by T. S. Joyce
His chest was so firm under her hands. Beast huffed a breath as she reached his abs and punched out a sharp breath when she hooked her fingers into his jeans. How was he so warm? His skin was on fire, but the weather outside chilled her body. He was summer and she was winter, and she was desperate to end the chill. She rolled her hips and brushed her chest against his. His kisses were hard now, desperate. Her lips were throbbing under his demanding affection. He was burning her up, igniting her, setting her insides on fire to match his. Fingers fumbling, she ripped at the button of his jeans and pulled the zipper down, but she clearly wasn’t moving fast enough since Beast lifted his hips off the seat and shoved his own pants down his thighs.
There was a moment of hesitation where she sat frozen, staring at his thick erection. Was it even bigger than last time? There was no way the physics were going to work with her on top. But when Beast took himself in hand and pulled a seductive stroke, a challenge in his gleaming eyes, Kiera gave an internal nod. Okay then, this was happening. Relax.
She lifted up on her knees and slid shallowly over him. Beast gripped her hips and rested his head back against the seat. His fingers dug into her hips as she pulled off him and then eased down farther. Beast’s face was a mixture of pleasure and pain, as if her slow pace was torture. She smiled. Her turn.
Kiera slid her arms around his neck and lifted herself eyelevel with him, then slid onto him again as she kissed him, bit him, licked him. The snarl in his throat jacked up, but so what? She liked him wild. She liked him desperate because it made her feel the same way. She was tight. He liked it, she could tell, because every time she lowered onto him, he tensed up and made a helpless sound deep in his throat. It would’ve been inaudible to her human self, but she could hear better now that he’d given her animal back. He smelled like rutting male lion, but wasn’t turning her over and biting the back of her neck as he unloaded into her. He was here, with her, staying in the moment, letting her lead. Beast had been king of the lions, and he was letting her—a medium dominance female—set the pace.
He may as well have said he loved her too with this move. Kiera took all of him on the next stroke and sped up. She was already so close. This position meant he was hitting her clit every thrust, and now he was meeting her hips, crashing against her, hands strong on her. Desperation looked good on Beast.
“Shit, Kiera, tell me you’re close. I can’t stop,” Beast snarled, hands on her hips as he yanked her onto him harder, faster.
The gravel in his voice did her in. The first pulse of release was so explosive she screamed out his name. On the second, she set her teeth to him, daring herself. Beast was slamming into her now. He grabbed the back of her neck. “Do it quick, I’m coming.” Beast rammed into her again and groaned, and this was it. Before she could stop her animal, she sank her teeth into his shoulder. It happened fast, a bite down and release, but it was enough. She’d been thorough. Her lion hadn’t been playing around, and the air smelled like pennies. Beast hadn’t even flinched, but she didn’t want to look at what she’d done because she never wanted to hurt him, so Kiera buried her face against the uninjured side of his neck and gave herself to the orgasm that was blasting through her, spurred on by his deep, graceful strokes inside her.
He drew out every single aftershock from her as he emptied himself completely, filling her with warmth until it spilled from her body. So much. They’d finished so hard. She relaxed against him until her release was completely through.
Emotional beyond words at what she’d just done, she hugged him tightly. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.
“Don’t, Kiera. Don’t take that away from me with an apology.” There was a smile in his voice. A smile?
She eased back and frowned at him. His hair was mussed, his face flushed, chest heaving, his shoulder streaming red, and what was he doing? Sitting there with the cockiest grin she’d ever seen on a man.
Unable to help herself, she giggled.
Beast’s gold gaze dipped to her lips, and he ran his thumb against her mouth. He drew it back and showed her the smear of red. “Who’s the monster now?”
“Me,” she squeaked.
Beast licked the blood off his thumb and then kissed her until the taste of it went away. Easing back, he murmured, “Now we match.”
But for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out if he meant their claiming marks matched or their inner monsters did. Either way drew another smile from her lips.
