For Toron's Pride Read online

  “What thing is that?”

  “The kind where I hop into bed with you just because you did some kind of magic on me. Is that how you have all of them jumping through hoops to please you? Well I don’t want to bust your bubble, pal, but I am not joining the harem.”

  Where desire had been evident a moment before, his eyes darkened with anger. “Please share how you really feel. You’ve judged me and mine from the moment you got here. No, from the day I came to New York to meet you.

  And contrary to what you think, I have never used the power of the alpha to force a woman to sleep with me.”

  So she wasn’t wrong. There was some kind of power he wielded. His denial of using it didn’t mean a thing to her.

  She wouldn’t be staying the entire weekend. Let him act like the lord of the manor for the others to kiss his feet, not her. “If you’ll excuse me, it’s late, and I want to go to bed. Good night!”

  For Toron's Pride

  Chapter Three

  Toron watched Sienna walk away, his gaze riveted to her round ass. She was beautiful in every way from her sweet, if angry face, to her luscious breasts to her curvy hips. She had a sharp tongue in her head, which to his surprise turned him on just as much as her figure. He had always been able to admire an attractive black woman but had never felt the need to sample one. That is until he met Sienna. She was the only African American in his pride other than Davon, and he welcomed the diversity.

  Toron could admit to himself if not to her that his power did swirl to the surface more than usual when he dealt with Sienna. He hadn’t meant for it to happen. Maybe it was her exotic beauty that caused him to open his ability to lure her closer. Not until she had protested did he even realize he was doing it. He needed to be more careful. The last thing he wanted was to have a woman who didn’t desire him without him nudging her into it. The dominance of the alpha came with the job, and no one took it more seriously than he did.

  While he considered how to handle Sienna, his celll phone rang, and he dug it from his pocket. He sighed on seeing his mother’s number flash on the screen. “Mom, how are you?”

  “Toron, darling, I’m fine. Just checking in.”

  “That’s not necessary.” He began strolling toward the house.

  “Well I know you’re breaking in the new recruits this weekend. Anybody interesting?” The inflection she gave to the question let him know just what she meant. He clenched his jaw. “Mom, I’m not shopping for another lover. Or did you mean for you?”

  “One can’t have too many lovers.” She giggled like a schoolgirl, which always grated on his nerves. “It keeps life stimulating.”

  “You have more than enough—both now and before Dad died.” He hadn’t meant to say it and bit his tongue to keep from saying more. “I apologize.”

  “I don’t know why you’re always mean to your poor mother, Toron.” He heard the pout in her tone. “I’m not doing anything you aren’t. Anyway, gotta go. John is taking me to Athens, and they’re calling to board. I love you, darling. Take care of the pride. I know how much it means to you.”

  He gripped the phone so hard, he heard a crack and forced himself to ease off. A stab at the disconnect button ended the call, and he headed inside and up to his room.

  Why did she even call? He knew he was no one to judge her, and yet, he hated knowing how many men she ran through—both human and shifter—each week.

  Toron consulted the scheduling book he kept at his bedside and frowned down at it. He had written out all he wanted to cover this weekend, and other than dinner, he had planned for the first night to be free for everyone. While he tried going over tomorrow’s events, he sighed and rubbed his eyes. Concentrating wasn’t possible. Sure, he understood his mother’s lifestyle. A shifter’s sex drive tended to be high under normal circumstances, the leader’s even more so. He had never denied his physicallneeds, but neither was he mated, and he had no plans to bond with a woman until he was ready to have children. Even then he might not.

  A knock sounded at the door. “Yes?”

  Stella strolled in. Her long hair fell about her shoulders, and she had changed into a sheer dress with nothing beneath it. “I was wondering if you needed anything.”

  Toron frowned. “Stella, you’re enticing the men dressed like that.”

  “I was hoping to tempt you. Besides, no one saw me. My room is right across the hall .”

  “You didn’t have to stay here.” He stood and turned his back, tossing the schedule onto the nightstand. “I appreciate you playing hostess for this event.”

