STORY EXCERPT

“York, Moody, I’ll take over this arrest,” a new voice said.

Harry finally look up. The two officers who apprehended him, York and Moody, were about to shove him in the back of their cop car. Another officer approached him, the largest man he’d ever seen. Easily six-foot-plus, this copper was entirely made up of muscle. Easy on the eyes save for a scar on his right cheek, the cop had dark gold hair and the most intense pair of chocolate-brown eyes slightly streaked with amber. Probably his imagination, but Harry couldn’t stop staring.

“Masters, we found the suspect covered in blood. We want to take him back to the station,” one of the cops argued, but his partner nudged him sharply in the ribs.

Masters said nothing, didn’t need to. A strange kind of commanding aura seemed to emanate from this man. Harry didn’t know whether to be terrified or relieved this stranger wanted to take over his arrest.

“This city belongs to them,” Harry overheard the other cop whisper to his partner in a low voice.

“You know I can hear what you two ladies are talking about, right?” Masters asked.

Hear? How was that possible? Harry stared at the new cop. Those eyes didn’t seem to belong to a human. If he looked close enough, he could see more scars peeking from the stranger’s collar. Not scars. Rake marks. His heart nearly stopped. A shifter? They were bad news. Harry knew that from personal experience. Nonetheless, there was something, some kind of pull that made Harry want to stay with Masters.

“Fine, he’s all yours, but you need to explain to the precinct whatever it is you’re planning on doing,” the cop said, practically shoving him into the shifter’s direction. “Come on, York. There’s plenty of other perps to bust.”

“Get in,” the shifter said, opening the car door for him.

Harry did as he asked, still feeling dazed, confused. Safe, his mind told him. Insane. This entire morning didn’t make any sense. Jed was a complete stranger to him, and yet, he wasn’t panicking, telling Jed he preferred to go with York and Moody, who were fellow humans.

Fellow humans who didn’t believe he was telling the truth.

The shifter got behind the wheel.

“I didn’t do it. I swear. I’m innocent.” Harry didn’t know why he repeated those words. The other two cops didn’t believe him, but he had to try.

“Either you’re a very good liar or you’re telling the truth.”

“Officer Mas—”

“Call me Jed.”

They were on a first name basis now?

“Officer Jed, I woke up in that apartment with no idea how I got there.” He slumped in his seat. His cuffed arms ached. Harry badly wanted, no, needed a shower. A long nap to shake off the headache that continued to pound at his skull. Then he’d be able to think clearly and this indescribable attraction he felt towards this shifter? It would all be a figment of his imagination.

“Just Jed.”

“Are you taking me to the station?” he finally asked.

“Nope. I’m a cop. That’s my day job, but I took you off York and Moody’s hands for one reason.”

So stupid. Harry couldn’t believe he’d been more focused on how good Jed smelled and looked, then the bad situation he’d landed himself in. If Jed Masters didn’t plan on taking him to the police station, then where did the shifter want to bring him? Despite his strange situation, Harry still believed going with Jed was better than letting those two cops arrest him.

Strange. Why did he feel that way?

“What are you saying?” he finally asked. York and Moody’s conversation came back to him. “One of the cops said something that stuck. He said the city belongs to them. Who is he talking about?”

“Us,” Jed said simply. The shifter drove out of Dan’s neighborhood. “The Crawford City Pride.”

Harry stilled. He might be human, tried to ignore the politics, the paranormal groups wrestling for the city’s control, but Harry knew about the lions. The Crawford City Pride was the dominant animal group in the city. All the others, human gangs, shifter packs, vampire nests, they all answered to that pride.

The pride owned the police, that much he understood. They also had the mayor, other politicians, and important businessmen in their pockets. No wonder York and Moody backed off. Jed being a police officer—was that only a cover? Harry understood one vital truth. Human law couldn’t protect him now.

“What does your pride want with me?”

“You know the answer to that.”

Harry bit on his lower lip. “This about my half-brothers? I have nothing to do with them. I’m human. Never wanted part of that life.”

“We’ll see about that, once I get the real truth out of you.”

Great. Harry was beginning to think that going with Jed wasn’t the best move after all.

“I want a lawyer.”

Jed laughed. “The justice system can’t help you now. Not if the local authorities can’t find your body.”

“Oh God.”

“That’s right, human. You’re in deep water now.”

