by Cecilia Lane
He felt the same. The only difference was he’d written those fuckers off long ago while she still tried to have a relationship with her parents.
He’d been surprised to find an empty driveway when he drove past. Still sure he knew what was on Lilah’s mind, he’d parked and knocked, only to be greeted by a hunting rifle waved right under his nose. Through the yelling and scowling, he learned the McKennas wouldn’t be attacked in their own home by a freak like their daughter or her new freak friends, and if he knew what was good for him, he’d get the hell off their property that fucking second.
Charming fuckers deserved more than the snarl that sent them scurrying back inside and him stalking back to his truck.
His inner beast had lashed his tail from side to side in clear agitation at the near-miss. So close. So fucking close, but she’d slipped through his fingers once again.
So he’d made the choice to track down the scene of the crime. He didn’t like being right.
Seth dropped out of his truck and eyed the trailers in front of him. They smelled dank and old, but two fresh scents cut through. Even without the car as a dead giveaway, he’d recognize Lilah and Sage anywhere. They were near.
A roar and a shriek cut his thoughts, and Seth bolted.
Branches and bushes lashed at him, but he didn’t feel a damn thing. Whoever tried to hurt her better hope he didn’t survive. He’d almost lost her already, which was unacceptable to him and his newly unleashed inner beast. He flung a silent promise to the sky to burn the world to the ground if anything happened to her before he wrapped her in his arms again.
He was nothing without her. Everything else paled in comparison. All the fights, all the jokes cracked with his brother, finding a place with the Crowleys, none of it mattered in the face of what he didn’t have. They were just attempts to fill the true holes in his heart.
Lilah made him complete.
He slammed to a stop as soon as he reached the clearing. The two women he tracked faced off against a giant bear.
Why the hell hadn’t they shifted?
No time for that. His lion shoved forward with one absolute necessity in mind. He had to save them.
“Run!” he shouted, voice already thick with the shift that ripped through him at breakneck speed. Pain blasted through his body as his bones broke apart and his muscles tore. He fell forward between one step and the next, lion charging straight for the massive bear.
Red bled into his vision. Fucker. Asshole. Hadn’t he done enough damage once already?
He wasn’t sure if he meant himself or the bear.
Seth launched himself at the other shifter before he could work through the thought. Lilah mattered. Everything else could be dealt with after.
Long claws raked through the bear’s fur, scourging the fucker’s shoulder. He lashed out with a paw of his own, landing a hard blow against Seth’s side. Seth snarled in answer and ducked the next blow aiming for his face, crouching low and sending claws streaking right for the bear’s eyes.
The bear snapped back, then shook off the sudden sting. He twisted around, but Seth was on him in an instant. He latched his claws into the beast’s neck and hauled him back around. Anything to keep the focus on himself and away from the two women who were still far too close to the fight. They needed time to get the hell away from the fucker ready to slice them all to pieces.
Claws dug into his sides, trying to heave him away. He dug in harder, sharper, adding fangs to the mix. Over the beast’s shoulders, he spotted Lilah and Sage, but they weren’t moving. Dammit! Why weren’t they moving?
The bear, too, spotted weaker prey. With a murderous glint in his eyes, he shoved Seth aside with his shoulder and barreled toward a cheaper victory.
No!
Seth sprinted forward, dirt flying into the air behind him as he raced ahead of the bear and slammed to a stop. He braced himself for the collision, his body serving as a roadblock tangling in the asshole’s legs. Pain spiked along his side as the beast crashed into him and tumbled over his back to land on the other side.
Enraged, the bear roared and charged right for him. He whipped his paws, claws sharp and deadly, unleashing all his fury on Seth. Seth met him blow for blow, slinking in to land crunching bites, before dancing back for another round of slashing blows.
Blood streaked both their sides, but neither slowed nor backed down. He couldn’t. The bear wouldn’t. And so they kept on bleeding each other a little more with each bite and clawed swipe.
