“Positive,” Leon said, exiting the vehicle.
“So help me, if she’s here, I’ll spank her ass right in front of this fellow.”
“That makes two of us. I’d much prefer it if Ariela would gradually add her mates, rather than chase them down and rope them in like some sort of cowgirl.”
Jagger laughed. “Ariela hates the rodeo—says it’s abusive how those guys and gals rope their animals for sport—so don’t let her hear you make the comparison.”
They trailed up a cobblestone pathway and stopped at a glass front door. Leon lunged forward, rang the bell, and shrugged when no one answered.
“Maybe he’s around back.” Jagger glanced to the left and tilted his head high in the air. With his nostrils flaring, he barred his teeth. “She’s been here.”
“Yes,” a man said, stepping out from behind an enormous fountain surrounded by layers of grey natural stone. “But you missed her.”
“Do I know you?” Jagger asked, narrowing his gaze.
“Lane Livingsworth.” The man extended his hand. Jagger and then Leon accepted, making their own independent introductions.
“You met Ariela?” Jagger asked, clarifying.
“I did.” His blank expression gave nothing away, but Leon already knew what he was. More importantly, when they shook hands, Leon realized precisely what the shifter had seen.
“How long has she been gone?” Jagger asked.
“About an hour.”
“Thank you,” Jagger said, obvious in his advanced need to leave.
“She’s a beautiful woman,” Lane called after him.
Leon released a hard breath. Jagger stilled.
“She’s struggling right now. I can help.”
“How can you help?” Jagger clenched his fists.
Lane looked down at his tightly drawn hands. He seemed to rethink his offer. “When the time comes, I’ll be here.” He was the one to turn and walk away then.
Jagger pointed at Leon. “I know what you’re thinking, and don’t say it. I can only deal with one new mate at a time.”
“You won’t hear me complain, but you heard the man. He thinks he can help.”
“Hell, before this mating season is over, every lion from here to South Africa may offer their assistance!”
“Not the lions, Jagger—just the shifter-mates who already belong to Ariela anyway.”
Chapter Ten
“This is the true hell of a breeding bout,” Jagger said, pulling into their garage. “From here, I can feel her discomfort.”
“And you still plan to rush inside and turn her over your knee?”
“She deserves a spanking, but what she’ll get is a hard fuck. She’s been suffering all day. I knew she’d run if we abandoned her.”
“No one knew what awaited us in the city. She was right to send me with you. If I hadn’t gone, we wouldn’t have been able to see Sanchez.”
“True.”
Leon stared out at the flickering lights illuminating from their home, their private den and haven. He wasn’t about to admit it, but he had been worried when they’d left Ariela alone, too. Still, nothing in their foreseeable future had warranted enough concern about leaving her unattended.
In any event, Ariela needed to learn to handle her lust. She needed to reel in that yearning, and figure out how to handle her breeding bouts, so she could remain safe at all times.
That was what irritated Leon most. When Ariela slipped outside their compound, she didn’t know what awaited her. She was in heat and her season summoned other males, shifters and full-blooded lions as well.
And Ariela had been warned of the dangers. The problem was—she craved them.
They quickly exited the vehicle. By the time they reached the master suite, they were both stripping off their shirts and unsnapping their slacks, aware of what they’d find on the other side of the bedroom wall.
They had entered the home kicking off their shoes, tripping out of their slacks, and rushing for Ariela. Upon entry, Leon gasped, Jagger stilled.
Leon was blown away by the exquisite show, the exotic beauty sprawled out on the bed with clamped nipples and a vibrator easily gliding in and out of her slippery cunt. “You’re a smart woman,” was all he could say.
“I want to kiss and make up.”
“Make up?” Jagger asked, arching a brow.
“Yes,” she whispered, plunging the toy deep inside her walls and jackknifing into a seated position.
“Is there a reason you need to set things right, Ariela?” Jagger positioned himself next to her. He reached between her legs and fingered her clit, rolling the hard bud under his digits.