ADULT EXCERPT

“I’m attracted to you,” Harry finally had the courage to answer. “I can’t understand it. I should be more worried about important things, but you, you complicate everything.”

“What you are to me, it’s simple.” Jed lifted his chin with his fingers, still smeared with blood and dirt from his fight. The shifter smelled of the woods, like something conjured from the wilderness. Inhuman yet he no longer wanted to run, or stay away.

“What?” he asked.

Jed answered him with a kiss, except Harry couldn’t call it that. The lion shifter devoured his mouth, kissed Harry like he owned him, rough and without apology. Jed pressed a hand to his throat again, but it was more of a possessive move than anything else. Harry’s jeans felt a little tighter. It didn’t help he could feel Jed’s big cock, curving up against his pants, seeking release.

“Mine,” Jed said simply, with so much confidence it floored him.

“Don’t know what to say to that,” Harry admitted. Why did he feel so hot all over?

It felt strange, having someone admit they wanted him. Harry never felt desirable his entire life, only mediocre. Normal. Now this big and sexy lion shifter just outright admitted he lusted after Harry. All thoughts of running fled his mind, replaced by something else.

“Then don’t say anything,” Jed said. “All you need to do is feel.”

* * * *

“Feel?” Harry asked him.

Jed placed a hand over Harry’s left pectoral, where his speeding heart lay. “Follow what it tells you.”

“I want you.”

“Good, because I need to fuck you soon or go crazy.” Jed pushed open the door.

They stumbled in, and Jed locked the door behind him, preventing escape. Not that Harry looked like he wanted to bolt any moment. Brave human. He could smell it. Harry’s need and his own, mingling together.

“I’m covered in leaves, blood, and dirt. Need a shower.”

Harry pulled off his shirt. “I like that we’re both dirty. Maybe we can clean each other up?”

Jed smirked, grabbed Harry, and kissed the human again. Pure heat. Lust kindled in his body, made his dick harden. He pulled Harry to the bathroom, shed the rest of Harry’s clothes along with the way. Harry kicked off his shoes. Jed grabbed Harry’s waist, lifted his human so Harry sat on the bathroom counter.

“This is what’s going to happen next,” he said. Jed curled his fingers around Harry’s shaft, began working it up and down. He swiped the pre-cum gathered at the red tip, lifted his hand to his lips, and licked it, tasting Harry’s seed. The human blushed. Red spread from Harry’s cheeks to his neck.

“Don’t leave me hanging.”

“Can’t connect the dots? I’m about to fuck you so hard, so good you’ll be begging me for more.”

Jed worked Harry’s prick, until Harry’s cock went from half-mast to full. “Look at you. So ready for me. Don’t come yet. If you do that without my permission, you won’t like the consequences.”

“I’ll try.”

“Do.” Jed pulled his fingers away, only for Harry to groan. “I can’t wait anymore.”

He helped Harry off the counter, only to grab a few towels, place them over the counter. Jed bent Harry over them, and his human delightfully spread his legs for him, exposing his puckered asshole, balls, dick. Everything. Jed grabbed a bottle of lube from the cabinet above his sink.

“You have that ready?” Harry asked.

“No need to sound jealous, little human. This is for my me-time. Being a cop and the Beta of a pride hasn’t exactly left me with plenty of free time.”

“Oh. Good. Not the lack of free time I mean,” Harry said quickly, biting on his lower lip.

Fucking adorable. Jed positioned himself behind Harry, applied plenty of lube to his fingers, then Harry’s hole.

“How many men have you let inside you?” Jed had to asked.

“Two. Both experiences were horrible, ended far too quickly. I didn’t even feel a thing. A few thrusts. Next thing I knew, it was over. After that, I never bothered doing it again. Didn’t think sex was so great.”

“Those fuckers had no idea what they were doing. Let me re-educate you.”

Envy cut both ways, he supposed, but it didn’t matter. After this, the only man who had the right to fuck Harry, claim him, was him. Jed would make sure Harry would get a good taste of him and come crawling back to him, wanting more.

He’d make his human addicted to him, and in return, Jed would give Harry the world if he wanted. Make sure Harry wouldn’t want for anything else. Jed pushed two fingers inside Harry’s ass, then added two more. Harry squirmed, begged.

“Take me already. You’ve made me wait so long, and I don’t think I can hold back any longer.”

“Not yet. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”