Magic and Alphas: A Paranormal Romance Collection, page 125
Roman laughed. “I’ll make sure you get your own suite. And you can decorate it to your liking. But it’ll probably be on this level. It’s the most secure.” He glanced around the room, and when he spoke again, his voice was a little plaintive. “You really don’t like this place?”
“It’s fine.” She gave a gentle laugh, taking his hand in hers and laying her head on his shoulder. “I’m used to the open skies and the plains. Living in an underground fortress with only artificial light is a big switch for me.”
“You get used to it.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. I don’t want to get used to living underground. It’s not me. But I know it’s actually perfect for the situation we’re in.”
“And we’re near the River Walk, so you can go for walks all the time, and stroll around the Alamo. As long as you have a guard with you at all times.”
“Thanks.” She squeezed his hand. “I appreciate you trying.”
“We’re going to be okay,” he squeezes her hand back. “You’ll see.”
“I’m sure we will be. But let’s get some sleep. I want to rent a truck from U-Haul and hit craigslist hard first thing in the morning.”
“Craigslist?”
“Yeah. It’s how I furnished my apartment. Tons of free stuff on there. Sometimes even brand new stuff. And what we can’t get for free, we can get for pretty cheap.”
“Okay. Since you have the day off, it’s a pretty good idea.”
“Good. Now, let’s get some sleep. This bed is definitely big enough for the both of us. Can I trust you to behave yourself?”
Maybe.
As it turned out, she couldn’t—and in the end, they were both okay with that.
Chapter 9
Lana thoroughly enjoyed the next day and was delighted to discover that Roman was pretty good at moving heavy things.
The big surprise, however, was re-learning how funny Roman was, how their senses of humor meshed. Despite the intimidating task of packing up her apartment and completing the furnishings of her new suite—one that Jackson had arranged to have cleared out for her—they had a lot of fun that day, laughing together almost the entire time.
That night, as she watched her new streak move her into her suite in the hotel’s basement, Lana was surprised by a wave of nostalgia washing over her. Seeing large, loyal men perform tasks for them, obeying her orders and Roman’s, she felt for a moment like her father’s princess again, taken care of by the streak.
And as she considered being an Alpha Mate, a thrill ran up her spine when she saw how readily she was obeyed by the two streak members Roman had asked her to consider most seriously. They were watching her, too, she realized. Apparently Roman had spoken to them, as well.
After almost three hours of moving and rearranging, Lana finally started to feel a little lighter. She glanced around, not only at Roman and their streak, but at how much the environment had changed. The couches and chairs in her suite were more neutral, with earth-colored tones.
As the men in the streak started to file out, Lana plopped down flat on the bed, exhausted. She lay there, listening to the sounds around her, feeling as if she were floating. The room got quieter, and then Roman walked over, his steps slow. His large form caused the mattress to dip in a bit. Then, she realized he was not near her, but right next to her. His lips softly kissed her cheek.
“Ever have a one-armed massage?”
The joke caught her completely by surprise, and she burst out laughing. “No, I can’t say that I have,” she managed, before laughing again.
“Well, then, you’re in for a treat.”
“I think I’ll take you up on that offer.” She rolled over onto her stomach.
“You need to take off your shirt for this to work.” Amusement echoed through Roman’s voice. She started to reach around, to undo her top and make things easier for him, but he beat her to it.
With her back exposed, his strong hand began massaging her tight muscles. The longer he worked, the more she relaxed, slowly turning to putty. He was strong, but gentle, and rhythmic. It was exactly what she needed.
A long while later, his hand paused and his warm lips pressed softly against the middle of her back.
“Nice,” she murmured, smiling despite herself. “But what are you doing?” she playfully asked him.
“Kissing a beautiful woman.” He kissed up her back, dropping light touches to either side of her spine. “Can you blame me?”
“Well, I certainly don’t want you to stop.” She thought back to their original night together, the way he’d made her feel sexy and safe.
Now, he straddled her, pinning her down in a way that she found surprisingly sexy. He pressed down on her, easily supporting himself on one hand and kissing her neck. A shiver shot through her, ending in stirrings between her legs. And she also sensed his own stirring, against her ass.
She tried to turn her head toward him to let him know she wanted more of his kisses. She was only able to turn about half as much as she wanted to, but he responded by kissing her cheek.
“Turn me over,” she heard herself tell him.
He raised himself up and then turned her onto her back. She slid her pants and panties down, and then kicked her shoes off, letting her clothes fall to the foot of the bed. Reaching up, she pulled his shirt off.
God. I’d forgotten what great abs he has.
She pushed at his jeans, shoving them partially down. When he stood to finish undressing, his dark eyes intent upon her, he was already hard.
As he slid up her body from the foot of the bed, he paused, slicking his tongue across her clit. With a moan, she let her knees fall to the side, opening herself to him. He swirled her into his mouth, sucking gently as she writhed. His hot breath blew over her, sending chills racing along her entire body.
