FavoriteObsession (27 page)

Embrace it? He’d been fighting it for days. He didn’t want
to accept it. It scared him. He had no room in his life for the weak emotion,
not if he wanted to tangle with the predators. Of course, just as with Zeb,
he’d thought he could handle everything on his own. He hadn’t been able to pull
it off.
Now I’m dying.
Dammit, he’d promised Mira he’d make everything
right if she trusted him. Tears burned his eyes. Weak. He felt so weak. He was
a failure and Mira would suffer for it. Always and forever.

I think you’ve been blessed, my friend.
Devin’s words
wrapped around him.

Stop being so stubborn, child.
Frustration gave a
sharp bite to the woman’s voice. The memory of the goddess standing in a sea of
nothingness flashed across his mind.
Accept my gift before it kills you.

Blessed. He had been blessed. The answer to all his problems
had been right inside of him and he’d refused to acknowledge it. He’d been so
worried about being accepted by the other shifters that he’d forgotten the most
important thing—he wasn’t a shifter. He was human and didn’t have to play by their
rules. He’d been making his own since he’d taken his first steps.

He was a leader, not a follower.

A pride leader.

He dragged Mira’s image from the inky blackness, held it
close and stopped fighting.

The pressure gave way with a pop that lifted his body off
the floor. A third golden rope sprouted from the glowing ball and slammed into
him. The three tethers—the white, kaleidoscope and golden—yanked him in
different directions, a tug-of-war he couldn’t control or stop. His body seized
and he screamed, one continuous roar that seemed to last forever.

He hung in the middle of nowhere and did the only thing he
could.

He reached out to Mira, felt her love wrap around him and
then he knew no more.

Something alive moved under his skin. Josh knew what it
would be, a trio of big cats. At the moment, however, it was a formless entity
struggling to understand its host. It wasn’t the only one confused, but he
wrapped his metaphysical arms around the blob and sheltered it from the agony still
seizing his body.

The grandfather clock he’d inherited from his gran chimed
the hours. Each one that passed frustrated him. He didn’t have time to writhe
in pain, not that he had a choice in the matter. Mira needed him. He shared in
her growing anxiety, but the changes in his body along with the terror of the
animal spirits he held inside prevented him from going to her.

At first, he hadn’t been able to make sense of the jumble of
feelings they shared with him. With nothing else to do beside roll around in
misery on his hallway floor, he’d focused on the whirling emotions whipping
through him. After a while, he’d picked them apart until he understood what
they were trying to tell him. They wanted to help him and protect him. They
loved him, as crazy as that sounded, and were upset because they couldn’t.

He closed his eyes and let himself sink deeper into his
mind. The three fuzzy shapes forming out of the blob were tied to a bright spot
inside him. It…they were still growing, still forming, still changing him, but
the longer he watched them take shape, the clearer their thoughts. They didn’t
talk to him, though. They sent him pictures with a push of their emotions to
explain what they were showing him.

His eyelids popped open as he finally understood why they
were so upset. “Well, shit.”

They were trapped forever inside him because his physical
body wouldn’t conform to theirs. If they tried to emerge, he’d pop…literally,
body and soul.

“Great fucking gift. Thanks, goddess.”

An image flashed across his mind—him in his lion form at the
bar.
My dream.
Another replaced it—him and Mira as tigers running
through a sea of black mist. More snippets danced across his head. In every
one, he was a cat.

“Well, which is it? Can I shift or not?”

Another memory surfaced—the golden goddess standing in the
middle of nowhere, blackness all around here.

Come to me, child. Accept me and hear what I have to say.

The words he hadn’t been able to hold on to then repeated in
his head. Josh grinned.

“Well, damn, I’m—”

The shrill ring of a phone pierced the air. He pushed to his
feet and grabbed the landline from the hall table.

“Hello?”

“Are you okay?” Zoe’s voice filled the line.

He hesitated. Was he?

“Josh? Answer me. Do you need me to come out there?”

“No…I’m…fine.” Not quite
right
but he felt fine.
Well, fucking amazing actually. Power thrummed in his limbs.

“Then why aren’t you at the bar? Mira will be meeting Micah
in less than thirty minutes.”

Josh ran a hand through his hair. “Shit. I’ll be right
there.”

He ended the call and shuffled for the door. The sensation
of having his insides ripped apart made each step a lesson in misery but
excitement pushed him forward. He didn’t have all the answers, but he had the
one that Mira needed to hear.

The gods loved her after all.

* * * * *

Mira cut the engine and dropped her head back against the
seat. She panted through the surge of desire. She’d never been so aroused
before or wanted to fuck anyone so badly. Her core clenched at the thought of
having Josh’s cock lodged deep inside her.