  Her small hands came around his waist to run up to his chest. He felt her breasts press into his back. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Just name it.”

  Toron searched his mind. Had he been using his ability on Stella? He didn’t think so, but he wasn’t sure. “Not tonight. Thank you.”

  Stella froze. “You sound so cold. Is it her? She’lll never fit in among us. She’s too busy looking down her nose.”

  “Be quiet,” he snapped.

  She jumped, and her hands fell away. “Are you sure?”

  “I am. Good night, Stella.”

  “Good night.”

  When she closed the door, he sighed in relief. He went to his office to get a few hours of work in. Afterward, he returned to his room, shed his clothes, and showered. He fell into bed with his head full of numbers, but as soon as he closed his eyes, a curvy, mocha beauty took center stage.

  He tossed and turned with a killer hard-on for several hours until he gave up on sleep and flung the covers away. Perhaps a run would clear both his mind and wear out his body enough to rest. After leaving his house naked under cover of darkness, he shifted into his lion form, and bounded across his property and deep into the wooded area beyond.

  * * * *

  Toron swore under his breath. From the moment Sienna sashayed into the room, his senses were on overload.

  Power radiated from him and extended, invisible, across the room toward her. He saw with his own eyes the result, the way she clenched her hands into fists, and shifted from one foot to the other, swaying toward him and then pulling away. He had had years of practice controlling himself, and not since he was a green boy of sixteen had he ever lost control.

  Not that he thought the attraction was all on his end. No, Sienna wanted him. He watched her cross and uncross her long legs and smelled her want like a perfume formulated to enslave a man. She stood up from her chair and wandered over toward the windows. Toron followed her with his gaze.

  He answered questions and gave instructions to the others, only half listening.

  When he was able to extricate himself from the group, he approached her. “Tell me about yourself. Do you like your position at the department store where you work?”

  She started as if taken by surprise that he knew. “Davon told you.” She rolled her eyes, the movement mesmerizing as he stared into her face. “Actually, I’m planning on leaving there soon.”

  “Really? Where to?” He resisted the urge to move closer, to touch her. She fidgeted, and his mouth watered when he noted her hardened nipples. A power surge hit him, and he wrestled to suppress it. The effort made him miss what she’d said.

  “Are you listening?” Her brows lowered, and she poked her lips out. Not quite a pout, but sexy like one. He considered what they must taste like, and his cock grew hard. She must have sensed it, because she looked down, and gasped before scowling at him. “Shouldn’t we get back to your lecture or whatever? I know I’m bored, for one.”

  “Of course.” He faced the others. “Being leader isn’t all for show. I’m not just some guy who likes to swing his… abilities around.”

  The snort behind him made him suppress a chuckle.

  “I can help you in certain situations,” he continued.

  “What kind of situations?” Sienna was no doubt unaware of how interested she sounded.

  “I’ll give you an example. Stella?”

  Stella mov
ed from her position by the door and stepped into the hall . She returned with two men holding a third between them, a smaller man, but very strong. Toron had known Karl since he was a baby. Now he was seventeen and full of himself, thinking he knew everything and no one could teach him.

  “Karl decided since we have a stronger constitution than humans, we should be able to experiment with anything.”

  One of the women slapped a hand over her chest. “Oh my goodness. Is he okay? I think he needs a doctor.”

  “What he needs is his alpha,” Stella corrected. Her voice was a purr and accompanied by an adoring glance in his direction. Once again, he heard how Sienna felt about it without turning around.

  Karl snarled and snapped at the men holding him. He had half transformed into a lion with thick golden hair, ears out of position in humans, and a tail whipping back and forth over the band of his pants. His curved fingers made weapons with long sharp claws, and the fact that he wasn’t bluffing about using them was evident in the gashes on his captor’s arms and faces.

  “Karl took some type of drug. His mother doesn’t know what it was, but instead of burning off at a rapid pace as should happen in one of us, it fractured his mind. If this happened anywhere but inside our community, well, I don’t need to tell you how dangerous that would be.”

