The Lion Kings (novel): a BBW Werelion Menage Romance (13 page)

When Adam removed his fingers from between her legs, she opened her eyes to protest. His gold predatory gaze stopped her. She watched as he painted each of her tightly drawn nipples with her own juices until they were gleaming. Leaning forward, he bared his teeth and lightly bit around her areola—not enough to hurt, but enough to know there was a fine line between pleasure and pain. His tongue flicked across the hard tip.

“You taste so fucking good,” he growled. “Lie down so we can feast.”

Cage moved around to her side as Adam lowered her to the bed. Madeline squirmed and moaned as each of them took a nipple into their mouths and began sucking. Shockwaves of ecstasy traveled from her breasts to her groin with each tug and pull. She raised her hips as their hands spread her thighs, their fingers working in unison against her wet sex to bring her pleasure. She arched for them, squirming against their clever mouths, clever fingers. A warm pressure, searching for release, built inside her.

She couldn’t quiet the noises escaping her lips as both men kissed down either side of her stomach, and when Adam’s tongue dipped between the folds of her pussy and flicked her clit, her moans grew louder. Cage lifted her leg on his side and positioned himself below under her thigh. His rough beard grazed her sensitive skin.

He spread her open with his fingers, and she keened with hungry passion when his tongue penetrated sex. Adam sucked her clitoris, flicking and teasing the swelled nerve bundle, while Cage thrust his tongue inside her. The searing pleasure brought tears to Madeline’s eyes. She wanted the moment to last, for the bliss to never end, but her orgasm exploded. Her back bowed as her hips bucked against their mouths, neither of them relenting, the pleasure turning almost painful, until she begged them to stop.

Adam gave her one last lick before he kissed his way back up her stomach, her chest, his mouth finding hers. He thrust his tongue between her parted lips, and she could taste herself on him. When Cage did the same, stopping briefly to nip her breast, she turned from Adam to take his brother’s kiss. Adam nibbled the side of her neck, her ear, nuzzling her skin, whispering sweet words of love, as Cage conquered her mouth. Then Cage moved to her neck, so Adam could take her lips again. They repeated the process until the throbbing between her legs grew again and slick heat became need once more. She wanted them inside her, invading her with their love. She wanted their mating to be true.

“Your clothes,” she panted. “
Off.
I want you in me.”

They didn’t ask her if she was certain this time, and it didn’t take long for both men to strip naked. Their partial forms were larger than when they were human, and Madeline gasped at their size. Would her body adjust to them? Could it?

Tentatively, she reached out a hand and touched Cage’s cock. It felt slightly bumpy, but still silky smooth, like she’d remembered from the dreams—the visions.

“How...” She let the question hang in the air.

Maddie was technically a virgin, no matter what she’d experienced in her dreams. She’d invited them to take her, to mate with her, but now that she saw them large and up close, she worried they might damage her. If the mating wasn’t true, she would still be completely human after, and... No. She couldn’t let herself doubt. Not now. She trusted them, and she trusted her own emotions—the ones telling her that loving them wasn’t just the best choice, it was the only choice.

They took their positions beside her again, kissing her neck and stroking her body with their confident fingers. Cage slid a finger inside her swollen pussy, and Maddie rocked her hips to meet his hand, to take him deeper. It hurt a little, but it also felt good. Adam kissed her, his damp, soft mouth moving against her lips, giving, taking as Cage moved his finger inside her. He added another, and she groaned into Adam’s mouth. He swallowed, taking her need and desire inside him.

She reached down, encircling Adam’s shaft, stroking the rigid flesh as he began to move in her grip. With her other hand, she placed her palm on the back of Cage’s neck as he nipped along her collarbone. He slid his fingers out, spreading her legs as he moved between her thighs. This was it. The moment. The...

“Ah!” she cried out as the large head of his cock pushed inside her opening. Her slick desire hadn’t prepared her for the burning pain of being stretched wide open. She yanked her mouth away from Adam. “I don’t... I can’t...,” she panted.

Without warning, Cage bit her shoulder hard enough to break the skin, hard enough to shift her pain, hard enough to—he slid rest of the way inside. Tears streamed down her face.

“I’m sorry,” Cage muttered. “I’m so sorry, Maddie. There was no other way..” He whispered the words of remorse harshly against her ear. But he didn’t pull out. He just held her close, his corded muscles tight with restraint.

