Hour of the Lion

by Cherise Sinclair

  "Cariad, did not Heather tell you about Daonain‘s customs?" Calum asked, his brows together.

  "Uh. Yes." She tried to remember what Heather had said, but Alec ran his hand up her arm and flattened his palm on her shoulder…just above her left breast. Her nipples tightened.

  Calum stroked a finger down her cheek and over her lower lip. "Your heart is pounding, little cat. You‘ve flushed, and I can smell your arousal. Your human mind may say it‘s wrong, but your shifter body wants us."

  His eyes had turned to a molten gray that held her gaze captive as he cupped his big hand over her breast. When his thumb circled the nipple, everything inside her burst into flame. The corners of his eyes crinkled with satisfaction. He glanced at his brother.

  "Vixen." Alec cupped her chin, turning her face toward him, and his mouth closed over hers.

  His kiss lured her in, teased her into responding, and filled her with warmth.

  The mattress dipped as Calum sat up and cupped her breasts. His touch was firm as his fingers rolled the nipples, the pressure increasing, then he pinched the tips. She jolted with the sharp pain, and electricity seared straight to her groin. She choked back a moan.

  Alec lifted his head, eyes hot with desire, yet dancing with amusement. "I‘ve never met a woman so reluctant to be pleased."

  "That‘s not true." She tried to sit up, and Calum‘s hand between her breasts flattened her back on the bed.

  "Oh, it‘s quite true," Calum said. "You enjoy sex, but you‘re afraid to give up control.

  Seems we‘ve been through this before in the cave." He lifted her face with a finger under her chin, fixing her with that look again, the one that turned her muscles to jelly. "We both know you enjoy submitting to me, don‘t we?"

  A tremor ran down her spine. She managed a tiny nod.

  "Victoria, do you have any objection to making love with us both?"

  Put up or shut up, Sergeant. But God, she wanted them—wanted them both. If that made her a shifter slut, then so be it. "No, sir." The ‗sir‘ just slipped out, a reaction to him jumping into officer mode.

  A crease appeared in his cheek as he smiled, the amusement in his eyes showing he‘d heard her slip. "Then with Alec‘s assistance, I will continue your lessons on releasing control."

  He raised her arms over her head and bracketed her wrists with one hand, pinning them to the mattress. Since his weight was also resting on that arm, she tugged playfully, thinking she‘d get free easily. His grip was like iron. Unbreakable. She pulled harder. Her breath shifted, increased. He‘d pinned her down in the cave in various ways…but now? With Alec?

  "Calum," she whispered, anxiety pulling at her, even as her temperature rose. Her breasts throbbed, her clit pulsing in time with her heartbeat.

  "Shhh, you‘re safe with us, cariad," he nuzzled her cheek, and then glanced at Alec. "I believe I‘ll stay here."

  "Works for me." Alec slid down in the bed, and she felt his calloused hands pulling her legs apart.

  "Calum…" She tugged on her wrists again as her arousal rose terrifyingly fast.

  "Yes, little cat," Calum said, and took her lips in a demanding kiss. His tongue ravaged her mouth and drove every thought out of her head such that Alec‘s fingers sliding into her folds came as a surprise. Her back arched as she gasped.

  She tensed, pulled at her arms, tried to close her legs…without success. Hard hands pushed her thighs more open, and Alec licked over her clit, one long stroke of warning. As she moaned, satisfaction glimmered in Calum‘s dark gaze,

  Alec‘s chuckle vibrated against her, then his tongue flicked over her clit, the demand obvious, unstoppable. Blood inexorably rushed to her pussy as he continued. Oh God, I"m going to come. She tensed as the pressure built to an unbearable level.

  His tongue abandoned the top and circled the sides of the sensitive nub. Leaving her on the edge of a climax.

  Calum smiled at Alec and lowered his head to kiss her breasts. When his warm lips closed over a nipple, her back arched. Alec‘s hands tightened on her thighs, Calum‘s on her wrists and shoulder, both keeping her where they wanted her. The feeling that she couldn‘t do anything, couldn‘t keep anything back seemed to release something wild trapped inside her.

  Calum was watching her as if to check her response. Now he smiled, touching her cheek with light fingers. "I see you enjoy being restrained, little female. Then we will continue." The dark promise in his low voice left a trail of need in its wake.

