Andrew: Lanning’s Leap: Erotica Shapeshifter Romance (Lanning's Leap Book 5) (10 page)

“I can help you with that as well.”

After he left, Andrew sat at his desk. Even with all the stuff around him destroyed, he felt better about this than he had in a long time. Not just the business, but life in general.

~~~

Laci moved around the rooms. There was already a lot of furniture and other things in the lower levels that she thought could use a little polishing, and she was sure that there were things in the other darkened rooms that she’d not discovered as yet. The large case with the jewelry in it was simply too pretty to resist.

“I can open it for you if you’d like.” Laci screamed when Max spoke to her. “I’m sorry. I should have warned you that I was here. I forget sometimes that you can’t feel me around like the others. It’s because we’ve not touched.”

“And I don’t think we will either, thanks. I’ve had enough magic zapped on me for a lifetime or two.” He said nothing but moved to the other side of the glass case from her. “I’ve never seen such beautiful things before. Andrew said you got most of it from estate sales and such.”

“I did. Mom and I would go to them when we could. Not often, but we’d sneak out. It was fun. And I began collecting things that I liked then and stashing them away here and there. It’s amazing what you can do when you have enough power behind you to hide it.” She just nodded. To her, Max was freaky scary in what he could do. He was also a very nice young man, and she was glad to have him on her side. When he laughed, she told him she was sorry. “No worries. I’m sorry I intruded on your thoughts. When Mom and I are at the house with Dad, we have a rule. No looking until you think it’s necessary. You do know that you can do it too, don’t you?”

“I’m not sure I’m ready for all that as yet.” He nodded again and unlocked the big case. “Can I see the blue piece, the bracelet? The one with the large pearl in the center. I think that’s the prettiest piece in here.”

“Believe it or not, I got this at an auction and paid a whole dollar for the entire box of jewelry. I had no idea it was even in the box until I got it home and started separating things out. I like it too.” He handed it to her and Laci had a moment of panic. Something touched her skin. “Are you all right?”

“Yes.” But the feeling wasn’t going away. In fact, she felt as if she were being grabbed by something bigger than her. And meaner. “The woman who owned this was being abused, I think. The man hurting her, he’s calling her names and telling her that he’s going to be rid of her in a fortnight.”

“Can you see him?” Laci felt herself turn, and she looked at the man standing just behind her. But she thought she was seeing things wrong and told Max that. “It’s all right. Just tell me what he looks like. You can see the violence of the piece. Not just the woman. Tell me what he’s saying to her. What he has on. What he looks like.”

“Taller than her by about a foot. He has dark hair. Red I think. His face is scarred. He has a long cut above his brow and the scar runs deep in his cheek.” Laci wanted to drop the bracelet, but Max told her to hold it and tell her what else she saw. “He has on a gold chain. Thicker than my fingers, and there is a large diamond in the center of it. He has on velvet and lace. It’s sticking out of his jacket like he wants to show it off.”

“He more than likely did. Can you see any of the room? Perhaps something hanging on the wall?” She looked again but was slapped. Or the woman had been. There wasn’t any pain for her, but she felt it, as if it were a memory rather than an actual hitting. “Laci, it’s not real, what you’re seeing. It’s only the things that the woman saw and felt when she was wearing it.”

“A crown, he has it on a statue near a bed. The bed is old, draped in lace and sheer stuff. Silk, I think and it’s blue...maybe purple.” Laci had a thought when she realized what he’d said to her. “Max, this is real, isn’t it? I’m really seeing what she did.”

“Yes. I’m sure of it. You can touch things and bring their wearer to life. I wonder if you can do that with furniture as well.” She put the bracelet back and stepped away from the case. “You weren’t hurt. And what you did was learn something great about the piece. It’s like you’re a walking history book for the things here.”

“I don’t think I want to know some of the things that went on with this stuff.” He nodded and put the bracelet away. “I think he was going to kill her.”

“He more than likely did.” She nodded and looked around the store with new eyes. “Laci, don’t let this frighten you. What you know about things will make you a better sales person. People, as you know, like a good story. And you’ll have the best ones.”

“Because I know that the woman who wore this was more than likely killed by her lover or husband?” He told her that she could change that to suit her needs. But the timeframe, the period in which it was first used, would lend so much to the way people would view things. “So I’m to skip over the murder part and say that it was from the twelfth century?”

“The fourteenth if your description is anything to go by.” She frowned at him when he laughed. “You are going to have such fun here.”

“How can you—?”

The knock at the door startled them both. And when he pushed her behind him, Laci had a moment of fear. But the woman standing at the door looked drenched. Her hair was in strings around her face and shoulders.

“I thought it was you.” Before she could ask Max what he meant, he moved toward the door and unlocked it. That was when she realized that it wasn’t a woman as she’d thought, but a man. With long golden hair. And he had the most calming smile she’d ever seen on anyone before.

“I saw your lights and thought I’d come see if I could get warm. My car broke down some miles back.” Max stared at the man without answering him, so Laci moved forward. “I mean no harm to you. I just wanted to get warm.”

“I’m Laci. This is my nephew Max.” The man didn’t offer his hand, and she didn’t either. “We were just going over some of the inventory. You were lucky to catch us. My husband is on his way over.”

“I’m Tristin.” He looked around. “This is a beautiful place you have here. I guess you’re not open yet, are you?”

“In a few weeks.” Laci was sort of worried about Max. He’d said nothing nor moved since he’d let the man in. “Let me get you a towel. I saw some in the back room when I was looking around.”

