Leopard's Blood

by Christine Feehan

  She pressed the cold bottle of water to her temple. How had she gotten here? How had Sasha, or Joshua? "Life sucks sometimes," she murmured.

  "Nikita insisted I kill you, to prove that I didn't love you and my loyalty was solely to the bratya. He wanted to make certain I didn't love you more than our family." There was a sneer to his voice when he used the word family. "He wanted me to be like him. I knew I had no choice, if you were going to survive, but to break with him, and that meant killing him."

  She gasped, one hand flying out to catch his wrist. "He's still your father."

  "The father who murdered my mother," he said bitterly. "Do you think I can ever get that image out of my mind? Ever? He doesn't get you. You're going to live."

  "Does he know you've broken with him?"

  Sasha nodded. "It's going to be an all-out war." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, studying her. "I saw you in the bedroom with him--with Tregre. Then in the swamp it looked completely different, as if you were a prisoner, rather than being with him by choice."

  Before she could speak, he shook his head and held up his hand to stop her. "It doesn't matter, you're safe with me. Tregre is just as dirty as my father. He may not have killed his woman, but he's ruthless in this business. In a very short time he's proven he doesn't shy away from violence. Nikita thought he could walk all over him, but that wasn't the case. He's a little afraid of Tregre, and that's something I've never seen. Tregre is in solid with Elijah Lospostos."

  Sonia had heard that name come up several times in conversation, although it had always been in Russian, when they'd been sitting around a dinner table. Nikita had by turns cursed the man and then admired him.

  "He's going to come for me," she said softly. "Joshua will, and I don't want the two of you fighting. He's my choice, Sasha."

  He shook his head. "I spent years protecting you. I don't want you anywhere near this business. You get away and what do you do? You find the one man worse than Nikita."

  "How is he worse?" Her heart thudded in her chest so hard she pressed her hand over it. "What do you mean, worse? Did he sell me out to Nikita? Is that what he did? Did Nikita pay him for the information?"

  He turned away from her, pacing across the room, his strides angry, the set of his shoulders stiff.

  "Don't lie to me, I need the truth."

  "No, he didn't sell you out, Sonia. He doesn't need the money or to have my father owe him a favor. That should tell you something right there. He came up fast--too fast. As far as anyone can tell, he was never connected before. He just walked in and took over. No one knows who killed Rafe Cordeau, but we all know he's dead. His territory was wide open until suddenly Tregre comes out of nowhere and assumes the crown."

  She let her breath out slowly in relief. He didn't know anything about Joshua, not really. "He isn't any worse than you. If you manage to kill your father, are you taking over the family business?" She couldn't keep the challenge out of her voice.

  "Yes. I was born into this world. I don't know any different. I'm good at it. Yes, sweetheart, I'll always be what I was born. When my father is dead, the others will expect me to ascend the throne, and I intend to."

  "Sasha, I love you. I really do. With all my heart, I love you. You'll always be my family, but he's my choice. I want you to get to know him. To take that time, for me. I'm asking as someone who loves you and needs you in my life, take the time to get to know him before you judge him."

  "Damn it, Sonia, no. He's not for you. This life isn't for you. I forbid it."

  She stared up at his furious face. "He'll fight for me. He will come after me and he'll never stop until he finds me. He'll fight for me. That's the kind of man he is."

  "You don't know that. You can't possibly know him that well. I saw you in the swamp, a little female running from that pack of males. Imagine my surprise when that beautiful cat turned out to be you. I saw his leopard knock yours off her feet. I saw you shift and kick the crap out of the male. You were fearless. Beautiful. I was so proud of you."

  She liked his praise. She'd loved Sasha since she was a little girl. She remembered going to his beautiful, amazing home, thrilled that they'd gone every day. She'd been four when she'd met him. He'd been a lot older, but he liked having a little sister to protect and look after. The connection between them was strengthened through his love for her mother.

  "I love him."

  "He manhandled you."

  "He would never hurt me. Never."

