The Lion and the Unicorn (Lionsville Shifters Book 1)

by Dara Fraser

  She grabbed the tape out of the drawer. As she sat back at the table to work on the book, she saw that Leo’s face matched his grandmother’s. Yes, there was good news on the papers. Samantha taped things quickly. While it had seemed like Sybil had randomly stabbed her book, she actually made a pretty precise cut and it was an easy repair.

  “Sorry, I needed to get that done.”

  “Of course you did, dear. It’s all you have left.” The warmth and understanding of her grandmother’s old friend was most welcome. “So you probably are wondering why your mate and I are smiling so brightly.”

  “I am.”

  “The locket is a talisman and this is the spell. We can take the Theron powers of detection from them and trap the power in here.”

  “So we have to hunt down the Theron and take their powers one by one?”

  “No, if we do it at the right time, it will gather them all at once.”

  “From around the world?” How was that even possible?

  “Yes, from around the world, dear. Here.” Granny pushed the papers in her direction. “I’m off to bed and am taking the guest room. I’m going to need my sleep so that we can work on the spell before Thursday. Aside from rescuing those poor girls, it’s also the day the lion and the unicorn catch each other.”

  “Huh?” Leo seemed just as confused as Sam was.

  “It will be the day of a double eclipse.” Sybil wandered down the hall.

  “Those don’t exist,” Leo called after her.

  “Take it up with Frank. I don’t make this stuff up for fun, you know.” She stopped to face them as she reached her door. “I’m going to sleep very soundly tonight. I probably wouldn’t even hear someone in my room playing the drums, so a little mating would keep me up not at all.” With that, she walked into the room Samantha had been staying in and shut the door behind herself.

  “Is she always like this?” Samantha was sure her face was fire engine red.

  “My mom suggested that this was just how Sampson women were. Makes sense, you met Zara.”

  Sam smirked as amusement hit her.

  “And that’s funny because?” How could he not see the funny?

  “You are Leo the Lion.”

  “I am.”

  “And I’m your mate.”

  “You are.”

  “So once we mate, my name will be…” She waited for him to piece it together.

  “Leo the Lion will be mated to Sam Sampson?” He groaned as if she just told a bad knock-knock joke. Yeah, it was not as funny as it struck her, but it still was almost too much like a punch line to not find the humor in it.

  “I’m not mating you with your granny sleeping next door, you do realize that. Right?” She figured she might as well lay it out before pheromones took over and she did exactly that.

  “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. I don’t care how open Granny is, I’m a bit more private than that. I can sleep on the couch.”

  “Or…”

  “Or?”

  She loved how easy it was to snag his attention. One word and done.

  “Or we can share your bed and fall asleep as quickly as possible so we could practice mating in privacy.” She wiggled her eyebrows as to leave no doubt of her meaning. Nothing wrong with a little making out with your future mate.

  She saw his chest vibrating. Was he purring? No, that would be silly. Or was it?

  “Yes, I purr, miss stare at my chest and overthink hoping I won’t notice.” He stood up and unplugged the percolator. “Guess I made that for nothing. I’m all of a sudden very tired,” he said with a wink.

  She looked him up and down. Tired wasn’t even close to an accurate description.

  “Me, too. We should probably wash up and head to bed.” She added a fake yawn for good measure. “I need to take a shower first though. The run today managed to get dirt in my hair. Not sure how that happened but it is driving me batty.” It was, too.

  “See you in a bit, love.”

  “That you will, Leo.”

  She scurried to the bathroom and took the quickest shower of her life before cursing at herself for once again forgetting to grab clothes. Only this time it was worse. Sybil was in the room with her clothes. Argggg. She wrapped the towel tight and meandered back to his room and raised her hand to knock when the door swung open.

  “Perfect timing. I put a shirt and shorts on the bed for you. I’ll be right back.”

  She was fully dressed when he returned with a pillow. “I figured one pillow for the two of us would not work too well.” He tossed said pillow her way.

  “Thanks. Which side?” Looking at the bed in front of her, the pillow was smack dab in the middle. She had no clue which side to claim as her own.

  “I hadn’t thought about that.”

  “Me, neither.”

  “Just climb in and get comfy and we will figure it out from there.” He shut the door behind him and walked past the bed.

  “Sounds like a plan.” As she climbed in, he opened both windows. Maybe this was a bad idea. If they needed the windows open already, they were definitely in sorry shape. Why did Sybil need to be so close by? No, that was completely selfish. She was so close by because that was exactly where she was meant to be.

  Samantha snuggled into the pillow. It didn’t really smell like him and she swapped the pillows out, hoping he wouldn’t notice. His smirk told her he did. He was probably just as glad to get her pillow since she had at least tried to get comfy on it first. Her scent was not as deeply imbedded as his, but it was at least there.

  Leo picked up the pillow and held it to his face, inhaling deeply. “It will do. Thank you.” Did he think she made that for him? Is that what mates do? He leaned in and kissed her cheek before heading for the door.

