Her Warriors by Bianca D'Arc Page B

made slow progress down the hall and
only got as far as the living room couch before all three of them
collapsed onto the soft, overstuffed cushions. Luckily the thing
was built on the large side and fit all of them comfortably. Geir
didn’t think he would be able to move under his own power anytime
soon.
    “I’m sorry, Jacki. Whatever you ladies did
in there, it seems to have unmanned me,” he admitted. “I feel like
a kitten who’s just been through a wild ride in a washing
machine.”
    Beau laughed at that description. “Good one.
I think I was on the same ride with you, Master G.”
    Geir wondered at the shortening of his name.
Nobody had ever done that before and it felt…kind of nice. It was
nice to know the other tiger felt comfortable enough to give Geir a
nickname. Most others shifters were either afraid of him or in awe
of his abilities. Few were comfortable in his presence and Geir had
always found it difficult to make friends. The idea that Beau of
the nasty temper was relaxed enough with him to shorten his name
was surprising. And a little suspicious…
    It had to mean something. But what?
    Many strange and wondrous things had
happened of late, and Geir had been trying to analyze events and
make connections. Perhaps this was another of those strange and
wondrous events that would come to mean something much more
profound in the coming days? Geir didn’t know, but it certainly was
a small thing that meant a lot to him right now.
    “He looked better, didn’t he?” Jacki said,
sitting between the men. Geir looked at her, seeing the fearful
hope on her face. He reached down and took one of her hands in both
of his, rubbing her soft skin with a light, hopefully comforting,
touch.
    “He did look better,” Geir told her. “The
glow of power you infused into his being agreed with him. Even I
could see that.”
    “But will it be enough?” She bit her lip as
she turned to look into his eyes and he couldn’t help himself.
    Geir bent and kissed her, tugging that poor,
abused lip between his own, laving it with his tongue and
then…taking the kiss deeper. His chest began to rumble and she
pulled away.
    The first thing he saw was Beau’s murderous
expression.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Beau’s famous temper showed in the flare of his eyes, even if he
was too weak to do much more than yell at Geir.
    “It’s not what you think. Didn’t you hear
the purr? She’s my mate,” Geir said lightly, feeling both wonder
and pride in the words. To have a mate was a miracle. To have such
a mate as Jacki, was an even more wondrous thing. She was
amazing.
    “She can’t be your mate, G,” Beau’s tone was
low and deadly, with a hint of the tiger in it, but he didn’t scare
Geir.
    “Why not?” he challenged right back.
    “Because she’s my mate, dickhead.”
    “What?” Geir was nonplussed. How could this
be? “I don’t get it.”
    Jacki stood abruptly, her turmoil clear in
every line of her body. Her hands clenched at her sides, she turned
to face them.
    “I don’t understand it either. I made you
both purr and…” she trailed off, srunching her eyes closed as if
she couldn’t stand to look at them anymore. Geir fell silent.
    “You did what now?” Beau demanded,
apparently as confused as he was angry.
    “I didn’t do it on purpose!” She opened her
eyes and pinned Beau with a look Geir was glad he wasn’t on the
other end of. She was pissed. And confused. “Here I thought lions
were dense. Dammit, I didn’t ask for any of this!” She spun on her
heel and stormed out. Geir would have gone after her, but he
couldn’t move.
    “Well, what the fuck?” Beau asked in a tired
voice.
    Geir looked over at his rival on the other
end of the couch. He looked as bad as Geir felt. The drain of his
energy was really hitting him now and unconsciousness seemed to be
approaching rapidly.
    “I’m sorry, Beau, but I won’t give her up,”
Geir made his stance clear even as his eyes