“I can’t imagine otherwise.” Cain had done the same, although he was continually adding to his garden, calling Flambé back to the club to plant new exotics. With the additional space he was adding on, Cain liked to try to find plants no one else had. He pored over catalogs, searching for blossoms and vines to add to the latest section, sending Flambé his ideas, hoping she could get them for him. Often, she had to tell him the plants he’d chosen weren’t allowed into the United States, but she always suggested something close to what he wanted.
“Seriously, Flambé,” Rory said, “I’d love to be part of that when you start working on it, or even before when you’re in the designing phase. I’d like to see how you start to put something that big together.”
“Sevastyan has his own ideas, but if I can’t get you in on it, if he wants it completely private, I’ll have discussions about similar projects.”
She didn’t have a clue how long it would take to plant the massive indoor garden Sevastyan wanted without a crew. She would have to talk him into at least allowing a crew to plant the bigger bones—the large trees and any boulders or waterfalls she would have to build. He could put in his suspension pulleys and cables after as well as any other apparatuses he chose to incorporate just as she had done in the garden of paradise at Cain’s club. She had the feeling that
even after she was gone, he would want his garden finished. That bothered her, that he would use it with some other women, but that was the way shifters were, particularly men like Sevastyan, and she had to accept that.
Flambé shifted her weight slightly to ease the sudden burning down her legs as it returned with a fiery scorching heat. It felt as if a white-hot flame traveled over her skin, licking slowly along her nerve endings. Flamme turned in a languid coquettish roll, stretching in a deliberate flirtatious manner. Rory and Etienne scrambled to their feet, moving uneasily away from her. Blaise rose more slowly just as a dark shadow fell over the top of her.
All three men headed to the work truck without a word to their boss and climbed into it, starting the engine and heading away from the estate at a rather fast pace, following the vehicles already departing. Flambé frowned after them, squirming as the burn between her legs flared and then receded as her cat slowly retreated. She rubbed at her arms and thighs, trying to combat the waves of itching and burning that made her feel so edgy and moody.
Sevastyan stood behind Flambé, breathing deep, taking in the heady scent she was throwing off between her little leopard and her as their cycles merged. Flambé might not have heard him, but it was impossible not to feel the menace of his leopard. Shturm was deadly. Snarling. Clawing for freedom. Raking and fighting his human counterpart for supremacy to get to his rivals. Sevastyan’s eyes had gone all cat, glowing a red-hot gold, banding with heat. He fought him back, knowing the leopard was fast enough to go after the trucks and drag the men from inside out onto the ground where he could rip them to pieces.
The female cat had decided to make an appearance, even if it was a small one. It was a risky moment, sandwiched between three males with her mate coming up silently behind her, but at least she had risen. Shturm wasn’t the most forgiving of males. He was rough and jealous and moody as hell, but he was very glad that his mate had shown herself.
Already, as if that brief little flare of energy was enough, the female had subsided, leaving Shturm more on edge than ever. Grateful for the years of experience and discipline, Sevastyan controlled his leopard and forced air through his lungs. Very, very gently, he rested one hand on Flambé’s shoulder, holding her in place, while he circled the nape of her neck with his palm.
“It looks beautiful out here already, malen’koye plamya. It’s amazing to me how quickly you’ve managed to transform the place.” He kept his voice very low. Velvet soft. No inflection that might warn her there might be trouble coming.
“I have a good crew.” She rubbed her itchy arm across her forehead and tilted her head to look up at him. “They really work hard. I haven’t had a chance to look at the greenhouse. Are the builders moving that along fast?”
He nodded, his gaze on the trucks driving away from the property, back to the main road. “It’s a huge priority for me, so yes, it’s coming along fast. You seemed to be having a very in-depth conversation with three of your workers.” He dropped his gaze to her face. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes. I wanted you to meet them. That was Blaise, Rory and Etienne. Blaise is my foreman. Rory is really interested in landscaping but Etienne is definitely more of a builder, not that he shirks work. I thought you could interview him, see what you thought, and if you liked him, find a job for him with a construction crew. If not, no worries.”
