Tarian Traitor

by T. S. Joyce

  He’d just granted her freedom. Loosened her up with a few words. Given her permission to play. Consequences be damned, because they were both in this now.

  So…she did what she wanted. Annamora slipped her hand under the thin material of his shirt and felt his skin. Really felt it. Warm and smooth. Her palm glided up his stony muscles easily. His nipple was puckered, and she was lifting chills where she touched him. That was power. Under her touch existed an Alpha. Big, dominant, quiet, protective, tortured Alpha, and he was asking her to play with him.

  Orion peeled his shirt off of his head smoothly and lifted her other hand to his chest. “This feels so good,” he murmured, pressing both of her hands onto his skin.

  Orion’s chest was rattling with a purr, and a thought occurred to her. She couldn’t mess this up. He was still here despite all their awkward encounters. He was okay with her just as she was.

  The rain was coming down harder now, loud against Orion’s tin roof. It was the perfect soundtrack to this moment. Right now, nothing else existed except for her and Orion and the rain.

  He pushed her wet hair out of her face and leaned down. His hand cupped her jaw, his thumb pressing into the little dimple of her chin. His lips pressed to hers gently. It wasn’t like the first one that had felt like a lightning storm. This was gentle. His lips softened against hers before he angled his face and brushed his tongue along her lips. Asking, not demanding. She opened for him as she leaned into his chest, her hands flat between them. They were both purring now, so she didn’t have to be embarrassed by the sound of pleasure in her throat. In fact, the louder she purred, the deeper he kissed her. Nothing else existed outside of this connection with him. His tongue stroked against hers slowly, rhythmically, and with each passing second, he owned her body a little more. His hands moved along her skin as if he was memorizing her curves. As if he was worshipping her. Coveting her body.

  This was the part when she was supposed to squirm away, when he touched the soft bits that she was self-conscious of. Right? She was supposed to get shy and encourage Orion to touch her somewhere else where she had more confidence. But…but…Orion wasn’t turned off at all. He was paying more attention to her rounder parts. He kept gripping her ass, the curves of her waist, and when he moved to her tits, she couldn’t find a modest bone left in her body because he had a raging erection. He liked her. He really did. All of her. This was awesome.

  Suddenly, he grabbed her ass hard and dragged her body against his. The kiss became harder, more demanding, so Annamora slid her hands up his chest and around his neck, jumped, and wrapped her legs around him.

  “Fuck, yes,” he murmured, gripping the backs of her thighs and walking them to the bedroom. She thought he would take her straight to the bed, but he pressed her against the wall outside of the door instead, rolled his hips into hers and moaned. Annamora had never been more turned on than right now. Every squeeze of his hands, every kiss, every nibble on her neck and ears, every growl, every sound of pleasure—Orion was pure confidence, and there was something so sexy about that.

  And even better? He wasn’t rushing them.

  His muscles rippled against her skin as he set her down on her feet. He undid her bra in the back with the snap of his finger and pulled it off her arms, barely breaking their kiss. When he unsnapped her jeans and went to his knees as he undressed her, she ran her fingers through his hair, nails grazing his scalp from front to back. The groan in his throat was the hottest thing she’d ever heard. He was so sensitive to her touch and so good at letting her know when she was doing something he liked. With her shoes and jeans on the floor with her bra, Orion ran his hands from her ankles to her thighs, gripping her when he got to the thickest part of her legs. His eyes flashed up at her, almost white, his lips twisted into a hungry snarl. He lifted up on his knees and wrapped his arms tightly around her back, kissing her from the crease underneath her breasts, down her belly, down, down, kiss, kiss…

  Only her pink satin panties stood between his lips and her sex now, and when he grabbed the front of them and slowly pulled them down, the excitement in her hit fever pitch. Just the feel of his knuckles brushing her skin there locked her legs. Orion didn’t let her topple, though. He laid her down on the living room floor, smooth as anything, like she was a feather. And now he was kissing her stomach again, only this time she could feel the graze of his teeth. Had anything felt so good? Had her body ever tingled with desire like this? She couldn’t recall a single time. Tonight was everything.

