Total pages in book: 172
Estimated words: 155984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
“The moment I realized something was off about Franco, I got away from him, covered my tracks and made my way back home. I don’t think it was that hard for him to find me. We do bring shifters here legitimately all the time. They work here. Go to school. Become citizens. Set up their own businesses. He was trying to track Karisa. That’s what took so much time. I made certain there were multiple places for Basil and his leopard to hunt for her. Franco had to have gone to each of those places first.”
She perched on one of the high stools, her blanket slipping open to reveal her breasts with the faint marks of his mouth and teeth over the generous curves and the reddish marks of the rope knots in the valley between her breasts. His cock stirred in sheer male satisfaction. He opened the refrigerator and took out the cannister of homemade soup the chef had already prepared.
“You always prepare for every contingency. I noticed when you do your drawings for clients you make several, no matter how good the first one is. And when you were doing the ones for this property and you were creating escapes for the leopards, you made certain there were dozens of possibilities to choose from.”
He’d been proud of her for that way of thinking. She was like him in that regard, a general planning out a battle yet in a completely different way, he’d thought at the time. Now, he realized, she wasn’t all that different.
She gave him a small smile. “It’s difficult enough for human women to get away from their abusers or stalkers, but shifters? They have leopards who can track them. That can make it nearly impossible. Depending on the country, it can be impossible.”
“There is a difference between a mating pair, real mates, and mates who come together like your parents did for the wrong reasons. You know that, don’t you?” he said carefully. He didn’t look at her, keeping his attention on the soup instead.
There was a small silence. “I’m not certain what you mean.”
“Real mates, those belonging together, will find each other over and over. They won’t tolerate any other mate during their life cycle. It would be impossible to be abusive. Surely you can see that Shturm wouldn’t harm Flamme and would protect her with his life. That means he would do the same for you.” He glanced at her in order to read her expression.
She had her chin propped up on the heel of her hand, her gaze on his face as he worked.
“I feel the same way about you. I told you that. I would never hurt you, nor would I allow anyone else to harm you. There was no mistake when Shturm and Flamme found each other. I was drawn to you and I think you were drawn to me, whether you want to insist it was all sex or not. Maybe for you it is, and that’s enough.” He shrugged his shoulders, trying not to feel the piercing ache in the region of his chest.
Flambé sat up straighter, the blanket slipping off one shoulder just a little more. “It’s not just about sex. I think you know that. You scare me. The things you make me feel scare me.” She sounded a little reluctant, cautious, almost shy, a characteristic he didn’t usually equate with her, but she didn’t find it easy to admit her emotions to him.
He poured the soup into two tall, thick mugs and made himself a quick sandwich while he thought over her soft confession. She clearly didn’t want to talk about how she felt. He was willing to let that go until he was in bed with her, or at least until they weren’t eating.
“Let’s take the food outside and you can tell me the rest about your underground railway for shifter women. It had to be very difficult to set up.” He poured genuine admiration into his voice.
She looked so relieved as she slid off the stool that he couldn’t help smiling. She left the blanket behind as they went out onto the back patio where the large awning shaded their bodies from the sun’s rays.
“I was fortunate in that there were several women already in place across the United States who had their own businesses,” Flambé said. She sipped at the mug of soup and shaded her eyes as she looked out toward the woods with long branches. “See how the branches reach toward one another and nearly touch? I kept looking at all the various trees that had been planted over the years for the shifters and how they were shaped. My father showed me how to work with them when we were molding and growing them on our property before transferring them to a client’s. That stuck in my mind. I flew to a city near each of the women and then rented a car and drove to their business and just talked with them. Visited.”