  He bent to suck on her nipples. Each time he nipped her lightly, a jolt of heat shot through her. And Alec used his wicked tongue, a slow slide around her clit, then his teeth closed on her folds in a light bite. Her breasts and labia became almost painfully swollen and sensitive.

  Too much. Too many sensations, too demanding. Her head started to spin as the demands overcame her defenses.

  A finger swirled at her entrance, then pushed inside, the friction wakening every nerve deep in her pelvis. Her hips tried to rise, a hand pressed her down.

  The finger slid in and out, and then Alec added another one.

  "I can‘t," she gasped, her world narrowing until only one sensation remained.

  Calum rubbed his cheek over hers. His voice was rough and deep. "You can, cariad. You will take everything we can give you."

  A bite on her tender inner thigh yanked her attention back to Alec. His fingers set up a compelling rhythm, sweeping away her sanity. As her whole lower half turned into one over-sensitive nerve, she was drowning in sensation. When Calum bit her nipple and laved away the pain, she could only whimper.

  Alec lifted his head. She opened her eyes as Calum nodded at him.

  Alec‘s lips closed over her clit, Calum‘s over one nipple, and they sucked, both of them, pulling at her, tongues swirling. Nothing could stand under that. She shattered into pleasure, the explosion tearing apart the stockade holding her defenses. Freeing her to simply feel. Wave after wave of pleasure ripped upward, streaming through her veins in a hot rush until she felt as if she glowed.

  Calum lifted his head, and he caught her gaze, holding it as Alec licked her clit in one slow stroke. She spasmed again, then went limp, totally spent, as if her muscles had drained away and puddled on the floor.

  The grip around her wrists disappeared, and Calum took her mouth, deeply. Sweetly.

  "You‘re very beautiful, cariad."

  The bed jiggled, then Alec kissed her slowly in his way, like he had nothing more important to do. After a time, long enough that her heart rate returned to almost normal, he lifted his head.

  "Thank you, Vixen. I enjoyed that."

  She sighed and opened her eyes. Two tough killers, yet their expressions held such approval that warmth filled her. "God, I‘ve never…um." Why was this difficult to spit out?

  "Go on, little cat," Calum said.

  Fine. "I‘ve never felt like that before. Or come so hard."

  "I can‘t say knowing that bothers me any." Alec grinned.

  "Asshole." Her brain had started to seep back into her skull. "What about… You didn‘t…"

  Calum lifted her hand to his mouth and nibbled on her fingertips, giving her tingles like a Fourth of July sparkler. "We will. But you‘re exhausted. Sleep first, cariad." He gave her a look that didn‘t help her breathing any. "We want you alert when we"—he grinned at Alec—"take our turn."

  "Oh sure, as if I can sleep after this."

  They both simply smiled at her, as if amused. Alec‘s hand moved slowly up and down her stomach, petting her like a cat.

  And before she could fight it, she felt herself sliding down into sleep.

  Chapter Twenty

  A whisper in his ear woke Calum.

  "I think it‘s your turn now." Soft lips grazed his cheek, and gentle fingers ran through his hair.

  He looked up into her lovely eyes. Sometimes copper-colored, sometimes golden brown with arousal, like now. "Victoria."

  She grinned, mischief in her face, and he had a moment of joy in her recov
ery before her fingers closed around his cock, bringing him to immediate arousal.

  "Hell of a way to wake up," Alec muttered, and Calum realized she‘d knelt between them and had captured Alec‘s shaft as well.

  "And what do you plan to do with us now, little cat?" By Herne, she was a worthy shifter, a woman warrior with a tender heart. He stroked her cheek, cherishing the way she tipped her head into his palm.

  A frown appeared between her eyebrows, and she released them. "I-I‘m not sure. How do we do this?"

  Alec gave him a laughing glance before smiling up at her. "You‘re going to have to work up to some of the fun, but for right now…" With the speed and strength of a cahir, Alec grabbed her wrists and pulled her forward, pinning one hand on each side of his hips, with her knees still in the center of the bed, now against the outside of his right thigh. His cock rose toward her as if catching her scent. "Brawd?"

