Free Freeing A Lion: BBW Paranormal Lion Shape Shifter Romance (Sleeping Lions - Shifters Prime Book 2) by Harmony Raines Page A

they were in a zoo, or a circus , and his thoughts turned to his old life and all the things he had missed growing up on the other side of the border. Nora had made sure he had a happy childhood, but he could never be so carefree as he would have been growing up here.
    “I want to make sure Lea has a happy childhood,” he said. “She’s lost out on so much already.”
    “Hey, don't worry. She will forget so much of what has happened. She’s a good kid, and the circus thing ... well, it doesn't seem to have tainted her. She knows how to laugh, how to play.” Lottie looked at him with a sideways glance, unsure of what she wanted to say next. But he knew and said it instead. “I hope I can find a way to forget it all, Lottie.” He turned to look at her, wanting her to feel the full force of what he was about to say. “I hope with your help I can be happy, and forget it all.”
    “This bond,” she said. “It will last?”
    “Forever. And from what Daphne and Lance said, ours will be stronger because I ... changed you.” It still pierced his heart to think of her in such pain.
    “I want that to be the first thing you let go. The first thing you forgive yourself for,” she said. “You knew I was your mate, that’s what you said before you left. So maybe this is how things are meant to turn out. I think you should know that instead of taking something from me, Daniel, you have given me back my life. I was content to live in the shadows until you and Lea came along.”
    “Then we will forge a new life together over here in Shifters Prime,” he said, leaning back, his arm on the open window of the car. He breathed in the air, the free air, and was grateful. Grateful for the woman by his side, for Lea making brownies with Daphne, and more than anything, he was grateful never to have to wear that damn collar again.
    His hand automatically went to his throat when he thought about it, but it wasn’t there, and he would make sure neither he nor the two women in his life ever had to wear one.
     

Chapter Fifteen – Lottie
     
    “You weren’t joking about me having to take my clothes off?” Lottie asked. They were standing in tall grass, and there was no one about for miles, but still she was acutely aware that he was asking her to be naked. In public.
    “I don't think you’ll be able to control yourself enough on your first shift,” he said.
    “Are you going to turn around?” she asked, heat creeping through her body at the thought of him seeing her naked. But she was acutely aware of her generous figure, of her voluptuous breasts and her curvy thighs.
    “Do you want me to?” he asked, his mouth curving up in a smile she found so sexy, heat pooled between her thighs. She still couldn’t comprehend the notion that he was hers. Not just her boyfriend, here one minute gone the next, but that he planned to be there for her for the rest of his life. Like an unbreakable marriage contract.
    “This isn't going to be easy.” And she didn’t mean the shifting part. Lottie had never been naked in front of anyone since she was ten.
    “You’ll get the hang of it,” he said.
    “I meant taking my clothes off,” she replied, taking hold of the hem of the sweater Daphne had lent her and lifting it up above her head.
    “So did I,” he said smiling as she dropped the sweater to the floor. “If you want me to help.”
    “I can manage,” she said, knowing they might not get round to her changing into a lion if he got any closer. Her breasts seemed to swell, her nipples hardening under his gaze. Damn, she wanted to feel his hands on her body.
    Later , her lioness said, which still freaked her out no end.
    Her expression must have changed, because his smile became a grin. “What’s she saying?” he asked.
    “It’s private,” Lottie said, undoing the buttons on her shirt and pushing it off her shoulders. Her bra was staying put for now, but her pants had to go, and she undid the belt that was keeping them up.