What did you do? She is so frightened. Ania is having a difficult time as well.
There was a short silence. She rose in the bakery. Rather than actual words, the image of the bakery and the men in it was shown to him. The leopards wanted her. All of them. I could smell it on them. And one reached for her. She is so young she didn’t realize what she was doing, and then she liked it. She liked having rivals surrounding her. Again, there was an explosion of rage.
Dymka had a short fuse and wouldn’t tolerate much from his wayward mate. Mitya sighed. In some ways, he was the same. He wasn’t giving Ania room to wiggle around. He wanted her where he could see her every minute, and after the display of stealthy disobedience, of independence, slipping through his security guards to follow them, he had to plan for other ways to keep her safe.
Mitya also knew, every time Alessandro Caruso got close to Ania, Mitya turned as murderous and as vicious as his leopard.
If this is her first life cycle, Dymka, she is afraid and doesn’t know what to do.
Then she should rely on her mate.
Mitya nearly groaned aloud. That sounded just like him. He wanted Ania to rely solely on him and, in fact, he demanded her trust. He hadn’t given her reason to trust him, built that connection between them over time. No, he’d demanded it.
Who was the driver? Mitya? Or Dymka? Was each making the other worse? Mitya made every effort to be very relaxed and calm in the hopes that his moody leopard would listen to him. Jewel is so afraid of you that she is desperate to escape. Did you threaten her?
There was another short silence and Mitya’s heart sank. That answer had to be yes. The male had said or done something to spook Ania’s little female.
I knew you would be angry with me, Dymka formed visual images in Mitya’s mind. I know I shouldn’t have. She is very afraid as it is. I told her I would give her the beating of a lifetime if she ever flirted with any other males or, worse, allowed them to touch her.
Mitya drew in a deep breath. He knew his leopard, and there was more to it than what he had admitted to Mitya. What else? I want all of it right now, Dymka. He rarely used that tone with his leopard. Dymka had saved his life so many times. More, he’d taken countless beatings when Mitya was a child to save him.
I told her Ania would suffer even more, that you would beat her as well to pay for the things Jewel did. The admission came out in a rush, as if the leopard wanted to get it over with.
The images of Mitya standing over Ania, his fists poised and fury on his face, Ania on the ground, sickened him. He couldn’t imagine how young Jewel felt. No wonder she was desperate to protect her human counterpart. Fury burst through him to rival the rage of his cat.
I would never hit her. Or harm her in any way. I would remove any threat to my bonding with her, but no matter what she did, I wouldn’t hurt Ania. After living with Lazar, do you believe threats like that work?
They worked for Lazar.
Mitya forced calm. He shut off the blow-dryer, unplugged it and took it into the master bath, needing to move. Dymka had a point. Threats had worked for his father. He frequently beat his wife as well as his children. He tortured men into submission. Everyone fell in line with him because if they didn’t, it was worse for them.
Is that the kind of relationship you want with Jewel? For her to be afraid of you? He was cautious in his question, choosing his images carefully. Was his leopard that fucked-up? If he was, what kind of hope did he have for his own relationship with Ania? His leopard’s mood definitely affected him.
I want her to be mine.
For the first time, Mitya felt the desperation in the leopard. He took another calming breath, trying to understand what was going on in the cat’s mind. Explain.
I am angry all the time and I make you that way. You are happy with Ania. I feel it. I am at peace when Jewel is close. No anger. It is the first time I can remember I don’t want to kill. It is the first time I can remember you don’t want to hurt someone. Jewel and Ania make us better. But Jewel rose with other males close and she invited them even closer.
Anger and rage were back instantly at the memory. The leopard wanted to pace and Mitya gave him that, pacing the length of the master bedroom and back, over and over like a caged animal.
She risked what we had. She risked your happiness. Our peace.
How did one explain to an animal? As intelligent as Dymka was, the traits of the leopard were ingrained in Jewel. Nature drove her during a heat. He had to try to make the cat understand.
