Shifter's Delight Read online

  His mouth moved down her throat to her chest and then her shirt was being tugged up. No time to prepare, just Micah’s hot mouth closing over her nipple sucking deep and hard. She arched up from the floor, trying to muffle the cry that wanted to pour from her lips. His big hand cupped her other breast, his fingers pulling and tugging at that nipple. One hard thigh rode high between her legs and she could feel the magnificent length of his cock against her inner thigh.

  Micah was a big man and she wasn’t talking about the fact that he was seven feet tall. She wanted him, wanted to feel him buried deep inside her. She rubbed wantonly against him and she knew he must be able to feel the heat and wetness of her sex on his thigh. He groaned and his mouth left her nipple with a popping sound before he licked his way over to the other one.

  Her hands clawed at his shoulders trying to hold him closer, trying to pull him up her body so that his hard cock would lie where she wanted it and she could feel his lips on hers. She wanted to know the sensual feel of his kiss, to feel his tongue stroking against hers. She wanted to grip his hips with her legs and rub her hot sex along the length of his. She wanted desperately.

  But Micah moved further down his lips trailing a path along her stomach. With ease he pushed her pants down and his mouth was at her pussy. His tongue slid between the plumped lips and she could hear the pleasure in his voice as her taste filled his mouth. His chest on her knees kept her from moving, kept her at his mercy.

  One big hand stretched along her stomach so that his fingers could still torture the nipple of one breast while the other spread the lips of her pussy for his further exploration. His tongue was a torment as it glided up and around her swollen clitoris only to trail back down and rim her opening. Again and again he traced this path until she was ready to scream.

  Then his tongue was inside her fucking her channel while he used one finger to rub circles on her clit. She tried to keep the moans she could no longer contain low but the pleasure coursing through her was like none she had ever felt before.

  “Micah,” Lynx breathed his name and his head came up to look at her. His mouth was wet with her juices and his eyes were so golden that they looked like twin suns. “Micah,” she said, again unsure of herself in this new experience.

  His nostrils flared and his eyes seemed to glow impossibly brighter before his head lowered once more to gorge on her. His tongue and fingers did a wicked erotic dance on her pussy that had her climbing towards what she knew would be pleasure like none she had felt before. A finger filled her pussy pressing high and rubbing in a spot that had her throttling back a scream as orgasm crashed over her.

  The finger rubbed for just a moment longer before slipping free only to be replaced by his tongue. His mouth softened and he eased her through orgasm. She was soft and pliant and feeling more than ready to have him ease up her body and slide his cock inside her. But he eased up to her side and turned her so that he was behind her holding her against his chest.

  With a softly whispered, “go to sleep,” he stroked his hand down her length relaxing her further. And despite her resistance Lynx fell asleep.

  The next morning he’d been gone when she awoke, already off to plan with the others leaving her behind. She’d rushed to catch up and managed to arrive just in time to watch her sister fighting with two of Wilhelm’s men. Aurora was amazing to watch.

  That was when she got her first true glimpse of Wilhelm. He was nothing like what she had envisioned and yet there was a distinct taint of evil around him. He’d taken his men and left and they had gone to Aslan’s war room to plan a course of action. Her heart had stopped when Aurora said she wanted to bring Lydia to the castle. Lynx didn’t want her mother any place that might put her in danger.

  But Aurora made a good argument. Lydia must have knowledge that they needed and thus it made it imperative that she be brought to the castle. King Aslan assured Lynx that her mamma would be welcomed and protected and there was nothing to do but agree. With that matter settled they had moved to discussing her search the previous night and how to go about rescuing Merced.

  That one moment was really where everything changed for her.

  Chapter Two

  In less than an hour they were making their way through the halls to the kitchen where Lynx knew a secret door was. She prayed with all her heart that they were not too late to save Merced. Things seemed way to quiet and it made her wonder if Wilhelm had a spy closer in their mist than even they knew. Honestly other than Aslan, none of the others knew the men the king counted as his most trusted. And looking at how well Aslan had been played as a pawn by Wilhelm it made one stop and question.

