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Sonia loved that he thought Gatita was beautiful She watched as he shifted That alone was so He was fast, so fast she didn't see the actual transforer than Gatita by quite a bit The first thing he did was nuzzle her neck and rub along her body before licking her face Gatita responded by doing the sa to each other, they whirled around and leapt for the tree branch

Shadow took the lead, with the fe the twisted liround until they were close to the center of Sonia's land Shadow led her to the ground and they played for a while in the leaves, rolling in the for insects and fish along the bank

He took her a little closer to the property line bordering Joshua's property, and Gatita scented other ri her forith his shoulder

Sonia moved closer to the surface the moment Gatita was uncomfortable The female and her male had played and rested for well over an hour She had crouched in front of him a few ti four tiain

Sonia tried to soothe, to tell her to trust in theto put her life on the line if anything threatened her leopard Out of the trees ca males Gatita whirled to face theed her and rubbed along her body with his

One by one the leopards came up to the fe the other shifters She got the iuards for Shadow Not Shadow--Joshua Why would the head of a security teauards? She needed to look into hiency and ask if Joshua really worked for him

I about checking up on hi the saue about who she'd been ate her without tipping off her husband and his father They had ears and eyes everywhere

Gatita ran with the fourJoshua's territory Shadow turned her after another hour, which meant Joshua wanted to take back his form Sonia would have been happy to allow Gatita to have her form until dawn in the hopes that Joshua wouldn't have to spend too much time in her bed

It wasn't sex she was afraid of It was the way he held her So close His body tightly against hers He held her like she was cherished by hi in his life He whispered to her He stroked her hair Those things ore her down, not his creative brand of

Shadow pushed Gatita to the verandah, where Shadow shifted Joshua dropped his hand to Gatita's fur and the leopard walked with him to the French doors of the bedroom He opened them and the talked into her bedroom She loved her room It was enor and all the glass facing the swas of various shades in the wood, a pattern oftiht She kneasn't the best with a leopard, but she wanted to duplicate the original floor to the best of her ability, and it had been hardwood

She shifted as Joshua turned back to get her red lace from the table and then closed the French doors "They had fun"

"Yes, they did, but you're tired, sore and your muscles are achy" He e claw-foot tub aiting He turned on the gold taps and stea water poured into the porcelain bathtub "Do you have any bath salts? Soht soothe away soreness?"

Thatnot to be hyperaware of the differences in their bodies She was certain he didn't have an ounce of fat on him He had defineda vee as his waist narrowed into his hips His thighs were twin columns of muscle

Then there was her body She had muscle, but she was fairly certain no one could see it, except maybe those in her arms She was tempted to pump her bicep to see, but she crouched in front of the sink where she kept boxes of salts She handed him one of the rinned, one eyebrow shooting up

"Grapefruit"

"I have oranges and spice"

"Grapefruit it is" He poured it into the stea water

He was really built She had ample curves, with the stress on the ample part Her breasts were full, her hips full, and because her rib cage was narrow and so was her waist, it only served to eiven to her Then there were her thighs She ran all the tihs bone skinny? She was not model material

"You keep it up, and I' to bite you somewhere that will make you unable to sit down for a week or two"

Startled, her gaze ju, nor did he sound it He looked inti "You already did that"

"I'll do it again much harder"

She decided to ignore the threat,to her "You can't possibly read hts"

"I told you, you don't have a poker face More, you were staring at h with a scowl on your face You don't like the way you look It doesn't matter that I tell you you're the most beautiful woman in the world to me, that I love every inch of you, you don't believe me"

"I wasn't thinking that at all," she lied She tried a h, but it didn't work

He stepped even closer to her, his hands fra over her lips The caress burned That burn spread through her body, turning her veins to hot molasses "Look at me"

Her heart beat hard She knew if she looked into his eyes she'd be lost there She alas There was so so beautiful and deadly about the turbulent sea there in the depths of all that crystalline blue He waited She took a breath and lifted her lashes His gaze burned into hers Burned right through her until she felt hi a piece of her heart She'd known it would happen sooner or later, but how could it right there? Right then? It was the way he looked at her, that mixture of affection and exasperation, that sent her heartbeat skipping

"I don't knoho made you feel as if you aren't perfect, but whoever he was, he doesn't have a fuckin' brain in his head You understand me, Sonia? You take my breath away Our leopards may have found each other first, but had I laid eyes on you in the street before that night, I would have been co, no one, would have stoppedyou That's the truth"

Just like that he had a second piece of her heart He was stealing it away, and there didn't seem to be much she could do about it

"You getto you? I know every man in my employ thinks you're beautiful They talk, and I listen You walked into that house and they were pissed you weren't theirs They're out there noatching over us Making sure we're safe They're goodyou"

She didn't knohat to say He meant every word She knew he did It was there in his tone, in his set features and most of all, in his eyes She nodded, because what else could she do? HeNot a woman one fucked and threay Not one to blow up in a car because you were through with her

"You don't knowdesperately to keep their relationship to sex

"I know that you're trying to protectyou, Sonia I know you help out Jerry when you don't need to Everyone knows you've got talent, and you've got that reputation I know you're kind and caring and talented beyond anything I've seen both with your work and your art I love the way you laugh The way you pu

t your hand in o on and on but" He took her hand and led her to the tub "You need to get into the water, baby Turn around"

She did, wondering what he was up to

I it into three sections and braiding it swiftly, so quickly she kneas skilled

"Where did you learn to do that?" She kept all expression from her voice, and it was easier to ask hiood at it"

"I can do fancy braids as well," he bragged, a that was suspiciously like sorrow in his voice "My ot sick, she didn't want to cut it So I learned how to take care of it for her"

He could break hearts That was all there was to it She didn't turn around, but went to the drahere she kept her hair ties and secured the end of her braid Pinning it on top of her head, she turned back to him "How old were you?"

"I had her until I was sixteen We were living in Borneo, in the rain forest Drake was already running a crew to get back kidnap victi a way of life for some to kidnap tourists and extort money I joined him then"

Sonia sank down into the hot, stea water and scooted to the end of the tub to make room for him He fascinated her She watched hi the bath with her for years He stretched out and then took her ankles and pulled until her feet were in his lap His hands began a slow e under the water

"I've seen pictures of Drake Donovan He doesn't look much older than you"

"He isn't How old were you when you lost your mother?"

"I'd just turned eighteen I didn't have a clue what to do"

"That's when he swooped in and ht?"

She nodded, reluctant to talk about her past with him She had to protect him somehow The less he knew, the better

"So, you ith him a year? Two? You don't look very old"

She shrugged "Almost two years I feel old It isn't every woman who can say her husband set a boally married, why bother? Why take the chance?"