4
" As Leo leaned down to deposit her on the bed, she tightened her grip on him, not letting him pull away. “Kiss me,” she demanded.
“I shouldn’t.”
“Shouldn’t didn’t stop you earlier this evening.”
“Earlier this evening you weren’t incapacitated.”
“We can work it off. If we take it slow, I’ll be fine. Just don’t expect me to swing from a chandelier. The last time I did that, the whole ceiling came down,” she confided.
“I’d really rather not hear about your sexual exploits,” he growled.
A jealous Leo was adorable.
“Oh, I didn’t do it for sex. We were playing Tomb Raider. And I would have gotten away with the treasure, too, if the bolts would have held.”
“You are something else,” he muttered, brushing the hair from her face, his strokes so gentle.
“I’m yours,” she muttered as her lashes fluttered shut, her battle with them lost. "
― Eve Langlais , When an Omega Snaps (A Lion's Pride, #3)
5
" First came the flower girls, pretty little lasses in summery frocks, skipping down the aisle, tossing handfuls of petals and, in one case, the basket when it was empty.
Next came the bridesmaids, Luna, strutting in her gown and heels, a challenging dare in her eyes that begged someone to make a remark about the girly getup she was forced to wear. Next came Reba and Zena, giggling and prancing, loving the attention.
This time, Leo wasn’t thrown by Teena’s appearance, nor was he fooled.
How could he have mistaken her for his Vex?
While similar outwardly, Meena’s twin lacked the same confident grin, and the way she moved, with a delicate grace, did not resemble his bold woman at all. How unlike they seemed. Until Teena tripped, flailed her arms, and took out part of a row before she could recover! Yup, they were sisters all right.
With a heavy sigh, and pink cheeks, Teena managed to walk the rest of the red carpet, high heels in hand— one of which seemed short a heel.
With all the wedding party more or less safely arrived, there was only one person of import left. However, she didn’t walk alone.
Despite his qualms, which Leo heard over the keg they’d shared the previous night, Peter appeared ready to give his daughter away.
Ready, though, didn’t mean he looked happy about it.
The seams of the suit his soon-to-be father-in-law wore strained, the rented tux not the best fit, but Leo doubted that was why he looked less than pleased.
Leo figured there were two reasons for Peter’s grumpy countenance. The first was the fact that he had to give his little girl away. The second probably had to do with the snickers and the repetition of a certain rumor, “I hear he lost an arm-wrestling bet and had to wear a tie.”
For those curious, Leo had won that wager, and thus did his new father-in-law wear the, “gods-damned-noose” around his neck. However, who cared about that sore loser when upon his arm rested a vision of beauty.
Meena’s long hair tumbled in golden waves over her shoulders, the ends curled into fat ringlets that tickled her cleavage. At her temples, ivory combs swept the sides up and away, revealing the creamy line of her neck. The strapless gown made her appear as a goddess. The bust, tight and low cut, displayed her fantastic breasts so well that Leo found himself growling. He didn’t like the appreciative eyes in the crowd. Yet, at the same time, he felt a certain pride.
His bride was beautiful, and it was only right she be admired.
From her impressive breasts, the gown cinched in before flaring out. The filmy white fabric of the skirt billowed as she walked.
He noted she wore flats. Reba’s suggestion so she wouldn’t get a heel stuck. Her gown didn’t quite touch the ground. Zena’s idea to ensure she wouldn’t trip on the hem. They’d taken all kinds of precautions to ensure her the smoothest chance of success.
She might lack the feline grace of other ladies. She might have stumbled a time or two and been kept upright only by the smooth actions of her father, but dammit, in his eyes, she was the daintiest, most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.
And she is mine. "
― Eve Langlais , When an Omega Snaps (A Lion's Pride, #3)
6
" While his patience frayed, in the end, it was Meena who snapped first.
