Primal Instinct (4 page)

more than a repeat of our earlier fun, but I'm afraid I need

some answers first."

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Primal Instinct

by Helen Hardt

Four smoking eyes bored into her. Neither asked what she

wanted to know. Strange.

"What were you two doing outside in the middle of the

night?"

"Taking a run," Landon said.

"Naked?"

Nick smiled. Oh, those dimples in those stubbled cheeks

could melt steel.
Stick to your guns, Erin.

"Yes, naked," Nick said. "We run naked. Together."

"Geez. You guys aren't—"

"No," Landon said. "We're both only concerned with your

sexual pleasure."

He'd read her mind again. What was going on here?

"Okay. Can't you do your workout during the day?"

"Workout?" Landon's brows furrowed.

"Yeah, your running."

"We don't run for exercise," Nick said. "We run because we

have to."

Erin let out a harsh sigh. Maybe it would be easier to just

have hot monkey sex again. Who needed answers? After all,

she only had two more days left of her mini-retreat. If only

she'd met these guys sooner, she could have had a week of

hedonistic delight.

"She needs to know," Nick said to Landon.

"Later, Nick. I want to fuck her again."

Fucking? Sounded good to Erin. She inhaled their earthy

masculine scent. It was more potent than before.

More...robust. It tickled her nostrils, her senses, consumed

her, streamed through her veins like hot lava. Her skin was

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suddenly warm, her pussy hot. Tiny spasms rocked through

her clit. She wanted to fuck. Wanted to come. Now.

"No." Nick placed his palm on Landon's shoulder. "She

needs to know. Can't you see? Look at her. Her skin is pink."

He inhaled. "Her pussy's wet. Damn, she smells good." He

inhaled again, eyes closed, then opened them abruptly.

"She's under the influence of our animal pheromones."

Animal pheromones? What the hell?

"She won't be sleeping with us of her own free will at this

point. We need to tell her. Make her understand. Then when

she comes to us, she'll know the truth."

Landon sighed. "Shit. You're right." He plunked down on

the bed. "Baby, we need to talk."

Talk? Talking meant no fucking. Fucking was much better.

Erin reached for Landon's erection.

He brushed her hand away. "Sorry, baby. Trust me, it's

not that I don't want to."

Nick pulled a chair from the kitchen table and set it about

two feet from the bed. "Sit down, love."

Erin complied as Nick sat down on the bed next to Landon.

Their two cocks stood at attention. What was all this talking

nonsense? Couldn't they see she wanted them? Clearly, they

wanted her, too.

"You aren't crazy, Erin," Nick said. "You did see lions."

Lions?

Oh. She took a deep breath, willed her body to cool. Lions.

Right. She had seen lions outside. She widened her eyes. "I

knew it! Are they yours? Or do they belong to the owner of

this place?"

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"Well, yes and no. Lan and I own this place."

"Oh?" That would explain why their cabin was so much

nicer than the others.

Nick let out a harsh sigh. "Yeah, and the lions, well, they

don't belong to us exactly..."

"They
are
us," Landon interjected.

Erin's jaw dropped open. "Huh?" How terribly, terribly sad.

Her two primal lovers were completely insane.

"I want you to listen," Nick said. "Just listen, okay? Listen

to what we need to say to you, and then we'll answer all your

questions."

She nodded numbly. Fine, she'd listen. She couldn't speak

right now if she'd had a gun pointed to her head.

"We've been best friends all our lives. We belong to a pride

of lion shifters," Nick said. "Our clan lives here in the Rockies.

Landon and I grew up together. I was an orphan from

another pride, and Landon's mother and father adopted me.

Landon's father was our dominant male, but he passed on

recently."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sorry? She was sorry? That was what she

said after he'd just told her they were lion shifters?
Get a

grip, Erin.

"Thank you." Nick rubbed his stubbled jawline. "Anyway, I

challenged Landon for the right to lead the pride as the new

dominant male."

"You challenged your best friend?"

"Yeah. But it's acceptable. We're not fully human, Erin. We

have some of our own rules."

Of course. How silly of her. "Go on."

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"So we fought. Several times, actually. And no victor was

declared."

"You would have fought...?" Nausea bubbled in Erin's

tummy.

"To the death?" Nick's full lips curved slightly upward. "No.

We're not like lions of the wild. What I mean is, we were so

equally matched that neither of us could be defeated by the

other."

"So," Landon cleared his throat," my grandmother, whose

wisdom is honored among us, told us we were fated to both

be the dominant males of the pride. It happens sometimes,

when nature intervenes to add outside genetic material to

what already exists. Our pride will be stronger with both of us

as dominants."

"Uh huh." Chills crawled over her. This was crazy.

Nick reached toward Erin and rubbed his calloused palm on

her knee. "She's having a hard time, Lan."

"Of course she is. Wouldn't you?" He smiled. "My

grandmother explained that when this occurs, the two doms

share one mate, usually a human one, to configure even

more genetic material into our mix. She said Nick and I would

know her when we found her by her scent and by the ability

to read her thoughts."

They
had
known exactly what she was thinking... Had

answered questions before she asked them...

"It's you," Nick said. "You, Erin, are our mate."

"What?"

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Landon took her hand, entwined their fingers. "You'll bear

children to both of us. You'll strengthen our existence. And

you'll be revered over all other females in the pride."

Right. Interesting.
Thud
.

"Erin?"

Warm fingers stroked Erin's cheeks. She was on a bed. Her

eyes opened and tried to focus. Two faces stared from above

hers. Dark eyes, blue eyes.

Nick and Landon.

