Saved by the Lion

by Selina Woods

  “Or it may piss them off,” Hyde said dryly.

  “Are you asking me to back down?” I snapped, glaring at him.

  “Never.” He wasn’t the least bit intimidated by my show of anger. “Just keeping things in perspective.”

  I pondered the notion of simply packing my things and driving the SUV out of Detroit, leaving all this behind. As it happened any time, I thought such thoughts, the powerful urge to head southwest to the mountains hit me. The same song I’d heard singing in my blood for as long as I could remember came back and tried to tug me toward them.

  And as always, I resisted. Detroit was my home. I’d known no other. Nor did I like the idea of decamping and leaving the city under the vicious rule of another lord. I wanted to keep folks safe, perhaps turn it into a safe zone where people would live in peace.

  “You’re gonna stay here then?” I asked him.

  “Yeah. Until dark, then I’ll close up as usual.”

  “I’ll take Iliana to the penthouse and come back before you go. We’ll get your revenge on those two, and when word spreads of their demise, business will go back to usual.”

  I knew from his tight smile he didn’t believe me, but he’d play along in the meanwhile. “Sure.”

  Iliana hugged him goodbye, then went with me out of the restaurant. I beckoned Freddy and the guards, and we all crowded into the big SUV. Iliana gazed around at it in admiration. “Nice ride.”

  “Thanks.”

  I drove away from the Headmaster, seeing Hyde in the side mirror as he stood on the curb, watching my little caravan leave. As usual, other citizens stared as well, fingers pointed, and their faces spoke of their fear and anger. From the corner of my eye, I saw Iliana watching my face.

  “They don’t know you as I do,” she said, her voice quiet, obviously reading my thoughts.

  “They know me well enough,” I replied, “I’ve certainly killed plenty of their family members, friends.”

  She gazed out the window without answering.

  At the apartment building where I lived, I parked the SUV under the watching eyes of the guards. Freddy opened the door for Iliana, smiling as those who hadn’t yet seen her gawked at her incredible good looks. I opened the rear hatch and picked up the urn, cradling it in one arm.

  I took her hand, in their eyes claiming her as mine, and glared. “This is Iliana,” I told them with a growl in my voice. “You’ll guard her as you do me.”

  The murmured, “Yes, sir,” rose from them as they parted to let us through and into the building, one of the rifle-toting shifters opening the doors for us. The others in the lobby sent me respectful nods and greetings as we passed them by, their expressions openly admiring.

  I half expected Iliana to pull her hand from mine as we rode the elevator up to the top floor, but she didn’t. I was falling in love with her, but how could she love me in return? How could a sweet, kind girl like her love a killer, a cold blood predator? I swallowed the thickness that grew in my throat as the elevator doors slid open.

  Iliana left my side to stroll around the vast penthouse, taking in the paintings, the statues, the luxury. “This is so awesome,” she said, turning to give me a quick grin as I set the urn down. “I could get used to this.”

  “You’ll be safe here,” I told her, not wanting to mention that if the enforcers decided to get rid of me, her stay there will be woefully short. “If you need anything, the intercom button is over there. The guards will bring you whatever you need.”

  She clearly sensed the bitterness I tried to conceal from her, for she ceased her inspection and came to me. “Griffin?” she asked, peering up into my face. “What’s wrong?”

  How can I tell her what I’m feeling for her?

  I faked a smile and brushed a strand of her inky hair from her cheek. “I’m falling in love with you.”

  A genuine smile lit her countenance. “Good.”

  “Good?”

  Resting her head on my chest, she sneaked her arms around my waist. “Yup. Cuz I’m falling for you, too.”

  While that should have made me feel better, it didn’t. “How can you? I’m a murderer—evil.”

  Iliana turned her head to look up, her chin digging into my breastbone. “You’re not evil. I’d never like, much less fall in love with, someone who is truly bad.”

  Stroking my hands down her silky hair, I pressed a light kiss to her forehead. “Then why do I feel as though I am?”

  “I believe it’s because you have a conscience,” she answered. “Someone who is evil wouldn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt for doing terrible things.”

  I stared down into her beautiful eyes. “I can never atone for the things I’ve done.”

