“The one that expects you to change everything for her. That’s not who I am. You’re a warrior. It’s what you do. You do warrior things.”

  He pressed his lips together, and she could tell he was trying hard not to laugh. “I…” He cleared his throat. “Warrior things?”

  She made a flapping motion with her hand. “You know what I mean. You do the battle teaching⁠—”

  “Combat training.”

  “And animal flipping.”

  “Beast shifting.”

  “And your princely duties.”

  He opened his mouth to correct her, then snapped it shut. “My what?”

  Lola stomped her foot, then pointed at it. “Pretend I didn’t just do that.”

  “Pretend you didn’t⁠—”

  “I’m nervous,” she blurted out because she figured if they were really going to do this, then she was going to have to get over herself and learn to communicate. And communicate meant more than just word vomit questions when her curiosity got the best of her.

  Callon straightened and strolled toward her. She wanted to drop his gaze. The intensity of his eyes seared her skin, making her feel naked and vulnerable, but she forced herself to hold the golden stare. When he was a foot away, Lola tilted her head back so she could still meet his eyes. He reached out and cupped her face so gently it made her shiver. “Why? Do I make you nervous? Am I doing something?”

  “No,” she answered quickly and shook her head. “No, not at all. It’s just…” Her gaze bounced around the suite and then back to him. “I don’t know what you expect.” The last word was practically whispered and hung between them. She saw the instant her words and their meaning registered, and she felt his emotions flow into her—concern so tender in its care that Lola felt like she could wrap herself up in it and be cocooned from the world.

  “Lola,” he whispered as he leaned toward her. “I don’t expect anything. I hope you will allow me to sleep in the same room with you, but if you’re not ready for that, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  Her brow shot up as her mouth dropped open. “You will?”

  “No. Not a chance in hell. But you have to know that I want nothing more than to just be beside you. To breathe the same air as you. I need to keep you safe. I want to feel the heat of your skin against my own. My beast is thirsty for your touch, but I’ll remind him that we have a lifetime together, and we are long lived.”

  Lola swallowed. “So, you, umm, want to show me your room?”

  “Our room,” he corrected. Then he ran his hand down her arm until he could entwine their fingers together. Callon tugged her behind him, and she followed, enjoying the view of his flexing back muscles beneath the snug shirt.

  As he turned and led her into the bedroom, she forced her eyes away from him and took in the area. The spacious room was a warm, inviting retreat decorated in rich earth tones. A massive four-poster bed crafted from dark mahogany wood was the focal point, draped in expensive Egyptian cotton sheets in a deep-bronze hue. Lola’s mind immediately jumped to thoughts of Callon’s tanned skin framed by those sheets. Cute kittens wearing clown noses. Just keep thinking about clown noses on kittens … or cockroaches. That’s even better. But her damn eyes stayed on the bed. The plush mattress looked sinfully comfortable, piled with many pillows and cozy blankets that begged to be curled up in—with Callon.

  “Whatcha thinking about?” he purred.

  Lola cleared her head and flicked her eyes to the side. “Nothing,” she said quickly. On either side of the bed were antique nightstands supporting aged brass lamps with amber-colored shades, perfect for setting a mood. No moods, Lola. There will be absolutely no mood-setting of any kind. The wall behind the bed was covered in an intricate tapestry depicting jungle cats prowling through stylized trees and foliage. It added an exotic, animalistic-feel to the space. “Animalistic, all right,” she muttered. He chuckled and his fingers rustled her hair. When she whipped her head around, Callon was a good ten feet away from her. She narrowed her eyes at him, but he just stared at her with a sexy smirk. Stupid, sexy smirk. She continued her perusal of the room.

  Across from the foot of the bed was an enormous stone fireplace surrounded by built-in bookshelves stuffed full of leather-bound books. “Oh.” Her eyes widened, and her fingertips itched with the need to run them across the spines of the books and read the titles. Plush armchairs upholstered in buttery-soft leather flanked the hearth, inviting long nights spent reading by the fire’s glow. That was definitely going to be her favorite spot.

