Once Upon a Shifter (87 page)

"I'll understand," she said, and I lowered my head so that I could whisper in her ear.

"About what?"

"About him. Whatever it is, I'll understand, Ace."

God, if that were only true!
Sighing heavily, I said, "I hope you will."

"Were you lovers?"

I blinked rapidly at that.
What the fuck?
"No!" I had to laugh.
Of course she would think something like that!
"I've never been intimate with Justice or any other guy, for that matter. I like puss—"

Andra clamped a hand over my mouth. "I hate that word. Call it something else."

I threw my head back and laughed harder than I had in a long time. After I calmed down enough to speak clearly, I said, "What do you call it?"

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she blushed, and then those walls swiftly went up, blocking me out of her mind.
Damn!
"I'm not telling you what I call my… my…"

"Pussy?"

She slapped my chest, and I laughed. "Stop! That sounds so gross to me."

She did a little shudder-wiggle thing, and I couldn't stop laughing. I'm serious. It was freaking hilarious watching her squirm over a word I'd said in everyday conversation most of my adult life.

"Okay, we won't talk about what you call yours. What do you think I should call it in general? I have to call it something."

"Why do you have to call it anything? People don't go around talking about hoo-has all day long. You could just leave that particular body part out of your vocabulary altogether," she said matter-of-factly.

My eyebrows popped up as I stared at her. "Hoo-has?"

"Well, hoo-has is plural. Hoo-ha is singular, meaning only one."

Shit! Is she really giving me a grammar lesson on pussy slang?

"I know what singular means, Andra. I'm fairly educated."

"Oh, then there you go. Hoo-ha and hoo-has."

Frowning, I shook my head. "I don't like that word. Call it something else."

She grinned playfully as she mimicked my head shake then turned to walk away from me, but I grabbed her arm and pulled her to me, enclosing her in the iron-like frame of my arms. Her skin — coated in a thin sheen of sweat — slid against mine, bringing to mind all sorts of erotic delights, but I only gripped her tighter. She stiffened, but she was too distracted to keep her walls intact. We were too close. I felt her desire for me the exact moment I smelled it.

Not only did the lion in me wake up, but the bonded male in me did, as well. I wanted her. Bad. But it was too soon. She still had that vampire on a leash and I hadn't told her my secret. My wants could wait for the perfect time. And there would be a perfect time. I was damn sure of that.

I had her right where I wanted her, though. Her walls were down and she was fully aware of how much she wanted me. I did exactly what I intended to do from the start and no more. I bent until my lips almost touched hers and then I dove into her mind. She hadn't even tried to hide it from me. It was right there, for the taking, what she called her Golden Grotto, her Holy Grail or, in her words, hoo-ha.

I smiled as I whispered, "Kitty-cat."

Desire left her eyes as she pushed against me. I let her go with a chuckle.

"You suck, Ace," Andra said as she avoided looking at me. I could feel her embarrassment and guilt. Yes, guilt was there, too. The fucking vampire was cock-blocking me from seventeen-hundred miles away.

There was no need to bring up the fact that she would have willingly let me pet her kitty-cat if I had only kissed her. There was no vampire here for her to run to now. She wouldn't have stopped me, but she would have regretted it. I didn't want her to regret being with me. Ever. I had to play my cards right. There was no folding or losing in this game. I would win.

The gym doors opened, and Slade walked in with Kai and Jobe.

Great timing, assholes.

Slade's grin was a mile wide as he glanced at Andra, and then to me. He thought it was funny as hell that I'd finally met a woman I liked and she wouldn't put out. His words, not mine. And I hadn't told him, either. My Beta knew me better than I knew me most of the time. I guess he could tell by the sexually frustrated look on my mug that I hadn't gotten any — or any worth bragging about — in a while. I was never, ever telling him what Andra called the cockpit. Hoo-ha… What kind of word is that for something so awesome? The fucker would never let me live it down how vanilla she is.

Slade nodded to Andra. "Has Ace been a good host? Are you getting settled in okay?"

She smiled shyly as she gave him a curt nod, but her face was still a little pink from the embarrassment I had caused only a few moments earlier, so I closed the distance between us and took her hand. She squeezed my fingers in response, and I winked at Slade.

"I've got it taken care of. She's staying in my room."

All three men did a double-take. I expected as much. No female had ever been allowed in my room, or even my home, and no humans ever came here. I took care of my women away from the lion's den.