“Can I tell you something?” he murmured, sweeping her hair back from her face. He looked so damn perfect in the glow of the radio, his eyes muddy bluish gold, teeth sharper than they should’ve been, face feral, blond hair in that just-woke-up look, muscles rippling, tattoos, scars… perfection.
“You can tell me anything,” she said honestly.
“Last night, when we were together for the first time…”
“Yeah?”
“I never claimed anyone but you, Kiera. And I never had sex with a woman like that.”
“You mean like you weren’t fucking her?”
“Yeah.”
“You mean like we just did?”
Beast nodded his chin. “Yesterday when I…you know…knelt at your altar.”
Kiera burst out into a giggle. “You can call it eating me out.”
Was Beast blushing? “Well, I hadn’t done that before either.”
“Bull. Shit,” she challenged him. “I mean, I can hear you telling the truth, but it has to be a trick or something. Beast, you were so…” Amazing, confident, mind-blowing. Kiera cleared her throat delicately. “Skilled.”
Beast chuckled and stroked his thumbs over her belly. “Well, you’re good at telling me when you like something. You’re noisy.”
“We’re good at this together!” she crowed happily. “Go team!” She raised her hand for a high five, but Beast pulled her wrist to his lips and bit gently. “I’m not giving you a high five for what we just did like we’re college roommates, Kitty. High fives are for quickie fucks. We do it better.”
“Kitty,” she repeated the nickname through a grin. She was a kitty because she had her lioness back! She wanted to dance. Dance! She wanted to have a dance party right here on his dick, but put in a real effort not to wiggle around and hurt him. She squealed happily instead and buried her face against his chest.
Beast chuckled a deep rich sound that she adored. That sound sang to her heart. Beast wasn’t a laugher, but with her, he was different. He loosened up and smiled more, and now he was giving her chuckles? He’d told her a dozen times tonight that he loved her, too, without words, and this was another one. Every time he laughed like this—so easily—he was admitting his feelings for her, and she knew down to her marrow they were every bit as deep as hers.
She was purring again, loud, soft, loud, soft. “I missed this sound so bad,” she whispered.
“Listen closer,” Beast said in that velvet-meets-gravel voice of his.
She opened her senses and listened as hard as she could. And just there above the sound of her own purring, another content sound vibrated the air. Kiera frowned. Was that…
She lurched back and studied Beast. His eyes were a piercing blue now, and his smile slight, but relaxed. He lifted her palm to his chest again. There was his pounding heartbeat, but this time there was something more.
He wasn’t snarling.
He was purring, too.
His smile widened, and he looked so breathtakingly perfect, scars and all. “Our animals are talking.”
Oh, how he ripped her heart open with those four words. They were talking. Beast was right. Her animal could’ve been angry. She had every right to be. She could’ve burst out of her the second Beast had given her the claiming mark. Her lioness could’ve shredded her body, hurt the pregnancy, and not given Kiera back her human skin for days. Weeks even. But she hadn’t. Beast had brought her back gently, bonded them, and her inner animal was drawn up, eyes on him, steady, protecting the baby, protecting Kiera, protecting Beast
. Loving the beast.
“You know you gave me everything, right?” she said thickly. She was determined not to cry again because Beast deserved a strong mate.
His eyes softened, and he pulled her against him, ran his cheek along her face, his whiskers feeling so good against the scars under her hair. He was giving her the affection that lions did when they were happy.
Dominant, brawling man didn’t care that she was all jagged edges and missing pieces. We match.
Kiera hugged him hard, so tight, and she never wanted to let go of this moment.
Beast sighed and rested his lips right next to her ear. “Tomorrow, when we meet Justin, everything will be okay. I know you’re scared. I can feel it.” He shook his head. “You don’t need to be, Kiera. No matter what, I’ll make sure you’re safe.”
She hadn’t missed it, though. He hadn’t promised his own safety. Only hers.
