ROMANCE: LION SHIFTER ROMANCE: Luring The Lion (Lion Shapeshifter Paranormal Fantasy Romance) (BBW Lion Shifter Romance) (5 page)

“I need to warn you, that things may seem peaceful here, but be careful who you trust, who you talk too, there’s some unrest here about our political affiliations. That’s why my father had us make an alliance with another planet. He was trying to show good faith that we are bringing in new blood. A lot of our advisors feel we are stagnating as a culture, and a planet. That without bringing new blood in, we are inbreeding over time. We don’t reproduce fast enough and therefore our population has dwindled down to a few hundred thousand from the few millions it used to be.” Jakobe sighed. “We are in a political situation with our people were they want to bring in new bloodlines to keep things genetically safe for future generations, it’s complicated and our scientists have been working on ways to keep our DNA from having genetic flaws… but we are running out of time, and fresh DNA.”

Fiona was astounded. She felt cheated. Her marriage here on this planet was clearly part of a broad plan that would benefit both planets. She felt like a pawn in a game. No-one had told her about this!

“So, that’s where I came in. I’m the fresh DNA, aren’t I?” Fiona asked him, with a tinge of sarcasm. It made sense, she understood it, but she felt like an animal being used in an experiment. For a moment she felt like running away, boarding a space ship and returning to Earth.

Jakobe looked at her guiltily. “Yes. We asked that you not be told about this, for fear that you won’t come here. But believe me, if I had not been so attracted to you, and felt that our relationship had a chance to work out, I myself would have asked for you to be returned to your home.”

Fiona’s eyes softened, hearing him speak like that. “Continue on,” she said.

“If a match is successful between us, and our offspring is without flaw, we set an example and the advisors will have to listen to my father’s plan of bringing new DNA here in the form of outside bloodlines. The advisors dislike the idea of letting strangers on our planet. You’re here to prove that it won’t destroy our culture, race, or planet to let you become one of us.” Jakobe told her the truth. It wasn’t exactly pretty but she deserved to know it. He was aware of how sensitive she was now about being misled or kept in the dark, after their earlier altercation.

“I feel like an animal that’s just being used for breeding stock,” she said again, this time more in jest than in anger, and shook her head. “But, these books go along way for making up for it I suppose. And the water, and fresh air.”

“My father chose your planet specifically because he assumed whoever they sent would be grateful to have access to things that didn’t exist on your planet, like fresh water.” Jakobe said. “It was a calculated risk. Max needs a childhood, he doesn’t deserve the pressure and weight on his shoulders of being next in line. He’s told me before he doesn’t want to rule, but he’ll be a pawn between the advisors and my father if they try to overthrow him and put Max on the throne.”

“They would do that?” Fiona blinked at him as she turned in his arms to look up at him, “
can
they do that?”

“It hasn’t been possible before, but it’s entirely possible if our union fails, and we cannot show a united front, that they may say my father is weak, his ideas are flawed, and they need a strong ruler on the throne and use Max to get usurp power from my father.” Jakobe shook his head and looked over her shoulder thoughtfully. “I’m to grown-up, I’m too stubborn, I would not be a good pawn so they didn’t consider me. I’m in agreement with my father, and I think most of his advisors are a bunch of idiots. We have a couple of our genetic scientists who I think are brilliant, wise men, but the advisors don’t like to listen to them.”

“I will make you a promise,” Fiona told him reaching up to cup his cheek. “You treat me well, be a good husband to me, and give me all the fresh water I can drink and I’ll have your back. I’ll support you, I’ll try to be the wife and partner you need here, and together we can save our home planets.”

“And love?” Jakobe asked as he bent his head down, his mouth a mere inch from hers.

Fiona’s lips parted as she stared at him, waiting for him to kiss her and realized he was waiting for an answer.

“I’m willing to see what happens,” she answered him truthfully.

“Good enough for now,” he told her before pressing his lips over hers. This time, he wasn’t planning on stopping the kiss. He tangled his hands in her hair and closed his eyes, losing himself in her arms.

Fiona kissed him back, passionately, no longer irritated with him for earlier. Right now she understood his position and his passion. She even understood how he felt at the lake wanting to be treated like a normal person and felt a little guilty over being mad at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and touched his back. Her fingers traced his shoulder blades and she could feel his muscles rippling below her hand, and he moved his arms to embrace her.

He was strong and made her feel safe. His touch was firm, she wasn’t scared of what he was doing, she liked it. When he moved one hand to touch her through her shirt, she didn’t stop him. His big hand cupped one of her breasts and squeezed lightly, she moaned into his mouth. He slid his hand lower until her reached the end of her shirt and put his hand under it to touch her skin directly. He touched her belly and worked his way up until he found her breasts. He rubbed his fingers around the lobe and used his palm to gently scrape against her nipples until they peaked into hard nubs.

He helped her out of her clothes until she stood naked in front of him and then pressed kisses to her shoulders and worked his way down slowly. He paid extra attention to her breasts with his lips and tongue. Sucking a nipple into his mouth he smiled against her as she hissed a breath out.

