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

by Doris O'Connor

  So many lost fucking chances, it was impossible. What the hell was he even doing here?

  His dick jumped when her fingertips grazed the hot flesh. Even through the denim covering it felt as though she was touching him intimately, rather than trying to tug at his jeans.

  “Please, Sir, I need to assess the break. I’m not good enough yet, to get an accurate picture unless it’s skin on skin.”

  His lion roared at the images that brought to mind, and Leon pushed her hands away, and struggled back to his feet.

  Her face fell at his actions. Clearly, she was expecting him to leave, but Leon was not about to cut off his nose to spite his face. If the surge in power he’d felt from her earlier was anything to go by, then she might well be able to heal his leg.

  Rebecca’s eyes widened when he unsnapped his jeans and pushed them down to his knees. He never bothered with underwear, and half erect as he was just by being in her presence, his cock bounced up as he pulled the jeans off. He couldn’t help his smirk of satisfaction at her reaction. When he’d managed to pull the denim down to his ankles he sat back down again, and taking one of her place mats off the table, placed it over his groin. Not that it afforded much cover, but he wanted her to concentrate on his left leg, not the third one that was growing bigger by the minute.

  He waved a dismissive hand in the general direction of his cock, and shut his eyes to block out the far too arousing image of Rebecca on her knees in front of him.

  “Go ahead, you can’t make it any worse, I’m sure,” he said.

  Her feminine growl of annoyance shot straight to his unruly body part, and he opened his eyes to adjust his scant cover somewhat. Rebecca noticed of course, but, after a cursory glance she shut her eyes and placed her hands on his damaged leg.

  “I have no intention of making it worse, Sir,” she said, and he had to admire the quiet conviction in those few words. He shouldn’t be watching her, but her scent intensified as she concentrated. Her cute little freckled nose bunched, her eyebrows drew together, and her little pink tongue peeked out of one corner of her mouth, and his lion purred.

  It was hard to hold onto his anger, when she looked so much like the girl he’d grown up with. Whenever she concentrated she’d pulled a face like that. He’d pull her pigtails, she’d lash out at him, and they would chase each other round the house, until either Mrs. H or Henry Hastings stopped them.

  His chest ached like it always did when he thought of the Protector. He had been like a father to him, so how much more must Rebecca miss him, and as for Mrs. H…

  All thought processes left his brain with a screech of pain, when Rebecca started murmuring. It was not unlike the chants that her mother used, and if he thought his leg hurt before, he clearly hadn’t known what pain was. His lion cowered, withdrew into a ball, and Leon wished with all his might that he could do the same, but as though she had placed a spell on him, he couldn’t move a muscle. Just sit there, frozen in pain, yet acutely aware of everything that was going on. An eerie light surrounded Rebecca, and the excruciating pain morphed into heat so intense, he was half expecting his leg to catch fire.

  Instead flames shimmered in his vision, as Rebecca lifted off the ground, and then was flung away from him. Her head made sickening contact with her bed frame, and everything went dark for what seemed like hours, but could only have been minutes. When he could see again, he shot to his feet without thinking, and almost tripped up in his haste to get to her lifeless form at the foot of her bed. No pain stopped him, just the bunched-up trousers round his ankles, and Leon froze for a second as he flexed his muscles, before he yanked the jeans back up and pulled Rebecca into a hug.

  The dark stain that instantly spread over his biceps made his lion roar in terror. No, she couldn’t…He’d only just found her again.

  Chapter Nine

  The spells being murmured sounded familiar, but what was that incessant deep rumble? It registered even over the brass band that seemed to have taken up residence in her head. Rebecca tried to turn her head in that direction, but callused fingertips held her head still.

  “No, don’t move, pipsqueak. Let your mother work her magic.”

  Was that Leon’s voice? It sure seemed liked it, but the barely leashed emotion didn’t sound like him. That was more like the old Leon. It sounded as though he was worried about her, but why would he be? He didn’t seem to even like her nowadays, and what was he doing here anyway? It was all too confusing, so Rebecca simply gave up, and allowed herself to sink back into the oblivion of darkness.

