Money

by Destiny Blaine

  Every man, every beast, has a price.

  Rise to Power-Search for Pride, one of the greatest entertainment venues in Las Vegas, is due to open soon. Searching for the perfect performers and lions for her show, Ariela approaches her competition and makes an offer on one beautiful white lion, a lion she believes is one of her mates.

  Barlo Matheson’s casino is hailed for its shows and prized lion, a shifter Barlo believes may in fact belong to Ariela. Determined to keep mates apart, Barlo sedates Sanchez, and the coveted animal has a violent reaction.

  Faced with the consequences of Sanchez’s actions, Ariela and her other mates rush to save one of their own, but even with their biggest obstacle out of the way, they still face other unexpected problems. Shifters with misunderstood supernatural abilities are closing in, and forming a circle of commitment is the only way Ariela and her mates will defeat those who are determined to destroy them.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Money

  Copyright © 2014 Destiny Blaine

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-866-8

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books

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  www.eXtasybooks.com

  Money

  Rise to Power-Search for Pride 2

  By

  Destiny Blaine

  Dedication

  For Jacci Devera

  I can’t wait to read your books!

  Prologue

  “I’ll take him. Name your price.”

  Barlo Matheson’s wicked gaze roamed over Ariela like an SUV roving over rough terrain. He jerked at strategic points, swerved one way or another, then remained committed to his cause—the business at hand, which apparently had more to do with staring at her boobs than talking about the caged lion Ariela wanted to buy.

  “He’s not for sale, Ariela. Jagger and I already spoke on the phone about this. You really shouldn’t have stopped by unannounced.”

  “I was here for the show,” Ariela said, as if that explained away her reasons for bribing and then pushing past the guards responsible for keeping Matheson’s lions under lock and key.

  Ariela reached inside the cage housing the gorgeous white lion. She ran her fingers through his thick, soft coat, admiring the silken fur. Digging her nails into his flesh, she firmly raked the animal’s hide, anticipating a flinch, some sort of response to her touch.

  “Ariela, you should be more cautious,” Barlo scolded her. “I can’t be responsible for damages if the lion turns on you.”

  “He won’t.” Barlo wasn’t fooling anyone. Sanchez possessed a gentle nature. His trainers and handlers commended him for being so tame.

  “You can never be too certain with wild animals.”

  “I’m sure,” she said, watching the gorgeous white creature as she petted him with a firmer hand.

  The lion’s clear blue eyes met hers. His muscles tightened. His tail swished rapidly.

  “I know what you are,” she whispered, stroking between his ears.

  “I want you to go back to Pride’s Casino and tell Jagger I don’t appreciate his tactics. Sending you over here to do his bidding doesn’t fare well. It’s bad business.” Barlo stepped forward and closed the distance between them. He lifted a lock of hair from her shoulder and added, “Then again, perhaps Jagger is willing to play dirty when he wants something.”

  Ariela never moved. The lion, however, released a rumbling roar.

  Barlo leapt backward. He glared at the beast and bit out, “You’re upsetting the animal.”

  “The animal has a name, Barlo. Use it. If anything is upsetting, it’s how this beautiful creature is treated.”

  “He’s cared for like a pet should be, but we don’t give our acts room to move. Over at your place, the lions dominate. Last I heard, Jagger had expanded their den to well over twenty thousand square feet, and that, my dear, is ridiculous! You shouldn’t allot that much space for these creatures unless you’re using the square footage for a performing arena.”

  “Jagger believes in treating all animals with respect. We want Sanchez for our personal…” she paused as she thought of a way to best convey her need. “We’d like to add him to our pride.” There was no other way to say it.

  “Your personal pride?” Barlo went into hysterics. “Your pride?” He howled with another round of laughter. “Next you’ll try to convince me you’re a lioness, with a particular need for this one because of the demands placed on Jagger during your mating season.”

  Ariela focused on the lion again, too aware of her desire to see him in human form. If she didn’t figure out a way to save Sanchez from captivity, she wouldn’t be able to still the beast inside her. She wanted Sanchez. She needed him.

  “Ariela, I want you to go.” Barlo apparently realized then she wasn’t laughing with him. Her calmness clearly made him uncomfortable. “And be sure to tell Jagger we’ve spoken and I relayed once again—Sanchez is not for sale.” Barlo’s pupils were enlarged, practically gleaming with his delivery of the news. “I won’t change my mind on the matter.”

  Ariela stroked Sanchez’s mane once more. It pained her to leave one of her own behind. Sanchez didn’t belong there. He wasn’t Barlo’s animal. He belonged to her family, to the growing pride she was forming with Jagger and Leon.

  “I’ll go,” she said hesitantly. “But I’ll be back, Barlo. And when you see me coming, you’ll know why I’m here, and you’ll negotiate.”

  “Don’t count on it,” he said, stuffing a cigar in the corner of his mouth. “I’ll go for broke before I’ll let you people have Sanchez. Since you and Jagger came to Vegas, the scope of the casino business has changed. You people think you can flash a little cash and everyone will bow down.”

