For Toron's Pride

by Tressie Lockwood

  Not even warning bells went off in her head when he left her mouth to trail kisses along her throat. She curved into him when he shoved a rough hand beneath her jacket and blouse to tear her bra away from her breast. He pinched her nipple so hard it hurt, and she cried out in pleasure.

  Toron leaned back long enough to take her hands and put them on his pants button. He captured her bottom lip and nipped it. “Take me out.”

  She drew in a shuttering breath, her hands shaking. The button came undone. Even before she got the zipper lowered, she saw how big he was, thick and curved behind the denim. Her mouth watered she was so hungry to see.

  With the two sides of his jeans parted, she noted he hadn’t worn boxers, and his cock bulged into view, a thick vein running the length of it. Sienna licked her lips and put a hand out.

  “Toron.”

  They both jumped at the voice. Sienna turned to flee, but Toron captured her wrist to keep her where she stood.

  “What is it, Stella?”

  Sienna closed her eyes. Humiliation, anger, and frustration all vied to make her want to sink into the ground and disappear. In a heartbeat, she had given in to him and been ready to have sex right there where anyone could see.

  Earlier, she had come out here to get away and clear her head, but she hadn’t walked far into the trees. Who knew what lurked in the woods, and a fear of getting lost kept her near the house. Where she stood was visible from the house, yet she had opened his pants and was ready to get on her knees and suck him. This was his fault.

  “They’ve got a situation up at the plant,” Stella explained.

  “Holt accused Larry of fixing the books, and now they’re fighting. No one’s been able to stop them. They’ve already halted the line. Nothing’s getting done.”

  Sienna looked up at Toron. She saw the battle in his expression between continuing what they had started and going to get his people in line. “We’ll finish this when I return,” he promised. “Wait for me.”

  Right there in front of Stella, he kissed her and then walked away. Sienna didn’t move. If she dared, she might fall flat on her face, so she waited to get her feet back on the ground. She had assumed Stella followed Toron, but her petulant tone startled Sienna a second time from her thoughts.

  “He’s never going to love you, you know.”

  Sienna frowned. “Excuse me?”

  The woman stalked over, her first mistake. “You heard me. He’s never going to love you. Or you can say, Toron is the kind of man who will love all women, not just one. It’s in his nature.” She shrugged. “If you think you’re going to be the one to change him, you’re setting yourself up for failure.”

  Sienna had had enough. “Look, bitch, I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, but you don’t know me well enough to get in my face about anything I choose to do. Second, I can read you. You’re the kind of woman that makes herself invaluable to the man she loves, hoping one day he’ll notice her for more than just his secretary.”

  Stella’s face flamed.

  “Oh yeah, I have your number. You’re jealous, probably eaten up that Toron’s paying me attention when you figured this weekend was a perfect chance to get him committed.”

  Rage burned in Stella’s eyes, until the green in the depths bled to golden. She curled her fingers with already naturally long fingernails as if she would attack. Stella took a defensive stance. “Bring it.”

  Stella heaved her shoulders and retreated a step. “I was only trying to help you. Since you’re too dense, let me lay it out for you. Up until you came, I was Toron’s main lover. I knew he had other women, but I took it in stride because I know that’s how he is. He keeps several women in his pride for his pleasure and his alone. I accepted that. I know eventually he will choose a woman to be his mate, to mother his children. When that time comes, that woman will be me. If you want to have sex with him, fine. Just don’t think it will be anything more.”

  The woman pivoted on her heel and stomped away.

  Sienna took long enough to gather her wits, and then she headed to the house as well. She ran straight up to her room and began packing her bag. In one way, she wanted to one up Stella and knock her from her high horse, but giving in to Toron wasn’t worth it. One would have to be blind not to see Toron was the kind of man Stella had described him to be. So she would be out before he got back. Stella could have him.

  Sienna jumped into the shower and soaped her body.

  Just running her hands over her breasts and belly brought back thoughts of Toron and the way she came to life when he touched her. Her pussy ached, and she leaned her head on the wall with her eyes shut as she waited for the feeling to pass. Maybe with some distance between them, her emotions would return to normal.

  After she was done, she stepped out of the shower and toweled off. Just slipping into her panties, she dropped to her hands and knees when a wave of sadness pummeled every part of her being. She sniffed and reached up to find tears spilling down her cheeks. What the hell? Why do I feel like this?

  At first she thought she was losing it. What they had almost done wasn’t that serious. She wasn’t in love with him, and she’d known before Stella said anything that whatever they did would just be sex and nothing else. So why did she feel like she’d lost someone precious to her?

  A knock on the door forced her to scramble into a robe.

  “Yes?”

  “Sienna.” The woman in the hall sounded like she’d been crying. Dread tightened Sienna’s chest, and she ran across to open the door. The petite woman was one of the naturals, but Sienna couldn’t remember her name. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she held a tissue to her nose. “You must come to the square.”

  “The square? What’s that and why?”

  Fresh tears fell down the woman’s face, and Sienna knew without touching her face that more started in her own eyes. What the hell was going on in this place, and why did it affect her?”

