“Dezi?” A careful touch on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Gentle hands even now, she thought. He’d never be violent, Felix, would never tear and claw. It was always what she’d sought from lovers before—primal fury, her leopard wanting to tangle with a man who was her match. But today, she began to get an inkling of why none of those lovers had ever truly satisfied her.
“I’m sorry,” she said again, staring at the ground so she wouldn’t inadvertently lock her eyes with his, make him back down. “I didn’t mean to use my strength against you.”
“What?” Confusion in his voice, his big hand stroking her back, petting her. “You didn’t do that.”
“I was pushing you.”
He actually laughed, the rich, masculine sound stroking through the fur of the leopard inside her skin. “News flash, Dezi. Dominants do that. A lot.” He shifted to crouch down beside her, his hand still big and warm on her back. “The rest of us have learned to handle it.”
This time, it was Desiree who looked at him through her lashes, their eyes catching for a fleeting instant before he broke the contact. “Please look at me,” she said softly. “I need to know for sure that I didn’t hurt you.”
His Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed, he nonetheless held her gaze for a long second. A deep, luscious brown, his irises were almost swallowed up by his pupils. When he broke contact again, she read the flush on his cheekbones, the tension in his muscles in a different light. “You do want me,” she whispered, her fingers trembling. “Then why . . .”
His hand fisted on her back. “I can’t be your toy, Dezi.”
She sucked in a breath.
“Shit,” he muttered. “That came out wrong. I just . . . I’m ready to settle down, find a long-term lover or a mate. I want pups and a home and a family I can spoil and adore.” He lifted his head, their eyes meeting for another split second. “You know that can’t happen between us.”
Dezi wanted to argue with him, but she knew he was right. Her leopard was drawn to strength, to power. She couldn’t change that, as he couldn’t change the fact that he needed a partner who wouldn’t discomfort or inadvertently scare his wolf. “Damn.” It was a soft whisper. “I really like you.”
She saw his lips curve, the lower one fuller than the upper, and wished she could see the gorgeous entirety of his smile. “I like you, too.” Petting her back again, he said, “Friends? For real.”
“Yeah . . . friends.” The most fascinating man she’d ever met and there was no way she could have him, not without hurting him.
• • •
Desiree kicked at the fallen pine needles outside her parents’ Yosemite home, trying to walk off her temper before she went in for a late lunch with her mother. She hadn’t had a restful sleep after her shift, her body torn up with primal sexual desire focused on a man she simply could not touch.
“You’ll kick a hole in the earth all the way back to your nana and nani in Kashmir if you keep doing that.”
Desiree groaned at the sound of that clear voice with its lilting accent. “Hi, Mom.” Shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans, she met green eyes the same shade as her own and answered in one of the Kashmiri languages her mother had taught her as a toddler. “At least that way, they could visit us more easily.” Her maternal grandparents lived in a remote area of the mountainous region.
“Don’t be silly, cublet. You know your nani would never stand for tramping through a dirty tunnel. She likes to fly in the jets.” Petite and in dancer shape, her silky brown skin unlined, Meenakshi slipped her arm into Desiree’s. “Now, come inside. Tell your ma what’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she muttered, feeling sulky and frustrated.
That earned her a pat on the arm and a crook of a finger. Surrendering, Desiree leaned down and was kissed on the cheek, Meenakshi’s hand warm on Desiree’s other cheek as the scents of fire and water mingled with growing green things enveloped her. The fire and water was her mother—an elemental, artistic creature. The growing green things, that came from her dad, Harry’s and Meenakshi’s scents permanently entwined after so many years as a mated pair.
Bad mood easing as the scent of home and of family sank into her bones, Desiree followed her mom