“Selene,” he started.
“Don’t,” she urged, hand up, palm facing him. She needed to think, she had to get out of here. Where were her things? She needed her phone so she could call Maddy and Sasha. They’d get her out of here. She’d been the victim of an attack. She’d go to the police and file a report—
The thought stopped when she realized that she’d had sex with Pietr. She may be a corporate lawyer but she knew law. She hadn’t been raped, she remembered that, but she’d been well enough to have intercourse. Her wounds had healed to just pink furrows. No cop would believe she was attacked the night before. At the very least they would think she was crazy, and at the worst they would believe she’d made the story up to cover a murder. She couldn’t go to the cops. If she could get in touch with Sasha she may be able to help her with something that she could do. She just needed to find her phone. She stared around the room as surreptitiously as she could but Pietr caught the movement. He walked over to some golden scraps, that she now realized were the remains of her dress, and lifted them into the air. They fell through his fingers, and floated through the air to the floor.
“There was no phone with it,” he said to her.
“Just let me go.”
“You are not a prisoner here.”
“Then you’ll let me go?” she asked.
“No.”
“You just said—”
“I know what I said. There are things you need to understand. You aren’t safe in public right now.” He stood slowly, his unblinking stare unnerving her, even as she felt her body quicken to life. She’d just had him moments before and she was achy again.
“Something is wrong with me,” she moaned.
“It’s normal, considering. You’ve had one of the easiest transitions into were I have ever seen.”
“Were? Why do I get the feeling you’re not mixing up your English?” she bit at him, her desire turning into confusion and, yes, fear.
“You would be correct. How much do you remember about your attack?”
That was the question, wasn’t it? Pietr still stood before her, not looking away, and she felt exposed before his eyes. The air kissed her naked flesh and she pulled the cover around her body like a shield. His eyes narrowed at the movement but he didn’t say anything. She thought about her attack, because that was at least easier than thinking about crawling to Pietr like a cat in heat and sucking him down like he was choice candy. She didn’t even want to think about the sex after. She’d been lost, too far gone to take time to enjoy him, to feel him. She’d simply wanted him inside of her, as deep as he could go and as fast as he could move. She couldn’t say that she remembered the act so much as the pleasure and the deep well of satisfaction inside of her. If she had not gotten scared at the end she figured she would still be draped over him like a piece of fabric.
“I remember all of it,” she whispered finally. “Is that thing really dead?”
“He touched my mate,” Pietr growled, as if that explained everything. She supposed that in a way it did. There was a certainty in his voice, an aggressive set to his shoulders when he said it. For touching his mate the thing deserved to die. Something in her rejoiced, rolling around, exposing its belly to the dominant before her. She gasped when she felt it.
“I see someone approves,” Pietr purred. Actually purred! His eyes changed, the pupils widening until she felt sucked in. She saw a flash of cat and blinked and it was gone.
She was losing her freaking mind.
“You turned into the leopard to save me?”
“Naturally. I couldn’t let you die there. I had to save you.”
“Thank you.” He bowed his head to her in acknowledgement.
“Unfortunately I didn’t get there soon enough,” he said with a sigh.
“What do you mean? I survived. Everyone is happy. We even had a blast on that chair over there. Thank you for saving me. Now I can go home and maybe, somewhere down the line, we can start all over.”
There, she said it. She’d almost been tempted to joke about her having paid him with her body but she had a feeling he wouldn’t like it, and she didn’t want to lessen what they shared, even in her anger. That, at least, she wanted to keep pure.
“It is not that simple. He cut you up pretty good last night, and yet today you’re healed.” The emotion in his eyes was saying something to her, something that she didn’t want to acknowledge. He was waiting for her. Waiting for her to make some connection. Yes, she’d thought about the fact that she’d healed so well.“I wasn’t cut up as bad as we thought. Maybe, with all the blood, it looked worse than it was?”
“I know you are more intelligent than to believe that so I’ll let you think about that for a few more minutes.”
“What happened to me Pietr? I’m not in the mood for games.”
“Good, because neither am I. Since we have gotten that out of the way, let me explain something to you. Tonight you survived a wereleopard attack. He was a rogue from another territory that thought that if he changed you he could have you as a potential mate. He got overzealous and nearly killed you. From his missing eye I gathered you fought back just a little too well. The mark he gave you changed you.”
“Changed me how? Wereleopard? What the hell are you talking about? The wounds just weren’t as bad as we thought.”
“There are many people you may be able to lie to, counselor, but your mate is not one of them. I saw the wounds myself, licked them to stop the bleeding.”
“You are out of your fucking mind. Licking a wound does not heal it.”
“It does if you are a wereleopard. You have already acknowledged that I was the one that saved you so you know exactly what I’m talking about. Don’t act obtuse, it doesn’t fit you.”
“So you want me to believe that a wereleopard attacked me last night, nearly killed me, but infected me, so now I am a wereleopard. Oh and just for shits and giggles I am also your mate?” she yelled.