  Her lips curved upward. “Of course, you can.”

  Giving in to the temptation, I kissed her, pouring my heart, my soul, everything I had within me into that simple act of love. Iliana responded with her rising passion, her arms gripping me tightly, her tongue dancing with mine. Breaking off from her, I bent and picked her up in my arms. She clasped her arms around my neck as I carried her into the bedroom.

  Setting her tenderly on the bed, I sat beside her, my fingers caressing her cheek. “Is this okay?”

  “More than okay.”

  Half sitting up, Iliana stripped her shirt off, then unzipped her jeans. I pulled them off her legs, my shaft thickening in my pants. Lying back, beautifully naked under my hands and gaze, she stared up at me with lust parting her lips. “Get undressed,” she whispered.

  I didn’t need to be told twice. Pulling my shirt over my head, I dropped it to the floor, then peeled out of my jeans, putting the gun on the dresser. Iliana stroked my rod, which ached to be buried deep within her tight tunnel. Though she was no longer a virgin, I could still easily hurt her by rushing. I never wanted ever to hurt her.

  She scooted over to make room for me, and I lay down beside her. Rolling onto her side, Iliana kissed me, her tongue opening my lips, tangling with mine. Her skin felt as soft and smooth as silk under my hand as I swept it up and down her waist and over her hip. Wanting to tease her into arousal, I pushed her onto her back and probed between the lips of her mound with my fingers.

  Moaning into my mouth, she spread her legs, her button moist as I toyed with it. Dipping my finger further into her, I gently played with her, arousing her, my mouth on hers as both of our passions rose to the surface. My shaft throbbed with need even as my conflicting emotions of love for her and hatred of myself warred within my heart.

  Breaking from her mouth, I murmured, “I love you, Iliana. Can you save me?”

  Her hands rested to either side of my face. “I will save you, Griffin.”

  I slid my hand up her waist to her small breasts, kissing her throat, her cheeks, her eyes, my thumb stroking one nipple, then the other, listening to her breathing as it quickened. My pulse pounded, thudding hard, my lips once more on hers while my tongue invaded her mouth.

  Her hands urged me onto her, her opened legs welcoming me as I nudged my shaft head into the entrance of her tunnel. Iliana moaned with what I hoped was pleasure and not pain as I slowly worked my shaft deeper into her. Her wet, slick tunnel spread under my thrusts, the erotic sensations wringing deep-throated groans from me.

  Inside her fully, I stopped moving, letting her body get used to my invasion, kissing her, my hands delving into her sweet-smelling hair. Then I began to thrust, building up speed, her moans becoming sharp cries of pleasure. Her nails dug into my shoulders, and she bucked her hips upward in time with my driving shaft. My still-healing cuts woke under her fingers, but the pain oddly melded with the sensual feelings coming from my loins.

  I speeded up my hips, driving in harder and deeper, my hands sliding between her back and the bed to hold her tighter to me. Iliana locked her legs around mine, aiding me in bringing us both to greater heights of ecstasy. I knew when she exploded, for her body stiffened and she cried aloud, the walls of her tunnel clamping down on my rod.

  Stroking
in and out, I felt my climax building, climbing, my breath coming in short gasps. Fire lit in my lower belly, spreading outward, my balls tightening as my staff exploded. It jerked and spasmed in her while I slowed my thrusts, still driving myself in deep. My orgasm seemed to go on for long moments, but in the end, it drifted away.

  Languorous, I lay on her, her arms around my neck, feeling her lips kiss my cheek. I rolled off of her at last, my flaccid shaft pulling from her. Iliana settled her face into my shoulder, her arm across my chest. “I wish this could go on forever,” she murmured.

  “Me, too.”

  A glance at the window told me I had about an hour before dark would fall. Turning my head, I planted a soft kiss to her lips. “I have to go.”

  Iliana let me get up and watched me don my clothes. Propping her head on her hand, she said, “You’ll be careful, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  I gazed at her beautiful body, at the love in her blue eyes, and couldn’t help but wonder if she truly could save my imperiled soul. Bending, I cupped her cheek in my palm. “How did I get so lucky as to find you?”