Whether it was the fact a woman touched him, hanging on to his arm, gushing at how beautiful the wedding was, or the fact that Meena couldn’t handle the frustration of the last few days, it didn’t matter.
With a snarled, “Get your hands off my husband!” Meena sliced through the crowd, skirts hiked. She leaped the last few feet and soared through the air to tackle the lioness at his side, who, as it turned out, was Loni’s cousin.
But at the time, all he knew was his new wife was in full-on jealous mode and determined to scalp a wedding guest.
As omega, Leo should have jumped in to calm the hot tempers— and stop the hair pulling. At the very least, he should have definitely pried Meena off the lioness before she got blood on her white dress.
But…
Well…
He kind of liked it.
While Leo had dated his fair share of women, he’d never had one show such a possessive side before.
Definitely never had one go after a girl for daring to flirt with him.
He didn’t know what it said about him, the fact that he enjoyed her jealous outburst.
Feeling kind of smug about it, he took a moment to bask.
Hers. Yes, he was hers, and she was his, at least on paper.
Perhaps it was time to complete the bond and truly mate so that everyone would know they belonged to each other. Time to claim each other.
First, though, he needed to pry her off the other woman before she literally spilled blood.
Winding an arm around her middle, he lifted Meena, even as she continued to snarl at the woman on the ground. “Touch my man again and I will rip that hand from you and slap you with it!”
Ah, the romantic words of a woman in lust.
Tossing Meena over his shoulder, he ignored the amused glances of the crowd as he carted her away from the party.
“I wasn’t done, Pookie,” she grumbled.
“I’ve got better plans for that energy,” was his reply.
And yes, she announced to all that, “Leo’s finally going to debauch me.” She wasn’t the only one fist pumping.
The other ladies in the pride were cheering too while Leo fought not to blush, and poor Peter, he made a beeline for the bar.
However, embarrassment wasn’t enough to stop him. "
― Eve Langlais , When an Omega Snaps (A Lion's Pride, #3)
7
" I am not going to parade naked in front of you. It wouldn’t be proper.”
“Now you sound like my mother. Put some clothes on. Wear a bathing suit when you swim. Don’t flash your boobs for beads. This isn’t New Orleans.”
That was definitely another sigh.
“I am starting to see why you were banned from visiting.”
“Hey, it wasn’t my fault the mice got out. They were supposed to be a surprise. How was I to know they’d get in the wiring?”
“Dare I ask why you had mice?”
“To play a game of course.”
“What game involves live rodents?”
She rolled her eyes. “Like duh. Mousetrap of course.”
“Of course.” Even he couldn’t stop the twitch of his lips. “Interesting as this conversation is, I am going to the washroom. I expect you to be gone when I return.”
“Or else?”
“What do you mean or else? I’ve given you an order, and as a guest of the pride, you will obey.”
“Sure thing, Pookie.”
“And stop calling me Pookie.”
“Would you prefer Snookums?”
“No!”
She might have laughed at his harried tone if he’d not chosen that moment to fling the covers back, revealing lots of flesh. Muscled, slightly tanned, delectable flesh. "
― Eve Langlais , When an Omega Snaps (A Lion's Pride, #3)
8
" So what’s for breakfast?” she asked.
Her, on the counter, with a drizzle of syrup that needed licking from the plump breasts pressing against his back.
“If I say nothing, will you leave?”
“Nope. But if you don’t get us some food, then I’ll be forced to cook, and I’m going to tell you right now, you really, really don’t want me to do that,” she confided in a low whisper. “The last time the firemen came to the house, they said the only thing I was allowed to cook from here on out was cereal with milk.”
Nothing could have stopped his chuckle. “Well then, I guess you’d better leave if you’re expecting sustenance. "
― Eve Langlais , When an Omega Snaps (A Lion's Pride, #3)
9
" You need to let me go, Dmitri, and move on. I am not going to marry you.”
“I will have you.”
Such conviction, and he’d brought some muscle to try and prove his statement.
