The Felidae 4: Lev’s Discovery Read online

  Morgan shook his head. “I don’t mind.” He led the way over to a nearby copse of trees, glad to be out of the sun and getting some shade.

  “Oh, thank God, shade! I was starting to get hot out in the sun,” Aaron said, flopping down to lay at the base of one tree. Aaron’s skin held a faint tinge of pink, a light brush of color.

  “Your skin changes color?” he asked, standing over the human.

  “Just in the sun. I think I have three colors, white, pink and red,” he laughed. “I burn if I’m out in the sun for too long.”

  “Your skin is so fragile?” Morgan asked, incredulous. He couldn’t imagine being so vulnerable to the elements. The sun bothered him if he was out in it too long but that was more because he preferred the shade, not because he got sick if he was outside.

  “I guess so. I mean, not every human’s is. I just was born this way.”

  “You are more like Usama than I thought at first. He too was born with physical traits that set him apart. Made him more vulnerable.”

  “See, I think it makes him stronger,” Aaron argued. “It takes a bigger man to take his weaknesses and rise above them.”

  “You could be right,” he admitted.

  “That’s what I like about you guys. You all complement each other so well.”

  “The pride?”

  “Yeah, you’re a team. All working together, supporting each other in everything you do. It’s nice.” He closed his eyes with a sigh, reaching up and pulling off his glasses, holding them in his hand.

  Morgan studied him, considering the other man. He was very attractive. He could see what Lev liked so much about him. He knew what Lev and the others thought, but it wasn’t Lev’s bond with Aaron that he hated. No, he understood the mate bond and what it meant for everyone involved.

  If he was honest with himself, he was afraid that Lev would find the human more appealing in the long run. What if he loved the mate bond so much he decided that it meant more than his own relationship with Morgan? What would he do if the man he had always walked beside decided to throw him away for a stronger mate? A more fulfilling one. He couldn’t give Lev the things Aaron could.

  He vaulted himself into the tree above Aaron, catching hold of a large branch near the bottom of the tree and swinging up onto it. Sprawling out, he straddled the branch, letting his limbs hang limply to either side. He swung his tail back and forth, closing his eyes.

  “Could I ask you a question?”

  Morgan opened one lid, staring down at Aaron lying directly underneath him. He nodded, remaining silent.

  “How long have you been with the pride?”

  “Years. I was young when I came upon them.” His voice was sleepy.

  “Can you tell me about it? You don’t have to if you don’t want, but I want to know more about you all.”

  “I was born to the Pardus. Did anyone explain what that means?”

  Aaron nodded his head, sitting up to rest his back against the base of the tree. He tilted his head, keeping Morgan in his sight.

  “Not many Pardus live on Felid. Most prefer to make their home on Seren, the main Pardus planet, but I was lucky in that my mother lived very close to the Leo prides here on Felid. I never knew my father. The Pardus are different from the Leo. We don’t live together unless there are reasons for it. My mother hated men. All men. She never said why, but she couldn’t stand me some days.”

  “Gosh, I’m so sorry.” Aaron’s voice was earnest.

  “I’m used to it. Besides, growing up with Ariel more than made up for whatever my own mother might have lacked.”

  “So how did you come to live with Lev and his family?”

  Morgan smiled, conscious of the mention of Lev and not one of the other Gatti brothers. So, it seemed that Aaron might be interested after all. It could just be curiosity, but it was a start.

  “My mother died. This is probably going to sound bad, but I’m glad she did. When I was still a child, she was attacked by another Pardus, a man who tried to force himself on her. I tried to protect her, and I still bear the scars from that day. She fought fiercely and in the end killed the man. Unfortunately, her wounds were too grave and she died soon after.”

  “Wow, that’s horrible. Were you okay?”

  Morgan shrugged, twisting his tail again and thumping it against the tree branch. He stretched, pleased when Aaron followed the movement with his eyes. He had put his glasses back on his face and the blue eyes behind the frames watched him closely.

