Lion in the Shadows

by Delilah Devlin

  Rafe let her go and reached for the bedside lamp. The soft, yellow glow dispelled all shadows except those in her stark, pinched face.

  He knelt in front of her again, flinching beneath her stricken gaze. Ignoring the knowledge that what had just occurred couldn’t possibly be real, he reached to comfort her again. “Baby, are you okay? Did he…did I hurt you?”

  Lani stared then she hiccupped, and a fresh wash of tears glimmered in her eyes. “He was inside me, Rafe. He came inside me. I came. Then there was this light…”

  A sharp bitter taste rose from his throat. “I know.” Not wanting to alarm her, but needing to touch her, he lifted his hand to her face and gently wiped away her tears with his fingers. “Baby, I was there, too.”

  Her mouth twisted. “I don’t understand.”

  “I don’t either. I just know I was there.”

  She sniffed and shook her head. “I dreamed about him. He made love to me before…” She hiccoughed softly. “B-but I thought it was just…a dream.”

  “This is all crazy, but I think somehow he’s inside me now,” he said, lifting her hand to hold within his, “and so is the lion.”

  Her eyes widened. “I heard the lion run into this room last night, but I thought I’d been mistaken—”

  “After I cracked my head, I dreamt I was the lion—”

  “Then it disappeared.” Her face crumpled. “Nothing makes sense.”

  “What’s happening to me?” Rafe raked his hand through his hair. “I feel like I’m losing myself—losing my mind.”

  Lani leaned her head against the wall, looking weary. “Something happened in that cave.”

  “The cave…” Rafe grew still as memories swamped him. He remembered the dream—the men chasing the Indian inside, the explosion, falling. The lion. Only the images weren’t fragmented dreams any longer—they were in his mind, his memories now. “He died in there. An explosion sealed the mouth of the cave, and he fell to the bottom of the second level. The cat killed him before his injuries did.”

  Lani straightened away from the wall. “I found him. His body. In the cave.”

  Rafe stiffened.

  “I forgot to tell you. Randy and I went back in. We found the Indian’s and the mountain lion’s skeletons on the floor near where Matt Costello died.” Lani wiped her face with the backs of her hands, and then crossed her arms over her belly, shivering. “So, you think, somehow, he and the lion merged? Are they spirits?” She laughed, but it was a harsh sound. “I don’t believe in that shit.”

  “Baby, I don’t know what I believe. Some Indians believed that if a man ate the flesh of his enemy, he took on his power.”

  “So, you think the Indian and the lion became a single spirit?” She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. When she opened them again, her gaze was focused, even a little angry. “So, what the hell does it have to do with you? Why are they inside you now?”

  Glad she seemed to be shaking off her shock, Rafe met her steady gaze. “I think it’s because of you. You awakened something in them, down in that damn cave. They’re fixated on you. When I was the cat, and seeing you through its eyes, I felt an overwhelming urgency to mate with you.”

  Her face blanched.

  He didn’t want to frighten her more, but he had to tell her the rest. “And when I was…there…with the Indian, I felt what he did—exultant, alive. He believes you’re the key to his immortality.”

  “How the hell does he think I’ll give him that?” she asked, her voice raw.

  “By receiving his seed.”

  Lani’s head jerked. Her eyes were wide with shock. “No!”

  Rafe cupped her shoulders and smoothed his hands down her arms. “Lani, I don’t understand this, but I think I know certain things. The dreams I’ve been having were this spirit’s way of introducing itself to me. But I don’t think it has the same ability to see through my eyes, to know what I know. Not like I could when they each…surfaced. And I also don’t think they’re evil.”

  Fresh tears welled in her eyes. “How do we get them to leave you? Or can they take you over? What will happen to you?”

  Rafe shook his head. “I’m trying to think about this thing logically, because it’s scaring the shit out of me. But baby, I don’t think that’s their intention. And I’m not sure they’re that strong.”

  Fear for him etched worry in the tightness of her lips and her pinched face. “But how can you know?”

