Lions and Tigers and Bears (2 page)

What would she taste like? Feel like beneath him? What sounds would she make when he slipped into her body and filled his hands with her generous breasts?

Liddy’s tongue came out, a slip of pink dampening her lips, and his breathing heightened. With that slight lick, he knew she would taste better than any woman or female he’d ever kissed. She would taste like he would never be able to get enough.

It was the biggest reason he shouldn’t reach out to her, shouldn’t bend his head, but he found himself doing both, found himself watching her pupils dilate until her eyes were almost completely black. He found himself savoring the moment, and then he found himself cursing it when Liddy stepped back, away from his touch.

She took another step back and looked at the lions. “Yeah, um, so I’ll see you at
noon
then, right?”

If he had any sense, he would say no, that he just remembered another meeting. Something about her obliterated his logic, though.

“Count on it,” Kevin said, already anticipating the next time he would see her, when she’d be fighting to get the chopsticks in her mouth, and he’d been fighting himself to stop from imagining those sticks were something else entirely.

* * * * *

Most would think that a pride gathering was instigated by sound, an instinctive growl or cry. And maybe some gatherings were brought about that way. Kevin preferred email. Judging by the number in attendance tonight, most in their lion form, some in a state of semi-transformation and others still in their human form, his method worked well.

In his lion form, he stood in the center of the pride. The blackness of night and the thick canopy of woods and new fallen snow shrouded the group from uninvited company. He addressed them in thought—whether they chose to listen and to let him hear their thoughts in return was up to each individual cat.

There’s been another attack. This time the woman died. I’ve asked before if any of you are responsible or if you know who might be. No one came forward. If you come forward, I’ll do all that I can to help you. Until you do, it puts us all at risk. You know how our kind is hated by this city, by most beyond this city. We need to avoid having our identities revealed at all costs.

“They don’t hate us, they fear us,” a half-transformed male said off to Kevin’s right. Tufts of tawny fur stuck out from beneath the cuffs of his ski jacket and a mane of long, thick hair covered his chin to disappear beneath a navy stocking cap. “They’re scared of the unknown and that prig they’ve elected to mayor doesn’t help.”

You’re right. It is fear. And the mayor condones it. That doesn’t change what’s happened. Doesn’t make it right. The rules of this pride are firm. We don’t need to live off of humans, and when one of us takes it upon themselves to do so, it affects us all.

An unfamiliar lion with splotched yellow-gold fur stepped forward. His mouth was pulled back into a snarl and the anger in his eyes clear.
A real leader wouldn’t hide what he is. A real leader would take pride in it, glory. He would have us do the same.

Identify yourself
, Kevin demanded. Uprising in the group was rare, but when it happened had to be dealt with immediately.

I’m the first of many. One among the masses who will soon see what it is our kind was put on Earth for. Not to cower in the dark and take our pleasure in the same way, but to be the rulers we were born to be. We should be the ones controlling this city. The others can hide what they are. They already fear us, taking over this city will be no effort at all.

Kevin skulked forward, circled the other lion, then came to a stop in front of him. Sniffing his scent, he attempted to read the cat’s thoughts but came up empty.
There will be no taking over the city. And we won’t hide what we are forever. We strive for equality, but it has to come slowly, in measured ways. Anyone who can’t understand the reason for that shouldn’t be a part of this pride. They will not be welcome in this city.
He pulled his teeth back, growled.
Do I make myself clear?

You waste your breath. You can’t change what is. What will be soon?
The unfamiliar lion turned, addressing the group.
All of you have listened to him for years. Where has it gotten you? Hiding what you are? Fucking behind closed doors and in the dark of night. That’s not what I want for my life. That’s not what my life will be. I intend to start a new pride, one that is proud of what we are, one that sees we earn our rightful place. Any of you who wish to join, follow me now. Follow me and I will take you farther in a month than this lion has in years.

The lion looked back at Kevin, bared his teeth in a snarl and then darted off. Silence descended over the pride. Kevin waited, expecting at least one among them to take what the other lion had said to heart and follow. But not even one moved, and he realized all eyes were trained on him, waiting for his lead.

He should speak more about the attacks, about the consequences they could face if the shifter responsible failed to come forward. But after what had happened with the other lion, he knew giving them what they wanted, the one thing many had come here tonight for, would get him that much farther in the long run, at least in maintaining their faith in him.

