The Leopard King (6 page)

Breathing deep to steady her nerves, Pru set a hand on his shoulder. “You have to keep your word and let me try. Just a kiss, okay? If it’s awful, we’ll stop.”

Like Dom had gone nonverbal, he lifted his chin slightly in reply, but he didn’t bend to make it easier. But she knew quite a lot about him, so when she cupped her hand around the back of his head, he dipped reflexively, his mouth close enough for her to take. He tasted of toothpaste with just a hint of Eldritch blood sweetening his tongue.

She pulled back to assess his response. He touched his lips, staring back at her in silence.

“Was it awful?”

Slowly he shook his head. “But—”

For the first time ever, she kissed someone to shut him up. Pru already knew what he would say, and she didn’t want to hear it.
Yes, you’re still in love with Dalena. And
I
wish you were Slay. But the pride needs you, and you… you need a reason to live. If not love, maybe I can give you purpose.
Her heart ached a little because part of her wanted to run home and tell Slay:

I shifted. We’re not impossible anymore.

Except it was, now. For different reasons. She’d committed to bringing Dom back, no matter the cost, and he’d set the terms. Even if he’d spoken the challenge in a fit of rage, he would keep his promise. Plus, she railed at the idea of being accepted
because
she could shift; Pru would rather make this bargain with Dom.

With effort, she banished all thoughts of Slay. He was her past, and Dom, her future. Pru gave everything to this kiss, delicate pressure, advance and retreat, teasing away to nibble his lips. At first he was so still that she thought he was humoring her, and she expected him to break away with a sympathetic look.
Sorry, Pru. You can’t start my engine,
he might say. Except that he finally moved, and
not
to set her away. His arms came up like he was swimming through deep water, and then he tangled a hand in her hair, the other splaying on her back.

Elated, she went for a longer kiss, and he made a low sound in his throat as their tongues flirted. With each flutter, he hardened against her belly until he burned her, hot and throbbing. She wrapped her arms around him in an excuse to get more friction. He especially liked it when she sipped at his tongue, and he actually moaned when she pulled it between her lips.

Mouth-fucking.

When Dom broke away, panting, she thought they were done, and she couldn’t even argue that he hadn’t let her try. For a few seconds, he only stared down at her with a fevered, incredulous expression, and then he went back in for another kiss. This time, her toes curled because he ate at her lips so hungrily, all teeth and tongue and vicious need. Without breaking the kiss, she pulled him to the bedroom.

As they tumbled to the mattress together, he seemed to startle, like someone waking from a dream. But his cock was still hard, so she nuzzled a trail of kisses along his jaw, skirting his mouth, and then she went for his throat. A muffled groan escaped him, and heat flooded her pussy.
He wants me.
There was something irresistible in that.

Rubbing her wet, open mouth over his chest made him jump and shake. On some level, Pru couldn’t believe he was still letting her set the pace. She straddled his hips and lowered her head to lick his pectorals. Other than the hands in her hair, he didn’t react, but she felt the tremors working through him. Just like hers, his nipples were hard, and his whole body twisted when she kissed one. Silently he pushed her head down until she sucked and licked to the point that he actually raised his hips, grinding against her.

Impossible to get a breath. On fire and a little dizzy, she slid lower, licking a path over his ribs to nibble the curve of his hip. He fisted his hands in the covers, feverishly silent. Now it wasn’t enough that he wanted her. Pru needed him to talk—to make sounds—and it seemed like he was strangling them. Only the rapid rasp of his breath made it out.

“You have to tell me what you want next.”

This was a gamble. He might be pretending she was someone else; this could shatter illusions and interfere with his fantasy. His eyes were closed, and his expression radiated a complex pleasure-pain. But she couldn’t do this if he wasn’t with her.

Dom opened his eyes, and he jerked when he saw how close her face was to his cock. The tremor deepened into a full shudder. She’d never heard his voice sound like that when he said, “Suck me.”

She took him without further teasing; he lifted his hips with an alacrity that made her mouth water. No pretense now, no hesitation. He tangled his hands in her hair and urged her on. Pru swirled her tongue beneath the head and grazed him tenderly with her teeth. That made him thrust faster, not even trying to throttle his moans anymore. Like an animal, he hunched upward, and a snarl escaped him when she pulled back. But he couldn’t finish like this; that would leave him an escape clause.