  “Think about the times I changed. I slept after I took a blow to the head—that was before the cat came out to play. Just now, I was asleep when the Indian surfaced.”

  “But I don’t understand. They didn’t need your body before. I saw the cat on the ledge—it had enough substance to move that kid up that wall.”

  “And it’s been feeding on livestock.” Rafe sighed. “I don’t want to scare you more, but I think it wants my body because of my connection to you.” He raked his hand through his hair. “Thank God, you’re on birth control. He won’t understand that.”

  Lani’s eyes widened, and she shook her head. “But Rafe…I’m not.”

  Rafe felt his body still, but his heart thundered in his chest. In the back of his soul he felt a presence lingering, listening.

  She drew in a jagged breath, and tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  “Lani, what did you do?” he asked softly.

  Her face crumpled again, and tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. So sorry.”

  His hands closed on her shoulders, and he shook her. “Tell me,” he rasped, anger blending with cold fear.

  Her head fell back, and her expression pleading. “I stopped taking them a month ago.” She closed her eyes, more tears leaking down her face. “I’m so s-stupid. I was afraid but couldn’t tell you.”

  He dragged her against his chest. “Tell me why, baby?”

  Her back shuddered with each soft, shallow sob. “I wanted to be with you. B-but I was afraid. Christ! I’m such a coward.”

  “Lani, what were you thinking?”

  “That if I got pregnant, I couldn’t push you away anymore.”

  “Sweet Jesus!”

  “I’m sorry…”

  Rafe closed his eyes and hugged her. “Don’t be. I’m not going anywhere. I love you.”

  “But what you said before…” she said, her voice muffled against his shoulder, “…about him wanting immortality… Can he make me pregnant?”

  “I don’t know,” Rafe said, although he felt a glimmering certainty that was exactly what the spirit inside him believed he could do. Rafe had the sinking feeling his world was slipping from his arms. “If he surfaces again, hell, if the lion comes—you won’t be safe.”

  “What do we do?”

  “I have to keep away from you.”

  “No!” Lani shoved at his chest and leaned back. A fierce loving light shone from her gaze.

  “Baby, just until I know how to fight this, you have to keep away from me.”

  “I brought them out of the cave—they tracked me down. I have to be part of this.”

  “And if I’m not in control—if he surfaces again…?” He shook his head. “I won’t take that chance. Don’t you see? I’m becoming that monster you always knew I would be.”

  Lani shook her head, and her hands cupped his face. “Not you. Rafe, never you. And he won’t hurt me. He let me go.”

  “He didn’t want you frightened, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try to take you again.”

  “We’re in this together. I won’t let you do this alone.” Her expression held all the love he’d waited so long to find.

  Hell, she was going to make this hard.

  “Please, don’t shut me out.”

  Rafe kissed her forehead, and then pressed her face to his shoulder. He had to protect her from the monsters inside him. He just didn’t know how. Not yet.

  “I need to get a shower,” she whispered.

  His arms tightened. “None of this is your fault. You
know that, don’t you?”

  “I do. I just…need a bath.”

  Rafe swallowed, feeling like his heart had lodged at the back of his throat. He’d seen enough in his line of work to understand some of what was going through her mind. He nudged up her chin with a finger. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”

  “No way.”

  He stared into her moist eyes. “Just remember, I was there. I was inside you, too.”

  “Then why ask me?” He liked the edge of annoyance in her voice. She was fighting back. “You already know I came all over him.”

  “You thought I was the only one there.”

  “But it was different—the sex, I mean.” Her fingers dug into his arms. “I should have known.”

  “How could you? I fell asleep inside you.”

  “He didn’t speak—you’re always saying sexy things. He smelled different. And he was a little rough.”

  Rafe wished he was better with words, better at understanding her woman’s mind. A blunder now might shut her down. “You dreamed of him before—making love to you. And you liked it. That’s why you’re upset, isn’t it?”

  “That was just a dream. This time I thought it was you.”

  “Lani, don’t beat yourself up. Do you think any less of yourself?” Lani was listening. He felt the tension stiffening her back and shoulders. “Do you think I think any less of you?”

