Page 26 of For Toron's Pride (Toron's Pride 1)

“I can’t help it. My nipples are sensitive.”

“If you say nipples…”

She laughed. “Basically, everything gets you hot.”

“Everything about you.”

“Tell me about your dad, please.”

He let the cloth slip from his fingers, and she felt the tension increase in his body. Sienna stroked his forearm and rested her cheek against his as a way to comfort him.

A hint of his pain reached her, but then he cut it off.

“He loved my mother more than life. She was his mate, and he would have done anything for her.”

“When you say mate, you mean like husband-wife?”

“More than that. To use a clichéd expression, she completed him. It was written in her DNA to be with him, to bear his children, to walk by his side, all of it.”

Sienna considered what he was saying. Something didn’t sit right with her. “She cheated though. Call me a romantic or unrealistic, but aren’t shifters supposed to not be able to cheat? Like once they’re bonded, they can’t be with anyone else? At least that’s how it is in books.”

“Maybe that’s how it should be.” Toron and appeared to ponder her words. “Our kind are different in many ways to other kinds of shifters. There is always an alpha, call it the king of the jungle so to speak. He may choose several partners, and he does not allow other men to rule in his pride. Remember I told you, if another man rises in my group, the beast in me is compelled to either run him off or kill him—or if he happens to be stronger, he kills me.”

Sienna shivered, and he hugged her tighter. “I can’t imagine that since you have the power of the alpha.”

“I wouldn’t use it to fight for my place. I would do it because of my authority, not my power.”

“All of this is so complicated.”

“It’s simple.”

He tipped her chin higher and kissed her. Sienna didn’t move from his embrace. She welcomed his touch and the warmth he shared. Running had been eliminated from her options, and so far she didn’t regret staying.

“My mate is the woman who completes me.”

She didn’t feel up to asking him which woman he thought that was, but asked instead, “So your father…why did he wait so long if she wasn’t faithful from the beginning?”

He frowned. “So long?”

“I thought you recently became alpha, like in the last few years.”

“My mother held the position up until ten years ago. I became alpha at twenty-one. To have a woman rule is almost unheard of among the lions, but she demonstrated the power, and she’s a strong-willed woman. My father committed suicide when I was just five years old, but I remember well. He was my world at that time. To have him taken away was more than I could bear. For a while, I hated my mother, and we still don’t often see each other.”

Sienna put a hand over her mouth and shut her eyes. For Toron to forgive must have taken a lot. Without knowing, she’d done to Simeon what Toron’s mother had in essence done to him—taken away his father. She licked her lips and swallowed the lump in her throat. “You chose to have several lovers.”

She looked away, but he made her face him. His gaze burned into hers, and Sienna felt like he wanted her to understand. Why now? Did he reach out to her just so he could secure Simeon and make sure she didn’t run off with him? What better way to keep her around than to make her fall in love with him?

“I chose never to be serious about any woman and to indulge my sexual fantasies. I thought I could live my life that way forever and one day choose a woman who could bear my children without holding my heart. I convinced myself if I never sought my mate, I would not end up like my father— broken and weak. Then I flew to New York to meet the newbie, and from there my life plan took a nose dive.”

Sienna lowered her lashes. “You mean me.”

He kissed her. “Yes, you. Baby, you are my mate. I couldn’t get you out of my head at that time or any other. I told Davon to get you to my house any way he could. I needed to spend more time with you, but I hoped I was wrong. After we made love, I let you go because I didn’t want what I knew was true. I told Hawke not to tell me any details about your life. I couldn’t bear to think about you with another man, and yet, I was tormented with the thought every day.”

His embrace tightened until she winced, and he eased his hold, kissing her cheek. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Nothing happened between Hawke and me. He wanted it, and I was close to seeing where it could lead, but he was like a brother in my mind. I will tell you the truth, Toron. There was no one else, but also I’m not sure I’m ready for what it means to be your mate. Who you are scares me. You haven’t said you’re offering anything other than sex and—”

He put a finger over her lips. “You are my mate. I accept that. I will have you.” His gaze dropped to her breasts, and her nipples pebbled. “However, I can wait until you’re ready.”

---