Jewel has never been through a heat at the same time as Ania. The drive is tremendous. All females can be very amorous and flirtatious during that time. She will draw you close and then rebuff you. That is their way. She had no idea those males were going to be in the bakery. She has no control over when she rises. Dymka, what you did, threatening her, was wrong. It only drove her away from you.
There was a long silence. He felt Dymka’s need to emerge stronger than ever, but knowing he had threatened Ania, even through Mitya, didn’t make him feel she was safe.
I would never hurt Ania.
She is fragile compared to you. One bite, one swipe of your paw, and you could kill her. If you kill her, you kill Jewel and you kill us. Mitya made that clear. If I lose Ania, I will not continue. He wanted that clear as well. If his leopard needed firm guidelines and boundaries, he was going to give them to the cat.
I am aware. The tone was conciliatory.
Jewel may well try to repress her heat to prevent the mating ritual, Dymka. That was no threat but a very real possibility.
Again, there was a long silence. I want Ania to bring Jewel close. I will talk to her.
Mitya wasn’t positive that was such a good idea. Ania was exhausted, but she was also still very wary of Mitya. She may have committed to him and was certain she would follow through with that commitment, but he knew if her leopard pushed her to run, she would do so. He didn’t want that threat hanging over his head. Not when he knew what was coming. Or who.
Drake Donovan had brought the news that Sasha Bogomolov in Florida had sent him word that there were rumblings in the Russian communities that Lazar had been making inquiries. Joshua had told him that Lazar himself had reached out to him, asking questions about Mitya, Fyodor, Sevastyan and Gorya. He wanted locations and how many guards. He was offering big money for information.
Mitya didn’t want to share that news with Ania until he had cemented their relationship. She thought him bossy. He wanted her to know there was a reason he needed to be bossy. Her safety was paramount. To complicate matters, there was the very real threat to her. If her grandfather had taken a notebook Amory had filled with damning information about Jake Bannaconni and Drake Donovan, who had asked for the information? Who had hired Amory in the first place, and why? The notebook had been sent from New Orleans to the Anwars in Houston, but it had never arrived. Her grandfather had been the driver.
What kind of coincidence was it that at the same time, her father had made a delivery to the Caruso family from New Orleans? Had he bothered to look at the notebook? He knew it was simply a small book being sent. Would that have aroused his suspicion? Had one been sent to both families?
Where was the notebook now? Where would her grandfather hide it? Had the Anwar family become suspicious of Drake Donovan and Jake Bannaconni? It wasn’t as if most criminal elements knew Donovan was no one to mess around with. And Bannaconni was notorious for bringing down businesses. He’d hit a few mob-owned businesses, but the majority he took apart were legitimate. That left the question, what else was in that notebook?
Was there evidence against Fyodor? Or Mitya? Joshua? Even Elijah? All of them had banded together to take down the worst of the crime families. In a way, for Mitya, it was to try to make up for some of the horrendous crimes he’d committed working for his father. He knew it was the same for Fyodor.
Mit
ya was very aware he was born to be a vor. He’d been raised to be the kingpin. To rule a lair. He knew no other life, nor was he suited to any other. He had tried to be a bodyguard. He didn’t want the temptation or corruption power could bring. He saw what it had done to the leaders of the lairs in his world back home. He saw evidence of it here in his new home as well. Friends turning on friends.
“Mitya.” Ania sat up slowly, pushing back her heavy hair, the action lifting her breasts as she scooted to put her back to the headboard. “What’s wrong? What did Dymka tell you?”
“He wants to make things right with her.”
“You’re very agitated.”
It was merely an observation, not an accusation, but for some reason, his temper flared. Instantly, he realized Dymka was ashamed and didn’t want his woman to know what had been said between the two of them.
If you want her to understand and allow you close to Jewel, I have to make her understand.
