Gambler's Folly (Bookstrand Publishing Romance)

by Mellie E. Miller

  “And you did, cara mia. So wild in bed you are.” He smiled seductively at her. “But no other woman I’ve ever known has been attracted to my scent, the scent I give off when I’m fully aroused. Many are frightened by it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it is the scent of a great cat in rut, cara, and primates fear the great cats.”

  “I always wanted to be a cat, a great black leopard.”

  “You probably would be one if you could change, cara. Anyway, a couple weeks ago I decided to try an experiment. The results were telling to say the least.”

  “That was cruel and heartless, you bastard,” she stated.

  “Well, cats can be cruel and they play rough. Unfortunately, I didn’t believe I could be lucky enough to find a woman of the old priestess line, especially way out here, this far from Earth. If I had, I would never have experimented.”

  “Why not, Damiano?”

  Marco chuckled, while Paolo tried to hide the wide grin on his face. “Because, Signora, you turned the tables. Of course you didn’t understand what it would mean, which is why we’re having this discussion.”

  “Okay, I’m missing something here. Does someone want to get to the point, before I beat it out of you?”

  “What you did last evening was initiate a bonding ritual. I would have been fine had your scent not compelled me. The pheromones released when a female wants to bond are undeniable.”

  “Is that like the way your scent affects me sometimes? I mean, really, it’s overwhelming.”

  “Yes, like that, only more. When a man and woman are already attracted, especially when they are lovers, their mutual scents accentuate their attraction. But when a woman is ready to bond with her mate, her scent changes and becomes irresistible to him.”

  Paolo interrupted at this point. “It also affects every male around her. The normal humans don’t understand it, but they get restless. The females become jealous, the men randy. For us, it is a warning. We understand the scent and know who it’s for. Since we are a team, we look out for each other.”

  “As soon as we smelled it, we came to Damiano, knowing he would need our help,” Marco added.

  “I was hoping,” Damiano continued, “that if we could go into the office and make passionate love, you would be satisfied and let it go. Instead, you turned and denied me, even as your scent changed and became stronger.”

  “I wanted to make you suffer, damn you, like I had when you’d done the same thing to me. I had no idea it was anything else. Really, I didn’t.”

  “Whether you knew consciously or not, your body did and it took control. As I tried to take you, you fought me off until you were ready. Once my nature took over, I responded to your scent and signals. When your scent changed, taking you became something I had to do, or die trying. I could no more stop what happened than I could stop breathing.”

  “How is this different than just sex?” Karianna still didn’t understand.

  “Once the ritual begins, it continues until it is finished, one way or the other. It cannot be stopped, which is why Marco guarded the door. Once you yielded, and we came together sexually, we were compelled by our nature to continue, until we reached exhaustion, each of us performing our role in the ritual. Mine to completely dominate you, yours to submit your entire being to me.”

  “What does this mean to me, Damiano? I still don’t understand the significance of it.”

  There was sadness in his eyes and weariness. “I hadn’t wanted to take a mate, cara. My business is too dangerous. Once you became mine, I kept the contract to two years, thinking that when the time was up, you would leave. I never thought you would come to me at all, let alone so soon or so passionately.”

  “Damiano, please, just say it, whatever it is.”

  Leaning forward, Damiano put his face in his hands for a moment, as if trying to find the strength to go on.

  “If you had stayed away, or if I could have stayed away, it would have been different. Even when you came to me, I thought perhaps it could be a casual relationship, one of convenience. Few of us find a soul mate. Most times we are just like other men and enjoy a succession of lovers, usually not were-folk like us.”

  “Soul mates?” she asked.

  “When you initiated the bonding, you told me you wanted to bond for life, challenging me to take you as bond mate. When I accepted your challenge, as if I could have resisted, I had to subdue you, take you, dominate the ritual. If I could do that, and force your surrender, we would be bound.”

