Power Read online

  Leon would throw down his weight, all right. He hadn’t waited all these years to give her a small piece of himself. When he finally took his mate and shared in her loving, he would give her more than she’d bargained for, far more than Jagger had ever given her in the past.

  He stroked his cock, pushing his penis through his clasped hand. His erection pulsed with renewed energy as the sounds of sex filled the air.

  Jagger pulled her hair, yanking her head back and thrusting for the obvious finish. Their piercing screams filled the air. Ariela begged for more. Jagger ordered her to hold still, threatening to spank her if she moved again, a threat he often used but seldom delivered upon.

  Leon imagined his cock impaling Ariela. He had dreamt of fucking her. He’d longed to punish her with a hard hand, slap the ever-loving hell out of her glorious apple-shaped bottom.

  He’d pictured those nipples pierced, watching while a professional pinned those lovely gems while he performed oral sex on her, licking and lapping at her pussy while another man stuck a thin needle through her nipple and affixed two perfect gems on those long, extended points.

  Good God, he was ready to blow!

  He sucked his fingers and dragged them over his tip, caressing the crest. Damn it! He wanted more! He needed to hear her yell again. He wanted to listen to the ravenous fucking.

  “Throw your hips back, Ariela,” Jagger demanded.

  She clutched the banister, shifted so her ass was right in front of him, and her body formed a perfect arc. The image further improved when Jagger grabbed her hips and lifted her to him, pounding inside her without a set speed control.

  The man must’ve had stamina from hell.

  Leon pinched his left nipple and pulled his length with more determination. Relief. He needed to find some measure of relief!

  Watching those two was akin to standing next to heaven’s door and begging for a glimpse behind the pearly gates. It was better than backstage passes to a sold-out show or front row seats at an exclusive gentleman’s club.

  “Ariela!” He screamed aloud at the same time Jagger called out her name, too. His body jerked violently and his hot cum spread over his belly like rain, coating his stomach with a never-ending stream of his sticky release.

  His head rolled from side to side as his thighs tightened and his buttocks clenched. He rocked back and forth, nearly falling to his knees as he thought of her body enveloping him, her pussy trembling around his shaft with saucy pulsations meant to drive a man wild.

  Leon blinked. Staring straight ahead, he wondered then if Jagger had heard him. Had Ariela listened as he’d screamed her beautiful name?

  Good God, he couldn’t keep doing this. He couldn’t hold out for moments like these when he needed his mate and longed to make a more definite claim.

  The couple vacated the deck, but Jagger soon returned. With a beer bottle swinging at his hip, he casually walked down the back steps and stood poolside.

  He nursed his beer, focusing on the area near a large boulder about five feet away from where Leon stood. Leon ducked when Jagger took a few steps forward, but he didn’t hide out of fear. Leon wanted to play out his hand, and Jagger calling him out wasn’t part of the plan.

  Oh no, Leon had a much different scenario in mind.

  He would soon knock on their door and look Jagger in the eye and say, “Like it or not, friend, your mate is my mate, too. Your woman belongs to me as much as she belongs to you.”

  * * * *

  “Are you coming to bed?” Ariela asked, slipping her arms around his waist and resting her cheek on his back.

  Jagger stiffened under her touch but Ariela ignored him. His mood had only temporarily soured after she’d been honest with him. She’d told him about the lion-shifter she’d encountered, and soon after, Jagger had fucked her right. If he’d been furious with her, he hadn’t shown it. He’d taken care of her in such a tender way. His loving made her feel sexy and desirable, as if she were the most beautiful woman in the world.

  Then again, he’d always done that. It was just different this time. He seemed determined to make sure she was satisfied.

  While fucking her on the deck, he’d whispered the naughtiest suggestions in her ear. He’d told her how he was in heat, too, how her season had sparked a new desire within him. He’d promised to please her, sworn he wouldn’t complain if she climbed on top of him in the middle of the night, and demanded he satisfy her longings.

  Then, he’d savagely fucked her like a man who not only wanted her, but also planned to screw her well beyond the midnight hour. He’d pounded inside her until she’d begged for a break and assured him he was the only man she’d ever need. Then her insatiable drive had resurfaced once more. Within minutes she was raring to go again, and his current mood was anything but appealing.

  She missed the fun-loving Jagger. She enjoyed the man who knew how to have a good time and kept a woman coming back for more, not the shifter performing out of duty. His objectives typically differed from her own, but during their lovemaking, he’d seemed quite determined to prove he was more man than she could handle, more beast than she could tame.

  Now, she wondered. Was the man he’d shown her just moments before simply a figment of her imagination?

  “What is it now, Jagger?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Your mood. It’s depressing.”

  “He’s your mate, too,” Jagger said without the slightest hint of hesitation.

  “Who?” She released him then and took a step back. “What are you talking about, Jagger?”

  He slowly faced her. “You didn’t feel it?”

  “Feel what exactly?” She swallowed once and pushed aside those sensations, the fiery need the other lion shifter had stirred within her.

  “When you first met him, did you feel anything?”

  She didn’t respond.

  “Answer me, Ariela.”

