Adam grinned, unoffended by Ryan’s attitude—good job, considering it was par for the course between them. “Can I help it you’re so important, oh wise leader?”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “Jerk.”
“You know it.”
With a snort, Ryan asked, “What do you want?”
“Had more confirmation through from Erickson and Santiago. The Pantera are not involved with El’s abduction. The two were working on their own merit.”
“Does that make it better or worse?” he asked no one in particular. Maybe the Mother? Hell, she was the only one who really knew what the fuck was going on.
Adam shrugged. “It’s good in the sense that we’re not going to war with the Pantera, dumbass.”
Ryan shot his brother a look. “If you think the Pantera wouldn’t lie about not having anything to do with her abduction, then you’re a moron.”
“Which is why when Marc and Trip heard about this a few days ago, they asked for a deeper investigation. Erickson and Santiago have solid proof El’s guards were working alone. If anything, they have it in spades. Jamie approached the Pantera, tried to make it official. Figured if there were more involved, there would be more chance of success by the sounds of it. Also, he wanted to use Pantera grounds to hold her. But the Council vetoed it. Said they didn’t want to mess with human laws, and especially not when the human was a Forsythe-Drew.”
“That sounds very un-Pantera like. I thought their usual MO was kidnappings and abductions.”
Adam chuckled. “Maybe forty years ago. They have a new leader now. Young guy. He’s trying to streamline the branch. Make them more ‘legal.’”
“Why does that feel like a relative concept?”
“Probably because it is. My version of legal is different to yours, just as it’s different to the new leader, Knokke.”
Ryan shrugged. “True, I guess. So, they were acting on their own?”
“Yeah, wholly on their own.”
“Have they managed to find the other guy? Enrique?”
“No. They figure he fled to Mexico.” Adam grimaced. “I told them ‘figuring’ wasn’t enough, and that they’d better find out for definite.”
Nodding in satisfaction and pleased that Adam had this well under wraps, he asked, “Okay, so we can at least eradicate that as a threat. Which, granted, is a weight off.”
Adam shot him a look. “Gossip is spreading.”
“What kind of gossip?” Ryan demanded, annoyed. “There’s nothing to gossip about yet!”
“Exactly. They saw her on Saturday night. They keep seeing her around, but you haven’t introduced her yet.”
“I will today,” Ryan told him with a huff. “Jesus, she was almost kidnapped.”
“Which is why they’ve been patient.” Adam shrugged. “I’m just telling you what the mood is.”
Ryan let out a sigh. “Sorry. I don’t mean to shoot the messenger.”
“No? Well, you fire on target every damn time,” Adam retorted, but he was chuckling as he went. “They’re also saying you’re not shifting enough.”
Ryan narrowed his eyes. “And how would they know that?”
“Your scent’s fading on the grounds.”
Ryan ran a hand through his hair. “I hate this bullshit.”
“I know,” Adam said with a commiserative sigh. “But, it’s a simple matter of shifting. That will calm them down.”
“What do they think will happen if I don’t shift? I’ll turn into a monster?”
“We both know you’re playing this down because you don’t like being told what to do.”
Ryan grunted. “I don’t want to have this conversation.”
“Shifting is a vital part of maintain your control, Ryan. We both know that. So do they. Just because you’re a brat and don’t like being ordered about doesn’t mean there isn’t some validity to their concerns.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “What are you? My conscience?”
“I guess that’ll have to be my title if it’s what will get you to listen.”
With an explosive huff, Ryan paused on the front porch of Pride House and began stripping. Pulling off his shirt, he got to work on his trousers and gritted out, “Will this get them to back the fuck off?”
Adam grabbed hold of the shirt he made to fling off the porch and clasped the pants that came flying next.
In less than twenty seconds, there was a Lion standing where man had once been.
“That’s better,” Adam said softly, grinning as the beast growled at him, then letting off a roar, Ryan scampered off.
He felt the undercurrents among the Pride in this form and knew they could sense he was in his skin.
It pissed him off that they were connected to him like this, and that they wanted to control how often he shifted irritated him all the more.
It was down to him when he shifted. Not them. It had nothing to do with anyone else. Nobody could dictate to him.
He let off another roar, satisfied when unease uncoiled through his link with the Pride.
They knew he was mad, and probably knew why. Trip and Marc usually shifted once a day. It was akin to a human’s exercising… a habit. A routine.
For Ryan, and most powerful Shifters, changing into their beast wasn’t pleasant. Nor was it in any way fun.
He and his Lion were in a constant struggle. A battle for wills. It was difficult to win that war if the Lion was allowed out more frequently.
Still, his people didn’t realize that the more he shifted, the less likely it was he’d revert to human. Especially before he’d met El. Without his mate, the Lion had more reason to take hold of the human.
Now, it would be very difficult, but still, the battle was an incredibly torturous one. Being pressured into it by people who didn’t understand just fucked him off.
Still, as he ran from Pride House to the lodge, it felt good to be on four paws. The heat and the wind rustled through his mane, and the sun overhead burned hotly, making his paws sweat and his beast pant harder as he raced across territory that was his and his alone, toward the woman that was his and his Triad… well, quartet’s.
