When A Lioness Snarls (A Lion's Pride Book 5) (8 page)

“So other than this room and the one with the couches, what else can I expect?”

“You should explore and find out. I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise for you. This club is a wonderland for the erotic senses.”

“I thought I saw a second floor. What’s up there?”

Malcolm shook his head. “Second floor is off-limits to guests. Management office and shit. Boring stuff. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of stuff to keep you entertained right here.”

Plenty, indeed, given Luna sashayed her way back to him, lips shining and parted, body undulating in ways that made people watch.

He could lie all he wanted and say the reason he reached out for her was to show his fake claim, to keep up the pretense of their so-called relationship. In truth, he drew her close because he wanted to. Plain and fucking simple. He liked having her near him, touching him.

“I see someone’s finally loosening up. Come on. Let’s dance.”

Jeoff really didn’t want to, but Luna left him no choice. She tugged him by the hand, dragging him onto the dance floor. Resistance was futile, especially once she placed her hands on his hips and began to gyrate against him.

The lights continued to flash, and they refracted and twinkled as they lit sparkles of dust drifting down upon them. The glitter coated his skin, got in his mouth, inhaled with every breath. No scent. No taste. Just another gimmick employed by a club to entertain the patrons.

Despite Jeoff’s reluctance, his hips moved, his hands spanned Luna’s waist and kept her near. The scent of her surrounded him.

She smells so damned good.

The closeness of her body, the heat burning between them, made it hard to remember why he was here. He had a purpose.

Yes. Take the female. That is our purpose.

No, there was another reason he was here. Something other than the way her parted lips invited and the grind of her pelvis against his made him want to spin her around and take her. Here and now.

Madness. They were in public, a fact he clung to. He tried distraction by looking elsewhere, checking out the crowd, but everywhere he looked, people were clinging to each other, kissing and groping.

As a matter of fact, he and Luna were the only ones not engaged in a torrid embrace. It excited. It bothered. He grabbed her by the hand and returned to the first room, the room with the couches and, hopefully, a semblance of sanity.

He didn’t find any. In fact, in here things had gotten very naked and sweaty. Surely the acts going on were not allowed by law? The whole place seemed to have gone wild, succumbed to carnal need.

And still the lights flashed and the dust sparkled.

Around him, eroticism abounded, and although he fought to retain his senses and morals, in the end, Jeoff discovered he wasn’t immune. When Luna grabbed him by the cheeks and kissed him, he didn’t stop her. On the contrary, his blood heated to the boiling point when her tongue made a sensual foray into his mouth.

Surrendering to the moment, he let his hands stray. He cupped her full ass, pulling her tight against him, pressing her against his body. A wildness burned in him. A need to have this woman.

Take her now.

Yes. Yes. She was his.
Mine.
He just needed to sink into her.

As his hands delved under her short skirt, he let his mouth burn a trail down her neck, sucking at the tender skin. At a loud moan, not his or Luna’s, his eyes shot open, and he caught a glimpse of other couples around him, none of them even making a pretense of dancing as they hit the floor in a frenzy of limbs and thrusting hips.

A part of him recognized this wasn’t normal. He didn’t feel in control of himself, and that realization was enough to bring some sanity back.

This isn’t right. This isn’t normal.

He grabbed Luna’s hand and made for the exit, not the one they’d come in, but the closest one he saw, the red letters promising escape. As he shoved open the door, a beeping alarm went off, but the crisp rush of cool air flowing in did a lot to help clear his head. But it did nothing to help those still inside.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to use that door.” A fellow dressed in unrelieved black, with a lanyard and badge declaring he was staff, grabbed the door and blocked their exit. He glared at Jeoff, the tip of his cigarette dangling from his mouth, gray smoke curling from it.

“Just the thing I need,” Jeoff remarked. He snagged the burning cigarette and slipped back inside, ignoring the “What the fuck are you doing?” from the guy.

What he was doing was putting an end to the five-alarm orgy by declaring a one-alarm fire. The city insisted on businesses adhering to their fire codes, and one of them insisted on smoke alarms, lots of them, especially in places like these where folks liked to sneak a few puffs of Mary Jane or something a little stronger.

Snaring a stray napkin from the floor, Jeoff ignited it with the lit tip of the cigarette. It immediately began to smoke, the acrid stench reviving him from the erotic pull that still existed in the club. He dropped the burning napkin into a waste bin and returned to the door to find Luna leaning against it, standing over the inert body of the bouncer.

“Please tell me you didn’t kill him.” The paperwork would suck.

“Nope, just got him to sleep on the job.” She grinned at him. “Idiot never saw it coming.”

