Lyle’s tiger chuffed. “Given me all the work yet still being second. Never first. I don’t think so, brother. Only one can be alpha. I want to shine in the light. I want everyone to see me and know that I’m the strongest, fastest, most powerful.”
“Lyle, no matter how good you are, there’s always someone better. Maybe not in the pride or town or state. But somebody will be bigger, have sharper claws, longer teeth. You have to accept who you are as you are and get on with life. You’re wasting it by trying to be someone else.”
Lyle launched at him, jaws open, ready to chomp down. Lake reared up on his hindquarters and swatted at the oncoming head, claws out. Blood slung off Lyle’s cheek as he crashed to the ground. Lake dove on top of his brother, pinning him on his back. Lyle tried to twist out from under him, but Lake kept his heavier weight centered on his opponent.
Lyle was able to get his head around far enough to bite Lake’s back leg, forcing him to move off. Lake stepped backward, eyes on the enemy. Thinking that made his heart hurt. He had grown up with Lyle, and they had shared more than normal siblings. They were twins with that special bond, only those who shared a womb had.
But now, it was life or death for him and his mate.
“Lyle, what were you thinking when you took my mate? Hold her for ransom. Force me to step down. As if the pride would readily accept you as the new alpha.”
Lyle lowered his head, still pushing Lake back. “Doesn’t matter now. The pride will accept me when they have no other to choose.”
“What, Lyle? You think I’m going away just to let you take over after all I’ve done for our people? To let you ruin it? I don’t think so.”
Lake dashed forward, smashing into his brother’s shoulder. They rolled; jaws biting and tearing; claws ripping and slicing. Lake swung his paw across Lyle’s stomach, leaving four bleeding horizontal lines. Lake just couldn’t kill his brother, no matter how angry he became. They were family.
Lyle crunched down on Lake’s back leg, not the least bit worried about the harm he caused. Lake yelped and fell back. He hobbled when standing. This wasn’t good.
“Not so big and strong are you now, Alpha? Feeling a little weak, perhaps.” Lyle snapped at him, once again pushing him backward. Was there any way he could stop this before one of them got killed?
“Lake,” he heard his mate’s sweet voice yelling to him, “stop. There’s a cliff behind you.”
He froze mid-step.
The other tiger’s smile and eyes turned wicked with hatred. So this was what Lyle was doing all this time. Sneaky bastard. Take him out without one bite or scratch on his part. Well, that wasn’t how he was going out. He loved his brother and wanted to work this anger out of him, but he wasn’t willing to die for him.
He leapt forward, tackling Lyle and rolling in the leaves and sticks on the forest floor. With his back leg broken, he couldn’t get to his feet as quickly as he wanted. Both he and his brother heaved for breath, standing among the trees.
Behind Lyle, Priscilla was inching closer, bush by bush. Dammit. What the hell was she thinking? Lyle could be on her in a blink. And then him on Lyle. What a train that would be. Lake stepped back, leading his brother away from the new alpha female of the pride. That was how he saw her and any aggressive move Lyle made toward her gave Lake the right to kill to protect his mate.
Lake lifted his nose to smell his mate’s fear. “Hold on, love. We’ll work this out-”
Distracted, Lake wasn’t ready for Lyle’s next attack. With only one rear leg, Lake flipped easily, but Lake wouldn’t let his brother keep him in the submissive role. He bit down on Lyle’s meaty shoulder, and they both rolled until pebbles pressed into Lake’s fur. They were on the edge of the cliff.
The ground vanished as he and Lyle threw each other over the drop.
Chapter Twenty-One
Priscilla sat in Lake’s Mercedes, watching the two tigers fight. It wasn’t the ideal place for safety, but it was better than standing in the snow. She couldn’t get inside the cabin without passing Lyle, so she’d stay where she was.
What could she do? Her phone! It was in the back seat. She crawled into the back and grabbed her clutch off the floorboard, and yanked out her phone. She dialed 911 or at least tried to. No signal. Her luck had run out when finding the stuck car to hide in on the driveway.