  Smiling at her startled expression, Calum moved behind her. Her firm ass was in the air, the fragrance of her arousal hardening him further. He could have positioned her with touch, but the animal in him reveled at the way she‘d submit to his voice alone. "Open your legs to me, cariad,"

  he said softly.

  A shiver made her breasts jiggle, and then her knees edged apart. He remained silent, unmoving, and she widened farther.

  He knelt between her open legs and ran his hands up and down her back, outlining her lean muscles. A lioness, she was, even before becoming to a shifter. Our cat. He moved lower.

  Between her legs, her cunt was slippery and swollen, ready for his use.

  Her breath hitched as he gently stroked each side of her clit until it firmed under his light touch. She grew wetter.

  "I want your mouth on Alec, little cat," Calum said. "He‘ll give you one hand back."

  Alec grinned and opened his grip on her left hand. She balanced over him on her right arm, with his hand still braceleting that wrist. He glanced at Calum, eyes filled with pleasure and heat—and amusement.

  In the Daonain, sometimes a littermate would resent the dominant one, but Alec wasn‘t one of them. He simply enjoyed.

  Victoria‘s freed hand closed around Alec‘s thick cock.

  Calum heard his sharp inhalation. She took his brother in her mouth, pulling him deep, and Calum‘s shaft pulsed as if in envy. Alec tangled his fingers in her hair and sighed. "Damn, Vixen."

  She set up a steady rhythm, licking and sucking, the sounds enough to drive a male wild.

  Calum swirled his cock in her juices, then entered slowly. Hot and wet and as welcoming as the little wiggle she gave. The need to possess, to keep her, rose in him like a flood, and he fought it. There would be no lifemating until after a shifter‘s first Gathering.

  But the rules said nothing about ties of pleasure, did they? Smiling, Calum put light kisses up her spine, leaning forward to balance on one arm. When he closed his teeth on the delicate muscle of her nape, her pussy clenched around his cock. Her back curved down to put her hips higher—welcoming his use.

  He caught the flash of Alec‘s delighted grin before his brawd tightened his hand in her hair.

  "Harder, Vixen."

  Reminded, she increased her pace, her rhythm breaking when Alec abandoned her wrist to fondle her breasts. Her breath held a low moan which she cut off.

  Still fighting. If there was ever a female who needed to be controlled and overwhelmed with sensation, it was this one. Calum slid his shaft out slowly, then back in, rotating his hips to find the sweet spot. Low, he remembered from their time in the cave. It took a few more exploratory thrusts before her insides softened, while the outside ring of muscle clamped onto him like a wrench. Right there. He angled himself to rub over the spot with every slow stroke.

  Her ass muscles tightened and soon, she moaned, long and low.

  Alec laughed, tugging her head forward to keep her moving, while he played with her nipples, rolling them, pinching lightly.

  Calum could almost see her thoughts fragmenting. He kept his movements slow and easy.

  "Suck Alec hard, little cat. Get him off now." He gave his brother a nod to go ahead.

  Alec fisted both hands in her hair, guiding her. She sucked noisily, taking him deeper. Soon Alec growled a warning, pulling her head down for his release. As his hips strained upward, she swallowed frantically. Alec fell back with a long, happy sigh. His grip on her loosened.

  Victoria made a "mmm" sound of satisfaction and brought him down gently with little licks as she stroked his stomach.

  Her sweet side came out when she had sex, Calum had noticed, and it touched his heart.

  Alec tugged her hair. "Thank you, sweetheart. You were magnificent."

  Calum waited for her to catch her breath, then met Alec‘s eyes. As most shifters, they‘d shared often through the years, yet nothing had felt so…right…before. As if Victoria fit perfectly between them. His brother grinned as Calum gripped her hips and surged into her. No longer slow and easy. He needed to take her, and he did, hard and deep, rubbing his cock over the sweet spot with each stroke.

  Her thighs started to tremble, and a low keening came from her. Not nearly enough.

  Alec bent and slid his head under her so he could suck on her dangling breasts. She shivered, and her pussy clenched on Calum‘s cock. Her hips pushed back against him, matching his rhythm. Not yet.

  Calum released his grip on her right hip and reached around her waist. His finger wandered down her low abdomen and lower to rub her slippery clit.

  She went rigid, and he grinned.

