The Island Of Alphas: A BBW Paranormal Romance (5 page)

I'd just opened my mouth to ask Laura about the airstrip, when she called out to someone, waving. An older woman with gray hair swept up in a twist at the back of her head turned from striding toward the clinic and waved back. Laura soon introduced me to Dr. Beverly Merriweather, the general practitioner of the village, who told me to please call her Bev. Soon I forgot all about the airstrip, or the lack of it, rather.

After introducing me to the two other nurses at the clinic besides herself, Laura showed me around the place. Maybe somewhat to my surprise, the clinic, which had an adjacent lab,
did
have all the equipment and supplies I'd need, just as Eric had said it would. It was actually very similar to my clinic back in New York City in terms of size and modernity.

Later that morning, women began showing up for initial testing, examinations, and blood work, and Bev, Laura, the two other nurses, and I got right to work. As I always tended to do, I soon became immersed in it, thoroughly puzzled as to why none of the women I was seeing were able to become pregnant, despite the fact that some of them had already successfully had children years before.

They all seemed strong and healthy, and my initial examinations revealed nothing. By the end of the day, I was very interested to see what the lab work would reveal, though it would take some time for the results to come back because the lab was only staffed with two technicians.

At the end of the day, Laura walked me back to my bungalow, offering to have me over to her and Matt's place for dinner that evening. "I think we'll steam some crab legs."

I accepted gladly, somewhat tired and not really wanting to do any cooking back at my own place. Though, when we approached my bungalow, it became clear that I wouldn't have to, even if I didn't join Laura and her family for dinner. Eric sat on the front steps of the porch in jeans and a white t-shirt, barefoot. Next to him sat some sort of a small metal cage with two lobsters inside.

With his coal gray eyes twinkling, he held the cage up, his gaze on me. "I'm cooking tonight. If you don't mind having me over for dinner, that is."

I didn't at all, and I said this in a near-squeak, to my extreme embarrassment. I couldn't decide if Eric looked more attractive in a smart black suit, like he'd been wearing the day before, or in jeans and a t-shirt, like he was wearing now. It was impossible to tell.

Anyway he was dressed, he looked pretty damn near irresistible. Though I had to admit that a white t-shirt showed off the chiseled contours of his chest much better than the suit had. Through the thin material, I could now see every hard, muscular ridge. 

Laura turned her face to me and spoke in a low voice. "I'll take a rain check on having you over for dinner at my place. Somehow, I think you're going to enjoy Eric's company tonight more than my own."

Thankfully, he was just out of range to hear what she'd said. With a wave to Eric and me, she strode off, and I strolled over to the porch and came to a stop, feeling unusually bashful for some reason. Probably because I was having a difficult time keeping my gaze from Eric's wind-tousled dark hair, his handsome face, and his muscular chest. I was also recalling what Laura had said about Eric being "well-endowed."

Trying to put this out of my mind, I gave Eric what I imagined was a professional-looking smile. "Bringing me lobsters
and
cooking them for me? You'd better be careful, because I could get used to this."

I'd meant what I'd said to sound friendly and breezy, but instead, it had seemed to come out overtly flirty. Eric didn't seem to mind.

Giving me a sexy half-grin that sent my pulse racing, he extended one large, strong hand. "Oh, I'm counting on that. Let's go inside."

With my heartbeat hammering in my ears, I took his hand, wondering exactly how long I was going to be able to remain professional.

CHAPTER THREE

  While Eric steamed our lobsters, I made a decision. It didn't matter how attractive and sexy he was, I was going to resist temptation. No matter how badly I wanted him, I was going to remain professional. I had to. I couldn't see any other way that my work on the island could be successful. I knew it was possible that Laura actually wasn't correct in thinking that Eric might not mind if things between us became less-than-professional, and I couldn't risk it. Maybe he was just naturally friendly.

Maybe he was just naturally flirty. And if I made a move indicating that I thought otherwise, I knew it was possible that he might send me home, disappointed by my lack of standards. Then, the women of the island wouldn't get the help they needed, which would devastate me after I'd gotten to know some of them and hear their frustrations and stories that day.

During the meal, I tried to show Eric my commitment to medical methods by talking only about "safe" subjects, such as my medical work and how I hoped to help the women of the island. Whenever I began talking about myself on even a remotely personal level at all, I caught myself and quickly steered the conversation back around. Eric seemed to pick up on this, and by the end of the meal, he, too, was only sticking to "safe" subjects.

I appreciated the fact that he seemed to realize my commitment to keeping things impersonal and seemed committed to the same thing himself. I realized that maybe I'd simply mistaken an earlier vibe of friendliness from him as one of flirtatiousness. I realized that maybe he'd brought dinner less as a romantic or sensual gesture and more because as leader of the people of Clearwater, it was his job to welcome me and make sure I was taken care of.