“Exactly.” She slid off the bed, careful to bring the sheets with her. She stood to her full height, staring up into Pietr’s face. To his credit he didn’t give an inch, just looked back at her.
“Impossible.”
“Maybe for some, but true for you. You survived. Your kouarteto worked very hard to help you heal last night,” he said, so calm it made her teeth ache.
“My quar-whata?”
“Your kouarteto. Your quartet. The four women you met upon waking. They shared their warmth and their aura with you to speed you through the healing and the change. You came through faster and easier than other humans. I believe it is because you linked with me at the club before your attack. Your leopard came into life already knowing it had a mate waiting for it.”
Selene stepped away, shaking her head against what he said. She was not some damn shapeshifter. She could see the evidence in front of her that said that Pietr quite obviously was, and as such meant that the women around her today could have been, too, but she was not. There was no way. She was human. She just had to get out of this backwards-ass place and get home. Once she was there she’d pop a few Xanax and then set up a consultation with Maddy to see if she was going crazy. She turned away from him, looking for a dresser, anything to find clothes. She was going to get the hell out of here. She heard Pietr sigh behind her and then the air changed against her skin and he was gripping her shoulders. She hadn’t heard him move.
Anger and fear swirled within her, building in her throat until she turned around with a roar, and slashed at him. She froze, the animal sound dying on her lips when she saw four perfect long, thin tears in his shirt. His flesh, within the holes, was a bright red, but she hadn’t broken the skin. She looked at her hand. Before her eyes a gold fur-covered paw with black claws melded back into her own dark hand. She screamed, clawing at her hand with the other, trying to shatter the image of her body changing shape. Pietr wrapped her in his arms, grasping her wrists to stop her movement, just as the door burst open. Beth stalked in, teeth bared, e
yes slashing with some inhuman light, claws curling out of her fingertips. A large leopard, but not as big as Pietr had been, was beside her. She froze when she saw the scratches in Selene’s arm and her futile attempts to break away from Pietr.
“She’s shifted partially,” Pietr called to Beth.
“Drea,” Beth whispered and the leopard melted from graceful feline to woman. Drea shook herself for a moment, oblivious to her nudity, and Beth passed her a T-shirt. She pulled it on, tossing a sheepish look at Selene.
“I thought you were in trouble,” she said by way of apology. The exchange was enough to make Selene stop attempting to dig through her own skin and find the fur.
“I think I need to sit,” Selene said. Pietr moved to the bed, sitting and then pulling her on his lap. He rubbed her back in smooth circles over and over.
“I was human before, Vita. Let me talk to her,” Beth said.
“I think that would be best,” Selene said, sitting up straighter. She was more than determined to get out now. She wanted to be free. Pietr wouldn’t let her get away but she was sure that Beth may let her get through. They were both humans at one time.
“I will not let you run away from this,” Pietr warned. She turned to him with the most innocent look she could muster.
“I just tried to claw through my own hand. I think I need to understand what is going on but being with you confuses me.” She tried to stay close to the truth. In law she’d learned that the best lie was one that was twisted with the threads of truth.
“You will need me again soon,” he whispered to her. “The hunger will rise, and I will be the only one who can feed it. You cannot get away from me.” She swallowed roughly.
“Let’s take this one step at a time.”
“Fair enough. Go with Beth, but you’ll come to find me soon enough, this I promise you.”
Chapter Seven
She followed Beth away from Pietr’s suite of rooms. The mansion, because regular homes weren’t this big, was breathtaking. The home had floors, almost like a large hotel, but there was a feeling of belonging here. The ceiling was a warm brown, lit carefully by sconces of soft light. In the center of a atrium that opened so that she could see the other three floors above her and the one below her, hung a crystal chandelier that twinkled in the lights. The front door was huge, double sided, ornate wood with carvings of leopards facing each other. In the center of the central floor were thick, off-white couches in front of several mounted flat screen TVs in different spots of the room. A servant, dressed in traditional black and white, manned a bar to the left of the front door.
What was most startling was a bunch of intertwining banana trees that grew in the center of the house and stopped just below the chandelier. Broad branches reached out to different spots on the floors around her. A movement within the leaves caught her attention and she watched, awe struck, as a leopard walked along one branch to reach the third floor and disappeared on the floor.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Selene said.
“No. Welcome home. There are a lot of unmated males here. Sometimes, when women are around, they stay in their leopard form when they know she isn’t their mate. It’s respect.” There was a slight wistfulness to her voice that Selene caught.
“You aren’t any of their mates?”
“No. I have a job to do now for you so I can’t go to search for my mate within another pack.”
“I’m sorry I’m stopping you,” Selene said.
“It is an honor to be in a Vitassa’s koaurteto. I am not unhappy with my lot,” Beth said as she turned left at the end of the hall and opened a door. She ushered Selene in. Her room was designed in black, gold, and white. It looked expensive and yet inviting. She directed Selene to a set of chairs and they sat.