Her breath came in soft whines. “It’s time, Dom. You promised you’d come back when I could shift, when I became your mate. I’m offering myself now. Will you be mine?”

Something flashed in his face, not reluctance exactly, but he didn’t want to say it. He
had
to say it. She squeezed his cock.

“Yes,” he bit out. “Fuck yes.”

Pru held him still as she mounted. His eyes just about rolled back in his head when she sank down on him. From this angle, he felt massive inside her. She paused to adjust, but it wasn’t fast enough for him. He framed her hips in his big hands and lifted her, then dropped her down, fucking up into her with uncontrollable need.

“You feel so sweet,” she whispered. “Talk to me, Dom.”

A desperate, strangled laugh escaped him. “Nothing to say. Just have to come.”

“You want to come for me.” Some devil drove her as the pleasure spiked. She had to keep him fastened tight in this moment. He had to focus on who was making him feel this.

“Pru…” Her name slid out of him, part moan, part protest.

“That’s good. Do it. Faster.”

“You like it.” Suddenly, he was talking, just as she’d asked.

“I love it.”

“Harder. Like this.” He pulled her down to punctuate his words. “You feel so…oh,
fuck
.”

With a moan, he lurched upright and wrapped his arms around her, so they held each other and worked in quick, tight pushes. She dug her hands into his back. As he came, he kissed her, wet, sloppy and open-mouthed, and that was enough to finish her off. It was a light orgasm, but he felt it as he shuddered and filled her with heat.

Afterward, she expected him to disengage and make her feel shitty-guilty about the whole thing. Instead he stayed close, hands gliding over her sweat-slick back, so unexpectedly dear that tears prickled her eyes. She dusted kisses over his chin, his shoulders, and nuzzled him until he kissed her back, a sweet little thank-you of a caress.

“It wasn’t awful,” he said with a thread of laughter in his tone. “You win, Pru. We’ll go home in the morning.”

Deep in Dom’s
gut, guilt had both claws and tentacles, chewing and lashing until he could hardly stand it. But when she threw herself on him like he was a sex grenade, he fucking lost his mind. Now, the truth gnawed at him—after the Noxblade attack, he’d already made up his mind to go with her. In his defense, he
had
tried to speak.

And now the die was cast. She’d offered and in the heat of the moment, he had accepted. The emotional aspect of the mate bond might take a while to form, but he couldn’t go back on his word. People paired up for all kinds of reasons, and he could do a lot worse than Pru for a lifelong companion.
But what the fuck am I going to tell Slay?
He knew damn well his best friend had been waiting his whole life for a miracle.
Now that it’s finally happened, I get the girl?
Even to Dom, that seemed ten kinds of jacked up. Though he didn’t approve of how Slay protected himself and kept Pru at arm’s length, he’d seen his second’s eyes, how he watched her when he thought nobody was paying attention—so much longing that it hurt him to log it.

Though Pru winked out, likely exhausted by her first shift and then fucking him into submission, he couldn’t sleep. Partly because the Noxblade might circle back and partly because he was weighing the variables.
I could tell her I was just being an asshole when I offered that deal.
All of that was even true. But she’d take it wrong, as people had been making her feel inadequate her whole damn life. As Dom recalled, she stopped eating for three days when Slay turned her down.
No, it’s done, agreement made.
In all honesty, returning to the hold with Pru at his side pushed his reluctance to the fair side of bearable. Maybe she could prop him up long enough to keep the pride from figuring out that he was an empty husk.

Fuck it. I’m a terrible person, and Slay let her go.

He held her until dawn when he roused her with a kiss to the temple. “Moving out.”

“Hope my clothes are dry. I really can’t travel in your underwear.”

Laughter startled him. It had been years, so he’d almost forgotten he could make the sound, but she’d amused him so many times already. “Have you always been this hilarious?”

“I think so.”

Fortunately, her things were ready to wear, if somewhat crispy. He liked that she had no shame around him, no awkwardness. You’d think they had been waking up together forever. Dom dressed in a hurry, then they layered up. Pru led the way out of the retreat, heading down the steep steps like she’d never doubted she would drag him home. In fact, she was even humming, some cheerful little song.

“Did you bring the Rover?”

