Her Lion Protector [The Protectors 3] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Doris O'Connor

  The scent became stronger, more alluring, and Leon all but sprinted up the path. His lion slowed and crouched as they came close to the clearing. This well-hidden spot was popular for teenage assignations and the boy and girl who were getting heavy up against a tree seemed oblivious to the seething rage of Leon’s beast. It was a miracle the couple didn’t hear his lion’s barely concealed growls. One word reverberated in Leon’s skull.

  Mine.

  The boy’s pale ass cheeks gleamed in the moonlight, as he dropped his trousers, fumbled and then drove into the girl’s body with no finesse whatsoever. Rebecca Hastings’s body, for fuck’s sake. Leon winced at her cry of pain and the way she stiffened, yet she urged that fucker on. What in the blue moon did she think she was doing? Her scent changed, and the very air around her charged and became heavy with expectation, as a grim determination came from her. To do what exactly? The clueless human, in the meantime, continued to pummel into her, seeking his own relief with the selfish determination of his youth.

  “Come on, bumpkin, almost there. Come with me. I’m gonna…argh.” A shudder went through that fucker, as he climaxed and pumped into Rebecca a few times more, before he pulled out with a satisfied smirk.

  He leant down to kiss Rebecca, but she turned her head at the last minute, and the boy frowned.

  “What’s the matter with you? Got what’cha wanted, didn’t you?”

  Rebecca shook her head, and the cloud of misery that descended upon her made his lion see red.

  “Is that it?” she asked, her voice a mere imitation of its usual strong cadence, and the human sneered at her.

  “Hey, it was good for me. Didn’t promise you forever, did I now, and you did come onto me, so…Not my fault you’re a frigid bitch, who can’t come, and shit I got blood all over my jeans. What the fuck—”

  The rest of the asshole’s speech was lost, as Leon lost the tenuous control he had on his beast, when the animal caught scent of Rebecca’s blood. That fucker had touched what was his and his lion wanted revenge. With one long leap he sailed through the air, and swiped the teenage boy off his mate. Rebecca screeched in fright and sank to the floor, while desperately trying to pull the non-existent hem of the skirt she wore down. The dark streak of blood on her inner thigh drove his lion wild, and teeth bared, he jumped on top of the terrified human who’d landed heavily next to his bike.

  The fucker didn’t look too hot now, as he screamed and wailed, and begged for mercy, his spittle flying into Leon’s mane.

  Leon threw his head back and went in for the kill, ready to tear the weasel’s throat out. That bastard had dared to touch what was his, and his possessive animal wanted blood. Rebecca’s teary voice broke through his beast’s fury.

  “No, please, don’t. This isn’t…Leon, is that you? God, let him go. You’re going to kill him. God, this is all my fault.”

  Leon swung his massive head round, and seeing Rebecca huddled on the floor with tears streaming from her eyes, brought him back to his senses. She needed him, and he would be of no help whatsoever to her if he killed this useless fuck and got himself arrested. With another growl to shake the ground, he got off the human, and stalked toward his mate, instead.

  Fuck, she’s my mate. How the hell did that happen? That’s why my lion wants to kill that boy.

  Part of him registered the human getting up, and his frantic attempts to kick start the bike. Useless bit of shit couldn’t even get that right, and he was just going to up and leave Rebecca here at the mercy of Leon. He swung his head back round to roar at the human, and the youth screamed like a fucking baby, mounted his bike and shot off into the darkness. Far too fast for the terrain, but by some miracle he reached the ground, and then the whine of his machine faded into the distance. It left Leon alone with the terrified heartbeat of his mate pounding in his ears.

  His hurt mate. Fuck it all to hell and back. Rebecca Hastings was his fucking mate, and she looked absolutely terrified of him. His lion whined, desperate to get closer to reassure himself that his mate was physically okay, but Leon crouched down to make himself less threatening, well aware how terrifying his beast could be.

