Leopard's Run (Leopard People 10)

Timur stroked his hand over the curve of her buttocks. “Baby.” His voice was so gentle it turned her heart over. “He’s already claimed her. You know that. The leopards are fine. You just have to let yourself catch up. Tell me what your worst fear is.”

“That you’ll change your mind and become abusive. Men do that. Some men,” she qualified. “You’re capable of violence, Timur. You are. There’s no denying that.”

“Not toward a woman.” He bent his head and kissed her hip, his hair sliding over her burning skin, adding fuel to the fire spinning out of control inside her.

She lifted her lashes, so he was looking her directly in the eye. “Some women take it, Timur. They do for whatever their reasons may be. I’m not one of those.”

“Did you think I wasn’t aware of that, Ashe?” He stroked a caress from her hip to her thigh, leaving behind a blazing trail of fire. “I see you, the real you. You aren’t hidden from me. It’s my job to assess people’s nature quickly, size them up and assess the threat. I’m damned good at my job, that’s why Fyodor relies on me. It isn’t because I’m his brother.”

She knew Fyodor hadn’t hired Timur because he was his brother. Just in the short time she’d been around them, she could see Fyodor relinquishing more and more of his power to his brother. He was doing so because Timur had earned his trust and respect.

There was a strange roaring in her ears making it hard to hear. Her hips moved of their own accord, restless and wantonly hungry for him. His fingers drove her to distraction, stroking her skin so there were trails of flames licking over her thigh and hip.

“Timur.” His name came out breathless. Fearful. She had expected to handle this moment with grace because she knew what was coming. She knew what to expect. Her mother had talked to her about it. Hearing it, thinking about it and feeling it were very different things.

He rolled her under him, his hips wedging between her thighs, spreading her legs wide and leaving her feeling very vulnerable. He caught both her hands in his and brought her arms up over her head, stretching her under him.

“I know you’re scared, Ashe. Keep looking into my eyes. I’ll get you through this, I promise. No one is ever going to love you, or need you, the way I do.” He transferred both of her wrists into one hand and then slid his fingers along the inside of her thigh.

Ashe thought she might die with wanting him. At the same time, she was terrified of the consequences of her actions. She couldn’t help but move into him, her body no longer under her own control. Something much larger had taken over. A force as big as nature commanded her and she was helpless under its onslaught.

His fingers were right there. So close. Stroking flames over her thighs. That wasn’t where the true fire was. Didn’t he know that? On the other hand, she knew she would never leave him if they did this. If their leopards were allowed to mate, which would happen as soon as they were finished, she couldn’t take Godiva from Temnyy. That would be … cruel.

“Look at me, Ashe.”

Even his whispers held command. She hadn’t realized she’d lowered her lashes to prevent herself from falling into him, which she did every time she looked him in the eye. Very slowly, with great reluctance, she lifted her lashes. She knew what she would find. Those eyes of his. Ever changing. Eyes that no longer reminded her of glaciers, but of fires burning so hot the flames had gone blue.

She fell, just as she knew she would. She was trapped there, right in the center of those blue flames. There was no getting out. And did she even want to? Where else could she find such perfection? Danger and yet sweetness? She needed both. Usually they didn’t go hand in hand. Usually danger was bad, very bad.

“Please,” she whispered back, the fever burning so strong she thought she might die.

“I’m here.”

She felt him pressing against her entrance. That broad, velvet head, so wide she felt she couldn’t possibly take him inside, yet every cell in her body demanded she do just that. She needed him. At the touch of his cock against her, the need rose until she was practically sobbing.

“Timur, it feels as if I’m going insane.” She made her confession in a rush.

“I’ve got you, baby. Just keep looking at me.”

He was pushing into her, a slow, steady invasion that forced her tight muscles to yield. Just the touch of him, that thick shaft and broad head, sent her careening over the edge, straight into madness. Her nails dug into his shoulders. Her heart pounded so loudly she could hear the way her blood drummed along with her heartbeat.