  Her first inclination was to respond with a “no” but then she remembered how the strange shifter had stirred a longing inside her that made her stomach ache, her pussy clench. Her skin tingled then at the thought of him. “I didn’t feel anything spectacular.”

  “Liar.”

  “I’m not lying,” she said, offended by his slur but owning it all the same. “Not in the way you think.”

  “Lying is still lying when it’s by omission. Why don’t you explain so I can better understand?”

  “Jagger, don’t do this.” She was pained by his question, but more than anything else, she was ashamed.

  She and Jagger had a history. They were in love. They were supposed to live by their promises and only have eyes for one another.

  “What am I doing?” Jagger asked.

  “You’re trying to make me admit feelings I don’t have.”

  “Those are your words, not mine.”

  “What would you call this form of questioning then, Jagger?”

  “An interrogation.” A beat later, he added, “And it’s intentional. I want to know how you responded to him. A play by play would be nice, Ariela.”

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “Because he is your mate!” Jagger bellowed, rage pulsing through his corded veins. “I may not like it—hell, I may hate it at first—but there are some female shifters who will have more than one mate, and apparently you’re one of them!”

  Her entire thought process turned on a dime. She tried to ward off a smile. She’d never considered having two mates, but as she thought of the possibilities, she was intrigued. “Why would I have two mates now? We’ve been together for years, Jagger. You never mentioned this before.”

  “I never knew how taxing your breeding terms would be.”

  “I find them exhilarating when you aren’t like this,” she teased, brushing his hair away from his face.

  He caught her wrist and glared at her as if he didn’t like what he saw. “Don’t, Ariela.” He placed some distance be
tween them, pacing the length of the deck. “Tell me how it was between the two of you. How did you feel when you saw him? How did he pursue you? What did he say to you?”

  “Considering the woman was frightened, I doubt she remembers.” A voice resounded as a man approached them, taking careful steps as he made his way up the cobblestone path. “Why don’t you ask me some of these questions, Jagger?”

  Ariela couldn’t breathe. As if she’d beckoned the man from the desert to appear right then, he walked up and sported his fine masculine glory.

  “Well I’ll be damned,” Jagger muttered, his face draining of all color. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “You know him?” Ariela stared at the handsome stranger then back at Jagger. “Who is he?” She returned her focus to the stranger. “Who are you?”

  “You mean you don’t recognize him?” Jagger grinned at the newcomer as he approached. “You should probably count your blessings, man. If you’d been anyone else, I would’ve called you out for a good old fashioned fight to the death.”

  The stranger laughed. “I believe you.”

  “Jagger, who is this man?”

  Jagger’s lips twitched. “Leon Casanova, but don’t let the name fool ya.” Jagger reached for Leon with an outstretched hand. “He’s anything but a romantic.”

  Leon accepted the handshake then pulled Jagger into a hug. They slapped backs and acted too chummy for Ariela’s liking. How could Jagger be so friendly to a man Ariela found sexier than a roomful of Vegas male strippers?

  “Ariela, Leon was around when we were kids,” Jagger explained. “He knew your parents and mine.”

  “You knew our parents?” She tried to process this. How could that be? If that were true, why couldn’t she remember him? “We’ve met before?”

  “Yes.” He glanced at Jagger. “She only had eyes for you at the time. She wouldn’t remember me.”

  “He isn’t much older than us, Ariela. Surely you remember Leon.”

  “How old are you?” she asked.

  “Just turned thirty-three a few weeks ago,” Leon replied.

  “He knew our parents,” she whispered, still viewing Leon as a woman’s toy instead of a family friend.

  “I did indeed.”

  “We’ve met?” She was dazed and confused. Her vision blurred with her tears as she thought of their parents. She and Jagger had enjoyed a wonderful childhood. They’d both lived a life of privilege—and then, in the blink of an eye, everything they’d cherished had been destroyed. On a South African excursion, a lion’s pride attacked and killed their parents.

  “It was a long time ago,” Leon said, that hooded lust weighting down his eyes again. He made no bones about staring at her breasts, and apparently her body made no bones about responding.

  Her pussy tightened and dampened. Her nipples spiked under his scrutiny.

  Jagger clucked as he smiled back at the grinning Leon. “I can’t get over this. Why didn’t you just knock on our door and tell me you were in town? Why all the sneaking around and hitting on my girl behind my back?”

  “Well, since you asked…” Leon paused and glanced at Ariela. “I didn’t exactly search her out. She came looking for me. And since she did, I’m here to make a claim.”

  “You’re her mate, too.” Apparently Jagger willingly accepted the fact now that he knew who would be sleeping on the other side of the bed.

  “I am definitely one of her mates.”

  Jagger frowned. “What is this one of stuff?”

  “Then what took you so long to claim me?”she asked, bitter because they were talking around her as if she didn’t have a say in the whole mating equation. “And I echo Jagger’s inquiry. You make it sound as if I’ll have a den full of mates.”

  “One question at a time,” Leon said. “I had planned on waiting you out for the end of this season. I thought it would be easier for Jagger.”

  “And why would you think it would be easier on Jagger?”

