"Baby, wake up for me, mi vida, just for a minute."
She murmured sleepily, and the drowsy note hardened his cock, but then just about everything about her managed to do that. She didn't turn away from him, although she had to be exhausted. Her arm slid around his waist and her hand slipped down his hip. He loved when she did that. As if she was wrapping him up with her.
"Tell me what you need, honey," she whispered, her voice soft and husky with sleep.
"You give me whatever I want?"
Her head tilted and her long lashes lifted. He felt the impact of her green eyes piercing his heart. "Anything, Elijah."
The absolute conviction in her voice turned him inside out. He caught her wrist and inspected it, there in the dark, using his leopard's vision to make certain there were no bruises. He hadn't used soft scarves like he should have. He hadn't thought to keep them handy, in the drawer beside the bed. He'd had metal handcuffs, not comfortable, and he'd been a little feral. They had been letting the leopards out nightly and his male was ravenous for the female, feeding his own desire for Siena.
He brought her wrist to his mouth. "Gotta go, baby. I've got all kinds of shit to do. I've got a couple of boys taking you over to Emma's and they'll bring you home whenever you want. I need you resting. I kept you up, and the leopards were out a long time."
"Where are you going?"
He ignored her question. "If you want to try your hand at cooking, I'll be home for dinner. I had my grandmother's recipes translated for you and I left the book on the island in the kitchen. Groceries are in as well. If you don't feel up to it, that's all right, call me on my cell, leave a message and I'll pick something up on the way home." He brushed another kiss along her wrist. "You feeling all right?"
She'd been sick a lot lately. She didn't ever complain. She just went into the bathroom, and he could hear her as her stomach rebelled every single morning and several times throughout the day. She was fairly pale. He was careful not to have her go down on him anymore. He didn't want to make her morning sickness worse.
"I'm good. Don't worry about me."
"Baby." How could he not worry? When he called her mi vida--my life--he meant it. She was his life. "Don't like you sick, mi amorcito. Want you to stop."
She laughed softly, her breath warm against his ribs. She moved her head to cushion it on his belly, her long braid sweeping over his body, tangling for a minute with his cock. His body shuddered with pleasure. With contentment.
"I'll get right on that, boss-man."
"Glad you finally recognize what I am to you," he said. "You sleep in this morning and eat something. Even if it makes you sick, baby. Doc says you have to eat. Small meals. A lot of them. And take those prenatal vitamins."
She traced her name with the pad of her fingers into his chest. She did it often, her way of claiming him. He marked her body to brand her his. Her claiming was invisible but no less binding.
"Where are you going, Elijah?"
"Mi vida, I've got business to attend to." Setting up a kingpin in Rafe Cordeau's territory. Hunting down Robert Gaton and Paolo Riso. Killing them. Burning their carcasses. Burying them deep. The usual business men attended to.
She kept her eyes on his stomach. "I'm carrying twins."
For a moment he thought he heard her wrong. She just said it straight-out in a low, whispery tone as if she was responding to his statement. He was thinking about killing and she was thinking about life. Bringing more life into his world. Giving him two children. More familia. Above her head, he closed his eyes. She gave him beauty. Too much. Almost more than he could handle.
"Doc tell you?" Because Doc hadn't told him. They were going to have words about that. He needed to know how to take care of his woman. Doc had no right to keep anything from him.
"No. I don't think he knows yet. My female told me. Last night. Before we went to bed."
She knew, and she'd still come to him every way he wanted, giving herself to him. Wild. And she'd been wild. Begging him to be harder. Rougher. Matching the primitive savage need in him.
"Should have told me right away, baby. I need to talk to Doc. Find out whether our kind of sex is going to have to wait until they're born."
She pressed kisses into his belly. Swirled her tongue in his belly button. Nipped him with her teeth. "Don't you dare talk to Doc about our sex life. I'd be embarrassed to ever look at him."
