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)
That edgy feeling was spreading through his body, his radar going off, but he had no idea why. He sent his senses reaching far into the swamp but couldn’t find evidence of intruders.
“It’s really that bad here, then?” Timur asked.
Gorya nodded. “The others in this lair are considered potential enemies and we don’t want them aware that Maya knows anything about computers. Also, no more researching her. She has people she protects. If you investigated her, you would put those people in danger.”
Ashe looked at Timur with a little smirk. “I told you he wouldn’t like it.”
Gorya turned to his cousin. “You put her up to this?” He wasn’t in the least surprised. Naturally Timur would have Ashe ask the questions. The knots in his belly tightened. He was growing edgier despite the way the conversation kept turning humorous. There was something out there, something he couldn’t quite catch. A scent. A shadow. Or was Maya growing moodier?
Rogue? Is Wraith rising? He didn’t feel her close to the surface. Maya appeared calm, although she was tense.
Timur shrugged, a roll of his wide shoulders. “I thought you’d take questions better from Ashe than me. Not that you did. Who knew you’d go caveman? You’re supposed to be the easygoing Amurov.”
Matvei coughed into his fist. Gedeon and Meiling exchanged a knowing smile.
“He is charming,” Meiling said. “You’ll have to watch him around the ladies, Maya. They fall at his feet when he walks past them.”
Ashe nodded. “I can attest to that,” she agreed.
Maya raised her eyebrow. “Is that so?” She nudged Gorya with her foot. “I see you’ve neglected to tell me a few things about yourself.”
The men erupted into laughter. Gorya glared at the women. “You’re supposed to be talking me up. What’s wrong with you? I expect this from Timur, but not the two of you.” He gave Maya his innocent mask. “Baby, I never flirt.”
Ashe threw her hands over her head. “Everyone duck. Lightning is about to strike.”
Maya kept her straight face, but for him, in his mind, she stroked a small caress, barely felt. It was her first real touch of contact surrounded by the others, reaching out to reassure him she knew he was hers alone, that all the teasing was just that.
He was falling. Hard. Right off the cliff with no safety net. That made him even more dangerous than he already was, because he would do anything to keep her safe. Anything. He would sell whatever was left of his soul for her.
“I see I have my work cut out for me to keep you in line,” Maya said as she got gracefully to her feet and took his empty coffee mug. “Would you like anything else?”
She moved around the outside of the circle and paused between Kiriil’s and Arman’s chairs as she half turned back toward Gorya. She was very still, her attention centered on the two men. For a moment, Rogue rose, clawing, raking, raging at the close proximity of the males to his female and the way she was studying the men. Gorya fought back the red sheets of jealousy he wasn’t used to dealing with. The emotion was powerful and intense, and reining it in took more discipline than he expected.
“What the fuck, Gorya?” Timur muttered.
Just to show how far gone he was in that moment, he hadn’t realized he was giving off waves of danger until his cousin’s demand penetrated. He pulled himself out of his animalistic response and took a slow, careful look around, using every heightened sense. His security team had gone on instant alert. Gedeon had an eyebrow lifted, asking silently what was wrong.
What are you doing, Maya? Get away from those shifters, Gorya ordered. I don’t have nearly the control I thought I would, and neither does Rogue.
Something isn’t right. Don’t you feel it? I thought the threat might be coming from one of them. I don’t know them, but it isn’t. It’s farther away, coming toward us from three different directions. Reach out, Gorya. Get past the heat.
Maya stepped away from the circle, placed the mugs on the ground and paced closer to the high fence surrounding the patio.
Gorya immediately got up to join her, signaling to Gedeon as he did so.
“What is it, Maya?” Gedeon asked as he rose.
“Gorya? Gedeon? Meiling?” Maya’s voice was barely a thread of sound.
Gorya felt them now. Rogue went crazy. A male leopard in his prime was approaching through the swamp. There was no mistaking his intentions. He had come to challenge for leadership—and for the female in heat. Gorya was already reaching for his shirt.
Maya’s hand stayed his. “Wait, there’s something else going on here. Those other two coming in aren’t in leopard form, Gorya. We need to know what they’re doing.”
He gently removed her hand. “I cannot refuse a challenge, Maya, nor would I want to. Rogue is going insane. No one will take you from me, and I will not give up leadership.” This was what he’d been feeling all along. The threat coming at him. These men had been a great distance away, but his radar had picked them up, even miles out.