Live It Up (10 page)

He didn’t bother knocking. He pushed the door open and made it slam against the wall. This time it made a highly satisfying sound. Smiling darkly, he watched as everyone stopped talking and turned to stare at him.

“What the hell is going on?” he demanded.

“Where were you?” His father glared at him. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you and your…your human hasn’t been very helpful.”

Andy spotted her sitting on a hardback chair in a corner of the room, his two lieutenants standing on each side of her as if she were a prisoner and needed to be contained.

He let out a roar, his lion so close to the surface he felt his jaw shift for a second.
Shit.
He held on to his control and forced his bones to realign. The pain was intense but short-lived, and he was so used to it he knew nothing showed in his eyes but danger.

He took a deep breath and finally said, “Let her go.” He was addressing his lieutenants, but it was his father who answered. Of course, it was.

“She drove in—a human—in your car…without you! You were supposed to take her back home. What the fuck happened, Andy?”

“Let her go,” he repeated. When his men hesitated, he’d had enough. “You’re no longer part of the Enforcer’s team. Go and don’t let me see you again.”

“But—” Graeme, the eldest of the two, took a step toward him.

“No. Your duty is to me, not to my father. I don’t care what your excuses are. You’ve hurt my heartmate. You’re leaving. Now.”

“Heartmate?” someone mumbled beside him.

Andy whirled around and confronted his brother. “Do you have something to say?”

Jay, his eldest brother and future Alpha, put his palms up in the air as if he’d felt how close to the edge Andy was. “Nothing at all. If you’re sure of your choice then you have my blessing.”

“What?” his father exploded. “She is human!”

“So what?” Nate added from another corner of the room. “Dad, you know these things happen. And it’s not like Andy can be truly mated with her anyway. Would you really deny him happiness because of an ancient belief that shifters should only be with other shifters? Look what happened with Lana.”

“What happened with Lana?” Sunny spoke up for the first time.

Andy’s gaze caught hers. “I will explain.”

“Now.”

He stilled at her show of bravado. First, she’d high-jacked his car and now she was telling him what to do? He found himself grinning. His little kitten definitely had claws, and he liked that. A lot.

“I second that. Who the hell is Lana anyway?” Kellie, always the mouthy lion, added from her place beside her mate.

“Shh.” Nate wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a vain effort to control her.

“Lana was…is my mate. It’s a long story.”

“I’m all ears,” Sunny piped up, her eyes still on him.

He stepped toward her and knelt at her feet. Linking their fingers together, he looked at her face and tried to explain to her without words how sorry he was. “We were teenagers and had just learned how to shift. We’d gone to the woods to play…and Lana…she...she fell down a ravine. She was in so much pain I let my lion take over, knowing he’d know what to do with her when my human form was too busy freaking out. And he…he linked with her.”

“What does that mean?”

“He mated with her so he could take the pain away from her.”

“Like what you did with me,” Kellie whispered, turning toward Nate. “Right?”

“You got mated when you were a teenager?” Sunny asked.

“Yes. At first, I was happy about it. I mean, we’d always been friends. But…”

Sunny leaned forward. “But?”

“She wasn’t happy. You see, Lana is…well, she doesn’t like men that way.”

“Oh.” He watched her eyes grow wide. “Oh. Damn. And you were mated?”

“Yes, see the problem?” he asked, his voice hopeful.

“Yes. Yes. But where is she now?”

“She decided that if she had to live with this mating bond then she’d have to live away from me. So she moved out of the Pride.” He wouldn’t tell her where. Not right now anyway.

“Just like that.” Sunny frowned.

“Just like that. She has her life, and I have mine.”

“But you’re still mated. Forever.”

“Yes.” He nodded.

Kellie broke the ensuing silence. “That’s so fucking sad.”

That was why he’d accepted the role of Enforcer.

Even the people close to him had yet to understand why he’d decided he might as well have no life and had accepted the job when the old Enforcer had died.

He’d only been twenty at the time and should have had the rest of his life in front of him. Instead, he’d locked himself in a prison of his own making. It wasn’t as if he had anything else waiting for him.

After all he was mated for life to someone who preferred women, someone who’d never have his children, someone who’d never love him as more than a brother.

He’d said goodbye to his dreams and had become the hard man the whole Pride now feared. He’d lived like this for so long he’d only realized he hated it when his brothers had both gotten mated and he’d felt their joy. Then Sunny had happened, and she’d turned his world upside down, made him feel things he hadn’t thought he’d ever feel.

He waited for her next move, unable to talk.

She tugged her hands away, and pain slashed through him at the gesture. He was beyond surprised when she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

She embraced him, her face falling into the crook of his neck, and just feeling her close made everything all right. That quietude lasted a whole minute. Then his father roared his displeasure and left the room.

Sunny jumped in Andy’s arms and pulled back to look at him. “He’s really mad.”

“That’s how he is pretty much 24/7,” Kellie chirped in. “Glad you’re both fine though. We’ll, uh, leave you two in peace.” She shepherded everyone out of the room, and they found themselves alone together again.

“I’m sorry I ditched you. I didn't want to go to Lincolnstown. I should have told you. I shouldn’t have left you there, but I just reacted. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry I behaved like a dickhead.”

