She heard the rumble of laughter in his chest. “It’s going to be that way often, Ashe. Especially over the next five to seven days.”
She turned her head to look up at him, half hoping he was joking and the other part of her hoping he wasn’t. “Really?”
He nodded. “She’ll be in heat for the next few days, and that affects us. Both of us. My male was insane with need. I could barely hold him in check.”
Ashe rubbed her chin on his arm. “I have to admit that I liked it, although I was very worried a couple of times before we could be alone together. The hunger was growing to the point that I didn’t think I could control myself.”
“You don’t need to be in control,” he pointed out. “We’re leopards. You can be as wild as you want, Ashe. I’ll look after you.”
She laughed softly and kept her eyes closed, loving the feeling of drifting while the hot water lapped at her skin. The sensation was mildly erotic and yet soothing at the same time.
“You wouldn’t say that if you knew I was thinking of yanking down your trousers and sucking you dry right in the middle of one of the annoying attacks on your family.”
His cock stirred. Just hearing her talk that way made him hard. The visual was even hotter. He pressed his mouth to the side of her neck. His tongue caught the tiny drops of sensual sweat before he did a little sucking of his own, leaving his mark there. He knew his prints were all over her body.
“I’d still say it. You want to blow me anywhere, anytime, have at it, woman.”
She turned her head up slightly to look up at him. He really did have the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen in a man. “I’m going to hold you to that, crazy man.”
“You do that. I carry a gun. Anyone in your way, distracting you from your goal, just point them out, malen’kiy smerch .I will gladly shoot them.”
“Over a blow job?” She couldn’t help but laugh.
He gave her a mock frown. “Is there a better reason?”
“I guess not. If we do this, Timur, really do this, where would we live?”
The smile faded from his face, leaving his features bleak and cold. “I will always guard my brother and Evangeline.”
“I’m well aware of that. I meant, where would our home be? As in house?”
“Would you want to continue working at the bakery with Evangeline?”
She closed her eyes again and rubbed the back of her head along his chest. “If we could pick up the shop space next door, we could actually expand the drinks part of the shop. If I was able to purchase the machines and other equipment needed, maybe Evangeline would go in halves with me. If not, then I’d want to figure out a place, not in competition with hers, where I could have my own little shop. But I don’t bake, so I’d have to get all my baked goods from her.”
“I would make certain Evangeline sees this is good for you both to own the bakery together. She has never liked doing the drinks and it would free her to do more baked goods. For me, this is a winning situation. I’d have you both where I can see you, and Fyodor won’t have to move offices yet again. I’ve introduced quite a few new security measures at the bakery, especially these last couple of days.”
“Why these last couple of days?”
“Evangeline hired you without talking to me. That can’t happen, Ashe.”
“I know, Timur. I’m sorry. That’s my fault.”
“No, you don’t get to take that one on. Evangeline knows the score. Fyodor doesn’t tell her everything, but she knows enough that she should follow all the security measures.”
“More importantly, an enemy slipped past all my guards and managed to get into the kitchen. That’s not acceptable.”
He kissed the spot between her neck and shoulder. She loved the sensation sizzling over her pulse and streaking under her skin straight to her nipples and then ricocheting to her clit. The feeling wasn’t so overwhelming and intense that she had to put out the fire, it was a slower burn that intensified as it spread.
“Are you going to tell me everything?”
She felt him stiffen beneath her, but his arms never relented. He held her to him. He sighed and rubbed his chin over the top of her head again.
“That depends on you, Ashe. I’m not chancing losing you. You want to know something, be very, very certain you really do, because I’m not going to lie to you. If I have to kill someone and you ask, I’m going to tell you I did it and why. You don’t have to agree with my decision, but you have to live with it. I get information for Fyodor and the others. I’m that man. It isn’t always done politely. I don’t like it and you don’t have to like it either, but you still have to live with it. That means, baby, don’t ask me if you don’t want to hear that shit. And when I tell you I won’t go into details, you back off, do you understand me? You back the hell off and never ask me again.”