It wasn't easy to remain on that impersonal level over dinner, though. Colors of the setting sun coming in through a dining room window made Eric's lightly tanned skin even more golden than it usually was. It made it even more touchable-looking and kissable-looking than it usually was.

But I resisted. I was determined to keep things platonic, as a relationship between an employer and an employee should be.

After dinner, when he gave me a very brief kiss on the cheek before he left, I stiffened, barely allowing the feel of his mouth on my cheek to even register. However, I seemed unable to ignore a slight tingling on my cheek all night, a tingling on the precise spot that Eric's full lips had touched. I went to bed that night unsettled, restless somehow, in a way that not even the sound of the nearby ocean waves could soothe.

For the next week or so, I barely even saw Eric. He'd given me a cell phone, saying that mine probably wouldn't work on the island; and he checked in briefly with me by text on the phone he'd given me, though he was all business, as was I. I was so busy with my work trying to help the women of the island that I barely had time for anything else.

However, one evening after a very long day at the clinic, I decided to take a walk on the beach by myself. This relaxing walk, with my toes curling in the warm, nearly white sand, eventually led me to do some exploring on a path that led from my bungalow into the thick, tangled jungle beyond.

At first, I simply enjoyed the feeling of being alone. After being with patients at the clinic all week, I needed the solitude. But after maybe a half-hour of walking by myself, examining the tropical flowers and wild, tangled vines all around me, I suddenly began to feel that I
wasn't
by myself, in a strange way I couldn't even articulate.

Wondering if someone had been following me, for whatever reason, I glanced around the jungle. "Hello? Anyone there?"

No one answered. Just a few tropical birds, who screeched while lifting from branches into the sky.

I tried again, this time cupping my hands around my mouth. "Hello! Is anyone there?"

Not a second after I'd spoken, two very strange things happened almost at once. First, a gray shadow, or what appeared to be a shadow, even though I knew it was a solid form, crossed the path maybe twenty feet in front of me. The shadowy form was in the shape of a wolf. I gasped, pretty certain about what I'd seen. No one had told me about wolves on the island. No one had said a word.

Then, in the next split-second, a roaring noise from somewhere far above caught my attention. I glanced up, trembling, just in time to see the form of what appeared to be a dragon soaring through a patch of blue sky between the treetops above me.

I gasped again, now panic-stricken. "Gotta get home."

I whirled around and began charging down the path that led to my bungalow. I knew I wasn't crazy. I knew I wasn't seeing things. I had, for certain, seen a wolf and a dragon. I hadn't even known that dragons actually existed, anywhere on earth. My tropical paradise, which the island had turned out to be, was now beginning to feel more like a nightmare.

It wasn't that I absolutely didn't believe in otherworldly creatures; to be honest, I'd always suspected there was more to the natural world than met the eye. I'd even somewhat believed in the existence of the supernatural. At least, a little. At least, I'd never
not
believed in it, despite being a doctor, and despite believing in the accuracy and power of science at the same time. It was more the shock of it. The pure, undiluted shock.

I'd seen a wolf in a tropical jungle. And a dragon flying overhead. I wasn't sure I'd ever get over the sheer astonishment. Or the bit of anger I was beginning to feel. Laura had never mentioned the existence of any dangerous creatures on the island, nor had Eric.

And it seemed like Eric, if anyone, should have. After all, Clearwater was "his" section of island. He was the one who'd hired me to try to solve the fertility problems of the women under his leadership. It seemed to me that he definitely should have mentioned to me the existence of wild animals before I'd set out on a hike. It seemed to me he should have mentioned this to me the very first day I'd arrived.

Fighting an increasing feeling of something surrealistic,  a feeling that was definitely mixed with more than a bit of fear, I sprinted on down the path toward my bungalow. It had taken me a half-hour or so to hike as far as I'd come, and I knew it would take at least fifteen minutes or so for me to run the way back. I didn't care, though. As long as I kept running, kept running as fast as I could, I knew I'd be okay.

Glancing up at the sky, I couldn't see any signs of the dragon following me or anything, and I didn't hear any sounds of the wolf I'd seen, either. I knew it was certainly possible neither of them had even seen me. It
was
early evening, after all, and the jungle was only dimly lit by the sun's last rays.

Still trembling from shock and fear, I told myself I just needed to get back to my bungalow, where I planned to catch my breath, then seek out Eric, and explanations. However, I didn't have to wait quite that long.

