t lie, Rahul. Not anymore. We’re stuck here because everyone who matters in our lives now knows the truth.”

“If that’s the case, then you must also admit your part in our situation.”

“Let me tell you something.” She poked his chest with her fingertip. “I have lived every day knowing our child was lost. I have suffered more than you could ever imagine.”

“I don’t deny that you’ve suffered.” He grasped her wrist to keep her from poking his chest again, then used his other hand to gently massage her fingers. “But now that I know the truth, at least understand that I am suffering with you.”

“Do you think I care?” She snarled and tried to pull away. He refused to release her. “Let me go.”

“I did once before when I should have stayed and fought for you, even if it meant having to fight you.”