  "I see bruises on your skin. Smudge marks where his fingers dug in deep."

  She blushed. The marks were more than smudges and both knew it. He was being discreet. "It's not like that. We both get a little crazy. He doesn't hit me. He wouldn't."

  "How would you know, Sonia?"

  "I know you wouldn't hit me. No matter how angry you get at me, I know you would never hit me. I know the same about him. Whatever he's doing in his life, whatever led him there, that's his, not mine. He has to decide what's important in his life. You believe you were born to take over your father's business and you intend to do that. You just admitted to me you killed the men conspiring to harm me."

  He nodded slowly. "I know I'm not a good man. I know what I am. I know I'll never have it all, the woman I can love completely and who can love me and look at me as if I'm everything to her. That's not going to happen for me because I know I'm not a good man."

  "He'll come for me, Sasha. I love him, and I love you. I would never be able to forgive you if you hurt him."

  "Do you think that matters to me? I chose you. You're all I have left. You are my family. You, Sonia. Do you think for one minute I'm going to turn you over to a man who is a fucking criminal? Once you're his, in our world, I can't interfere."

  "That's just it, Sasha. I am his," she said quietly. "I'm his mate. Our leopards chose each other. She's had her heat and she chose him. I chose Joshua. I would every time."

  He turned away from her, swearing in Russian. She closed her eyes and pressed the water bottle harder against her temple. She knew Joshua would find her. He would puzzle out the tangle of a trail and he'd show up--in force. Sasha was waiting for him, ready to ambush him. His men were hidden all around the outside of the house as well as the inside. She didn't want either man killed, but Sasha refused to listen.

  "Let me call him. Talk to him. I can convince him to stay away. You can meet with him at a neutral location," she ventured.

  He turned back to her, studying her face. "You can tell him the two of you are done and I'm sending you somewhere safe."

  "I'll just find my way back to him." She said it quietly, not defiantly, just matter-of-factly, stating the truth. "I love him. I could be carrying his child. Did you think of that?"

  He groaned, turned and flung the bottle of water at the fireplace. It hit, spraying water everywhere, bounced off and hit the floor, the rest of the water leaking out. They both stared at it as if that widening pool could give them the answers.

  "Please, Sasha, at least get to know him. Give me this chance with someone I love. My leopard can hear lies. She knows he's telling the truth when he says he loves me. I feel it every time I'm in the room with him. Please just give us this chance. All of us. You, me and Joshua."

  "I think that would be a very good idea," a male voice said.

  Both spun around, Sonia's breath catching in her throat as she recognized Joshua's voice.

  16

  JOSHUA wanted to kill the bastard. Absolutely fucking kill him. Sasha. The man who had married his woman. He'd had her in his bed. In his home. He'd tried to kill her. A bomb in her car. Sonia was so young, and she should have had protection, but instead, the Bogomolovs, father and son, had tried to kill her.

  They fanned out, following each trail, one leopard per vehicle, the others waiting, all armed, ready and willing to go to war. Sasha had taken her from him. She belonged to Joshua. She was his woman. No one was going to hurt her, let alone kill her. Every minute that went by felt like an hour, a day.

&n
bsp; He loved her. It was that simple. He didn't know how it had happened or even when. He just knew he couldn't sleep without her next to him. He wanted to go to sleep listening to her laughter or the sound of her voice murmuring to him. He loved the scent of her in his bathroom. In his bedroom. In every room of his house. She belonged with him because without her, he didn't have one single fucking thing.

  The moment Kai told him where she was, he gathered his crew around him and they came up with a plan. He sent four scouts to map out every possible escape route, to count every guard. He didn't care if they were outnumbered or outgunned, he was going to get her back and kill the son of a bitch who took her.

  His men gathered the information needed and brought it back to him. He was brilliant at strategy, he always had been. Drake had recognized that in him early and encouraged him to have confidence in his choices. He surrounded himself with good men, men he knew he could count on. All were experienced in battle and they were used to stealth work. They'd worked in the rain forests or small villages, going into terrorist camps and extracting prisoners. It was what they did best. This was no different. Sonia was a prisoner. She'd been taken, and they would get her back.

