by Anya Nowlan
Could he be any hotter? she thought feverishly, her hands crawling up his back. He was wearing black slacks and a white tee that hugged him just right. It felt almost lewd looking at him. She didn’t want it to stop. And she barely knew his name.
He kissed a heated trail down her chest, stopping right where her bountiful breasts were pressed together by the luxurious lavender silk of her bridesmaid’s dress. The color was a perfect complement to her mocha skin and hazel eyes. She’d started the night off feeling like a hundred bucks but damn if she didn’t feel like a million now. Her fingers coiled in his dusty blonde hair, tugging him upwards to meet her hungry lips once more. The man was chiseled to perfection from head to toe. He looked even hotter now, with his lips plush from kissing her until it almost hurt, and his breath shallower from the intense heat that pulsed through both of them. She knew it wasn’t just her. It was difficult to misconstrue the hard thickness pressed against her thigh as anything but a surefire sign of a man in need.
His tongue collided with hers, and she welcomed it eagerly. The green-eyed devil towered above her luscious 5’9’’ frame and made her feel tiny next to him. Liza wasn’t a small girl by any means but, tucked away in his arms, he made her feel like one. She nipped at his lower lip, and he growled again, sending a hot and cold shiver down her spine. That sound… mmhmm! No doubt that the man was a beast, and she wasn’t even thinking about the fact that he was likely a shifter. Everyone at the party was, it seemed.
Shit. Kacey! Guilt came pouring over her. She shouldn’t be here making out with a sexy as sin groomsman. She was supposed to be supporting her friend on the most magical day of her life! But if I’m keeping the wedding party busy then… No! Bad Liza! Bad!
Liza grabbed his hair a bit tighter in her hand and yanked his head back, a kind of ferocity she hardly knew herself capable of. Having his lips leave her was painful. The little moan she gave was just a fitting mark of it.
“What is it?” he asked, his eyes fogged with desire. She knew that look. It was the look a man gave a woman he was going to ravage. It made her knees buckle. But she had to be strong. She was a lady, dammit. Fucking a guy just hours after they’d met, and up against what she guesstimated to be an oak tree, was not a ladylike thing to do. Even if she really, really wanted to.
“Ah! You’re such a dog,” she giggled, his strong hands grabbing her ass and grinding her against his impressive erection.
“A big cat, actually,” he said, flashing her a toothy grin. The way his green eyes glinted and his slightly longer than average canines cut in his mouth made her have no doubt that she was staring at a predator. A predator that wanted her. He leant in to kiss her again, and she turned her face away. He settled for kissing her neck and nuzzling his nose into her long, curly hair. He wasn’t making it easy on her. Liza banged against his arms feebly, not really wanting to leave.
I never liked weddings anyway. And now, when I’m having fun at one, I need to cut it short. God dammit.
“No, I can’t. I want to, but I can’t. I’ve got to go help Kacey,” she said, protesting at both Rake and her own sense of morals. She felt his hot breath on her skin, and it made her tingle with anticipation and then with disappointment as he drew away from her just enough that she could slip away. Liza hesitated for a moment, looking at the breathtaking specimen of a man before her. His hair was a bit shaggy from their heated exchange, and his jaw was squared. Controlling himself obviously wasn’t coming at a cheap price. It turned her on even more, which was completely unfair.
Liza gritted her teeth at the cruel twist of fate. She rose up on her tiptoes and laid a quick peck on his cheek.
“I’m Elizabeth Kamilla Perelli. You better call me or I’ll never forgive you, tiger,” she said, pointing a finger at him and giving him a stern look. Rake’s brows furrowed as she turned around and walked quickly towards the noise of the party, the sun just starting to set.
“I’m a lion,” he grumbled quietly behind her back, and she couldn’t help but giggle.
***
A few weeks later…
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Kacey asked, still holding onto Liza as if she were to fall over immediately without her protective care.
“Yes, mom,” Liza snorted, patting her friend’s back lightly and sharing an amused and exasperated look with Warren over Kacey’s shoulder.
