by Abigail Owen
Another exchanged glance. Gage reached out toward Seneca, thinking to take her arm and walk away, but dropped his hand to his side when one of the men spoke.
“I’m Kanye, and this is Faraji.”
Seneca turned up the wattage on her smile. “A pleasure to meet you both. Now if I get lost in this place and I bump into you, I’ll know you and feel safer. I’ve never been so far from where I grew up.”
She didn’t call the Delaney Dare her home. Deliberate?
“The castle is large, but once you learn the basic layout, it’s not complicated,” Kanye offered.
“We are also far from home.” Bitterness laced Faraji’s words.
Seneca gave a sympathetic grimace. “That’s true. I’ve always wanted to visit Africa, especially Kenya. I hear it’s beautiful.”
“It is,” Faraji agreed.
“Maybe someday you can show me.”
The man stared at her as if she were a lunatic, but, when she blinked up at him, all innocence, he inclined his head. “Perhaps.”
“Well…nice to meet you both. I’ll see you around.” With a jaunty wave, she returned to Gage’s side and took his hand.
He studied her as they walked, but she seemed perfectly relaxed, her shoulders loose, other arm swinging. When he didn’t look away, she glanced up with raised eyebrows. “What?”
“I can’t decide if you’re naïve or brilliant.”
She widened her eyes and blinked up at him, the same innocent expression she’d just used on Kanye and Faraji painted on her lovely features. “What do you mean?”
Edward snorted. “He means you tend to disarm people by being nice in a situation where you should either be scared or guarded.”
She turned that same innocent gaze on their escort. “Oh! You mean Kanye and Faraji?” She glanced over her shoulder down the hall before turning back. “Shouldn’t I try to make friends with those in my new pride? It would be nice to be able to walk around here without you. Not that I don’t enjoy spending time with you and Beno, Eddie, but I’m sure you have better things to do.”
Enough sincerity was present in her voice, her eyes, that Gage believed at least part of her act had been true. However, his gut told him every word and gesture was calculated.
How had he missed the fact that this woman was his political match all these years? He should have known anyone who could deal with Rick Delaney as a pretend latent, and possibly pretend submissive, had to be smart and savvy. But she cared too.
Unable to help himself, he pulled her clasped hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Her lips parted in a silent gasp, and he had the strangest desire to kiss her. Right there. He squared his shoulders and kept going, though he didn’t release her hand.
They made the rest of the journey in silence, giving him time to think. Something mentioned during the call with the Shadowcat Alphas was bugging him.
“What actions?” Gage asked once they were inside their room. He winced. The words had popped out of his mouth before he’d considered them fully. Not smooth.
“Excuse me?”
“Silva said something about your actions,” he reminded her. “What was he talking about?”
She pulled a face. “Heck if I know. Marrying you probably.”
She was holding back. He could tell by the way she ducked her head, letting her hair hide her face.
He reached out and tugged on her arm, turning her to face him. “Seneca?” He intentionally put a note of warning in the word.
Instead of flinching, like she would have a few days ago, or trembling in fear as she would have pretended to do in front of the Alpha’s council, she lifted her eyes and landed him with a defiant glare.
“You’re not submissive, are you?”
She double blinked then spun on her heal and crossed the room. “Of course I am.”
In a few long strides he caught up to her. “Just like you’re latent?”
She flicked him a glance. “That was a necessary secret.”
“I get it, but submissiveness would have been part of the lie. Every latent I’ve ever met was submissive. The traits go hand in hand.”
“But not every submissive is latent. If I wasn’t submissive, there’s no way my tiger would allow me to act the way I do,” she pointed out as she opened a drawer and started pulling clothes out.
Good point. His mountain lion would never allow him to lower his eyes or back down when challenged, but she’d showed, time and again, that tendency. Then again, he’d seen a side to her lately that no submissive would claim, and subtle signs that her submissive behavior was an act popped up frequently. Which was true?
