Her face closed down. Green eyes shifted away from him and he saw her fingers curl into two tight fists, so tight her knuckles went white. She slipped into the chair where he'd thrown his jeans. He took another swig of Scotch, using the neck of the bottle to lift it to his mouth.
"I can see you're not liking that, baby. But you have to know who I am. Who your man is. My woman stays safe. She has bodyguards. She lives free of the shit we're mired in, as free as I can make her and . . ." He crouched down in front of her. "Fucking look at me, mi vida, you need to see what I am." He kept his face close to hers, determined that she understand him.
The need for violence rode him hard. The leopard inside of him demanded she obey. The man that he'd been since his own family had shaped him was even more insistent. She stared back at him and there was that little chin lift. The flash of defiance in her eyes.
He threw the bottle. It smashed against the side of the house and shattered. He caught her face, framing it with hard hands. He slammed his mouth down on hers, taking hers. Not asking. Not coaxing. Telling her. He kissed her. Hard. Angry. Letting her know she belonged to him and she fucking well was going to do what he told her.
Her mouth was soft beneath his. Soft and warm. His tongue was aggressive. He dragged her into his arms. Right there on the patio, his hands moving over her body. Claiming her. Letting her know he would have her whenever and wherever he wanted her.
Siena melted into him. Kissing him back. Giving him everything without hesitation. Her hands slid up his back, and she'd removed the gloves. It was her touch, skin to skin, that shifted something inside of him, because the moment he kissed her, even angry, she turned wild.
He lifted his head, looking down at her. Her green eyes moved over his face. Slow. Studying him. Possessive. Hungry.
"What I see, Elijah, when I look at you, is my man. He can be gentle and sweet and he can be angry and more leopard than human. But he's mine. The thing you need to get, honey, is that I love you. I'd do anything for you. I'd give up my life for you. But you have to see me. You have to know who I am. I can't be a yes-woman. If that's what you need, I'm not that woman as much as I'd like, for you, to be that. I love you with every single breath I take. Every single one."
She took his anger from him, wiped it away until he felt stripped bare. He pressed his forehead tight against hers. "I can't lose you. We talk to Doc about this, mi vida. If he says it's too dangerous, we go from there. Give me your word on that."
She hesitated. His grip on her tightened in warning. "Baby, I'm hanging on by a fucking thread here. I'm asking you to give me that."
"You're asking me to threaten the lives of our children."
He shook his head. "No. I'm asking you to follow Doc's advice. To listen to what he has to say. We'll do what we have to do, even if that decision is a difficult one."
She pulled back from him, her hand sliding to the nape of his neck, fingers curling even as tears welled up in her eyes. "Elijah."
His name came out a painful whisper, and his gut clenched. "I want the babies, Siena. Swear to God, baby, I want them. I'll do anything to help us keep them. I just have to know you're safe while you're doing it."
He touched one of the tears that spilled over and trailed down her cheek. Brought it to his mouth. Tasted it. Took it inside him as penance. He waited. Still inside. Waited for her slow nod.
He didn't know if she agreed with him, or if she was planning to leave him and make a run for it, but either way, he wasn't leaving her side until he knew what Doc recommended.
"You feel like letting your female run tonight?" he asked. His male was giving him hell now. He'd been settled until Elijah's temper had flared so hot.
She took a breath and then nodded.
He pulled her up and stepped close. Very close. Right into her, his thigh between her legs. "How can I want you again when I just had you?"
His voice was rough. Almost a growl, because his leopard was so close. His cock was as hard as a rock, the thick length standing straight against his stomach, jerking against her soft body, pulsing with need.
"I don't know," she whispered, hooking her thumbs in the lace of her panties and pushing them from her hips. When the lace dropped to the patio floor, she kicked them aside. Her hands slid between her breasts to open her camisole. "But whatever the reason, I'm burning up for you." She let the camisole follow the panties and then she cupped her breasts in her hands, lifting them toward him. "I want you right now, Elijah."
