A Lion's Heart

by A. C. Arthur

  Sitting on the bench which lined one of the shower walls, she lifted a leg, propping her foot on its end and let her hand fall to the bare skin of her juncture. It was smooth and warm as she separated her thick folds, moaning at the slickness that awaited her.

  Her awakening had come when she was fourteen years old, much earlier than her mother’s, and a year earlier than was normal for female shifters. As she’d already known what she was, Nisa had been waiting anxiously to meet the cat that would share her body for the rest of her life. She’d had no idea that the cat would bring with it an urging that would threaten every sane part of her being. That’s how it felt, the arousal of a shifter. It quickly took over any and all thoughts. Nisa had been lucky that there had been very few shifters living in her part of Oasis that turned her on. But the few that had, the feeling that had warmed her to the point of her entire body trembling whenever she’d been around them was intense and pushed her to a point where she’d known something had to give.

  But her father was Roman Reynolds.

  In addition to being the Assembly Leader, he was a black jaguar with as much predatory power as any king of a jungle. Oasis was Rome’s jungle and Nisa was the second untouchable under his reign. Every shifter across the world knew this. They were not to speak a disrespectful word to Kalina, or give Nisa a second look. It was that simple and that serious at the same time.

  The warning hadn’t bothered Nisa since all she’d ever wanted to do was work toward building a better future for the shifters. Yet, she’d still had to figure out a way to deal with the urgings without risking another shifter’s life by asking him to be with her. The answer had been fairly simple. She would slake her own need. It worked, she enjoyed the independence and that was it. She moved on to the next thing. At least that was how she normally handled the situation.

  Tonight was different. She was not only trembling, but her cat was pacing and making a rumbling sound that echoed in Nisa’s mind. The cat needed and Nisa wanted, unlike either had before.

  She shouldn’t. That was a given. Decan Canter was a lion and mixed joinings were frowned upon by some in the shifter community. Most commonly opposed was the shifter and human mating, but when her father met her mother while working at the law firm he used to own, neither of them had known that Kalina was a shifter. Ezra, Lead Enforcer, had joined with Dana, a human. Sebastian “Bas” Perry, the Mountain Zone Faction Leader, had joined with Priya, also a human. And there were countless others, she’d seen their names as she’d helped enter them all into ViceSecure. So the shifters as a whole had been moving toward accepting that union. As for the interspecies joinings, well, they were still a bit away from totally accepting that. Part of the reason was that Shadow Shifters themselves were a sort of anomaly. Half man and half cat, they had a complex DNA to start with. Mixing the half man, half cat, with a different variety of cat, was another level of the unknown. In the event of an offspring, what would it be? Which cat would dominate and how would the human half respond to such a mixture? It was something, that, to date, had not been answered because the different tribes had remained separate when it came to pairings.

  Tonight, however, a jaguar was so turned on by a lion, she thought she might actually jump out of her human and cat skin if she did not receive some relief from these urgings.

  She wanted to believe they’d come on quickly, but that wasn’t totally true. She’d been feeling restless and needing release more frequently in the past few months. Tonight, the need had morphed into an all-out hunger. One that seemed to be battering her senses. Why else would she allow herself to stay here without calling her father to intervene? Why hadn’t she blasted Decan with questions and more forcefully demanded the answers required when he decided to bring that cheetah along with them? Why…? The cat hissed and Nisa bit her bottom lip as she, finally pressed a finger into her center. The warmth immediately sucked the first digit in deeper and she let her head fall back against the gray marble walls of the shower. Her legs were already shaking slightly in anticipation as she pressed another finger alongside the first one.

  Yes, her mind screamed.

  As she began to pump her fingers into herself slowly, her chest heaved with each breath and she lifted another hand to grip her breast. It felt heavy in her palm, her nipple already tightened. She squeezed that nipple until her creamy walls clenched her fingers. With her eyes closed, Nisa’s breaths quickened and she continued working her hands and fingers in an effort to reach her pinnacle soon.

  Her cat growled then because it was not enough. Nisa knew it too.

  She thought about him, let his image form in her mind as she moaned.

  He was so tall, even taller than X’s six-foot four-inch stature. And he was broad, his shoulders wide, arms thick and muscled. No, she hadn’t seen him naked, but she hadn’t needed to, his enforcer’s jacket did nothing to hide his build or the strength she suspected he and his cat carried. There was power in his hands, strength in the fingers with the blunt-tipped nails. Even his face was sort of rugged. The beard that was neatly trimmed, the thick curls atop his head and those eyes. Like glass dyed the lightest hue of blue. Cool and slick like a glacier. He was older than her, there was no doubt, and not just because of the mixture of black and white hair, because shifters rarely showed physical signs of aging. No, she guessed it was because he could not be a Lead Enforcer at her age.