Time to test out his theory. Gage closed the door behind them and let loose with a low growl, an aggressive sound meant to stir the fight or flight response in her.
Seneca did neither. She froze in place, but wouldn’t look at him. “Did you growl at me?” she asked, incredulity in her voice.
He did it again. The noise rumbling from a place deep inside, vibrating his chest. In response to this threat, she should do one of two things. Cower, which meant she was submissive, or challenge him back, which meant she wasn’t.
She angled her head to cast him a direct look, searching his expression for weakness, then she moved back to the door and opened it. “Hey, Eddie? Is there a place in this shack where I can work out?”
Edward’s low voice murmured an answer, which Gage guessed must be yes, because she left the room without a backward glance, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
Gage didn’t follow immediately. He had to rein in the urge to tackle her and assert his dominance, an ingrained response her direct look had dredged up. He shook his head, completely confused. That look had been pure Alpha, but then she’d run, as a submissive would do, and the predator in him wanted to chase. Either way, he was about as turned on as he could be.
Through a fog of lust and confusion, he suddenly recalled Jaxon’s warning—the one about not letting Seneca out of his sight. With a growl, this one of frustration, he opened the door to find Beno there.
“Can you take me to her?”
The lion huffed. What did that mean?
“I guess I’ll go find her.”
An annoyed snort followed him down the hall, and a glance revealed Beno not far behind.
He didn’t need the lion’s help. Even if Gage’s heightened sense of smell wouldn’t have allowed him to track her unique scent, the bond the goddess had formed would. Ever since the ceremony, the oddest sensation connected them. Like a rubber band tied to their hearts, their bond stretched and flexed, but allowed him to know where she was at all times. He suspected too much distance would become uncomfortable. Even painful. For now, he used their link, without remorse, to follow her.
Chapter Ten
“Why won’t you admit it to me?” Gage demanded.
Seneca paused mid-sit-up, flopped back to the ground, and tipped her head back for an up-side-down view of the man trying to drive her nuts.
“Why do you care?” She resumed her sit-ups.
Eddie had borrowed workout clothes for her—a basic black sports bra, calf-length running pants, and a tank top—from one of the lionesses, since Seneca didn’t own any. The lioness who’d loaned the clothes had been less than happy if her hiss of annoyance was anything to go by, but Eddie had thanked her and moved on. He’d taken Seneca to a large room below ground which housed a sparring mat, weights, and several exercise machines. Mirrors lined one long wall, and a black padded mat lined the other. The room was cooler, being underground, but, like most gyms, boasted a musty smell of old sweat and effort. According to Eddie there was a larger training facility outside, but he took her to the indoor gym for safety. Not as fancy as the training facilities at the Delaney Dare compound, but it worked for her purposes.
Where were Eddie and Beno now, anyway? Outside waiting on her and Gage probably.
“Why is it important to hide it from me? I already know you aren’t latent,” Gage said.
With a sigh, she sat up, and hugged her knees close. She had many secrets she’d kept for so long, she wasn’t entirely sure who she was without those lies to protect her. What if her new mate didn’t like the true her? What if he figured out she had other secrets? Should she just tell him she was Kuharte? Or that she was a trained fighter?
No. She gave a mental shake of her head. When this was all over, Gage needed the protection of plausible deniability. What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.
“Mate, strip.”
Shock and fury stiffened her spine. Slowly she glanced over her shoulder. “You’re not going to do this.”
But his jaw was hard, eyes cold. She’d never seen Gage—normally coolly suave—act this way. “I said strip,” he repeated, his voice all bourbon, no chocolate.
He’d landed on the one action she would never allow—commanded sex—which meant she’d have to fight and show she wasn’t as submissive as she made out. At home, she hadn’t had to worry about some male mountain lion forcing himself on her, because Rick had decreed no one would mate with a latent on pain of castration or sterilization. He didn’t want those genes tainting his dare. Unwittingly, the order had been the kindest thing he’d ever done for her.
