Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
He said you were his man’s mate.
Her breath caught in her throat. Her heart clenched at the idea. “He was wrong. I don’t even know him. We had sex. You know it was driven by your heat.”
Our heat, Gatita corrected. We both were in need. I know you’re still in need. When you are lying on the bed thinking of him, you…
“I know what I do,” Sonia broke in, not that it worked. Not that anything she did worked. “I can’t help it. You don’t have the same drive as humans.”
Again, there was silence while Sonia rinsed herself off. She slowed when she reached the junction between her legs. She was still feeling him. How could she not think about him and the things he’d done to her body?
I think of my mate. I think of being with him that way and still want him.
That was a revelation. “I read about leopards when you showed yourself. After you saved me. I was so scared, and I couldn’t find anything on shifters that wasn’t science fiction. Leopards go into heat, and after they don’t stay with their mates. The males don’t help raise the babies, so I thought it was the same. Isn’t it?” She began toweling herself off.
I don’t know about the others like me, but I want to be with him. I want to stay close to him. I want you close to his man.
“That isn’t going to happen. I’m sorry, Gatita. I had no idea you would feel that way. I can’t be with another man, you know that. It’s too dangerous for us and for him. We came here because of the swamp. It’s a lot like the Florida swamp, a place for you to run free… I can’t just take you anywhere, you know that. This was the best place I could think of.”
I know it is dangerous. I didn’t think you were protecting the man. He seemed strong. The man calls my mate Shadow. He likes his name and likes his man. He says his man is very strong and dangerous. Maybe we should try it. I am not like an animal leopard any more than you are like a regular human. We’re both different, and he is too.
Sonia had to agree with her leopard there. Joshua was different. He was much more dominant than a regular human male, and who wanted that for a boyfriend? He talked to her as if she belonged to him – that it was a forgone conclusion that she would come when he called her. She’d been smart enough never to bring her cell phone or give out her last name or her number.
A small shiver crept down her spine. In fantasies, relationships like that worked, but in reality, dominant men were a pain in the neck. She knew from experience. It didn’t matter that her body craved him and she was fairly certain his name was carved deep inside her body; she wasn’t making another mistake.
“I’m sorry, Gatita, I have to keep both of us safe. A man like that is not good for me. You know what happened…”
The man you chose did not do that. It was the others. He wouldn’t have given you up, but he was not your mate. You know he wasn’t. There was no reprimand in Gatita’s voice. You have been with your mate and it was… different.
Her body flushed at Gatita’s impressions. She was referring to sex. “Sex isn’t everything,” she whispered, trying to convince herself.
Sonia stared at her reflection in the mirror. She was covered in his marks. They were everywhere. She touched the signs of possession. His brand. Her breasts. The inside of her thighs. Her neck. He’d liked marking her. He’d liked telling her she was his. For seven nights, she’d been his. All his. He’d owned her body and she’d loved every single second of it. He’d made her nights pure paradise.
“Even if it were true,” she said to her cat, “he didn’t say a thing about permanent. Nor did he ask me out on a date. It was just sex to him. That’s a good thing. It would be too dangerous for him to be in our lives.”
Do you want to spend the rest of your life alone?
Of course she didn’t. She wanted what everyone else had, but she knew better. “I don’t have a choice. In any case, I’m not alone. I have you.” She was more than grateful for Gatita. Being a shifter presented its own set of problems. She had to ensure her leopard was taken care of at all times, which meant having a place for Gatita to run free without being seen. She’d found this swamp. She loved it. She loved everything about it, even the heat and humidity. She had been lucky enough to find the old plantation house for sale. The real estate agent had advised tearing down the house. She’d spent her time talking about the land and what pieces of property along the river were worth. Although the land was needed for her leopard, Sonia had fallen in love with the house.