Lily and the Lion by Honey Phillips

Chapter Two

Leotra va Situni walked into his spacious bedroom and came to an abrupt halt. A cloying perfume filled the air, not one that he would have ever chosen. His eyes went immediately to the bed, and sure enough, ripe female curves were clearly visible beneath the thin silk sheet.

He deliberately cleared his throat, and the female sat up, letting the sheet drift down to reveal the smooth pelt covering her obviously enhanced breasts. The work had been well done, accentuating her naturally sleek physique, and he felt a flicker of interest. But then he looked at her face and saw the avaricious gleam she couldn’t quite hide behind her seductive façade.

“Out,” he ordered.

White fangs flashed as she snarled, but then she crawled towards him, her tail twitching seductively. “But Leotra, it’s been such a long time.”

She knew him? Most of the women who showed up in his bed or his houses or his vehicles tended to be complete strangers. He took a second look at her face. Ah yes. She’d had work done there as well, but now he recognized her. Jinga. They’d had a brief and not particularly enjoyable liaison some years ago when he first came to maturity and was busy reaping the rewards of being heir to an extraordinarily rich and successful merchant house.

“I’m not interested, Jinga,” he said firmly.

She paid absolutely no attention, slinking over to him and rubbing her body against his front while her tail tried to tangle with his. This close, he could catch the betraying hint of an artificial mating hormone, but he felt absolutely nothing, a reaction that was becoming all too common. The thought that he might be losing any sexual interest in the opposite sex horrified him, but not enough to try and reawaken it with this female.

Reaching behind him, he slapped a hand on the alert panel. Less than three seconds later, two enormous Bukharan guards burst into the room. Both of them were too well trained to reveal their shock that the alert was nothing more than an attractive naked female. They had seen many of them in his rooms over the years.

“Please remove Mistress Jinga. Find her some clothing and send her back to Yangu.”

She snarled and sank her claws into the arm she had been stroking seductively. He refused to flinch, removing her hand as gently as possible. No matter how conniving she might be, he drew the line at hurting a female.

When Gorik clamped his hand on her shoulder, a lot less gently, and drew her back against his body, Leotra shook his head. “You are not permitted to damage her.”

“Yes, sir.”

He watched in disgust as the treacherous female immediately rubbed her hips against the guard. “My, you’re so… big.” She shot Leotra a challenging look. “Unlike some males I could mention.”

He almost laughed. The last thing he was concerned about was her insulting his cock.

“Take her away.”

Gorik hauled her out of the room, but Leotra noticed that he didn’t attempt to push her away.

“Sir,” Katta lingered. “Gorik is young and impulsive, but I wished to clarify your command…”

“I said no damage,” he repeated firmly, then shrugged. “Willing consent is completely different—but Katta, I do mean willing.”

“Yes, sir.” A smile crossed Katta’s face as he bowed and left.

He was not concerned that the male would disobey. His guards were chosen for their discipline and sense of honor, and they would not force a female. He wondered if Jinga knew what she was getting into, taking on two of the huge horned males.

No doubt she had employed a similar tactic to gain access to his rooms. Tomorrow, he would summon Hudomo and make it crystal clear that if it happened again, he would no longer retain his position as steward of his hunting lodge. Tonight, he didn’t want to deal with it.

Crossing to the windows that led out onto the balcony, he flung them open, replacing the cool, overly perfumed air with the humid warmth of the jungle. The hunting lodge was a complex of buildings perched amongst the trees. From the outside, they appeared to be rustic if somewhat large shelters, but inside they contained every amenity. Unfortunately, the luxury came at the cost of a connection to the natural surroundings.

He crossed to the railing, breathing in the night scents and listening to the sounds of the jungle. His tail lashed restlessly. Whatever had driven him from the active social scene and hedonistic delights of his home planet of Yangu still haunted him.

The plan had been to take a hunting expedition into the jungle. There would be beaters to stir up the game, porters to carry everything necessary to set up an extravagant camp each night, his chef, his steward, and a number of other household staff. Right now, the thought only made him cringe.

Suddenly decisive, he returned to his room, stripping off the long, embroidered robe and the flowing silk pants. He searched through his wardrobe until he found an old leather loincloth, one he had used long ago when he was first learning the ways of the jungle. He tied it around his waist and added his favorite hunting knife, already feeling less restricted. Leaving a brief message to be delivered to Hudomo in the morning, he returned to the balcony. The nearest limb was no more than ten feet away. He leapt easily across the distance, his claws sinking into the soft bark.

An exhilarated roar rose in his chest but he forced it back. It would only alert his household. Instead, he began moving easily through the trees. By the time they received his message, he would be miles away.

