Page 32 of Nicolette

I almost choked on my jerky at her words. “I’m sorry, but are you under the assumption I’m a whore?”

“You aren’t?” she questioned with a frown.

Chucking aside my jerky, my hand shot out, gripped her by the throat, and slammed her against the hall wall. My lioness let out a roar at the audacity of this bitch to ever suggest that we would give our bodies to just anyone. This wasn’t how I wanted to make my first impression. I’d really planned on trying to be nice, but who was I kidding—I was a fighter.

Chapter 14

Circus

While leaning back against the wall of the elevator, I whistled a song that got stuck in my head. I’d just been about to head into our pride’s bar, Hair of the Dog, when Nine pulled me aside, shoving clothes in my hands. “Hey, I need you to bring these up to Nic. I’ve got a situation to deal with.”

“You need backup?” I asked before my brain registered he’d given me a job.

“No, Rambler and I can deal with Bone on our own,” Nine grumbled. “I really need you to check on Nic. It’s not good for us to leave her alone too long when we haven’t introduced her to the pride. Who knows what some asshole will do or say and how she’ll react.”

“She’ll put them in their place,” I answered. “Other than the five of us, there aren’t many males or females who are going to be stronger than her. She’s a trained fighter. That’s going to be her first instinct. Not to mention her lioness will be extra sensitive about her place in the pack for a little while.”

Nine just looked at me with his arms crossed and a raised brow like I should be doing something. Not saying a word, he just pointed to the apartment building, then made a shooing motion.

“Fuck, right, sorry,” I muttered, spinning on my heel. “Off I go to make sure our girlfriend doesn’t kill anyone on her first day.”

A snarl behind told me Nine didn’t like the idea of me calling her our girlfriend, or maybe it was the killing part. Either way, I sped up, so Nine didn’t get the bright idea to come after me. I respected the fuck out of that man, but I was only going to allow him to toss me around out of jealousy once. If he wanted to pretend I was his whipping boy, then he better be fucking me at the same time.

Pain was addictive when it was paired with sex. The blend of euphoric pleasure with the bite of a whip, or the sting of a hand, as it pulls you back from the edge, forcing you to wait until they’re ready to let you come, well, that was just a bit of heaven.

When it came to this whole fated pair bullshit, I think it was just Nine playing us all. A way to justify his need to keep Nic to himself. If there was such a thing as a fated pair, then why the fuck didn’t more people talk about it? Personally, I would be scouring the globe to find that person, and when I did—they’d be mine. Huh, maybe this was a thing, and Nine was fated for Nic if I was going to act the same way about my fated pair as he was right now.

Fuck it! This was hurting my brain, and I just wanted to snuggle up with my Neko, getting all the cuddles Nine kept from me. No matter what was going on between the two lions, Neko was ours. My leopard yowled his agreement from where he’d been napping in the back of my mind. He’d missed his lioness and wanted to play with her some more. Things had been so boring today, and she always made for interesting moments and interactions. That was why she needed to be our girlfriend—she was perfect for all of us. Hell, even Dice was actively spending time with people and motherfucking talking. Yup, it was settled. Nicolette might be something special to Nine, but she wasn’t going to be just his. He’d have to learn how to share.

When the elevator doors opened, my ear perked up, instantly hearing Nic’s angry voice. “I will say this once, you plastic-filled bimbo… I. Am. Not. A. Whore.”

See, instantly so much more interesting. God, I think I might actually fall in love with this woman if she keeps this up.

Jogging down the hall, I rounded the curve and found Amaretto dangling on the wall with Nic’s hand around her throat. The poor little cheetah didn’t stand a chance against a lioness, and it would seem she was figuring that out for herself.

I ambled over and rested my head on her shoulder, looking up at Amaretto. “Whatcha’ doing?”

“Explaining a few things,” Nic answered, her voice calm and even, yet, the power she possessed was lashing its tail like the pissed-off feline she was.

Fuck, why was this so hot?

“Sounds fun,” I commented and gave a little wave to the choking woman on the wall. “Hey, Retto, it’s nice to see you and all, but weren’t you told by Nine not to come up here anymore?”

She tried to answer but couldn’t. So she started to scratch at Nic’s hand, turning it bloody as her nails shifted to claws. My head snapped up at the sight of my Neko’s blood, the cheerful mask falling away to reveal my true self.

“Stop,” I ordered, putting my power behind the word. Since I was far more dominant than Amaretto, she stopped instantly. “Nic, would you please set her down.”

I could feel her stiffen next to me at the dramatic change in my tone and posture. Like the wise lioness that she was, Nic complied with my request, letting the woman crash to the floor. Snatching up the bleeding hand, I cradled it on my own, lifting a little to lick away the blood. I started to purr, trying to use it as a way to calm my Neko as I cleaned her wound. My magic wasn’t strong enough to be able to heal anything but the smallest scratch, but I could ensure that her own supernatural healing wouldn’t have any problems.

“Circus, what are you doing?” Nic asked.

I ignored her since the answer was obvious. When I’d cleaned up all the blood, I pressed a gentle kiss to the back of her hand before releasing it. Then I shifted my attention to the woman trying to stand, who dared to spill my Neko’s blood. She froze instantly. Her eyes were as big as saucers knowing she was in big fucking trouble.

“Please,” she sobbed. “I don’t know what I did wrong, but I am sorry, Circus. Tell me what I have to do to make amends, and I’ll do it.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Retto. I’m not the one you hurt,” I explained, squatting down before her. “Did you think Nine wasn’t being serious when he told you never to step one fucking foot on this floor ever again? Are you that stupid that you need someone to spell it out for you that they’re not interested? Come on. You’re better than that. Use the brain you have and take a guess at where you went wrong here today.”

Her bottom lip began to quiver, but those kinds of tricks never worked on me. I’d watched too many people crying, begging me to stop, that spotting a faker was child’s play. Amaretto had only come to us a year ago after running away from her old pride, claiming they were abusing her. I’d kept my eye on her, not trusting anything she’d said, but no matter what, female felines were to be protected, so Nine brought her in. This ditzy act was almost as good as the mask I wore, but it wasn’t good enough to hide the calculating bitch I knew was right there under the surface, itching to show itself.