Moments after she disappeared into the trees, a male leopard’s large head pushed out of the brush. He was much more cautious, testing the air before he stepped fully into the open. He was a huge male for his kind. He had to weigh in at over two hundred pounds of solid muscle. When he moved, he was fluid, agile, clearly as flexible and suppleas any cat weighing less. His thick fur was marred with scars in a few places, showing he had experience fighting. He walked with confidence, a male in his prime. When he crossed the meadow after the female, he did so staying within streaks of shadows, making it nearly impossible to follow his progress.
Gedeon had allowed Slayer to have his time with Whisper after they’d inspected the area where the cabins had been in the Venezuelan jungle. Gedeon wanted to be certain Miguel hadn’t started up his human trafficking enterprise again. He also wanted the cat to smell around the mass graves he knew were there. He wanted to know how many graves there were. The jungle had been quick to reclaim the territory the humans had taken from it. Already the brush had grown thick and wild. Trees were coming up as well. If Gedeon hadn’t known crude roads and cabins had once been there, he wouldn’t have detected the evidence.
The leopards had been out all night together. Whisper was playful and very vocal. She flirted and rubbed along tree trunks, scent marking, being alluring and tempting Slayer to follow her. She raced over downed trunks and around tall termite mounds. She splashed through shallow creek beds and rolled in crackling piles of leaves. Slayer followed her patiently.
Every fifteen to twenty minutes she crouched down, and he was on her, his teeth sinking into her shoulder to hold her in place while he mounted her. After, he stood close while she rested, and then she would be up again, exploring while he followed her. Slayer took in all the coordinates of the jungle. Every road cut into it. The wild, unexplored interior. If they approached the outer edges, he urged Whisper back under cover, even as he gathered data to pass to Gedeon and Meiling.
Dawn broke when Gedeon instructed Slayer to herdWhisper back to the utility vehicle they had brought and parked on a nearly nonexistent trail in the jungle. Slayer had to get Whisper to her feet several times. She was exhausted and kept lying down and curling up into a little ball, falling asleep instantly. By the time the male leopard got her to the vehicle, she was stumbling on her velvet paws. Gedeon shifted immediately and called to Meiling. Whisper had curled up on the front seat.
He shook the leopard. She protested with a snarl. He kept it up, commanding her to shift. Meiling finally made the ultimate effort and did so. She didn’t bother to sit up and put on her seat belt. She simply laid her head in his lap and went back to sleep. He caught up a blanket, yanked it over her and took them to the house he’d rented. He’d gotten the information they needed about the former human trafficking site. It was possible Miguel had started up somewhere else, but if he had, Rene hadn’t found evidence of him doing business with anyone. Gedeon had a good idea of the routes in the jungle, and Slayer and Whisper had had their time together and were sated for the time being. It had been a productive night.
***
GEDEONcrouched down beside the bed and pushed back the tangle of silky black hair spilling across the pillow so he could see Meiling’s face. She was out. Deep sleep. So exhausted after Whisper’s night in the jungle with Slayer. Meiling looked so young and innocent in her sleep—so completely not meant to be with a man like him.
He hated waking her. He’d let her sleep as long as possible. “You’re going to have to join the land of the living, Lotus Blossom,” he whispered, tracing her cheekbone with the pad of his finger. Memorizing her the way he did every day. She was already imprinted in his bones. It didn’t matter. He still needed to map out her features with his hands,feel her bones and skin under his. The moment was always intense. Overwhelming. In some ways shocking to him. He would never fully believe that the universe had decreed that this woman would walk beside him through life. “We’ve got a meeting with Lubin and Miguel Diaz in an hour.”
Her long lashes fluttered, and his gut tightened. His cock hardened. It didn’t take much around her. He waited and the feathery lashes lifted. He found himself falling right into her dark chocolate eyes. That was another moment he looked forward to. There were so many and none he’d ever get tired of. Then she smiled and his heart contracted. Was squeezed liked a vise. He compared the feeling to having his cock strangled by her tight sheath. Agony and ecstasy. It hurt like hell, but in a good way he never wanted to end.
“There you are.” He leaned in and brushed the corner of her eye with a kiss. “Sit up, Lotus, I brought coffee.”
She blinked several times, the long lashes feathering up and down, and then her face lit up. She allowed him to help her into a sitting position. The sheet fell away from her body, pooling around her slender waist. She didn’t seem to notice. She was too busy reaching for the coffee mug he held out to her. He noticed.
She thought her breasts too small. He thought she was perfect. Her skin was the softest thing he’d ever felt in his life. Right now, no matter how gentle he tried to be, the moment Whisper began to rise and the heat hit, control went out the window. The evidence was there like a proprietary label, all over her. He used to want to see his marks on her. Now he winced at seeing them there. The bruising and the bite marks were worrisome to him. She didn’t complain because Meiling didn’t complain.
