by Eve Langlais
He bloody well winked before tossing her the ball. Instinct had her catching it and running it in for a touchdown. With Melly busy getting her back slapped, it took a moment to realize she couldn’t see Theo. Not under the pile of bodies that had pounced him.
“Get off him!” she hollered, not caring about the game anymore.
She and the biatches began pitching bodies left and right until she found a very still body at the bottom.
“Theo.” She murmured his name as she sank to her knees beside him, afraid to touch him. What if she caused more damage? He wasn’t made of the same stern stuff lions were.
“Is he dead?” her mother asked, having left her seat to join them staring at Melly’s unconscious mate.
Melly shot her a dark look. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Not really. The boy’s got good genes for a human. Did you know he scored almost perfectly on his SATs and was top of his class in the military? They discharged him over bad eyesight. Idiots. They should have given him laser surgery.”
Melly stared at her mother. “You researched him?”
“Please. I have all the men you sleep with researched. Can’t have you consorting with the wrong type.”
“Like a human.”
“Actually, I meant wrong as in morally. I can’t abide a liar and a cheat. I don’t think you’ll have that problem with him. He’s so straight he makes even rulers look crooked.”
“Are you actually giving me your blessing?”
“I better if you’re ever going to give me any grandchildren.”
“Once you have babies, you are more than welcome to vacation at my new condo in the Bahamas,” Auntie declared. “Such a good boy.”
Melly glared. “This is your fault, isn’t it?”
“Can I help it if your man likes to win?”
“What did you promise him?”
“Passes to the front of the line at the new Disney Star Wars land.”
“He could have died.”
“But didn’t and, in the process, proved himself tough enough to belong to this family.”
A groan from the ground drew her attention as Theo stirred.
Melly still feared touching him. “Theo, talk to me. Tell me where you’re hurt.”
He rolled to his back with his eyes closed. “Everywhere.”
“I’ll carry you to the house so we can check you over and bandage you.”
He pried one eye open. “Don’t you dare. I will walk on my own two feet, thank you.”
“Nice to see there’s a bit of cocky male in there,” her mother retorted before standing. “If you’ll excuse me, I see a bear holding my place in line for those ribs.”
And by holding she meant she grabbed the bulky male, tossed him to the side, and took his place. No one argued. Mother’s reputation wasn’t often tested, but apparently, she could still surprise.
Melly murmured, “I can’t believe she’s okay with us being together.”
“She didn’t have a choice given we won the bet,” he declared, moving to a seated position.
“We only won because she allowed it.”
“Allowed it how? She couldn’t know I was going to step in to help.”
“Don’t be so sure of that.” With mother doing a background check, she would have known about his past football career and tested to see what kind of man he was.
The kind a lioness could love.
“What do you say we skip dinner and go straight to dessert?” she asked.
Silly man thought she meant sex. When she actually meant dessert. Only when she’d filled two large plates with one of everything did they escape to the attic. She ate one plate on the way, meaning she was ready to strip once the hatch to her room shut.
In her cramped shower, he allowed her to inspect every inch of his fine body. Kiss every bruise. Lick every scratch. Then suck on the part of him that needed easing.
Then it was her turn. He licked every sensitive inch. Sucked on her nipples and the spot between her legs. Thrust his fingers into her as he swirled his tongue around her puckered nubs. Then finally slid into her, inches of glorious hardness filling her to perfection, and when she came so hard her toes curled and she uttered a tiny roar, he said, “I love you.”
“Me, too, but FYI, touch the pecan pie on the nightstand and I will tear out your guts.”
Then she proceeded to show him how much she enjoyed said pie by licking it off his dick.
When they emerged a few hours later, looking for food, there was a cheer from the drunken lions and bears under the patio lanterns strung all around.
“Theo, you straight-laced bastard! Come drink with us!”
She lost him for a while as he was feted and given beer and other alcoholic beverages. When it was time for bed, she hunted down her lightweight mate, who sat leaning on a tree, almost passed out
He smiled and slurred, “I finally see why people love cats. Come close so I can pet your pussy.”
He sobered right quick when he felt the fur under his fingers, and when he fell asleep wrapped around her, it was better than a warm patch of sun.
Epilogue
Melly crouched on the roof, wearing her dark spandex uniform, a bodysuit the biatches had designed for stealthy missions at night. No longer did they entertain themselves with bar fights and chicken races on the highway. They had actual jobs now, working for the Internal Revenue Service.
Not that the IRS was aware that they’d officially hired the Baddest Biatches. With Theo having cracked Marney’s weapons ring, he got a promotion, which was when Arik got the bright idea of having Theo as their inside liaison to keep them safe.
What better way to keep Theo moving up in the ranks than to ensure he kept cracking the hardest cases? With a little pride help, he found the biggest cheaters on taxes. Busting them only increased his reputation, and given the biatches only went after crooks, no one noticed the bits skimmed off the top to fund some of their pricier purchases.
Which her number-loving husband liked to question. “Why do we need another flamethrower?”
“What if the first one breaks?”
“Let me guess, the helicopter you put the deposit on is for parachuting missions.”
“Nah, that’s for pure fun.”
Funny how he didn’t argue when she bought him an authentic Vader costume from the original movie set.
Life was good for this lioness, especially since she could be herself with her partner, best friend, and lover.
Rawr.
Author’s Note: So, I know this book took a while to come out, mostly because I like to wait until stories talk to me. But the funny thing was, when I began writing it, I got an idea for two more Lion’s Pride stories.
How do these sound?
Somewhere in the world…
The glass door shattered, but Dean didn’t pause as he took a sip of the amber whiskey he’d just poured.
A figure swung into the room, arriving by a rope that they snapped loose as they landed on their feet. The slight figure didn’t hold any weapon, and a dark hood hid their features.
But he didn’t need to see to know.
“Hello, Natasha. Long time, no see.”
“Don’t you mean since our wedding night?” She swung her hips as she stalked toward him.
Less wedding, more drunken hoax. “What’s it been, five years, six?” He could have quoted the exact time down to the minute had he wished. As if he’d give her that kind of power.
“Too long and overdue. I’m here to ask for a divorce.”
He arched a brow. “Is this where I say I believe the vow was until death do you part?”
“If you insist.”
Coming when you least expect it, When a Tigon Weds.
And for the next teaser…
The pinprick in his arm was like the smallest of stings. There and gone, not even worth his attention.
But perhaps Lawrence should have minded it because his senses clouded, his vision filmed over,
and when next he regained consciousness, it was to find himself in a strange cabin in bed with a woman.
A human and—judging by the scent on her and the marks at her neck—his mate.
Lawrence’s story is coming soon in When a Liger Mates.
Previous books in A Lion’s Pride, a USA Today Bestselling series:
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