Savage Claim: Lion Hearts Book Two

by Lane, Cecilia

  “I don’t need a babysitter, Lin.”

  He snorted. “You’ve been saying that since you were twelve.”

  “It’s as true now as it was then.” She flashed a quick smile that didn’t touch her eyes or scent. “Let me breathe. You can make me dinner later. Deal?”

  Lindley took a step back. As cubs, she used to take a deep breath to quiet her tears. The request to be alone was the same calming moment to sort through the wreckage and make a plan.

  If that was what she needed, he’d give it to her. “Deal.”

  He was down the stairs when he heard a quiet, “Hey, Lin?”

  “Yeah?” He turned as Sage barreled into his chest and squeezed him with a tight hug.

  “Thank you.”

  Just as quick, she spun on her heel and dashed inside, closing the door behind her with a quiet click.

  Movement flashed from the corner of his eye and he whirled to catch a white lion slink back into the afternoon shadows.

  Lindley touched his fingers to his forehead and continued his too long and too short journey to his den.

  Kyla jumped to her feet as soon as he stepped through the door.

  “Is she settled?” she asked, anxiously twisting her fingers.

  Lindley nodded. He couldn’t look at her. Couldn’t stand to see the disgust on her features.

  Entirely opposite his shame, his lion roared for her. To hold her. To taste her.

  To claim her.

  “Should I go over there?” she added after a loaded moment.

  “She wants to be alone,” he said finally, voice thick.

  The drive back to Bearden had been long and silent except for the radio updates. Fifteen SEA office attacks avoided. Shifters still on the loose. Threats cleared, but Agency spokesman still suggests caution.

  With all the glances shot his way, Lindley knew he’d been the one to make everyone uncomfortable. And rightly so. He’d put them in the center of a trap, then sprung it closed.

  He’d saved them, but at what cost? He’d proved he was as savage as his father, the man prepared to sell them into mating bonds and servitude they didn’t want.

  That wasn’t a man deserving of anything but the darkness he carried in his heart.

  But holy fuck had it felt nice seeing Roland and Jasper hauled away in silver. He almost wanted to get on the Shiftermax visitor’s list just to see his old man locked up behind bars, silver around his throat, the same as they made Sage and others wear.

  Kyla’s lips turned down as she continued twisting her fingers. “This was on me,” she started in a rush. “I wanted to be helpful and I got myself captured. I’ll understand if you want me to leave after putting you and your pride in danger.”

  “What?” Lindley snapped his attention to her and saw her. Really saw her. Guilt strained her features and colored her scent. She wanted to leave? A growl rattled in his throat. His lion battered him to make things right. “You wouldn’t have even been there if I hadn’t run off like an idiot.”

  “You wouldn’t have been goaded into that if I’d gone anywhere else and left your pride alone,” she insisted.

  “Clearly, this could have all been avoided if you hadn’t kissed me all those years ago,” he said wryly.

  “What are you talking about? You kissed me!” She narrowed her eyes. “I’m trying to apologize and you’re talking nonsense.”

  He spread his hands wide. “I’m just following your lead.”

  She let off an indignant huff before flying across the room and wrapping him in another hug he didn’t deserve. “I was scared, Lin,” she whispered, burying her face against his chest.

  He was sick of hearing her say that and felt even sicker at being the cause.

  “I didn’t want my last memory of you to be throwing a pillow at your face and telling you to go to sleep.”

  “Instead, you tried to make sure it was me being gutted like a fish.” Lindley snorted. “Vast improvement.”

  “It was in poor taste to take all the revenge for yourself.” She pulled away. “Lin, last night…”

  He hung his head, knowing what she was going to say. He’d fought hard. Viciously. The same as any of the lions she’d grown up to despise. She’d called him just another Levine male, and he proved her right. “I know. If you really want to leave, I won’t stop you.”

  His lion would tear him apart. He’d probably go insane. But anything was better than watching the light in her eyes dim and dim until it finally died.

  “You don’t need another Levine male in your life,” he added, voice rough.

