Page 56 of Possessed By the Leonid King

“Hi, handsome.” She greeted him with a sad smile that was trying to be brave.

“Layla! My Queen! What?”

“I love the way you call me Queen,” Layla laughed and collapsed against his chest, sobbing. “God, Ru, I’m sorry. Tonight was supposed to be so perfect and I’m so upset. I found my friends. Their contracts are up in thirty days.”

“Wonderful!”

“Not wonderful. I talked to Wendy and Elio. Dax wouldn’t answer, but it was nighttime there. “Elio was a shivering wreck and barely lucid. Wendy thought I was a bad dream or a hallucination. They’ve been tortured in that place, legally tortured, their healthy bodies put through endless trials of drugs and I-don’t-know-what.” Layla pounded her small fist into his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I’m just so fucking mad at myself. I hate myself for letting this happen.”

“You were a scared young girl! You couldn’t protect them if they didn’t choose to let you. You couldn’t force them, or they wouldn’t trust you.”

“They sure as hell don’t trust me now.”

Rupex held her, lost. What to say? How to comfort her?

Love is messy.

“I trust you. I know you will fight tooth and nail, or as we say, fang and claw, for your young. The young you birth or the young you wish to help. You have been working on a way to save them for years—and now you can. I’ll help you, Layla.”

LAYLA LOOKED UP AT Rupex, her eyes still trickling. He gently said her name as he cupped her face in his massive paws, one under her chin to bring it to his lips.

“Why? Not on a contract tonight,” she whispered, anger and self-pity souring her finer feelings. She didn’t deserve his trust or his kindness. Certainly not his love.

“I trust you. I care about you. I... I know it’s very quick for Leonids and humans to choose a person they want to keep in their lives in a matter of a few weeks.” Rupex puffed out his chest and his mane puffed with it, making him look larger and more impressive.

Magnificent, Layla thought. “Most humans where I come from never choose.”

“Then I am lucky you are. Because I want to choose you. I want to love you. I want you to love me. I do not say that lightly. After losing so many Queens, I was sure I would never say it, not just because there were so few left, but because the pain of losing someone you love hurts too deeply.” Rupex pressed her back into the wall of the corridor, warm breath on her face, hard, lean body molding to hers as his paws pulled her hips forward. “But I’ve discovered love is something you can’t help. And you will do it, even if it hurts.” He swallowed against her as she buried her hands in his mane. “I love you. I thought I had to make a night of perfect romance to show that I love you and hope you will give me your love in return.”

“But you don’t.” She hated to interrupt his perfect speech, but she couldn’t contain herself. “You don’t need to do anything but be here when I need you—and I need you so much. I never want to be without you. I was afraid of finding someone I wanted like that, because... well, the same reasons as you. It hurts when they’re gone.”

“Don’t leave.”

“I won’t.”

There was a sudden breathlessness between them. “You-you won’t?”

“No. If you let me stay.”

“Stay! Oh, Bastet and Sekhmet, stay!” Rupex erupted into an excited purr, nuzzling her cleavage and neck as he picked her up and worshiped her with his muzzle. “Always stay. Be my Queen, Layla.”

“Only if you promise to be my King—and you still have to let me work on this ship and have your cubs. I’m not giving that up.” The woes of the afternoon melted and mellowed in his arms. They would find a course of action, together.

“Stubborn, fiery Queen. Yes, my love. And only if you let me romance you as I had intended. First comes a meal—” Rupex stooped and retrieved the flower that he’d dropped in favor of holding her, “and a token of my affection.”

Layla took the flower and sniffed it, her brain temporarily hazy with its rich, sultry scent. “I’ll tell you what happened over dinner?”

“And I’ll make you feel better over dessert.”

“SO, THE LAB FOLLOWS proper protocols it seems. They weren’t held against their will.”

“They were,” Layla spat, glaring at him. Her anger softened as Rupex lifted the mixing bowl and revealed a feast.

“But they said they were planning to leave together?”

Layla sank back in her chair and absorbed the surroundings for a moment. A deep blackish-red wine tempted her beside a decadent meal. More of the heady flowers that seemed to make her thighs pulse just from their scent. Languorous music in a strange vowel-centric language she didn’t understand. Her cheeks flushed. Some parts of the song sounded very orgasmic.

“At some point, I’m not sure how long ago, the side effects or the situation prompted them to consider leaving. Wendy said they couldn’t buy out their contract. So, while they weren’t held captive, they were held for ransom. A ransom of wages they hadn’t yet earned. I’m pretty sure that’s the shady end of legal.”

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