“Relaxation, huh? Is that what we’re calling it these days?”

Despite herself, she couldn’t help the little smile as he walked her backward and out of the room. The noise and lights of the party were abruptly muted as he closed the door, shrouding them in semi-darkness of the storage closet. She shook her head. How the hell did he do that? Know where places like this were all the time?

He tried for a kiss but she evaded him. “Logan! Not in here… anyone could walk in.”

He moved, a shadow in the blackness, and pressed her up against the door. “They won’t. Trust me.”

Her breath caught in the back of her throat at the feel of him hard against her. Every inch of him was solid, carved in muscle, and it never failed to thrill her. He rocked his hips, his hard cock between them pressed against the softness of her belly.

“How do you do this to me?” he whispered, a hint of growl in his voice. “I only have to look at you, and I want you all over again. You’re like a fire in my blood, a craving I can’t quench.”

Before she could answer, his lips claimed hers. Hard and possessive, he kissed her like he wanted to crawl inside and claim her very soul. She whimpered, clinging to his shoulders as she surrendered to him. Within, her cat purred, rolling belly up for their mate.

Hussy, she told it and then moaned again as he broke the kiss to drag his lips across her jaw. He found the spot beneath her ear that made her catch her breath, holding her as her knees went suddenly weak. His tongue brushed her earlobe before he nipped it lightly. She sucked a quick breath in as fire tingled through her veins.

Big hands explored her figure, sliding over the slippery silk of her dress. It was a wrap-over style, with a deep neckline to make the most of her pregnancy-boosted boobs, and a long skirt.

“This, I like,” he murmured, kissing along her collarbone and then down. A shiver hit her when he dipped the tip of his tongue into the deep well of her cleavage. His fingers played with the tie at her waist.

“Yeah?” She dropped her head back against the door, her hands on his shoulders as he dropped soft kisses on the swell of her breasts above the neckline of her dress. “What do you like about it?”

“Easy access,” he whispered and tugged the tie.

The dress fell open, a shiver rolling through her as the cool air washed over her skin.

“Beautiful,” he murmured, leaning back a little to sweep an appreciative look down her body. She bit her lip as his hands cupped her breasts, tucking the cups out of the way under them with a deft gesture. Bending his head, he laved his tongue over one nipple and then the other, forcing a murmur from her lips at the sensation. One that became a small cry as he pulled one beaded tip into the warm cavern of his mouth and sucked.

She held him to her, hands buried in the short strands of his hair as he made a meal of her tits. But that wasn’t enough for him. Pushing her farther back against the door, he skimmed his free hand down her body, sliding his fingers under the satin of her panties. Need hit her hard and fast, anticipation holding her in thrall as she shifted her hips and parted her thighs to give him the access he sought.

He surged upward, claiming her lips, and she gasped as he slid his fingers through her pussy lips. They were slick and wet, the evidence of her arousal coating his fingers instantly.

“Naughty little kitten,” he murmured against her lips. “You’re hot and wet already.” He moved and slid two fingers deep into her pussy. She gasped, her eyes rolling back in her head at the pleasure.

“Fuck, you’re still so tight,” he groaned, pumping his hand and fucking her with his fingers. At the end of each thrust, he scissored them, stretching and preparing her for his thick cock.

She moaned and writhed, riding his hand as the tension in her body rose higher and higher. Somehow, he always did this to her, drove her out of her mind until the only thing she could think of was him. Him and what he did to her, the need to have him filling her over and over driving any other thought out of her mind.

“Please,” she begged, her nails biting into the fine silk of his shirt where it stretched over his thick upper arms. “Fuck me… now.”

He purred, the sound thick and sexy in the close confines. “Who am I to refuse a lady, or an order like that?”

Moving, he dealt with his belt buckle quickly, the sound of the zipper loud in the darkness as he pulled her left knee up and over his hip. She shivered at the feel of his thick, wide cock pressing against the entrance to her body.

He thrust, filling her to the hilt with one hard, fast movement. She gasped, time freezing as her body fought to accept the sudden intrusion. She was stretched, filled to the limit, her pussy throbbing around the rigid length of his cock. The fit was so tight she felt the pulse in the underside, fluttering against the walls of her sheath.

“Ohhhh…” The sigh escaped her lips, a sound of pure pleasure cut off when he pulled back, and surged in again.

The door rattled in the frame as he picked up speed, each thrust stroking every nerve ending in her tight pussy as he claimed her with his body all over again. She gasped and clung to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and burying her face in the side of his throat as he took her. Her body wasn’t her own, reacting to every move of his in an effort to bring yet more sensation to their joining.

“That’s it, go with it,” he murmured, one hand braced on the door behind her, the other holding the back of her knee. He pulled it to the side, opening her further to him, and they both groaned as he slipped in another, impossible, half inch. So deep she wasn’t sure where he ended and she began.

Within seconds she was done, her body stretched so taut she was surprised she didn’t shatter on each breath.

“Logan…” She didn’t say anything else. Couldn’t. But it didn’t matter. He knew what she meant, knew what she wanted, and gave it to her. In spades. His thrusts sped up, and he impaled her on his cock again and again. He rocked his hips at the end, catching and grinding her clit between them.

She lasted three thrusts.

On the first, her entire body tingled.

On the second, time froze.

On the third, ecstasy exploded and hit her bloodstream like a bullet. It rolled through her, a wave of unstoppable pleasure that took her under, submerged and consumed her. Each thrust after that took her deeper into its embrace, each grind of his pelvis against hers adding another tidal wave to the storm. She whimpered, clinging to him as his movements became harsher. Then he slammed into her one last time, his entire body tense as he growled his pleasure, his cock jerking and pulsing as he bathed the walls of her pussy with his white-hot seed.

