Badlands: The Lion's Den (3 page)

The evening was cold and clear. Three blocks away from the Lion’s Den, Finn stood in the middle of the street, towering over the prone body of a curled up, wheezing coyote shifter who’d tried to rob a local shopkeeper. Big mistake. The shopkeeper was under the protection of the Hudson pack.

The coyote shifter made a desperate gurgling sound and crawled towards the sidewalk. Finn had no sympathy. The coyote was a car mechanic – he had a good job that paid well. He also had a drug habit that ate up his paycheck, which was why he’d tried to rob the shop.

Finn kicked him in the leg and held up the necklace with the letter “H” which he’d yanked from the coyote’s neck.

“Come near our territory again, and I’ll make you into a fur coat,” he snarled as the coyote scrambled to his feet and limped off, whimpering with each step.

He didn’t really mean it.

The coyote’s drug habit had left him with dull, mangy fur; he’d make a hideous coat.

Jose strode up to Finn, who scraped his boot on the ground to wipe the blood off it.

“Hey, bro,” he said to Jose. “Just cleaning up the trash.”

“Righteous,” Jose said. “So, remember that Canadian lynx who’s not your girlfriend?”

Finn felt his heart speed up, and an unwelcome rush of blood to his groin. Yeah, he remembered her, all right. He’d barely slept last night as visions of her had drifted through his mind. And all day long she’d popped into his head at odd moments. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about her?

He struggled to keep his tone casual. “Kinda. I guess. Sorta rings a bell. What about her?”

“She’s at the club. Came to leave a message for Krystle, and one of the managers gave her dinner. Blair – you know she’s always a soft touch. Anyways. Now there’s three of Ruben’s patrol standing out front, demanding to be let in. They claim she’s theirs.”

A black tide of fury roared through Finn, and his fangs shot from his gums. He let out a growl of rage.

Theirs?
Hell no.

Finn hurried to the club with Jose right behind him. The bears were pacing around out front, scowling at the bouncers.

“Hey, Hudson! Let us in the damn club. She came into our territory. We scented her there. She’s ours!” one of them growled at him.

“Like hell,” Finn snarled, pushing past them and storming inside. There were a couple of dozen patrons there already, some clustered around the bar, some in the play area.

His gaze swept the room until he spotted Flora. She was sitting at a table at the back of the room, eating a sandwich, still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

Finn heard a commotion behind him as the bears barreled through the front door.

His mind was racing. He barely knew this woman, but he knew that she was in over her head. She was a nice person. Far too nice to be here in Darwin, but it was too late for that now; she was already here and there was no way he was letting Ruben’s men get their filthy paws on her.

The last time he’d tried to protect a good woman, he’d failed. Failed so badly…

For a moment, he felt desert heat and dust choking him again, and he heard the screams of his squad. He saw Marybeth lying in the sand, the light fading from her eyes.

And then he forced himself back to the present.

He wouldn’t fail. Not again.

Quickly, he crossed the club until he was standing next to Flora, who stuffed the last of the sandwich in her mouth and looked up at him in surprise.

“Listen up!” Finn roared at the top of his lungs. Everyone stopped what they were doing. A lion stood frozen by a whipping post, bullwhip thrown back. Patrons paused with their drinks at their lips.

“I claim this woman! She is mine! Anyone who tries to touch her goes through me!”

“Excuse me,” Flora said politely. “Actually, as far as me being yours—”

Finn nodded at the bears. She turned and noticed them for the first time, and went pale.

The bears stormed through the crowd, and one of them walked right up to Finn. They called him Kraken. He was as big as Finn was, and the scars on his face spoke of a lifetime of brutal, bloody one-on-one fights.

“She came into our territory today without permission,” Kraken said accusingly. “So she belongs to Ruben.”

“I beg your pardon, I do think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding,” Flora piped up helpfully. “I was just on the other side of the border. I was in Hudson territory.”

“Liar,” the bear snapped.

“Say that again,” Finn growled, staring him down. Kraken swallowed hard and looked away. “Ruben sent us to claim her,” the bear muttered, but he sounded a little less sure now.

