Why doesn't he give us a sign? Something. Anything. She needed something to hold on to. That one little pass with his thumb could have been a mistake. She might have imagined it. Gatita, what is he planning?
You did not imagine it. I felt his touch too.
Okay. Okay, she could do this. If Joshua could walk right between Nikita and Filat without flinching, she could wait for his signal.
"We were speaking of compensation," Nikita said.
She risked a glance at him, and then at Filat. Filat was watching her carefully. Didn't he believe her cowed act? It wasn't an act, it was the real thing. Why wouldn't he believe it? She had to think, because she could see it on his face, that dawning comprehension that Joshua wasn't the ally they wanted.
Joshua had half turned away from her and she lashed out with her feet, kicking him hard enough to make him stagger. "Bastard," she hissed, leaping for the door. He caught her ankle as she ran past him, and she went down hard.
Joshua calmly put his foot on her throat. "We did this once before, Sonia. Don't you remember? You ran from me. Your female ran from my male. You seem to be a slow learner."
Nikita's laughter rang through the room. "I don't know, Joshua, I could have such fun with her. Are you certain you want the trouble? I'll accept compensation as a show of good faith, but if she isn't pregnant, I ask that you turn her over to me so I can try."
Joshua reached down and hauled her to her feet, walking her backward without looking at her, to shove her back into the chair. "I might consider that. I don't keep a bitch long, although she's different. Once you're in her, you'll understand my reluctance to part with her."
An owl hooted outside the house in the direction of the swamp. A second owl answered just outside the window. A third bird sounded off, using a two-note call. Joshua caught her face in his hands, leaned down and fastened his mouth to hers. She expected rough. She got gentle. He ended the kiss abruptly and whispered one word against her lips. "Run." It was barely there, a stroke over her mouth, but she heard it as if he'd yelled.
Abruptly, he let go, and as he straightened, he whipped off his shirt and kicked off his shoes. He tore at his jeans, already shifting. Nikita tried for his gun, but the leopard was on him, stripping it from his hand. Sonia leapt toward Filat. He already had his gun out. She managed to knock it away from him. He caught her by the throat and squeezed hard, looking straight into her eyes. She was already losing air. One hand went to the zipper of the jacket, dragging it down while she concentrated on shifting the arm so she could rake down his stomach, trying to eviscerate him.
He screamed, leaping away from her. She ran, taking the stairs several at a time. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Shadow and Nikita's leopard in a terrible battle. Filat tore his clothes from his body and shifted, his cat racing to Nikita's leopard's aid. She ran for her bedroom. Earlier, when she'd been trying to escape from Joshua, she had dropped a shotgun on her bed. She had extra ammunition for it as well.
The sounds in her great room were terrible to hear. She had to hurry. Joshua had deliberately forced both leopards into attacking him to give her the time to run. There was no leaving him behind. She shoved shells into her pocket and ran back to the top of the stairs. The two males fighting Shadow were using a tag team method, going in fast, slashing and biting and jumping out so the other could get in.
They clearly had used the method before. Shadow was fast. Both other cats were bloody, sides heaving, but so was Joshua's leopard. She aimed at the leopard she knew to be Nikita. More than anything, for her mother, for Sasha, and even for her father, she wanted to kill him. She pulled the trigger just as he whirled in the air to renew his attack on Joshua.
The sound was loud, reverberating through the room. Behind Nikita, the cabinet disintegrated, wood flying in all directions. The leopards looked up at her, grimacing. Showing teeth. Calmly, she took aim again as Nikita's leopard reared into the air, claws extended. Shadow met him in the air, raking at the older leopard with his stiletto-claws, going for his exposed genitals. Nikita's leopard screamed and rolled away as they both hit the ground.
Filat turned to face her, his leopard's expression menacing, his eyes wholly focused on his prey. She held her ground as he began a slow, freeze-frame stalk. Nikita was her first target. She squeezed the trigger as his leopard rolled. He screamed. Howled. Blood sprayed the air. Filat didn't even turn to see the damage to his boss. He charged. She tried to slam bullets into the shotgun fast, knowing she wouldn't make it. She transferred the gun to her other hand to use it like a bat just as Shadow landed hard on the leopard's back.