  “So even if I later decide I don’t want to be with you, I have to be?” Karianna was beginning to feel a bit of panic.

  “No, cara.” His eyes were sad, questioning, hopeful. “What I am saying is that we will always be mates. Once we are bound, our body chemistry, our genetics, makes it so. I will never want another woman, as long as you live. And you will never want another man. We cannot. We are bond mates for life.”

  “For life? Like forever and ever amen?”

  “Now you see why I tried to avoid it, tried to discourage you last night. I knew you didn’t understand our kind, our ways, and so you didn’t understand what you were doing. And now, it is too late for you to have a choice.”

  “So what kind of cat are you then? Can you change whenever you want?” Now she was curious about this man she was going to spend the rest of her life with.

  “Are you not upset, cara?” Damiano was worried. Marco and Paolo were wary.

  “What good would it do, Dam? What is, is. We seem to be a good match anyway. You asked me a while back if I could ever love you. I kind of fudged that answer. Truth is, I already loved you, but didn’t want to admit it. Guess I blew that one. Looks like the cat’s out of the bag, huh?” Marco and Paolo chuckled in the background.

  “Are you sure, cara? You seem to be taking my word for a lot.”

  “I’ve always had questions about certain things in my family. And once in a while, my friends asked me why my eyes sometimes changed color, or said something about my teeth. Vampire jokes usually. I didn’t really spend a lot of time thinking about it, but you’ve offered some insights. So can you change?”

  “Yes, I can change whenever I like. And I’m your favorite, I suppose, a black leopard. Not jet-black. You can see a lighter pattern in my coat when I’ve changed.”

  “And your eyes go green-gold with slit pupils,” she added.

  “Yes, which is one way we were identified in the early days. Normal great cats have round pupils. Were-cats have pupils that are slit, like the domestic cats. And our eyes reflect when a light shines on them in the dark. Most people’s eyes do not.”

  “What about Marco and Paolo? Are they brothers or something?”

  “No, only in the way of being were-, like us. We are brothers in a way, like soldiers in the same company, brothers in arms.”

  “Well, what are they?” she demanded.

  “Cara, so many questions. Why does it matter?”

  “I just want to know.”

  “It is irrelevant.”

  Marco spoke up to keep the peace. “I’m a leopard like Damiano, only not black. Paolo is a snow leopard. The three of us have worked together since we were young. We took Dante in just a few years ago. And before you ask, he is a panther.”

  “Oh. Okay. So you are all, well, what do you call yourselves.”

  “We, you included,” Damiano told her, “are were-cats. Just like people who become wolves are were-wolves, people who become bears are were-bears.”

  “I never heard about anything but were-wolves. How bizarre! Why don’t I feel any different from anyone else?”

  “How would you know, cara?” Damiano asked her. “You were born the way you are, so you’ve never been non-were. And since you’re a woman, you never had to go through that awkward period of changing at inconvenient times.”

  “Like going through puberty?”

  “Exactly, only it’s while going through puberty. That’s when a lot of us guys go to private
schools.” They all nodded at her.

  “I can see where that would be, well, inconvenient,” she agreed. “So, if you can change whenever you want to, can I see?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s rude.”

  “Well how about when we’re alone. I mean, we’re mates, right? So when can I see?”

  “We’ll talk about it later, cara.”

  “Leopard, huh? More of a pussycat.” She got a low, chesty growl in return and the other two chuckled.

  “Yes, Damiano, you have definitely met your match,” said Paolo.

  They talked for a little while longer, finished the wine, and then Marco and Paolo took off to get ready for the evening.

  “So, Tiger, what shall I wear tonight? I’ve got all these scratches, which I’d really rather not show off.”

  “Tiger? I am not a tiger. I’m a leopard.”

  “I know, but Tiger is more often used as a nickname. I can’t go around calling you Leopard-boy.”

  “But why Tiger?”