“You actually think you can take my property from me?” Finn growled at him.

One of the other bears muscled up to them and cast a skeptical glance at Flora. “Your property? I don’t see a collar.”

Finn bared a grin. “I’m getting a special one made for her.”

The bear looked her up and down. “She isn’t wearing your mark. If she were really yours, you’d punish her for running around town without wearing your mark.”

The bar patrons glanced at one another and nodded. There was a murmur of assent.

A chant started somewhere in the crowd and grew louder and louder. “Punish her! Punish her!”

Finn grabbed Flora’s arm and pulled her to her feet. “Quiet! I need to talk to my property,” he called out, and hustled her to a quiet corner of the club.

“What was all that about?” she demanded, glancing nervously at the bears. “I really wasn’t in their territory. Why did they come after me? Do they normally do things like this?”

“Nope. I mean, you’re new in town and everybody knows when new people arrive, but I’ve never seen them do this before. Then again, their leader’s been getting more aggressive lately,” Finn growled, directing a threatening glare at Kraken. “He’s probably hoping this will push us to declare a turf war.”

“What does it mean that you claimed me?” Flora asked.

“Exactly what it sounds like. That’s how things work in Darwin. Any man who wants a woman, he’s got to be strong enough to fight for her.”

“But what does it mean for me?” she persisted. “And you?”

He looked down at her, struggling to control the desire burning through him. “You’ve got to understand, I suck at relationships.” Which wasn’t really an answer. It was an excuse. An attempt at putting up barriers between them even as he pulled her in close.

“Why did you claim me, then?”

“It was the only way to keep you safe.”

“Oh.” She bit her lip, and the sight of it sent a lightning bolt of arousal sizzling through him. “Thank you.” Then she looked up at him again. “So…what’s this about punishment?”

The last thing he wanted to do was push her into something she wasn’t ready for. “We could go up to my apartment and pretend that I’m punishing you, and then I’ll come back down and tell them the deed is done.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “What’s the alternative?”

“I could take you out into the club and spank you in front of everyone.” His fingers trailed down the side of her face and her breath caught in her throat. “Claim you as mine. Publicly. But we don’t have to.”

She surprised him by meeting his gaze with an unexpected boldness.

“Do it,” she said. Then, ever polite, she added, “If you don’t mind. I mean, if you want to.” Now she sounded a little more uncertain.

He let out a harsh laugh. “If I want to? That’s all I’ve wanted from the minute I laid eyes on you,” he growled. “Well, the spanking is just the beginning of what I want to do to you.”

“Oh.” It came out on a trembling breath, and he stifled a groan of pure animal need. God, he just wanted to bury himself in her softness. Plunge into her, hear her moan beneath him…

“All right,” she said. “Let’s go show those bears.” She raised her chin defiantly, took a deep breath, and strode towards the nightclub.

As they walked back out into the club, her legs felt wobbly and thousands of butterflies were swooping and fluttering in her belly. All eyes were on them – some curious, some lascivious and some hostile – and if it hadn’t been for the warm pressure of Finn’s strong fingers wrapped around her wrist, she thought she might have fallen. Or fled. This was complete madness. She didn’t even know this man, and she was going to let him punish her – let him publicly claim her as his.

But looking at the scowling faces of the enormous bear shifters standing with their massive arms folded across their barrel chests, muscles bulging, she knew she didn’t have any choice. Finn was definitely the lesser of two evils.

Besides, the fine hairs at the nape of her neck were standing on end and little chills were running over her skin, and while she was frightened, she knew it was partly curious anticipation that was making her heart drum in her ribcage.

Finn led her towards a small stage against one wall of the club, and as they mounted the steps, behind the throbbing of the music, Flora was aware of a susurrus, a low murmuring of speculation, and a prickling expectation in the air as the kinksters in the club paused in their activities and turned their attention to the stage.

Despite being fully clothed, Flora felt more exposed than she ever had in her life before. She swallowed hard. She had a strong suspicion she was going to feel even more vulnerable, and soon.

