Phillip: Lanning's Leap - Paranormal Erotic Romance (4 page)

“What can I say? She likes me.” Phillip told him he was going to tell their mom. “No, you won’t. You’re too stressed to do much more than just go in the house and see to your mate. Who, by the way, is more stressed than you are. Do you suppose we feed off them…I mean feel their stress levels…so much that we are stressed as well? Could cause you a heart attack if things don’t mellow out for her soon. You look like a good cross wind would kill you right now.”

He had no idea and said so. Then he had a thought. “I should have asked Thomas. Nah, that wouldn’t be a good one to ask. He’s so relaxed all the time, I sometimes think he’s dead. And Misha. He acts like everything will work out and there is no reason to get your panties in a twist about it. Come to think of it, so does Carter. He acts like the entire world could go straight to hell and he’d not give a shit. Maybe it’s the sex. That’s more than likely it. They are so relaxed because they’re getting fucked regularly.”

The woman in front of him turned to glare. Phillip realized then that he was talking loudly and that his language was less than stellar. Before he could tell her he was sorry, the pilot told them to buckle up and get ready to land.

The limo was right where it was when they’d left, sitting on the tarmac just waiting for them to return. Phillip knew that it hadn’t been sitting there for six days, but it was certainly nice to have it when they got home and were too tired to drive. But this time he wasn’t tired, he was scared shitless.

“What are you going to say to her? Hello, I’m Phillip and I’d like to fuck you?” There were times when Phillip wished he was an only child. Like right now. Not answering Rider, he took that as an opening to say more to him. “Oh, I know. Go into the room naked and hard. She’ll be really impressed with—”

“I hope that your mate is a real bitch to you. I mean, I hope that she gives you so much grief every single minute of every single day of your life. And now that we’re immortal, that could be a lot of grief.” Rider said he wasn’t worried. “You should be. We’ve been making notes on things we’re going to tell her about you. You should see Misha’s list. It’s gotta be at least six pages by now.”

“You don’t scare me.” Rider looked way to confident, and Phillip wondered why. “You guys can all have your mates, and I’m going to be the uncle to all your kids that has no children of his own and can pretty much buy then everything. And I will. Every noisy toy, all the nasty stuff that will end up in new carpets, and clothing that will, in general, piss you guys off. It’s the way that it should be. One of us will need to be the sane one in the family.”

“And you think that you’re sane.” Rider nodded and smiled at him. “Yeah, right. You’re as sane as…well, you’re not sane. Not even close. Christ, you’re going to be so fucked. I hope she, whoever she is, takes you down a long and bumpy road before you ever get your head wrapped around the fact that you’re mated. Yeah, that’s my prediction and I’m sticking with it. You are, my dear brother, fucked.”

“So are you, little brother.” That shut him up. Phillip felt his cat run over his skin, not in a comforting way, but sort of to say, hey, where is our mate? He’d been working on calming him since Charlie woke up, and until today, it had worked. But this morning when she’d talked to Nildale, he’d been really pissy. He felt, and rightly so, that he should have been there when she needed him.

His mom met them at the door. After kissing her on the cheek, he made his way to the bedroom that he’d put Charlie in the first day. He was surprised to find it empty, but just as he was beginning to leave, he heard the water running in the bathroom. Someone was taking a shower. Moving slowly to the door, he tried to tell himself that this was a very bad idea and that he should, if he was smart, run in the other direction. Fast.

Opening the door proved to be the first hurdle, he realized almost immediately. The second was that this bathroom had been remodeled recently and had one of those half showers, the kind that was clear glass up to about chest level, then nothing more. But as she was tall, like him, it was only at just below her breasts…both of them pink from the water and full. His cock stretched in his jeans. Then he heard her sob.

He watched her as she stood crying under the spray of water. It was tearing at him, the way her body was jerking with it. Before he could think that he might have let her know he was there, Phillip moved toward her and reached for a towel at the same time. She turned just as he was handing it out to her.

Neither of them moved. He had no idea why, but he had expected her to scream, or at least ask him what the hell he was doing there. Instead, she turned off the water and reached for the towel, wrapping it around her as she backed to the other wall.