  “I had managed to crawl to the pride territories. It was Leander who found me, one of Lev’s uncles. He carried me home with him, bringing me to Ariel. She cared for me, making sure I became better and then claiming me as one of her heart sons. She had done the same for Fahd years earlier, but it’s a good thing her mates understand her nature. They didn’t object when she told them what she wanted to do.”

  “Is that why your pride has so many other clans in it? I was wondering about that after Catan explained that it was so rare to have non-Leos in a pride.”

  “Mmm… most of the prides don’t mingle with the other clans. I don’t mind too much. I don’t care for a lot of the other Leos anyway. And I have practically nothing to do with my own people. I’m where I want to be.”

  “Must be nice,” Aaron muttered under his breath, slumping down and looking at the ground.

  He had the feeling that the human hadn’t meant for him to hear that. “So tell me your story,” he said. “What brought you here? Do you have loved ones back home?”

  “Not really,” Aaron said. “I live by myself and I work for my father. My mom split when I was a baby, so I guess we kind of have that in common. She wasn’t exactly a loving person either, but she had other things she wanted to do. Having children didn’t fit in with her life goals. My dad was pretty good to me growing up and my older brother always looked out for me. They didn’t spoil me or anything but my dad definitely pushed me to be the best I could be.”

  Morgan twitched his ears, hearing the soft tread of Lev coming toward them. He remained silent, not wanting to interrupt Aaron. He wanted to know more about the man. If Lev wanted him in his life, then Morgan better find a way for the two of them to connect. He wasn’t going to give up Lev. Besides, he found the human curiously appealing. He wasn’t sure what it was yet, but he always followed through on the things that caught his attention.

  “I was always pretty good in school, wasn’t straight A’s but I was close. Not like Darren. He was always the smart one. He’s an animator now at some big company. Pretty damn good too.”

  Morgan shook his head, not entirely sure what that all meant.

  “I’m good at what I do though.”

  “What do you do?” he asked, curious.

  “I’m a project manager for my dad’s company. Coleman Resources is one of the top management consulting companies in Western Canada. Pretty damn spectacular, but we’ve worked hard to get where we are. I’m pretty close to making partner. My dad has other employees that have been there longer, but I’ve put a lot of work into taking classes and doing a bang up job for my clients. It finally paid off.”

  “Are you upset you were taken from your life?”

  “Kind of. I mean, it wasn’t as if my life was this spectacular, wonderful thing. But I was going places. Literally and figuratively.”

  Morgan was silent, rolling that around in his mind.

  “How were you taken?” Lev asked, coming up and standing in front of the human. Morgan dropped his tail, touching the top of Lev’s head with the very tip. Lev threw his head back, smiling up at him. He reached up, curling one strong hand around his tail and giving it a firm stroke. Morgan purred, stretching in place. Heat rushed through his body, inflaming the nerve endings all along his tail.

  He looked back to find Aaron studying their interaction closely. The redness that had faded from his cheeks was back now. He was breathing heavily, his eyes glazed over. Morgan purred louder, shifting on the branch.

  “Uh, I was out hiking in this remote area. I had a week’s vacation so I wanted to spend some time alone with just myself and my thoughts. I turned a corner on the path and found this man up ahead. I swear, I thought he was a Sasquatch or something. I don’t remember much of what happened after that but he must have thought I’d be fun to play with, because the next thing I do remember is waking up on Himalay.”

  Lev continued to stroke his tail, pulling hard before sliding his hand back up again. Morgan shifted on the branch, trying to pay attention to Aaron’s words, but uncomfortably aroused.

  “Seriously, I think this is my cue to leave. You guys don’t need a third wheel for this.”

  “Third wheel?” Morgan asked.

  “You know, when two’s just right and three’s a crowd? I mean, you guys don’t need me here for what you obviously want to do. I may wear glasses but I’m not blind, and Vincent here is about to poke my eye out with his protruding man-bit.”

  Morgan chuckled, sitting up on the branch, arching his back when Lev brushed his thumb along the fur of his tail. “You don’t know everything if you think you need to leave. Trust me, Lev wants you to be here as much as he wants me to be here.”

