The PlayLion Billionaire: A Paranormal Billionaire Romance (6 page)

The next moment, her fear and pity transformed into abject confusion. As she watched in mute fascination, the lioness began to change before her very eyes. Olivia heard a noise like thick, slurry liquid with hard bits churning inside of it, and saw the bones shifting in the lioness’ face, and all over her body.

She gasped, slithering back from the huge feline, but unable to tear her gaze away from the sight of the transformation occurring before her. The tawny fur somehow disappeared, replaced by olive-toned human skin; the face narrowed, the muzzle turned into a jaw, a nose, a pair of lips. In a matter of moments, where there had been a growling, purring lioness, there was instead a naked woman with flowing dark blonde hair.

“What the hell are you?” Olivia asked, struggling to gather herself onto her knees. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

“None of your business,” the woman said, her voice slightly hoarse. “If you try and run away, I will chase you down and kill you. Got it?” Olivia hesitated before nodding. “I should just kill you anyway,” the woman mused, crouching in the underbrush. She seemed utterly unaffected by her own nudity, confident in a way that Olivia couldn’t imagine being.

Somehow, it made complete sense; lions could not drive a car—but a creature that could go from lion to human certainly could. “You’re…some kind of shape-changer,” Olivia said slowly.

The woman shrugged.

“Were-lion,” she said, correcting Olivia with a haughty tone of voice.

“What exactly do you want with me?” Olivia asked, looking around at the clearing she where she had been left.

The woman chuckled.

“You’re bait. A little wounded gazelle.” The woman licked her lips and Olivia couldn’t help picturing her in the lioness form once more; the shape-changer’s hazel eyes were just as watchful in either guise.

“Bait? For who?” Olivia looked down at her body. It was no wonder her arm ached; she shuddered at the sight of the thick, long tears where one of the lions—she couldn’t remember which one -- scratched her. She supposed there was a similar injury to her shoulder.

Reaching around carefully to the back of her head, Olivia thought that the throbbing there wasn’t the same—her fingers came back free of blood, and she couldn’t feel any scabs or tears in her skin.

“For Robert, you idiot. Robert Lowe.”

“Why would you think I have anything to do with Robert Lowe?” Olivia blushed, thinking irrelevantly that she had been right to be worried about what her reputation would be if it got out that she had slept with the CEO.

“You’re his mate,” the woman said. “He knows we have you, and he knows where we’re keeping you. He comes here, he gets ambushed by us, and our Alpha takes over the Pride.”

Olivia’s mind spun at the explanation. There were so very many things to take in, her mouth fell open in shock.

“First of all,” she said, feeling a flare of anger, “first of all, I am not—I’m not anyone’s mate. Most of all not Robert’s mate.” The woman raised an eyebrow, a faint grin twitching at the corners of her lips. “Second…no, let’s get back to the first point: I am
not
Robert Lowe’s mate!”

Olivia heard the sound of rustling in the underbrush, followed by growling—and then, loud enough to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, a roar. The woman who was sent to watch her, reacted to the sounds, standing up quickly, looking around.

Olivia looked around, trying to understand what was happening.  She heard more rustling noises, high-pitched yowls of distress and guttural growls, roar after roar. There was the sound of something heavy hitting the ground, and then, again.

“Shit,” the woman guarding her said. “Shit, shit, he called in the Pride, he must have.”

The woman turned towards her, scowling at Olivia. “I should have killed you,” she said. Olivia stared from the woman to the direction the noises were coming from; the significance of the sounds began to filter through her shock-numbed brain. She had heard sounds like that in documentaries about lions in the wild—lions fighting in the wild.

The noises intensified, and there seemed to be more and more lions growling, howling, roaring; and more sounds of heavy bodies hitting the ground. The woman started to move towards her in the slinking, liquid motion of a predator. Olivia turned her attention away from the sounds of the battle happening nearby, realizing that the woman looking at her like a cat watching a rat, was definitely more important at the moment.

Olivia scrambled up onto her feet; she knew that she couldn’t run away from this woman --she could apparently turn into a lion at will. But Olivia thought that if she could possibly get away for long enough, whatever battle was raging between the other lions in the area, would pull the woman into it.

There was a sudden, loud roar from somewhere behind her, and Olivia tripped over something, stumbling and falling backwards. She yelped as the impact jarred her injuries, making her head spin.
Shit, shit, shit. Get up. Get up! You have to get up and run.

