Burning Up

body—torturing himself in the process. But the scent of her damp heat, it was pure ambrosia. He wanted to sit her down—no, lay her down—on a sprawling playground of a bed, spread her thighs wide and taste. His cock pulsed, the leopard’s hunger threatening to overwhelm the man’s control.

Fighting the urge to tear off her sweats, he concentrated on driving her over the edge of pleasure. He hadn’t needed her to tell him—he’d known instinctively that Ria wasn’t a woman who took sex casually. He’d have to coax her into his bed. Taking her against the scarred door of a basement gym was hardly going to reassure her that her pleasure mattered to him. Mattered enough that when her body tightened, he grit his teeth and stroked her through the orgasm.

Her fingernails dug into his shoulders through his T-shirt—he wished like hell he’d taken the damn thing off. He wanted those marks on his skin, wanted to know she’d put them there. Next time, he promised the cat. Next time. “Beautiful,” he murmured, nuzzling at her neck as she shuddered against him, her body going limp. “Pretty and soft and beautiful.” And mine. The leopard bared its teeth at the thought, even as the man bit back a rawly possessive smile.

Finally shifting his hold from the gorgeous curve of her butt, he ran his hands up her sides as he kissed and petted her through the aftershocks of pleasure. Her eyes were still a little unfocused when she said, “Put me down.” It was an order.

The leopard snarled, but he did as asked. She pressed her hands flat against the door and looked up at him. “You’re . . .” Color streaked across her cheekbones.

He gave her a smile that he knew held a distinctly savage edge. “I’m thinking I want lots and lots of time when I slide into you.”

“Are all cats as arrogant as you?”

He shrugged and leaned in close. “I’m the only cat you need to be thinking about.”

Ria couldn’t not think about Emmett. That night, as she sat across from her parents at the dinner table, she kept finding herself drifting off in the middle of conversations. Emmett’s herself drifting off in the middle of conversations. Emmett’s scent seemed to have become locked in her brain. She was fantasizing about burying her face in his neck, his strong body hard and taut against hers when Alex’s voice penetrated.

“Ria!”

Jumping, Ria met her mother’s eyes, hoping the guilt didn’t show. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“Tom’s popping by for coffee tonight. Why don’t you change into a dress?”

Ria’s fingers turned to iron around her chopsticks. Enough, she thought. And strangely, it had nothing to do with Emmett. Perhaps he’d pushed her to this point faster, but she’d always been walking toward it. “Mom,” she said, putting down the abused chopsticks, “I have no interest whatsoever in Tom.”

Utter silence.

Simon was the one to break it. “What’s gotten into you, Ria? You and Tom grew up together—he knows you. He’ll make a good husband.” The tone of his voice said the matter was settled.

Ria looked into her father’s face. “I love you, Dad, but not even for you will I marry a man who thinks I should be patted on the head once in a while and put in the corner like a good little girl the rest of the time.”

White lines bracketed Simon’s mouth. “That boy’s only ever treated you with respect.”

“He treats me like a dimwit,” Ria said, skin blazing with temper. “Last week, he told me I wouldn’t have to worry about finances when we were married, that he knows math confuses females.”

Alex made a choked little sound that succeeded in ripping Ria’s attention from her father’s disapproving face. Alex’s expression was a mix of outrage and disbelief. “He did not say that. You’re making it up.”

“Popo?” Ria turned to her right.

Miaoling ate a fried shrimp and nodded. “He said it. Then he smiled as if expecting praise.”

Alex’s hands clenched on the tablecloth. “And who does he think does the books for the shop, huh?”

“Alex.” Simon closed his hand over his wife’s. “We’re getting off topic.”

Taking a deep breath, Alex nodded. “You’re right. Sweetheart, Tom is a very good match for you. You never had a problem with him before you met that disreputable leopard.”

Ria supposed Emmett was disreputable—that stubble, those hands that had squeezed and petted, those eyes that told her he wanted to do all kinds of wicked things to her. But . . . “He’s an honorable man.” That core of honor was so much a part of him, she wondered if he was even aware of it. It was why it had been so easy for her to lose control in the gym today—she’d trusted Emmett to take care of her. And that, she thought, was a dangerous thing . . . the kind that could lead to a broken heart if she wasn’t careful. “He’s protecting our family.”

“Exactly,” Jet said, jumping into the conversation. “Maybe he’s making time with you while he does this duty, but he won’t marry you, Ria. Those cats stick together.”

Ria’s stomach twisted, because she knew her brother was right. “This isn’t about Emmett. It’s about me. I will, under no circumstances, marry Tom.”

“Why not?” Alex asked, eyes flashing. “He’s intelligent, handsome, has a good job, and brings you flowers.”

Frustrated, Ria threw down her napkin and rose to her feet. “If he’s that great, you marry him. I will not marry a man who hasn’t even attempted to French-kiss me the entire year we’ve been ‘dating.’ ”

Her parents yelled her name, but Jet’s incredulous voice drowned them out. “Seriously? Not even a little tongue? You’re right—dude is lame.”

“JET!” It was Alex. She flew into a rapid stream of Mandarin.

Miaoling looked up at Ria and winked. “Sit. Eat.”

And oddly enough, Ria did. The family fought through the entire meal, but now her parents were mad at Jet because he figured Tom had to be gay.

Alex glared at her son. “Maybe he’s just being respectful of your sister.”

“No effing way.” A skeptical snort. “Men aren’t that noble when it comes to women they want.” Jet turned to his wife, his voice dropping. “When I saw Amber, all I wanted to do was—”

“You finish that sentence,” Alex threatened, “and you’ll be breathing fire I’ll put so much chili in your food.”

Amber grinned and blew Jet a kiss. “You know, it sounds to me like Tom’s planning to marry Ria and get himself a nice, respectable wife, while having a bit on the side.”

Simon’s mouth fell open at this scandalous contribution from his flawlessly elegant daughter-in-law.

Miaoling ate another shrimp. “She’s right. Like father, like son.”

Silence. Deeper. More shocked.

FIVE

Simon cleared his throat. “Mother,” he said, his tone that of a man who knows he’s done for, “is that true?”

“You think I’m lying?”

“I think you’d do anything for your favorite granddaughter.”

Leaning back, Miaoling actually cackled. “This time, I don’t have to. Wait.” She got up and headed toward her room.

Ria shrugged when all eyes turned to her. “Don’t look at me.”

“Eat some tofu,” Alex said when they just sat there. “It’ll go bad if we don’t finish it tonight.”

Everyone ate. But the instant Miaoling walked back into the room, all implements were abandoned, food forgotten. Wearing the same smile she always displayed when she came out of Mr. Wong’s, Miaoling sat down and opened an envelope. Ria’s eyes went wide when she saw the photograph in her grandmother’s hand—Tom’s father with his tongue down the throat of the woman everyone knew as his secretary. “Oh, my, God.”

“Don’t show me,” Alex said, slapping her hands over her eyes. “I can’t bear it. Essie’s one of my best friends!”