Celia Kyle (4 page)

With Alex’s hips still sealed to his mate’s, he felt the tremors ease and slow in time, as did his breathing, until he simply lay panting over her, his body resting and aligning with her abundant curves, cushioning him with her warmth.

“Mm…” Maya sounded sated, happy.

His cat was damned cocky about that fact.

Turning his head he lapped at the nearly-healed bite, pink scars the only reminders of his claiming.

Maybe she wouldn’t notice until he had a moment to explain. Maybe he’d get a year leeway or something. Wishful thinking.

Holding tight he rolled them until his lazing mate covered him like a blanket, his cock still comfortably resting in her pussy. She squeaked at his move, but quickly settled, and buried her face in his neck.

Alex stroked her back, soothed and petted her, his lion finally at ease, now that its mate was fully claimed. The damned thing was purring.

“That was,” she breathed against his neck, snuggled closer, “amazing.”

“Mm-hm.” He was afraid to say anything else, not quite sure how he was going to explain his earlier actions. His beast had finally relinquished control, teeth and hair receding, until Alex was pretty sure he looked human once again.

He slid his hands farther south, kneaded and squeezed her ass, enjoyed the feel of her heavy globes in his palms. She was made for him, plump and soft in all the right places. The perfect woman to carry his cubs, to nurture them, to mother them.
Purrfect.

“Thank you.” She shifted, pushed up as if to leave him.

Never! He shifted his hold, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “You said you were mine, sweet.” He worked very, very hard at not sounding psychotically possessive.

“I… But… That was just…”

“That was just me saying you’re not going to leave my bed. Ever.” Okay, he was totally being psychotically possessive.

She fought his grasp, and he eased his hold a little, letting her raise her chest, but still keeping a firm grip on her waist. “Look. This was fun, but—”

Alex placed a finger over her lips. “But you loved every minute, no? Tell me you’re not attracted to me. Tell me this doesn’t feel really right, and that you truly want to walk out that door and never see me again.”

He already knew her answer even if she didn’t want to face the truth. That she yearned to be near him as much as his lion demanded that she always be close at hand.

She shook her head. “Alex…”

He sighed. “How about you just stay the night? Let me make breakfast for you in the morning?”

Maya relaxed against him once again. “This is totally against one-night stand etiquette, you know. You’re supposed to kick me out now.”

Alex laughed. Because, whether she knew it or not, Maya wasn’t leaving him. Ever.

Tiptoe through the window…

Okay, she wasn’t going to be tiptoeing anywhere. It’d be more like cautiously creeping, with carefully plotted movements. Plus, she wasn’t headed out of a window, because there weren’t any.

Maya’s whole body hurt, but in a very good, and never bad, gimme more kinda way. Wow. Alex could seriously fuck a girl stupid. Three times when it was all said and done. She’d never been with a guy with that kind of stamina, and he woulda given her more if she hadn’t told him he’d broken her vagina. But then again, Alex wasn’t your ordinary man.

Seriously.

Of course, after he’d “broken” it, he had to apologize, going down on her once more before letting her pass out from being fucked senseless.

Not that she was complaining.

She was totally going to have to get with Gina before the next kitty orgy. And by then, maybe Alex could be two-night material.

Yum.

Maya inched toward her edge of the bed, eyes and attention focused on the hot hunk of cat-man next to her. She was surprised when he didn’t move as she extricated herself from the bed. In two shakes she rolled her naked self from the mattress, landing not-so-eloquently with a soft thump. As quick as a fluffy rabbit she popped her head back up and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was still asleep. Aw, Alex looked so cute, pillow cuddled to his chest and nose buried in the plush fabric.

Okay, enough. She had to get a move on. Distant sounds of people stirring down in the club filtered up the stairs and to her ears, which to her, meant she should truck on out of bow-chicka-bow-bow land, and back into her real world. She just needed to get through her walk of shame, and then, she’d be home free.

Watching Alex she carefully padded through his room and removed a club shirt from his closet. A quick peek into his dresser netted her a pair of sweatpants. Damn, she prayed they’d fit.

Walk of shame outfit hastily chosen she slipped the “borrowed” garments on, then snagged her shoes and purse. She didn’t bother trying to hunt up the remnants of her dress or panties. Without a doubt, they were a lost cause.

She moved ever-so-quiet as a mouse through the room…

Heh. Mouse. And he was a cat. She nearly snorted. Maya made it to the office door and slipped back into the main club with Alex being none the wiser.

Score one for Maya!

Feeling oddly triumphant she stood on the main floor with a solitary destination in mind. Front door to the rescue!

Except…

Except two strong arms grabbed her from behind, wrapped around her waist and tugged her back against a tall, firm body, a hard cock nestled along the crack of her ass.

But it wasn’t Alex. She twitched her nose…oh, no, he didn’t… He didn’t smell like Alex, and there was no hint of the man she’d spent the night with surrounding her. A part of her bristled at a stranger touching her.