Shadow was heavy with muscle and incredibly strong. He dug his claws in and sank his teeth deep into the neck. They rolled almost at her feet, but she ignored them, her eyes on Nikita's leopard as he dragged himself to his feet. His hind end was bloody, but from the distance she'd been, she didn't know how much damage the older shotgun would create.
The two leopards rolled down the stairs, Shadow never letting up on his hold of Filat's raging cat. She walked down the stairs, watching Nikita's leopard the entire time. He snarled at her. Growled a warning. He lowered his head, eyes focused in preparation of a charge. She lifted the shotgun, taking careful aim.
Nikita whirled around and raced toward the door just as she pulled the trigger. He screamed and wood disintegrated into splinters as he jerked open the door and ran through it. She raced after him. In the swamp, she'd give the advantage to the leopard. Gatita was too small and too inexperienced to fight him. She needed the shotgun.
The leopard had disappeared from view, but she saw a splash of blood in the grass just to the right of the verandah. She stepped back to get a better look and that saved her life. The cat sprang at her from above, trying to twist toward her when she moved back. He landed just feet from her. She pulled the trigger. It seemed impossible to miss at that close range, but she thought she had because Nikita's leopard rolled at the last second.
He screamed again, indicating he might be hit, but the wounds had to be superficial. Blood specked his side and coated his right shoulder. He rushed her. Once again she thought to use the weapon as a bat, but she knew it was a flimsy defense against the big cat. He was almost on her, so close she felt the blast of hot air in her face. She swung the gun as hard as she could, using Gatita's strength.
Shadow leapt out of the night, his front claws attaching to Nikita's cat's hind end. The leopard shrieked, the sound reverberating through the swamp. She hit. A solid strike that shook up her arm until she was numb. The two cats rolled away from her. She found herself on the ground, too close to the teeth and claws. Resolutely she stood and calmly inspected the weapon. She waited until Shadow had the cat on the ground again and she stepped closer to the raging leopards.
They broke apart and then both dove simultaneously into the air, crashing into each other, raking and biting at each other's head and neck. They crashed to the ground, teeth bared, legs locked together. The death lock was difficult to witness, claws raking, teeth biting, blood streaming from both cats.
Sonia stepped even closer. This was for all of them. Every single person Nikita Bogomolov had murdered to show how cruel he was. Everyone he'd murdered or had tortured for his amusement. His enjoyment. Every woman he'd raped and killed.
Gatita, warn Shadow.
He says to leave it.
Tell him I'm killing this murderous demon and sending him back to hell. Now. She poured determination into her voice so even Shadow had to hear it.
In one move, she pressed the muzzle to Nikita's skull and pulled the trigger. Shadow was already rolling away, distancing himself from the blast. Nikita's cat stared up at her, his eyes crazed. Slowly, they turned from amber to a dark color and she saw Nikita looking back at her.
She leaned close. "This bitch killed you. This slut. I'm going to live with my man and you're going to die right here. We'll burn you and bury you, and Sasha will have your empire."
A large hand yanked her back just as Nikita's leo
pard gave one last effort, his giant paw swiping at her thigh to try to open her artery. Joshua towered over her, swaying. Bloody. He wrapped her in his arms.
"Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"
He was a mess. A terrible mess. "You're bleeding everywhere. Where are the others? Evan and Kai and Gray? At least they should be here." She got her arm around his waist and started walking him back to the house. All the open wounds as close as they were to the swamp were a recipe for infection.
"Nikita had a crew with him. We have to get them all. We can't afford any of them left alive, although Sasha said he'd mop up."
"Sasha said it?" She looked up at his face. It was drawn. A little on the gray side. He was giving her more of his weight than she liked. "When did you talk to Sasha?"
"I had a little chat with him while you were getting yourself kidnapped."
She didn't want to go into the house where there were dead bodies and blood everywhere, but she needed to sit Joshua down and get a first aid kit. "We need Evan."