A pair of brutes exited the car. Dmitri’s order of, “Don’t hurt her,” made her tsk aloud.
Please. If he thought to subdue her, he should have brought more guys.
As the one gorilla— and seriously, despite his obvious humanity, she had to wonder at his ancestry— grabbed for her arm, she sidestepped, causing him to snare only air. She, on the other hand, didn’t miss.
Her foot swung out and cracked goon number one in the knee. He let out a yelp of pain, but before she could take him out fully, the second guy lunged for her. She ducked under his grasping hands and thrust, her fist connecting with his diaphragm. He gasped for breath. She took no mercy and kneed him in the groin, just as goon number one made his next move.
With a tinkle of bells, the door to the coffee shop opened, and a very calm-sounding Leo said, “Lay a finger on her, and I will rip your arm off and beat you with it.”
As threats went, it was adorable. Especially since, given his size and mien, Leo probably could.
The idiot didn’t listen. The thug went to grab Meena’s arm, and curiosity made her let him instead of breaking his fingers. Why exert herself when Pookie seemed determined to come to her rescue?
While outwardly he appeared cool and composed, a wild storm brewed in his eyes as Leo growled, “I said don’t touch.”
Crack.
Yup. There was one guy who wouldn’t be touching anything with that arm for a while, and he’d probably end up hoarse with the way he was screaming.
Pussy.
In the distance, sirens wailed to life, and it didn’t take Dmitri’s barked, “Get in the car, you idiots,” for the thugs to realize their attempt at a coerced kidnapping had failed.
Meena didn’t bother watching the car speed off, not when she had something much more important to attend to. Like a man who thought she needed saving. How her dad would laugh when he heard about it. Her sister, Teena, would sigh about how romantic it was. Her mom, on the other hand, would chastise Meena for causing chaos once again.
Turning to Leo, who wore a formidable glower, she threw herself at him. Apparently, he half expected it because his arms opened wide, and he caught her— without even a tiny stagger!
She latched her legs around his waist, draped her arms around his neck, and exclaimed, “Pookie, you were awesome. You saved me from those big, bad men. You’re like a knight in Under Armour.” Not entirely true. He wore a plain black Fruit of the Loom T-shirt. But she could totally picture him in one of those form-fitting tees that Under Armour specialized in that would mold his perfect chest. On second thought, given how it would show off his impressive musculature, perhaps she should leave his wardrobe alone. No use taunting the female public with what they couldn’t have. It would also mean less blood for her to rinse if they dared to touch.
“I’d hardly say I saved you. You seemed to be doing all right on your own.”
She planted a big smooch on his lips and declared him, “My hero. "
― Eve Langlais , When an Omega Snaps (A Lion's Pride, #3)
12
" Anyhow, I drove like my daddy was chasing me, which he did a few times when I was a teenager and I snuck out of the house, and made it to the airport. I stowed away on a plane, which looks a lot more fun in the movies by the way, and made it back home. Most guys would have stopped at that point but Dmitri, being stubborn, called a few times spouting off, so I had my number changed.”
“But?”
“But, he got my family’s number and started calling them. Which was fine. My aunts and stuff blocked him, but thing is, he showed up on my parents’ doorstep while I was out shopping. My parents are vacationing in Mexico, and so Aunt Cecily had to deal with him.”
“They scared her.”
She laughed. “Scare my Aunt Cecily? Not in this lifetime. She wields a mean right hook. Daddy’s sister is the one who taught me to fight dirty.”
“Something had to have happened to get you banished.”
“Well, she was kind of worried about me, on account of me being delicate and stuff.”
He couldn’t help but snort.
“Yeah, that was my reaction too, but that’s what I get for being the youngest in the family. Teena beat me into the world by like ten seconds. Anyhow, Aunt Cecily would have kept me around, except the goons trampled Mama’s flower garden during one of their kidnapping attempts.”
“You got banished over flowers?”