The undeniable lust was the reason she’d called Micah and
rescheduled their fake date for tomorrow night. No way in hell did she want to
be anywhere near him when she hovered on the verge of having a spontaneous
orgasm. The only male she wanted to touch her was Josh. She’d meant to drive to
his house tonight and wait for him to come home. Instead, she’d come to his
bar. For sex. Dirty, raw and immediate. She felt as if she might die if she
didn’t get to spasm around his shaft and pull his seed free.

She shifted her gaze to the employee entrance of the
Black
Widow
. Josh’s vehicle sat there with a few others. No humans lingered close
by. She blew out a shaky breath. One more sweep of the lot to ensure she had a
modicum of privacy and she slid her fingers under the skirt she wore. Her
sensitized skin tingled with the first brush of her fingertips. She skimmed the
length of her inner thigh, torturing herself but loving the way her body
responded. Once Josh put his big hands on her, she’d combust.

A shuddered sigh fell past her parted lips. She’d never
experienced anything like this. She didn’t know why tonight was different nor
did she care. The quivering of her inner muscles promised ecstasy. She touched
the damp satin of her thong. Soaked. All she’d done to reach this state was
picture Josh’s blue eyes. She rubbed her forefinger down her cloth-shielded
cleft. Her breaths came faster.

She peeked at herself in the rearview mirror. Her flushed
cheeks and dilated eyes would clue even the humans in on her state of arousal.
She couldn’t go in the bar looking as if she were ready for a tumble. They’d
descend on her with their hopeful gazes while the shifters would be drawn by
her scent. She smelled ready for a cock and many of the males, no matter the
species, wouldn’t mind offering theirs up to ease her ache. No way. There was
only one she wanted.

Fingers hooked around her panties, she shimmied them down.
With them kicked off to the side, she spread her legs and pressed two fingers
deep inside her dripping center. A groan crawled up her throat. She pumped into
herself as she imagined Josh would soon. In and out, she moved, smacking the
heel of her palm against her wet lips.

Her moans filled the car. She quickened the pace, the
release she needed to take the edge off so close she could taste it. Harder,
faster she worked herself but the scent of a male’s arousal drifted to her
through the cracked car window and killed the joy of her self-pleasure.

She yanked her hand away and looked out the front
windshield. Micah’s eyes from across the lot locked onto hers. Her heart
skipped a beat. What was he doing here?

He parted his mouth on a deep inhale. A grin spread over his
too-thin face. She bared her fangs. His answering chuckle reached her and
stirred her rage. She wiped her fingers against her skin and got out.

Legs spread slightly and hands balled at her sides to hide
her talons, she waited for him to make a move. Her instincts urged her to run even
though she could easily take on a gang of single-shifters. Josh was inside the
building behind her. As her mate, the threat Micah posed should be one he
should face, not her. She also knew she couldn’t allow that to happen. His god
would take her human mate away from her soon enough. She refused to lose him to
anyone else, especially to the male who looked so much like the one who’d
ruined her life.

Micah approached slowly as if he had all the time in the
world. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck rose along with her wariness. She
scented his excitement. It mixed with the heavy dose of lust oozing off him.
He’d done something to support the confident strut he took, something that
angered her cats. She didn’t know what, neither did her inner animals, but her
instincts raged with the certainty of it.

Her muscles tensed as her tigress shoved her head against
Mira’s sternum demanding to be set free so she could kill him. Mira wanted the
same but the humans close by prevented her from going furry. Another accidental
exposure wouldn’t be so easily forgiven.

She opened her mouth to demand what he’d done. Muffled
screams and the sounds of fighting answered her unspoken question. He’d caused
a distraction, one that needed the support of others, which clearly broke
Kade’s order he not bring any family members into their territory.

What other rules would he violate? She shoved the concern
back, focused on why he’d conveniently stumbled upon her.

“You followed me here.” It was the only explanation.

He lifted his lip in a half-smile. The lopsided grin didn’t
look endearing or sexy on him. It made him appear feral.

“No, sweet Mira. I knew you’d lied about why you wanted to
reschedule our date so I had my…friend,” he grinned, “put a tracking device on
your car. As soon as you turned this way, I knew you’d be coming to your human
lover and I came to stop it. I won’t share you with him.”

Her heart skipped a beat before she could contain her shock.

Micah laughed. “Did you think I didn’t know you’ve been
fucking the human?”

Instead of denying her relationship with Josh—she didn’t
feel confident she’d be able to pull off the lie—she took a step forward.