Humans never expected to get taken down by someone they thought weaker than them. They saw a petite blonde, with a devilish grin and a tight body, and never expected her wicked left hook. Apparently, Luna was champion when it came to knocking folks out. Or so rumor claimed. Jeoff preferred to not experience it for himself.

As he exited through the door, an alarm sounded, strident in pitch. More unexpected, though, was the sprinklers that turned on, dousing the room in a cold shower. As sanity returned under the chilly deluge, he heard at least one person exclaim, “What the fuck just happened?”

What the fuck indeed.

Exiting into the alley, he let the door slam shut behind him, but he doubted it would remain closed for long given what he’d done.

Eyes somewhat glazed and her lips swollen from the kiss, Luna frowned as she swayed on her feet. “What’s wrong with me?” The words were slightly slurred. “Did you feed me a roofie?”

“Not me, but I think someone in the club did.” He curled an arm around her waist. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Luna leaned into him as they moved up the alley between buildings. Behind them, he heard the door slam open, hitting the building’s brick wall. A cacophony of noise filled the night air as people spilled out with excited chatter.

Turning the corner, he and Luna left them behind and, for the second time in as many days, heard the distant sound of sirens.

Luna stumbled, and his arm tightened around her. “You okay?” he asked.

“No. Someone drugged me.” She sounded most put out.

“Someone drugged all of us.”

“But how? I mean, I only had a few sips of my drink. Other people in there were drinking way longer, and yet we all started acting crazy at the same time.”

“I don’t know what it was.” But he suspected a certain glittery dust. “Maybe there was something in the air.” A something he didn’t scent because of all the perfumes and sweat already masking odors in the place.

She turned in his arms, placing her hands on his chest. “Do you think what happened is related to the missing couples?”

“I don’t know. I mean, getting a room full of people to decide to have an orgy is a far cry from kidnapping and wiping all traces of them.”

Her nose wrinkled. “I was like a pussy in heat. If it weren’t for you, we might have gotten down and dirty. How come you weren’t affected?”

He’d blame the lingering drugs for saying, “I was affected, but I will note that I don’t need any drugs to get horny around you.”

The words escaped, and he wanted to take them back, except…a brilliant smile illuminated her face. “Why, wolfie. That is like the nicest thing you’ve ever said. You do like me.”

“Do not.” He lied. Then sighed. “Okay, I do like you, but this doesn’t mean I’ve changed my mind about getting involved with you. I still think it’s a bad idea.”

She chose to ignore his negativity. She giggled as she grabbed his cheeks. “Bad ideas are usually the most fun, though.” She kissed him, and he couldn’t help but respond. Couldn’t help but let his mouth slant over hers, tasting her, wanting her, needing her—and wondering if it truly was him she wanted or the drugs still talking.

Argh. He tore his mouth from hers. “We shouldn’t be doing this. Not here. Not now.”

“You’re right. We should go back to your car. It’ll be more private since you’re such a prude.”

“We are not having sex in my car.”

“Yeah, I guess that might be a hard smell to get out of the leather. Your place it is, unless you’ve changed your mind and don’t mind using this wall?” She splayed herself against it, an inviting smile curving her lips.

He almost said fuck it and fucked her. She tempted him that damned much. He tore his gaze from her and took a few steps in the direction of his car. The snicker of her mirth didn’t slow his steps, but the abrupt cessation of it saw him whirl.

…in time to catch the body hurtling at him.

A
s soon as
the hand darted from the shadows, the body hidden between buildings, she didn’t think; she acted. She grabbed the wrist and yanked, propelling the fellow forward with more force than necessary.

Jeoff caught the guy easily and dangled him. Then shook him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I need her.” The dude with the glazed eyes practically moaned the words.

“You can’t have her. She’s with me.”

Sexy words. Now if only Jeoff meant them.

“Were you in the club?” she asked, taking a step closer. The guy’s nostrils flared, and his lips parted as his hands reached for her.

They never connected. Jeoff slapped him against the wall, hard enough to rattle the metal siding. “She asked you a question, perv. Were you in the club?”

“Yeah. Great place. I had sex,” he confided in a whisper. “With another dude’s wife.”

“What of your girlfriend or wife?” Luna asked with a frown.

“She was there, too, getting her pussy—”

Jeoff shook him before the guy could finish that thought. “You’re of no use to us. Go find your partner and go home. In a cab,” he added as he sent the fellow stumbling on his way.

They both spent a moment watching the guy weave.

Jeoff shook his head. “I see the fresh air didn’t clear his mind. Whatever was in the air must hit humans harder.”

“I would have snapped him out of it with my fist, you know. You didn’t have to shake him like a rag doll.”

“Save your knuckles. We’re going to need them.”

“We are?” Sure enough, as they approached his car, she noted the trio of guys hovering by the Mustang. “Oooh, can I handle this?” she asked. “I’ve got some frustration to work out.” Serious sexual frustration, but hitting something would ease some of that.

