Chapter 31

The next morning as Joyce Collier was emerging from a sound sleep, she stretched luxuriantly on the warmest, softest, most comfortable bed she had ever slept on in her life. Sensually, she moved her breasts on the bed and felt the most luscious sensation on her sensitive areolae. Finally, she realized that, although she was naked, she felt wonderfully snug and warm.

Dimly she realized it was Saturday, the day she could sleep, so she just snuggled down against her pillow to go back to sleep. Then it began to penetrate her consciousness that there was no pillow. She just snuggled down and vaguely pondered the problem: What happened to my pillow?

Only then did reality begin to dawn: she wasn't in a bed at all. Then her memory of the day before began to return, slowly at first, but then with a rush. She wasn't in bed; she had been sleeping on Rajah!

Opening her eyes for good this time, she wriggled up on his chest and whispered, "Hi! Are you awake?"

The huge tiger, keeping his eyes closed tightly, communicated, "No! I'm sound asleep." Then he opened one eye and communicated, "Don't you know, Mistress, that tigers need their sleep? I'm sleeping."

With that he slammed his eyelid shut and pretended to sleep.

"Oh, sleeping..." she mused. "I see..." With that she began to tickle the big cat's ribs. Only moments later, the two were rolling around the floor with poor Rajah trying to escape Joyce's furious assaults while at the same time trying to pretend he was sleeping. Finally, he gave up.

When he did, she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, kissed him softly on his cheek and said, "Good morning, darling Rajah. Have I told you how much I love you yet this morning?"

Following her kisses, Rajah found he couldn't even pretend to grump. Instead he flipped her on her back and proceeded to lick her beautiful body. When he did, the events of the preceding night came back so she reminded him of his "punishment".

Spreading her legs wide, she raised her hips and said softly, "Remember, at least twice a day, whether you want to or not, you have to lick my filthy slut's cunt."

The huge animal, instead of going down on her succulent love box, stalked over her body so that he covered it completely. Then he lowered his head until his huge mouth was only inches above her face. "This is the end!" he communicated fiercely. "You have the loveliest, sweetest, purest sex in the world. On your honeymoon, Jack will drink at your source by the hour.

"Now I will not stand for it, do you hear? Joyce Collier is kind and sweet and good and ... pure! You're blessed by the Holy Spirit, Himself, okay? That is God Himself, in His third person, okay? Now that Jack is going to marry you and create an endless bliss, do you really want to wreck it? Do you?" he demanded fiercely.

"Darling Rajah," she said, "my cunt is flooded with its juices and is waiting for you. Please? It's clean and fragrant and nice. I think you'll like it. Please?"

The tiger bared his teeth, let out a quiet but fierce snarl, and then to her utter amazement kissed her on the lips.

Then he looked embarrassed and Joyce asked what the trouble was. "Could ... could ... could you get me ... something to eat?" he stammered. Suddenly, she was mortified. Realizing that the poor animal had only had two pizzas in the past twenty-four hours, it was scarcely enough to fuel his 600-pound body.

Jumping up, she grabbed a phone book, looked up the number and called the Los Angeles Forum. She reached Byron Crosby, the general manager of the circus. After receiving directions to her apartment, he told her a truck with Rajah's food would be there in whatever time it took to make the trip. It would leave at once.

Before she even had the phone back on its hook, Rajah's great tongue was working on her slit. Joyce lay down on the floor and raised her hips to assist him and then just enjoyed the marvelous sensations he was creating in her loins.

Glancing down at his head and darting tongue she realized that she would have to warn Jack that, in all likelihood, by the time they were married her pubic area would be completely bare. In less than twenty-four hours, she estimated she had lost nearly half of her pubic hair, and the patch was significantly smaller in area than it had been at any time since she reached puberty.

After rendering her nearly unconscious with orgasms, Rajah did not quit. Instead he began to lick first one leg, then the other. When she reached down she realized her legs, which suffered from what one company referred to as "briar-patch legs," were now as smooth as a baby's bottom. Then he insisted that she raise an arm and licked first one armpit and then the other.

Just as he finished, the doorbell rang. Slipping on a terry robe she opened the door and saw two men standing at the door with a huge container of raw meat. Although Rajah was only fed once a day, that one meal was huge. Thanking them, she brought the huge container into the kitchen and set it down on the floor.

