Leap of the Lion (The Wild Hunt Legacy #4)(64)

“It’ll do for the moment. Come here.” Lying down beside her, he pulled her over his body as if she were a blanket.

Her head spun for a second. She was on top. Of Owen. His body was a furnace beneath her and so, so hard.

Freed of the full moon need—for a minute or two—she propped herself up with her forearms on his chest. She had questions.


Owen smiled as the soft waves of her hair spilled over him in a black wave, cool against his skin.

She frowned at him. “You touched me…behind. It felt so strange.”

Inexperienced. Embarrassed. Yet so refreshingly straightforward. Fuck, he really did like her. Reaching up, he gathered her silky hair and rearranged it down her back, letting the last of the moonlight illuminate her face. “I did. You’re undoubtedly getting sore, so I used the other hole.” He paused and decided to be equally honest. “When shifters share a female, they often use both holes. I wanted to see if anal sex was something you might eventually enjoy.”

“Share a female?” The moonlight showed her cheeks darkening with a flush. “Sex with…” She shook her head, muttering to herself. “Of course they would. Don’t be a stupid tinker.”

“You’re not stupid, little cat.” He combed his fingers through her hair, releasing the lingering scent of her shampoo. “Far from it. Did you think you would learn all about the Daonain in a month?”

Her exasperated grumble made him grin.

“You don’t smile enough,” she murmured, running her fingers over his lips, tracing the lines beside his mouth. “So, what you’re saying, brothers mate a female at the same time. Do only lifemates do that?”

“Anyone. If the littermates want and the female agrees. Most littermates believe enjoying a female together makes a mating more special.”

“I thought you and your brother had been apart since you were teenagers. How do you know?”

“Females don’t reach maturity until early twenties. Males are old enough somewhere between sixteen and eighteen. Gawain and I attended two Gatherings before our lives went separate ways.”

“Oh.”

Those two Gatherings had been quite educational for him and Gawain. Their experienced partners had taught them exactly how to please a female—and how to share a female for the enjoyment of them all. “We were energetic, enthusiastic and”—he gave her a rueful smile—“we mated so many females from moonrise to moonset that our dicks were raw when we finally staggered out into the morning sun.”

Her eyes widened, and she burst into husky, infectious giggles.

His dick throbbed, letting him know it wouldn’t mind some energetic exercise.

As her laughter faded, her gaze lowered. As she traced a finger over various scars on his chest, she bit her lip.

He gave her hair a tug. “Ask, Darcy.”


Ask, he said, as if talking about this stuff was easy. Maybe it was for normal shifters, but not so much for ones who’d been brainwashed by neurotic human inhibitions. As she tried to figure out how to phrase the question without revealing her own neurotic anxieties, she traced a long silvery scar from his shoulder down his chest. A light scattering of silky dark hair covered his contoured, solid pectorals—and didn’t conceal the myriad of past wounds he’d taken.

He laid his hand over hers, and his voice deepened to a growl. “Darcy.”

Fine. “Donal and Tynan are littermates. So are you and Gawain. But none of you wanted to…share me.” Did I do something wrong? Is there something wrong with me? Those words didn’t come out at all.

He snorted and pulled her down to kiss her. A sweet, comforting kiss she sure hadn’t expected from the stern cahir. “Little cat, we didn’t even discuss sharing you. You’re too new to mating. Two males at once can be frightening—and would certainly be more cocks than you were ready for at once. One was enough, I think?”

“Oh.” At the teasing quirk of his eyebrow, her tension relaxed. “Yes. It was.” She blushed, remembering how Gawain had pressed inside her, hurting her, and filling her, and it had been wonderful.

The memory sparked an internal glow, one she was beginning to recognize. Her need was rising again, even more demanding this time.

She wiggled and realized her stomach rested on a very long, very erect cock. “Speaking of sharing…” She rubbed her pelvis against him, feeling his shaft jerk against her stomach. “It’s selfish to keep certain things to yourself.”

“Is it now?”

Oh, she loved when she could make him laugh.

“Then take what you need.” He ran his hard hands up and down her arms. “I’m all yours.”

Her mouth opened as delight surged over her. He was so very…dominant. “Really? I can…do what I want?”

“Aye.” He opened his hands, letting her know she was free.

Pushing away the growing urgency, she leaned forward and initiated her first kiss. His lips were firm, and he kissed her back, letting her tongue fence with his…and she found his limits when she started to squirm on him.

Suddenly his hand was wrapped in her hair, holding her while his tongue invaded and plundered without mercy.

He released her eventually…when her head was filled with a hum of desire, and her breasts throbbed for his touch.