King's Property: Paranormal Shape Shifter Alpha Male Cage Fighter Werelion Romance (Shifter Fight League Book 2) (3 page)

F
orget being a lion
, king of the jungle, he was more like a cat on a hot tin roof.

Logan sighed and tore his gaze away from the door for what felt like the hundredth time that night. What was taking Zara so long? Surely women didn’t need
that
long to get ready? Especially when he’d ordered her not to dress so…completely. A smile curved his lips as he swirled the dark fluid in his glass. Would she do as he’d asked, or would he have to punish her for her disobedience?

Body heating at the thought, he lifted his glass to his lips and savored the burn as he swallowed. The rum settled comfortably in his stomach and he looked around the club. It bustled with excitement, well-dressed guests mingling happily with some of the bigger name fighters. Camera crews were dotted around the place, capturing the pre-fight buzz for the various networks who covered the events. Only those who paid good, hard cash were allowed into the arena below the club to see the action, though. And for the Shifter Fight League, as they’d become known, that price was steep indeed.

He smiled, allowing himself to take a small measure of pride. Since taking over from Veyr, the former king, Logan had pulled the world of the shifter fight clubs out of the shadows and into the limelight. They were top billing on several pay-per-view channels, and he had meetings planned right through summer with other cities eager to host the SFL.

His expression soured a little. They weren’t the only game in town, though. Recently, an underground fight network had emerged—one he was sure was backed by the vampires. Operating out of disused warehouses and seedy clubs, it wasn’t on the same scale as his operation, but it was still out there. It was a threat he needed to get shut down before more fighters disappeared down the rabbit hole.

All of that paled into insignificance, though, the moment the door opened and the woman he’d been waiting for walked through it.

“Looks like the Moon
found a replacement fighter,” Gage, who stood next to him in the raised, VIP area at the back of the club commented.

Logan nodded, sparing the most fleeting of glances at the two men with Zara’s brother as they split off and headed for the changing rooms. He didn’t really care what fighters she’d brought with her. He was far more interested in the woman herself.

Lifting her head, she spotted him immediately, and as soon as their gazes met, a thrill rolled down his spine. It wasn’t gentlemanly but he stayed in his seat, legs stretched in front of him and his glass in his hand to watch her approach. And what a show it was. She didn’t break eye contact, holding his eyes with hers as she walked across the floor with a sexy-as-sin sway in her hips that made his cock twitch and take notice. If she wasn’t an alpha lioness under the human disguise she insisted on, then he’d eat his fucking hat.

He tracked her as she approached the VIP area and stopped as the two bruisers there, both former fighters, blocked her path. At his wave they let her through and she mounted the steps to approach him.

“Mr. Reese.” Her voice was, as always, calm and collected, and her expression was as politely neutral as her body language. It was all an act, though, and he knew it. He’d seen the fire in her dark eyes and watched her come undone in his arms. He knew how to take her apart with just one touch.

“Zara.”

Fuck being polite. She was lucky he didn’t just grab her and bend her over the table in front of him. Lifting his glass to his lips, he took a moment to compose himself. Her appearance didn’t help matters.

She wore a business-like ensemble of a sleeveless black shirt and pencil skirt… if the shirt wasn’t sheer and open low enough at the front to reveal the impressive swell of her breasts barely contained in her bra. He was forced to drop his gaze for a moment, only to realize she had on hooker heels similar to the ones she’d worn the first time he’d seen her…and fucked her over the desk in her office.

Shit. He was done for already.

“Did you get the roses and my note?” His voice was rough with his lion but he didn’t care. Didn’t care about anything at the moment other than the woman standing in front of him, her hands clasped demurely in front of her when he knew she was anything but.

Her lips quirked for a moment, letting him see beneath the mask, and then she gave him a wide-eyed and innocent look. “Note? I didn’t see any note, just the flowers…”

Logan almost barked out a laugh at the bald-faced lie as heat pumped through his veins. She’d lied to get around his command.

Surging to his feet, he leaned in to whisper.

“Lying is still disobedience, kitten. And bad girls get punished…”

Her swift intake of breath told him all he needed to know.