  They had spent precious minutes divining the best course of action and waiting for Aslan’s most trusted warriors to arrive. First to arrive were Piers and Seer. They were both tall with brown wavy hair and big green eyes, though Piers’ were darker. They were quick to greet Aslan with a warm embrace. And Aslan was quick to smile and return their hug of friendship.

  Next were Lake and Lincoln, both golden haired charmers. Lake had blue eyes while Lincoln’s were nearly black. The same laughs and hugs were exchanged. From what Lynx could tell the bond was especially tight between Aslan, Piers and Seer. They all greeted her with warm smiles taking her hand between theirs and giving it a firm squeeze. They seemed intrigued by the three shifters in the room and it put Lynx at ease.

  Once the greetings and introductions were out of the way they had filled the warriors in on their discoveries and plans. Lynx knew that Aslan still held hope that Wilhelm wasn’t to blame for everything but it didn’t appear that his closest warriors held his hope. It seemed that perhaps they knew more than Aslan and just maybe had kept it from him out of an unwillingness to hurt him. But they had been wrong and now Merced could be one of the many that paid for that loyalty. In blood.

  Lynx moved quickly through the halls towards where she knew the door was. It was easy to see that the warriors were only letting her lead because they had been unaware of where the entrance was. They seemed to think that she should be behind them. She almost laughed at such an absurd notion. She could kill them with ease and skill if she so choose to shift. Even the smallest of cat forms was deadly when needed.

  Lynx pushed through the door and entered the kitchen. As she moved around the people grew deathly quiet. She wasn’t sure if it was to see the king and queen in their kitchen or because perhaps they all knew what the party with her was searching for. She could sense their fear, smell it hovering in the air. She let her eyes search doing her best to find the door. Where the hell had it been? It was definitely well hidden.

  Finally the young girl Lynx had followed the previous day stepped forward, shy and obviously nervous. Lynx glanced at the girl and smiled. Then she shifted into a small tabby cat that she knew the girl would recognise.

  “It was you who went down the stairs with me,” the girl exclaimed and picked Lynx up and gave her a quick squeeze. Suddenly the girl squeaked and dropped Lynx back to the floor. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to harm you.”

  “No harm done,” Nado reassured the girl. “Shifters are a resilient lot.”

  “You are the one who delivers the tray to the prisoner below,” Micah said as he stepped forward.

  The girl gasped and backed up. “How did you escape him?”

  Micah’s feral expression softened at the girl’s fear. “I am not he but I seek him, and quickly before it is too late.”

  “You know where the door is?” Aslan stepped forward now and claimed the girl’s attention. Lynx was annoyed by the conversation. Just find the damn door. Time was running out.

  The girl nodded and crossed the kitchen by the stove. She pulled a cabinet open and with a press of her fingers a panel slid open inside. A staircase was revealed that descended into the depths of the castle. Lynx, who had maintained her tabby form, shot through the opening and disappeared into the darkness beyond. She heard Domi’s unmistakable roar and knew that he followed close on her heels.


  She came to the hallway and immediately turned to follow it to where she remembered Merced was being held. She stopped at the spot where his hand had reached out the night before and tried in vain to pass through without his aid. But she couldn’t. She shifted to her human form. Domi and Nado were with her.

  “Where is he?” Nado asked as he shifted to human form.

  “Behind this wall,” she said. “I’ve been through it once, yesterday, but I don’t know how to pass through it now.”

  “There must be some way,” Nado said and began moving around gently touching the wall as Lynx was but he had no more luck than she did at finding a way in.

  Micah came flying down the corridor towards them and with a yell he leapt right through the wall in front of their eyes.

  Lynx recoiled when Micah’s cry of pain and anguish filled the air. “Micah,” she screamed and turned to Nado. “Follow him!”

