Power Read online

  “Well, for starters, I won’t tell the world that you and your friend are shifters.” Melinda’s voice was diabolical to its very core. “I won’t let this sort of thing leak to the casino’s board members. No one will know that Pride’s VP of Finance is sleeping around with a man she claims has a barbed head.” She laughed. “Imagine how that might look, Leon.”

  “Bitch, if you’re threatening me, you have no idea who’ve you’ve backed in a corner.”

  “Naturally, you’d assume that I’m no threat to you. Being at the top of the food chain, it’s so easy to forget the route taken to get there, to claim that spot and keep it. Leon, darling, let me give you a couple of lessons in power. When you recognize the power in another, you don’t ignore it or you risk diminishing some of your own. And two? Power isn’t handed to you on a silver platter all neatly set up to service one. It’s typically found in the dirtiest of places, and often discovered behind closed doors.

  “Those who stumble across such an extraordinary find play their hand as carefully as they can, realizing their one shot may be just that, and taking the keys to the kingdom is never easy, but it’s often just.”

  “What the bloody hell are you rambling about?” Ariela asked, stepping closer to the phone that Leon now turned her way.

  “I didn’t expect to find you and Leon fucking today. I overheard some of the most extraordinary tidbits of information, Ariela, the kind of information destined to destroy a man and his work. I’d hate to see that happen. Wouldn’t you?”

  Ariela leaned forward, crossing her arms over her T-shirt-clad chest. “Shall I presume you’ve thought about the terms? The real ones, I mean.”

  Leon shook his head behind the phone. He evidently thought there was another way, and perhaps they’d discuss their options later, particularly if Leon could find a way to get them out of this mess. For now, the ball was in Melinda’s court.

  Ariela wanted to see if she could dribble and shoot or just run up and down the court mouthing off about the three-pointer she planned to make as soon as everyone moved the hell out of her way.

  “It’s like this,” Melinda went on. “I want a title. VP of Hotel Operations will suffice—the position is open. Tomorrow at eight o’clock, it will be mine.” She released a sigh and turned to face Jagger, who stood at the window behind his desk. He didn’t turn and face the phone, yet he must’ve been aware of the camera at his back.

  Ariela’s heart broke for her mate then. He’d endured so much over the last few days, and now he faced the possibility of bedding a woman he knew Ariela hated.

  Jagger despised her just as much.

  Her gaze bounced between Melinda and Jagger. On second thought, he didn’t look nearly as disgusted as Ariela felt, and that alone enraged her. Was Jagger actually attracted to Melinda? Was that why he wouldn’t look at them? Was he infatuated by his employee after all? Did he admire this power play she was making, regardless of what it might cost them?

  “Don’t worry, Ariela. I’m too busy for an ongoing affair,” Melinda snapped. “Unlike you, I’m not interested in waiting at home for a dutiful lover to come to bed and stroke me a few licks before rolling over and staring at the wall.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Jagger still didn’t turn around. He crossed his arms over his chest, acting more interested in the Las Vegas skyline than the pending conversation with the potential to damage their futures.

  “See Ariela, I believe there’s nothing sexier than a successful man, except maybe that passionate beast that lives inside him—the one that drives him forward and makes him crave the success that he alone believes he deserves.”

  “I get that you want to be affiliated with Jagger,” Ariela growled, “But he won’t go to bed with you. Unlike women, men have a problem sleeping with women when they aren’t turned on and aroused.”

  “I can turn him on, Ariela. I promise you that.”

  “What. Do. You. Want?”

  “I’ve told you. Perhaps your defense mechanism is shutting out what you don’t want to hear, but listen closely, dear. Jagger will be in my bed twice a year. With the new expansion, I realize he has his head somewhere else, so I’ll give him a few months to wrap his mind around the idea. Besides, I like foreplay. Anticipation is everything, darling.”

  Leon hit the mute button. “The woman is a terrorist! She wants you to dread the act. That’s a power play right there. She’s proving to you she is in control.”

