Wanted Lion: Lion Shifter Romance (Black Ops Mates Book 6)

by Ruby Knoxx

  “What?” both Justine and I asked in unison.

  “I know, I know,” he said. “It seems a little bit like back peddling. But truth be told, I really don’t know how long I’ve got with this. And if there’s a child standing here in front of me, then I might as well seize any opportunity I can get. Let me put her in my will.”

  “I don’t know,” Justine said, holding Kat close to her.

  She looked back at me, her eyes asking for help. I felt something grow in me, knowing that she wasn’t wanting to make this decision on her own. She was wanting my input. My fatherly input.

  “What would that look like?” I asked.

  “Well,” he said. “I would stipulate that she went to a private school, paid for by me, of course, so she had a good base education. I would hope that when she goes to college, also funded by me, she would go for a business degree and prepare herself to take over the business when she was old enough. However, I would never hope to stifle a child’s future by telling them they had to do something. So, the business will be there, waiting and run by someone in my stead, until she came of age and decided what she wanted to do. I would be sure to have lawyers and experts on retainer to help her through the decision-making process at any and every step.”

  “You’re serious,” Justine said. “You’ve actually thought this through.”

  “I am, indeed, serious,” Rogers said. “I have wronged you. I know that. Please accept this for Kat.”

  “Can we think about this?” she asked, glancing back to me.

  I put a hand on her shoulder, assuring her that whatever she decided, I would back her up.

  “Of course,” he said. “Take your time, but not too long. This disease is a tricky thing, and I don’t know how long my mental faculties will hold out. It’s one or the other, from what I hear. Either your muscles give out or your mind does, but rarely are they at the same time.”

  I didn’t want to hear any more of the man’s talk. I put my arm around Justine and began moving her out the way we came in.

  “Bye, Mr. Rogers!” Kat called out to the old man. I cringed, not wanting to interact with him anymore. I looked down to see her walking, looking back, and waving at the same time.

  “Goodbye, sweet girl,” Rogers called back. “I’ll hopefully be seeing you again real soon now.”

  I opened my mouth to argue the point, but I left it. I hadn’t even been properly introduced to Kat. I didn’t even know that it was my time to be speaking for her.

  ***

  The drive back to Justine’s apartment was filled with chatter from the backseat. Since I didn’t have any child seats, I drove extra carefully while Justine sat in the back with Kat to make sure she was snug and secure. I listened as Kat told us both all about how she had lots of ice cream at Mr. Roger’s house and how they had a doll house that was as big as Kat herself.

  I tried not to get too caught up in watching her in the rearview mirror. It was difficult. Aside from her being a chatterbox, I couldn’t stop seeing myself in her. She really was my daughter.

  More than once, I caught Justine’s eye in the mirror, and while I couldn’t see her whole face, I could see the smile in the look she gave me.

  “And Sonya said I could visit whenever I want,” Kat went on.

  “Well,” Justine said, “we’ll see about that. It sounds like you had quite the day.”

  So far, Kat hadn’t said anything about shifting, and I knew that was what Justine was dying to talk to her about. I hoped that she would wait until I had the chance to talk to her about what her daughter was going through, before she broached the subject. The last thing she would want was for Kat to think that she had done something wrong by shifting or being able to shift.

  Kat was beginning to yawn by the time we got to the apartment, and by the time the elevator took us to Justine’s floor, she looked like she was about ready to sleep standing up.

  “You’ve had a pretty exciting day,” Justine said as she fished her keys out of her purse. “I think it’s probably time that you had a nap.”

  “I’m not sleepy,” came the response as she rubbed her eyes.

  “Okay,” Justine said. “How about we just have a snuggle in bed for a little bit then.” Justine gave me a knowing look. I smiled. Oh the tricks parents played on their children.

  I went to the kitchen, deciding to make a fresh pot of coffee while Justine had her time with Kat. I could hear their soft voices down the hall as Justine read a book. By the time the coffee had brewed, she still wasn’t out of the room. I peeked into the room, seeing for the first time the child’s bedroom.

