Leopard's Blood

  Sonia loved that he thought Gatita was beautiful. She watched as he shifted. That alone was something worth seeing. He was fast, so fast she didn't see the actual transformation because she'd blinked. His cat was bigger than Gatita by quite a bit. The first thing he did was nuzzle her neck and rub along her body before licking her face. Gatita responded by doing the same to the male. As if they were talking to each other, they whirled around and leapt for the tree branch.

  Shadow took the lead, with the female trailing him. They ran along the twisted limbs above the ground until they were close to the center of Sonia's land. Shadow led her to the ground and they played for a while in the leaves, rolling in them, leaping over downed trunks of trees, hunting for insects and fish along the bank.

  He took her a little closer to the property line bordering Joshua's property, and Gatita scented other males. She grimaced and started to retreat. Shadow stopped her, nudging her forward with his shoulder.

  Sonia moved closer to the surface the moment Gatita was uncomfortable. The female and her male had played and rested for well over an hour. She had crouched in front of him a few times and he'd been on her fast. They rested after copulating four times in less than two hours and then they ran again.

  Sonia tried to soothe, to tell her to trust in the male, but she remained close, willing to put her life on the line if anything threatened her leopard. Out of the trees came three other big males. Gatita whirled to face them, and then backed up until she ran into Shadow. He nudged her and rubbed along her body with his.

  One by one the leopards came up to the female and touched noses. Sonia realized Shadow was introducing the other shifters. She got the impression the three were bodyguards for Shadow. Not Shadow--Joshua. Why would the head of a security team need bodyguards? She needed to look into him. She could contact Drake Donovan's agency and ask if Joshua really worked for him.

  Immediately she was ashamed of herself for thinking about checking up on him. She'd be furious if he started doing the same to her. She'd been deliberately vague about who she'd been married to. That was a good thing. He couldn't investigate her without tipping off her husband and his father. They had ears and eyes everywhere.

  Gatita ran with the four males, exploring Joshua's territory. Shadow turned her after another hour, which meant Joshua wanted to take back his form. Sonia would have been happy to allow Gatita to have her form until dawn in the hopes that Joshua wouldn't have to spend too much time in her bed.

  It wasn't sex she was afraid of. It was the way he held her. So close. His body tightly against hers. He held her like she was cherished by him. Like she was the most precious thing in his life. He whispered to her. He stroked her hair. Those things were what wore her down, not his creative brand of mating.

  Shadow pushed Gatita to the verandah, where Shadow shifted. Joshua dropped his hand to Gatita's fur and the leopard walked with him to the French doors of the bedroom. He opened them and the two walked into her bedroom. She loved her room. It was enormous for her. Wide open spaces. She loved the high ceiling and all the glass facing the swamp. She loved the floor with its cool rings of various shades in the wood, a pattern of medium circles throughout. It had taken her a long time to do the floor right. She knew wood wasn't the best with a leopard, but she wanted to duplicate the original floor to the best of her ability, and it had been hardwood.

  She shifted as Joshua turned back to get her red lace from the table and then closed the French doors. "They had fun."

  "Yes, they did, but you're tired, sore and your muscles are achy." He moved past her to the bathroom, where her extremely large claw-foot tub was waiting. He turned on the gold taps and steaming water poured into the porcelain bathtub. "Do you have any bath salts? Something that might soothe away soreness?"

  That made her blush, but she nodded and walked past him, trying not to be hyperaware of the differences in their bodies. She was certain he didn't have an ounce of fat on him. He had defined muscles in his chest, his abs and more muscles forming a vee as his waist narrowed into his hips. His thighs were twin columns of muscle.

  Then there was her body. She had muscle, but she was fairly certain no one could see it, except maybe those in her arms. She was tempted to pump her bicep to see, but she crouched in front of the sink where she kept boxes of salts. She handed him one of the more neutral scents. He took it from her, smelled it and grinned, one eyebrow shooting up.

  "Grapefruit."

  "I have oranges and spice."

  "Grapefruit it is." He poured it into the steaming water.

