by Kyle, Celia
As soon as the fuck-fest was done, she’d drag him home and mount him. Now that she’d had a taste of her mate, she wanted more. A lot more.
Another wave of men and women, some rushing through the room and quickly claiming their partner, dragging them into deep kisses and frantic caresses.
The itching, tingling need in her grew more insistent. Her cat wanted Grayson. Now. He was there, right down there. It wouldn’t take much to shatter the glass and jump to his side. Quick and easy and then they’d show all the females he belonged to her. Not them. Her.
A woman strode past Grayson, slowed enough to give him an unhurried perusal. Her gaze traveled from his feet, along his legs, and paused at his groin before finishing her blatant examination.
Honor didn’t even have to think; the transition from human hand to lion’s paw was nearly instantaneous. A tiny flex and then it was an instrument of death. That woman’s, if she wanted to be precise.
She stepped closer to the window, expanded her paw, and scraped a single nail along the glass, marring the surface where the woman stood.
Grayson’s attention shot to her and he gave her a deadpan look. She watched him turn away from the predatory female without a glance and move toward the bar. Suddenly a phone receiver was in his hand and the phone on the desk rang. She snatched it from its cradle and pressed it to her ear.
“Yes, dear.”
“You know you’re mine.” His voice was deep and rough, more than a hint of his cat filling the words.
“Uh-huh.” She wondered if the woman would cry.
“Honor, you can’t challenge every woman who looks at me.”
She feigned shock and gasped. “Me? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Maddy needs to ease up, you’re becoming way too bloodthirsty and you’ve only seen her a handful of times.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s you. I find I’m very, very possessive. And now that you’re mine, I want everyone to know it.”
“They know it, love. I didn’t even shower this morning. I reek of you.”
She wrinkled her nose. “That sounds less than sexy.”
Grayson laughed. “To me, it’s sexy as hell.” He growled. “Want you. Want these assholes out of here.” The definitive creak of plastic reached her. Her mate was gripping the phone entirely too tight. “The women scent you, but so can the males. One had the balls to ask me where he could find you.”
At least the insane urge to kill anyone who looked at him wasn’t one-sided.
“I’m glad you didn’t do anything to him. Alex would be angry.”
Grayson snorted. “If he found the body.”
Body. That slammed the lid on their joking faster than anything else. “Are the guards in place? I mean, the hidden ones? So…”
So no one could get near her. So Angus couldn’t capture her. So she wouldn’t be his victim and end up beneath him before he… before he sliced her to pieces like the defenseless rabbit.
“You know Stone is at the bottom of the stairs.” His tone went from enraged to soothing and she did know. She saw the massive gorilla shifter in place, his dark coloring, midnight clothes, and large build enough to send even the lions and wolves heading to the other side of the club. In the wild, a gorilla wouldn’t win against a lion, but with Stone’s training, she didn’t doubt the male could take down just about anyone.
Angus included.
“I see him.”
“The others are around the club.”
“They won’t get distracted…?” That was one of her worries. She felt as if she were being torn apart by her need for Grayson. How could others stand against that level of desire?
“They won’t get distracted. You know them better than that.”
She did. Maya’s guards, while they joked and kidded a lot, were dedicated to their jobs. Just because they were putty in their mate’s hands, that didn’t mean they’d allow something to happen to Honor. Especially Ricker. Angus got the jump on him once and now he was determined to take a hunk out of the lion. Apparently, his stripe had healed crooked.
“I do. I know.” Another female approached Grayson from behind, her frank appraisal hidden from her mate, but Honor saw. “Please turn around and tell that whore she’s two seconds from being dinner.”
Grayson chuckled and covered the receiver as he turned around. Low murmurs were indecipherable, but the woman’s frown was not.
Finally, he returned, low laugh still rolling through him. “Your jealousy is hot as hell, love.”
Honor harrumphed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She wasn’t a crazed lioness hell bent on clawing out the eyes of every woman that looked at her male or anything. Really. She wasn’t.
“Uh-huh.” He glanced at his watch and she did the same.
Thirty minutes until things got really hot and heavy. “It’s about show time. You’ll stay put? There’s only one entrance and Stone is between you and everyone else.”
A male neared Stone, his nose raised as if following Honor’s scent, but a quick lift of Stone’s lip had the man running.
“I know, I’ll be fine. Keep things organized down there. The quicker the night is through, the quicker we go home.”
Grayson dropped his voice low, a purr filling his tone. “I can’t wait.”
Yet another woman sized up her mate. “Tell that whore that—”
His laugh was way too cocky. “Your jealousy makes my dick hard.”
“Bite me,” she snapped.
“I already did, love. And you got me.”
The woman reached for her mate and her cat pushed against her control. “Mine.”
Grayson was quick to spin and step out of reach. She saw, and heard, his snarl. Good, maybe that’d scare away all of the other bitches. He came back and sighed. “I have to go to work. The longer I stay put, the bolder they’ll get.”
“Not if I eviscerate them.”
“Honor…” There was a warning in his tone. “Maybe next time. When we’re not on edge about Angus.”
