Page 50 of Lion Conquers All
The lion licked one of his paws absent-mindedly, like he wasn’t concerned at all with her scolding remark. In fact, she was quite sure that he purred louder in response.
“Aarav, what happened? Why are you in my bedroom?”
The beast let out a long sigh, rolled over to his feet and a moment later the man she trusted and respected and who had promised to sitoutsideher door last night was standing next to her bed.
“I’ll fix the wall. Or pay Owen to fix it. Whatever needs to be done. I’m sorry.”
“But what happened?”
“You had a nightmare.” He took a step closer. “Your screams. It sounded like someone was killing you.”
Connie’s shoulders sank. She’d hoped to avoid having one of those the same night Aarav was in her home. She’d hoped that knowing he was there would’ve given her enough peace to sleep restfully, but the stress of the day had been too much. She’d been foolish to let him stay. She should’ve forced him to go home.
She wasn’t his problem.
She wasn’t anyone’s problem.
She refused to be.
“Could you understand me?”
A small boyish grin tugged at one corner of Aarav’s mouth. “Yes, my beast and I were having quite the inner argument about his behavior, but he insisted that playing with you was important. He wants you to be comfortable around him and not frightened. And he said it wasn’t fair that I always got to spend time with you.”
“But youlethim. You could’ve shifted.”
“He made a good argument.”
“But you were in control.”
“Yes, but not the way you think. We share a consciousness. We are one and yet we are also separate. It’s complicated. But you can trust him too. He would die before allowing anything to happen to you. As would I.” Aarav started to take another step and then stopped himself.
“I believe you. Both of you. I surprised even myself when I laughed. The unreal-ness of my situation was just—crazy.”
“You weren’t scared?”
Connie shook her head and gave Aarav a reassuring smile. “No. I wasn’t. Well, for a second. But then I was fine.”
“Good. That’s good. I’m glad. I should go get your coffee.”
Another laugh escaped from between her lips. “You don’t have to do that. It’s still storming outside. Lily might not have even opened the café and your car isn’t here. I have coffee. And food for breakfast.”
“You’re okay, though. Truly? After last night, I—” He crossed the room and reached up to touch her face, pausing at the last second. “Can I touch you?”
“Yes.”
His hand cupped her cheek.
She couldn’t help but close her eyes and lean into the caress. His presence was less and less a stressor and more and more a comfort. She wasn’t quite sure when the change had really occurred. But it had. She was changing.
“Thank you for trusting me,shuarra.”
His hand moved around the back of her head, down to her shoulder. His other arm wrapped around her lower back. He pulled her tight against his chest like he never wanted to let her go.
If he’d had paws at that moment, he’d have been kneading her back again. Which made her giggle—right there against his chest, into his shirt, like a ninny with no self-control.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because I imagined you being a cat again and kneading my back. It’s a happy cat thing.”