Leon stood at the end of the bed, watching the way the head of the toy dipped in and out of her saturated folds. When he couldn’t stand the sight any longer, he grabbed her ankles and yanked her to the end of the bed. He disposed of the toy, knocking it away from Ariela’s hand.
Ariela squealed, but he ignored her. “You can make up with Jagger if you want to, but I have other plans for you.”
His tongue parted her folds, and his mouth went to work. The rich strawberry scent filled his nostrils as he nuzzled her in appreciation. Soon he was lapping at the flavored lube, licking up the clear fluid as he worked his tongue deep inside her passage.
“Leon,” she crooned, resting her palm on the top of his head. “Jagger, come here.”
Leon remained committed to his cause, locking his tongue deep inside her cunt and licking up her sweet spilling juices, that feminine heat rolling off her in delightful waves. Her hips jerked. Her body rocked. Her pussy slammed against his mouth, and he ate up her succulent flavor, driving her to orgasm once and then going back for seconds.
The mattress sagged, and Leon glanced up in time to see Jagger slip between her lips. With his cock trapped inside her mouth, Jagger arched his body and held onto the headboard behind them. Then he pummeled her with quick and timed beats, sinking in and out of her mouth with one obvious goal.
Leon took a stout hold of his own pulsing member. He pumped and pumped, squeezing his cock as he watched the two of them, admired them. He nuzzled Ariela’s swollen lips, dragging his tongue up and down the silken flesh. Then, he drew one of her folds inside his mouth and sucked with pure force. She bucked under the pressure, spread her legs wider, and sighed in contentment.
At the same time, Jagger’s pace changed. He cried out and forced his cock deep inside her mouth, pounding and pounding. Then his body jolted to the left. Apparent violent tremors flew through his form as he bolted forward.
Ariela slurped and sucked. Her legs trembled and her body quaked. She pushed her bottom away from the bed and appeared clearly frustrated when Leon didn’t service her obvious needs. He didn’t offer to sate her desires.
When a very satisfied Jagger slumped beside her, Ariela crooked her finger back and forth. “Come on, Leon. Show me what you’ve got.”
She didn’t have to ask twice.
* * * *
Ariela hadn’t meant to postpone the scolding to come, but she was desperate, in dire need, by the time her mates reached her. After her peculiar conversation with her desert neighbor, a man she’d never met before, she’d rushed home, stripped, and climbed into bed.
She’d grabbed the vibrator and revved it up with one image in mind—her handsome new friend. After the first plunge, another fantasy took over—an image of a man she’d never seen before, yet she knew who he was.
Sanchez.
At the thought then, she pulled back from Leon and covered her mouth. “What is wrong with me?” Her eyes watered.
“What, baby?”
“I’m more concerned with fucking you than finding out about my other mate.”
Jagger fisted her hair and forced her head toward his chest. Massaging the back of her neck, he whispered at her ear. “It’s fine, kitten. You have a legitimate excuse.”
“Don’t you dare excuse my behavior,” s
he said, truly disgusted by her need for sex, and by the sexual desires outweighing her compassion for someone else. “There must be something terribly wrong with me.”
Leon leisurely pumped his rigid cock. “We can’t discuss this later?”
“I may have begged you for sex, but this is more important, don’t you think?”
“Considering I know what happened, and what will happen?” Leon blinked. “No. I don’t think so.”
“I thought you couldn’t predict anything that concerned Barlo’s property.”
Jagger swung his gaze at Leon. “Well?”
“Things are a little clearer since Barlo’s death.”
“Why?” She studied her mates. “Should we be concerned?” Her mind traveled. If Leon couldn’t see the future when Barlo was alive, what kind of creature had Barlo been? With his brother taking the corporate reins of the casino and hotel, could they expect a similar experience with him, too? She shook off the thought. Apparently not, since Leon’s abilities seemed restored. Shaking off her angst, she asked, “What happened in town today?” She dragged the sheet over her body, awaiting an answer.