"Your room?" Kai said. "But you—"

"How did I miss that?" Slade said, interrupting Kai. "I thought Olivia had an extra bed in her room that Andra was supposed to sleep in while she stayed here."

Narrowing my eyes at him, I released Andra's fingers so I could drape my arm over her shoulder and pull her closer to me. I already knew she knew everything about my past, but I didn't want these dickweeds making her think she was like those other chicks. "Andra is special, guys. Shut up, will ya?"

Andra snickered, I was guessing at my nervous behavior. "I got settled in just fine. Thank you, though I haven't had much time for rest. Ace has had me training since we arrived."

"Um, Ace, it's time for work," Jobe said. "You want to shower before we go?"

"Uhh…" I stammered, and Andra turned to look at me, confusion pouring out of her emotions in waves. She was on the verge of freaking out that I might leave her here alone. I forced a smile as I pried my wide eyes away from the guys to look at her. "It is, uh… it's poker night, and kind of a tradition I started a few decades ago. I'm pretty good at it, hence why I named my lion Ace. We don't really
work
around here. We gamble. It's how the bills get paid."

She glanced around the huge gym that was only a small fraction of the house. "You gamble and win enough money to pay for this place?"

I rubbed the back of my neck with my free hand. "Yeah… and then some. Look, I won't go if you don't want to go, but I'm better than anyone here. We'll lose everything pretty quick if I depend on some of these losers to pay the bills. A few of them lose more than I win sometimes."

"Wait, you're taking the chick with us?" Jobe said, astonished.

I saw red, but managed to shove Andra out of the way before I shifted — the welcome feel of bones stretching and changing, the fur sprouting, the muscles morphing — and pounced on Jobe. My teeth not-so-tenderly brushed the skin above his jugular where his pulse was pounding hard enough I could hear it. Kai and Slade backed away, but I could sense Slade wanted to interfere, and I suppose that was the only thing that stopped me from biting the dumbass' head off.

"Jobe doesn't know about the bond, Ace!" Slade shouted. "Nobody but me and the crew that went with you knows that you're a bonded male now! Don't kill him! Christ! He didn't know any better!"

"Ace," Andra's startled voice said. "Don't kill him."

I moved my head back enough to close my mouth, and I stared down into Jobe's eyes and let a low growl rumble up my throat. "I would advise against ever calling your Alpha a chick again if you value your life." There was cold fear in his confused eyes. He knew he'd screwed up, but he didn't know how. I wasn't in the mood to give lessons unless bloodshed was involved. I'd let Slade explain it to him until after Andra rested and I could get the whole pride together. Instead of backing away, I walked forward, placing my foot on his groin as I walked back to Andra.

Howls of agonizing pain issued from behind me as I shifted back to my human form.

I laughed when Andra held out my shredded gym clothes, her head turned in the opposite direction from my immodesty.

I took the threads and covered myself enough to make her comfortable. "So, how are you at poker?" I said as we walked toward the doors to leave, ignoring the scene behind me.

She laughed. "I'm better at Blackjack."

"Let's go Double Down then, my dear," I said with a flirtatious grin, and she beamed at me. God, I loved that smile.

"I need to take a shower first," Andra said.

I grinned playfully. "Good. You can shower with me. There's a spot on my back I can never quite reach." She gaped at me, and I nearly busted a gut laughing. "I'm kidding… unless, of course, you
want
to shower with me. I wouldn't tell you no. I'm nice like that," I said with a wink.

Catching me off guard, she shoved me into the corridor wall, and then laughed when I hit my funny bone and let out a loud curse. "No, Ace, you aren't showering with me."

I scowled as I rubbed my elbow, until I glanced up to see her walking away from me. The look of her ass in those workout shorts had me forgetting all about the sharp pain shooting from my elbow to my wrist. I bit my lip as I watched her hips sway, and then ran to catch up to her before I started panting and she noticed. She may not shower with me tonight, but she would soon. She would soon.

Look for Andromeda's Reign – Book 2 in the 'Moonrising' series, coming soon!

***

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Even with the help of her handsome guardian angel, Rhyan, it seems there is no happy ending in sight. Torn between her newly discovered love of Rhyan, and the undeniable attraction she has for Adam, Kendra finds herself at a crossroad. With Adam's steadfast rejection of God, and his guardian demon conspiring against her, she fears her soul may already be lost. 
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And many more! You can see them all here at
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More Paranormal Romance by Anne Conley:

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