  It was decorated with fairy lights, just like in the living room. A small wooden dresser, a toybox at the foot of the bed, and the bed itself were the only pieces of furniture in there. On her bed must have been a dozen stuffed animals, and there was a hanging net above her bed with more.

  Justine lay there next to Kat, watching her sleep, gently brushing the hair from her face.

  I knew with a certainty that had been slowly creeping over my during the last 48 hours, then. It was inevitable, but in that moment, I knew it as clear as day. They were my family. My life was now headed in a completely different direction.

  And I couldn’t have been happier. At least, so long as Justine would let me be a part of it.

  After several minutes of standing in the doorway, she realized I was standing there. She gave me a faint smile before kissing Kat’s forehead and quietly getting up off the bed. It was my first time really seeing her as a mom and not just as Justine Justice, rock star and power woman. The role only made her more attractive to me.

  She gently closed the door behind her, and we stood in the hall.

  “I think all that ice cream she was telling us about is going to have her knocked out for a while,” Justine said. She rubbed her face. “I feel like this is the longest day in the history of long days.”

  I chuckled. “I made you some more coffee if you want. I figured you could use it. Or a nap yourself.”

  She smiled and sighed. “I don’t know what I need. I think you might be right on the money about a lie down, at least.”

  Her fingers laced with mine loosely as she went into her bedroom.

  “Do you want me to read you a bedtime story, too?” I asked.

  “Ha, ha,” she replied. She leaned toward me and kissed me. “I don’t know that I would have gotten Kat back today if it wasn’t for you.”

  “I’m sure you would have,” I said. “I know it was scary there for a little bit, but Rogers wasn’t going to let you not know that he had your daughter.”

  “I suppose.”

  She unzipped her skirt, pushed it down, and began unbuttoning her shirt.

  I chuckled. “Is this what we’re doing?”

  Justine gave me a look. “No,” she said. “I’m just in my work clothes.” She pulled a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top from her top drawer and changed into them. She reached back, unhooked her bra, and pulled it out from under her shirt like a pro, before pulling back the blankets of her bed and getting in. She moved over enough for me to get in.

  “Don’t I get pajama pants, too?”

  “You can take off your pants,” she said.

  “You sure we’re not …?” I arched an eyebrow as I slipped my shoes off and took off my pants and shirt.

  “We’re just having a lie down. If motherhood has taught me anything, it’s that you take your rest where you can get it.”

  “Alright,” I said, climbing in next to her in my briefs. “But I’m new to this whole napping thing. You’ll have to show me how it’s done.”

  I wrapped my arm around her as she curled into me, her arm reaching across my chest. It felt nice to be in bed with her, simply being with her in my arms.

  I kissed her hair and squeezed her close to me, breathing her in. My chest felt full, and I felt as though I might burst in that moment with how much I felt for her. She was still my mate. But the last time I told her that and that I
loved her, she told me she had to think about it.

  There was still the lingering pain of never hearing from her again until recently. I knew that only time would remove that, especially since I knew she didn’t do it on purpose. It was all circumstantial, and if it was anyone’s fault, it was my own.

  Still, when was too soon to ask her about the future? Would she want to pick things up where we left off? Of course, a few years later and with an addition to the household. Or would she want to ease into things?

  “You’re not sleeping,” she whispered.

  “Neither are you,” I whispered back. I let out a long sigh.

  “What’s on your mind?” Her hand began to make little circles on my chest. It felt so good and natural. I remembered loving it when we spent our week together, before the accident. Before I lost her.

  “A lot, actually,” I said quietly. “The last time I got to hold you like this and felt you the way I do now, I said some things, and you told me you needed time. And now that I’m having nap time with mamma while Kat is asleep, I can’t help but wonder if I’m part of the family now.”