  One of his hands massaged her breast, and one gripped her thigh as his lips found her entrance, and all she could do was rest her hands on the wall behind her and arch her back to encourage him.

  His purr rattled against her most sensitive place as he lapped at her with his tongue, teasing. He was working her up, getting her close, and just as she was about to beg for more, he plunged his tongue inside her. Annamora cried outand gripped his hair, held him close.

  “Mmmmmmm,” he rumbled approvingly. The vibration against her felt even better, and she gasped out his name, arching her back hard against the ground.

  Over and over, he thrust his tongue into her until her body imploded. She saw stars zigzagging this way and that on the edge of her vision as her body throbbed against his mouth. He dragged every damn aftershock out of her until she was spent and twitching, gasping for breath, stunned and staring at the top of his head like what the fuck just happened to me?

  He eased back, kissed the inside of her thigh, bite, kiss, bite, kiss. And then he got up on his knees and undid the button of his jeans, shoved them down his muscular hips. He unsheathed his dick from his underwear and holy shit, he was huge, hard and thick. “You ain’t done yet. That’s one. I would never leave you with just one.” He lowered onto her and kissed her neck, then murmured, “I’ll take care of you.”

  Those five words. Annamora ran her fingernails through his hair and gripped the longer part on top, pulled his head back so she could look him in the eyes when she told him, “I’ll take care of you, too.” Did he know she meant more than just in the bedroom? From the look in his eyes, he understood just fine.

  In all honesty, she was intimidated by his size. The human body could only take so much, and he was packing a fucking torpedo. But he wasn’t rushing her. Instead, he settled on top of her and moved his hips, sliding easily in the wetness he’d already conjured from her. And his hard, swollen cock rubbing against her clit so smoothly felt just as good as his tongue did. With every roll of his hips, she became wetter. His lips and teeth felt so good against her throat. Arching her head back, she spread her knees wider for him, inviting him in.

  Smooth as you like, Orion rocked back and pushed the head of his cock inside of her. It wasn’t scary like she’d thought. He’d prepared her and he was going slow, easing in and out of her shallowly for a few thrusts, and then driving a little deeper.

  Felt. So. Good.

  “More,” she pleaded, her hands on his hips, feeling the power of each thrust.

  He wrapped his arm around her back, pulled her tight against him, and slid all the way into her.

  Annamora moaned at how perfect he felt buried inside of her like this. He stayed deep, keeping his thrusts shallow, hitting her clit over and over, faster and faster.

  “Come for me again,” he growled over the needy noises she was making.

  She was so close. She dragged her nails up his back, and he arched his spine and moaned. “Come on, Anna.” He lowered his lips to her ear , and his voice was pure snarl when he said it. “Come for me again. You feel so fucking good. So perfect. Ffffuuuuuuuck.” He bucked into her harder, and she was there, on the edge, eyes closed to the world, claws digging into his back, body completely devoured by this man. She cried out every time he slammed into her now. He was holding her so tight. Safe. God, he was powerful. Her head was about to hit the wall, so she threw her hand back and braced against it. “Fuck…me! I’m coming!”

  Orion roared against her throat as thei
r bodies shattered together. He was throbbing with her, deep and hard, adding to the warmth he’d already created inside of her. Nothing could ever top the pleasure of this moment. Every pulse of his dick drew another aftershock from her. Every touch on her skin drew chills. Every touch of his lips as their releases faded away made her fall more in love with him.

  I’ll take care of you.

  He’d earned the loyalty of her heart a long time ago, but tonight he’d gone and changed everything. He’d earned the loyalty of her body, too.

  I’ll take care of you. It was another way of saying she wasn’t alone, and she’d felt alone for so damn long. Not anymore. Not after he’d claimed her body tonight. She felt whole in herself for the first time in a long time, and like she was half of something truly important.

  What it meant, she didn’t know yet. All she knew was she wanted to make the most of the time they had left, the consequences of a broken heart be damned.

  She really was going to take care of him, too.