Reality dropped at her feet and she reined in the cat. “You’re right.” She took a deep, calming breath. “You’re right. Go work. I’ll keep an eye out for him from here.” She licked her lips, mouth dry. “I love you, you know.”
“I know.” His voice dropped. There was no sexual purr filling it any longer. “I love you, too.”
Nothing more needed to be said so she lowered the receiver to the cradle and let it fall into place. The night would be long, and smelly, but at least it’d be over soon enough. With any luck, Angus would strike, or at least try to, and would be caught. Then they could get on to the rest of their lives.
She prayed for a lot of luck.
Honor dragged one of the comfy club chairs to the window and then sank into the cushioned softness. From her position, she could keep an eye on the stairs as well as the club at large. Particularly, the women trying to get to her mate.
The number of nude, writhing bodies was already near critical mass. She was glad she wasn’t below, wasn’t assaulted with the scents of sex. She was afraid, afraid the aromas would throw her back into the memories of the cage, of her first Gaian Moon. The only thing that saved her this time was the knowledge that her mating was secure and solid.
Before long, some of her tension eased. Oh, female after female still approached Grayson, but he deftly avoided them. He sidestepped and slid out of reach of many ladies that neared him. It got to the point that she almost felt bad for him. He was trying to keep things calm while keeping others’ hands off him. From her position, she even saw the disgust on his features whenever one of them got too close.
Poor guy.
She let her gaze drift over the club, taking in the plethora of skin. She had no doubt that beyond the glass, the air was filled with sweat and cum. Not a horrible combination, but only if she and Grayson created the scents.
The flashing strobe lights fell at random intervals, coating the area in rapid
ly shifting beams. It both masked a person’s identity while also enticing them to get a closer look. Club Genesis was all about furthering the fuckery cause.
Her attention continued on its random journey until… until her eyes focused on one familiar face. Angus.
So, he’d shown. They’d told her he would, but she still thought he was smarter than this. Shaking her head, she banged on the window to get Stone’s attention.
His focus flicked to her, his midnight eyes meeting hers through the clear glass. “Angus!” She pointed toward where she’d last seen him. “He’s here!”
Stone nodded and tapped his ear. The gorilla brought toys from Chicago, including ear comms.
A scuffle broke out in that part of the club and Honor sighed in relief. The other guys obviously took Stone’s direction and were on the trail. They’d get him. This part of her life would come to a close, and then she could focus on her relationship with Grayson. It wasn’t perfect, she was far from perfect, but she wanted it to be the best it could be.
She hunted for Grayson on the club floor, aching to find him safe and sound while the others went after Angus. There was no telling what her mate would do when faced with that male.
It didn’t take her long to find him at his main station. At his main station with whore number one jumping on him, her naked body pressed to his clothed one. Honor might have allowed him the chance to shove the woman away, but then the bitch went and kissed her mate. Kissed him with her whorish lips with her whorish lipstick with her whorish body all over him and…
Honor’s cat burst forward, wrenching control from her grasp. The cat encouraged her to remain human for one more moment. Just long enough to take a run at the window and burst through the glass. Her skin-covered body remained in place until she was airborne.
From there, between one heartbeat and the next, she went from human to cat. Clothes shredded and fell from her body, floating away as if feathers, while her shoes dropped from her feet. A twist of her feline form had her landing on the strewn glass with a grunt, the shards pressing hard against the pads of her paws.
As soon as she settled on four feet, she was gone. She dodged, raced, and weaved around bodies. Some were frozen in place, others never stopped in their fucking, but there were two people entirely focused on her.
One rolled his eyes.
The other looked like she’d piss herself.
Then a deafening roar came from the other side of the room and Grayson’s eyes turned to gold as he glared at her. Okay, he could yell at her for leaving the office as soon as she took care of Whores McWhores-A-Lot.
Not slowing, she tackled the female, ripping her body from Grayson’s and shoving her to the ground. Part of her accepted this behavior was a little over the top, but she also acknowledged their mating was less than a day old. This type of reaction wasn’t abnormal. Well, wasn’t-ish.
The two of them slid over the smooth concrete, friction finally slowing them. Honor spread her mouth wide, showing off her fangs. Saliva dripped from the tips while her cat wondered what the female tasted like. She sniffed the air, finding the woman’s natural scent.
Bunny shifter.
She’d never played with a bunny.
Honor licked her lips, tongue sliding over her whiskers. She shouldn’t be drooling at the idea of tearing the female limb from limb. She had plenty of werebunny friends and Maya took them off the menu long ago. But this bitch…
“Honor, let the woman go.” Grayson’s voice commanded her to obey.
New Honor would listen. Old, slowly returning Honor didn’t care about his commands.
Grayson huffed. “Honor, you can’t hurt a guest. She apologizes and her warren will make amends. Release her.”
Fear rolled from the woman. Fine. If Grayson wouldn’t let her scare the female a little, it was no fun playing. She shifted her weight, ready to release her prey, when a voice had her freezing in place.