  “You’re an idiot, Lindley Levine.”

  He jerked his head to meet her eyes.

  “You could have gone for him the moment that door sprang open. Instead, you shoved me and Sage toward the stairs. You gave Roland your back to get us to safety.” She crossed her arms and shook her head. “You’re not like him, Lindley. You’ve never been like him. You care too much to be like him. And right now, you’re acting like an idiot.”

  Lindley stared at her, completely at a loss for words. His lion slashed at his insides and tried to steal control. Something, anything, except the silence that held his tongue.

  Kyla’s lips twitched and his face broke into a grin.

  “Your idiot. You make me stupid, Kyla Durant.”

  “And here I thought that was just natural ability.”

  “Maybe,” he murmured, stepping closer. “Maybe it’s all you.”

  Her breath hitched. She held her ground and tilted her head to meet his eyes. “You’re not joking anymore.”

  “No,” he shook his head. “I’m not. I want you, Kyla. I told you before I thought I could let you walk away. Last night, nearly losing you, didn’t make me question you. I questioned myself. I still do. But you? You’re the one thing clear as day.”

  She soothed him. His lion felt steady and centered with her in his arms, and fractured without her. Those sickening ticks of the clock between Roland hitting her and seeing her rise to her feet had torn him apart. Then again, when he’d tried to maul her when she dared come back for him. Lindley never wanted to see her in danger again.

  He cupped her cheek and leaned close. “I want to make you my queen,” he breathed against her lips.

  The kick of her heartbeat right before he connected their kiss sounded like an angelic chorus opening above him.

  He sipped at her slowly, steadily, savoring her taste. He didn’t care when. Now, later. A year in the future. Some arbitrary date that lined up with moon phases and palindromes. He just wanted her. Forever.

  Kyla wound her arms around his neck. She nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “Make me your mate.”

  Thank fuck.

  He ran his hands down her back and pulled her flush with his frame. Her lips parted under his, and he kissed her with rough, deep strokes of his tongue. The tiny groans he swallowed down circled fire through his body, down his spine, into his balls.

  Her sweet apple scent thickened, deepened, grew heavier with her arousal. Lindley groaned. He needed the taste of her on his tongue.

  Hands on her waist, he backed her down the hall and toward the bed. She sank down as soon as the backs of her knees hit the mattress. He followed her in a tangle of limbs and a clash of teeth that made them both huff a laugh.

  This was living. Loving. He wanted hours. Days. A lifetime.

  Lindley grabbed the bottom of her shirt and dragged it upward. A note of pleasure rumbled in his chest when she leaned up to help it off. Her bra followed, and he lowered his mouth to capture her nipple between his lips.

  Kyla arched into him, offering more of herself even as her fingers splayed over the back of his head and held him close. A purr vibrated through her so softly he thought he’d missed it. Until he thumbed her other nipple and heard it rattle again.

  “Sexy, sexy kitty cat,” he growled, kissing a path down her chest. He popped the button of her jeans and rolled them down her hips, hooking his thumbs in her panties as he went.
<
br />   A hand on each of her thighs spread her for him. “Fuck, sweetheart,” he groaned even before he bent his head. The wet glisten of her sex made his cock throb.

  “Lin,” Kyla breathed her demand.

  Another groan punched past his lips as he licked into her. Kyla threaded her fingers into his hair. The slight sting of pain turned his groan into a pleased growl.

  He liked her demanding. He wanted her needy.

  He caught her clit between his lips and sucked. Rough flicks of his tongue turned her breath ragged in his ears. More and more, then an easing off, he held her right on a knife’s edge. Part of him wanted to stay there forever, making her come again and again until her legs wouldn’t work.

  His lion savaged him. The beast wanted more.

  He wanted more, too.

  Lindley slid his fingers into Kyla with a growl. Her mouth dropped open with a low moan as she writhed against him, climax dusting her cheeks and chest with a darker pink.

  Gorgeous. Fucking gorgeous.

  And all his.

