by Leah Kent
"V, I don't know how much more I can take," Gabriel groaned. "I need to cum. You feel too good."
No, he couldn't. Victoria kept riding, breaths quick and shallow. She felt slick with sweat, but it was worth it. Beneath her Gabriel's body felt superheated, stirred to full excitement as she rode. His cock continued to throb and twitch, and she knew he wasn't lying — he needed to cum. But each time she came down against his body she grinded her clit against him and at the same time he hit that sacred spot inside of her, and Victoria couldn't get enough. She had to cum first. She had to get there before he softened and detracted from her pleasure.
"Hold on," she begged him, moving more frantically now. Gabriel groaned loud, jerking as he fought to keep his hips from bucking up into her. He'd been so obedient this far, so willing, and Victoria only needed him to stay good for a little while longer. "Oh my God, Gabriel, hold on! I'm going to cum!"
The first riding waves of pleasure had struck, and all Victoria had to do was let go. The ripple ran through her, hard and undeniable, and she cried out unrestrained. Finneus had to have heard, but in that moment Victoria could not bring herself to care. All that mattered was Gabriel and how he felt inside of her.
Her body contracted and spasmed around him, and Gabriel buried his face in both hands and cried out low. Never had she seen him so addled, and Victoria hoped it wouldn't be the last.
"V, I have to," he panted.
"Cum," the word rattled like a thin pane of glass inside a frame, and she was sure it would break at any second. Break it did. The hot deluge of Gabriel's seed filled her and coated her womb as Victoria milked his cock, and she gasped sharply and bore down upon him. Their bodies pressed together, passions overflowing.
And then Gabriel roared.
The sound was masked behind his hands, choked by the capacity of his human vocal cords, but there was no mistaking it. It rattled through the room and vibrated in his chest, ferocious and dominant. Victoria shivered. With her hands still planted on his shoulders the vibrations ran up her arms as his primal cry invaded her. He'd never roared like that before, but then again she'd never taken control of him like she just had.
When the hands fell away from Gabriel's face his eyes were closed and he was breathing slowly and deeply. Slowly Victoria sat back, his softening cock still inside of her. Satisfaction had begun to set in, and her limbs had begun to feel weak with sleep. She could tell by the way his arms flopped down upon the mattress that the same was true for him.
"That was— God, V. That's been inside of you all this time?"
The shirt still clung to his shoulders, either open side of it spilled out upon the bed. Gabriel looked disheveled and rugged, and she wondered if she looked as flustered and glowing from sex as he did. The updo she'd fixed for herself had mostly fallen by now, its undoing triggered by Gabriel's rough hand back by the stairs.
"I guess so," Victoria replied. She dismounted and laid beside him, curling up against his side. Instinctively Gabriel wrapped an arm around her and drew her close. Despite the energy they'd both invested in the coupling, everything was calm and sweet now.
"A Queen fit to rule," Gabriel praised her, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead.
It wasn't long before sleep claimed them both, but even as they slept peaceful in each other's arms, trouble crept forward from the shadows to jeopardize everything they held dear.
Chapter Six
Of all the consultations Finneus Harbright had ever entertained in his private office, never had he expected to find himself seated across from a Leroux.
Lewis was a year older than he was, but Finneus thought he still looked like a teenager. Were it not for the definition of his body and his height, he would have looked near indistinguishable from his younger brother, Steven. Dark hair and clearly feline features had always set the Leroux line apart from the Liston line, and when Lewis entered his office, Finneus needed no introduction. The fine angles of his face screamed Leroux, and the slinky way he walked backed Finneus' suspicion.
"Mr. Leroux," Finneus said stiffly as Lewis seated himself in the visitor's chair on the opposite side of his desk, "I take it you aren't here to discuss an upcoming financial merger or inquire about the legality of an employee's discrimination filing. So tell me, what can I do for you today?"
Silence consumed the office, and Finneus dispelled it by tapping his pen against his desk. Lewis leaned back in his chair, arms spread along the armrests as though he owned the place. There was an arrogance the Leroux family exuded that had always rubbed Finneus the wrong way despite the uneasy truce between the prides.
"It was my understanding," Lewis said, his words dragging as though he savored speaking each one. Arrogance. Finneus found is bitterly distasteful, "that my sister and one Mr. Gabriel Liston are engaged to be married four months from today."
What was his game? Finneus knew that Lewis was aware of Victoria's status. There was no way that a Leroux would let water that dirty pass under the bridge without causing some trouble first.
"Correct," Finneus replied, the hairs on the back of his neck bristling. As far as he was aware, Gabriel had not yet contracted Jessica nor Lewis to let them know the engagement was off. As far as Lewis was concerned, Jessica and Gabriel were still to be a couple even though Gabriel had been unfaithful.
"We are both intelligent men, Finneus. There is a reason I am speaking to you now instead of confronting Gabriel directly, King to King. I value your level-headed, logical approach to matters, and I know that you will understand my position much better than Gabriel ever would."