  “I don’t know.” Her words were so soft he barely heard them.

  He threaded his fingers through her hair and gently tugged back her face, so she could see his expression. “Well, I don’t. What’s happening here is beyond natural. We’re both in this. What you said before—about me not shutting you out. Don’t turn it around.”

  Her lips trembled, but she nodded. “Okay. But I still need to wash.”

  “Then let me come help you.”

  She nodded again, and her lips curved into a sad little smile. “We’ll keep the light on. I want to know who’s scrubbing my back.”

  Rafe bent to kiss her mouth. Lord, how he loved this woman.

  Lani turned on the faucets and waited for the water to heat. She kept her back to Rafe, didn’t want his keen eyes reading every emotion flitting across her face. Seemed like she couldn’t hide a thought from the man anymore. When had he gotten to know her so well? When had he climbed inside her heart?

  A few hours ago, she’d thought the worst was past. She’d shared her sordid history, and her fears and come through unscathed, stronger even. Now this.

  Rafe reached over her shoulder and pushed back the shower curtain. “I think the water’s warm enough now.”

  Without looking back, Lani stepped into the tub beneath the water and let it sluice over her head, down her body. Rafe stepped in behind her, but she ignored him, needing silence, needing to be cleansed.

  The shampoo dispenser slurped, and Rafe’s large hands gently smoothed over her hair. His fingers kneaded her scalp.

  Lani let her head fall back, closing her eyes against the spray washing over her face, and let Rafe soothe the ragged edges of her torn emotions.

  His hands rubbed lower, soaping her back, rolling her shoulders gently, squeezing tension from the muscles flanking either side of her spine, and then lower.

  Lani gasped, feeling the first sensual stirring and braced her hands against the tiles in front of her.

  His palms massaged her hips, cupped her buttocks and kneaded, separating her cheeks, closing them, slipping for a moment between her legs, but never grazing the flesh that was quickly swelling with heat.

  His fingers slid beneath her buttocks, tracing the creases, then smoothed lower over the backs of her thighs and calves.

  When he reached to soap her toes, his hands entered her vision for the first time. Rafe’s hands—square palms, long, thick fingers.

  Tears intermingled with the spray to track down her cheeks.

  Another slurp from the dispenser, and his hands glided up the fronts of her calves. Now she felt his warmth lean into her thighs, the thick muscles of his chest and shoulders rippling as his hands worked the tension from her legs, moving ever higher.

  When his fingers neared the juncture of her thighs, her heartbeat quickened, and her breath caught, anticipating his intimate caress, but he glided past, his whole body caressing her back as he slowly stood.

  When his hands reached her ribs, Lani captured them. Afraid he’d pass by the quickening tips of her nipples, she moved his hands over her breasts and held them there.

  “Tell me what you want, Lani,” he whispered in her ear. “Shall I dry you and hold you while you sleep?”

  Lani couldn’t calm the trembling that shuddered through her body. She shook her head, and then slowly turned until she faced him.

  Rafe’s expression, so tight with need, made her want to cry. Her gaze swept lower to his cock. Reddened, engorged, he’d held that part of himself away from her while he’d washed her as gently as he might a child.

  Rising on tiptoe, Lani kissed his mouth, and then she slowly glided her palms up his chest and behind his neck to grip his hair. “I want you inside me Rafe—so deep you’re part of me.”

  His mouth slammed over hers, and he stepped forward, carrying her back against the wall. He dragged his head away. “Tell me you need gentle; I’ll go easy,” he said, although the tightness in his voice told her it would kill him.

  “I want you the way you are, Rafe. And you’re not easy. Fuck me.”

  Grunting, he hefted her off her feet and slid his knee between her legs. Her fingers felt the play of muscle beneath his smooth skin, and she reveled in his strength as he drove her backward until his chest flattened against hers.

  Lani raised her legs, sliding them around the tops of his hips. She read hesitation in his expression—wild eyes, flared nostrils—the man was barely holding onto his restraint. She inspired that kind of lust in him. She bit his chin. “Fuck me, Rafe.”

