Influence Read online

  “Listen to him.” Sanchez turned to Jagger. “Leon and I have noticed Melinda has changed up her game. With Ariela out of the picture for the time being, Melinda is more manipulative than she’s ever been.”

  Jagger released a burdened sigh. “I may have to give her what she wants.”

  “Bullshit,” Sanchez said. “If you’re planning to fuck her, at least be a man about it. Say it. Tell us that you’ve lost interest in Ariela and have decided to pursue Melinda.”

  “I agree.” Leon studied Jagger. “I’ve known you and Ariela since you were kids, and you’ll never pull the wool over my eyes. Without Ariela, you’re lost. Still, I’ve seen you with Melinda recently. You’re attracted to her.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” Jagger wouldn’t excuse or explain his feelings beyond adding, “She’s around. She gives me the attention I need. I’m a man with an overactive sex drive. Just because my mate is busy giving Lane Livingston a houseful of children doesn’t mean I should sit back and wait for Ariela to come to her senses.”

  “So you’re pursuing Melinda?”

  “Pursuing?” Sanchez balked at that. “In case you haven’t noticed, Melinda isn’t exactly leading him on a wild-goose chase. Whenever I see her, she’s typically leaned over his desk, trying to unbutton her blouse so he can see down her shirt.”

  Jagger grinned. “She is a persistent little thing. Isn’t she?”

  Leon and Sanchez glared at him as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing or seeing.

  “You need to think this through.”

  “Leon, I’ve thought it through. I’m not waiting until Lane and Ariela quit having cubs. I’ve had enough self-sex to last a few lifetimes.”

  “Good thing you aren’t a vampire,” Sanchez said.

  Jagger sneered. “This is not a laughing matter, Sanchez.”

  “We’ve already established that much.”

  Leon shook his head. “You’d better rethink this, Jagger. If you fuck Melinda, Ariela may not come back to you.”

  “I’ve considered that possibility.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “Leon is right. Why did you agree to meet Ariela today if you’ve already embraced your feelings for Melinda?”

  “I didn’t say I had feelings for her. I said I may fuck her. Who could blame me? The woman is feisty. She has some bodacious boobs and the way she looks at a man makes him—me—feel as if I’m the only man in the room.”

  “Then fuck her,” Leon said, grabbing his shirt and stuffing his arms in his sleeves. “But don’t come whining to me when Ariela blows up in your face. She won’t forgive you, Jagger.”

  “I won’t forgive you either,” Sanchez piped in. “I think you’re playing with our futures, too, if you go to bed with that corporate whore. If you ruin our chances of reconciling with our mate, I’ll never forgive you.”

  “Appreciate the sidebar comments, Sanchez. Really. I’ll lose sleep over that threat tonight.”

  * * * *

  Lane topped Ariela and shoved her arms high above her head. Devouring her breasts, he caressed her nipples with his tongue, paying close attention to the way she writhed underneath him.

  He’d always loved making love to Ariela when she was pregnant. Not only did it turn him on to know she was carrying his child, but it also made him damned horny to know her senses were sharper and her desires were more difficult to fulfill.

  She was the ultimate challenge, the woman he’d never fully conquer or completely tame.

  “Fuck me, Lane.”

  “All ready for me again?” He mashed his length against her leg. “Are you sure, sweetheart?”

  She thrust her legs apart. “What do you think?”

  He didn’t test for confirmation. Instead, he thrust inside her, slamming the weight of his cock high inside her pussy with several hard rams.

  “Mmm…Lane. Like that. Just like that.” Her beautiful blue eyes sparkled like the Gulf’s waters. Her golden blonde hair fanned out around her head. She looked so innocent, so precious, and he loved it when he viewed her in this light.

  He loved her so much that the last thing he wanted was to share her. Didn’t she understand? How could he make her see? He only took these obsessive measures to protect her and their unborn child. He only kept her away from Jagger and the others because they wouldn’t protect her with their very lives.

