By the Tail

by Marie Harte

  “I know there are issues among the females. Women in groups tend to go for the jugular.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Please. Most of the women in the pride actually get along. We’re not all horny teenagers and desperate singles trying to catch a man. A solid ten percent are bitchy shrews. And guess what ten percent Alissa and her dead cousin belong to?” She felt badly for what had happened to Belinda, but that was no excuse for dragging Quince down with her.

  Miles looked undecided, a first for her brother. “No. I’m sorry. I can’t believe a woman would lie about something like that.”

  “Idiot. Women lie about shit all the time. About being pregnant, about their ages, weights, finances. We’re human—well, kind of. You know what I mean. The felines around here might be prettier and stronger than human women, but we have the same flaws. God, get your head out of your ass and think about it. Quince was your best friend nearly your entire life. So you got busy with business, and he started doing more for the pride the last few years. You know Quince. Would you really take Alissa’s word over his on something like this?”

  Miles seemed troubled. He looked away from her and glanced back at her portfolio. “I want you to add the cover up and the matching skirts to the order as well.”

  She gripped her hair and pulled on it so she wouldn’t wrap her fingers around Miles’s thick neck. “Did you hear anything I said?” Don’t you trust me to know the man I’m with?

  “I don’t doubt all of Miami Beach heard you,” he snapped. “I don’t have time to dwell on the past. Just on the now. I have business matters to straighten out here. Since Lex is no longer a concern, I can take the time to reestablish our presence in the boutiques. I have people to see, things to do—”

  “Argh. You are such an asshole.”

  “Joy.” His disapproval made her want to smack him.

  “Stop avoiding the fact that you’re wrong about him. And about me.”

  “If this is so you can keep seeing him with my permission, I—”

  “Fuck your permission. This is about making the pride strong again. Lex’s followers aren’t exactly gone, you know. And I’m tired of you treating me like I don’t have a brain. You’re my older brother, not my father. I love you, Miles, but you’re pissing me the hell off.” That felt so good to finally say. “Either you trust me to make my own decisions or you don’t. Which is it?”

  He opened his mouth to retort when a loud knock was followed by the door crashing inward.

  Miles immediately put himself between Joy and the threat. To her astonishment, Quince stood inside the door, bloodied and bruised, his shirt in tatters.

  “I have something to say to you,” he growled at Miles. To her he said offhandedly, “Oh hey, baby.”

  She saw her brother stiffen and sighed. “Miles, would you relax, already?”

  “Why don’t you say what you came to say?” her brother asked Quince, ignoring her.

  “How about this? Fuck off.” Quince stepped up to her brother and punched him in the jaw with such speed and force that her brother toppled and would have fallen like a sack of potatoes if Quince hadn’t caught him. He lowered him gently to the floor while she watched, trying to collect her thoughts.

  “What was that for?” Joy stared from her unconscious brother to Quince. “I was making slow progress with him about you. But now it’s all shot to hell. Great going, bonehead.” She poked him in the chest and tried not to feel sorry for him when he flinched. He really did look like death warmed over.

  “Come on. I need to talk to you. I’ll leave him a note so he won’t worry.” Quince hurried to her drawing table, grabbed a pen and paper, and drafted a message. Then he folded it and put in on Miles’s chest.

  Joy bent down to read it, but before she could, Quince yanked her with him and hauled ass out the door.

  She glanced over her shoulder. “But Miles—”

  “Will be fine. Trust me. Dickhead has a forehead like granite.”

  “Would you quit tugging me?” She glared at him, worried at the over-bright glare in his eyes. She put her hand on his forehead. “You’re burning up.”

  “Healing is all.” He grimaced when she dragged her hand away and accidentally grazed his swollen cheekbone. He stuffed her in his SUV and then jumped behind the wheel. After starting up the vehicle, he pulled away from the parking lot just as her brother ran out of the building clutching the crumpled note in his hand.

  “You bastard,” Miles roared.

  “What the heck did you write down?” she asked, staring at her brother.