Tossing his head back, he roared into the night. A thunder of cries responded and then all died into snarls of pleasure and growls of relief as lions paired off.

This was the real reason they responded to his emails and came to these gatherings. Not to listen to him, though he liked to think at last some of them did, but because it was the one time they could give into their natural urges surrounded by others of their kind. It was the one time they could truly allow their feral side to come through without fear of being caught.

The sight of so many around him in various states of transformation, most down on four legs and thrusting aroused cocks into their mates’ pussies and asses had Kevin’s own cock thick and solid, his blood pulsing with the urge to join in. Rarely did he give in. Most nights he would watch, inhale the lusty scent of sex and take delight in the roars of ecstasy filling the night. Tonight he thought would be no different—he would watch, enjoy playing the part of voyeur and then go home and find pleasure at his own hand—then he saw her, practically camouflaged against the snow.

She was the only white lioness he’d ever seen in the area, had ever seen period, and she came to these gatherings far too seldom. Kevin had figured out some time ago her attendance depended on if he flagged his emails as being of high importance. She always responded to those. Always said she would be here.

In the past, she’d done the same as him, watched the fucking taking place around them, occasionally meeting his eyes with lust burning hotly in hers, and then left without finding fulfillment. Tonight her gaze was trained on him, and now that he’d connected with it, he couldn’t take his own away.

Only one other female—make that woman—had ever captured his attention so completely. Kevin thought of that woman now. His body told him he must go to the lioness and use the pull she had over him to erase his desire for Liddy. His mind feared it wouldn’t matter if he had the lioness tonight. Come tomorrow, when he saw Liddy at lunchtime, the desire that rocked him to the core would still be there.

Aware he had to forget his want for Liddy and more aware of the anxious way his cock twitched at the thought of taking the stunning lioness, he moved through the pride. He stole glances around him as he went, his hunger becoming that much more acute with each thrusting pair he viewed. A trio in their human forms stripped of most of their clothing caught his attention. Without their fur, the winter air should have felt icy. Instead, as the blond man kneaded the woman’s full, pale breasts and pumped into her ass and the dark-haired one pushed his cock into her pussy, they appeared hot, sweaty. The look on the woman’s face as she tipped back her head and wailed skyward, was that of pure ecstasy.

It was the look he wanted to see on his lioness’s face.

Kevin turned his attention back on the female, intrigued by the way he’d taken possession of her. Maybe he’d been wrong. Maybe she could make him forget about his desire for Liddy.

He attempted to penetrate her thoughts as he continued toward her. She wouldn’t let him in. It was a rare trait for a female, but so much about her was rare. Her eyes for example. The darkest brown. A startling contrast to her snow-white fur. And familiar, in a way he knew went beyond these gatherings. Or perhaps it was a premonition that made him believe that. Some of the great kings had been known to have the sight. Until now, Kevin had never even considered he might be amongst them.

Among true lions, many things were different. Prides were dominated by females and cubs and the females were often the dominant ones when it came to sex. Among shifters, there was an equal ratio of males and females and control was shared. Females were taught young to cast their gaze downward when the king looked upon them, however. The lioness appeared to have missed that lesson, as she didn’t look down when he reached her, but continued to look at him with those dark, hungry eyes.

Her tongue came out, long, wet and silky, to swipe along her mouth. Kevin’s cock jerked. He would like to feel that raspy tongue on his length, only tonight he wasn’t patient enough. Tonight he wanted to assert dominance, take hold of her neck and push into her slick pussy from behind. As ruler, he could do so without question, without thought to her wishes. He didn’t do so, because she wasn’t a typical female. She was special and she deserved to be treated differently.

Lying down at her paws, he rolled onto his side, exposing his belly and offering himself to her. He’d never behaved so subserviently among the pride, and he hoped she understood the message in his doing so now.

The lioness studied him a silent moment, then asked,
Why me?

Because he wanted her in a way he’d only ever wanted Liddy.

Liddy’s face filled his mind, her full lips curved into a teasing smile. Her eyes inviting him into her office, onto her desk, where she would sit back while he undressed her one layer at a time. He would savor every inch of her beautiful body, her smooth dark skin. He would love her with his tongue before he did so with his body, have her writhing beneath him, screaming his name as she came.

He would, if he was a normal man.

Kevin focused on the lioness, on her engaging eyes. Yes, he could sink into them. He could lose himself in this one.

