Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Hexius’ lips pressed together as he studied the sparse collection of documents making up Samira’s file. It was disconcerting, to realize how little he actually knew about the woman whose virgin blood might make him the most powerful snow leopard in five centuries.
Why did you choose her, brother? And how did you even find out about her?
The question dragged his thoughts back to the speed dating event three nights ago. He’d gone purely out of duty: check the compatibility claims, assess the asset, determine next steps. Simple reconnaissance, nothing more.
But then he’d seen her.
From across the crowded venue, his gaze had found Samira Hondros, and for a moment he’d wondered if there had been some mistake. This couldn’t be the same colorless Greek heiress he’d dismissed without a second glance six years ago. That woman had been pale, silent, forgettable. A political pawn dressed in expensive clothes that hung on her like a costume.
This woman, though...
Her auburn hair caught the overhead lights as she laughed at something her companion said. She moved with confidence, gestured with her hands when she spoke, and when she smiled it reached her eyes.
Real. Alive. Free.
Maybe this was who she’d always been beneath her grandfather’s tyranny. Maybe he’d never seen the real Samira at all.
The crowd seemed to sense his presence before they saw him. Conversations quieted. People stepped aside without being asked, creating a clear path through the room. Some recognized the Leopard King from news photos, but most simply felt the weight of ancient predator instincts screaming ‘danger’ and ‘alpha’ and ‘move’.
He hadn’t intended to approach her table. Hadn’t planned to stay. But his feet kept moving, his attention locked on the woman who should have meant nothing to him.
Her curves were more pronounced now, her simple black dress emphasizing a figure that belonged to a woman, not the girl she’d been six years ago. These things...didn’t even register before. But they did so now, and the realization had his disconcert devolving into unease.
A movement caught his eye, Samira leaning forward to speak to the man across from her, and Hexius’ jaw tightened when he saw how this drew the man’s gaze to the fullness of her breasts.
Why do I even give a damn about these things?
Three days ago, he wouldn’t have cared if she dated every man in Hollywood. But now?
Rage simmered in his chest as some fool leered at his potential mate, and the fact that he felt this way pissed him off even more.
Hexius set down Samira’s file, his fingers lingering on the manila edge. After delivering his proposal in that sterile clinic room, his every instinct as an alpha had demanded that he press his advantage. To simply crowd her space and pin Samira with his gaze until she submitted to the inevitable.
Mine. Take her. Claim her.
But because discipline ran deeper than desire—to be ruled by impulse was a dishonorable act of weakness for snow leopards like him—Hexius had reined his urges in and instead placed his business card on the medical tray beside her.
Give it some thought before making your decision.
His jaw clenched as he remembered how much effort it had taken him to simply walk away at that point, and his mood only went from brooding to grim the moment he stepped out of his office.
Qu’est-ce que...
A scent stopped him cold, delaying him from heading back to the bedroom to shower off the day’s tension.
It was faint but unmistakable, drifting up from fifty floors below.
Comme c’est inattendu. How...unexpected.
He made a call to reception, and twenty minutes later, Hexius walked into his living room, freshly showered and dressed in dark jeans and a black V-neck.
His guest, on the other hand, was perched on the edge of his leather sofa like a bird ready to take flight, and she let out a strangled gasp upon catching his reflection on the balcony doors.
She turned around rather clumsily, and he almost raised a brow at the way her face immediately bloomed rose-petal pink from her collarbone to the tips of her ears. The blush spread like watercolor on wet paper, and he found himself fascinated by the way it transformed her features from merely pretty to something that made his chest tighten.
All he’d done was walk into his own living room. His hair was still damp from the shower, droplets catching the light as they traced the strong column of his neck, but otherwise he was fully clothed and perfectly respectable. And yet...
She was staring at him like he’d emerged naked and still glistening with steam, and this innocent and unconcealed reaction of her...ah, how rigid his body was now, and only making things worse were how her sweet lips had parted, her breathing noticeably turning shallow. And when he saw the way her tongue darted out to wet her lips...
Hexius gritted his teeth against the clamor of his body.