by Marian Tee
“Fuck you.”
Then he looked at Stefano.
And spit.
Stefano’s curse was the last thing I heard before I went dark.
When I looked up, I no longer existed.
My darker half said in a silky voice, “That was a bad thing you did, little boy.”
Silence fell at her words. When my darker half woke, she made everything just a little darker all around her. You could feel her power thrumming in the air, and it wasn’t the kind that reassured you. It was the kind that scared the crap out of you, and the poor cubs that thought to mess with me were scared.
One of the cubs tried to make a run for it. In the blink of an eye, my darker half had blocked his way, moving as fast as any shifter, and with a beautiful smile on her face, she aimed for his knee. There was the sound of bones cracking, followed by his scream of pain before he crumpled to the ground.
In another blink she was back at Stefano’s side, facing the other cubs. They weren’t scared now. They were about-to-pee terrified. Unfortunately for them, they had good cause since right now, my darker half was in a bad mood. The kind that wanted blood spilled and lives taken.
She raised her arm. “Don’t even try to escape or it will be worse.”
Crap.
She was going to kill all of them.
I willed myself back in control, but it was impossible. There seemed to be an invisible wall separating the two of us, and there was no way around it.
When my darker half prepared to strike, I screamed. My eyes closed involuntarily, unwilling to witness the slaughter of innocent lives even as I screamed and tried everything in my power to wrestle back control of my body.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Alejandro Moretti. The sun shone behind him, making him look like an avenging angel. I shared a moment of confusion with my darker half. Why was he here? And why was he wearing a suit?
“Easy now, little kitty,” he told my darker half softly. I marveled at the sheer absence of fear in his voice and the clarity of his gaze as he looked at her. Even Stefano had an impossible time controlling my darker half when she was this pissed, but somehow, there was something about Alejandro Moretti that seemed to make her listen, like a beast that knew its master.
She cocked her head to the side. “Why do you call us this?”
Her words stunned Alejandro. Even Stefano became more alert. Heck, even I myself was shocked. She had never referred to me in any way in the past.
The air vibrated with even greater tension as she waited for his answer. Leaves ruffled above us, and even the ground seemed to respond to her, like it was only waiting for her command to break apart.
But Alejandro appeared oblivious, a mysterious smile playing on his lips as he answered, “Because you look like one to me. A little kitty.” His smile widened ever so slightly. “My little kitty.”
I heard everyone drawing their breath as he took a step towards her, calm as you please, like he wasn’t about to get close to a hungry predator. In many ways, that was what my darker half was. “As my little kitty,” he continued in a seductively persuasive voice, “you should let me, your Cavaliere, do the fighting for you.”
The sound of a needle falling could have been heard at the silence his words caused. My heart was beating so fast now, and my body felt restless and incomplete at his words. I couldn’t believe he had really said that out loud.
My darker half considered him with a thoughtful expression. Finally, she spoke. “You would make them pay?”
Solemnly, he said, “Yes.”
“You will show them the error of their ways?”
“Yes.”
“Then fight.” A pause. “I want all of them unconscious, wolf. I will be displeased if any one of them can remember his name when you are done.”
The leader of the cubs actually started to cry.
But all Alejandro said was, “Your wish is my command, little kitty.”
Chapter Eight
“What are you doing here?” One moment I was alone in my bedroom, combing my hair while daydreaming about conquering battles with my faithful Cavaliere at my side. The next thing I knew, my Cavaliere was indeed at my side.
How the heck did he get in—
A gust of wind teased my hair and I grimaced, realizing he had sneaked into my room through the balcony. Darn shifter stealth. And my darker half had allowed it, obviously not considering his presence in my bedroom a danger.
These days, I was really torn. Was my darker half really on my side or his?
He came to stand behind me, and our shared reflection on the mirror had me swallowing. He looked so powerful and dark, and he made me feel so small and womanly. Not at all like a warrior. Mouth drying, I watched as he slowly lifted a hand and rested it on my shoulder, my body shivering at the way his fingers curled around my nape.
When he bent down, my nipples came alive, pricking against the cotton nightshirt I wore. He was still in his suit, and the contrast between our appearances suddenly struck me. He was so elegant, and I was…not. “W-why are you wearing a suit?”
A pained expression briefly crossed his face. “I had the mistaken impression that your auctions for panthers worked the way horse auctions normally do. That it would be a formal occasion.”
A nervous giggle escaped me. “Panthers never have formal affairs.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, but for now…” In a blink, he had taken me off my dresser’s stool and had me up against the wall. My arms and legs automatically wrapped around his body.
“You remember what I said?” he purred.
“No?”
He smirked. “You can do better than that, little kitty.” His head moved forward, giving me a short hard kiss. It was the briefest contact, but it was more than enough to have me gasping. When he lifted his head to look at me, I could only gaze back at him, knowing my eyes couldn’t hide how much I wanted more of his kisses.
“Do you want me, princess?”
Warrior brides had to be virgins in their marriage bed. But warriors didn’t lie.