He didn't hesitate. He bent his head and took her right breast deep, suckling, using the flat of his tongue to press her nipple tight against the roof of his mouth.
"Honey," she whispered, her voice as hungry as he felt.
He lifted his head. "Put your arms around my neck, baby, and hop up."
He caught her ass and lifted her into his arms, already feeling her body, so scorching hot. He tipped her back against the wall and drove her down onto him. Her sheath convulsed around his cock, strangling him with fire.
He swore, gritting his teeth, driving into her as she rode him hard. Rode him rough. Matching his out-of-control hunger. Matching his savage. His wild cat. He drove her up twice. Fast. Brutal. Listening to her music, the panting sobs, the pleas, the chanting of his name. He felt every sound vibrating right through his cock. Each time he took her over the edge, she gave that to him, biting down hard with her small teeth, sinking them into his shoulder, saying his name. Her hot, silken muscles so tight, clamping down to seize him so tight he thought he'd died and gone to heaven.
She never stopped moving. Lifting her hips, riding him harder with each orgasm. Her face was a study in pure pleasure. Her eyes dazed. Lips parted. He fucking loved that about her. When she gave herself to him, she gave him everything. He tipped her farther, needing deeper. Needing to bury himself so deep she could never get him out. He pounded into her, his thick shaft driving through those tight, scorching-hot folds, jackhammering through her tight muscles, while the flames burned him clean.
He took her up a third time and knew he couldn't hold out this time. "Again, baby, give me that again," he said. It was his. Her orgasms. Her body. All of her. Heart and soul. She'd given that to him, and nothing was going to take it away from him.
Her breath was coming in ragged gasps. Little mews escaped and still he took her higher. Pushing her limits. He felt the score of her nails along his back, heard her sob, but she kept riding. Kept slamming her body down to meet his. Because he'd asked for it. Because he'd asked.
Then her body was rippling around his. Ecstasy. He felt the tidal wave start somewhere in his toes and sweep up his thighs to boil in his balls. He slammed home three more times and then planted himself there, feeling the eruption, the hot jet of his seed, the release that swept him away with her. Her tight sheath gripped him hard, clamping around him like a vise, holding him to her, in her.
He took his time, letting his lungs have air. Just holding her. Staying where he wanted to be. All the while, her fingers sifted through his hair, caressing. Stroking. Her body stayed soft, melted into his. Boneless. Pliant.
"I love you, Siena." What else could he say? He'd said it all. She'd seen him at his worst so many times, and she still held on tight to him. Still gave him everything.
"Let's let our leopards run, Elijah. I think they need it," she said softly. Still not moving. Still holding him tight, her legs wrapped around him, her heels digging into his hips.
She was laid out before him. Her back arched, partially against the wall. Hair flowing down toward the patio floor. Breasts thrust toward him. Her body impaled on his. He'd never seen a more beautiful sight.
"I need the words tonight, mi amorcito. I need to hear them again."
She smiled at him. Her soft mouth. Her beautiful eyes. "I love you more than life, Elijah."
He let her back rest against the wall to hold her up just for a moment while he ran his hands from her shoulders, down over the curves of her breast, along her abdomen, his fingers splayed wide.
Taking in his children. Holding them inside of her. He knew she saw the sorrow in his eyes when her body tightened around his. She pulled herself up, dropping her legs, trapping his hands there.
"Just wait to find out what Doc says," she whispered. "Let's go run, Elijah."
He knew it would help to lose himself in the freedom of his leopard. He nodded, took her hand and led her off to the edge of the patio. He liked their combined scents. He liked knowing it was his seed trickling down her thigh. He forced his mind away from the thought of losing their children to the joy of running free. And then he shifted.
21
THE male leopard took the lead, running free away from the sometimes suffocating house that belonged to humans. He kept his female close, mostly because he liked her that way. She was in a playful mood. He wasn't. He needed to run, to allow some of the aggression to ebb away.
