wonderful man.” A faint grin crept over her mouth, turning up her lips and lighting her eyes. “Without your exceedingly and annoyingly bossy ways, you’re really quite wonderful.”
He leaned in to her and kissed her nose. “You like my exceedingly bossy ways.”
She made a show of rolling her eyes. “I like you, that’s for sure.”
He sobered instantly. “Do you think you could love me, Ania? Given time? Is that even a possibility? I’d rather know now than wait to see . . .”
“You’re such a goof. Do you really think I’d be here because you threatened to come after me if I ran? I would go to Drake, or to one of the other families. I’m here with you because I’ve already found I can’t be without you. I may be scared out of my mind, and I don’t know if that’s because Jewel is, or I at least have some common sense, or it’s a combination, but I went out of the house that night because the thought of losing you was too much for me.”
“I can tell you without reservation, Ania, and I don’t know the first thing about love, so I’m not certain this is the greatest declaration, but I can’t do without you. If there is a person on this earth, other than my ridiculous cousins who got me into a mess, I can say you are the person I love. And since they got me into the mess, you’re far up the line in front of them.”
Ania started laughing. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, her arms crossed over her stomach, laughter spilling out of her like a golden symphony. “You’re so crazy. Your ridiculous cousins got you into a mess? And I’m in front of them because of it? That’s your declaration of love?”
Her eyes met his and she suddenly rolled over again, this time flinging her body over his, sprawling over top of him, the laughter fading from her gorgeous eyes. “That’s the best declaration of love I’ve ever heard, and I’m going to cherish it. I honestly thought I didn’t matter to you, Mitya, other than as someone who held Jewel.”
His teeth scraped gently down her ear. “It’s the other way around. Dymka is very lucky that Jewel does it for him.”
“He’d better be good to her.”
“I think he’s learned his lesson. Let me clean up and get a washcloth for you. Then we’ll let the leopards talk and see if they can clear things up between them.”
“Jewel’s very sulky.”
“She’s going to rise very soon, especially if we get any wilder. Leopard sex is rough and often, Ania. When I take you, I mean to be gentler, but it isn’t working. I think Jewel is close to rising whether or not she wants to.”
“Are you saying when Jewel and I are no longer fertile at the same time, you and I aren’t going to have our crazy, wild sex together? Because I won’t be happy about that.”
He grinned at her as he shifted off the bed. “No, babe, I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that leopard of yours is in for a shock if she refuses to speak to him. We aren’t going to take chances that she rises without me being around. From now on, wherever I go, so do you.”
She didn’t protest, although he thought she might. Instead, she smirked a little, which gave him pause as he washed himself and then got a warm washcloth for her.
“Are you up to something?”
“Why would you think that?”
She was more relaxed with his ministrations now. She just widened her legs and let him wash her. He enjoyed taking care of her. He still thought she might be up to something.
“Ania,” he cautioned.
She smiled and shook her head. “I don’t want her emerging without you being around. Remember how awful it was for me in the bakery without you? If you don’t remember, I certainly do.”
He couldn’t argue with that, although he regarded her suspiciously.
11
“I DON’T know why men think women are the gossips,” Evangeline said, sliding into the chair across from Ania. “They’re all in the back where my husband has his office, if you can call it that—mostly he eats my pastries—and they’re talking about things I’m not supposed to overhear.”
Ania couldn’t help smiling. “Do you want to know what they’re saying?”
“Absolutely not. I like baking my pastries and selling them to happy customers. The bakery is really popular, I think thanks to the fact that