“Is this seriously how you want to end this evening? You, punching out guys?” He sighed. “Stupid question. Of course it is.”

Speaking of the car, they’d reached it, and pulling out his keys, Jeoff hit the unlock button, which made the lights flash. He might as well have waved a red cape because the leader of the waiting trio stepped forth to utter a menacing, “Hand over those keys and your wallets.”

“Is it just the three of you?” she asked, letting her senses roam to see if anyone else hid in the shadows. “That seems kind of unfair.”

“If your boyfriend here hands over his keys and wallet, then no one has to get hurt.”

“Oh, I wasn’t talking about it being unfair to us.” She smiled. “More like I was hoping for a little more sport.”

“Think your puny boyfriend can take us?” The thug laughed.

“Me?” Jeoff shook his head. “Nope. I already told the lady she could have you. Just watch the car.”

“If you think using your girlfriend as a shield is going to protect you—”

“Hold on to that thought for just a second.” Luna held her hand up in the thug’s direction. Peering back at Jeoff, she frowned. “Are you more worried about your car than little ol’ me tangling with these boys?”

He arched a brow. “Are you trying to force me to insult you by claiming you can’t handle them?”

“Listen, you fuckers, I said hand over the keys.”

Both Luna and Jeoff shot a glare at the would-be carjacker. Luna growled. “I said to hold on. I’m not done talking to my friend here.”

“Talk later, bitch.”

“Oh you did not just say that,” she breathed, her eyes lighting with excitement.

“Oh you did not just say that,” Jeoff groaned.

“I’ll be back in a second.” Luna kicked off her flip-flips and then beckoned to the lead thug with her fingers. “Here, idiot, idiot.” She sang the taunt.

“I’ll teach you to—Argh. Eeee. Ohhhh.”

Luna never did find out what he wanted to teach her unless it was how to achieve a certain pitch when the pain reached a crescendo. It might have had to do with the fact that she hauled his head down and brought her knee up to meet his nose.
Crunch
. The tips of her toes intersected with his balls as she dropped him.

His friends added a new set of notes when she eye-socket punched one of them and tripped the other onto the sidewalk and slammed his head off the ground a few times.

That pair limped off when she got to her feet. She dusted off her hands and turned to Jeoff, only to find him dragging the first dude by the foot.

Was he treating her like a damned lady again? “What are you doing? I said I would handle it.”

“He was looking up your skirt.”
Grrrr.
“I should eat his eyes.”

Luna might have blinked at the rather violent suggestion. “I’ve heard that, while they might pop like grapes, they don’t taste as good.”

His turn to blink with long lashes as he tore his gaze from the cowering thug to her. “I don’t even want to guess how you came by that information.”

No, he probably didn’t. But her observation did serve to distract him from cannibalism—which the authorities totally frowned upon. Dropping the thug, Jeoff strutted to the car, and this time, she didn’t feel an urge to remind him that women had burned their bras for the right to open their own damned door. She let him open the door to the passenger side, just like she let him drive, but where she got annoyed was when he thought he’d just drop her off at the condo.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I am not getting out until you agree to come up with me.”

“I just want to go to bed.”

“And you can. At my place. We’re not done with our mission.”

“What mission? We discovered absolutely nothing.”

On the contrary, she knew Jeoff wanted her. That counted for something. “We haven’t found a clue yet is what you should say. I still think we’re on the right track. That club has something to do with what happened to those people. I can tell you, though, that we definitely won’t get any insider info if it looks like we’re not truly a couple. Or had you forgotten the targets are people in relationships? We need to keep up the guise.”

“It’s after eleven at night.” Their club visit had been short-lived. “There’s nobody to notice.”

She snorted. “Maybe the puppies are good dogs who go to bed early. This is the pride, Jeoff. You should know better. There’s always someone awake and watching. ”

Jeoff sighed. Again. The poor man. She began to think he did it because he liked the sound, but at least he knew when to concede defeat. “Fine. I’ll come up, but I am not sleeping over.” He wagged his finger at her. “I’ll stay an hour or so, long enough for them to think we did it, and then I’m leaving.”

No, he wasn’t, but he didn’t need to know that yet.

He parked his precious car in her underground parking spot. It wasn’t as if her bike would need it for a few days. Sob.

As if he read her mind, he laced his fingers in hers as they walked to the elevator and muttered, “Petrov is already working on it. You’ll get your bike back good as new. And knowing Petrov, he’ll have tweaked your performance.”

She perked up. “Really? Sweet.”

The elevator arrived immediately, opening doors onto an empty cab that they entered. A silence stretched between them as the elevator lurched into motion and immediately stopped at the lobby level floor.