She searched Gage’s expression. How far would he take this? The Gage she knew would never, ever, take a woman against her will. But hard determination stared back at her. She considered her options and pulled out a last ditch effort.
Crying on demand had always been a helpful skill. Now she allowed the tears to well in her eyes, spilling down her cheeks in wet rivulets. For added effect, she pulled out the quivering lip. “You would do this? Force me?” The break in her voice was a stroke of genius.
His jaw locked as he battled the male urge to run from or fix the cause of the tears. He did neither. Instead, he crossed his arms. “All you have to do is be honest with me.”
He would hate himself if he pushed this too far, but Seneca recognized stubborn mountain lion when she saw it. She had two options. Submit, which she wasn’t even sure she could do. Only the fact that she was in love with him might save him from a deadly tiger mauling. Or she could admit her own dominant nature.
“Why do you care so much?” He hadn’t answered her the first time.
He planted his feet. “You’re my mate.”
She rolled her eyes. “What? So you own me now? You’re somehow owed my soul?”
He shook his head. “How can I protect you if I don’t know who you are? How do we have a chance, as mates, if we don’t truly know each other? I don’t know about you, but I intend to make this a successful relationship.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again slowly. His words took the sting out of his cold determination. She would have to remember her mate was willing to go to extremes if he felt it worth the end result. “You would force me in order to prove a point?”
She asked because she had to know.
“I said strip.” The words were harsh, but the twitch at the side of his eye told her everything, and gave her the confidence to do what she had to. Plus, the unique instinct that had powered many of her decisions told her he wouldn’t take this to its ultimate conclusion. She believed that whole heartedly.
Seneca schooled her expression into one of defeat and let her shoulders droop for good effect. “Very well.”
As she stood, she pulled her tank top over her head and turned. Her back to Gage, she quickly stripped off the rest of her clothing. Fully nude, she turned to face him and struggled not to laugh. He watched her with a combination of hunger and trepidation.
Putting a seductive sway into her hips, she approached, then turned and assumed the submissive position on all fours, her backside presented to him for mounting. Their mating from last night, fresh in her mind, filled her head with images of that incandescent night, and she wondered if those same images were assailing him too.
After a long beat of silence, she looked over her shoulder. Gage stood still as marble, eyes closed.
“Aren’t you going to…?”
He didn’t move, didn’t open his eyes. “Get up Seneca. Get dressed.”
With a secret smile, satisfied that she’d been proven right—that he could never force her—she stood. Instead of getting dressed, she moved to stand before him. He must’ve sensed her presence, because his eyes popped open.
“What are you doing?” he asked, voice low and gravelly, scraping over her sensitive nerves in a delicious way.
She gave him a siren’s smile and did the most non-submissive thing she could think of, settling her hand over the hard bugle in his pants and squeezing lightly. “Seducing you.” No wonder her sister, Lareina, reveled in her power. Gage’s reaction had her high on the knowledge of what she could do to him.
He visibly swallowed but otherwise didn’t move. “You’re not submissive. You can’t be.”
She placed her lips at his ears. “I’m not submissive,” she whispered. No way could she have missed his full-body shiver. Her Alpha liked the idea of a dominant mate, equal to his own power. That was good. “And you’re the only one who knows.”
The question was, what was he going to do about it?
A slow grin—one full of satisfaction, desire, and control—curled his lips. “Now was that so hard?” The sweet, heavy smell of desire blanketed the room.
At the same time, he gripped her hips and walked her backwards until her back hit the padded wall opposite. She let him, knowing the animal inside him needed to assert his dominance after what she’d put them both through. Her tiger didn’t even protest, wanting this as much as she did. She’d show him exactly how dominant she could be…in a minute.
For now, she reached for the top button of his shirt. “You have too many clothes on.” As sexy as he was in his preferred attire of business shirt and dress pants, she much preferred him with nothing at all.