A surge of inarticulate emotion crashed over Maddie as she grasped as Cage’s back, digging her short nails into his skin. When she could finally speak, she turned her gaze on him fully and said, “I’ve never been so…happy. You knew what I needed.” She caressed his face. His bewildered expression brought a smile to her lips. “This mating will happen.”

Cage’s quick thinking, the sharp pain of his bite, had been enough of a distraction for her to let him in. She couldn’t stop the tears or the smile on her face as he began to move inside her. So slowly.

Cage growled, licking the wound he’d created as she moved under him, rocking her hips to meet his thrusts.

Adam. She reached out, her fingers tangling in his pale, blond mane. She pulled his face to her, taking his mouth again.

“Maddie,” she heard Cage say, and she heard the wonder and awe in his voice. She broke from her kiss, but didn’t let Adam move away.

Cage filled her with his cock, but they both filled her with their passion, their love, and she could already feel a change inside her body—suddenly more than flesh and bone. “My kings,” she said, finally understanding just how much they needed her, possibly even more than she needed them, and she would not fail them. She arched to take Cage deeper, ignoring that he was too large for any easy comfort, surprised when his strokes began to feel... pleasant. “My lion kings.”

CAGE
had nearly shifted back to human when Maddie had cried out in pain. Her tears were almost more than he could take. Why hadn’t Adam taken the lead? He wouldn’t have messed up so colossally. Her muscles had locked around the head of his cock, not allowing him entrance. The bite had been pure instinct, an impulse born from his animal side, and when her sex relaxed for that split second, he’d drove himself inside.

He’d held her close. Fear and worry had made him afraid to move. He’d feared she would hate and despise him for forcing her. So when she smiled through the tears to encourage him, Cage hadn’t been sure how to react. When her fingernails cut into his back, his balls tightened to his body. A growl tore from his lips as her muscles gripped and milked his shaft, and when she arched and rocked against him, it triggered his most primal instinct—to breed.

Pleasure wracked his body as he held Maddie close while he loosed his seed into her womb. It took every ounce of his control not to slam into her—not to damage her frail body—as the mind-numbing ecstasy of his orgasm took him over.

“I love you. I love you.” He heard the words in a muffled murmur, and it surprised him when he realized they were coming from him.

“Yes,” Maddie said. “Yes.” Her tone was strong, more certain than she’d been moments before.

Cage wiped at his eyes when he felt Adam’s hand on his back, encouraging and loving. All the years he’d spent abused. Frightened. Alone. Never knowing what would happen or what would be done to him next. Even after Adam saved him, he still never felt completely safe. Physically, maybe, but emotionally and mentally, he’d never had a real moment of peace. Until now. He knew, without a doubt, he was home. With Maddie in his arms and Adam by his side, they could conquer the demons. Conquer the world.

Slowly, he withdrew from Maddie, careful and gentle.

“We can stop for now, Madeline,” Adam said. “If you want. We can stop so you can rest.”

“Are we all mated? Am I your queen?”

When Adam didn’t speak, Cage answered. “Not yet, love. Not until Adam...”

“Then no,” she said, the vehemence in her voice surprising them both. “I’m not some breakable doll. I don’t want you to see me as a fragile princess. I want to be your strong queen.” Her tone grew soft. “I am your mate. Make me your queen.”

A snarl ripped from Adam, as if everything he’d been holding in was suddenly exploding out. He’d been quiet the entire time. Almost too quiet. Cage should have realized something was wrong. Without pretense, Adam picked Maddie up and straddled her across his thighs, he seated her on his rigid cock and sheathed himself deep inside as he joined their bodies.

She cried out. Cage took his place behind her, holding her up, kissing her. Adam thrust over and over, his face changing as he shifted even more into their half-form. A slight brush of fur began to spread across his face. His fingers gripping Maddie’s thighs were turning into claws, digging into her skin.

“Adam,” Cage warned. He’d never seen his brother so... out of control. He needed to stop this before Adam damaged Maddie. He put his hand on Adam’s shoulder. His brother looked up, his gaze solid gold, with a determined wild expression.