  So Melinda had taken her shot and made it count. Her three points were on the board—the position of power as VP of Marketing, and two nights a year with Jagger. Now it was Ariela’s turn. And by damn, Ariela knew what to do when the ball was in her court. She’d draw the foul.

  Chapter Eleven

  “If Jagger agrees to sleep with you, I won’t stand in his way,” Ariela said. “But there are terms—terms which aren’t negotiable.”

  “I’m listening,” Melinda said.

  “Of course you are. You’ll do and say whatever needs to be done or said in order to find yourself in Jagger’s bed.”

  Melinda had them over a barrel. Jagger cared about the casino and how others in the industry viewed him. He wouldn’t be able to stand it if his peers caught wind of a sex tape—an illicit scandal that captured his wife with another man, a man who explained specifics about the pride they hoped to find or form!

  “On the nights you and Jagger are together, you will first watch Jagger with me. You’ll watch, Melinda, because you’ll learn.” She seemingly forced a wicked smile, and probably hoped hers would emulate Melinda’s. “Because if Jagger takes you to his bed, he will only do so once you’ve learned what he likes.”

  “I could give a damn what he likes,” she snapped.

  Jagger shot her a sideways glance. “So you don’t care if I’m repulsed by you?”

  “You aren’t,” she said confidently. “I’ve seen the way you stare at my tits with lust in your eyes, the way you—”

  “Do we have a deal or not?” Ariela interrupted her and Jagger understood why. His sweet Ariela was hurt and that hurt would soon turn to rage, a fury so great that even Melinda wouldn’t realize what she’d invited when she’d tried to bargain with a woman who was well past the point of no return.

  “We have a deal,” Melinda said, disconnecting the call and turning to Jagger. “This will be the best business play I’ve ever made.”

  Jagger marched across the office and grabbed his briefcase. “If you ever set foot in my office again uninvited, Melinda, I will make sure it’s the last step you take. Do you understand me?”

  “Go home to your cheating spouse, Jagger. I’m sure she has a few things she wants to discuss with you in regards to the new show. Construction is set to begin next week, and we have some dependable contractors working on the addition. When the building is complete, I’m sure Ariela will be busy with her mate as they begin practicing their routine. And that is when you will come to me, willingly too, I suppose.”

  “You aren’t in control here, Melinda.”

  She laughed. “Who is? You Jagger?” She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Ariela.”

  “Love is certainly blind. Isn’t it, Jagger?” Melinda tapped her nails against his briefcase and released a heavy sigh. “If I had to guess who holds all the power right at this moment, my money would be on Leon. He knew I was watching them. He likely realized what I’d do with the information, because your woman had already told him far too much about me.”

  “And if you believe you’re that important to Ariela, you’re delusional.”

  “We all have our flaws, Jagger. Yours just happens to be Ariela.”

  * * * *

  An hour later, Jagger pulled into his driveway and watched from the car as Leon fucked Ariela on the deck. He took her from behind, plowing into her with a forceful thrust. Their bodies swayed in tandem, moved in time and Jagger had never seen a more beautiful
sight.

  His cock throbbed, and he started to go to them. He longed to join in the loving, but at the same time he wanted her sated. He needed her mind on business. He wanted her focusing on anything other than her inconvenient breeding season.

  Jagger observed until they completed their act. Then, he left the car and took the backstairs two at a time. Once inside their home, he slung his briefcase to the sofa and sank to the cushions, leaning his head back on the pillow.

  A few moments later, he was joined by Ariela and Leon. They looked entirely too comfortable with one another and Jagger was pissed then as he recalled Melinda’s accusation.

  Leon held the power. He had arranged for Melinda to watch him with Ariela.

  Jerking forward then, he dragged his hand down the length of his face and stared back at the woman he loved, the only woman he’d ever loved. “Tell me you didn’t know she was watching you.”

  “God no, Jagger. You know me better than that.”