The two huge cats slashed claws at each other and bit whatever they could get their jaws around. She had no idea which cat was Lake. They were as identical as felines as they were humans. When they moved into the trees, she lost sight of them. That wouldn’t do. She wasn’t about to sit there and wait for one of them to come walking out.
But her feet were frozen, maybe even snow bitten. Then she remembered the clothing in the back of Lake’s car. And the wooly winter boots. She found the release button then hurried back to see what she had to work with. The first thing she saw was the boots. Perfect.
She slid them on, her foot barely over half the size, and tied the laces tightly around the top. With no wind, that was all she really needed. She hurried to catch up with the guys. She wouldn’t be much help, but maybe she could find a stick and then… what? Guess which cat to hit over the head? Shit.
She’d figure it out when she figured it out. Priscilla watched as the two tigers slinked through the woods, not fighting but staring each other down. Maybe they were communicating in their shifter way.
When they tangled again, she cringed at the sight and sounds. They were downright frightening to watch. She never wanted to be on the bad side of a big cat. She ran from tree to tree to keep the brothers in sight. Then she looked out a little farther and noted the forest suddenly stopped, opening to soaring vistas. Holy shit. The mountain ended.
Before she could think better of it, she yelled out that there was a cliff behind them. One–the cat stalking backward–was closer to the edge than the other. Please don’t let that be Lake, she prayed. She snuck closer to be there when she was needed...if she was needed.
The cold was seeping into her arms. With her adrenaline running high, she didn’t feel how the temperature was truly affecting her body. Dammit, she should’ve gotten a coat, but going into the cabin was the opposite direction of the guys. She’d be okay.
At the edge of the tree line, the tigers tangled again. She held her breath...they were too close to the edge. She saw it coming. Her feet carried her forward when her love and his brother disappeared over the edge.
She didn’t hear her scream until she sucked in a frozen breath, hurting her lungs. At the cliff, she dove to the ground, and Army crawled to the brink. Tears filled her eyes, making the world blur.
“Lake!” Her voice echoed in the complete stillness of the night. When she glanced down, she saw a shadow...or a black cat...clinging to the cliffside several feet down.
Oh shit. She had to save him. She frantically searched the area for a branch or something. Of course, there was nothing. So she whipped her dress off and twisted it to make the material stronger. She draped it over the side.
“Bite on this. I’ll help pull you up.”
The cat grasped the end of the dress in its mouth, and Priscilla put all her weight into dragging the animal up. The hikers she had on did a great job of keeping traction on the loose ground.
After a few steps, she heard the material rip. “Oh, damn. Come on, dress. Keep it together for a couple more seconds.” Stretching back, she was able to grab onto a low hanging branch, and she used that for extra tugging strength.
The dress tore more. Where the hell was the cat? It was still attached to her clothing, or she wouldn’t be pulling with so little success. “Hurry up,” she hollered between clenched teeth. She saw a paw’s claws reach over the top and dig into the ground. She let out a breath.
At that second, the fabric rent in two, and she stumbled, the too-large hikers tripping up her feet. She landed headfirst against a tree. As she lay on the cold dirt and snow, she glimpsed the tiger climb up and over. She didn’t know which br
other she helped to save, but she really wished to wake in Lake’s arms.
Then her world went dark.
* * *
Priscilla woke to a fire roaring feet from her face and sweat dripping across her forehead. They were back in the cabin but in the bedroom this time. She was spooned into another hot body, a sheet draped over both of them. The woodsy scent she loved about her mate filled her senses.
Lake.
He was the one she saved. She twisted to look over her shoulder. His sparkling eyes looked into hers. She threw her arm around him and squeezed him to her. “Oh my god, Lake. I was so scared...”
He pulled her against him. “Shh,” he whispered. “You’re safe and here with me.” They held each other quietly for a moment. Thankful for being alive. Then it hit her. If Lake was alive, that meant Lyle was dead. He had lost his brother over that cliff.