“Come on now, babe. You’re going to suffocate her. I already told the boys they had to be nice to our guest, and they’ll be sure she has everything she needs,” Warren said, his soft drawl like music to Liza’s ears. Of course, she was a lot more excited about seeing another inhabitant of Shifter Grove, but she hadn’t dared mention it to anyone. Not even Kacey. The happy newlywed would never leave if she knew that Liza hadn’t agreed to come housesit for her and Warren just because she liked the Idaho weather so much.
Without noticing, her hand slid across her phone that was partly sticking out of the back pocket of her jeans. She’d been glued to the SassyDate app ever since Rake had poked her on it, just like Kacey had been with Warren all those months earlier. Liza hadn’t understood her friend’s excitement then, but she completely got it now. There was something about a cowboy like Warren or Rake that got a woman’s heart pounding in her chest and her head filling with all sorts of fluffy pink dreams. To her surprise, Liza didn’t even mind her sudden sensitivities, even though she had never thought of herself as the kind of woman who would fall all over a man. If anything, it had made her more creative than she’d been in years. And that was never a bad thing for an artist.
“Right, that’s exactly what she needs. A bunch of single shifters all falling over her, trying to prove who’s the biggest rooster in the pen.”
“Oh, girl, you know that’s exactly what I need,” Liza laughed, finally released from the loving embrace. Kacey sighed, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and begrudgingly taking Warren’s hand. They’d only been married for a few weeks, but it was clear as the mountain air to Liza that those two were made for each other. She was happy for her friend’s newfound joy, but the apartment back in Texas had got awful lonely without Kacey there. So, when Kacey had called and told her how the cottage would be empty and without supervision (because a cottage in the middle of nowhere in Idaho needs a lot of guarding, right?) it hadn’t taken a genius to figure out what Kacey was hinting at. A change of scenery would do Liza good, and it didn’t hurt that it was within driving distance of the green-eyed cat she’d been pining for since leaving Shifter Grove after the wedding. On top of all that, it was cattle driving season, and Warren’s friend Deacon had been hinting at needing someone to help out with the work. Liza hadn’t been on a horse in a few years, but the possibility of rekindling her long love for horses was far too good to pass up.
“Go on now, you’ll miss your flight,” Liza urged, throwing a nervous glance at the rickety little plane that had flown her there from Idaho Falls and was just about to take Kacey and Warren on the first leg of their trip just 10 minutes after setting down with Liza.
“Naw, Thrace will wait for us,” Warren said with a grin, hauling Liza’s suitcase into the bed of his truck. Liza threw him a glare, and Warren got with the program. “I mean, yeah, we should be going. Alaska isn’t getting any closer the longer we stand around here.” He grabbed Kacey’s palm in his big hand and slightly tugged her forward, his curvy bride reluctantly moving along with him.
“Do you know where you need to drive? The keys are in the cup holder! There’s some venison in the deep freeze! And don’t forget to water my orchid!” Kacey kept throwing mothering notations at Liza, who just nodded with a big smile on her lips until the newlyweds disappeared into the plane. Liza kept waving until the plane took off and disappeared into the clouds.
Who the hell honeymoons in Alaska anyway, she wondered with a grin, breathing in the fresh, crisp air until her lungs were filled to the bursting. Oh, right. Werebears. Liza jumped into the big ol’ truck, feeling completely at ease. Texas girls kne
w how to handle a little bit of muscle, whether it was in the form of roaring turbo-charged horses or snarling shifters, it didn’t matter all that much. She brought the truck to life and backed out of the parking lot, giddy with excitement at getting to Shifter Grove before nightfall.
I wonder where werelions like to honeymoon…
CHAPTER TWO
“Raleigh, I’m not going to have any of that. You need to get your ass back to the pride before your mama comes down and gives you a thorough whooping,” Renata huffed, sipping at the strong black coffee that Rake had reluctantly served her. She kept glancing around in his spacious kitchen as if he’d somehow sold out by having a home of his own, not yet teeming with young. He could barely suppress the urge to throw her out on her ass and tell her to get in her damn truck and not come back unless someone was dying.
