Leader Lion (Protection, Inc 5)

Rafa

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Rafa sat in the passenger seat and watched Grace drive. He couldn’t wait to get the cast off his leg so he could drive again, not to mention walk without crutches again, but there were compensations. Grace had never owned a car that wasn’t used and practical until he’d bought her a sleek black Ferrari for Christmas, and seeing her delight as she drove it was even more fun than driving it himself.

She looked more radiant and beautiful than ever, dressed to meet his family in an black silk dress with subtle black leather accents, and his other Christmas gift to her, a pair of silver earrings in the shape of tiny dangling spiders, in her ears. The wind from the open window sent her purple curls flying. He touched the butterfly tattoo behind her ear, and the words she lived by: fly free.

On the radio, “Jingle Bells” came on for the millionth time.

“How about something a little less overplayed?” Grace suggested.

Rafa switched channels until he came across a rundown of entertainment news. He stayed on that, figuring Grace would be interested. They listened to a report on the top ten movies, and then the announcer said, “And in theatre news, My Fair Lady announced its closing after a brief and troubled run which included the arrest of one of its producers and a secret financial backer on charges of sabotage, racketeering, and four counts of attempted murder. Meanwhile, Mars: The Musical continues to rule the box office. As of today, it has broken records for opening week ticket sales, and looks well on its way to becoming Mars: The Moneymaker. ”

“Woo-hoo!” Grace cheered, pumping her fist. “We did it!”

“You did it,” said Rafa.

The radio announcer continued, “And finally, the long-running hit The Bottom of the Bottle is in trouble. During a sold-out performance, the producer added twenty folding chairs in unsafe areas, causing an audience member to fall ten feet on to a concrete floor. Luckily, he was only bruised. But an eight thousand dollar bottle of Dom Perignon champagne, which he had intended to give his fiancée as an engagement present after the show, was smashed. He is now suing the producer, who is also under investigation for violating safety regulations. It may be that a broken bottle will spell ruin for the producer of The Bottom of the Bottle.”

“Merry Christmas,” Rafa remarked. “It’s your present.”

Grace grinned at him. “I’d say it’s too good to be true, but I don’t say that any more.”

She pulled up in front of his parents’ house, then walked around and opened the car door for him. Rafa extracted himself and his crutch from the car, saying, “One more week, and I can open yours for you again.”

“What, and hog all the fun?” Grace protested. “One more week, and we’ll start taking turns.”

They walked to the front door together, but he paused to see if Grace looked worried before he opened it. He was glad to see that she didn’t.

As if she’d read his mind, she said, “A month ago I’d have been nervous about meeting your parents. But that was before I got shot at, had my assistant try to murder me, had Shane try to scare the living daylights out of me, had Destiny lay the world’s biggest guilt trip on me, and watched you turn into a lion. I think tonight’s going to go just fine.”

“I know it will,” Rafa said.

He opened the door and escorted her inside. His family home was decorated for Christmas, with an enormous tree topped with a rearing lion. His parents came up to meet Grace, with his sisters, their mates, and assorted cousins, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, and grandparents crowding behind.

“Everybody, this is Grace Chang, the stage manager who saved my life,” Rafa said. With so much pride and happiness that he felt like he might burst with it, he added, “She’s my mate.”

A dead silence fell as his entire family stared at them.

His mother broke it. “About time!”

And then everyone jumped in, introducing themselves and asking Grace about herself and offering her drinks and snacks.

“Are those spiders?” squeaked his littlest niece. “That’s so cool!”

“Oh, I wish I’d known,” Grace said. “I’d have gotten you a pair. Are your ears pierced?”

Her mother replied with a sigh, “I’ve been trying and trying to convince her—I’ve told her it only hurts for a second—but she just won’t do it.”

Her eyes gleaming, his niece said, “I’ll get my ears pierced if Uncle Rafa’s mate gets me silver spider earrings!”

“Done,” Grace said instantly.

