Celia Kyle

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  About the Author

  Ridgeville: Book One

  He Ain’t Lion

  Celia Kyle

  Published: April 2012

  Published by Summerhouse Publishing. Copyright, Celia Kyle. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  Editor: Craig Kim|Cover Artist: Celia Kyle

  Chapter One

  Alex O’Connell watched the ripple of awareness ease through Genesis, his club, as each male seemingly became mindful of the newcomer, the unknown human female, in their midst. The singular woman who smelled nothing of pride or pack.

  Shit, fuck, damn, and growl.

  He ran a hand through his hair and willed his inner cat to calm. Unfortunately, the beast wasn’t in the mood to be denied. It’d already scented the lush woman, and was more than ready to pounce—strip her naked and slide his hard length inside her body.

  How the fuck had she gained entrance?

  The semiannual Gaian Moon was making an appearance tonight, so Alex had gathered his pride and willing humans, known as familiars, to converge within the confines of the club. Sex could be had, raucous noises could be made, and most of the furniture had already been cat-proofed.

  Who was she, this unfamiliar female swaying her curvaceous hips amongst his felines, completely oblivious to the trouble she was about to cause?

  The Gaian Moon ensured cubs would be born, and that their pride would continue to flourish. Without the celestial rising their numbers would almost certainly dwindle, and they’d likely wither and die, as true matings were extremely rare among his kind.

  The humans in attendance knew what they were in for, the moment they’d become pride familiars. The pride would care for them and any offspring, for the remainder of their lives, so long as they made themselves available at the Gaian Moon gatherings, and helped the pride when called upon. Giving birth to cubs only ensured that pride protection and support would be everlasting.

  There were several true matings in their pride, but those couples remained at home to make little cubs of their own, while the others romped their way through Genesis.

  The female in the tight, cleavage-revealing red dress, though, was not a familiar. Alex knew this, because he was the prime, damn it.

  Shit, fuck, damn, and growl.

  His felines were staring at her as if she was a slaughtered deer, and they hadn’t eaten for weeks. Even so, she continued to mingle, now easily fifty feet from where he stood, and yet, he could still scent her heat, single her out from amongst the gatherers. He needed to do something. Fast.

  “You need to do something, Alex. And fast.” Grayson’s words cut through his thoughts, mirroring his own. “She’s not one of ours.”

  “I know.” Alex barely recognized his own voice, and he paused for a moment to take stock of his body’s responses to the new arrival. His cat, normally easy to control after years of practice, was fighting Alex’s restraint, snarling and snapping at its internal cage, prowling just beneath the thin veneer of his skin. The fucker wanted out. Now.

  His arms tingled, skin prickled, and he knew—without looking—that golden fur had sprouted from his forearms. The throbbing from his hands would soon reveal fuzzy fingers, and lethal, razor-sharp claws. Fuckity fuck.

  “How’d she get in?” His lengthened canines made speech difficult, but not impossible.

  He watched the expressions that flitted across his second’s face, where feelings of regret and remorse appeared to be dueling for supremacy. “I put Gina on the door, and she said she could’ve sworn the woman was on the list. And that her scent held your mark.”

  Alex rolled his eyes, immediately refocusing his gaze on the tempting interloper. Her blonde hair practically glowed under the dim lights of the club, her pale skin a beacon his lion was more than happy to follow to the ends of the earth. “She’s still pissed at me for not mounting her during the last moon, and I’m sure she’s just itching to start some trouble.”

  Grayson nodded. “I think you may be right.”

  Lion wanted this stranger. No doubt about its feelings, the beast practically begged and snarled its needs to Alex. Part of him wanted to charge through the gathering, steal her away to his den. Unfortunately he couldn’t do that, not without revealing his true nature to the woman. Sure, shifters were known to the human populace, but they weren’t exactly “out and proud” about their existence. Nonchalance and some closely kept secrets had kept the shifters protected thus far, and the various clan leaders around the world wanted to keep it that way.

  Alex had too much on his plate already, and he’d rather not add “calming a panicking human” to the list.

  “Bring her up, Grayson. I’ll speak with her, and then send her on her way. Perhaps give her an incentive to return on another night. We can’t have her in the building once the doors are locked and the festivities have begun.”

  “There’s only five minutes left, Prime.”

  As if the reminder of his title within the pride wasn’t enough to pressure him, the last thing Alex needed was to be further stressed by his second’s announcement of the remaining time, damn it. His cat was more than aware of how long it needed to wait until it could mate with the fertile, willing females, and the opportunity to produce cubs of its own, true mate or not. His lion had yet to be successful, but it was more than willing to keep trying… “Then make it fast.”

  *

  Her friend Gina hadn’t lied. The guys in Genesis were all staring at her as if she were a big hunk of choice beef, and they hadn’t eaten for weeks. Then again, the whole semi-drooling thing could be because they were werecats. But wait, weren’t dogs the droolers?

