Page 71 of Nicolette

“Both,” I bit out.

“Can I help?” he asked, letting his clawed hand scrape up my naked thigh.

Circus was a masochist, and I was a sadist with anyone other than my dusza. She could take it rough and enjoyed it, but even if it was consensual, there was a limit to how far I could go before my need to protect her took over. Hurting her didn’t give me the same satisfaction it did with Circus. I wanted something different from Nicolette. I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt true enjoyment in the act of sex. Then the moment I was locked deep inside that woman’s pussy, I knew I’d never actually felt fulfillment before that moment.

My hand shot out and gripped him by the throat, squeezing tightly as I stood, dragging him up with me. He hung limply in my grip, not even fighting as I looked down at him. “What makes you think you’d be able to help? You’re just a bottom who likes to be fucked hard.”

He tried to say something, but even though it came out as a grunt, I could see the pleasure on his face. I bared my teeth at him and tossed him toward the wall, so he slammed into it, but I was on him again in a flash. Hand on his neck, cutting off airflow, I let my other hand brush over his ass. “You want to be something useful, clown? Then bleed so I can use it as lube to fuck your gaping asshole with.”

Shifting my nails into claws, I dug all five of them into his flesh and yanked down, tearing open his skin and sending rivers of blood down his leg. I watched, mesmerized by the sight of the blood so red and vibrant in contrast to his skin’s paleness. The wound would be short-lived as it started to heal before my eyes. He shuddered with pleasure and tried to hump the wall whimpering to get any friction on his cock.

“People say I’m the fucked up one, but here you are, about ready to come as I cut you.” I growled, slicing my claws across his stomach. “Here, use this to wet your cock and jack yourself off. I don’t have time to worry about your fucking needs.”

I let up on his throat a little allowing him enough air that he wouldn’t pass out, and I could listen to his moans. The man did as he was told, wetting his hand in his own blood, and started stroking. Now it was my turn to fuck him, but I wasn’t going to use my cock. That now belonged to another. While I would always enjoy playing with Circus in this way, we’d have to come up with new things, maybe some interesting toys. For now, he’d have to settle for my fingers.

Seeing that the wound I’d made healed, I did it again, then rubbed two fingers in it to get them nice and wet before thrusting them right into his ass. The cry that came out of Circus was a mixture of pain and pleasure, just how he fucking loved it. Twisting my fingers as I thrust them deeper, I pressed my body against him, letting my cock rub against his warm skin.

“You no longer deserve my cock, but I’m still going to use you to get some pleasure out of this,” I whispered in his ear. “Tell me, how does it feel to have your ass rammed, knowing it’s your own blood keeping me from tearing you up inside?”

“I fucking love it!” Circus gasped, pressing back into my hand. “Do with me however you want. This lowly clown is nothing but an object to be used.”

This was going to be quick and dirty. We both needed to take the edge off before the fight so we could refrain from killing everyone for watching what belonged to us. She’d be in skin-tight clothes, allowing that fucking scum to think he had a chance to lay a finger on her. If the shitstain of existence managed to come out on top, he’d live for two seconds before I ripped out his throat to silence him as I yanked off his head.

“Tell me something, do you plan to expose this twisted side of yourself to our mate?” I questioned as I shoved a third, dry finger in with the others.

“Yeesss,” he hissed out as his legs started to give way as he came, spurting all over the wall.

I released my hold on his neck, and he crumbled to the floor. He looked up at me, eyes glassy and a stupid smile on his face as he squeezed out the last of his cum for his cock. “She is our fated pair. I choose to believe that means she’ll accept this pathetic part of myself. The other day I dreamed of her beating Amaretto bloody, then allowing me to fuck her as she’s covered in her victim’s blood. She is my dark queen, and I have no doubt she will find a way to use me that pleases her.”

Hearing his dream, I pictured her covered in sweat and blood after this fight. Victory in hand, I’d steal her away and fuck her until she screamed on that fucking metal table. The visual divide of what was keeping her out of the crew she deserved to be a part of. When we were done, and she was leaking my cum out of her pussy, I’d take her back to my apartment, where I would mark her as mine. Then fuck her until she passed out, so I could watch over her like a good mate.

“You didn’t come,” Circus commented, pulling me back to the present.

“No, but it helped all the same,” I shared, tugging on a pair of sweatpants I’d stashed up here and pocketing my dice. “There’s not much time left. You should shower.”

