Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 127461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Maya shuddered. She couldn’t help it. “Please, don’t let him do this.” She wasn’t a woman to plead, especially with a member of the bratva. She knew better. She knew they didn’t have hearts, but she couldn’t stop herself. “I can’t be claimed. Those scars you see, Amurovs did those.” She whispered it to him, hoping Gedeon couldn’t hear her make a fool of herself. He was leopard, which meant his hearing was acute and most likely he could. That only added to her humiliation.
Gorya pressed his lips against her skin, right in the center of the spiderweb of scars. “You haven’t seen my scars. They’re fairly horrendous. Amurovs made them as well.”
She dared to take another breath. She had no choice. He smelled wild. Feral. Dangerous. His leopard was close. Listening to every word. She didn’t care if he heard her beg. If Gedeon did. Gorya had to listen to her.
“I don’t know how to be a partner to anyone. I don’t like men. I would be of no use to you. I’m broken and there’s no fixing me. I might wake up one morning and stick a knife in your heart just because you’re an Amurov.”
“After cleaning up this hellhole, I had planned to eat a bullet. Maybe it would be a mercy.”
Gorya’s voice rang with honesty. As much as she didn’t want to believe a single thing he said, it was impossible not to hear the truth. She tried to turn her head to look at him over her shoulder. She needed to see his face again, but he had one hand on the nape of her neck, holding her shirt off her back and shoulders.
She grew hot as hormones flooded her body. A fist of desire knotted in her belly, and fire began to smolder between her legs.
“I can’t let you do this.” She tried to warn him. She couldn’t live with this choice. If his leopard claimed Wraith and her female allowed it, it was permanent. Every Amurov she knew of had murdered his partner. Their reputations with women were legendary. “Don’t you think I know what men like you do after you get what you want from a woman?”
“Feel him. Feel his joy. His triumph.”
Again, his lips whispered over the nape of her neck, sending fiery darts through her bloodstream.
“I call him Rogue. His life has been hell—worse than hell—from the time he was born until a few minutes ago. We were both close to insanity. He knew I intended to end our lives after we took care of the problems here. We both feared we would cross the line and hurt an innocent. We were getting to the end of our control. But then, she came. Do you think after waiting all this time and finally finding her, Rogue would ever allow anything or anyone to harm her? Me included? That means you’re under his protection. He’s spent his entire life looking for her.”
His voice didn’t change from that soft rasp of a whisper. From that honest desperation she couldn’t ignore. Tears burned behind her eyes. She couldn’t prevent what was happening. She did feel his male leopard. The animal was very close. Listening. Trying to be patient. Wraith was there. Eager to accept him. Eager to betray her. That was what it felt like to her. A betrayal.
“You said he spent his life looking for his mate. Not you. You weren’t looking, were you?” She already knew his answer. Gorya hadn’t once said or acted as if he wanted her. This was all about his leopard. Wraith and Rogue would force their human counterparts to live together whether they wanted each other or not.
He shook his head slightly and she felt the brush of his beard against her shoulder. “Just as the Amurovs scarred you, they damaged me beyond all saving. I’m not going to be of any use to a woman. There’s something terribly wrong with me. Maybe I was born this way. I just know I had to make the choice to follow my cousins’ code, but it’s been a struggle.”
Maya was shocked at Gorya’s confession. It was entirely possible he was the greatest actor of all time. She had the feeling he had the ability to deceive, but she was extremely good at detecting lies. Wraith would have known—usually. Right now, she was so smitten with Rogue, Maya doubted if Wraith was even paying attention to what was happening between the humans.
The ominous way Gorya portrayed himself sent her heart thundering all over again. She’d like to say he was scaring her, but she was just plain scared. She couldn’t be his partner, yet she couldn’t stop what was happening.
She felt the slide of fur against her bare back. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead harder against the wall. Her breath caught in her lungs and just held there. Deep inside her head, where she thought no one could hear, she screamed and screamed the way she had when she was a child and there was no other outlet to express the fear and trauma of horrific events.