Her mouth on him had been a revelation. Women went down on him all the time, but he didn’t remember them. He didn’t even remember the feel of them surrounding his cock. That wasn’t the case with Meiling. His cock craved the feel of her mouth pulling at him. That hot haven closing around him and drawing him deep. She had set up an addiction for her touch, for that dark, erotic cocksucking that set him on fire and gave him the biggest, most satisfying explosion of his life.
“You asked me if sex meant anything to me. The other night, when I was with you, what we did together meant something. It was different and I recognized that it was different. I may not know anything about relationships, Meiling. I’ll freely admit that I don’t, but I do know I’m better with you. I know it’s you I want to be with and only you.”
“You haven’t considered that maybe you’re feeling that way now because it’s convenient for your leopard? If I cooperate, then Whisper will cooperate with Slayer.”
“You’re such an innocent when it comes to shifters, Meiling. You really did keep yourself away from them, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Her affirmation came out tentatively. Once again she looked up at him, this time with too much innocence in her eyes.
“What happened the other night when you were burning up is nothing in comparison with what is going to happen when Whisper really rises. You are going to want the hottest, roughest sex you can imagine, and you won’t give a damn where you are. That will continue to happen for the entire time her heat lasts. When she emerges, she is going to lead Slayer in a dance, enticing him, tempting him, demanding he pay attention to her. She will want to have marathon all-nighters with him for at least a week.”
Meiling stared at him with her dark eyes a little horrified. She gave a little shake of her head. “That can’t possibly be. I don’t think I could survive anything worse than it was the other night. I was afraid I’d go home with a perfect stranger.”
Gedeon pushed down the roar of animal rage. A protest. He kept the tension from showing in his body. “You can’t look at it as worse, Lotus. We’re in this together. I’ll get you through it. Believe me, I’m not going to be just using my fingers or a toy. Shifter couples are exclusive.”
She didn’t reply, but there was a little involuntary shake of her head. Yeah, he had a long way to go to repair the damage. He was making a little progress. She wasn’t crying. She wasn’t trying to pull away or search for another weapon to kill him. She was even relaxing into him.
“What part of what I said made you shake your head?”
“Slayer claimed Whisper. I accept that they’re a mated pair. While she’s in heat, he’ll want to be with her. I understand that.”
“You know leopards mate for life, Meiling.”
Gedeon knew Meiling was aware of the rules in the shifter world. That was a sacred rule. He kept his voice very even. She didn’t want to know, but she had that piece of information.
Meiling rolled off his lap and smoothly got to her feet to pace across the room. It wasn’t a very large room. Gedeon didn’t stay on the bed. He wasn’t taking any chances. Meiling had made her escape once and he’d called in a favor. He knew she would answer her phone, even a burner phone, if Atwater’s daughter, Lilith, called her. She wouldn’t be able to help herself. Meiling had stayed in touch with the child, allowing the little girl to call and video chat with her when she was upset. She’d never once failed to take her call.
He knew she’d gotten rid of her phone, but she hadn’t gotten rid of her number because that was Lilith’s lifeline. Atwater had no idea why Gedeon had asked that Lilith call Meiling, or why he insisted the little girl had to stay on the phone a prescribed length of time, but that was an easy enough request for Atwater to follow. Lilith loved talking to Meiling and she told her every single thing about her day and everyone in it. She sang new songs and showed off her clothes even though it was impossible for Meiling to see through the phone.
Meiling listened attentively and oohed and aahed in all the right places. If Lilith was upset and crying, Meiling soothed her. This time Lilith wanted to know when Meiling would come and visit her. She had drawings she wanted Meiling to see. Gedeon had listened in on the call while it was being traced.
Lilith called Meiling at least once a week. It wasn’t as if it were unusual for the little girl to call her. Gedeon had just made certain he had a professional ready to trace the call. He wasn’t about to leave anything to chance, not when it came to discovering Meiling’s whereabouts. The moment he knew where she was, he didn’t wait, afraid she would change locations immediately. She hadn’t. She had found a little island retreat where there were few people and no shifters, and she was determined to ride out the emergence of her female.