by Thorne, Elle
Spasm after spasm struck her core, making her body shake.
Then she noticed his other arm around her, holding her close.
As if she mattered. As if she was someone who mattered to him.
She felt the burn of tears start in her nose and rise to her eyes. She squeezed them shut, tightly, to drive them away. To drive all of her emotions away.
She’d never come with a man before. Ever. No man had ever brought her to this level of ecstasy.
Manuel had been a cruel lover, finding comfort in Katya and Maia’s pain and humiliation.
Sexual satisfaction was a myth, as far as Maia knew.
Until now.
She buried her face deeper. She didn’t want him to see her.
Not like this.
Crying.
Satisfied.
Embarrassed at having felt something at all.
Chapter Four
Franco held her. Careful not to squeeze too tightly. Her scent tempted him and his panther. The sweet, wonderful scent that was uniquely her—sexy, salty, earthy, a meld of her own and her leopard’s scent.
He breathed in deep, his chest rising, while she kept her face buried in his neck.
He could stay this way with her until the end of time, but he knew Scapelli would be in around closing time to shoo them from the room and LaDonna’s.
Franco didn’t need to look at his watch to know he only had a short time with her.
Until tomorrow night.
He let out a breath of frustration.
And the night after that, and after that, until the time of reckoning came.
She breathed a sigh out, the air cool on his perspiration-covered neck.
His shirt was slowly getting moister as the tears she was secretly shedding soaked in. He didn’t want to disturb her or bring attention to the fact she was crying.
He knew she cried many nights after being at LaDonna’s. He’d broken into her place more than once when she was gone, and he’d scented her dried tears on the pillowcase in that matchbox she called an apartment.
* * *
An unfamiliar sensation crossed into Maia’s subconscious. Eyes still closed, secure that her leopard would have alerted her if there were danger at bay while her mind was in that state of half-sleep, Mai breathed deep and let her leopard sort through the scents.
Her leopard’s soft purring triggered an alarm in Maia because it was a rare reaction. She opened her eyes slowly and took stock. She was naked, with the exception of her thong. She wasn’t cold though.
She inhaled sharply.
She was in a man arms.
And then it all came back to her—the man in black and her orgasm. Then she’d fallen asleep.
Asleep! Guard down! In a stranger’s arms, no less!
After what happened between them…
The flame of shame heated her chest and cheeks.
Was he awake? She listened for his heartbeat. It was completely synchronized with hers, but he wasn’t breathing in such a way that indicated he was asleep.
Damn. He had to be awake. What was he doing?
She lifted her head off his chest slowly and chanced a peek at his face.
Black eyes bored into hers.
She cleared her throat but had no idea what to say.
Thanks for letting me crash on your body? Thanks for the orgasm? Thanks for not killing me or taking me to Manuel yet?
Manuel!
Shit, she had a problem. This man was probably here to take her back to him. The music was still going on in the background, so LaDonna’s was still open.
And now I’ll have to go back to Manuel’s mansion, and I’ll have to see this man every so often and be reminded of my time at LaDonna’s and what I did with him in room four. I’d rather he killed me.
She pushed herself up to sit, one hand making an effort to cover her breasts while the other held on to his leg for balance.
His gaze never left hers, and his face remained unemotional.
Of course, it is. He’s probably a professional killer.
That was the moment her stomach chose to remind her she hadn’t eaten in a very long time with a growl, a very loud one.
A slow smile crept to his face.
“How about that breakfast offer now?” He glanced at his watch. “This place is closing down in the next ten minutes.”
Maia stared at him. Was he fucking serious? At the very least, he was going to take her to Manuel; at worst, he would kill her. Not to mention she was still freaked out by the fact she fell asleep in his arms. She didn’t do that. Ever.
On the other side of the curtain, the music had stopped playing, and she heard the sounds of chairs being pushed back and drunks running into walls, some calling for the girls they liked best to come back and visit for a while.
“I need to get dressed.” Maia tried to dismount gracefully, one hand still covering her chest, but only managed to almost hit the floor face first until he seized her elbow and helped her stand.
“So meet me out front?” he asked.
Yeah, right. “Sure.” She snatched her bra and slipped past the curtain without a backward glance.
Maia entered the dressing room and threw on some clothes, then ran out the side door, thankful the emergency exit alarm wasn’t functional. As soon as she was in the back alley, she ran, staying in the shadows.
She caught herself heading toward her apartment when she realized she’d probably be walking into a trap. If he knew where she worked, he probably knew where she lived.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
She had a little bit of cash on her, but the bulk of it was hidden in her place.
Now what, fool? she asked herself, wondering why she didn’t have a contingency plan. At least the disposable phone she had couldn’t be traced.
She stopped running but kept walking. It was almost dawn. What made that man think she’d go to breakfast with him? She shook her head.
I need a plan.
She needed to get the hell out of Rome.