  He was really built. She had ample curves, with the stress on the ample part. Her breasts were full, her hips full, and because her rib cage was narrow and so was her waist, it only served to emphasize the generous endowments given to her. Then there were her thighs. She ran all the time, why weren't her thighs bone skinny? She was not model material.

  "You keep it up, and I'm going to bite you somewhere that will make you unable to sit down for a week or two."

  Startled, her gaze jumped to his face. He didn't look as if he was joking, nor did he sound it. He looked intimidating. "You already did that."

  "I'll do it again much harder."

  She decided to ignore the threat, mostly because it sounded intriguing to her. "You can't possibly read my thoughts."

  "I told you, you don't have a poker face. More, you were staring at me and rubbing your hand along your thigh with a scowl on your face. You don't like the way you look. It doesn't matter that I tell you you're the most beautiful woman in the world to me, that I love every inch of you, you don't believe me."

  "I wasn't thinking that at all," she lied. She tried a mock glare, hoping to make him laugh, but it didn't work.

  He stepped even closer to her, his hands framing her face, his thumb sliding over her lips. The caress burned. That burn spread through her body, turning her veins to hot molasses. "Look at me."

  Her heart beat hard. She knew if she looked into his eyes she'd be lost there. She always was. There was something so beautiful and deadly about the turbulent sea there in the depths of all that crystalline blue. He waited. She took a breath and lifted her lashes. His gaze burned into hers. Burned right through her until she felt him taking a piece of her heart. She'd known it would happen sooner or later, but how could it right there? Right then? It was the way he looked at her, that mixture of affection and exasperation, that sent her heartbeat skipping.

  "I don't know who made you feel as if you aren't perfect, but whoever he was, he doesn't have a fuckin' brain in his head. You understand me, Sonia? You take my breath away. Our leopards may have found each other first, but had I laid eyes on you in the street before that night, I would have been coming after you. Nothing, no one, would have stopped me from pursuing you. That's the truth."

  Just like that he had a second piece of her heart. He was stealing it away, and there didn't seem to be much she could do about it.

  "You get me, baby? You get what I'm saying to you? I know every man in my employ thinks you're beautiful. They talk, and I listen. You walked into that house and they were pissed you weren't theirs. They're out there now, watching over us. Making sure we're safe. They're good men and they deserve the best. But I have you and I'm keeping you."

  She didn't know what to say. He meant every word. She knew he did. It was there in his tone, in his set features and most of all, in his eyes. She nodded, because what else could she do? He made her feel beautiful and worth something. Not a woman one fucked and threw away. Not one to blow up in a car because you were through with her.

  "You don't know me, Joshua." She whispered it, trying desperately to keep their relationship to sex.

  "I know that you're trying to protect me from some danger you have chasing you, Sonia. I know you help out Jerry when you don't need to. Everyone knows you've got talent, and you've got that reputation. I know you're kind and caring and talented beyond anything I've seen both with your work and your art. I love the way you laugh. The way you pu
t your hand in my hair just to let me know you're with me. I could go on and on but . . ." He took her hand and led her to the tub. "You need to get into the water, baby. Turn around."

  She did, wondering what he was up to.

  Immediately his hands were in her hair, dividing it into three sections and braiding it swiftly, so quickly she knew he was skilled.

  "Where did you learn to do that?" She kept all expression from her voice, and it was easier to ask him with her back to him. "You're good at it."

  "I can do fancy braids as well," he bragged, amusement and something that was suspiciously like sorrow in his voice. "My mom, Elaina, had long hair. She loved it, and even when she got sick, she didn't want to cut it. So I learned how to take care of it for her."

  He could break hearts. That was all there was to it. She didn't turn around, but went to the drawers where she kept her hair ties and secured the end of her braid. Pinning it on top of her head, she turned back to him. "How old were you?"

  "I had her until I was sixteen. We were living in Borneo, in the rain forest. Drake was already running a crew to get back kidnap victims. It was becoming a way of life for some to kidnap tourists and extort money. I joined him then."