She didn’t want to leave Max with the man, but she figured that if anyone could handle the man he could. According to Murph, he was the strongest being alive. When she returned, Max looked as if he’d gotten his tongue back and was talking to Tristin. Laci reached out for Andrew and let him know what was going on.

Max is surprised about something? Gosh, let me come right over and take a video of him. That’s a first as far as I can remember.
She laughed.
I’ll be over soon. If you’re okay. I just need to go over some of the stuff here. Then I’m closing up.

I’m so sorry. You really wanted it to work.
He told her that he was sort of relieved not to have to worry about it anymore.
Then good. I’ll work for us both. How much is our house payment, so I know how much money to ask for from Max when he starts paying me?

Honey, you just have fun. We have more than enough money for whatever we want to do. Trust me.
She found that she did. More than she could have ever imagined she would another person. She was still talking to Tristin and Max when Kendra showed up.

Chapter 9

Kendra found herself at a loss for words. The man standing with her friend was beautiful, and she found that she wanted not just to touch him but to wrap herself around him. But when he turned his back to her, talking to Laci instead of her, all she could think about was that she wanted to harm him. Reaching out her hand to jerk him back to her and slap him, Max was suddenly in front of her.

“What are you doing?” She didn’t have any idea and backed from him. “Do you feel it, Kendra? Can you tell what he is to you?”

“I have no idea what you mean. He turned his back on me.” Max nodded and watched her. “No one does that to me. I am queen.”

“You are, but why would he know that?” She thought that he should simply know. He was genjar after all. “You’re being unreasonable. You know that, don’t you? Why is that, you think?”

Her anger was out of control. She knew this. Kendra wanted to blame it on the man, but Max was right. He had no idea who she was. Her face might be on the coin that they used as well as money, but he had no reason to think she was the one and same woman. Instead of pointing out that she was as confused as she’d ever been, she decided to just go back to their campsite.

“I’ll be there when you return. I had thought you’d be back by now. When you said you wished to check on Laci, I knew you’d return soon. Then an hour passed, and I got worried.” He just stared at her. But the man continued to ignore her and it bothered her a great deal. “Who is this person, and why is he here?”

“He said he was only getting in out of the rain. I don’t know anything else about him yet.” Kendra realized she was rubbing her hands together. She wanted to touch the man but was afraid to. He was still not looking at her, but that mattered little to her right now. “Kendra, are you going back now?”

“Yes. Now.” Still, she stood there, staring at the strange man as if she’d never seen one before. He was so handsome. He was tall, taller than her by a good four inches. His arms were muscled. Even his neck was thick with them. And his body looked sculpted from stone. Like the castle where she lived, hard and unyielding. “I’m not sure where he came from. I’m not sure that I like how he just showed up either.”

“I don’t know either, but it’s fine if you want to go back.” She nodded at Max again, trying her best to think what was wrong with her. The man turned to them, and she had a feeling that he could hear her heart pounding in her chest. Because it was—hard and fast—and she wasn’t sure why. “Kendra, are you all right?”

“Yes. Of course...no. I don’t know what’s wrong all of a sudden. Do you suppose I caught something when we were playing in the water at the campsite?” Max said he doubted it. “I need to touch him.” Max laughed then left her alone with the man.

The man continued to stare at her, his eyes burning into her as if he were looking deeper into her than anyone had before. She felt her mouth dry and her tongue thicken in her mouth. Even her breasts felt heavy with some unknown force. The need to feel them in his mouth embarrassed her. When he took a step toward her, she took one back.

“I’m the queen. You don’t touch me unless I say you can.” He just grinned at her, and she took another step back when he took two toward her. “I command that you stop where you are. You’re not to come any closer to me.”

“I need to see if you’re real.” She told him she was as real as him. “Are you? My name is Tristin by the way. And I have never seen such beauty before. Words fail me in trying to think just how to tell you how lovely you are. But I’ve a feeling that you know that. That you’re as aware of your beauty as I am.”

“You make me sound conceited. I’m not. You need to stop that. Right now.” The wall behind her touched her back. Before she could move away, Tristin had her blocked by his hands on either side of her body. “You’re making me afraid.”

“No I’m not. You’re far from afraid of me.” She put her hand out to shove him away, but he captured it in his own hand. “You’re who I’ve been looking for my entire life. I can’t believe I found you now. I have you now and I’m never letting you go, Kendra, Queen of the Genjar.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I want you to leave me alone. I have no time for such foolishness. I am the ruler of my kingdom and you are nothing to me.” He pressed his body into hers and she felt his length, his muscles, and his cock as he rocked into her. “I don’t want you to do that.”

“Yes you do. You want me to do more.” Her body was telling her to let him while her mind was still trying to get him to understand that she was a queen. “Kendra, I’m going to kiss you now. Then when I finish, I want you to tell me that I mean nothing to you. That you wish for me to leave you alone.”

“I’ll tell you that now. I’m Queen Kendra to you. Or Lady Kendra. You will not address me so personally.” He moved again, his cock seemingly thicker, harder as he lifted her ass up to meet each thrust. “You’re going to make me come.”