His kitten wasn’t demure; she was a hell-cat, and she was all his to tame.

“Stone really came out fighting tonight, no wonder he won.”

“Yeah, but what do you expect? He’s from the king’s stable…can’t buy training like that. Reese is an animal in the ring.”

He was an animal in the bedroom as well… at least she assumed he was given they’d not actually made it to a room with a bed yet. Zara half listened to the buzz of conversation around them, her attention on the man next to her. For most of the fights he’d been on his feet, shouting encouragement or advice to the fighters in the cage in a deep voice no one could fail to hear before sitting back beside her. He was a tsunami of personality and energy that, combined with what she’d seen in the training ring earlier, she could easily understand why he held onto his position as King of the Ring. With him, it wasn’t just an honorary title. He was still an active fighter who could step into the ring any time he chose. The thought of all that power and strength right next to her made her shiver.

They’d left the ringside after the fights were all over in favor of the VIP after-party in the club above. As always, the celebrations were on two levels; the riff-raff were in the club main while the movers and shakers partied in the raised section she’d first met Logan in. Guarded by heavy-set bouncers, no one got in without an invite or the king’s say-so. It was an area she’d never been in before—the team from the Scarlet Moon
could not be described as movers or shakers in any way, shape or form. Hell, they were so low down the pecking order she was surprised they were even allowed in through the doors.

Mind you, her father had never allowed either her or Ky to attend the after-parties, citing a need to “network without distractions.” Translation from assholian: He wanted to get drunk and laid.

Logan hadn’t left her side all evening, all indolent grace with his arm looped around her waist. As he spoke he alternated pulling her closer with tucking her in against his side or holding the back of her neck in a grip that could only be described as possessive. When his fingertips started tracing little circles against her skin, she shivered, unable to hide the tiny reaction. The soft purr told her he’d noticed it too. A flush hit her cheeks. Couldn't she hide anything from him?

“Zara, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine, Alex Kingwood.”

And just like that, she was presented with what had to be the epitome of male perfection. She knew Alex, of course. What red-blooded woman didn’t? The city’s top bachelor until last year, he was not only loaded but the darling of the glossy magazines who delighted in snapping him at every social event in the city. The fact that he was newly off the dating scene had been met with widespread lamentation from the social climbers and It girls. For the rest of the normal female population, the gorgeous woman on his arm gave them all hope. Eva Kingwood was unapologetically curvy with no hesitation of taking any reporter to task if they tried to make her weight an issue. After a growl from her very possessive and protective mate, most didn't risk a second question along those lines.

Alex Kingwood in the flesh, though, was a very different thing to seeing him in a glossy mag or on a billboard. His virility and sex appeal hit her like a wave determined to wipe her out. There was just one problem. Everything within her rejected the polished male perfection in front of her. Gritting her teeth, she inched closer to Logan and forced herself to weather the storm. What the fuck was wrong with her? She’d never had such a visceral reaction to a man before. Especially not to a man like this…

For his part, Alex obviously clocked her reaction. His nostrils flared and amber flooded his eyes.
Wolf
. She froze, recognizing she was in the presence of a predator. His lips quirked.

“Seems your little cat doesn't like me, Logan. Not surprising, most primas are highly territorial.”

Zara stiffened as he used the term for the female alpha of a pride.

“I'm not a shifter,” she argued, only for both men to chuckle.

“Sweetheart, if you're not a shifter, I'm a fucking lizard.” Alex smiled. “Packing a scent that strong I'm surprised you haven't popped claws and tried for my throat. Don't worry, I'm not after your man. His ugly ass is all yours.”

“He's not my man.” The words were out before she could stop them. Logan’s grip tightened on her neck… a warning perhaps? Did he not want his friend to know their arrangement? Did
she
?

Alex’s gaze flicked between the two of them and finally he shrugged.

“Whatever you say…” He transferred his attention to Logan. “I need to split early tonight, big guy. Just let me introduce you to Ethan, he's interested in fighting…”

Quietly, Zara excused herself to go to the ladies’ room. As she walked she felt the looks from the other guests. Women eyed her with bitchy expressions, jealousy in their eyes that she was on Logan’s arm, and men eyed her with lust…if they looked at her directly at all. Most didn’t. As soon as they recognized her, they looked away quickly. Shit, she might as well wear a sign saying “king’s property.”

