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

by Doris O'Connor

  He pulled back at her sharp intake of breath and kissed the silent tears off her face.

  “You knew?” she whispered.

  “Of course, I knew, pip. Besides, your father filled in the blanks. We had many an enlightening conversation about you, way before that night you decided to trick the fates.”

  “Oh.”

  Leon had to smile at her confused expression, and he nodded.

  “Yes, oh, which is why it hurt so fucking badly when you decided to lie to him about us.”

  Rebecca flinched at that and when she looked as though she was going to interrupt him, he shut her up by kissing her. Rebecca clung to him and whimpered into the kiss.

  “I don’t deserve you,” she whispered and he bopped her on the nose with one clawed finger and grinned.

  “Clearly not, but you’re stuck with me anyway. Now get some rest, because there’s something else I want to do.”

  Rebecca looked up at him and wondered about that curious smile that played around his lips, but he shook his head at her when she opened her mouth to ask him.

  She pouted instead and he laughed and swatted her ass.

  “Let’s start how we mean to go on, shall we? No doubting your Sir, girl. You’ll find out what I have planned soon enough.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Here, you’ll need this, pip.”

  Leon grinned at the confused expression on his girl’s face, as he handed her the outfit he had chosen for her to wear. The tight T-shirt and itty bitty little skirt were reminiscent of the clothes she’d worn the night she’d set them on the path that eventually had led them here.

  He’d had the clothes for a while, determined to lay that particular ghost to rest, should Rebecca ever accept that they were indeed mates.

  Now that she had, that she truly was his, he wanted… no, needed to cement their bond like this.

  “Freshen up, put these on, and meet me downstairs in ten minutes. We’re going for a ride, girl.”

  He half expected her to argue, and when she didn’t, warmth spread through his chest. Understanding dawned in her eyes, when she appeared to make the connection, and she blinked away tears, dipped her head, and murmured her acquiescence.

  “As you wish, Sir.”

  His beast purred his approval, and Leon stalked from the room. If he stayed, he would only jump her again. Having freshened up himself in the utility room, the significance of which wasn’t lost on him either, as he pulled on some clothes, grabbed his toy bag, and smiled at the velvet box that sat on the top.

  When he’d bought this, several weeks ago now, he hadn’t been at all sure that he would ever get to use it, but he’d given into the impulse anyway. It was just perfect and he couldn’t wait to see her face when he placed it on her.

  Her scent warned him of her approach, and he swallowed a groan when he turned around and saw her approach.

  His girl looked deliciously frazzled, and hot as fuck. He let his gaze roam over her, and grinned as the sweet aroma of her arousal hit his nostrils. Her nipples firmed against the fabric of the tight T-shirt he had chosen for her, and she gasped when he stepped up to her and undid her buttons until most of her lacy bra was exposed.

  “Sir?” she whispered, and wrapping his hand in her hair he tilted her head up until her gaze connected with his.

  “What is it, pip?” he asked, and she bit her lip in such a way that his lion growled, and she stopped abusing her flesh immediately. “Better,” he said. “Now tell me, what’s worrying you.”

  Rebecca dropped her gaze down to his lips, and she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.

  “These clothes… it’s just…where are we going, Sir?”

  Her eyes widened and a shiver went through her frame, when he dipped his head and let his canines graze along her skin. He licked his bite mark and drank in her whimper of need as he grew hard as nails. Fuck, it would make for an uncomfortable ride, but the end result would be worth it. He couldn’t change the past, but this would go a long way to soothing some of the regrets he sensed in her even now.

  “We’re going for a ride, girl, and I think you know exactly where we’re going and why.”

  “I’m sorry, Sir.”

  He pulled back at the sound of her tearful voice, and sure enough silent tears ran down her face. They burned a path of acid along his heart, and he kissed them off her face.

  “Shhh, there is no need for tears.”

  Rebecca tried to shake her head, and he tightened his hold on her hair, until she yelped in pain.