Lily studiedthe area beneath the huge tree, her heart sinking. The only thing she could see was more of the massive trees, interspersed with smaller trees and some low bushes with spiky orange leaves. She’d never been much of a nature lover, but nothing around her looked the slightest bit familiar. Instead of the greens and browns she would have expected, the colors were much more vibrant. The leaves were tinged with deep reds and oranges. She could hear rustling in the undergrowth, along with the constant whirr of what she assumed were insects, occasionally interspersed with a distant cry that made her shiver.

Down here on the ground there was no trace of the crash, and for a moment despair overwhelmed her. Even if one of her friends had fallen nearby, she could walk beneath the crash site without ever knowing that it was there. No, she refused to think like that. Kate would be sure and find a way out of the pod, and she didn’t think that Mary was just going to sit around and wait for the slavers to return. They would break free just as she had. If they’re alive, her pessimistic side prompted, but she refused to accept that possibility.

If she couldn’t find any sign of them on the ground, she would need to get higher. The thought of climbing one of the humongous trees made her shiver, but it seemed like the only alternative. But not here. She still needed to get as far away from this place as she could first.

Turning in a slow circle, she tried to decide on a direction. Everything looked identical until she caught a faint glimpse of something shimmering in the distance. Water perhaps?

The thought made her realize just how thirsty she felt, so with a mental shrug, she headed in that direction. She tried to keep track of her path, but everything looked so similar. I really should have stayed in the Girl Scouts. Instead, she’d been kicked out for smoking on an overnight camping trip. She tried to remember if she’d learned anything useful before then.

Wasn’t there something about where moss grew on trees? She took a closer look at her surroundings and decided there was something—not moss exactly—that seemed to appear consistently on one side of the largest trees. Triumphant about her discovery, she walked with renewed confidence.

The sounds of the jungle had a disturbing tendency to fade away as she approached and resume once she passed by, but she finally decided that was a positive thing. Maybe whatever was making those noises was as scared of her as she was scared of it. Then a harsh growl sounded from the branches directly overhead, and her heart skipped a beat. She froze for a terrified moment before diving into the underbrush at the base of the nearest tree. Of course the slave gown had to be white, she thought bitterly as she tried to blend in to the vibrant leaves. Of course her skin wasn’t a lot darker. Only her red hair might provide some type of camouflage.

Crouched amongst the bushes, her heart pounding, she searched for some type of weapon. The only thing she could spot was a hefty branch a short distance away. She dragged it towards her as quietly as possible, listening for any other signs of what she was sure was a predator. The normal sounds of the jungle started up around her again, and she took a deep breath. Fuck it. She’d never been the type to cower in a corner, and she wasn’t about to start now. Taking a firmer grip on her branch, she stepped cautiously out of the bushes. She looked up, searching for any sign of the animal that had growled so loudly, but she could see nothing except leaves and branches. It appeared to have moved on.

Still clutching the branch, she resumed her journey towards the sparkle of light in the distance. She did her best to keep her eyes and ears open, but the rest of the walk passed without incident before she emerged in a small clearing at the edge of a good-sized river.

The sunlight played across the surface, the water a slightly purplish blue, reminding her that she was a long way from home. Was it even water? Her mouth and throat were painfully dry, but she hovered indecisively on the bank for several minutes before she decided to dip the end of her branch into the swiftly running liquid. Pulling it free, she put a hesitant fingertip to the damp surface. It felt like water. She sniffed her fingertip but couldn’t detect anything unusual. Finally, she put her tongue to the damp surface. It tasted, well, like water.

She shrugged again. She couldn’t survive without water so she didn’t really have a choice. Crouching down, she leaned forward to dip her hand in the water—and a big body slammed into her, knocking her away from the river.

She had a brief impression of soft fur and tremendous strength and then it was gone. She scrabbled backwards, knocking her head against the base of a tree with a painful thunk. Her head pounding, she searched frantically for whatever had attacked her. Her mouth went dry at the sight of a strange alien crouched at the other side of the clearing.

But this alien was nothing like the ones on the ship. They had been short, stocky, and hairy, rather like cavemen. The male looking at her now was huge, with short golden fur covering his impressively muscled body. A wild mane in every shade of gold and brown surrounded a face that was not entirely alien but was most definitely not human. There was a distinctly feline aspect to his features, with a wide, flat nose and an equally wide mouth with prominently displayed white fangs. His eyes were a startlingly intense blue with vertical cat-like pupils, and they stared at her hungrily.

Was he like a cat? Was he playing with his prey? She suddenly remembered the stray cat that haunted the back of the bar, and a hysterical giggle threatened to emerge.

“Nice kitty,” she whispered instead. “You’re a nice kitty, aren’t you? You don’t want to eat me, do you?”

Something flickered across his expression, too fast for her to read, and then he prowled towards her.