Claimed by Caden Read online

  Anchor Pride 1

  Claimed by Caden

  Reared in the Pride where females rule the roost, Caden Drummond was relieved to discover his mate was human. A woman incapable of gifting him children, but fully capable of loving and respecting him, of giving him everything a Lioness Shifter couldn't.

  So, when Lia discovers she's pregnant, married life stops being all shades of rosy. Has she cheated on him with a human male? Or is she an anomaly, a rare shifter with no knowledge of her heritage?

  A psychotic ex leads them to the truth, but those answers are like a dirty bomb in a hornet's nest. When she suddenly goes from a Bronx brat to a member of the Pride, she learns more than just what she is, Lia learns who she is, simultaneously rupturing the foundations of a thirty-year-old mystery.

  Will their marriage crack under the pressure of these revelations? Or will Lia finally be claimed by Caden in the way of her people?

  Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Romantic Suspense, Shape-shifter

  Length: 81,077 words

  CLAIMED BY CADEN

  Anchor Pride 1

  Serena Akeroyd

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  CLAIMED BY CADEN

  Copyright © 2015 by Serena Akeroyd

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-924-8

  First E-book Publication: February 2015

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Claimed by Caden by Serena Akeroyd from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

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  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Serena Akeroyd’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Serena Akeroyd’s right to earn a living from her work.

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  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  DEDICATION

  To Mum. As always.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  CLAIMED BY CADEN

  Anchor Pride 1

  SERENA AKEROYD

  Copyright © 2015

  Chapter One

  As Lia Drummond slid her mouth along her husband’s shaft, a kittenish smile of pleasure curled her lips. Caden saw it, traced her grin, and then groaned as she practically swallowed him whole. Sucking the thick, throbbing vein at the back of his cock, she gently raked her teeth along it, nibbling here and there, taunting him even as she willingly gifted him pleasure.

  When she hit the glans, the spongy flesh called to her, and once again, she gently bit down. Prodding the little hole with her tongue, she used one hand to urge his seed out of him, then tormented him further by grabbing his balls with her free fingers and carefully tugging the globes down and away from his body.

  “Prick tease,” he gasped, hips lifting from his seat. He punished her for playing by grabbing her hair and jerking her head down, sliding his cock deeper between her lips.

  The small act of aggression had his dick warmed another few inches by the soft cavern of her mouth, and as his cock hit a point that almost made her gag, cum suddenly began to pelt the back of her throat. She quickly swallowed, and as his hands released her hair, she moved up his shaft and laved the tip with her tongue, cleaning him of every drop. He sighed with pleasure as she cleaned him up, then tucked his now-soft cock back into his pants.

  Looking up from her position on her knees, she took in Caden’s softened features, his lax mouth, and the slumped curve to his body, and congratulated herself on a job well done. As his PA and wife, she understood the pressure he was under, worked through it with him on a daily basis, and did all she could to ease his tension and help relieve him of it.

  If that included sucking him off under the desk before noon, well, that was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

  Some sacrifice, she mocked inwardly, staring up at her handsome husband and finding pleasure in his relaxed, flushed features.

  Until she’d met him, she’d never really understood the whole notion of happy people being the ones who gave rather than received, but with her husband, whose job was the epitome of stressful, it always gave her a buzz to satisfy him.

  As a corporate lawyer, Caden was one of the best in Manhattan. That wasn’t just wifely pride speaking either. The highly-respected, nationally-renowned Harmin, Giles & Brookworth had recently added a comma and moved the ampersand in their name. It was now & Drummond. That made him the youngest partner in the firm’s one-hundred-and-forty-year history. Her husband was definitely an A-grade overachiever.

  As his heavy breaths decelerated, his eyelids fluttered upward. He looked so cute post-orgasm. It was like looking at a sleepy big cat. All satisfied and relaxed but still on edge, watchful, ready, and raring to pounce. If he hadn’t had an appointment, she’d probably have found herself spread out on his desk, his mouth devouring her pussy like he was a starved man and she a feast.

  If wishes were horses....

  He
leaned down, cupped her jaw, and she turned her cheek into his palm. She nuzzled the faintly callused skin, before pressing a kiss to the center and murmuring, “Now are you ready to meet your mother for lunch?”

