Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 127461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
The leopard curled his lip. Shifters must overthink everything. I do not understand why. You belong together. Wraith is my mate. Maya is yours. There is no doubt. It is meant to be, therefore it is. Why make it complicated with all the— The leopard broke off, searching for an image that conveyed what he was thinking. Drama.
You think my concerns don’t have merit? If Gorya could have strangled the cat, he would have.
Rogue gave the idea consideration. Maya is very afraid. You believe things about yourself that are not all true. Both can be overcome.
Not during a leopard’s heat. Gorya knew he was right about that. A leopard’s heat was intense, out of control. Hormones raged and, in most cases, ruled. Maya would never be able to accept him during such a time. She’d be terrified of him.
But you will have a plan in place. Rogue had absolute faith in him. Whatever you decide to do, I will follow the plan and help you carry it out.
If Gorya could be shocked by anything Rogue said or did, this was the time. It had never occurred to him that the animal would have such faith in him that even during the most important time for all four, shifters and animals, he would put his trust in Gorya and believe the shifter would guide them through a very dangerous path.
It would be a very difficult one for us both. His mind was already racing with possibilities.
We are used to difficult situations. Rogue sounded placid, almost bored.
Gorya turned back toward the house. He didn’t want Maya too exhausted. She needed to eat something before she went to bed. He had to plan out carefully what to do when her leopard showed herself each time. The sexual needs between the shifters would grow more intense, much more brutal, until the leopard finally emerged. He would have to find a way for them to cope with those out-of-control hormones.
Once they crossed the river again and were back on land, he motioned for Maya to take the lead, needing to assure himself that she could find her way back to the house through the maze of swamp. He should have known she would have no problem at all. She ran a faster pace on the way back than he had set and never once hit a spot where the ground was too thin to support his weight. She knew when they were coming up on wildlife and instinctively avoided disturbing any creatures that would give their position away.
“I’m impressed,” he praised as he held the door open for her.
He had to admit she looked good, her body gleaming with a light sheen of sweat. She shot him a quick grin.
“That was fun, but I’m hitting the shower. Then soaking in the bathtub. Give me an hour before dinner. We are going to eat, right?”
He nodded. “We’ll eat.” If they didn’t eat, all he was going to be thinking about was her in the shower or bathtub, and that wasn’t safe.
He watched her disappear into the primary bath and he gathered up a few clean clothes and headed for the largest guest bathroom, texting Gedeon as he went down the hall. It had been impossible not to smell the barbecue when they’d come up on the side courtyard. If Gedeon was at the grill, chances were, he’d put on enough for the two of them.
After being assured there was plenty of food for Maya and himself, Gorya checked on Theo Pappas to see if he had known more than he admitted. Matvei confirmed the man was aware there was someone else behind the three men he knew were stealing money, but he didn’t know who any of them were. Matvei was certain he had gotten everything out of the man they could possibly get.
Gorya trusted Matvei to know when the prisoner was done. He gave the order to terminate the man. If he was of no more use, there was no sense in keeping him alive. He had already proven himself to be a drug addict, a thief and a man willing to sell a female leopard who had come to do him a favor. He needed to be put out of his misery.
After showering, he went back to the bedroom just as Maya came out of the primary bathroom, leaving a trail smelling oddly enough of fresh snow and a flower Gorya identified as Tashkent, a marigold he remembered from when he’d traveled to Uzbekistan. The fragrance had managed to sweeten the hot summer night air. He had never forgotten that scent. No other marigold had smelled the same no matter where he went. He was a leopard shifter with an acute sense of smell, and even though she seemed to be able to mask her smell from leopards when she wanted, she didn’t bother hiding it from him, and he found himself elated. In the short time they’d been together, they were finding a balance. A rhythm. And they were doing so quickly.