The latter won, but I had to say my piece first. “I can only do this with a consort,” I told him breathlessly.
He smiled. “I’m sure you do.”
The words confused me, but by now I wanted him so badly it didn’t matter. I moved my head close, taking the initiative for the first time. His lips curved into a smile, content to wait. I blushed at my boldness, but my embarrassment didn’t stop me from moving closer and closer. I wanted his kiss so badly.
Our lips touched.
It was magic.
Alejandro groaned against my mouth, and that was the extent of the control he allowed me. He took command again, and I was more than eager to have him in control. He swept me into his arms without breaking the kiss, carrying me to my bed.
He only broke the kiss when he laid me down, and I couldn’t stop staring at him as he started taking off his clothes. His emerald gaze didn’t leave mine as he shrugged his jacket off and laid it on the bedside table. I would have giggled at how neat and proper he was being if I wasn’t so nervous. Things were happening so fast. A part of me wanted to put a stop to it, but the larger part of me was just swept away by the excitement of it.
Moonlight filtered into the bedroom from the open doors of the balcony. It cast silver streaks of light on his hard chest, which he revealed inch by inch as he worked on the buttons of his shirt next. This, too, he lay next to his jacket, making me smile again.
When he looked back at me, he caught sight of my smile. “What are you smiling about, little kitty?”
“You’re so neat,” I confessed. “If it were me, I’d probably throw…” My voice trailed off as I took in the full sight of his half naked form. He was smooth and hard all over except for the light smattering of hair on his chest. Somehow, it made him seem manlier, more warrior like.
And then he started taking off his pants, and all semblance of rational thinking left me.
His legs
were hard and muscular. I had seen men’s naked legs, too, of course. Lots of them. Back in the day, part of our warrior training required us to swim against the tides in the middle of winter. When we’d come out of the water, those parts of men that stood were, well, standing. So, really, the sight of an erection – or at least hints of it – was something I was impervious to.
But apparently not this one.
Alejandro was naked now, and his erection jutted proudly against his belly, steel sheathed in silk. He saw me looking and smirked. “Like what you see, princess?”
“I’m not sure,” I said weakly. Common sense told me it would fit, but common sense also told me it would likely hurt like crap. Serious crap.
“I’m sure I would like what I’d see when I have you naked.”
And then he was joining me in bed, and I couldn’t help but gulp as he loomed over me. Unlike him, I wasn’t wearing a host of clothing. With one swipe of his hand, he had my nightshirt over my head. Since I never wore a bra to bed, I was immediately naked save for my panties, and that Alejandro disposed of just as quickly.
And just like that, I was naked.
“My little kitty’s so beautiful.”
His whisper made me want to curl up and rub myself against him. I held my breath as he leaned down. I expected him to take my mouth in another wild and rough kiss, but instead his lips landed gently on mine. He nibbled on my lips for a long time, and by the time his lips moved down, I was completely relaxed.
My arms wound around his neck as he nibbled on my shoulder blade, and I sighed with sheer pleasure when his lips moved even lower and nuzzled the valley between my breasts. I was vaguely aware of his hand parting my legs open, and then he was settling between them, his weight resting against my body.
Our bodies brushed against each other and I gasped, every nerve in my body jumping in excited awareness. He was hard all over. Unbelievably hard, and it made me feel so wonderfully womanly. In his arms, I forgot that I was the human monster.
When his mouth moved over my nipple, my fingers dug into his shoulders. And when he started to suck, my legs went around his waist. I found myself gripping his head, pulling him closer so I could have my nipple deeper into his kiss. Oh, God, how he sucked.
After a while, he moved to my other nipple, sucking it passionately in his mouth. I writhed in his arms, feeling like I was about to explode if I didn’t have something I couldn’t quite name. I felt his hand moving again, and I tensed. When I realized where his hand was going, I tensed even more but there was no stopping his questing hand.
The first brush of his fingers against my folds had me gasping, and I gasped yet again when he started stroking my folds. I was making so much noise that surely the guard outside my door had heard me by now. I blushed, knowing that he might think I was pleasuring myself. But I forgot all about it when I felt something push into my folds—
Oh.
Alejandro slid one finger in. It was strangely beautiful, the feel of having a part of him inside of me. When he started to move his finger in and out of me, it was in rhythm with his kisses on my nipple, sucking hard as he pushed his finger back inside me. Being pleasured in two different ways simultaneously had me breathless, and my head began to twist against the pillow.
A long moan erupted from me when I felt Alejandro sliding a second finger inside my body. The pleasure was more intense now, and I couldn’t imagine how much better it would feel if it was his cock entering my body next.
His thrusts became harder and faster, and his mouth worked more fiercely on my nipple. With each stroke, with each tug of my nipple, I gasped, the pressure building inside me until suddenly I was there. I screamed as I came, the pleasure of my orgasm taking my breath away.
When I opened my eyes, Alejandro was lying next to me on his side, propping his head up with his hand while playing with the bangs of my hair.
