When a Lioness Hunts (A Lion's Pride Book 8)

by Eve Langlais

  It didn’t take much after the pants were gone to denude her. This time, she didn’t have to climb his body because he grabbed her by the waist and lifted. He shoved into her the moment the tip of him found that wet spot.

  Thrust into her hard. And she loved it. Loved each pounding stroke. The way he claimed her, intent and powerful. A low growl building in him. A rumble that belonged to no beast and yet fit right in.

  What was it about him? Why did she want him so much?

  After sex, being a right gentleman, he made her food. Lots of it. Pancakes, bacon, sausage, fruit, whipped cream, and real maple syrup. Liquid gold. She was still mad Arik shut down their plans to smuggle it. She’d even had charts showing how rare real syrup was and how much it could fetch on the sweet tooth market. Arik especially didn’t approve the plan to burn down trees in Canada to ensure the few sugar bush companies in the USA that had sap-producing trees quadrupled in value. A shame since she’d bought shares.

  They screwed again on the kitchen counter. Some of that syrup might have been involved. A hot shower got rid of the stickiness when they were done. By then the wee hours approached, so they went to bed.

  Being a man, he passed out, snuggling her. Weirdest thing ever.

  Pleasant, too. She’d never been one for the pile of bodies when it came to sleep. She liked her space, especially if it consisted of a pillow in a puddle of sunlight.

  Spooning with Theo reminded her of sunbathing. Warm and comfy. She didn’t want to leave. She had to.

  It took a slight bit of sly maneuvering to get out of his embrace. She didn’t stop for clothes but padded out of his bedroom to stand by the door of the room beside it. The one she’d yet to see. What did he hide in here? She now regretted not checking it out earlier. She might have realized his plan sooner.

  Although she would have still slept with him. She just hated being in the dark. A true hacker should always be one step ahead.

  The handle had a lock and wouldn’t open no matter how much she jiggled and pulled, foot braced on the panel as she tried to snap it.

  “Looking for something?”

  She jumped. High enough she could have touched the ceiling and stuck to it with her claws. Instead she landed on her feet and tried to look casual while naked. “Hey, Poindexter.”

  Not exactly the right kind of nickname at the moment given he’d eschewed the glasses and had only put on his boxers. The rest of him was naked yumminess.

  He crossed his arms, making himself even more distracting. “Any reason why you’re trying to break into my office?”

  “Is that what it is?” she asked. “Because for all I know it’s an abattoir where you cut up your victims.”

  “I am not even dignifying that with an answer.”

  “Fine, then answer this, why keep it locked if you live alone?”

  “Nosy overnight guests.”

  Rather than deny it, she wagged a finger at him. “I have a right to be nosy. You’ve been hiding things from me.”

  “I have. I’m allowed my secrets, like you’re allowed yours.”

  “I have no secrets.”

  He arched a brow. “I’m surprised your nose didn’t grow at that whopper of a lie.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? Why would why nose get big?” She touched it.

  “I was referencing Pinocchio. The puppet who came to life.”

  She kept her face placid to screw with him. “Who?”

  “Forget it. It’s just a literary children’s classic.”

  “My mom read me fashion magazines as a child. And you’re trying to distract me. I want to see.” She jabbed a finger at him.

  “Why do you need to see inside my office?”’ He leaned against the wall, and his arms slipped down, revealing a chest more muscled than a geek had a right to. Tempting. So very, very tempting.

  She kept her focus on him, not the insistent throb between her legs. “Because you owe me. I want to know who you are.”

  “I thought we were done with introductions.”

  “Are we? Because there’s no way you’re that clean. Every single search came up with nothing.”

  “And just who is ordering me investigated?”

  As if she’d explain she was the pride’s resident hacker. First day they’d met, she’d run him through her databases and not gotten a single interesting ping. Could he really be that straight-laced? “The pride always runs background checks on outsiders. Thorough ones. You checked out.”

  “Which is a good thing.”

  “No one is that perfect.”

  That brought a grin. “Am I supposed to apologize?”

  “Who are you really? Because the IRS doesn’t have a badass division.”

  He arched a brow. “No, but we do have access to other government agencies. Be that as it may, despite what you saw during the raid, I am employed by the Internal Revenue Service. The badge is real.”

  She waved a hand. “Fine, maybe you are really working for them. But you’re also more than that. I saw what you did last night.”

  “My job?”

  “You kicked some serious butt.”

  “I wrestled one person, and not very well. I barely held on to Marney.”

  “Which is more than people usually manage.” She pursed her lips and finally asked the thing she worried about most. “Do you have more secrets?” She really wanted to hear him say that was it. That he had nothing more to hide.

  Instead, he hung his head. “The raid on the arms dealer, while a bonus, wasn’t the real reason I met with you and some of your friends.” Guilt flushed his cheeks.

  “You mean there’s more?” Her heart began to race. Surely, he didn’t know her secret. But she had to know for sure. “Given your interest in me and my family, I’m guessing you’re thinking the Pride Group is up to no good.”

  “Actually, we know for a fact you’re breaking laws,” was his reply. He grasped the knob to the locked room. It clicked.