A heavy paw beat against his ribs and sent him flying. He slammed against the ground, wind knocked from his lungs. A moment later, huge paws planted next to his head. Hot, reeking breath blasted over him as jaws lowered toward his face.
And then a lioness arced through the air to land on the bear’s back.
Lilah.
Her jaws closed around his tufted ear with a snap. The beast rose up on his hind legs and tried to smack her away, but she dug in her claws and kept a tight hold.
Seth scrambled back to his feet and jumped to bite at the bear’s face. The creature dropped back down to all four with a roar and shake that finally dislodged the lioness from his backside. Seth snarled at the thud of Lilah hitting the ground, but she shot upright in an instant.
His heart jumped in his throat with pure pride. Gorgeous lioness, she moved like a magnificent queen. With pure grace and conviction that she would not falter in whatever she did, he almost pitied the poor bear that tried to put them down.
The she-cat streaked into the battle armed with fangs and claws that weren’t just for show. Seth twisted back to his feet to join her, but this was her fight. She needed the win more than him. Needed to prove to herself that her old pains had nothing on her anymore.
She was bigger than them. Stronger. And they were nothing.
She launched herself at the bear again, a roar ripping out of her mouth. Fangs sank into the fucker’s shoulders and neck. The bear reared up again to knock her down, but Seth slunk in and raked a line across his soft belly.
They worked him over, baiting him back and forth. Lilah hissed and smacked at the bear’s face, then Seth dug in his claws to pull his attention back around. Slamming back down to the ground with a pained roar, the bear spun and ran.
She chased after him until he reached the other side of the clearing, then slowed and finally stopped. A low growl rumbled out of her for a long breath until she slunk back around to face him.
Gold eyes pinned him in place. Gorgeous cat. Powerful woman. He watched her in awe as she picked her way toward him.
Slowly, Seth lowered to his belly and rested his head on his paws. It was the least he could do for his queen.
Chapter 24
Lilah let her head fall back. Hot water rained down over her, through her hair, over her shoulders, down the rest of her body. The new aches up and down her frame mellowed out under the steady stream. No longer were muscles she hadn’t known existed screaming at her. Even the dull throb had faded to a nice, deep burn like a pleasant stretch.
No open wounds, though. Barely even a pink scratch. There were benefits to the whole shifter thing. She hadn’t ever felt this strong. She’d helped fight off a freaking bear!
Lilah grinned to herself for a long moment before her smile slipped and finally fell. That strength wasn’t infallible. Sage had been a lion her entire lifetime, but she shut down when it came time to show her claws. Even her own inner cat didn’t do a damn thing until Seth needed an extra hand—paw—in the fight.
She knew exactly what it was like to be weak and scared. She fought hard to keep her head above water and too often sank under the waves that wanted to drown her. That absolute need to stay focused just on breathing kept the walls around her heart a mile high.
She didn’t know how she could help her new friend, but she wanted to try. Sage deserved as much for helping her find her own clarity.
Which all sounded like she’d made a decision. There was just one problem with the whole plan. What the hell did she do about Seth?
Something inside her—the lioness—stretched through her. An almost languid feeling took hold in her heart. She had trouble separating the cat’s sensations from her own, then gave up even trying. They were one and the same at the basic level. Oh, she had more concrete thoughts while the beast leaned heavily into feelings, but they each bled into the other.
They both ached at the idea of punting him aside. Easier to cut off a limb.
“Lilah?” Sage asked through the door. “You okay in there?”
She shut off the water in a hurry and rushed through drying with the thin motel towels. She wrapped one around her body and used another to squeeze the excess water from her hair even as she swung the door open. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Sage blinked, then glanced over her shoulder. “Nothing, but...”
But Seth was waiting.
She dressed in a hurry and stepped out of the bathroom. The AC kicked on, blowing mustier air through the room than she’d noticed her first night in the place. More likely her sense of smell, like everything else, was heightened now that her lioness had appeared in such a dramatic fashion. She could hear the words of the television program in the next room and smell the pizza that had been delivered. The colors of the generic landscape painting above the bed were sharper. Even the threadbare carpet under her feet felt different when she stopped just outside the door.