Then he began speaking in between licking and sucking, his words forming a rhythm with his actions. “Tomorrow night,” he said, finishing the second word by flicking his tongue over her clit, “Jackson and Drake”—lick—“will officially begin”—suck—“to court you.” Repositioning himself, he slid one finger inside her and began pumping. Lana moaned, her hips bucking up, but Roman didn’t speed up at all. “I want”—long, slow lick—“you to remember”—hard suck—“that I will always want you.”
With that, he buried his face and fingers in her until she shouted his name—and before she’d quit pulsing from that orgasm, he shoved his cock deep inside her. She wasn’t prepared for that, but it felt so good that she screamed aloud again.
His movements against her were perfect, shifting from hard and fast to gentle and slow, then back again. He kissed her slowly all over her face and her neck until she grabbed his head and pulled him down, taking his tongue into her mouth, tasting herself on him.
His movements into her grew more urgent, and his cock thickened even more. She could feel him craving her, and it ratcheted up her own desire, her legs tight against him, squeezing him, pulling him ever deeper into her. Almost before she realized it, she was washed over in pleasure again, crying out, her nails digging into his back.
As her tiger’s claws snicked out just the tiniest bit, puncturing his skin, Roman exploded inside of her, pumping his heat into the very core of her being.
He collapsed on her, barely managing to keep from crushing her. He felt so right, so strong, against her, on her, over her, protecting her and caressing her.
“We really are good at that,” she managed to breathe.
Late the next morning, Lana walked to work, still glowing from the night before. She was surprised to realize that she loved the turn her life had taken—and overjoyed that she’d be giving her two weeks’ notice today.
I don’t have to run anymore. Don’t have to be alone anymore. And tonight, I’ll start choosing my other mates. At the thought, her nipples harden and a hot, wet rush dampens her thighs.
The hours of her shift flew by—it was amazing what a few fantasies about a whole streak of tiger shifters could do—and she couldn’t believe it when she realized it was time to go home. She couldn’t wait to see her new male companions.
When she walked out, two of her new streak members were waiting for her outside. A shiver ran through her when she realized it was Jackson and Drake. She fought to keep the tremor out of her voice, though. “Hi, guys,” she managed to say cheerfully.
“Hi,” the bigger one, Drake, said. “Roman wants us to escort you home. He wants to make sure you are safe.”
So sweet. Then she glanced up at Drake’s bright blue eyes and muscular body. And so hot.
“Thank you,” she said to them. They turn and start leading the way.
Jackson spoke up after a few minutes. “We really are glad that Roman has found a mate. Our leader needs someone, and we need a Queen.”
A Queen, she thinks to herself. She had been a Princess most of her life, but now she was a Queen.
“You realize what that means?” she asked softly, watching as a red flush made its way up Jackson’s cheeks.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She laughed aloud. “Well, first of all, it means you can’t call me ma’am. That’s too creepy.”
“Yes, m…” He swallowed the word.
Lana grinned as they made their way along the River Walk, back to the hotel.
Yeah. She was definitely going to start with shy, polite Jackson.
This could be fun.
Chapter 10
Three weeks later, Lana was about ready to give up on Jackson.
“I’m telling you, Roman, he’s not interested,” she said, throwing herself down into a chair in his suite.
“I don’t think that’s it, sweetheart,” her alpha said. “I think he’s uncomfortable with the idea of sharing you with me.”
“That’s up to you to fix.”
Roman laughed. “I can let him know I’m okay with it. You have to let him know that you’re fine. That you find him attractive.”
“How could I not? He’s beautiful—that blond hair, those green eyes.”
“Okay, okay.” Roman’s voice turned gruff. “I’m okay with it. Doesn’t mean I want to hear about it.”
With a laugh, she stood up to go plant a kiss on his lips. “You know you have nothing to worry about.”
Still, she’d been distracted lately. She’d had a lot on her mind—not least of all the news Roman had received that the tiger-shifter birthrate was dropping all over the country.
She dropped heavily back into the chair and thought for a few minutes about how she and Jackson could get away for a few days, for a weekend even.
I can’t believe I’m having to try to figure out how to seduce a tiger-shifter. They were usually so aggressive.
“I’m going for a walk,” she announced.
“Take someone with you,” Roman ordered, still anxious about her going anywhere alone, despite the fact that no one had seen an Inca in weeks.
“Will do.” She could get one of the more unobtrusive beta males to follow her. That should be good enough.
She wandered along the River Walk for a little bit, bathing in the warm light of the evening sun. It was drawing up on the end of spring, when the humidity in the air evened out and the summer heat began to set in. It was the most perfect time of year for the night time hunts she loved to go on.
The smell of fresh-ground coffee assaulted her senses as she stepped into her favorite shop. It had been a while since she’d been here.
A smiling teenage barista smiled at her invitingly. “Hi, Miss Lana, what can I get for you today?” she said in an overly peppy voice. This girl had the most impenetrable customer persona Lana had ever seen.
Lana smiled back happily. “The usual.”
The little blonde teenage girl busied herself behind the counter, pouring Lana a medium decaf coffee and bagging a plain donut. Lana thanked the young girl and, upon turning to leave the store with her treat, she spotted a tourism guide in a box by the door.
Well, why not play tourist? It was as good a way to get Jackson to pay attention to her as any.