Finn was a reassuring presence beside her. Something about his size and his solidity made her feel safe. She might be lost, bewildered, pushed into a strange world that had her equal parts terrified and exhilarated, but she knew on an instinctive level that this big Alpha male would not allow her to come to harm. He laced his fingers with hers and rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand in a soothing gesture, his skin shifter-hot. She squeezed back.

Then he strode to the back of the stage and from behind the heavy red floor-length curtain he produced a simple straight-backed wooden chair, which he placed center stage. The lights dimmed briefly, then shifted so the stage was washed in a silvery light that she realized suddenly would make her pale skin glow like moonlight. She crossed her free arm self-consciously over her ample curves and tried to calm the frantic thrumming of her pulse.

Without dropping her hand, Finn took a seat on the chair, then drew her over so she was standing in front of him, her back to the audience. She looked into his face. His pupils were huge, his eyes glowing amber in the stage lights, and a soft, cynical smile gave a gentle curve to his lips. She tried to fix that expression in her mind, ignoring the expectant hush at her back as the club kinksters waited to watch the show. She had the impression that seeing Finn on the stage was a novelty, despite his apparent comfort with this world of whips and chains and collars.

When his fingers went to the hem of her skirt, she found she was trembling, and as he slipped his fingers underneath to softly stroke the skin of her thigh, his eyes intent on hers, she realized she was holding her breath without even being aware of it.

He wrapped his arm around her waist, tugged her forward, and tumbled her effortlessly over his lap, her plump ass in the air. She couldn’t help the squeak of outrage that escaped her. There was a low murmur of approval from the watching crowd.

And then, almost before she’d had time to catch her breath, he whipped up her skirt and yanked down her panties, exposing her bare butt to the air – and to dozens of pairs of hungry, lecherous eyes. The friction of the sensible cotton against the tender flesh of her thighs set her skin tingling and she felt her core clench in erotic expectation.

She could feel the hard ridge of his erection against her belly as she lay over his lap, excruciatingly aware of the audience and wondering what it would feel like when his big, calloused hand came down on the sensitive softness of her ass. Her heart raced and her breathing was harsh and a little panicky in her ears. The sound of the music and the murmurs of the crowd seemed to fade out and recede into the distance.

When he touched the smooth curve of her buttock, it was so gently that it came as a shock in contrast to the blow she had been expecting. She shivered and took a deep, shuddering breath as his warm palm traveled over the plump curve of her butt. Her core clenched and she felt a trickle of moisture dampening her panties.

She squirmed wantonly on his lap, feeling a spark of smugness when he hissed at the friction against his rigid cock, and wished he’d trail his fingers lower to the needy throbbing of her pussy. He must be able to smell her arousal, a faint, distinctive musk on the air.

The blow to her backside was sudden, commanding and firm. She yelped as a stinging sensation spread out from the point of impact, making her skin sing. Shivers of sensation traveled over her entire body and she found herself biting her lip to keep back a moan of arousal.

Finn rubbed the sore spot with his hand, warm and soothing, then pulled back for another sharp smack. This time she did moan – a low, throaty sound that had her blushing furiously at the lustful sound of her voice. Soft laughter rippled through the crowd, but it sounded approving rather than mocking. She wondered if the cheeks of her ass were as rosy as her face.

He slapped her again, his palm cupped, the sting sending waves of arousal shuddering through her body. Heat pooled in her belly and she realized with shock that she was on the brink of orgasm, her channel clenching greedily with each touch of his fingers as he played them over the sore spot in featherlight patterns. Slick, sticky juices trickled down her inner thighs, and she wondered if their audience could see them glistening in the stage lights as she wriggled in Finn’s lap.

Finn spanked her again, and again. Sensation coiled within her, winding tighter with each breath she took then unspooling in a silvery wash that she felt in every cell of her body.

Her breathing was hectic and out of control and she was oblivious to the crowd – oblivious to everything but the anticipation as Finn raised his hand for the final strike.

As his palm hit her ass with a sharp, echoing crack, blissful shocks of sensation thrummed through her, her orgasm as explosive and unexpected as anything she’d ever felt. And as Finn bent to run the flat of his tongue over the sore skin of her buttock, the aftershocks rolled on and on.