He laughed softly. He couldn't help it. Her wild belonged only to him. He loved that, but it didn't negate the fact that he needed to know how to protect her and his unborn children. He was rough. He liked his sex rough. He was wild. He liked his sex wild. And he liked it often. But not at the expense of his woman and children.
"Baby, if I ever hurt you, you need to tell me."
"If Doc ever says we can't have sex . . ." She trailed off.
He bunched her braid in his hand and tugged until her head turned and she looked up at him. Reluctantly. "Where the hell did that come from?" he demanded. He was going to kill Doc if he wasn't communicating.
"Emma can't. You know. With Jake. It's hard on him, she says. Catarina's not having a difficult time. Doc doesn't think she's going to have any problems carrying her baby. She's having one. But what if, down the line he says we have to stop. I'm carrying two. You like . . ." She hesitated. "You need sex."
His gaze moved over her face. Her beautiful face. Anxious eyes. So worried. She still didn't get it. She still didn't understand. Her grandfather had never made her feel important. No one had. She couldn't possibly understand that when he told her she was his life, that was exactly what she meant to him.
"You think I could touch another woman after you? Loving you the way I do? Never going to happen, mi amorcito. Fucking never. Doc says you can't have sex we'll get creative. Your mouth is paradise. That's off-limits then I guess we'll get really good at hand jobs. Kind of like the idea of you learning how to do that for me."
He felt her shiver. Her face was soft. Sexy. Eyes slumberous. Dios, but he loved this woman and he wanted her all over again. He was greedy when it came to her. So hungry for her he never seemed to get enough.
"I have to go, baby. I want you to sleep in," he reiterated. "Go see Emma and Catarina, have a good time, but if my boys tell you to do something, you do it, no argument. You get me?"
Her gaze fastened to his. Stayed there. Intelligent. Far too much intelligence. He didn't give a damn. She might suspect all kinds of things, but he needed to know she was going to do what he told her.
"They say you leave, you get your ass home, no sassing them. They'll have orders to carry you out, you don't cooperate. And, baby, you make them do that, you'll be answering to me."
There was no erotic note in his voice. He wanted her to know he wasn't playing around. Not with her safety. She needed to know there were certain lines she couldn't cross with him. They were hard lines. And he would do something about it. She'd be uncomfortable and not laughing when he got through with her, and she'd never forget the lesson.
"Elijah, do you think I'm stupid? Brainless?" Her tone was ominous. She lifted herself up on one elbow. "Because I'm not. You don't need to threaten me to get me to use good sense. I know you're doing something dangerous. You wouldn't be doing it if you didn't have to. I know I brought this storm down on you. I want to keep our babies safe as much as you do."
She had that tone. That attitude. The one that teased his cock into one hell of a hard-on. Painful even. Perfect. She looked pissed, but adorably pissed. How the hell did she think he could take her seriously when she was propped up naked next to him, one soft breast pressed deep into his side, the other resting on his abs?
"Sorry, baby. You going to have words with me over this?" He couldn't resist, because seriously, who said that kind of thing? Words. He loved that.
"Yes we are," she said. "More than words." She leaned down and bit him. Hard. Right on his belly.
The bite of pain arrowed straight to his cock. He yanked on her braid, to bring her head
up, but her tongue was already soothing the ache. He heard her muffled laughter.
"You do that again and you'll make me late. Won't like that, baby."
She turned her head, her lips whispering against his belly, sending little flames dancing over his skin. "Yes, you will. I'll make certain of it. But . . ." She pushed herself up into a sitting position. "I think, unfortunately, our babies have other ideas."
With that, she flung back the covers and rushed into the bathroom. He lay there, one hand over his eyes, listening to her, wishing he could figure out how to stop her morning sickness. Hating it. Hating he couldn't take it away for her. She didn't complain. Didn't blame him. Didn't in any way act as if carrying his child--his children--was a burden. He loved her all the more for that.
