Read Online Rough It Up by Emma Hillman - Free Book Online

out loud this time. He turned around and smiled at her. “I promised your mother I’d take care of you. And I will.”
    She stared at her stepfather’s bright eyes and fought the urge to scream. He was crazy; there was just no other explanation. “Wh-why?” she managed to ask, her voice sounding rusty.
    “No one would have respected me if they’d known I had a dominant female in my family. Who did you think you were? Stronger than my sons. Than myself even! No, you were better as a weak female. Don’t you know that’s how lionesses are supposed to be? Meek and docile, just like your mother.”
    She blinked. “Lionesses are stronger in the wild. They hold the Prides together.”
    He slapped her across the face, his wedding ring catching her bottom lip. She felt the skin tear, and when she licked at the cut, the metallic taste of blood exploded on her tongue. She didn’t wince though, didn’t allow herself to show any sign of the weakness he so obviously wanted to see in her.
    “Let’s see how you feel when you’re reduced to being a sniveling mixie once again.”
    “I’m not a mixie!”
    He chuckled, the sound grating at her ears. “You will be. It worked last time after all, didn’t it?”
    “You’ll still be weak,” she announced, knowing it was suicide, and yet unable to stop herself. Fury ran through her veins, her lioness close to losing control. One more minute and she’d let her free, she promised her. “Your sons, you, you’re nothing. Do whatever you want to me, but it’ll never make you strong.”
    His face turned purple as he advanced toward her, his hands raised in front of him as if he would choke her. Closing her eyes, she focused on her animal and let her come to the fore. She felt herself start to shift, fur rubbing her from the inside out. The cuffs snapped, not wide enough for her large paws. She found herself on all fours on the hospital bed, the drugs now only a distant memory. Thank God for her quick metabolism…and for Connor’s stupidity. Once again, he’d underestimated her.
    She shifted her weight to her hind legs and jumped, his scream cut off by her jaws closing around his throat. Her lioness’ anger was so pure, so all-encompassing, she had to fight to keep control. The animal wanted to kill the man who’d hurt her over the years, keeping her locked inside that body. And for that? Because he’d realized she would become stronger than him and his sons?
    It was unacceptable. Unimaginable even. But even if he was obviously insane, she couldn’t kill him without talking to her mother first.
    Kill him! I want to drink his blood.
    Her lioness on a rampage, Alexa felt her control slip further and further…
    “No!”
    Her mate’s voice rang above her head, bringing her back to the present. She forced her animal self to let go of her stepfather. Watched as he collapsed onto the tiled floor, his neck now decorated with bloodied marks. That made the lioness growl in happiness.
    A hand grabbed the fur at her neck, pulling her back. She jerked around and roared, but it was the one man who could dare do that. “Are you okay? Alexa, what did he do to you? Please tell me you’re all right.”
    And because she couldn’t listen to the hurt in his voice and not respond, she dropped to the ground and started shifting back.
    * * * *
    Jay knelt down and pulled her against him. His hands trailed all over her body, making sure she was fine and in one piece. And amazingly, it looked like she was. She snuggled into his embrace, hiding her face in the crook of his neck as if she needed a moment to herself. He grabbed the sheet that had covered the bed and dragged it around her shoulders, covering her nudity more for his peace of mind than anything. Shifters, as a rule, couldn’t care less about each other’s bodies, especially before and after shifting, but this was his mate. And she was only his, damn it!
    He pushed his lion back inside him and brushed his hand down her hair, soothing