  “Change of plans, love. I can’t stay here with you, even with the windows open.” She looked down. There was truth in his words. Yummy truth at that.

  “I was thinking the same thing.” That had him beaming. Men and their egos. She chuckled at that inner thought. “I’ll go to the couch since this is your room.” She went to sit up and he shook his head.

  “You stay here.” It was not a question, it was a command and, goodness help her, she liked that.

  “But I am shorter and will fit on the couch better.” She sat up but didn’t get out of bed. She was fairly confident that she’d already lost this battle.

  “Ah yes, but if you sleep here, the next time I crawl in I will be enveloped by your scent.” Darn sweet talker.

  “Does your charm always get you what you want?”

  “I’ll let you know.” He winked at her.

  Samantha tossed and turned for what felt like forever. She did breathing exercises. She counted sheep. Nothing worked. She was used to sleeping in cramped places and surrounded by danger, and those techniques had always worked, but now that she was safe and just wanted to have a little dream-time fun…nothing. She threw the covers off of her and padded down the hallway for a glass of water.

  “You, too?” His rich voice was welcome, even if it did startle her just a wee bit.

  “Yeah. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve ,knowing that if they go to sleep all the presents will come, but having the excitement of the presents making it impossible to sleep.”

  He was standing at the sink in only his boxers. For the first time, she caught sight of a tattoo on his right shoulder.

  “I couldn’t have described it better myself.” He reached up, grabbed another cup, and filled it before turning around to hand it to her. “What is that look for?”

  “I was just trying to figure out your tattoo. It is beautiful, but forgive me if this sounds sexist…okay, it is completely sexist, but why do you have a butterfly on your shoulder?” He turned around, and for a moment she thought he might be upset. She had, after all, pretty much said ‘Why do you have a girl tattoo.’

  “Look at it more carefully, Samantha.”

  She took a few steps before she saw. True, it was in the shape of
a butterfly, but it was made out of animals all melded together like a puzzle. It was a true piece of art. She glided her hand along the wings in amazement.

  “It’s stunning.”

  “The alphas in my line all got a tattoo of a lion on their shoulder to symbolize the people they were honored to protect.” He put his cup down and turned back around. “Not all shifters do that, but my family has for generations.”

  “So you made something to encompass all of the people you protect?”

  “Actually, Granny drew the design, but it was my idea. I wanted this not to be a pride by another name. I wanted it to truly be a clan.”

  “It’s amazing.”

  “Thanks, love.” He bent over and gave her a quick kiss that very obviously left him as wanting as it did her, and stepped to the side, effectively walking around her to the table.

  “So why a butterfly instead of a lion or something?” As far as Sam knew, there were no shifter insects, but she had been wrong about so much lately, so who knew?

  “Dylan thought I should do a lion, too, but it felt like I was then saying the lions were more important somehow, and that is not how a clan should be run.” He motioned for her to sit. “A butterfly is new life in a new form, so I thought it fit from that perspective and they were my mom’s favorite…so butterfly it was.”

  “I think it’s perfect.” It amazed her how that one little tattoo told her so much about her mate.

  “Thanks. I think so, too.” He reached his hand across the table and she placed hers in it. Her hands looked so ridiculously small sitting inside of his. “So aren’t we a pair?” he mused.

  “Something like that.” She wound her fingers with his. “We are going to be tired in the morning.”

  “We are.” His thumb swiped the back of her hand, and she could practically see the pheromones filling the air. “And we have a lot to do tomorrow.”

  “We do. We need to figure out the spell and make a plan for helping Mindy, and we need to get your sister that leftover stew. I don’t need her mad at me.” He chuckled at that. “I’m not wrong on that, am I?”

  “No, you most certainly are not. Keeping Zara on your good side is always the best plan.” He squeezed her hand before pulling away. She did not like that. Not one bit. “So here’s the plan: We go to sleep with no dream visits allowed. That way we can actually get some sleep instead.”

  The man made sense. “Deal. Darn you for making sense.”

  “’Night, Samantha.”

  He got up and walked to the living room area without so much as a peck. Probably for the best because she probably would have attacked him if he did. It had been hard enough to stay away when it was just hormones, but now that she actually cared about him it was nearly impossible. Maybe she would be lucky and Sybil would want to go visit Zara tomorrow. Samantha reluctantly made her way back to bed. This time, sleep found her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Good intentions

  Samantha sat on the rug, crisscross applesauce, looking at the words she wrote on the white board. If she had missed something as obvious as the clue about the spell, what else had she missed? The first few pages of the journal were all about how proud her mom was of her going to college and getting good grades and all the normal stuff parents gush at their kids about. It was nice to know that she had made her parents proud. The paragraph she kept focusing on was the one that caught Sybil’s eye.

  One day you will look at this journal with a whole new set of eyes, so keep it close. Between these covers, I hope you find the answers you are looking for. You are an amazing young woman and the future holds greatness for you. Follow your heart. Your heart will never lead you astray.