  Her legs closed and locked around his hips and she gave as well as she received. She used her pussy muscles to flex around his throbbing cock, clenching around his shaft as he thrummed inside her.

  “Fuck me faster.” She bit at his lips as she clearly attempted to gain control over their movement.

  Lane wouldn’t give her that. Not yet. He wanted her to know who was in charge here. He needed her to realize who had the ability to satisfy her long after the average male would’ve collapsed to the bed and claimed exhaustion.

  “You don’t have anything to prove to me,” she whispered, apparently in tune with his thoughts, his actions.

  “I never said I had anything to prove.” He fluttered his tongue across her nipple. “Want me to prove something to you?”

  “No, Lane. You’re perfect.”

  “We’re good together, Ariela. So good.” The fleshy barb emerged on the underside of his penis. She gasped as soon as it raked against her walls, dragging across the lining inside her channel.

  “Yes.” She closed her eyes and whimpered as he pounded inside her then, clasping her hands against the pillow as he thrust with an unrelenting rhythm holding her palm to palm as he drove inside her without a pause in strokes, without breaking his pace. “Ah, Lane.”

  He brushed her skin with his kiss, savoring the fullness in her breasts, those heavy mounds weighted down with the evidence of motherhood. He suckled her nipples, loving the taste of her excitement as he made love to her.

  Ravenous need pummeled him with knowledge. He couldn’t survive without his woman, the mate who had mothered his children, the mate who would stand beside him until the end of time.

  “Ariela!” He poured himself into her then, slamming against her. Once. Twice. And a third time. “Ah yes. Sweet, sweet baby. Yes.”

  Her cunt squeezed around his shaft as her orgasm took hold and she used her foot to push her hips up and flip him over to his back. She climbed on top, coming apart as she threw her arms behind her. She gripped his thighs and ground her pussy against his groin, her cunt sucking at his cock as she rode him.

  “So, so pretty, Ariela,” he crooned, staring at those perky nipples. “I love you, Ariela. Believe that.”

  “I do.” She closed her eyes and let her orgasm take hold again.

  As her langle mate, he felt her come apart inside, the flex of her pussy leaving him with an incredible amount of exquisite sensations up and down his cock. He had never known such pleasure, such overwhelming joy.

  Ariela completed him. She was his entire world. But soon, he would need to share his world with those who’d claimed her first.

  Chapter Three

  “He’s giving her everything she feels she lacks.” Jagger looked up from his newspaper when Leon entered the kitchen the next morning. “She had all the money she could spend. She had power, money, fame, but she wanted influence, and she wanted a pride of her own. Ariela feared being left alone.”

  “The circle of commitment should’ve eased her mind there,” Leon said.

  “We must’ve been out of our minds to form that circle.”

  “I don’t know about you, but that still stands out as one of the hottest intimate moments we’ve ever enjoyed with her,” Leon said.

  “This isn’t about sex for Ariela,” Jagger said.

  “I would hope not.” Leon poured a cup of coffee. “Have you decided what you’re going to do about Melinda?”

  Jagger picked up his phone and read, “Ariela, I need to see you. It concerns Melinda. Can we meet later today?”

  “N
ice way to start off her morning.”

  “He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t get a fuck you in return,” Sanchez said, staggering through the kitchen to the sundeck. He started every morning the same way. He stumbled out of bed, went for a swim, shifted and went for a run, came back for a swim, and then claimed he was ready to start the day.

  Jagger frowned, held up his phone, and said, “Boy had it right.”

  Sanchez poked his head back in the room. “Because boy is actually a man who pays attention.”

  Jagger laughed. A few minutes later he heard the splash indicating Sanchez wasn’t concerned about the Jagger and Ariela dilemma.

  “Think about how you want to handle that response,” Leon said. “She is carrying Lane’s child, Jagger. She won’t meet you without him unless she believes it’s safe to do so.”