Cage felt Maddie’s hand against his cheek, even as her other hand tangled in Adam’s hair. “Let him go,” she cried out as Adam thrust hard in her again. “Don’t stop this. Don’t stop us.”

God, she was strong! They’d chosen so right. Maddie was everything they needed in a mate. Beautiful, fierce, and able to handle both of them with a strength he’d never seen in a human. Hell, in a shifter for that matter. Watching and holding her as she bonded with Adam, he felt an overwhelming love for both of them. Soon, Maddie moaned, arching back against Cage, taking his mouth with hers, tasting the salt of the sweat and passion on her skin. Then Adam roared, his hips jerking beneath her. He held her thighs until he spent the last of his climax, the last of his seed.

Cage held them up as Adam collapsed forward. He wrapped his arms around them both and welcomed Adam’s arms around him in return as they cocooned Maddie between them. A crackling in the air, a mystical electric current raised the hair on Cage’s arm. He looked at Maddie’s hair, and it began to stretch out like seeking tendrils.

“What is this?” he asked, awe filling him. A weight lifted from him, making his limbs light, making him...giddy. “What the hell?” He wanted to fight to keep the smile off his face—the one he hadn’t called forth.

“I feel it,” Adam said. His words were ragged and hoarse as they escaped, but his smile matched Cage’s.

Cage watched as his brother’s eyes melted from gold to blue, watched as the burden of leadership, that seriousness always present in Adam’s expression, grew a little less onerous.

He felt it too.

Maddie leaned to one side and looked at Cage first, then to Adam, and back to Cage. “I feel different. Strange. Energized.”

“Did we hurt you?” Cage asked the question he knew Adam wanted to ask.

She smiled. “I’m a little achy, you know... down there. But I don’t hurt. I actually feel pretty great. Like I have energy to burn.”

“I’ve never done that,” Adam said. “I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Neither of us have had sex while trying to hold on to a half-shift,” Cage said, trying to let Adam off the hook. “I thought I would lose it as well.”

Maddie snorted. “Well, then I guess I took your virginities too.”

Adam laughed. Cage joined in. Soon they were all holding each other—laughing, crying, and loving. They’d made Maddie theirs, and God help any man or beast who tried to come between them.

16

“WELL,”
Carl said. “I guess we have a queen. Do they have to be so fucking loud?”

Alana snuggled up to him, sliding into the crook of his arm. They’d spent the last half hour listening to moans, screams, and roars echoing through the empty carnival. Adam, Madeline, and Cage had been very loud in their lovemaking.

“I think it’s...sweet,” Alana said. “Besides, it could be worse. They could have chosen someone like Alice.”

Carl shivered. “Hush your mouth. I’d find a new pride if that bitch was in charge.”

They’d both spent enough time with the mountain lion shifter to know she made all her decisions from a place of desperation. No good sense in that one.

But Adelaide... she’d never been in the running for queen. How could she, seeing that she was Adam’s biological sister? But he hadn’t expected her to turn on Adam and Cage. In a way, she’d turned on all of them. They’d searched now for almost two days, and she’d managed to disappear. Would she really leave Zaria? Would she be sensible enough to know if she came back her life would be forfeit? If Carl knew nothing else about Adelaide, it was that she loved her daughter. Would she stay away for Zaria’s sake?

“You’re worried,” Alana said. Her exotic accent sent tingles down his spine. She traced his forehead. “Your lines are deep tonight.”

“Just thinking.”

“About Adelaide, yes?”

“Yes.”

“She won’t come back here. At least I don’t believe she’s that stupid. Though, what possessed her in the first place…” Alana sighed and pulled her long black hair over one shoulder. “We have never really known her, have we?”

“Nope.” Carl understood the sentiment. She’d traveled with them for years, yet her actions proved that proximity wasn’t the same as knowing someone. Clary’s death. Adelaide’s betrayal. Both were perfect instances of how quickly life could kick you in the balls. He hadn’t liked Madeline Granger. Not really. But his dislike had been because she’d made Adam and Cage restless. He’d liked Adelaide. Maybe he wasn’t such a good judge of character. As it was, they’d be on the road in the morning, and he’d see how things ran with Madeline as part of his monarchy. If their loud mating was any indication, he’d have to like it or lump it, but regardless, he’d learn to live with it.

“She’s not so bad, my love,” Alana purred in his ear.

