The Lion and the Lamb

Sugar ran her long, cotton candy pink painted nails along his shoulder. “I can get that frown off your face real fast, boss,” she purred right by his ear, but he shook her off.

“You know I don’t mix business with pleasure.” He moved away from the cloying scent of her perfume and ran his hand over his jaw. “Finish stocking up.” He turned and headed to his office, feeling all kinds of confused over the revelations that just landed in his lap.

The door shut behind him, and he leaned against it. He could still smell the sweet scent of Tatum’s arousal. It was a spicy aroma that tingled in his nose and had him hard as hell.

He didn’t doubt he could convince her that he was the best potential male for her, and if she didn’t want him, he’d just have to try ten times harder to make her see they belonged together. The intense and primal urge to be with her was not something he was accustomed to. Lust, he knew all about, but what he felt for Tatum went against everything he had ever viewed. A need inside him crashed against the surface and clawed to get out. He knew that feeling all too well, knew the animal inside him wanted out so it could properly take its mate.

The only problem was…

How in the hell did he plan on telling his very human mate that he was actually a lion shifter?3“I don’t understand what you’re so worried about,” Kiki said as she applied the second layer of lipstick. It was probably called Passion Fruit or Sex on the Sand.

“I have everything to be worried about.” After she left Leo, over two weeks ago, Tatum had this feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was going to happen. She couldn’t put her finger on if that something was good or bad, just that it would happen.

She caught Kiki’s look in the mirror and rolled her eyes. “I mean, it’s still a new job, even if that job is filled with gorgeous women and men shoving dollar bills down their G-strings.”

Kiki turned around and crossed her arms under her breasts. “This is a classy place, Tater, and besides, we live in Las fucking Vegas. We’ve seen a lot worse than that. You remember that homeless guy with the cardboard sign saying for twenty bucks he’d let someone kick him in the balls?”

Tatum started laughing. “Yeah, but this is totally different. I already feel out of place, and I haven’t even started working there yet.”

Kiki giggled and turned to grab her purse. “I wouldn’t worry about getting hit on.” She eyed Tatum up and down. “I think you’ll be the one wearing the most layers of clothing.” Her grin had Tatum frowning. She stood and looked down at herself. The uniform Leo had sent her last week was classy yet modest.

“What? I think I look nice.”

“You do, Tater. It’s just… who wears a knee-length black skirt, a blouse, and a cardigan over that to a gentlemen’s club?”

She looked down at herself and smoothed the imaginary wrinkles from her skirt. The outfit was nice, but Kiki had a point. Tatum would have assumed Leo covered her up because he didn’t want plump girls working at his club, but that didn’t make sense at all, since he hired her, and the sexual heat had been coming off of him like a tidal wave.

Even weeks later, she could still picture him standing in front of her, his eyes looking all kinds of smoky goodness as he told her he liked her curves. Thank God for the black cardigan that would hide her hard nipples.

“All right, girl, come on. We don’t want you to be late on your first day.” Kiki took her hand and hauled her out of the chair. “I gotta say, I kicked ass on your hair though.” Tatum looked in the mirror before they headed out. Her normally frizzy hair fell in glamorous waves around her face.

She normally didn’t wear makeup, but of course she let Kiki talk her into it. The eye shadow was dark-gray, and the image of “bedroom eyes” flashed through her mind. Aside from a splash of peach on her lips, she wore no other makeup.

Kiki drove them to the club, The Lion and the Lamb sitting right off the strip where they built the new multimillion-dollar hotels and casinos. They pulled into the parking lot, and Kiki pulled the car to the side of the two-story building. The construction was beautiful, with perfectly manicured patches of AstroTurf and potted flowers and trees.

The club didn’t open until eight on the weekdays and four on the weekends, but stayed open until all hours of the night. The sun hadn’t yet set, probably wouldn’t until well after the club opened, but she knew places like this didn’t need the cloak of darkness to make them feel safe. Kiki pulled into a parking spot, and they made their way out of the car and to the employee entrance.