Pride of the Lion hc-3

by N. J. Walters

  He stayed behind her until they reached the door, then he moved in front of her. He gazed over the parking lot before herding her back to the car.

  “What about the security cameras? And I think one of the other patrons took a picture of you with his cell phone.” Worry gnawed at her gut. She didn’t want the demons to find them again so soon. They probably knew where she lived, but maybe not. Araminta still had hope she could hide Leander there until the time ran out on the curse.

  He waited until she was in the car with her door closed before sliding into the passenger seat. He set the bags on the floor at his feet. “I sent out a pulse of energy. All electronic gadgets will have malfunctioned while we were there. There will be nothing but static on the security tapes and the picture will be little more than a blur of color.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hmm.” She passed him the drinks. “Handy skill. Hold onto this, I’m going to park at another restaurant down the road and then we’ll eat.

  Leander wiped his mouth with the napkin, feeling replete after thousands of years of gnawing hunger. The food seemed strange, but most of it was tasty. He hadn’t particularly enjoyed the hash browns, finding them too heavy and oily, and had left two of the three he’d ordered in the bag. The eggs and bacon were surprisingly good and he’d particularly enjoyed the breakfast sandwiches. The best of all was the orange juice.

  “Here.” She held out a paper cup with steaming liquid. “Want to try my coffee?”

  He reached over and took the cup from her hands, his fingers grazing hers. She sucked in a breath and quickly began to stuff her garbage into one of the paper bags. It was satisfying to know his touch affected her. Goddess only knew that her mere presence had him continually semi-aroused.

  He caught a whiff of her scent—lavender, tinted with light arousal—and he barely swallowed a groan. Now was not the time or place. Araminta had been right about that back at the hotel, and it was even truer now. They were in a vehicle out in the open. They were also among people, which would hopefully temper Hades’ actions. Any kind of public fight would bring unwanted attention and the chance that the other gods and goddesses would discover what he was up to.

  Leander canted his head to one side and let that thought simmer. Maybe he should take Araminta to a heavily populated area and keep her there until the time ran out on the curse. Of course, Hades had no scruples and could easily involve innocent people in their fight. What to do?

  “Are you okay?” Her voice snapped him back from his thoughts.

  “I am fine.”

  “You going to try that?” She motioned to the cup in his hand. He brought the cup to his lips and sipped. The brew was bitter. He frowned and tasted it again. It didn’t get any better.

  “You enjoy this?” It was foul stuff, not at all how he’d imagined it given Araminta’s obvious enjoyment of the beverage.

  She laughed and took the cup from his hands. “It’s an acquired taste.” She took a large mouthful and swallowed before releasing a satisfied sigh.

  Leander grunted and decided he did not particularly like coffee. He would like to try tea sometime. Maybe that would be more to his liking. And it was one of the two most common and socially acceptable beverages on the planet. Every culture served a variation of one or both of them. If he was going to live in this strange new world he would have to learn to adapt.

  If being the operative word. They had to survive the rest of the day until the clock stuck midnight tonight.

  Araminta wiped her hands with a paper napkin and shoved it into the bag with the garbage. “We need to get rid of this and get back on the road.”

  “I’ll do it.” He didn’t want her away from the minimal protection the vehicle gave her, not even to walk to the garbage can a few feet away. If they were attacked she could always drive away. Not that she would if previous experience was any indication. He was still angry at how she’d put her life in danger back at the parking garage.

  He shot her a glare. “Stay in the car and do not move.”

  Rather than be intimidated by him, she shot him a saucy smile and saluted him. “Yes, sir.”

  His lips twitched but he refused to smile. She had to take the threat to her personal safety seriously. The worst was yet to come.

  He grabbed the bags, opened all his senses and scanned the area before climbing out of the car. The garbage can was clearly marked and only ten feet away from them. He kept his eyes and ears peeled for any sound or movement that didn’t belong. It was more difficult to use his sense of smell as the acrid odor of garbage and gasoline filled the air.

  He heard Araminta’s phone ring just as he reached the garbage. He dumped the paper bags and hurried back to the car. She was just answering it as he slid back into his seat and shut the door.

  “Where are you?” The voice on the other end was female and extremely agitated. Leander’s ears twitched with curiosity as he used his enhanced hearing to listen to her conversation, experiencing not a twinge of guilt at doing so. Everything in her life for the next eighteen hours or so concerned him.

  “I’m about fifteen minutes from home. I got delayed with some minor car trouble.”

  Leander muffled a laugh. He guessed bouncing demons off the hood of her vehicle counted as car trouble. She shot him a glare and returned to her call.

  Something deep inside him shifted and settled. He didn’t understand what it was at first. It was an unfamiliar feeling, one he’d never experienced before in spite of all the years he’d lived. It was contentment.

  Araminta soothed the savage beast within him. Both he and the lion were content to simply be in her presence, to watch her graceful movements as she gestured while she talked, to listen to her warm, soothing voice. She truly belonged to them.

  “I won’t be much longer. I promise. Are the police still there?”