  None of them liked that he chose to go in with just two leopards at his back. The rest were to surround Sasha's men and wait for the signal to take them out. He needed to get the lay of the land, and God help them all if the Russian had harmed one hair on her head.

  I'm coming for you, baby. Hold on for me. He sent the message into the universe, hoping she got it. He detested that she might be afraid and feeling alone.

  He slipped through their ranks easily. They were leopards, but they were used to dealing with humans, not other leopards. They had chosen to stay in human form, cradling their guns as they paced their routes. He studied them as he slipped past them. They moved well, the guns extensions of them, very familiar, as if made for them; they stayed alert. It made sense to use their human form in the city, even around the house. Still, had he been directing security, he would have had a few leopards prowling just to ensure nothing--or no one--got through their ranks.

  He made it into the house through an upper-story window. That was careless as well. They should have had an alarm on every window. It was time-consuming to put them on houses like these, but it prevented mistakes. Letting them in was a huge mistake. Evan went first. He insisted and there was little, short of shooting him, Joshua could do to stop him. Evan and Kai were insistent they were there to protect him. He was insistent they were getting his woman back.

  He heard her voice, talking softly. He heard the stress because he was so tuned to her every mood. She didn't sound afraid, only stressed, and that brought him up short. He nearly pulled the trigger to end the bastard, but at the last minute, he decided to listen. It wasn't easy to stop himself. He wanted to kill Sasha Bogomolov more than anything else in the world. If Sonia was married to him, he would make her a widow and clear the way for her to be his wife. He didn't care if that made him a monster.

  The man had taken her from him, kidnapped her right out from under him. More, he'd broken a cardinal rule in doing so--he'd involved the police in the form of Bastien Foret. Joshua knew he'd grown more violent over the years. His mother's influence had faded as necessity and self-preservation had taken over in the circumstances he'd found himself in, but he'd never felt like this. Never. He was barely able to control himself.

  He moved into position, knowing Evan had his back and Kai was rounding up the other occupants of the house. The moment he laid eyes on her, that he could see for himself Sonia was alive and no one had touched her, some of the killing fury, that demand for blood, eased in his churning gut. Still, like his leopard, he felt like snarling and raging. He wanted to beat Sasha into a bloody pulp and then butcher him.

  "Sasha, I love you. I really do. With all my heart, I love you." Her voice, so low, was filled with affection and he nearly blew Sasha's head off right there and then.

  "You'll always be my family, but he's my choice. I want you to get to know him. To take that time, for me. I'm asking as someone who loves you and needs you in my life, take the time to get to know him before you judge him."

  Her family? The Bogomolovs? The ones trying to kill her? What was she doing? Stalling for time?

  "Damn it, Sonia, no. He's not for you. This life isn't for you. I forbid it."

  Sonia stared up at the fury on Sasha's hard features. "He'll fight for me. He will come after me and he'll never stop until he finds me. He'll fight for me. That's the kind of man he is."

  Joshua's heart clenched hard. Pounded. His blood thundered in his ears. She believed in him. There was absolute confidence in her voice.

  "You don't know that. You can't possibly know him that well. I saw you in the swamp, a little female running from that pack of males. Imagine my surprise when that beautiful cat turned out to be you. I saw his leopard knock yours off her feet. I saw you shift and kick the crap out of the male. You were fearless. Beautiful. I was so proud of you."

  Joshua was proud of her now. He'd been so then as well, although at the time he'd been so fucking pissed at her and terrified out of his mind when he'd realized she was willing to commit suicide. He'd also been so upset that she'd shifted and showed her beautiful body off to all his men--and apparently Bogomolov as well--he hadn't thought much beyond that. He knew, from what Shadow indicated, that Gatita hadn't forgiven the male and refused to come out and resolve the problem. He should have done a better job of apologizing to her.