  Chapter Nine

  Annamora had officially lost her damn mind.

  It was three in the morning, and here she was, standing outside of Tanner’s Storage in a pair of threadbare sweatpants, flipflops, and a tank top, no bra, trying to figure out a way to break in and give her boyfriend-in-her-imagination a sack lunch that he probably didn’t need.

  The parking lot was empty except for her truck and Orion’s old Chevy which, if she was honest, looked really cute next to her rig. They were a couple, she decided. Their trucks were getting married. She would paint their wedding later and put his truck in a bowtie and her truck in a veil and—aaaaahhhhh!

  She fell knee-deep into a motherfluffin’ pothole that was so deep she could’ve gone fishing in it. Pain shot up her knee as soon as she hit the rocky bottom, and muddy slush splashed up her pant leg, clear to her crotchatile region. It looked like dooky. Great.

  With a groan, she pulled her leg gingerly from the pot-canyon and shook off her dripping pants. “Son of a biscuit lump,” she muttered, using her mother’s favorite curse as she patted at the giant watery mud stain covering most of her sweatpants. Wiping it was only making it worse.

  She should leave before Orion saw her being her normal, charming, un-matable self.

  Yep, new plan, march back to truck, start truck, speed away, eat his sack lunch and ponder why a smooth-talking, hot-as-hades, alpha lion like Orion had settled for diddling the likes of her.

  “Where are you going?” Orion asked.

  “Aaaaaaaaaaaah!” she screamed, nearly throwing the bag of food.

  After checking the ground to make sure her heart hadn’t leapt out of her chest and plopped onto the asphalt, she turned slowly with a plastered smile on her face. “Hi. Hello, hi.”

  Orion was leaning on the ten-foot metal fencing beside an automatic gate. He was wearing thick black pants that rode his hips low and an open jacket over a black T-shirt with the Tanner’s logo on it. His work uniform made his platinum blond hair look white and his eyes lighter. Hot, hot man. Her nethers tingled. She should tell him he made her nethers tingle. No. No, just be cool.

  “I stepped in a puddle. It was huge.” Like your dick. Say like your dick, but with a cool-girl smirk. Be smooth. “I like dick. I mean, like your dick! Huge like your dick…that I like. Fuuuuck, my face.” She put her hands up to her burning cheeks. “Get in your car, drive away, eat his lunch.”

  Orion was laughing. Not a subtle chuckle either. He was shoulder’s shaking, squinty-eyed laughing. At her. “I’m glad we’re back to you being weird.”

  “I’m actually not glad at all,” she said, staring down at her muddy pants. Seriously, her flip-flops didn’t even match. Make up an excuse for why your flip-flops don’t match. “I dressed in the dark. Here.” She walked stiffly over to the fence and held out the sack of food.

  “Did you cook me dinner?” he asked, the smile lingering in his voice.

  “If by cook you mean, did I make a sandwich and put in a bag of potato chips and a cupcake I got from the store like my mom used to make me? Yes. Yes, I did cook you dinner. I’m a grade-A chef. I belong in a restaurant.” She sighed and stared up at the barbed wire lining the top of the fence. “Shall I toss it over so I can go die of mortification or…?”

  Orion pulled a little doohickey out of his pocket and held it up in the air. It looked like a garage door opener, and eyes locked on hers, he arched an eyebrow and clicked the button. The fence began rolling open.

  “Whoo, fancy.”

  “I saw you fall in the puddle,” Orion said. He pointed to something on the top of a post. A camera. Fantastic. “I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m glad I can amuse you,” she muttered as she meandered through the open gate, her left flip-flop squishing with a fart sound every time she stepped. She should write a book on how not to get laid.

  She was feeling good and dejected when she squared up to him and handed him the paper sack, but he pushed off the fence and shocked her with a hug. And not a friend-hug either. He pulled her in, wrapped his arms around her tight, rested his cheek against hers, and sighed a relieved sound. She totally understood that little sigh because every ounce of tension lifted from her body, too. He was magic. She scratched his back gently with her nails until he gave her a soft purr.