  Taller and broader than the usual lions folks went to see at the zoo, his beast was every inch the feral creature, the hunter, ready to kill. Part of him still wanted to go after that youth and tear him to shreds for daring to lay a hand on his Rebecca, let alone ram his cock into…

  Fuck. The enormity of what he’d just witnessed hit Leon in the gut, and without any conscious thought he shifted back to human.

  Rebecca’s breathing sped up, and her eyes widened as he straightened up from his crouch, and took a step toward her.

  “Oh my God, you’re huge. This is a fucking nightmare.” Leon had to agree with that assessment, especially as she didn’t seem to be able to take her eyes off his cock. Naturally that damn body part took that as an invitation, and rose to the occasion. His lion strutted seeing her obvious reaction to his prowess, but Leon winced, and willed his dick to go down.

  Yes, she was his mate, but, after that ill-fated first attempt at sex she didn’t need him with a fucking boner. She needed taking care of instead, and his lion whined at the thought of her being hurt by that fucker’s lack of finesse. It deflated his completely inappropriate wood somewhat, and Leon crouched down to swipe her hair off her face. Much to his relief she didn’t flinch away from him, as he’d been half expecting her to.

  “Did he hurt you?” he asked, and her tear-stained gaze swung to his face. It made Leon want to shift and go after that fucker all over again, and her eyes widened at the furious growl that he couldn’t stop from making. “I mean, I know he did, and—”

  She pulled away from him, and curled up into a tight ball, knees drawn up to her chest, and shook her head.

  “Rebecca, answer me. This is important, because if he did something you didn’t want him to, so help me, I’ll rip his fucking dick off with my hands and feed it to him. No one hurts what’s mi…”

  He stopped himself just in time, and slammed his mouth shut. Fuck, she didn’t need him to get all territorial and possessive now. He had no right to be, no matter what his lion was roaring at him. The animal might want her, and be furious that she’d given her virginity to someone else, but that meant fuck all right now. This was Rebecca, and her parents would have his hide for even thinking about her in those terms, let alone trying anything on.

  Instead of answering him Rebecca burst into tears, and shook her head. It made him conjure up all sorts of scenarios, and he ached to hold her in his arms and comfort her. Bearing in mind that he was butt naked, and his stash of clothes was over a mile away that wasn’t an option right now. So, instead, he stayed where he was, and gently patted her bent head instead. When the first storm of her tears finally abated he nudged her chin up with his knuckles to make her look at him.

  “Tell me what happened, pipsqueak, and we’ll go from there.”

  The ghost of a smile kicked up her lips, and Leon’s heart turned over in his chest. She had always been beautiful, but in the few years since he’d seen her she’d grown up. He’d have to be blind to miss the curves filling out her clothes, and the mile long shapely legs. The high-heeled sandals were an unusual addition, and his damn tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. With those killer heels on, kissing her would be a doddle.

  Leon shook his head and swallowed a groan. He didn’t need those errant thoughts now. It seemed his beast vacillated from wanting to kill to wanting to fuck. Neither of which was an option right now, nor in the foreseeable future, damn it.

  Fuck him, though, if the pictures taking pride of place in her parents’ living room hadn’t done her justice. His lion had appreciated the view then, but it paled into insignificance with being confronted with the living, breathing person. Her scent pulled him under and her conflicted emotions battered his soul.

  When he’d first scented her, it had been the sweet musk of aroused woman. Something had clearly gone wrong though, and he balled
his free hand into a fist. That fucker had no clue what to do with the gift of taking her virginity, and his lion roared.

  It should have been me.

  Rebecca made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a moan, and that throaty sound shot straight to his cock. He bet she would sound like that as she came.

  Fuck, thoughts not helping.

  Leon desperately tried to think unsexy things, but it was useless. With her this close he was running on instinct, his beast too close to the surface to contain.

  “It wasn’t like that. I wanted him to…I didn’t expect it to hurt that much, that’s all, and it was all for nothing.” He almost missed her hesitant words, and ignoring the ache in his balls, he forced himself to pay attention to what she was saying.