The little female followed him for a long while as he led her deep into the center of the property, far from the house. The land was beautiful, rolling slightly rather than flat, and the vegetation wasn't manicured, it was wild and dense. His mate seemed happy enough to follow him once she got the idea that he wasn't playing, but then she began to lag behind him, stopping every few minutes to examine the ground, follow the trail of a fox, dig around a rotting log. Generally not complying with his wish to keep moving.
When he rushed her, glaring at her with his snarling mouth and focused stare, she simply rolled over and rubbed her fur along the ground and then came to her feet to rub along his body enticingly. Just like that his mood swung from temper to amorous. He gave her whatever she wanted, running beside her, playing, rolling with her in the deep grass, sliding his fur-covered side along hers, springing away when she swiped at him and moving into position when she crouched invitingly in front of him.
He lost his bad mood fast and remembered fun. Remembered freedom and what having a mate felt like. She tired easily, but she met his every advance willingly, letting him take his fill of her, just as loving back, rubbing her muzzle along his and winding her neck along his.
He kept them moving deeper into the property when he wasn't loving on her. Slower this time, with less purpose and more fun, but still moving. Even after taking her multiple times, the male needed the spacious land, the freedom of the night. Twice she lay down and he had to go back for her, standing over her protectively while she rested. Then he got her moving again.
He took her toward his favorite spot. A small rise with a grove of trees. The trees were old, a stand of oak with thick trunks and long sweeping branches that bent low to the ground. The rise was just high enough that when you leapt up into the trees and climbed, you could see most of the land--even the house.
More than once, when he wanted to be alone, Elijah had come here. Only Joaquin and occasionally his brother Tomas had followed him. They kept to the form of a leopard, their big males pacing a distance behind him, his shadows. They'd been doing it for so long, sometimes he could forget they were there--and why.
As he approached the grove of trees, he picked up the pace, eager to climb his favorite tree, rest with Siena and watch the sunrise before they had to go back and face the day. Face Doc. Elijah stayed buried deep in his leopard, trying not to think of what the morning might bring to the two of them. He wanted to just let go and think of nothing but living wild. Living free with Siena and his children.
The night was extremely dark with no moon. The air had stilled, not even a slight breeze blowing. Black clouds lay heavy above their heads, threatening rain, but there wasn't even a hint of a mist. He moved toward the grove, picking up his pace, and then became aware that Siena had stopped. She didn't follow him. Not only did she not follow him, but she lifted her lip in a snarl and first backed away, then turned to run.
The male leopard wasn't having any more of her defiance. He'd played her games, loved her, given her time to rest repeatedly, and his goal was just a short distance away. He went at her hard, mindful of her fragile state, but he used a hard, very muscular shoulder to turn her back to toward the grove.
She resisted, stubbornly digging her claws into the dirt and then, when he continued to push at her with his larger body, she dropped to the ground, refusing to move. Elijah felt the burst of temper exploding in his moody cat and instantly shifted to keep the little female from the male's retaliation. He dropped his hand on the female's neck, digging his fingers into the beautiful thick fur.
"Baby, you'll love the grove," he whispered softly in the cat's ear, leaning his head against her. When in leopard form, he didn't have the human tactile feel of the leopard's fur against his skin. It was amazing, incredible, and he couldn't resist stroking caresses along her back.
Siena shifted out from under his hand, wrapping her arms around herself. Neither had brought a pack with clothes. Nudity didn't bother Elijah at all. He was comfortable in that form, and like all shifters, he stashed several caches with clothes and money around the property. He'd had his leopard almost as long as he could remember, and before that, he was aware of the creature. Siena, however, was clearly uncomfortable out in the open without her clothes. He locked his arm around her waist, pulling her front to his side, so he could shelter her a little with his larger body.
"I don't like the smell," she whispered, her hand sliding up his chest. It was trembling. "I can't quite catch what it is, but it makes me uneasy."
She was pregnant. Her cat would share her heightened sense of smell. Already, the leopard's ability was acute, but with the pregnancy, it would be even more so.