  In one quick move, he crawled up her body and melded his mouth with hers as he drove into her, riding the wave of her throbbing release on a hoarse growl.

  * * *

  Kyla stared into Lindley’s eyes. Bright, bright copper glowed in the center, but there was more to the color than just his inner animal. More than words could describe. Pure emotion. Loving, caring, the right amount of possessive. Everything played out over his face as he held himself still inside her.

  He was man, beast, and hers.

  They’d fought. Against each other and their enemies. They’d won, too. Over each other and their enemies. Together, they could do anything.

  He looked at her and made her feel adored and important.

  Then he started to move.

  Kyla gasped at the friction only a fraction of an inch created. Warmth spread through her, igniting, steadily burning. He rocked his hips and exploded more sensation within her. She doubted it’d ever be any different with him, her mate.

  So big. So powerful. He was the strength she needed when she forgot what she could do for herself. The one who made her laugh even when the rest of the world looked dark and grim.

  Slowly, he retreated, then thrust hard into her again, pressing his forehead to her shoulder. His breath crashed against her skin, sending delicious shivers down her spine.

  Each retreat and return picked up pace, leaving her gasping for air and writhing for more. Sweat dotted his skin as his abs flexed and moved with each drive into her. Kyla nipped his skin and groaned at the salty-sweet taste that hit her tongue.

  More.

  His lips crashed against hers again in a devouring kiss. Hard and demanding, with the sweetest edge that was all Lindley. She tasted every side of him as he stroked her with his tongue and his cock, pushing, shoving, urging her faster and faster toward the final edge.

  His thrusts turned shallow, a tease after being filled so completely. A hand slid down between their bodies, his thumb sliding through her curls to find her clit. She shivered, pressure building in her middle, chanting his name.

  “Come for me, sweetheart,” he growled, voice thick and gravelly. “Come for me. Let me make you mine.”

  She arched against him, hand going to the back of his head. “Lindley,” she whimpered.

  It wasn’t enough. Wouldn’t ever be enough. Not until she had what she wanted.

  She wanted him.

  Pain flashed through her, then pure pleasure ricocheted off her every cell. Her blood simmered in her veins as she cried out, shattering into a thousand pieces.

  Still not enough.

  She whimpered again, her mouth closing over his shoulder. Gums aching, she gave herself over to the instinct barreling through her.

  Lindley slammed into her a last time, roar hot on his lips, hips jerking against her. Warmth filled her with every throb of his release as her own pleasure tipped her over the edge again.

  Awareness returned with a sense of warmth. Her limbs and lids felt heavy, even while her brain buzzed like she’d downed straight shots of espresso for her last three meals.

  Lindley slowly dragged his tongue over the fresh mark on her shoulder. “That looks good on you,” he murmured, planting another kiss on her sensitive skin.

  Kyla shivered as a bolt of desire slammed down her spine. Holy heck. She could get used to that.

  She rolled to her side and traced the matching mark on his skin. “I like yours, too.”

  Lindley twined their fingers together and held them in place over his heart. His beat matched the one that kicked in her chest.

  Kyla closed her eyes and sank into the feeling of knowing right where she belonged.

  Epilogue

  Kyla sat on the front steps of her den with Sage on one side and a big, blue cooler on the other. Anticipation jangled her nerves and she bounced her knee under the blanket she shared with her friend. She and Sage would be attending their first Crowley pride dinner, and they’d been given one job: procure the beer.

  No cooking. No serving. They weren’t even responsible for setting up, though that was going about as well as asking a goldfish to pop a bottle cap. For reasons she still didn’t quite understand, the meal needed to be held out in the middle of the yard rather than inside any of the dens, and each attending household needed to supply either table or chairs.

  When she’d tried to ask, Hailey had simply pointed to a stack of firewood and told her, “Those used to be picnic tables.” Kyla took that as a sign to stop asking questions.

