Leopard's Rage

by Christine Feehan

  She gave him a small smile. “It’s difficult enough for human women to get away from their abusers or stalkers, but shifters? They have leopards who can track them. That can make it nearly impossible. Depending on the country, it can be impossible.”

  “There is a difference between a mating pair, real mates, and mates who come together like your parents did for the wrong reasons. You know that, don’t you?” he said carefully. He didn’t look at her, keeping his attention on the soup instead.

  There was a small silence. “I’m not certain what you mean.”

  “Real mates, those belonging together, will find each other over and over. They won’t tolerate any other mate during their life cycle. It would be impossible to be abusive. Surely you can see that Shturm wouldn’t harm Flamme and would protect her with his life. That means he would do the same for you.” He glanced at her in order to read her expression.

  She had her chin propped up on the heel of her hand, her gaze on his face as he worked.

  “I feel the same way about you. I told you that. I would never hurt you, nor would I allow anyone else to harm you. There was no mistake when Shturm and Flamme found each other. I was drawn to you and I think you were drawn to me, whether you want to insist it was all sex or not. Maybe for you it is, and that’s enough.” He shrugged his shoulders, trying not to feel the piercing ache in the region of his chest.

  Flambé sat up straighter, the blanket slipping off one shoulder just a little more. “It’s not just about sex. I think you know that. You scare me. The things you make me feel scare me.” She sounded a little reluctant, cautious, almost shy, a characteristic he didn’t usually equate with her, but she didn’t find it easy to admit her emotions to him.

  He poured the soup into two tall, thick mugs and made himself a quick sandwich while he thought over her soft confession. She clearly didn’t want to talk about how she felt. He was willing to let that go until he was in bed with her, or at least until they weren’t eating.

  “Let’s take the food outside and you can tell me the rest about your underground railway for shifter women. It had to be very difficult to set up.” He poured genuine admiration into his voice.

  She looked so relieved as she slid off the stool that he couldn’t help smiling. She left the blanket behind as they went out onto the back patio where the large awning shaded their bodies from the sun’s rays.

  “I was fortunate in that there were several women already in place across the United States who had their own businesses,” Flambé said. She sipped at the mug of soup and shaded her eyes as she looked out toward the woods with long branches. “See how the branches reach toward one another and nearly touch? I kept looking at all the various trees that had been planted over the years for the shifters and how they were shaped. My father showed me how to work with them when we were molding and growing them on our property before transferring them to a client’s. That stuck in my mind. I flew to a city near each of the women and then rented a car and drove to their business and just talked with them. Visited.”

  He could imagine his cautious Flambé doing just that. She was personable. Talking about her landscaping business, steering the conversation around to her mother. Listening to them about their past with her. She’d chosen women who hadn’t mated and preferred not to. She didn’t broach the subject of helping abused shifter women disappear immediately, but she did talk about how more and more she was seeing their women with nowhere to go.

  “I could judge the level of sympathy,” she said. “And also, whether they were willing to do something about it. Or at least if I thought they could. I went back a second time to the ones I thought might be willing to help.”

  “You would need a scent blocker so a leopard would never be able to catch your scent or be able to track their female’s.”

  She nodded. “I’d heard rumors about a woman in New Orleans who was amazing with perfumes. Really amazing. I went to see her. I thought it possible she could come up with a product that could drown out our scents. I was very nervous talking to her at first. I told her I needed everything to be strictly confidential and she agreed. She was very sympathetic when I told her what I needed. She said she’d accidently come up with a scent blocker that worked on leopards, although it wasn’t perfect. She asked when I needed the product. I told her as soon as possible and she sent me a sample three weeks later. Within a month, I had something that has worked to perfection. So far, as long as I’ve had the time to use it properly, I’ve gotten my client and me both away without incident.”

  “What kind of product?” He was certain he knew the woman she spoke of. If that particular scent blocker was better than the original she’d accidently made as a by-product, it would be nearly impossible to trace the women.

