Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Shadow, his leopard, gave him impressions of a fiery car dropping into the ocean, of Gatita and Sonia running for their lives. Gatita hadn’t shown much else, only giving the big male the impression of the two females dead and that meant they were safe. From that, he’d gleaned that someone had tried to kill them and thought they’d succeeded. That was unacceptable to him.
“She’s in trouble, Evan, big trouble, and she isn’t going to tell me about it.”
“Have your leopard get it out of his mate.”
“He had the impression of a car blowing up and falling into the ocean. That’s it. Nothing else. When he pushed her for more, she ignored him.”
“Sonia knows bombs. She recognized that the blast that took out the porch was deliberately directional,” Evan volunteered.
“Damn it, she has to talk to me. I’m her fucking mate. She should trust me.”
The truth was, he was used to being taken at his word. He answered to Drake Donovan and Elijah Lospostos, but no one else. And no one questioned his word. He was also used to being popular with women. He liked sex. A. Lot. His body was often hard, making demands on him, and after a long day, there was nothing better than a night of sex. But then he went home. He didn’t sleep with them. He didn’t cuddle them. He didn’t want to inhale them with every breath he took – until Sonia.
Sonia was like a drug he couldn’t get out of his system. Not just any drug, one that gave him such an intense release, he swore he could reach the fucking stars. She did that. He wanted to devour her. Her taste was addictive. Her body was paradise. He knew she was his. She’d been made for him. He’d known that even without the leopards, Sonia would have belonged to him. He wanted her to feel the same way about him. Possessive. Urgent. Explosive. And then, in bed with her after, holding her close, sated, completely at peace.
“Joshua, I’m your friend. You’re leader of the lair here. You’re getting this lair under control, and it was seriously fucked up. Most of the men here are unknown. We aren’t positive we can trust them yet. We’ve got this Miami deal we have to set up. Elijah made it clear that the pipeline had to be set up as fast as possible, and we need the Russians in Miami. That’s on you and you know it. Now this woman comes along at the wrong moment and adds a huge complication. You have every reason to be edgy and moody, especially with her in a heat, but you know, if you scare her, she might get it in her head to take off.”
Joshua stood on the edge of the upper gallery, one arm circling the massive support post while he stared out over the swamp toward Sonia’s home. The branches of the trees touched one another, laying out a long, complex highway that stretched to Sonia’s as well as in the other direction and also deeper into the swamp. He had the perfect setup for his leopard. For all the leopards in the lair. They had freedom to run their leopards undetected by the outside world. He had the freedom to get to Sonia without anyone seeing – including her.
God. He wanted her. He fucking wanted her with every breath he took. “I can’t think straight, Evan. I didn’t know it could be like this. I know she’s mine. I know it. My leopard claimed hers. I thought when that happened she’d just go along with the program, especially after all those nights together.”
“Did you talk to her about this? Maybe she doesn’t know about shifters. I’ve known that can happen. Drake said as much.”
“She told me she didn’t know the rules. I told her I’d come to her tonight and we’d talk. We didn’t do much talking while she was in her heat.” The thought of those nights made his body hard all over again. “I should have been more careful with her. Gentle. She didn’t seem to want or need gentle and neither did I. I knew leopard sex could get rough during a heat, but I had no idea it would be like that. I about lost my fucking mind. Rough is my preference every time, and she was all over that.”
“You’re going to her.” Evan made it a statement.
“I can’t keep away, and it sucks that she doesn’t feel the same way. It pisses me off and hurts like a son of a bitch at the same time.” He rubbed his chest over his heart. “You know me, I’m not like this.”
“You’re going to have to resolve it soon. We’ve got a week, no more, and then you have to have your head in the game. If you don’t think you can do that, Joshua, we’ve got to tell Elijah. Maybe one of the others can take over.”