  “Oh, damn it, this is all my fault, I never should have—”

  “Bullshit.” His furious curse bounced around the clearing, and a flock of birds took flight. Funny how they didn’t react to his lion, yet his human persona send them scarpering. Losing the fight with himself not to touch her, he framed her face with his hands, and she winced when his claws ran out in his agitation. Her mouth opened slightly and her little pink-tipped tongue ran along the seam of her lips. She didn’t seem aware of what she was doing, and it took every ounce of self-control he had to not dip his head and retrace those strokes with his own tongue. Right now he wanted to kiss her so badly, it was like a physical ache, a knife twisting in his insides, urging him to erase all traces of that asshole, who’d taken her against a damn tree like some sort of mindless, fucking animal. His lion wanted to sink his teeth into her flesh, and cover her in his scent, until no trace of that asshole remained, and everyone knew who she belonged to.

  Fuck, it should have been him who introduced her to sex, not this shambles of a first time against a fucking tree.

  “None of this is your fault. It’s his. That asshole only cared about his own needs. It’s not like that when…fuck it.” He let his words trail off, his lion too furious to allow him to continue, and he knew his voice sounded more animal than human.

  Rebecca’s heart rate kicked up, her pupils dilated and she leaned closer until their breaths mingled, and her rapid exhalations scorched his skin. Whatever was happening here, between them, she felt it, too. He sensed her arousal, her confusion, her need. It matched his own, and when she brought her hands up to trace his pectorals, Leon wanted nothing more than to take her up on the invitation her body was giving him. She grew wet for him. His nostrils flared pulling her intoxicating scent deep into his lungs and his lion purred his pleasure.

  The sound seemed to bring Rebecca out of her trance, because she went a little cross-eyed, blushed the most delightful shade of crimson, and hastily pulled her hands away. Nonetheless his skin burned, as though she had left her handprints imprinted on it, and, groaning under his breath, Leon straightened and turned his back on her.

  “Look, this is not the place to discuss this. Let me get my clothes and my bike, and I’ll take you back to mine to freshen up. You can’t go home looking like that. Stay here, I won’t be long.”

  In a bone-jarring flash he was back in his lion form, and Rebecca’s screech of surprise echoed in his ears, as he took off with a giant leap.

  It wasn’t safe for her to be out there on her own, but he had no choice but to leave her. If he stayed… no, he needed to run off this… this thing, until he had his libido firmly back under control.

  * * * *

  If she hadn’t seen with her own eyes, she never would have believed it. Leon didn’t look anything like she remembered him. He was just so…so big. Even his hair was thicker, longer, and he had a man’s beard covering that strong jaw, rather than the wisps of bum fluff he’d sported the last time she’d met up with him. He’d always been tall and lanky, but he’d grown even taller—he had to be at least six foot seven now—which made him a whole head taller than her, and he’d grown into his frame. And boy, what a body. Not an ounce of fat on him, just bulging muscles, a six pack to die for, and that enticing trail of hair down to…

  Rebecca put her hands over her flaming cheeks. His first view of him non-shifted had been his cock. Even in his flaccid state he had been long, and thick, and when he had hardened under her open staring…Holy fuck.

  Leon would split her in half, if they were ever to have sex. A hysterical bubble of laughter escaped Rebecca, and she clamped her hand over her mouth desperately trying to keep it in, to no avail.

  This whole carefully planned out scenario had turned into a fucking disaster, and she was now sat out here in the open, where anything could happen. The reality of her situation hit home, and she scrambled to her feet. Her teeth clanged together now, that she didn’t have Leon’s warmth surrounding her, and she realized her body was going into shock. The stickiness between her legs made bile rise into her throat, when she reached down and her fingers came back covered in her blood.

  Shit, and bullocks. If there were vamps out here, she would be a sitting duck. Then again, what had Mum said? Leon was the Protector of the lakes. He wouldn’t have left her here, if he didn’t think it was safe, and he hadn’t managed to attend her birthday party because he’d been busy defending the lakes. A shiver went through her at the thought of Leon in killing mode.

