Fame

  When money and power aren’t enough.

  An old enemy resurfaces and the pride must rely on Lane Livingston, one of Ariela’s future mates, to help them resolve an outstanding vendetta. Viewed as very dangerous, Shoc Matheson is coming for the pride, but when he arrives at the casino, he’s in for quite a surprise.

  Lane Livingston has made his fortune negotiating deals, and when Ariela’s mates face off with Shoc, Lane makes a big power play. Not only will Ariela help him launch a new venue to compete against the coveted Rise to Power, Search for Pride, but she will also commit to spending time with him, or else her mates will suffer the consequences.

  As deals are made and old scores are settled, Lane positions himself to take first place in Ariela’s life. But in Vegas, nothing is ever a sure thing, especially love.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Fame

  Copyright © 2014 Destiny Blaine

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-990-0

  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.

  Published by eXtasy Books

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  Fame

  Rise to Power: Search for Pride, Book Three

  By

  Destiny Blaine

  Dedication

  For Pam M. Lewis

  Chapter One

  Pride’s Las Vegas Casino, Summer 2013

  Jagger was spellbound. Ariela performed her acrobatic movements through a maze of lions, twisting and flipping in an infinity formation as she made her way through her final act. The crowd rose to their feet. A thunder of praise was bestowed on the entertainers and animals, and the applause became almost as mesmerizing as the dancing flames encircling the performers.

  Ariela took apparent pleasure in an unprecedented standing ovation. The cheers and clapping turned into ear piercing whistles and loud thumps as the crowd stamped their feet.

  The grand opening was a huge success. Tickets had gone on sale the weekend before Pride’s Las Vegas Casino’s new coliseum had opened its doors for the first time. The performers had been ready to embrace their audience, but Jagger had silently feared what a soft opening might later cost them in poor attendance. To his great relief and pleasure, the first show had sold out within four hours. A year’s worth of tickets had been reserved days later.

  Las Vegas wasn’t just ready for a new lion performance—oh no—locals and visitors alike were anxious to become part of the act, a true fixture within the elaborate stage and scenery surrounding the elevated platforms.

  Jagger scanned the auditorium in awe. The gentle slope and stacked seating arrangement combined with advanced video technology magnified the images. The use of colorful lighting left visitors with a remarkable façade, a beautiful illusion. Those in the audience likely believed they were not only part of the crowd, but very much a part of the extended cast important to the production of the show.

  “What a den of deception.” Leon, one of three lovers sharing Ariela, Jagger’s wife, stood beside him with his arms crossed. “And she looks good enough to eat.”

  Jagger glanced over his shoulder. “With all the rumors flying around, don’t let anyone hear you say that. They’ll swear you meant it in the literal sense.”

  Leon shuddered. “Now you sound more paranoid than Sanchez.”

  Jagger’s gaze fell to the auditorium floor. He focused on the only white lion in the production. “What’s wrong with him, anyway?”

  Leon shrugged. “Best guess? Post traumatic stress disorder.”

  “Where’d you come up with that?” Jagger observed Sanchez’s tense stance, the way in which he stood next to Ariela as her protector, her guardian.

  “Sanchez wasn’t a killer, Jagger. He didn’t want to kill Barlo Matheson. Now, he can’t seem to shake the guilt.”

  So they were back to the Matheson ordeal. Leon couldn’t let bygones be bygones. While they didn’t discuss Barlo or his brother Shoc in front of Ariela, they’d spent a lot of time trying to figure out how Shoc had seemingly vanished into thin air.

  “I’ll talk to Sanchez,” Jagger said. “He needs to stop blaming himself for Barlo’s death. He was drugged. He had very little food and water. He—”

  “He mated with Ariela while she was in heat. He admitted that after he was with Ariela, he felt as if Barlo placed him in a volatile position. Now, he apparently feels he could’ve managed better if he had only stopped to think about his behavior.”

  “That’s insane,” Jagger said, feeling a bit sorry for Sanchez, but also irritated that he would even give Barlo’s death a second thought. Barlo wasn’t a saint. He could’ve passed for the devil’s double, given his devious ways.

  The performers took their respective bows. The lions held their heads proud, their bodies stout and still. Remarkably, the crowd only responded with louder cheers, repetitive clapping, and chants for more.

  Ariela turned to the side. She made it obvious she was frantically searching the stands. When she spotted them, she stood motionless, her face devoid of all expression.

  “Oh God,” Leon grumbled. “This can’t be happening.”

  “We need to get her out of there.” Sheer panic shot through Jagger’s veins. He grabbed hold of the half-rail separating one seating section from the other. Hoisting his weight over the divider, he leapt to the other side and sprinted across the elevated arena.

  Shit! Why hadn’t he kept up with dates? He should’ve known Ariela’s breeding season was upon them!

  “Go!” Leon’s voice rose above the crowd as he pushed Jagger aside and ran ahead. He had undoubtedly noticed what Jagger easily detected as well.