He smiled. It was his sexy, cocky smile and my body tingled in complete awareness of it. Dawn was breaking outside, making me realize with shock that I had slept for hours.
“Yes,” he said. “I pleasured you so well you passed out.”
I turned red. “I didn’t pass out,” I mumbled. “I…fell asleep.” But honestly, it did feel like I had passed out. Crap.
“Your Stefano came knocking on your door earlier.”
My eyebrows shot up. “My Stefano?” Oh my God – did that mean Stefano knew I had a man in my room? Did that mean Venetto knew, too? If they did, why weren’t they raising a fit?
Alejandro’s voice was distinctively cool when he answered, “Yes, your Stefano.”
I finally noticed how he had stressed the word ‘your’ and I shook my head quickly, realizing how he could have misinterpreted things between Stefano and me. “We’re like siblings.”
“Of course.”
“No, I mean it,” I insisted. “He doesn’t like me that way and I don’t like…” Seeing the inscrutable expression on his face, I told him exasperatedly, “I don’t lie. Warriors don’t lie.”
Alejandro’s lips slowly curved into a smile. “And since my little kitty’s a warrior, I guess I should take your word for it then?”
“Yes.”
He looked at me for a moment. “Then I believe you, little kitty.” He reached for something behind me, causing his body to press against mine. When he pulled away, I was breathless, my nipples erect at the brief brush of contact with his chest.
He grinned.
Oh, crap! He had deliberately—
“Cocky wolf.” But I couldn’t help sighing when he only bent close and took my lips with a quick, deep kiss.
“Beautiful little kitty,” he purred against my lips, “And you’re all mine.” He pulled away and handed me a sealed envelope. “This came from Stefano.”
It took me awhile to get my senses back, my fingers trembling as I tore the envelope open. The first part of his message had me frowning. Stefano and Venetto had gone away to one of our northern territories. It seemed my father’s nephew, Raoul, was starting a rebellion there. If Venetto hadn’t adopted me or my sister, he would have been next in line to the pack’s leadership. But he would never make a good pack leader, not even if he was a natural born shifter. He cared too much for himself and too little for the pack.
The second half of the missive had my eyebrows shooting up.
“What is it?”
I shook my head. “I’ve received a proposal from Pasquale, heir of the Hernandez pack leader.” I rolled my eyes, but when I looked at him, I realized that Alejandro was oddly tense. Maybe he thought I was being disrespectful to a peer?
I said apologetically, “I’m sorry if I offended you. You see, this prince and I have a history. He’s a nice enough sort, but he’s made it clear if I were to choose him, he will not settle for being my Cavaliere. He wants to be my consort.” I shook my head. “It’s time I tell him…”
“Tell him…what?”
Alejandro’s question had me blinking. “That I’ve found my consort?” I expected him to smile. I expected him to make a joke. But instead, he was quiet.
When he spoke, his words weren’t what I wanted to hear. “And who is your consort, little kitty?”
Coldness wrapped its arms around me. I couldn’t believe we were having this conversation. “Who do you think it should be?”
He didn’t answer.
I whitened. “I told you last night, didn’t I? I could only do this with a consort.”
He said flatly, “I thought you were playing hard to get.”
Chapter Nine
ALEJANDRO
“You can’t be serious.” He spoke the words tightly as he swiftly put on his clothes. His little kitty was doing the same, and for a moment he imagined that those naked curves were being caressed by another pair of hands.
His blood went cold with rage.
No fucking way.
Calys turned to him with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
He cursed at the sight of it. She was obviously hurting
, and she was just as obvious in her desire not to show her pain. With another muttered curse, he turned away and pulled his shirt over his head. He couldn’t risk looking at her any longer. The longer he looked, the more tempted he would be to change his mind about being her consort.
Consort.
That was just another term for husband in their world, just one step away from being a mate. Had he really thought she was just fooling around when she told him she would only go to bed with him if he were to agree to be her consort? The question made Alejandro uncomfortable. Guilt started to stir inside him, but he ignored it. Even if he had subconsciously known she meant the words, he had not taken her virginity. She was still pure, a worthy bride for any pack leader’s heir.
Not that she needed to be anyone’s bride.
He was her Cavaliere. She didn’t need anyone else to be by her side while she had him. Unfortunately, he had to make her see things his way first. Not exactly an easy task, Alejandro considered as he looked back at Calys, who was now fully dressed and still obviously hurting.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Frustration made him say the words. He had the strongest urge to haul her into his arms. Even though he had been the one to hurt his little kitty, Alejandro knew instinctively that he was the only one who could heal her as well.
She answered with a brief smile, one that didn’t reach her eyes either.
He wanted to curse again. She was so damn open with her emotions. Alejandro remembered her words. Warriors didn’t lie. God, she was so damn naïve. How could she believe something like that? Warriors were as human as the rest were. Warriors lied. Some better than the others.
When his little kitty still didn’t say anything, he said finally, “You should think this through first.”
“I am thinking this through. He wants to be my consort. You do not.”