  He groaned, but there was an amused twinkle in his eye. “You just had to spoil the moment, didn’t you?”

  Lia winked at him. “Just keeping it real, baby. That’s my job.”

  “And you do it so well.” His mocking smile turned into a grimace. “I’m as ready as I ever am. You know what she’s like.”

  Lia, unfortunately, did. But she was lucky. Her mother-in-law, otherwise known as the bitch from hell, didn’t approve of her, and therefore, never wanted to see her.

  After two years of marriage, she and Caden had just settled on the notion that nothing she did would ever be good enough for Eloise Drummond, and the best thing Lia could do was to back off. Staying away caused fewer arguments, and considering Caden was the turf in the war going on between his mom and his wife, Lia stuck to the shadows for his benefit. Not for Eloise, the stuck-up bitch.

  Eloise lived outside of the city, around two hours away in a place called Anchor. She made the trip to the city every few weeks to keep an eye on Caden, and to make sure Lia was caring for him as well as Eloise could.

  The bitch from hell’s major problem was Lia’s background. It didn’t matter that Caden loved her, that that love was reciprocated. To Eloise, Lia would always be from the wrong side of the tracks. Because of that, and regardless of her own degree and relatively high salary, Lia would forever be a gold digger.

  No amount of arguing or reasoning with Eloise would sway the other woman’s opinion of Lia.

  Even if Christopher, her father-in-law, had had the desire to defend his son’s choices, he wouldn’t have. Christopher liked her, but Eloise definitely wore the pants in their marriage.

  During those nightmare events that were the holidays, Lia had to endure being persona non grata in the Drummond household. And because she herself had very little family outside of a brother in Queens, they always spent Christmas with his parents in their vacation house in Hawaii.

  The holidays usually consisted of their flying down to what should have been paradise, but instead, was the gateway to hell. Ten days of bickering, arguing, and general unpleasantness as Caden tried to defend her, only for Eloise to slam him down every time.

  This year was going to be particularly bad. In fact, thinking about how horrible it was going to be made her feel more nauseated than the smell of coffee first thing in the morning.

  Being pregnant, and providing the “heir” to the Drummond fortune—the fact Eloise even thought that way proved she belonged on an episode of Dynasty—wasn’t enough to sweeten Satan’s mother up.

  If anything, the fact she was carrying Caden’s baby would make a shitty situation a thousand times worse. Eloise would be watching every mouthful that crossed her lips. She’d comment and criticize, make her feel like she was going to be a crap mother, destroy her confidence, and generally do her best to ruin the holidays and motherhood for Lia.

  The baby was the reason for Caden’s tension today. Technically, she was the one deserving the oral sex. Hell, she had another person growing inside her! That deserved some reward, right? But, Caden was being very kind in letting Lia off this particular hook.

  She wouldn’t have to be there to watch Eloise’s face as all her hopes and dreams for her son’s marriage fell about her ears. Her mother-in-law was still hoping for a divorce. Lia wouldn’t have put it past Eloise to be praying every night to whatever God would listen in the vain hope Caden would come to his senses.

  Like that would ever happen.

  She and Caden were made for each other.

  She’d known that from the very first moment she’d set eyes on him. She wasn’t one of those women who held much credence in fate, but Caden had made a believer out of her.

  The first time she’d met him, Lia, usually calm, cool, and collected, had turned to mush in front of her new boss. She’d almost melted every time she’d handed him some paperwork, and if he’d accidentally brushed her shoulder or nudged her hand, it had felt like an internal earthquake. She’d never known anything like it. Need had sprung out of nowhere, desire and passion, love and tenderness alongside it.

  Three months into her contract, he’d asked her out. Three months and three days later, she’d become the ultimate cliché—the PA sleeping with her boss. At four months, she’d practically moved in with him. At five, he’d asked her to marry him.

  It had to be one of the fastest, successful courtships in history, and three years later, Lia was more than grateful for that. Now she was pregnant, and even though it was unplanned, everything was coming together. She was going to be a part of a family again.

  More than anything, that excited her.

  She refused to be terrified at the prospect of caring for a baby when she knew zilch about them. She’d learn, just like every new mother had to, and she’d do her damnedest to keep that child safe.

