Chapter 5
He took them along a narrow path through the trees to a small clearing before helping her dismount carefully. He let her go and gave a sharp whistle. A flurry of movement erupted inside the area and half a dozen people came out to get in a line. He eyed them all before gesturing to Lucy.
“This is Lucy. She will be joining us. Please, introduce yourselves.”
A beautiful maroon-haired, hazel-eyed heavily tattooed woman stepped forward with her hand out eagerly. “Hi! My name is Ashley. I’m a panther.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny brown mouse. It ran up her arm to hide in her hair where it squeaked fearfully. She ran her fingers over him. “This is my mate, Kalan. He’s a mouse.”
Lucy’s eyes widened and she turned to look at Amerald who was watching the exchange with amusement. Lucy shook her hand.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Ashley and Kalan.”
Next, a big, burly man with a face full of dark hair shook her hand. “I’m Taylor.”
She leaned forward to sniff him. “You’re a dragon?”
He nodded and draped his arm over a slender woman with orange and black hair with a white stripe through it. “This is Olivia. She’s my mate.”
She shyly tried to move behind Taylor, but he kept her by his side so Lucy could shake her hand. She smiled at the frightened girl.
“Are you going to try to eat me, too?,” she whimpered.
Lucy pulled her away from her mate to sniff her before letting her go. “No. You don’t smell very edible. I’m more of a chicken girl.”
Olivia’s eyes widened before she shifted. Lucy caught her before waving her hand and a large tank appeared filled with water. She instantly deposited the floundering clown fish into it. She looked up at Taylor apologetically.
“I am so sorry. I would never hurt her.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Word of advice, Lucy. The prey shifters get scared easily.”
He stuck his hand into the tank until she shifted back and stood shivering in the breeze in her wet clothes. He released fire around her and her clothes immediately dried. Lucy slowly approached her with her hand out.
“May I?”
She nodded and took Lucy’s hand. She took a deep breath and let some of her magic flow into the girl. She slowly began to relax until she was leaning towards Lucy. Lucy smiled at her again.
“I promise, Olivia, I will never hurt you.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Lucy backed away and went straight to the next person in line. The small framed man with huge wire-framed glasses smiled at her.
“I’m Curtis.” Lucy leaned close to sniff him before making a small face that made him chuckle. “Yes, I know, us weasels stink.”
She took a startled step back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.”
He waved his hand. “It’s fine. I’m used to it.”
A sarcastic laugh came from the last person in line. “No, that’s what a child does. What are you doing Amerald, bringing a child to a band of criminals?”
Lucy turned furious eyes on the woman. She had long black hair and eyes just as dark. She put her hands on her hips and her lips were drawn back in a silent snarl. Lucy eyed her curiously.
“Who are you?”
The woman folded her arms across her chest. “I’m Doris, ‘Lucy’.”
Lucy slowly made her way over to the woman and held her hand out. “I’m Lucianna Lincoln.”
She ignored her hand. “We all know who you are, princess. Your big bad daddy can’t save you here. Here, we handle our own shit.”
Lucy narrowed her eyes. “I don’t need my father’s protection. Or my mother’s or my aunts’.”
Doris rolled her eyes before baring her teeth at Lucy. “Why do you smell like Amerald?,” she hissed.
“He drove me here.”
She leaned forward to sniff Lucy. “No!” She turned to glare at him. “You fucking asshole.”
“Doris, calm down. Lucy-”
Doris reared back and slapped her. Before anybody could move, Lucy had her pinned on the ground with her arm around her neck. Doris let her hands shift to claw at Lucy’s arm. Hesha immediately let her scales out to protect her skin. Lucy leaned down and let her aura out to surround Doris.
“Sleep!”
Doris immediately went lax under her. She climbed off of her and went back to shake the last girl’s hand.
“Sorry about my sister. She doesn’t like to share.”
“Share what?”
“Men.”
“Excuse me?”
Amerald hurried forward. “Lucy, I can-”
Lucy let her hand go. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” she said nervously, glancing at Amerald. “With the type of tiger he is, he is the last descendent of the breed. If he doesn’t produce another, the breed dies with him.”
She tucked her long brown hair behind her ear and rapidly blinked her brilliant jade-colored eyes that held hints of gold, hazel and honey. Lucy raised an eyebrow, watching for any signs of linking.
“Go on.”
“He has tried with many different women to produce a child, but has been unable to be successful.”