Before Olivia could scramble back onto her feet, however, she saw a blurry movement in the corner of her eye. Olivia cried out, crawling awkwardly away from whatever was entering the fray. She turned her head, dividing her attention between the woman moving towards her and the blurry shape off to the side. She rubbed at her eyes to clear them, thinking that the last thing she needed was blurry vision.

The woman had stopped advancing; Olivia staggered back at the sight of what had joined them. An enormous, tawny-furred lion—the most beautiful male lion that Olivia had ever seen in her life, and by far the largest—stood, growling steadily, watching the woman who had cornered Olivia.

He was raked with scratch marks—along his side, down one flank, even a couple on his face; but they seemed, to Olivia’s wondering eyes, to be healing even as he stood there, half-purring and half-growling, pinning the woman down with his gaze and some radiating dominance in his demeanor.

Before Olivia could comprehend the fact that the lion seemed to be at least somewhat on her side, he opened his mouth, and her whole body shook with the low, loud roar he let out. The lion launched itself at the woman, and Olivia stared in horrified fascination as the woman screamed, tumbling to the ground.

The two --lion and woman -- became a snarled, tangled mess of fur and limbs, and Olivia once more nearly felt bad for the creature who had apparently intended to kill her.

In what seemed like mere moments, Olivia heard a sickening crunch, a muffled yelp, and then another bone-jarring crack, and everything went still. The huge lion shuffled, stepping back from the woman, and Olivia shuddered at the sight of the deep puncture marks on the woman’s neck, the way she lay splayed on the ground, naked and appearing almost boneless, perfectly still.

She was still staring at the woman when she heard the sound she recognized from before; thick liquid churning, with crunching, crackling noises mixed in. There was the sound of a growling howl, abruptly cut off, which changed into a human-sounding cough.

Olivia’s heart was pounding from the adrenaline coursing through her veins, and she looked in the direction of the noise in time to see Robert standing, fully naked, his body marked with the same scratches that the lion that had saved her had borne. Olivia stared for a long moment, trying to wrap her mind around the unmistakable fact of what had just happened.

She remembered the nameless lioness-woman telling her that Robert was some kind of Alpha, that she was bait to lead him out to wherever she was, for an ambush.

There were still noises in the distance, but they were gradually beginning to fade. Robert moved close, kneeling down in the dirt, grass, and underbrush, looking at her with concern. “Are you okay, Olivia?” he asked.

Olivia shook her head—not in answer to his question, but in complete disbelief.

“I…what…who…,” she licked her lips, taking a deep breath. “What the hell is going on?” She had asked it before; she was no closer, even after the last several momentous events, to understanding.

“You’re okay,” Robert told her gently. “You’re probably in a lot of shock now and I don’t blame you at all.”

“I think this is probably the longest nightmare I’ve ever had,” Olivia said blankly. She looked up at Robert and everything around her began to spin and swim, black dots floating into her vision. Olivia tried to shake her head once more to clear it, but then once more, everything went black.

CHAPTER FIVE

Robert could feel the lingering, gnawing pain from the scratches that raked his body, but his interest was entirely focused on Olivia. It was obvious to him from the moment he had looked at her that she was not well; the ripped scratches along her arm, and her shoulder, would have to be seen to, certainly.

When she had fainted, he had gathered her into his arms, lifting her off the ground without paying attention to the ripple of pain that coursed through him at the movement. His own injuries could wait; he had to make sure that his mate was okay.

Olivia had not yet awakened, and Robert was torn between relief and worry. The doctor had been in a few moments before, to reassure him that Olivia had not suffered any serious damage or injury to her brain. She would need rest for a few days, and the wounds to her arm and shoulder would take a while to heal, but she was not in any real danger.

They had stitched the deepest of the scratches, and bandaged the whole. “We’ll give her the first dose of the antibiotic now while she’s in the hospital, with a prescription to take when she gets out. She should be able to check out tomorrow morning.”

The doctor was another shifter; Robert had brought Olivia to St. Joseph’s specifically because he knew that his friend—a were-bear named Howard—was on the staff, and would be available. The fewer questions that anyone asked about why Olivia had what looked like big cat claw marks on her, the better.

Olivia shifted in the bed, half-murmuring something that even Robert’s preternaturally keen ears couldn’t quite make out. Her eyes opened, and for a moment, she looked confused and disoriented; the next, her pheromones became a wash of fear, mingling unpleasantly with the antiseptic smells in the private room he had taken over for her needs. “You—I saw you. You were there, but what the hell happened to me?” Olivia looked around the room in puzzlement. “Why am I in a hospital?”