  “Are you arguing with me, girl?” He firmed his voice and she went pliant against him.

  “No, Sir, it’s just… it should have been you.”

  Leon loosened his hold on her and rested his forehead against her with a sigh.

  “Yes, it should have been, but you and me can make our own firsts, starting with this. Trust me?”

  He stepped back better to assess her reaction, and when she nodded and sunk to her knees in front of him, his lion all but strutted under his skin, and the Dominant in him roared.

  “Always, Sir,” she said, and he held out her hand to help her back up again.

  “Good, then let’s go.”

  * * * *

  The wind whipped her long red hair behind her, and Rebecca snuggled closer into Leon’s warm back. Memories flooded her and made breathing difficult. This was too much like that fateful night all those years ago. Dusk was falling and it would be dark by the time they reached the clearing, and she knew without having been told that they were heading that way. The closer they came the tenser Leon became, and she could hear his lion’s growls even over the loud roar of his motorbike.

  Her heart broke all over again, and with it came the grim determination to do whatever she could to help him erase that particular hurt. She wasn’t sure if Leon had been back to the clearing since that night. Rebecca certainly hadn’t, and as they started the sharp incline up the path, she was hurtled right back to that night. In her mind’s eye she was on the back of Heath’s bike, and she screwed her eyes shut to ward off the memories, but it was useless.

  She had been such an idiot. If only she’d stayed at home that night, and had met Leon like she was supposed to.

  The engine shut off abruptly, and Rebecca jumped when Leon pulled her off the bike, and then pushed her face down over it. Before she could grasp his intentions, he’d had her wrists tied with rope and secured them to the bike, and her earlier misgivings gave way to excitement as he grasped her hips and kicked her legs apart. He pulled her head up by her hair, and she looked into the eyes of his lion when he smiled down at her.

  “Look up,” he said.

  She did as she was told, and groaned. He had parked his bike right under that tree, and Rebecca tensed when he grasped her ass cheek and squeezed. His claws ran out, piercing her skin, and the tiny pinpricks of pain meant arousal coursed through her veins thick and fast.

  “Recognize this?” he asked, and when she nodded, he brought the flat of his hand down on her ass. Her still sore flesh protested, and she gasped when he did it twice more, and then soothed the sting with his hand. Heat blossomed out from her ass, and her pussy muscles contracted in need.

  “Use your words, girl, and answer me properly.” His voice had dropped to that deliciously deep, growly cadence that meant she would do anything for him, and she hastily complied.

  “Yes, Sir, I do.” She whispered the words and groaned when he slid his hands lower until he cupped her panties-covered pussy. He left it there, hot and heavy, branding her as his. He smiled his approval as her panties grew damper, and her clit clenched at the wicked gleam in his eyes.

  “And where are we, girl?”

  She swallowed hard as he started to move his hand back and forth along her slit. Tingles erupted in the path of the friction he created, and she tried to rub herself against his digits and promptly froze when he shook his head at her and stepped away.

  Rebecca moaned at the loss of his hand. A moan that tu
rned into a yelp when he picked up another long length of rope from the bag he had brought along and flicked the ends of it over her exposed ass several times.

  The makeshift whip was surprisingly stingy, and Rebecca shut her eyes and absorbed the pain that shot up from her ass and spread across her nerve endings. The whir of the rope as it sailed toward her, the rush of air seconds before it made contact with her ass, and the sharp pain that radiated outwards, all merged into one and helped her slip further into her submissive headspace. This was as far removed from the last time she had been here as it was possible to be, and Rebecca murmured her thanks to her Sir. She wasn’t sure if Leon could hear her, but before she could fully sink into the sensations assaulting her, everything stopped.

  Heat blossomed anew as Leon rubbed his hands all over her ass cheeks and then ripped her panties off with his claws. Cool air assaulted her swollen flesh, and Leon murmured his approval.