  “Both an oral and a spray used together.” Flambé sounded distracted. She put down the mug, rubbing at her skin, a sudden flush coming over body.

  Immediately, Sevastyan put down his food as well, recognizing the signs. “Come here, baby. Let’s get your hair up fast.”

  She stood between his legs while he scooped up her hair tighter. She ignored what he was doing, her hungry gaze dropping to his cock, and then she went to her knees, her mouth finding him as if that was her entire world. For a moment he forgot what he was doing as he watched her lips stretching around his thick girth. She looked sexy kneeling between his thighs, lust darkening her eyes.

  Her mouth felt hot and tight as she sucked hard, her tongue lapping at him, getting him slick and wet. All the while she moaned, the sound vibrating through his cock while her hand stroked and jiggled his balls. Her hips rocked and bucked while she squirmed with need, feeding off the leaking droplets from the broad crown.

  Sevastyan managed to get her hair up and then his hands went to her breasts, kneading, massaging in time to the rhythmic pull of her mouth. She was moaning around his cock, the sound as desperate as he felt. He flicked and tugged her nipples and she cried out and took him deeper into her mouth as if she might swallow him all the way down.

  He wanted her to finish him off but he needed to be in her. Her body needed his. The desperate sounds she was making, the way her body was moving, the heat was taking her too fast and he didn’t want her nerve endings to take her over before the little leopard had a chance to emerge. He caught her hair and tugged, forcing her head up, to bring her mouth away from his cock.

  Flambé cried out and chased after his cock, but he shook his head. “Turn around, baby. Hands and knees.” He all but knocked the chair over as he went down to his knees behind her. He wanted her ready for her leopard so the transition would be fast.

  Flambé obeyed him, turning, breathing raggedly. Panting. “Hurry. I can’t stand it. I’m burning up already.”

  She was slick and hot. He didn’t wait. He caught her hips and slammed into her, throwing his head back as her tight tunnel surrounded him with all that scorching heat, threatening to burn him alive. Paradise or hell. He was back and he wanted to live there.

  18

  WE’VE got company, Flambé,” Sevastyan warned. He glanced at the screen a second time, cursing under his breath.

  Flambé sat up, looking around her, long lashes fluttering like they did when she was barely awake. “What time is it?” She pushed at the stray strands of hair falling around her face and looked up at him with her green eyes.

  His stomach tightened. His cock instantly hardened. “Midafternoon, baby. You haven’t been asleep that long.” She looked almost fragile, dark circles under her eyes.

  The doc had been waiting for them when they’d come back that afternoon, sitting in his truck, ignoring Shturm’s warning snarls. He’d barely glanced at the two leopards as they padded up onto the porch. Shturm nudged Flamme into the house with his heavier shoulder as she all but stumbled, clearly exhausted. The large male sent the doctor several warning glares over his shoulder but the man had continued to stare at his tablet f
rom inside the safety of his truck.

  The doctor had waited patiently while Sevastyan had seen to Flambé, showering, bathing and putting the lotion on her with meticulous care before putting her to bed. The doctor had given Flambé the blood clotting shots and then spent some time with Sevastyan teaching him how to give the shots while they talked gene therapy. The doctor wanted him to have Flambé talk the two other strawberry shifter females into coming to him for help as well.

  “Who’s here, Sevastyan? You don’t look happy to see them.” She threw back the sheet and put her feet on the floor, stretching, making an effort to wake up.

  “Mitya and Ania. I can send them away. You don’t have to see them.” Their relationship was fragile. He didn’t want to take a chance on anything interfering between them.

  He narrowed his eyes, looking more closely at her body as she stood. There were faint bruises on her hips and inner thighs. He’d been rough with her. He’d tried to be careful. He stepped closer to her and bent his mouth to brush a kiss over her lips. Was there a shadow along the corner of her mouth? He swept his thumb over it gently.