  Alec apparently nipped for she yelped and tried to pull up. Instead of permitting it, Calum pushed her knees farther apart, increasing her helplessness, then drove into her, harder, faster, teasing her clit with each thrust.

  Her whole body went tight, and her pussy closed around him like a fist. Her every breath held a whine of appeal and then her breathing stopped entirely—and he knew her world had poised…right there…waiting for his touch.

  He hummed, knowing Alec would hear and increase his attentions, and then Calum took her clit between his fingers, giving it firm, unrelenting pressure as he slammed into her.

  A hard shudder ran through her, and she wailed her release—the most beautiful sound in the world—each broken cry corresponding to the forceful clenching of her orgasm around his cock.

  The buffeting sent him over. He grabbed her hips with both hands, stroking her deep, letting himself go as he growled and filled her with his seed. May Herne and the Mother bless them someday with young.

  Silence for a minute. Her head hung low, her ribs heaving with her gasps. Calum kissed her neck, and then pulled her over onto her side, staying behind her—in her. Alec shifted around to sandwich her between them. With a sigh of contentment, she wiggled slightly to snuggle closer.

  As their mate laid her head in the hollow of Alec‘s shoulder, Alec gave Calum a sleepy, joyful smile and a murmur of sound that translated to ours.

  *

  Calum remained awake. As the curtains brightened with the dawn, he simply lay and watched the other two sleep, feeling the rightness of their joining. When Victoria tensed in a dream, Calum murmured to her, stroking her shoulder, and she eased, her breathing slowing again. She trusted him, even at her most vulnerable. I"ll take care with your heart, little cat.

  When sunlight showed beneath the curtains in the bedroom, Calum slipped out of the bed, took a quick shower, and made himself tea.

  In the living room, Jamie still slept on the couch. The two knee-high brownies in the corner bobbed their heads at his quiet ‗thank you‘ and disappeared. He‘d have to buy them some extra-rich cream and maybe one of Angie‘s pastries to reward them for their vigilance.

  He settled beside his daughter, sipped his tea, and simply watched her. Doing that a lot recently, wasn‘t he? But he‘d come so close to losing them all.

  With a careful touch, he brushed her hair from her freckled cheeks. Aside from a few scratches and bruises, she‘d survived the fi
ght in fine shape. She was tougher than he‘d ever have thought, more like Victoria than Lenora.

  Not too much later, Alec emerged from the kitchen, yawning and carrying his coffee and the morning paper.

  Calum could hear the shower running; Victoria was awake also. Would she be embarrassed?

  Or, more probably, full of prickles to hide the fact she cared. "Brawd, we should clean out the guest room between our flats so Victoria will have space to call her own."

  "Good idea. Her house is far too exposed." When Jamie grumbled in her sleep at their voices, Alec grinned. "She looks better."

  "Yes. But she should trawsfur again. Soon. Having you and Victoria there would help."

  Alec considered, nodded slowly. "Yeah. And it wouldn‘t hurt the Vixen to start her lessons."

  "What lessons?" Victoria asked from the doorway, engulfed in Alec‘s dark green terry-cloth robe. Her face was a lovely pink from the heat of the shower, her cheeks reddened from beard burn, and her lips swollen. She looked well-loved.

  When she met his eyes, her color darkened. Not prickly after all. Shy. He smiled a little, charmed at the thought.

  She knelt beside the couch to check Jamie. "That‘s a normal sleep. She‘s okay." Her tenderness warmed him. She truly did care for his kitten, didn‘t she? After brushing a strand of hair away from Jamie‘s cheek, she rose, assuming a cooler expression—closing the gate on that gentle heart of hers.

  He preferred she leave the barrier open. He stood, gripped her robe, and pulled her close enough to take her mouth in a long morning kiss. Soft, swollen lips, the fragrance of clean female skin. When he raised his head, her eyes looked dazed, and her hands gripped his biceps.

  "Good morning, little cat," he said softly, brushing her lips again. He‘d enjoy greeting her this way for the remainder of his days.

  "Good morning," she said, obviously trying for composure, but her husky voice told him different. "Um. You were talking about lessons?"

  "We‘ll coach you on shifting, control, and the tricks of being an animal," Alec said. "It‘s pretty strange at first."

  "So I found out," Victoria said with a wry smile. "And you two are my instructors?"