  Nisa pulled her fingers out and circled them over her clit as she thought of his hands moving over her now wet body. He would know how to touch her in just the right way, there was no doubt. He was worldlier, she guessed because she’d never heard his name mentioned in Oasis. She hadn’t seen it on the ViceSecure and there were no whispers about him. There was no doubt that a shifter that was this hot and this decorated on the STT would be sought after by men in leadership and females in need. She didn’t know where he’d been in all her years or why he was suddenly here now. And while she wondered, the question of how good it would feel to have him over her, sinking deep inside of her, was one she was most curious about at the moment.

  With that thought her fingers slipped into her warm, wet pussy once more, pumping fiercely in and out until she was gasping, her cat growling. It was getting hungrier and she was only whetting its appetite with her futile attempts at release. Her body felt tight, as if she were just on the precipice of relief, but couldn’t quite get there. She wasn’t going to get there. Not like this. Not this time.

  With her curse she let her leg fall from the bench and pulled her hands away from her body. It wasn’t going to work. She needed more.

  It only took another few minutes for her to wash and slip on sweat pants, a t-shirt and tennis shoes. Then Nisa was slipping out of the room that Decan had escorted her to a half hour ago. This was the third floor, from the elevator control board she saw there were nine floors to this bunker. What she sought was up there. Pressing the appropriate button she eased further back into a corner of the car, keeping her head down while it took her to her destination.

  Security would be tighter on the highest floor and hopefully—if this bunker was designed like the majority of them in Oasis—the security systems would give her some idea of who lived here and why this place was off the Oasis grid.

  She stepped out of the elevator after the door quietly opened on the ninth floor. These halls were dimly lit and painted a muted gray. That was the first difference. Within all the Oasis bunker plans, the only floors kept without much light were for storage only. They could afford to conserve energy on those floors. Storage was never kept on the top floor of a bunker because that’s where the shifters housed their weapons. In this one, if a human or rogue happened upon the doorway above ground that lead to Oasis, they would enter on this floor. She wondered why.

  Nisa kept moving, going to the right and keeping close to the wall. She looked up in search of the square of green dots which traveled across the ceiling from one end of the wall to the other. This was the signal for an operational security line, one tha
t could be monitored by guards at the holodeck. There was none. There were also no doors, at least, she hadn’t come across any as of yet. Another thing that was missing on this level was a scent…any scent at all.

  It smelled sterile, as if any trace of an aroma had been studiously washed away. She kept moving watching straight ahead as she walked, turning back every few minutes to be sure she wasn’t being followed. But who would even know she was up here if there weren’t any security monitors engaged?

  When it felt like she could have possibly walked at least half the floor, Nisa thought about turning back. She didn’t think there was a doorway here, but she couldn’t actually believe that. There had to be a way for a shifter to get above ground. Just because they’d designed this underground hideaway to keep protected from the humans didn’t mean that no shifter ever went above ground. They did, even though the Faction Leaders were required to approve above ground missions or travel. Nisa knew this for a fact because she often went above ground without approval.

  She’d never liked running on the indoor tracks or in the park sectors that had been built to mimic the conditions in the Gungi. Since her mother had taken her above ground for her first run as a jaguar, Nisa had craved the scent of fresh air. She loved the rainy nights best, when there was just a hint of a chill and the rain fell against her thick yellow-brownish coat. She was certain that was what her cat needed right now. So she continued to move down what seemed like an endless hallway.

  There were still no doorways in sight, but there was a sound. It was faint, but it was there, like someone tapping. Nisa followed it, hoping it would lead to either an answer of where she was or a way out.

  The rubber soles of her shoes were perfect as they kept her approach quiet, while the tapping grew louder. She moved faster, her heart beating wildly as she began to feel the noise was being made specifically for her. Did someone know she was here? Were they sending her a message? Maybe that she shouldn’t be here or that someone else was coming? It didn’t matter, Nisa wasn’t afraid. She was curious. As she’d always been.

  She was getting closer. Not just because the sound was louder but because a scent slowly began to creep into the air. It was a fresh scent, like rain or morning dew. She kept going, dragging her hand along the wall as she’d been doing in search of the seams to a doorway. Dozens of steps later, none came. Yet she stopped anyway because the tapping had also ceased. A flash of light caught her eye across the hallway and Nisa pounced, following the tiny white dot until her entire body was pressed against the opposite wall, the vibrations from the resumed tapping rippling through her.

  “Who are you?” she whispered because she knew there was someone on the other side of this wall.

  She could feel them, another shifter, even though she still could not see it. The tapping continued, growing louder and faster until it almost matched the beat of her heart. Nisa turned and pressed her ear to the wall in the hopes of hearing more even though the tapping was getting to the point where her eardrums quivered in overdrive. Her fingers trembled and the sense that something was horribly wrong began to suffocate her. Nisa tried to push away from the wall, but she could not move. It was as if a magnet had drawn her there and was now holding on for her life.

  There was a loud thumping and when Nisa was finally able to pull her face away from the wall a cone of light showed the distorted face of a cat on a naked human male’s body. She opened her mouth to scream but the sound died as a blast of cold air slammed against her back. The invisible force that had been holding her to the wall finally released her completely and she stumbled back, just as the thing that was on the other side of the wall disappeared. Nisa turned to see where it could have gone and where this frigid air was coming from. That’s when she saw it…the doorway.