  “You’re so fucking wet for me, pip. I’m going to restrain your legs now. You’ll be completely at my mercy, and then I’ll fuck you, like you should have been fucked back then. I want you to scream my name when you come, do you hear me, girl?” His heavy weight draped over her back made breathing difficult, as he leaned down and pushed her further into his bike, and she whispered her answer.

  “Yes, Sir, please. I’m so ready for you.”

  Her blouse and bra gave way as he ripped the fabric over her back and then kissed a path down her exposed spine, until he could run his tongue all over her butt cheeks. The rough texture spread more good hurt along her nerve endings, and he chuckled when she pushed her behind up to get closer to him.

  “All in good time, my sweet.” He growled the words into her pussy as he chose that moment to lap at her juices, Rebecca groaned. Oh, that felt way too good, and she climbed the exquisite rungs of pleasure with dizzying speed, as he licked her slit to clit and back again, tunneled his tongue inside her pussy, and then suckled her clit into his mouth. Before she could tumble over that sweet edge, however, he withdrew with a sharp bite to the inside of her thigh that brought her arousal down a nudge.

  “Please, Sir…” He licked the bite mark on her thigh and ran his hands down to her ankles, while urging them even further apart.

  “I’m going to tie your legs now, girl. Give me a color.” The strain in his lust-filled voice spoke of his own arousal and Rebecca breathed her answer, as the feel of the rope on her bare flesh helped her to fully let go.

  “Green, Sir. I love you.”

  This was what she needed, craved with every fiber of her being, for him to take charge, to still the thoughts in her mind, until she had no choice but to simply let go. To trust him to take care of her like she ought to have done all those years ago, and Rebecca shut her eyes and simply let her mind float.

  She was dimly aware of him tightening the ropes, and his deep voice calling her his good girl, and then she stopped thinking altogether when the thick tip of his cock nudged her entrance.

  One hand on her hip, the other anchored in her hair, Leon thrust in deep and wet as she was for him her body offered no resistance to the invasion of this thick shaft. There was only pleasure and the incredible feeling of fullness as he pumped in and out of her. Every stroke and retreat pushed her higher into bliss, and Leon swore when she tightened her internal muscles around his cock.

  “Fuck, yeah, do that again, pip. I’m close, so damn close, come with me and scream.”

  Leon thrust into her with so much force that the bike seemed in danger of toppling over, and when he bit her shoulder, the force of her resulting orgasm meant that Rebecca did scream, as pleasure pulled her under and the world narrowed to just the feel of her Sir inside her body. Heat bathed her insides as Leon, too, climaxed and grunted into her shoulder.

  “I love you so much, baby. You’re mine, all mine now.”

  “Yours,” she whispered, her voice giving out, and she shut her eyes and just reveled in the feeling of being his.

  By the time Rebecca’s breathing had slowed down for her to become aware of her surroundings again, Leon had untied her and she sat on his lap, wrapped up in a warm woolen blanket, and she snuggled in closer into his incredible warmth with a small sigh.

  “Back with me, pip?” Leon cupped her chin to make her look at him, and the love and affection that shone out of his amber gaze made her sniff again.

  “Yes, Sir, that was incredible. Thank you for giving me these new memories.”

  Leon smiled and kissed her nose.

  “You’re welcome, and I should thank you. I’ve fantasized about taking you over my bike like that in like forever.”

  A giggle escaped Rebecca at that thought and his grin deepened.

  “Really, baby, and I must say this was much better than any fantasy.”

  She grinned up at him and he sobered and rummaged around in the big hold all. She’d wondered why he’d brought it along.

  Her mouth went dry when he produced an oblong box and glanced her way.

  “There is one more thing I want to do, though,” he said and snapped the box open.

  Rebecca gasped when she saw the contents. A delicate silver collar, complete with a heart-shaped lock, twinkled in the moonlight and Rebecca blinked back tears when he took it out and held it up.

  “Will you please do me the honor of wearing my collar, pip?”

  “Yes, god yes. This is beautiful, but, how when…” Her voice trailed off at his brilliant smile.

