Free Lion In Wait (A Paranormal Alpha Lion Romance) by Lynn Red Page A

probably,” she finally said. “When he gave me that slip of paper showing how much I owed him against how much I’d made. In one year, I made dent the size of five hundred bucks in a ten thousand dollar bill.”
    Lex let out a dangerous hiss.
    “I was sold,” he said in that flat tone of his. “Sold like a pet. Or more accurately, a trophy.”
    Cass’s eyes went wide. “You let that happen? I mean... I’ve seen you do some thrashing before, you’re not exactly easy to convince if there’s something you’re not wanting to do.”
    “Our stories aren’t all that different,” he said. “Mine’s a lot shorter, but... not that different. We need a fire,” he announced, and stood abruptly. Cass grabbed his arm as he stalked away, forcing him to face her.
    “I told you everything,” she said. “Laid it all out there, every embarrassing thought and feeling laid bare for you to see. And you’re just going to say something vague like how our stories are similar, and then pack it in? That’s it?”
    Lex stared at her, but not coldly. He was searching her face and, she thought, his own feelings. It couldn’t be easy for him, but then again, “it wasn’t easy for me either,” she whispered. “You make me feel safe – you always did, even when I thought you were a lion with whom I shared a very small living space. If you don’t feel the same way with me, what the hell are we doing here?”
    “We got away,” he said. That time his voice was a little cold, but it was hard to tell if it was actual coldness, or self-defense. “That’s all that matters, isn’t it? We’re free.”
    “Are we? Are we really?”
    His eyes went from her eyes to her lips, then to her chin, and finally he stared at the ground near her feet. “I need time,” he said. “These aren’t words I was ready to say.”
    Lex took her hand in his and slid her clasped fingers off his wrist. “And we do need a fire. Just... give me some time. I’ve been having this fight with myself since the first time I laid eyes on you, Cassiopeia. The very first time. When I saw you, I wanted to show you what I was, what I really was. But I couldn’t. And right now, I’m not sure if I was protecting you from the truth, or me.”
    Her hand fell limply to her side, and she watched as he turned again, and crouched. The firm muscles lining Lex’s back, his legs, his arms, all grew leaner and tighter. His hair, turned into a mane, and the tiny hairs all over his body slid out of his pores, becoming the golden fur she’d known for so many years. She took three steps forward and laid her hand on his back.
    “If that’s what it is, time? I can... I can give you time.”
    He turned, his golden eyes flickering in the moonlight. He nodded, and then was off like a shot.

-7-
“If I’ve got you, what else do I need?”
-Cass
    ––––––––
    W hen Lex returned, Cass was laying on her side, pretending not to notice.
    When he struck the fire, and made it near enough to her to keep her warm, but not so close for danger, she kept pretending not to notice – in fact she took it one step further and started snoring.
    If he knew, which she thought he almost certainly did, Lex made no sign of it, or of trying to disturb her, or anything else.
    With those careful in actions, he did more than Max ever had, more than either of her parents, or Lyle, or anyone else.
    He let her be the way she wanted, no matter how badly he wanted something different.
    The entire sum of attention he gave her, outwardly anyhow, was that when he curled up by her feet to sleep with one eye open, he made sure that her meager covers – not much more than her spare clothes, were wrapped around her, that her head was resting on her canvas bag, and that the fire was warming her back.
    She opened one eye just enough to look in his direction and see what he was doing. She knew he saw her, but as soon as he did, he turned away, again giving her the peace she was asking for.
    In truth,