by S Cinders
Sighing, I sank down into my plush office chair. Glancing towards the wall of windows on the south side of my office, I looked out into the deceptively quiet open grasslands and woodlands just beyond the village.
We had shifters living in the hills and mountains of Gillikin. It was said that they had been around as long as time, and for the most part, they stayed to themselves.
Or at least they had until one-night last summer. The one night that their king had left his Lead Warrior in charge and they had attacked the village.
I could remember everything about that evening. The butterflies in my stomach as I pulled on the impossibly tight red dress. Praying that my ass looked phenomenal and not huge as it always did to me.
I wore my raindrop diamond pendant earrings and a matching necklace that rested just above the swells of my ample breasts. Was it too much? Probably, but I was on the hunt and wasn’t afraid of using everything I had in my arsenal.
My long auburn hair was pulled up into a lazy chignon that could easily be disrupted by a man’s greedy hands—or a King’s, as it were.
Jake’s eyes had hungrily raked over my body until I felt as if I stood there without a stitch of clothing on. His manners over dinner were impeccable, damn him.
By the time dessert was served, I had almost decided to grab him by his tuxedo lapels and throw him on the table. I couldn’t help but wonder what his small goatee would feel like against my face as he kissed my lips. Or if he really was as strong as his more than six-and-a-half-foot frame suggested.
Jake shaved his head completely bald, which was interesting, considering in lion form he had a massive mane that I desperately wanted to run my fingers through.
I had watched him with his pride and knew that he ruled with an iron will. His brother Eric was his lead warrior and most trusted companion. The lionesses often vied to become his Queen, but Jake remained alone while his brother wallowed in the spoils.
It was said that four of their new cubs were fathered by Eric, each with a different lioness.
The contention was high among the pride, and I knew that Jake had given his brother an ultimatum to either pick a mate or he would do it for him.
But none of this was supposed to matter because, for the first time, I had let down my defenses and allowed him into my home, into my world.
Something in my gaze had to have triggered a response in him because, in a flash, he had me out of my chair and pressed up against the wall. Every inch of his hardened frame pushing deliciously into mine.
I gasped as his lips brushed against my cheek and then caressed my ear before landing on my neck.
“Your scent,” he rasped, “I cannot get enough of it.”
I had no idea what perfume I had put on. I could barely remember to breathe as he grabbed my wrists with one hand and pressed them over my head. My breasts jutted out in this position, and I saw his brown eyes darken.
“But that is nothing compared to your sweet honey, that has been beckoning me since I walked into your home.”
Dear Lord, did he mean what I thought he meant?
He then grabbed me by the waist and lifted me like I weighed nothing, which I know is a substantial amount, before laying me on my dining table.
I didn’t have time to worry if he liked thick thighs or not because my dress was wrenched to my waist and his nose went straight into the silk of my panties.
Shit!
“I want to taste you,” he growled deep in his throat. “I want your pleasure on my tongue as I fuck you the way you need to be fucked.”
What the actual hell? It wasn’t like I was going to say no.
Whimpering, I thrust my silk clad pussy into his lips and watched as a wicked smile graced his face before he turned and ripped my underwear clean off of me.
It had pinched at my ample hips, but I couldn’t think of what to say when his fingers gently parted me, and his rough tongue swiped against my core.
I screamed out his name. It had never felt like this before. My body was inflamed as he buried himself in my pussy and lapped at me like I was his last meal.
The rain came out of nowhere inside the dining room, soaking both Jake and myself. I couldn’t control my emotions. I had an affinity for manipulating the weather, but this was nothing that I had conjured, it was as if my magic was exploding from every pore of my being.
Jake didn’t stop as he grabbed my ass and lifted my hips so that he could have better access to my pussy.
I was incoherent, screaming out obscenities, as he pushed me further and further to the edge of reason.
And then suddenly I was spasming, my pleasure washing over me, and I came all over his face. He watched me, the predator in him right at the surface as I gasped for air, trying to find some sort of semblance in my ecstasy.
“Mombi,” the way he said my name had a fresh wave of dampness careening between my thighs.
I watched as he pulled off his soaking wet jacket. And then unbuckled his black pants. Jake had just started unzipping his zipper when we heard a loud crash coming from outside.
“Mombi!”
My personal assistant Brad screamed in terror.
I almost told Jake to keep going—to hell with Brad.
But his next words sent chills into the both of us.
“It’s the lions, they have attacked the village!”
Jakes’s confused eyes flew to mine, “It couldn’t be!”
“Mombi!”
Brad’s screams were frantic. I pushed Jake off of me and tugged my dress down around my thighs before racing to my front door and dragging it open.
Brad had a thick trail of blood gushing down one side of his face, but when his eyes alighted on Jake, they hardened.
“How could you? Was this planned? Did you seduce our Princess so that your minions could destroy our people?”
No.
It couldn’t be.
