Forever
By Tiger

                    VI

Eric held onto Tiger...a devilish light in his eyes.
She faced him, seeing the wicked light in his eyes.
She smiled and gave him a evil grin. "I know where
that is leading.." leaning down, she gave him a kiss
that quickly turned wild, as his hands tangled in her
hair, pulling her down against him. Hunger raged thru
the both of them. Heated kisses trailed skin on skin.
Pulling her up,he stripped her of her shirt and she
did likewise to him. Time stopped. All they could see
and feel was each other. Kisses grew more torrid. It
had been long.. too long and the desire was way too
strong. With a swift movement he flipped her onto her
back. Touch after touch blending into fluid movements
in time. Electricity flowed through them. Lightning
took the place of blood. Passion swelled and rose..
hot and wild.. again and again. Merging, blending,
quicksilver movements. Wild cries... an explosion of
light, sound and song. Night fled into daylight...
neither noticed. Finally somewhere in time... both
collapsed into each other's arms.. totally exhausted.
Both slept a deep sleep, only to wake and love
again...

Three days later..

The stress lines had disappeared from Eric's face.
Tiger's heart sang with joy. She felt like she would
fly...and he... he was back to his old self... Joking
and laughing... he slipped a piece of ice down her
back and she retaliated by dumping a cup of ice cold
water on him.... swearing revenge, he chased her
through the house. That brought on another wrestling
match and another loving session. They both were
laughing at a private joke when the phone rang...Tiger
teased him.. he just grinned and ruffled her hair a
little. Man what a catch! But who caught who was a
matter of opinion. He laughed.. hell he didn't care
who caught who anymore. Neither did she...

                      VII

Eric had been up thinking as Tiger slept exhausted...
He didnt want her out of his life, but the life he
lead wasn't an easy one. He also knew that other than
her mother, she had no one close and was free to do as
she wished. He phoned the guys and talked to them at
length. They talked for a long time. Finally Eric hung
up the phone... entering her bedroom, he noted that
she was still asleep. Snuggling up closer to her. he
whispered softly "Beautiful... wake up...." Her green
eyes flew open immediately. She reached out for him
and he grinned.. "Missed me, did you?" an answering
chuckle was her only reply. After an enthusiastic
kiss, he cleared his throat.. Tiger snapped to
seriousness immediately. "I been doing a lot of
thinking.." at her frown, he hastily supplied "About
us... I'm trying to decide how to balance the band
with you...not that I'm letting you go, but how to do
this... dammit... I'm not good at this....
Beautiful... come with me and stay.. I need you and
want you in my life. But if you say no, I'll
understand, as I don't want you hurt by the damned
media circus...' She listened to what he had to say...
she thought long and hard about it... only one answer
was left. "I'll gladly go with you. Mom can handle
things by herself now...Nothing is really holding me
here. The answer is YES!" He let out a war whoop of
joy and just hugged her tight.She smiled and
continued... "It wasn't that hard of a decision to
make, beloved....Mom has been kinda after me to spread
my wings and fly anyway. But I chose to go with you
because I want to.. no one dictates my decisions." He
died laughing... "Hell I know they don't... You
forget, I have met your mom.... The title of "Dragon
Lady" is VERY appropriate..." He laughed. She chuckled
at that one. "Now you see where the feistieness comes
in...HMPH!" He kissed her until she stopped talking.
Soon she forgot everything else but him for the rest
of the day and night that followed. As the sun rose
the next morning, she saw the joy in his eyes, right
before they both fell into a deep slumber. Her heart
sang... she had made the right decision. Finally!

           
                       VIII

Soon, the time came for them to leave...Tiger was as
ready as she could be. It was raining when they landed
in New York. Both started laughing at one another...
both looked like drowned poodles! He chuckled as they
entered his apartment. His phone was ringing off the
hook.. He talked to Gene as Tiger quickly slipped into
something dry. Unfortunately.. it was not what she
wanted to slip into.. Eric's eyes lit up in mischief
when he saw what she was wearing.
"Heh....Beautiful...that IS DANGEROUS to wear around
me..." He smiled wickedly. "All I'll do is take it off
you!" He roared with laughter as she blushed. She
poked him playfully in the ribs. "OUCH!" he laughed
"Play nice!!!" "Then be nice!" she retorted. Laughing,
he gave her a gentle hug..She smiled at him. He poured
her a glass of wine that they both shared. They
snuggled on the couch and just talked. He had shown
her some of his drawings.. Tiger admitted that he had
her beat in THAT department, but he disagreed with her
on that. They talked and she was getting his input on
a story that she had been trying to write for years.
Later that evening, he went thru drum practice, as she
listened. The enjoyment was mutual. The guys came over
later.. Tiger slipped out where Eric could talk to
them in peace. She sat down, frowning at the written
words in a little frustration. The picture they formed
wasn't quite right. She tried it again...dammit.. no
dice... She didn't hear the door open. She had just
put the mental picture the right way when she suddenly
heard Eric yell "BANZAI!"as he dove at her. She let
out a scream and papers flew everywhere as his body
hit hers. The momentum took them both off the bed and
into the floor. Tiger blacked out. Eric felt her go
limp. He rolled her over quick, his hand going to her
heart. Dammit, she hadn't heard him! Her heart raced
like a hummingbird's. Breathing.. thank God.. "Tiger"
he whispered. Her eyes flew open, and he sighed,
relieved. She gave him a hug.. "I didn't hear you
enter...until I heard BANZAI and you hit me..." she
blushed.. "Sorry about that" Eric just grinned a
little. She smiled back and chuckled.. "That will
teach me to be so focused on something." He grinned.
"You aren't going outta my sight again. Got it?" She
grinned. "Gotcha..." "THAT scream was enough to wake
the DEAD!" Paul's voice carried into the room.. "I
think we're interrupting something..." he said as he
got a good look at both of them tangled on the floor.
Eric gave him a devilish grin and Tiger.. well Tiger
just broke out laughing and gave Eric a harder hug. He
cracked up laughing, and finally pulled her to her
feet. "Damn near scared her to death..." he chuckled
at Paul's raised eyebrow. "Well, there went three of
my nine lives!" Tiger chuckled. Grinning at her, Eric
retorted.. "Oh I'll give em back to ya." Tiger just
laughed. "I'll pay you back.. just wait and see!"
"Look forward to it.." was his rejoinder, the devilish
light back in his eyes... "You can't out do Carr..."
Paul laughed at her... "He'll just one up you...Be
thankful that it wasn't both Ace and Eric..." The evil
grin on her face as she looked at Eric spoke volumes.
and the equally evil look in HIS eyes spoke a million
words. "ut oh.. I KNOW THAT LOOK" Paul cracked up
laughing. The look that passed between Tiger and Eric
said one word. "LATER"