“You know, we despaired of Rafa ever finding his mate,” his great-grandmother confided to her. “I’d thought for a while it would be this tall blonde girl he was friends with in high school—what was her name?”

“Paris Hale,” Rafa said. “And it was never going to be her. She called me this morning to tell me she just got engaged.”

His great-grandmother waved her wrinkled hand in an airy gesture. “How nice for her. Anyway, that Paris girl was very pretty, but too thin. But you! You have good wide hips for bearing babies and nice plump breasts for nursing them. I can tell from your body that you’ll be very fertile!”

“Grandma, please don’t say stuff like that.” Rafa could feel a hot tide of blood rising in his face.

Ignoring him, his great-grandmother went on, “So when are you two going to have your first cubs?”

“Cubs?” Grace echoed. She shot Rafa a desperate look.

“Let me get my mate a drink.” He grabbed Grace’s arm and hustled her into the kitchen. Once they were alone, he said, “I’m so sorry about my great-grandma. I had no idea she was going to go on about fertility.”

“That was definitely the most unusual compliment I’ve ever gotten,” Grace said with a giggle. “Cubs are babies, right?”

“Right.”

He suddenly realized that in all the time they’d spent together, they’d never talked about children. Grace had been so excited about Ellie’s pregnancy, and had told so many funny stories about the kids she’d used to babysit that he’d just assumed they were on the same page about that. With a pang of worry, he said, “Do you want to have kids?”

“Oh, man, we never talked about that, did we?” Grace said. Now she looked worried. “Yeah, I do. Do you?”

“Yes,” Rafa replied, hugely relieved. “I’ve always wanted to. I just thought it was never going to happen.”

“Me too!” Grace exclaimed. “On both counts. I want to keep working, though. But I’m guessing your family would be happy to babysit.”

“For my cubs? They’d be over the moon.”

A polite throat-clearing made them both turn around. It was his mother, looking as pleased as if she’d just pulled down the world’s biggest antelope. “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation.”

Rafa knew perfectly well that she’d been eavesdropping, but he didn’t contradict her.

“Of course we’d be delighted to babysit,” his mother went on. Stepping closer to Grace, she said quietly, “I worry about my son. I know what a dangerous job he has. But I feel better about it now that he has you. He told me what you did for him even before he told me what you were to him. You may not be able to shift, but you’re a true lioness. I trust you to protect him, just as I trust him to protect you.”

Rafa could see how moved Grace was by his mother’s words. So was he.

“Thank you, Mrs. Flores,” Grace replied. “I’ll do my best.”

“So,” his mother said briskly. “When do you plan to get pregnant?”

Rafa groaned. “Mom!”

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It was late at night when they returned to the new apartment that they’d gotten on the basis that Grace’s old apartment was too small and Rafa’s old apartment was too “swinging bachelor pad.”

Once the door closed behind them, Rafa and Grace looked at each other. They didn’t need to speak to say what they wanted, but headed straight for the bedroom. Rafa sat down on the bed and leaned his crutch against the wall. Grace helped him take off his shoes and pants, then slipped off his coat and unbuttoned his shirt with teasing slowness, letting her fingers trail across his chest with each button she undid. She knelt on the bed so he could undress her in turn, loosening the ribbons on her dress and stripping off her slip, her lacy bra, her panties.

By the time they were both nude, he was on fire with desire. But after the first kiss, Grace broke off and jumped off the bed. “Wait!”

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“You’ll see.” She darted into the next room, then returned with a glass bowl filled to the brim with sweetly scented red rose petals. “We never did make love on a bed of rose petals. And I know you want to.”

Rafa’s heart was so full, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “You’re the best mate ever.”

“What’s the point of being a stage manager if I can’t stage manage a perfect romantic evening for my mate?” Grace replied.

He reached for her, but she slipped from his grasp with a teasing smile.

“Lights...” Grace turned a switch to dim the lights.

“Sound...” She clicked a remote. Romantic music began to play.

“Roses...” She shook a rain of scented petals on to the covers.

“Go!” Rafa finished, and drew his mate down to the bed.