  Quince whipped the SUV around and tore down the street. “We have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. I need your help to fix our problems in the pride.”

  “You’re asking me?” Flattered he thought she could help—such a change from her brother who apparently knew everything—she nevertheless didn’t trust the fever in his eyes. “Are you sure you’re up for a conversation?”

  “Honey, I’m up for a healing blowjob to make me feel better. I’m definitely up for some conversation.”

  She blushed but grinned at him. “Then speak freak, and speak freely.”

  Chapter Eight

  “I don’t like it.” Joy scowled at the big baby lying helplessly in his king-size bed, his arms stretched out on either side of him as she treated his wounds.

  “It’s the perfect solution.”

  “No, it’s not,” argued Jace from the doorway to Quince’s bedroom. Ellis followed him inside, with Rain, Dana and Willow not far behind.

  Quince’s council. Except for Oliver. That weasel.

  “I still can’t believe Oliver turned on you. Man, I’m going to have a serious talking to him when I see him again.” Joy frowned down at Quince, who was looking none too happy at his council.

  “Hey, I’m wounded. Why don’t you guys take a break for a while?” He nodded to the door.

  “No.” Ellis sat in a chair while the others alternately stood or sat on the bed with them.

  “This is like a big sleepover,” Willow said with a grin.

  Only the fact that the pretty cat had never slept with Quince kept her free from Joy’s territorial feline. The way Ellis eyed Willow told Joy she didn’t have to worry about Willow being free forever. But Dana…

  Joy shook off her cat’s low growl of warning and concentrated on Quince’s idiocy. “As I was saying, offering the pride to the winner of a death match—knowing your opponent will lie, cheat and steal to win—is dumber than dirt.”

  “Yeah, what she said,” Dana agreed and frowned at Quince. “I mean, come on. Ayers had the nerve to ambush you outside your own home while he distracted the rest of us with bullshit. You can’t possibly think he means to play fair?”

  “Of course not,” Jace retorted. “He’s not stupid. With us at his back, and impartial elders acting as witnesses, we’ll be able to end the rebels for good.”

  “Don’t call them rebels,” Willow complained. “That makes them sound like they’re up against the Empire. And we’re the Empire.”

  Ellis blinked. “Dear God, did she just geek out and reference Star Wars? Now I’m really in love.”

  Willow blushed. Ellis grinned, and Jace made a sound of disgust Dana and Rain echoed.

  Quince groaned and closed his eyes. “You’re all giving me a headache.”

  “So are you going to mate him or not, Joy? Because that would help a lot,” Jace said, and the room grew still.

  “How would that help?” she wanted to know. She glanced back at Quince and saw him open his eyes wide.

  “It won’t,” he barked.

  “Dumbass.” Jace’s insult showed the difference between Quince’s rule and Lex’s. Quince tolerated what Lex would have killed upon hearing. “Of course it’s the answer. You mate Joy, the only woman you seem to want anymore, and you’re looking stable as pride leader. So that’s one more step to qualification. Plus, you annex the Bermin name and everyone else settles down about you having a real powerhouse in your
corner, even if Miles does still hate your guts.”

  Joy stared at Quince, wondering why he hadn’t pushed that agenda. “Makes sense.”

  He glared at her, and to her shock, a flush darkened his cheekbones, even under the bruising. “No.”

  She couldn’t catch her breath at his flat out rebuff. “Well I didn’t ask you to mate me, so don’t do me any favors,” she snapped. So embarrassing, being rejected in front of everyone.

  “That’s not the way I want it to happen,” he snapped back, and she realized no one spoke or moved. The entire gathering sat as quiet as church mice.

  “How do you want it to happen then?” she asked and tried to stand, wanting the advantage of looking down on him for once.

  But Quince wouldn’t let her. He rolled onto his side on a groan and refused to let go of her hand. “I’ll take you out for a nice evening. Romance you, wine and dine you, we’ll come back, have fantastic sex and annoy everyone with you screaming my name.”