  “Yes,” Mary Jo answered. “They said they’d stay since you were on your way.”

  “Tell them we’ll be there shortly.”

  “We?” Mary Jo questioned.

  Araminta ignored the question. “I meant I’ll be there shortly. See you in a bit.” She disconnected the call and tossed her phone into her purse. “We have to get going.” She started the car and pulled on her seatbelt. “Buckle up.”

  Leander didn’t want to put on the safety harness. He felt jammed into the vehicle as it was. But one glance at Araminta’s face told him she was going to be stubborn over this. He heaved a sigh, grabbed the belt and snapped it in place just as she had. The cloth band tightened against his chest.

  “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  He growled at her and her eyes widened. She said nothing and quickly pulled out of the lot and onto the road. The next ten minutes passed in silence.

  “What are we going to tell the police about you? They’ll ask who you are and they’ll want to see identification.” Araminta chewed on her bottom lip and several of her fingers tapped against the steering wheel. “That’s going to be a problem.” She glanced over at him. “I assume you don’t have any identification handy, certainly not a birth certificate or a driver’s license. You won’t exist in any database.”

  He hadn’t considered that. In this world people seemed to need multiple pieces of paper and numbers to prove they existed. It was indeed strange. All they’d have to do is look at him to know he existed. “I will not leave you.” Just the thought made his chest tighten. Leaving her alone would be a clear invitation to Hades and his minions to attack.

  “Well, you can’t very well come with me, can you?” Her fingers continued their rhythm. “I can drop you off at the corner of my street. You can wait until you see the police cars go and then join me at the house.”

  “No.” When it came to her safety he was unmovable.

  Her lips tightened and she frowned. “It’s a good plan.”

  “It leaves you vulnerable to attack.”

  “I’ll be surrounded by the police,” she pointed out. />
  Leander snorted. “That will not stop Hades.”

  “But if you come with me and have no identification the police might decide to take you in for questioning. What then? I could be alone for hours.”

  Leander’s growl filled the car. His lion was furious at the mere thought of Araminta being left alone to fend for herself against Hades. His fingernails elongated and dug into the leather seat, ripping it slightly.

  “Hey, watch the claws.”

  He opened his mouth, tilted back his head and roared his displeasure. Araminta jerked and the car swerved one way and then another before she righted it. Several vehicles passed them, horns blaring.

  “Stop that.” It was the quaver in her voice that shamed him. He hadn’t meant to frighten her.

  “I am not angry with you,” he growled, “but at the situation.”

  “I understand that.” She glanced around and then veered into the deserted parking lot of a small grocery store. Seconds later, she cut the engine and they sat in thickening silence.

  Dawn had arrived while they’d been eating and a splendor of orange, yellow and red tinged the sky. He wished he were standing on a mountaintop with Araminta in his arms so he could really see and enjoy his first sunrise in more than five thousand years. Maybe tomorrow if all went well.

  “Leander,” she finally began, pulling his attention from the rising sun. She reached out and touched his arm and her warmth soaked into his skin. “It’s the only way. If the police want to take you in for questioning, I’ll be in even more danger.”

  “I will not let them take you from me.” He undid her seatbelt and pulled her onto his lap. It was a tight fit, but he didn’t mind having her plastered against his body.

  “Hey.” She threw out her arms to balance herself. “What are you doing?” He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair, inhaling her sweet scent into his lungs. It helped settle him even as it pushed his arousal to a new level.

  She sighed and leaned back so she could see his face. “What am I going to do with you?”

  The words love me were on his lips, but he did not speak them. Now was not the time. He’d only met Araminta mere hours ago, but already she was his life. His sole purpose was to keep her safe. He trusted his instincts and they were roaring at him to protect her. She was a gift from the goddess, and one he planned on keeping.

  “Leander.” She pressed her hands against his face, her eyes solemn. “You can’t attack the police. That will only bring more of them. And what if they shoot you?”

  “I am immortal.” It would take more than bullets to stop him. Only beheading him or tearing out his heart would work. And the second one was iffy. He might be able to regenerate a heart. He wasn’t quite certain.

  “But I’m not.” The sadness in her voice threatened to unman him. “If you’re taken by the police or harmed I’ll be all alone to face Hades.”

  The fact that she was right didn’t make the situation any easier. He hugged her close to his heart, enjoying the soft press of her breast against his chest and the push of her thigh against his groin. Her sweet essence filled his nostrils and he knew he would be able to find her no matter where she was in the world.

  “All right.” He caught the edge of her chin with his thumb and forefinger and tilted her head up. “We do this your way. But if you are harmed I will not be happy.”

  “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” Her dry tone once again reminded him of her sense of humor and her boundless courage. She was going into this situation alone. To protect him.

  It was almost more than he could bear. It made him feel trapped, much like he’d been for all those centuries. Now that he was free, he wanted to fight, to protect.

  He leaned down and captured her tender mouth, savoring its softness and the bitter taste of the coffee she’d had earlier. Maybe he’d acquired the taste after all, for he now found himself enjoying it quite a bit as he nipped playfully at her lips.

