Page 15 of Finding His Way

Friend…sort of…acquaintance might be a better word.

Sexual god. Something she knew from experience.

Leopard shifter.

Jeremy Ruscino.

Chapter6

Jeremy fought his cat back under control. Rage tinged his world red and he longed for nothing more than to eliminate every single threat to his woman. Not one single person he laid eyes on was left alive. He knew there was one person other than Dianna breathing. But that man was far away from him, being guarded by his brothers. That dead man’s fear permeated the air, its acidic scent burning his nose.

The angry leopard settled the moment it looked at its mate. Rage didn’t dissipate, no, because she had been injured and was bound. And, she was trying to escape when he’d deliberately told her to stay put. His jaw physically hurt from the combination of keeping his fangs concealed and clenching his teeth.

The feline in him wanted to bite her and pin her down until she submitted to his law. His mate should listen and never,evergo against his command. Right now, the human was fairly on board with such an idea.

He stalked over the floor to stand before her, his soul settling purely on the reason he was closer to the woman who had no idea how much she owned him. Raking his gaze over her, he bit the inside of his jaw to keep from yelling at her for being kidnapped. The zip ties on her wrists were way to tight and he could see how they’d been digging into her skin.

She had her back against the wall, eyes on him, wide and uncertain. He didn’t blame her. He knew he was a scary mother fucker. But no fear scent wafted from her and he approved. This woman had faced untold hell but she still defied showing the slightest bit fear.

Jeremy stepped into her more, shoving his thigh between her legs and lifted so his jeans rubbed against her core. Asshole behavior?

Perhaps.

Definitely. Especially, given what she’d been through but this was his woman and both him and his beast needed to remind themselves she was here. And alive.

He leaned close, rubbing his nose along the side of her face and down to her neck. The feline growled as the scent of one shifter came to him.

Aleks.

He fucking touched her. Had his hand around her neck, the scent of her blood lingered intermixed with the infuriating stench of Aleks “Frost” Morozov.

That mother-fucking bear shifter.

Keeping his face pressed along hers, he rubbed slightly, much like his cat would if that were the form he were in, head butting, pushing, scent marking. Settling a hand on the other side of her features, he extended the tips of his razor sharp claws and dragged them down her skin, listening to the uptick in her breathing and her pulse.

Their one night together, he’d found out firsthand how much the light teasing caress of his claws turned her on. He didn’t slow his movement down, continued on until he reached those fucking zip ties marring her skin and sliced through them like they weren’t even there.

“Hello Dianna.”

There it came. The shudder and he knew her limit neared its end. Moving his leg back, he smiled as he picked up on a whimper he knew she didn’t want him to hear. It was nothing but pure lust.

“You walking or am I carrying you?”

It physically pained him to ask this as he didn’t want to let her out of his arms. He wanted to scoop her up and carry her everywhere, but she was a proud woman. A defender. Asurvivor.

“Walking.”

That was his woman. Ignoring the stench of Aleks on her skin, he rubbed his cheek along hers until their mouths touched. Her lips, cracked and chapped, pushed more anger through him, the thought of what this woman had endured, simply enraged him.

“Let’s go.” He stepped back, dragging two knuckles down the side of her bruised face.

Gratitude shimmered in her gaze as she nodded once before heading for the cave entrance. He felt the wave of uncertainty sweep her when his brothers stepped into view. Shifting closer to her—how he managed to do that without actually climbing into her skin, he wasn’t entirely sure—he curved an arm around her.

He needed touch.

His cat needed touch.

She needed it as well, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

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