  Justine didn’t say anything for a long while, and I wondered if maybe I had overstepped or asked too big of a question too soon. I didn’t know if maybe she was trying to avoid answering it, or perhaps she hadn’t even understood what I was asking. Or that I was asking anything.

  Finally, she took in a breath. “I suppose that depends,” she said.

  “On?”

  “On whether you want to be.”

  I opened my mouth, about to tell her that of course I wanted to be, but she stopped me.

  “Leon, you have to actually think about this. I’ve loved you, and I’ve had a wild ride with you,” she said. “But I don’t know what you’re like long term. I don’t know if you change your mind easily, if you get scared easily, or how you handle responsibility. Only you can answer those questions. And if there is the slightest thought that you might not be able to handle it or that you might get flighty down the line, then this is your time to voice it.”

  I chuckled.

  “Don’t laugh,” Justine said, looking up at me. “I’m serious.”

  I dug the arm under her toward her waist and curled it, hauling her up onto me so she was straddling me and had to look at me.

  “Justine Justice,” I said. “I dedicated my life to you the moment I knew you were my mate. When I thought you were gone, I dedicated my life to perpetual bachelorhood, right down to my job. And I’m telling you right now, I am willing to give up the work that I love, my apartment—which comes with the job by the way—and my life as I know it so that I can be with you and Kat. I believe in doing things right, Justine.” I took her hands in mine and brought them to my lips, kissing the backs of her fingers. “If you’ll let me, I want to do everything right by you. Not because I should, but because there is nothing in the world that would make me happier.”

  “You mean that?” she asked, looking down at me, her eyes meeting mine. Her makeup had almost completely been washed away by tears, and her hair had come loose of her ponytail. She was like an angel looking down at me.

  For the first time, I could see the light scar coming down out of her hair, just a little, from where she had surgery. My eyes traveled down her neck and to her middle, where her tank top rose up enough for me to see her belly button and the scar that rose up from there. The last time we had had a talk like that, I nearly lost her, in more than one way. She was truly the most precious thing in this world to me, and those scars were telling me just how fragile humans were.

  “I really, truly do,” I said.

  I ran my fingers along her cheek, and she closed her eyes, humming softly at my touch. She turned her face to them and kissed my fingertips. Her tongue slipped out of her mouth and licked one.

  I felt a stir in me, one that reminded me that we had unfinished business from earlier. I slipped my finger into her mouth, and she sucked lightly on it, and I felt that stirring grow, pushing against Justine on top of me. She opened her eyes, a smile on her lips as she continued to toy with my finger. She knew what she was doing.

  My spare hand went up her thigh, feeling the smoothness of her skin and remembering the underwear she was wearing earlier. My hand slid into the shorts, finding the hem of her underwear and stroking it.

  Her nipples hardened under her shirt, and I felt myself harden at the sight of them. Looking up at her as she twirled her tongue around my finger, my other fingers working their way toward something else that was tantalizing and wet, and seeing her tits stick out as I touched her made me burn with want for her.

  “Justine, Justine,” I murmured, finding her lips with my fingers. “The things you do with that tongue.”

  She smiled and raised her hips enough for me to find the sweet spot. I slipped my middle finger inside of her, watching her close her eyes and lean her head back, whimpering slightly. Her hips moved over my finger, and I watched her do the work to pleasure herself. It was an erotic show for me, whether she intended it to be or not. While my finger got wetter, my hand moved over my erection, which she pushed against, helping me to pleasure myself as well.

  Her pussy began to cling to my finger, and I took charge, pushing it deeper into her, letting my ring finger join it as she orgasmed.

  She bit her lip and dug her hand into my chest as she tried not to make a noise, her face turning pink before her chest heaved as she took in breaths to recover.

  I smiled, removing my fingers and putting them in my mouth, tasting her ecstasy. “You taste so good,” I said.

  Without letting her respond, I grabbed her ass and brought her hips closer to my face, pulling down her little shorts, exposing the manicured pubic patch. She pulled her legs out of her shorts, one by one, keeping herself in place as much as possible. I kissed the furry mound before letting my tongue slip between her lips.