Leon took an exasperated breath. Jagger leaned back, crooking his arm around his head.
“Well?” Ariela was rarely credited for her patience. “Will Barlo’s brother be more agreeable? Will he let us have Sanchez?”
“Leon says Sanchez has been drugged for a while now, which would explain why he’s still in captivity,” Jagger said.
“Did you find this out through normal channels, or were you able to see this through one of your visions?”
“Both,” Leon replied.
“Since the media was pouncing on Barlo’s brother, insisting that he make a decision regarding Sanchez’s fate, I went to see him.”
“Today,” she said, processing. “Why wouldn’t you give him time to mourn his brother?”
“According to sources over at the casino, Barlo’s little brother was rather anxious to assume ownership.”
“So he’ll sell Sanchez?”
Leon blew out a hard breath. His cheeks turned beet red. “Not exactly.”
“He wants to work out a trade? Like his brother?”
“I’m afraid so,” Jagger said.
“So what do I have to do?” She was willing. She was able.
“First, you have to be aware of the doping procedures. The drug is the reason why Sanchez doesn’t shift. It has an antipsychotic component—shyzac—which takes away a shifter’s desire to shift into their animal form. The drug is still in testing. Apparently Barlo had agreed to use Sanchez as a test subject.”
“Shyzac company reps were kicking back a lot of cash and perks to Barlo. That’s why he didn’t want to sell Sanchez.”
“And what about his brother? What’s his excuse?”
Her mates looked concerned.
“We don’t keep secrets. Remember?”
Jagger forced a smile. “So how do you explain a little game of hide and seek no one knew about but you?”
“I’m sorry.”
Jagger frowned. “No you aren’t.”
She could tell he had said all he intended to say on the subject of her last-minute roam through the desert. Given their pending troubles, she was relieved.
“The brother has his sights set on you,” Leon explained.
“He’s seen the footage?”
Leon slowly nodded.
“Then you have to do something. That tape can’t leak to the press. If it does, they’ll blame me for Sanchez’s behavior—and then he’ll be viewed as volatile and dangerous. Experts will be brought in to gauge his psychological behavior around other female lions.”
“And he will respond no differently than he responds around any other lion. His aggressive behavior was drug-induced; a new placebo is to blame, Ariela. He wasn’t given a harmless pill, but a much stronger drug disguised as a placebo.”
Jagger gasped. “Wait a minute, Leon.. Ariela is right. They’ll bring in experts. That’s why Shoc Matheson wanted to talk with us today. He said he wants to barter, but what he wants to do is entrapment. If he can prove Sanchez is volatile around Ariela, he can gain city-wide support and destroy the lion responsible for killing his brother.”
Chapter Eleven
Ariela rose with a start, frantic at first when she realized she wasn’t longing for penetration. The breeding bout had passed.
“It’s over,” she whispered, falling against the mattress and releasing a sudden yelp. “It’s over!” She kicked her legs excitedly, tossed the coverlet aside and rushed to the window.
She stood there and admired the sunrise, the beaming light rising over Red Rock Canyon and the Mojave Desert beyond. “Come on, boys. Up and at ‘em. We have a busy day.” She marched to the foot of the bed and shook their legs.
Leon yawned. “I never quite understood why she’s always so excited to see the mating season end.”
Jagger shot Ariela a wink and she said, “Don’t let him get you down, Jagger. He’ll understand soon enough.”
Leon moistened his lips. “Don’t count on it.”
Ariela reveled in the way he watched her, enjoying the newfound love they still experienced. She and Leon had only been together a few hundred times, if that. She and Jagger had mated tens of thousands of times.
Yes, Jagger was probably just as relieved to see the breeding season complete as she was. They liked to fuck, but they enjoyed going at one another when nature wasn’t running its torrid course through a demanding breeding season.
