Read Billionaire Romance: Seduced by the Billionaire Online
Authors: Emelia Joye
Billionaire Romance: Seduced by the Billionaire (18 page)
Seven
In
the Park
“Where are you, Thom?” Natalia cried in silence. Outside her
car, she stood gazing across the park where she’d seen Thom last shape-shifted
– the night she held his brown bag he usually carried along whenever he
transformed.
Desperate to find him, she turned at her phone to see what
other parks she hadn’t searched yet. She’d been to the largest ones like the
Central, Bryant, and The High Line parks, but still, Thom’s shadow hid from her
presence. Natalia dropped her hand. Her phone showed every park there was and
the only one left was this, the one she was standing on right now.
Her phone vibrated. She brought it up and saw it was
low-battery. Then, it died. Nothing could get any worse than this. Through the
black screen of her phone, she mirrored the sky and saw the dark clouds veiled
the moon from shining. She sighed. Finally, Thom could return to his human
form. Now.
Natalia tapped her fingers on the roof of her car, biting
her phone to calm herself down. Exhausted, she forced herself to think of the
places Thom could’ve gone to hide and feed. By the time she realized she’d traversed
each park, the time ticked by without her knowledge. The night dug in even
deeper. All she could hear were the songs of the nocturnal animals and insects
in the park.
Where did he go?
she pondered. She got back to her
car as the night breeze chilled her flesh through the bone. She banged her
forehead against the wheel, waking up every animal through the sound of the
horn. Stupid. If the police officers heard her, she’d get busted from finding
where Thom was. Why did her life need to be so complicated? She fell in love
with her brother whose curse made her feel very agitated. And now, she had to
find him or else he’d be killed, or be the subject of the scientists’
exploration.
As anxiety knocked on her skull, she got out of her car to
continue her search. An empty can of soda blocked her way. To dissipate her
agitation, she kicked the poor can up in the air. It landed five meters from
where she was. But then, as the can met the ground, a mysterious movement stole
her anxiety. All of a sudden, she became excited of what, or rather, who was
hiding behind those thorny bushes. To find out, she took a step forward.
Crossing the road, she didn’t dare to look on either side
for any vehicles coming. She fixed her attention on what was going on behind
those bushes, hopeful it was Thom. But as she neared closer, the creature moved
away quickly. To match the creature’s speed, she fastened her pace and ran to
where the sound was coming from. The light pole turned on. Her heart pumped in
gladness to see a naked man running away…
She stopped and brought her hands to her mouth, making a
well narrow her voice for the greatest effect. “Thom…” she yelled as tears of
joy began trickling down her cheeks.
Come back to me, please…
she kept on crying. But this
time, her cry became the evidence of her yearning to see him again. Although
she didn’t really see his face, her instinct told her it was him. There was no
other place other than this park he’d go to shape-shift and feed. The animals
here were plenteous and there were many hiding spots he could instantly hide in
until the half-moon vanished.
The man stopped. Natalia wiped her tears away as she
waited for him to turn around and reveal himself. Slowly and excruciatingly,
the man turned around naked. Her eyes widened as she once again beheld Thom’s
face. In spite of his destructing nudity, she managed to focus her eyes on his
soulful countenance, as if speaking of his anguish to get rid of his curse.
Only if she could take it to herself she would, but Thom’s mistake intruding
the bear’s territory in Alaska had proven costly than what he’d expected. Poor
choice.
Both Thom and Natalia started walking forward. Every step
they took ate up the distance between them. The withered leaves crunched
underfoot like the chaff of grains being burnt into ashes. Natalia swung her
arms open for Thom to embrace, but she’d forgotten the night had still power to
manipulate the moon, thus Thom…
She beamed. “I’ve been looking for you all this time,” she
said.
Thom spread his bulging arms open, eager to hold her again.
“Natalia… You came. Thank goodness you did,” he admitted as his pace quickened.
Her tears dried up, drifted by the wind that swept across
the park. Her robe’s girdle loosened up, revealing what she was hiding underneath
it. She was just wearing her nighty without her bra on, but thankfully she wore
her panty.
Just above them, the dark clouds threatened rain to come
down. A spark of lightning almost blinded Natalia, but she managed to cling
onto Thom the moment the clouds released the moon. His back felt very much
comforting as it had always been. Her breasts pressed against his barreled
chest as he pulled her tight. His uncovered figure made her want to get laid,
but not here. Unless, they wanted to get imprisoned.