  “You know I’ve had time to think about something. I resent how most everyone says Ariela is carrying his child. She is carrying her child. She would’ve been raising her children with us if he’d stayed the hell out of her life!”

  “Lane feels like he’s giving her something we can’t.”

  “What? Langle children? Is that supposed to be a blessing or a curse? The langles have been the most misunderstood breed on the planet.”

  “That may be true, but they are also a strong shifter breed. They can handle themselves well in the wild with others like their animal counterparts, or they can lead in any culture. They have brilliant minds.”

  Jagger winced. “Which is why Lane has been able to keep her away from us?”

  Leon sipped his coffee. “How do you plan to respond?”

  Jagger grinned. “In typical form.” He typed out his reply and read, “Now there’s an idea. Since it’s been nearly two years since I’ve had the pleasure, I think it’s time we discuss options. If Melinda isn’t an option, then you give me one. Otherwise, come here to the house at four o’clock today and come alone. This is between us and I won’t discuss it in front of Lane or anyone else.”

  “Does that include me?”

  Jagger thought about his reply before he answered Leon. “She and I have a history none of you can match.”

  “True, but you aren’t the only one walking around here with blue balls. I’ll be honest with you, but I’m not saying it in front of Sanchez. I’ve thought about going to someone for help with this problem.”

  “You mean like a prostitute?”

  “Tell me that hasn’t crossed your mind.”

  “It hasn’t,” Jagger said, considering the reasons why. “Because I’ve thought about having my way with Melinda and then releasing her from her duties at Pride’s Casino.”

  “Jagger, I can’t stand in your way if you decide Melinda is who you want, but—”

  “Melinda? Really?” Ariela’s voice filled the air. Her bare feet padded against the floor.

  Jagger and Leon turned to face Ariela at the same time.

  “Out for a morning run, were you?” Jagger picked up his coffee cup and eyed the gorgeous woman in front of him. Her bosom rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath. She tossed her cell phone to the sofa.

  “Ditched the clothes but carried your phone? You’ll have to tell me how you accomplished that sometime.”

  She snapped her teeth. “And you knew I’d come right over.”

  “No, I assumed you were otherwise engaged,” Jagger said, leaning back in his chair and pushing down on his heavy cock. “I didn’t expect you to rush home. If I’d known you were on call, I would’ve texted that message a long time ago.”

  “Don’t be flip with me,” Ariela said, grabbing an afghan as she passed the sofa.

  “Don’t cover up on our account,” Jagger said, nursing his coffee as much as his broken heart. “Guess the langle hasn’t taught you how to travel with an extra change of clothes?”

  “Don’t.”

  “We can throw around warnings all day, but I texted for a reason.” He looked at Leon. “I haven’t had a chance to discuss this with you and had planned to do that after Ariela and I set up a time to meet.” His gaze rested on her bountiful breasts, the cleavage she left exposed causing his mouth to water. “As you can see, she was in a hurry to see us.”

  “Jagger, what I’m doing is for all of us.”

  “Is it?” He rose from his chair and went to her. “Tell me something, Ariela. When you fuck him, when you suck his cock or tongue his balls, is that for all of us?”

  “You bastard!” She reared back to smack him.

  He caught her arm in midair. “I asked you a question.”

  “You’re hurting me.”

  “I’ll hurt you, all right. It will hurt you when I start fucking Melinda. Would you like to know why, Ariela?”

  She glared at him as if she hated him, and his heart shattered in another million pieces.

  “Would you like to know why?” He lowered his voice the second time around.

  Her nostrils flared. Her eyes watered.

  “Jagger, that’s enough,” Leon said.

  “No, she needs to hear this.” He set his jaw, the determination and fury rousing the lion going mad inside him. “I’m as much a man in heat when you’re in season as you are a woman who can’t manage her lust. The only difference between you and me is you’re having your needs met. I am not.”

