Page 2 of Angry Lion's Naughty Little Neighbor
“What the fuck are you going to do about it, asshole?”
I hear the vague challenge and kind of smile at it, like I’m watching a movie moment inside my head. It just hits me as funny.
But my rescuer absolutely does not. “I will split you in half, little man.”
He says that with a voice that’s all quiet and deep, and even out of it as I am, I can hear the confidence in his voice. This man really knows that he can take care of this guy without breaking a sweat.
My party guest, another guy I don’t even know, hears it too and takes off.
I fade out again.
I come to as we are walking up the stairs to the landing for the second story. I feel a bit more stable, for a brief moment,long enough anyway to realize that I’m basically naked in this guy’s arms. I only have my panties on.
Now, I remember that Tommy and his friend had been undressing me and, well, I didn’t have the ability to really stop them. I wasn’t even that aware of what they were doing until I heard Tommy unzip his fucking pants.
I feel a wave of humiliation and then, I feel sad. This guy isn’t my rescuer, he’s just someone who wanted the little drunk all to himself.I want to struggle and fight and make him put me down, but I have zero coordination right now. I don’t even know this guy. I try to focus on his face and my vision swims.
God, how horrible to be like this. A wave of anger at myself and the whole mess that was currently my life. Why was I so fucking stupid?He finds my room and walks in. I try to resign myself to the coming nightmare.Actually, as unwanted sex goes, this guy won’t be as bad as some I’ve slept with. That voice of his threatening to split a guy in half was sexy.
But it’s so terrible to realize I don’t have a protector at all, and I hate that I’ve found another terrible way for me to be humiliated.
Then, I’m dropped down onto my bed. The covers are pulled back and then, arranged gently over me. I almost cry as he turns out the light and leaves me to my dreams.
Chapter Two
Aaron
I’m a shifter. I’m a lion shifter. More specifically, I’m a lion shifter, and I have a role of authority in my pride, which is a lot like being a remote field officer for a regimented army. We’re not an army. We’re not in any way preparing for battle or anything but the fact remains that the number one thing a person might say about a lion shifter is that they enjoy life most when there as very clear, very structured roles and rules. Shifters tend to say that we’re the middle management of the shifter world.
They’re wrong about that. We have a structured society, and the society is regimented and organized. We’re not an army but when the lion shifters go to war, we’re ready immediately. That’s what happens when you run your society in a way that makes sense. Things are predictable. Things are manageable. Things are as close to perfection as things can be. We like things to be as close to perfection as they can be.
Who wouldn’t?
There’s one thing we don’t handle well, damn it. We don’t do a very good job of figuring out how the hell we’re supposed todeal with a girl loudly destroying her life in the house next door. We don’t…
Okay, screw thewething. I don’t know how to deal with it. It’s a damned good thing her music was particularly loud tonight, which is what got me over there and put me in a position to protect her. Part of me thinks I should have brought her to my place instead of leaving her in an empty house but I locked all the doors, closed the three open windows, and glanced out the window of my place toward her place occasionally.
And I go back to work tomorrow. My concern is that the girl is going to get herself right back into trouble and I won’t be around to keep her fake friends from taking advantage of her. I don’t think she even knows what happened last night.
Damn it, I hate caring about that. I went over to her house yesterday just to deal with the girl. She’s thrown loud parties pretty much every damned weekend since she bought the house a few months ago. Damn it all, I went from having nice, quiet neighbors to having nothing but irritation. It’s insane, damn it. It’s just insane.
And now I’m worried about this girl.
Now keeping her safe is something I’m thinking about? Damn it all, I don’t need the irritation of this girl in my life. I certainly don’t need the frustration of taking ownership of the girl’s safety, damn it. Well, I can protest all I’d like. It won’t make a damned bit of difference. I’ve dubbed myself the girl’s protector somehow so now I get to be doubly irritated by her at all times.
But the good news is that uncertainty is the greatest torture a lion shifter can experience. We’re a special breed of human and a special breed of cat. We like everything in its place and figured out. Just accepting that I’m now stuck as the girl’s protector takes away enough uncertainty that I can relax. Sure, I’m nothappy about the position I’m in but there’s less uncertainty. Like it or not, we shifters have a crazy sense of honor and…
Well, to put it bluntly, we’re rescuers. The men, anyway. That’s not just a flippant observation. Those who choose to work in the world of humans almost all work fire, police, and military jobs. Damn it, now I’m stuck dealing with Kelsey just because she needs rescuing. The bright side, though, is that I’m calm enough to sleep.
I stick to my schedule even with last night’s interruption. My alarm goes off at six and I wake up and go grab my first cup of coffee. As I take my first sips, I stare through the window at Kelsey’s house. It doesn’t look like anyone is up yet, but I hardly expected her to be. With all that alcohol in her system, she could probably sleep for four days.
Okay, maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but that girl lives her life like she’s the cat and not me. It’s like she thinks she has nine lives. Even when I was young and in college, I didn’t get that wild. It’s like she’s trying to hurt herself.
Whoa.
And there’s that rescuer complex again.
Well, I can’t fight it. I decide to go check on her once I’ve taken a shower and gone through my morning routine. Yes, I have a morning routine and, honestly, that girl could benefit from getting some order into her life.Everyone can benefit from order.