"You can handle it," he told her.
She glared up at him. "You have no idea what I can or can't handle."
He flashed a grin at her. "Baby, you put that fuckin' shotgun to his head and pulled the trigger. You can handle patching me up."
"I could handle shooting you," she said. "Patching you up is something I didn't study."
She got him past the dead body of the man Nikita had shot. Lying beside her stairs was the dead leopard. Filat. She glanced away quickly and continued toward the bathroom where the first aid kit was. "You wanted to have a chat with Sasha? Why?"
"If he was playing you, I was going to blow his head off." He said it matter-of-factly.
"God, you're so bloodthirsty. Sasha saved me."
"I'm not wholly convinced, but signs point that way so I'm taking a wait-and-see policy. You stay away from him." He lowered himself onto the bench she had at the end of the bathtub.
"Bossy much?"
"That jacket offends me. Take it off."
"Sheesh, Joshua, stop bossing me around and let me take care of these wounds. Some of them are deep. You need antibiotics and stitches."
"Butterfly bandages will work. I get ripped up all the time. Take off the jacket, babe. You must have another top around here somewhere."
She hesitated and pulled the first aid kit from under the sink.
He caught her arm. "Just show me. I'm going to see sooner or later and he's already dead. What do you think I'm going to do?"
She shrugged. "You're a bit of a maniac. I don't know. Go out and shoot him all over again?"
He grinned at her. "That's a possibility."
The jacket was already unzipped so she shrugged out of it, trying to keep from looking in the mirror. She knew there was a dark bruise over her nipple where Nikita had grabbed her so viciously. It still hurt. Not a single thing Joshua ever did to her hurt after, and yet Nikita had managed to do so without trying.
"I mostly hate that he touched me," she confessed. "He makes my skin crawl."
"He's dead now, but you're right, I want to put that gun to his head all over again." He leaned forward to brush a kiss over the bruise. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here faster."
"You got here," she said briskly, feeling the burn of tears behind her eyes. To distract herself, she began cleaning him up when she really wanted to throw herself in his arms, have a complete meltdown and be comforted. "Thank you for saving my life."
"You're more than welcome, although I might have done it for selfish reasons."
She smiled despite the lump in her throat. He was pretty torn up. She felt torn up. Their homes. She wasn't positive she could ever live in her house again, not after having Nikita and Filat there--and the dead man. "We don't have any homes left."
"Baby," he said softly. "Look at me."
She was kneeling on the floor, washing a particularly deep gash in his side, prepared to close it with butterfly bandages and cover it in antibiotic cream. She looked up at him. At his face. That stubborn jaw. Those eyes she loved.
"We've got us. You. Me. We're fine."
She took a deep breath and nodded. They'd sort it out.
20
SONIA had no idea of the extent of the operation against them. Joshua was fine with that. They'd handled it. Fyodor and Mitya had helped Sasha in defeating Nikita's men. They'd all gotten busy immediately, working through the night to erase all evidence. He'd called for help. Help came. They burned the bodies and buried the ashes deep at each location where a battle had taken place.
Sasha had gone back to Miami. Joshua kept Sonia occupied with cleanup and rebuilding on his house, so she never got a chance to see Sasha before he left. He didn't want them near each other until Sasha proved he was no threat to her. Or never. Never would do.
The lower verandah took most of the damage on three of the four sides. One wall had minor fire damage to it. Because the inside of his home was livable, he had every excuse to keep her with him. She woke several nights with nightmares and he held her close, careful of any damage to her body. He was gentle with her, learning how to like gentle as well as his rough play with her. He figured that was a good thing, because even if she wasn't pregnant now, she would be someday and he couldn't be rough then.
The first thing he'd done, even before work had started to clean up the fire damage, was to prepare a room upstairs, on the far side of the master bedroom, overlooking the swamp, for her studio. He brought her paintings there. All her brushes and paints in all the different mediums she liked to use. He had surprised her with it one morning and was rewarded most of the night. He hadn't been looking for a reward, but welcomed it all the same. That was his woman, turning the tables on him all the time.
