Come to my apartment. I need you to calm Slayer down. I haven’t been able to sleep and for some reason he’s gone psycho on me. I’ve asked him over and over to tell me what’s gotten him so riled up, but he won’t answer me.
She really wanted to spend a little time getting to know Whisper. She could do that and take a shower. Shehastened into the huge master bath. She loved her bathroom so much.
Do you think it will do any good if I try to talk to him? I’ve never done that before. I mean, sometimes I do tease him,she admitted.
Gedeon didn’t respond right away, giving her the opportunity to turn the water temperature to the perfect degree she wanted.
You tease Slayer? How?
I sometimes call him Mr. Sinister. I get the impression of him lifting his lip at me. Lucky for me he has a sense of humor.
Yeah, try to talk to him. Anything. I need you to come to me.
I have a few things I have to do, Gedeon. I’ll get down there, but it could take me a little while.
Again, there was a long pause. Meiling waited, tapping her foot on the tiles while she twisted her hair into a knot and secured it on top of her head.
You always come right down. It’s midnight. What do you have to do at midnight?
Meiling had to smile. She shared with Whisper. “Sometimes, although he’s supposed to be this big scary dangerous badass to everyone else, Gedeon to me is like a petulant, pouty little boy who didn’t get his way.”
He makes you happy, Whisper responded.
“Yes, he does. Even when he’s bossy or pouty. It doesn’t seem to matter.” She ignored that little part of her thatinsisted on reminding her that he couldn’t be faithful if his life depended on it—the part that made her incredibly sad.
I said I’d come down later, and I will. I always keep my promises to you.
Fifteen minutes?
Gedeon! An hour. Maybe an hour and a half. I’ll be there before two.
She could make it downstairs a lot faster. She had no idea why she was being so contrary. She stepped under the steady stream of water, and the moment the water touched her, it was as if a thousand tongues lapped at her sensitive skin everywhere.
The burning returned with a vengeance, bursting over her like a wildfire out of control. She gasped and wrapped her arms around her middle, pressing the button to change the spray to gentle. She felt the female leopard writhing in need, unable to control the terrible heat driving her to the surface.
Along with the sensations of being desperate for sex, Meiling felt an itch covering her entire body. Her skin lifted like a wave as something pressed hard against the inside, moving fast underneath, adding to the unfamiliar sensations. Her jaw ached. Her skull felt too tight.
I’m hurting you.
“No, this isn’t hurting, exactly. I feel what you feel. The drive to mate.”
You don’t like it.
Meiling needed to do a better job of shielding her leopard. She was learning, but this was all a first for her as well. “It’s uncomfortable, just as it is for you. We’re in this together, Whisper. It’s necessary so you can emerge.” She kept her voice soothing. “We both want you to emerge.”
She placed both hands on the wall of her shower and let the water run off her skin. “I wish I knew more about helping you. I’ll talk to one of the women I met and ask her questions. She might give me advice.”
There were several women she’d met in New Orleans who were shifters. All of them had been friendly. Each had been very different. She didn’t have a close association with any of them just because she didn’t know how to have friends. She didn’t trust easily and most likely never would.
Drake and Saria Donovan owned the LaFont Inn. He also owned one of the largest international global security companies in the world. He was renowned for his business ethics and his ability to get a job done. He also was the head of one of the lairs in New Orleans.
Joshua Tregre was the head of another lair in New Orleans but was the head of a crime family. His mate, Sonia Tregre, had a reputation for restoring old homes to their past glory.
Meiling considered talking to either of the two women, asking them questions about their leopards’ first emergences, but she quickly discarded the idea. She would run into those women around New Orleans. They might ask her a question in front of Gedeon or another male shifter. That wouldn’t do.
Meiling sighed. She needed answers for herself and her leopard. Who else was there? She’d met Evangeline Amurov in San Antonio. They weren’t exactly friends, although Evangeline had been friendly enough. She didn’t seem like the type of woman to gossip either. She could ask questions as if she was asking out of curiosity. If Evangeline didn’t ask her a direct question she would have to answer honestly, she might get away with not telling her she had a leopard close to emergence.
Meiling hung her head down and breathed deeply, trying to get air to her leopard. Trying to breathe through therelentless sexual demands. “This is just the start,” she murmured aloud, more to herself than to Whisper.