“I should hope we both can.” His mouth was taking her. It wasn’t a kiss but a taking and she knew this. And when his tongue moved along hers, dueling with it as one would with a sword, she put her hands on his shoulders to hold on. Kendra knew as surely as she was standing there that if she did come, which was highly likely, she was going to come apart into pieces. When he lifted his mouth from hers, she whimpered. “When we come together, Lady Queen, I will rule the bed. If you wish to rule the kingdom with me at your side, then so be it. But in the bed....”

He lifted her up higher, and she had no choice but to wrap her legs around him. She willed them to her home, to her bed, and he laid her over it as he took her throat, her mouth, and even her breast into his mouth. He suckled at her nipple and her flesh beneath her breast. As he made his way down her ribs, biting and kissing her as he went, all she could think about was having him inside of her. His body one with hers.

When he stood up, his body as naked as hers was now, she touched her finger to his cock, the tip soaked in his cream. He told her to take it to her mouth, and she nearly fainted at the taste of him. Before she could beg him for more he was on his knees in front of her, her thighs on either side of his head.

“I’m going to drink of you. Then I’m going to take you as mine. Say it, Kendra, say that you belong to me.” She shook her head, and his hand smacked across her thigh. “Say you belong to me and none other, Kendra, and I will make you mine.”

“I am ruler of this kingdom.” It sounded lame even to her. “Please, Tristin. I need something from you. Please?”

He suckled her clit into his mouth, and she came up off the bed. There was no relief for her, only more need when he continued to tease and play with her. Just as she was ready to release, he would pull back, beg her again to say it, and she would refuse each time. Finally, when he slid his finger into her pussy, she knew that he wasn’t going to give her what she wanted until she gave him his due.

“I belong to you and none other.” He nipped at her clit and a small climax took her breath away. “More. I beg of you, more.”

“I need it all. Tell me, Kendra, tell me that you are my mate, tell me that you will belong only to me.” Her body was on fire. Even the slightest breath over her pussy had her sobbing with need. “Say it and I will end this for you.”

“I am your mate, now and forever. I will give you all that I am, hold nothing back from you as my lover. You will rule with me, beside me for the rest of my days, father my children and love them as I do.” He told her to say it all, there was more. She knew it as well; the pledge of marriage had been something she’d known since birth. “I will love you with all that I am. Keep you safe, seek your counsel above all others. You will have my heart, my love, and none other will ever come between us. I, Kendra, First Queen to the Eighth House of Elders, give you, Tristin, king to my queen, all that I have and more.”

He entered her then, his cock filled her in places that had nothing to do with her body. Her mind was filled with his, memories as his merged with hers. His heart beat with hers, and his blood would forever pulse throughout both their bodies for all time. And when he pulled her body to his, fucking her as hard as he could, Kendra pulled his throat to her mouth and sealed the bond between them as she came hard. Taking his blood into her body and giving him hers would mate them for all eternity. She cried out when he gave her all that he was in return.

Kendra felt the moment that the kingdom became aware of him. Knew the exact moment that her family knew that she’d found her mate and that they were one. Letting the darkness slide over her, Kendra wondered what she was supposed to do now. She’d taken her mate.

He was holding her when she woke. His body, much harder and larger than hers, was comforting. The blanket over them made her realize that he’d seen to their needs before he’d taken a rest. When he kissed her shoulder, she wanted to feel embarrassed but snuggled closer to him.

“You’re my mate. You understand that, don’t you?” She nodded, unsure what to say to him now. “Kendra, are you going to be upset when we leave this room?”

“Probably.” One thing she knew about mates, there was no lying to them. If a question was asked, then you had better be prepared for the answer. “I don’t know what to do with you. I rule and you cannot interfere.”

“You think I’ll interfere with your work?” Tristian rolled her to her back, and he loomed over her. “You and I have a lot of things to talk about, and the first thing is that I don’t consider helping my mate as interfering.”

Kendra got out of the bed, completely forgetting that she was naked. And when he stood up as well, it was all she could do not to stare at him. Christ, the man was beautiful. Instead of arguing with him more, not that she could remember what it had been about, she watched him as he fisted his cock over and over.

“Come here.” She found herself moving toward him even as her mind was telling her no. “I’m going to tell you this again. And this time you will listen to me. I am your mate. But here in this room or wherever I take you, I rule you. Understand? Say it for me.”

“I need to rule.” He wrapped her hand around his cock, and she moaned. “Take me again, Tristin. I want to come with you inside of me.”

“I rule your body. Say it, Kendra. When we’re alone, I am the master of your body.” She felt the thick cream leak from the tip and wanted to take it and him into her mouth, but he jerked her head up when she bent to taste him. “You want me then you know who rules the bedroom. Say it and I’ll fuck you hard enough that you see stars.”

“I hate you.” He laughed as he slid his fingers into her pussy. She tried to ride him, bring herself to peak, but again he only teased her until she wanted to hurt him. “I’m to rule the kingdom, but you rule this bedroom.”

“Nay, I will take you in more places than this room alone. I want your body to be mine. So when I wish to fuck you, you’ll do as you’re told.” She felt her pussy gush cream at the thought of him taking her in the throne room, in her bath, and even out of doors. “Say it and I’ll take you in all of those places and more.”

“You rule my body. Now fuck me.” He laughed and turned her around. Before she could understand his intent, he pulled her across his lap when he sat on the side of the bed. When his hand came down hard on her bottom, she struggled to get away, but he only spanked her harder. Kendra came twice before he flipped her to the bed and fucked her again.

