Leopard's Rage (Leopard People 12)

He rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand. “You should have felt cared for. I don’t make a habit of depriving myself.”

She stared down at his thumb for such a long time he didn’t think she was going to answer him. Then her head tilted back again until her eyes met his. “I was being cared for?”

“Yes, you were. I am never gentle, Flambé, no matter how much I might want to be. Your body needs time to recover.”

Her gaze once more jumped to the front seat as if afraid their conversation might be overheard. No doubt it could be, given that leopards had excellent hearing.

He caught her chin and firmly held it. “The only one who matters to you is the man sitting right here. No one else.” He wasn’t going to tell her about the crazy sex he’d tried not to hear when Mitya and Ania had been so out of control numerous times thanks to their leopards. He was certain it wasn’t going to be much better for Flambé with Sevastyan.

“We’re talking about something very important. Sex is extremely important between us. We have privacy screens in our cars for a reason. Right now, if you need sex, or want it, we just raise the screen and we do what we want.”

“With other people in the car?” Her eyes went wide.

“What happens when your leopard rises? We need them because there’s no other choice when a female leopard goes into heat. And sometimes, Flambé, I’ll just want to fuck you because I can’t wait five more minutes. That’s going to happen.” He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Is that exciting to you? Or upsetting? Tell me the truth.”

Her long lashes fluttered, veiled her golden-green eyes, and then she looked directly at him. “It’s exciting,” she conceded in a low tone. “Scary, but exciting.”

She was courageous enough to be honest, which was why she was the perfect partner for him.

“The scary part is why it’s important that you trust me to take care of you.”

She nodded, but stayed silent. He kept his hand cupping the side of her face, refusing to allow her to turn away from him. Sex was a good subject to keep him distracted, but it wasn’t the real problem. There was something more. He pressed the pad of his thumb over her lips and brushed back and forth, staring into her eyes, completely focused. Not blinking. He had that stare down. He was a shifter. An alpha. He was completely dominant. He didn’t ever need to raise his voice to bring anyone in line.

“It’s never good to attempt to hide anything from me, Flambé. You may as well tell me the rest. What is it that has upset you?”

He kept his thumb brushing across her lips gently, watching her eyes change color. She was upset. Her little leopard was worried. Flambé shifted restlessly in the seat beside him. Again, her hands rubbed along her arms and thighs as though putting out a fire. For a long moment she looked as if she might defy him. She tried to look away, but she couldn’t manage, shaking her head twice before closing one hand into a fist.

“I overheard something this morning that bothered me,” she admitted. Reluctance edged her voice. She tried to look away from him again, but couldn’t.

He knew from experience that he was capable of keeping other alphas held captive with his stare. She didn’t have that kind of experience and her leopard was too submissive to break free. He tried to encourage her by gently using his other hand to press her palm deeper into the heat of his thigh. Her heart was beating rapidly, almost as if she was prey and he was the predator. He could hear the sound and it bothered him, but he couldn’t let this go. It was too important.

“Anything that bothers you should be given to me immediately, Flambé. I thought we’d established that.” Her eyes had gone to that gold with emerald flecks. “Whatever you heard didn’t just bother you. You’re extremely upset. You’re doubting me. Us. My motives for being with you, aren’t you?”

He didn’t raise his voice or betray the fact that the ever-present rage that sent crimson sheets banding across his vision and had Shturm rearing up, raking and clawing at him, just as enraged at the thought that they might lose the only thing keeping them both sane, was surfacing.

She didn’t respond, but her eyes searched his as if she could read his mask. Read what everyone else had failed to in years of trying.

“What did you hear?” he prompted gently.

She glanced toward the front seat again, toward Ania. “I know you said it was just the two of us, but I can’t talk about this right here . . .”

“We’ve got company,” Ania announced. “Two car lengths back, one lane over. Coming up on us fast, Sevastyan. A Porsche Macan Turbo, fast, and in the right hands, great cars. Make sure you have your seat belts on.”

Sevastyan didn’t like the conversation interrupted. At some point they were going to be picking it up again, but Ania needed to concentrate on driving and he had to make certain Flambé was protected. On the floor was a bulletproof blanket. The windows of the vehicle were bulletproof and supposedly the car was made encased in a newer bulletproof armor that protected them, but he wasn’t taking chances with her safety.

“I’m sorry, Ania, I didn’t think he’d really be this stupid.” Sevastyan was going to have to answer to his cousin. Already he was texting Mitya, making certain to let him know they were possibly going into a gun battle.

Sevastyan doubted if Franco Matherson was personally in the Porsche chasing them. That wasn’t his style. He wouldn’t want to put himself in any real danger. Sevastyan had prepared three different places they could ambush anyone coming after them. They’d already passed the first two roads. He’d been fairly certain Matherson would want to keep his kidnaping of Flambé as low-key as possible. The first two roads had been long before they’d gotten onto the freeway. Now, there was only the one exit that would take them toward Evangeline’s first home before she married Fyodor.

Sevastyan liked to change up Mitya’s routes often. He never wanted to establish a pattern and this was a longer distance, but had far less traffic. The exit looped around in a wide circle that came out on a frontage road. That continued for a mile or two before they would turn off to take a short little connecting road, almost a one-lane that led toward the residential area where Evangeline had bought her home. Sevastyan was certain that short lane was where they would be ambushed if they weren’t before then.

“Did the Porsche exit with us?”

“Yes. It’s trying to keep a couple of cars between us, but only one other car exited onto this loop. I have a feeling that car might be with them as well, Sevastyan.”

There were no nerves in Ania’s voice, but then he didn’t expect there to be any. Ania had always proved to be a driver beyond compare. She had no doubt in her mind that she could outdrive anyone pursuing them.

“Matvei and Kirill have already backtracked and set up on the hill just above the turnoff to Evangeline’s street. They can cut off anyone you don’t shake.”