“Did he try with you?”
“Yes, for five years, before trying with my sister. She knew, just like I did, that this was not a forever thing. It was solely to produce an heir.”
“So, what’s her problem?”
“She ended up falling for him and thought she would be different.”
Lucy glared at Amerald before smiling at the girl. “What’s your name?”
“Amaris.”
“What’s your role here?”
“I’m the photographer.”
“Excuse me?”
She cleared her throat. “When we run out of money, I take photos of Saber and we make a small fortune on them.”
Lucy looked at Taylor and Curtis. “Please, take her somewhere softer than this hard ground. I don’t want her to wake up and be in pain.” She turned back to Amaris. “Thank you for your help. I’m going to talk to Amerald now.”
She went to his side and he hesitantly pointed to a tent almost fully hidden by trees. She marched angrily towards it while he followed her.
“What the hell, Amerald? Is that why you were so quick to fuck me?,” she hissed.
He groaned. “You initiated sex. Not me. I told her two days ago our relationship was over. I would have never asked you to be my ol’ lady if I had plans to disrespect you like that.”
“Do you want her?”
“What?”
“Do you want her?”
“She was a good fuck, Lucy, but that’s it.”
“Do you want to have us both?”
“I-”
“FUCK THAT, AMARIS! I’M OUT!”
Lucy walked past him to see what was going on. A small, sleek golden cat with black spots and big round ears stood between Doris and the forest. Lucy stood stunned at the fierceness in the serval’s amber-colored eyes.
“Doris, come here, please.”
She held up her middle finger and Lucy growled. Doris froze and slowly turned around to face her.
“I said to come here.”
Doris threw her hands up but came over to them. Lucy moved to the side for her to enter. She flounced in and threw herself down on the bed. Amerald growled and she rolled her eyes.
“This is a nice tent you have. So much better than all of ours.”
Lucy frowned. “You’ve never been in here?”
“No. You won’t be allowed to either. He doesn’t do relationships. He’ll use you for a few years and toss you away just like the rest of us. I bet he has you thinking you’re something special.” She laughed coldly at Lucy’s blush. “What did he do? Give you some bullshit story about how he wanted to help you and how could save you from whatever trouble you’re in? That’s what he told me. He told me he would talk to the king and get my thefts resolved. The only thing he wanted from me was to join his gang.”
“Ummm.”
She rolled her eyes. “Did he also paint a pretty picture of his tiger? Amaris is the only one to have seen him. I am not so sure he is even going extinct. I think he just uses that excuse to sleep with women.”
Amerald growled again. Lucy sighed.
“Do you want us both, Amerald?”
She went over to Doris and kissed her before cupping her breast. Her eyes widened and Lucy pulled away to look at him.
“Do you want us both?,” she repeated.
He shook his head. “No. Just you.”
She kissed Doris again, more passionately this time and longer. She pulled away and went over to Amerald and ran her hand down the front of his pants. She tilted her head back to stare up at him.
“You’re soft.”
“I told you that I didn’t, Lucy.” He gently took her hand, holding it in place as he pushed against it and started to get hard. “Get out, Doris.”
The woman scrambled out of the tent and he picked Lucy up to carry her over to the large cot. He laid her back on it and tugged her skirt up to her waist. He pulled his shirt off before letting his pants drop to the ground. He moved back a few feet and the air shifted around him as he shifted. Lucy’s mouth dropped open when a large cat stood in front of her. His fangs protruded from his mouth a good 7 inches and his golden eyes remained fixed on her. Black and brown spots littered his fur and she reached out her hand towards him. He came over and sat by her feet. She ran her fingers through his fur, completely in awe of what he was showing her.
“You really are the last of your kind,” she whispered.
He shifted back and sat next to her. “I didn’t lie to you, Lucy, about anything. If you don’t want to have sex, we won’t. If you want to leave, I won’t stop you. If you want to beat my ass, I understand.”
She climbed on his lap to straddle him. “And what if I want to try to make your species survive?”
“I won’t stop you. I just don’t want you to think that’s all I want from you.”
She ran her fingers through his hair as she slowly slid down onto his hardening cock. Her head fell back as she moved her hips.
“Let’s make a baby saber tooth tiger, Amerald. Let’s make history.”
He rolled her over to thrust into her deeper. Pain started in her head and Amerald’s presence grew in her head, blocking her from the pain. He took her hands in his as he pushed into her harder.
“Let’s make history.”