  Lev remained silent. Probably waiting to see what was going to happen next.

  Morgan jerked his tail out of Lev’s grasp, swinging down to drop beside him on the ground. He straightened his legs, stalking forward to push Aaron back against the tree trunk. Lev moved forward to frame him from behind. His hands came up, smoothing along Morgan’s sides.

  He purred, backing into the touch. Morgan wrapped his tail around one of Lev’s thighs, brushing the tip against the sensitive inner crease of his thigh. Lev shifted behind him, groaning.

  “You better tell me now if you aren’t intereste
d in something, Aaron. I’m not fooling around here,” he rumbled.

  “I don’t know what I want,” Aaron replied.

  “Do you want to stop?”

  Aaron shook his head, a quick back and forth movement.

  “Good,” he crooned. Morgan lowered his head, keeping his gaze on Aaron. Aaron’s eyes behind the wire frames fluttered, finally closing. Morgan pressed his mouth to Aaron’s, slanting his lips and swallowing the gasp that escaped. Lev moaned deeply behind him, rubbing his shaft against Morgan’s back.

  He thrust his tongue into Aaron’s mouth, duelling with the other man, licking inside. He couldn’t get enough of the taste of the human. He was so different from Lev, in a way that called for him to explore every inch of the man.

  Aaron lifted his arms, wrapping them around his neck. One long-fingered hand reached up to toy with one of his ears, stroking along the sensitive back. He twitched, his turn to gasp.

  Pulling away, he lowered his head, licking along Aaron’s neck, following the strong cords to his powerful shoulder. Arching his back to mouth along his shoulder blade pushed his ass closer to Lev. The Leo took full advantage, running his fat cock along the crease of his ass, bumping over his hole. He whimpered, caught up in the two men on either side of him.

  Aaron stroked his ear again, a glancing caress that sent shafts of arousal straight to his groin. His body was hypersensitive, every touch by either men pushing him closer to a place where he could lose himself in the feelings they created.

  “I want to see you together,” Lev rumbled.

  Aaron gasped, pulling back to exchange a heated look with Morgan.

  “Why?” Morgan asked, turning his head to look at his mate.

  “It’s the only way this will work between us. Don’t you see, Morgan? You have to be first. You’re in this completely.”

  “Wait, what are you talking about now?” Aaron whispered.

  Morgan hugged Aaron close to his chest, rubbing the side of his face against the coarse hair covering the other man’s jaw.

  “Have you been having dreams recently?” Lev asked, carefully keeping his voice even.

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Please. Please just answer the question.”

  “So, I’ve had a few Beauty and the Beast style dreams lately. What’s your point?”

  “Was I in them?” Lev asked.

  Aaron shrugged, leaning harder into Morgan. “I don’t remember much of the dreams. There was a lion in them. So it may have been you. Honestly though, they were just dreams. They didn’t mean anything.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  “Lev, just take it easy on him, won’t you?” Morgan interrupted, seeing the flash of irritation in Aaron’s eyes. “Let me?”

  Lev huffed, wrapping his hands more strongly around Morgan’s hips.

  “What Lev is so eloquently trying to tell you is the dreams you’ve been having are important. They signify a mate bond. Like the one that Laithe and Rowan share. It is a common occurrence among the Leo. The strongest men in the prides share a mental connection with the one person they are destined to be with. Lev is your mate and you are his.”

  “No fucking way,” Aaron exclaimed. “That can’t be right.” He briefly struggled, calming down when Morgan tightened his hold.

  “Please, just hear us out.”

  “Look, I don’t know what kind of crack you and Simba have been smoking, but I’m nobody’s mate.”

  “Who’s nobody?” Lev quipped, obviously trying to lighten the mood. “Do I have to hunt the man down and beat him senseless?”

  Morgan snorted, shaking his head. He was heartened when Aaron simply rolled his eyes. “Is he always like this?” the man asked, raising his eyebrows.

  Morgan smiled, baring his canines.

  “So, what does this mean? You do realize I’m still planning on going back home.”