  Sonia sank down into the hot, steaming water and scooted to the end of the tub to make room for him. He fascinated her. She watched him climb into the deep tub with ease, as if he'd been sharing the bath with her for years. He stretched out and then took her ankles and pulled until her feet were in his lap. His hands began a slow massage under the water.

  "I've seen pictures of Drake Donovan. He doesn't look much older than you."

  "He isn't. How old were you when you lost your mother?"

  "I'd just turned eighteen. I didn't have a clue what to do."

  "That's when he swooped in and married you, taking care of everything, right?"

  She nodded, reluctant to talk about her past with him. She had to protect him somehow. The less he knew, the better.

  "So, you were with him a year? Two? You don't look very old."

  She shrugged. "Almost two years. I feel old. It isn't every woman who can say her husband set a bomb in a car to kill her. If we weren't legally married, why bother? Why take the chance?"

  "That's the million-dollar question, isn't it? Did he carry an insurance policy on you?"

  She hadn't thought of that. She knew there was one on both of them and the payout was enormous, far more than one million dollars. She leaned her head back, tired of thinking about how stupid she was for falling for Sasha. How stupid she was being for falling for Joshua. At least he was a good man. Anyone who worked for Drake Donovan was a good man. She had to hold on to that, because she was falling.

  "You're so tired, you can't keep your eyes open," he said, amusement in his voice. "Go ahead and fall asleep, Sonia, I'll get you to bed."

  "Tell me more about your mother."

  "She was the best. My father risked his life to get us out of a bad situation. In the end, he was killed, but we got away. She raised me alone. She was young, but she never even looked at another man. She told me my father was the only one and when I found the right woman, I would know and she'd be my only one. I was lucky, baby. I found you."

  She drifted off, his declaration running around in her mind, taking one more piece of her heart.

  7

  "WHAT'S he like?" Molly asked, taking a bite of the club sandwich she'd ordered. "It's been a week now. You've been with him every night."

  Sonia nodded. "I go to work, so does he, and then he comes over at night." She didn't say they talked nearly all night when they weren't all over each other and every morning she made breakfast for him. They talked then too, laughing so much they could barely eat. He was winding himself around her heart far too fast.

  "He doesn't ever take you out?"

  "Out where?" she asked, although she knew what Molly was implying--that Joshua wasn't seen with her in public.

  "To dinner. At least take you to dinner."

  Sonia shook her head. "That's on me, not him. I'm the one who doesn't want anyone to know we're seeing each other." She didn't like being in public too much, and Joshua drew attention. She liked to cook and it was nice to have someone to cook for.

  "Why?" Molly frowned at her. "I've heard a few rumors, but most of the gossip says he works for Donovan Security."

  "Most?" Sonia pounced on that. "What do the others say?" She hoped her name wasn't linked with Joshua's in any way. She was working out at his place, drawing and coming up with ideas for the renovations. She'd studied the time period for her own home, so she knew what was needed, but she wanted his home to be special. Modern, but with that old-world feel to it. The house had once represented elegance and class. She wanted that same feel and was determined to get it.

  Molly leaned toward her and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Some say he took over Rafe Cordeau's territory with the mob."

  "Why would they say that?" She knew what it was like being around mobsters, and Joshua's crew didn't fit that at all. They were friendly. Hardworking. Nice to delivery people. No one stood around looking mean. "I thought they put those rumors to rest."

  "They carry guns. All of them carry guns."

  Sonia's breath exploded out of her lungs and she realized she'd been holding her breath. "Of course they carry guns. Is that why they're being judged? They work for an international security company, and they make enemies taking back hostages."

  Molly nodded. "That's what Bastien said."

  Sonia's eyebrow went up. "Bastien said that? You and Bastien are talking about Joshua?"

  "Well, I knew you liked him, so I casually asked Bastien about the rumors. He said he'd looked into him and couldn't find a single thing that linked him positively to the mafia, other than that he knows Elijah Lospostos and Alonzo Massi. He also knows Jake Bannaconni and Eli Perez. Eli was DEA, and Jake is a businessman." She leaned closer again so her whisper would carry. "He's a billionaire. Joshua knows a billionaire, Sonia."