He reached a paw up, cupped her face.
I could ask the same.

She preened against his paw, purred low in her throat.
Any female would be foolish to say no to you.

Any male would be the same. You are beautiful, rare. Tell me your name.

Sierra,
she said after a moment.

The hesitation told him the name was not her human one, but her feline. For fear of it harming him professionally, he chose not to use his human name among the pride, either, so he could not fault her. As far as he could tell there was no fault with this cat, only perfection. Exquisite beauty that made rubbing her cheek not nearly enough. He had to be inside her, now.

Sierra, would you like me to fuck you?

Another moment of hesitation, then,
Yes please.

Eagerness coursed through his veins. His cock thrummed. Fervent cries and rapturous roars of those around them filled the still night air. He bounded to his feet and brushed his face against hers, flicked his tongue across her mouth. She licked him back, her laps urgent, needy. Her taste was warm, explosive on his tongue. The scent of her arousal filled his nostrils. She was wet for him. Hot. Ready.

He flicked his tongue to her ear and then down along her nape. With a low growl, he bit her neck. She reared back and he came over her, brushed his cock against her ass. She reared a second time and he thrust hard into her slick sheath.

Kevin growled against her neck, while his heart slammed against his ribs.

Sierra fit him in a way no other female had, no other woman. Her pussy loved him tight, hard as he pulled out and thrust again. She mewled with each push, then those mewls grew to throaty cries and finally, as her muscles clenched his shaft, a low roar that resounded through his ears and pitched all the blood in his body directly to his cock.

He could no more hold back his climax than he could stop from biting her harder, marking her as his. Soul blistering release sliced through him as he poured his cum into her hot, wet body and, while he rarely spoke in his lion form, his teeth let up from her neck and a name growled from his lips.

“Liddy!”

Chapter Two

“Late night?”

From where she stood at a low counter in the first of the large heated buildings, doling out vitamins into small plastic containers, Liddy looked over at Samantha Redding. The young woman was doing an internship with the sanctuary and came by three mornings a week to help with the animals’ weekly nutritional plan and to log their behavior.

Liddy reflected on her own time spent interning while attaining her veterinarian degree—that summer had shaped who she was, literally. While she’d never regretted what had happened to her—outside of the strain keeping it secret from her family sometimes caused—she hoped Sam’s internship was uneventful.

As for being tired… She’d stayed up way too late. Used muscles she hadn’t used in far too long. Last night had been gratifying to the fullest extent…and she felt guilty as hell about it. Not for what she’d done—she was entitled to sex at least once a year—but because of who she’d done it with. Or rather who she hadn’t done it with.

God, she was in so deep with Kevin that she thought her lover had called…

No. She was not going to drive herself crazy by thinking about last night and what she did or did not hear.

Liddy stood and stretched. Arching her back, she let out a long yawn. “I met up with some friends and stayed out a bit late. But I’ll get my bearings soon.”

“Lack of sleep causes wrinkles, baby. You’re too pretty and too single for that.”

Arms still over her head in stretch mode, Liddy spun around. Annette Freeman stood just inside the building doorway, wearing the fur coat that always made Liddy’s belly ache when she thought of the foxes slain to make it. Killing for sustenance she understood well, but never for luxury’s sake.

“Mama. What are you doing here?”

Keeping her coat on, Annette came over to Liddy. She glanced at the lions behind the fencing thirty feet from where they stood and attempted to cover a shiver. Liddy saw it, sensed her mama’s alarm, and fought off a frown. How anyone could fear such beautiful creatures she would never know.

“I heard the police were out to see you again,” her mama said.

Frustration coiled in Liddy’s belly with the reminder of the annoying Tanner Riggs. He was the reason she shouldn’t feel regret over selecting a near stranger to have sex with. The cop’s accusations had had her wound up tight and in need of stress relief. Admittedly, so had the idea that Kevin had wanted to kiss her yesterday before she’d stepped away from him. But she was not to going to think about that.

“Detective Riggs was by yesterday. I told him again I know nothing about the attacks, that there’s no way any of my animals could get out and then back in without my knowledge, and all of them are accounted for.”

“Well, you let me know if he doesn’t leave you alone. He hasn’t lived in
Hanover
long enough to know much about us, but that won’t stop me from using a connection or two to get him off your back.” Annette pursed her lips, and her face took on the look Liddy had termed her “I’m about to give advice you don’t want to hear” one, years ago. “Now, about this single status of yours. Baby, you’re not getting any younger. Another few days and you’ll be thirty and from there it’s all downhill.”

