The Hiding Lioness

The last thing she wanted to deal with was yet another male lion. She was fed up with them. Didn’t they get it? She just wasn’t interested in any of them.

Disgusted, she ran through the forest. There was a chill in the air, but her coat kept most of it at bay. The run itself warmed her blood, in spite of the spitting snow filtering through the bare branches above her.

Finally, she reached her cabin, hidden behind scrub brush and dense trees. She transformed on her porch and opened the door. Home, sweet solitude.

The fire she’d lit was down to embers. It didn’t take too terribly much to bring it back to life. The crackling of the flames worked through her, soothing frayed nerves. She took a look at her bookshelf, grabbed a volume, then settled down into her recliner to read.

She’d just finished the first chapter when a knock sounded at the door. She growled, then got up and threw the door open. “I thought I smelled death.”

Rose was unimpressed, ‘Yet, for some reason, I was able to sneak up on you.” She looked at her nails, then back at the lioness, “May I come in?”

She stepped back with a sigh and waved her in. “You have my permission to enter, Rose.” The vampire nodded curtly and sashayed inside. The delicate snort of derision wasn’t lost on Ari, however. “What do you want?”

She turned and studied Aria a moment, “You don’t look like you’re in trouble or anything.”

Aria shook her head and took her seat on her recliner. She should have stayed on guard around the vampire, but she’d known Rose too long to think she’d do her any harm. “No, I’m not. What would give you that idea?”

“You left the party early, Aria. Many of the men seemed concerned you would get hurt.” The woman sat down on the only other furniture in the room, a small love seat that sat opposite of her recliner.

The smell of Rose’s perfume mingled with the scent of death that always clung onto vampires. The combination reminded Aria of a funeral home. “How do you do it, Rose? How do you deal with all those males rubbing against you?”

Ruby red lips curved upwards, the smile lighting the vampire’s face, “I’m a succubus vampire, Aria. I feed off their lusts.”

“But don’t you ever grow tired of their presence?” She curled her jean clad legs up under her. Looking at the vampire across from her, she felt sorely under-dressed.

“How many lovers do you think I’ve had since you’ve known me, Aria?” She crossed her legs, the sequin covered black gown swishing softly around well shaped legs.

“I don’t know. Ten? Twenty? What does it matter?” She shook her head and shrugged. One hand lifted to push her brown curls behind on ear, a small effort to tame the mass and keep it out of her face.

Rose shook her head, “No.” Well manicured hands rested on her lap, her posture regal and formal. “I have had two, Aria. And one of those is my new husband.”

“I’d heard you had gotten married. To Griffin, right?” Aria swallowed a lump at the back of her throat.

“Yes, the other was Amir.” Rose studied her nails, the gemstones pasted onto each long tip glittered in the dim lighting of her cabin.

“Rose, what is your point to all this?” She was getting snappish, her lioness begged for release from her confinement.

“The point, Aria, is that I don’t tolerate them.” She swept her long black hair behind her shoulder, the strands glittering with shades of purple and blue. “I feed from them. They serve a purpose of food alone. It would be like me asking you how you tolerate being near deer or antelope.”

“I see.” She closed her eyes a moment, then opened them to see Rose pacing her cabin, pausing to look at the few knick knacks she had tucked here and there. “They aren’t food for me, though.”

“No, they wouldn’t be.” The vampire caressed a statue that their mutual friend had given her. “This is Kat’s work, is it not?” Her accent peeked out, the old world sound barely noticeable, but charming nonetheless.

She found herself nodding, in spite of herself. “Yes, she gave it to me before she left.” She stood and walked to the opposite side of the room. “She left her phone with me as well, this picture was in it.”

Rose lifted her head to the small framed photograph of her and Amir together in a club they’d visited. “Trash it. I need no reminders of that damned demon.” Aria shivered at the tone, but did as she asked and tossed it straight into her trashcan, the glass shattering as it landed amongst the rest of the trash.

“Why do you keep your solitude, Aria? Why do you hide from civilization?” Rose stepped closer, Aria suddenly feeling like she was being stalked.

It only served to make her stand straighter and look straight into the vampire’s eyes. “I am happy here.”

“Bull.” Rose could tell a lie just as easily as any shifter could, and Aria knew it. It didn’t stop her from trying, though. “This is no life, Aria. Hiding out here in the middle of nowhere… Its as bad as me going to ground after Amir left.”

She remembered that time. Griffin was beside himself, her absence made him realize how much he loved the slight woman. “It is the life I choose to live, Rose.”

“So it comes down to that, does it?” Rose stiffened her back and looked dead into her eyes. The fire glittered in black eyes that seemed to reflect her soul back at her. “You hide because you are scared to give up control to a mate.”

“No. I stay here because it is quiet, private, and I get no visitors.” She didn’t care if Rose could smell the lie, she wasn’t about to admit it.

“No worries, little kitty, I’ll keep your secret,” she paused to study her nails again before looking back into her eyes. “For a price.”

She was beginning to feel trapped, her lioness scratched at her to be released. “And what price is that, Rose?”

Rose must have seen the effect her closeness had on Aria, because she turned and walked back to the love seat. “I have need of someone to watch over me during the day. A bodyguard, if you will. I want you to pack everything up, and move with me to London.”

“Excuse me?” Aria stalked the vampire and stood in front of her, looking down into the lounging woman’s eyes. “I am no servant to be ordered around!”

Her dismissive wave only infuriated her more. “You’ll be no servant, Aria. I just need someone to make sure I am not harmed. You can keep your lioness form in the day, and be free to do whatever it is you want to do at night. Deal?”

She must have been crazy. She had to be completely bonkers, because she shook the vampire's hand, discussed details, then escorted the vampire out of her cabin. “Oh gods above, what have I done?”