He heard the water in the sink. Her scrubbing her teeth. She did that a lot. He moved then. Because if he didn't move, he was going to be late, and they needed to be on the road. In truth, he should have left hours ago. They were headed to New Orleans. Jake had given them the use of his private jet. He needed to establish a new boss in what very soon was going to be open territory again. Joshua Tregre was going to be that boss.
Drake Donovan had married into a family of law enforcement. None of them could take that title with any believability. Elijah dressed slowly. He'd given a lot of thought to whom he could set up in that position and make it work. He had discussed it with Drake, Jake and Eli before approaching Joshua and laying it all out to him, laying it out that from the moment Joshua took over Cordeau's territory, he'd live a shit life. It would change Joshua's life. Forever. He would lead a double life, the same way Elijah was leading one. The same way he was going to ask Alonzo to lead one.
Joshua would have to do things he didn't want to do, things that would cement his role and title in the underworld. Their network would grow--was already growing if they could just keep from being killed. Soon, Elijah knew he would have to sit down with Siena and have the conversation he'd been avoiding.
What did one say to the woman he loved? How did he ask her to do that kind of shit with him? To put her and his children through that? He kept it from her as long as he could, hoping he could find a way to make her so into him, so in love with him that there was no other choice but to stay. Now, because of his decision, Joshua would have to have a similar conversation if he found a woman. And Alonzo.
He pulled on his clothes, clothes he could remove fast when he needed to shift. Everything from his jeans and shirt to his boots had been specially made for that purpose. He could strip and shift on the run, and he was fast. He had to be. He didn't want the others to be responsible for the things he knew he had to do. Robert Gaton had put out a hit on both him and Siena. He'd sent a sniper to his home. He was sending others. He was leopard, and he was a criminal.
Gaton knew Elijah's reputation and he knew that wasn't going to fly. Still, Gaton was dumb enough to do it and that meant he had a plan in place. Elijah suspected Gaton aligned himself with Paolo. Elijah had already taken steps with the council to let them know he was taking over the Arnotto territory on Siena's behalf and Alonzo would be running it. He had even intimated that when the time was right, the territory would be Alonzo's alone and he would remain as a consultant and friend, a business partner, but Alonzo would have complete control once he knew the ropes.
He'd announced his engagement to Siena and the papers for the license were waiting for her to sign. The notary would be there that evening and they'd both have the papers signed so in seventy-two hours they could be married. He'd arranged for that too. In Jake's home. Emma and Catarina there, Jake and Eli with Drake as well. He was putting a ring on Siena's finger, and the rest of the world could deal with it.
She wasn't having his babies without a ring. And he didn't want to go five minutes longer than necessary before it was done and she was irrevocably his. He heard her come back into the room and he turned. Somewhere she'd found his shirt. He didn't like her wearing anything to bed. He knew he never would.
He loved feeling her soft body, with all those lush curves pressed tight against him. He liked to put his mouth on her breast and feel the way her body went damp for him as he drifted off to sleep. She always gave him that, but when he left their bed before her, she always put a shirt and panties on.
"Have fun with your girls, baby," he said, turning to her. Taking her into his arms. Holding her close. He loved holding her. She was small and perfect against him. He'd never in his life considered he'd have someone like her as his mate. Someone decent. Someone innocent. Innocent and wild. He brushed a kiss on her head. "I love you, mi vida. More than life. I love you that much. Never forget it."
She went up on her toes and pressed kisses along his jaw. "Come home to me, Elijah. You stay safe and come home to me. I need you. We need you." She narrowed her eyes. "You get me?"
His own words. He smiled down at her. "Yeah, baby. I get you. Get in bed and let me tuck you in. I like knowing you're in our bed and sleeping peaceful. Keep your cell on you."
"Um, just in case you don't remember, my cell is toast. You threw it. Broke it to bits. I haven't replaced it because--well--I haven't thought about it."
"I'll call my boys. One of my men, you know Tomas Estrada, is taking this shift with you. He and his brother Joaquin have been with me since I was a kid. Tomas will look after you with Trey Sinclair. They'll have their cells on them, and I'll see about getting Jake's secretary to pick one up for you."