Seth sat on the edge of the bed. He rested his forearms on his thighs and clasped his hands together, head drooping between his shoulders. As soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, he jerked upright and stared. Gold swirled in his eyes, the hungry look nearly stealing her breath away.
“I’ll just, um...” Sage squeezed past. “I’ll be in the other room.”
Two rooms. Right. They’d started under the assumption that she and Sage would room together while Seth had his own four walls. But Sage grabbed her bag as she dashed out the door.
Tension thickened the air as soon as they were alone. Lilah watched him from under her lashes. That new side of her wanted to cross the room and go to him. Wanted to feel his powerful body moving with her. Wanted to bite down hard enough to claim him forever.
He’d still hurt her.
He’d still come after her.
With her inner cat screaming that one weighed more than the other, Lilah held herself back.
“You were incredible today,” Seth said to break the silence. “Very brave.”
Brave. She hadn’t felt very brave at the time. Desperate to keep Sage safe, sure. Utterly mad with the need to defend Seth, absolutely. Her fear had been kicked entirely out of her head as her lioness shoved into existence.
And now there they were, both grappling with what had been done to her. There wasn’t any going back to a regular life now.
She didn’t feel the slightest bit of sorrow for closing that chapter of her life. All she felt was anticipation to start the next.
Seth dropped his head between his shoulders again and cleared his throat. “I’ve been trying to find the right words since the night Zeke attacked us, but I don’t think they exist. It’s not enough, but all I can say is I didn’t mean for this to happen. What I did to you is unforgivable and I’ll understand if you never want to see me again.” He glanced up. His eyes flashed and his jaw set in a hard line. “But what I won’t do is disappear completely. I promised to keep you safe and I won’t go back on my word. I’ll do it from a distance if I have to, but you will be kept safe.”
The words were stronger than a promise and heavier than a vow. She could feel the weight of them slipping over her shoulders and sinking through her flesh. They wrapped around her very bones and encased them in the strongest, strangest sort of magic she knew now on an instinctual level.
Mate.
A single image flashed through her head and she knew it came from her lioness. Her gums ached with the press of those wicked fangs she now possessed. Fangs she could sink into his shoulder. Fangs that would leave a mark on his skin proclaiming him bonded to her and her alone.
She’d almost lost everything. But like the other times she refused to let her fear consume her, she knew she had to keep pushing forward. This time it wasn’t anything as serious as life or death that kept her moving. The steps she took across the room were her own.
She wasn’t weak. She was strong.
She didn’t need to keep others shut out.
Lilah grazed her fingers over the rough stubble of his cheeks. “Seth...”
He turned his face up to meet her eyes and wrapped his fingers around her wrist. He didn’t pull her hand away, though. He leaned into the touch and nuzzled her palm.
“I’m sorry I spiked your drink. I’m sorry I tried to get away from you. There’s no running from you when you’ve taken up a spot in my heart that I thought wouldn’t ever be filled.” She leaned forward and gave him a chaste kiss. “Most of all, I’m sorry I didn’t get to say that you make me whole, too.”
Seth pulled her closer so that she stood between his legs and wrapped his arms around her tight enough to crack her back. “Tell me what you want, Lilah. It’s yours.”
She brushed her fingers over his cheeks again and closed the last bit of distance between them. “You,” she breathed against his lips.
The kiss started slow and delicate, each tasting the other. It was new to them both. She had an extra side to her now. To her, he tasted bolder. Richer. Every clash of their tongues exploded him on her taste buds. Nothing compared or made her hungrier for more.
She gasped when he eased back, gold flashing in his eyes.
“Lilah,” he groaned. He smoothed his hands down her sides to rest on her hips. His fingers dug in before he steadied himself. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
She rubbed the heel of her hand over her heart as that other side of herself seemed to pulse. “I know I want you,” she told him. “I know she wants you.”