“I’m Phillip Lanning. We met the other day.” She nodded. “I see you’re up and around now. I guess everything turned out all right for us.” He felt stupid the moment the words left his mouth. But she didn’t point out to him that he’d had very little on the line when he’d changed her, and only stood there for several seconds before she spoke again.

“I’m a big cat.” He nodded and leaned against the wall just to put her more at ease. She didn’t move but watched him with daggers shooting out of her eyes. “You did this, they told me. Turned me into this thing. I understand that there was no other way, but I’d like to know what you were thinking when you did it.”

“I was thinking of saving your life and nothing much else. And yes, it was the only way to save you, so I asked your mother and she said to do it. To save you.” He moved to sit on the counter, the pain in his leg hurting more now. “Your mother gave me permission and—”

“She’s apparently not my mother.” He told her that he’d not known that at the time. “So this woman, who I’ve been told is no relation to me, gave you permission to change me and you just did it. To save my life. Maybe I didn’t want it saved. Perhaps I was just happy to die.”

“Were you?” She didn’t answer him. “It’s a moot point now. You’re my mate and a cat. And we need to talk about some things. Mostly about your mom…Dottie for now, but the rest we can talk about as you need to know.”

“You mean as much as you want me to know.” He didn’t understand what she meant and asked her to explain. “You mean you’ll tell me what you think I need to know in whatever sort of time frame you feel I can handle it. I can handle a great deal, and I want to know everything now.”

“All right.” He shifted off his leg again. “But I have to go sit down on a chair. Or the bed. You can dress if you want, or just wear the towel. I’d like the latter of the two, but I’m in no shape to do much more than drool on you.”

He moved out of the room. Phillip was in a great deal of pain now, so much so that he was sort of sick from it. And he was sure that it was going to make him throw up soon if he didn’t get off it. Had he been able to shift before getting on the plane he wouldn’t hurt like this, but there had been no time. She was in trouble and he’d left as soon as they’d pulled part of the building off him. When she came out of the bathroom still with the towel around her, Phillip finished pulling off his jeans to pull on a pair of softer pants.

“What happened to you?” He pulled his pants up, trying his best not to look at her. But good Christ, she was beautiful. “Are you not speaking to me? Is this another form of punishment?”

It was suddenly too much. The pain, the trip, being worried about her. He turned to her with his shirt in his hand and decided she’d have to do some explaining for a change. Phillip wasn’t in the mood to be snapped at or lumped into the “someone hurt Charlie” bundle.

“Who was he?” He started toward her when she didn’t answer him. “This other person that has you biting and snapping at me like I’m some monster. Who the hell was he and where can I find his ass? Because right now, I’m not in the mood to be lumped into a group of bastards just because you’re all pissy. I’m also not in the mood to be talked to like you are me. Take it down a notch or two or I’m leaving you here to wonder what the fuck is going on.”

He saw her face redden, and he moved to the chair. Phillip was really in a great deal of pain now, and he opened up the side of his pants to have a look at his wound.

It should have healed by now. Linyah had told him that the building was full of black magic and that because he’d been hurt by some of the falling debris, he might have a little in his blood. He’d waved her off in favor of coming here, and now he was regretting it.

“Let me look.” He told Charlie he had it. “Let me look. I used to be a nurse’s aide, and I know a little about wounds. Move your hand.”

He did and heard her hiss of breath. “We tried to clean it out when we were waiting on the plane to land, but I don’t think we cleared it out so well. I’m going to have to take a shower. Then I’m going to shift and take a long run. I don’t suppose we can table this conversation you think I’m keeping from you until then, could we?”

“I’m overwhelmed and stressed out.” He said he knew that. Her head was bent over his thigh, and he felt his cock stretch more. He tried to cover himself with a pillow, but she looked up at him before he could get the job done. “You’re very…I have to tell you something. I don’t know if it’s the stress or hormones or the fact that I’m now a cat, but I need you. Badly. Ever since you came into the house, it was like I could feel you there. And I wanted to run you down and fuck you.”

“It’s because of what we are.” He leaned down to just taste her, and she sat up more. He felt her breath on his mouth. “I want to taste all of you. Not just your luscious mouth, but all of you. I can smell you.”