  When she next struggled awake, it was to find something cold touch her lips.

  “Easy there, sweetheart, you’ve been out a while. Small sips now.” Rebecca opened her eyes to see her mother smile down on her. “Welcome back, you gave us quite a fright. Well, you gave him one, anyway.” She gestured over her shoulder, and helped Rebecca to sit up more. Warmth spread through her and obliterated the last of her headache when she saw Leon fast asleep on the floor. He was truly magnificent in his lion form.

  “Why is he here, and like that?” Rebecca whispered, mindful not to wake the sleeping beast.

  Joanne Hastings pulled back and hovered her hand over Rebecca’s head.

  “You don’t remember?” she asked.

  Rebecca tried an experimental shake of her head, and when the room didn’t spin, she breathed out a sigh of relief.

  “I know he was here, and he was so damn angry with me, and…” Rebecca winced at her mother’s raised eyebrow and corrected herself. “Sorry, he was extremely angry, and I was talking to him, and… Oh, my god, his leg? Did it work, or did I make it worse? Did I do this to him?”

  The bed dipped when her mother sat down next to her and pulled her in for a hug.

  “Hush, child, all is well. You healed his leg, did a fantastic job, in fact, but you knocked yourself out in the process. It’s not entirely surprising, as you haven’t learned how to channel your powers properly. That will come in time. It just takes practice.”

  Joanne let her go, when Rebecca pushed against her.

  “Powers? You mean I finally got some real ones?”

  Her mother smiled at her, and tapped her nose.

  “You always had them, my dear. They just hadn’t been awakened properly. It seems now they are. You have a long way to go, but healing skills are always the first a guardian witch comes into. That is our calling after all. The rest will come as and when you two sort out your differences. With your history I dare say they will come in fits and bursts, but this is a very promising start, indeed.”

  Joanne paused and smiled down at the sleeping shifter.

  “As for Leon, I had to put a binding spell on him, as he refused to leave your side and quite frankly just got in the way. You see, you hurt your head rather badly when the power lifted you off your feet, and you lost a fair amount of blood.” She paused again and giggled. It was such an incongruous sound coming from her mother, that Rebecca’s mouth fell open in shock. She almost sounded happy, like she had before Dad was taken away.

  “I tell you these brave, strong domly shifters don’t do too well, when it’s us that does the bleeding. So many times I wished I could do that to your father when he worried, but of course, we can never use our powers on our mates, unless it is to heal them. I had fun seeing Leon’s face drop, however, when he realized what I was doing.” She looked at Rebecca and the mischievous twinkle in her eyes was unbelievably good to see.

  “Besides, it’s for his own good. Any leftover aches and pains he might have had will be gone when he wakes up, and shifts back, and by all the elements that boy needed a good sleep. You’ll have your hands full with him, my dear.” Joanne giggled again, and winked at her. "In more ways than one, I dare say. He’s not exactly small if you get my drift.”

  Joanne nudged Rebecca, and she felt her ears grow hot.

  “Mother, really. We haven’t even… I mean, jeez, I’m not discussing this with you of all people.”

  Joanne smiled and
patted her arm, before she got up.

  “Good, I don’t really want to hear the details. Here, drink that.” She handed her a curious smelling tea. “It will help you sleep and relax. Leon will be out for hours yet, and when he comes to… well, I reckon you’ll need your energy then.”

  Rebecca rolled her eyes at her mother, but dutifully sipped the tea.

  “I doubt that, Mum. He doesn’t like me.”

  “Of course he doesn’t like you, you silly goose.” Hearing her mother confirm that hurt more than it should have done and Rebecca’s shoulders slumped as she downed the rest of the tea in one long swallow. Better to sleep than to have face up to the sorry reality of her situation.

  Her mother took the cup off her, tucked her under the covers, and kissed her forehead.