  If the man had gotten bigger, his lion was humongous, and downright terrifying. She’d been convinced he was going to tear Heath to pieces right in front of her. The fact that he hadn’t that he had stopped at her shout, had been awe inspiring. As the daughter of a shifter Rebecca was used to seeing men and women for that matter, shift. She knew they were in charge of their animals, but none of the wolves she had grown up with held a candle to Leon’s lion.

  Clasping her arms around her midriff in a vain attempt to retain some heat, Rebecca stretched out her senses, and let her limited powers test the air. She didn’t sense any threat, but that didn’t mean anything. This whole thing had been for nothing. Having sex was supposed to awaken her powers.

  “Damn it.”

  Her curse bounced around the clearing, and she bit back renewed tears. It hadn’t worked. Then again, she supposed she could hardly call that half-hearted attempt having sex. Surely it wasn’t supposed to hurt that much. Why would anyone want to repeat that performance if it did, and Heath wasn’t even that big, damn it.

  If she couldn’t get off with the college heartthrob, what hope was there for her? To wait for the elusive one, and end up shackled to some over-possessive shifter? No, sirree, she wasn’t ready for that. Maybe this was for the best, though. If her powers stayed hidden, she could carry on pretending that she was just an ordinary girl and pursue her dreams of a career, of a life in the city, away from this godforsaken place and its oppressive rules.

  The faint sound of an approaching motorbike made her cock her head to the side to listen. Was that Heath, finally coming back for her? She couldn’t quite believe how he’d just taken off, leaving her on her own with a freaking lion. He wouldn’t have known Leon was a shifter, and no danger to Rebecca. No, the fucking coward had just run off.

  And what if he told the authorities? What if they came looking for an escaped lion, and she’d inadvertently exposed the shifter community? God, her father would never forgive her, if that happened. He’d worked so hard to maintain the peace, to unite the shifters and to keep them safe from humans, and vamps alike.

  She had been such a damn fool, and to think all this time, Leon…

  The powerful, throaty sound of a motorbike approaching became louder, and all conscious thought fled her befuddled brain, when Leon stopped in front of her. Sat astride the powerful machine, Leon gave her a grim smile as he turned off the engine, and swung one denim-clad, muscular thigh over the huge fuel tank, and shoved the Kawasaki on its stand. Like its rider this bike was the business. No wonder he’d gotten back here so quickly.

  And as for Leon… It should be illegal for any man to fill his jeans to such perfection. The tight T-shirt he wore stretched across his massive shoulders and
his biceps flexed as he flicked the long mane of his dark blond hair over his shoulder. She watched in fascination as he secured the thick mass with a leather ribbon, and then fixed his softly glowing gaze on her.

  Rebecca wasn’t at all sure her wobbly legs would support her in taking any steps. Fortunately, it didn’t prove necessary, because Leon stepped up to her, and putting his hands on her hips, pulled her into his frame. Everything inside Rebecca stilled when he bent his head and inhaled against her neck. The rough bristles of his beard created the most delicious friction against her skin, and the deep rumble of his lion vibrated through her. Time seemed to stand still as her body came alive in his proximity, and she gasped when she felt the hard ridge of his erection press into her mound. It caused an answering ripple in her pussy as her internal muscles clenched and released. Her clit tingled, and moisture trickled past her inner lips.

  God, what was happening here? Rebecca had never been this wet for anyone, and Leon had barely touched her.

  “Fuck.” The expletive hung between them, and Leon inhaled sharply again, before he stepped away and swung her around until her ass rested on the seat of his motorbike. He ran a hand across his beard, and then shook his head. Reaching past her, he pulled a leather jacket out of the saddle bags of his bike and wrapped it around her shoulders.

  “Here, you’re frozen. Let’s get you home, so we—”

  “No.” He winced at her loud shout, and frowned at her.

  “I can’t go home like this. Dad would kill me.”

  Chapter Four

  Rebecca’s voice had risen to a rather sharp shrill in her agitation, and Leon shook his head to clear it off the ringing in his ears. Rebecca had hopped off his bike, and holding the ends of his leather jacket together, she paced the small clearing, as fast as she could on her six inch heels.