  His gaze immediately met Leon’s. “Did you have any idea you had an audience?”

  “I didn’t. I was…preoccupied.”

  “She says you did.”

  “Who?”

  “Melinda.”

  “She’s trying to turn you against us, Jagger!” Ariela went to him then and fell to her knees. “You know me, Jagger. You know Leon.”

  “Do I, Leon?” he asked, turning to his old friend. “Or has your lust for Ariela caused you to make poor choices?”

  “You know better than that, Jagger.”

  “What are your goals, Leon? When you came here, what did you have in mind?”

  “To claim a place in my mate’s bed.”

  “And were you planning to work for the casino?” Jagger paused, but a beat later he added, “You were always the CFO for father’s companies. Did you plan to work for me?”

  “I’ll work in the capacity where I’m needed.”

  “Apparently we need tighter security, and barriers in place to prevent extortion like this in the future.”

  “Yes,” Leon agreed.

  “Is there any possible way around this?”

  “I’ll handle Melinda,” Ariela said.

  “And how do you propose to do that?”

  “There’s a fine line between power and weakness,” Ariela explained. “We just have to find her weakness. Then we’ll strip her of the power she believes she already owns.”

  “Ariela’s right, Jagger.” Leon sat beside him on the sofa. “Her control is imagined, so let her have that illusion for the moment. Just as there are fine lines between power and weakness, dominance and subservience is often misunderstood.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She will not control us, Jagger. We are forming a pride of our own, and Ariela’s other mates will soon come for her. They’ll be drawn to her, just as you and I were. When they show their faces, we’ll have the influence needed to pull the right strings and shut Melinda out once and for all.”

  “You sound like you know Melinda well.”

  Leon rose to his feet and rubbed his palms together. “Do you want me to show you?”

  “So help me,” Jagger snarled, “If a globule of air forms in this room with Melinda in the center, I’ll jump in that bubble myself and show Melinda’s illusion why it’s never smart to dabble in a den full of lions.”

  “There’s the man I know and love.”

  “I’m your man, Ariela. Only yours.”

  She moistened her lips. “Then prove it.”

  Ariela leaned forward, used Jagger’s muscular thighs for support, and gave him a succulent kiss.

  Jagger cupped her nape and pampered her lips. Claiming her mouth, he held her at the base of her head, allowing her to guide their kiss.

  Her tongue fluttered across his. She pulled at his leather belt and unbuttoned his slacks. She pinched his zipper and yanked it down, pulling his cock free of his pants without a moment spared.

  The heat in her eyes was only trumped by the hot pooling fire between her legs. Her breeding season had reached its peak, and he was as horny as he’d ever been. In part, because he knew another man had spent the day loving his woman. The other reason was one he couldn’t help but acknowledge, too.

  Ariela had worked a deal on his behalf, and as much as he hated to admit it, there was something incredibly sexy about her arrangement. To think she wanted to fuck him in front of Melinda and then planned to watch them, too, made him as stiff as a rocket.

  No, he wasn’t a sick fuck, but he was part human. He’d dreamt of two women taking him just as Ariela had fantasized about a second partner, and while Ariela despised Melinda, he couldn’t help but bring those fantasies to life in his mind as well.

  Oh sure, he detested Melinda, but he could fuck her. It wouldn’t be a gentle and loving experience, though. Oh no. He would take her in a way that would leave her hungry for more, while leaving him keenly aware with knowledge.

  He alone would have the power to destroy her.

  He and his sexy Ariela would soon call all the shots, with Leon in their corner, guiding them through the acts that would benefit them as a forming pride, a pride all other shifters would respect.

  Ariela climbed him then and ground her pussy against the ridge of his cock. “What are you thinking?” Her hands rested on his shoulders. “You’re thinking about fucking two women.”

  He felt his lips twitch. “And you’re thinking about two men. What’s the difference?”

  “There’s no difference,” she said, twisting her hips from side to side in an effort to force the first impalement.