“Please.” He touched his lips to hers and when she opened her mouth under his, giving him all that he wanted—no, needed—Phillip cupped the back of her head and brought her closer, needing to feel her body on his. But as soon as her hand brushed over his wound, Phillip cried out and fell back on the chair. His vision, everything, just blinked out.

Chapter 4

Charlie watched the woman, Linyah, move away from the bed. It had been hard going at first to let her anywhere near the big man lying there so quietly, but then Nildale had come in and held her hand and she felt much better. Charlie could count on one finger how many times in her life she’d wanted to kill another woman as badly as she had this one. And she didn’t even know why.

“You’re a cat now, dear.” Frankly, she was getting sick of hearing that term for everything that was wrong with her lately. Nildale laughed. “I should warn you that I can read your mind. Not all of it, mind you, not the part that is blocked from us, but pretty much what you’re thinking right now. While you are very colorful in your description of my daughter, being a cat is the reason why you want to rip her throat out. I wouldn’t if I were you. She’s very well trained and you will get hurt. While strong, she just can’t go against her very nature to try and kill you.”

“Can everyone in this family read my mind?” Nildale nodded and smiled again. “You do know that there should be some sort of book on this stuff, right? I’m sure that it’s been asked for before, but it would be really helpful to me if I could have something I could gauge things by.”

“I do believe that young Max is working on that. However, you will notice soon enough that there are just too many variables with this family. I’m sure that when they started out it was just cats. But now some other beings have been added to the gene pot. Not to mention all the magic. You are, my dear, going to enjoy finding out what you can do now.” She didn’t think so and looked at him when he laughed again. “Yes, I’m going to enjoy watching you learn, I think.”

“You mean fail.” He told her there was no pass or fail in this. They both looked at the bed where Phillip still lay. “Well, that wasn’t a fail or pass. He was hurt with magic that he didn’t understand. So it was a learning experience for him. And all of us. Don’t you think?”

“He’s all cleaned up. I would suggest he have a nice shower to clean himself up, but I don’t think you can hold him up by yourself.” Charlie didn’t think she could either and told Linyah that. “Perhaps a sponge bath then. His leg is going to be stiff when he wakes up, but once he shifts, he’ll be all right. I’d try to keep him quiet until then, but I know better than to try and tell that to a Lanning. I think they were born with an extra stubborn gene.”

“Me too.” As she made her way to the bed, she thanked Linyah again for her help and the clothing. “I had no idea that he was in that much pain. He just said he needed to have a seat.”

“Yeah, that’s what I mean.” As she moved to the door, Charlie noticed that Nildale was gone now too. Charlie tried not to think about how Linyah had appeared in the room when Phillip had been hurt. Linyah smiled at her as she spoke. “I won’t hurt you. Not ever.”

“Yeah, you always come into a room with a sword drawn in one hand and a gun in the other when you’re not invited, I’m betting. It was all I could do not to run and jump out of the window.” She looked at Phillip again. “I don’t know what I’m doing here.”

“You belong here. As all of us do.” Charlie felt the tears again, the ones she’d not shed in the shower this morning. “Can I do anything for you? Hunt someone down and murder them for you? Perhaps find something for you to cut up or beat to shit?”

“Tempting, but I don’t think…I don’t know what it would be, but I thank you. I don’t even know where to begin to think about what I need to do now. This is all so much, and it’s coming at me so fast.” She looked at the other woman again. “A couple of weeks ago I was making arrangements with a man to take my mother to safety so that I could end my life before…well, before. Now I’m a leopard. I have these strange things going on in my head. My mom and dad aren’t my parents. The tumor is not just gone, but I can see again and I’m mated to a man that while I want him, I don’t know what I’m doing with him. I’m not sure, but I’m betting I’m missing a great deal more.”