“Aww… are you worried about me?” Circus teased, knowing it wasn’t the case. “I suppose it would unsettle her to see me covered in blood before she understands this part of my needs. The last thing I want to do is throw her off her game.”

I glanced at him a moment before shifting and leaping off the platform we’d been hanging out on at the top of the space. Trusting my agile feline body, I darted from thing to thing, avoiding others who were in there. Yeah, I’m sure they heard Circus as I worked him over, but neither of us gave a fuck. In fact, there were at least three other groupings of pride members fucking. We were a culture that didn’t deny that part of ourselves when we were in the safety of our domain. When I finally landed on the ground floor, I stood as a human, needing to open the door to get out.

The entrance to the activity room was near the gym we had in the basement where the fight would take place. I spotted my lethal mate walking around the ring, testing the ropes, and jumping up and down, getting a feel for the space. Rambler was there with a relaxed smile on his face as he watched her like everything she did was perfect to him. My eyes zeroed in on the fresh mark on his neck, which had me searching her body for one. I spotted it peeking out from under her sports bra on the swell of her breast.

Elation flooded my body as my feline let out a growl of excitement. It was finally going to be our turn to claim our place by her side. All the anger and frustration I’d been feeling since learning about this challenge evaporated with that knowledge. Nothing could ruin this night because she wouldn’t make it long after the fight before I had my teeth sinking into her perfect body.

Slipping my hand into my pocket, I rolled the dice in my hand as I headed for the showers. I’d planned to go back to my apartment, but I wasn’t willing to be that far away from her now that I knew the muzzle was off.

Nine had made it clear that everyone was to be at this event.

The bar and diner had been shut down to make sure this could happen. The only one who wasn’t going to be there was Dog since we sent him to hunt down those who had fucked off. Why Nine insisted that we needed to worry about them, I still didn’t understand and probably never would. He had a softness to him that I’m not sure ever existed for me, even as a child.

The gym was packed full of people, almost to the point I wasn’t sure it could hold everyone, and the space was massive. I stood in the ring with the others for now. When the fight started, I’d be front and center, needing to be as close to Nicolette as possible during this fight. We all knew the rules, and to break them would mean death, so I would hold myself back until that moment when no other choice was left to me. They’d decided to keep both Nicolette and Zealot out of the gym until it was time for the fight. Nine wanted to take this moment to address the pride as a whole in the hopes it would settle things going forward.

Climbing into the ring, Nine took a moment to look over the crowd before speaking. “A lot has happened in the past few days, some good, some bad. Change is hard, but I think change we don’t understand makes things even harder. It has been generations since we’ve had a lioness, a true female alpha in our pride. You’ll have to trust me when I say once the growing pains of this are over, the pride will benefit as a whole. Already Nicolette has spotted some areas that I need to fix, and in turn, adjustments will be made, such as her taking the role of Den Mother. As our pride’s alpha female, she is built for this role, and it will be respected, or you’ll be dealing with me.” The look on his face spoke volumes about what he was relaying to the pride.

“It’s been brought to my attention by many trusted people that I’ve been a little too soft on things. While this will always be a refuge for those who need it, certain expectations will now be put in place. Everyone must contribute to the pride, giving back what has been given to them. Education will be more of a priority along with job placement.” Nine had to pause as the room erupted into applause, with others whistling and yelling their support of this idea.

Once they settled, he continued, “As always, any male is welcome to find their work with the Savage Pride as a prospecting member. However, if you choose to make your life as a sweetbutt, that is no longer considered your job. You will be expected to complete any education you haven’t, as well as help wherever needed within the pride. Respect is given where earned, and I’ve been doing you all a disservice by not providing a way for you to respect yourself. I want everyone to look in the mirror and know they are doing the best for themselves. If you don’t know where to help or what you’re good at, we can assist you with that. There will be a program put together that will allow you to try out a few options to see where you’d fit best.” He smiled.

“With all these opportunities and chances to make the most of your life here, it will also come with consequences. These are now mandatory expectations, and your unwillingness to follow what has been asked of you will result in action on my part. It will start as a conversation, but if things continue to worsen, then you leave me no choice but to relocate you. A pride is a family, and if the family doesn’t pull their weight, then we all suffer. I’ve failed at creating that environment within this pride, especially with those who choose the sweetbutt way of life. That animosity was created by having the wrong person in charge, and that’s on me. It’s also the reason for this dominance challenge. Zealot doesn’t believe he is in the wrong for tension and unfair treatment of the sweetbutts and single females. Nicolette disagrees and is now challenging him for that position.”