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)
Up close, the cat was terrifying. He was huge, with roped muscles and savage teeth. Nothing, not even having her own leopard, could have prepared her for finding herself only a few feet from a wild leopard, one clearly dominant. His coat was beautiful, a deep ochre, more on the orange side beneath the scattering of large black rosettes. His eyes, had they been amber, would have been lost in the black and ochre of his face, but the startling blue stared straight into her eyes, taking her breath.
Sonia didn’t have a weapon, nothing at all to protect herself with. She couldn’t imagine what the male thought, one moment with his newly found mate, and the next a human crouched next to him, staring straight into his eyes.
She couldn’t help herself, even though she knew better. Cats hunted prey. The last thing she should do was run. In any case, a leopard could outrun her. Still, self-preservation demanded she do something, and she threw herself sideways, trying to get to the other side of the mattress.
Instantly he was on her, his heavy body pinning her down, his teeth sinking into her shoulder. She screamed at the flash of pain, closing her eyes, knowing what was coming. At the last moment, Gatita rose to defend her – except she didn’t. The female didn’t take over, didn’t push to return to the male. She rose as if touching the male and then she subsided. The male purred as if recognizing her and slowly released Sonia.
His heavy weight still pressed her down, held her to the mattress. She no longer felt fur, but the roped muscles were there. The breathing. Warm. Soft. A tongue swept over the bite in her shoulder.
“Shh, you’re all right now. He wouldn’t hurt you.” The tongue touched her ear. Lips brushed there. Teeth tugged on her earlobe. “Your leopard is his mate. He knows that.” The lips traveled down the side of her neck, creating a trail of flames she felt traveling over her skin. “He claimed her, by putting his mark on you.”
The voice was in her ear. Soft. Seductive. A low, but deep, very masculine voice washed through the pain and fear and brought her straight back to raging hormones. It didn’t help that he was naked too, and that she felt his cock hard and thick and pressed against her buttocks.
She didn’t speak. She couldn’t find her voice. She didn’t want him to move. If he did, she was afraid she would attack him. She needed what he had that much. The need was so strong, the burn so deep, she feared she would go insane if he didn’t do something.
His hand stroked down her back. Just that touch sent streaks of fire straight to her sex. She heard herself moan and knew she was giving him consent when, any other time, she would have run for safety.
“Your skin is so soft,” he whispered.
His voice was sheer temptation. He was leading her straight to hell, where they were both going to burn together for their sins. She knew that, but she didn’t care. He was a shifter, just as she was, and he had to be on fire, his need and hunger every bit as strong as hers.
His hand slid over the left cheek of her buttocks, a caress that sent a wave of need so strong she heard a low, keening wail coming from her throat. Everywhere he touched sent those flames dancing, tripping over her skin, rushing through her veins to settle deep in her core like a firestorm.
One arm caught her hips and yanked her up to her knees, while the other held her head pressed to the mattress, his palm curled around her nape. She couldn’t move, pinned as effectively as her female had been.
“Say yes.”
It was a demand. She closed her eyes tightly. She needed him desperately, but he wasn’t going to give her what she needed unless she gave him permission. There would be no pretense in the morning that she hadn’t agreed to this. But if she didn’t comply, he might go away, and she’d be left burning up.
Her breath came in ragged pants, so labored she barely recognized herself. She was squirming unashamedly, pushing back to try to entice him. She hadn’t even seen his face. She didn’t want to see it. She didn’t want him to see hers.
Then his hand was there, his fingers. She heard that same low keening cry coming from her throat. The need shook her. His tongue moved up the inside of her thigh and then touched her center.
“Yes.” She hissed it. “Yes.” She found more strength and pushed assent into her voice so he couldn’t fail to hear it.
He took her hard and fast. One moment his hand was at her entrance, testing her slick heat and then he filled her. He was thick and hard and long, stretching her ability to take him. The friction nearly set her on fire. The burn of him pressing against those tight inner muscles, stretching them beyond what she’d ever known, should have hurt. The only hurt was that he didn’t move faster or harder.