~~~

Linyah watched her sister. If she wasn’t so worried about her, she might have thought it funny. When she made her way to where she was sitting, Linyah waited for her to speak first. When she didn’t, she asked her how it was going.

“He thinks to rule me.” Linyah felt her protectiveness for her sister flare up. “And I asked Max. To see if he brought him to me, to make me have a mate, but he says that he did not. I don’t want someone manipulating my life around where they think I need a mate. I don’t. And I told him that. But I don’t know about him ruling my body either. He wishes it to be my body where he rules me and not just the bedroom. Not as a ruler but in the...you know. Then what is to say he won’t make me do things I don’t want?”

Linyah looked at Tristin, then back at her sister. He was watching her, in much the same way that Thomas watched her. Hungry and sort of sappy. When it occurred to her what Kendra was talking about, Linyah decided to have some fun with her.

“I doubt very much that he wants to rule the kingdom. And I don’t really understand what you mean by ruling you elsewhere. You just said that he doesn’t want to make himself the ruler of our lands. I would have thought that you’d put your foot down on that. Women have been the rulers here since—”

“Not that. He doesn’t have any problem with me ruling. He means with sex.” Kendra’s face flared to a deep crimson. “And he thinks that the bedroom isn’t the only place he should rule my body either. He said that we’d have it everywhere. I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Why not? Thomas and I go outside and make love. Sometimes in the car. Once we even did it in your throne room.” Kendra looked at her so shocked that Linyah laughed. “Don’t be such a prude. Is sex that bad with him?”

“No.” She seemed to realize that she’d been loud and let out a long breath before continuing. “No, it’s wonderful. And he is very good at making me enjoy it as well.”

“Then what’s the problem? Does he hurt you?” Kendra’s face got red again. “Kendra, does he like it rough? And you don’t?”

“He spanks me. Hard, but I like it. No, that’s not right. I love it. But it’s not seemly, is it? To have a man spank you like a small child? Then there are the other things. He tied me to the bed too. I thought perhaps he was going to murder me, and I was so terrified. Then he started to touch me and do things to me that he was...I shouldn’t be telling you this.” Linyah asked her why not. “Because it’s a private thing. And I don’t want you to dislike him.”