  Cow down was more like it, but she didn’t make the correction. Nor did she mention how easy it had been to make sure those like Barlo succumbed to their tactics. In recent weeks Ariela had been on a buying spree, purchasing everything from hotels and casinos to roadside diners out in the desert. Jagger was credited with the business transactions, which was fine, but she’d been the one signing on the dotted line.

  When other women became depressed, they shopped boutiques for expensive shoes or purses. When Ariela was unsettled, she bought buildings and failing businesses, and she generally scooped them up at a bargain.

  “This time, you and Jagger have underestimated your target. I’ll never let you have the lion that’s responsible for driving spectators here by the droves. This is one desired acquisition you won’t acquire.”

  “We’ll see about that, Barlo,” Ariela said, staring longingly at Sanchez before finally averting her gaze from the cage. “Every man, every beast, has a price. Soon I’ll figure out what yours is, and then I’ll pay in full—with cash and a smile.”

  Chapter One

  Two Weeks Late
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  Pride’s Las Vegas Casino

  “She’s only hours away from the mating season, Jagger.” Leon stood at the floor-to-ceiling window behind Jagger’s desk and stared out over the Las Vegas skyline. “We need to handle Barlo before Ariela takes the Sanchez situation into her own hands.”

  Jagger took a deep breath and dragged his palm down his face. “You think I haven’t thought of that already?” He stroked his chin. “She’s tormenting herself where Sanchez is concerned. She’s convinced he belongs to us.”

  “He does,” Leon said, whipping around to face him. “And the sooner you accept that fact, the better off.” He went to the bar and poured himself a glass of water. “Still, Ariela is more than anxious. She’s frantic. And I’m not sure her angst is coming from her need to connect with Sanchez. I think she’s having a difficult time coping with two mates.”

  “I didn’t hear her complain during the last breeding bout.”

  “True.” Leon sipped thoughtfully, and finally set aside the glass. “Well, maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps her mood swings don’t have anything to do with two mates.”

  “I know that look. I remember it from when I was a boy. Leon, I’m not obsessed. You taught me how to share Ariela.” A dry chuckle escaped his lips. “Not that I was enthusiastic about the arrangement, but I learned to share all the same.”

  Leon laughed also. “What a curse and a blessing I have, to see the future where you and Ariela are concerned.”

  Jagger abandoned his paperwork and slapped Leon on the back in passing. “The future isn’t what haunts you. It’s the continual reminder of that fiery first time we took Ariela together.” Jagger’s cock lengthened at the memory, and his hard-on thrummed in his slacks. He took a deep breath, realizing the coming days would present serious challenges. “Will Sanchez be part of this mating season?”

  “I don’t know,” Leon muttered, taking a seat on the sofa. “I can see the future, but there aren’t any clocks or calendars around in those images.”

  About that time, Ariela rushed in the office. Her face was flushed. Her eyes darted aimlessly around the room. Jagger would know that particular look anywhere. The breeding season had crept upon them much sooner than he’d anticipated.

  “Jagger!” She fell against his chest, bracketing her arms around his waist and burying her face in his shirt.

  “Lock the door, Leon,” Jagger bit out, cupping her cheeks and forcing her to look at him. “Why’d you wait?”

  “It couldn’t be helped.” She released a ragged breath and took a step back, stripping away her fitted shirt.

  Jagger grabbed her before she could finish undressing. He buried his mouth between those full peaks. He didn’t fiddle with her bra clasp. He didn’t fumble with the snap on her slacks. He sensed her need and helped her undress as rapidly as possible while stripping away his own clothing as well.

  Leon locked out the world before returning to the sofa. His eyes held an extraordinary amount of lust, but he wouldn’t join them then.

  The mating marathon would provoke Ariela’s need to breed around the clock. Their endurance would be tested, along with their strength. The early hours were upon them, and they would wreak havoc on the man watching, the outsider looking in. Still, Leon would likely be thankful he’d benched himself for their first initial play.

  Jagger lifted Ariela to him and bracketed her legs around his waist. The heat blazed from her pussy, and his cock stretched, reached for that smoldering hot pit of pure silken pleasure.

  “Don’t make me beg, Jagger,” she pleaded. “Just fuck me.” Her quickened breaths fell in spurts. “I don’t want the whole sold-out show. Just give me finale.”

  The greedy vixen grabbed hold of his cock and pumped. She wrapped her hand tightly around his shaft and jerked him forward, pulling him between her legs as soon as he positioned her on the desk.

  “Ariela,” he whispered, trying to calm her as he looked down at her recently waxed mound. “My sweet Ariela.” His mouth watered and he was just about to drop his head between her thighs when she yanked him closer, stuffing him inside her pulsing walls.

  “Oh God!” she screamed out as soon as he entered her.