“We can run away,” she whispered. “We don’t have to do this. I can change my mind.”
Beast’s hand was gentle as he cupped her cheek and wrapped his other arm tightly around her. How could they be talking about Justin, yet Beast still made her feel safe and warm?
“No more running, Kiera.” He kissed her temple and let his lips linger there for a few moments before he whispered, “Not for either of us.”
Chapter Thirteen
Beast eased his Raptor into the parking lot of a hotel. He’d called earlier and booked a nice one. Kiera deserved nice things. He pulled into the circle drive and considered using the valet services immediately, but decided against it. The reason? Kiera was curled up in a little ball, hugging his arm, and sleeping so peacefully. She’d been like this for the last hour.
She’d told him once that she had trouble sleeping because she didn’t feel safe. But here she was, sleeping so soundly she didn’t even stir when he cut the engine. Beast shook his head at the valet who was giving him a questioning look from his stand. He didn’t want to do anything but sit here for a minute and watch her.
He’d spent so much time making sure his pride felt safe under him. Countless brawls and challenges had happened over the ten years he reigned, and he’d always prided himself that his females were safe. That they lived without fear. And then the bachelors had killed everyone. They’d even killed him on the inside. Not a single piece of him ever thought he had a shot at finding what Kiera was offering him. Companionship, love, someone to walk this crazy life with, to grow old with, and on top of it all, along with her own heart, she was offering this tiny miracle that moved in her belly.
Unable to help himself, Beast inhaled deeply and palmed her belly. There was a tiny heartbeat in there. A tiny person. A tiny baby, growing by the day. Kiera was going to be really good at this. He could tell because she was patient, accepting, and kind in ways he’d never seen in other lionesses. She’d been raised outside of the pride by a caring mother, even if she didn’t remember it all. Lionesses were taught to be brutal from birth, but Kiera had missed those lessons. It was as if she’d been created and then shaped through the disasters and triumphs of her life to fit him. Not the old him, but the him he was now. And perhaps the same had happened to Beast. Maybe the reason he’d been dragged to the brink was so that he could know his limits and be better for Kiera and the child she carried.
What an ugly puzzle they’d made apart. But oh, what a picture they made together.
She smiled in her sleep, just faintly, and hugged his arm closer. Beast couldn’t help the smile on his face. This right here was proof she’d absolutely meant those three words she’d uttered earlier. She even loved him in her sleep when she was completely unconscious. She was still smiling, holding him close. And who would see that little affection? No one but him.
She’s it.
Most of the time his lion was made of broken thoughts and death threats, but those two words made all the sense in the world. Kiera was it.
She was good for the monster inside of him. She was a steadying force. She was motivation to make his stand tomorrow. He was picking her, like she’d picked him. Kiera deserved the effort, deserved the protection, deserved every drop of his blood it would take to deliver her into the arms of the Blackwing Crew.
His animal snarled inside of him, excited by the idea of bloodshed. It had been two years since he’d killed the bachelors. All but the one who got away. All but Justin. Beast had obsessed about this moment. Waited patiently. Kept his body in shape for the fight.
But tonight…
Tonight he was going to take care of Kiera and put off thinking about the meeting. He was going to enjoy his last night when he knew everything was okay.
He was going to make her feel loved because maybe this was all she would have to remember him by.
****
Kiera inhaled deeply and stretched her legs as she eased her bleary eyes open. It was bright here, and her new improved vision was offended by the light beaming through the window of Beast’s truck. Whoa, this hotel was fancy as hell. It was all marble columns and valet parking, and a wall of windows that exposed giant chandeliers inside the sprawling entry.
“Are you rich, Beast?” she asked, releasing her death-grip on his bicep. She didn’t miss that his palm covered the swell of her belly
He chuckled a deep, sexy sound. She turned her head fast so she could see the smile that went along with it. His scars had been ugly when she’d thought he got them hurting his pride. Now that she knew better, he had the most handsome face she’d ever laid eyes on.