Quartet didn’t have the same ring as a Triad, that was for certain. Not that the Lion cared that much.
It could scent its mate and it wanted near.
Of course, they had to detour. The five-minute walk from Pride House to the lodge took thirty minutes as he dosed up the area with his own particular scent, and then, and only then, was the beast ready to hit the destination it had been longing to reach… their mate.
The doors to all houses were easy for their beasts to open, and they were never locked anyway because the compound was probably safer than even the Forsythe-Drew’s. So, he nudged the handle down and traipsed through the house toward El’s bedroom.
When he scented it was empty, however, he headed for Marc’s where she’d taken to hiding away.
The Lion wanted to meet her, and though the man knew it would undoubtedly scare the shit out of her for a big cat to wander into her bedroom, the beast wasn’t budging.
It wanted its mate to know it.
To know man and beast.
He snuffled his way down the corridor to the other side of the house where the men’s bedrooms were—El’s suite was on another landing for her security. If anyone came for the Triad, then they’d have to divert to El’s to grab her too.
If their intention was to weaken the leadership of the Pride, that is.
By the time he made it to Marc’s bedroom, the Lion was getting riled. It was immediately soothed when her scent flooded his senses. Then, he heard her humming a tune under her breath and the Lion rumbled its version of a purr as her melody calmed the animal further.
Nudging the door open, he saw her wrapped up in a towel, applying lotion to her legs.
Maybe she felt a draft or she heard the heavy breaths of the beast, but she spun around, letting out a shriek as she did.
Clutching the towel to her with one hand, she pressed
the other to her throat.
“You’re in a Pride, El. You’re going to see Lions,” she mumbled, more to herself than Ryan, he thought.
Tilting his head to the side, he studied her, then sank back onto the floor Sphinx-like as he watched her.
She cleared her throat. “You’re just going to watch me, huh?”
He lowered his head.
El sighed. “You’re one of my mates, right?”
He huffed. As if he’d let another male into a room when he could scent her essence was pure and clean like it would only ever be after a shower.
“I’ll take that as a yes. You’re not Marc. I think he’d be darker. Trip’s Lion is really blond. You have to be Ryan, but confirm that, please?”
The shakiness in her voice was the only reason he ducked his head again.
She sighed with relief, headed over to him and bowed down to ruffle her fingers over his head and through his mane. He let out another rumble that had her sighing shakily.
“I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to having big cats roaming around the place,” she grumbled, then after patting him, returned to the bed where she had a few items of clothing at the base.
He watched as she bit her lip, peeped at him, then sucked in a breath and released the towel. He let out an approving rumble that extended when he saw what she was wearing.
Ceremonial robes.
The toga-like outfit was made for easy access. Not for mates to access their partner’s bodies, although he was certain that was one of the many reasons too, but for shifting.
With a simple tug, the toga would part and let the female shift. Of course, humans couldn’t shift, so Ryan was mostly satisfied that getting her naked would be easy.
He watched as she held out the long swathe of fabric, tutting under her breath as she tried to wrap it around herself properly.
After watching her for a moment, moments in which she struggled, he shifted.
The energy in the air changed with a shift, and he noticed she spun around to stare at him before he even began to turn from beast into man.
There was definitely something going on with her.
Whether she was Shifter or not, there was definitely something about her that was sensitive to their energy.
Could she be a female Shifter? Was it even possible? Wouldn’t they have scented it on her?
Surely his beast would have done.
But it hadn’t.
Though he was confused, he didn’t display it as he strode toward her the second he was on his feet once more.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, half squeak.
He smiled at her. “Helping you change.”
She snorted. “It doesn’t look like that.”
Knowing what she was referring to, he peered down at his cock and grinned. “It does that whenever you’re in the room.”
She paused in her fumbling with the fabric at that. Mouth rounding, she turned to him and asked, “Do you mean that?”
“Do I mean you turn me on something fierce?” He snorted. “Yes, mate. You turn me on something fierce.”
She blinked. “Why?”
“Why?” He gawked at her, then shook his head. “Because you’re beautiful? I don’t think I understand the question,” he said apologetically.
She sighed. “Never mind. What are you doing here?”
He shook his head again and strode toward her, not stopping until he could cup her cheek. She sighed into him, her body relaxing against his. The brush of the silky toga against his chest, and the flashes of bare skin touching his had his cock hardening to discomfort. He shoved his desire for her aside, wondering at her lack of comprehension over something so fundamental.
“Don’t you know how gorgeous I think you are?” he asked, dropping his head so he could press a kiss to her lips.
She sighed again. “I don’t know. My head’s all… it’s messed up at the moment. I’m sorry, Ryan. I’m sorry I’ve been hiding in here with Marc.”
“We understood.”
“That doesn’t make it right,” she denied. “I shouldn’t hide from you.”
“No. You shouldn’t. But you’ve been mated just over a week,” he teased, his thumb swiping down along her cheekbone. “I think you can be forgiven for not understanding exactly how the mate bond works.”
Her lips twitched. “Well, aren’t you generous?”
