as we headed on by, calling after me to have a nice day.
Leon stepped out into the freezing air beyond the house and descended the steps while I cursed him from my position hanging over his shoulder where all I could see was his ass. He had a damn nice ass, so I wasn't entirely complaining about that, but still.
The world flipped right way up again and I found myself on my feet in front of Ryder as he leaned against the hood of a huge, black Hummer with his arms folded over his chest. He was wearing a khaki T-shirt and jeans, but he didn't even seem to have noticed how damn cold it was.
"Hey," I said in surprise, glancing at Leon with a raised brow and he grinned at me.
"This whole pride thing we've got going on has loads of perks, little monster, one of them being that you've got a Lioness for every occasion. And I think that a Debbie downer road trip to have a heart to heart that will likely hurt like a bitch definitely comes under Ryder's skill set."
"I'm not a Lioness," Ryder growled but Leon pressed a finger to his lips, shushing him.
Ryder snatched his finger into his grip and bent it back as he twisted Leon's hand in his grasp. He released him before it could break though and Leon only chuckled as he healed it.
"You're really going to come and meet my mom with me?" I asked Ryder, biting my lip as I tried to hide how perfect that sounded, because as much as I loved Leon's light, it was time I faced this shit with my mom. It was going to hurt whatever way it happened and only Ryder could fully understand how sometimes I just needed to feel my pain.
"Looks like it," Ryder agreed, his eyes on me and a guarded expression on his face that said that this meant something to him, but he was trying to hide it.
"I'm trusting you with our girl, Ryder," Leon warned seriously. "I know she needs to do this, but I want to see her smile once it's done."
"Making people smile isn't really my thing," Ryder replied with a roll of his eyes.
"Don't worry, you can just bring her back here after and we can work on making her happy together. I'll teach you a few things if you're struggling."
Ryder hissed a warning but Leon ignored him, grabbing hold of me and pushing me back against the Lunar King's broad chest as he drove his tongue between my lips and made me moan.
Ryder growled, but he didn't push us off like I expected, his mouth dropping to my neck where he bit down hard enough to make me gasp and arch my back, driving my ass back against his crotch in the same movement.
A low whistle drew our attention away from whatever the hell might have been happening and Leon broke away from me with a huff of frustration.
"Why do you keep sneaking up on me when I'm in these situations?" he demanded, whirling around to glare at Roary as he strode up the drive towards us, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants with his bronzed, muscular chest gleaming with sweat.
"I'm not the one who keeps starting three ways in public places," Roary replied easily. "And I have to admit I'm a bit surprised to find Ryder Draconis taking part this time."
Ryder pushed past us, pointing a menacing finger at Leon's older brother as a rattle sounded in his throat. "You didn't see a damn thing, but if you think you did, I'll happily carve your malfunctioning eyes from your pretty face."
"Fuck me, the Lunar King thinks I'm pretty. I need to go and write about this in my diary," Roary joked as he strode on by and headed for the house. "And you don't need to worry about me telling anyone your sordid little secrets, I'm already sworn to secrecy about Leon and Elise's other partner and I'm starting to understand exactly why he didn't want anyone finding out either."
Ryder hissed angrily and I shot to his side, wrapping my fingers between his and giving him a gentle tug towards the car.
"We're already going to miss most of the stuff they have laid on," I murmured. "If we wanna get there in time for the meal, we need to leave now."
Roary winked at me with a grin before heading into the house and I managed to pull Ryder back towards