The Lion's Pride (BBW Paranormal Lion Shifter Romance) (The True Date Agency) (2 page)

My gorgeous stranger groaned, the sound raw and feral as he dragged me closer, his hands reaching around and cupping my ass. His cock dug into me, long and thick and hard, rubbing and teasing as he feasted at my mouth, devouring me in long, drawn out kisses of tongues and teeth.

What was I doing?
My hands were pulling up his shirt, my nails dragging against his skin, tracing the rigid outline of his pecs then bumping down over his abs to reach his waistband. I wanted him.
Desperately.
I needed him.

Why?

H
er lips were
pliant under mine, supple and soft, her mouth open to my invasion. My lion roared inside my head, demanding that I get closer still. Her ass overflowed my hands as I squeezed and molded her against my aching shaft.

She had grabbed my attention the second I had set eyes on her. And that’s what had tipped me off.
No one
caught my attention. Petite, her figure overflowed with ripe curves and kissable caramel skin. I couldn’t stop myself from staring. I had to talk to her and touch her. I had to see why she intrigued me.

And now I knew.

Mate…

I acknowledged my lion’s claiming growl, rocking my hips against her core, urging her to accept what was happening between us.

Because she felt it, too, I could tell. Her soft gasps, the tremor that ran the length of her spine when I nipped her lip, her utter surrender. She was
mine
.

Lara
. My true mate. The one person on this earth destined for me.

Caging her with my body, I traced a path down her throat to her chest, trailing a finger across the soft fabric that covered her breasts.
Exquisite
. Cupping one of the soft mounds, I thumbed a stiff nipple. I needed to taste her, to feed on her.

I dragged her scent into my lungs, honeysuckle and nutmeg, the perfect aphrodisiac.

“What—?” Her words were a soft moan, her eyes glazed and unfocused as she blinked at me.

“I want you, Lara.” I rocked my hips against her pussy, just in case she needed a physical cue.

Her head fell back, her lips parting on a gasp of desire. “I don’t do this—”

“With me, you do.” I nipped the slender column of her neck, working my way back to her lips. Drowning in her taste. “You won’t regret it, I promise. Let me pleasure you…”

Indecision flashed in her dark brown eyes. “I don’t know you. You could be—”

“Give me a little time and you’ll know me
very
well.
Shit
, do you want me to beg?” Because I was seconds away from doing exactly that. If I didn’t get inside my mate soon…

Shock passed over her face, followed quickly by an answering flare of heat.

Yes, she liked that idea. Locking eyes with her, I braced my hands on the wall on either side of her head. Leaning in I murmured in a low voice, “I want to fuck you so bad, my little
gatito
, to feel the heat of you squeezing and clenching around my aching cock while I thrust deep inside of you.”

“Oh!”

At her gasp, the mating urge surged up inside of me, demanding that I take her and make her mine. But I needed her to say yes. She had to
want
me as much as I wanted her.

“
Please
…” The word had barely left my lips before she grabbed my head, yanking me down, smashing her lips to mine.

A roar of triumph filled my head as I gathered her up in my arms, taking the steps two at a time. Shoving open the door to my office, I surveyed the room.
Why the fuck didn’t I have a couch?
Letting her slide down to the floor, I stepped back and yanked off my t-shirt.

Her hands were immediately on me, petting and smoothing across my chest, her blunt nails scraping and digging as we came back together in a tangle of lips and hands.

A purr of satisfaction rumbled in my chest, the sound vibrating through me. I stiffened.
What the—?
I didn’t purr. I wasn’t a goddamn house cat, for fuck’s sake. At least she wasn’t laughing at me. Sliding my hand around her hip, I inched up her skirt and palmed her pussy through her panties. I bit back a groan. My mate was hot and wet—and ready.

She bucked against my hand, rubbing herself against the finger I had worked inside the scrap of lace. I didn’t need asking twice. I swirled my thumb around her clit, brushing and teasing, then finally sliding inside.

“I want to taste you,” I muttered in her ear, bringing my finger to my mouth and licking it clean. Her juices coated my tongue, firing through my blood, heading straight to my cock. “More,” I moaned, going to my knees. Dragging her panties down to mid-thigh, I spread her wide then licked a straight line through her folds, sucking and swirling my tongue on her beaded clit. Her nectar filled my mouth.
More!