Patience. Easier said than done, though.
“Please don’t call me that, Renata. We’ve had this discussion about ten times. I have no interest in becoming some brood male for the pride. I know our father did it before us, and I know I’m supposed to be the next in line, happily screwing whichever werelion woman wanders into the pride, but that’s not me. The rules are ancient. Outdated. It’s still my mother calling all the shots, and I’d just be the resident bucket of sperm. I’m not going to have any of that. I’m not that kind of lion,” Rake said, each word almost spat out from behind gritted teeth. Renata’s yellowy eyes met his, years of squalor mirroring back from them. It hurt Rake to see his people like that, but he’d made his choice when he was still a teen. He wasn’t going to end up like them. Traditions weren’t worth giving up your soul for.
“Exactly! Ancient! These rules are there to protect you, me and the rest of our kind. Every pride needs a strong male at the head, and that’s you! Look at all you’ve built for yourself here! Your cubs would be the strongest we’ve ever had! And don’t start with me with this whole ‘Rake’ bullshit. You call yourself what your mama named you. Don’t go getting all fancy on us.”
Rake’s eyes narrowed, flashing dark gold for a moment. He had to take a deep breath to swallow down the aggravation.
Werelion prides were an odd exercise in matriarchal policies. Looking in from the outside, it would seem like the perfect setup. The heart of the pride was made up of one male and the women gathered around him. The young males, who could pose a threat to the lead male, were driven from the pride when they were old enough to fend for themselves but young enough not to challenge the lead male. But behind the male, the females called all the shots. The real power was usually in the proverbial paws of the eldest female and her chosen females, who did all the work and fended for the pride while the male simply got to reap the benefits.
It may have worked when the werelions were still prowling their ancient grounds, but it didn’t fly anymore. Rake had seen far too much of the squalor and odd old rules that choked the throats of the prides, making them not the gems of the shifter world as they rightfully should have been, but the very lowest of predators. They could never match up to the bears and wolves if they stuck with their old rules, and it wouldn’t be long until even the tigers would pass them. Rake wanted no part in it. But his family was less than receptive to his wants and needs.
“Renata, I left years ago. I still pay my dues, I send you far more than you lot need to keep a roof over your heads and food in your bellies. And that is all you’re going to get from me. I won’t return. I will not let you or anyone else choose who my mate is. I will not be the pride’s to push and shove. I’m my own lion now,” Rake spat back, the aggravation only veiled by the thinnest of veneers. His nose crinkled, the skin crimping together in a predator’s snarl. Renata responded with the same before either of them could stop themselves. Lion games – always violent.
Renata stood up, pushing the coffee away. Her cheeks were red, and Rake was sure that had she been with some of her sisters, they would have tried to teach him a lesson in humility.
“That’s fine, Raleigh. But don’t for a minute think that we will let you have a mate who isn’t a lion. Who isn’t one of us. Your mama has been real patient with you, if I pulled half the crap that you have, mine would have given me a whooping so hard that I still wouldn’t see straight. You should be thankful that the Alpha isn’t around anymore. But don’t doubt my words. News travels fast, even if you hide away here. You lay with anyone that the Whiteplains pride does not approve of, and not only will you pay for it, we’ll make sure she pays for it as well.” Renata bared her teeth just as the telltale chirp of his phone told him that Liza had sent him a message. Rake blanched, a momentary sign of weakness that his half-sister didn’t meet. She smiled, her eyes glinting gold. “Yeah, I thought so. I guess I’ll be seeing you real soon, Raleigh. And mark my words, we will bring you back home. And you will do what you have to for this pride.”
Rake’s hands balled into fists, and he stood up, kicking open the door that led to the yard and out of his ranch.
“Get out.” He couldn’t truly breathe until Renata had driven off, raining pebbles across the drive. He fished out the phone from his pocket, clicking on the little green box that cheerily announced that there was a new message for him.