  Her ravenous body jerked as she came violently. One stroke took her to climax, but the lioness inside her held insatiable carnal expectations, and she wouldn’t be sated until Jagger filled her with his seed.

  And he wasn’t about to rush this.

  Jagger eyed those lovely taut nipples and bowed his head to Ariela’s breasts, lapping at the hardened points before drawing her fullness into the heat of his mouth. He dragged his tongue over the tiny beads as she clenched and closed around him. Her pussy seemingly fisted around his cock, pulling him tighter and tighter under an intimate chokehold of pure ownership.

  “Ah, Ariela,” he rasped, flicking her nipple.

  “Jagger, please,” she begged, tossing her straight hair over her shoulder and exposing her slender neck.

  He left kisses along her trunk before hovering over her ear. Placing his palm to her forehead, he stared down on his beautiful Ariela. “You almost waited too long, kitten.”

  He thumped inside her, giving her a thorough follow-through with every stroke. He studied her tense expression, enjoying that crinkle in her brow.

  “Don’t try to be romantic right now, Jagger. Just fuck me.” Her head rolled to the side and she bit down on her forefinger, watching Leon as Jagger purposefully slowed his pace.

  “Why didn’t you find us sooner?” Leon asked.

  Leon most likely expected honesty, but in her volatile state, the question would ignite either rage or passion. Had she kept herself from them because she knew what a trying time they’d soon face, or had she been too far from the casino to make it back before her heightened need held her captive?

  “Where were you, Ariela?” Jagger wedged his cock between her wet walls. “Tell me.” He reached, stroked, and pushed inside her hot cunt until he was seconds from blowing.

  He felt the small pulse of the barb below his penis, the lion’s share of lust demanding notice. Each intimate invasion brought with it a more profound urge as the barb extended, raking against her womb, drawing out her heat in a more profound manner.

  Ariela grabbed hold of his hair and pummeled him with grinding motions and ravenous kisses. Thrusting her tongue between his lips, she whispered, “I’ll tell you everything. Just give me what I need, Jagger.”

  Searching her beautiful face for answers was a complete waste. He wasn’t Leon. He couldn’t take one look at her and gauge the deception, yet Jagger realized her eyes held secrets. Her heart had already led her astray. The lioness’ lust allowed the women shifters the ability to cover up their unfaithfulness, at least by mortal standards.

  But Jagger wasn’t mortal.

  As the beast inside him rose to the fore, he eased back into an arch, careful before he pulled out. The emergence of the barbed head made him hornier by the second.

  His desperate desire was now equivalent to a violent storm. He clutched Ariela’s waist and pulled her up, then swung her around to face the desk. She immediately bent over, and moaned when he settled his palm against her lower back, complying without uttering one defiant word.

  Jagger smoothed his hands over her rump before he inched closer and nipped at her ear. “You went to see him, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  Jagger snarled. He dipped his hand under her body and wet his fingers in her pussy, dragging them in and out of her channel until they were moistened well past the knuckle.

  “Does he know who you are?” He positioned the tip of his penis under her pussy, pressing inside her just enough to set her body in motion.

  Her cunt pulsed around his head and she attempted to draw him into her heat. “Jagger, not now. Please not now.”

  “I’ll make you wait, kitten,” he whispered, tapping her sweet cunt, but refusing her those long and generous strokes she desired. �
�Does he know who you are?” His voice roared with his anger, the untamed lion rearing its ugly head.

  “You can make me wait,” she whimpered, dropping her head forward, but throwing her lower half against him. “It won’t change what’s already in motion, Jagger. He’s mine. Just as you and Leon are mine. Sanchez belongs to me!”

  Jagger stilled behind her. He glanced over his shoulder, willing Leon to explain what he was feeling, that unsettling envy he couldn’t escape.

  “You already believe he’s your mate, but you don’t know, Ariela.” He shoved his cock inside her and she met him with a hard buck, throwing her body against his groin as he fucked her in broken beats, short-thrusting her a dozen times before grabbing her hips and plunging all the way.

  “Jagger!” She cried out his name, writhing under him.

  He pushed himself higher, determined to show her how well he could please her. She didn’t need another damned mate. So she was in season. Who the fuck cared? He could handle her. Hadn’t he taken care of her long before Leon had entered the picture?

  Of course!

  “Come,” he ordered her, squaring his shoulders and straightening his spine. He positioned her bottom in front of his groin and screwed her, submerging his cock inside her liquid heat.

  “Mmm,” she muttered, clearly enjoying their mating blitz.

  “Ah God, Ariela,” he rasped, backing out enough so he could slap her ass until his hand burned. “Come for me, vixen. You have everything you’ll ever need right here in this room, so get wild with me, lover.”

  “Oh Jagger!” she cried out as the agonizing truth hit him.

  If what he had said was accurate, if what he wanted to believe were only true, then Ariela wouldn’t have gone to Barlo’s casino two weeks prior. She wouldn’t have returned there today.