floor. “A female leopard,” he corrected, “can be very flirtatious during a heat. They are vocal and very amorous. They will call a male to them and then rebuff them quite viciously. Two minutes later they will crouch down and call to the male again.”
She began to braid her hair, her eyes on first his face, but sliding down to his cock and then back up again. Biting her lip, she nodded. “I looked it up once. There isn’t anything on shifters, but there is plenty on leopards.”
“Then you know. Dymka was angry with her. He didn’t realize she was behaving naturally.”
“Like a wild, out-of-control sex maniac.” She blushed. “Like I get with you.” Once again, her gaze dropped to his cock.
His erection was thick and very prominent. He liked that she looked, and she obviously liked what she saw.
“I believe it is mutual, Ania. And I like it. I knew what to expect, so I have an advantage you, your leopard and mine don’t have. In any case, he was so angry, he threatened her with a beating. Leopards can be extremely rough with one another, so that wasn’t the worst he could have said. Jewel didn’t like it, but I expect she would have been okay had he stopped there. He threatened you with me beating you.”
Her hands stilled in her hair. He thought she went a little pale.
He reached down and caught at the blankets. “Do you think I would hit you? Ever?”
She hesitated before answering. When she drew in a breath, her breasts rose and fell. She dropped her arms. “I think Dymka drives you, and if he was raging . . .” She didn’t finish but looked a little anguished, as if she was terrified he’d be angry with her for even considering it, yet she couldn’t help herself.
“There is always that fear, but as I grew older, I became stronger. Very strong. I had to be in order to resist my father. In doing so, I found I had much more control over my leopard and his mood swings. I learned to handle him and the various negative emotions he brings to me. I know absolutely, without a doubt, I would never hit you in anger or rage. I despised my father for hitting my mother, and I would never want to be that man.”
Relief crept into her eyes. He went to the bottom of the bed, reached out and caught her ankles, yanking them apart. Her gaze jumped to his face. Wild. Purple. Instantly sensual. So much heat.
“I know you’re tired, kotyonok, so you aren’t required to do anything but sit there and rest. I want to indulge myself.”
His fingers surrounded her ankles and slid up her calves. He loved the feel of the silk of her skin. “In any case, the minute Jewel heard Dymka had threatened you, she wanted no part of me for you, or Dymka for her.”
“That makes sense.”
He could tell her breath had caught in her throat. She sounded as if she strained for air. He continued to stroke her legs, stretching them wider apart, his hands massaging her knees and then just above them. He liked looking at her welcoming liquid glistening between her lips for him. So beautiful. Telling him she liked his particular brand of lovemaking.
“I explained to him that we are not Lazar. We do not rule by fear, particularly our women. He understood. He already knew it was wrong but didn’t know how to make things right. He wants to talk to her. I told him he would have to wait. I want my time with you. I’ve missed you.” He’d been very careful with her since her father died.
He leaned down and nibbled his way up the inner thigh of her left leg, followed that up by licking up the same path and then using his teeth, scraping back and forth as he tracked that same trail. Her entire body shuddered, and she would have shifted her legs, but he held on to them, his body between them. He kept her spread wide open for him.
He looked up at her. “Baby, what did I say? I’m in the mood to indulge myself. That means you don’t move. You stay where I put you.”
He bit down on her soft, sensitive inner thigh, up high, close to her entrance. He made it count, wanting her to see he could reprimand her in a sensuous, erotic way. His tongue immediately stroked a soothing rasp over