  “Then handle it yourself!”

  “How would that work for you? Hmm?” He glared at her then and saw the self-centered lioness coming to the fore. “Would it work for you if you were all hot and bothered, sweaty even from a memory still fresh in your mind? Would it work for you if you saw two people grinding out their lust on an elevator’s surveillance? Would it be enough for you if you went to a male venue and saw the fellas take it all off and then were told after it was over to go home and rev up the vibrator? Those batteries eventually get old, Ariela. My left hand has long since tired and the right one bores me to tears.”

  She took a ragged breath. They were nose to nose and he could smell her arousal, her heat, and he was thankful it wasn’t her breeding bout, though he sensed she’d just completed her mating cycle. “You’re hot, lust-ridden. How about I tie you to the bed and make you wait there until I have the desire to come and play with you. Hmm? How would you like that, Ariela? Would that work for you? Would it make everything okay for you?”

  “You had a choice.”

  “And I still have a choice.”

  “Melinda? You choose Melinda?”

  Jagger backed away from her and left her in the center of the dining room. Leon shot him a quick glance. He clearly didn’t approve of Jagger’s tactics, but if they played this thing out, they might see a positive turn of fate.

  “Are you jealous, vixen?” Leon asked.

  “I’m not speaking to you,” she snapped. “Don’t sit there and act like this is all Jagger. I heard what you said about prostitutes.”

  “Can you blame him?”

  “I blame you both!”

  “Hell’s fury, woman! It’s been two damn years!”

  “Then go fuck your little Melinda. If you think you can get a rise out of her, then go!” She tossed down her blanket and shifted.

  Leon darted for the door, blocking her exit. Jagger shifted.

  He pounced on her before she shifted back to her human form. Leon kept his back to the door, his pure male stubbornness shining in his eyes.

  Jagger’s heart raced. His blood pumped faster and faster as he circled his woman and now his prey.

  She crouched in front of him and every catcall in the world resonated in the room as he mounted her from behind, nicking at her cat fur as he quickly rode her. He thrust inside her lioness body, raking his barbed penis against her lining as he quickly dumped his release inside her.

  She released a resonating roar as he withdrew. She turned to face him. Their heated gazes met. The animal fuck wasn’t enough. He needed more. He needed her human body, his beautiful Ariela.

  W
ithout even thinking about it, he shifted. Palming his cock, he stared at her then, willing her to shift so they could finish this.

  “Ariela, I won’t ask.”

  She bowed her head, lifted her gaze, watching his every move.

  “You can hate me all you want, but you will hear me.”

  She whipped around, flicking her tail at Leon. He didn’t budge from the door.

  “You’ll have to shake that ass at Jagger. I have more stamina than he does, and you’re not leaving until we get to the bottom of a few things.”

  Leon’s words provoked her. She shifted and marched across the room. “A prostitute?”

  She was still stuck on that?

  “You think Lane would go two years without a woman?” Jagger asked.

  “He’s right, Ariela. I happen to know for a fact that he kept two or three submissives under his roof prior to your abduction.”

  She flinched.

  “And maybe even after you moved in,” Jagger said, going for a finishing thrust. Might as well. She’d left them hanging—literally and figuratively—for over twenty-four months.

  “What do you want from me?”

  Leon’s gaze draped over her like a blanket. “You have to ask?”

  “Sex.”

  “No, I don’t want just sex, Ariela. I want my mate to come home and climb in my bed where she belongs.”

  “Jagger?” She whipped around and awaited his response. “So all I am to you is a means to get off?”

  “You’re my heart, damn you!” His vision blurred. “But you see how well you survive when someone cuts out your heart! It’s damned near impossible to go on living!”

  Before he thought about what he stood to lose, he stalked her. He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom cradle style.

  She didn’t object. She didn’t say anything to deter him. Instead, she looked at him with the same love and admiration she’d once held for him.