by Kit Tunstall
Long fingers went to the hem of his T-shirt. With held breath, she inched the straps of her dress down, working at lowering the bodice as he raised his shirt. His gaze flickered to her chest. From the way his pupils darkened to the catch of his breath, she knew her dress had moved past her breasts. Her nipples beaded under his gaze, and her breasts grew heavy. Then all that much heavier when he pulled his shirt over his head and his sculpted chest was bared. A vee of dark hair started at his flat nipples and tapered to a fine line that disappeared into his jeans. The vee stood out in stark contrast against his white skin, and in some strange way seemed familiar.
The question of how it might be familiar was knocked from Liddy’s mind as Kevin’s fingers moved to the waist of his jeans. He unzipped the fly and pushed the jeans down his legs. His briefs moved with them, until both, along with his shoes and socks, were in a pile on the floor. He straightened and grinned, and her heart took off.
Absently freeing her body from her own clothes, she assessed him. He was a big man. And the length and girth of his cock was no exception. Her pussy pulsed as she stared at the head of his penis. Pre-cum wept from the slit and her mouth watered with the desire to lick at the salty sweet substance.
“Go ahead, Liddy. It’s all yours.”
For an instant, she met his eyes, stunned by the way he’d seemed to have read her thoughts. Then she dismissed the wonder to cast aside the remainder of her clothes and go down on her knees in front of him.
Taking his shaft into her hand, she lapped at the velvety fluid on his cock head. His taste filled her senses, cruised through her body and had her cells tightening.
She tipped back her head to find him watching her. Her heart stuttered at the way his sexy grin had become one of exultation. The way he looked at her now was primal, predatory. He looked at her as no other man ever had. No other male…until last night.
Guilt passed through her with the reminder. If she’d known there would be a chance with Kevin, she would never have given herself to another, no matter how hot the male made her with his gaze alone.
No matter how right it had seemed at the time, last night had been a mistake. Tonight was perfection.
Liddy swirled her tongue over his cock head, dipping into the tiny hole and pleasuring in his answering groan. “You taste so good.”
“Just good?”
She teased her tongue over the sensitive head once more, then stroked the length of his hard shaft. The scent of his blood had riled her arousal. The scent of his sex stimulated her to the breaking point. “So much better than good. You taste…like mine.”
Something flashed through Kevin’s eyes, some unnamable emotion. In the past, she had left his thoughts alone. Now she wanted to look into them, to know if he feared the connection growing between them. Before she could do so, his fingers spilled into her hair and he encouraged her mouth to slide onto his penis.
“I’m yours, Liddy. Yours to do with as you will.”
The words captured her heart and filled her soul. The feel of him, the texture and taste of his sex stole over her senses. He was huge in her mouth, hot and hard, and she wanted to suck every inch of him, wanted to show him how effectively he’d become a part of her life.
She’d feared taking their relationship to the next level for a number of reasons. None of those reasons mattered now, nothing did but finally making love with Kevin.
Watching the emotions play across his face, Liddy captured his balls, massaging the sac while her tongue slid over the rigid veins of his cock. She murmured against his hot flesh, delighting in the way his mouth parted, the increased rhythm of his breathing. She could hear his heart beating, loud and fast. Her own pounded in tandem. Her pussy pulsed nearly as fast, as loudly when she milked his cock with her mouth and his hips jerked toward her face.
Kevin’s fingers squeezed into fists in her hair, tugging. “You’re so hot. So good. And if you keep that up, you’re going to have me coming in that sweet mouth of yours. I want to be inside you. I want to feel your orgasm. Let me love you, Liddy.”
That she wanted him to fuck her was obvious from the straining points of her nipples to the scent of her arousal thick in the air. That he asked for her approval regardless of her aroused state raised her affection for him all that much more. She had nothing to fear with this man. He was a man she could trust, a man she could love.
