Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
His eyes went straight to the spot between her thighs.
Heat blazed on her cheekbones. “Behave.”
No smile, but his eyes warmed, and she felt it again, that ripple in the mating bond that told her Ivan Mercant would one day laugh. He had wickedness in him, her mate, just didn’t know how to show it on the outside yet.
All they needed was time.
Swallowing hard, she looked to the right. “I can hear them.” Small excited rustles as the cubs ran toward her, Salvador’s stride more measured and calm.
Then there they were, two tiny ocelots so excited to see her again that they pounced right into her arms. Laughing, she kissed and snuggled their small, warm bodies, meeting Salvador’s gaze over their heads. Her packmate had come in human form, a bag slung over his shoulder.
Dark-skinned and of medium height, his build stocky, he had the softest brown eyes in the universe—and they were wet at that instant. “Leilei, it really is you,” he whispered, dropping the bag to the side to hug her, the cubs happily squished in between them.
Her cat keened inside her, so happy to see him, scent him, that it was overwhelmed. She wanted to shift but didn’t want to drop the cubs to do so, and she was wearing a pretty new dress that Ivan had chosen when she’d asked his opinion while deciding between two options.
It was all wonderfully too much.
When they broke apart at last, Salvador’s eyes went immediately to Ivan, who’d been standing quietly by the tree. “I’m sorry. That was rude.” He wiped away his tears, his eyes sliding shyly away from Ivan’s in the way of a submissive who’d come face-to-face with an unfamiliar dominant. “I should’ve said hello.”
“I would be the same with a lost member of my family,” Ivan said, her mate who understood how much such bonds could mean. “I’m Ivan. You must be Salvador.”
And though Soleil knew Ivan wasn’t a toucher, he held out his hand so Salvador could shake it, a gentle introduction designed to put a tactile-natured changeling at ease. She knew without asking that he would’ve tempered the strength of his handshake to echo Sal’s.
Some people would see that as manipulation, but Soleil knew her mate. He’d done it so that Salvador—a member of her family—would feel comfortable around Ivan. Because that mattered to Soleil … and because Ivan Mercant was a protector at heart, a hero who’d never apply the label to himself.
The contact made Salvador smile, his body immediately more at ease.
The cubs jumped down from her arms at the same instant and ran around the tree before trying to climb it. They were too little, of course, but their antics made her and Salvador laugh.
Sal had so many questions for her, and she for him. When she glanced at Ivan, he gave a slight nod, telling her without words that he’d keep an eye on the cubs. Sending him a wave of love through the mating bond, she let herself focus on the kind and brave member of her pack who’d put his life on the line to protect the cubs during the darkest time in SkyElm’s history.
She and Sal had been chatting for several minutes when she became aware of the silence from the cubs; she glanced over to see Ivan crouched down, both cubs in front of him. They were staring up at him and he was returning the scrutiny with as much interest. When Razi hesitantly put a paw on his knee and rose up on her hind legs, he scooped her up against his chest with one hand.
Nattie, not to be left out, jumped up on Ivan’s knee, then climbed up onto his shoulder with the liquid fluidity of an ocelot cub. Where he settled in, his tail flicking against Ivan’s chest. Razi, meanwhile, was licking his jaw and play-biting at his throat. He tugged her back with utmost care, then met her gaze and shook his head before pretending to nip her on the nose.
Razi made a happy sound and so did Nattie—right before the two swarmed him in an effort to “win” the battle. Ivan handled their wriggly, playful bodies with ease while giving them the freedom to play.
“He’s a good man.” Salvador’s words were quiet but potent. “When I heard that you, of all people, had mated a Psy, I couldn’t imagine it. But now I see …” He leaned against Soleil. “They went to him because he carries your scent, but they’re playing with him because of who he is.”
Soleil’s heart, it could barely withstand the beauty of the moment. She’d remember it always, this instant when her frosty-eyed Psy allowed two ocelot cubs to climb all over him without ever losing control of the situation. “He’ll make an amazing father.” It was a bone-deep knowledge, a thing primal.