  “He loves you, you silly girl. Why else would he have refused to leave your side and called me in a blind panic? You’ll sleep now. This will all sort itself out, you’ll see.”

  Rebecca wasn’t all convinced of this when she woke up the next morning. Sunlight streamed in through the curtains, and something heavy and furry lay on top of her. In her sleep-befuddled brain she first thought that the big orange tomcat that had taken to hanging around the place had found its way in again, but when she cracked her eyes open she realized it was in fact a massive lion’s head. Leon, of course. Sometime during the middle of the night he must have joined her on the bed, and she let her fingers trail into his fur. Soft warmth greeted her, and Leon stretched in his sleep. One massive paw swiped through the air, and Rebecca held her breath. He could do her some damage with that paw alone, but when he brought it back down with surprising gentleness, he simply clawed the covers, not unlike a cat does when it gets itself comfortable. A deep rumble rose from his chest, and he raised his head briefly. Taking her chance Rebecca slid out from underneath him, and he burrowed back into the space she had just occupied.

  There was something truly surreal about having a massive lion sleeping in her bed, even if it was Leon. She should let him sleep, but curiosity got the better of her. She highly doubted he would let her inspect him once he was awake, so stepping closer again, she ran her hands lightly over his fur. Another rumble rose from him, and then there was the distinct sound of purring, when she scratched him behind his ears. He butted up into her fingers and rolling over exposed his soft underbelly to her.

  Rebecca gasped when she caught side of the myriad of scars there. She had felt them earlier, even through the cover of his T-shirt, but she hadn’t fully appreciated how nasty one in particular was. The ragged edge ran deep, as though someone had used a knife, or maybe a very sharp claw to slice him open. Judging by the messy way it had healed, Rebecca suspected the latter. Vampires had poisonous claws, and sometimes those wounds didn’t heal as they ought to, if they chose to inject that poison.

  A shudder went through Rebecca at that thought. Vile creatures the lot of them, and Leon had clearly suffered at their hands. Her eyes filled with tears and she resolutely blinked them away. Tears never achieved anything, and if she was to stand any chance of making this thing between them work, then she had to prove to Leon that she was strong enough to be his mate. Bursting into tears at the sight of his scars would never do.

  Leon mumbled in his sleep, a distinctively human sound, and Rebecca hastily withdrew her hands. Was he finally waking up? Alas, he turned the other way, and went still again. If he didn’t look so vibrant and healthy, she would have been worried about him still being asleep, but then her mother had said he needed this rest.

  Best to let sleeping lions be. It would give her a chance to freshen up and make herself presentable. With one last searching glance at the snoring beast in her bed, Rebecca sought the refuge of her bathroom.

  * * * *

  Leon woke up slowly, his lion’s contented purr in his ears. Why on earth was the beast so happy and why was he still in his lion form for that matter? Mrs. H that’s why. His eyes flew open, and he promptly shut them again, when he got a far too close up view of Rebecca’s flowery bedspread. It was enough to make a man want to puke. Her scent was everywhere, and he shook his head to banish the last few remnants of his dream. And what a dream that had been. Rebecca had sunk her hands into his fur, and stroked him, and his ferocious beast had rolled over and let her as though he was some pampered housecat, and not a battle-hardened lion.

  A sound from the other side of the little room made him frown. It had been a dream, right? Then again, he was lying on Rebecca’s bed, and he still couldn’t bloody shift. This was ridiculous, and where was she.

  The scent of apple and spice warned him of her approach, and he snapped his head up when the delicious aroma of freshly brewed coffee registered. When he opened his eyes this time, it was to see Rebecca crouched low on her haunches. He breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the color back in her cheeks, and the curious smile that played around her lips. Her brown eyes held a mischievous twinkle that should probably worry him a great deal. Mrs. H had worn the same expression before she had waved her hands at him, and he’d been forced to shift, with no means of shifting back.

  Rebecca waved the coffee cup under his nose, and wrinkled her cute little nose at him.

