Loved by the Lion: BBW Paranormal Lion Shifter BWWM Romance (6 page)

She wiped away some sauce from his mouth and licked it off her thumb – and looked embarrassed afterward, like she was surprised she could do something like that.

"Is it always like that?" she asked finally.

"Like what?"

She turned, if possible, even shyer. "
Intense
."

He stroked the curve of her belly aimlessly. "I wouldn't know," he admitted. "I've never been mated before. I guess it's different." Was it really like this all the time? He'd never asked, having never felt the need, but he had never been with someone like Kira. It went beyond just technically good sex – although it was that, too – and into something deeper, a connection that he had never felt before. The pair bond.

"That was a hell of a date," she murmured. Her fingers traced patterns on his back. "I can't see what you've got in store for the next one."

"Go big or go home, I always say," he said cheekily and felt the answering laugh thrum through her body.

"Nice to get some relief from stress," she added.

"Stress? What stress?" Not him, he hoped. He wasn't foolish enough to believe she was ready to marry him, but said she wanted to date more and they seemed like they were on a good path. Please not it not be him, he hoped silently.

She was silent and still for a second like she knew she'd been caught out. "It's nothing, you don't have to worry about it."

Sharing a life was something mates did. It wasn't all incredible, mind-blowing sex – it was a partnership. That meant you listened to each other's problems.

So he said, "You can tell me. Maybe I can't fix it, but if it would be nice to get off your chest . . ."

"I've been having this problem lately," she began, then paused. "This guy has been following me around a little, pressuring me to go out with him, but he won't get the message and stay away."

For a long minute Cole felt sick to his stomach. She
was
talking about him. But then he realized she had said he wouldn't stay away – and he remembered he had been invited. He let out a deep sigh. "You're not talking about me, I take it?"

"What?" She sounded shocked. "Oh! Oh, no! I'm so sorry, that's not at all what I meant."

A wave of relief broke over Cole, but then the implications of what she was saying began to sink in. "You have a stalker?"

Her mouth twisted with worry. "I guess you'd call it that. He came by my workplace the other week, and he wrote me this really awful letter – oh, I should have shown it to you earlier, it has to do with you too."

She rose to retrieve it, and he missed the loss of her warmth already. She was back quickly, though – but with an anxious expression and biting her lip.

The letter disturbed him, but not as much as the signature that was attached to it.

"Gunnar Atherton," he repeated. That couldn't be a coincidence. How many people could have that name?

Kira looked confused. "Cole? Do you know that name?"

"Yeah," he said grimly, and glanced over the letter again in disbelief. "Yeah, I do."

He would have liked to spend his first evening with his mate doing just about anything else, but instead he told her about Gunnar and his connection to their pride. Gunnar was a panther shifter, he explained, an alpha like him but one who drove his pride into the ground instead of nurturing them to grow to their full potential like an alpha was supposed to do. They'd become a gang of sorts further north, closer to the big city, and rumors spread in shifter circles about their many criminal activities.

In fact, enough rumors flew that the local crime family got wind of their turf being encroached upon. Cole wasn't there, so he didn't have all the details, but he knew there had been a showdown in a warehouse and a fire. Arson, probably, or some kind of deliberate explosion. Gunnar's whole pride had died that night, except for him.

"I don't think he's responsible for their deaths – not directly, anyway," Cole concluded. "But losing his whole pride like that drove him insane, I think."

Gunnar was a criminal and deserved to be held responsible for his crimes, but losing your entire pride like that – the idea of it made Cole shudder with a twinge of sympathy. Prides had a bond, too. Not as strong as a mating bond, obviously, and more fluid because people moved around all the time, but a real bond all the same. He wouldn't wish what happened to Gunnar on his worst enemy. He was alone now – not just mateless, but
really
alone.

As he told her all this, Kira was biting her lip. "What does this have to do with me?"

Cole grimaced. "He latches onto female shifters. I'm not exactly sure, but I think he thinks he can rebuild his pride if he has a mate. Start new." He told her about Andrea. The exact same pattern of escalating stalking emerged.

"What stopped him?"

"Andrea's real mate."

Kira frowned. "I want to see where this goes, Cole, but I don't want you to step in and solve all my problems. Or even try. I'm a grown woman. I can take care of myself." More quietly, she added, "I feel helpless enough already."

"I know," he was hasty to reassure her. "I don't think you're weak – your strength amazes me, after what happened to your family. What you've been through. I'm saying that he has a pattern of behavior. And this is a problem for the whole pride, not just you. We know Gunnar, we've dealt with him before. We can help."