Warmth filled her as she took a last suck of his cock, pulling away from the head with a lusty, lingering lick. He lifted his hands from her hair and offered them to her. Liddy thought he would bring her to her feet. Instead, he took her hands and came down on his knees in front of her.
Once more the predatory look gleamed in his eyes. Strength exuded from the lines of his body. Wordlessly, he pulled her flush to him and slanted his mouth over hers. For all that they’d shared tonight, this was only the second time he’d kissed her and the rush of heat and longing that spiked through her nearly brought her to her knees. The brush of his lips was intimate, the lick of his tongue familiar. The urgency that claimed her as he rubbed his tongue over her teeth and then against hers all consuming.
Kevin’s fingers untwined from hers. His hands came over her breasts, palming, stroking, circling her aching nipples. The damp head of his cock nudged her opening and her pussy flamed with need.
Tracing the hard contours of his chest and the furl of dark, silky hair that covered it, Liddy’s voice came out low, sultry, in a way she’d never before heard it. “I want you now, Kevin. All of you. Take me.”
Silence had been a consistent part of the last half hour, now the look in his eyes was deafening. So much more than predatory—it spoke of power, of command. His fingers closed over her nipples, twisting the peaked dark flesh until pleasure just this side of pain arced through her. Her cry was automatic, the rush of wetness in her sex the same. That rush was repeated when he took hold of her arm and turned her around.
One hand still toyed with her nipple, while the other locked around her middle. His cock rubbed against the crack of her ass, her anus puckering in response.
Kevin’s breath was hot against ear, his voice rough. “You have the most beautiful ass, Liddy.” His finger replaced his shaft, pushed into it her hole, and the breath snagged in her throat. “Do you want me to fuck it, Liddy? Do you like that?”
The change in his mood should have surprised her. But like the command in his eyes, it only thrilled her. His finger pushed deeper into her hole, thrusting in and out, milking her anus. She couldn’t keep from rearing back, whimpering her response, “I’ve never tried it this way, but yes, I want it.”
“This way?”
“As a hum—” No. As much as she trusted him, she couldn’t admit so much so soon. Even feelings were safer to discuss than the fact she wasn’t quite human. “With someone I care for. Please, Kevin. Fuck me now.”
His fingers thrust twice more and then his cock head rimmed her damp crack. He slipped into her pussy with two fingers and stroked her sheath until the pressure building within her was nearly unbearable, and finally he gave her what she craved, pushing into her ass with a solid plunge.
Liddy’s ecstatic gasp was met with one of Kevin’s own. His hips thrust against hers, pushing his large cock further inside her yet. His thumb settled over her clit, circling and stroking the swollen pearl. Need built hot and heavy in her belly.
“Hell, you’re so good, Liddy. So tight. So perfect.” His lips touched down on her neck, his tongue licked over her hot flesh, and then his teeth bit down lightly.
She purred with the tender nip. She wanted it much harder, wanted to feel his teeth sinking into her skin, marking her for all to see. When bitten in her female form the marks faded almost instantly. When bitten as a woman they would stay for days. “Bite me.”
“Yes.”
The rush of his teeth sinking into her skin was blinding. The scent of her blood drove her wild. The slow tempo was no longer enough. She needed fast, needed furious. She needed to make him hers.
With the last of the tremors, Kevin slipped from her body and turned her around, until she was on her back on the rug. Placing a hand on either side of her head, he came over her. He lowered to her mouth, nipping a kiss at each corner, before raising concerned eyes to hers. “You okay?”
Liddy allowed the elation filling her to reflect in her smile as she lifted a hand to his cheek and stroked. “So much better than.”
“Good, because I need to ask you something and I want a truthful answer.”
Something in his voice and the way his concern stayed intact even after her assurance she was okay called forth her anxiety. Her fingers stilled on his cheek.
She could trust him. She wanted him to feel the same way about her. No matter the question, she would answer. “I’d never lie to you, Kevin. What do you want to know?”