  The true beasts below them had become noticeably agitated, pacing around Ariela as if she had quickly become their prey — and in fact, she wore the title, all things considered. She was in a den with full-blooded lions. And the obvious was already apparent.

  Noses tilted to the air. Sanchez roared in warning, obviously trying to hold off the other creatures as Leon and Jagger raced against time.

  “Get her out of there!” Jagger screamed into his headset, summoning security as he paused to wave down one of the main teams located two levels lower. Realizing they could reach her before he or Leon could push their way through the crowd, he rotated his arm in a full sweeping motion, yelling once more, “Get Ariela out of there!”

  He then took off at a harder run, following the same path Leon had taken. Leon pulled ahead and ran still faster.

  Jagger could almost feel the hard gazes at his back, the curiosity in the spectators’’ voices as he and Leon sprinted by them. Leon hit an emergency exit with both hands landing against the solid metal door before disappearing on the other side.

  The deeply disturbing roars of six or seven lions rose high above the noise level made by the populated crowd. They’d been provoked. Ariela’s scent had undoubtedly roused
them. Worse still, they would detect the lioness within and become more agitated by their confusion.

  With the initial breeding season upon her, she might have looked like a human to the lions in the den, but she’d smell familiar. She smelled like one of them!

  Opening night. Of all the damn times!

  Seconds later, Jagger breezed through the hallways behind the main stage, pushing through the throng of people. He stretched his neck and tried to see over the tops of their heads, becoming more panic-stricken as time wore on. Why hadn’t Ariela left the stage? Where was she?

  Grabbing one of the stage managers, he shouted, “I want Ariela out of there. Now!”

  “Here she is, boss.” A peculiar-looking fellow pointed at the parting curtain. Jagger breathed a sigh of relief and released his employee without another word. Sanchez followed her with a predator’s gait, practically issuing a warning to the other lions behind him. Human or lioness, Ariela was his mate.

  Seconds later, Ariela cleared the ramp and rushed Jagger, throwing herself into his awaiting arms. “Jagger, get me out of here.”

  Her breathless request fell against his throat. He let her bury her head in his shirt and hurried past onlookers, keeping her pressed firmly against him.

  He turned one corner and then another, working his way through the maze of hallways. Leon joined them, stepping right in stride beside Jagger. He lifted a small fellow out of his way. The poor guy looked at him in astonishment, but Leon never noticed.

  Together, they boarded the elevator. Leon brushed Ariela’s hair to the side of her neck and kissed her nape. “You gave us a scare.”

  Jagger tightened his hold, locking his arms around her small waist. “How long?”

  “It started right after intermission.” Her voice was weak, her eyes even weaker.

  “Let’s get her to the dressing room,” Jagger said, exiting the lift and carrying her cradle-style through the corridors.

  “Jagger, I don’t think I can make it that far, and the reporters are everywhere. If they see us frolicking in a hallway, they’re liable to print another story—about lions mating, and the shifters they suspect we are.”

  “Since when do you care about tabloid articles and front page news? Reporters, or what they’re reporting for that matter, never worried you in the past. Of all times, you shouldn’t fret over it now.”

  “She knows Sanchez is hurting and she doesn’t want to say something to a savvy reporter than she might regret later,” Leon said, apparently wise to her concerns.

  “Is that an educated guess or a conveyed vision?” Jagger asked, clutching her warm form as he tried one door and then another. He kept walking down the corridor jiggling knobs until one finally gave way. He and Ariela entered a large open space with Leon right on his heels.

  A few seconds later, they were all practically in a race against time, stripping off their clothes, kicking off their shoes, and scattering their belongings in one cluster-fuck of a desperate mess.

  Jagger lunged forward, bracketed his arm around her waist and dragged her to him. Her bare breasts mashed against his chest. She peered up at him from under fluttering eyelashes. Lust was deeply embedded in her blue eyes. There was only one way to translate the longing.

  He couldn’t screw away that kind of desire. He couldn’t fuck her with long-pounding strokes and beat down those insatiable desires one thump at a time.

  Ariela’s breeding season was upon them. Given her past seasons, the best they could hope for was a more cautious mate, if and when Sanchez joined them.

  That was about like asking Leon to sit this one out. Jagger glanced at Leon and couldn’t help but notice his protruding member.

  No way. Leon wasn’t about to leave the loving up to Jagger. Oh no, he was ready to go all in—and given the shifter’s stamina, the fucker would probably be the last man standing at attention. Given the fact Leon could see the future? He already knew precisely how this would all end.

  * * * *

  Sanchez paraded down the halls as if he had a right to wander at will. One of the handlers spoke to him in a calming manner, trying to coax him back to the humanized lion’s den. A rope fell to the ground next to him and Sanchez leapt over the knotted line, following his senses, letting Ariela’s arousal lead him.

  He stopped outside one of the last doors at the end of the hallway and roared. Clawing viciously at the panel, he was tremendously relieved when Leon opened the door and greeted him.