  Sienna took a few steps toward Karl, her eyes wide with curiosity. When Karl lunged at her, Toron wrapped a hand around her wrist and jerked her backward to fall against his chest. She looked up at him in shock, her lips parted. Toron lost focus in staring at their soft fullness until she began to struggle in his hold. He released her and cleared his throat.

  “As you can see, he’s not all there, but I’m going to help him back.” He walked over to Karl, and the shifter broke an arm free to slash at Toron. Toron opened his power. The arm stopped mid-swing. “You don’t want to do that, Karl.”

  A lion’s roar rattled all glass in the room, from those sitting on the tables to the windows. A few people put hands over their ears, wincing. Toron took it all in stride. He locked his gaze with Karl’s and felt the madness hit him hard. His will and greater strength were the only things that kept him on his feet as the room began to spin. Rage boiled in his mind, betrayal, sadness, and panic. Toron recognized the emotions for what they were and forged through them. In a low tone, he continued to speak to the teen.

  “I’m adding my strength to his to help him heal,” he explained to the others. Talking and helping Karl at the same time was difficult, but it was what he had to do. The new shifters needed to trust him if they were going to remain a secret among the humans. “Let him go.”

  “Toron, are you sure?” one of the men asked.

  “Obey.”

  The hands holding Karl fell away, and Karl threw himself at Toron. His claws dug into Toron’s arms, but Toron didn’t register the sting. “I can’t stop! Help me!”

  “I know.” Toron sensed the madness receding, the drug burning from his system, but Karl had worn himself out. He couldn’t calm down or change back into his human form.

  Toron dropped a heavy hand on the boy’s shoulder, and Karl whimpered like a newborn cub. He sank to his knees, and Toron held him there, forcing the change. Claws receded, ears repositioned, and his tail shrank until it disappeared inside the back of his pants. When the task was done, Toron ran a hand over his damp face and stepped back. “He’ll be fine now. Take him to his mother.”

  Several of the newbies clapped and cheered, but Toron waved them off. He couldn’t help wondering about Sienna’s reaction, but when he turned, she was gone. He stepped toward the exit, but Stella touched his arm. “The wrap-up and warning?”

  Toron sighed. She was right. There was more to share, more they needed to know about their kind, and he couldn’t neglect the rest in favor of tripping behind Sienna. “If you’ll all have a seat, there is more I have to tell you on this subject.”

  For Toron's Pride

  Chapter Four

  Obey, he’d said. There wasn’t a doubt in Sienna’s mind that Toron was powerful. What he had done for that boy was incredible. She was impressed, but it scared her too.

  When the men were reluctant to let Karl go, Toron hadn’t raised his voice. He didn’t even sound angry. He had uttered one word. Obey. They fell in line like soldiers, and what was worse, she felt it as well. If she had been holding onto Karl, she would have let go.

  After a couple sessions where they learned about themselves, their nature, and some of what they could expect, she had a new respect for Toron. However, she also had a healthy fear of him. The man could speak the word, and she would drop her panties in a heartbeat. Not because she wanted him—and hell yes, she wanted him— but because he ordered it. From what she had seen so far, Toron had a way of doing things, and it brooked no argument.

  “You ran off.”

  She started at his deep tone and peered over her shoulder. More time than she realized must have slipped by. A T-shirt defined the muscles in his chest, and jeans hugged narrow hips. She wouldn’t allow her gaze to linger on the front of his pants. “I needed some air, and how can you be out here with no coat on? Meanwhile, I’m shivering in this thin jacket.”

  He shrugged. “I’m used to it.”

  She eyed him a second but turned away before it became too obvious she got off on the view. “I thought you were going to say it’s an alpha thing.”

  “Why do I hear resentment?”

  Sienna sucked her teeth. “I don’t know what your issues are.” She took a step away, but he stopped her. He didn’t say a word, yet she spun on her heel and drifted into his arms. He hugged her close and ran a hand up and down her back. The heat radiating off him helped warm her.

