Influence
The right people can push a man to his limits.
Ariela arranges a meeting with her first mates and Lane Livingston prevents the reunion. Afterward, Jagger lures Ariela away from Lane’s home by using her one weakness against her. Mates reunite and Lane witnesses it all. Feeling betrayed, Lane calls upon a former submissive to make Ariela
During makeup sex, Lane reveals his truest feelings and Ariela becomes agitated. The next day, she is determined to see Jagger, Leon, and Sanchez, but her morning at Pride’s Casino doesn’t go as planned when an old langle enemy surfaces. Soon, everything Ariela wants is within her reach, but only Lane can protect their forming pride, a pride steeped in uncertainty, but bound together by a circle of commitment and enduring love.
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Influence
Copyright © 2014 Destiny Blaine
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0060-6
Cover art by Martine Jardin
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc
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Influence
Rise to Power, Search for Pride 5
By
Destiny Blaine
Dedication
To Lorraine L. and Shirley W. We may be separated by hundreds and even thousands of miles, but I count myself lucky to call you my friends.
Thank you for your friendship and support. Love ya girls!
Chapter One
“Are you sure about this?” Ariela stood in front of her true mate with reverence. She sensed his angst and understood his discord. He and Jagger weren’t friends. Sanchez didn’t particularly care for him. Leon apparently respected Lane’s position, but outside of finding his langle heritage fascinating, Leon had made certain facts known.
He wouldn’t be amicable to Lane if Ariela wasn’t living with him.
From an outsider’s point of view, Ariela and Lane were hopelessly in love and had maintained a good friendship with Ariela’s former lovers—Jagger, Leon, and Sanchez. Since Sanchez had earned instant fame as the performing star in Lane’s acclaimed Catwalk, a huge entertainment venue on the Vegas Strip, some might assume Lane and Sanchez were chummy.
Lane Livingston had made Sanchez a superstar.
Still, as far as Ariela knew, Lane didn’t like any of her former mates, and only tolerated Leon because he and Leon needed one another. As shifter-wizards, there were advantages to befriending others of like minds with similar gifts.
“Am I sure about what, Ariela?” Lane asked, dragging her away from her thoughts.
Jolted to attention, she watched him as he splayed his khaki-clad legs, showing off a tight bulge nestled between his toned thighs. He rested his muscular arms on the cushions and stared at her with renewed interest. “What were you thinking about just then?”
“You seem different. That’s all.”
“Different how?” His gaze slipped over her like oozing honey, stagnant at strategic places—her neck, her breasts, and pussy—and drifted by at less remarkable areas. He rubbed his moist lips together and brought his gaze up once more. “How am I any different here than I am when we’re relaxing at home?”
“You’re here for a reason, Lane.”
“You think the motives surrounding our meeting here escape me? The woman who is carrying my child claims I can’t satisfy her during her season and insists on seeing her former mates. You want me to pretend I’m here because it’s my choice?”
She shuddered against the resentment in his voice. Lane had known all about her mates when he’d first pursued her. He’d been aware of her obligations. More specifically, he’d been aware of the circle of commitment she had formed with Jagger, Sanchez, and Leon.
He pursued her anyway.
He’d known who she was, what she valued most, and yet he’d ignored these things. He’d said she was his true mate and he’d proven that much was a fact, but it didn’t wipe away the other important relationships in her life. It didn’t make her love her other mates any less. She simply loved them from a distance.
“You don’t have to watch,” she said, turning.
Before she could walk away, Lane snapped his hand over her wrist and pulled her to his lap. He roughly cupped her breast, thumbing her nipple through the thin black slip she wore. Nondescript, as Lane had instructed, the slip’s material was one hundred percent silk, low-cut to accentuate her plump breasts, and high above the knee. The material clung to her in a fashion that showcased her baby bump, but it wasn’t much more than a bump.
His breath was hot against her ear as he slowly dragged his thumb back and forth, arousing her. “You belong to me, Ariela. You’re mine. Say it.”
“Lane,” she whispered, pressing her head against his shoulder.
Lane pulled her hair and forced her head back. Staring into her eyes, he pinched her sensitive nipple until she released a muffled scream, turning to his shirt in order to keep from crying out with the exquisite mix of pleasure and pain.
“I belong to you.” She also belonged to Jagger, Leon, and Sanchez. And today, her other mates would come out with guns blazing.
Jagger had never been one to take a backseat to anyone, and since Lane had come along, he’d been pushed to the wayside. He had been hurt, devastated really, and Ariela felt him slipping away. Even Leon and Sanchez seemed distant now.
The year before she’d only seen her former lovers during the holidays and when she’d given birth to their twins. Angelina and Little Lane were now approaching their first birthday, and she was already expecting their third child.