  Sonia couldn't help but smile. "You had quite the conversation with Bastien. Was this over dinner and drinks?"

  Molly blushed. "It isn't anything like that. We just ran into each other here at the cafe, and it seemed silly to eat alone so we sat together."

  "He just happened to come in at the same time as you?" she teased.

  Molly shrugged, trying her best to look casual and failing as she took another bite of her club. Sonia kept quiet and just watched her until Molly burst out laughing, wadded up her napkin and threw it across the table at her. "Stop."

  "You're turning red."

  "I know. You're making me. He just happened to come in at the same time as me. Twice. Okay, maybe three times." She covered her eyes with one hand. "Stop looking at me like that."

  "Three times. That's not coincidence, my friend. That man is after you. Has he asked you out?"

  Molly shook her head. "I wouldn't go out with him. That would mean he would pick me up at my house and then drop me off after and then we'd be all alone together. Meeting here in public is safe."

  "You like him."

  Molly nodded slowly. "I do. I really like him. He's smart and funny. He's in law enforcement, which is my thing, for whatever reason, and you know he's smokin' hot."

  Sonia laughed. She loved the fact that she could laugh. She hadn't done that in so long, but Joshua had given that back to her. He often made her laugh, in between their wild, out-of-control sex, which she couldn't even think about without going damp and needing him. He stayed out of her way while she worked, which she was grateful for. Just seeing him sent her body into meltdown. She was afraid he was programming her that way.

  "Why wouldn't you go out with him if he asked?" she persisted. "You could insist on meeting him wherever he wants to go. If he doesn't agree, then don't go."

  "Or we could double-date," Molly said. "You and Joshua with Bastien and me. I'd feel safe if you were there."

  Sonia pressed her lips together. She wanted to help Molly out. Mol
ly deserved to be happy, and Bastien was definitely interested, Sonia had seen that when he'd come to check on them. It had been all about Molly. "I would. You know I would do anything to help you out," she said reluctantly. "But I can't. I'm hiding, just like you are. The man after me is incredibly dangerous, and he'd kill Joshua first. I know he would. Probably in front of me. I shouldn't even be seeing him. I told myself when I moved here it would be enough without friends or a partner, but then I met you and Jerry and Joshua and it isn't that easy. I still have to protect all of you, though. So, you see, just being my friend could put you in danger."

  Molly stared at her a long time in silence. She heaved a sigh and put the last of her club down. "I knew it. Damn it, why should we have to be the ones hiding and living in fear for our friends? For ourselves? Afraid to have any kind of a relationship. It isn't right, Sonia."

  "You're telling me."

  "I told you about Blake. His family is a big deal, and his pockets are deep. If he's looking for me, he'll eventually find me. I don't want you or Bastien caught up in my drama. Still, I told you, I took that chance, but you didn't say a word about your problems."

  There was a small note of hurt in her voice that Sonia couldn't fail to hear. "I'm sorry," she whispered, glancing around the cafe. They had the table she preferred, her back to the wall and looking out onto the street. Molly always got that table. "He's more than deep pockets, Molly, and he's ruthless. Completely ruthless."

  Molly pushed her mostly empty plate away. "Did he hurt you? The way Blake hurt me?"

  Sonia shook her head. "No broken bones. No locked in a closet. He just tried to kill me by planting a bomb in my car."

  Molly gasped, one hand flying defensively to her throat. "He really did?"

  "Yep. I was lucky and the car blew into the ocean. I went the other way. I'm not certain what tipped me off, but at the last second, I dove out of the car." She hated lying, but there was nothing else to say. She couldn't very well admit her leopard had saved her.

  She would never forget the pain of that first shifting. The terrible sound of joints cracking, the feeling of teeth filling her mouth. She had kicked off her shoes because her toes had curled alarmingly, the ends stinging and burning, just like her fingers. She'd ripped off her tee and shoved down her jeans because she hadn't been able to stand the feel of anything against her skin.