The trains would start running soon, and she’d take one to another city. Milan, perhaps? Genoa, maybe. She’d need to find a better way to make money. Next time she applied for a job, she wouldn’t be so naïve as to mention the Tieros. Mentioning it to Balmo had only given him a way to blackmail her and keep her at the club.
What kind of skills did she have anyway? Raised in an orphanage, concubine to a drug lord.
I’m fucked.
She sighed.
The sun released its beauty on the city of Rome, bathing old buildings in a golden glow with a pinkish hue.
Maia walked on and on. She could have gotten a taxi but didn’t want to spend the money. Who knew how long it would be before she could get to her little stash of cash?
She made it to the Roma Termini station, eyes wary, scanning constantly, but there was no one there who seemed suspicious.
She studied the options. The slower trains would save a few euros.
Maia bought her ticket to Milan and waited in a seat in the corner. A man walked by. She did a double take.
He looked so much like Rafe.
She hadn’t thought of Rafe in a few days. She’d left his villa because she’d seen one of Manuel’s men nearby. She’d run like hell, wound up meeting Brandy, who told her to apply at LaDonna’s.
God, she wished she could ask Rafe for help. But then her father would know about her. Couldn’t have that because of the blatant rejection she’d witnessed from the older Tieros toward humans and shifters of any other kind. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for her. She knew if one who’d been born into the family couldn’t take another kind for a mate, she stood no chance of being accepted into the family.
She’d felt like a fool for thinking she could be accepted. She should have gone back to…
Where? She couldn’t go to Manuel. She couldn’t go anywhere in Brazil without him finding her.
The face of the man in black flashed through her mind.
Where the fuck did that come from?
She pushed down farther into her seat. Pulled her jacket up, raised the collar, and lowered her face. She didn’t plan on sleeping but looking as if she was would keep her from being approached.
She almost jumped out of her seat when her phone vibrated in her jacket pocket.
It wasn’t typical for her phone to ring. It could be Brandy or one of the other girls from LaDonna’s. It could be Balmo.
She pulled it out and glanced at the screen. Local number, but not one she recognized. It’s not like they were the authorities or someone who could track her. Her phone was disposable. Those couldn’t be found by GPS, could they?
She was so clueless about this stuff.
She tapped to accept the call and put the phone to her ear, but said nothing, waiting.
“You stood me up.”
Him. That voice.
Shivers shimmied up her spine, and though she knew there was no way he could have followed her unless he had wings, she still looked around to be sure.
“I didn’t like what was on the menu.” She released the smartass comment before she could stop herself.
“You seemed to enjoy what was on the menu a couple of hours earlier.”
Flames rose in her cheeks even though she was essentially alone, despite many people milling about, minding their own business, heading to or from one train or another.
“What do you want?” She kept her voice from showing her fear.
She hoped.
* * *
You.
Franco had always wanted her, since the first time he’d seen her at that bastard Manuel’s home.
He’d watched her from his spot, tucked into a crevice and behind a group of tourists.
She was such a fierce feline, that one. Staying so long to protect her sister and nephew, until Manuel had sent her off to the underground fighting ring. She bore the scars from that now. She didn’t act self-conscious about them, as some women might. Her body had been artfully covered in makeup, but he’d seen her in the ring. In the ring, where fought for her life. Where she wore no makeup to cover the battle scars. He’d been powerless to help her then, with so many shifters around. He’d watched the curvy beauty take on other shifters in a cage, in matches that were only permitted to end in death.
As the crowd cheered in their seats at the underground fighting ring, Maia stood the victor above her dead opponents, shedding tears after each win. Bitter tears that had not hidden the glares she’d sent in the direction of the fight organizers.
He’d just come up with a plan to spring her from the fight organizers’ clutches when the Tieros had gotten involved and pulled her out. Then she’d been stashed away in Tiero Towers, working at After Dark until she’d left for Rome. He’d gone into After Dark. He’d sat in Lila’s station and watched Maia the whole night, night after night. He’d blended into the shadows, always watching.
He’d seen Manuel’s men at the same time she did at After Dark. She’d left then and been cloistered in the Tiero villa, never coming out. Then once again, Manuel’s men appeared.
Poof. Once again, she’d vanished.
Franco hadn’t expected her to be at LaDonna’s, and he never understood why she stayed. All he could come up with was the owner had something on her
“Why did you run?”
“What the hell do you want from me?” Her voice was irritated and her body posture had straightened, spine stiff.
“Answers.”
“Make it a fair trade, then. I’ll answer yours. You answer mine. I don’t know even your name.”
“You really want to?”
“I’d like to know the name of the man…” She ran a hand over her forehead then back into her hair, dropping her head forward, as if in defeat. “The man who’s going to kill me.”
“What makes you think I’m going to kill you?”
“You haven’t answered my question,” she stated. “Your name.”