  “Wakey, wakey, sleeping lion. You might want to shift back to drink this, though I suppose I could find the bowl we use for the visiting tom cat, if you prefer to laze about all day.”

  His lion woke up with a ferocious growl at the inherent insult, and Rebecca’s giggles wrapped themselves around Leon. He realized with a start how much he’d missed hearing that sound. It was almost as though all the shit since hadn’t happened and if he shut his eyes, and simply drew in her scent he could almost pretend they were back to being young and carefree. Almost—because his lion reacted to the scent of his mate with predictable consequences. Snarling, Leon shifted back to human form. It hurt like the fucking bitch to do so, far more than it ought to, but he had at least managed it. He glared at Rebecca, who’d slid to her knees during his shift, and now had a full frontal view of his dick—his very erect, and raring to go dick at that. Heat crept into her cheeks, as she studied him, and Leon swore, sat up, and grabbing a cushion of her bed pulled it on top of his groin.

  “Where the fuck are my clothes?” He grumbled the question under his breath, and Rebecca blinked, and held the steaming cup of coffee for him to take.

  “My, we do wake up grumpy, don’t we? Here, drink this, and your jeans are just over there.” She pointed to the nightstand, and sure enough, there, neatly folded were his trousers. “No idea where your top is, I’m afraid. I wasn’t exactly with it when you shifted.”

  The reminder of the state she had been in roused his protective instincts and he grasped hold of her arm, to stop her from walking away, when she stood up.

  “Your head? Are you okay?”

  Rebecca pointedly looked at his hand on her flesh, and he took the hint and removed his digits.

  “I’m fine, thank you. Mum gave me one of her potions and I slept like a log. I’m okay now.”

  His lion grumbled at that, and she gave him a tentative smile.

  “I’m going to rustle us up something to eat. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.” When he didn’t reply, just stared at her, she sighed and walked over to the kitchen galley at the far side of her tiny flat.

  “Fine, suit yourself. If you want to freshen up, bathroom is through there.”

  The tight set of her shoulders made his lion whine, and Leon mentally rallied at himself. He was acting like a fucking jerk. The woman had healed him last night—at least he thought it had been last night. How long had he slept for exactly?

  “What time is it?” he asked and yanked the jeans back up his legs.

  Rebecca didn’t answer him, just pointed to the wall. The clock read 11:00 a.m. and he winced anew.

  “Fuck it, I’m supposed to be at the youth club already.”

  That got her attention and she turned round slowly and looked at him.

  “You still work th
ere?” she asked, and he shrugged his shoulders, suddenly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking.

  “I wouldn’t call it work, exactly. I help out when I can, that’s all.”

  “Why?” she asked, and his stomach tightened at her expression. It wasn’t just her sticking her nose in where it didn’t belong, like most people. No, he sensed that his answer mattered to her on some deep level, and he shifted from foot to foot. He really had to get out of here. The longer he spent with her the more he wanted to stay, and he was so not going down that route again.

  “I mean, I know being a Protector keeps you busy.” Her gaze dropped to his abdomen, and he had to fight the urge to cover up his scars, especially when she slowly started to walk toward him. He sucked in a breath when she was close enough to reach out and run her fingertips over the worst of them.

  “We all owe you a great deal, and I’m so glad these don’t look as bad as they do in your lion form. I wish…”

  She dropped her hand, wrapped her arms around her middle and glanced up at his face, before she found a spot over his shoulder to focus on. Leon’s lion grumbled at the evasive maneuver, and Leon stuck his hands into the back pocket of his trousers to stop himself from reaching out to her.

  Nothing he could do about the hoarseness of his voice, however, once he finally got the words out of his dry throat.

  “You wish what?”

  Rebecca flicked her eyes up to his briefly, and the depth of longing he glimpsed before she resolutely stared at the floor sent his awareness of her through the roof.

  “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” She stepped away from him, and he wanted nothing more than to haul her up against him and make her tell him what was bothering her, but he hadn’t earned the right to do that—yet.