“You’re in a hospital because you were attacked by some lions,” Robert said slowly. “You don’t have any brain injuries, just a minor concussion. But some of your scratches had to be stitched, and they gave you some antibiotics to make sure you don’t get an infection.”

Olivia’s startled, disconcerted gaze cleared, and she looked at him with the level, peering glance he knew so well.

“You didn’t answer my first question,” she pointed out dryly.

Robert smiled.

“You’re correct, I didn’t.” He licked his lips; this was the moment he had dreaded.

“I remember…” Olivia looked at her hands, frowning, “lions attacking me in the parking garage. And then a lioness turning into a human woman. I remember you…” She looked at him. “She said something about were-lions?”

Robert nodded slowly.

“And how…I am not your mate!”

Robert bit back the urge to laugh.

“I hate to break it to you this way, Olivia, but you are, in fact, my mate.” He held his hand up to forestall the angry retort he could see forming in her eyes. “I’m not suggesting that I would make you stay with me by force.”

“What-- what exactly do you mean by mate?” Olivia seemed to be composing herself with an effort. Robert smiled slowly.

“It means that you are meant to be mine.” Olivia raised an eyebrow and Robert saw the angry slant of her frown. “And I am meant to be yours. I knew you were meant for me the first time we had sex.”

“So…the whole time you had me working on that project…” Olivia crossed her arms over her chest and then winced.

Robert smiled wryly.

“May want to be a little careful,” he suggested. “I did want to be close to you, and I wanted to give you a chance to become comfortable with me. But you saw, I was utterly professional the whole time.”

“Except that you were clearly plotting to work your way into my heart…or my pants.”

Robert laughed. “Did it work? You seemed to warm up to me that last meeting we had.”

Olivia sighed.

“It’s really sneaky of you,” she said.

Robert watched as she worried at her bottom lip, looking down at the blankets that covered her.

“So,” she finally started again, taking a deep breath and exhaling sharply, “tell me about this… this mate thing. And about…being a were-lion.” She shook her head. “It still feels like some kind of bizarre nightmare.”

“The mate thing…” Robert looked at Olivia for a moment. “Let me suggest this, give me a chance. As my mate, you would… it would be like being my wife. But I can give you time to decide whether or not you want to be married.”

“That’s… wow.” Olivia took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Married? Your wife?”

“I did tell you the first day we met that I had to settle down.”

Olivia blushed.

Robert sniffed quietly; he could tell that the fear pheromones were fading, replaced by something like lust. He smiled to himself. “You were attracted to me. You still are. Give me a chance, Olivia. You won’t have to worry about your reputation; I promise you.”

“Well,” Olivia said, smiling sardonically, “if you convince me to marry you, I’d be the wife of a billionaire; it’s not like I’d actually need my job.”

Robert chuckled lowly, leaning in and kissing her lightly on the lips. When Olivia didn’t startle, or try to move away, he deepened the kiss, his tongue lapping at her lips until she opened her mouth.

Robert pulled back slightly, his hands moving slowly over Olivia’s body through the thin fabric of her hospital gown. “I will replace the clothes you lost, by the way,” he murmured lowly.

“You’d better,” Olivia countered, as Robert dragged his lips down to her throat. He climbed onto the bed carefully, not wanting to jostle or jar Olivia’s injuries; two hours of vigil, smelling her pheromones, combined with the stimulation of protecting his mate from the lions who had abducted her, had kept his lust and desire at a simmer, one that rose to flames as he licked at the pulse point beneath her jaw.

“Should we…” Olivia pulled back slightly. Robert chuckled lowly; there was doubt in her voice, but her pheromones were awash with gradually rising arousal.

“The room is private, and I left instructions that we were not to be disturbed.” Robert rocked his hips against Olivia’s as he felt himself swiftly becoming hard. He had wanted her for weeks—ever since she had left his apartment, Robert had been nearly distracted with the thought of how she felt, how she tasted, how she sounded.

Olivia moaned as Robert cupped her full breasts in his hands, squeezing them lightly. Robert smiled to himself, feeling her nipples obediently firming into tight nubs at his touch; she was clearly aroused.

He smelled the rising, sweet musk of her arousal as she began to heat up underneath him. “Do you feel okay?” Robert asked her, pulling back from her throat with concern. Olivia, her eyes slightly hazed with pleasure and desire, nodded.