Mitya continued to pace, trying not to look at Ania. The covers were pooled around her waist, but she’d lifted her hands to her hair, trying to tame the mass. He couldn’t help but stare. He liked her breasts. He liked how perfect they were. The soft mounds, the tight little buds that grew even tighter for him when his mouth was on her. Her legs shifted under the blankets, drawing his attention there. His body responded in spite of the fact that he was every bit as agitated as she’d observed.
Tell her. She will despise me.
That is your judgment on yourself, not hers on you. Mitya hoped he told the truth.
He returned to the bed, standing close to her, his hands on his belt buckle. He slowly stripped off his trousers, thankful he’d removed his shoes earlier. “He was jealous when the other leopards were surrounding you in the bakery. And furious with Jewel when she rose. He didn’t understand that she had no control over the timing. He also didn’t understand that a female—”
He broke off realizing he was getting into murky waters. His shirt floated to the floor. “A female leopard,” he corrected, “can be very flirtatious during a heat. They are vocal and very amorous. They will call a male to them and then rebuff them quite viciously. Two minutes later they will crouch down and call to the male again.”
She began to braid her hair, her eyes on first his face, but sliding down to his cock and then back up again. Biting her lip, she nodded. “I looked it up once. There isn’t anything on shifters, but there is plenty on leopards.”
“Then you know. Dymka was angry with her. He didn’t realize she was behaving naturally.”
“Like a wild, out-of-control sex maniac.” She blushed. “Like I get with you.” Once again, her gaze dropped to his cock.
His erection was thick and very prominent. He liked that she looked, and she obviously liked what she saw.
“I believe it is mutual, Ania. And I like it. I knew what to expect, so I have an advantage you, your leopard and mine don’t have. In any case, he was so angry, he threatened her with a beating. Leopards can be extremely rough with one another, so that wasn’t the worst he could have said. Jewel didn’t like it, but I expect she would have been okay had he stopped there. He threatened you with me beating you.”
Her hands stilled in her hair. He thought she went a little pale.
He reached down and caught at the blankets. “Do you think I would hit you? Ever?”
She hesitated before answering. When she drew in a breath, her breasts rose and fell. She dropped her arms. “I think Dymka drives you, and if he was raging . . .” She didn’t finish but looked a little anguished, as if she was terrified he’d be angry with her for even considering it, yet she couldn’t help herself.
“There is always that fear, but as I grew older, I became stronger. Very strong. I had to be in order to resist my father. In doing so, I found I had much more control over my leopard and his mood swings. I learned to handle him and the various negative emotions he brings to me. I know absolutely, without a doubt, I would never hit you in anger or rage. I despised my father for hitting my mother, and I would never want to be that man.”
Relief crept into her eyes. He went to the bottom of the bed, reached out and caught her ankles, yanking them apart. Her gaze jumped to his face. Wild. Purple. Instantly sensual. So much heat.
“I know you’re tired, kotyonok, so you aren’t required to do anything but sit there and rest. I want to indulge myself.”
His fingers surrounded her ankles and slid up her calves. He loved the feel of the silk of her skin. “In any case, the minute Jewel heard Dymka had threatened you, she wanted no part of me for you, or Dymka for her.”
“That makes sense.”
He could tell her breath had caught in her throat. She sounded as if she strained for air. He continued to stroke her legs, stretching them wider apart, his hands massaging her knees and then just above them. He liked looking at her welcoming liquid glistening between her lips for him. So beautiful. Telling him she liked his particular brand of lovemaking.
“I explained to him that we are not Lazar. We do not rule by fear, particularly our women. He understood. He already knew it was wrong but didn’t know how to make things right. He wants to talk to her. I told him he would have to wait. I want my time with you. I’ve missed you.” He’d been very careful with her since her father died.
He leaned down and nibbled his way up the inner thigh of her left leg, followed that up by licking up the same path and then using his teeth, scraping back and forth as he tracked that same trail. Her entire body shuddered, and she would have shifted her legs, but he held on to them, his body between them. He kept her spread wide open for him.
