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Lucius had to rein his cat in because he wanted to mark her immediately, to know that she’d wear his marks on her neck forever and bind them together in a way that was stronger than a marriage.

Above them, the stars were shining in the dark sky and the moon was partially hidden behind clouds, but they had plenty of light from the fire, and he thought she’d never looked more beautiful as they stripped each other on the fur in front of the fire and drove each other wild.

Her pleasure came first and it always would, because nothing made him happier than hearing her cry out his name and shudder in his arms.

When she’d crested her first climax, he slipped from between her thighs and gently rolled her to her stomach and pulled her hips up. She spread her knees apart and groaned as he thrust into her. He froze for a moment at this most perfect moment, with her pussy clutching him as she rolled through her climax. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled at him, and then she wiggled her hips a little and he lost every ounce of self-control he had.

He only had one thought: make her come again.

He tilted her hips and pulled from her, then slammed back in again, gritting his teeth and pushing away his desire to come himself until she’d had one more amazing climax.

As he thrust into her hard and fast, he reached for her shoulders and pulled her up to cradle her against him, slamming his hips to hers and holding her with his arm banded under her breasts. She gripped his arms and tilted her head to the side, exposing the length of her neck.

He slid his free hand down her sweat-slicked stomach and touched her clit. She jolted in his arms as he played with her. She moaned as he rubbed her clit, and he felt the moment that she tipped over the edge into pleasure. When she was at the height of her climax, her nails digging into his arm as she cried out his name, he let his fangs out and sank them into her neck.

The connection that bloomed between them was nothing short of miraculous and he felt so close to her, so deeply bonded, that he couldn’t stop himself from following her into bliss.

Drawing his fangs from her neck, he scored his tongue and gently wiped his blood in the wound to ensure it would scar permanently. He growled happily as wave after wave of pleasure poured over him like hot water and he was overwhelmed by the smell of the impala lilies and her sweet scent, and how crazy he was for her that he could have shifted right at that moment and roared his happiness.

But he didn’t want to shift right now, he wanted to hold his sweetheart and tell her how much he loved her.

So he did.

He eased them both down to the fur and tucked her against him, gently kissing her forehead.

“Sidney, I love you so much, you’re so special to me. I feel like I’m seeing in colors now, when everything was gray before.”

She tilted her face up to smile at him, her eyes shining with happiness. “I feel so connected to you now. When you bit me, it was like I could feel your lion.”

His heart was pounding and his lion was purring. “It’s exactly how I feel too. Did it hurt when I bit you? Sometimes lions mark with their claws on their soulmate’s hips, but I’ve heard that hurts a lot more and the healing can take longer.”

She touched her collarbone underneath the mark. “It stung a bit, but I was riding a pretty good high from your talented fingers.”

He grinned. “Good, I didn’t want it to hurt much.”

“I can’t wait to see it,” she said. She snuggled against him and rested her head on his biceps. “Are we sleeping out here again? Because I kind of need to pee. And also this fur isn’t as comfy as the blow-up mattress.”

“We can go back to the house,” he said. “I’m glad you want to, because there’s a rock under the fur that’s digging into my hip.”

She giggled.

They cuddled under the stars for a while, and then they dressed and put out the fire with the bucket of sand kept nearby. After gathering their things, he tucked the rolled-up fur under his arm and took her hand. “Do you feel different?”

“I feel like a lion’s mate.”

“You well and truly are.”

“How about you?”

“I feel like the luckiest male on the planet.”

“So do we have to go anywhere tomorrow?” she asked as they reached the maintenance shed.

“Nope, why?”

“Because I’d like to sleep in and then tire ourselves out by christening every room in the house.”

His lion loved that idea a hell of a lot.

Letting out a chuckle, he closed the shed door behind them. “I think that might be the best idea I’ve ever heard. So are we starting in the bedroom?”

She wiggled her brows at him. “I was thinking the kitchen, but we can figure that all out tomorrow. For now, I just wanted you to know one thing.”

“What’s that, sweetheart?” He held open the door in the floor for her, and as she passed by him to go down under the park to their private living area, she gave him a sweet smile, her eyes filled with love.

“I’m so happy I met you.”

“Me too, Sidney. Me too.”

Thank you so much for reading LUCIUS! I hope you enjoyed hanging out with the lions at the safari park! The next book in the series features bear shifter Seneca as he searches for his soulmate and will be out in September!

And I’ve got amazing news! I’ve written a spin-off series for the stallion shifters featured in previous Were Zoo books, and the first one - CREW - will be out May 2!