“You said you were human once?” Selene questioned.
“Yes. Four years ago I was heading home from a party at a friend’s house. I hadn’t called for a cab, my home was only a couple blocks away,” Beth began.
“No use wasting money on cab fare,” Selene agreed.
“Yeah, my thought too. But the rogue in my house was waiting for me. When I entered he attacked. I…never felt such pain in my life. To be turned you have to get a mortal wound by a partially shifted wereleopard. He wanted me to be his mate. He tried for days after to connect us.”
Knowing how she and Pietr had connected Selene didn’t want to think of the pain Beth had gone through. It was written all over her face. Selene reached out and grasped the other woman’s hand. Beth gave her a weak smile and kept talking.
“I didn’t know what was happening, didn’t know how to escape. He kept me weak. He didn’t feed me, or let me move around too much. After a few days he grew angry. So angry. I had failed him in some way. It was my fault I wasn’t his mate. He attacked me, and survival kicked in. He was so much stronger than me, but my desperation added to my strength. I fought enough to get away from him. He chased me, for miles. I didn’t know where I was going, but I had to get away. Cirro found me.”
“How the hell did you run around in public as a leopard and didn’t get shot down?” Selene asked.
“I lived in the suburbs. My home was on the other side of the forest that surrounds the Katafygio. I didn’t know it then. I triggered an alarm when I entered five miles close to this compound. Cirro was there, in full force. He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t stop. He just attacked the rogue behind me with a ferociousness I couldn’t believe, and I was grateful. I didn’t know how to shift back, but he brought me inside. I met Karen, your mate’s sister-at-heart.”
“Sister-at-heart?”
“Sister-in-law I guess is a good translation but in the shifter world she is his brother’s mate so they call her sister-at-heart. The mate bond is stronger than marriage. You can’t divorce your mate,” Beth explained.
“You’re saying I’m stuck with Pietr?” Beth didn’t answer her directly. She just continued talking.
“Karen soothed me, found me a room and stayed with me for the rest of the night. I shifted back in my sleep. She taught me how to be a leopard, how to use my strengths, to protect myself. I had hoped, at one time…” she trailed off, her eyes growing sad.
“You had hoped what? To go back to your life?”
“No. My life was over. I didn’t have much back in my human life. I didn’t need to return. The friends I had are still there, still my friends, but I am different now. I watch over them, and every once in a while we get together. No, I had hoped that Cirro and I…but it wasn’t to be. He was not my mate. I realized, later, it was hero worship, and I moved on.”
“How is this supposed to make me comfortable with my fate?” Selene asked. When Beth looked at her with startled eyes she shrugged. “I figured that’s why we’re having this heart to heart.”
“No. We are talking because I want us to be close. I am in your koaurteto. We are supposed to be close. I wanted to tell you that, even though my beginnings were rough, I found happiness here. I’m protected, pampered even. I don’t want for a thing. I still have my connections to the outside world. I am very much still the person I was before the change, I’m just more now.”
“I don’t understand mating. You have to understand it sounds wild to me. I can’t see myself giving myself so completely to someone I have just met,” Selene said, releasing Beth’s hand.
“Why can’t you? Do you even understand what you’ve been given?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re getting ready to tell me.”
Beth laughed. “I like you. You’ve got spunk.” Her face grew serious. “How many women wish to have a man who wants no one else but her? How many women want what they see in the romance movies? A man that will move heaven and hell to have her? A man who will give up everything he is, even his life, to make her happy?” Beth asked.
If Selene thought about it, it was very close to what she’d wanted in the first place. Hadn’t she said she wanted love, lust, companionship, trust, and forever? Hadn’t she sa
id that she wanted to have someone with her that she could lean on? What Beth was telling her was like a fantasy wrapped in the beautiful package that was Pietr. But she couldn’t just give in. She didn’t even know him, didn’t understand what was going on around her.
“It’s not that simple, no matter what I want,” Selene said.
“I know. Being human we learn that love comes in time. That love is built from knowing someone,” Beth said.
“But for a leopard, love sometimes comes after the joining,” Selene heard from behind her. She turned to see Adelis, Lauren, and Drea standing at Beth’s door. It was Drea who had spoken.
“Leopards can live for centuries. We can have relationships, sex, and friendships, but love is only possible with our mate,” Adelis said.
“We are partially human, I guess, so the draw of a mate is there to knock out questioning what we are given. It’s there to bond us with our mate before our mind gets in the way,” Lauren said.
“To have a mate is to have the other half of your soul. Imagine living for a hundred years and never knowing love once. Imagine finding your mate and then feeling the pain that they will turn you away out of fear. There are not many female wereleopards in our leap, and the men are suffering for mates. When they have found humans they have had to deal with their questions, fear, and the fact that their mate will die before them. It is a burden that we cannot take from them,” Drea finished. The women came farther into the room, dressed in jeans and varying colors of T-shirts. They seemed watchful, careful with her.
Taken By Lust Page 4