“You have too many clothes on, get naked,” she whispered her words out as his mouth pressed against her stomach and kept going lower she let her head fall back and dug her nails into his shoulders. There was just a slight draft in the library and it made her skin break out in little bumps from the air touching it.

He chuckled and took his clothes off, dropping them next to the pile of her clothes. Fiona looked him over from head to toe and wasn’t shy about it. She admired his strength and muscles; he was strong and athletic. She wanted to touch him, so she reached out and stroked his stomach and hips. When she went lower on his groin he stopped her with his hand and then pulled her up against him. They were chest to chest with her breasts smashed against him.

“Kiss me, Fiona,” he whispered in her ear suggestively. His hard cock pressed against her hip and it felt better than any fantasy she could have come up with. It was like soft, hot velvet. The urge to wrap her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck overwhelmed her. She kissed him, almost frantically, her body grinding and wiggling against his as their tongues met in a dance as old as time itself.

Scooping her off her feet, he carried her to a desk that was against the far wall of the library, kicking the chair out of the way he set her down on the edge. He pushed his way between her legs and knotted his hands in her hair. He reached down, and stroked her until his fingers were soaked with her excitement. Using his fingers, he rubbed himself for a moment and guided it to her opening.

Fiona felt the tip press against her lips and heat, she wanted him inside her badly, wrapping a leg around his butt she pulled him close, forcing him to bury himself inside of her, all the way in. She leaned back, and felt his hand tighten in her hair and let out a throaty growl as he started to thrust inside of her as she sat on the desk.

He slid out, and then plunged his way back in. Gripping her breast with his free hand, he played with her nipple, then went to the other breast, giving it equal attention. Fiona was writhing against him, wiggling and enjoying herself when he lowered his hand between them and found her clit. Playing with her, he stroked her until she was nearly screaming in pleasure he pushed and pushed until he sent her over the edge into a spiraling wave that curled her toes. The orgasm made her toes curl and every muscle to lock up tight as her thighs quivered. She squeezed him tight and then relaxed around him as her body slowly rode the waves of her climax.

Jakobe pressed his mouth hard against hers and braced himself with the hand he removed off her clit on the desk as he pounded into her, taking himself over the edge to his own release once he was sure she’d reached satisfaction. He growled low in his chest as he shut his eyes tight and jerked inside her body as he came.

They stayed like that, locked together for a while before he finally pulled apart and helped her get dressed. Before they left the library of books, he turned to look at her.

“I guess we know were compatible in that way at least,” he said and touched her cheek gently. “This is going to be a long road, I know it won’t always be easy for either of us, but we can figure it out as we go, as long as we take it one day at a time.”

“If you make my nights like that, I really won’t care what my days look like,” Fiona said joking. Or at least she thought she was joking. The way her body hummed and felt like it was floating made her wonder.

++++++++++++

Jakobe stared anxiously at his father and the genetic scientist in a spotless white uniform next to him.  The scientist was comparing the latest blood draws from Fiona, and showing charts and DNA start samples to the King. They were comparing her blood to Jacobe’s.

“Look, see this here. There’s no identical genetic material, which means this will be a perfect test subject.” He looked over his glasses at Jacobe. “You need to get busy reproducing,” he said.

Jakobe sighed as his father nodded enthusiastically. He was very excited for this project, but Jakobe wasn’t super-thrilled to be a guinea pig in a political game.

“Father, we’ll have children when it happens, or when we are ready. Don’t pressure us into things, it’s not healthy for anyone. Let us at least be married first, and have some time to get to know one another before the race for babies is on.” Jakobe tried to look confident and sure of himself, but inside he was cringing. He pictured having a kid like Max and it made his head hurt. Max was a hellion, who was always into one scrape after another. Not that he couldn’t handle it, but the idea of a whole brood of kids running around like that, he’d need armed guards or they might burn the palace down.

“Glad no one bothers to ask me what I think,” Fiona snarked from the doorway. It’s not that she wanted to be rude, but she didn’t like being talked about like she had no choice in the matter. It was her body; she most definitely should get a say in things.

“Fiona, it’s not like that. These two are merely excited that there may be a bright future for Borrin in these results. No matter what they say, those decisions are between you and me, I promise I won’t make you do anything before you are ready.” Jakobe reassured her. Looking over his shoulder at his father he gave him a stern look. “I’m taking my wife to be for a walk. She has been on a barren planet most of her life, she deserves to learn how to swim.”

Fiona was too taken aback when she heard he intended to show her how to swim that she blindly followed him out to the gardens to the back wall. He strolled over to the lake. They were completely alone and he stripped down to his under garments.

“Get naked, or almost naked. You don’t want clothes to pull you under. We’ll just do a few basics.” He told her as he waited out to his waist in the water. Fiona quickly disrobed and followed him. The sun reflected off the water and it heated her skin. The water was cool. But not freezing. He took her hand and he led her deeper into the water until she almost couldn’t touch the bottom. Slightly afraid, she looked at him and nodded, ready for him to show her. She trusted him. In that moment she realized that she acknowledged he was a good man. She may not always agree with every decision he made, and she might still think he was a bit egotistical and maybe sometimes arrogant, but he was a decent person she could trust, and learn to love.

