Total pages in book: 172
Estimated words: 155984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
He would find a way to make her life extraordinary. Fyodor managed to make Evangeline happy. But Evangeline was an angel. Sevastyan didn’t want an angel. He couldn’t afford to have one, not with the kind of man he was. He wanted a woman who would catch fire with him. Go up in fiery flames. Be fierce when she needed to be. Have no fear when she confronted him or with the kinds of things he would ask or demand of her.
He would be asking a lot of Flambé. He believed she had it all in her, just by the things he’d read about her and her father. She’d grown up beside her father, doing the things he’d done. Rescuing her people, giving them opportunities to make their way in life. She seemed to possess all the characteristics he admired and respected in a woman, the ones he most looked for.
He was an extremely sexual man. There was no getting around that. The way she related to him already, he could tell she was as well. The sex wasn’t going to be all about her cat; when the leopard subsided with her heat, Flambé’s needs wouldn’t just go away. She would match his nature, and hopefully be open to adventure.
“I thought this room would be a good one for you. It was the master bedroom and has a sitting room. You can use it for work until you move upstairs with me.” He pushed open the door to the enormous suite of rooms.
The Dover manor was large and the downstairs master bedroom could have easily been a city apartment complete with kitchen, dining room and living room. It was open, with two stairs leading up to the actual bedroom, where a gas fireplace was on one wall. Chairs and a small table were down below the two stairs on a thick gray carpet facing another gas fireplace. One wall was accented a dark color while the rest matched the silvery gray of the carpet. Two tall lamps were slashes of dark color with oval-shaped shades over the dim bulbs standing on either side of the enormous bed.
“The bathroom is through those doors. Has a shower and bathtub. Anything you need should already be in there for you, but if not, intercom me.” He gestured toward the phone. “Anything at all, Flambé, if your leopard rises, or you get frightened, you call me.” He walked over to the phone and showed her where to press the button. “That will call me. Don’t come up the stairs. That could get you in trouble.”
She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Trouble? What kind of trouble?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m being as gentle with you as I can. The leopards aren’t going to give us much time. I want to take what we have to get to know each other. Don’t make it more difficult than it already is.” He poured warning into his voice and hoped she heeded him.
She didn’t look afraid, only intrigued. He opened the double closet doors. The closet could fit a small apartment into it as well. Hers. She lived in a little studio. It was on her father’s property, but she didn’t reside in the main house. He didn’t know who stayed there and he didn’t care. She liked small spaces, which was good to know that she didn’t mind them.
“Wow. This is the master bedroom?”
He indicated the built-in walkways that looked as if they were shelves that artfully ran the length of all the rooms. They had been cleverly put throughout the house for the leopards to rest on, or use for prowling from one place to another.
She stroked her fingers along her throat. “It’s a little intimidating. I’m used to my little studio. We always had so many people staying with us that the main house was crowded, so I had the studio apartment for my own. Thankfully, my father kept it for me even when I went away to college.”
He took possession of her hand and brought it to his lips, biting on the ends of her fingers just hard enough to make them sting before sucking them into the heat of his mouth to take the edge of any pain off. Her eyes went wide. Again, she didn’t pull her hand away from him, only stared at him a little uncertainly.
“You’ll be safe here. Just take your shower and go to sleep. Don’t wander around tonight. Once you’re in bed, I’ll check on you a couple of times unless you’re a very light sleeper and you think that will bother you.”
“I’ll leave the door open.” There was relief in her voice.
He found it interesting that she was more afraid of being alone in the large room with the door closed than with him coming in to check on her. Her leopard was still very quiet. Shturm was prowling close to the surface, eager to be on the hunt, but there was no evidence that Flambé trusted Sevastyan because of the leopards.