the inherent cruelty in his leopard, in him. He could be without mercy. It made him very good at his job. It also made his leopard a very good mate. He knew it was the very trait that both attracted and repelled her.
She was addicted to him. To their wild, passionate, feral relationship. She was addicted to the ropes. She never knew what he was going to do or ask of her and she was addicted to that as well. He kept her off balance and craving him. Flambé might be a submissive woman in the bedroom, but she was a woman with such a demanding sexual nature that unless a man could satisfy her needs, she would move on fast.
He knew he was right about Franco Matherson. At some time, they must have met casually in a bar. In a nightclub. He’d probably had no idea she was leopard. They’d talked, they’d danced and she’d spent a couple of hours with him and left. A couple of hours hadn’t been enough and somewhere along the line he’d realized she was a shifter. Matherson wasn’t going to let her go.
Sevastyan stepped right into her. Close. The height difference between them was over a foot. His shoulders were wide. He caught her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. “Where did you meet him?”
“A club. In South Africa. I was staying at a hotel near the airport.”
Her gaze tried to shift away from his, but he refused to allow it, his eyes wholly focused, boring into hers, forcing her to face him. He didn’t blink, giving her the stare of his cat. The hunter. She was damn well going to answer him this time. He was standing so close to her he felt her body hitch as she tried to pull in air.
“I was at the bar and he came in. He looked like he could handle himself and I was . . .” She broke off, her voice low.
“Keep going. You were looking for someone to fuck, I get it.” He was deliberately crude. He wanted to shake her. He didn’t give a damn that she’d been with men before him, only that she hadn’t been safe.
“I’m not ashamed, Sevastyan, if you’re thinking I am.” Her eyes went golden on him. “I do feel guilty because I was so needy that I just wasn’t paying attention to the warning signs that were there. I should have been. I let him spot me and it wasn’t that hard to get him to take me to his room.”
Sevastyan was certain that was the truth. She was beautiful. Small and curvaceous. To a man like Matherson, she would look like someone he could have his way with. Little did he know she was a tigress in the bedroom.
“I knew he was leopard. I could see it in his eyes. He had no idea I was. She wasn’t close to rising. I wasn’t even sure she would ever rise at that point. He wasn’t that great in bed and I just wanted out of there as fast as possible afterward. I had to initiate everything and it isn’t my thing, as you well know.”
Sevastyan knew that was most of Flambé’s problem and why she went out so often seeking partners. She was never satisfied. The men might look like they could satisfy her, but they had no idea how. Thankfully, he did.
“He wanted my phone number. I gave some lame excuse and that’s when I realized I could be in trouble.” She shrugged. “I soothed him, made noises like we’d meet up again and then got the hell out of there. I was coming back to the States. I’d never told him where I was from so I didn’t think he could find me.”
Sevastyan ran his hand down the back of her head, down all that soft silk. He bent and brushed a kiss over her upturned mouth. “Thank you, Flambé. I needed to know or I wouldn’t have asked.” His thumb slid over her lower lip. “If you need me, baby, text me.”
He brushed his mouth very gently over hers a second time and then dropped his hands, although it was difficult not to touch her body when he could feel her hunger for him all over again and his blood pounded through his cock so hard, he thought it might burst.
He strode back across the room, pausing at the door. “Wait for me to bring you home. If