Dire Wolf Mates - Chapter 37: Chapter 37

Leo growled softly. His Lion snapped his jaws inside his mind’s eye. The beast was on edge. He’d been that way since the second he’d stepped over the threshold of his ancestral home.
Five generations of Crowleys had lived and ruled under this roof. Five Lion Kings born within these walls. Inside the Palace was duty, obligation, resignation, and responsibility.
I am not ready yet.
Leo had his own life to live. His own mate to claim. A career waiting for him. This was not his time to rule. Not yet.
His grandfather had ruled for sixty years. His father had sat on the throne for only half that. Of course, after his mother’s death, his father had experienced a tremendous suffering. Their people had expected a slight change, but not this. Something was wrong.
For the King, the pain of losing a mate was unimaginable, but Leo would never have anticipated this. The Palace was empty. The King absent. For his father, the mighty Donovan Crowley, to simply give up, was completely out of character. All Leo’s detective’s instincts were on high alert. He saw red flags everywhere. Something was not right. Not at all. The Pride house, or the Palace as it was sometimes called, used to be teaming with Lions. Now, it was empty. A cold shell of what it used to be.
The elders should have told him this when he’d gone to the circle. They’d kept this from him. When he’d visited his father that night, he’d assumed it was empty simply because of the late hour. Kings needed their subjects. Alpha’s needed their Pack. And Primus’ needed their Lions.
Having his lions around would give the King’s beast something to care about, rather than dwell on the loss of his mate. This isolation was poison.
Yes, Leo had been angry at their ridiculous demands regarding his mate. As if they could force him to claim some unwitting female in order to inherit the throne from his father. That was just a little too pushy, in Leo’s opinion. They’d wanted him to choose from a list of females they’d already vetted. As if.
He’d surprised them with his demand to back off. George, too. Only when he’d told his cousin he had already found his fated mate had the younger Lion finally shut up. It was not a lie. Not in the least. Sheila Rand was the only one for him. He knew that for truth. The she-Wolf was beyond his wildest dreams in so far as beauty and personality. His perfect companion. The one person in the universe who understood and completed him.
It didn’t hurt she was the sexiest little thing he’d ever seen with those cornflower blue eyes of hers, that shiny red hair, and her killer body. She was more than enough to tame his inner Lion. Thoughts of her constantly filled his mind. Hell, he wanted her all the time, even when he should think about other things. Like the Pride and his father’s health. He couldn’t help it. The Lion wanted to claim his mate.
Roarrrr.
At the very least, he planned on kissing her the second he got inside his room. Leo couldn’t wait to take that sassy little mouth under his again. That small taste he had of her at the bar wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy his hunger. He wanted it all, but only when she was ready. A kiss would have to be enough.
The hesitation he felt coming from her both hurt and confused him, but he tried to understand. He was a patient man. Unusual for Shifters, but not for him. Trained as a detective, he understood the importance of timing. Raised as a Prince, he also knew it was necessary, and rewarding, to be compassionate with others.
Sheila would be his. There was no doubt in his mind. He just had to wait. Things were complicated and messy right then, but Leo would convince her soon enough to take the plunge. He had other things to do while she figured out for herself that he was a Lion of his word.
Leo needed to explain it to her. All of it. The fact his father was the King, that he was actually the Prince of the Blue Valley Pride might be a tough pill to swallow.
Shit.
He was nervous. Then there were the circumstances he was there to investigate. And finally, the real reason he needed her with him. Not because he wanted to trick the elders, but because she brought his Lion peace and purpose.
Mine.
He followed her inside the room, eyes riveted to the fiery redhead as she turned to face him. Everything about her commanded his attention.
Beautiful, strong, sexy woman.
“Spill.”
Sheila tapped her booted foot against the gleaming marble floors of his bedroom. She should have looked out of place among all the riches, but she didn’t. Not in the least. Sheila belonged there. With him.
He looked around and tried to see it from her perspective. He knew Sheila was not materialistic. But this world, though far removed from his daily life, was still his. Leo was royalty, whether he wanted to be or not was inconsequential. But his mate had grown up on the open road. Literally. She’d been loving every moment of her wild and free existence, riding her Harley from town to town since she could sit on one.