  “Humor me, alright? I know several women who call their men Tiger, as a term of affection. It’s supposed to mean they’re strong, handsome, powerful, all that sort of stuff. Only in a cute, affectionate way.”

  “We’ll see. So if I’m going to be Tiger, I need something to call you, don’t I? Let me think about it. Maybe Gattina, Kitten. Or perhaps Topolina, Little Mouse.”

  “Alright, Kitten I can understand, but Little Mouse?”

  “Because, when compared to a great cat like me, you are a Topolina, a little plaything.” He looked very smug about it.

  “You will pay for that one, Damiano Leone,” she threatened. And that’s when the fight started, which ended passionately in the middle of the floor.

  “So, my little plaything, if we are going to have dinner and check on my business, we should get dressed and go downstairs. If you think you can do without me for so long a time.”

  Still pinned to the floor, she told him, “I’ll show you plaything, you beast.”

  “No more beast than you, cara, and who is pinned to the floor?”

  “That’s not relevant,” she complained.

  “I disagree. It’s very relevant in a game of cat and mouse. Especially when the cat is on top.” He reached down and nipped her shoulder, maneuvered her to where he could kiss her hungrily once again, and snapped at her face, barely missing the tip of her nose. “Now if you can behave yourself, I’ll take you to dinner. Maybe a little cheese?”

  Chapter 21

  Karianna wore a lovely burgundy gown, with a high collar, a shapely bodice reminiscent of a bustier, and a pencil skirt, which were overlaid with floating layers of chiffon. The chiffon over the low-cut bodice was split in front, showing small, quick glimpses of flesh as she moved. The bodice lining was cut so low it barely covered the essentials, and the floor-length skirt was slit high in the front, showing off her gorgeous legs more than halfway up her thigh. The sleeves were a matching chiffon, very full and fastened by pearl buttons, as was the collar, and she wore pearl and diamond earrings to match.

  “You’ve managed to combine Victorian prude and expensive prostitute tonight, cara,” Damiano told her. “A Victorian whore more like, if this afternoon has any bearing.” His eyes twinkled with delight.

  “And how do I come out a whore in all of this? I was attacked, mauled and taken without so much as a ‘by your leave.’ I could as soon call you a sexual predator.”

  “But of course I am. I’m male, a leopard, and I love sex, especially with a tasty little plaything like you, Topolina.” His eyes were seductive as he blew her a kiss across the table.

  They took their time browsing the gaming rooms. Damiano placed one or two small bets. “Kiss me for luck, amore,” he said the second time and she made sure he felt it down to his toes. She hoped he’d lose, as he usually did. He claimed it was bad for business if he won very often. So naturally, he won. Raising a glass of champagne, he addressed the patrons, “A toast to my lovely wife. May she always bring me good luck.” The kiss she received was at least equal in firepower to hers.

  Shortly after, they saw Marco, who met them with a wide grin on his face. “So, Damiano, are you planning another night like last night?”

  “Once was enough. Why?”

  “Your scent is in the air, amico, and that of your mate. The atmosphere is beginning to have an effect.”

  As they looked around, the patrons who came in together as couples were more amorous than usual, especially on the dance floor. The singles among them were hunting, searching for someone who might give them a chance.

  Damiano laughed. “I hadn’t really given it much thought. I suppose since we’re mated, the scent isn’t as obvious to me as it would have been. But I can sense it now. It is different than before, no?”

  “Yes, it is,” Marco confirmed. “You are now a mated pair, hunting together. Of course you are mainly stalking each other it seems”—he grinned—“but your scent speaks of sex and the hunt.”

  “Do you suppose it will be bad for business?” Damiano asked.

  “I don’t know. It seems good tonight. Everyone is happy.”

  “Then, my little Topolina, maybe we should dance.”

  “Topolina?” Marco was confused.

  “You know, a little furry plaything the smaller cats toy with. Which if you’re very careful, you can play with for a long, long time.”

  She thought Marco was going to wet himself.