  “No, Ariela. That’s where you’re wrong. There is a difference. Melinda is blackmailing us.”

  Ariela reached between their bodies and guided his cock into place. His cock parted her lips and thrummed inside her warm pussy.

  She rocked with him. Her knees pressed against his thighs and he bracketed his arm around her waist, holding her steady as he pummeled her with heavy beats, pounding inside her sweet cunt until he was nearly breathless. Slowing down to a deliberate grind, he supported Ariela’s hips as she leaned back, resting in his arms.

  Entranced, he stared at the point of penetration, watching as his cock parted her folds and slipped inside her slippery cunt. He retreated, pushed inside her once more, and then withdrew again. God help him, he loved the sight of her accepting him, drawing him into the very heat he found so addictive, so fucking compelling. He couldn’t stop until he emptied his release inside her.

  Throwing his arm behind him, he pumped his body up and down, watching those swollen lips hug his cock as he entered her with a driving thrust. Her pussy wrapped around him and she squeezed him as he entered her.

  Stroking her clit, he rubbed the engorged button until her hips shot away from his legs. Her knees fell to the side and he surged forward, pounding deeper, searching for fulfillment, that completion he only found with his soul mate, his beautiful Ariela.

  “Now, Ariela. Come, kitten.”

  Her body swayed as if moving to music and he emptied himself inside her, spearing his cock into the depths of her hot pussy until she cried and whimpered, moaned and begged. And as she came down from that inexplicable high, she screamed out his name, promising to love and protect him until the day she died.

  When their loving match was over, she laid in his lap staring up at him. “Jagger, you will never go to bed with that woman.”

  “She’s a jealous little vixen, eh?” Leon reentered the living room, and it was only then that Jagger realized Leon hadn’t stuck around to watch them.

  “She sure is,” he stated proudly.

  “I’m a smart cat, too,” she informed him.

  “Want to explain?” Leon asked.

  “Please do tell,” Jagger said, amused.

  She dragged her finger across Jagger’s thigh and said, “Jagger, everything in this world is about sex—except sex. Sex, my sweet mate, is about power.”
/>   “Your point?”

  “Her point is this,” Leon interrupted then. “The one deal you can’t cut with Melinda is a deal that transpires in the bedroom.”

  Jagger stroked his chin. Apparently Ariela had sprung into action the second she made her arrangement with Melinda. And Melinda had no idea what kind of war she’d waged.

  “He’s right, Jagger. You can’t sleep with Melinda, even if she blackmails us.”

  “Then the two of you had better figure out a way to stop this. You have about six months. My guess is, she plans to christen the new building before the first show.”

  “That’s what I think,” Ariela said. “And I’ll be ready for her.”

  “Already have a plan, do you?”

  Leon rubbed his palms together. “If she doesn’t, I’ll give her a few ideas.”

  Jagger snorted at that. “No offense, but I’ve seen about all the ideas I care to see from you.”

  “Just remember, Jagger,” Leon said. “My fantasies—at least those I’ve shared with you and Ariela—have a way of coming true.”

  Ariela gave them a saucy look, then crooked her finger back and forth. “The two of you owe me then.”

  “Owe you?” Leon asked.

  “You’d better believe it,” she replied, striking a pose with her hand in the curve of her waist. “I don’t remember being stuffed from front to back. If dreams come true, then the two of you need to get busy with it.”

  She made her way to the bedroom and Leon whispered, “I don’t remember that illusion.”

  “Shh,” Jagger muttered. “Just go with it. You may find her fantasies are a little naughtier than your own.”

  “Somehow I don’t quite see that happening.”

  Jagger laughed. “Trust me. Our woman has a one-track mind.”

  “I’m starting to feel like she’s using us for our bodies.”

  “Right now?” Jagger laughed. “You’re right.”

  “And what about when she isn’t in heat?”

  “If you want to know the truth, it doesn’t vary that much.”