The Ancient art of deception
Ren had not suspected a thing. He had slept through the night by the pool and when he eventually surfaced late the next morning Kelsey had long since vacated Kadam's sumptuous quarters.
He padded into the dining area yawning widely expecting to see Kelsey dutifully waiting for him with her usual tid-bits from her breakfast. But Kelsey was not there, in-fact no one was there. He twitched his tiger's ears glad for there sensitivity, he could hear running water to his left and to his right someone moving around the gym. Deciding it was probably Kadam practising in the gym, Ren followed the sound of the water to Kelsey's room.
She was in the en-suit clearly taking a shower, Ren liked his lips and thought of the sights beyond that mahogany door. "Just a peek" he told himself, she probably wouldn't care anyway if he was in tiger form but as he drew up to the door the shower was turned off.
Grumbling silently to himself he lay on the floor at the foot of her bed waited patiently.
Clean and refreshed, Kelsey stepped out of the shower. She felt different although she couldn't put her finger on exactly what had changed. As she turned the water off she whipped around...she had the uneasy feeling that she was being watched. But there was no one at the door. Shrugging the feeling off she wrapped herself in a couple of fluffy white towels and left the bath room to find some fresh clothing. It was only when she turned from her chest of draws to her wardrobe holding underwear and a t-shirt that she noticed Ren. She couldn't help but scream.
The tiger's ears pulled back at the noise and he immediately transformed back into a man,,,which in Kelsey's eyes did not improve the situation.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" she screeched at him enraged that he was actually roaring with laughter at her.
"not so loud sweet Kelsey, remember my ears are far sharper then your own" he smiled widely, "good morning incidentally"
Kelsey was speechless. She furiously pointed to the door the intent of the gesture so clear that even Ren could not misinterpret.
"I would take it as a complement you do look finest in the morning" he said almost huffily as he left the room. Snatching up the clothing she had dropped Kelsey darted back into the bathroom bolting the door, shaking. It was a moment when she realised she was not only trembling in anger but also fear. She hadn't heard Ren as he sneaked in, had he been watching her in the shower? The thought made her skin crawl. Ancient 300 year old tiger cursed Indian prince or not she would not tolerate any more of this from Ren.
The softest of knocks on the bathroom door.
"Kelsey?" Anik's voice was quiet but clearly panicked. "Kelsey? Are you alright? I heard you scream, I heard shouting and then Ren came out of your room"
Kelsey walked towards the door, unlocking and opening it tentatively.
"Where is he?" she whispered her eyes darting around.
"He went into the forest, he seemed...frustrated" he looked over her concerned. "What happened? Did he hurt you?"
Kelsey shook her head leaving the confines of the bathroom and sitting on the edge of her bed. Anik sat next to her and she explained what had happened. His hands curled into fists again.
"Oh Kelsey what have I done"
Kelsey blinked.
"errm it wasn't you being a pervert and trying to justify it mate"
Anik laughed a little then sighed.
"It's back to what I was saying last night, I shouldn't have convinced you to come with us and-"
"Well who ever was right or wrong it doesn't matter because I'm hear now" she interrupted then smiled mischievously "and it's not as if I haven't been enjoying myself" she added taking even herself by surprise at her open flirtation. The previous night had been an experience she would never forget.
Anik grinned despite himself.
"Oh yes, I can't say I haven't enjoyed your company Miss Kelsey" he gave her hand a squeeze but let go almost at once as there was the sound of a loud splash. "Dihren has returned" his expression was hard and he looked ready to fight the tiger with his bare hands.
"Don't do anything stupid Anik, Dihren cannot know about us, for both of our safety."
Anik nodded in agreement but he was clearly not happy.
"Kelsey you can't just let him take advantage of you like that, you can't let him treat you like his play thing"
"I'm not going too, don't you worry" she said getting up and walking to the narrow window at the far end of her room where she could just see the white tiger lounging in the shallow end of the pool his tail flicking impatiently.
"He's a prince he's used to getting his own way and like you said he doesn't share what he believes is rightfully his. But what can we do? I have to lift the curse from him, or he will forever be a tiger. And to be honest I'd far rather have him find out about us when he doesn't have massive teeth and claws" she shivered slightly at the thought. Dihren had mentioned yesterday about his wild instincts, would they come into play if he ever realised that Kelsey's heart had fallen for Anik Kadam, his life long friend and supposedly faithful servant?
"We'll break this curse then get out of here go to Canada or Russia or somewhere he would never expect. In the mean time, we need to keep the intimacy to the minimum. Just act the same as before" Anik nodded solemnly "But at night, when Dihren is asleep, Anik will you teach me more defence?" she asked glancing away from his noble face back down to where the tiger was looking around wondering where his quarry had got too.