Then she made coffee for herself as she watched Rajah tear into the meat. Seeing his huge jaws move to masticate it and seeing his teeth ripping into it, it was all she could do to keep from laughing, remembering Nathan Wiesman's accusation that the tiger's teeth had been removed. She shook her head when Rajah finished his huge meal in less time than it took her to drink two cups of coffee.

Slipping into a tiny halter top and a pair of ancient Levi's cut off at the thighs to make short shorts, she tied her hair back into a ponytail and left the apartment, still barefooted. Seeing that she was not wearing shoes Rajah insisted on carrying her on his back to the nearby park where she planned to run with him.

When she began to run with her smooth, long-legged stride and had already covered nearly a mile, the tiger who had been trotting at her side communicated, "One hundred yards? Two hundred on your best day? Ha!" She grinned, stuck out her tongue and kept on running.

The fact was that Joyce really didn't like to run. To her it was boring, deadly-dull and lonely. Rajah trotting by her side changed all that. She could tease him and he could tease her back without her even opening her mouth. Rajah was a wonderful companion, she decided.

After slowing and finally coming to a stop, she announced it was his turn to work. He grinned as she lay on his back with her head on his. For the tiger the joy of being able to run free was priceless. Although his stride was so smooth that Joyce actually dozed on his back, he was moving at over twenty-five miles an hour and roaring past dozens of runners and joggers out for their Saturday-morning exercise.

Fortunately, Lieutenant Collins had had the foresight to alert police communications. As a result the officers were able to reassure the dozens of callers: "That's just Miss Collier with Rajah," they said. "He's a wonderful animal, and a great friend of the police!"

After running for ten miles, Rajah felt better than he had in years. Since Joyce had fallen sound asleep, the tiger was standing at the apartment door when he finally communicated with her. Slipping off his back, she opened the door, then kissed him, and thanked him for the great run.

Back in the apartment she checked the time and found it was after noon. The meeting with the Animal-Rights activists was scheduled for the studios at two. First, she carefully groomed Rajah. As she was working on him he told her how much he loved her and how wonderful it was for him to run free through the big park, particularly with his beloved mistress on his back.

"And what do I do for the wonderful creature who saved my life?" she asked. "The wonderful creature who gave me the love of my life? What?"

"A kiss?" he asked diffidently. "A little one, maybe?"

In an instant she was bare and moving all over him kissing everything in sight. Finally, she gave him a kiss full on the lips and poured all the great love she felt for him into it. Remarkably, she felt the same great joy and purity that she received from Bobbie's kiss.

Pulling away slightly she said softly, "It is the Holy Spirit in you, isn't it, my darling? You're an agent of God, aren't you?" The animal's eyes widened in surprise but then he just nodded once.

With that she went into the bathroom and showered. Coming out, she consulted with Rajah and decided to wear an outfit similar to what she had just taken off: Levi's with the legs cut off and an ancient chambray shirt with its sleeves torn off.

With the shirt tied just below her breasts and the Levi's riding very low on her hips, there was a vast expanse of beautiful golden skin showing between. After tying her hair back in a ponytail, she spun around toward Rajah and asked, "How do I look?"

With great affection he replied, "Like you're about ... oh, fifteen. Of course," he communicated with a wide grin, "like one of those early-developing ones with the big tits."

With a sexy grin she faked slapping his face. After slipping into a pair of old moccasins, they left the apartment. On the way to the studios Rajah spent most of the time sound asleep. When she parked her van and got on his back for a ride to the studio, she teased him about sleeping all the way. Pretending to grump, he reminded her that he was a cat, after all, and cats spend a lot of their time sleeping. She giggled merrily at his reply.

The meeting was scheduled for a seldom-used studio that was kept set up for news-interview-type programs similar to Meet The Press. To avoid any possible misunderstandings later, the station management had insisted on its right to tape the entire meeting, although they assured the Rights people that nothing other than possible short clips would air without their permission.

Before entering the studio, Joyce gave Rajah another kiss to thank him for the nice ride. Opening the door, she found Jack sitting in a chair facing three men who, she assumed, were the Animal-Rights people. There were eight chairs arranged in a semicircle: Jack was sitting on one side with two empty chairs to his right and one empty one to his left. Across from him three of the four chairs were occupied.