He wasn’t ready to give her that. He looked at the ticket in his hand. There’d be plenty of time later, in Milan. She couldn’t run forever. Not on the limited funds she probably had on her. He’d found her stash last night before he’d gone to the club. He knew she didn’t have that on her, since she’d gone straight to the station from LaDonna’s. She really knew very little about being on the run or staying hidden.
It was a miracle Manuel hadn’t found her. Yet.
Franco’s panther growled in his mind. He tried to nudge Maia’s leopard.
Good luck with that, Franco told his panther. That woman’s a hard nut to crack.
“If you don’t tell me your name…” Maia’s voice carried a warning over the phone line.
He disconnected the call.
Chapter Five
Maia stared at the screen in disbelief.
He hung up?
She pressed redial.
Why the hell did I call him back? What am I going to say when he picks up?
She was saved from answering that when the call dropped straight into a message that said the phone wasn’t set up for voice mail. Either he’d rejected the call or had powered the phone off. She gritted her teeth. Both of those options made her fume.
Wait. How’d he get my number?
He’d probably bribed Scapelli or one of the girls.
An announcement alerted her. It was time to get on the train. With a quick look to be sure no one was around, she hastened toward the gates. Something made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She chanced another quick surveilling scan.
Nothing.
Yet something was making her leopard antsy.
Maia paused to reflect on it, not bringing her leopard into her most inner thoughts.
Her leopard was definitely acting different, but it wasn’t different in a way that signaled danger.
What gives? she wondered, but didn’t ask her leopard. She’d have a conversation with her when they’d settled into their seat on the train.
That didn’t work out as she’d planned—because she fell asleep not long after she’d taken her seat.
* * *
A jarring bump and a woman’s squeal woke Maia. The man across from her was calming his wife, telling her not to worry, or something to that effect, in Italian. Maia wasn’t exactly sure, but his tone gave that impression.
She looked out the window. The sunny scenery passing by could almost lull her into a peaceful feeling. Evergreen trees, an occasional village, orchards, a shepherd and his flock.
Maia absorbed the serenity of the view while, within her, a storm raged at her predicament.
I’ve got to get out of this.
But how? She pushed to get her leopard’s attention, but her leopard wasn’t responding.
Or ignoring me?
She pulled out her phone to check the time. The slow train was supposed to take somewhere between five and six hours. She’d been on for over two.
Her phone vibrated in her hands.
What the hell?
Same number.
Him.
She debated tapping to reject the call. She wanted to, or at least a part of her wanted to because she couldn’t get the image of him out of her head—striking, dark, and brooding. So far from the cover-model type, and yet so perfect.
She clicked to accept then put the phone to her ear. “Ready to tell me your name?”
“Why are you going to Milan?”
She dropped the phone. It clattered to the floor at the feet of the couple across from her.
How the hell does he know? GPS tracking? That’s not possible. I’m not…
Maybe everything she thought she knew about phones was wrong?
The man reached down and picked up the phone, handing it to her.
She stared at his hand, not wanting it back.
He pushed it farther out, closer to her, indicating she take her phone.
As if reaching for a venomous snake, she took it, glanced at the screen to verify the call had ende
d, then powered it off.
There were two stops scheduled between Rome and Milan. Time for a plan change. She would get off the train at next one.
And do what?
She’d figure it out as she went. Still, her leopard was MIA. Still, there was this void in Maia.
She’d been close to her leopard all her life. They’d never abandoned each other, no matter how bad things became.
Just as I’d never abandon Katya.
Sadness overwhelmed Maia because Katya was in Brazil, a prisoner of Manuel’s. As was Moíses.
Time to figure out a plan. She got up from her seat and made her way to the restroom. There, she took the SIM out of her phone and flushed it. Then she put the phone in the trash.
Now let’s see if he can find me.
Her leopard snarled in her head.
Oh, so you’ve decided to make an appearance?
Her leopard chuffed a soft sound.
Minutes later, the train was pulling into a stop. Maia exited onto the platform, scanning the surrounding area for any signs of the man or anyone else who seemed out of place. She slipped away and headed toward a hill behind the station.
Maia walked.
And she walked.
Her feet hurt.
Her leopard pushed for a shift. Maia almost gave in because it would be much easier to let her leopard do the walking. What if someone saw a leopard? That wouldn’t do.
Still she walked.
Up one hill and then to the next one. Away from the villages, into the countryside, in an orchard of trees without a soul around, she sat on an old, crumbling fence made of stones.
She was tired, her feet aching and blistering, and the damned situation was hopeless.
Not a soul to help.
Her leopard pushed for a shift.
What good would a shift do now?
Her leopard pushed again.
Maia yielded.
Bone-cracking, flesh-tearing, cartilage stretching, and with a measure of discomfort, Maia shifted into her leopard. The process took longer than it used to because it had been so long since she’d shifted—not since the underground fighting ring.
