Page 31 of Her Lion Lover

"Leo..."

A red beam shot out of the toy and splashed against a tree on the other side, bouncing a few times before streaking high into the branches of another tree.

Lily was naked and furry in an instant, crouched low on the ground as the red spot came closer...closer...until she pounced.

The red beam streaked out from under her paws and ran up a tree.

Leo let out a roar of laughter. He swatted the beam with both paws, but it kept running, unfazed.

Lily growled. That red spot was going to die, if it was the last thing she did.

THIRTY-EIGHT

"Are you ready? It's time," Cat said.

Leo nodded and rose. He might not be the perfect CEO, but he was the best Pride Holdings had, and he intended to do what he must to ensure the company endured into the future. Until the completion of Hea Sanctuary and many future projects, too.

He marched to the conference room, turning his head at the enticing scent that told him Lily was in one of the smaller meeting rooms across the hall, but not hesitating. She would join him soon.

This part he had to do alone.

He pushed open the double doors to the conference room, revealing the entire board already present and seated, waiting for him.

"He finally deigns to join us. Not too busy whoring with your porn star mates, nephew?" Jeremy snarled.

Cat's footsteps behind him stuttered to a stop.

Leo was torn between wanting to stalk forward and punch his uncle in the face, and the desire to run off with his mate and play with the Felix 5000 for another day. But he knew he could do neither – this wasn't just some family feud. The livelihoods of a lot of people depended on him doing what was right for Pride Holdings. Not to mention Lily would never forgive him if he messed this up. Their future depended on it.

"Good to see you here, Uncle Jeremy. We have some business to attend to before the board meeting begins," Leo said, holding the door open to allow Cat to scurry inside to her seat. She'd offered to take the minutes for this meeting, in Shenzi's place. Shenzi had other duties.

Jeremy harrumphed. "The meeting started five minutes ago, boy. As I was saying..."

"Mr Jeremy King? You're under arrest for embezzlement and fraud."

Two police officers stepped into the board room. To Leo's delight, one of them already had her handcuffs out. Behind them, Jeremy's former personal assistant, Shenzi, hurried away. Leo made a mental note to thank her later for all the evidence she'd pulled from Jeremy's phone and email messages.

"You've got the wrong person. I haven't done anything wrong!" Jeremy blustered, as the cuffs were fastened tightly around his wrists. Behind his back, too, just to make him that bit more uncomfortable. Evidently the police knew all about how he'd bullied Shenzi into silence about his crimes.

"Make sure he doesn't escape. He's a slippery one," Cat said.

The female police officer licked her lips with a distinctly forked tongue. "Let him try," she said.

Snake shifter, or something more sinister? Leo wasn't sure, but he could always ask Cat later.

Right now he had a board meeting to run.

The two officers dragged Jeremy off, still protesting his innocence, trailed by two of Badger's security guards, as Leo carefully closed the doors.

"Now that security have taken out the trash, as the Americans say, shall we get down to business? I've brought a guest today, to address any concerns you might have," Leo began, taking his seat at the head of the table.

Right on cue, the door opened again. This time, Lily stepped inside, taking Leo's breath away.

Oh, he'd seen her naked, and he'd seen her in her wedding gown, but now she stood in his boardroom in a sharp business suit, looking every bit his equal, he wanted to bend her over the boardroom table and fuck her into tomorrow.

"May I introduce Lily Verre, Principal Engineer at Verre Electrical Engineering?" he gritted out, wishing his pants weren't so tight.

"Are you here to verify the reports about your company that Jeremy was just telling us about?" Daniel asked.

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