She flinched under that lash, but it didn’t stop her. “You didn’t fuck me because you wanted me. Because I meant something to you. This was all a charade.” She threw his words back in his face. “You made the ultimate sacrifice, didn’t you? You had to have me in your bed. The worst you ever had.” Her face flamed, but she kept doggedly on. She couldn’t stop herself. “Let’s see if I can remember this right, because there was a moment when you were so angry you told the truth. My amateur performance, I believe you called it. The worst cocksucker you ever experienced. Those words are branded on my brain, but I was stupid enough to let you make me forget them for a moment.”

“Siena, damn it . . .”

“If I’m going to whore myself out, I seriously need a few lessons in fucking. Is that what you’ve been giving me, Elijah? Or did you just plain fuck me?”

He erupted into a string of Spanish curses, and she turned and ran back to the master bedroom, slamming the door and locking it. She never wanted to see him again. She wanted to disappear. She had to disappear. She couldn’t face anyone ever again.

11

“OPEN the fucking door now, Siena,” Elijah demanded.

His furious voice galvanized Siena into action. She ran to the closet and pulled out the small backpack she’d used before to make her escape. Rolling a pair of sweats, underwear and a tee, she jammed them inside along with her cell phone, license and credit cards. There was no going out the front door. Hell. She was paying Drake’s men to help make her a prisoner and they were crawling all over Elijah’s estate.

“Damn it, Siena. Open the door before I break it down.”

He would too. She didn’t have much time. Ignoring the patio doors, because it might draw the attention of one of the men patrolling around the house, she stripped as she raced to the window and raised it quickly. She called a little desperately to her little female. She’d only shifted on two occasions and was a little hesitant on remembering how it was done, but clearly the leopard knew. She was eager for freedom.

Siena barely managed to fashion the backpack around her neck before her joints cracked and ached. Fur slid under her skin, the wave causing a terrible itch, and then it burst from her pores as she went to the floor on all fours. Her jaw ached. Elongated. Pain gave way to satisfaction as the little female leopard stood on the bedroom floor right beneath the window.