“You’re frowning, Leopard Boy.” Meiling rubbed at the frown with her finger. “What’s wrong? What did I miss?”
He caught her finger with his lips and drew it into the heat of his mouth.You haven’t missed a thing. Just wakingmy woman up with her coffee.He sucked on her finger for a moment, watching desire creep into the dark chocolate in her eyes. She was so beautiful, she stole his breath.
She never flinched away from the hard things. Never. This was hard. Coming back to Venezuela, where Libby had been kidnapped, trafficked and murdered. Where her friends had been tortured and murdered. She refused to stay back and let him come alone. Before, he had always wanted her with him. Now, he wanted to shield her. Meiling just smiled sweetly and refused to stay behind.
Gedeon nipped at her fingertip before releasing it, so she could drink her coffee. “I’ve met Lubin Diaz several times and done work for him. He’s never gone back on his word, not to me, and as far as I could tell, not with anyone else. That hasn’t been as true with his sons. Frankie was a mess. He was the most likable family member. He meant well. He always had ideas and they were always shit ideas. Miguel didn’t have a lot of patience with him, but Lubin, as much as he would act annoyed in public, doted on him.”
“Do you know why Miguel and Frankie were so different? Did they have different mothers?”
Gedeon shook his head. “No. When Frankie was born, he was deprived of oxygen. He nearly died. His mother did. He was all Lubin and Miguel had left of her. As much as Miguel would get pissed at him, he loved him too. Anyone who made fun of Frankie got the crap beat out of them, or worse. Miguel didn’t let anyone mess with his brother. He did. All the time. He thought he would toughen him up.”
She sipped at the coffee, sometimes closing her eyes as if savoring it, as if it were the nectar of the gods. He ran his finger from her collarbone over the swell of her breast to her nipple. Instantly he got a reaction. Her nipple hardened into a tight bud. He dipped his head, sliding his arm around her back to steady her while he licked, suckled andthen drew her breast into the heat of his mouth. He flattened her nipple against the roof of his mouth with his tongue and pressed it there while he sucked.
Meiling cradled his head with one arm, holding him close to her, her breath coming in ragged little pants. He took the coffee cup out of her hand and set it aside before the dark liquid spilled everywhere, all the while his mouth stayed busy. He dragged the sheet from her body and took her hand, guiding it between her legs. Using his fingers, he curled hers and inserted two into her already wet entrance. She was like that for him. Hot. Ready. Never turning him away. This was not about their leopards. This was about Meiling wanting to be with Gedeon.
She loved pleasing him. She worked at taking his length and girth in her mouth. She gave him that without thought for her own pleasure. Now she gave her body to him, whatever he wanted. When they were out and he kissed her, no matter where they were, she kissed him back without reservation.
He curled their fingers into her and stroked, pressing against that little bundle of nerves that could drive her wild. “Right there, baby. Keep that up. Don’t stop.” He whispered the command against her breast and brought up his hand to cup her left breast while he worked her right with his mouth.
She did what he said. He watched her fingers moving and her hips rocking, pushing up to meet her fingers. The sight was sensual. Erotic. He tugged on her nipple. Pinched down. Bit gently. She moaned. The sound went through his body like a spear of pure fire, arrowing straight to his cock. He kissed her breasts and dropped his hands to his jeans, opening them, releasing his erection. He was so full and aching.
Catching her easily by her thighs, he lifted her as he dropped to his back. “Ride me, Lotus.” His voice was hoarse.Husky. He positioned her body right over his straining cock and began to lower her, holding her thighs apart. “Pinch your nipples the way I was doing. Arch your back for me.”
Meiling never disappointed him. It couldn’t be easy balancing while he held her by her legs, but she did it. Her hands slid up her body to cup her breasts, fingers tugging and pinching her nipples, head thrown back so that her long hair cascaded down like a shiny waterfall. She shuddered with pleasure, moaning a little, arching her back, her legs trembling.
Gedeon lodged the broad head of his cock in her entrance, and fire streaked up his spine at the roiling heat. He let her weight settle over him, so that she sheathed him slowly, her tight silken tunnel a vise gripping him with a ring of fire.
“Slow, Lotus. Ride slow.”
Slow might kill him, but the way she moved, the sight of her, was not only erotic but mesmerizing. Taking him apart inside. He slid his hands over her satin thighs, watching the two of them come together as he had so many other times. Like those other times, it seemed a miracle.
His eyelids felt heavy, hooded, dropping partway down as he took her in, realizing the jolting streaks of lightning arrowing up his body and settling in his groin weren’t the best because her pussy was the best—although he’d forever believe it was. It was the emotions welling up in him when he was like this. Choking him. Pure lust mixed with feelings so deep for her, he knew he’d never feel them for any other being on earth.