When I was maybe five minutes from my house, I spotted him just up ahead on the trail. I slowed, breathing deeply, trying to fill my lungs with air. Sweat snaked down the back of my neck, and I paused to blot it with the back of my t-shirt before decelerating my pace to a walk. One of the many things I loved about the island was that it was warm, but because of trade winds, it wasn't humid; but at the present time, because of my exertion, it felt like it was. Instead of shorts and a t-shirt, I felt like I was wearing a track suit.

Eric, though, didn't look similarly overheated. Not at all. Shirtless, wearing only jeans, he leaned against the trunk of a jungle palm, looking slightly worried, though cool as a cucumber at the same time.

When I reached him, he stood up straight, his dark gray eyes radiating concern. "Are you all right? We've had reports of some strange animals in the village, and I-"

"I just saw a wolf in the jungle, and a dragon. Don't you dare try to tell me I'm crazy. Don't you dare try to tell me I just saw something that wasn't really there, because of the heat and the sun. I know what I saw. I
know
it. I'm not crazy. I know I saw an actual wolf in the jungle, not more than twenty feet in front of me, and a dragon flying overhead. The dragon had bluish-grayish wings with pointed tips...I'm positive of it. I saw it that clearly. So, please explain. And no bullshit. I am so not in the mood."

With a look of discomfort mixed with something like resignation, Eric opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, I realized there were a few other things I wanted explanations about as well.

"Oh, yeah. While you're telling me just why in the hell I just saw a wolf and a dragon in the jungle, you can also tell me a bit more about Black Lake, because I get the feeling that everyone's not telling me the full story about it. Not you, not Laura, not Bev, not any of my patients, no one.

“And another thing, I'd also like to know why I haven't seen an airstrip anywhere in Clearwater, even though we
had
to have flown in on one in the jet. Or, at least, it
seems
like we had to have. Unless there's something really strange and supernatural going on here that you haven't told me about."

The fact that I still hadn't spotted an airstrip had kind of nagged at me all week, though as busy as I was, each time it came to mind, I quickly forgot about it.

Looking deeply into my eyes, Eric didn't answer right away. "Do you believe in the supernatural, Liz?"

Surprised by the question, I hesitated before responding. "I guess I've always been open to the possibility of it. Are you telling me that’s what's going on here? That there's something supernatural about this island?"

With the setting sun making his dark eyes spark with hints of gold, Eric took a step closer to me and extended a hand. "Why don't we head to your house, and I'll tell you everything."

A bit reluctantly, I took his hand. I still wanted to retain our professional boundaries, simply because I still felt like I should, and truthfully, I knew the feel of Eric's fingers entwined with my own was going to make that difficult. The sight of his bare chest was already more than distracting me a bit from my mission to get answers to my questions.

Not to mention that him offering me his hand was now making me wonder if Laura had really been correct, that Eric wouldn't mind if things between us took a turn from being strictly ethical. But then again, I reasoned, maybe he'd just offered his hand specifically because he knew it might distract me and prevent me from thinking of any more questions to ask him. Maybe he figured he was going to have plenty of explaining to do as it was.

Regardless of the reason he'd offered me his hand, it soon did jumble my thoughts and prevented me from thinking of any more questions. While we walked back to my bungalow in silence, my thoughts quickly became even further jumbled by peeks at Eric's very well-defined abs and the hard contours of his bare chest.

Despite the fact that I'd just been through a rattling experience, and try as I might, I found that I couldn't
not
look. I could definitely understand how a woman could become addicted to Eric's body.

Somewhat to my relief, when we reached my bungalow, he took a white t-shirt that had been dangling from his back pocket and put it on. However, my relief was strangely mixed with a definite pang of regret.

Once we were both seated on the couch in my living room with both of us kind of turned, facing each other, Eric didn't waste any time and got right to it.

"We're shape shifters. I am and so are all the men in my group.  We're human men who can also shift into wolves. I'm the alpha. The wolf you saw in the jungle earlier was one of my men, Nate. I've told him to keep an eye on you whenever you're out of the house. He's sort of been your personal security detail, even though you haven't realized it. I know he didn't intend you to see him today. My guess is that he spotted the dragon shifter overhead and became a bit distracted.

“Everyone in the village was a bit distracted and rattled to see a dragon above our territory, even though this was one I'd given permission to, because he wanted to look at Black Lake from a different angle, and he agreed to share information with me. I was worried that seeing him in the sky might scare you, though. That's why I came to find you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Right then, I was feeling decidedly
not
okay. In fact, I was having to work awfully hard just to keep my breathing at a normal pace. I felt as if reality had been turned on its head. I felt like I didn't know which way was up and which was down any more. My mouth had suddenly gone dry. I couldn't quite wrap my brain around what Eric was telling me.