“A tracking device?” She’d thought they were only used in
movies or maybe by the government. “Where did you get hold of one of those?”

He offered a half-shrug to match his cocky grin. “I have my
sources.”

She feared she knew who’d supplied him with the technical
gadget. The Council members who thought to make sure she mated a single-shifter
wouldn’t allow her to escape their plan so easily by marrying Josh or mating
another royal. Or both if her dream was meant to reflect her future.

“You need to leave, Micah. All I have to do is scream. The
humans might not hear me but the shifters inside the bar will.” No way would
she admit the secret no single-shifter knew—that she could telepathically
connect to any feline royal close to her. The singles hated them enough as it
was without sharing all the privileges that came from their tie to the gods.

She considered reaching out to see if any of her pride
members were close, but dismissed the thought in the next breath. It felt like
a betrayal to Josh to seek protection from another male. Sometimes, her
instincts didn’t make sense. For the moment, she’d play this out and see
exactly what game Micah had in store for her.

He grinned and continued to close the distance. A couple of
feet away, he stopped and swept his heated eyes over her. She inwardly cursed
her choice in outfits. She’d dressed to entice Josh in the privacy of his home,
not capture Micah’s attention in the empty lot of Josh’s bar.

The short billowy skirt offered easy access to her sex and
without panties was an open invitation. Her top dipped low, exposing a healthy
dose of unbound breasts and her mate bite. Knee-high fuck-me boots completed
her slutty outfit, one she knew Josh would’ve loved seeing her in or getting
her out of.

Micah’s eager gaze settled on her heeled boots. “I can’t
wait to have those wrapped around my hips, Mira.”

“They never will be. Leave here.”

He dragged his attention from the leather boots and focused
on her face. “It won’t take long to find out where you hid the cub. When I do,
I’ll take her furry little head myself. And you’ll be in no shape to stop me.”
He jerked his chin toward the bar. “You’ll be too busy crying over the loss of
your human.”

Her fangs burst free. She uncurled her fingers and took a
single step toward him, fully aware of the way his right hand shifted closer to
his pocket. The bulge there warned her he wouldn’t play fair. Her cats rose to
offer their enhanced senses. With them on alert, she lowered her voice. “Threaten
my family and you die, Micah. Right here, right now. I don’t have to shift to
take
your
head. I’m stronger than you ever will be. It’s why you haven’t
made a move on me, isn’t it?”

He shrugged, unfazed by her words and obviously unwilling to
answer her. “If you don’t come to me by midnight, your beloved male will die
and you’ll become mine. I won’t need to overpower you. You’ll be too weak to
stop me.”

A roar rang out, shaking the windows of her car. Micah
flinched and stepped back. She didn’t need to see Aron to know he was running
toward them. A lifetime might’ve separated them but some things never left a
person. That enraged sound was one she’d heard him make the day Devin had been
returned to them broken in both body and soul.

“Midnight, Mira. I’ll be waiting.” With that Micah took off
into the woods behind the bar.

She debated going after him for a split second. Micah posed
a threat to Josh. Eliminating him would have to wait. Another one barreled down
on her. She turned and ran for the back door of the bar. Her fingers brushed
the handle. She failed to escape. The hand on her hip yanked her back against a
hard body.

“Did he touch you?”

Aron’s slurred voice boomed around them. The taste of his
anger dominated his scent yet lust bled into it to match the hard line of his
arousal forming against her back.

“No.” She took a deep breath and choked on bile. “Let go of
me. Please.”

His chest rose and fell with his pants. For a long moment
where her stomach heaved and the evidence of his desire grew, he didn’t move or
speak. A hard nudge of his head and he buried his nose against her neck.

“Gods, you smell good.” He licked her throat and groaned.
“Fertile. Baby, you’re fertile.”

Oh gods, it made sense now. The uncontrollable compulsion to
fuck. That was why she hadn’t passed out last night after all the bouts of sex.
It revved her mate to ride her hard so they didn’t miss the small window of
fertility. Shifter sperm didn’t linger in their partners. If they didn’t hit
their target, they died.

She shoved at his arm. “Now, Aron.”

Instead, he spun her into his embrace and lifted her, a hand
on her ass and the other holding her neck. The brown contacts he wore didn’t
hide his lust or his hunger. “We can fulfill the goddess’s prophecy tonight, my
Mira. Let me mate you.”

Panic seized her, forcing her to react. She fought him,
clawed at his back, snapped at him. He only tightened his grip. She dug her
talons deep into his shoulder and bared her fangs to bite. He slammed their
bodies together and snarled in her ear. She froze.