  “You don’t have to send them away, Sevastyan. I’ll go take a shower and be right down. It just takes me a minute to wake up, that’s all,” she protested, frowning at him. “You’ve still got that look on your face.” She reached up and rubbed at his mouth. “What’s wrong?”

  “Was I too rough with you? It’s impossible to be gentle, Flambé.” He tried to stay in control, but the leopards were rising, she was so out of control, the sex was so good, everything came together in such a perfect storm. Yet he worried about the rare condition she had and if they could get her leopard out before her nerves began to flare too badly. She had to have rough or touching caused tremendous pain.

  Flambé wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his chest, shocking him. She rarely gave him any kind of sign of affection. “You’re never too rough with me, Sevastyan. You give me exactly what I need and want. You take unbelievably great care of me.” She tipped her face up to his. “I’ll be very fast at getting ready, I promise.”

  To cover the way his heart accelerated, he brought his palm up to cup the back of her scalp but shook his head. “I want you to follow the routine Doc laid out.” When she made a face at him, he gave her a stern look. “To the letter. It’s working so far. We’ve got a few more days of your female’s heat and we don’t want to take the chance of anything going wrong. It isn’t going to hurt them to wait and they’ll understand. I’ll make coffee for them, water and food for us and we’ll wait on the front porch for you.” He made it an order even though he tried not to. “As it is, you’ll have to wear clothes and your skin will be sensitive. So, make sure you do everything exactly as the doc laid it out.”

  “I knew you were going to be bossy.” She let go of him, gave him a snippy look and headed for the master bath.

  Sevastyan made his way downstairs, put on the coffee and met with Mitya and Ania on the front verandah. The property had been in Ania’s family prior to him buying it from her. He’d made quite a few extensive renovations to it and he was a little anxious, afraid she’d be upset. It had been her childhood home and he knew she loved it. Not only had he renovated the house and garages, but a good part of the two hundred acres had been planted in grapes. The Dovers didn’t make wine, but they sold the grapes to a winery. He had reduced the vineyard by half, wanting to replace it with trees.

  Ania immediately hugged him, her face lighting up the moment she saw him. If she was upset or uncomfortable with the changes he’d made, she certainly was adept at covering up, and he knew her better than that so he assumed she was fine with them.

  “Where’s Flambé?” Ania asked, sounding disappointed. “Isn’t she going to join us?” She reached out a hand to her husband.

  Mitya took it and looked at Sevastyan, but there was no condemnation on his face.

  “The leopards didn’t come back until late morning. She was still asleep so she’s showering. She said to tell you she’d be right down.” He debated for a moment before telling them. “Remember I told you she has a rare condition that makes it difficult for her to be touched without feeling acute pain? We had no idea that the heat was going to increase the problem to the point she almost didn’t make it. In fact, apparently most shifters with this kind of disease commit suicide.”

  “Sevastyan.” Ania gasped and put a defensive hand to her throat, backing up until she was against Mitya. He sank into a chair and pulled her close to him, circling her waist with one arm.

  “I’m so sorry, Sevastyan. That makes me feel even worse than I already do. I came to apologize to her for my behavior. I should have trusted you to handle your own business and just backed you as you did me.” Mitya pressed his fingers to his temples. “That poor girl.”

  “The doc has been very helpful. She’s also a genetic hemophiliac. So, more than one problem. She didn’t want me dealing with any of that. It’s been a hard sell to convince her that she should let me decide if I want to be with her or not.” That was true, and yet not exactly. He tried to gloss over that so neither would catch the partial lie. “Fresh coffee, water, tea, what are you looking for to drink?”

  “Coffee,” Mitya said.

  “Do you have that pineapple juice mix that was so refreshing?” Ania asked. “The last time I was here, you gave me a bottle of it.”

  He flashed her a smile. “Just for you.”

  When he returned with their drinks, they were both seated comfortably at the table, waiting expectantly for more of an explanation. “She isn’t trusting,” Ania said. “At all.”