  “I hope to convince you otherwise,” Callon said softly.

  “Dammit,” she hissed. “There has to be some medicine for that. It cannot be normal to speak out loud and not even realize you’re doing it.”

  He shrugged one of his ridiculously large shoulders. “I think it’s cute.”

  Lola shook her head and looked past him to the far wall, which consisted entirely of floor-to-ceiling windows draped in gauzy champagne-colored curtains. She imagined during the day, warm sunlight would stream in, and at night, flickering fireflies could be seen dancing amongst the tree line. In the winter, if there was snowfall, the grounds would look like a winter wonderland with the moonlight shining down on it.

  Along another wall, were opened double doors. Lola walked over to them and then into a sprawling closet and dressing area, fully stocked with what she quickly realized were not just male garments.

  “Are those women’s clothes?” She looked over her shoulder and saw Callon lounging in the doorway.

  He nodded, looking very much like a lazy cat. “Not just any women’s clothes. My female’s.”

  “They’re mine?” She walked over to the clothes and started slowly flipping through them. Sweaters, jeans, slacks, T-shirts. Every kind of garment a person could ever need. “How?”

  “My mother is very efficient. As soon as I told her who you were, she got busy making sure you had everything you’d need to make a home here. With me. With all of us.”

  Lola took a deep breath as she let her hands drop to her sides. It was a lot to take in. She took slow breaths, reminding herself that unless she wanted to end up as a big-ass lion in the middle of a fancy closet, she needed to keep her emotions under control. Besides, what were her problems, if they could even be called that, compared to Katy? Katy was a prisoner of the Kingdom of Venom, and here Lola was freaking out about living a luxurious life with an incredibly good looking and, so far, very kind man. Though he had pulled a butthead move, they were past that, and she would not hold it over his head.

  She turned to face him and nearly ran into his chest. “Whoa.” The air rushed out of her as her hands came up and rested on his stomach.

  He rubbed up and down her arms. “Easy, Lo. You good?”

  “Mmm-hmm.” She nodded.

  “Words, please.”

  “I’m good,” she said and then said it again, slowly. “I’m good.” And she meant it.

  Callon tilted her head up and traced her face with his fingertip. “I love your skin.”

  “It’s splotchy,” she muttered.

  “It’s unique and lovely,” he challenged. “You were amazing today.” His gold eyes flashed as he let them roam over her face. “You never gave up, even when you got frustrated. And then when you were in your beast form… Damn, Lo.” His voice took on a husky tone that did very interesting things to her stomach. “You’re magnificent.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded as he leaned his head closer. “The most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. And the entire time, all I could think about was how badly I wanted to hold such a beautiful creature.”

  Lola squeaked when he suddenly scooped her up in his arms and began carrying her from the large closet. Her heart beat in her chest as he strode back into the luxurious bedroom. The lights had been dimmed. By who? Hell if she knew. Maybe they had house-elves? She couldn’t think because Callon was putting her down, her feet gently touching the ground, but he didn’t stand up. Instead, he stayed kneeling, and, to her shock, he began to untie her shoes.

  “Umm, are you taking my shoes off?” Okay, that had to be the dumbest question she’d ever asked at the dumbest moment, but in her defense, his hand was now wrapped around her ankle and, holy hell, when did her ankle suddenly become an erogenous zone? She felt his hands slide up her legs, her hips, her sides, and then they were cupping her neck.

  “Open your eyes.”

  Callon’s voice broke the spell cast by his touch, and Lola’s eyes snapped open.

  The sound of her breathing filled the room, and she probably should have been embarrassed, but that would have required brain cells to be working, and she was pretty sure he’d fried all of hers. So kudos to him.

  “I’m going to kiss you.” Callon brushed her hair away from her face. “Questions?”

  She shook her head.

  “Objections?”

  Shook her head again.

  “You say stop, we stop.”

  Nod.