More like a year and ten days until she turned thirty, and last thing she knew the downhill birthday was the fortieth one. Considering her mama was in her early fifties and, with her smooth mocha skin and shoulder-length black hair, still as fit and lively as she’d been when Liddy was a girl, she had no plans to worry about the aging process. She also had no plans to have this conversation yet again.

“Yes Mama.” Liddy returned her attention to sorting out vitamins, hoping her desire to change the subject was clear.

Apparently it wasn’t. “There are plenty of fine looking men in this city, Liddy love. All you need to do—”

“Sorry for interrupting, but I need a moment with Ms. Freeman.”

Liddy’s antipathy over discussing her love life with her mama faded to irritation with Detective Riggs’ deep voice. She glanced over to find him making his way toward her, then looked around the building out of instinct. It was too early for visitors, and Sam had moved into the small computer room, closing the door behind her.

As much as they had their differences at times, Liddy loved her mama and trusted her with anything the detective might say. “We can talk here.”

The cop’s gaze went to Annette, staying there for several long seconds before he looked back at her and nodded. “If that’s how you want it.”

“It is.”

“They were able to pull DNA off the body.”

Liddy paused midway to dropping two large pills into a small plastic cup. Unease stiffened her spine. If the cop had come here to tell her that, it could only mean one thing… “Oh,” she managed to get out calmly.

Tanner’s gaze honed in on her face, as if assessing her to see how calm she really was. The impulse to bar him from her thoughts was automatic and absurd. The cop couldn’t read her thoughts. Only between the way his lips twitched at the corners and the hint of amusement that rallied through his eyes, it almost seemed that he could.

“It’s not a lion,” he finally said.

She breathed an audible sigh while her heart pounded madly against her ribs. Thank God. Outwardly, she allowed smug satisfaction. “Told you it couldn’t be. At least, not one of mine. I keep them under—”

“It also isn’t a human,” Tanner continued, all trace of humor gone.

Liddy’s satisfaction burst. “What?”

“Just what are you saying, Officer?” Annette asked in a tone just this side of snippy. The way she managed to look down her nose at the cop who was a good six inches taller than her wasn’t much better.

Tanner bristled. “It’s detective, Mayor Freeman, and I’m saying we’ve got ourselves a shifter in
Hanover
.”

Annette’s face paled. The color quickly returned to her skin and she shook her head at the cop. “That’s impossible.
Hanover
has no shifters. Everyone knows that.”

“Looks like it is possible,” the detective returned, his voice steely, “and since it seems no one’s gonna come forward and say they’re the shifter responsible, we’re gonna have to think of some other way to catch this thing.”

“
Thing
?” Temper shot through Liddy in an instant, coiling rage in her belly. She glared at the cop. “
Sha
peshifters are not things, Detective. They have the same rights as humans.”

Annette sniffed. “That amendment should never have been voted in.”

With an inward growl, Liddy turned her glare on her mama. “A lot of people would probably say the same thing about people of color being allowed to vote, or carry a governmental position, for that matter.”

“Don’t be illogical, Liddy,” Annette chastised. “That’s a totally different issue.”

“Why,” she snapped, “because you happen to be someone who benefited from it?” She looked back at Tanner. “Whoever—not whatever—is responsible for these attacks, once you track them down, deserves a fair trial, not a lynching.”

The twitch was back at the corners of the cop’s mouth. Amusement more than clear in his aura. To think she’d entertained the thought yesterday morning that he shared similar looks with Kevin. Kevin was gorgeous. Tanner was disgusting.

“We’ll see to it that we do what we can, Ms. Freeman,” he said.

Liddy managed to hold in her snort, but not her sarcasm. “Yeah. I bet.”

“Liddy Marie!” Annette warned. “That’s no way to talk to the officer.”

“Detective,” Tanner corrected again brusquely.

Minutes ago her mama had been ready to use her influence to get the cop off Liddy’s back and now she was acting like she was on his side. Of course, the stakes had changed the moment Tanner had mentioned a shifter was involved.

Liddy put her hand out, palm forward. She would no sooner disrespect the mayor in front of one of her citizens than bring about a family war over this. “Please don’t start, Mama. I know how you feel about it, and I’m sorry.”