  “Fuck,” she breathed, holding onto the headboard. I held her in place, my hands on her bare, beautiful ass.

  My tongue found her clit and fluttered along it, making her legs shake. She was so easy. I slowed down, moving my tongue away and instead sucking on her lips. I moved one of my hands behind her, letting my thumb find her opening and pushing in. Her pussy instantly tightened around it, and the sound of her breathing increased.

  She leaned back, and I looked up to see her hard nipples through her shirt and nothing more. Her head was back as she let me enjoy her body. I hardly moved my thumb as she began to press against it, moving her pelvis forward. My lips found her clit, and I wasn’t going to let it go. I sucked and licked it as she rode my thumb, her body shaking as she moved faster and harder against me.

  “God, Leon!” she cried in a whisper as her pussy pulsed against me, releasing her wetness all over my hand.

  I pushed down my briefs and moved her hips back, sliding her down my hard cock before she could take a breath.

  She was so wet and tight, and it was everything in me not to begin pounding into her hard. I was so sensitive from our interruption earlier, and everything about Justine made me want to explode.

  Her nails dug into my chest, and she began to ride me slowly. Her eyes were hooked on mine, and she kissed me, pushing her tongue into my mouth as her pussy made its way up and down the length of my cock.

  My hands fell to her ass, feeling the movement of her hips. I could feel her tits brushing against my chest as she moved.

  “Hold on,” I said, hating myself that I had to stop her. “Let me just …”

  I reached an arm to the floor for my jeans, finding my wallet and pulling out a condom.

  “Are you that close?” she giggled.

  “Baby, you’re too hot to handle,” I said. I kissed her and pushed myself into an upright sitting position. With my teeth, I tore open the wrapper and glanced at Justine, whose lip was caught between her teeth. I removed the condom with one hand and with the other, I brushed my fingers against her pubic hair. “You have the most beautiful, delicious pussy I have ever com
e across.”

  I slid my finger inside of her, wanting to keep her going while I tended to more sensible matters. As my digit worked inside of her, her fingers found her clit, which she began working as she lifted her pelvis to accommodate me.

  I had to pause to watch her watching me, as she pleasured herself. I held my cock in my hand, rock hard and jacketed as I watched her. I pushed a second finger into her, and she moaned, bracing herself on one elbow and her heels as she moved her whole body so my hand could fuck her.

  “Come for me, Justine,” I said quietly. “Come all over these fingers, because they’re going in your ass next while I fuck you.”

  “Leon,” she said, a smirk touching her lips before they opened. She rubbed her clit harder and faster, before her body convulsed in her orgasm.

  I moved forward, pushing her leg up and angling my cock into her still pulsing pussy. She was so tight, and I had no idea if I was going to do what I wanted to do. But I knew she loved it. As soon as I was deep inside of her, I moved her leg across her, turning her hips, her pussy swiveling on my cock and nearly pushing me to the point of bursting.

  I grunted but held on as I pressed her knee to the bed, exposing her tight little button to me. My fingers, wet with her juice, found her rear and massaged it.

  “Oh god, Leon,” she moaned. “Yes.”

  I massaged her until her muscles relaxed, letting the tip of my finger inside of her, slowly, until I was in to the knuckle. I moved my finger slowly in and out as I pumped into her, finding the rhythm of her body.

  “Shit,” she said. “Fuck, yes, Leon. Faster.”

  I increased my pace, thrusting hard into her with my cock as I started to slowly work a second finger into her ass, stretching her skin and tightening her pussy.

  I had both fingers in, and the muscles of her anus were contracting around my fingers, her pussy tugging at my cock as she came, her hand clenching her breast. She bit her knuckle, trying to keep quiet. I pounded harder into her, feeling my own fingers against my cock inside her body. I couldn’t keep up, I couldn’t maintain.