  Maya mentally shrugged. Gina, even if she did seem a little cat crazy, was fun to hang out with, and now, she was Maya’s very best, hook-me-up-with-hotness, friend.

  She’d known all along that shifters lived in Ridgeville, as well as many of the surrounding towns in their wide expanse of North Carolina, so the all-cat club and semiannual orgy didn’t really surprise her much. She’d always heard that shifters were very sexual beings.

  And tonight, she could very well use some of that sexual healing.

  Heh.

  The men here certainly seemed to like a girl with some cushion for the pushin’. At least, that’s what their gazes told her. Hell, even some of the ladies were giving Maya the same lustful glances. But tonight was not the night for lovin’ with the female persuasion, though. Maybe another time…

  Maya wove her way through the crush of bodies, trying to ignore the occasional brushes against her, casual touches that roamed from her hips to her ass, and sometimes the side of her breasts.

  Yet another thing her new friend hadn’t lied about. It seemed these men were into fluffy women. Maya was a realist, she always had been. She had big hips, big thighs, and big breasts, all of which added up to a big woman.

  Whatever. ‘Cause she
was perfectly content with who she was.

  And by all appearances the men liked what they saw, and she just wanted to have a fun night on the town, forget about her ex’s betrayal and hateful words. It’d been a month since the blowup breakup, and it was high time for her to shake off the remnants of Henry’s mistreatment of her and reclaim her life.

  The first order of business was a debauchery-filled night at Genesis, where, to her knowledge, no one knew her as the other half of “Maya and Henry”.

  Gina had told her that the club held a sex party of sorts every six months. It was a “cat” thing so it wasn’t advertised, but people in the know gathered here to have a bit of fun. Were werecats considered “people?”

  Maya wasn’t much of an exhibitionist, but her new friend’s persuasive words had convinced her that a trip to Genesis would be the first step to reclaiming her life—the whole “sexual healing” part of her plan.

  As she approached the bar a few of the men first seemed to part like the Red Sea, but then crowded closer, with one on each side, and she could feel the presence of at least two others at her back. And their hard cocks were not lost on her.

  She should totally be disgusted. Really. ‘Cause normal “good girls” wouldn’t get turned-on by being surrounded by a handful of werecats, with boinking on their minds, would they?

  In truth, their blatant desire sent a thrill down her spine, settling nicely in her pussy, causing her needy clit to twitch.

  Any other time she would’ve glared at them all or perhaps even called the cops, but not as of this moment, when glancing at each man revealed large bodies with heated stares, pale, amber eyes that just oozed sex.

  And she sure as hell wouldn’t kick any of them outta bed.

  When she turned her attention back to the bar, she found the mixologist staring at her, sex and seduction obvious in his heavy-lidded gaze, while his focus seemed trained on her ample breasts.

  “Can I help you, Miss?” His soothing voice wrapped around her, and she could feel her sex growing wetter, aching with want and prepping for a night of naughty fun as she took her seat.

  The men crowded closer, capturing her with their bodies, chests rubbing and touching, random hands petting, and she couldn’t think of a single reason to push them away. No, tonight, she’d be a wanton sex goddess. Okay, that sounded kinda lame. Rather, she’d be a horny slut.

  Just for this single night.

  One. No harm, no foul.

  Maya definitely wouldn’t return in six months, though.

  Nope.

  Well, maybe.

  If she were invited, sure, probably.

  A low growl flitted on the room’s breeze, a moment before a man spoke in a commanding voice from behind her. “No, you cannot.”

  And just that quickly, the men surrounding her melted away, the mixologist doing the same but in the opposite direction, moving toward other customers in haste.

  A glance to her left and right revealed that she suddenly had a generous, five-foot radius of personal space.

  Maya turned on her stool, faced the man who’d sent her suitors running, but immediately tossed out all of her aggravation that stemmed from the other men deserting her. ‘Cause she’d be more than happy to take this man on, considering how insistent and growly he happened to be. Yummy.

  This guy appeared to be taller than the others, an air of authority wrapped around him, and she wondered what it’d be like to be taken by him, bent over the bar and…fucked senseless.

  He approached, a predator clothed in skin. And she seemed to be his prey.

  “Ma’am, if you’ll come with me…” He held out a large hand, and she wondered what it’d be like to be touched and stroked by him, forced to come over and again until he shoved what she hoped would be a large dick into her heat.

  A small shudder shook her body, lower lips growing heavy with desire as his nostrils flared, chest expanding when he inhaled deep, the hue of his amber eyes growing deeper with each flurried beat of her racing heart.

  Definitely a big cat. Most definitely. And it was obvious that he could scent her longing. That should’ve squicked her out. Without a doubt.

  But it didn’t.

  Huh.

  Oh, was she ready for the festivities to begin. She slid from her stool, a slight wobble when she gained her feet, her new stilettos giving her grief. She totally should’ve gone with three-inch heels instead of four.