I turned to him, praying that he would refute those harsh words. Willing Jake to fight back against the accusations, but he was silent.
“I will get to the bottom of it,” and then he was gone.
That was the last time I saw him until I walked into Scarecrow’s bar and there he was. The man who had haunted my dreams all of these months. He was a damn bartender.
I wanted to rip his head off.
How could he have left this problem to me?
If anything, the pride was worse now than it had been then. His greedy power-hungry brother, Eric, was ruling in his stead.
I didn’t say anything to him, didn’t respond to the outrage in my heart.
After all, he left when I needed him most.
And now Scarecrow wants to send him back here.
No, thank you.
I already had a ride on the crazy train once. I am not about to jump back into it.
CHAPTER 28 – PART 2 - Mombi
“You can’t just barge in here without an appointment. I don’t care who you are!”
Brad’s dulcet tones awakened me from my daydreaming. The man had one volume, and unfortunately, it was loud. However, he was perfection in everything else, so I tried to overlook it.
I pressed the intercom speaker with a hint of trepidation, “Let him in Brad.”
“Mombi, are you sure?” Brad’s tone was incredulous.
“Now,” I snapped not wanting my orders to be questioned.
“Yes, Ma’am!”
My stomach clenched as the office door opened. I watched as he ducked to pass through the doorway, suddenly making my expansive office feel utterly too small.
He was in jeans and a Snake Hole t-shirt that stretched across his obscenely built chest.
His hard-chiseled features honed directly in on my face as he walked straight towards me.
I should have told him to stop. I needed to make it clear that we were not a thing, we never really were.
But as he advanced, my mind turned to mush, and my body was screaming out to him.
He grabbed the back of my head and
slammed his lips down against mine. I was helpless to the onslaught of his passion. He wasted no time parting my lips and delving inside with deep possessive strokes that reminded me of what I wanted his dick to be doing.
I moaned low in my throat, hands locked around his neck, pressing every inch of my fevered body against his.
And then it dawned on me—I was right where I said I wouldn’t be.
I shoved hard against his chest, but that only seemed to increase his fervor. I was drowning in a sea of wanting so deep that I didn’t know if I had the strength to break free.
So, I did the next best thing. Raising my stiletto heel, I slammed it down on his foot. The response was immediate.
“Fuck, Mombi, that hurt!” he hopped around on one foot giving me the most affronted look.
My lips twitched, “Welcome back, Jake.”
“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL me the pride was still giving you problems?”
Jake sat across my desk in an office chair that looked ridiculously small with his massive frame sprawled across it.
“I don’t need you,” I retorted.
But we both knew it was a lie.
He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “Princess, I can smell how much you need me.”
Damn him.
I flushed, “And even if I did want to get in touch with you, I had no idea where you were.”
Jake grimaced, “Yeah, I’m sorry about that.”
“You're sorry?” my voice raised slightly of its own accord.
“Look, Mombi, there were other things at stake, things you don’t know.”
“Enlighten me,” I prodded.
What could have been so vital that he deserted his pride and left me to deal with the aftermath?
“It doesn’t matter,” he shook his head dismissively.
It sure as hell mattered to me. But I didn’t want to look needy or weak, so I straightened my spine.
“Why did you come back?” the question flew from my lips.
Jake’s eyes narrowed, “It was never my intention to stay away forever. And we have unfinished business, you and I.”
I felt my core clench.
“We will have no further transactions, let me assure you.”
His smile stretched across his rugged visage and I knew that he could smell my want as well as sense my lies.
“Tell yourself whatever you want to, Mombi,” he stood and started pacing the room. “When did the problems start?”
I sighed before relaying to him that there had been relative peace for several months. But in the last few weeks, there have been stock missing from farms—mostly cattle. And then, there was the incident at the village tavern when a group of lionesses got into a fight and destroyed the place.
He listened to me quietly which I appreciated, but I could see the fire in his demeanor.
“Did you speak with Eric?”
Huffing, I answered, “Your brother is a grade A prick.”
Jake’s lip twitched, “Agreed. What did he say?”
“That it was all in my head. The pride would never dream of poaching from the villagers. That the fight had nothing to do with the lionesses, and that I was setting them up.”
Jake’s jaw tightened, “It would seem that Eric has turned into the leader I always thought he would.”
“Greedy, selfish, untrustworthy, stop me anytime you disagree!” I goaded.
“I will. Go on,” Jake’s eyes smiled at me. “You are doing fine on your own.”
“If you knew this, why would you leave him in charge of your pride?”
My temper was starting to flare. What had driven him to abandon me—wait, not me—them?
“My pride—interesting choice of words. There was a consensus that I was no longer fit to be King.”
My jaw literally dropped.
“The attack on the village that night was in retaliation for something I had done,” he cracked his knuckles. “I left because it was that or fight them all. I would have fought—no question—but they threatened harm on someone else. I was afraid that if I wasn’t successful, this person would die. And that, I couldn’t live with.”