  Lola’s eyes drifted closed as Callon’s tongue traced the seam of her lips, coaxing them to part. She sighed into his mouth, her fingers digging into the hard planes of his shoulders. The kiss deepened, and suddenly the surrounding room faded away. There was only this—the slide of his lips against hers, the intoxicating taste of him flooding her senses.

  Warmth unfurled down in her belly as Callon’s hands came up to frame her face. He angled her head to take the kiss deeper, his tongue stroking and tangling with her own. Lola clung to him, her heartbeat thundering in her veins, unable to tell where she ended and he began.

  Callon nipped at her bottom lip, the sting more pleasurable than painful. His rumbling growl was all male, full of hunger and need. Lola whimpered softly when he pulled back, her lips chasing his reflexively.

  “Mine,” he rasped. His pupils were wide with desire. “You’re mine, Sazzi.”

  “Yours,” she whispered, trailing her fingers down the straining muscles of his neck. She was consumed by this connection, as though they were two halves of one soul.

  Callon made a sound close to a purr and recaptured her mouth. Lola arched into him instinctively, heat pooling low in her abdomen. She wanted more—more of his hands on her skin, more of his addictive taste and scent overwhelming her senses. His kisses were both claiming and worshipful, and they whispered of endless nights spent learning every inch of each other.

  When they finally broke apart, chests heaving, the world around them slowly came back into focus. Lola’s knees went weak at the blatant desire in Callon’s glowing eyes. If he kept looking at her like that, they’d quickly end up shedding clothes. The thought made her pulse quicken.

  “Easy, Sazzi,” he murmured, brushing his thumb over her kiss-swollen bottom lip. “We have time. I’m going to savor every moment with you.”

  Lola shivered at the sensual promise in his voice. Yes, they had all the time in the world now to explore this bond. And she knew without a doubt that Callon was her future, as evidenced by his kisses searing down to her soul. She trembled as Callon trailed hot, open-mouthed kisses down the slender column of her throat. His large hands slid reverently beneath her shirt, caressing the silken skin of her back and drawing her closer.

  “I’ve dreamed of having you in my arms like this,” he rasped against her fluttering pulse.

  Lola sighed, tilting her head to give him better access, lost in the pleasurable sensations he was evoking across her skin. She let her own hands wander, tracing the hard ridges of his abdomen and feeling them quiver under her touch.

  Callon growled low in his chest when her curious fingers danced along the waistband of his jeans. In one smooth motion, he grasped her thighs and lifted her, urging her to lock her legs around his lean waist.

  Gasping, Lola’s back hit the wall as he pinned her deliciously under his strength. “Behave, Sazzi, or I’ll stop kissing you. You’re not ready for more than this, no matter what your scent says.”

  She immediately put her hands back on his shoulders. Then she imagined the claws of her lioness and felt them dig into his shoulders.

  He grunted.

  “That’s for the scent comment.” She smiled.

  Callon leaned into her and pressed his face against her neck. He bit down on her hard enough to sting but not hurt. “You’re going to be the death of me, female.”

  She was pretty sure in that moment she had never wanted anything more than she wanted Callon Leo.

  As if reading her mind, he pulled back, and their mouths crashed together once more. Lola melted into Callon, his masculine scent and taste surrounding her. Callon broke the kiss to rasp in her ear. “I’m going to take you to bed.”

  “Uh-huh.” She nodded breathlessly.

  “And…” His breathing was just as hard as hers. “I’m going to⁠—”

  “Yeah?”

  “Hold you as I’ve wanted to do from the moment I laid eyes on you.”

  Lola dropped her forehead to his shoulder as he wrapped both arms around her. “I really want to claw your eyes out right now.”

  “I promise you, this is hurting me way more than it’s hurting you,” he muttered as he carried her to the bed and set her down. “There are pajamas for you in the closet. I’ll get ready in the other bathroom. Take your time, Sazzi.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead and then turned away, moving in that weirdly fast way.

  “Where are you going?” she called out when the door to the bedroom closed.

  “Cold shower.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Not funny, Lo.”

  “Kinda is,” she muttered.

  Twenty minutes later, Callon crawled into bed beside her, and she didn’t have time to make it weird because he just wrapped his massive body around her.