  “Holt is dead,” the woman blurted.

  Sienna gasped. She recalled the name when Stella mentioned it, something about two men fighting at a plant.

  The woman went on. “W-We all feel it when Toron lets go of his power. If it’s out of control, it overwhelms us. Right now, he’s in trouble, and we have to gather around him to help him.”

  Sienna left the woman at the door and yanked her bag open to find fresh clothes. She lugged them on and ran fingers through her tangled hair while searching for her brush. “Holt was…”

  “Toron’s brother.”

  For Toron's Pride

  Chapter Five

  Sienna stood at the back of the crowd. Every now and then, she got a quick glimpse through the doors to see Toron. His closed expression didn’t allter even while those around him sobbed and shouted in anguish. The little Sienna had been able to gather about Holt, he was a good man, gentle, and without a doubt, not alpha. He loved his people, and they loved him, most of all Toron. The fight he’d gotten into with the other shifter about fixing the books had gotten out of hand, and the other shifter had transformed and killed him. Nothing brought home to her more just how wild these people were and that they were not human.

  When their leader stood in the community building watching over his little brother’s body, Sienna felt his pain just like everyone else. Toron didn’t cry, but the fact that even Sienna had trouble remaining on her feet, spoke volumes about his suffering.

  People went in and out of the building, with more pushing to get inside. While there weren’t many people in this town, there were too many to all fit at once. Sienna waited her turn. She wanted to offer her condolences to Toron, but it felt like she’d lost her own little brother, and she was an only child. She pushed through the crowd, and the closer she came to Toron, the more weakness stole over her. At one point, she didn’t have the strength to go farther. She stopped where she was and peered in his direction. Stella stood on one side of him, and one of the men on the other.

  Neither seemed to be of any use. In
fact, Stella sank to her knees and covered her face with her hands. Sienna frowned. Enough was enough.

  She found a surge of energy and weaved her way through. When she reached his side, she slipped her hand in his. To her surprise, Toron gripped it as if it were a lifeline. They remained together saying nothing, and then she tugged on his hand. He leaned toward her, and she rubbed a thumb over the back of his hand.

  “I know it hurts.” She paused to clear her throat and pulled in a deep breath. Now she knew why Stella and anyone else in Toron’s vicinity were useless. Power rolled off of him like he had opened the floodgates. She didn’t have to imagine how he felt. His pain weighed her down.

  Sienna abandoned the gentle stroke in favor of squeezing his hand as hard as she could, just to clear some of the pressure. “We can’t take any more, Toron. You are not alone, but you are hurting your people.”

  He blinked at her, confusion clear in his blank gaze. She found a spark of anger, small though it was, and smacked his cheek. He jerked back and scowled at her.

  “Damn it, look around you. This isn’t their pain.” She swiped at the tears on her cheeks. “This isn’t mine. It’s yours. Nothing could convince me of how much you loved your brother than this, but we can’t take any more, Toron!”

  Toron spun and scanned the room. His eyes widened, and she saw his comprehension, his remorse at what he’d done to his people. How powerful did a man have to be to affect an entire town’s emotions? The second he woke to what he’d done, the pressure dissipated, and a collective sigh spread in a wave over the crowd.

  “Everyone outside, please,” Toron announced, and no one had to be told twice. They were relieved to go and take a break from the torment they had experienced. Sienna started to walk away, but Toron took her hand again. “Not you.”

  She longed to go with the others but stayed where she was.

  When the door closed behind the last person, Toron raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. Then he drew her into his arms. “Thank you. All I seem to have shown you is my weaknesses.”

  He must be crazy. “I’ve seen nothing but strength.”

  “That’s the inheritance of the alpha. Anyone becoming the leader of the pride, today or tomorrow would take it on to protect the people. I abused it.”

  “You had reason to. You couldn’t predict how you would react to losing him.”

  He released her and hitched his shoulders, pushing his hands into his pockets. “I could have when I lost my father.”

  She put a hand to her mouth.

  “I was too young to accept leadership, but I remember the anguish, ten times worse than what I feel now.” He looked down at his brother. Sienna noticed they hadn’t laid him in a coffin. The resting place was more like a bed, and his brother looked like he was just taking a nap, not lying in that more familiar ritual of folded hands and dressed in a suit. In a way, the shifter’s tradition was less jarring.

  “He was everything to me,” Toron said. “He promised that someday I would take over the pride and that he would be there to help me. Holt never aspired to be an alpha because it would mean he would have to leave.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There can only be one.”

  Sienna shook her head. “You’re kidding, right? Sounds like a B sci-fi movie to me.”

  “I’m serious. The alpha’s nature would allow for only one in a pride. All other males have to support me and not open themselves to being more than that. Otherwise, we will fight.”

  “How big is your damn ego?” she almost shouted. “And what do you mean males? What about the women? Or can’t they be leaders?”

  Toron spun on his heel and headed toward the exit. She had no choice but to follow, hoping she hadn’t desecrated his brother’s viewing or something with her attitude.

  When they were outside in the square, he paused and spoke to her before any of the others could approach.