Maya twisted, tried to free her arms from the ones holding her captive, and her defiance was met with a low growl, the deep, penetrating sound reverberating through her. “Hold still, baby. I’m aching for another go. One for the road.”

The stranger leaned forward, nuzzled her neck much like Alex had done last night, but it didn’t have that same tender feeling. It seriously squicked her out.

The guy reached up and palmed her breast, the shirt she wore the only thing keeping him from touching her skin. God, revulsion poured through her, the mere idea of someone besides Alex reaching beneath the shirt, getting skin-to-skin with her, was enough to have her go all badass ninja on his ass. “Let go of me!”

“A fighter. Ooh, yeah, babe. I see you want it a little rough. Sure, I can do that.” He nosed her hair out of the way, took a deep breath against her skin. By now, she figured it was a shifter thing. They seemed to rely on their senses a lot.

Icky guy behind her froze the moment he’d taken a full breath, and then let it out with a heavy gust, dropping his arms in a split-second, instantly leaving her personal space. “I-I’m s-sorry. Didn’t mean…didn’t know… You’ll tell him, right? That I had no idea?”

Maya turned to face the guy, with a fierce, uncontrollable anger pouring through her veins. He wasn’t unattractive or anything. No, in a strictly clinical sense, she could appreciate his muscle-packed body and strong bone structure. He just didn’t do it for her. Not like Alex. Really who could, after their passion-filled night?

She sighed. She figured she’d probably be hung up on the man upstairs for a while. Argh. Stupid hot hottie. Why did he have to affect her so?

The guy stumbled back even farther away from her, tripping over a chair in his haste to put more space between them. “Right? You’ll tell him?”

Damn, she couldn’t ignore his constant pleading, or the sheer look of fright on his face. Maybe it was a cat thing? That guys didn’t do women who’d just spent the night with another? She nodded. “Sure, I’ll tell him.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Okay. Good. Thanks.” He heaved out a breath. “Right. Do you need any help, Prima?”
Prima?
Maybe this was another shifter thing? “Have you eaten? I-I could make you some breakfast, if you’d like. If you can find a place to sit.” He gestured toward the rest of the club, and Maya took a good look at her surroundings.

Dang, the place had been destroyed! She now noticed at least a dozen naked bodies all piled together across the room. Apparently, cats took their orgies pretty damn seriously.

“Um, no. I’m just gonna go home. And, uh…”

“Prime okayed it?”

Shifters. She had to remind herself she was around an entirely different species, one that had their own set of rules and whatnot. “You mean Alex? Sure. We’re good.” She nodded to emphasize the point, and prayed that he couldn’t smell a lie or anything.

“Oh, okay. Right this way.” Thank goodness he believed her.

Mr. No-Longer-Creepy-Guy helped her navigate safely through the bodies, and she even managed to not step on anyone’s extremities. With a nervous smile the guy disengaged the alarm and unlocked the door, holding it wide and waiting for her to exit.

“Did Prime assign you any guards?”

Dude. One-night stands got guards? Wow. Had to be a totally weird shifter thing. “Uh, no, I’m a big girl. Besides, I know Tae Bo. I’ll be fine.”

The man didn’t look completely convinced. His eyebrows furrowed, but Maya didn’t give him the time to stop her, she just glided through the doorway with a quick wave, and scurried through the parking lot to her car like she was walking barefoot on hot coals. It was Saturday, and she had things to do. Like, going home, getting cleaned up, and then heading to the grocery store.

She was hella hungry for some steaks. As in plural.

So, it’d be to the grocery store first.

Once in her car she started up her little putter-putter deathtrap and popped it into gear. The tiny box of hell—as her mother called it—was a sporty 1976 Fiat Spider. Being a semi-cute fluffy chick, she thought that she should have a car that would ratchet her right up to “full-cute.” At least, in her mind.

Plus, it pissed off her strict family. Bonus!

At the edge of the parking lot, Maya checked for oncoming cars, then carefully pulled out into the early morning traffic.

Between the roar of her engine and the wind whipping at her face, she couldn’t hear much, but she coulda sworn that a distant roar came from the direction of the club.

Huh.

*

Alex would not hurt one of his own cats. No. And he wouldn’t permanently scar the man for simply sniffing his mate. Or tear his arms and legs off for touching her. Or kill him because he’d sent the pride’s new prima alone into the world and without a guard, while she was undergoing the change.

He took a deep, cleansing breath, and then another and yet another. The lion kneeling before him, Jenner, professed he hadn’t known that the woman was mated to Alex, and that Maya hadn’t yet been introduced to the pride.

The lion still wanted to do him bodily harm. But he restrained himself.

Jenner also pleaded that he was late to scent the mating mark, because the entire club was drenched in sex.