  The hottie was there in a blink, arm wrapped around her waist, a steadying hand encircling her wrist. “Are you okay? Have you had a lot to drink?”

  She furrowed her eyebrows and puckered her lips into a pout. “No.” She kept pace with him as they wove through the club, men and women moving aside as they approached. “You scared him away, before I had the chance to order.”

  The stranger leaned down, nuzzled her neck and inhaled, before he purred in her ear, “Sorry.”

  Holy shit, oh, dear God, please take her now. He hadn’t touched her yet, not really, but she already wanted this man. Wanted to be spread over a table and taken by him, and she couldn’t give a flying fuck who watched. No, she’d just charge for admittance.

  At the bottom of a set of stairs she found her voice. “Where’re you taking me?”

  “Alex O’Connell, the owner of Genesis, would like to meet you.” Damn. There was that lovely purr again.

  Okay, she could certainly do that. Maya wasn’t exactly an “in the know” regular, so meeting him was probably a good idea. She wasn’t sure if hosting orgies in clubs was all that legal in Ridgeville, so meeting a random newcomer without a direct invite kinda made sense. Besides, Gina had warned her that she might have to chat with the head honcho before the fun began at midnight.

  Maybe she shoulda brought catnip along, as a peace offering or something.

  She licked her lips, stole another look at her escort, and wondered if she could finagle him into a bit of slap-and-tickle, and then, a thorough, hard fucking.

  And plenty of it.

  Before she knew it they were at the top of the stairs, her escort knocking on the wooden door.

  One rap is all he managed until the door opened, an obviously livid man standing on the other side, his face a ruddy hue, and eyes that looked ready to shoot daggers at her at any moment. And if it weren’t for the teeny-tiny fact that his face held an expression that indicated he’d gladly end her life without a second thought, she’d drool all over him, drop to her knees and beg to touch him, be touched by him.

  “Grayson, you took your time.” The man spoke through clenched teeth.

  Oh. Oh, my. While her escort, Grayson, had gotten her warm in all the right places, this man, Alex O’Connell, made her want in a way she’d never experienced.

  Even with his thunderous expression she wasn’t afraid, not really. Grayson held an air of authority, while this man personified power. It radiated from him, but for some odd reason, she felt like he wouldn’t really harm her. He demanded, and others listened. But he also seemed to have a fierce level of control.

  “Yes, apparently, I did.”

  Maya didn’t have eyes for Grayson any longer. No, she was all about Mr. Alex O’Connell and his bad self. He easily topped six feet, and then some. His hair appeared reddish-blond in color, and seemed to shine in the dim club interior. As did his eyes. Oh, damn, his eyes were the palest amber, and held something she couldn’t quite describe. It called to her on a primal level, all of her instincts screaming at her to climb him like a freaking mountain and never come back down.

  But fluffy chicks, especially her, were not climbers.

  Alex’s shoulders were so broad he nearly spanned the doorway, and they led to an equally wide chest which tapered to a trim waist. His shirt was so tight she could see the ripple of every muscle when he moved, count each dip and rise along his abdomen. The black top matched the snug pants that revealed just as much as they hid. She couldn’t he
lp but steal a glance at the juncture of his thighs, nearly gasping as the large package grew beneath her gaze, showing her, that despite his anger, she turned him on.

  Thank god. Her body was responding too, whether she liked it or not. Good thing momma liked.

  Beneath his attention her nipples pebbled and hardened within her dress, and how appropriate, because she wasn’t wearing a bra that could hide the effects of his impassioned stare. The arousal didn’t stop with her breasts, though. It slithered through her body, awakening and strumming her nerves as it wove its way to her aching pussy, flicking her clit as her wet channel clenched in response. A shiver struck her muscles and she imagined his thick cock sliding, and then slamming, into her body. Powerful. Hard. Fast.

  Alex took a deep breath and his nostrils flared, mimicking Grayson’s actions from before, his fierce anger melting into an even more ferocious expression she could only interpret as hard core, wanna-do-you-now-so-stop-touching-my-friend-and-bend-over, lust.

  Whew.

  Yes, please.

  “That’ll be all.” Alex snapped the words out as he reached for her, pulled her out of Grayson’s arms and hauled her into his apparent sanctuary, then closed the door once the man left.

  With the need and desire to be bent over any flat surface lingering, she couldn’t really find the energy, or inclination, to care about his aggressive behavior.

  Maya came to Genesis to help take her mind off of Henry, but this…and these feelings…were completely foreign, unexpected. When she was deciding whether or not to come, she’d figured she’d get turned-on, have a little fun, and then leave, once the “thank you, ma’am” of the “wham, bam” portion of the night came to pass.

  Now, she wasn’t all that sure that if she was to get a taste of Alex…that once would be enough.

  He led her deeper into the room and she got the impression of dark wood, masculine furniture, but he didn’t give her a chance to look around. Within a few steps he had her captured, with her leaning against the back of the sofa while he loomed over her, his rock-hard erection pressed against her hips.