  Both she and Nado moved back to do just that but Nado was quicker. With a roar he ran forward where Micah had gone through. Lynx could sense something, as if someone were trying to whisper to her not to try and follow.

  Lynx yelled, “No!” but it was too late. Nado hit the wall full force and then with an explosion of light was flung across the hall to land crumpled on the floor. Lynx prayed to the goddess that he was okay. Otherwise she did not want to be around when her sister got here.

  “He will live.” The voice filled her head and she closed her eyes in relief. It was undoubtedly Micah’s and she could feel how hard it was for him to make the connection with her. “Merced is unconscious but weak. I must go into a trance to try and heal him. I am a healer, sort of like a holy man among my people, but even I may not be strong enough to heal him. Domi can hear me too in his animal form.” Lynx turned towards the panther and saw that he was indeed hearing the same as she was. “Find the way in. We will be waiting.” And then nothing but silence.

  Footsteps sounded and Lynx turned in time to see two men moving towards her and Domi who was still in panther form. She knew it would be easier for him to sense what if any damage Nado had sustained while in his animal form. They had Micah’s word that Nado was okay but okay could mean different things to different people. There was a link between the two panthers that always made other shifters wonder if they were not related by blood.

  The men moved towards them quietly as if they thought she and Domi were unaware of their presence. She let them get close, let them think they had the upper hand.

  “Well, what shifter trash do we have here?” one of them sneered as swords were drawn and pointed at them. Goddess bless the stupidity of those who had never actually battled with a shifter. Thoughts were tumbling through her mind when one of them had the audacity to kick Nado.

  She bared her teeth in a snarl as she began automatically shifting into her favourite fear invoking form. The lion. Mightiest of all cats, often thought to be a king among beasts. Domi had the one who had kicked Nado cornered against one side of the hall and she easily backed the other to the wall just a foot or so away.

  Domi was snarling and in danger of ripping the man’s throat out for what he had done. So Lynx did what she knew would get her sister’s attention. The warriors were checking the cells back the way they had come and this would get all their attention.

  She lifted her lions head and gave a roar that echoed and thundered through the hallway. The man in front of her whimpered and the scent of fear seeped from his skin like stale sweat to add to the stench already in the air. Opening her mouth wide she leaned up closer to him and let out another might roar.

  The man cringed and Lynx could hear the thunder of running feet moving towards them as the others headed for her and Domi.

  Aurora was the first to reach them and Lynx could feel her sister’s tension as she stopped to kneel beside Nado. He was still silent and unmoving but Lynx could easily sense that he was merely knocked unconscious. But what she couldn’t sense was what was going on beyond the invisible wall that Micah and Merced were behind. And now there was no sound. That silence unnerved her and had her praying to the goddess as she never had before.

  With a great warrior’s cry Aurora flew across the space towards them and Lynx wanted to laugh as she felt the fear grow in the two men. Her sister was truly a sight to behold. With an amazing leap Aurora was airborn with her sword raised high above her head. Lynx planned to frame this moment in her mind. The very power that emanated from her sister was breathtaking.

  The sword swished through the air and with a clang of steel it severed through the neck of the man Domi had cornered. The man before her gave a high keening wail that made her want to reach out and swipe him dead with one mighty paw. He dropped the weapon he had been holding at his side and fell to his knees begging her sister for his life.

  Lynx followed Domi’s lead and backed up, shifting to human form as Aslan joined Aurora. Lynx was anxious to breach the wall and get to Micah and Merced.

  Aslan motioned to the man and his fallen companion. “We need these men to find out all we can about this.”

  “It only takes one to talk,” Aurora replied before taking her blade and laying it beside the neck of the man Lynx had recently guarded. “And I pray the answers you have are the right ones. For your sake.”

  “Yes! Yes! Yes!” the man screamed, sobbing and managing to look quite pathetic. What a waste of human flesh as far as Lynx was concerned. She doubted any information was worth saving him but then she was not queen and luckily didn’t have to make that decision.

