Soft arms slid around his waist and settled over his stomach. “You’re thinking too hard,” Eliana said from behind him. She rested her head on his back and he closed his eyes, relishing her touch.
“I can’t help it,” he said honestly.
And he couldn’t help it. In the past two weeks, he’d had to deal with countless things that he’d never had to before. With his father dead, his people needed a leader. The others had given him two weeks to gather himself and his new family before he had to truly be the Leo in all things. The two weeks were standard for any royal line. In that time, normally, he would be mourning and working on his new life.
Yet he’d also had to learn how to be a father and a mate in that time, as well as deal with his uncle and aunt, who lurked far too closely for his liking. He wasn’t sure what they would do, but he knew they weren’t going to stand by and let him be Leo at his age.
He also hadn’t mated a lioness so he knew the other shoe would drop soon.
He just had to keep going and protect his mate and child.
And Penelope, Pen for those who loved her, could break him in more ways than he could fathom, and he would revel in every moment of it. His daughter was magnificent. A proud little cub, who at this moment, was sleeping in her lion form in a bassinette near the king-sized bed in the master bedroom. She slept on as he tried to come to terms with the fact that he had no idea what he was going to do next, only that he had to do it.
“We will say goodbye to your father today,” Eliana whispered as she came to his side. He tightened his arms around her and inhaled her scent, needing her closer now than ever. She’d put her glamour on even though they weren’t in the human realm. Though anyone could scent that she wasn’t a lion, she’d told him she hadn’t wanted to add anything else to the trouble that lay at his feet. So she hid her true self while they tried to reconcile the fact that they hadn’t even had time for her to figure who or what that self was.
He was a selfish bastard, but soon he would take her to the others of her kind and help her find her place. He just had to say goodbye to his father and officially take the throne first.
“I don’t know if I’m ready to say goodbye,” he said honestly. He hadn’t known his father as he would have liked to, but he’d still loved him in his own way.
“I’m sorry Pen and I will never know him.”
He sighed and tucked her close. “Me too, beauty. Me, too. I suppose we should make sure Pen is ready to go with us.”
Eliana scrunched up her face. “I really wish she didn’t have to go.”
“She’s their princess.”
“I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t name her Nala.”
He swatted her behind and kissed her. His cat stretched, wanting more than just this touch. In these two weeks, Malik and Eliana had slept side by side as they found their rhythm, but they hadn’t made love. As a supernatural, medically speaking, Eliana didn’t have to wait, but they’d waited nonetheless. It hadn’t been the time, but he knew that time was coming soon.
He needed her to be his in truth as much as he needed to know his place in the world and how his new family fit into it.
“Let’s get on with it,” he muttered.
“Don’t wear a tie,” Eliana said as she slid her hand over his chest and to the skin peeking out at the top of his shirt. “You look more dangerous without it, and for some reason, I feel like you need to look dangerous right now.”
He kissed her, sliding his tongue along hers before pulling back with a groan. “We need to go now before I take you right where you stand.”
Her eyes darkened. “Later.”
Later.
Malik ran a hand over his face as he made his way to the large living room of his father’s home. No, he supposed it was his home now. He and Eliana had been staying in a guest room there since the baby was born, but now it was his home. The funeral had gone well, if not quietly. To his surprise, no one had spoken out against Eliana and the baby. They’d seemed…happy that he’d found his mate.
Only his aunt and uncle and their children were against him.
He’d have to deal with that, though he truly didn’t want to.
Pen was tucked in his arms, curled into his chest in her human form. Eliana had put her in a tiny grey dress that made her look adorable. With all that had been going on, he hadn’t been able to truly reconcile the fact that he was a father.
This child in his arms was his child. His blood. A creation of the love between him and Eliana. He’d never been the sentimental sort, but damned if that idea didn’t make him want to cuddle his child close and cry just a little bit.
Apparently, he was a tad stressed out over all the new changes to his life.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite as sweet as you holding Pen close to you like that.” Eliana stood in the doorway, her dark black dress hugging her new curves nicely.
His cat arched his back, wanting more of her. It didn’t care that they’d just buried his father and that he now had the actual world on his shoulders. It wanted his mate.
And frankly, Malik did, too.