“Not rich, Kiera, sorry. You’ll be a trailer park princess if you stick around for me. I ran a construction team before I came here, though. Did all right and put away some savings.”
Honestly, she liked the vision of Beast dressed in a white T-shirt, tattoos and muscles out, hard hat, hole-riddled jeans covered in dust, work gloves, lifting something heavy. Sweating. Subtly, she clamped her legs closed. “That’s why you needed the truck? For construction jobs?”
Beast laughed. “Woman, you don’t bring a Raptor on construction jobs unless you want to devalue the machine by half in a week, tops. I had an old work truck I brought to the job sites. The Raptor is just for me. I like big trucks, and I like ’em fast.”
“You know what they say about men with big trucks, don’t you?” she teased, waggling her eyebrows.
“You better not be about to make a small dick joke.”
“Big hands to drive them,” she said innocently.
“God,” he muttered, shoving his door open. He was smiling, though, and the baby was wiggling in her belly, and everything was perfect.
How could any one person hold this much happiness?
She went to step out of the truck, but Beast was there, so fast he’d blurred to her side, both hands on her hips. Clearly he didn’t care about humans seeing what he was. She liked that. She liked that he wouldn’t ask her to hide either when she was able to Change again.
His hands were so strong she practically floated down to the ground like a dandelion seed. It was cold out, but she was wearing her thick sweater dress and knee-high boots. Human Kiera would’ve been freezing and bundled in a jacket, but her new and improved self was perfectly comfortable in the frosty weather.
“Temperature’s dropping,” Beast said, eyes on the scenery in front of the hotel. “Can you smell it, Kiera?”
She closed her eyes and inhaled. “All I can smell is you.”
A satisfied rumble came from Beast as he pulled her closer. He locked eyes with her for just a moment before he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. This wasn’t urgent, or demanding like earlier. This was another wordless I love you. It was a smile against her smile, and a mouth gone soft as he eased back with a sexy smack. Beast whispered, “It’s going to snow, Kitty.”
Every time he used her pet name in that seductive voice of his, she felt drunk. On numbing legs, she leaned forward when he backed away. He steadied her arms with a laugh that echoed through the parking circle. Eyes sparking with amusement, Beast gr
abbed their shared duffle bag out of the back seat along with his jacket. Kiera had forgotten hers in the rush to pack this afternoon.
Beast talked to the valet, clapped him on the back in a friendly way, and tipped him a twenty-dollar bill. The valet offered to get him change, but Beast told him, “Nah, keep it.”
As Beast pressed his fingertips against the curve of her back and guided her inside, Kiera admitted, “I judge a man on how he treats the people who help him.”
Beast frowned down at her. “What do you mean?”
“I like that you just told me you’re blue-collar, but in the same minute, you gave a good tip to the valet. When I was a cocktail waitress, I got good at reading people. I could guess what kind of tippers they were by their mannerisms, by how they treated me and the other girls, by how they talked to me. If they were respectful or not, what they acted like when they were tipsy, stuff like that. Sometimes I was wrong, but most of the time I was right. I could call it.” She cast a glance up at him and smiled. “You would’ve surprised me in a good way. You look intimidating, scary even to strangers, and you have a dominant presence, but you’re kind when your animal will allow.”
“Mmm,” he murmured in a very lion-like, deep sound. “I like that you think I’m good.”
“I don’t think it, I know it. I can see it.”
He looked down at her with such an odd expression of disbelief and hope. Hope? Perhaps hope that she was really telling him the truth and not blowing smoke. She was no smoke-blower, though. Beast was a good man who’d been dealt a bad hand. He’d been thrust into a life that made him make tough decisions and fight for what he wanted.
“Can I help you?” the curvy beauty at the front desk asked. She wore thick-rimmed glasses and sparkly black eyeshadow that made her green eyes look bright and kind as she smiled expectantly at Kiera and Beast.