  Out on the dance floor, held closely to her mate, Karianna knew what it meant to feel like you were in heaven. His strong arms holding her, his scent like a cloud around her, she laid her head on his shoulder, eyes closed in complete contentment. Feeling his strength, she thought of him naked, the play of those chiseled muscles as they made love, and she felt a tingling begin, which spread throughout her entire body.

  A soft, low rumble in his chest brought her eyes open to look up into his. “Cara, your scent grows strong. Unless you want me to have you right here, please contain your emotions. I am, after all, only male.”

  She noticed his scent was increasing, now that he’d made her aware of it. And Marco was right. It was subtly different from before. It still attracted her strongly, but instead of a frenzied attraction, it was more an attraction to completeness, as if she could truly be complete only when joined with her mate, body and soul.

  Of course the more she thought about it, the stronger it all became, even though she really did try. “I don’t think it’s working, Tiger,” she told him.

  “Maybe we should go upstairs. Time to play, my tiny Topolina.”

  Since he was Damiano, and expected to be eccentric, nobody objected when he took his wife in his arms and kissed her ravenously right there on the dance floor. Nor did they say a word when he then swept her off her feet and carried her to the lift, kissing her teasingly as he went.

  Well, when an evening starts out this way, it only grows hotter. While their lovemaking this evening wasn’t quite what it had been the evening before, it still took everything she had to give. Hours later, she woke up and looked around at the chaos which was their living room. Seeing Damiano still stretched out in the floor sound asleep, she rejoined him there and drifted off.

  In the morning, she was awakened by the smell of coffee. Opening her eyes, she saw her mate coming in with a tray bearing coffee and croissants with honey. Her stomach grumbled its complaints as she got up and moved over to the sofa.

  “It seems we barely made it in the door last night,” she said, looking at the room around her.

  “You are lucky you made it out of the lift, cara. You must learn to control your emotions now. I’d never really thought about it before last night. I’d assumed, once mated, your scent would go back to being attracting only, not compelling.”

  “Is it as bad as the bonding scent?” she asked.

  “Very nearly. Of course, it could be, once we’ve been mated for a while, I will get used to it. Or that you�
�ll gain more control and not release so much when we’re out in public.” Grinning widely, he added, “It could become rather embarrassing otherwise, don’t you think?”

  She thought about it for a couple seconds, imagining the scene here last evening occurring out on the dance floor. “I suppose it could raise a few questions down at the police station. This may take some getting used to.”

  “Yes, dressed the way you were last night, it would seem I’d decided to get into the prostitution business and sample the merchandise. I would at least have to take out a license.” She threw a cushion at him, making him laugh.

  Damiano had some meetings later in the day. He’d postponed a couple of them due to their bonding and the exhaustion the following day. So now, he had to catch up on business. She kissed him a warm and lingering kiss on his way out.

  “Gattina, you must stop! I have to concentrate when I get there. So behave yourself, or I’ll spank you when I get home.”

  “Promises, promises,” she retorted, closing the door.

  She did need to get a hold on herself, though, she decided. Her kiss and the resulting reaction had begun to arouse her way out of proportion. She had teased before without having this happen. It must have something to do with being bond mates, the new scent he had, something in their biochemistry.

  Time for a cold shower.

  Even the workout didn’t help relieve the tension. It just made Carl a little distracted and grumpy. She took a long, hot shower afterwards and then turned the water all the way to cold. Gasping for breath, she stayed under the icy needles as long as she could stand. Dried off and dressed, she went back to their suite to find something for lunch.

  Nothing on the menu sounded good and there was nothing in the kitchen she wanted, either. Thinking about it, what she really wanted was a cheeseburger with chips. Damiano’s establishments were too upmarket for something that plain, so she called Dante to see if he could find it for her.

  He could and he did, and it was marvelous! Alright, it wasn’t really on her diet plan, but once in a while couldn’t hurt. Anyway, she’d work out harder the next day.