  It still made no more sense now that the context included actual things between the covers. Before, she thought her mom was getting mushy and her words were just not flowing well. Now all bets were off. This paragraph was even in a different color. Not a drastic change but as if her pen ran out and she grabbed a new one. Just a slight difference that Samantha hadn’t paid attention to much at all.

  “Busy?”

  “Did I call you here or did you set me up?” She bounced up and ran to him, stopping only a few steps away. Either way, she was getting some kissing. That was that.

  “Neither…” He took a step closer and she stopped herself from throwing herself at him. “I fell asleep and then somehow my subconscious took me here. Completely not the plan.”

  “Your subconscious is smart.” Samantha jumped into his arms, wrapped her legs around his waist and she peppered his face with kisses. Next thing she knew, she was pressed against the wall and Leo took control. His lips hit hers and she could hear fireworks in the background. Making out while dream walking was going to be interesting, to be sure.

  His hands held the back of her thighs, leaving no possibility she was going to fall. Samantha’s head was in a blissful haze and when his tongue sought entrance, to say she welcomed it would be the understatement of the century. His tongue explored her mouth and she could feel his chest vibrating. She did that. She made her lion purr. It was a heady feeling.

  Samantha reached under his shirt and began to explore the muscles of his abs one by one. Tracing them. Memorizing them. The darn T-shirt was in her way, but taking it off would mean the kissing would have to stop, and there was no way she was going to allow that after finally getting what her body had been begging her for. Why was he wearing a shirt anyway? He was shirtless when he went to bed.

  She slid her hands down to grab the bottom of his shirt. This was her dream walk after all. She could make herself strong enough to rip the shirt off of him. Her hand accidentally slipped a bit lower than she had planned and a roar filled the room. She might not be an expert in all things lion, but that was a roar of pleasure, and it filled her with such satisfaction that she almost didn’t notice when his lips left hers to make the glorious sound. She did, however, notice when he set her down and took a step back.

  “Sorry.” She sounded dejected and that wasn’t at all her intent.

  “Sorry? Are you out of your mind, woman?” Leo took another step back. “That was not anything to be sorry for.”

  “Then why did you take your lips away from me?” She faux pouted, knowing that whatever reasons he had for leaving had no connection to lack of desire. Goodness, she could see how much he wanted to be pressed against her again. He had to be uncomfortable.

  “We didn’t talk about how far was too far after I came into your dream uninvited. I wasn’t going to chance your regret later because we were so wrapped up in our kisses.” He took a few steps closer to the white board. “And you looked pretty serious about this when I came in, so I was trying to be respectful about that as well.”

  Her breathing was finally getting back to normal. She had always read how kisses took your breath away, but she never really understood the phrase until she met Leo. True, they hadn’t re-discussed boundaries after he decided to put the kibosh on tonight, but she doubted very much that she would have regretted a thing. But he was correct that she wanted to figure out this part of the riddle that had become her life. Being practical was no fun.

  “Yeah, that’s what my mom wrote in the front of the journal your grandma found the spell in. That last paragraph seems to be the important part.”

  He stared at it intently, and she gave him a moment to read the whole thing.

  “I think you’re only partially right about the last paragraph being the important one.” He never took his eyes off the board.

  “How so?” It was nice to have a second set of eyes. She might know it by heart, but she saw it through only her lens.

  “So this last paragraph mentions the spell we got, so that was very much a main component.” He picked up the marker. “I think the first part of this paragraph about seeing it with new eyes was to let you know there was more here than met the eye, but without being so blatant you found it too soon. The next part is about the hidden pages, which Granny already found.” He then unde
rlined future and your heart. The words seem really random to her.

  “I don’t really see what you are getting at.”

  “So future is mentioned in a few places. Most of which are typical going to school things, but over here in the middle it feels out of place somehow. Almost like English was her second language and there was a translation error.”

  He underlined: Dreams are your future. “Most phrases about making your dreams come true are completely different.”

  She nodded. She had assumed her mom got interrupted by a phone call or something and missed a few words when writing it.

  “So my dream walking is going to play a huge part in this.”

  “That is my guess. It also ties in with the picture of you sleeping with the necklace on.”

  “So that part reinforces what we already kind of know.”

  “Yes, love, but this next part I think may be a game changer.”

  She watched as he underlined heart three more times.

  “Your mom mentions heart three other times. I love you with all my heart. That part is pretty much at face value, I would imagine, although she seems wily so I am not discrediting it.”

  “The next two though?”

  “The next part sounds like it is about mating. When you give your heart, make sure they are worthy, for you can only give it once. She might not have known a lot about mates, but she always knew they were forever.”

  “That actually makes no sense. Why would she warn me to be careful about my fated mate if we only get one? It is not like fate gets it wrong.” She could see how he would jump to the mate conclusion, but knowing her mom and the sickly sweet, almost embarrassing love she had for Samantha’s father, it seemed like it was not quite that clear. “She doesn’t say he, she says they.”

  “I assumed she was being gender neutral in case fate gave you a woman.”

  “They isn’t about the gender of my future mate, they is a plural.” The horror of what that implied filled her with dread. “She is warning me to be careful of who I save?”