What if his sassy little mate was not happy with him? What if the road called to her once more?
Easy peasy. She goes, we follow.
His Lion was right. The Big Cat had provided the only possible answer. Leo would follow Sheila Rand out on the open road, and off into the sunset each and every time. No contest. He would follow the woman he loved anywhere.
Fuck. I do love her.
The knowledge hit him hard enough that the room seemed to spin out of focus. He’d only just put a name to the feelings he’d been having. How would he feel once they consummated their mating? The thought sent a shiver down his spine, but it wasn’t of fear. Not at all. That slight tremor was wholly born of anticipation.
“Well?”
“This is where I was born. I haven’t lived here in a while, but my father still does.”
“Your father? What is this place?”
“It’s the Pride house, some call it the Palace.”
“Okay,” she murmured, a frown on her pretty face.
Leo did not like that. He wanted her to smile. Wanted to be the one to make her smile. Her blue eyes widened as he stalked her across the room, and Sheila froze. She knew better than to turn her back on him—hunter, predator, beast.
Smart, sassy, little Wolf. Go ahead and run from me. I’ll catch you.
“You trying to distract me, pussycat?” she asked, eyes narrowed as she took a tentative step to the left.
She could do that, but he would cut her off with a single bound to the side. Just imagining her tight little body snug against his made Leo feel ten times frisky.
Yes. Do that, his Lion urged.
Already his cock throbbed, and his heart went wild inside his chest for the sweet, spicy Sheila. The beautiful she-Wolf who called to his Lion. Yes, she belonged to him, and he to her. Claiming her would only increase the desire he felt, and that idea was getting more appealing by the second.
“Come here,” he said in a gravelly voice thick with his Lion.
“No.”
“Scared of a Lion?”
“I’m not afraid of you,” she replied, narrowing those beautiful baby blues. “You’re nothing but a big pussy.”
“The only pussy in this room is right there, soaking in sweet honey, begging for me to take a lick. Mine,” he growled the word, breathing in deep, his chest vibrating with need.
Sheila bit back a moan and he growled deeper. Her eyes glowed bright with her Wolf as he backed her up into the wall.
So close. So hot. So mine.
“Wait,” she whispered, and he stilled. He would do anything for her. Anything at all.
“Explain. Now.”
Was it wrong that he liked the fact he’d reduced her to one-word sentences? Maybe, but who cared? She was cute when she was pretending to be outraged. He could scent her reciprocal desire, and it was making him hungry. The notes of an old eighties classic rock song filtered through his brain, though Leo changed the lyrics a bit.
Hungry. Hungry. I’m hungry for the Wolf.
“Are you afraid of the big bad Cat, little Wolf?”
“First of all, it’s the big bad Wolf. You are just an overgrown tabby,” she replied, poking him in the chest with her hot pink painted fingernail, scoring the cotton tee he’d worn just for her.
Damn.
She was so fucking hot. Soft, feminine, vulnerable on one hand, and completely fucking badass and in control on the other. Standing there in her jeans, those shit-kicking leather boots, and that see-through gauzy top. Leo rubbed his body on her, meeting her gaze, the predator in him gaining satisfaction as she stood her ground.
A challenge.
Yes, but a good one. Win or lose, he still wins. Whoever came out on top, Leo would still consider it a victory. His muscles tensed, ready to pounce on a moment’s notice. He needed her fiery lips against his, had to taste that spicy sweet flavor that was all her.
Roarrrr.
He swallowed her surprised gasp, mashing his mouth to hers, and finally, he tasted the fire from its source. Her lips were plump and soft, exactly right for savoring.
Leo was drunk on kissing her. Her contradiction of flavors burst on his tongue. First spicy, then sweet. Always provocative. Stimulating. Tempting him to sin. The taste of her stamped itself on his brain, like a permanent tattoo he never wanted to erase or forget.
Just having her in his arms changed the course of his life forever. Fuck. It wasn’t enough. Never enough. He wanted more. Needed more. Never had he felt such desire for a woman. He was desperate to have her naked in his bed, writhing beneath his touch, buried balls deep, coating her walls with his cum, filling her to the brim.
