He watched her and she smiled, reaching out to him once more. This time there was no shock, so the collar was responsible for that. Now they were free, nothing to contain their innate natural powers. His big, long lion tongue licked her, rough against her palm and she stroked his massive head, before leaning down and kissing him. A deep rumble in his chest told her his feelings for her, and the sudden need to be one with him took over her. But in her head, her lioness growled and paced her mind, coming to the forefront so she could see her.
Tears sprang to Amara’s eyes. This beautiful creature had been caged for too long, now was the time for her to have her freedom.
Gathering her thoughts, she allowed her lioness to come forth. Slowly, she shifted, her body changing from human to lion, fingernails growing into claws, sandy fur sprouting through her skin. Amara dropped down to her knees, her legs changing, muscles lengthening, bones shortening as human morphed into beast.
This was what pure humans were scared of. If only they knew!
She stood, all powerful, all lion. Her head lifted to the sky and roared, her joy at life filling every part of her body, from the tip of her cream whiskers to the end of her tail, which swished with the need to run. But first she had to help their mate.
Kane stood looking at her, his eyes glowing as he took in his female. With bared teeth, he looked as though he was grinning at her—and so he should, her lioness was stunning, even if she did say so herself.
Positioning herself by his side, she pressed her body against his, letting her warmth transfer across to him, to reassure him. Then she placed her right front paw in front of her, and nudged him to do the same. It was like helping a giant cub to walk for the first time. He copied her, and then she moved her next foot, and one step at a time he learned to walk, without the weight of his tail overbalancing him.
That was the easy bit. Now she had to teach him to run, and jump. Slowly, they climbed the mountain, Kane becoming more confident in his new body until he was able to leap from boulder to boulder, clearing fallen trees in one leap, with only the occasional slip of a paw which would send him sprawling to the ground, when he would immediately get up and try again until he had perfected the move.
As the time wore on, Amara knew they had to try to reverse the process. He had become one with his lion; now he had to come back to his human form. If he could.
She stood on a large outcrop, taking in their surroundings. Frasier had told her there was a cave they could go to, where they would be shielded from sight while he tried to return to a human. There they would have no distraction, and they could take their time.
Amara shook her head. She had to stop thinking about what else might happen in private, once he was back to being human. Would he feel the mate bond as strongly as she did?
She turned and nipped his legs, pushing him away, and then leaped past him to race down the side of the mountain. Her sense of direction was keen, and she headed south and then dipped down into a small valley. There, a wall of rock towered above them. Following it along, they came to a waterfall that dropped down by their feet, disappearing into an underground cave. They both stopped and drank their fill. Kane couldn’t resist flopping down in the small pool and soaking his coat, flicking water up at her with his enormous paw.
She shied away and then pounced, splashing water in his face. He got up, shook himself, and then wriggled like a cat about to pounce. She turned and ran, leading him away from the water and towards the place where she hoped the cave was. The sun shone down into the sheltered valley, warming her cream coat as she ran headlong across the rough terrain, and then she saw the dark shadow against the rock face and knew they were at the cave. This was it. Although what she would do if he couldn’t change back into a human, she didn’t know.
Nudging him again, and pushing him, she guided him to the cave, although he held back. They had to do this now. So she allowed her human form to come and take over her body, standing in front of him with her arms folded across her chest.
“It’s time,” she said.
He shook his giant head, his mane rippling over his shoulders as he moved. Kane took a step back, and she was scared of losing him. If he ran off, there was no way she would be able to force him to come back.
Reaching out, she placed a comforting hand on his head, stroking him, and then tangling her fingers in his mane. If he ran now, he would drag her with him.
“Come on, you have to do this.” She tugged on his mane and for a moment she didn’t think he was going to follow, and then he did, one giant reluctant step at a time. Only as they entered the cave did she look up towards the eastern side of the valley and see the bear standing watch. It seemed they had a guardian angel in Frasier, or had he been paid by Darius to watch over them during Kane’s first shift?
The big male lion stood in front of her, and she watched him for a few moments while she went through the process of becoming a human in her head. Amara was aware that when he had changed into his lion, it had been spontaneous, and so this was going to be like doing it for the first time.
“OK. So can you remember how it felt to be human?” she asked. “The beat of your heart, the thoughts in your head?”
Kane put his head down and stared at the ground. She took it as a good sign, he must be thinking, trying to remember what it felt like to walk on two legs. She crouched down by the side of him and said, “It won’t hurt so much this time; you’ll be in control.”
He looked up, his big amber eyes staring into hers. She leaned forward and kissed him on his nose, and then slipped her hands around his neck and hugged him. He rested his giant head on her shoulder, and they stayed like this for a long while, until at last he moved away, and she hoped this meant he was ready.
“Imagine you are human, that you walk on two legs, feel the beat of your heart, the way your fingers feel when they touch things, how that skin is different to your fur.” She watched, his lion face frowning as he tried. “Once you feel that, let yourself become the man, let go of your lion, feel his hide slipping from your body. It’s a chemical reaction that starts in your brain, once you get the hang of it, you will be able to trigger it in an instant.”