When she entered the studio, all of the men rose to greet her. Rajah was pacing proudly at her side. Jack made the introductions: there were Jonathan Crawford, Homer Higgins, and Dr. Simon Cohen. He explained that Dr. Cohen claimed to be the greatest living authority on tigers.

While she was being introduced, Rajah had dropped down into his house-cat pose and just watched the proceedings with alert but friendly eyes. Turning to him she said, "Raj, these gentlemen are here claiming to protect your rights. Now greet them nicely, please."

The huge animal sat in front of each man in turn and held up his right paw to shake hands. Instead of taking the proffered paw, the men backed up with Cohen almost falling over backwards when he backed into a chair.

Although he had communicated the comment, "What pompous idiots!" causing Jack, who had heard him clearly, to put his hand over his face to hide a grin, Rajah looked up at Joyce and pretended that his feelings had been hurt.

"I really don't know why they didn't want to shake hands, darling," she said responding to his look. "But I'm sure they didn't mean to hurt your feelings.

"They are your friends, after all. They're here to tell us all the ways you and your friends have been abused." Then with her eyes wide she asked, "Rajah, have you been abused?"

His real response was, "Whatever you want, my darling Mistress," but that certainly wasn't what she responded to.

Instead, she stamped her foot like a petulant little girl and exclaimed furiously, "That's just about enough of that, Rajah Collier! I'm sick and tired hearing how Domino's shorted you on pepperoni. Besides," she added with a cute shake of her ponytail, "that's not the cruelty they had in mind."

Looking at the men who were now seated and looking at her with various degrees of amazement she asked, "It's not, is it? Cruelty, I mean? Getting a large pizza with maybe a couple of slices of pepperoni fewer than there should have been really isn't cruelty, is it?"

The men were baffled but Rajah played along perfectly, nodding his great head and looking triumphant. She looked at him and said peevishly, "Oh, okay! Maybe it was short a slice or two."

Then she wheeled on him and reiterated, "But it still isn't cruelty, damn it! And if I hear one more word about it, you'll never get another one, either!"

At that point Rajah dropped flat on the floor and looked up at her with his eyes pleading. Dropping to her knees, Joyce kissed the top of his head and said, "Okay, you big baby! I wouldn't be that mean. I know how much you love pizza."

Then she said, "Okay, I'll order. By the way, darling, do you remember how Prince and Sasha eat theirs? They'll be here any minute with Tom and Bobbie, so I might as well order for them, too."

She rose and went to a studio phone but then stopped and wheeled around again. "Rajah Collier, are you sure? You're trying to tell me that Sasha has anchovy and peppers? A tiger, and he wants anchovy and peppers?"

She shook her head and added, "If you're wrong, young man, don't come crying to me for protection when Sasha goes after your furry hide!"

So far the visitors were utterly baffled. First, Joyce looked like a teenager, not like the co-anchor of a major news show. Secondly, the whole exchange about pizza completely baffled them, but finally, it appeared that the beautiful young woman was actually communicating with a Bengal tiger which was, of course, utterly impossible. When she went to the phone, Dr. Cohen reassured his colleagues of its impossibility.

The episode with the pizza had not ended. When she called the local Domino's, she insisted that Rajah's pizza have wall-to-wall pepperoni. Then she ordered a sausage and meatball pizza for Prince and a anchovy and peppers for Sasha. She was assured that, like every other Domino's in the region, they had been alerted to supplying pizza to the tigers and was told it was now the chain's highest priority.

The manager made no bones about the fact that Domino's was receiving priceless publicity and would do anything to maintain its position as the tigers' preferred pizza supplier. She concluded the call by asking if the delivery man could stop at a market and pick up ten gallons of lemonade and just add it to the bill. The manager instantly agreed.

Hanging up the phone, she joined the others in the semicircle. Instead of sitting in a chair, though, she asked Rajah to lie down across the front of it so she could sit on the floor and lean back against his shoulders. When he instantly took up the requested position, she sat down and decided the floor was too hard. Getting up, she asked the tiger to turn and lie down facing the camera, putting his back to the group. When he did that, she kicked off her moccasins and lay down on his back. Rajah held his head up high to provide a good head rest for her.