The moon shone over Thom. Again, his muscles began to swell
up. Knowing what was to come, he pushed Natalia away as quick as his claws came
out. “Run. Run…” he roared at her, but she was adamant to stay behind and
follow him. Dangerous as it might seem, she knew the consequence could cost her
life.
Natalia stood up from the ground. “No! I’m not gonna leave
you again… I-I can’t,” she confessed as the rain of tears streamed down her
face.
Within just a matter of seconds, Thom returned to his
vicious-self. He roared and roared to boo her away. As a dominant male, he beat
his chest to show his strength and capability to kill. But there was something
that kept him still and not attacked Natalia. Something beyond his
comprehension. Love.
Cheesy as it may seem, the truth must be told.
From the courage she learned from him, Natalia walked toward
him, untamed by his monstrous appearance. She kept her eyes engaged with him as
if hypnotizing him to do something he wouldn’t normally do. Surprisingly, Thom
walked backward. His eyes shimmered with fear and uncertainty. Whatever
happened, this was all Natalia’s fault.
An inch gap between them, she raised her hand and caressed
Thom’s furry cheeks. He stepped away slightly. He closed his eyes with a gentle
blink that assured Natalia there was no way he’d hurt her. Then, a miracle
happened. Thom gradually shrunk back to his normal height as his furs reduced
back into his skin. A moment of awe took her breath away, but he had no idea
what was happening. His eyes were still shut in fear of slicing her head in
half.
Skeptical that her touch had any power, she looked around to
find any sources of Thom’s curses’ reversal. But the park had its usual
features. Bench everywhere. Plants around the area. Nothing magical. Desperate
to make sense of things, she looked up at the sky and saw the dark clouds
forming as they prevented the moon from shining.
Right, she thought, disappointed that she didn’t do anything
special to help him in any way, except just being here with him to ensure his
safety. Thom opened his eyes.
“Natalia?” he smiled.
“You’re back. It’s you again,” she smiled back, beaming with
great delight.
Thom looked at his body. The first thing he noticed was his
manhood. Convinced he was really back to his human form, he brought his gaze
back at Natalia. “I-I’m back,” he laughed. “I’m me again…”
“Yes.” Could no longer help herself, she swung her arms
around his shoulder and pulled him into her. “Don’t ever leave me again. Okay?”
Thom embraced her back. This time, even tighter. “I
promise.”
After a couple of seconds, he pulled himself out. Again!
Natalia wondered. “Why? A-are you shapeshifting again?”
Thom whirled his head and rolled his eyes as if he was being
possessed.
“Thom, are you okay?” She shook him.
He opened his eyes. “Did you bring any clothes for me?” he
asked smiling.
Yeah. He’s back
, she thought. It had been a long time
since she’d heard him make jokes like this, and she was delightfully glad he
did.
“Nope. But you can have this for now.” She took her robe off
and handed it to him. “Wash it before you give it back to me, alright?”
“I’ll try.” Thom put on the robe.
Then, Natalia drove him away to her house…
© Copyright 2016 by Emelia Joye-All
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One
Natalia’s worry for her parents
“Your cooking
skills have improved, Nat. Is this what living alone does to a lady?” Thom
joked. It had been decades of minutes since Natalia heard his lame, but rather
humorous and funny jokes.
She poured the
milk into her bowl of muesli. As the milk drowned the mixture of cornflakes,
oats, dried fruit, and nuts as well as seeds, she noticed Thom was staring at
her with passionate eyes she’d never seen before. Careful not to make the
situation awkward, she let him steal an image of her in his mind.
“You want some
too?” Natalia reached out the milk to Thom.
“It’s okay. I
prefer mine a little drier,” he smiled, glad to have her back. Lately, he
hadn’t been eating breakfast. Not that he was lazy, but rather, Natalia wasn’t
there to dine with him. With the deepened contour of his cheeks, she could tell
he lost weight days after she left.
Natalia sat
down next to him. The crunch of the cornflakes in his mouth told her that he
was really hungry as if he hadn’t eaten for weeks. Droplets of milk smudged all
over his unshaved chin. She turned her gaze to her own bowl, contended to be
with him again. But then, as she scooped a spoon of the muesli, Samantha came
to mind. And then, Thom’s parents. Her parents.
As discomfort
crept into her, her hand trembled, risking the spoon to fall back to the bowl.
She tightened her grip on the spoon, so much that she felt she slightly bent
it. But at the end, she managed to overcome her anxiety and mouth the muesli.
Only, it tasted nothing. Water might have tasted even better.