She laughed and splashed around for an hour or more, until Jakobe told her that he thought he’d taught her enough, and declared her officially a swimmer as long as she practiced and improved her technique.

Crawling onto the grass and collapsing to let the sun dry her off, she laid there staring up at the blue skies for a few minutes. After a bit she turned to him and leaned up on her elbow to stare at him.

“Thank you,” she told him and reached out to touch his arm. “I appreciate this.”

“Well, with how fast everything’s going to happen, I figured you need a stress reliever. Hopefully this was it for you.” Jakobe smiled at her, and reaching out he traced her cheek with his fingers. “For me, I like to go wrestle with our guards and military experts. I’m always learning new techniques, especially new styles from other planets. Sometimes beating the crap out of someone, or taking a beating yourself can really get the adrenalin pumping.”

“I think I’ll stick to improving on my swimming,” she laughed and then sobered up as she pictured the wedding. “Do you really think everything is going to be okay?”

“I think we’ll figure it out as we go. I think we are on the edge of having everything blow up but if we handle this gracefully, and with patience, we stand a very good chance of things working out just fine.” Jakobe looked serious as he contemplated the situation. “I think there’s a good chance that if someone has something in the works, they’d want to try to usurp the throne before we got married, or produced an heir. Max is the only viable option right now, and he’s not old enough to rule. I don’t trust many people Fiona, so I advise you to be very careful here.”

“Who I trust, in general?” She asked him raising a brow.

“In general, be careful of servants, or anyone lurking nearby, and be very careful what you say and do. I know the feeling when you think that someone is always watching your every move, and that it can leave you feeling a bit paranoid, but just save private conversations between us for our bedroom. Don’t speak freely if there’s anyone else around, and double-check to make sure you are alone if you do confide any secrets to anyone you do trust,” Jakobe warned her. He knew it was a rough existence, being royalty and having danger lurking around every corner, but she was tough, she would handle it.

“Was it always like this?” She asked him as she took his hand in hers and laid there, basking in the sunlight. It had dried her naked skin and now she was breaking out in tingles where it was heating her up. It felt good and it relaxed her to her core. The slight breeze cooled her off and she almost wondered if she could take a nap out here.

“Over the years, as our population have had more health problems due to intermarrying too closely, we’ve had more issues. We live a long time, and our newer generations took a while to show up with problems.  The scientists want you and me to reproduce at least a couple times before giving you the serum that will slow aging down in you, they’ll want to compare it scientifically, to see if it changes your DNA and any children we have after the serum to see if that’s a part of the problem.” He raised a brow as a fly landed on his arm and he slapped it away. “One of our scientists theorize that by using the anti-aging serum in so many generations, that it could be the culprit to some of the genetic flaws. We get the serum, we reproduce. They get the serum, they reproduce, so by having someone who doesn’t have the serum yet, and reproduce, it gives a better answer. I’m sorry you are going to end up being used for science as part of our marriage, but the help you’ll be able to provide our people and planet will be invaluable.”

“I get the science stuff; I’m a scientist remember? She said impishly. I just wish I would have had more warning of what to expect when I was be shoved onto that space ship. All of this is so overwhelming and I feel like I never have time to catch my breath, it’s just one thing after another.” Fiona confided in him. “I think though, that if we can take time, like in the library, and out here at the water, I’ll manage. I just need to balance the stress with… activities that do the opposite.”

“Do you regret coming here,” he turned toward her and was close enough his chest brushed up against one of her arms.

Fiona shook her head. “No. I don’t. Not just because it will save my planet and help yours, but partially because I think with you, I won’t be lonely. The water’s a benefit.”

“That figures,” he laughed. “I wasn’t expecting to like you so much Fiona, when I agreed to the arrangement, I was thinking this would end up being business like, with a person who wasn’t really interesting. But you proved me wrong. You’re smart, and beautiful and funny. I think you’re intelligent and you’re unpredictable. You have a temper, but you’re quick to forgive. I like that you can take punches and roll with them. You have a strong survival instinct. It will do you well here, if you trust your gut.”

“Thanks, I think,” she said, sounding doubtful.

“It was definitely a compliment.” Leaning over, he kissed her. They didn’t stop until after he’d made love to her in the grass, under the sun. When it was over, it was nearly dark and their stomachs were growling.

“Dinner?” He whispered as he pressed a final kiss to her lips as he helped her up and get dressed before going back to the palace.

“Food is definitely a good thing after all those activities.” Placing her hand in his, they walked back to the palace together.

Fiona considered all the steps and decisions that had to be made on both sides of this alliance for her to end up his wife to be. It had to be fate. She wasn’t sure she entirely believed in destiny, or soul mates, but something had definitely brought them together. Only time would tell if it was a good thing, or a bad thing, but either way, she looked forward to going on this journey with him. In love, there’s always risk. That she accepted, in fact, she embraced it, because she knows now she can trust him.

Leaning her head against his shoulder she relaxed against him and decided to accept her fate – as long as it included Jacobe.

*****

THE END

BONUS BOOK 2

Fallen

A Sports Romance

Amy Field

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