His low chuckle warmed her from the inside. In record time, with his help, they had him out of his clothes. In a heartbeat, he pinned her with his body, every hard plane fitting perfectly with her soft curves.
She flashed him a predatory smile—time to play.
In a move guaranteed to take him by surprise, she tumbled them both to the floor, making sure she ended on top.
“What the…” Gage burst out. Then he grinned and propped his head on his hands in a casual position guaranteed to show off his arms, pecs, and abs. She tried to keep from drooling.
“So you want to be in charge?” he asked with a roguish grin. “My body is all yours, m’lady.”
No need to offer twice.
In fascinated wonder, she ran her hands over his chest and down his abs, tracing every hard ridge and eliciting a series of shivers from his body. Leaning forward she took his lips in a kiss meant to show her power, loving the tangy taste of him. He swiftly took control, and she reveled in every move of his mouth against hers. She let loose a sigh filled with both contentment and need. She was so entranced with his lips, she barely noticed his grip on her hips, or how he lifted her to position himself. But she definitely noticed his possession of her body.
“Yes,” she hissed against his mouth, before she nipped at his bottom lip.
“Take control,” he ordered. Only this was one order she was happy to follow. Leaning back, she placed her hands over his, still at her hips, and started to move in a slow, sensuous rhythm guaranteed to drive them both higher.
His hot gaze traveled from her feverish eyes, down over her breasts, to where they were joined intimately. “My mate,” he murmured, thrilling possession and pride in the words.
When she didn’t increase the speed of her movements, he groaned. “Faster.”
She shook her head, her dark hair tumbling about her shoulders.
He gripped her hips harder and tried to force her to his pace. “Faster,” he urged again.
“Make me,” she dared.
In answer he rolled them in an abrupt movement, and she ended beneath him. “Better watch out wh
at you ask for, little cat,” he crooned in her ear. Then he moved his body, driving into her. The combined sounds of their moans twined around them until pleasure slammed through her body, his own guttural cry following hers almost immediately.
She wrapped her arms and legs around him as they both caught their breath and floated down from the high. The voice inside her, the one she followed blindly, was quiet now. Confirming Gage’s suspicion, and what had followed, her belief had been right.
Gage lifted his head and pinned her with a serious gaze. “No more secrets.”
She bit her lip and shook her head. “I can’t promise that.”
He scowled. “You are my mate.”
She smoothed back a lock of his hair in a tender gesture she couldn’t help. “And you’re mine. I’m trying to protect you Gage.”
The anger in his eyes softened. “I thought that was my job.”
Chapter Eleven
Rick stood in front of a wall of monitors in the room where he took conference videos with the other Alphas of the Shadowcat Nation. He’d tired of seeing their tiny images on one screen, and had this room assembled to display each face on a single screen, making it easier to read their expressions. The room was dark, the only flicker of lights coming from the wall in front of him. Sweat trickled down the back of his neck. Unfortunately, this room was also always hot due to the computers combined with a lack of windows. Plus, he tended to sweat anyway.
Usually, the ten screens in front of him each had a face peering back, but now, six of the monitors were blacked out, and one showed his own face. The other three were Alphas of the Shadowcat Nation who agreed with his position.
So he’d killed the lioness’s daddy. So what? It happened decades ago. Land was what any shifter would kill for, and those fools had wanted to share. The wolves had already been a problem, and the cougars had formed the Shadowcat Nation. He’d fought hard for his position as Alpha, killed countless cougars to earn the position. No way was he giving up blood-claimed land for people he didn’t own.
After reaching out to each of the Alphas he knew would support him, he’d arranged a meeting with all of them. Of course, this group didn’t include the Keller or Reynolds Dares. Andie and Jaxon Keller had become his biggest pain in the ass. The Callahan Dare, now led by Shane with Tieryn at his side, was also out, given their loyalty to the Kellers and Tieryn’s obvious hatred of him. Unfortunately, that gave them both Healers. The Moreno Dare had sided with the Kellers also, giving them two of the three Seers.