The lion in Alex wanted Jenner for dinner. Not really, but the lion was definitively furious. Maybe he would just chase him for a bit, play like he was a predator hunting his prey, you know, and scare the ever-living-crap out of him.

Alex clenched his fists, releasing the tension and tightening it once again, while he fought with his inner beast. He knew without looking that his face had elongated, forming into a snout, fur sprouting along his arms and cheeks, his fingers turning into claws.

The cat was
pissed.

“Where did she say she was going?” He ignored the fact that he sounded more lion than man.

“Home maybe? I think.” The younger lion swallowed, and the cat in Alex instinctively followed the bob of the man’s Adam’s apple, imagining his teeth ripping Jenner’s throat out.

Okay, so he was edgy. No, he was much, much beyond edgy.

“Grayson!” He watched his second crawl from beneath a pile of bodies, nudging both women and men sprawled on top of him. Naked as the day he was born, his second approached.

It didn’t take the man more than two steps to realize Alex was ready to lose all control. Grayson immediately dropped his gaze, his expression assuming a mantle of submission as he approached.

“Prime.”

Alex grunted. “Bring me Gina, and find out anything you can about a Maya Josephs that lives in the area. Address. Phone number. Family. Everything. Anything.” Grayson didn’t move fast enough for him, and so, he snarled, “
Now.
”

His second scampered away. Were it any other time he might’ve found humor in the way the large lion ran, but right now, he was seriously P.O.’ed that the man wasn’t running fast enough.

Alex paced while he waited, anxiously striding back and forth in front of the bar, nudging and shoving body parts out of his way as he moved. His cats and familiar humans scattered and whimpered, sensing his foul mood.

He knew the pride could feel his tension. The anger and unrest pouring through him in waves had to undoubtedly unsettle them. He stopped just long enough to roll his shoulders and crack his neck. Alex had not awoken a happy kitty. Far from it. He’d
expected
to rise with his mate in his arms. He’d
expected
her to be hot and ready for him to take her again. He’d
expected
to feed and nourish her through her change, until a gorgeous lioness stood before him.

What he’d gotten was the opposite. An empty bed with his mate gone, and to make things worse, Maya, lovely Maya, had been accosted by one of his lions. And then…she escaped, back into her world. And he didn’t like it one bit.

Shit, fuck, damn, and growl.

After some time, too long for his agitated state, Gina stood before him, completely nude and looking rather weary from sex.

“You’re standing there like you’re the cat that ate the cream.”

Alex approached, the weight of his lion filling each of his steps, his predatory beast barely caged beneath his skin. He stepped in front of her, inches separating their bare bodies. He’d been so torn over Maya’s absence that he hadn’t bothered to dress.

“Gina.”

“
Alex…
” The bitch had the audacity to purr and reach for him.

He could feel the movement of a lion from behind, probably warning the woman of his irritable mood.

Alex captured Gina’s wrist, squeezed and tightened his hold until she realized her serious predicament. “Jenner, if you want to keep all of your limbs intact, you’ll stop dancing behind me like a treat for my beast.”

A squeak was his only response. It was funny how one of his strongest lions could become cub-like in two-seconds-flat, merely at his cat’s displeasure.

Alex turned his attention back to the woman before him, squeezing harder and harder as the seconds passed. When Gina finally whimpered and dropped her gaze, he figured she’d gotten his point.

“P-Prime.” The word was barely a whisper, but it was at least, said with respect.

“You’ve caused a problem, Gina. You let an unknown female into Genesis, for the Gaian Moon. You risked not only the human’s safety, but you also risked the pride’s secrets from getting out. And to think…it was all out of spite.” He spit the words out, each one tasting fouler than the one before. Regardless whether or not there were consequences to her actions, Gina had still violated their laws. “Though we have few laws and few secrets, your selfish actions still threatened both pride and shifters alike.” Alex didn’t think it possible, but the normally proud and haughty female shrunk even smaller before his eyes. Murmurs surrounded him, but he didn’t take his focus from the she-cat. “Your fate will be decided at a later date. For now, you’ll work with Grayson to find the female, and then, you’ll be restricted to the confines of your home.”

Gina gasped, her frightful gaze flashing to his. “But, Prime…”

Alex again tightened his hold, felt the rub of bone-on-bone. “Silence. You won’t lose any of your
little toys
while under house arrest. You’ll speak to your employer…use up some of your vacation time that you have saved up. Now, go help my second before I drop you where you stand.”

The entire room fell silent at his pronouncement, and neither lion nor human in the room dared to breathe, until he released his hold on Gina’s wrist and she scrambled away from him.

He knew he would later regret being so harsh… But right now, his anger and frustration got the better of him. His conscience would have to wait though, after he’d secured his mate in his den and ensured her safety. Which sure as hell needed to be sooner rather than later. The last thing Ridgeville needed was a she-cat prowling around, having no training on how to control her hunger, her inner beast. Or her shift.

Shit, fuck, damn, and growl.