She was nodding, frustration melting into thoughtfulness. "What do you think we should do?"

He held her hand as, together, they worked out a plan.

Chapter Nine

Kira

Kira pulled her jacket a little more tightly around herself. The spring air was extra nippy tonight, and her dread made her feel cold on the inside, too.

Not that the last few days had been a
total
waste. She allowed a small smile to blossom on her lips as she thought of Cole. True to his word, he didn't place any heavy expectations on her. She couldn't seem to keep her hands off him, though. They had gone on another date – this one more furtive so that Gunnar wouldn't realize what they were doing – and they had made love twice more. They'd had to stay at a hotel for the night, and Kira couldn't wait to get him in her own bed.

The thought of Cole's hands running all along her body and the heat of his kisses warmed her, and she was distracted enough that she didn't notice someone else's presence until he spoke.

"Kira," greeted Gunnar, and she jumped with surprise, turning. How had she ever thought she would go on a first date with him, much less a second? His voice was greasy, not smooth, and now that Cole had told her about him she could put a name to the imbalance behind his dark eyes.

She breathed deeply, the air frosting in front of her. This was all going according to plan so far, she reminded herself. She had avoided all her usual hangouts and been secretive about her whereabouts – until this evening, when she went back to her apartment like any normal night and then out to the local natural area for a hike, which she did regularly.

"Gunnar," she returned. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." He took a step closer, loping gracefully. She could see the panther in him now. "You smell like the lions. Have you been seeing them again? I thought I told you that wasn't wise."

"I can't see what business it is of yours," she said steadily.

Gunnar's throat worked as he swallowed, clearly upset. "It's my business because you're my
mate
." He bit off the last word, leaning nearer so that she could see the whites of his eyes.

"I have a mate. He's not you."

That drew a snarl. "That little
upstart
– to think he can steal what belongs to
me
–"

She wasn't supposed to rile him up, but at that Kira lost it. "I don't belong to you," she protested, and the lioness in her chest protested along with her.

"I knew there was something special about you," he hissed, his dark hair wild around his face. "I knew you before
he
ever did."

That was apparently as much listening as Cole was going to tolerate. He burst out of the bushes to the west in his lion form, mane shaking.

He was enormous, and he radiated authority.

Gunnar changed too, becoming long and rangy, his fur black as the night. It would have been glossy, even beautiful, if he didn't look so rangy and unkempt. She could see a chunk of fur missing from his ribs, the pale skin underneath shining through, and she shuddered, wondering what had happened – or what he'd done to himself.

Still, that didn't diminish how dangerous he looked, stalking a circle around Cole while Cole remained confidently still.

She couldn't stay human here. Ducking behind a tree, Kira thought of what Cole had taught her over the last few days. This time it only took a few seconds of visualizing – the long claws, the tawny fur, the delicate nose – before she became the lioness. Immediately her vision sharpened; she saw much better in the dark like this than as a human.

Gunnar tried to provoke Cole into lashing out first. He was good at that, Cole had said, at getting under other people's skin, lighting them up so much they made a mistake or left an opening for him.

Cole wasn't going to let that happen, but that didn't stop her from worrying about her mate. Instead, they had deliberately led him out here using Kira as bait in the hopes of ending this once and for all.

Finally Gunnar's hand was forced first. He leaped at Cole with a snarl. Though he'd been sitting placidly, Cole's reflexes were tremendous; the next thing Kira saw, he was rolling with Gunnar, their great jaws snapping at each other. Even as she worried and hoped, Kira couldn't help but exult in the power and vitality on display.

She paced on the edge of the clearing, eyes trained on her mate. The two cats were circling each other warily. Kira couldn't smell any blood yet.

They met in another violent tussle, their long, wickedly sharp claws extended. They rolled over and over, a swirl of gold and black against the clearing before they separated again.

This time the sharp tang of copper filled her nose. Kira's heart raced, her blood pounding in her ears. At first she thought it was Cole: one of his paws was dripping red.

But the blood was Gunnar's she realized with relief; there were gashes on his thigh, thick and deep, that corresponded to Cole's bloody claws. He was favoring that leg.

Still, he didn't let on that it hampered him. He was a fool. He was going to get himself killed, and for what – for someone who didn't want him, someone he'd harassed and harangued –

Kira realized that in her anger she was letting out a low growl, the sound of it rumbling through her chest.

Cole's head swung toward her at the sound, and too late Kira realized her mistake. She'd distracted him.

Gunnar took the opening.

