Free A Seacat's Love (Oceanan Trilogy Book 1) by Jessica Kong Page B

had transpired.
    “Oh, thank Onssa, you came back!” Leonora cried between the hasty kisses she planted on his face.
    Her attack was without mercy. She somehow found the stone situated where his soul used to be and began to chisel away at it. Her clean scent sailed to his nose. Invisible strings moved Rick’s arms from the floor to her waist. His hands secured her feminine curves to his straight lines. A wave of warmth drifted over the frozen tundra, causing it to melt slowly. His loins coiled in response. It felt nice. It felt right. It felt fake.
    Rick understood why. Leonora was kissing the mask, not him. “Wait, Nora, wait.” He reached to the left side of his jaw. He lifted the end of the mask, peeled it off, and then threw the plastic skin aside. “Now, where were we?” he huskily asked tightening his arms around her waist. Her pale eyes made him forget all thoughts of not taking advantage of a downtrodden woman.
    “What took you so long?” she seductively asked before purring.
    She sounded like a content kitten. A chuckle developed in Rick’s throat. The fire within those pale depths kept it from escaping. Ignoring her question, Rick rose to answer several of his own.
    His lips brushed hers once. The warmth within him increased. He touched them again. The heat spread throughout his limbs. His mouth pressed to hers. A snowcap fell away.
    Her lips were soft and plush. Recalling they were split in several places, Rick gently moved his mouth across hers. Leonora’s purring grew louder. Rick moaned since he could not purr. His first question was answered. He opened his mouth to answer the second.
    “What in the blazes are you doing?”
    Bloody hell!
Rick placed his tongue back into his mouth and pressed his lips tightly together.
I’m beginning to hate that cat
. Unexpectedly, Leonora’s small body was snatched from his grasp. Rick felt his heart drop into his stomach. He leapt off the floor and into a crouched position.
    “What in the blazes are you doing?” Tigif yelled in Leonora’s face.
    She looked like a rag doll being shaken by a rabid tiger. The image of his helpless wife being dragged about and used as a shield popped into Rick’s mind. He charged at the cat.
    “Get your bloody hands off her!” Rick had Tigif across the room before his words ended. “Who the bloody hell do you think you are?”
    Tigif inched his face close and bared his teeth. “Her mate,” he answered for Rick’s ears alone.
    Rick took a step back. Tigif’s words sent a freezing wind across the melting ice caps. He immediately sought Leonora for the truth. “Didn’t you say—”
    “I warned you of what I would do if you touched her.” Tigif’s eyes switched on like a light bulb. With a loud roar, he pounced on Rick.
    The sight of a salivating tiger with glowing eyes reaching for his neck made Rick forget his question. Luckily, he was fast enough tothrow those extending claws off their mark, which was his jugular. The blow, though not lethal, did cut two inches of his neck.
    The pain was a reality check. He could not get involved with a unique woman like Leonora. Her life was already in danger. He could not risk it further by bringing her into his world. His own list of enemies was endless.
    Old wounds of not being with his wife, or being able to hold his daughter and watch her grow up, reopened. To think Leonora possibly lied to him after he risked his life for her added to his grief. Combined with the fact that he could never have the life he had always dreamt about, helped him respond with astounding vigor, especially when Oceanans were naturally faster and stronger than most species.
    Rick’s open jacket revealed his gun. Tigif gripped the handle, pulled the gun from its holster, and pointed the barrel at Rick’s head. Rick quickly snatched a hold of Tigif’s wrist and twisted hard. The blood flowed faster from his neck as he leveled the gun above their straining bodies. He extracted his gun from the tiger’s