She lifted her chin at him. The way she did it always made his leopard go a little crazy. That little defiant attitude always made his cock hard and his alpha nature go ballistic. She hadn't figured that out yet.
"I can get my own cell phone."
He brushed his mouth over hers. "Of course you can. I'm the one who broke it, though, baby, so I'm the one replacing it. Yeah?" He didn't give her a chance to answer. Jerking back the covers he motioned her in. "Get back to sleep and I'll see you this evening."
She slid in and waited until he tucked the blankets around her before she caught his hand. "You'll come back to me. Safe. Intact. You."
He knew what she meant. Whatever he was doing, she didn't want him to suffer from it. He knew he wouldn't. Leopard law was the law of the jungle. They had strictly enforced laws. They had to. Leopards could kill easily. Leopards weren't allowed to hunt humans in the swamps as Rafe Cordeau had allowed his male to do. His lieutenants had joined in his hunts. Robert Gaton had been one of his lieutenants. He was a vicious killer, and he'd put a hit out on Siena. That was unacceptable. He wasn't going to get the chance to take over Cordeau's territory. He'd run it in the same bloody, cruel way his predecessor had.
"I will," he said. Meaning it.
She still didn't let go. He was patient. He didn't care that the others were waiting. That Jake's plane was waiting. Siena's gaze clung to his face, moving over his features, seeing him. Seeing the killer in him this time. He endured that. For her. He took it, but he hated it.
He watched her just as closely, his leopard close, but quiet. Both recognized this was a defining moment. Elijah detested that she was so damned intelligent. There was no hiding from her. No hiding from those see-all eyes of hers. She'd always been able to penetrate his armor. She'd found that little piece of him hidden deep, protected from the rest of the world. There was no doubt she saw everything else.
"Elijah." Her voice was whisper soft. "I've trusted you. Believed in you. Let myself fall, not just in love with you, but so deep, I don't know how I'd survive without you. I'm looking at you and I need you to give me the truth."
He braced himself.
"Is this necessary? Are these really bad people?"
"You sure you want this, Siena? I don't want it for you. I want you to live your life free."
"You're mine. I can't watch you go, knowing what's going to happen, without you telling me what our lives are going to be like. I've been patient, waiting. Now you're going and it's . . . bad. I can see that. So give me that much. I have to know."
r /> "I wouldn't go after an innocent, baby," he assured her. "Hold on to Drake's reputation, not the one that was mine. Is mine. I promise we'll have that talk when I get back if you still want it. I'll lay it out for you."
"All of it."
He closed his eyes. Knowing she saw. He fucking hated his family, what they'd made him, what they'd given him.
"Honey." Soft. Beautiful. Loving. She kissed his hand and his heart turned over.
Elijah opened his eyes and nodded. "All of it."
"Then go, but be safe. And come back to me." She rubbed her palm over her belly. "To us."
He put his hand on her soft pooch where his children lay safe and snug inside his woman. "I'll always come back to you."
He got the hell out of there before he lost his resolve. He would come back to her with blood on his hands. He swore with every step he took, furious at himself, at his life--a life he'd chosen when Drake had proposed it--and furious at the people who had taken a little boy and shaped him into a monster.
The men with him on that plane were good men. All of them. He trusted them when he didn't trust very many. Joshua sat alone, face turned toward the window, looking like stone. Part of him wanted to go to the man and talk him out of his decision. It was easy enough to make when you didn't have a woman, when you didn't have decent, when you were alone with nothing and wanted to do something with your life.
"You okay?" Drake asked, dropping into the seat across from him.
Drake was one of the few people who could read him--or dare to ask him questions. Elijah had never been friendly. His leopard rode him hard. His upbringing had never allowed for friendship. He liked his brother-in-law, Rachel's husband, but when he first met him, Elijah still had major trust issues. He didn't like someone that close to his sister, not when he didn't know him. Still, the man made her happy and Elijah had learned, over the years, that Rio was a good man.