what he was going to provide.
“You’re a very thoughtful man.”
He glanced at her again. Those long red-gold-tipped lashes had fallen, leaving her looking young and vulnerable whenever the lights from the tunnel hit her as they flashed past. Her hair would briefly blaze to life and then darkness would settle around them like a cloak. He wasn’t a thoughtful man—not as a rule—not for others unless it came down to security details. It was just that she mattered to him. He found it astonishing and disconcerting just how quickly she’d come to matter so much. How every little detail about her counted.
It wasn’t just that she was going to be his leopard’s mate and by default, his. He was already intrigued with her. More than intrigued. So much more. He wanted this woman the more time he spent with her. The pull between them grew stronger, and the chemistry hotter.
He knew the leopards had a lot to do with it, but it wasn’t all about their leopards. He was far too disciplined and in control to allow himself to to be swayed to this extent by his cat. It was the promise of Flambé. The way she looked at him. The brush of her gaze moving over his body and then retreating. He knew women. He read them easily. He was a shifter and he had all of his cat’s enhancements. He could smell her arousal. Her interest. Her submission. Her needs and demands.
Right now, she sat in the Jeep, seat belt tight around her, clad in the power suit she’d worn to his house earlier in the day. The silk blouse clung to her generous breasts, showing a hint of the darker bra beneath it. She had to have known, when she slid into the seat, that her blouse had come unbuttoned, those first three buttons, but she hadn’t tidied them. She’d left them, so the upper curves of her breasts showed where the material was pulled apart.
He didn’t need the lights in the tunnel to see her. His leopard was close, and he saw every detail of her bone structure along with her satin skin and the fall of silky hair as he drove fast through the passageway. She was beautiful. He couldn’t wait to see her laid out for him like a feast. In the meantime, he was looking forward to getting to know her, finding out all the things that pleased her, made her smile and laugh, that mattered to her.
Sevastyan drove the Jeep from the underground tunnel straight into the garage with no lights and parked it, turned it off and just sat there listening. He called Shturm close, wanting the cat to ensure no leopard or man was in the garage or close by. He hadn’t perceived danger near, but he wasn’t taking any chances with Flambé.
When Shturm assured him the garage was clear, he woke Flambé gently and gathered her suitcases. “Let’s go, malen’koye plamya. Stay very quiet. I don’t want any of Franco’s men to hear us. They think we’re inside.”
“They’re still out there?” She turned her face up toward him, the back of her head rubbing against his chest.
She was very tactile. As a rule, Sevastyan forbade touching. His leopard would never have stood for it. When he went to the clubs, the women didn’t touch him unless he commanded them to do so. Most of the time, he didn’t allow it. He looked forward to skin-to-skin touch with Flambé. He also knew it would be advantageous if she needed a continuous physical demonstration between them. It had bothered him that she hadn’t taken his hand at Mitya’s house when he’d offered it to her.
He bent to brush a reassuring kiss on the side of her cheek and skimmed one hand down her neck to the swell of her breasts, the sweet expanse of curves her open blouse revealed. He covered the satiny mounds with the heat of his palm and the wide expanse of his fingers. Her breasts were soft yet firm. He didn’t make excuses for touching her. He didn’t need to. She’d given him the invitation.
He rubbed the pad of his thumb back and forth over the curve of her breasts. “They’re out there.”
Her breath hitched. Flambé didn’t pretend she didn’t like what he was doing to her. She inched into his hand, not away from it. Her hips moved slightly in rhythm. She was very responsive to the chemistry happening between them. At the moment, her leopard