                  IX

Both had just come back from the bedroom, both had
evil looks in their eyes on top of that... then Ace
piped up. "Hey, someone takin my name in vain?" Both
looked at each other, then evil GRINS popped up. Eric
mouthed the word "playtime" and Tiger nodded eagerly.
Paul groaned... "band meeting is closed.. Ace...man
you're in for it.. judging by the looks on Eric's face
and Tiger's too." Ace was ready with a trusty watergun
or two.. Paul and Gene cleared out.. then the ruckus
began! It ended up with Ace, Tiger, and Eric out near
the street, in the rain again. Paul just died laughing
at their antics. "Looks like someone is having fun!"
he laughed. Gene grinned "as long as they don't wake
up the entire complex, you mean..." They did keep it
down to a dull roar. Finally they trooped back in..
close to dawn. Tiger was muddy from where she had
fallen, chasing Ace.. Eric was just as muddy. Ace was
the only clean one in the bunch! This lasted for three
days, finally Gene declared it a tied game and truce.
Tiger was too tired to stay awake. She had slumped
over in exhaustion, her head resting on the
couch...between her and Eric playing pranks on one
another, then it was the three of them pranking and
pratfalling. The guys had come by and were about to
discuss band business, when Paul noticed Tiger was
out.."Eric.. looks like she is going to be out for a
while" Eric smiled...Picking her up, he carried her to
a couch. "she is a little keg of dynamite!" Ace
cracked up laughing. Eric laughed softly. "She should
be". Tiger was sound asleep. He moved her to the
bedroom quietly. She didn't stir. He came in and
checked on her several times, then finally came in for
the night. He hugged her tightly to him. He was a very
happy man. She woke up for a few minutes. She said
nothing, but snuggled closer to him. He just ruffled
her hair a little and grinned. The next day they both
took a break, and just enjoyed each other's company.

                      X

She heard the argument from outside..Flying in thru
the door.. Gene's warning look stopped her. With a
nod, she moved back and stayed out of the way.
Fighting had always made her nervous, but she gave
just as good as she got. Skirting by the fighters, she
made a break for the bedroom, wincing as something
crashed against the wall. The yelling grew worse, but
Tiger stayed put. A coded knock came at the door. She
reluctantly opened it, to find Gene there. "Let's get
you out of here.. You don't need to witness this..."
She nodded. She turned in shock to Gene.. Too late..
"She isn't a princess in an ivory tower.. she is a
human being, and a very loving one at that!" ERic
yelled at Vinnie, who in turn yelled back "BULL****.
She is a groupie and a user!" At that, Tiger really
got mad. Gene's grip on her tightened a little. He
could clearly see the rage in her eyes. He knew that
she wasn't what Vinnie was describing. "Peter!, Get
her the hell out of here, and don't come back until I
call you and tell you to bring her back!" He handed
her to Peter, who wisely took Tiger out. Tiger was
quiet the entire way to Ace's place. Meanwhile it took
Paul, Gene, Mark and Bruce to keep the two seperated.
Ace had already been alerted to the problem, and was
waiting on both of them. Tiger was super quiet at
first.. Ace and Pete both talked to her about the
problem. She agreed to wait it out with them..knowing
that they were right. All three talked until about 3
am... She fell asleep..The ringing of the phone woke
her up... "Take it easy, kitten..." Pete's voice came
thru the dark. Pete came into her line of vision.
"Eric?" "he's ok, kitten.. just banged up a bit. you
know us Italian males... we got tempers!" She had to
grin at that...He grinned at her. "He'll be fine.. Mad
as hell though at Vinnie and demanding to see
you...which you figured out already. He's on his way
here to get you himself, despite argument to the
contrary...Speaking of which..." he paused as the
doorbell rang.. Eric came in with a black eye and a
busted lip...He went straight to Tiger and hugged her
tight. "You ok?" he asked. She nodded, her eyes dark
with concern. "Let's get you taken care of first, then
worry about me ok?" Tiger was emphatic...He grinned at
her.. "not as bad as it looks...I've been thru worse."
the phone ringing again caused a look of concern. "I
think you'd better tell em both Gene.." Pete's voice
was shot with concern. Gene told both to stay clear
for a couple of days. Both agreed to do so despite
Eric's blood still simmering hotly. Finally through an
act of will, he calmed down. By agreement, the two
disappeared into the dawn. It would be several days
before they returned home.