Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 141532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
His men were leopard and could smell the pheromones Jewel and Ania were putting out as well as hear everything they said—and did—to each other. Mitya had no idea how to defuse the situation with his leopard’s needs and Sevastyan’s need to keep them safe.
He dropped his hand on Ania’s head, rubbing his thumb over her cheekbone in a little caress. Very gently, when she was finished, he helped her to sit up and then loosened the cap on a water bottle to give to her. Ania drank gratefully.
Mitya continued to stroke caresses over her face and then her lips after she drank. He smeared the cool water around her lips, knowing they had to be sore. Everything on her was probably sore. He knew he needed the contact more than she did.
“Wish I could be gentle with you, baby,” he said softly, meaning it. She deserved gentle. “Fucking leopard is pushing at me hard. I can’t blame him. Every time he gets to be with his mate, something seems to happen. That makes him crazy. He wants to go hunting. Thinks that will stop it all.”
“She’s desperate to get out,” Ania said. Her voice was strained. Hoarse.
He winced, and his hand went to her throat, fingers gently stroking. “Sorry, kotyonok, you’re probably bruised.”
That brought a brief smile. She looked up at him but made no move to get off the floor. She looked exhausted. “I’m bruised all over, one or two more isn’t going to matter.”
He hated that. He knew she was right, but he still hated it. Her body was covered in smudges, bruises, teeth marks and evidence of wild mating.
“Can you get up?”
She gave him another faint smile. “Probably, but I think I’ll just stay here for a minute or two until I know I’m under control. She’s getting crazy on me and it makes it very uncomfortable.”
“He’s the same way, Ania.”
“They have to have time together, Mitya. Isn’t there somewhere we can go away from here where we can let them have a few days together without a threat?”
Mitya’s first thought was no. How could they leave when she had some unknown faction trying to kill her, and his father was finally making his play to kill them all? He forced down that first negative reaction and considered her request.
“I don’t know if we could get away with it, Ania. Sevastyan has everything in place to watch over us at the house.”
She shrugged. “But our homes are so big, and it would probably be easier and take less effort to protect us somewhere smaller. More intimate. The leopards wouldn’t have as much room to run, but they probably won’t care as long as they aren’t interrupted constantly.”
Ania pressed the cool bottle of water to her forehead. “At least think about it, Mitya.”
He wanted to give her the moon, but he knew wherever they went, they were going to take their problems with them. The leopards weren’t going to run free without incident. In fact, each time they emerged, the risk was greater that they would be shot. A sniper was much more difficult to catch than one might think. It took one person with a rifle lying up on a hillside.
She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Do we even know what we’re doing, Mitya? I feel like we’re just running in circles. When we have two minutes together, we have wild, crazy sex and then something terrible happens. I don’t know you at all, and you don’t know me.”
Mitya sank back onto the seat, his thigh beside her head. Sinking his fingers into her hair, he rubbed the silky strands together. “I know it feels that way right now, baby. Many leopard couples have already been through one or two life cycles together. They have old memories, even if they can’t remember them exactly, and the draw between them is there so the Han Vol Dan goes much more smoothly. They feel as if they know each other already. We don’t have that. We’re building it. Jewel’s heat won’t last more than a week, and things will cool down enough to give us breathing room.”
She rubbed her hand up and down his thigh, but she didn’t respond. Mitya didn’t like that she went silent on him. He tugged on her hair. “Kotyonok, you’re exhausted. You lost your father. You have people trying to kill you for whatever reason. I think you have every right to question what’s happening. I just want you to remember one thing. I’m that man that’s going to stand for you. No matter what happens around us, I’m not going anywhere.”
She took another long drink of water. “I know. I do. I’m just . . . tired.”
“I’ll have Sevastyan turn the car around and take us back to the house.”