  Sanchez lunged forward and transitioned in midair. He landed on his feet about the time Leon shouted to their employee, “It’s all right. We’ll handle Sanchez. Go see if you can find Melinda Parker and tell her to handle the press. Go now!”

  The door slammed. A shifted bolt suggested they were locked away from all dangers, from a society that didn’t understand them and didn’t want to learn more about them. The only thing the crowds in Vegas cared about was how much entertainment their almighty dollar would buy them. The press, however, had proven they were a different beast altogether. They wanted to expose, chastise and judge.

  At the moment, Sanchez didn’t care about members of the media. He didn’t wonder what their adoring audience would say when they left the elaborate sprawling coliseum built to house the multi-million dollar Rise to Power, Search for Pride production.

  Sanchez’s mouth watered as he studied the gorgeous body sprawled out in front of Jagger. All things considered, the patrons at the show had been grossly shortchanged. The most magnificent act of all performances was set to begin, just moments from unfolding.

  Tickets weren’t sold to this spectacular show. No one could gain admission to their private viewing. This act was a closed-door extravaganza where only invited guests were able to join them.

  “Sanchez,” Ariela whispered, crooking her finger back and forth.

  He stalked his mate. His hunger for Ariela was unmanageable, but he still wanted to try and feed his insatiable appetite.

  Jagger pried Ariela’s legs apart and shoved his cock deep inside her pussy. Leon joined them at the desk then. He heaved her upper body forward and fed his lust by feasting on those delectable swollen nipples.

  Sanchez stroked his cock, grateful then for the shifting abilities that had left him nude and prepared to join them. Being close to her then was a gift. He was so close that he could reach out and touch her, or he could just watch and wait, enjoy the little whimpers falling from her lips as Jagger thrust in and out of her slippery cunt.

  The wet sounds of sex filled the air. Jagger quickly established rapid beats, striking out with full-throttled intentions, never slowing down or giving in to Ariela’s soft requests for a slower assault and gentler approach.

  She turned her head to Sanchez. Her delicate features had always appealed to him and even now, as one of her mates thrummed inside her small form and another ravished her full breasts, Sanchez thought she still maintained a look of such innocence.

  “What do you need, Ariela?” He pumped his dick in and out of his tightly drawn fist.

  She swiped her tongue across her lips and stared at his cock. Soft moans resounded in time as Jagger hammered inside her, pushing his cock harder inside her channel.

  Sanchez fondled his length, toying with her, loving the way she scoured his body with a heated gaze, a desperate look of breeding lust marking its place in her expression. “This?”

  “Oh yes, that,” she purred, raking her nails down Jagger’s arm. She held Leon’s head to her chest, watching as he devoured her breasts.

  Sanchez felt like the predator he’d been when he’d escorted her off the stage and into the safety net of Jagger’s arms. He now stood at her side, dragging his cock around the shape of her mouth, cherishing the way her wicked tongue wrecked his control and shattered his defenses.

  Jagger gripped her hip and slammed into her with a more jolting impalement, throwing his body upright as he twisted and turned, fucking her deep, holding the stroke, and then forcin
g his cock still higher.

  “Ah yes!” she screamed out, her body now gleaming with a sheen of perspiration.

  Leon nuzzled her bosom. He nipped at her hard nipples with sharp teeth and drew an instant yelp from her. She twisted and turned, but Sanchez held her down by pressing her shoulders against the solid surface.

  Her body was ready, fully prepared for the onslaught of finished pleasure. Jagger pulled out at just the right time. Tossing his leg over one of hers, he tilted his head to Leon who assumed the spot beside him.

  Together they aimed the heads of their penises at her opening. Ariela’s eyes nearly rolled back in her head. A breathless whisper fell from her lips and she took Sanchez in hand, dragging his cock to her mouth and cradling his weighted balls in her dainty hand.

  She licked the slit, smiled up at him, then moaned out loud with the sudden and forceful entry of two men claiming their spots, taking their stand.

  Grabbing hold of one another for support, the men locked arms. They screwed her together, throwing their intimate punches in a way guaranteed to bring on a shattering orgasm, a satisfying climax.

  Leon howled as he fucked her. The noisy bastard always seemed to have a profound need to shout out his enthusiasm, his obvious enjoyment and pleasure.

  Sanchez shifted his weight, planting his hands next to her head and forming an arch with his body. Jagger and Leon used his back for a platform, plunging into her together and then one at a time. In a swaying fashion, one man pulled out, the other pressed forward. Their hooded eyes showcased that intimate friction each man enjoyed as they claimed her tight space and found a delicious rhythm.

  Ariela muttered against Sanchez’s shaft. He watched her lips stretch with his size as he slipped inside her mouth, loving the way she sucked at the tender skin right under his hooded head. Her tongue whipped around his width and she pulled him to her throat, lapping and licking, leaving chills up and down his spine as she sucked his cock like a damn pro, a woman who was trained and skilled, schooled and certified.