Of course. The pen stilled from its tapping and Finneus set it down. He folded both hands upon the table, fingers laced, and set Lewis with the brunt of his stare.
"I am listening. Continue."
"I know of the girl. I know of the things Gabriel has done with her. Jessica knows. And as a family and a pride, we have discussed long and hard about the issue and have come to the conclusion that what Gabriel has done as a bachelor makes no difference. Everyone has a past. Everyone has done regrettable things and made regrettable decisions. We do not intend to hold this against Gabriel."
Finneus set his lips, his grip on his own hands tightening just slightly as he tried to understand where Lewis was going with all of this.
"So, as a pride, a decision has been made that the engagement is still valid?"
"Correct," Lewis replied. "Come mid-November, Jessica intends to wed Gabriel to unite the prides at last."
"And why are you here to tell me?" Finneus asked. "These matters are between you and Gabriel. I may be his cousin, but I have no more power than any other lion beneath him in the Liston pride."
"Because you are the sensible one — the voice in Gabriel's ear that tells him right from wrong. It doesn't take a genius to see as much. Gabriel is directed by emotion, and I am fearful that when what Victoria has done will surface that he will not be able to emotionally commit to his duties."
Had he not had his hands laced, Finneus was sure he would have fidgeted as Lewis revealed the purpose of his visit. What Victoria had done. All this time Finneus had been expecting deception from the Lerouxs, but now it seemed deception had sprung up far closer to home.
"As a lawyer, to me facts are tantamount to God. You claim Victoria has done something. First, so that we are on the same page, disclose to me exactly what it is she has done."
The hint of a smirk that flashed in the corners of Lewis' lips told Finneus that he'd asked the right question.
"Victoria has been engaging in a supplementary sexual relationship while living with Gabriel."
The same girl he heard every night through the floorboards? Finneus was hard pressed to believe that such was the case. Victoria seemed to spend every moment with Gabriel, and he knew for a fact that she was in Gabriel's bed every night. A statement bore little weight without evidence, and Finneus would not believe Lewis' word as truth unless solid evidence was presented.
"How do you know that?" Finneus
asked. Lewis did not scare him. The King was young, and although he was better trained for the position than Gabriel was, Finneus had years of dealing with pompous clients under his belt. Lewis was no different, even with the blood of lion Kings running through his veins.
"When I discovered Gabriel's indiscretion, I had little Victoria followed so we could investigate if she would be a threat to the lion shifter prides of the city. A mortal dabbling in the affairs of shifters is serious business, Finneus, as I'm sure you're aware. One wrong move and there could be a special task force sent to take us all out. And so yesterday morning, one of my men tailed her at a distance as she left your estate and took a cab across town to meet a man. A mortal man. And my man got close enough to record this video clip."
A video clip. Finneus' blood ran cold as Lewis withdrew his cellphone from his back pocket and lit the screen up. A quick navigation led him to folder containing the media, and after Lewis had placed the phone upon Finneus' desk, he pressed the play button that had appeared on the center of the screen.
The footage was recorded through an open window covered by a screen and had come out grainy. The room inside was dark, but despite the low light Finneus could clearly distinguish a large shape — Victoria sized, he noted — moving beneath the cotton sheets of a bed. Although there were no recognizable features in the video, the accompanying audio was no doubt of Victoria's voice.
"Oh God, I want to fuck you bad, Peter!"
The shapes moved beneath the sheets.
"Peter, please. I want you!"
Finneus' stomach turned. He knew fully well that the video would have time stamped data encrypted into it; verifying the date it was recorded would be simple, and he was sure Lewis wouldn't approach him about this indiscretion unless the evidence he had was solid. The movements and breathy gasps went on for five minutes before they stilled and Victoria spoke again.
"It feels so good inside of me. There's so much, Peter. I've never felt so much before! Oh my God, it turns me on so much to have it inside of me. I want more!"
"That's enough," Finneus said. He pressed a finger against the video, pausing it and pushing the phone back towards Lewis. If Gabriel were to find out that the woman he shared The Bond with had done this, there would be no consoling him. Lewis was right to be concerned. As controlled by his emotions as Gabriel was, he was likely to do something rash should the news of Victoria's infidelity surface. Finneus had been right not to trust a mortal, and now that she knew about the prides and the presence of lion shifters, her involvement in their lives was all the more complicated. Lewis knew is, and he trusted Finneus to know it. Victoria was more than Gabriel's problem — she was a problem for the whole shifter community.
"I want to make sure that nothing jeopardizes the truce between our prides, Finneus. The Listons and the Lerouxs have long been rivals, but all of that could change in four short months. This is a problem we face together, and I thought you should be aware." Lewis picked up his cellphone from the desk and slipped it back into his pocket. With a flourish he rose, fixing Finneus with his brown eyes pointedly.