Their ragged breathing was the only sound in the close confines of the small room until, finally, he spoke, “We should get back.”

Dropping a kiss on her forehead, he pulled out. She shivered, a cold chill running up her back. “You go ahead. I’ll be right out. Need to sort this dress out first.”

He nodded, almost distracted as he zipped up and straightened his clothes. Then, without a backward glance, he opened the door and slipped back out into the party.

Zara leaned her head back against the door, a shuddering sigh on her breath. Logan was so distant at the moment, what with the pressures of running the league and her father out there still a threat. The image of the hussy in the red dress tried to intrude but she pushed it away.

“Things will get better, baby,” she murmured, smoothing a hand over her only slightly rounded stomach. “They will, I promise.”

The thing was, she wasn’t certain if she was reassuring the baby or herself.

* * *

Fucking men and their fucking stupid fucking games.

Zara snarled to herself as she pulled her car to a stop in a screech of brakes outside Tony’s gym and leaped out. The bleep of the central locking had barely sounded behind her before she crashed through the double doors and stormed through the gym inside. Fighters scattered out of her way, parting like a sea as soon as they saw the furious look on her face. Seasoned fighters they might be, some even champions of their class, but anyone who wanted to mess with a pissed off woman of any species was just asking for a world of hurt, and they seemed to know it.

The stairs passed in a blur and she threw open the door to Logan’s office to find the man himself behind his desk. He was dressed for training, a sleeveless hoody open halfway down to reveal his heavily muscled chest with loose sweats. Surprise and guilt swamped his features as he half rose from his chair. “Zara. I didn’t expect you. I thought you were at your appointment.”

“Don’t get up,” she snapped. “I’m not staying.”

Movement to her left and the scent of another female made her swing her head around. Her cat snarled at the sight of the woman from the other night sitting cozy as you like across from Logan. Like him, she was dressed for training, sweats and a hoody combined with a sports bra that seemed designed to reveal rather than support her ample bosom.

“What is she doing here?” Zara snapped. Last time she checked, Tony’s didn’t have any female fighters.

“Gabbi and I were just discussing her training program.” Logan stood, moving around the desk to approach her like a bomb disposal expert would a live grenade. “She’s a good fighter. We’re considering taking her on here.”

Zara’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, I just bet you are.”

No wonder he’d looked guilty. He’d obviously booked this little tête-à-tête while she was conveniently out of the way.

“Bitch, out,” she snarled, her shift magic swelling to fill the room as her cat moved up to just under her skin. Like Zara, the lioness was ready for a fight.

“Kitten, please,” Logan murmured soothingly, moving forward. She warned him off with a look and he stopped dead, hands out in surrender. “Please. Think of the baby.”

His words made her pause and then just increased her anger. Because of her pregnancy, she shouldn’t shift. She knew that, her cat knew that, but it didn’t stop her dropping claws, the vicious talons erupting from the tips of her fingers as she glared at the two.

“Get. Her. Out.”

He sighed. “Gabbi, could you give us a moment?”

“Of course, boss.” The blonde inclined her head and levered herself up out of her seat.

Zara watched her every movement. The woman was a born shifter and moved with the lethal grace of all cats. More than that, she moved like a fighter, with that inbuilt awareness all the good ones had. Other issues aside, Zara’s managerial instincts screamed for attention. If she’d seen the woman in the street, Zara would have moved heaven and hell to sign her to the Scarlet Moon.

The fact that she was a born shifter, a lioness, and looked like every guy’s wet dream, though, didn’t help Zara’s current mood. Not when she felt tired and dumpy. Hadn’t she been warned that Logan never stayed with one woman long? Why had she expected to be any different, especially when she wasn’t a born shifter…

Gabbi rolled her eyes at Logan as she passed. “Pregnancy hormones, eh?”

Zara’s warning growl followed the woman out of the room. As soon as the door closed, she turned on Logan, her eyes glittering with fury.

“How dare you change my doctor without telling me?”

Logan’s expression remained calm and neutral. Almost. She caught the small widening of his eyes and the flash of guilt, again, in the back of his eyes. “I didn’t think Kingwood was the best option for your care, so I arranged for an expert.”

Zara’s eyebrows shot up. “An expert?”

She advanced on him, finger with claw stabbing into his chest. “So you thought a human, with no experience in shifter pregnancies, never mind a lion pregnancy was the best option for my care? OVER an actual shifter doctor with many years dealing with all sorts of shifter issues?”

He backed up to the edge of the desk, only holding there when he couldn’t go any further. “Doctor Latimer is the best in her field, and she wrote some excellent papers on shifter pregnancie—”

“Bullshit!” she hissed, snarling up at him. “She might have written about them, but the woman’s never touched a shifter in her life. About crapped herself when I growled. I smell the lie on you, so what’s wrong with Ethan all of a sudden? Why don’t you want him as my doctor?”

“Oh, so it’s Ethan now, is it?”

His response made her eyes widen and then she barked a laugh. “You’re jealous! You don’t want him around me because he’s male. Is that it? So, basically, you don’t trust me.”

Logan stilled, his expression wary as though he’d realized exactly what a minefield he’d found himself in. She couldn’t bring herself to find any pity for him though, and instead waited for his answer, one eyebrow raised.

“I do trust you. We’re mated—”

“Mated, yes,” she snarled, her anger spilling over as tears of rage and frustration welled up. Even mated and carrying his baby, he was looking elsewhere. For a real, born shifter female. “Yet you’re quite happy to cavort with that fucking hussy when you think I won’t find out.”

“Baby, it’s not like that,” he insisted, reaching for her.

“I don’t want to hear it.” She shoved his hands away and made for the door, tears beginning to fall. “Just leave me the hell alone, Logan.”