“Yep. It should still be powered up enough to get us back, unless…” She trailed off, and he could guess what she was thinking.

“The Noxblades disabled our vehicle.”

Without replying, she quickened her pace. It was only an hour and a half driving, but if they had to run, it would change the scale. Plus, it would mean arriving in cat form, which he supposed was a hell of a way to announce her new status.

Just then, her foot slipped, so he grabbed her arm. “Hold up. See the melting ice? You could break your neck.”

And that… no. Just, no.

Her pale gaze seemed to see everything, even the quiet dread he’d rather not acknowledge. “Sorry. If the Rover’s broken, rushing won’t fix it.”

The view during the descent awed him all over again. A snowy valley spread before them, filled with evergreens frosted white. Cold and crisp, the air sparkled in his lungs, until he wished he could bathe in it. Dom couldn’t remember the last time he’d paused to appreciate the beauty of the territory he had been appointed to protect. Pride leadership didn’t always pass down by bloodline. If they’d found him weak or wanting, they would have chosen someone else after his father died.

Golgoth bastards.

She seemed to sense his anger, but she didn’t flinch from it. When she took his hand, all the badness flowed away, leaving him calm and focused. Dom felt fucking bulletproof, like words and ammo alike would bounce right off. The stairs yielded to a rocky path that wound through the trees to the clearing where she’d left the Rover. As he’d half-suspected, their ride was smashed to shit, wires cut, solar panels broken into shards.

Pru sighed. “Good thing I can cat up, huh? Otherwise it would take us forever.”

“Go for it,” he said.

After taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. But he could see that she was tense and scared, the prospect of failure practically immobilizing her. Dom had no idea if this would work, but it couldn’t hurt. He pulled her close and rubbed her back, like he had right after her first shift, right after their first mating. As he whispered nonsense, tiny reassurances into her ear, she eased against him. A little shiver ran through her, and then he was holding a squirming ocelot, tangled up in her clothes. When her head popped free, her sparkling eyes seemed to say she hadn’t expected it to be so sudden. Laughing, he extracted her.

She bounded around in the snow, tail lashing, as he stripped, chucked their things into the defunct Rover, and changed. For him, it didn’t hurt, more like diving into deep, cold water. A shock, holding his breath, and then he could run like the wind. He had no worries that she’d keep up; she might be small, but she was quick.

The ground spoke of various animals that under other circumstances might be prey, but he didn’t intend to spend the night in the wild. Like she’d said, Pine Ridge and Burnt Amber were already waiting for him. Delaying would only make it worse. Now and then, he caught a whisper of Noxblade, but that trail led away from the hold.

He’s returning to report, not hunting us down.

Pru’s rumbled growl said she smelled it too. She gave him an inquiring look, but he pushed on.
No time for a detour, and we’re not a raiding party.
Since he’d been waiting for an ambush, he relaxed a fraction. Not completely, of course. While there should be nothing but wild animals and Animari between the retreat and the hold, complacency could be catastrophic.

I was sure. So sure our borders were secure.

Never again.

Tension made it impossible for him to focus on anything but guiding them safely to sanctuary. Pru, on the other hand, made it clear that this run was the most fun she’d ever had. She frolicked in the snow, scratching at trees and generally acting like he had at the age of twelve, all brand-new in leopard skin.

It was…

Fucking adorable.

For her sake, he even regretted it a little when they crested the final rise and Ash Valley lay before them like a jewel. An ache started in his chest.
How did I stay gone so long? How?
His grandfather had designed the town, and that fact only increased his pride in its beauty. The pale, perfectly mortared stones of the wall gleamed in the late-afternoon sun, nearly blinding him when it reflected on the snow. Beren from Burnt Amber always called this the city of bone because of that ivory gleam, but there were no dead hidden beneath their streets.

Dom greeted the guards on the intercom, ignoring their amazement as they opened the gates. Pru wouldn’t know how to go about this; it was her first time. Inside, he took her to the changing room, applicable in more ways than one. Since it wasn’t always possible to bring back the clothes you had on when you left, they kept the shelves stocked with basic attire in varying sizes. He slid back into human form and slipped into a tunic and trousers, wondering if he’d have to shift-whisper her again. But no, she only seemed to have a hard time with going cat. She’d worn human skin for twenty-seven years, after all.