  “It was your time, I guess.”

  “Maybe it was.”

  Straightening, I tucked the semiautomatic into the small of my back. “If you get hungry, call down to the guards. There are books in the other room if you want to read, but please don’t leave the penthouse.”

  “I won’t.”

  Hating to leave her, I kissed her again and sent her a swift wink. “I’ll be back soon.”

  Iliana smiled. “I’m already lonely without you.”

  “Good.”

  Sharing a quick laugh with her, I left the bedroom and pulled on my leather jacket. I couldn’t lock the elevator as then the guards couldn’t get up there if she needed anything. I still felt a bit uneasy about leaving her alone. Yet the shifters down below were still loyal, even if the enforcers no longer were.

  At least for now.

  Riding the car down, I felt I could trust them to protect her for, hopefully, the next few days. By then, I hoped to have squashed the enforcers' rebellion, if indeed that’s what setting fire to the Headmaster was, and then none would dare touch her. In the lobby, I paused to gaze at the guards there.

  “Keep her safe for me,” I said. “Get her anything she needs.”

  “You got it, boss.”

  With Freddy and a few others, I got back into the black SUV and drove toward Hyde and the restaurant. Though darkness had yet to fall, he stood outside the Headmaster as though waiting for me, folks scattering like pigeons as my noticeable vehicle drove up. I stopped at the curb and parked, then got out.

  “You closed up?” I asked.

  Hyde shrugged with a grimace. “I had to. I sent the staff home since I had no customers, and I’m worried they won’t come back.”

  “The customers or your staff?”

  “Both. If my place is being targeted, no one wants to risk getting killed.”

  “I’m sorry, dude,” I told him, feeling as though it were my fault. “Get in. Let’s collect some payback.”

  Freddy got out and gave Hyde the front seat while he got into the back with the others. “How’s Iliana?” Hyde asked as I got in behind the wheel. “You know it’s hard for me to let her out of my sight.”

  I grinned. “Actually, you’re doing better than I expected. I figured you’d be foaming at the mouth about now.”

  “I cleaned up before you got here.” He eyed me sidelong. “Well?”

  “She’s fine,” I replied, driving toward the house where Jesse and Simon were supposed to be. “You know, you can be there, too. It’s got plenty of room.”

  “Maybe in time,” he said, staring out the window.

  “Once I show these enforcers I’m not to be messed with,” I went on, “things will go back to normal. Your business will come back.”

  Hyde glanced at me with a half-smile. “You’re right. Thanks for the confidence vote.”

  It didn’t take long to drive through the residential streets to the neighborhood where I was told the traitors lived. First dusk and then full dark crept in, folks vanishing indoors to close heavy shutters and lock their doors. Not wanting our targets to see my recognizable vehicle if they were indeed there, I parked a block away.

  “We’ll spread out,” I told Freddy and the guards as we stood on the sidewalk. “The other two should be here, waiting, and let us know if the enforcers are in there.”

  “What’s the plan if they are, boss?” Freddy asked.

  “Hyde and I go in and kill them,” I replied, walking toward the end of the block.

  With Hyde, Freddy, and one other, I strode around the corner while the rest of the guards slipped through the houses and shrubs. Before I went all the way around, I stopped and peeked around the house’s edge, searching for the two I had sent to watch the enforcers. I didn’t see them until the wolf shifter, still a wolf, stuck his head out of some bushes nearby.

  “Boss,” he said, his voice low.

  “Are they in there?”

  “Yeah. In my opinion, they’re kinda dumb to run home after setting that fire, then sit on their asses.”

  “Where’s your partner?” I asked, searching the area with my eyes, but not seeing the lion. The house with the enforcers had no lights on that I could see, and they would have secured their doors and windows as everyone else in the city did after nightfall.

  “He’s on the roof of their house.” The wolf pointed with his ears.

  Though I tried to see him, my human eyes could not locate him in the darkness. “Great,” I said. “Freddy, you and the others surround the house, and come in if there’s trouble.”

  He didn’t look happy. “We should kill them for you, boss.”

  “Hyde needs his revenge,” I reminded him, shifting into my lion. “And I need to send a message.”

