The Lion and the Lamb

He bit me.

“No worries, love.” She closed her eyes as his hot, sticky breath moved along her cheek. “I plan on making you scream my name over and over again until the name Leo Castill is a painful memory. Soon, you’ll be my little bitch.” His lips touched the shell of her ear. “I’m going to make sure every last inch of you is covered in me. Leo’s mating scent will be a distant memory.”

“He’ll come for me.” The fierceness in her voice surprised her as she stared into his lifeless eyes.

“I’m counting on it, Tatum.” Face stoic, Slade tightened his fingers around her throat until stars and darkness flashed in front of her vision. Not thinking, just acting, Tatum brought her knee up and connected with his balls. Satisfaction filled her as he let go of her to cup himself in pain.

Hands and legs grappling for leverage, Tatum scrambled back to the door. Her heart pounded, adrenalin raced through her veins, and the fight for survival gave her the strength to rip the door open. Tatum half expected to see Collin standing on the other side, Slade’s henchman all snarling and growling hatred, but the hallway was empty. A sob left her, and she tore down the hallway, running as fast as she could, knowing that if Slade caught her, she would not get another chance.27Leo’s Corvette skidded to a stop in front of Stripped. A few cars were parked in the lot, but he didn’t need to see Slade’s Mercedes to know he was inside with the woman he loved. Zeb had been on detail at Tatum’s house, and when Leo had gotten the call that Peaches had gone to see his girl, Leo knew something wasn’t right.

Zeb, being blinded by the fact that he knew Peaches on a personal level—meaning he had fucked her—hadn’t thought the waif of a female a threat, but it turned out they had both been wrong. Leo planned on murdering the fucker for dismissing what was clearly a shifty situation and putting his defenses down.

When Zeb finally saw Peaches leave, with an unconscious Tatum thrown in the front seat of her car, it was too late for him to do anything but follow. At least that’s what the asshole had told him.

The rage Leo felt was indescribable.

Zeb followed Peaches to Stripped while he kept Leo on the phone, giving him play-by-play details of what the fuck was going on. Leo had hauled ass, told a few of his men to follow him, and took off to get his mate back. He had broken every fucking driving law known to man, but there wasn’t a human or shifter who was going to stop him from getting her back.

Throwing the car into park, he rushed to the front of the club. The fact that there were none of Slade’s goons waiting, and that the club doors swung open, told Leo they expected him and shit was about to get real.

It only took a moment for his vision to grow accustomed to the dim lighting, but when he did, everything inside him lit with rage and power. Tatum ran from the back of the club, her dark hair a wavy mass trailing behind her.

The scent of her fear and tears, and the sight of the bruise in the shape of a pretty fucking large hand on her throat, had the shift overtaking him without any warning. Good thing too, since Slade charged after her, his change already taking shape as his enemy dropped onto all fours.

The lion he had become was lean muscle and glowing green eyes. Slade roared out and was too distracted by his running prey that he didn’t see Leo shift into his animal and charge forward. He slammed into the side of Slade, taking the other lion across the room and into the wall. Plaster rained down around them.

Leo was focused on Slade, but he also heard Tatum cry out at their fight, smelled her increased tears, and wanted nothing more than to roar at her to run as fast as she could.

He could take on Slade, not an issue and something he should have done years ago, but he did not want his mate seeing the blood he would be taking from the bastard.

He didn’t have time to get her away, not when claws were tearing into his flesh and canines were puncturing his neck. Leo needed to put all his focus on Slade, but he couldn’t, not when his mate was far too close to the violence.

Wrapping his front legs around Slade’s middle, he rolled until Slade was beneath him in a submissive position. Baring his teeth, Leo roared out and used all his strength to keep Slade down. The front doors opened, blinding him momentarily from the descending sunlight. Since Slade was beneath him and not affected by the light, he used that to his advantage and reared up, clamping his jaws on Leo’s throat and sending Leo onto his back.