She gulped down air even as she knew at least two of her men were following her.Their steps weren’t heavy, but their scent carried over some of the female diners’ heavy perfumes and the delicious smell of foods being prepared in the kitchen.
El knew people watched her fleeing, but she didn’t care.At that moment, she needed air.
The restaurant was too small, too cramped.She couldn’t cope with the tiny confines.It didn’t matter that the hall was huge, and that it seated over two hundred people.
It was small.
Too small for the Panther, and too small for whatever the hell else had made that other noise.
She burst through the doors to reach the outer courtyard of the restaurant.Here, there was a terrace that had made the eatery famous in certain circles.Thousands of glowing orbs flowed around tables, dangling from overhead as well as covering the floor.It was a beautiful image, unforgettable even, but at that moment she didn’t want beauty, she wanted darkness.She rushed around the side of the building where she scented the air and tasted nothing.
No one.
Overlooking the back end of nothing as Feral was in the middle of a large plot of land, she pushed her hands to her knees and tried not to hyperventilate.
Marc and Shawn appeared in front of her.She recognized Marc’s Tom Ford loafers and Shawn’s gleaming leather Oxfords.
She doubted Shawn’s were designer.Her father provided the uniforms, and though they were of good quality, she realized, at that totally inappropriate moment that she’d need to tell him to dress better.
“We need to go shopping.”
The words, like the oddly-timed thought, were more blurted out than well expressed.
She felt then and saw her men’s confusion as she stood up straight, her back to the wall, a defiant look on her face.
“We do?”
Shawn frowned.“You can’t shoot Leilani, El.”
Marc’s dubious question and Shawn’s statement had her nodding her head like a bobbin.“Not for guns.Clothes.Shawn needs to dress like he’s one of us, not a part of our security detail.”
“According to the public, we both know that’s exactly what he is,” Marc commented gently.
Shawn didn’t seem to take offense.“It’s not necessary, El.”
She tightened her mouth.“It’s very necessary.To me.I’m not having you dress like you’re the help, even if that’s the image we have to portray to the world.
“I hated it when we weren’t a couple, but now we are?There’s no way I’m letting that stand.”
His gaze, usually so direct and borderline stark when it came to protecting her, softened.He reached over and cupped her chin.“It’s okay.”
“No.It’s not,” she said, panting a little as her heart began to speed up.
Before he knew what was what, she leaped at him.Her legs clinging to his hips as his hands automatically came up to grab her ass and support her.
“What the—”
Before he could speak, she planted her mouth on his and let her tongue slip between his lips.She fucked his mouth with all the desperation floating through her, and at that moment, she wasn’t even sure why she was desperate.Just that she needed, and where there was need, she knew they’d fulfil her desires.
His hands gripped her ass through her dress, but when he pushed her against the wall so the harsh brick scraped across her back, he used the extra support to drag her skirt out of the way.
She was wearing a maxi dress in a pleasant cream and mint green.Mostly mint, there were leaves in the cream and pale yellow stamped all along the length.
It was simple, clean, and elegant, and apparently, easily accessible.
She moaned as his hands found bare skin because, news flash, she wasn’t wearing any panties.
He grunted against her lips as his fingers explored her bare ass, and as he roamed, she felt his thumb dip into her core.
