Shturm came to attention, pressing forward, urging him to stake their claim. Flambé was in far more danger than
she realized, not in a way that would ever harm her. She was the safest woman in the world from him. Not only had Sevastyan taken a real interest in her when he didn’t in any woman, but so had his leopard.
“Are you paying attention to anything I’m saying to you?” Now there was a distinct bite to her voice.
“I would never be so rude as to not pay attention to you, Flambé.” Sevastyan turned slowly toward her, deliberately allowing his gaze to run over her.
Flambé had drawn her legs up. Her body was flushed, aroused, the heat of her female leopard fully on her. She’d removed her jacket and her breath was coming in ragged pants. Beneath the blouse she wore, obviously her “power suit” when she met with her customers, her full breasts rose and fell as she tried to control her breathing. Her nipples were hard, pushing against her bra, which inflamed them more. She was suffering, just the way her leopard was, nearing the excruciating demands of the Han Vol Dan of their people and not realizing what was happening to her.
Sevastyan wanted her to belong to him with every breath he drew. His leopard leapt and raked, clawing for supremacy, demanding they claim her, but that wasn’t Sevastyan’s way. His woman was going to be his fully because she wanted him. Exclusively. Him. With every one of his flaws—and he had them in abundance.
He measured his steps, pacing in slow deliberate strides around her chair, very close so her leopard would feel his male. Feel the dominant fighter. Her little female was looking for her mate—desperate to find him after the assault on them. If it was her first cycle, she would want a strong mate who could care for his shifter family, protect them when they might not be able to protect themselves.
The strawberry leopard rose fast, seeking Shturm. She was so close Sevastyan could almost see her moving beneath Flambé’s skin. That flawless skin glowed hot, as if her temperature had risen by several degrees. Without conscious thought Flambé reached up and undid the first two buttons of her blouse. Her red hair was damp, beginning to curl in wisps and tendrils around her face.
He inhaled her scent. Drew her into his lungs. This was an intelligent woman. He had done his own research on her when he had decided to hire her landscaping company to do the work on his property. Her father had a reputation among the shifters—he had for years. He had started the business as a very young man and didn’t have children until he was in his late forties. His wife had died in childbirth and he had raised his daughter alone. She’d worked at his side almost since birth.
Sevastyan brushed up against Flambé’s arm as he passed her chair, his skin sliding against hers. There were instant sparks, a chemistry arcing between them. He was far too experienced not to know she felt it, although she tried to hide it. She kept her face averted and took a deep breath, biting hard on her lower lip. He smiled and continued walking to the small refrigerator behind the bar to get himself a water.
“What type of plants were you thinking would look good around the front of the house? I like the way Mitya’s home always looks, beautifully kept, but easily defendable.”
She turned her head toward him. She was so beautiful to him for a moment he couldn’t control the way his blood pounded so hotly through his veins. He needed to stay in control. Shturm was useless, going from purring to roaring his demands. Flambé and her little hussy of a female were in such dire straits, they were throwing off enough hormones to call in every male leopard for a hundred miles.
Flambé was squirming in the chair and he was fairly certain if it kept up she would ask where his bathroom was just so she could try to find a little relief. That would only make it worse, but she didn’t know that. She also seemed a little out of it, as if she couldn’t quite follow along in their conversation. He didn’t know if that was from the potent effects of the female heat or the blow to the head. He wanted to examine that knot in her hair a little closer.
One of them had to have a clear head. He breathed through the blood thundering in his ears and pounding hard in his cock. He wanted this woman to trust him. To give herself to him. To let him into her life. He needed that from her and taking her wasn’t the way to get that even if in this moment she threw herself at him. If he really was going to have such an unexpected gift handed to him, he wasn’t going to throw it away because he didn’t have enough control to handle her with care.
She cleared her throat twice, frowning, obviously trying to follow the conversation. “There are so many beautiful plants native to this area that would look lovely in groupings around the front of the house. They’re low enough that they wouldn’t cover windows or in any way impede your ability to see anything coming at you.”
Her voice was very low. Husky. It played along his nerve endings, slid down his spine and teased his cock as if she brushed her fingers and tongue over his sensitive shaft. There was no question this woman was the one for him. No one had ever affected him the way she did. Not with just the sound of her voice. He opened the water bottle, pausing there at the bar, taking the time to savor the genuine feeling she was gifting him with. For once his leopard wasn’t demanding blood or violent sex and he could just enjoy the beauty of wanting his woman because she was extraordinary.