He chuckled, but sobered a little to tell her, “I want you to know something, El. To us, you are perfect. You have to know that. And if you don’t, then it’s to our detriment because we’re not showing you how beautiful you are.”
Her eyes sparkled and her pouty lips firmed into a smile. “You guys are too crazy to be real.”
“Why?” he chided, but his tone was teasing in response to her tone. “Because we think you’re the most beautiful woman on the fucking planet?”
“The ‘fucking’ brought me down to earth,” she retorted with heat, but she turned her face into his palm and kissed it. “I won’t run from you again.”
“You need to tell Shawn that too,” Ryan murmured, ignoring the way she stiffened at the mention of the other male’s name. It was probably a testament to how deep he knew the bond was between Shawn and El that he didn’t try to undermine it in any way.
This could have been the perfect chance to rupture what the two had, but that never occurred to Ryan. How could it? The links uniting them were far more complex than any usual human-human bond. Even though they’d yet to find proof that there was more to El’s heritage than met the eye, he was starting to believe his own instincts. Starting to believe that there was definitely something going on with her past.
“I don’t want to talk about Shawn,” she said with a pout.
“No? Well, we don’t have to. But you have to talk to him. You can’t keep shutting him out because of a mistake he made years ago. It would be like punishing you for something you did when you were twenty. How fair’s that?”
“Very fair,” she snapped grumpily. “I don’t want to argue with you,” she admitted after a few seconds.
“No? What would you prefer to do?” he asked teasingly, loving the heat that appeared in her eyes at his words.
“I think you know.”
“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.” He grinned when she huffed. “I’m a man, baby. I need direction.”
“Said no man ever,” she hooted, then laughing, reached up on tiptoe and connected their mouths.
He felt pathetic as fuck admitting that with their kiss, some kind of planetary alignment went down. It was like the moon aligned with the sun, and Venus and Mars were having some kind of sleepover.
The rightness of their kiss seeped down to his very core. It went so deep, he didn’t even know how to quantify how perfect it was.
She was tender and gentle and delicate. She tasted like heaven and sin and his.
He shuddered against her, inadvertently pressing his cock into her belly. The rub of the silk toga against his chest had him jolting to attention. “We can’t dirty the robes,” he told her somberly.
Her eyes widened with suppressed amusement. “God forbid.”
“We can dirty you though.”
She chuckled, opened her arms, and fell back against the bed. “I look forward to it.”
He’d never expected her to be like this. Never expected they would come together with laughter and smiles, but he was glad of it. Glad she could surprise him. Hoped that would never change.
Carefully pooling the silk on the floor, he stepped toward her, kneeled against the side of the bed, and climbed onto the mattress. It rocked a little, but he didn’t care. He just looked at her.
All of her.
Bared to him.
He growled under his breath. “You’re fucking perfect.” And she was. Her cheeks tinged bright pink, and he loved it.
Loved her at that moment.
Adored that she was capable of lying there, fully nude, every part of her exposed to him, and yet, so innocent with the be
coming blush staining her cheeks a healthy pink.
“You’re like whipped cream,” he teased her. “I want to eat you all up.”
She grinned. “Like on pumpkin pie?”
“Exactly like that,” he said seriously, then spoiled it by diving down to anoint her nipples with a teasing kiss. She let out a squeak that had him shooting her a grin, but he ignored it to trace his tongue down the central line of her torso, not stopping until he could kiss the soft curls at the apex of her thighs, and then could dive down to taste her sweetest parts.
She immediately clamped her legs around his head. “What are you doing?” she said with a little shriek, her hands coming up to grab a hold of his hair.
“What does it look like?” he asked, cocking a brow at her. Then, he made a show of sniffing her and licking his lips. “Hope you taste as good as you smell.”
Her hands moved from their attempts at scalping him to covering her face. “You did not just say that.”
Laughter roared from him, and he reached up to pull her thighs aside. “Let me at ya,” he commanded, then ignoring her squeaks, sought out the honey both man and beast wanted to taste.
When he did, both sides of him, for the first time in forever, were at peace.
Jesus, she tasted good. Like sugar and spice and all things nice, he thought mockingly, as he curled his tongue around her clit and sucked down hard. As he supped from her, letting his tongue slide through her folds, teasing her as he went, he thought about how perfect she tasted, how right she was for him.
He slurped at her clit, loving the noises she made. The ‘Ohmigod’ and the swearing... Christ, she swore like a trooper, and he loved it. Loved all of it. With a moan against her clit, he whispered, “Come for me, baby.”
The vibrations had her rearing up, her hips flexing as she jerked at the sensation. Then, she rode his face, rocking her hips back and forth as she sought her pleasure. When it came, her hips jerked off the bed, jarring him away from her pussy. He growled at being denied her release, but quickly grabbed a hold of her thighs, dragged her down, and pressed his cock to her cunt.
She moaned at the fullness, but quickly swallowed him up. Jesus, she took all of him. All he had to give, and the inner pulsing of her muscles nigh on drove him insane. He grunted as she tightened around him, hard, and then whispered, “Fuck me, Ryan. Please. Make me yours.”
Finding Luna: A Lion Shifter Reverse Harem Romance (PRIDE Book 1) Page 19