“But,” I sputtered, “You came back! What’s changed?”
“The pride promised no harm would come to you or your people. We had a blood oath, and it is broken now.”
I knew little about blood oaths, only that by breaking one, it was punishable by death.
“What are you going to do?” I asked, horrified by the possibilities. “What if you have to fight them all? There are at least twenty that I know of.”
He looked me straight in the eyes, his dark brown one’s full of purpose. “I will do what I should have done all those months ago. I will fight Eric and anyone else that goes against my ruling. If that decimates the pack—so be it.”
I felt ill. I had no idea what to say or do.
“Who did they threaten?”
He looked at me, confused.
“You said that the pride threatened to kill someone. Who?”
He let out a deep breath, “My mate.”
I picked up the closest thing to me and flung it at his head. Sadly, it was only a stapler, and with his catlike reflexes, he easily dodged it. But I was pissed. How dare he kiss me like I was the last woman on earth if he already had a mate?
My tape dispenser came flying at him next, followed by a pen.
“What the hell, Mombi? Stop this immediately!”
But I was just getting started, “How could you?”
My keyboard was next, I didn’t even flinch when he flung it off his arm, and it went crashing into the wall.
Clouds were gathering in my office, and I knew that we would soon have a massive storm. I needed to get my emotions under control.
But the thoughts of Jake with another woman had my blood boiling. Come hell or high water, I was going to find out just who this mate of his was.
CHAPTER 29 - PART 2 – Mombi
There was a crackle of thunder overhead, but I can hear Brad calling out to see if everything was okay.
I didn’t answer him. My eyes were on the lion shifter that was stalking me. His granite face didn’t give away any indication of how he was feeling, but the waves of anger coming off of him were clear as day.
He has no right to be upset with me!
I looked around for something else to throw, but he was faster. Wrapping me tightly in his arms, he growled low in his throat.
“If you will give me a fucking second to explain!”
“I don’t want to hear your explanations,” I turned my face into his chest so that he couldn’t see the tears gathering.
What was this? I didn’t cry—ever.
I felt so betrayed. How could Jake make me the other woman?
“Mombi! You need to listen to me!”
“I don’t want to hear your sordid story about how this doesn’t mean anything. Or that you don’t really love her, I especially do not want to hear that.”
“Good,” he said gruffly, “Because what we have is vitally important to me. And I fear that I might have fallen hopelessly in love with my mate. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
I sighed in defeat, no longer able to hold back the tears.
“Why are you here, with me, then? Why don’t you go tell her that?”
A deep rumble from his chest had me peering up into his face.
“I am trying to tell her,” he rasped, “But she is the most stubborn woman I have ever met.”
“What are you talking about?”
My heart started hammering in my chest. Surely, he couldn’t be talking about—me?
“Lions don’t mate outside of their species,” Jake cupped my cheek as a tiny sob escaped my lips. “But the moment I met you, I knew that you were the one for me. My pride was against the match. They knew, the last time I was here, that I was trying to court you. That is why they attacked the village. When I returned to the pride, they had voted to banish me—their King! I wanted to rip every l
ast one of them limb from limb. But they promised me that you and your people would be safe if I left. I made Eric perform a blood oath, which he readily did.”
“Me? You think I am your mate?” my head was spinning.
I was the reason that he left the pride.
This thought kept circling around and around in my head.
Jake leaned in to kiss my temple softly, “There is no doubt that you are mine.”
“Jake, I don’t know,” my voice fluttered off.
I wanted to see if there was something between us, but forever? That was moving too far, too fast.
“Mombi, you don’t have to make any decisions right now. I just wanted to be honest with you.”
I felt the sincerity in his voice.
“Can we take things slow?” I asked shakily.
“As long as we are moving forward, we can go as slow as you want. Mombi, I want to show you that I can be the man, worthy of your love.”
My heart was melting into a puddle, “But what about the pride?”
His eyes hardened, “I must go and confront Eric. I don’t know how many will remain loyal to him. The pride may split in two, or if necessary, I will kill him, and anyone else, that stands in my way.”
“Kill your brother?” I hissed, not knowing if I could do the same.
“I gave him a chance and he has thrown it back in my face. I almost gave you up because of him. I will have no problems dealing with Eric.”
I blew out a breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding in.
My head was spinning from everything Jake had told me, and we hadn’t even discussed our newest problem.
“Dorothy! What if she and Eric join together? She is evil, Jake, there could be mass chaos.”
He firmly took hold of my jaw, “Do not worry, we will see this through.”
I wanted to believe him, but the last time he said he would get to the bottom of things, he disappeared for months. I knew the reasons why, now, but I couldn’t help but worry that something similar might happen.
“What is it?” his eyes were searching mine.
“I am scared you will leave again.”
The moment the words left my mouth, his eyes turned black and his voice deepened.