Her legs threatened to buckle, her fingers digging in to my shoulders.

Bracing her above me, I feasted, sucking and licking, every taste, every shudder feeding the animal inside of me.

Her ragged breaths were loud in my ears, each groan making my cock twitch and strain. She tensed above me, nails straining against my skin, her low moan echoing around the room as she came on a shudder.

Rising to my feet, I caught her in my arms, my lips joining hers.
Would she still want—?

I felt a tug on my jeans, her nimble fingers making quick work of the button and sliding the zipper down. She went to drop to her knees.

I grabbed her arms, stopping her. “No—” I barely recognized my own voice, the sound low and hoarse, “—not this time. I don’t think I could take it.” I winced at the admission, but the mating heat was riding me hard and I feared her soft lips around my shaft would be the end. And I didn’t want to spill in her mouth.

“This time?”

I couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at my lips. “I’m a shifter—we have a better recovery time than human males.”

My head was spinning, the man in front of me consuming all of my attention, my thoughts. His voice did wicked, naughty things to me, stroking over my skin like a tuning fork, dancing over my nerve endings.

This
was what I had needed, the event to signify my life changing.
A bit melodramatic!
I smothered a snort. Now wasn’t the time for thinking. I had done way too much of that recently, and where had it got me? Nowhere. It had changed nothing. So, for once, I was going to take a risk and live a little, as Tina and Kate had suggested. And what better way than with a hot-as-hell guy who for some
insane
reason seemed to find me irresistible.

I rubbed my thumb over the head of his cock, satisfaction flaring through me as his lips parted on a silent moan and his eyelids fluttered in surrender. He was thick and hard in my hand, his skin satin soft as I rolled my hand up and down his long length. I still couldn’t quite believe what my eyes were telling me. The man was huge!
Everywhere
. His chest was made up of thick muscle and deep lines, with black ink snaking around his shoulders and down, decorating the one side of his torso.

But it wasn’t his body that compelled me, it was his eyes. The way he looked at me, like I was important. Like
this
was important. Maybe a little
too
important; after all, I wasn’t ready to dive back into a relationship, not after what had happened with—

“What are you thinking?”

His words yanked me back to the moment.
That voice!
I shivered, not bothering to hide what it did to me. I mean, I had his cock in my hand, I was pretty sure we’d gone past coyness. “What
this
will feel like,” I murmured, squeezing his shaft.
Hell, yeah!
My friends would be proud of me!

“Feel like…where?” he growled, his green eyes glowing in the dim light.

He was going to make me say it. I cleared my throat, forcing myself not to look away. “In my—” Okay, I couldn’t. I’d never been good at talking dirty; the words just didn’t come naturally to me. Never had. It was one of the things— Aw, hell, I was thinking
again!
“Kiss me,” I tried to demand, but it came out sounding dangerously like a plea.
Could he see the need in my eyes?
I wanted to be ravished, to feel that unstoppable lust again, to lose myself in him.

He nodded once, a brief tilt of his head, like he had accepted the unspoken challenge. His mouth came down on mine, his hands reaching around to caress my ass. A rip of fabric, then my legs were spread as he lifted me up and pinned me against the wall. His shaft nudged at my entrance, and I froze, the fog of lust lifting for a split second of sanity.

“Condom?”

“Shifter,” he grunted, between nipping and kissing at my lips.

Of course.
Shifters didn’t carry disease, and it wasn’t as if I had to worry about pregnancy. Not after what the doctors had told me. The now familiar grief threatened to overwhelm and drag me back under.
No!
I gave myself a mental shove, blocking it out.
No thinking, remember?

Mind made up, I wriggled against him, and he took the hint, thrusting inside me in one smooth glide. Breath exploded from me, the feeling of fullness both exquisite and overwhelming. My back arched, pushing my breasts against the hardness of his chest, my nipples aching, the lace of my bra torture.

With one hand, he yanked down my top, his hips retreating to thrust back again in a relentless rhythm. Bracing me against the wall, his fingers digging into my ass, he bent his head to my breast, taking a stiff nub into his mouth, sucking and swirling with his tongue.