“For life?” he asked in a thick voice.
Lilah wet her lips and nodded.
With a growl, Seth wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her into a fierce kiss.
Even as he consumed her with his mouth, Seth stripped her down in a flurry of desperate need. He shoved her shirt up her frame and groaned when his knuckles brushed against her breasts. Breaking the kiss, he tugged her shirt over her head, then pushed her forward enough to drop to his knees.
Lilah threw her head back the moment his mouth closed over her nipple. He cupped her breasts, flicking his tongue over one, then the other. Fire licked through her veins with each stroke, building the need that settled in her core.
“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” he growled. The deep gravel of his voice stroked down her spine. He closed his mouth over her again and worked open her jeans, rolling the thick denim over her hips and leaving her standing before him in just her panties.
Hot kisses trailed down her navel as he slid his hands around her back and over her ass. Down and down, his lips fluttered over her skin, then across the line of lace. Another growl turned into a groan as he kissed directly over her mound.
Lilah dug her fingers into his shoulders when he hooked his thumbs into the lace and dragged what was left of her clothes down her legs. Her senses crackled, every scrape of lace or fingers firing against her nerves. His scent surrounded her. Baked earth and clean soap and the thicker, delicious tang of aroused male. Her cat wanted to shove him back and lick him head to toe and everywhere in between.
All thoughts of taking control vanished when his fingers slid deep inside her. He struck with his tongue, too, licking and lapping where he pumped into her with a careful deliberation at odds with his hurried undressing. As much as she liked him a little unhinged in his desire, the hungry eyes he turned upward and satisfied groans as he worked her into gasping breaths was just as good, if not better.
Higher and higher, he built the pressure in her middle. Heat coiled through her limbs and down her spine until every inch of her felt hot and aching. She caught her
lip between her teeth, brows shooting together, searching and seeking that final bit of pleasure that would send her over the edge.
Pleasure rocked through her with a suddenness that left her knees weak. His hands on her body and her grip on his shoulders were the only things that kept her standing as the pressure in her middle erupted in a harsh cry.
Seth growled and eased his fingers from her body. Eyes still locked on her, he licked each one clean. “All I want to do is stay here between your thighs.”
“What about what I want?” she asked, surprising herself in her daring.
One corner of his mouth hitched up as he pushed to his feet. “What do you want, Lilah?”
Him. In every way imaginable. On the bed. Against the wall. Bent over every surface in the motel and back at his den. She’d even take the cramped quarters of his truck, over the hood, and stretched out in the bed.
That moment, she licked her lips and dropped to her knees. With quick movements, denim puddled at his feet and his erection sprang free. “To return the favor,” she said, rolling her eyes upward.
She wrapped her hand around his length. Another peek upward found his jaw set in a hard line and bright gold eyes staring down at her in open amazement, hunger, lust, and more. So much more. So much that she nearly lost her focus before shaking herself.
She stroked him from base to tip and back again, taking her time before leaning forward to flick her tongue around the head of his cock. He released a low groan and shoved his hands deep into her hair, fingers tightening, but never pushing. Licking her lips, she savored the salty taste of him, using her hand to work him as she leaned forward for more. Flattening her tongue, she took as much of him as she could fit, stroking with her hand the inches she couldn’t reach with her mouth.
“Lilah,” he groaned. “Need you.”
Holy hell, what those words did to her. Big, strong man, and he was at her mercy. She hummed with pleasure, heat once again slinking through her as his breath turned ragged and desperate.
Seth jerked his cock away and bent, pulling her to her feet. A gentle shove sent her sprawling back against the bed, then he reached over his shoulder to haul his shirt over his head. Eyes locked on her, he kicked out of the jeans around his ankles. “I want you, Lilah,” he said slowly, voice once again deep and delicious in her ears. “Now. Forever. I want to make you my queen.”