  Hyde went lion as well. Side by side, we trotted across and down the street, heading toward the traitor’s house. “How are we going to get in?” he asked, his voice a low rumbling growl.

  “It’s an old house,” I replied. “Around back, there might be a coal chute. I’ve got a suspicion they might have forgotten to lock it.”

  “They can’t be that dumb.”

  I bared my fangs in a grin. “Care to bet on it?”

  Hyde shook his mane upon discovering I was right on both counts. The traitors either didn’t know the house had a coal basement or considered themselves armed and tough enough to fight off any intruders. As I needed thumbs to open the heavy steel door, I shifted back into my human.

  “It’s gonna make a noise,” Hyde muttered, his paw indicating the rusted hinges.

  “I don’t want to run around trying to find oil,” I grumbled, pulling gently on the handle.

  The hinges screeched, but not nearly as loudly as I feared they would. Shifting back into my four-legged body, I listened intently for any sounds that had been heard. While I heard nothing, it meant little. The pair inside might be lying in wait with their guns aimed at the basement door.

  Hyde padded silently down the wooden steps, and I followed, leaving the cellar door open. The place was dusty and filled with old junk, broken furniture, and the steps leading up into the house wobbled and creaked under our weight. I half expected the door above to be locked against us, but it swung open silently under Hyde’s paw.

  Entering the kitchen, I scented the odors of a meal recently cooked in it and heard the sound of voices emanating from the sitting room. I met Hyde’s gaze and slunk noiselessly toward the pair who had tried to set the Devil’s Headmaster on fire. As I didn’t know if either or both might be facing the kitchen, I paused, crouched low to the floor, and listened intently.

  By the sounds, they laughed and drank alcohol, probably beer, and unbelievably, spoke of killing me and taking my place.

  “We get enough boys together,” said either Simon or Jesse, “and take out his guards. Unless we catch him out when he’s away from them.”

  “Even t
hen, he’ll be a tough one to kill, Jesse. We’ll have to have him alone.”

  “He’s always ditching his bodyguards,” Jesse scoffed. “We’ll just bide our time until the next time he does.”

  “We’ll keep him under surveillance, then.” I heard Simon swallow some booze. “Wait until he’s alone, then leave him for the crows.”

  “It’ll take more than just the two of us,” Jesse went on. “We’ll have to recruit more boys.”

  “We’ll have to be careful, though,” Simon added. “Lots of the enforcers are still loyal, and we might tell one who’ll run to Griffin and snitch.”

  As I listened to their plotting, my rage grew, climbing higher with every beat of my heart. We can take them by surprise. Just charge in, rip their throats out. I shot a glance at Hyde over my shoulder. His flattened eyes and ears, his lips pulled back from his fangs, informed me he was just as furious as me. On my belly, I crept forward and peeked around the corner of the wall.

  Luck was on my side. Furniture blocked their view of me as long as I stayed low, and I slunk further into the sitting room. As they continued to laugh and plan my death, Hyde obeyed me when I pointed in one direction, while I went into another. When we leaped from hiding, we’d catch the two traitors between us. From across the room, I locked eyes with him and ducked my head once.

  His roar of rage matched mine as we leaped up and over the couches and chairs. As I had hoped, we caught Simon and Jesse completely by surprise, for they stupidly gaped for a split second. The brief instant of hesitation cost them both their lives. Nor did it help them that rather than change forms and fight us on equal footing, which might have given them a chance to survive, they both reached for their guns instead.

  I didn’t know if the one I went for was Simon or Jesse, but I caught him full in the chest just as he yanked his gun from his belt. My tremendous lion weight struck him full in the chest, and the gun went off, only half raised to aim. The bullet plowed into the floor, and then I knocked him into his chair, toppling it backward.

  As a human, the shifter stood no chance at all. My jaws closed on his throat and cut off his choked scream, my claws shredding his chest and belly. His blood fountained into my mouth, his struggles to fight back, to hit me, to get me off of him were as effective as a broom sweeping back the tide. Though I knew the damage I’d done to him was fatal, my rage kept my jaws locked on his throat until his thrashing ended.