  “Comfortable?”

  “You have no idea.” He groaned, making her laugh. “You?”

  “Actually, yeah.” He felt good. Safe. Warm. Like home.

  “My father sent me a text.” He’d switched the lights off when he’d come in the room, and the only light now was the moon light from the window. “The information he got from Riker, he also confirmed with Nox, he’s the Alpha of the Kingdom of Fangs. He’s sent a single wolf into the Kingdom of Venom territory.”

  “Really?” Lola’s voice was louder than she intended. “What happened to, ‘The entire pack will descend, and hell will follow?’”

  “Nox must have realized what a bad idea that would have been.” Callon ran his fingers through Lola’s hair.

  “Did he say who the wolf is? A lone wolf? Is that a thing? I mean, wolves, at least the human-realm version, typically hunt in packs. So a lone wolf hunting would normally be a weird thing.”

  “Yeah,” Callon said, slowly.

  “Yeah?” Lola tried to push up, but he held her close to him. “I don’t like the sound of that ‘yeah.’ That’s one of those ‘You’re not really going to like what I have to say,’ yeahs.”

  “Is that really a thing?”

  “Don’t try to change the subject,” Lola warned and poked his chest. “Who’s the lone wolf, and why is he not good, because your ‘yeah’”—she mimicked his slow, deep voice—“made it clear you aren’t too keen on this guy.”

  “If it’s who I think it is, his name is Gage.”

  “Gage.” Lola enunciated the name. “I already don’t like him. What kind of name is Gage? Were his parents into tires or something?”

  “Whoa, I’m seeing a whole new side of you already, Sazzi,” he teased. “Judgy, Lola.”

  She felt her skin heat. She was totally being judgy. For all she knew, Gage was a perfectly nice guy who’d just had a rough life.

  “But Gage is an ass, so you can be judgy.”

  “I knew it.” She pounded her fist on Callon’s chest, causing him to laugh.

  He grabbed her hand and held it against him. “We’ll talk to my father about it tomorrow. And he and my mother would like to talk to you about an official ceremony.” The last two words came out kind of garbled as he cleared his throat.

  “Did you say office cereal? Because if you have a cereal addiction, then you and Katy are going to be fast friends.”

  “Official ceremony,” he said much more slowly. “It’s like a, well, to make a proper comparison, it would be what humans would call a marriage ceremony.”

  Lola stilled. Why was this all still somehow sneaking up on her? It was stupid. How many books had she read? Hundreds. No, seriously, it was in the hundreds. She could talk about her unhealthy reading addiction later. That was not her current issue. The current problem was she was marrying a lion shifter, and she was going to have to tell her parents. Oh and she also turns into a lion. Surprise!

  “Maybe, for now, we could just kiss and go to sleep like a normal couple,” Lola suggested.

  Callon tilted her chin up and pressed his full, warm lips to hers. He kissed her, deepened the kiss, and then proceeded to ravage her until she no longer remembered that she cared about anything else. Then, when she could barely breathe, he pulled away and tucked her against his chest. “Sleep well, my Erossazzi,” he whispered.

  Chapter 11

  Roan: One. Maddie: Zero

  “Sometimes you think you should get out and meet new people. You think, ‘I should go explore and check what the world is all about. See things. Do things. All the things.’ Let me give you some free advice: Don’t. Just stay at your nice little pizza joint, eat your nice little pizza, do your nice little everyday things, and mind your business.” ~ Maddie

  Maddie walked beside the grouchiest man she’d ever met. Okay, maybe that wasn’t true. Callon was pretty grouchy, and she wasn’t sure which was worse. Maddie was beginning to think there was something in the water. She’d need to talk to Lyra about purchasing some kind of filtration system. “You needn’t have escorted me to my room, Roan. I’m quite capable of putting myself to bed. Besides, Lyra offered to walk me.”

  “You’re not Lyra’s responsibility.” It looked to Maddie like Roan was suffering physical pain simply by being in her presence. In fact, he’d looked like that all day.