My pussy clenched around him, the friction dragging and building, his mouth wet, his teeth sharp against sensitive flesh. A strangled cry echoed around the room. Distantly, I recognized it was mine, but I didn’t care, the slide of skin slapping against skin and pressure building, churning inside of me my only thoughts.

He sped up, his cock driving into me relentlessly, my world narrowing until it was only us. Vivid green eyes speared into me, his lips twisting in a grimace as he pushed us higher, his hand dipping between us to thumb my throbbing clit between strokes, a low growl tearing from his mouth.

“Zane,” he grunted, swiveling his hips.

“Wha—?”

“My name. I want to hear you say it when you come.” His thrusts punctuated his words, echoing his command. “When you’re clenching around my cock, you think of me. Only me.”

At his words, spasms shot through me, every muscle in my body quivering, nerves firing and short-circuiting. My head knocked back against the wall as my hips tilted to meet his thrust. His name left my lips on a scream, my eyes closing as the world around me swam with color.

He jerked, his thrusts short and hard. A roar filled my ears as warmth filled my core. A pinprick of pain ghosted my senses, washed away in a rush of endorphins.

“Boss?
Shit!
Sorry.”

I froze at the sound of a strange voice, coming back to earth with a bang.

“
G
o away
,” Zane growled against my shoulder, his cock still buried deep inside me.

“Uh, okay. I can see that you’re busy, but…you’re really needed—”

“Go…away…
now!
” The last word was a roar of anger.

Wait a second…
boss? I pushed at Zane’s chest, and he let me slide to the floor in an ungraceful wriggle. Tugging my top up and my skirt down, I peered around him. The bartender from earlier stared back at me, his mouth dropping open and nearly hitting the floor.

I looked from him back to Zane, who had just finished zipping himself back up, then back again. They were dressed nearly exactly the same, both clad head to toe in black. Then I looked around the room we were in, seeing it properly for the first time. Sleek polished furniture, a large desk dominating one side, complete with a high-tech set-up, a floor-to-ceiling window looking out on the crowd below. “This is your office?” My voice sounded croaky, probably from all the screaming I had been doing. I flushed, remembering that just seconds ago I had come apart in his arms, had begged him to take me. “You own this place? You’re
that
Zane?”

He winced as my voice rose to a screech. “I didn’t get the chance to properly—”

“You didn’t even tell me your name! Not until we were—” I clamped my mouth shut, suddenly remembering we had an audience. Not that he hadn’t had a front row seat, anyway.

“Why does it matter?” He sounded genuinely confused, and I couldn’t blame him. He didn’t know me, didn’t know why I avoided men like him. After all, we had only just met!
Christ!
I wanted to curl up in a ball and die. I couldn’t even do a one-night stand without complicating it. He was right—it didn’t matter who he was. It wasn’t like we were ever going to see each other again. We’d scratched an itch, that was all.

“There you go again, thinking out loud,” he murmured, his hand brushing my cheek in a decidedly
more-than-a-one-night-stand
kind of way.

“What?”

The bartender coughed pointedly. “Boss? We really need you downstairs, like five minutes ago. Would you like me to escort the lady out? And my name’s Andy, by the way.” He winked at me, flashing me a smile that was a cross between a grin and a smirk.

“She stays here,” Zane snapped, grabbing his t-shirt up off the floor and pulling it on.

I was torn between wanting to smooth down the tufts of hair that spiked straight out from his head and snapping back at him. “What? Uh-uh. No way.” Okay, snapping won.

Zane turned to me, taking my hands in his. “Stay, please. I need to talk to you…there are some things I’d like to say. Things you need to know.” His back was to Andy, his eyes pleading with me.

I could feel myself starting to relent, my willpower weakening.
What harm would it do to hear him out?
“Okay…” No sooner were the words out of my mouth, he strode out of the room, Andy hot on his heels.

The door swung shut behind them, the room falling silent again.

“Right,” I muttered, walking over to a chair and sitting down. “For a woman who’s trying to avoid men…” My voice trailed off, the sound loud and just plain
weird
in the empty room. Dampness between my thighs served as a reminder of how badly I was keeping
that
promise.

As my body cooled and my heart rate slowed to nearly normal, the feeling that I had missed something important nagged at me.
But what?

I’d just had sex.
Not the end of the world!