  He forced himself to break away. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

  “I promise.”

  He sighed in resignation. “Then let’s get this over with.” The faster the authorities were dealt with, the quicker he would be back with her.

  “Everything will be okay,” she promised. “You’ll see.” She climbed back into the driver’s seat and started the car.

  Leander closed his eyes and prayed she was right.

  A gentle hand touched the Lady of the Beasts. She opened her eyes and peered up into the face of an elderly Native American man with black hair liberally streaked with gray. “My name is John Running Bear and I am here to help you.”

  She smiled up at him, feeling the power that ran through his fragile human form. This was a man of great strength and integrity. “Thank you.”

  He shook out a blanket and wrapped it around her naked body. With a show of strength that belied his years, he lifted her easily and carried her though the thick woods. The Lady soaked in the sounds of the forest—the wind in the trees, the hoot of an owl and John’s soft breath against her face. The birds swooped and flew ahead of them, adding their voices to the mix. In the distance, a wolf howled his lonely song.

  “How did you find me?” She hadn’t called him to her, hadn’t had the strength to do so.

  John smiled, and the lines radiating out from the corners of his eyes deepened. “Ah, the brother bear came to me and would not leave until I followed him.”

  The Lady frowned. “Marko is here?” She didn’t sense her warrior in the area.

  John shook his head. “No, Lady. Although I have met your Marko, it was the bear of the forest I followed here. In fact, there was a parade of animals heading to the meadow where I found you. It was no hardship to follow them.”

  The Lady pulled herself upright and glanced over John’s shoulder. The corners of her mouth turned upward at the sight behind them. Deer and bear, fox and squirrel, animals big and small, enemies and friends all trotted on the path. For the first time in more than five thousand years, she laughed.

  John stopped in his tracks and the trees themselves shivered in delight. The air itself wrapped around her in a loving caress and the early morning sunlight fought its way through the thick branches to reach her.

  “It is good to be free.”

  As if her words released him from his thrall, John began to walk again. “There is a story in my family passed down from generation to generation of a goddess who was beloved by the animals and, indeed, by the very earth itself.”

  “Yes.” She sighed and rested her head on John’s shoulder. “I have been gone for far too long.”

  “But you are back.”

  She nodded. “I am back.”

  “Rest. You are safe,” he assured her.

  “I am safe, but not all my warriors are. Some are lost to me. Others, their fate undecided.”

  “But some have fought and survived,” John reminded her.

  “So they have,” she agreed. “So they have.” She closed her eyes and let herself rest, knowing she was finally safe from Hades. But the battle for her warriors was still ongoing, and she would not stop until she’d done all she could to help them win their freedom.

  Chapter Nine

  Araminta glanced in the rearview mirror but Leander was already gone, vanished in the blink of an eye. For a big guy he could really move. She’d question if he were real but for the minor rips in the passenger seat from his sharp claws and the tingling of her lips where he’d kissed her before he’d climbed out of the car.

  He’d been furious at her suggestion that she go on without him. His golden eyes had burned with an inner fire and the roar that had filled her car had made the fine hairs on her entire body stand on end. But she’d never truly been afraid, not for herself. She’d instinctively understood his anger was not directed at her but at the situation.

  Her house was just up the road, an older bungalow surrounded by mature trees and a fenced yard. Several of her neighbors stood on their front porches
watching the excitement. Two police cars sat in front of the house, one in the driveway and the other by the curb. She pulled in behind the one in her driveway and climbed out of her car.

  Immediately, the officer on her front porch turned toward her. “Ms. Davidson?”

  “Yes.” She grabbed her purse and hurried up the walkway, hand extended. “What happened?”

  “I’m Officer Adams.”

  She started to go around him, but he blocked her path. He was tall and good-looking with a serious expression. She frowned, but he shook his head. “Let’s take a moment and talk before you go inside.”

  Her stomach jumped and breakfast soured. Was the damage inside that bad? Araminta clutched her purse strap in a death grip, took a deep breath and nodded. She could do this. The faster she dealt with the authorities, the faster they would leave. “All right.”

  “Where have you been?”

  “I was at a writer’s conference in Fargo.”

  “You stayed in the city rather than coming home?” He took out a small black notebook and made a note.

  “Yes.” Her gaze went to her open front door and back to the officer. “I don’t like to drive at night, and since I was a guest author the room was paid for by the convention organizers. I knew I’d be at some events until late.” And she was rambling so she shut her mouth.

  The officer nodded. “Makes sense. Who knew you were going to be away this weekend?”

  That question made her stop and think. The list was longer than she’d thought. “My next-door neighbor, the conference organizers and most of the people attending.” When he raised an eyebrow in question, she elaborated. “I was one of the featured authors so there was a lot of advance publicity.”

  The officer’s blue eyes darkened as he continued to jot notes. “So the hotel staff probably knew too?”

  Her knees felt wobbly but she stiffened them and squared her shoulders. “I imagine so. My agent knew too.”