“You are. But for now, you should lay down and rest. When he wakes, Phillip will demand a great deal of your attention.” Charlie felt her face heat up. “Yeah, and there’s that too. Sex with a shifter is very…you’re going to have more sex in one day with him than you’ve had in your entire life. And believe me when I tell you, it will be well worth it. But you should also know that you’ll never be loved by anyone like you will by him. You will never want or need anything ever again, and there will never be a time when you will worry that he no longer loves you and has found another. Shifters mate for life. And if that wasn’t enough, Lanning men take their loves to heart and keep them there. Forever.”

After she left her alone, Charlie sat on the chair closest to the bed. Taking Phillip’s hand into hers, she tried not to think about anything but him. And thinking of him didn’t make her feel any less overwhelmed.

“I’m not normally so weird or whiney. It’s just that you have to admit, it’s been very strange for me. Well, you too, I guess, but you knew what was going on long before I did.” She felt horrible for blaming anything on him. “I talked to your sister-in-law, Hannah, by the way. And Murph. She’s very…well, I was going to say scary, but they all are to some degree. I wish I was more like them. So…so strong. I’m a wuss.”

“No you’re not.” Phillip grinned at her. “You’re very beautiful too. I loved your attire from before better. It was much easier to see you than this.” She looked down at her borrowed clothing. Linyah had given it to her as she was the only one that was as tall as Charlie was. And since she was also not as chesty as the others, her clothing had simply fit better.

“You mean the towel?” He nodded and moved on the bed, which made him wince in pain. “You’re supposed to be resting. I don’t know why, but I just assumed you’d be out for a while.”

“No. I’m a paranormal, so I heal much faster, even before all the other magic was given to me…to us I guess. And especially since the infection has been taken out. Linyah, right?” She told him yes. “She’s a genjar, did you know that? And Max and his mom are Doran. Then there’s—”

“No more.” He grinned and nodded at her. “Look, we have to talk about all of this. But all I can think about right now is how exhausted I suddenly feel.”

“Come here and lay next to me. We’ll both feel better. I know that I will.” All sorts of thoughts of being in bed with this man made her body warm up. When his nostrils flared, it was all she could do not to lean over him and let him smell all of her. “Christ, I can smell you. You’re wet, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I’ve never…what is happening to me?” She wanted to sob, but he moved the sheet off his body and she could only stare at his nakedness. Good Christ, his body was as beautiful as he was handsome. His cock stood up from his body, and she wanted to wrap not just her hand around him but her mouth as well. Swallowing twice, she tore her eyes from his cock and looked into his face. “She said you had to rest.”

“I will, when you ride me.” He rubbed his hand over his cock and then pulled the sheet down further off his body. She could see all of him now and was very pleased with him. He was thick and hard, precum was just on the tip, and she wanted to taste it. Taste all of him. “Come here and sit on my cock, and you can do all the work while I rest.”

Charlie stood up and pulled the borrowed blouse up and over her head. She was bare beneath it. Her breasts were smaller than any of the other women in the house, so she’d had to do without a bra. When she pulled the pants off, taking the panties with them, Phillip sat up on the bed and swung his legs off the side.

“You’re supposed to be resting. I’m pretty sure she meant for you to lay there and not get up.” He said he was going to rest in a minute and pulled her to him. “I’m going to come as soon as you touch me.”

“That’s the plan. Fill me with your cum, and I’ll feel much better. I know that you will as well.” He moved his mouth over her hips, then paused just where her pussy was. “I’m going to really enjoy this.”

She thought she might as well. And as soon as he buried his mouth over her, sucking her clit into his mouth, she cried out her release immediately. Backing away from him, thinking him done with her, she was surprised when he not only growled at her but pulled her back for more.

He ate her like he’d never tasted her before. His mouth moved over her pussy, biting and nipping at her flesh, his one hand holding her to him as he devoured her, his other moving between her legs to her pussy. Hungrily he ate her, sliding his fingers in and out of her quicker and quicker until she thought she’d die from the pleasure of it. As soon as she came for what had to be the millionth time, he turned her and sat her on the bed.

When he took her mouth she could taste herself on him. Her juices were spicy, hot, and oh so sexy when he kissed her. As her back touched the mattress, Charlie moved for him, wanting to feel him deep inside of her, his cock pounding her as quickly as his nimble fingers had. The center of the bed seemed so far away because he would not let her do it quickly.