  “God.” Embarrassed that he’d admitted all that in front of the others, she also couldn’t stop her joyous need to jump up and down with excitement. He really did want to mate her, not to take over the pride, but because he wanted to.

  “Yeah, you’ll be all, ‘God, my God’, and screaming for more.” He grinned around a fat lip. She heard the others laugh but couldn’t look away from Quince, who seemed to have their mating all mapped out for them. “Then I’ll layer you with scent. Your cat and you will accept, and I’ll give you my grandmother’s necklace to seal the deal.” His eyes were so warm, so loving.

  She blinked away sudden moisture, totally moved by his declaration of intent in front of his friends.

  “And if I say no?”

  He shrugged. “Then I’ll keep asking until you say yes. I figure I can wear you down, eventually.” His easy attitude vanished. “But we’re not goddamn mating for the pride. For once, I’m not going to martyr myself and my future for everyone else. Sue me.”

  Silence reigned, until Dana whispered, “Oh, that was just beautiful.”

  “Yeah,” Willow agreed.

  “Dumbass,” Jace disagreed.

  Joy knew she’d been handed her future on a platter. Quince wanted her, and he refused to use her to become pride leader. Proof, if she hadn’t known already, that he would never sink to such despicable levels as rape and bullying to achieve his own ends, even to help the pride.

  “I don’t get it.” Jace shook his head. “He loves her. She loves him. But they can’t mate to save the pride? Fucking emotions give me a headache.”

  “I think I want to throw up,” Ellis added. “Hell, Quince. You’re meeting with him tonight. Why don’t you just hand him the pride and be done with it?” Ellis sounded disgusted. “Quit being such a pussy and just ask her to mate you.”

  “Shut up.” Rain shocked them all. “Everyone, out. Let’s give them time to talk.”

  While the others scurried out the door, Joy watched Quince, unable to look away from the man she’d come to love against all odds. He glared at her in anger, though why he should be mad at her she couldn’t fathom. She heard the door shut, giving her and Quince the privacy they needed.

  “Quince—”

  “No.”

  “No?” He was so cute when angry. That frown line bisected his smooth forehead, and he had a hank of tangled hair obscuring one bruised eye from view.

  She pushed the hair aside and heard his breath catch. A subtle glance at his body showed his nipples hard and his jeans stretched tight across his groin. She had to love a man she could turn on despite him being in abject pain. Joy felt powerful, loved and strong enough to do the right thing. Not the Bermin sister lost in the shuffle, but a woman of independence and fortitude who would claim her mate not if—but when—she was ready. Which was right now.

  “No, I will not allow you to sacrifice yourself for the pride. You either mate me because you love me, or we don’t mate, period.” He tried to sit up, but she shoved a hand on his chest and held him down.

  “I don’t think that’s your call to make,” Joy said quietly, keeping her face expressionless. Her cat rolled and hummed with pleasure. The woman she wanted to be was in full control. She’d found a man to love, a cat to mate, and she decided she wanted what he had to offer. Truth be told, she loved the big guy and always had.

  Wondering about his involvement with Lex had put her off men for months. Even her forays with other relationships, years before, had been a litmus test, to see how her feelings fared for them against what she tried desperately to stifle for Quince.

  With gentle fingers, she trailed her hands over his shoulders and chest to toy with his nipples.

  He sucked in a breath. “Joy, don’t—”

  “Don’t tell me what to do,” she said, infusing her voice with anger. Then she slid her hands lower, down his tightly corded abs to the snap of his jeans. She unbuttoned him and pulled the denim apart. Then she slid her hands inside his boxer briefs and tugged them down, showcasing his thick, hard cock. “Don’t tell me what to feel.”

  “Joy,” he choked. “I, oh, baby, fuck. Don’t—”

  She lowered her head slowly, teasing him, and then sucked his cockhead with a tight grip. She slowly eased the rest of him into her mouth and to the back of her throat, conscious to breathe through her nose as she took him in.

  “Joy,” he moaned and palmed her head.