The lion in front of her began to shift, going out of focus and then returning to normal. She waited patiently but could see the frustration building up in the lion. But he kept trying, and then at last, something clicked and the fur disappeared, the tail shortening until it was gone and before her eyes a man appeared, kneeling on the ground, looking exhausted.
“You did it!” she cried out, and went to him, hugging him close and kissing his lips.
Chapter Fifteen – Kane
Nothing had ever felt so good as having Amara in his arms. Now his lion was back in his head, the mate bond hit him. She was his woman, destined to be the mother of his children and to lead the pride with him, if he ever had the nerve to confront Serrif and take it back.
He didn’t want to think about that now, though. In this moment it was just the two of them, in a cave in the middle of nowhere. They could stay here and make love on the cold stone floor; his body would warm hers, his hands and mouth drawing pleasure from her.
“Here,” she said, passing him his clothes. “You might want to put these on.”
“No, I don’t.” He pulled her closer, his mouth finding hers. They kissed, and she threaded her arms around his neck, stroking his hair and his neck, sending shivers down his spine.
“I thought the change had weakened you,” she whispered against his ear.
“It left me a little disorientated, but having you near has kind of brought me back to my senses. I feel it now,” he said.
“Feel what?” she asked, her hands stroking his back, feeling his muscles flex as he tensed. Damn, he wanted to be inside her.
“This bond you told me about. And I aim to satisfy myself right now.” He threw his clothes on the floor, and laid her down on them. “Unless you have somewhere else you would rather be?”
“Well, now yo
u mention it,” she teased. “There is this big old bear out there.”
“I saw him, but he has nothing to do with this. Unless he wants to watch,” Kane said, his fingers going to her shirt and undoing the buttons. For the first time since this whole thing had started, since his old life had ended and this one had begun, he felt himself; he felt strong, powerful. This body was the one he had grown up in, it was not the gangly-legged lion who tied himself in knots.
And this body knew how to satisfy a woman.
Her shirt undone, he pushed it back off her shoulders, and his eyes feasted on her voluptuous breasts. “Magnificent,” he breathed, his head dipping to kiss the swell of her flesh, while his hands sought out the clasp to her bra.
She groaned as he undid it, her breasts freed from their confines, only to be held by his hands. Kane cupped each one in turn, kissing them, kneading them, and then lowering his head to suck in a nipple. He rolled his tongue over the taut bud, until Amara writhed beneath him, begging him to touch her.
Kane slipped his hand between her thighs and felt the moist heat there. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her, and he wanted to satisfy their need. His thumb pressed against her clit, while his fingers pushed against her entrance, the fabric of her clothes a barrier to what he wanted to do, but this was all about teasing her. Making her want him, beg him to make love to her.
Amara must have had the same idea, her hand wrapped around his erect cock, stroking him up and down. He thought he would explode right then, the need to be inside her too much. Kane had made love to women before, but never had he wanted, needed, a woman as much as he needed Amara in this moment.
“Damn it, I want you, Amara.” His hands went to her pants, undoing the buttons and dragging her clothes from her body. She lay down, lifting her bottom off the ground to help him. At last, she was naked, and he wanted to suspend time, to gaze on her body, to kiss every soft, silky inch of her skin. But the intensity of the moment wouldn’t allow it.
Amara eased her thighs apart as he came towards her, his body nestling between her legs. Supporting his weight on his elbow, he guided himself towards her, but before he entered her, he hesitated. Was she ready for him? Or should he spend more time on foreplay?
“What are you waiting for?” she asked.
“I wanted to make sure you’re OK with this.”
She laughed, a sound that bubbled out of her mouth. “I’m a sure thing, Kane. And although it’s very sweet of you to be concerned, if you don’t make love to me, I think I am going to explode.”
He leaned forward and kissed her. “A woman after my own heart.”
“No, Kane, a woman who holds your heart.” She placed her hand on his chest above his heart, and their eyes met. “Just the same as you hold my heart. Together forever.”
He kissed her softly, the urgency gone for a brief moment. “I want to savour every last moment of this,” he said.
She stroked his cheek, and sighed contentedly. “Savour away.”
Inching forward, he pressed the head of his cock against her sex, and very slowly entered her. He might want to savour every moment, but his cock seemed to be less under his control than his lion had been.
This might all end very prematurely.
Chapter Sixteen – Amara
He was so sweet, for a big hunk of man flesh. Well, that was what she thought until he entered her, then he became anything but sweet. Instead, his animal seemed to take over, filled with passion and a need to satisfy his mate.
Slowly he took her, at first inching forward before pulling back, but then something snapped and he lunged forward, filling her completely, and she found herself urging him on, her fingernails digging into his back, whispering in his ear to take her, and never let her go.
Kane kissed her, his mouth hungry for hers, and he pushed his tongue into her mouth, mimicking the rhythm of his cock inside her sex. He consumed her in every way. If she had taught him about being a lion, Kane now taught her about sex, and how enjoyable it could be.