With the owner of this club. Zane Sarson. And from what I’d just heard, he was a typical playboy—rich, mysterious, aloof, and popular with the ladies.

Sound like anyone you know, Lara?

I slapped my head, hoping to knock some sense into myself. I was an idiot! The ink had barely dried and I was hooking up with a replica of my ex.

Who had told me to wait here until he got back. Like I was a dog.
And I was doing as I was told, like I always had.

Well, hell. The sex had been good—but not
that
good.

I lurched to my feet, decision made. My thighs slid together, an ache blossoming between them.

Okay, maybe that last bit had been a lie
.

But it wasn’t stopping me. No way. This was a new start—
I
was in charge. I got to decide what I did, and didn’t, do.

I pushed open the door and stormed down the stairs. More like hobbled, actually, tenderness flaring with each step. Scooping up my shoes, I slipped them on. Kate and Tina seemed wrapped up in the dating thing, both engrossed in conversation, so catching their eyes, I shot them a quick wave and headed for the door.

At the threshold, I hesitated, the urge to turn back and find him shooting through me. “Have you got a pen and scrap of paper that I could borrow?” I asked the girl at the front desk. Grabbing them off her, I jotted down my number, scrawling my name underneath. If tonight had meant anything to him, he’d call.
But did I really want him to? What about a fresh start?

Telling the judgmental voice inside my head to shut up, I handed the paper to the girl. “Could you pass this to Zane for me, please?”

She didn’t even glance at it before sliding the note inside a large book. “Sure thing.”

There. If he didn’t call, I was fine with it. Totally. After all, a one-night stand is what I’d been after, right?

I glared at the empty room as though through sheer willpower I could magic my mate back into it. “What the fuck do you mean she left?”

Andy peered around my shoulder. “She’s not here.”

“I can see that!” I growled, the urge to hit something—
anything
—flooding me. “Where is she?” I strode over to the window, scanning the crowd below. She wasn’t there.
Fuck!

“I don’t know, do you want me to ask Stacey?” At my blank look he continued, “At the front desk? You know? The girl who—”

“I don’t care. Yes, go ask her.”

He turned to leave, then paused, his hand on the door. “Can I just ask, why?”

My fingers itched, frustration tearing at me.
Why had she left?
“Why, what?”

“She seemed like a nice woman, and don’t get me wrong, I had spotted her earlier, but—”

I was across the room, my hands around his neck in a matter of seconds. The door shook as I slammed him against it. “You don’t
ever
look at her in that way again! Do you hear me?” A distant part of me knew I was overreacting, but I couldn’t help it. The mating hadn’t been completed; I had pierced her skin but not said the words that would bind us. She wasn’t mine, but she
was
. It was screwing with my head. Not to mention the fact that my lion was going ballistic inside of me, threatening to tear out of my skin. He couldn’t understand any better than me why our mate would walk away.

He frowned at me, ceasing to struggle. “
Shit!
She’s your true mate, isn’t she?”

I took a deep breath, forcing my fingers to loosen around his neck. I couldn’t go around taking it out on the members of my pride.
It wasn’t his fault.
It had to be mine; somehow I had managed to screw this up.
Everyone leaves you…
I silenced the whisper. No, I was not a child anymore. I didn’t believe that rubbish. I had people who loved me—my ragtag family did. For some insane reason.

“Go, speak to the girl on the door. Find out if she saw Lara leave and who she was with.” Meanwhile, I was going to have a little chat with Gretchen. Lara didn’t seem like the kind of woman to come to a club like this on her own, looking for a hook up. The fact that she hadn’t taken part in the speed dating gave me some hope. “Send Gretchen in, will you?” I called after him, already resenting the look of pity he shot me before heading downstairs.

I didn’t need his pity—
fuck
that—I needed Lara. And I was going to find her.

I walked around my desk and sank into the chair, letting my head fall back as my fingers stroked across the leather arms. A couple of hours ago, I had been adamant I didn’t want a mate, but now? I couldn’t think of anything else. Closing my eyes, I played back the last hour, letting it dance across the front of my eyelids. I knew I didn’t love her, not yet, anyway. It was far too soon. But I felt something beyond the urge to fuck her—a yearning of some sort? I tried to sort through the tangle of emotions, peeling away the base needs and mating urges. Yeah, I yearned to get to know her, to talk to her and hear her laugh. To explore that hint of feisty attitude and get a feel for what kind of woman she was. What made her tick? What did she love? Hate? Was she grumpy in the mornings? Did she mainline coffee? What music did she like? Did she want to travel or was she a homebody? Did she want children?