She pulled back. “Lake, I’m so sorry about Lyle. I know you loved him...”
He scooped her against him again. “I tried, but he refused to let me. He was filled with a hatred that didn’t let him see anything past it.”
“I almost lost you, Lake.”
“And I almost lost you,” he replied, his voice low.
She leaned back. “How did you find us? We are way the hell out here.”
A soft smile played on his lips. “What did I do the last time I lost my car?”
She gaped at him. “The ‘find your car app’ on your phone.”
He leaned forward and kissed her. “You’re so smart, my love.”
She rolled her eyes. “Right. And the next time you have an identical twin, let me know beforehand. Okay?”
She returned his kiss, pushing back his shoulder, so she lay on top of him. Definitely time to let her alpha out.
Chapter Twenty-Two
She sat in his lap facing him, her legs wrapped around his waist, and her hands working their way under his shirt. His heart beat beneath her hand while she rubbed his chest. This man was hers, and she was going to make sure he knew just how happy that fact made her.
She slid his shirt up over his body, over his head and arms and laid it beside them. She then slid out of the remaining scraps of clothing she had on and pushed him back onto the mattress.
She kissed up his chest and flicked his nipples with her tongue as she floated on his groans of pleasure. He lifted his hips to grind his hard cock into the apex of her heat. Reaching down, she took his hardness in her hand through his pants and gave it a gentle squeeze. His hands encased her waist and he began pulling her closer.
Breaths rushed out of her lungs, and desire bloomed brightly in her chest. She wanted him oh-so-bad. He brought his mouth down over hers. His gaze roamed over her body with indescribable need. He cupped her breast and sucked on her nipple. Her body shuddered, and she moaned. Her pussy turned instantly slick from that first suck.
“Lake!”
He lifted his head, his bright eyes eating her up. “That’s it. Let your body show me how much you want this. Me.”
“God.” She gulped. “I need you so much.”
He licked his lips. “Really?” He pushed her thighs apart and took a deep breath. “I know, love. I can smell how bad you need me.”
She pressed her lips together and inhaled slowly. “I won’t lie. I have never been this turned on until I met you.”
He got on his knees on the bed and ripped his shirt off. Then he reached for his belt, undid it, and the pants came off.
“Like what you see?”
She nodded slowly. “I do. A lot.”
He grinned and palmed his cock. Her breath hitched, and her throat went bone-dry. “Holy…wow!”
She licked her lips and watched him sprawled himself over her, holding her with his body and letting her feel his hardness.
“You want me, love. I feel the heat of your pussy and the sleekness of your body calling my name.”
She slid her hands up his sides. “I…do.” She blinked. “Do you want me?”
He kissed her chin. “Want? No, baby. I need you. Every inch of you. I can’t fucking breathe without imagining driving my cock into you. I can’t think without a random image of your sexy curves making me forget what I am doing.” He groaned, rocking his hips between her thighs and pressing his cock to her entrance. “I am fighting my tiger from taking control and making you ours in the most basic animalistic ways.”
She slid her fingers into his hair, pulling him down until their lips pressed together. Passion fired up her blood. She sucked on his lip and his tongue, nipping and licking and giving all she had.
She scored her nails down his arms and back. He pressed into her, the head of his cock slipping between her pussy lips and finding his way home into her sex.
“God, YES!” she screamed.
Tilting her hips, she wiggled to allow him better entrance and encourage him to move.
“Fuck, baby. You’re so slick and hot.”
“You feel so good,” she moaned.
He pushed forward at that moment, filling her so completely that she groaned out a long breath. “Perfection.”
She wiggled under him. “Lake...”
He jerked back and drove hard, pressing her body deep into the bed. She widened her legs, needing a deeper connection with him. Hunger snapped at her core, seizing her focus. Him. Her. That is all there was. A slip and slide of his body over hers, driving the tension higher and higher.