  “Noisy man,” she murmured, snuggling her cheek against his.

  “I’ve never been big on affection, but when you touch me, it feels good.” His voice was scratchy and sexy in her ear.

  “Good.” She hugged him tighter. “I have to enjoy this while I can.” Her eyes flew open as he tensed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

  “No, it’s okay. We should be able to talk about that.”

  “About our expiration date?”

  Orion swallowed audibly. “You’ll be glad to be rid of me.” He gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes and then twitched his head toward the huge storage building. “I’ll give you the tour. Come on, Biscuit Lumps.”

  “Oh, good, you heard that.”

  He pointed to the camera as they walked by. “It has audio, and even if it didn’t? You said it so loud your voice echoed.”

  “It was my mom’s favorite curse.”

  “Hmm. It would be fun to meet her.”

  “You would love her,” she murmured. “It was me and her against the world. Bottom of the Pride I grew up in, but we still had an okay life. She’s a good mom.”

  “Where’s your dad?”

  She shrugged. “Hell if I know. He sent me birthday cards a few times. Wanna hear something scandalous?”

  “He’s a llama shifter?” he asked, holding open the door for her.

  “I wish, but he’s not a shifter at all. He’s human.”

  “Whooooaaaah,” Orion murmured, stopping in front of an office door. “Okay, that is scandalous. You’re a lion.”

  “Yup.”

  “And your mom is a lion.”

  “Yuuup.”

  “Lions only pair up with lions.”

  “Mmm hmm. Hence the bottom of the Pride ranking. I was a disgrace to the Pride. My mom ignored a contract pairing and got pregnant by a human. We were the talk of the Pride for…well…until two years ago when they traded me to Cassius. Where I’m from, everybody knew my story.”

  “You mean everyone knew that part of your story. That’s not who you are, though. You’re more than who your father is.”

  “So are you,” she said.

  Orion’s blond brows lowered over his serious eyes. “I don’t know about that. Anna, you know, just because your dad is human doesn’t make you any less than anyone else…right?” he asked.

  “Oh, I know. Mostly. It was hard growing up like that, people always whispering or insulting you. It was hard not to believe them. If everyone thinks something of you, eventually it’s easy to start believing it, too. You think it must be true. And they were calling my mom a whore, calling her a human-chaser. Sa
ying I would be a whore, too. Genetics and all. But the real story, the one that no one cared enough to pay attention to, was that me and my mom were still happy. It was really hard on her the first few years, being treated like that by the people she loved. She was shunned from the Pride until she had me, and that was hard—her going through that alone, without any support, and without my dad around. Everyone just bailed. So when I came along, it was just us. A little team. She did everything she could to make sure I had a happy life. The Pride stopped shunning us when I was a year old and let us live on the outskirts, and sometimes I think that was the best thing for us anyway. We got left alone for the most part, and the both of us got really tough about insults, you know? Like every meeting or dinner or meet-up or hunt…we went into it knowing we would be called names, and eventually those names lost their sting. So in a way, we were both lucky because we got really tough. And that Pride is still bickering and bitching and tripping over their own insults, getting sensitive over every little thing. There’s drama always, but for me and my mom, living on the outside of the Pride, we were okay.”

  Orion canted his head. “You’re an extraordinary woman.”

  “Me? Oh, no, I’m just a normal one. Well…not normal, but you know what I mean.”

  “You don’t see it, do you?”

  “See what?”

  “How important you are. How unique your perspective is. Anna, think about it. How many people would live a hard life in a Pride like that and grow bitter? How many people would go through what you did in the Old Tarian Pride and break? And here you are, still standing, still smiling, still trying, still fighting for a happy life. You didn’t ever take your misfortunes out on other people. You’re still nice. The world needs more people like you.”

  Oh, this was very serious, and she didn’t know how to take compliments graciously. Joke your way out of it. “More people who fall into potholes and stumble over their words?”

  The corners of his lips lifted and fell as he shook his head. “I’m serious. I wish you could see yourself from my eyes. Just for a minute. You would never question how incredible you are again.”