Her breathing became rapid, and her body tensed. She was going to come and she edged towards that sweet release, wanting to feel his cock throb and pulse inside her. The primal desire to have cubs overtook her; this what was what their joining was about, making a new life, the continuation of their pride, a thing they still had to fight for.
Kane thrust into her, his hands stroking her skin, igniting a fire throughout her body, while he told her how much he wanted her, how much she meant to him. And then he groaned, lunging into her hard, and she felt his essence spurting inside her. His actions set off a chain reaction, and her back arched, a wonderful tension covering her body as her orgasm exploded, sending stars shimmering before her eyes.
Even when he was spent, he stayed inside her, not wanting to break the spell that had settled around them. There was no other sound in the cave, save for their breathing, and from outside there came only an occasional bird call, or the sound of the soft breeze across the cave entrance.
“I wish we could stay here forever,” he said. “This has been an amazing day. To think that the lion inside me has been caged all these years.”
“You don’t regret coming to Shifters Prime?” she asked, stroking his cheek.
He turned and kissed her hand. “No, no regrets. I might change my mind when we go to my pride lands, but right now? No.”
“Your pride lands. You have already become accustomed to living here,” she said, kissing his shoulder.
“When I was a lion … when I was my lion, he knew things, remembered things that I didn’t. He had knowledge that I had forgotten.” Kane stopped and his expression became distant. “He can remember my father.”
Amara sat up. “Why didn’t you say before?”
“Because we had other things on our mind,” Kane said, kissing her lips. “And I had to have some time to assimilate them. You know, it feels like a dream, and I had to go over those thoughts, try to put them together and figure out if they were real.”
“And now you are sure?” she asked.
“Pretty much. At least I will be when we get there, because I have an image of this tree stuck in my head,” he said.
She moved away from him and went to gather her clothes. “Come on, I bet Frasier knows if the tree is real.”
“He might not have been to my pride lands,” Kane said, reaching out to pull her back to him.
“I think that man has probably been everywhere in the Prime, don’t you? Anyway, I expect if he is on your uncle’s payroll, he would have visited there at some point. There is no way your uncle would have sent you back here unless he thought it was safe. The future of the pride is resting on your shoulders, so I think he would have kept tabs on what was going on. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a spy in the pride.”
“So now we are caught up in some kind of secret espionage,” Kane asked jokingly.
Amara stood still, her shirt half buttoned up. “Why not? The Prime isn’t the backwater state Frasier would have you believe. Most of his talk is for show. Things get smuggled in here all the time.”
“How?” Kane asked.
“If you had taken a bigger interest in your uncle’s business, you might know more about the workings of the Prime. And its suppliers.”
“Are you implying that my uncle is a smuggler?” Kane asked.
“Of course he is. But I bet he does it out in the open, so no one sees or suspects,” Amara said. “It’s why most companies here deal with him.”
“Everyone says he got rich off the back of the Prime by selling goods that don’t pass safety checks in the human world.” Kane began to dress too.
“I thought about it, and now I think he pretends to sell shoddy goods. But really he sends the stuff the people over here really need. It’s why he thinks his work is so important; believe me, he would not have stayed in the Otherworld for money alone.”
“No. I believe you are right. He would give up everything he owned to be a lion again. Or do you think it�
��s a sense of guilt? He said he believed he betrayed my father,” Kane said.
“Not intentionally. I think he just feels guilty, that he could have prevented it. But we never see the true meaning of our actions until it’s too late.” She thought back to the way she had parted with her parents, particularly her father. He had asked for her forgiveness over the contract, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words he needed to hear. The debt remained a mystery, Darius been asked to take her contract on, that was all she knew.
“True,” Kane agreed.
“Do you think you can control the change?” she asked.
“I think so. If not, I’ll be going back to the cabin naked,” he said, buttoning up his shirt.
“I won’t complain,” she said wistfully.
“Anyway, back to Darius. There are even protests about what he does. People say it’s immoral,” Kane said. Once he had found out about being a shifter, he had felt a pang of guilt about the whole thing.
“Bait and switch, that’s what they call it. I’m not sure how it works, but I have seen the stuff that gets delivered. My brother had to go and pick up some tools once, and there was nothing shoddy about them.” She slipped her feet into her boots. “Your uncle is a clever man, so my guess would be that Frasier has information we need. That’s why he was watching over us.”
“Then let’s go ask him,” Kane said.
They left the cave. The light was dimming in the sky and the occasional star was appearing overhead. “Wait until they all come out. There isn’t so much light pollution over this side of the border, so you will see stars like never before.”
He breathed in, and then, as he let it go, his lion seemed to be conjured from the twilight. She smiled, feeling happy and free. He was right, life would be bliss if only they didn’t have to return to his pride lands.
Then her lioness morphed into existence, and they walked back to the place where their adventure had begun.
Living a Lion: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Sleeping Lions - Shifters Prime Book 1) Page 7