Even though Lane didn’t acknowledge their patience and kindness, Jagger, Leon, and Sanchez had been very understanding, all things considered.
Lane rested his hand on her knee. “Spread your legs, Ariela.”
“Lane, please,” she crooned, realizing he wanted to work her up before her other mates joined her. “Can’t you let them have this one afternoon?”
“No.” He nipped at her ear. “Spread your legs or I’ll pry them apart.”
Complying, she parted her knees and shifted her bottom on his lap. “Like this?”
“Exactly like that.” He pinched the material at her hip and stared down the length of his nose, watching as if mesmerized as he slowly lifted the material to her upper thigh. “There we go.” He cocked his head and peered underneath. “Isn’t that better?”
“Not really,” she said truthfully. “They’ve seen me in various states of undress, Lane. You’re showing me off like I’m some sort of prize, making me sit here like this so the first thing they see when they enter the room is my pussy. It is revolting.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Revolting is it?”
“Yes, Lane. It is.” She jerked her slip down and ro
se from his lap.
“But you don’t find anything wrong with the fact that I’m forced to share you now of all times?”
“It’s not my fault I’m in season. I shouldn’t even have a breeding bout now that I’m pregnant. You can’t explain it. The only thing I can assume is this time it has something to do with the fact I’m giving birth to langles.”
“Don’t let me hear you say langles again in such a tone, Ariela. Your children are langles. We’re a proud breed, and you have already gained worldwide respect from others like us. We were almost an extinct breed before you began having my children.”
“I wasn’t being disrespectful.” Lately, Lane pissed her off about once every hour. She blamed her hurt feelings on hormones, but sometimes she wondered if he hadn’t taken a page out of the How to Lose a Woman in Two Days manual.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“I need to go to the bathroom.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Last I checked, I’m potty trained. I’ll go alone.” She strode across the room and grabbed her purse in passing. She entered the hotel suite’s half bathroom and tossed her bag on the vanity. Placing her palms flat against the surface, she cursed aloud. Where the hell were Jagger, Sanchez, and Leon? What was keeping them?
Retrieving her cell from her purse, she punched in Jagger’s number. It rang several times before going to his voicemail. She repeated the process twice more and came up with the same results.
A moment later, she sent a group text: Where are you?
Immediately, a return message popped up: Running late. Couldn’t be helped. We’ll be there in about an hour.
An hour? Really? Since when had Jagger made her wait five minutes, much less an hour!
Her heart clenched in response to a question she probably wouldn’t ask him, since Lane had become first in her life and her other mates had taken a backseat. Agonizing and sharp pains carved out the painful truth in the center of her chest.
She’d neglected her mates.
Lane’s fist landed on the door. “Everything alright in there?”
“No,” she replied, swinging the door open. “I’ve waited long enough. Take me home.”
“Ariela, you’re the one who wanted this meeting. I’m sure they’ll be along soon. We’ll wait.” He smiled smugly.
Ariela narrowed her gaze on the man who had become her everything, the shifter who occupied her every waking hour. He was too collected, too confident.
“They aren’t coming. Are they?”
“Well, how would I know, Ariela? You’re the one who worked this deal. If anyone should know whether or not they’re planning to be here, it is you. I haven’t been apprised of the meeting details since you arranged them.”
Ariela swallowed. No, she hadn’t apprised him of anything in regards to her meeting with her mates. She needed to see Jagger, Leon, and Sanchez, and had feared Lane would do whatever possible to keep them apart.
Apparently he was succeeding.
“You can wait if you want,” she said, grabbing her short red dress from the closet and slipping it over her head before he could protest. “I’m going home. Whether you’re the reason for their delay or not, I’m not waiting. Since you and I have been together, they’ve treated our time together as if I’m fortunate they took a moment out of their busy day to spend an hour with me. I’m not a whore copping a strut up and down Las Vegas Boulevard, and I’m not hard up for a fuck.”
Lane narrowed his dark gaze. “Perhaps that’s the problem. Maybe if you were as hard up as you first implied, then you might have found them more eager to accommodate you.”
“Don’t taunt me right now, Lane.” She shrugged on her dress, held up her hair, and turned her back to him. “Zip me up, please.”
Lane’s fingers walked down her spine, and with one quick pull he zipped the back of her dress. Giving her a spin, he said, “I always loved a lady in red.”
“You love me in black, too. Unfortunately, when I was on your lap, you didn’t know what to do with me, so there’s no reason for me to believe you know what to do with me now.” She grabbed her handbag and threw it over her shoulder. “Let’s go.”
* * * *
As soon as they entered their home, Lane tossed his keys on the foyer table and took Ariela by the hand. “Come with me, my sweet mate.”