Sheesh, what a dream. "You guys aren't going to believe

this."

"What?" Landon helped her ease upward. Nick held a glass

of water to her lips.

She took a few sips. "I dreamt you guys told me you were

lions and that you were the leaders of some pride of shifters

and I was your mate." She giggled shakily. "Something else,

huh?"

Landon smoothed strands of hair out of her eyes. "It

wasn't a dream, baby."

She let out a sharp laugh. "Of course it was."

"We're going to have to show her," Nick said.

Landon nodded. "In a minute. Let her get her bearings."

Erin shot into a sitting position. "My bearings are just fine,

thank you. Show me what?"

"Don't be afraid, Erin," Nick said. "Remember how we

made love to you last night? How much care we took? We

would never hurt you."

"I'm not scared."

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"We're going to shift for you," Landon said. "It's painful to

shift, but it's also empowering. We enjoy it. So when we cry

out, don't be alarmed."

"Huh?"

They stood, both naked and beautiful, and walked across

the room, away from the bed.

"We need room," Nick said. "That's why our cabin is so

big."

Erin's mind whirled. Lions? Completely impossible.

"Aaaauuugh!" Nick ground out. The pain sliced through the

air in the room. Erin watched, mesmerized, as golden brown

hair sprouted from his skin and his body changed form.

Her heart ached. Oddly, she felt very little fear. Yet each

snap of bone, each stretch of tendon rang in her ears and

jolted through her body as if she herself were changing. Yet

while she experienced the change, felt the wonder of it, the

pain eluded her.

But her gaze never wavered from Nick and the beautiful

animal stealing his shape. His jaw became more square, his

head more round. As his nose morphed into a feline snout,

sharp feline cuspids replaced human teeth. Hands and feet

became padded paws, and the regal animal dropped to all

fours. Lastly, his glorious mane sprouted like golden silk

around his majestic head.

When the lion stood before her, his dark eyes smoldering,

she stiffened.

"He won't hurt you, Erin," Landon said. "He's still Nick.

He's still in his own mind."

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Her emotions tumbled. Here came the fear. But also

wonder. Her heart exploded with feeling, pure and awe-

inspiring. Was it...love?

"My turn."

Landon cried out the same anguished moan. Again bones

cracked, muscles shifted, hair grew, and again, the force of

the change threaded through Erin. Landon shifted to the pale

lion, almost white in the artificial light of the cabin. Searing

blue eyes graced his leonine face. The tresses of his long

mane swirled as he shook as a dog does after a bath.

They'd seemed catlike to her all night. The purring. The

touching. Even the growling. Their beautiful slanted eyes.

How they liked to rub against her.

But lions?

Here was the evidence, standing right in front of her. She

stood slowly, the backs of her knees pressing against the bed.

The darker one—Nick—advanced toward her. A low growl

rumbled across the thick nighttime air inside the cabin. She

felt more than heard it.

Inside her mind a voice emerged.
It's me. Nick. Don't be

afraid. I won't harm you.

He walked slowly, the pads of his lion paws tapping softly

on the plush carpeting.

He was so big! No wonder this cabin was huge. That

mouth, those teeth—he could gobble her up in an instant.

Touch me, Erin.

Of their own volition, her fingers inched forward and buried

themselves in the feathery golden mane. Warmth spread

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Primal Instinct

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through her. The hair was coarse, yet soft, and it slid through

her fingers like strands of linen thread.

Don't leave me out in the cold.

Landon's deep voiced hummed in her mind, and the pale

lion crept forward with stealth. Soon she was caught between

the two beasts, naked, their fur rubbing against her in slick

vibrations. So warm. So amazing, the sensation of their giant

animal bodies caressing her.

She closed her eyes, and their roars shook the room.

When she opened her eyes, Nick and Landon, in human form,

rubbed against her, one cupping her breasts, the other her

ass cheeks.

"Will you, Erin?" Nick's voice was different. Deeper, more

rumbly. Not quite human yet.

"Yes, love." Landon this time. "Will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Be with us," Nick said. "Mate with us. Bear our children.

Bring your strength to our pride."

"Oh, this can't be happening. I came here to—" She

inhaled a deep breath. "To accept a new life. Life as a single

woman. Not bound to anyone."

Nick plucked at her clit, and her legs wobbled. Juice

trickled down her legs. "That's not the life you were born for,

honey. You came here to find us. You were led here."

"It's the truth, baby," Landon said. "We need you. You're

ours, Erin. You belong to both of us. All of you—your body,

your heart, your soul—is ours."

Her mind wasn't working. Thinking was out of the

question. If she thought, she'd have to deal with the reality of

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the situation. And she would...eventually. Right now,

though...right now, she wanted to feel. To bask in the bodies

of these two beautiful men.

Men.

Cats.

Lions.

Human? "Are you...human?" she asked.

"Yes." Nick's fingers worked magic on her clit, snaked

between the slick folds of her pussy. "Human. Human and

feline. It's a rare gift."

"I never knew..."

"Most don't." Landon caressed her ass. "But we exist. Co-

exist. Peacefully."

"Yes." It made perfect sense.

Perfect men.

Primal men with primal instinct.

"So will you, Erin?" Nick asked again. "We won't force you.

But know this. You're ours. We won't find another."

"If I don't agree?"

"Then we won't mate," Landon said. "It's as simple as

that."

"You won't...have sex again?"

Nick laughed. "We didn't say that. Felines are very sexual.

Lan and I will definitely have sex. But we won't procreate.

Only you will bear our children. Without you, our line will die

out."

Ah. No pressure or anything.