Walking back, though, things got a hundred times worse. As she worked her way back through the crowd to get to Logan’s side, her path was blocked. Her steps slowed as she paused, assuming it was the normal ebb and flow of crowd movement and unavoidable in a packed venue. When whoever it was didn’t move, she looked up. Right into a lecherous leer.

A big man stood in front of her, his bulky frame blocking her view of Logan and his little group. Cold eyes raked over her body, lingering on her breasts for a long moment before he looked up at her face.

“Hey there, sweet stuff. What’s a pretty lady like you doing on her own?” he asked, his voice grating on her nerves.

“Trying to get back to my date. If you’ll excuse me.”

In no mood to mess about, she slid to the side and tried to squeeze past him, but it didn’t work. He moved again, blocking the sliver of a gap she’d been heading for. Starting to get annoyed, she stopped dead and looked up at him.

“Do you mind? You’re in my way.”

“I don’t mind at all. You’re a pretty girl and I’ve been waiting for a chance to talk to you. The least you can do is be polite. Good girls are polite, aren’t they?”

Zara gritted her teeth, years of conditioning that yes, good girls were polite, urging her to comply with his misogynistic assumption that he had a right to any of her time.

“I’m afraid you’ve had a wasted evening then,” she bit out, an edge of ice in her voice. “Mr. Reese is waiting for me… and he doesn’t like me to be gone for long.”

Yeah, so she’d stooped to name-dropping, but she didn’t care. The faster she got away from this jerk, the better. Just standing in front of him gave her the creeps.

Anger flooded his features and before she could step back, he grabbed her arm in a cruel grip and yanked her up against him. Fetid breath laden with old coffee, cigars and whisky washed over her face.

“You might want to be a little nicer, sweet stuff. The king won’t want you forever. He’ll use you and toss you aside like so much trash,” he snarled. “You’ll need a new protector then and you’ll find not many men want sloppy seconds. Fortunately for you, I’m not that picky. For you, I’d even fuck the king’s cast-offs.”

Rage exploded through her with the force of a nuclear blast.

“Get your fucking hand off me before I rip it off.” Her voice shook with anger, a deeper note in it that almost sounded like a snarl. Like Ky’s did when he was pissed and about to change. But that couldn’t be the case because she wasn’t a shifter. At all. Ky had gotten the shift ability, not her.

Something must have rattled Mr. Tall, Sleazy and Arrogant because he let go and took a quick step back, waving her through condescendingly. “Whatever you say, Your Highness… just remember, the king never stays with one woman long. You’ll need me before I need you.”

“Yeah, yeah…”
Whatever you say, asshole. I don’t need any man.

She slipped past him quickly and hurried back to Logan. Her gaze fell on his broad-shouldered figure, his dark hair and tanned features easy to pick out in the crowd of wolves he was talking to.

Anger swelled the closer she got. This was Logan’s fault, bringing her here and parading her in front of all these people like he owned her. He turned as she approached, automatically sliding an arm around her to pull her against him. When she stiffened in anger, he peered down, a look of query in his eyes.

“I agreed to fuck you,” she hissed, keeping her voice low. “Not be paraded as your fucking whore.”

Golden anger exploded through the blue in his eyes.

“My whore? That’s what you think? Oh, no, sweetheart…I haven’t treated you like my whore, but I can.”

Before she could get an answer out, he turned and yanked her fully up against him. Conversation around them ceased as he crushed her lips beneath his, parting them with a hard tongue to drive inside. She gasped, inadvertently giving him more access, and tried to free herself from his arms. But he was having none of it.

His grip tightened almost cruelly, fingers biting into her upper arms to hold her still. His tongue filled her mouth, not to entice, but to dominate and let her know who was in charge. He took what he wanted from the kiss, overruling her silent objections and she could do nothing about it. Not against him.

Finally, he lifted his head, breathing ragged as he looked down at her. “Whores trade sex for money. Or, in your case, to pay off the money you owe. Which I think you need to start working on, don’t you?”