  “All right, bad cats, ten minute warning. Who wants enchiladas?” Hailey shouted as she backed through the door. The excitement died on her face when she turned around and glared at the snow in the yard. “Uhm, pretty kitties,” she asked in a sickly sweet voice that Kyla had learned meant trouble. “Why isn’t the snow shoveled and where are my tables?”

  “Well,” Dash began.

  “That better not be an excuse forming on your lips, Dominic.”

  Dash frowned and picked up the shovel leaning against his truck. “I hate when you call me that,” he muttered as he started clearing the snow.

  “We have the drinks ready to go,” Kyla yelled. She knocked her knuckles against the cooler at her side.

  Hailey whipped around and drew finger guns on her. “My favorite ladies. Why can’t the rest of you be as awesome and on task as they are?”

  “Because they were given the easy job,” Dash griped.

  Hailey narrowed her eyes. “You have an opinion, Dominic?”

  “No,” he told the snow under his boots.

  “Good,” she huffed and stomped back inside.

  Behind Kyla, the door creaked open. “Is she terrorizing everyone again?” Lindley asked with a nod across the yard.

  “Not us.” Kyla grinned and swirled her finger in the air to include herself and Sage. “We did our job.”

  Lindley snorted and disappeared back into their den.

  Her lioness purred at the idea. Without thinking, Kyla brought her fingers to her shoulder. She couldn’t feel her mate mark under the layers of clothes, but knowing it was there was enough to send the butterflies in her stomach into flight. Another smile broke out over her face, big enough to make her cheeks hurt.

  “So you and my brother, huh?” Sage asked in a soft voice.

  “Yeah,” Kyla answered, not quite meeting Sage’s look. “Me and your brother.” Her smile fell and she turned to fully face Sage. “That’s not going to be weird, is it? I mean, no putting the genie back in that bottle, but maybe we should have asked? Talked it over? You’ve been my best friend for a thousand years. And he’s—”

  “Been your crush for about as long.” Sage nudged her with her shoulder. “I’m happy for you. It’s about time something went right.”

  That blessing meant the world to her. Kyla threw her arms around Sage and rocked with her in a bundled up hug.

  Her friend was safe. They had a new home. They’d watched lionesses like Pris
cilla be reunited with their friends and family. The world was looking a little brighter every day. She just wanted Sage to believe it, too.

  “You’re my sister for real now,” she told her.

  “We’ve always been sisters,” Sage said just as softly. “You’re the best sister anyone could have.”

  The door opened again. Lindley strode for the porch railing in nothing but sunglasses, boxers, and unlaced work boots.

  “What are you doing?” Kyla asked when the shock loosened her tongue.

  “Sunbathing,” he answered as if they weren’t surrounded by a snowy landscape. He flung himself over the railing and went for his truck.

  “Ugh, put some clothes on.” Sage mimed gagging. “No one wants to see that.”

  “It’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” Lindley sniped back.

  “When I was five! There’s a world of difference between swimming as kids and whatever obscenity this is!”

  Lindley shook out his lawn chair. The broken straps whipped against his bare legs. When the poor thing refused to cooperate, he growled and slammed a fist against the stuck bar. With a creak of protest, the chair finally took shape and he eased himself into the misshapen monstrosity.

  “You don’t know what you’re missing,” he insisted, opening up the trifold visor.

  “Go on,” Sage said. “The big baby is feeling neglected.”

  “I can hear you,” Lindley said coolly from his chair. He wiggled further into place and adjusted the visor.

  Kyla exchanged a look with Sage, then threw the blanket off her lap and hopped down the stairs. A second later, she curled up against Lindley and laughed at the hiss he made when her chilly hands touched his chest.

  “Hi,” she whispered.

  He pulled his sunglasses down his nose as a lazy smile hitched up one corner of his lips. “Hey.”

  “This is awful cozy.”

  He wrapped his arms around her. A low purr rumbled in his chest, immediately causing her own lioness to roll through her. “The better to lure you,” he said in a seductive voice.

  And shoved a handful of snow in her face.

  “You monster!” she screeched. She tried to get away, but he held her fast, laughing the entire time.