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)
“You mean, shifters? Men? Actual men?”
“Don’t act like you’re interested in whether or not there are other men in near proximity to you,” he growled, and bit her earlobe.
She yelped and turned her head to glare at him. “Let me up. This isn’t the most comfortable position.”
He did so immediately, slipping out of her and helping her to stand. She gripped the railing to keep from sliding to the ground. He made her that weak. She could feel the mixture of the two of them slowly slipping out of her to drip along her inner thighs.
“I’m more interested in having the reassurance that they weren’t watching us.”
He frowned and looked out into the night. “I don’t employ perverts.”
“We were making a lot of noise.”
His frown turned to a slow grin. “We were, weren’t we? Screw ’em, baby. If they watched, they know how hot you are and how lucky I am. They also know if I ever got wind that they were watching you, I’d put them in the fucking ground.”
He said it so mildly, she almost didn’t catch the threat, but there was a ring of truth in his voice that was disconcerting.
“Um, honey, I don’t think if someone watched us the right punishment would be to kill them. That’s kind of taking it a little too far,” she felt compelled to point out.
“I’m leopard, Sonia. I don’t give a fuck if someone sees my body. In other circumstances, they might see yours. When I make love to you, it’s for you. What I give you is yours alone. The way I touch you, the things I say to you, the things you say to me. That’s mine. The sounds you make, those little hitches in your breath. That’s what you give to me.”
She nodded and slipped her arms around his neck, leaning into his body. “You’re… unexpected. I don’t know what to think about you half the time.”
He tipped her face up to his and took her mouth. It wasn’t his usual rough, and that surprised her. Melted her. He tasted of something that made her heart pound and adrenaline rush through her veins. She pulled away, closed her eyes and clung to him.
“What is it, Sonia?”
The caring in his voice was her undoing. That note of reality. His kiss hadn’t been about sex at all. It wasn’t about claiming – leopard or man. It was something altogether different, and she couldn’t face that.
“You’re a good man, aren’t you?” A part of her was pleading with him to be.
“I try to be.”
How did one know? How could a woman tell if a man was a good man? He was so rough and dominant, even moody like his leopard. Sasha had been sweet and charming, always gentle with her when he touched her.
“Gatita wants to run, Joshua.”
He tipped her face up, making it so she couldn’t avoid looking at him while he searched her eyes. “All right, baby. I’m going to give this one to you. But when we’re in bed, I’m telling you about me, about my life. You’re going to get to know me.”
“I’d like that.” It was the best she could do, and she knew it came out hesitant. She wasn’t certain it was a good idea to get to know him.
To avoid any further conversation, and mostly so he couldn’t challenge the truth of her answer, she shifted. She was getting better at it. She still wasn’t nearly as fast as she wanted to be, and it still hurt like hell, but she was used to it and not afraid.
Joshua stroked his hand through the female leopard’s fur, looking into her eyes and seeing Sonia’s dark chocolate eyes staring back at him. “She’s beautiful, baby, just like you. Her fur’s very rare.” He traced a thin golden band that ringed a rosette. “You must love this little cat.”
Sonia loved that he thought Gatita was beautiful. She watched as he shifted. That alone was something worth seeing. He was fast, so fast she didn’t see the actual transformation because she’d blinked. His cat was bigger than Gatita by quite a bit. The first thing he did was nuzzle her neck and rub along her body before licking her face. Gatita responded by doing the same to the male. As if they were talking to each other, they whirled around and leapt for the tree branch.
Shadow took the lead, with the female trailing him. They ran along the twisted limbs above the ground until they were close to the center of Sonia’s land. Shadow led her to the ground and they played for a while in the leaves, rolling in them, leaping over downed trunks of trees, hunting for insects and fish along the bank.
He took her a little closer to the property line bordering Joshua’s property, and Gatita scented other males. She grimaced and started to retreat. Shadow stopped her, nudging her forward with his shoulder.