“I’m not in the mood.”
“I can sense your arousal, lover. I’ve been hard since you started rubbing that sensitive bud against your panties. Want me to go into details about how wet you are? About how one touch from me could send you grinding?”
She puckered her lips into a pout. “I know you did whatever necessary to keep Jagger, Leon, and Sanchez detained.”
“I won’t deny that.” Why would he do anything less? Did Ariela really think he would willingly share her when she was pregnant with his child?
“You won’t deny it now that you feel like you’ve won,” she said, storming off to the bedroom.
Stepping out of her high heels, Ariela entered her spacious walk-in closet and undressed. She didn’t even bother to ask for zipper assistance. She yanked the garment over her head, smiling when the dress ripped up the sides.
Lane stood at the doorway, watching her. “Take off your slip.” He loosened his tie and pulled it over his head. Unbuttoning his shirt, he became more aroused by her defiance. He dropped his shirt at the door and worked at loosening his belt and stepping out of his slacks.
“I’m not interested.”
“Don’t dismiss me, mate. I’ll rouse that inner lioness you call a bitch and I call sexy as sin and then leave you bound and chained in the corner. Is that how you want to spend your day?”
“You wouldn’t.” She looked up at him. “Lane, please let me take care of my own inconvenient problems.”
“And miss the pleasure we could bring one another?” He grabbed her hand and pulled her against him. “Not a chance.”
Before she could protest again, he cupped her face and slanted his lips over hers. “Deny you want me now.” He thrust his tongue between her lips and lifted her to him. He positioned his cock underneath her pussy and rubbed against her, aware of her warmth, that liquid feminine heat driving him mad.
“What did you do? Did you send them on some kind of wild goose chase? Did you have an investigator call to question them about Shoc Matheson? What did you do to keep them away from me today?”
“You might be surprised if I told you,” he said, confident she wouldn’t want to know about Melinda’s involvement. Melinda Parker, Jagger’s right-hand CFO, had become a manipulated player and Lane enjoyed using her. No one could rub Ariela the wrong way more than Melinda.
“You want me to guess.”
“Right now? No, Ariela. Right now, I don’t want you to talk at all.” He pushed down on her shoulders and she landed on the floor in front of his stretching erection. “Find another way to keep those pretty little lips busy.”
Ariela glared at him then and for a minute, he thought he might have overestimated her lust for him as much as her love. She narrowed her eyes and studied his cock as if she might use the opportunity to teach him a lesson.
For a split second, he remained perfectly still, but his arousal was unmatched as she seemingly determined what she wanted from him next. By the time she slipped her mouth over his cockhead he was as horny as he’d ever been.
“There you go my sweet Ariela. Enjoy me.”
“Oh, I plan to enjoy you,” she crooned, pausing long enough to give his wet slit a swipe. “And when I’m through with you, you’ll better understand why I called my other mates. No man has ever been able to handle me alone during my season and you’ll soon discover your arousal is no match for mine.”
“Hmmm.” He tossed his head back. His hips rolled forward and his cock jutted to the back of her throat. “Give a man a chance, beautiful. You might be surprised.”
Chapter Two
He held up the hotel stationery and read, “I don’t wait on anyone. You should’ve been on time. If I had to guess, Lane sent you a better distraction. Learn what’s important. Next time when I call, maybe you’ll show a little common courtesy and be here on time. Much Love, Ariela.”
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Jagger threw air punches. He quickly snatched his shirt from the floor and went to the windows overlooking the Las Vegas Strip. “I should’ve known.”
“I told you a long time ago, Jagger. Melinda is in Lane’s pocket.”
“Well, that’s pretty obvious now. Don’t you think?” Jagger was mad as hell.
“I think it’s been pretty obvious since the beginning,” Leon said.
“Agreed.” Sanchez scooped up his shoes and sat on the sofa. “At fifteen hundred dollars a night, I would’ve bet dollars to donuts Ariela would’ve been here. This suite doesn’t come cheap.”
“Oh, but why would Ariela care?” Jagger drawled, his sarcasm thick. “She doesn’t pay the bills. What is money to someone like Ariela? She has three mates working around the clock to ensure Pride’s Las Vegas Casino is the most profitable casino in Vegas. You, Sanchez, earn more per show than any Catwalk performer in Vegas. Why would Ariela concern herself with what she views as pocket change?”
“He’s right,” Leon grumbled. “But we don’t need to blame Ariela here. Lane was behind this.”
“You really believe Melinda has been working for Lane this whole time?”
“Since he came into our lives, yes.” Leon frowned. “Jagger, I know you think you’re obligated to keep Melinda on the payroll, but eventually you need to face the facts. She is so vindictive that she could eventually destroy everything we’ve worked for.”