  “How did you unlock it?”

  “Biometrics,” he explained as he opened the door.

  She was still blinking at the technology not commonly yet in use when she saw what hid in the other room.

  “Oh no,” she mumbled.

  She stepped inside and looked around at the computer equipment, the pictures tacked to the wall. Images not just of her but her family, friends, and more than a few lions.

  With a nervous laugh, she pointed to them. “I thought you were allergic to cats.”

  “I am. Those giants you’ve got hiding there probably explain my sinus issues whenever I visit that damned condominium. How long has your boss been dealing in exotic pets? Where is he getting them from? Who is he selling them to?”

  She almost choked at his misassumption. “You think he’s selling them on the black market?”

  “Selling, trading, doesn’t matter. It’s illegal and obviously how he’s funding his operations.”

  The relief made her laugh hard but not forever. Reality set in.

  “You’ve been spying on us.” Not just electronic-funds spying but honest to goodness cameras and taking observational notes spying.

  This was bad.

  “I was assigned to investigate the origin of Pride Enterprises’ wealth.”

  “So the story about coming after me for taxes and offering me a deal…”

  “Was a sham to try and get you to spill possible connections to the money. Although when you told me about the guns, I did get sidetracked.”

  “Angling for a bonus,” she muttered.

  “Doing my job.”

  “We’re not doing anything illegal.”

  “That says otherwise.” He pointed to the darker-furred lioness sunbathing on the rooftop in one of the images.

  Melly hadn’t been in the mood to sun in the enclosed gazebo that day. The mirrored windows weren’t the same as direct sunlight.

  Arik would be pissed.

  “Trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to tell anyone about this,” she d
eclared.

  “It’s too late. If you might allow me a pun, the kitty is out of the bag. However, if you testify against your boss, I might be able to get you a reduced sentence.”

  “You’d turn me in?”

  “I don’t want to.” He did appear torn—but pigheaded. “However, I can’t exactly shield you unless you agree to help.”

  “Oh, Theo.” She sighed, moving close to him. She peeked up at her lover.

  Such a dear sweet man. It hurt her more than him to smack him hard enough to knock his ass out.

  Chapter Eleven

  “You did what?” Arik bellowed.

  Melly rubbed the toe of her sneaker on his carpet and couldn’t meet her king’s gaze. “I didn’t know what else to do. He was going to arrest us for illegal animal trading.”

  “With no evidence but a few pictures? My lawyers would have demolished his case. Instead, you knocked the guy out and brought him here.” Arik pointed to Theo, hands bound, head covered in a hood, gently placed on the couch in Arik’s office.

  Boy had that caused some amusement when she arrived and pulled Theo’s body out of the trunk. Damned biatches, standing around laughing instead of helping. Tossing remarks like, “Melly’s so desperate she has to kidnap a man.”

  “I panicked,” she admitted.

  “And now you have to fix it.”

  “Meaning what?” she asked.

  “Make it look like an accident.” Arik appeared quite stern.

  “What?” she squeaked.

  “A fire should do it.”

  “I am not killing him.” She couldn’t.

  “Obviously. Given the situation, the last thing we want is to draw more notice. Which means we have to be more subtle.” Arik eyed Theo.

  “How is a fire subtle?”

  “Because the cause can be as simple as a pot on the stove going up in flame. Or maybe a cigarette that fell on the couch.”

  “He doesn’t smoke.”

  He waved a hand. “The how of it is less important so long as it results in the complete destruction of his apartment. We can wipe all the electronic trails, but we need anything he’s printed out to be destroyed.”

  “What of his office? Won’t they have copies, too?”

  “Not for long,” was Arik’s grim proclamation.

  “After we burn his apartment, what happens to Theo?”

  “I’ll have my hackers devise a suitable disgrace to keep him busy. Perhaps corporate espionage so he serves time in a white collar institution.”

  “You can’t do that. He didn’t do anything wrong.” The guy was just doing his job.

  “He might not have meant to, and yet he’s a danger to us. Keep in mind if we can’t neutralize him in a humane fashion, then we’ll have to resort to more permanent methods.”

  “I don’t want him to die,” she admitted, her head hung in shame.

  Arik’s tone softened. “And knowing that now I am trying to help keep him from ending up as another body buried in the woods. You really should have spoken up before that debacle with Marney.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be. We both made mistakes. I could have done something about the raid when word came through on our channels but didn’t.”

  Her lips rounded. “You knew the SWAT folk were coming?”

  “Only barely. I didn’t have time to stop it, but I did manage to spring those arrested.”

  “They’ve already escaped?”

  “Yes, with a little help. Now Marney and company are the ones who owe me a favor.” He grinned.

  “That’s sly.”

  “I know.”

  She sighed. “I feel like such an idiot. I never even suspected he was playing me. You’d think I’d have no problem saying, ‘off with his head.’” She’d gutted people for less.

  “You grew fond of the human. It happens. I should know given I married one. But keep in mind the safety of the pride is more important than any one person.”

  She knew that and had never balked at eliminating threats in the past. But those people weren’t Theo. “I’ll do better.”