  She’d become the lioness guarding her cub, just like Sara West had. Lia would make her mom proud.

  “I like to see you smiling,” Caden murmured softly, breaking into her thoughts.

  Contentment filled her at his words. If she’d been a cat, she’d have purred. Instead, she nuzzled her cheek against his thigh and sucked in the essence of him, a scent shared by no other, and one which belonged only to her. “Just thinking about the baby and my mom. I wish he or she could have known her.”

  “She’ll be watching over you, honey. Making sure everything’s okay, you know that, right?”

  “You’re such a cutie,” she told him, getting to her feet with a groan as her foot came back online with the imminent tingle of pins and needles. She leaned over to press a kiss to his lips, and continued, “And I can use that word because a, it’s the truth, and b, you’re more than just cute.”

  “Don’t let the other partners hear you call me that. I’m supposed to be ferocious. A judge-eater. I’m not a pussy cat,” he complained.

  “You are, only not on company time.” Another wink. “There’s a time and a place, baby. You have other things to eat when you’re with me.” She shrieked when he growled, then jumped out of his way with a laugh, and scurried around the paperwork-laden desk as he chased her. “You don’t have time for this,” she reminded him, as she used his chair as a barrier between them.

  Another laugh escaped her as he jumped on the desk, and bounded over the side, hovering on one foot then the other, before grabbing the chair in a flash, curling an arm about her waist, and jerking her against him.

  “You can never hide from me.” There was another growl to his words as he mumbled them against her mouth.

  “Why would I want to?” she teased, then frowned as she studied his handsome features.

  There was no amusement etched into the lines of his face. His green eyes held a hint of concern, something only exacerbated by the puckered, dark-gold brows. His mouth was downturned, and where there had been no strain moments before—thank you, Mr. Blowjob—his jaw was now like stone.

  “Hey, is everything okay?” she asked, lifting a hand to run it through the thick pelt of dark blond hair.

  His eyes closed, and the healthy pink lids turned white as he pressed them down hard. He butted his forehead against hers, and blew out a breath that brushed her lips. “I love you, Lia. You can’t forget that, okay?”

  “Why would I?” She hid her own concern with a light laugh.

  He gulped, and she saw the twitch of his throat muscles. His tension transmitted itself to her, and she leaned back to look up at him.

  “What’s wrong, Caden? Talk to me. You’re freaking me out. Do you think your mom’s reaction will be so bad? I know she won’t be happy, not really, but still…it’ll be okay, won’t it?”

  His hold on her waist tightened until their bodies were pressed together. “Okay? Probably. But I don’t care what she says. I just need you to know, that no matter
what, I’ll always be here. Whatever happens, do you understand that?”

  With any other guy, she might have thought he was trying to wheedle something out of her. His flowery words, however, were totally unlike Caden. He was pretty open when he told her he loved her. He didn’t save it for special occasions. They could be having dinner together on a weekday, not an anniversary or anything, when, all of a sudden, he’d reach for her hand, press a kiss to her fingers, and tell her then. They weren’t words spoken lightly, but neither were they kept hushed.

  He wasn’t one for talking like this, though, and she wouldn’t lie, it frightened her a little. It was out of character, and she knew him pretty well. Of course, she’d only been with him for close to three years, so there was plenty more to learn, but still....

  She did what she always did when he was tense. Broke him down. “I know, honey, I love you, too. And when you’re old and gray, and your balls are wrinkly, I’ll still suck you off.”

  Like that, his heavy mood dissipated, and he barked out a laugh. His chuckle was infectious, and she grinned cheekily up at him.

  No matter what Eloise said, Lia knew she was good for her husband.

  Someone had to take the weight of the world from his shoulders. Someone had to be the one to make him feel like a man, and not just some hot-shit attorney that had made partner at thirty-four, and at one of Manhattan’s most prestigious firms.

  He was more than just a number, more than just a job. He was hers. While she was willing to tread carefully around Eloise for the moment, and for his benefit, that wouldn’t last forever. Already, she was starting to weary of the role she’d willingly accepted—outsider. Outcast. She’d been one for so long that she’d easily fallen into the part with her mother-in-law. Caden hadn’t been the one to ask her to back off and leave his mother to him. She’d let him do it. But things were changing.