"Shift, Siena," he ordered softly. "Stay right here, in the taller grass and wait for me. I'll look around." He believed her. Siena wasn't given to unfounded fears.
The moment he recognized that she was afraid, the night went from beautiful to sinister. The overhead clouds became ominous. The entire atmosphere of the night changed, so that he felt that same uneasiness that her female had conveyed to her.
Siena wrapped her arms around his neck. "Let's just go, Elijah. We can go home and . . ." She obviously didn't know what, but her body trembled and her voice shook. She kept her tone very low, just a thread of sound, and she spoke against his ear as if she feared someone--or something--would overhear.
"You won't feel safe until I figure out what has you spooked, mi vida," he whispered into her ear, following her lead in order to show her he took her seriously. "Shift for me now, baby. Stay low, and I'll just scout around a little."
For a moment he didn't think she'd do what he'd asked. Her arms tightened around him and she pressed close for comfort, or to keep him with her, he didn't know which. He remained silent. Waiting. Because in the end, Siena believed in him. He got that now. She believed he would keep her safe. She was certain he would keep their children safe. If she didn't, she would never have agreed to stay with him. Threats wouldn't stop her leaving, only her belief in him. He got that now and it was huge, because it meant she wasn't going anywhere, no matter how tough things got.
He slipped his hand over her tummy, where his children were growing. He understood what she meant about risks as well. She was risking everything to stay and believe in him. He had to find the same courage when Doc gave them the statistics on a woman carrying triplets. He was intelligent enough to know that any pregnancy carried risks, and multiples had to come with their own set of problems.
"We'll handle it, baby," he murmured.
She turned her face up to his and smiled. Smiled. Her soft mouth curved, and even there in the darkness, with danger somewhere close, that smile lit her beautiful features and her gorgeous green eyes. She couldn't read his mind. She couldn't know he was referring to their babies, but somehow she did and she understood.
"Siena"--he wrapped his fingers in warning around her neck--"shift. Right. Fucking. Now. And you stay put. No matter what." Because his heart was in danger and that soft spot inside him was showing. He knew it. He knew she saw it. He had to be sharp because, although there was no breeze and he didn't smell whatever her le
opard had, he felt the danger. And it seemed to be getting closer, as if something was stalking them.
She didn't argue. Right there, with his fingers curled around her neck, she shifted. She was still a little hesitant, a little awkward, but she was getting the hang of it. Her little female dropped her belly to the ground and curled into the high grass for protection.
Elijah shifted, already on the prowl, stalking back toward the grove of trees, lifting his muzzle, trying to catch the elusive scent that had warned Siena. He circled around the grove without entering, keeping to cover, using the slower, freeze-frame movements of the stalking leopard to cross any open areas so he wouldn't draw the eye.
He was a distance from Siena, something his leopard didn't like and he liked even less, when he caught the first scent. Instantly his leopard lifted his lip in a silent snarl. Paolo's leopard. There was no mistaking that odor. The leopard's scent had clung to Siena's body after it had mauled her so badly. Even after she'd showered repeatedly, it had taken awhile before Elijah didn't smell him on her anymore.
He'd never said a word to her, but more than once he'd gone into his workout room and pounded the heavy bag because the need for violence in him was too strong to ignore. He moved into the grove, keeping to the higher grass, and the scent of Paolo's leopard was even heavier. With it was another one. Paolo hadn't come alone. They were scouting the house, using the trees to do it.
Elijah knew this breech was his fault. Drake had pulled security in closer to the house, patrolling the surrounding grounds, but not the acreage itself. There was a lot of territory to cover and they just didn't have the manpower. But Elijah knew about that grove of trees and how a leopard could climb up there and see the house and any activity. They should have put someone on it.
He knew the tree one of them would be in and he guessed at that other. He couldn't get up the tree without being seen, not any of those, but he knew the tree on the far side of the grove had branches that looped and shaped long-reaching limbs toward the ground. Not only could he get up easily to the leopard highway in the trees, but he would be coming in from behind them. He made his way there.