  Leon’s gaze worked between them. “Your overactive sex drive is hard enough for the average man to handle without the added stress of a full-blown mating season, but as you’ve matured, Ariela, your needs have advanced as well. Your breeding terms will become unmanageable soon, and your mating periods will demand the attention of four mates.”

  “What?” Jagger screeched.

  “It’s true, Jagger, and as it happens, you must embrace the idea, or you will leave Ariela in a vulnerable position, not to mention yourself.”

  A sudden roar fell from Jagger’s throat. The sound didn’t slip between his lips like a man’s guttural growl, but rather fell from his wide-opened mouth like a spiteful ball of raging fury. He punched at thin air and glared back at Leon, who stood motionless. “What do you mean by four?” He wheeled around and faced Ariela. “Did you suspect this?”

  “No,” she whispered, agonized by her mate’s expression.

  “She didn’t know.”

  “Don’t speak for me,” she snapped.

  “Apparently someone needs to.” Leon took a deep breath. “You haven’t told him about your growing desires, and those insatiable needs could cost you both everything if we don’t address them.”

  “You make it sound like I’m a lab experiment or something.” She snorted as she recalled a time when her mother had tried to talk to her about the mating seasons. Men, she’d said, thought they knew everything about a woman’s cycle. They didn’t have a clue, and the sooner a woman accepted the fact the sooner she’d love her mate unconditionally—numerous flaws and all.

  “That’s not my intention, Ariela. My goal is to help you relay to Jagger what you need to tell him. Your needs have become—how should we say this—unfulfilled?”

  “How the hell would you know that?” But even as she blasted him with words, her insatiable quest for sex had begun to kick in. She would’ve gladly tabled the discussion right then and climbed aboard her newest mate. Her mouth watered as she contemplated trying him on for size and riding him all night long.

  If he didn’t quit gawking at her crossed arms as if he could see underneath them, she might just give him a spin around the patio, or at least a good romp right there next to the swimming pool. When she was through with him, she’d give him a push and tell him to sink or swim, assuring him her needs were desires she could handle all on her own.

  Jagger turned away from them then and stared out at the desert. He gripped the handrail and nodded his head back and forth, before he quietly asked, “Do you know this for sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Jagger.”Ariela rushed him. Squeezing his bicep made her pussy come alive. Touching him then was akin to a first stroke. Sparks of pleasure peppered her pussy with quick vibrations as if he’d thrust inside her once, twice, and now a third time.

  Her breath caught in her chest and she drew back, aware of Jagger’s reaction when he pulled away. He wasn’t about to let her have him then. Jagger would give her to this man, and he would watch. She could see her future unraveling in her mate’s eyes.

  “Jagger, no,” she whispered, shaking her head then.

  “You’re not attracted to him?”

  “It’s not important.”

  “You can either tell him the truth, Ariela, or I’ll show it to him,” Leon said.

  “And just how do you plan to show him? Hmm?”

  Jagger opened his mouth to speak.

  About that time a loud ba-bam resounded next to their lawn. A large fluorescent bubble appeared just steps from where they stood, but the magnificent shape wasn’t what held her unwavering interest.

  It was the images unfolding within the globule of air that made her skin heat. The images, in fact, were enough to make a hooker blush.

  Ariela, on the other hand, was not blushing. She was plotting and planning. As the scenes unfolded before them, she quickly realized that her fantasies—every last one of them—were about to come true.
r />   Chapter Five

  Leon moved his hands in a circular fashion with his palms turned outward. His head and limbs jerked to the left and right as he seemingly painted all the pictures and scenes with his own hands. His body moved in a synchronized fashion as he stepped in time with some sort of orchestrated dance moves. It was like watching someone play charades, but not understanding the altered rules of the game.

  Jagger realized the images Leon showed them were fantasies he controlled, which further explained why the majority of flexing muscles shown were Leon’s as opposed to Jagger’s. The illustrations were Leon’s visions of himself. He projected an illicit image of how he hoped Ariela would view him.

  Ariela’s hot gaze met his. Jagger saw the admiration and awe in her eyes as she turned her complete attention to Leon before glancing at the bubble again.

  Inside the spectacular mirage, a lovemaking scenario played out in the most erotic fashion. Leon and Jagger towered over Ariela. She welcomed them with open arms and splayed legs. Her golden hair fanned around her face as she fondled their cocks.

  “What is this?” Ariela asked.

  “Your future,” Leon replied.

  “This is insane.” She hurried forward, took Jagger by the arm, and gave him a hard tug. “Jagger, I need you.”

  “Just a minute,” he said, clasping his hand over hers. He was curious, and unable to look away from their bodies. As much as he wanted to throw up his arms and prevent their destined futures, he knew with absolute certainty that he could not change the path they were on now.

  Leon rubbed his palms together and threw his arms wide, reaching up in the air. Another illusion began. This time Ariela stepped toward the globe, pacing around the perimeter and watching as if she were finally intrigued by the scenarios housed inside.

  “You’re playing mind games.”

  “He isn’t, Ariela.”

  “What would you call this!” she screamed as the ravenous fucking began inside the fading image.