She grabbed one. Maybe she could find somewhere for them to go for the weekend, if only to get away from the constantly prying eyes of the rest of the streak. Even Lana had to admit they could be exhausting.
As she opened the guide, she realized it outlined all the national parks near San Antonio.
Going for a moonlight run.
That sounded like heaven right now. It sounded better than heaven.
Much like the rest of her kind, Lana was a bit of an introvert. She needed to have interactions with other people, but most of the time she preferred to be alone. The problem with that was right now she was spending so much time with the streak that she had little time to herself.
Having the streak constantly around makes it hard to seduce a guy, too.
Returning to the hotel, she thanked her guard, who’d stayed politely out of her way on her walk.
With a sigh, she placed her coffee on the table in the living room of her suite and flopped exaggeratedly onto the couch, staring off into the distance for a few moments before flipping through the pages of the guide. After carefully considering all her other options, she decided on one of the national parks. It was exactly everything she wanted.
Well. Okay. Mostly it’s away from the rest of the streak.
For one weekend, she felt she and Jackson deserved true freedom. It was best for her to let him know what she had planned, though.
Lana gathered her courage and dialed the phone number in the streak’s directory; Jackson Henson.
Jackson’s deep voice greeted her from the other end of the line.
“Hi, Jackson. It’s Lana.”
“Oh. Well, how can I help you, m…” As usual, he gulped down his automatic “ma’am.”
“If you wouldn’t mind terribly, would you be able to spend a little time on a small trip with me? I wanted to explore one of the national parks a little bit this weekend.”
“Uhh. Yeah, that’d be fine.”
It doesn’t sound fine.
Still, it was a start. “Roman says you own a small café? I’ll meet you there tomorrow evening?”
“Sounds good.” Jackson’s response was clipped.
“Okay, thank you.” With a sigh, Lana ended the call and got up to start packing her things. She wouldn’t need much, just a change of clothes.
The weight of the world lifted off of her shoulders as she lay in bed next to Roman as he slept that night, exhausted from a day of meetings with the other tiger-shifters. The idea of being away from the streak, even if only for the weekend, was a huge relief for her.
Maybe, just for the weekend, she wouldn’t be reminded about how their numbers were dwindling.
For an instant, she wished, and felt guilty for thinking it, that she was simply a normal person, that the fate of her species didn’t seem to rest on her shoulders. Humans were overpopulated—why couldn’t she have been one of those? Sure, she passed for a normal human being in day-to-day life, but so did the rest of them.
All that night, Lana had dreams of communing with nature, lounging beneath trees in her feline form, and running endlessly through a dense, green forest with Jackson at her side. She woke up feeling more refreshed than she had in months.
* * *
Although he hadn’t told anyone else about it, Jackson was still suffering from nightmares about his late wife. Every night it was the same. They would be at home, his wife busily cooking dinner in their homey little kitchen, savory scents floating around the room when she would turn around to reveal a shredded mess of a face. That’s when his subconscious would remember that she was dead, and that the baby he heard crying in the other room wasn’t real.
Jackson awoke in a cold sweat to the soft glow of an alarm clock on his bedside table. It was 3:45 am. Frustration spread like a cancer through his body. He knew that she was dead, he remembered every second of it, including how he was kicked out of the delivery room only to hear a few minutes later that his beloved and his newborn kitten had both passed. It was burned into his memory, never to be forgotten.
He ran his hands through his shaggy blond hair, which was now stringy and damp with sweat, then put his feet on the cold floor. Heaving a sigh, he pulled himself out of the bed and stumbled off into the bathroom to have a warm shower, and hopefully find some solace before his day actually started.
By this point, he was waking up at this time so consistently that he’d set his coffee maker to start on a timer. When he stepped out of the shower and lazily dried himself off with a nice, soft, fluffy towel, the air in his small suite in the hotel was already thick with the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Lord knew he needed it. There wasn’t a day in his life that he could function without first imbibing that hot, bitter, dark elixir of life. Not anymore.
Jackson sat at his kitchen table, fully ready for his day and drinking his unsweetened, sludge-like coffee, breathing in reality. It seemed that, even from here, he could smell the dew on the grass outside. Late spring mornings were the most refreshing; the night was still slightly cool and the days were hot. Perfect.
He needed to busy himself until it was time to head in for work, and that was easy enough. Jackson’s suite was near immaculate. There was a lot of extra time in the mornings for him to make sure that his bed was made and everything was organized. He needed to keep himself busy, so the bookshelves were neatly organized and sometimes even alphabetized. It wasn’t that he needed it to be this way, but he had to keep his hands busy in the mornings.
This was his routine. Wake up, shower, have coffee, organize until he had to leave for work. And that’s what he was doing—wandering around his home picking up anything that could possibly be out of place and putting it back where it belonged before heading into work.
Jackson was simple by nature. Not stupid—in fact he was rather well read—but he liked things to be just so. He liked his home to be clean and his employees to listen to him, he liked to be able to find the things that he was looking for and he liked being able to keep an eye on the younger tiger-shifters. This was enough for him. It brought him a sense of peace since he couldn’t look after his own kitten, since he couldn’t take care of his wife anymore.