She dug her nails into the curve of his ass, drawing his body deeper. He drove deep at an almost punishing pace, his body repeatedly slamming into hers. She held on to him, unable to do more than grab a slight breath every few seconds. The passion inside threatened to break free, cracking the tension building at her core.
He sucked on her bottom lip, biting down on her mouth and then growling by her neck. His cock plunged deeper and deeper. She gasped and groaned, her body silently begging for more.
Her belly trembled with every thrust. Her pussy clutched at his cock, holding him tight against her walls. Tension snapped inside her. Pleasure bathed over her in cool waves of bliss. She gasped multiple breaths, trying to get her lungs to work.
Then he was flipping her onto her belly. His cock drove into her so fast she barely realized what was happening. The switch had her clutching at the bedding and crying his name. Her pussy contracted around his cock, jerking him hard. He tensed. He licked the curve of her neck. Every thrust he made turned shallow and jerky until he didn’t move anymore. Her body continued riding her tidal wave of joy when he breathed into her hair, gripping the strands hard in his fists.
He licked the back of her neck down to her shoulder. “I have been counting the minutes until I could bite you and make you mine. Until I could come inside you.”
“Oh, god,” she moaned.
He bit down on her shoulder, his body tense at her back. Then he was filling her body with his semen. A hot shudder raced up her back.
They fell over on the bed. They laid there as they both tried to regain their breathing.
He continued to kiss her shoulders and back as he held her with a possession she had never seen in any man.
“Wow, I didn’t know a body could feel that way,” Priscilla said as she rolled over to face him. “Thank you, Lake.”
“I love you, Priscilla. You are the only one for me.”
She swallowed at the emotions clogging her throat. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I love you too, Lake. I love you.”
He held her tight. “Marry me, Priscilla. Let me put a ring on your finger and share our love with everyone.”
“Marry you? Do you need to get married to be mated?” Pris sat up and held his hand.
“Normally no, but I am in love with you, I want to give you a wedding, I want the world to see how much I love you. Can we, will you marry me?”
Laying on top of him quickly, she pushed him back to the floor and kissed him over and over. “Oh my god, Lake, yes...yes...yes. I will marry you. I have never been this happy, and it’
s all because of you.”
“Oh baby, you’re my dream, you’re perfect, and I’m so happy right now. I’m not sure I can resist taking you again.” Lake stated with love lacing his voice.
“Then take me, take me now and forever, my love.”
Epilogue
Gerri smiled at all the guests that showed up to her party. For a moment there, Lyle had almost ruined her reputation of a one hundred percent matching rate. Now, all was right in the world. She knew Lake and Priscilla had mated.
“Did Priscilla come back?” Maya asked, glancing around.
“No, love.” Noah chuckled. “From the grin on Gerri’s face, I would say they’re busy making their first set of kittens.”
Gerri laughed and tapped Noah on the arm. “He’s not wrong.”
Maya giggled. “Wow, Gerri. Look at all the couples you’ve set up. Earth, Nova Aurora and Galaxa. These are a lot of matings.”
Gerri’s heart was full from all the love in the massive mansion. “Yeah. And knowing all the children in the other room are products of my matches makes me giddy.”
“It should,” Vikter Dragos, a dragon from Nova Aurora, grumbled, walking up to them with his wife, Becca. “By the way, my girls are driving your poor staff crazy.”
Becca punched him in the side. “Our girls aren’t that bad.”
“Evil,” Vikter whispered. “One was hanging off a gingerbread man and the other was trying to climb on one of the candy houses.”
Gerri chuckled at the image of the small dragonglings up to no good. “They can do whatever they want in their side.”
“I really like this side,” Noah told her and hugged Gerri to his side. “The winter wonderland theme really went above and beyond this year. The snow flakes all over. The white trees. I feel like we’re in the forest inside.”
“I know,” Maya sighed with a grin. “I love it.”
Scrooged Over: Paranormal Dating Agency Page 10