Thom drunk the
remaining milk in his bowl, oblivious of what was going on inside Natalia’s
mind. It took him a good minute to realize her silence. Frowning in wonder, he
glided his right hand over hers. Then, squeezed it slightly to tell her his
concern, as if his crossed face was not enough to speak on his behalf.
“Nat, are you
okay?” Thom loosened up his grip on her hand.
“Sorry?”
Natalia wondered. She didn’t even feel Thom’s squeeze. Her mind drifted at the
thought of what their parents were going to say if they found out about their
relationship. She’d been worrying about Mellissa breaking out the news to her
parents. On their way back to her house from last night she found him in the
park, Thom told her what Mellissa knew about their relationship. Yes, of
course, it scared her but what else could she do to cease the inevitable?
Eager to
comfort her troubled soul, Natalia watched Thom glided his other hand from
under the table to its surface. His arms and hands gathered scars, freshly
wounded from last night. She held her breath as to cease her tears from
streaming down to what happened to him. Although it wasn’t her fault, she felt
a little guilty for what happened to him.
Stunned, she
let him take her hands into his. “Tell me, what’s bothering you right now? Is
it because I’m in your house? Don’t worry, I’m gonna–”
“No. It’s not
that,” she quickly replied, destroying the misconception conceived in his mind.
“Then, what?
Why are you sad all of a sudden?” His voice raised a note higher than usual.
Though he tried to calm down, seeing her upset and discontented forced him to
show his true nature. Not of a vicious and dangerous werebear, though, but of a
man fraught with love and passion.
“Nothing. Don’t
mind me. I’m just feeling a little ill at the moment,” she lied. But through
scanning the tone of her voice, Thom knew she wasn’t telling the truth.
To play safe
and not accuse her of anything, he stood up and brought the back of his right
hand on her forehead. “You feel a little warmer than usual. But I think you’ll
be fine, don’t you think?”
“Yeah…” she
sighed, disappointed that he couldn’t read her mind.
Thom sat back
down. Connecting her hands in every gap of his hands, he pulled her a little
closer and then imparted a honeyed, but cheeky smile at her. “You know that you
can trust me, right? I’m not forcing you to tell me what’s on your mind, but if
you really trust me, you’ll tell me what bothers you.” His tone became stern.
Natalia perceived he wouldn’t let go unless she confessed first.
“Alright,” she
agreed. “I’m just thinking about last night. I wonder what would have happened
to you if I wasn’t there?”
“I would have
been grilled and eaten by the drunkards roaming around the street,” he said,
riding her game. He knew she was thinking of something else. Something he
couldn’t quite visualize.
Natalia forced
a smile to abolish the suffocating awkwardness between them. “Yeah, I think so
too. Be thankful I saw Mellissa on T.V. or else I wouldn’t have known you were
in trouble…” she laughed slightly, making a joke out of what happened last
night.
Thom frowned.
“Mellissa? She was on T.V.?”
“You don’t know?
I thought you were in her house yesterday?”
With that, he’d
totally forgotten to ask Natalia about what really bothered her. Subdued by the
news, Thom looked away and stared at the wall, thinking about what Mellissa
might have said to the media.
“What did she
say?”
“She said to
the reporters that there was a wild bear in her backyard. That you are her
boyfriend and such and such…” she proclaimed, a little distraught to say those
words, especially when she said Thom was Mellissa’s boyfriend. It provoked her
to the bones.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I know
it’s not true, but she shouldn’t have lied. I mean, there’s plenty of guys out
there… Anyway, has she texted you yet about what happened last night?”
“No.”
Before Natalia
could even part her lips to utter, Thom quickly jumped in again.
“Wait. I think
she might have known everything. I left my clothes and phone at her house so
she might have found out what I am…” His voice faded as his mind worried about
what Mellissa knew about his curse.
“So she knows
you were the bear in her house? No way. She can’t possibly guess that so
quickly. Has she seen you shapeshifted before?” Natalia’s face turned grim,
alarmed by the situation.
Thom paused for
a moment. Bringing his memory to the past, he tried to rewind everything that
had happened between them.
We first met at the kindergarten and then we
attended at the same primary school before she came over to England with her
dad… and then, at the airport, we met again after fifteen years. After that, we
had sex in the resort,
he recalled.
“That’s right. We had sex in the
resort…” he shouted aloud, unaware of the impact it had on Natalia.
“Excuse me?” she said, disgusted
with what he’d said.
Thom’s countenance reddened,
ashamed to reveal his adulterous act. “I mean–”
“Yeah right. You had sex with
her in the resort and I was there listening outside the shack. I bet you didn’t
know that did you?” she snapped.
