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)
Rogue is too fast and too skilled. Right now he’s a little indignant that you would think he could be injured by another leopard.
You know as well as I do that anything can happen in a fight.
She felt Gorya’s amusement. Rogue appreciates your concern.
Maya couldn’t help but fret. He didn’t seem to understand the larger implications of what could happen.
What if they are not our enemies? They could simply be males looking to acquire a female. Wraith is acting like any female leopard in heat. This is really my fault because I couldn’t handle the thought of a sexual experience yet. Any death would be my fault.
Stop, Maya. We’re past that. Rogue isn’t going to kill a rival unless the leopard refuses to submit. Most leopards will unless there is an underlying reason, for instance, if he’s a shifter and his human counterpart is refusing to allow it. If that’s the case, the shifter is an enemy.
She couldn’t argue with the logic. The relief was tremendous. She allowed herself to relax and just enjoy the outing through Wraith’s eyes and emotions. Wraith ran and played, rolling through leaves and rubbing along tree trunks, giving her sawing call every few minutes to announce her alluring presence to the world.
She took great delight in knowing Rogue paced along behind her, admiring every step she took. He came close and brushed against her, his large body muscular and fluid. Rogue ran his muzzle along her spine, scent-marking. Claiming. He didn’t make the mistake of trying to mount her. He didn’t push her in one direction or another. He simply ran with her playfully, allowing her to lead, letting her see his interest and admiration.
Wraith was more coquettish than ever now that she had the exclusive attention of a male in his prime. She rubbed her body along his, playfully throwing dirt and leaves up in the air before running through another shallow creek and over two downed moss-covered trees. She sniffed in disdain at a bellowing alligator and laughed at startling a family of raccoons.
Rogue is taking the heat very well.
He is leopard. He knows how a female will act when she isn’t ready for his advances. She would rebuff him if he tried to mount her. He’s content to stake his claim.
Rogue not only made certain to cover Wraith in his scent, but he also raked the trees and scent-marked the territory, warning every other male leopard away. Maya was amazed at how playful the giant cat was with Wraith. She would never have guessed he had it in him. It was clear he watched over her, but when Maya allowed herself to connect with the male leopard, she found he was enjoying himself as much as Wraith was.
Just the fact that Rogue was reacting as a leopard in the wild—the same as Wraith—rather than being impatient and having difficulty with her heat lifted the last of Maya’s guilt. She still felt shame that she couldn’t handle Gorya’s needs. And she still worried what would happen the next time Wraith began to feel the mating urges.
Gorya groaned. You meet every single one of my needs and you always will. You’re in such a hurry.
You were suffering.
So were you. I didn’t alleviate your suffering. I could have.
I would have fought you. You know I would have. It would have been horrible. I was too scared.
Baby, I could have talked you into anything.
She wasn’t as certain as he was. I don’t know. I was so terrified. I still am.
The time isn’t right. We aren’t there yet. You have to trust me implicitly before we make love. And when we come together, I will make love to you, not take you in a leopard’s heat.
She liked that he felt that way. I do trust you. You’re the only human being I do trust.
Not all the way, Maya, but you’re getting there.
Didn’t she? She felt as if she did. She wanted him. She loved kissing him. But letting him touch her so intimately? She didn’t know if she could do that. The idea was both terrifying and, in the back of her mind, arousing. She wanted to be everything for Gorya. Everything to him.
Already, Wraith’s heat was subsiding, allowing Maya to think much more clearly. She had instigated kissing him in public, yet he had balked at that, afraid of the repercussions—afraid they were going too fast. In the end, he had declared his feelings for her. In turn, she had told him she loved him. She’d never thought to say those words to anyone. Not ever. Certainly, she didn’t think she’d ever mean them. But she did. She knew with every breath she took that she loved Gorya Amurov. And she did trust him.
She was the problem, not Gorya. She didn’t trust herself. She didn’t think she would be able to give him the physical things he deserved, no matter how much she wanted to share her body with him.