  Aurora turned towards her and Domi and demanded “What happened here?”

  Domi had moved once more to Nado and Lynx felt jealous of the look that passed between Domi and Aurora. There was so much conveyed without words as if they were already so connected that they could read one another’s thoughts.

  Lynx stepped in, wanting to bring their attention to what was her main concern at the moment. Micah and Merced.

  “There is some type of force field here,” and she indicated what she knew the others would see as just more wall obscured by darkness.

  “The wall?” Aurora asked.

  “No, and yet made to appear as such,” Lynx stated. “Micah was able to pass through and once I was able to as well,” she swallowed hard and when she looked up it was with tears in her eyes. Nado was on the floor because of her. “Which is why I told Nado to follow Micah. I thought he would be able to get through as well. But when I passed through it was as a tabby and I was in the arms of a Danuja.”

  “Merced,” Aurora stated and Lynx nodded. “So we have found him and now lost Micah as well?”

  “Micah was able to pass through but cannot get back to us. His magic isn’t that strong. He is a healer, sort of like a holy man for his people. Merced would be able to but he is too weak. Micah has gone into some kind of a trance to try and heal Merced. We haven’t heard from him in a while and I am worried for them both.” Lynx knew that her sister could sense her emotions which were so close to the surface right now. She had strong feelings for Micah and just maybe for Merced as well. Enough that she definitely wanted them alive and well, able to explore possibilities with her. She prayed they could get both of the Danuja free of Wilhelm’s prison.

  “You,” Aurora turned back to the remaining man. “Tell me what you know of this magic. Now. And it had best be useful.”

  “Tis Danuja magic,” the man stammered. “Placed by one to contain one.”

  “And?” Aurora said making a point to lift her sword, the blade still stained red.

  He swallowed hard. “There is some type of box set high to the top that holds the cell in place. Only by removing it will it cease.”

  “If I have to prompt you one more time you will lose a limb,” Aurora promised. “You do not need those to answer questions.”

  “At the top,” he squealed pointing his finger up high to the ceiling just above the wall. “You can’t see the box but you can see where the wall appears just a bit darker in the one spot. That i
s what you are aiming for.”

  Lynx glanced at the spot and saw what he was talking about. She might be able to reach it if she shifted back into animal form but she wasn’t sure if she could miss hitting the magic field that surrounded it. Her frustration was growing. Then Piers stepped forward removing a small dagger with a wicked curve from his belt. Taking careful aim he threw it with speed and complete accuracy.

  There was a crackle and a pop and the wall disappeared revealing the prone shapes of two huge men. Micah and Merced. Lynx yelled and ran to them. They had to be all right.

  Chapter Three

  Lynx hurried to the two men. Micah was weak, his pulse so soft it took her twice to find it. Merced did not appear to be breathing at all. Without thought she tilted his head back, opened his mouth and pinched his nose. Leaning in she sealed her mouth to his and exhaled blowing her breath into him. Three times she did this before he gasped and finally breathed on his own.

  His beautiful golden eyes with flecks of brown opened slowly to greet her. Sensing that he would be fine she turned to Micah which was easy since she knelt between them.

  “Micah,” she said softly. “Wake up. We still have things to talk about remember?” She would discuss whatever he wanted, her wandering ways or anything, if only he would open his eyes.

  “You gave me breath,” Merced sounded awed by this as he sat up beside her.

  “Yes,” she nodded still focused on Micah. “But your brother is still weak. Is there anything you can do to help him?”

  Merced stared at her for a moment before turning to his brother. He inhaled deeply and leaned into his brother’s face before exhaling. She watched in amazement as a golden glow seemed to leave his mouth and sink into Micah’s skin. Within mere seconds Micah was opening his eyes and sitting up beside her. Without thought Lynx launched herself at him raining kisses over his face.