  Lev tensed behind him. Before he could say anything, Morgan spoke. “We understand that, and Lev will do whatever you wish. The bond, once it has been established, is unbreakable. No matter where you are, the two of you will always be connected. I just want you to realize that.”

  “Fine, I get it. Can I have some time to let all this sink in or is that against the law here?”

  “You can have as much time as you need,” Lev replied. He paused. Morgan waited for him to say something further. “As long as you realize we’re going to fuck now, you can have as much time as you need.”

  Morgan snorted again, shaking his head. Sometimes it was scary how well he knew his love. He had seen that one coming.

  Chapter Four

  Aaron honestly didn’t know what to think right now. If the two furballs in front of him were right, what exactly did that mean for him? Did he want to be tied down to Simba for the rest of his life?

  Regardless, he was too turned on now to back away. He knew himself and was honest enough to admit that he would find a way to deal with all of that later. Right now, he wanted to connect with them. All this mate crap could be dealt with afterward.

  “You wanna fuck, or you wanna watch?” he asked, pleased when both men groaned.

  He had gotten so fucking hot earlier when they were touching. They were so comfortable with each other, each movement choreographed as if they had done it a million times before.

  “How long have you been together?” He was curious to know the answer.

  “A couple years after Morgan came to join us. Maybe a decade? I don’t really remember,” Lev answered, shrugging his shoulders.

  He must have tightened his hold on Morgan’s hips because the man swayed in place, his eyes closing once more. He wanted to get his hands on both of them, but he had no problem playing with just Morgan this first time.

  He couldn’t imagine that the guy was actually okay with all of this. If he’d been with someone for ten years and all of a sudden his partner developed some kind of mystical bond with someone else, he wouldn’t be happy about it.

  It definitely explained why Morgan had been avoiding him before though. It made him feel a closeness to the other man that he hadn’t before. He didn’t want Morgan to get hurt. Regardless of whatever happened between Lev and him, he swore to himself that he wouldn’t fuck things up with Morgan.

  He was lucky the man was even talking to him.

  “Well, looks like it’s just you and me, kid,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at Morgan.

  Morgan snorted, twitching his ears. They had been as soft as he’d first imagined. The fur on his head was silky smooth. He’d love to feel that between his thighs. He moaned at the image in his mind.

  “Mmm, I like that look. What brought that up?” Morgan asked.

  “Your hair,” Aaron said. “It’s so smooth. I just suddenly had this idea of how smooth it would be between my legs.” He swallowed roughly.

  Morgan bared his teeth, a purr rumbling up from his chest. Aaron pressed closer, rubbing his hands against the muscled expanse of his chest.

  “That can be arranged,” Morgan grunted. Before he realized what was happening, Morgan had taken a step backward. He grabbed Aaron around the waist, sliding to his knees in one graceful move. Lev remained behind the other man, his eyes heated while he watched what Morgan was doing.

  The Pardus nuzzled against his straining loincloth, pushing the fabric to the side. Aaron gasped, reaching down to take it off, but Morgan stopped him. He rubbed his cheek against Aaron’s hip, stroking the soft fur along his skin. It tickled.

  He squirmed in place, leaning back to press harder to the tree behind him. He was glad for the support.

  Lev smoothed his palm along the top of Morgan’s head, guiding him to the side where he nuzzled against Aaron’s other hip. Lev may have wanted to watch, but it seemed he was going to take an active role in this.

  He couldn’t take his eyes off Morgan. The spotted man looked so damned erotic, kneeling with his face pressed to his groin. Damn, that was hot.

  He whimpered, needing a more intimate touch. “Please, stop fucking around and take it off,” he said, moving his hands to reach down.

  Lev immediately grabbed his arms, pressing them up above his head. He stepped forward, leaning over Morgan, completely obscuring his sight of the other man.

  A moist puff of air was his only warning before Morgan licked along his hip bone. He shuddered, jerking against Lev’s hold. He couldn’t believe it, but it was even hotter not being able to see what Morgan would do next. It ratcheted his arousal up another level.