Rory’s shoulder brushed her arm, sending small electrical charges zinging through her bloodstream. Etienne leaned across her body and his shoulder touched her breast, the merest brush, but her nipples felt as if they’d burst into twin flames, so hot they’d melt through the material of her work shirt. Her breath caught in her throat and she had to bite down hard on her lower lip as Blaise put his hand on her leg, higher, toward her thigh for balance as he leaned in to look at the photos. His palm felt hotter than hell, an inferno traveling up her thigh to center between her legs in a burst of fire so hot she thought she might go insane. She could only breathe through it and hope no one noticed.
Blaise pulled his hand back and once again his gaze moved over her. This time speculation was there and she feared he had much more knowledge than she did—or the other two men.
“Really, Flambé, you need to get out of the sun,” he advised again.
She wanted to claw at him. She actually dug her fingernails into her palm, needing the bite to ground her. Her mind felt chaotic, her body heavy and inflamed.
“This woman isn’t from our lair,” Rory confirmed. “Clearly she has a mate. Where is he? Did she say?”
It took Flambé several moments to get her breathing under control. Fortunately, all three men had straightened up again and the fierce burning sensation was receding.
“We don’t know much at all,” she said, ignoring Blaise. “She was pretty hysterical when the team got to her. She said the poachers came and wiped out everyone. That was what she repeated over and over. She didn’t make much sense other than that.”
The three men exchanged another long look. She wanted to rake her claws right down their faces. What was wrong with them? Didn’t they have any compassion in them?
Flambé sighed. The burning sensation receded further, giving her some respite. “What is it? Just straight up tell me. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve never had so many men all of a sudden act like I can’t possibly figure things out without their help.”
“It isn’t that, Flambé. You’re trusting when it comes to our people. You think because there are so few of us and we’re hunted by almost everyone that we’re all going to help one another. That isn’t the case. It should be, but it isn’t,” Etienne said.
Rory nodded. “You have a soft heart. I was glad when I heard you were with Sevastyan Amurov. I know some of the others were against him, but you need someone strong to tell you no when you go too far. You don’t look before you leap.”
She was honestly shocked. She always planned everything so carefully. She did look before she leaped. What in the world was he talking about? “That’s not true. You’ve only known me a short while. I plan every rescue operation very carefully. Do you have any idea how many shifters we’ve successfully managed to save?”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Rory corrected gently. “You believe anyone contacting you and asking for help. If they’re a shifter and they come from a lair that is losing ground fast, that’s all you need to know and you’re in all the way. You have a price on your head. A very big price. Some shifters are unscrupulous. They wouldn’t mind selling you out for the money, and yes, that includes women.”
That sounded like something Sevastyan might say if she gave him the chance—which she didn’t intend to do. She wasn’t going to introduce Rory and Etienne to Sevastyan.
“I’ve known you a lot longer than a short while, Flambé,” Blaise said. “And his assessment is spot on. You do have a soft heart. You believe anyone. You’re just too damned trusting. Your father told me he wanted you out of the business of rescuing but you refused.”
That was true. She didn’t think anyone knew that. Her father had trusted Blaise or he never would have disclosed that information. It was the one topic they’d argued over repeatedly. The disagreement had continued right up until her father was unable to talk. He was adamant that she not continue with his legacy, other than the landscaping business, stating it was too dangerous to rescue shifters anymore. The odds were she would be killed.
She took a breath and met Blaise’s eyes, acknowledging he was right. “He was worried,” she admitted. “The world is smaller with the internet and it’s much more difficult to slip into a country. They see me coming.”
“Exactly,” Blaise said.
“I’ll give what all of you are saying some thought, I promise.” She would. She hadn’t considered that she wasn’t investigating as thoroughly as she should be. Her name and reputation were getting out there. She did have a price on her head. Now Franco Matherson had his sights set on her. “I’ll be more careful.”
She had an investigator and he was good. She just didn’t utilize him to his full potential. She had to do better. She always wanted to extract the shifters as fast as possible so she immediately got down to the planning part. She was excellent at planning the escape routes.
Etienne nodded. “What are they doing on the other side of the house? All those hammers going? I kept thinking I’d have a chance to get over there to look when we took a lunch break, but we were all the way to the back of the property planting trees at the time.”
Excitement burst through her. “I forgot to tell you about that project. Sevastyan has two massive garages, both sitting side by side, two stories high, that weren’t in use. He wants to convert them to greenhouses, or more like one big tropical paradise. I love the idea of lush plants and trees inside a long glass building.”
“That sounds like an enormous undertaking,” Rory said.
“Yes, I can’t wait to get started. I’ve already begun sketches, sectioning smaller areas off around where I’ll put the larger trees. He’s already got massive support beams in, so the outside structure is already there and the builders are framing for the glass now.”
“Amurov wants to put in an indoor garden that large? A tropical garden? It was his idea?” Blaise asked. “What’s he specifically looking to do?” There was speculation in his voice.
Like her father, Blaise was interested in environmental landscaping and he would be shocked at the idea of a tropical garden. One the size Sevastyan was asking for might be interesting for leopards, and Blaise might understand that, but the outdoors appealed to him far more. Flambé wouldn’t have talked to him about Cain’s club garden of paradise even if there hadn’t been a nondisclosure in place, so she wasn’t about to tell him why Sevastyan wanted a very large indoor tropical garden.
“For something that massive he must plan on utilizing the highest technology available,” Rory said. “Temperature control for every section of plants.”
“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.”
“By the time I’m finished with it, we’ll have doubled it,” she said, suppressing another yawn. “I think I’m getting old. I’m feeling every ache from shoveling dirt.”
His gut knotted as he used the eye scan for quick entry. “Babe, why in the world, when you have such a big crew, would you be shoveling dirt? You oversee things, give orders, you don’t do manual labor.” He took her inside, closed and locked the door behind them.
“When we’re putting in those bigger trees, everyone has to help, Sevastyan. You get them in as fast as possible. It’s just safer that way.” She sounded offhand, a little distracted.
“Go on upstairs and start your bath, Flambé. The chef left our dinner in the kitchen. I just have to turn on the heat. I’ll be right up. Make the water hot. You know how I like it.” He brushed a kiss on top of her head. He’d already programmed the locks on the doors to open with her retinal scan.
“I’m going to wash my hair,” she advised him. “I’ll start filling the tub after I rinse off.”
He nodded and watched her go up the stairs. She was definitely exhausted, not just from her working day. That had started early, before light even, but most likely from the short, unexpected appearance from her female leopard. Her muscles had to feel abused by the contracting and expanding as the cat pushed against her frame, testing her strength. Shifting could be brutal when one wasn’t used to it. He’d forgotten that.
The house was large, and there were two smaller houses on the property for his men and other possible staff, but Sevastyan didn’t particularly want anyone around once the day was over. He liked his time alone and since he’d found Flambé, he wanted his time with her uninterrupted. More often than not, he knew he would keep their play in the master bedroom, where he’d set up his domain. With no one in the house and no way to be surprised, he wanted to be able to utilize any room in the house when the mood struck him.
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