“No, I got banished before the goons did any more damage to Mama’s stuff. When my mother cries, Daddy gets a little upset, and when Daddy gets upset, things happen. Dealing with the disposal of bodies is always a pain, and law enforcement really frowns upon murder. And Daddy’s been trying so hard to stay out of jail. Anyhow, for the good of the family, it was strongly suggested I take an extended vacation in the hopes my absence would see Dmitri call off his paid thugs and give up on the whole marriage business.”
“Except he realized you took off and followed you here.”
A frown creased her brow. “Yeah, which is weird because I was certain I didn’t have a tail.”
“Well, you’re going to have one now, twenty-four-seven, until I locate this Dmitri fellow and tell him to get the hell out of pride territory.”
-Meena & Leo "
― Eve Langlais , When an Omega Snaps (A Lion's Pride, #3)
13
" I really feel like I should clarify your misassumption about our relationship. As in, we don’t have one. Will never have one. Will never happen.”
Ha. The derisive snort didn’t come from Meena. His liger was the one who found his claims amusing.
So did Meena. “Oh, Pookie, you are so adorable when you’re being stern. It makes me want to dive across this table, throw myself in your lap, and plant the biggest smooch on you.”
The threat had him bracing for impact— and his dick hardening in anticipation. Alas, for once, she didn’t act.
“Unlucky for you, given the last time I tried that, I collapsed the table, and my lunch companion flipped backward in his chair and ended up in the hospital with a concussion, I’ll refrain.”
“I would have caught you.” Surely that wasn’t him encouraging her?
A wicked smile curved her lips. “I know you would have. A man like you knows how to handle a girl like me.”
-Leo & Meena "
― Eve Langlais , When an Omega Snaps (A Lion's Pride, #3)
18
" In this instance, she’d not heard him count. He’d not hit a wall, unless the brick-headed stubbornness of Dmitri’s face counted.
Thwack!
“Yay.” Yes, that was her cheering for her Pookie aloud. Since it seemed he hadn’t heard, she said it louder, yodeled it as a matter of fact. “You get him, Pookie. Show him who’s the biggest, baddest pussy around.”
Leo turned his head at that, narrowing his blue gaze on her. Totally annoyed. Totally adrenalized. Totally hot. “Vex!” How sexy her nickname sounded when he growled it. She could tell he totally dug the encouragement. She waggled her fingers at him and meant to say, “You’re welcome,” but instead shouted, “Behind you!”
During that moment of inattention— which really Leo should have known better than to indulge in— Dmitri threw a mighty hook.
Had she mentioned just how sigh-worthy big her Pookie was? The perfectly aimed blow hit Leo in the jaw, and the force snapped his head to the side. But it certainly didn’t fell him. Not even close.
On the contrary, the punch brought the predator in him alive. As he rotated his jaw, Leo’s gaze flicked her way, his eyes lit with a wildness, his lip quirked, almost in amusement, and then he acted. His fist retaliated then his elbow, snapping Dmitri in the nose.
Any other man, even shifter, might have quickly succumbed, but the Russian Siberian tiger was more than a match for the hybrid lion/ tiger.
Put them in a ring and they’d have brought in a fortune. They certainly put on a good show.
Blood trailed from Dmitri’s lip from where Leo’s fist struck him. However, that didn’t stop the Russian from giving as good as he got.
Size-wise, Leo held a slight edge, but what Dmitri lacked in girth, he made up for in skill.
Even if Meena wasn’t interested in marrying him, it didn’t mean she couldn’t admire the grace of Dmitri’s movement and his uncanny intuition when it came to dodging blows.
Leo wasn’t too shabby either. While he’d obviously not grown up on the mean streets of Russia, he knew how to throw a punch, wrestle a man, and look totally hot in defense of his woman. Sigh. A man coming to her rescue.
Just like one of those romance novels Teena likes to read.
Luna sidled up alongside her. “What did you do this time?”
