Free The Lion's Shared Bride by Bonnie Burrows Page B

Aedan and me having lives of our own should be a good thing.”
    Nina groaned in frustration, burying her face against the pillows. “It’s not fair! You can’t be right all the time. It gets on my nerves.” Soren laughed and Nina felt his arms coil around her waist tightly, drawing her body against his. “Hey—hey! I called an hour-long break. You can’t…” her words were silenced by Soren’s lips descending on hers, sealing them against any further comment. Nina tried to break free in a fit of irritation, but Soren was stronger than she could have guessed by his wiry, lean frame. He deepened the kiss, holding her body tightly. She began to relax against him as she realized that he wasn’t making a move to seduce her once more, that he was—at least for the moment—keeping his intentions more or less pure.
    His hold on her loosened and then his arms fell away as they were interrupted by the sound of a knock at the bedroom door. “Soren, I hate to interrupt, but we have a situation going on in the backyard.”
    In an instant, Soren had slipped out from underneath her, and Nina fell onto the bed, startled as she saw the man who a moment before was entirely focused on her slipping into a pair of jeans and then pulling a dress shirt on, buttoning it quickly. He padded across the bedroom floor and pulled the door open so fast that Nina couldn’t follow his movements. She remembered how quickly he had intercepted her the night before, how fast Aedan had been as well.
    “Best you stay here, Nina-love,” Aedan said, his lips curving in a not-quite-smile. “It has to do with the group we belong to, nothing for you to worry about.” The two men were gone from the doorway, and for a moment, Nina lay there, confused and bewildered. The way that Soren had moved so quickly to respond to Aedan’s summons indicated that there was some kind of serious issue going on. The fact that Aedan had told her it was nothing for her to worry about actually increased her anxiety because whenever anyone had said that to her in the past, it always turned out to be something that would affect her.
    Irritated, curious, and anxious in equal measures, Nina pulled herself up and slipped out of the bed in direct contradiction to Aedan’s suggestion, looking around for something she could put on. Something to do with the group they belong to, huh? Nina pulled the tee shirt she had borrowed from Aedan over her head and stepped into her uncomfortably damp panties. She knew she wasn’t technically in any kind of state to meet anyone, but surely a peek at what was going on in the backyard wouldn’t be a problem; no one needed to see her.
    Nina moved as quietly as possible, stepping through the bedroom door and walking down the hall. She heard Aedan’s voice, though she couldn’t make out what he was saying, and then the higher-pitched tone of Soren’s reply, before she heard the sound of a door closing. Nina continued towards the back door, slipping into the kitchen silently and taking an indirect path to the window there.
    She looked outside, into the backyard, and for a moment, Nina was convinced that she had to be hallucinating. Ranged around the backyard, she saw a group of enormous lions—bigger than any she had seen at the zoo or on TV—standing in obvious challenge. Laid on the grass in front of them, a woman was sprawled, her head turned at an unnatural angle, obviously dead. As her shock deepened, Nina’s gaze sought out Aedan and Soren. She spotted Aedan first, standing off to the side, watching the proceedings as if he was completely unsurprised by the sight of a pride of lions in Soren’s back yard. What the hell is this? Lions? What does this have to do with their group? While questions swirled around in her mind, Nina looked for Soren. She spotted him moving towards the group of lions, absolutely fearless.
    Nina stared in horror and fascination as Soren fell to the ground. The air seemed to shimmer around him, making him