He smiled when her hand slipped over his groin.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said without any real gruffness. Alana, who always knew how to handle him, kissed him soundly and stole whatever worries he had left.

MADDIE
watched as Adam and Cage’s pride, and she supposed now they were her pride as well, efficiently broke down tents, booths, rides, and other equipment as they packed up the carnival. She was a little sore from the previous night, but not as much as she’d expected. Adam nails had dug into her thighs, and Cage had bit into her shoulder hard enough to make it bleed. She’d seen the cuts and the mark before they’d gone to sleep, but miraculously her wounds had almost completely healed by the time she woke up for breakfast. Even her head felt better. No more lump. No more headache. She reminded herself to ask her mates if the extra healing was normal, but she wanted to know what else she might expect as a result of their union.

The sex had scared her a little. Especially when Cage bit her, but after he’d come inside her, she’d felt a change in her body. Adam had been no less large, and definitely rougher, but it had been easier. She stared at Cage’s broad back, the sweat glistening off his tan shoulders, and wondered how good it would feel the next time...

He must have sensed her looking, because he turned to meet her gaze, raised his eyebrow and smiled. Darren laughed when he caught her smiling back, and Maddie blushed hotly. They’d gotten more than one or two comments at the breakfast table that morning. She hadn’t cared how loud they’d been during the moment, but now she wished they’d have showed some vocal restraint.

The devil put the smile back on her lips. No, she didn’t wish that. Restraint was the last thing she’d wished for. She slid her hand to her stomach and caught Adam’s eye. Had the three of them created a new life? It would be at least a month before they knew anything, but how wonderful would it be to have a true mating on the first try. How beautiful to bear their child, and it would be theirs. It didn’t matter who’d sown the seed, they’d both tended the garden, and the resulting crop would be a shared responsibility.

Marlena, the bearded lady, walked over and put a protective arm around her shoulder. “Don’t let my man Darren get to you. He’s happy for our kings. We all are. They’ve been alone since...” She didn’t say Clary’s name, but she didn’t have to. “Anyhow. I just wanted to officially welcome you to the group. I don’t expect anyone will curtsy and bow. This isn’t a court after all, but we will respect that you are our queen.”

“Fair enough,” Maddie said, leaning against the larger woman. “Can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure,” Marlena said. Her toothy grin contrasted against her dark beard.

Maddie nodded. “I’d like to help out, but I’m afraid if I jump in, I’ll just get in someone’s way. What can I do, so that I don’t feel so much like an outsider looking in?”

The older woman tapped her chin. “I have just the task.”

ADAM
felt light and a little dazed. Between Maddie and Cage, the burden he’d carried around since he was a small child living with a lunatic father, the responsibility he’d always felt for everyone around him, seemed to ease. He still felt responsible, but he no longer felt alone in the task. Even when he’d pair bonded with Cage, he’d never fully trusted him to be a leader to their pride.

He’d wanted to trust him, but the younger lion had carried so much damage from his previous life it had made him unpredictable. But the way Cage had cared for Madeline during the mating, the way he’d stayed in control even when Adam couldn’t, was the only proof Adam needed that Cage was ready for the responsibility. He’d never been prouder to call Cage his brother, and finally, now they would share everything. Even the problems that came with being in charge.

Madeline had already proved she could be swift and decisive. He smiled, remembering what it had been like when she’d climaxed around him. He’d never felt so much raw power and emotion from a lover. None before compared to Madeline—not in the same way. She’d conquered him, body and soul. And when she touched her stomach, he prayed they’d mated true. The thought brought another smile to his lips.

Marlena was talking to her now, and a warm surge of affection toward the elder lioness had him purring again. He stopped the moment he noticed he was vibrating and stole a glance at Cage. His brother laughed. He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He guessed, now that Madeline was a part of their lives, he’d have to get used to unexpected bouts of happiness. Like now. Madeline wrapped her arms around him from behind.

He patted her hands, turned his upper body, and peered down at her. “Yes?”

She grinned. “Marlena’s given me a job. I’m going to fold clothes in the laundry tent and pack them up. Not the glamorous life of a queen, but it will make me happy.”

“I can go with you,” Cage said.

“Don’t be silly,” Madeline told him. “You all have your work, and I want a job too.”