“I will have a lot of questions for you to answer,” she said, reaching up to run her fingers carefully through his hair. “Later. Later I will have questions. Now I need you to help me not think.”

Robert laughed. “I can definitely do that.” He tugged the blankets down and found the hem of the hospital gown she was wearing. Olivia shivered against him, pulling his face around to kiss him hungrily.

Robert knew that there would probably be a great deal of questions for him to answer; but for the moment he was glad that Olivia still wanted him, that she was attracted to him. He tugged the hospital gown up slowly, revealing her bare body underneath, inch by inch.

Olivia squirmed and writhed underneath him, her body warm to the touch....not feverish, but he could smell the thickening, the deepening of her arousal pheromones, and knew she was becoming more and more turned on by the moment.

Robert stripped off his clothes, tossing them aside carelessly; all he wanted was to feel her, to be inside of his mate, to be buried deep inside of her when she came and he heard her moaning.

Olivia’s hands touched him everywhere slowly, and Robert murmured for her to be careful, not to overexert herself. “Some of those wounds could come open if you don’t slow down,” he whispered, rocking his hips against hers. What he wanted was the privacy and freedom to take her over and over again, to rub against her, spreading his scent all over her body and making it clear to every were on the planet that she was his mate
. That would come in time
, Robert told himself.

Instead, he teased her, his fingers dancing against her already-slick folds, touching and caressing, working their way towards her clit. Robert kissed Olivia again and again, until she was breathless, only backing off out of concern for her concussion.

“We’ll go slow,” he said, guiding himself up against her soaking wet labia.

He rocked his hips against Olivia’s, pushing into her body slowly. Robert moaned as her inner muscles flexed around him in a spasm of pleasure, her body tightening as he filled her up. He paused with his hips flush to hers, giving Olivia a moment to savor the sensation, to recover from the wild flurry of her racing heart. He brushed his lips against the pulse point in her neck and began to move, thrusting slowly deeper and deeper inside of her.

Olivia wrapped her legs around his waist, her hands trailing over his back. Robert chuckled breathlessly as both of them winced at the flex and pull of their injuries—but neither of them stopped, too consumed with need to give up. 

Robert held back for as long as he could, reveling in the feeling of Olivia’s body wrapped around him, the way she twisted and shifted her hips underneath him, the feel of her hands trailing against his skin and the scent of her pheromones filling his nose; he didn’t want it to end.

They slowed to a near stop, Robert breathing steadily to fight back the urge to thrust hard and fast into the delicious, wet depths of the woman he loved. He knew that he had to be careful. “Okay,” Olivia said, her breathing beginning to ease into normal rhythm once more. “Okay, I’m okay. I swear to god if you don’t get me off, I am going to hurt you.”

Robert laughed, reaching down between their bodies and finding her clit by touch as he began to rock his hips once more, thrusting deeper and deeper inside of Olivia. She cried out, her thighs tightening around him, and Robert briefly forgot about the need to be careful—he began to thrust harder and faster, moaning and growling as the friction that built up between them brought him quickly to the edge of climax.

He was aware enough to want to hold back just long enough to bring Olivia off first. He heard her sharp, almost surprised cry, and felt her muscles flexing around him in erratic spasms as the first waves of pleasure rocked her; that was all it took to put Robert over the edge. He bit back the roar that formed in the back of his throat as the first hot, electric jolt of pleasure crackled through his nervous system, even as he continued to thrust mindlessly into Olivia’s trembling body.

After a few moments, Robert fell to her side, panting from his exertions, tingling all over with the pleasure that filled him.

“Remember,” Olivia said, still panting slightly. “Questions. Later. You’re not going to be able to put it off.” Robert chuckled breathlessly, pulling Olivia close; he would probably have to get dressed soon. The monitors likely showed that Olivia’s heart rate was elevated, and the nurses would be concerned.

“I will answer any questions you want,” he said, brushing his lips against hers. “As long as you’re willing to give me a chance to prove you’re the perfect mate for me.”

“Okay,” Olivia said, nodding slowly. “A chance is fair. But no more getting me abducted, okay?” Robert nodded.  “And no sex at work.” Robert laughed aloud, turning her face to meet her gaze.

Her lips twitched with a smile. “Okay, fine. Sex at work, but only in your office.” Robert kissed her hungrily, only too ready to continue proving to his mate that they were perfect for each other.