He looked up at her. “Baby, what did I say? I’m in the mood to indulge myself. That means you don’t move. You stay where I put you.”
He bit down on her soft, sensitive inner thigh, up high, close to her entrance. He made it count, wanting her to see he could reprimand her in a sensuous, erotic way. His tongue immediately stroked a soothing rasp over the sting.
“Ow!” She glared at him, but she didn’t pull her leg away.
More fresh honey spilled from her body. He swiped his finger over it and drew it into his mouth before switching his attention to her right thigh. He repeated the same action on that side, nibbling, licking and then scraping with his teeth gently. Because he’d nipped her on her left, it was only fair to repeat the same action on the right.
“Ow!” she snapped again and caught his hair in her fist.
She didn’t try to pull his head away, which was a good thing. Mitya smiled against her leg. “You look a little like a prune,” he lied, rubbing at the inside of her thigh. Up high. Close to where she wanted him to touch. But he didn’t touch.
Ania tried to stay still for him, but she squirmed just a little. He lifted his head. “Woman. You are not listening.”
“You’re making the rules impossible on purpose.”
“So I can indulge my need to punish you.” He bent his head and lapped at her clit. Her entire body shuddered with pleasure and her fist tightened in his hair. He lifted his head again.
“You have a need to punish me?” Her eyebrows went up, but there was color sweeping up her breasts and into her neck and face. Her nipples were hard little peaks.
“I like seeing your very pretty ass cheeks with my handprints all over them. I like biting your ass too,” he admitted. “And then rubbing all that heat in so it spreads through your pretty little pussy and I get the benefits.”
Ania nearly choked. “I see.”
“If you don’t want me to indulge that side of me, you had better stay very still.” He lifted his head and suddenly jerked her body down, using her thighs, so she slid along the mattress until she was lying flat.
She let out a small cry and then stifled a laugh. “You’re so crazy, Mitya.”
“I’m so hungry, Ania,” he countered, and cupped her bottom with bo
th hands to lift her hips from the bed. He blew warm air over her, half expecting steam to rise. He could feel the heat pour off her. “If I could, I’d eat you a hundred times a day,” he said, meaning it. “I love the way you taste.”
“How do I taste?”
“Like you’re mine.” He bent his head to her and settled his mouth over that slit dripping with his own particular aphrodisiac. For him, her taste had that exquisite taste of wild honeycomb, fragrant with citrus or sometimes lavender, like now. She tended to linger on his tongue, reminding him often how different she was. He savored every bite, lick, his mouth, tongue and teeth moving over and in her. He suckled her clit, savoring that exotic flavor.
Her breath hitched and then exploded outward. Became ragged. Labored. Raw. She panted his name. Sobbed it. She didn’t move, holding herself still for the longest time. Then it was impossible, just as he knew it would be. He used his fingers, his thumb, drawing out liquid and spreading it over her. When he buried a finger in her and then used his thumb between her cheeks, her hips bucked.
Smirking, he lifted his head, waited until her eyes were open and then he moved up over her, blanketing her body, so her breasts pressed into his chest and she could barely breathe. “Bad, bad girl,” he whispered, framing her face with both hands. “You weren’t supposed to move.” He took her mouth, kissing her with her honey on his tongue. She didn’t pull away from him.
“My face is a mess, baby. Lick it clean for me.”
She didn’t hesitate. Her tongue lapped at him, removing the sticky honey from his left side. Then she was kissing him, sharing every drop with him before doing the same on his right.
His cock jerked and pulsed. Nearly exploded. She was sexy beyond his wildest imaginations. The moment she was finished, and he could see she was really struggling to breathe with his weight smashing her into the mattress, he was suddenly on his knees, and he rolled her over, trapping her hands under her. Before she could move, he was between her legs again.
“I do love this ass of yours, Ania,” he shared, rubbing the firm, tight globes. He ran his finger between her cheeks. Teased her. “Someday, baby, I’m going to introduce you to all kinds of very delicious, dirty things. Right now, I’m indulging myself.”
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