  “No, with good reason,” Sevastyan agreed, but he wasn’t going any further. If Flambé wanted to share—and he hoped she would eventually—then she could do that herself. “It was very difficult to get her leopard to come out without harming her. I wasn’t certain it could be done and neither was the doc. I’m very thankful for that man. It will take her a little longer than normal because she has to follow a strict protocol before she can come down.”

  “Is there still danger to her?” Mitya asked.

  Sevastyan sighed and pressed the cool bottle of water to his head. “Unfortunately, I think there’s always going to be a little bit of danger. The more we follow the doc’s advice, hopefully, the better she’ll get. There’s a new gene therapy for hemophiliacs. Doc thinks she’s a good candidate for that. As for the nerve problem, there is no cure. He’s worked on various nerve blockers and lotions to aid in calming the sensations, but they can’t completely stop them and certainly not for more than a short while.”

  “Long enough to allow her leopard out,” Mitya said.

  Sevastyan nodded. “Yes. She’s willing to go through the routine to allow Flamme her freedom. Certainly, during a heat she’ll have to use the routine.”

  “I checked with the elders of Franco Matherson’s lair,” Mitya said. “He’s been cast out completely and he’s being hunted. They’ve sent out their best trackers, two brothers by the names of Luan and Arno. They have quite the reputation, according to Drake Donovan. Once sent out, they never stop. Luan means lion and Arno eagle. They nearly caught up with Matherson a year ago but he has far more resources than they do. Money counts when you’re moving fast. I reached out to them, offered them anything they might need in the way of transportation or information. I told them that he was stalking a young woman here in Texas.”

  “Do we have any kind of an idea where he is?” Sevastyan asked.

  Mitya sighed and shook his head. “I wish I could tell you, but I’ve called in favors from many of our allies and everyone is looking. He’s not going to be able to hide forever. Eventually, he’ll make a move. Two of his brothers are back in Africa at their family estate. Another has gone to Switzerland. The family owns a ski resort and the brother spends a lot of time there. I think he goes to the slopes whenever Franco has gotten out of ha
nd and he doesn’t want to be associated with him.”

  “What does one do when you have a crazy, out-of-control brother like that?” Sevastyan asked.

  “I don’t know,” Mitya answered, his expression droll. “What?”

  Ania smacked him. “You think you’re so funny.”

  “I am funny. Most people don’t get that I am because they can’t tell when I’m smiling. Look, kotyonok, take a look at my face.”

  She framed Mitya’s face with both hands and studied his expression and then shook her head. “I’m sorry, love, you look as if you’re about to shoot someone.”

  Sevastyan couldn’t help laughing. “He looks like a lovesick donkey.” Sobering, he glanced toward the house. “Did Drake find out anything on this woman, Shanty? Or the three employees? Anything about Flambé’s father? I know there hasn’t been a lot of time, but I asked for all resources to be put on it.”

  Mitya sobered as well. He brought Ania’s hand up to his mouth and nibbled on the ends of her fingers. “Drake said he knew that Leland Carver and, later, Flambé were bringing in shifters legitimately and helping them with education and, eventually, work and even their own businesses. He said when they investigated him, Carver seemed a good man, and he was doing a good service. He only brought in a few shifters at a time. Later, unfortunately, there were rumors about Carver, that he began to bring mostly women and those women lived with him in the biblical sense.”

  Mitya glanced at the door. “I really hate this, Sevastyan.”

  “Yeah, so do I. I feel like I’m going behind her back, but I have to know how bad things were and if anyone’s betraying her now. Those three employees seemed to think something wasn’t right about this woman coming in, and Flambé defended her. She’s going to put herself in the line of fire. I have to know how to keep her safe.” He reached back to rub at the knots of tension forming in his neck.

  “Drake conducted a quiet investigation of Carver and discovered he was sleeping with the women he brought into the country. You have to remember, Drake was very young and his company was fairly new here in the States as well. Carver’s sex with the shifter women he brought to the States appeared to be consensual, but still, it was unethical. By that time, his wife was already gone, and he was a widower with a little girl.”