"You are a Liston in my eyes, and fit to be King," the words sparkled with sincerity, and Finneus was struck by them. "Sometimes politics are run behind the scenes. I can think of no man more capable of making the right choice for a pride than yourself, and know no member of the Liston pride more capable of operating in silence from the shadows than you."
Finneus found himself trapped beneath Lewis' gaze, the spell only broken when the King turned his back upon the lawyer and headed for the door.
"Victoria will not be an issue," Finneus said heavily as Lewis arrived at the doorway. "Thank you for drawing my attention to the problem at hand."
"In four months we will officially be allies," Lewis said simply. "It would be dishonest to keep something so vital from those I will soon call my family. Be well, Finneus. Know the Leroux pride thinks of you highly."
High praise. Finneus rang his hands upon his desk as his ego swelled.
"Be well, Lewis," he parroted in parting. Lewis Leroux left his office, but he left behind information more troubling than any Finneus had dealt with in a long time.
Perhaps what he'd predicted was true; perhaps Gabriel really was incapable of ruling — at least while Victoria was in the picture. Removing her was key, and making sure she kept her silence was imperative not just to their survival, but for the safety of lion shifter prides everywhere.
There was much to think about and much to be done, and so little time to do it in.
Chapter Seven
That morning Victoria had been called in for an interior design consultation not all that far from where Finneus lived and only returned to the house in the late afternoon. Finneus' vehicle was in the driveway when she returned, and Victoria remarked it for how strange it was; the lawyer usually worked until seven at his office. Perhaps there were matters of the pride to deal with that had drawn him home early.
Before Victoria descended the steps leading to their basement apartment she removed her heels and fanned her toes, relief immediate. The spare key she'd been entrusted with turned the lock, and Victoria strode down the basement stairs behind it to find Finneus sitting on Gabriel’s living room couch. As she entered he looked up from his knees.
"I was hoping it would be you," Finneus said in greeting. "Please, come sit with me. There is something we need to talk about."
Finneus wanted to speak to her? Anxiety spiked and turned Victoria's stomach. Gabriel trusted Finneus with everything he had, but Victoria was more wary of the man. Nothing good was to come of this encounter, she was sure.
Without saying a word Victoria left her heels by the basement stairs and crossed the room to sit at a respectful distance from Finneus. He turned so that his back faced the arm of the couch to face her, expression hard to read.
"Victoria," he spoke her name heavily and struggled to say what followed, "I am afraid for your safety."
That was new. Victoria looked into his blue eyes in search of deception, but found none. But there seemed little compassion, either. The expression felt right for Finneus — the man who thought her unfit to join the pride would not look burdened with worry over her safety. It was unsettling; Victoria was sure he was telling the truth.
"What about my safety?" she asked.
"There are many dangers I have largely kept silent about, thinking Gabriel would be the one to address them. As he has not, I want to tell you so you know how to prepare yourself."
Finneus rang his hands upon his lap and looked down at his knees again momentarily before beginning.
"Not everyone in the pride believes that you should be Gabriel's mate. I won't lie — I think he would be better off marrying Jessica and unifying the prides. But I am Gabriel's cousin and friend and I respect his decisions, and so for me, the thought ends there. Not every lion in the Liston pride is as respectable. I fear there are those who would dispose of you to make sure that Gabriel follows through with his engagement."
The news was chilling, and Victoria shifted on the couch as she tried to digest it. It was no surprise that other lions were unhappy — that much she'd learned from the dinner at Carver's — but that some wished her dead and might act upon those feelings unnerved her. Gabriel and Finneus seemed like men who just so happened to be able to transform into lions, but Victoria had seen Gabriel succumb to his bestial instincts as recently as last night when he had roared beneath her during orgasm. Could they really be considered men at all, or were they beasts that paraded mock humanity?
"Not only that," Finneus continued, "but the Leroux pride has been biding its time since they kidnapped you and held you in that motel room. I fear they may be planning something as well, and that you have become a target."
Another threat. Victoria sank back into the couch and took a deep breath, trying to sooth herself. At this point any man or woman, familiar or not, could be plotting her death. Any face she passed on the street could be the last one she saw. How were th
ey going to deal with this issue?
"At least I can still trust myself," Victoria said with a little laugh. "And at least Gabriel isn't trying to hurt me."
There was no reaction to her words, and Victoria's blue eyes rose to take Finneus in. He looked truly uncomfortable.
"Well, it's funny you should mention that."
No. Victoria found she'd been holding her breath, and she exhaled the stale air and breathed in fresh.
"What do you mean?"
"Gabriel hasn't been upfront with you about something important," Finneus admitted. He swallowed, struggling with the reveal. Victoria's head was spinning already; it felt as though her world was crumbling and the ground she'd thought was so safe was really made of cracked glass.
"Finneus, tell me." Once before Gabriel had hidden information from her. Important information. Until Finneus had told her Gabriel was engaged, Gabriel had pretended she was the only one in his life. Was the man she felt so strongly for a compulsive liar? A manipulator? Whatever Finneus was about to tell her would paint the picture more clearly.
