Gedeon felt the shiver that went through her body. He turned onto his side to gather her closer. Her body felt extremely warm to him. She moved, her body sliding sensuously against his. She seemed completely unaware.
“You don’t need to think about that anymore, Meiling. We’ll find out who they are. They can’t hide from us. They think they have power. The kind of people they are always think they have power because they hide behind walls and guards. When I was that very young boy, naked and stripped of all power, I had plenty of time to observe what was really happening behind the scenes. Those in power were just as afraid as I was. It didn’t take an army to go knocking at their front door. I had plenty of time to discover how to defeat them. A small force of one or two can slip in undetected and be gone before they’re ever discovered. As long as we ensure we have proper alibis, we’ll always be fine.”
He waited a few moments and then sat up. “Let’s go out onto the patio, Lotus. I feel like breathing the night air.”
He didn’t bother with clothes. When she looked around for a robe, he laughed. “No one is going to see us. I had the screen dipped in a reflective dark paint. You can see out, but unless we turn on bright lights to give people a show, no one can see a thing.” He held out his hand.
She put her hand in his. “You tested this theory?”
“Don’t you want to live dangerously?” he teased, running his fingernail gently from her collarbone over the slight swell of her breast, her nipple and down to her navel. At once goose bumps rose all over her bare skin as endorphins rushed through her in response.
He opened the thick wall so that it slid all the way back to incorporate the outside patio with the bedroom. At once the sounds of the swamp became a symphony of music. Varieties of frogs vied for attention, some singing and others croaking loudly. Insects hummed. Wings fluttered in the treetops. Even the branches contributed, leaves fluttering with the slight breeze.
Meiling pressed her hands over her ears for a moment, laughing. “They’re so loud.”
“Turn it down. That’s your leopard’s hearing.”
“I always have excellent hearing. It shouldn’t be this loud.” She lifted her hands away from her ears and walked to the railing, forgetting her nudity, just as he knew she would.
The sultry heat of the night combined with the cloying scent of gardenias, night-blooming jasmine and Angel’s trumpets called to her leopard, drawing her even closer to the surface. Gedeon’s blood sang hotter than ever in his veins, rushing with a feral music now. He couldn’t take his gaze from her glowing skin. He watched her with the eyes of a leopard. Focused. Unblinking. Recording every movement.
She moved across the patio restlessly, her body unconsciously provocative. Just seeing her in the beginnings of her heat threw his body out of control. His cock swelled into a fierce, needy monster. Slayer added his demands, a ferocious, prowling male too long denied a mate.
Meiling suddenly gripped the dark mesh with a sharp cry, notes of fear and desperation mingling together. Her head hung low and she began to take deep breaths, clearly struggling. “Gedeon. I can feel her rising, but she’s in total chaos. I don’t know what to do to help her.”
He could see her body already covered in little beads of sweat. She couldn’t stay still. Her hands moved over her sensitive skin, cupping her breasts, rubbing along her thighs, seeking the junction between her legs. Tears formed in her dark eyes.
“I feel like I’m going to burst into flames. You have to help me.” She half turned toward him and her gaze instantly was riveted on his fully erect cock. Her gaze went hungry. Filled with lust and greed. Her tongue moistened her lips until they gleamed.
Gedeon bit back a groan. Meiling wasn’t the only one on fire. Slayer was creating a monster, rising toward Whisper, just as desperate, his appetite voracious, driving Gedeon as well. Now Meiling’s reactions were testing his discipline. He knew he needed to calm the raging in his mind and stay in some kind of control.
“Meiling. Come here.” Soft. A male leopard’s purring command. Gedeon perched his ass on the railing and widened his legs, pointing to the spot between them.
She turned fully toward him. She lifted her long hair from her shoulders and then dropped it again. Her dark gaze, filled with lust and heavy with need, remained riveted on his heavy cock. He fisted his erection, pumping slowly, mesmerizing her. He pointed to the floor at his feet, and she went to all fours and began to crawl like the sensuous leopard she was.