By the Tail

I can agree to that.” She paused. “Only if I can rub it in Alissa’s face that I’m fucking you and she’s not.”

He choked and spattered coffee all over his chest, then stood to reach for a towel to dry himself off. “Damn, woman. Nice mouth.”

She smirked at his blatant erection, once again pleased to have the upper hand. “I know.”

He only groaned and sat back down. “I don’t suppose we have time for a little fun in your bed before my morning meeting?” At her look, he sighed. “I didn’t think so. But tonight, I promise, you’ll make it up to me.”

“Oh I will, will I?”

His leer should have annoyed her. Instead, his interest complimented her abilities as a woman. As a mate, her cat reminded her.

“Hell, yeah, you will.” He cleared his throat. “And uh, we haven’t exactly talked about it, but, well…”

“Spit it out, Quince.”

“You taking any birth control? Not that I wouldn’t mind having cubs with you, but this is kind of soon for it, you know?”

She grew warm and fuzzy thinking about kids with Quince. “You could always wear a condom.”

He groaned in misery. “If I could think past getting inside you, maybe. But I get near you and all I can think about is sucking those tits and shoving hard up into that fine pussy.” He grinned at her blush. “Yeah, you know it’s true.”

“Okay, okay. As a matter of fact, I already set up an appointment for today. By tonight, I’ll be good to go.” A pride doctor would alleviate her worries. Special birth control would protect her from conceiving right away.

“Good.” He blew out a breath. “Because if you don’t get that shot, I’m afraid I’m going to knock you up sooner than later. And I won’t be sorry about it at all.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that. “So you want bacon and eggs then?”

“Sure.” He ran a hand through his hair, and she turned so that she wouldn’t see that bunched strength in his arms and be tempted to give him a quickie for breakfast. “Make that a pound of bacon. Because it’s either I eat this, or I eat you. And I won’t stop until I fill you up again.”

She glanced over at him and saw his cat staring at her hungrily from Quince’s golden eyes. “Right.” She cleared her throat. “Dead pig coming right up.”

No babies on the menu this morning.

Not yet, her cat corrected. But soon.

Chapter Seven

Monday morning, Quince stared at the records Dana had handed him and turned to Rain. “Does this make sense to you?”

Rain, a tight-lipped male at the best of times, shook his dark head. “No. We should be square on resources. But according to those files, we’re invested in a shell corporation being funneled into one of Lex’s old accounts. Except with Lex dead, who the hell is collecting that money?”

A definite problem Quince’s brain couldn’t handle. “I need you and Oliver to work this out.” Between Oliver’s knowhow and Rain’s incredible mind, the pair should be able to smooth things over before the rest of the pride got wind of more financial problems. Damn it. He thought they’d taken care of these issues.

Rain paused, and his cautious demeanor alerted Quince to pay attention to what the man wasn’t saying.

“What, Rain?”

“Nothing.”

“Not nothing. Say what’s on your mind.”

Jace entered the office without asking. Rarely did he have to knock, because Quince trusted him and Ellis like he used to trust Miles. Like he believed in Joy. At the thought of her, his tension eased a bit.

“Bad time?” Jace asked.

Rain shook his head before Quince could. “No. Actually, you should hear this too.” Then, to Quince’s surprise, Rain moved to the door and locked it.

“Rain?” Jace frowned. “What’s up?”

“We have a problem.” Pulling answers out of Rain was normally like pulling teeth, so for the taciturn feline to speak willingly said volumes.

“Go on.” Quince leaned forward on his desk and watched with Jace as Rain paced back and forth.

“I’ve had my suspicions for a while, but this nails it.” He scowled. “Dana and Willow have been working hard with Joy to deal with the females. Jace and Ellis are too busy putting out fires in their divisions to handle the financials. Plus I just don’t think they have a head for numbers.”

“Thanks, I think,” Jace muttered.

“Quiet,” Quince said, understanding without wanting to what Rain was getting at. “But…?”

“But Oliver fits the bill. To a T.” Rain stopped pacing and swore. “Fuck. I’ve been trying to ignore the obvious, but I can’t any longer. Dana might have been screwing with the numbers. She’s smart and she’s sly enough not to get caught. But she’s solid. She likes things better now. Hell, all the females do. But Oliver… You don’t realize it, but he was in thick with Ronnie.”

“Ronnie Gates?” Quince started. “Lex’s younger brother? He was a stooge.”

“Yeah, but he had access to pussy and drugs. I think Oliver is addicted to meth.”

“No way. I’d be able to tell. We’d be able to smell it on him,” Jace protested.

“Not if he used Hunter’s mist.” Quince had used the spray any number of times when trying to avoid detection.

“And where would he get that?” Jace quieted, then answered his own question. “From Lex and the Hunters he was consorting with. Shit.”

“Are you sure?” Quince had to know.

Rain looked miserable. “I don’t want to be, but it has to be Oliver. And this account isn’t the only one he’s fucking up. He’s started on our West Coast efforts. The joint account.” They had a few investments out West, but the joint account funneled money to their sister pride in California.

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah. I nailed down that one with Dana’s help, but it’s all I can do to plug the holes he’s creating. He’s good. Really good. And since we’ve been struggling to rebuild, I haven’t paid as much attention to online security.” Rain swore under his breath. “I’m sorry.”

“Fuck.” Quince stood.

Jace shook his head. “I hate to say this, but I told you so.”

“What?” Quince spun to face his lieutenant.

“You haven’t solidified your claim as pride leader. Until you do, or until you take out the opposition, you’re going to keep having these problems.”

“He’s right, Quince,” Rain agreed. “I can help with the security issues now that I know what to look for. But Oliver and the others aren’t going away. And the rumors…”

“What rumors?”

Jace answered, “Talk has it that you and Joy are planning to mate. Alissa’s been spreading lies about you blackmailing Joy into sleeping with you to grab Miles’s attention and support. You have to know she’s backing Ayers.”

“Great. That’s all I need. Miles Bermin up my ass again.” Miles had been surprisingly quiet the last few days, giving Quince and Joy more time to learn each other.

“Thing is, it’s not just Miles you need to worry about,” Rain told him. “Michael’s mate died, but he was already pride leader at the time. The truth is, there’s a clause in the mandate of rule. You have to be mated to officially take over. Lex ignored it, although he was planning to claim Stacey Bermin, so maybe he just thought he could take leadership then mate after the fact. But after what he did, the elders are sticking closer to the rules. Recent talk has it that you’re not fit to rule, because you’re both a cheat—thank Oliver—and a single male.”

Quince stared at Rain. “Are you serious?” He turned to Jace. “I thought that clause was just a maybe. But