Before the doors finished opening, she’d plastered her mouth over Jeoff’s, feeling his gasp of surprise, loving how his mouth clung to hers. The man might protest, but deep down, he wanted it.

Wants me.

Rowr.

“Hey, girls, look. Luna brought home a pet.”

Luna almost snarled at the interruption. The kiss that began as a decoy for anybody who might see them had quickly turned into an embrace that needed a few more minutes to get X-rated.

Hands yanked at her and Jeoff. Tugged into the lobby by Stacey, Luna waved at a few of her crew splayed on the couches. It seemed she wasn’t the only one whose night had gotten cut short.

Joan sat up straight on the couch. “Holy shit. Luna was trying to sneak Jeoff up to her room.”

Sneak? She wasn’t the one ashamed of their fake relationship. Luna looped her arm in his. “Damned straight I was trying to sneak past. I knew you’d try and cock block me if you got a chance.”

Jeoff choked. Poor thing. She knew the pain of hairballs in the throat.

“You are not sleeping with him. No way. I don’t believe it.” Melly shook her head. “You’re not his type.”

At that, several of her crew nodded. It made a girl want to prove them wrong. It made a wolf actually do it, and it started with him lowering his lips until they hovered but a whisker away.

Warm air tickled her lobe. “Are you going to gab with your girls all night, or are we going to your room?” Everyone heard the low rumble of his words, and not a single lioness missed the possessive placement of his hand on her ass.

“Bye, biatches!” Luna waved goodbye before she practically dragged Jeoff to the elevator. For good measure, she plastered her mouth to his before the doors closed and kept kissing him well after.

He finally came up for air when the elevator lurched into motion. “Good job keeping our cover.”

“You mean that tongue wasn’t for real?”

“Just keeping in character.”

“Tease,” she grumbled. For a second there, with the way he’d responded, she’d thought for sure he’d let his morals cave.

One night. Just one night is all we need to cure ourselves of this insane curiosity.

The thing she feared most? One night wouldn’t be enough.

Keep him.

Her cat had no problem with the idea of hoarding him for selfish reasons. Luna didn’t like what that implied.

Permanence. Ugh. What a nasty word.

The elevator dinged, telling her they’d arrived. As the doors opened, Jeoff level his gaze on her. “You really have to stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Thinking that things will go any further.”

Way to read her mind. “I don’t think. I know. You and I will end up in bed. Or in an alley somewhere. The place doesn’t matter. We are going to do it.” She smirked at him as she headed up the hall to her door. Only as she entered did she notice he didn’t follow. She stuck her head out. Jeoff stood by the elevator still.

She whistled.

His eyes narrowed.

She whistled again and snapped her fingers. “Here, wolfie. Come to Luna for a nice belly rub.”

“I really hate it when you do that.”

“I really hate the way you keep getting me horny and not following through, so get your ass over here, would you?”

“You cannot just order me around. And I thought we’d already ascertained that the whole couple thing downstairs was for show, not for real.”

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Maybe if you keep saying it, you’ll believe it. But for the moment, it’s pathetic the way you’re lying. I can see it. Anyone can. You’re hot for me, just like I’m hot for you. It is causing major distraction issues. Especially for me. So let’s get it out of the way. Knock boots and ease the tension.” She hummed a tune, the
bow-chica-wow-wow
harmony that invoked images of a thick seventies mustache on the repair guy at the door, which, of course, was answered by a lingerie-clad, buxom woman.

He didn’t appreciate her ability to hit the right notes. He snapped. “And this is why I don’t date lionesses. You’re all fucking nuts.” A very interesting bellow erupted from him as he shoved through the door that led to the stairs and disappeared.

Chase him.

Chase? Hell no. She let him walk away. That’s right.
She let him
walk away instead of hunting him down. She was done forgoing her own pride because of her lust for him. It utterly disgusted her the way she kept throwing herself at him. Practically begging him to take her, only to have him say no and keep saying no, even though his body said yes.

The nerve. How the constant rejection stung.

We should totally rake our claws over him. Rip the clothes from him. Scratch that sweet, smooth skin.

Bad kitty. Those kinds of thoughts were the reason she got in trouble.

What the hell was wrong with her? Jeoff wasn’t interested. Plain and simple. Why did she keep forcing the issue? Why?

Because I like him.

Ugh.

Like really liked him and it burned her to no ends that he didn’t feel the same, which meant he left and she didn’t go after him.

No chase?
Her inner feline seemed most crushed, judging by the low slink back to her condo. She slapped her hand on the security screen alongside it again, the door having shut on its own and locked.

It clicked, and she swung the door open. The dark interior beckoned her, and she stepped in, alone, with a sigh.

There was no scent to warn her. No sound. Nothing.

And all she managed was a snarl before something jabbed her in the arm.