She started to unfold her legs and stand but he didn’t move his hand, holding her in place. She went still, frowning, looking up at him over her shoulder with her large eyes. “Sevastyan?”
“I don’t think that really explains your in-depth conversation. It wasn’t about plants or building, Flambé. They were extremely concerned about something. All four of you were. Anyone could see that. I thought we agreed not to keep things from each other.”
Flambé frowned at him. “Sevastyan, sometimes you can be extremely irritating. Extremely. Right now, you’re annoying me beyond even your comprehension. I’m tired and hot and thirsty and I want to stand up, so move back and let me.”
Sevastyan felt the pool of red inside him expand, roar through his veins, hot and explosive, but he flashed her a smile and extended his hand to her. “I see she really is close, making my woman moody. You don’t have a temper, in or out of the bedroom.”
Her hand felt small in his palm when he closed his fingers around it. He pulled her to her feet easily and then against him. She was small but solid, soft. He felt her muscles running through her body beneath her astonishing curves. Very gently, he ran his hand up and down her back as if soothing her when he knew that kind of soft touch did anything but. He kept her close against him, not allowing her to step away from his body when he knew she wanted to. She had been very standoffish since they’d returned from Mitya’s the night before. In fact, she had withdrawn from him so much that he wanted to shake her.
“Only one of us can have a temper, baby, and I’m afraid it’s already been established that it’s me. Shturm is a real bastard. That makes me one.” His hand continued to stroke down her back but now traveled farther to the curve of her spine. His fingers bit deep. Possessively.
“I didn’t mean to snap at you, Sevastyan. I really am hot and thirsty. It’s been a long day and Flamme chose the worst possible moment to make her first appearance in forever. I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t even know what was happening at first. I was all itchy and uncomfortable.”
She pressed her forehead to his chest, her first genuine gesture toward him in weeks.
“It was awful. Truly awful. I wish there was a book on this. Maybe I should have asked Ania what to expect. I didn’t even recognize it was Flamme making me uncomfortable. At first it felt like I’d been out in the sun too long.”
There was a curious reaction in the vicinity of Sevastyan’s heart at the lost note in Flambé’s voice. She was a woman of confidence and yet this small rising of Flamme had clearly thrown her. She really didn’t know what it felt like to have a female make an appearance.
“Let’s get you into the house, baby. You can soak in the tub and tell me all about the conversation with your foreman and the other two workers.” There had been affection in her voice for the three men. He would have to go out of his way to get to know them. Make certain they were good men and would always have her best interests at heart.
Thankfully it was a short distance to the front door. The three employees had been working on the plants closest to the front of the house. He could see at a glance the flowers and shrubs were all low to the ground just as they’d discussed. Even without the embellishments of stone or growth and blooms, it was easy to see improvements to the yard already. Flambé had paid attention to everything he’d said about security and there was nothing that would hinder his ability to see danger coming at them. Even so, she had created what would become an amazing landscaping piece for their front yard.
Sevastyan kept his arm around her shoulders as they walked to the front porch. His gaze had been riveted on his woman and the three men deep in conversation from the moment he had rounded the corner of the house and seen them together. The men were too close to her. Flambé’s potent scent, so heady to him, had drifted on the wind, inciting his leopard and stirring his own proprietary need of her. He was aware of everything around them in the sense of looking out for danger, but he hadn’t taken the time to see what progress had been made on the overall landscaping of his property.
He paused on the large verandah, taking that moment to really absorb what Flambé and her crew had done in the eight hours they’d been working. More trees had been added to the grove already in place, extending it toward Mitya’s property as well as toward the house. Quite a bit of progress had been made in that area. Some of the trees appeared quite tall, quite mature, and he could see they had to use a small crane to put them in place. Already, the branches were thick and looped down or upward, but extended outward toward the next tree so a leopard could easily run along the
limbs and leap from tree to tree.
“The place looks amazing, Flambé,” he reiterated. “You increased the size of our woods by at least another fourth.”