“I want to take my time with you. Explore you.” Charlie nodded. “I want you to enjoy this. Enjoy us.”

“I am. I’ve never…this is my first time with really coming. I mean, I’ve had sex before, but it’s never been that…fun.” He grinned at her. “Don’t make fun of me, Phillip. I’m not stupid.”

“I wasn’t, love. I was thinking about how much more effort I was going to have to put into this for you. Pleasurable effort so that you never have to think about any sex you’d ever had before.”

“More effort from you might just kill me.” He lowered his head to hers. When his mouth touched hers again, she moaned when his hand slid up over her breasts and cupped her. Charlie had a feeling that he might kill her anyway.

~~~

Phillip loved the way her skin tasted. The way it puckered under his tongue, how she moaned with each bite. She was perfection, for him and just about any red blooded male. But she was his, now and forever.

Tasting the dewiness of her skin made him move over her to see what other delights he could find. He knew that her left breast had a tiny scar on it that he licked after tasting. There was a small birthmark on her shoulder that he thought looked like a flower. A tattoo that had survived her change made him linger over it, and the design of a small leopard had him smiling. Taking his time with her belly button, her hip bones, and breasts, he laughed when she jerked his head up from her body and glared at him.

“I’m about to die here. Give me some relief or I give it to myself.”

Phillip moved his hand down her body to just where her curls were the wettest. Sliding his fingers into her, he watched her face, marveling at the way her eyes darkened as she got closer to her release.

“Come for me, love. I want to see your face when you have your peak. Then I’m going to slowly enter you, take you to such heights that you’ll never want to come back.” Her begging him made his cock hurt, his spine tingling with his close release too. Moving in and out of her, he moved his body to enter her, his cock, thicker than his fingers, taking their place.

“Please, Phillip. I need to feel you inside of me.” Moving deeper, he knew that as soon as he was buried to his root he wasn’t going to be able to hold back. So when she cried out, her nails digging deep into his skin hard enough to draw blood, he pounded her, his body not just filling her but claiming her. His leopard begging for his own taste of his mate, he felt his teeth move, his body harden more, and when he came, he emptied not just his body but his heart as well, filling her with his love as he poured all that he was into her.

Biting into her flesh at her shoulder, he felt her mouth over his shoulder too. Tilting his head for her, giving her what she needed, what he needed from her, he felt his cock poise and fill, as if waiting for the moment that she claimed him for herself. And when she bit him, tore deeply into his muscle, Phillip came hard.

Stars danced behind his closed lids. His blood roared so loudly that he heard it in his head. He came twice more, his entire body seeming to need to fill her. He’d lost count of the times that she’d cried out his name, telling him and anyone close that she was coming. His heart felt full, overflowing with his love for her as he dropped over her. Phillip lay there, breathing hard as she lay beneath him.

Moving to his back, taking her with him, all he could think about was how hard he’d come, how many times he’d released. Phillip loved women and had always made sure that they were well satisfied before he took his own pleasure, but this wasn’t anything like that. Nothing could have prepared him for how he felt right at that moment.

“I love you.” Lifting his hand to run it down her back as she spoke, he was wondering how she even had the strength to move after that when she lifted her head on his chest. “Christ, you killed me. But I wanted to tell you how much…how very much I love you.”

“And I do you. I was thinking about…this has never happened to me before. I feel…you drained me. Even my toes are exhausted.” Her soft giggle had him pulling her tighter to his body, using any strength he might have gained in the few minutes he’d been laying there. “Now. Leave me alone for about ten minutes and I’ll see if I can do that better the next time.”

Her laugh was the last thing he heard as he let exhaustion simply pull him down and out. Phillip was never moving from this bed again, he decided, and if he had to, for any reason, he was going to have to be naked, because he wasn’t sure that he even had the strength to fabricate anything to wear.

When he woke, the room was bright with light and he was alone in the bed. Moving to sit up, he was surprised at how sore he was. Standing and stretching his big, naked body, he reached for and found Charlie in the kitchen. Whatever she was doing, she was happy for it. Going to the bathroom, he turned on the shower and looked at the man reflecting back at him in the big mirror.