"Much better!" she sighed. Then after rolling over to thank him with a kiss, she looked at the men attentively and said, "I guess we might as well get started. It looks like Bobbie and Tom may have been held up in traffic. Now, gentlemen, what exactly are your complaints? But, by the way, aren't you missing someone? Isn't Mr. Wiesman going to be with us today? He is your president, isn't he?"

Cohen was obviously serving as spokesman. After looking uncomfortably at his colleagues he replied, "He ... he's not feeling well today. His doctors feel he needs a complete rest. The poor man is so dedicated to animals, of course. Apparently he overworked."

"Oh?" Joyce replied with concern. "Golly! He seemed fine at the circus last night. It must have been very sudden. What happened? How is he feeling?"

Looking even more uncomfortable, Cohen stammered, "It happened last night. Poor Nathan could only mutter a few words. But he did seem terribly distressed about something. Unfortunately, he wasn't very coherent."

Still resting against Rajah, Jack thought she looked incredibly beautiful as she had pulled up her long tanned legs slightly so they were bent at the knee. It was all he could do to keep from completely breaking down with laughter. He had never realized Joyce was as good an actress as she so obviously was.

With her eyes still wide she asked, "Words? What words? And what was he so distressed about?"

Having gone as far as admitting Wiesman's problem, Cohen blurted, "All he said was, 'Claws! Big claws!', and 'Teeth! Big teeth!' As for the distress, he was constantly looking for paper and a pen. All we could make out were disconnected words. He said, 'Apology! Write apology!' Does that mean anything to you, Miss Collier?"

"Well, in honesty, it does ring a few bells. But we'll get back to that in a moment. After all, we're here to talk about the animals, not Mr. Wiesman. Now, gentlemen, shall we begin?"

Cohen appeared visibly relieved to change the subject. Taking notes from his pocket, he reviewed them to get them in correct order. But then he ad-libbed: "Miss Collier, what tranquilizer are you using on this poor beast? And where is his keeper? Frankly, I am amazed at your bravery, being so close to a wild animal like that."

At the word "tranquilizer", Rajah responded to an instant instruction from Joyce. Unceremoniously dumping her on the floor, in an instant he was looming over Cohen. His paws were on the armrests of Cohen's chair and he glared down at him with baleful, gleaming eyes. He drew back his lips exposing his great teeth and released an utterly terrifying growl. Cohen turned white and just stared upward at Rajah who was now acting as menacing as Cohen believed all tigers should.

Meanwhile, Joyce ignored Cohen and Rajah as she got to her feet, said, "Ouch," as she rubbed what she pretended to be a bruised bottom, then carefully brushed the dirt off her shorts. Going over to Jack she asked him if her hair was still together.

As she did, they exchanged winks and Jack whispered, "Rajah is unbelievably good!"

She just winked back and casually walked back across the circle to the terrified man.

Putting her hands on her hips she just sadly shook her head. "Oh, dear!" she said sadly, "I guess Mr. Wiesman didn't deliver his message very coherently. You see, he had a problem last night. He said that these tigers had no teeth nor claws.

"That upset Rajah and his friends because they are all very proud young men — particularly proud of their appearance and bearing. Well, I guess from the comments you heard — you know: sharp claws, sharp teeth — that he was convinced on the point." She grinned and added, "No pun intended.

"But anyway, he could have worked around that okay, but then he really tore it: He said these boys were druggies."

She shook her head sadly and said, "They hate that. They really do. It gets them terribly upset. And then you go and do it again today."

Going closer, she casually peered around Rajah's looming body and asked, "Dr. Cohen, does Rajah really look tranquilized? Right now? Does he really? Raj, are you tranquilized?" This time the tiger let out an earsplitting roar right in the doctor's face, then changed the sound into the loudest, most menacing snarl anyone had ever heard.

While he was performing, Joyce was carefully studying her finger nails. As Rajah completed his roar she punched him in the side and complained, "Damn you, Rajah Collier! When you dumped me like that, I think you made me crack a fingernail. Just look!"

At that Rajah ignored Cohen and dropped off the chair back to the floor. Instantly taking his house-cat position he looked intently at Joyce's finger tip. Looking remorseful and forlorn he moved his head forward and kissed her finger tip. "You kissed it, Raj, but you didn't make it better! I'm mad at you."