  His hands cupped her buttocks and pulled her up, his hips tensed, his cock nudging along her slit until he found her entrance. “Don’t let me hurt you.”

  “Baby, you’re killing me. Fuck me!”

  Rafe drove his cock straight up, his torso sliding up hers, his crisp chest hairs abrading her nipples. His thrusts were hard, sharp, and ended with a jerk—each accompanied by a guttural sound, dragged from deep inside him.

  Lani writhed on his cock, relishing each long glide, clasping her inner muscles to increase the friction between his shaft and her channel. “Fuck me, Rafe. Fuck me,” she chanted over and over.

  His hands clamped hard on her ass, and he pushed her down to meet his upward thrusts. “Baby, I’m coming,” he cried out, and his mouth closed over hers, his lips eating hers in drugging caresses.

  Lani came apart, her hips jerking, a high-pitched whine escaping to mingle with his groans. Their movements slowed, all sense of the passing time narrowing to the slides of their flesh, the beats of their hearts.

  She held him, her arms and legs wrapped tightly around his body. Their kiss ended in slackening glides of their lips. “Love you, love you,” she moaned against his mouth.

  Rafe’s frame shuddered as his come spurted inside her. “My seed. My child,” he murmured.

  Lani dragged her mouth away and stared at him.

  Rafe’s face was hard, but his eyes were moist. “Mine, Lani.”

  Chapter 9

  Rafe awoke disoriented. Lani’s room was dark, but his eyes saw into the darkness, discerning patterns as though objects were backlit by a glowing fluorescence, their outlines limned in golden light. He tried to turn his head, but he quickly discovered he wasn’t the one in control.

  Lani sighed and stirred beside them, her bottom snuggling deeper into the cradle of their thighs.

  Rafe watched helpless as a hand, not his, smoothed over her flank, and slipped beneath the bedding to follow the curve of her hips and buttocks. He felt the silkiness of her skin—and the arousal that coursed through the Indian’s body.

  Chri
st! He couldn’t do this again. Couldn’t watch Lani taken by another man. Couldn’t witness her horror when she discovered her lover’s identity one more time.

  He railed inside his mind, trying to punch through but could only watch and feel as the other man slid his fingers between her legs, combing through the curls at her mound and dipping into her moist sex.

  Lani murmured sleepily and opened her legs a fraction, welcoming his touch.

  His fingers twisted inside her, pushing deeper, generating more moisture that eased his penetration.

  Lani moaned in her sleep, but her hips rolled, dragging on his fingers, riding them. His thumb rasped on her clitoris, and Lani’s pussy tightened, a ripple caressing the fingers sliding inside her.

  The Indian’s next action confounded Rafe. He pulled out of her body, despite her sleepy protest, and brought his fingers to his nose and inhaled.

  No words, just an image of Lani’s belly, heavy with child, told the story.

  No! The Indian thought she was pregnant with his child. He leaned forward and kissed her shoulder then withdrew from the bed.

  Dazed, Rafe watched through the Indian’s eyes as the other man crept through the house on silent feet to the front door. He opened it and stepped out onto the porch.

  The night was quiet, the sky overcast with clouds. A billowing wind whipped his hair around his shoulders. The Indian looked over his shoulder through the screen door, and Rafe sensed his farewell.

  He relaxed, knowing that, at least for now, Lani would be safe.

  Lani heard the screen door thump and sat up. She reached for the bedside lamp and flicked it on. Rafe’s clothing was still draped over the chair where she’d left them folded. Perhaps, he just couldn’t sleep.

  She rose and walked on bare feet into the living room. Through the open door she saw a silhouette of a man. Only it wasn’t Rafe.

  Her heart thudded dully in her chest. Broad-shouldered, stockier, shorter than Rafe, the Indian had surfaced again, and Rafe was trapped inside with him. As she watched, frozen by indecision, light burst through his naked skin, painting him in shimmering gold. He raised his arms to the sky and threw back his head, his long, straight hair falling between his shoulder blades. Then he bent forward, his legs and arms shortened, and fur sprouted from his skin.