It happened in a blur of yellow and black. Cole roared, not the full, wild roar of the savannah, but an intimidating and savage one nonetheless. The muscles of the two cats stretched and tensed as they fought, Cole's huge size and strength at odds with Gunnar's lithe frame and quick speed. The leaves on the trees trembled.

Finally the figures stilled. Gunnar's spine was arched against the grassy forest floor, pinned beneath one of Cole's huge paws. Kira watched as he raised the other in the air, looking directly down at Gunnar's exposed throat –

Then, abruptly, Gunnar shifted, and the figure beneath Cole wasn't a panther but a person.  Kira gave a subsonic growl. It was a calculated move, and it worked: the paw Cole had lifted into the air fell immediately, and he adjusted his weight so that he wouldn't crush Gunnar with his bulk.

Still, Gunnar wasn't exactly going anywhere. His hands grasped at Cole's immobile front leg, to no avail. He was left panting angrily into the night air.

Cole's head turned to regard her. Then he jerked his head; he wanted her to approach. She did, padding gently over to the other side of the clearing.

Cole jerked his head at her again, down to Gunnar's prone form. Even through the fear and adrenaline, Kira felt a wave of affection and tenderness. He wanted to protect her
and
respect her.

It only took a moment for her to change back. She crouched next to Gunnar.

"I'm not your mate," she said, with as much coldness as she could muster to discourage him. "I never will be. Cole is my mate."

Gunnar gave a wordless grimace.

"Don't ever come back here," she continued. "You're going to leave. And you're not going to come back. You won't follow women around and threaten them, stalk them, make them afraid to say 'no.' You won't come near the pride. You won't even get close enough to
smell
."

He hadn't stopped tearing at Cole's immobile paw, trying, uselessly, to dislodge it. "Or?" he snarled.

At his question, figures began to emerge from behind the treeline. All of them were lions. First there was Marlene, then her husband Clint, Andrea and Liam, Emi, Mason, and others  . . . every adult member of the pride was there, supporting her words, defending her like she was one of their own.

One by one they advanced to Gunnar's prone form in a deadly circle. As Kira was kneeling on the ground, she felt a slight vibration under her, like the rumblings of an earthquake. But it wasn't the ground shaking; it was the whole pride, growling as one.

"
Capisce
?" she finished, looking him straight in the eye. She wasn't scared of him, not now.

Cole's paw nudged him, pressing down – even that little bit of his weight must have been too much for Gunnar, because he gasped hoarsely, "Fine! Yes. I'll leave. I'll leave." His face twisted in anger, and he looked at Kira like she had betrayed him. He was sick, she reminded herself.

Cole released him, stepping back, and right away Gunnar scrambled to stand upright and brush himself off. But his attempt at bravado wasn't so effective when he was faced with more than a dozen angry, full-grown lions and lionesses.

As he walked away, all the lions watched him go, hissing and rumbling as he passed. Finally his figure was out of sight, and everyone began to transform back into their human selves.

Everyone began to leave, reassuring her that they would keep an eye – and a nose – out for any sign of Gunnar's presence. Finally Emi and Marlene came by and hugged her.

"Should we celebrate or something?" Emi suggested weakly, and Kira laughed.

"I feel exhausted and hyped up at the same time," she admitted. "I don't know if I'm up for a party."

"Next week, then," promised Emi.

A now-human Cole slipped his hand over her back, and she leaned into his touch, appreciating the comfort. The last week had sealed them together in a way she couldn't quite identify, but knew was solid and permanent. It wasn't just the attraction and sexual chemistry, though there was plenty of that, but the way they had worked together, planning and preparing and finally executing, that made her feel like she had found a true
partner
. He had supported her, defended her, and respected her. She couldn't dream of having a better mate, she knew.

Now all she had to do was tell
him
that.

When everyone was gone, and only Kira and Cole were left, she turned to him. "Do you think he's really gone?"

"For now." His expression was grim, but it softened when he looked at her. "Are you okay?"

Was she okay? She had become a lion shifter, found a mate, been stalked, and confronted her stalker – all in the span of about a week. Despite that, she smiled. "Yeah, I'm good. I'm really good. How about we go home?"

He drove her back to her apartment like a gentleman, even pausing at the door.

"Are you staying?" she asked with hesitation. "I'm exhausted, but I'd really like for you to stay."

He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, cupping her cheek. "Of course I'll stay with you."

He even tucked her into bed, kissing her on the forehead before getting in behind her and spooning her. For the first time that night she felt perfectly safe, ensconced in his strong arms with his warm weight at her back.