  "I love him."

  Joshua nearly groaned aloud. His entire body reacted to those three words. The way she said them. A fact quietly stated. Her gaze was steady on Sasha's and she didn't flinch when the Russian glared at her. Joshua loved her even more in that moment. Loved her. With his heart. All the way to his lost soul.

  "He manhandled you."

  He had, but she'd been kicking the hell out of his leopard and he hadn't wanted the bad-tempered beast to think about teaching her a lesson. Still . . .

  "He would never hurt me. Never." She said it with absolute conviction and Joshua felt like his woman was bringing him to his knees.

  "I see bruises on your skin. Smudge marks where his fingers dug in deep."

  His woman blushed. His body hardened at the thought of the other marks on her, on her breasts, the inside of her thighs, her buttocks. He hadn't left much of her unmarked.

  "It's not like that. We both get a little crazy." That wasn't the word for it. He was so addicted to her, to her mouth, her body, every part of her, that he didn't think a full second went by that he wasn't thinking about his cock and how it felt in her, surrounded by her. She got him into such a frenzy, he was out of control--and that never happened with any other woman.

  "He doesn't hit me. He wouldn't."

  "How would you know, Sonia?"

  Joshua wanted to smash Sasha for that question. He would never hit her. He couldn't. He sure as hell wouldn't allow another man to abuse her either. Like putting a fucking bomb in her car.

  "I know you wouldn't hit me. No matter how angry you get at me, I know you would never hit me. I know the same about him. Whatever he's doing in his life, whatever led him there, that's his, not mine. He has to decide what's important in his life. You believe you were born to take over your father's business and you intend to do that. You just admitted to me you killed the men conspiring to harm me."

  He nodded slowly. "I know I'm not a good man. I know what I am. I know I'll never have it all, the woman I can love completely and who can love me and look at me as if I'm everything to her. That's not going to happen for me because I know I'm not a good man."

  "He'll come for me, Sasha. I love him, and I love you. I would never be able to forgive you if you hurt him."

  There was no way to love her any more than he already did. Every time he thought that, she said something that melted his heart. That took him closer to her.

  "Do you think that matters to me? I chose you. You're all I have lef
t. You are my family. You, Sonia. Do you think for one minute I'm going to turn you over to a man who is a fucking criminal? Once you're his, in our world, I can't interfere."

  Fuck Sasha. He wasn't keeping Joshua's woman, although from the conversation, as much as he didn't like it, or want to admit it, things sounded as if Sasha really cared about Sonia and was trying to protect her.

  "That's just it, Sasha. I am his," she said quietly. "I'm his mate. Our leopards chose each other. She's had her heat and she chose him. I chose Joshua. I would every time."

  Sasha turned away from Sonia, swearing in Russian, and she closed her eyes and pressed the water bottle to her temple as if she might be getting a headache. Joshua's heart contracted. He despised seeing her upset or in pain.

  "Let me call him. Talk to him. I can convince him to stay away. You can meet with him at a neutral location." Joshua heard the hope in Sonia's voice, and it gutted him. She definitely didn't want the two men fighting.

  Sasha turned back to her. "You can tell him the two of you are done and I'm sending you somewhere safe."

  "I'll just find my way back to him." She said it quietly, not defiantly, just matter-of-factly, stating the truth. "I love him. I could be carrying his child. Did you think of that?"

  Joshua's mouth went dry. His entire body froze. He hadn't thought of that. Not for a minute. What the fuck was wrong with him? When he'd first met her, he'd known she was in a heat and he didn't care one way or the other if she got pregnant because he knew she belonged to him and he'd claimed her. He hadn't thought about it since. He should have locked her somewhere safe, somewhere she and his child wouldn't be taken by the Bogomolov family.

  Sasha let out a groan, turned and flung the bottle of water at the fireplace. It hit, spraying water everywhere, bounced off and hit the floor, the rest of the water leaking out.