  “That’s for me to know and you not to worry over. Let’s just say, I saw this and thought of you. Lift your hair out of the way for me, pet.”

  Rebecca complied with trembling fingers and gasped when the cool metal settled around her neck. The soft click of the lock snapping shut made her smile, and when Leon drew her closer for a tender kiss, she never wanted this moment to end.

  “To new memories and the start of the rest of our lives, pip.”

  * * * *

  Present time

  Leon grinned to himself as he pulled up outside their house and Rebecca frowned at him.

  “What’s so funny, Sir?” she asked and yawned, and he shook his head, opened the door and walked around to open her door for her.

  She smiled up at him, and took his offered hand to pull her out of the car.

  “I was just thinking back to my marriage proposal, and your collaring,” he said, and Rebecca laughed.

  “Oh yes, very romantic that was, with both of us in our just-fucked silly state. Mind you, the collaring was perfect. Who knew my Sir was such a romantic at heart?”

  Her eyes widened when Leon slammed the door shut and crowded her up against the car. He pulled her hips flush against him, and her breathing hitched when he rubbed his erection into her belly.

  “Romantic, huh? Right now, I want to fuck you silly again, baby. I need you tonight.”

  A groan escaped Rebecca, and she shook her head.

  “We can’t, the baby…what if…”

  His lion roared his frustration and Leon tipped her head up to make her look at him.

  “Will be fine, pip. Don’t ask me how I know that. I just do. Besides, the others…” His voice broke on the last few words, and he almost didn’t catch her whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  “Will you stop saying that? It isn’t your fault any more than it’s mine.”

  Rebecca shook her head and put her hands on his chest. Warmth spread through him at the contact and she gasped as sparks erupted from her fingertips. As quickly as they appeared they subsided, and she looked up at him in complete and utter shock.

  “See,” he whispered. “This one will be fine. Your powers are stronger than they’ve ever been. It might have taken us a few years, but I reckon we got there in the end, baby.”

  Tears ran down her cheeks and Leon swiped them away with his fingertips.

  “Even the fates can’t stay pissed at us forever.”

  Epilogue

  Eight months later

  Rebecca woke with a start, and her h
ands automatically reached for her newborn daughter. When they encountered nothing but cold sheets, her heart sunk, and she was instantly wide awake. Where was she? And why hadn’t she heard her wake up. Before panic could set in completely Leon’s deep rumble carried through the still night air, and Rebecca relaxed.

  Of course he would have her. Leon treasured those quiet times with their daughter, when she was awake but not yet screaming for food. Sure enough when Rebecca swung her feet out of bed and padded out onto the landing she saw them.

  Leaning back on the window seat that afforded a breathtaking view over the lake Leon sat with their five-week-old daughter perched on his naked chest. Joanna-Marie, as they’d called their precious only child, sucked her little fist and had her blue eyes firmly fixed on her daddy’s face.

  He grinned down on her, as he crooned an old lullaby, and Rebecca blinked back tears of happiness. Everything had fallen into place with the baby’s birth, and Rebecca was now in full charge of her powers. It had taken years, but she had finally gotten there, thanks to the man who held their daughter so tenderly. Not for the first time, Rebecca wondered how different it all would have been had she not fucked up so badly that night she lost her virginity.

  Rebecca had at long last stopped beating herself up about that, much to Leon’s relief. As he frequently told her, she’d paid her penance and she was a better person for what she had gone through. As was he. Would they be as happy now, had they not gone through all that shite before? Who knew?

  Rebecca had stalled the wedding for some time, determined to hold onto her last bit of independence for as long as she could, and to ensure that this really was what Leon had wanted. She hadn’t counted on her lion’s stubbornness and her mother’s deviousness, however. Their wedding had been an extremely lavish affair in the end and remained the talk of the village for months.

  When she had fallen pregnant out of the blue, it had been as unexpected as it had been welcome. Typically guardian witches did not fall easily and late in life like her mother had done.