“Are you a shifter, Liddy?”
Chapter Four
Liddy’s hand jerked from Kevin’s cheek and her eyes went wide. She attempted to push him off her, but then clearly realized he wasn’t going anywhere and gave up the efforts to squeak out, “Why would you think that?”
He smiled at her anxiety while happiness soared through him. If she wasn’t a shifter, she wouldn’t be acting this way. “The way you licked my wound today. The way you wanted me to bite you. The way you roared when I took you in the ass. And for so many other reasons.” He added solemnly, “Liddy, you affect me in a way no normal woman ever has.”
“What are you saying?” she asked, her voice tremulous.
He brushed a reassuring kiss across her mouth. “I’m saying it’s okay to admit what you are. It won’t scare me. I told you I know shifters, many who live in this city. They mean more to me than you could ever guess.”
Her lips pulled into a thoughtful pout. Long, silent seconds passed. Finally, she admitted, “No one knows about me. Just a few other shifters I’ve met through the years. No one else even suspects. If I hadn’t licked your hand today, we might not be here now and you wouldn’t know either, would you?”
She looked scared, like telling him the truth had cost her dearly. Kevin hated seeing the fear in her eyes—she was too strong of a woman for it, too strong of a lioness. At the same time, he gloried in her unease. Liddy believed he was human and had entrusted him with her secret. It spoke highly of her feelings for him, her faith in him.
He captured her hands in his. Linking their fingers, he brushed her lips a second time, needing to show her that she had nothing to fear. “Eventually I would have figured it out.”
“How can you be so sure? You didn’t know for the last six months, did you?”
The words were barely a whisper. Kevin pulled back to meet her eyes. The glimmer of tears made her eyes seem as bright as the moonlight and tugged at his heart. This was a good moment, the best he could remember. The only tears in her eyes should be happy ones. Thankfully, he knew how to accomplish that. “I didn’t know, but I should have. I never tried to read your thoughts until yesterday. When I couldn’t it made me wonder and then, when you cleaned my cut with your tongue, everything began to fall into place. Still I was afraid to hope.”
Liddy’s fingers went limp against his. Her eyes narrowed. “Afraid to hope. Read my thoughts. What are you saying, Kevin?”
He smiled supremely, relieved beyond measure to have the truth out between them. To think he’d been ready to give up on ever having anything beyond friendship with her. “I’m saying I’m one, too. Like you only other shifters know. And honestly very few of them know who I really am. Making it in this city hasn’t come easy. If the people I do business with knew what I really am… I was afraid to tell even you, Liddy. As much as I know you love your animals, I was still worried you would reject me.”
Kevin was sure the admission would be followed by Liddy’s enchanting smile, her delighted laughter. Instead, her hands stayed limp in his, her eyes narrowed in speculation. “You go to the gatherings?” she asked quietly.
“I lead them.”
“You…?” She broke off and shook her hands loose from his, once more attempted to push him away. When it proved unsuccessful, she implored, “Please let me go.”
His smile erupted along with his happiness. His gut tightened. He’d been so sure she would be pleased. Damn it, she would be pleased. There was so much good between them. She had to see that. He shifted his position over her, applying the weight of his lower half fully to hers. His cock cradled against her pussy. That she was still wet both thrilled and angered him. She couldn’t leave him.
“You’re not going anywhere, Liddy,” he growled, asserting the power he so rarely used. “This is where you belong and I’m not letting you go until you see that. Don’t even think about telling me no. I’m your leader, your king. You have to abide.”
Unlike his power, Kevin asserted his strength regularly through his business dealings. It was met by anxiety with some and hostility by others. Laughter was a new reaction. But laughter was exactly what came out of Liddy’s mouth, throaty and low and sensual in a way that fired his libido anew.