Cage came up behind her and stroked the side of her face. “You could always be our sex slave,” he said teasingly.

Adam laughed and rotated in her arms. He caressed her other cheek. “That really sounds like an excellent job for you.”

Maddie smacked them both. “You’re getting me sweaty, and not in a good way,” she protested. “Besides, if there are any sex slaves around her, it will be the two of you. Now, you get to getting with your business, and I’ll go get on with mine.” She wiggled her way out from between them.

She smacked him on the ass. Hard. Adam snorted at her audacity. Cage hooted when she did the same to him, which startled several of their pride members who’d never seen him this happy. Their wide-eyed stares nearly doubled Adam over with joy.

THE
laundry tent was warm. Not a lot of cross breeze with only the front open, so Maddie untied the backside and rolled it up. She fastened the gray canvas flap to a pole with the loose bindings. A gust of wind sang across her hot skin. It was an unseasonably warm day, and the breeze was a blessed relief. She closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy the cooling sensation.

Piles of clothes were stacked on wooden folding tables. Marlena had brought them in from the line they’d strung up in the back. Maddie could see the thick, white cable through the opening, clothespins dangling and dancing on the tight cord. She inhaled the fresh fragrance of the washed costumes, towels, and other garments, amazed at how vivid the clean smell of Oxydol lit up her senses. It reminded her of home. She smiled, remembering how her mother couldn’t wait to open the laundry detergent box to get at her new glass dish. She’d been particularly keen on completing a green set when Maddie had left. Had she managed to find the missing pieces? Or was the missing glassware just another disappointment in a long list of disappointments Lucille Granger would have to live with?

Not Maddie though. Disappointment would not be a part of her life. Not anymore. Not with Adam and Cage by her side. For the first time, she had the world on a string as Sinatra said. And she’d be damned if she’d let anyone mess with her rainbow.

A black leotard crowned the top of the pile. Maddie picked it up and held it to her nose. She could just catch Adam’s scent, an earthy pleasant musk, just under the soap smell. Wow. Quick healing wasn’t the only ability she’d gained in their mating. It seemed she’d also developed a keen nose and was now able to identify subtle odors. What else had change? They’d already told her she’d live longer, stay younger longer... Did there need to be more?

A happy sigh turned into humming as she folded clothes and packed them away in labeled boxes. She giggled a few times when she caught scent-filled glimpses of some of the other performers. Luckily, nothing too intimate or compromising. Instead, she experienced their acts from their perspectives. A gift of freedom to move her body in ways she’d never imagined. Even Alice’s tightrope act. God! Laundry had never been so exhilarating! Maddie decided she would ask Cage and Adam to teach her how to do some of the routines she’d enacted second hand. She’d probably never be good enough to join the other performers, but man, it would be a total gas to try.

When she’d almost finished with the costumes, she saw a shiny emerald dress. She leaned over and picked it up, running her fingers over the slick polyester. A sudden sickness took hold as the tables, the boxes, and the day-lit tent faded into darkness.

THE
music ends, but he has caught my eye, and I can’t stop swaying. I want to please him, to make him love me. I think he does, but how can I be certain? It is impossible with a man like him. He keeps his counsel close and his emotions closer. He wants to let me in. I can see it. More than anyone in the world, I know he wants to let me in. All anyone sees is his cruelty, but with me he is tender. Gentle. His patience has nearly undone me, and tonight, I will be his. And he, in turn, will be mine. My king.

He walks across the room to me. His hand is large, nearly twice the size of mine, and I tremble as I reach for him. He has kept our love a secret, but soon the pride will know. They will know I am truly meant for him. Born for him.

“You’re beautiful, Adelaide. My Adelaide,” he says as he scoops me into his arms. “Do you claim me?”

“Yes,” I tell him. “Yes.”

In that second, his expression changes. I see brutality in his eyes, but in the next moment it is gone. An apparition. Something I imagined. He slips my dress over my head, and the night air chills my naked skin.

He will never hit me, because I will give him all of me. I will hold nothing back from him.

I watch as the large muscles in his arms flex as he unbuttons his shirt and lets it fall to the floor.

He will never call me horrible names, because I will never do anything to deserve them.

“My mate,” he says, crawling on top of me, his weight almost suffocating.