Annette looked mollified. “Well, that’s better, and I forgive you, baby. It’s hard to accept one of those freaks could have found their way into our city. Detective, you will be keeping this speculation under wraps, I assume?”

Okay, so maybe she would disrespect the mayor and start that war after all.

Liddy had grown up listening to her mama persecute others for being different. She should have been prepared to hear her call shifters freaks. It wasn’t even the first time. She wasn’t prepared, and it riled her temper to the breaking point.

“I wasn’t apologizing to you,” she bit through her teeth. “I was saying I’m sorry that the bulk of this city is so damned narrow-minded.” She started toward the large coolers that held ground meat and small animal carcasses. “Thanks for stopping by, Detective, Mama,” she said without turning back. “Now I need to work. Of course, you’re welcome to stay and help me feed the lions.”

The idea of feeding the detective to them held too much appeal to not smile over. As for Mama…well, she was family. Maybe she’d just let the cats nibble on her a bit.

* * * * *

Liddy stood up for him.

Not for him alone, Kevin acknowledged as Annette Freeman swept out of the first heated building followed by the cop who’d been giving Liddy trouble the past few months, but for shifters as a whole. Did that mean they could have a chance?

Hell, he shouldn’t even be considering it after last night.

He’d wanted Sierra to know how beautiful she was, how special, how she appealed to him on a level no other female did. He’d been doing a good job of it, up until the moment he’d come into her while growling Liddy’s name.

The lioness had taken off nearly the moment he’d pulled out of her. She’d claimed it was late and she had to work early, but he’d known the truth of the matter. He’d hurt her. He felt guilty over it and yet not nearly as guilty as he should.

Not half as guilty as what he felt when he stepped into the building and spotted Liddy stalking to one of the lions’ enclosures, a container of meat in her hands. Even as culpability weighed on his shoulders his body responded to her, his cock hardening and his blood thundering between his ears. Having Sierra last night did nothing to curb his hunger for Liddy, if anything it made it that much more acute.

Damn it.

“Morning,” Kevin said.

She stopped filling the lions’ feed bin and swiveled around. Loathing flashed over her features and then was quickly replaced by another emotion, one just short of happiness. As a matter of trust, he never ventured into Liddy’s thoughts. But now he was tempted. He had heard much of her conversation with the cop and her mother, but not enough to understand the extent of her fury.

“I take it the detective wasn’t just making a social call?” he asked.

She finished filling the bin, then stepped out of the enclosure and ensured the electricity that ran through the fencing was turned back on before responding. “He just confirmed what I’d already guessed. I shouldn’t be so upset over it.”

“But?”

She sighed loudly. “Mama.”

She looked beyond upset, moving into severely hurt terrain. He crossed to her, but knew better than to reach out and offer his shoulder. Instead, he gave her a reassuring smile. Annoyance aimed at her mother knotted his gut when she didn’t return the smile. What had Annette said to her that he’d missed?

Kevin broke his own rule and searched Liddy’s mind for the answer. Only Liddy’s mind wasn’t open to him.

He frowned. It wasn’t unheard of for a human to be able to block their thoughts from a shifter, but it was rare. That Liddy was strong enough to do so built his appreciation of her all that much more. “I’m sorry. As you know my father died several years ago and I rarely see my own mother, so I can’t imagine how you must feel.”

Her smile came now, weak and still able to snag the breath in his throat, while making his fingers itch to touch her. Hell, not just touch. To take her into his arms and make her his. “Thank you,” she said softly.

“For what?”

“Not trying to pretend you know what it feels like. You’re a wonderful friend.”

The claim was like a physical blow. His gut knotted further. Hatred for his own desires swamped him. It was no wonder Liddy had backed away from his kiss yesterday. She wanted nothing from him but friendship. The chemistry he always sensed between them had to be one-sided.

Kevin could handle that. Was glad for it in fact, at least logically—they were too different for a lasting relationship that went beyond friendship. Then there was the fact not opening himself up to Liddy meant not risking his identity being discovered by anyone else in
Hanover
. Yes, keeping their relationship on a friendly level was a good thing.

He pushed an easy grin into place, even as his body rebelled at the thought. “Also a great listener, I’ve been told. Care to talk about it?”

She looked uncertain for a moment, then glanced around them. She looked back and nodded. “Just let me finish feeding the animals.”