“You’re thinking very serious thoughts, Zane. What’s up?”

“Gretchen—” I opened my eyes to find her sitting in the chair in front of me. I had been so lost in thought, so preoccupied, I hadn’t been aware of her arrival. Something that had never happened before—ever.

Eying me, she sucked in a breath, releasing it on a low hiss. “What happened? All Andy said was that you needed me, that it was urgent.”

“I found her.”

“Her?” Confusion creased her brow.

“My true mate.”

She leaned forward, her lips curving up into a wide grin. “Who is she? Why are you—”

“She left.”

Shocked silence grew between us, the only sound a soft hum of music from below.

She sat back in the chair, curling her legs up beneath her. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t
fucking
know!”

“Okay, easy there. We’ll find her. I take it you and her—?” Her hands floated in the air, coming together in the middle and bouncing off each other.

I growled, jabbing a pen at the desk. “We did…”

“And did you—?” This time two of her fingers curled into hooks, mimicking a biting action.

Like I was a motherfucking vampire. “I did…”

“Oh. Well, that’s okay then.”

“I didn’t say the words.”

Her mouth fell open. Snapping it shut, she muttered, “Why the hell not?”

“
Because
we were interrupted!” I snarled. I knew what she was getting at. If I’d said the words, binding us together and completing my half of the mating, I would be linked to her, would know her feelings and emotions. I would feel the tug of the bond and know where she was.

“Oh.”

Yeah, oh. That summed it up perfectly. “I need to find her.”

She snapped to attention, her spine straightening. “Of course you do. Tell me everything you know and we’ll go from there.”

“She—” A knock on the door interrupted me. “Yes?”

Andy walked in, leading a tall, blonde woman dressed in the club uniform of black. “This is Stacey. Go on, tell him what you told me. He won’t bite.”

Stacey took a step forward, her eyes flicking from me to Gretchen, then back again. “I think I saw the woman Andy described leaving. She was alone and looked in a hurry.”

“Did she talk to anyone?” The words came out in an eager tumble. I’d gone past the point of caring what anyone thought; all I could about was Lara.

“No. Nobody. She just left.”

My lungs deflated and I slumped back in the chair. “Thanks. You can go back to work now.”

“Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr. Sarson? Get you a drink or something to eat?”

“Actually, a brandy would be good. Thanks, I really appreciate it.”
How the hell am I going to find her?
I didn’t ever get her last name!

“Sure thing. I’ll be right back.”

I looked up just in time to catch Gretchen watching the door, a speculative look in her eye.

“What is it?” I asked, frowning.

She paused, looking like she was about to say something, then shrugged. “Nothing. Except, well…Stacey, she’s a good looking girl—”

“Who?”
Why did it matter what a girl looked like?
I’d stopped noticing women months, maybe years ago. When they did nothing but throw themselves at you, it got old. And boring. And when they weren’t your mate…it felt hollow. Now I’d met Lara, I knew exactly how hollow those past encounters had been.

“Exactly, nothing important. Now, where shall we start? Most of the group that participated tonight are still downstairs. Shall we go talk to them?”

My hand slammed onto the desk, making the pen bounce and roll. That should have been the first thing that I did. Why the hell hadn’t I—?

“You’re not thinking straight. Not surprising, really. You’ve just found your mate, and lost her,
and
you didn’t complete the mating. Your lion must be going crazy inside of you—it’s a wonder you haven’t shifted yet!” she said, obviously reading my face.

“My lion doesn’t control me,” I growled, shoving the chair back and standing up.

“Not yet. But we need to find her before he gets a little too…unmanageable and we have a situation on our hands. There’s a lot of people who count on you, Zane, and a lot who care about you.”

“I won’t lose control.” I stalked to the door, opening and holding it for her.

“On the other hand, a massive lion running around the city? It might be worth it just to see the news!”

I followed her tinkling laugh down the stairs. If one of these humans knew where Lara was, they were going to tell me. Whether they wanted to or not.