“What’s your hurry?” Leon asked, tossing a few pillows behind him.
“I’m going into the city to see Shoc.”
“Over my dead body,” Jagger said. “Shoc isn’t like his brother, Ariela.”
“That’s a relief. Barlo was a real jackass. If Shoc is just slightly more agreeable than Barlo, we’ll all get along beautifully. You’ll see.”
“Are you deliberately dismissing the conversation we had last night, or are you just delusional?”
“I’m taking fate into my own hands, Jagger. You said Shoc was willing to negotiate. Admittedly, I wasn’t in any position to barter yesterday. Today I’m refreshed, well rested, and not walking around waiting for the next chance to fuck.”
Leon narrowed his gaze and lifted his chin. “That’s too bad, Ariela. Because if you’re going to see Shoc, that’s precisely what you need to be prepared to do. You’d better enter Shoc’s office ready to lay the screws to him. Then, when he least expects it, lay down a nice smooth rhythm and catch him off guard. Once you’ve disarmed him, that’s when you go for it and fuck him before he ever sees you coming.”
“Are you sure you’re talking about a business play, Leon?”
“Somebody didn’t get his fill while you were in heat.”
Ariela rushed the bed, slapped her hands on either side of his hips and gave him a quick kiss. “I promise to make it up to you tomorrow. Right now, there’s too much at stake and not a minute can be wasted.”
“I agree,” Leon said.
She pulled away, but Leon yanked her forward. She landed against his chest with a thud.
Leon tipped her nose with his forefinger. “But you need to count on a worthy opponent. Jagger and I talked to some of Barlo’s employees yesterday. None of them were happy working for Barlo. They also said Barlo would roll over in his grave if he knew what Shoc was trying to pitch to the media. Barlo prided himself on being a tough businessman, not a beloved citizen of Las Vegas.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I believe Shoc has every intention of hanging his brother’s killer, not because he wants to exert revenge, but because he wants to make an example out of Sanchez. He didn’t go from making that announcement to retracting it. He won’t deal with us regardless of what we bring to the table as bargaining chips. He has an agenda, and men like Shoc Matheson typically see their plans through to the very end.”
* * *
*
Two hours later, Jagger entered his office suite. “What are you doing here, Melinda?”
She rose from his executive chair and sashayed toward him. “Jagger, when you look at me, what do you see?” She struck a pose. Her hip went out to the side and she rested her small hand in the curve of her waist.
“I guess you’d like for me to tell you I see sex in a basket, all decorated with frills and lace, a ready-to-open and quite lovely package.”
“That’s a start.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “But what else?”
“Are you fishing for compliments this morning?”
“No,” she deadpanned. Dragging a rolled-up newspaper from the corner of his desk, she slammed the periodical against his chest. “Actually, I was after a more subtle description this morning. I’m the brains behind this casino, Jagger, and once you realize my value, you may learn to treasure me. Then, perhaps you’ll go out of your way to make me happy.”
She marched out of the office, passing Ariela and Leon without so much as a glance.
“What was that all about?” Leon asked, peering over Jagger’s shoulder as he opened the newspaper.
Reading aloud, Jagger said, “Late yesterday, a spokesperson for Pride’s Las Vegas Casino explained why Pride’s CEO wasn’t on hand for comments. She said, “Our President and CEO is devastated by this terrible loss. Barlo Matheson was a friend and fellow businessman. He will be missed.”
“Is that all?” Ariela asked.
Jagger closed the newspaper. “It doesn’t take much for Melinda to place a heftier price on her value.”
Ariela shrugged. “You’re the one who decided to keep her. I refuse to deal with the woman.”
“Jealous vixen,” Leon said, slapping her ass.
“Where were the two of you?”
“Breakfast in the new café,” Ariela replied, dragging her palm across her belly. “It was incredible. Southern biscuits and gravy, three eggs over medium, four pieces of sausage, and five succulent pancakes.”
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