  She ran to it, jumping through the narrow passageway without a second thought.

  CHAPTER 4

  Decan yanked his shirt up and over his head and then let it fall to the ground beside the heap of clothes he knew belonged to Nisa. He held back a curse as he quickly untied his boots and stripped off his pants. Then, he was shifting, running through the area that was once a national preserve.

  She had a head start but it didn’t matter, her scent was locked into his senses so that he knew he could find her wherever she was. It was how he’d known she’d left her room.

  He had been lying on the bed, arms folded behind his head while he thought about the events of the day. The beginning of his mission for the Assembly Leader, butting heads with Nisa about who was in charge, and the appearance of Kyss. He also needed to contemplate the murders and what that meant for him and his agenda. But all he’d managed to really give deep thought to was, Nisa Reynolds.

  Decan had never ached for a female before. Yet, he’d ached as he stood in front of her, wanting with a sickening need for her to reach out, unzip his pants and take him into the waiting heat of her mouth. The second he’d closed his eyes he’d thought of her doing just that and his entire body had hardened, the lion inside roaring its dissatisfaction with the way things had actually turned out. Nisa hadn’t undone his pants and licked him until his release burst free. She hadn’t stood and wrapped her long legs around his waist, opening so that he could slip deep into her.

  And he hadn’t done a damn thing about those facts.

  Because he couldn’t.

  She was untouchable and if anyone in this world knew what that meant, Decan should, after all he’d been through.

  Rome had made it perfectly clear what this job was about. Sleeping with his daughter had not been listed in the things to do. In fact, the Assembly Leader’s final words before he’d left had resonated most with Decan.

  “I want my daughter safe. That is the first priority of this mission,” he’d said as they stood in his office.

  Safe meant untouched by him or anyone else. Decan understood that perfectly. He wished his cat could decipher the meaning of those words.

  The four-foot tall, three hundred and fifty pound white lion raced through the path of bald cypress trees that had been battered and still withstood the shift in climate that had plagued the earth in the last years. The trees that normally stood in water, now barely thrived in less than three-feet of water making the path much easier to travel for the four legged beast. Years ago this place would have appeared to be too wet and humid for him to track a jaguar. But not for Decan. He’d been specially trained in tracking. That, combined with all of his shifter senses lent him the upper hand. Now, because of the decrease in moisture in the air, it was much easier to pick up her scent.

  Who was he kidding? He’d never lost her scent. He feared it might actually be imprinted on his cat at this point. And that, would be a horrific mistake. For both of them.

  She was about ten feet ahead when she turned quickly and doubled back. She knew he was behind her, no doubt, and was trying to lose him. She had no idea who she was dealing with.

  Her body was long and sleek, at least five feet. Her coat a perfect pattern of large rosettes and spots. Powerful paws slammed through the water and skittered only when he crossed over to stand in front of her, his teeth bared, head lifted. Her cat roared in response, not backing down, but pressing forward. He stood taller, daring her to try. She did, going up the trunk of a tree and then jumping down so that she was now behind him. The moment he turned she was off and running once more. This time Decan didn’t think. He didn’t recall any rules or wait for any permissions. He let the lion burst free, taking the lead…in everything. He let the chase go on until she was once again near the doorway to allow her back into Oasis. Only she could not get in through this doorway on her own because she wasn’t authorized. She was going to figure that out and be pissed, but for now, he had the upper hand.

  His cat circled around her and landed with his front paws on top of the clothes they’d both left behind the bushes that hid the narrow opening. He shifted only seconds before her and was ready for her rage when her shift was complete.

  What he
wasn’t ready for and should have anticipated was the sight of her standing only three feet away from him, totally naked.

  “Standing on my clothes is real mature,” she spat the moment she was able to.

  Decan heard her words but he wasn’t really processing them. She was perfection. He’d thought so when he saw how elegant and powerful her cat looked moving through unfamiliar territory. Now, he knew it went through and through. The human body was just as alluring, from her slim waist to the curve of her hips and the pert breasts he knew would fit perfectly in his hands. If he were stupid enough to touch her. Which, this morning, he would have sworn he was not.

  “Move out of my way,” she said before coming straight at him. She pressed both her palms on his bare chest and attempted to push him back.

  Decan didn’t move. He did, however—despite the stark warnings of the man—plant his hands on her hips and lift her off her feet. She opened her mouth to say something, but it was too late, he was already moving them, taking the couple of steps back to the side of the building where the cloaked doorway was and pressed her back against the cinderblocks.

  “What—” she started to say.

  “Stop,” he replied through gritted teeth. “Stop before it’s too late.”

  Her hands were still on his chest, her dark skin against his lighter hue. They both looked down at them simultaneously and she sucked in a breath. She was going to tell him to get his tainted hands off her. To get his act together before she told her father. Say it! He willed her silently. Say it!

  “Stop what?” she asked instead, her tongue snaking out to run slowly over her lips.

  “Don’t. I’m warning you,” he said.