  “I know you will. Given all that’s happened, I think it’s time we left the city for a countryside retreat a bit earlier than expected. Let things die down.”

  “I’ll go right after I deal with Theo.” She glanced at him, still unconscious on the couch.

  “Speaking of dealing, use this.” Arik reached into a drawer and removed a plastic case.

  “What is that?”

  He flipped it open to reveal several vials and a syringe inside. “We’ve been testing a serum in the lab. It’s experimental but so far seemingly effective.”

  “What’s it do?”

  “Scrambles short-term memories. A few days up to a week. More than enough for him to forget ever coming here or even what he might think he saw in the sewers.”

  “He wasn’t the only one there. Are you going to dose all the agents?”

  He shook his head. “No need. By now, they’ve been treated for sewer gas poisoning, a side effect being hallucinations.”

  “What of those captured?” More than a few didn’t look human.

  “Odd how their pictures were lost during their escape, and don’t you know you can do anything with plastic surgery these days?”

  The boss had thought of everything. She took the case with the drug from him.

  “You’re sure Theo won’t remember anything?” she asked.

  “Even if he does recall, it will be fuzzy and filled with holes.”

  Setting the perfect stage. He wouldn’t remember what was real or not, and who would believe him? He might not even recall meeting her.

  For the best.

  It still made her sad, especially as she pulled the hood off and saw him awake and eying her.

  “Don’t do it,” he said. “I can help you.”

  “You can help me by forgetting.” Or else she’d have to hunt him down and handle it.

  “I don’t want to forget you,” he blurted out, and she knew it was true by the color spotting his cheeks.

  “I don’t have a choice. You could ruin everything.”

  “Let me protect you.”

  He still didn’t understand that the needle she jabbed into his arm was about protecting him.

  “I’m sorry.” She kissed him as the plunger entered his skin and spilled its secret juice. Kissed him and even felt tears. Her, a badass biatch, crying over a human man.

  He growled into her mouth and bucked, kissing her and yet angry at the same time. He bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood as he muttered, “This isn’t over.”

  Only it was.

  He slumped over in a stupor again, and she rubbed her lower lip. The mark barely noticeable and yet…

  It’s not too late to claim.

  Except it was. She’d already injected him. He wouldn’t remember her when he woke.

  She sniffled again. Damn, maybe she’d caught his allergies.

  With a helping hand from a, for once, silent Luna, she got Theo into his car. As they neared his duplex, she saw the flashing lights. Soon enough, even with the windows rolled up, she smelled smoke. Given everyone was already standing a block away, facing the scene of action, she eased Theo from the car, leaning him against a wall. He’d yet to wake up. When he did, he’d be so confused.

  She pressed a light kiss to his lips. “Bye, my sweet geek.”

  I’m going to miss you.

  Sad rawr.

  Chapter Twelve

  His head throbbed something fierce. Damn Melly for hitting him again. Except it wasn’t just a smack to the head. She’d also injected—

  The thought almost reached fruition before disappearing. His mind went blank.

  Blinking, Theodore realized he was outside, sitting on the sidewalk, and while it was night, lights lit the sky. Red, blue, and white. Emergency vehicles. Turning his head, he saw the firefighters up the street fighting an inferno that licked out of the windows
of a building.

  I live there.

  Lived. He didn’t think they’d salvage much. He swallowed, his tongue heavy and thick. He raised his fingers to his scalp, felt the bump. What had happened?

  She hit me.

  Then she drugged me.

  The sluggish thoughts took a while to truly percolate. It was almost as if he wanted to forget it all. As if his mind willfully hid knowledge. Like hell.

  He strained to remember, shoved against a fuzzy barrier that collapsed, spilling forth his memories from their first meeting to the raid in the tunnels, the lovemaking and then confronting her in his office about the exotic animal racket. She’d hit him, and then what? The vague recollection of voices refused to coalesce into any sense or shape. He had a faint memory of her kissing him and saying she was sorry before she stuck a needle into his arm. She’d been busy, obviously, given the fire. She wanted to get rid of the evidence, but she hadn’t killed him. At least she’d showed him some modicum of respect. That what they shared mattered a little bit at least.

  Then again, what did he expect? He’d lied to her. Had led her on in order to complete his task. He’d gone into this like any other job, only it turned out Melly was more than just a mission for him.

  He cared for her. Not that she’d ever believe that now. She must hate him. The thought bothered him because he most definitely didn’t hate her. She’d actually managed to find the adventure-seeking man within. With her sloppy habits, she gave him a way to make himself useful to her. With her soft moans, she made him feel like the most virile of men.

  And he was going to just let her get away?

  Glancing at the burning building, he got to his feet and headed in the opposite direction, toward the condo. Problem being once he got there no one would let him in.

  The voice on the other end of the intercom denied him. “Sorry, Mr. Loomer, but you’re not on the approved guest list.”

  “Call Melly. Tell her it’s Theodore. Theo. She’ll let me in.”

  “Melly’s not here. Erm, I mean, we can’t confirm or deny her presence in this establishment.” The preset phrase emerged by rote.