  “Contrary to what you think, I am not some sexist who doesn’t believe women can lead. My mother did so for years on my behalf.”

  That surprised her, and she didn’t interrupt.

  “Many of our women hold key positions in careers and even in government. When it comes to the pride, we live by instinct. Period. If anyone, male or female, or even Holt rose to challenge my authority and wanted to lead my people, I would kill them. That would not be the decision of a man. It would be the lion in me. I’m sorry if you can’t understand that—or won’t. That is what we are and what we will always be. Now, please excuse me. I have to make things right with them.”

  Sienna watched him walk away and the crowd swallow him up. Over the hush in the group, she easily made out his deep voice, strong and authoritative yet apologetic. A wave of healing flowed over them, and she knew he had initiated it. There was so much she could learn, but no matter what he said, there was no way she would fit in here or even wanted to. No single man should have that much control over others, and the fact that it was Toron was even more terrifying. As she had already planned to, she was leaving, that night, and she wouldn’t be back.

  * * * *

  “Are you serious?” Sienna growled in frustration. She stood on the side of the road, arms folded around her to ward off the chill . Her taxi driver bent over his tire trying to change it. To make things worse, it started to drizzle.

  Sienna sneezed and shivered. “I don’t suppose your jack will hold if I sit in the car, huh?”

  He eyed her over his shoulder, and something told her even if it did, he wanted her to suffer along with him. She was the one that was sacrificing way too much of her savings getting him to drive her this far. In the next major town, she planned to arrange for a bus to take her the rest of the way home, or if not then a train. She’d be the first to admit her escape wasn’t well-executed, and really what was one more night and half day when Toron planned to send her and Davon home in a comfortable and roomy car?

  She sighed. Sometimes she made the most idiotic decisions, ones she regretted later on. What was she proving anyway, by leaving on her own terms? That she was scared of Toron and the attraction she felt toward him?

  When lights flashed, and a car pulled in behind the taxi, Sienna craned her neck to see who it was. Surely, someone hadn’t spotted a lone woman and thought to grab her. With the mood she was in, she’d whip her claws out and tear him a new one.

  A redirection of the wind blowing the rain brought her the scent of the man stepping from the lavish vehicle, and Sienna caught her breath. Toron. How the hell had he found her?

  The rain chose that moment to pick up, and it drenched them both. She stared at the rivulets running off his handsome face, especially over his lips, which were compressed in a straight line. With hair plastered to his forehead in the sexiest way, he glared at her. Her heartbeat kicked up a few notches as she watched him approach, so nonchalant.

  He didn’t speak to her, but slipped a hand into his pocket and removed his wallet. He peeled off a few bils from a thick knot and handed them to the cabbie. Then he opened the back door and took her bag from inside.

  “Is this okay, miss?” the cab driver asked.

  Toron scowled at him, and he fell silent. Although it was pointless, Sienna nodded to the man and allowed Toron to take her elbow to guide her to his car. She folded into the soft seat, surrounded right away with warmth. On the other side, Toron got in and reached into the back seat. He handed her a towel.

  “Thanks,” she muttered, ungrateful.

  He started the car and threw it into gear. “I won’t ask why you couldn’t wait until tomorrow afternoon. I am requesting that you do now.”

  “Fine.”

  They rode in silence back to his house, and she followed Toron inside. Talk about humiliation, it drenched her, but she had to appreciate that he didn’t press the issue. Not more than a whispered good night left her lips before she jogged up to her room and locked the door behind her. She leaned on it and shut her eyes, chest heaving. The man invaded her thoughts and threw he
r off balance.

  Okay, Sienna, just get ready for bed, sleep late, and then you go home. She took a step away from the door, and a knock made her jump. He didn’t have to call out to know it was him. Sienna glanced down at herself. Her blouse, still a little damp, stuck to her moist skin. The thin material defined her bra.

  “J-Just a minute.” She rifled through her bag looking for her robe, but couldn’t put her hand on it. The door opened and closed. She froze with her back to him. “You shouldn’t just waltz into a woman’s room without getting permission.”

  His hands brushed her shoulders. “May I come in?”

  Bastard! Her heart hammered in her chest, and her throat went dry.

  “I’m sorry.” He didn’t sound like it. “Your scent is driving me insane. Tell me to go, and I will .”

  “You’re a liar.” She chewed on her bottom lip.

  He reached in front of her and tugged at the neckline of her blouse. The buttons strained to hold. “You’re wet. You should take this off.”

  Without much thought, she began unbuttoning her blouse.

  “This isn’t a good idea.”

  “So you’re saying leave?”

  “Shut up.” She turned and threw herself into his arms.

  Their mouths connected, and fireworks exploded. Sienna had always believed novels reserved that kind of, but she experienced it first hand, and it swept her away. Toron cupped the back of her head and dragged her closer with a heavy arm around her waist. No one would disturb them at this late hour. Was she really going to go through with this?

  Toron picked up her up and placed her on the bed. He followed her down, his knee weighting the mattress.

  Sienna’s hands caught between them, and she luxuriated in the feel of his taut muscles. He paused over her and narrowed his gaze on her lips. “Take off my shirt.”