Why did everyone assume it was her fault? “I didn’t do anything.”
Luna snorted. “Sure you didn’t. And it also wasn’t you who put Kool-Aid in Arik’s mom’s shampoo bottle and turned her hair pink at the family picnic a few years ago.”
“I thought the short spikes she sported after she got it shaved looked awesome.”
“Never said the outcome wasn’t worth it. Just like I’m totally intrigued about what’s happening here. That is Leo laying a smackdown on that Russian diplomat, right? Since I highly doubt they’re sparring over who makes the better vodka or who deserved the gold medal in hockey at the last winter Olympics, then that leaves only one other possibility.” Luna fixed her with a gaze. “This is your fault.”
Meena’s shoulders hunched. “Okay, so maybe I’m a teensy tiny bit responsible. Like maybe I made sure my ex-fiancé and current fiancé got to meet.”
“Duh. I already knew about that part. What I’m talking about is, how the hell did you get Leo to lose his shit? I mean when he gets his serious on, you couldn’t melt an ice cube in his mouth. Leo never loses control because to lose control is to lose one’s way, or some such bullshit. He’s always spouting these funny little sayings in the hopes of curbing our wild tendencies.”
Pookie had the cutest personality. “What can I say?” Meena shrugged. “I guess he got jealous. Totally normal, given we’re soul mates. "
― Eve Langlais , When an Omega Snaps (A Lion's Pride, #3)
19
" Before the bouncers could tear the rollicking pair apart, Meena dove into the mess, literally throwing herself between the men.
To their credit, they had reflexes honed enough to stop their punches mid thrust.
“Vex, what the hell are you doing? Can’t you see I’m busy?” Leo grumbled.
“Do not involve yourself in the matters of men, lyubov moya.”
She could now see why people went to jail for murder. The stubbornness of this man was enough to make her violent— intentionally instead of accidentally for once.
“Would you stop it, Dmitri? Face it. You’ve lost. Lost me and this fight. I belong to Pookie now, and as you can see, he’s not into sharing.” She addressed this to Leo, who looked deliciously rumpled with his messy hair, his skin flushed, and needing a kiss to his slightly swollen lower lip.
“Yeah, Dmitri,” Leo taunted. “She’s mine. All mine. And the only thing I’m sharing is my shower with her. So fuck off.”
A shower? With Leo? Why the hell were they still talking?
“This isn’t over,” Dmitri warned.
“Bring it, you Russian furball. You know where I live. Anytime you wanna go, come pay me a visit,” Leo dared. "
― Eve Langlais , When an Omega Snaps (A Lion's Pride, #3)
20
" He’s a criminal.”
Arik shrugged. “Perhaps, but that’s in Russia. Here he’s a business man, one who got attacked by the omega of my pride.”
“What do I need to do to fix things?”
Apologize? He was a big enough man to do that. Pay him off? He had funds stashed for a rainy day.
“We could give him Meena,” Arik mused aloud.
Who growled? Surely not him.
“Oh shit. The rumors are true. She’s his bloody mate.” Hayder no longer sounded so amused. “No. Say it isn’t so. If you claim her, then that means”— he swallowed hard— “she’ll stay here. Like forever. Noooooo!”
Hayder wasn’t the only one having a melodramatic moment. Arik eyeballed him, a pained expression on his face. “Please, please, please tell me you’re not actually going to mate with her. I don’t know if we could survive having Meena here full time.”
“Dude, she’s a walking disaster,” Hayder commented.
“A magnet for trouble,” Arik added while Hayder nodded.
“A hurricane on two legs.”
“A destructive force greater than Mother Nature.”
Leo held up a hand. “Um, guys, you might want to stop before I crack your skulls together. You aren’t telling me anything I don’t know, but…” He sighed. “I’m afraid, and I mean really afraid, she might be right. I think she’s my mate. "
― Eve Langlais , When an Omega Snaps (A Lion's Pride, #3)