Flambé had her Bachelor of Arts, Masters and PhD in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning from UC Berkeley. She’d had so much experience from working with her father that she had excelled in the program. Her father only took jobs that allowed him to use local plants and designs that worked to sustain the environment and were pleasing to the eye as well. He was a genius with plants and it appeared his daughter followed in his footsteps.
“There are flowers that bloom at different times of the year and succulents that don’t need as much water. I know of this lovely little star-like ground cover that once it takes root, takes very little water, can be walked on just like grass and yet doesn’t need the care grass does.” As she talked, enthusiasm crept into her voice. She definitely liked her job.
“Do you do the planting yourself, or do you work on getting new clients and let your crew do the actual work on the properties while you supervise?” He moved away from the bar, again very casually, coming to stand beside her chair, letting the heat of his body blend with hers.
Her cat went wild. Sevastyan knew because he was completely tuned to her now and he felt the animal in her respond to the animal in him. His male was big and mean. A fighter. A male in his prime. A perfect mate. Just what the female wanted and needed. Exactly what she was looking for in a mate. His leopard pushed hard toward the surface and Sevastyan let him come close, but held him at bay. The last thing he needed was for the big male to get loose. The female leopard reacted, becoming more amorous, pushing toward the surface as well, demanding to be close to the male.
Flambé gasped and wrapped her arms around her middle, ducking her head, averting her flushed face from him. Her breasts were immediately pushed up beneath the thin silk of her blouse, nearly tumbling from her lacy bra. He could see she was fighting the feverish need crawling through her, the desperate cravings and urgent demands of her heat.
“Is it too warm in here?” Sevastyan asked in his most solicitous voice. He bent down and very gently pushed back the damp hair on her forehead and laid his palm there, as if checking her temperature.
The moment he touched Flambé, the two leopards went into a frenzy of need. His blood ran so hot he expected that at any moment he might burst into flame. He was used to controlling his brutal sexual hunger and nothing had ever been as bad as this. He couldn’t imagine what it was like for her. She clearly didn’t have the experience he had.
At his touch, her red-golden-tipped lashes fluttered and then lifted. Her gaze met his. The natural sensuality in her shook him. He recognized several traits in her immediately—traits that guaranteed they would be compatible if he could win her trust. She was a natural submissive. He had been in that world too long not to recognize the trait when he saw it.
Submissive, to Sevastyan, didn’t mean she was less than him, or giving in to him, it meant that she knew who she was and what she wanted. She would be able to give her trust and loyalty to those she believed in. She didn’t fight unnecessarily just for the sake of fighting. Having complete control wasn’t important to her.
Clearly, Flambé was able to be at the helm of a company. Her landscaping business was thriving. She was bringing in members of other leopard subspecies from other countries in a desperate attempt to save them from extinction. She helped them to become citizens, provided an education in whatever business they wanted to learn and then set them up for success. She had to be somewhat adventurous to do any of that, as well as highly intelligent.
“It is a little warm in here,” she admitted, sounding distracted.
Again, her voice was husky, playing along his nerve endings. He found he wanted to spend time with her. Hours. All night. Watching her just like this. Hungry. Needy. Bordering on desperate. Looking at him with those eyes of hers. Sensual beyond belief. Filled with desire. Turning a dark green with lust as her gaze moved over his body and settled on his cock. He felt the heat of her gaze right through the material of his jeans. He didn’t attempt to hide his thick bulge from her. It was blatant. Nearly at mouth level. If she leaned forward and unzipped his trousers, she could wrap her lips around him. It would be a stretch, but just the idea of her trying sent more hot blood pounding through his veins and had his cock jerking and pulsing in anticipation. She looked as if she might just do it too, lean forward and unzip his jeans right there. She looked mesmerized, completely focused, her leopard so close she could barely function.
He pressed the bottle of cold water with the drops of condensation on it against her neck. “Try this while I get you a cold cloth. I’ll turn on the air conditioner. I really hadn’t noticed the heat, but I tend to not really pay attention to the outside temperature much.”
He was used to keeping his expression absolutely calm at all times. He stayed in the background. He could disappear there easily wi