“Leo,” she said his name, and ran her nails down his back until she lifted his shirt and touched his skin.
His already hard cock grew even harder. The thick length throbbed and pulsed, threatening to burst the seam of his jeans. He would’ve gone with fucking sweatpants if he’d known his body would have such a severe reaction to her. Leo groaned as her hands found him through the denim, and he wrapped his arms around her curvy frame.
He fucking loved the feel of this woman’s body pressed against him. Her drool-worthy curves filled his searching hands. She was perfect for him. Perfect size. Height. Everything.
Leo was big all over, especially those parts that mattered most, hands, tongue, cock, and heart. He needed a woman who could take all of him in stride. Sheila could do more than that. She was the ultimate match for him. Unsurpassed by any other female. She topped them all. A true mate who could take on every inch of his powerful frame.
Mine.
Kissing, touching, squeezing her in his bedroom made everything better. He didn’t forget why he was there, but for a little while, Leo could push it all aside. Sheila was everything to him. But he would not claim her until she asked him to. She was much too important to him and his future to fuck things up by acting like an unlicked cub.
He had her in his arms, and that alone was worth celebrating. For months she’d been fighting him, but not here. Not now. Finally, Leo could savor his mate. He lifted her onto the edge of his dresser, and Sheila immediately brought her legs up and around his waist. She tangled her hands in his hair while he lifted her shirt high, and then off, revealing a pink lace demi-bra, barely large enough to contain her. His lips twitched and his breathing increased. He wanted her, ached for her.
“Beautiful,” he growled, then dipped his head.
“Leo,” she moaned his name as he brushed soft kisses on the bits of flesh that were revealed to him.
“So soft,” he growled and lifted his head, meeting her eyes as his hands traced the tops of her breast.
Her blue eyes seemed to glow, and he knew it was her she-Wolf joining them. His own animal approved and rose to meet his mate. Leo’s chest vibrated with a low, rumbling growl as he slowly caressed the delicate skin of her ample breasts with his work-roughened fingertips. This was dangerous. Touching her like this was pure madness.
But he couldn’t stop. He wouldn’t. Not unless she said to. He pulled the fabric down gently, allowing her ripe nipples to spill out. Leo couldn’t contain his groan. So pretty and pink. Her tip-tilted breasts were perfect for his hands and lips, and he traced them oh so carefully.
Slow and steady.
He wanted this to be better than good. He wanted to raise her temperature to match her fiery sass. Leo growled at the apt description. The redheaded seductress was just that. Fire and sass, mixed with a little bit of sugar just for him. Together they’d break bad, raise hell, see the stars, and bring mountains to their knees with the height of their passion.
At the very least, he’d make sure she never thought of him as a pussy again.
“Leo,” she moaned his name again, arching her back, offering him better access to her succulent body.
Only a fool would refuse, and Leo was far from that. This was what he’d wanted, what he’d been chasing for weeks. Sheila’s willing submission to his desire, her need for his touch. It was what he craved, what his beast demanded, but that wasn’t all. He wanted more from the sexy she-Wolf.
He didn’t just want her ready, willing, and waiting, he wanted her panting, begging, and demanding. He wanted her to feel the same way he felt about her. He’d been lusting after her like mad. Ever since he’d first laid eyes on her, but it was more than that. Leo was head over heels for the little Wolf. He wouldn’t rest until she felt the same.
“Tell me what you want, baby,” he growled and nipped her earlobe between his teeth as his hands made short work of her bra.
Finally, completely freed from their confines, Leo took both her gorgeous breasts in his large hands. He kneaded the supple mounds, pushing them together, and tweaking her nipples with his thumbs and forefingers.
All the better for him to kiss, lick, and suck each plentiful bud and that valley between. Visions of sliding his cock between the two mounds had him growling almost nonstop.
“More,” she demanded, gripping his hair, and pulling his head closer.
He did not disappoint. He couldn’t. He sought her pleasure as if it were his own. She might be one sassy little Wolf, but in this, in the bed, or dresser, Leo was the maestro and she, his orchestra. He would coax her to symphonic precipices until they both tumbled off together into sheer bliss. His beast would accept nothing less. Nothing, save her utter and complete surrender to the pleasure he dealt.