Upstairs in his office, he heard the sound of hammers and found them comforting. Rebuilding. Together. At night, she rolled out her plans and they pored over them together. He heard her laugh and he closed his eyes, honing in on that melodic sound, feeling it move through him. They had a long way to go. He knew that. It wasn't going to be easy. He was in a dark, ugly world. She would always need protection. But she would be that sunlight for him.
He stayed where he was, letting her get her work done, even though he needed to see her. Molly and Bastien had been over a couple of times for a barbecue, and twice they'd gone to dinner in town together. He liked Bastien, but then, he knew he would. Tonight was going to be special because they had business to take care of before Molly's man began to believe the rumors flying around about Joshua.
Several hours later, he put the phone down. Arrangements were made. Sasha had agreed to the same terms for the pipeline as his father had, although he made it clear he was having to clean house and set things right on his end. He stared out the window. Sometime in the last few hours, night had crept in. The sound of hammers was long gone and voices had faded away.
He stood up and stretched and then paced through the house looking for her. Usually, she was in the kitchen. She liked to cook. He could smell spices. She was bent over, pulling the pork roast from the oven. The night before she'd soaked it in a citrusy mojo marinade. He'd watched her make it, pretending to help. He loved when she looked serious, like she was now.
He'd contributed by handing her orange juice, lime juice and olive oil. He'd watched as she'd mixed it into a bowl with the garlic cloves and salt she'd crushed together. She'd added more spices, cumin and dried oregano, and then cut up fresh oregano. She'd made a puree out of it, and then, after scoring a diamond-shaped pattern into the roast, she'd rubbed her marinade all over it.
He found it fascinating to watch her. It was her face he loved to look at when she cooked. There was joy there. It was undeniable. Just watching as she'd poured the rest of the marinade over the roast, wrapped it and set it in the refrigerator to chill, had turned him on.
"That smells wonderful." He stated the obvious. "Tell me how you cooked it." That was the other thing he loved. Hearing the enthusiasm in her voice when she talked about doing what
she loved. He would never be able to repeat what she said, but he listened to every word, every nuance of her tone.
"It's nothing special, honey," she said. She put the roast on the center island.
He crowded her, leaning in to kiss her neck. "Tell me." He couldn't very well say he craved the sound of her voice when she talked about cooking almost as much as he loved eating what she'd made for them.
"Silly." She scoffed, but she did as he asked. She nearly always did--in the end. Sometimes it took a little persuasion. Those were the times he knew he had a green light to be wholly himself. "It's just a pork roast. Oven is 325 degrees. Roast, pork skin side up covered in parchment. I add a couple of cups of water and then foil over the parchment. When it's done, I remove the covering and then broil it for five to ten minutes until crispy." She showed him the roast. "It looks like that. I'm about to make the sauce by pouring the drippings into marinade that I saved from this morning and boiling it until it thickens. We have dinner!"
"What are you serving with it?"
"Fried sweet plantains, rice, green beans and pumpkin flan."
"Baby, you are amazing." He kissed her neck again and then left her to make her sauce.
Setting and clearing the table was his self-appointed job. After, they often washed and dried the dishes together rather than use the dishwasher.
"Actually, Joshua, I think you are. Thanks for making my life really wonderful. I had no idea anyone could ever be so happy." It came out in a little rush. She touched her temple and then ran her finger down the front of her tight tee, right over her nipple. The bruise had long since healed, but it still bothered her that Nikita had put his hands on her. "You came for me. I knew you would. I was able to stay calm and think, because I knew you'd come for me."
He cleared his throat as he put the dishes on the table, his heart accelerating. She did that to him, when staring down a madman hadn't. She hadn't talked about her time with Nikita, only telling him the minimum, and he hadn't pushed her. She'd dealt with far too much that day. The revelations about him. About Sasha. The fear of being kidnapped twice in the same day. He had been so afraid she would believe his bullshit story when he'd walked so brazenly in on Nikita and Filat. He'd known both men were extremely violent. He'd also known no woman was safe around them.
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