I’ll be at Kacey’s in an hour or so. You better come visit, tiger! – Liza
He shoved the phone into his pocket so hard that he was sure it’d rip right through the seams. His family had always had impeccable timing, and now was no different. Not only had they threatened him, but there’d been no need to translate – if he chose to be with Liza, she was in danger of some werelion-brand revenge. And big cats never played nice.
***
Rake rolled the phone from one palm to another, sitting on the hood of his banged up Chevy and smoking a cigarette. It was midday, and Liza had been within reach for more than 24 hours. But still, he hadn’t run to her. He hadn’t banged down her door and kissed her so hard that she lost all sense of time and space. Nope. He was sitting in Deacon’s yard, watching the werebear try to haggle with him over a few horses he was never going to sell at the price Deacon wanted to pay for them. It was nothing new. They did it every few weeks, and Rake was fairly certain it had become a competitive sport by now – who could frustrate the other into leaving with a growl and a huff first. This time, he was winning. Hell, who was he kidding? He always won.
“Are you even listening, Rake?” Deacon asked, teetering on the edge of exasperation. A soulful mooing noise came from one of the paddocks right next to where Rake had parked, the big, dumb eyes of a cow looking at the men with possible expectation of a treat or at least a nice nose scratching.
“Nope,” Rake admitted truthfully, tucking the phone back in his pocket and taking a drag from the cigarette. He didn’t even like the taste of the damn things anymore, but he always started up again when there was undue stress in his life. Which, since starting Shifter Grove, was just about all the time.
“You know it’s just about time to drive the cattle down from the upper pastures. It’s getting cold. I’m not going to do it with trucks,” Deacon grumbled, scowling at the positively bored looking werelion. Rake shrugged and then stretched his arms up over his head. He’d been up since dawn, working on the ranch and trying to get his mind off Liza. When she’d told him that she was coming to Idaho while Warren and Kacey were away, he’d felt a hot strike of excitement burst through him. She’d been on his mind since the wedding, a constant stamp he neither tried nor wanted to get rid of. But it had taken just one visit from his darling half-sister to remind him why none of it was going to work. And now, well, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He couldn’t go and see the gorgeous, breathtaking, chocolate-skinned beauty without dragging her into bed, and he couldn’t spend a minute without dreaming about it in vulgar, delicious detail. All in all, it meant he was just going to need to smoke a lot more cigarettes to get through it all. Maybe a nice keg of whiskey while he was at it.
Women. Can’t get away from them even in Idaho.
“So what are we going to do?” Deacon asked, crossing his arms over his burly chest. Out of the four of them, Deacon certainly was the most serious and down to earth. And well, Rake knew he usually got what he wanted, due to rightfully making everyone else feel inadequate in comparison. It was hard to argue with the hardest working man around and come off looking like a winner. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was going to lose this one. There was only one option – turn it into a win-win. Rake put out the cigarette and exhaled, watching the smoke plume and be blown away by the slight breeze. He looked at the cattle, and a thought hit him. Something that could solve most of both his and Deacon’s problems in one fell swoop.
“What if I don’t sell them to you, but rent the horses you need. And, to make the deal sweeter, I’ll do the run for you.” Rake cocked a brow at Deacon, leaning forward with his elbows on the knees of his worn jeans.
“Now why would you do that?” Deacon asked, understandably doubtful. It was a long drive – at least a good week going up and coming back down again. But that was just what Rake was banking on. If he wasn’t close to Liza, he wouldn’t have to worry about controlling himself.
“Hell, I’ve been meaning to get out of the ranch. Need to clear my head, you know? Warren’s wedding and the town starting to grow has given me stuff to think about, and I can’t do it if I’m constantly fussing about with the ranch,” Rake said, a soft murmur entering his tone. He wasn’t lying, in that sense. Warren’s wedding had suddenly put things into perspective. How he was getting older day by day and still didn’t have a woman to share his life with. He’d worked hard all his life, especially now what with Shifter Grove and the horse ranch, and he was a solitary creature. But seeing the joy Kacey brought to Warren, well, it made a man think. And having Liza enter his life had made everything all the more clear. Meeting her had been a blessing until his pride had turned it into a curse.