Read Online Leopard's Key by Marci Baun - Free Book Online

Leopard’s Key
    A Single Title from
Dreams & Desires, vol. 4
    by
    Teresa D’Amario
    Freya’s Bower.com ©2011
Culver City, CA

----

    Leopard’s Key: a single title from Dreams & Desires, v.4 Copyright © 2011 by Teresa D’Amario
    For information on the cover illustration and design, contact Tricia Schmit.
Cover art Freya’s Bower © 2011
    Editor: Marci Baun
    ISBN: 978-1-936222-69-8
    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes. If you are reading this and did not purchase and/or win this copy from either the author or publisher, you have an illegal copy and are hurting the author. Delete this immediately from your computer/ereader and purchase it from either Wild Child Publishing.com or one of our certified distributors.
    This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
    Warning:
    This book may contain graphic sexual material and/or profanity and is not meant to be read by any person under the age of 18.
    If you are interested in purchasing more works of this nature, please stop by www.freyasbower.com .
    Freya’s Bower.com
P.O. Box 4897
Culver City, CA 90231-4897
    Printed in the United States of America
    ----

Chapter One
    Thank God for city apartments—though being a leopard shifter, that wasn't something Dmitri Petrov normally thanked anyone for. He personally preferred the wilds, and the warmer the climate, the better. The one good thing about cities: most buildings were just far enough apart he could run across the rooftops, silent and undetectable. Especially apartment buildings. They gave him plenty of leg room, allowing him the freedom to use his natural skills, leaping from one rooftop to the next, feeling the cool night air against his face.
    The cat inside him liked the stillness of the night, when the breeze whispered through the trees or city streets. He didn't storm around wearing shit kicking motorcycle or cowboy boots. He wasn’t Wolven. He was Leopard. And cats didn’t like making noise. He wore shoes he designed himself: soft, quiet, and comfortable. Like a leopard’s paws. So soft he could charge across a roof at a full run without a sound.
    A satisfied smile curved on his lips. He enjoyed the challenge of teasing the leopard side of himself, the beast which always struggled to push away the human part of him. He rarely shifted. A leopard running free in the city brought way too much attention. Instead, he kept in tune with his beast by teasing his instincts, keeping them sharp and precise.
    His brother didn’t understand, believing Dmitri tried to be more human than shifter. Kel was wrong. Dmitri didn’t dislike his leopard side. In fact, he was considering a trip to Africa, so he could spend time in the wilds. Camping. Hunting. Shifting.
    Dmitri crouched, studying the cars in the parking lot beneath him.
    A soft breeze fluttered past, and he brushed an errant strand of dark hair from his face. His only nod to vanity: his hair. He’d spent the three years in his military hitch rubbing his head, looking for the long, dark hair he’d worn all his life. It was nice to have it growing back.
    Another breeze brushed against him, and he sniffed the air, searching.
    Nothing.
    A car pulled into the parking lot. Instincts buzzed in his head. Flattening against the roof of the building, his muscles tensed. The female stepped out of the car, oblivious to his watchful eyes. This time when he sniffed the air, he recognized the subtle scent of honeysuckle. The cat inside him reared its head and rumbled approval. Shoving back the animal instinct, he crept to the edge of the building.
    With a soft whoosh, Dmitri dropped to the pavement, the surface still warm from