Tears shimmered in her eyes once more, but this time they were those of amusement. “I wasn’t going anywhere, you big lug. I just wanted to show you something.” She sobered to add, “Now that I know you think I belong here with you, I want to show you more than ever.”
He huffed out a breath as the fight left him, and rolled off her. She’d never planned to go anywhere. If he’d been operating on logic and not his fear of rejection, he might have understood that.
Kevin reclined on his side and came up on an elbow. He gestured to the room in front of him. “Show me.”
Liddy came to her feet, a lithe move that had her body open to him and her lush breasts thrust high and hard-tipped. Moonlight tangled with the curls at her mound, making them seem so much lighter than their typically black shade. Almost white. Thoughts of sinking his tongue past those tight, wet curls to lick at her delectable pussy pounded through his brain and had his cock solid and aching for her again.
He pushed to his knees, ready to crawl across the floor and skewer his tongue into her pussy. He only made it a few inches when the reality of how white and thick the fur at her sex had become. His focus pulled from her mound and all thoughts of crawling to her were forgotten.
Liddy the woman was gone. Liddy the lioness stood before him, strong and graceful and brilliant white. Soulful dark eyes fixed on his and her mouth pulled back in a familiar smile.
Kevin grinned back as understanding dawned. He should have known. No other woman had ever appealed to him the way Liddy did, just as no other lioness had ever appealed to him the way the white lioness he’d fucked the previous night did. The white lioness looking upon him now. “Sierra.”
Balendin, she thought his feline name with an incline of her head. I didn’t know who you were. I thought… I felt so guilty about the other night. From the first time I saw you, something about you captivated me in a way no other lion ever had. Now I know why.
And now he knew why he hadn’t been able to resist Sierra.
Kevin shifted into his lion form, wanting to be both physically and emotionally as close to Liddy as possible. He went to her and nuzzled her neck, inhaled her scent. How could have he missed the connection? Regardless of her form, she was the same incredible Liddy. His Liddy.
Joy pressed at his heart as he lapped a kiss at her mouth. I felt guilty, too. Like you I was drawn in. It was your eyes for me. Dark, soulful. I
couldn’t place them before, but now I can. I was looking into Sierra’s eyes and seeing Liddy. My Liddy.
She purred against his mouth. I want to be yours, Kevin. I want you to teach me. To show me everything. There’s so much I don’t know.
His joy turned to curiosity as he recalled her saying only a few other shifters knew about her. Most shifters came from a line of the same. That Liddy hadn’t, could only mean she had been turned, clearly by a lion who hadn’t stuck around long enough to instruct her in their ways. How did you become this way? When?
She brushed his mouth a last time and moved to look out the window. He’d purposefully surrounded his home with trees so no passersby could look inside and catch a glimpse of something they would fear.
Six years ago, when I spent the summer interning with the sanctuary. Liddy’s thoughts came across quietly, as if it pained her to share them. I was studying the lions’ behavioral patterns when one of them went wild. It lunged at me, pinned me down. I was out back, too far for anyone to hear me screaming. Eventually someone came looking for me. They found me asleep. Seemingly untouched. And gave me a lecture about taking naps in the lion preserve.
Kevin’s heart squeezed with hurt for her at the picture she painted. Poor Liddy. He had heard tales of the turning process and it sound painful and often unwanted. Had she wanted it? Did she regret it even now? No, she couldn’t. If she did, she wouldn’t be asking to learn more. But you weren’t untouched?
No. The cat didn’t hurt me, just bit me and exchanged enough blood to turn me. At first I was fine, then little by little I started feeling sick. I figured out slowly why that was, what was missing from my diet. I had been a vegetarian up until then.
Her thoughts had grown stronger as she shared, and he took that as the sign it would be okay to approach her. He moved to the window beside her and glanced over. It was hard to hang on to his sorrow for what she had gone through when he was looking at her, seeing her, his beautiful white lioness in his home. Remembering how amazing she’d felt in his arms, her body joining with his. He wanted that forever.