  “If I said I want to kiss you, would you deny me?”

  Sienna’s eyes ached, she widened them so hard. What the hell did she say to that? “I’m…”

  “You’re not with Davon anymore. The two of you broke it off after you found out he turned you.”

  Sienna shoved at him and moved away. “Did he tell you that? What else did he tell you?”

  He watched her in silence for a few minutes. “That he wants you back.”

  “Not happening!”

  “I’m not suggesting it should.” He closed the gap between them to grasp her chin and raise it. “In fact, it works out better for me if you don’t have a boyfriend.”

  Bastard, bastard, bastard! No, he doesn’t deserve a kiss. She remained still, not offering her lips but not pulling away either. “You already have enough women, and I bet before long you’ll be sleeping with the new ones too. They seemed eager enough. You don’t need me.”

  “Jealous?” He smiled, but anger glittered in his gaze.

  “Kiss my ass.” Her biggest problem was that he never denied it when she accused him of sleeping with all the women. She couldn’t abide a playboy.

  He snatched her close and rested a massive palm on one butt cheek. Sienna creamed her panties. The twitch in his nose told her he knew. She cursed the bad luck that made her one of them.

  “I might do just that.”

  The sultry whisper almost brought her to her knees.

  Sienna knew what Karl felt, lost in emotions he had no control over. She shut her eyes and drew in several steadying breaths. “If I wanted to walk away from you…from this…would you let me?”

  “Sienna, we need each other.”

  “No, you need women to worship the ground you walk on. Maybe the men too.” Somehow she broke from his hold and backed up, folding her arms over her chest. “I need to know if you’re going to make me spread my legs for you, because if that’s the case you’re not as much of a man as you claim to be.”

  He clenched his hands into fists at his sides. “You’re trying to shame me into doing the right thing?”

  “Whatever it takes.”

  “I’ve already said I won’t force you. I don’t need to.” Sienna didn’t know if he meant she was already hot for him, or if he meant he had more than enou
gh women to satisfy his needs. “I don’t know how to take you.”

  “That’s the first time you’ve been completely honest with yourself.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t psychoanalyze me. Anyway, at the end of this little gathering, I’m going home, and I’m not coming back or having anything to do with the pride ever again. If you have a problem with that, you better speak up now.”

  She waited for him to respond. His gaze, hot and full of a mixture between desire and anger, never wavered from hers. Sienna had to grit her teeth to keep from skating back into his arms. Today was different though. She could tell he had dialed down his power. The pull was there, but it wasn’t like he was using it against her. She didn’t want to admit it, but the longing to be close to him was all her.

  “Have sex with me.”

  “Whoa! What?” She put her hands up in defense, but he hadn’t moved a muscle.

  “Let it be your decision, nothing serious, no promises. Have sex with me just for the pleasure we can give each other.”

  “No, hell no. Not going to happen.” She kept shaking her head and retreating from him with unsteady steps. He stayed where he was, apparently trying not to be threatening. “I’m not going to be another notch on your belt.”

  This time he did move. One foot set down on the grass where they stood like a death sentence about to be dealt out. Okay, now I’m getting ridiculous. Pull it together, Sienna.

  “You want it,” he said. “I smell your want.”

  Sienna searched for an excuse and found one. She slapped her hands on her hips. “So what? You’re a sexy man. I’ll give you that, but it doesn’t mean I have to give in to the attraction between us. I’m no different from any other woman out there. I want commitment and a relationship. I don’t sleep around. There are plenty of women who do. You don’t need me.”

  “Oh but I do.”

  The few feet between them vanished, and Sienna found herself wedged up against his chest. She had time to part her lips to fuss, but he cut off the words, crushing her lips with his. From the first taste, her resistance crumbled. She kissed him, slanting her head and arching her back. Her hands trapped between them, she clutched his shirt. A small moan ripped from her throat, and she welcomed the invasion of his tongue when it came.