She hiccupped.

“What?” he asked.

“You apologized.”

He chuckled. “I do that on occasion. Don’t get used to it though.” He pulled her close again, eager to have her body wrapped around his. “Seriously though, kitten, I’m really sorry I acted like that with you. I was pushing you away because I…I guess I didn’t want to be hurt again.”

“I understand now. I just wish you’d have told me all this before, rather than implying you had someone else all along. That really hurt.”

“I know.” He sighed and dropped a soft kiss on the top of her head. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.”

He nudged her face up. “Wanna kiss and make up?”

That drew a laugh out of her. “Here? In your dad’s office?”

“It’d be a good way to get back at him.”

“I don’t want that on my conscience.” She scrunched up her nose. “Let’s just go back to your place. I like your bed,” she added before catching his bottom lip with her teeth and playfully tugging on it.

He growled low in his throat, his cock hard as a rock. “I want you, kitten.”

“I want you too.”

As they strode toward the front door, he grabbed her hand in his and asked, “You didn’t crash my car, right?”

She looked back at him and winked.

“Kitten?”

She sped up, walking outside with a spring in her step.

“Sunny? Where’s my SUV? Sunny?”

She laughed, the sound enfolding him until he heard nothing else but her. He stopped on the threshold and drew her to him, pulling her into his arms so her face was right where he wanted it. He leaned down and took her mouth, the kiss tender at first then rapidly growing in intensity.

They pulled back minutes later, both breathing shallowly, both with stars in their eyes. He palmed her cheek and brushed his thumb across her parted lips. “Mine.”

“Mine,” she repeated, leaning up on her toes to kiss him again.

About the Author

Emma Hillman never plans her stories. She just lets the characters have fun and hopes the ending will make sense. It usually does.

Besides being a multi-published author of erotic romances, she works full-time and lives in Paris with a (nice) husband, a (cute) little girl, and two sweet but (very) loud pets. She also reads far too much as the postman (and her banker) could attest, but shhhh.

For more information on her current and future releases, you can visit her blog at
http://emmahillmanbooks.blogspot.com/
or chat with her on Twitter (@droptheglasses). She’d love to hear from you!

Want to find out what happens next?
Have a sneak peak at Turn it Up, book four in the Grassroots Series. Available soon at Resplendence Publishing

Prologue

Andy looked at the half dozen recruits in front of him. They were only a decade younger than he was, but he felt positively ancient in comparison. They looked so damn eager. Didn’t they understand being part of the Enforcer’s team was a 24/7 job? They were saying goodbye to their normal lives, yet they didn’t even appear to care.

He sighed. God, they were even standing at attention as if this was this was their first day in the army. He hadn’t known what to expect when he’d sent out a call for new lieutenants within the Pride. He’d thought maybe a man or two would turn up, lured by the promise of quick cash and nice accommodations. Instead, he’d gotten saddled with six cubs.

If Sunny were here, she’d tell him this was fate and the appearance of the youngsters were somehow a response to their problems. A smile escaped him, his lion starting to pace inside him at the thought of his heartmate.

One of the cubs shifted his stance, reminding him of the importance of today’s meeting. He focused once more on the six potential recruits standing in front of him. The two Pride hotheads, Damian and Chad, were present.

He frowned when he noticed how they were glaring at each other already. He was going to have to do something about them. There was no way he would allow them being at each other’s throat throughout the training he’d planned for them.

There were two other boys. Kyle and Jess, they’d said their names were. He didn’t know them, which meant they didn’t get into trouble. Always a plus.

His gaze drifted to his biggest surprise of the day and the two young women standing a few feet apart from the rest of them. Amy was the Pride’s fastest runner so she’d be a huge asset if she passed. He’d never really considered having a female lieutenant, but he could see the advantage of having a lioness around.

Dani, though… Yes, Dani was going to be a problem. He stared at his cousin and wondered what on earth she was doing here. She wasn’t strong enough for this. Hell, she wasn’t even supposed to be on this side of town without his father’s permission.

Shit, his dad was going to blow a fuse about this. He was already in a shitty mood now that Sunny had moved with Andy officially. He couldn’t stand the fact there was a human living openly within his Pride. Andy didn’t give a damn. He needed Sunny with him, and that was that.

He’d heard other people grumble about it though, people who agreed with his dad, their Alpha, and something told him he’d have a fight on his hands just trying to make them accept her. At least, his brothers and their mates were on his side, but in the meantime, he wanted to make sure she wouldn’t be in danger. Ever.

Clearing his throat, he took a step forward and announced, “As you all know, I need new lieutenants. You’ve all answered my call, which means you agree to going through the recruitment process I’ve put into place. I’m going to divide you up into two teams.”

He stared at their excited expressions and mentally revised his expectations. There was no way this was going to go well.

“Kyle, Jess and Amy, you’ll be Team 1. Damian and Chad, you’ll be Team 2. I want you to go to the Alpha’s building and await further instructions. You’ll both have different missions so there will be no competition between the two teams, is that clear?” He waited until they all nodded.

“What about me?” his cousin asked as she stepped toward him.

“Dani, you come with me. We need to talk.” On those ominous words he turned around and entered his house, the girl hot on his heels.