  She bobbed over him, wanting him to lose control.

  “Fuck, baby. I love you so much,” he moaned as she cupped his balls and put more pressure on his dick, running her teeth against the underside of his crown. “Shit. Oh man. I’m going to come.”

  She sucked harder, moved faster and ran a hand up his chest to pinch his nipple.

  He bucked up and cried out, coming down her throat.

  She dimly heard the door open then close in a rush while she was swallowing her mate’s seed, laying her scent marker over the male with a surety she felt to her bones. That he returned the affection, his animal spirit completely in tune with hers, told her without a doubt she hadn’t made a mistake.

  He moaned her name repeatedly and stroked her hair while she finished swallowing him and licking him clean. Then she raised her head to smile down at him with tears in her eyes that she saw reflected in his own.

  “I’ve been dreaming about this for years,” he admitted. Then he laughed. “But I never would have imagined I’d be the one on the bottom while my mate stole my sense with a killer blowjob. I thought I’d be the one proving my worth.”

  She grinned. “There’s plenty of time for that, Quince.”

  “God, I hope so.” He drew her down on top of him and kissed her. “I know it’s probably weird to hear, but tasting myself on your lips is a huge turn on.”

  “Yeah, like after you go down on me then kiss me. I like it too.”

  He and she stared at each other. “We’re gross,” they said at the same time and laughed.

  Quince sobered. “You heard me admit I love you.”

  “I did.” She said nothing more until he glared up at her. “Oh fine. I love you too. Happy now?”

  He smiled, and the pleasure in his entire body, animal and man, took her breath away. “Yeah, I am. I’ve been waiting for you forever.” He sighed. “I’d prove it to you, but I had to give it to Miles.”

  She blinked. “Huh? You gave what to Miles?”

  “Remember that ugly little bracelet you gave me years ago? When you went through that jewelry phase?”

  She frowned then stared at him in amazement. “Oh my gosh. You kept that?”

  “I did. You gave it to me. Honey, I loved you back then. But you were my best friend’s younger sister. If I’d looked at you the way I wanted to, your brother would have kicked my ass. Besides, you were too young for me then. I was twenty and you were still a teenager.”

  “But I’m not now.”

  He grinned and ran a hand down her front to snake under her shorts and panties.

  “No, you are
n’t.” He found her wet and swollen and played with her, stroking her to the edge of a killer climax in no time. “You’re so fucking pretty,” he said on a sigh. “Nothing I like better than to watch you while you come. Come for me, baby. All over my hand.”

  His animal spirit stroked her as well, settling into her bones and rubbing all over her feline. The dual pleasure rushed her past enjoyment into cathartic rapture, the physical and emotional needs so long denied now satisfied. Together.

  Loving her mate made all the difference in the world, and it made her strong and proud and delighted at the same time.

  When she came down off her high, Quince pulled his hand away and cuddled her into his side.

  “Easy,” she whispered, not wanting to hurt him any more than he’d been.

  “Nothing easy about you. Just the way I like you,” he teased. “I love you so much. I don’t want anything but you.”

  “You really don’t want to be pride leader.”

  He hugged her tighter and groaned. “No. But no one else worthy wants the job, and I refuse to leave it to someone as bad as Lex. There’s really only one guy I can think of that would do a stellar job, and he hates my guts.”

  “Miles.” She dragged her hand over his side, petting him, and heard him purr. “He thinks you raped and killed Belinda Roberto.”

  His purring ceased and he rolled over her, staring down with shock. “What?”

  She repeated what Miles had told her, about how Alissa and Belinda had painted Quince as the villain.

  “That’s not how it happened at all.”

  “I know.”

  He searched her expression, then seemed to ease. “I found her dying, Joy. In the days when everything was going to hell and Lex’s regime on a rampage, I found Belinda lying in the middle of the estate. She’d been abused by a half dozen of Lex’s men. And one of them had tried to end her. But she had enough anger in her to curse me for it all. Said if I’d just accepted her or Alissa as mate, none of it would have happened.”