“Or I could take over for you. Such a pretty bunny. She would look beautiful covered in blood, wouldn’t she, sweetheart?”
Angus.
The roars and snarls from the back of the club still echoed through the room. Which meant they hadn’t captured him. The drama was over something else, not the male nearby.
Fuck.
Trembling, she raised her head, stared into a set of blackened, amber eyes that scared her to her very marrow.
Panic, fear, terror… No matter the name, it held her frozen in place.
Then a new emotion rushed forward, filled her from head to toe and burned her from inside out. No, it wasn’t exactly new. She’d held it close to her heart since January fifteenth, but she’d never let it free. She didn’t have the nerve, the backbone, to allow it to rise. But now, with Grayson’s love and Maddy’s kick-ass help, she was ready to give that bit of her free reign.
“She’d look much better dead, wouldn’t she, pet?” Angus remained crouched before her, his oily smirk in place.
And Honor let it fly. Rage suffused her, raced through her veins and pumped into her muscles. This male hurt her, scarred her, damaged her…
The crowd around her ceased to exist, the bodies surrounding the small, impromptu circle no longer registering in her mind. No, everything was about Angus.
Now he’d die.
Honor didn’t hesitate. The fury at Angus spurred her cat, urged it to attack. Her muscles tensed, claws scraping against the smooth concrete floor, and then she was airborne.
She registered his shock first, the small movements of his face as that asshole’s smirk slowly bled to a dawning realization that she was intent on his death.
It felt like forever, but it all happened in a split second. One moment she crouched over a whimpering rabbit and the next she barreled into Angus, sending them tumbling over the floor. She rolled with him, using the increased strength of her cat to retain the advantage.
They tumbled, one over the other, his larger bulk warring with her increased strength. Through it all, the snap and crack of his bones filled her ears. He was shifting; with each flex of muscle, more of his lion appeared. The mud brown of his eyes gave way to lion’s gold while his curled lip transformed from man to cat. His fangs grew, lengthening and sharpening, transforming into deadly teeth.
But she didn’t care. No, rage was on her side and it was only a matter of time before she killed him. She wished she could take her time, carve at him for hours as he’d done to her, but she wouldn’t have that opportunity. As soon as everyone got over their shock, someone would tear her away so Grayson could finish what she began.
She had to make it hard and fast.
The moment their fumbling came to a stop, Honor attacked. She didn’t give a damn that he was only half-shifted, that battling him when he was vulnerable was taboo.
So is fucking carving people into pieces, asshole.
That thought in mind, she went at him. His body still lingered between man and beast and she didn’t care, she scratched and scraped while dodging his attempts to do the same. One moment she was above him, her mouth gaping wide as she lowered her head, and the next he had the advantage. He dug his claws into her shoulders, holding her captive. But was she? No, she brought her legs up and scored his stomach, sinking her nails into his vulnerable belly.
His blood coated her, her own joining the party as it poured from various wounds. She had to get him before he finished his shift, before his cat healed him through the final transition.
Honor shoved once again, pushing and clawing at him, body demanding he roll and give her the advantage. Instead, more of Angus’s weight settled upon her, his final change from man to beast sliding over him, and she saw his wounds heal before her eyes.
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
He lowered his head, jaw gaping wide and intent on tearing her throat out… And then he was gone. He disappeared as if he’d never existed. She turned her head and saw the reason Angus was lifted from her.
Grayson.
* * *
Honor.
That was his singular thought as he raced across the club, as he ripped his clothing from his body with every step, as he changed from man to beast.
Honor.
He hadn’t believed what he was seeing at first. Angus in the club and this close? Stone put a call out that there’d been a possible sighting and then he was there before them, crouching nearby.
Grayson expected Honor to run to him and not toward Angus, but that’s exactly what she did. Without a look back, she’d pounced. Pounced, bit, and clawed, really.
For the barest moment he allowed pride to fill him. She was fighting back, battling the male with her fangs and nails and not pulling any punches in her attack. And then he realized his mate was warring the lion who’d held her captive for seven days. Seven days of pain and degradation.
That moment lasted until the sweet scent of her blood filled the air, until he recognized one of Angus’s blows hit home.
While everyone else was held immobile by shock, Grayson rushed forward. Much like when Ricker saved his ass in the clearing, Grayson went after the other male. One stride led to two, led to a last flying leap at the male. He collided with Angus, rolling with the male until Grayson came out on top.
He held Angus beneath him, pinning the male with his weight and claws. Movement in his periphery caught his eye. He glanced in that direction and then snarled at the approaching person.
Ricker. Ricker got in the way before—hell, he’d probably saved Grayson’s life at the time—but now Grayson would end Angus once and for all. Behind Ricker, he saw Honor rise, pushing to her paws and shaking off the dripping blood. Her wounds were deep, but they’d heal and any hint of worry he held fled when Maddy approached his mate.
Unfortunately, Ricker didn’t falter in his steps, easing even closer, and Grayson roared in protest.
That got the male to cease his approach. He froze and then slowly gestured, waving his hands. That’s when Grayson noticed the circle had been closing in on him.