Thom’s mouth muted, caught off
guard.
To alleviate the oppressive
atmosphere lingering around, Natalia stood up and grabbed her bowl. She hadn’t
even finished her muesli yet as her anxiety killed her appetite.
Thom watched her leave as he
followed her every move to the sink.
“You were there? Does that mean
you followed us on that day? I mean… I didn’t expect you to, but…” he played
with his words, prudent not to say any more wrong adjectives that could hurt
her feelings.
“But you were too busy having
fun with her that you failed to smell I was there,” Natalia finished. Dishes
washed, she grabbed a tea towel to dry them up. She then brought her gaze back
to him.
“No, it’s not that. Anyway,
let’s not visit that anymore. It’s in the past so it should stay in there
forever,” he said. He grabbed his glass of water and took a small sip to calm
his nerves down.
“Okay, then.” Natalia stared at
the glass he was holding. Still attached to the real problem, she visualized
how their parents would react if ever they paid them a visit today. Would they
understand everything? Or would anger and disgust shed blood at their
revelation?
Disturbed with the situation, Thom
couldn’t go for another bowl of cereal. He rose up and wiped the fragments with
his hand on the table. Some of the bits and pieces fell to the floor, but
Natalia ignored them. She’d vacuum them later.
“I could wash these for you,” he
offered, raising his dirty plates and glass up in the air.
“It’s okay, bring them here.
I’ll wash them for you,” Natalia said, wiping the remaining glass.
He’s
changed quite a lot
, she thought, seeing some progress in Thom’s attitude
as if he’d been naughty lately.
Thom walked forward and dropped
the plate into the sink.
I think she’s a little tired from last night, so
I’d just wash this
, he convinced himself, despising Natalia’s command.
As Natalia heard the water tap
going, she turned around only to see Thom had begun soaping the plates and
glasses. “You don’t have to do that, you know. You’re a visitor here, so please
have a rest. You’re still tired. Take a sit and watch something on T.V.” she
suggested.
“It’s alright. Take this as the
token of my apology. You’ve always been there for me. Now, it’s my turn,” he
smiled, genuinely contrite with all the trouble he brought to her life.
Giddy, Natalia couldn’t help but
blush. Her cheeks reddened as her flesh began having a sudden spasm, caused by
Thom’s sweet and honest compliment. But then, her anxiety attacked her
happiness again. Her countenance fell at the thought their parents would cast
them away. Being brought up as a Christian, she knew what they were doing right
now was against the law of the God of The Bible.
But we’re not real siblings
,
she protested.
Saddened by the complicated
situation, Natalia headed to the dining area to clean it up.
Thom followed her with his eyes.
A strong feeling compelled him to confront her of the real matter. “It’s okay,
you know. Mellissa and I aren’t together anymore. I don’t love her the way I
love you, Nat…” he said out of nowhere.
Astonished, she just stared at
him for a couple of seconds, letting his words sink into her mind.
Did he
just say he loves me?
She wondered, skeptical of what he’d just said.
“Thanks!” she blushed again, but
this time, her cheeks looked like an over-ripe red tomato. “But, that’s not
what I’m thinking right now…”
Thom’s eyebrows met. “What is it
then? If it is about me and Mellissa having an affair, please forget it. We’re
done,” he assured her.
Natalia diverted her gaze to the
window. “No, it’s not that. I’m just thinking about what our parents would say
if they found out about us. Are they able to accept us?” She turned her gaze
back to him, seeking for a definite and certain answer.
“We’ll try. We’ll go back home
and tell them everything. Dad might understand, but I’m not too sure about mom.
She might feel sad…” Thom stooped down, soaking his hand with the water flowing
out of the water tap.
She walked around the table and
headed back to him. “What about Mellissa? She knows everything now. About our
relationship and your ability to shapeshift. I don’t want to ruin everything we
went through, Thom…” she cried out, desperate to get this over with.
Thom turned off the water tap.
“We’ll visit her first, and then mom and dad afterward. What do you think?”
“Sounds great, I guess.”
Seeing her tearful evoked his
tears to trickle down too. He walked toward Natalia as he swung his arms open
to embrace and comfort her. As his arms landed over her shoulders, she couldn’t
help herself but cling to him. Tight and secure, she could feel every inch of
him, from cell to the tiniest tissue of his muscles.
Thom held her tight. “Don’t
worry, everything is gonna is fine. Don’t lose hope, we’ll get through this, I
promise.”
Instead of speaking, Natalia
held him even tighter as a sign of her agreement.