Nine Inches of Snow and the Ebony Princess (7 page)

Philomena brought up her hand to strike when a low growl rose up from the opposite corner of the room near the door.

Both women turned at the same time.

54

Gracie C. McKeever

Aziza smiled when she saw her furry friend from the night before. Now she knew who and what he was—a manifestation of her desires, but so much more than her father could have ever predicted.

“That…that’s a wolf.”

“You can see him?”

“Of course I can! What kind of hospital is this?” Philomena pulled her arm again, and this time, Aziza let her go.

She didn’t know how, but David would stop her stepmother.

Philomena ran for the door, but not before the wolf leaped through the air and landed on her back with a resounding thud.

Philomena crashed to the floor beneath the animal’s weight, turning on her back to ward off his attack and screaming for help when the wolf stood on all fours on top of her, baring his teeth.

When David’s grandfather burst into the room trailing two police officers and another man Aziza didn’t recognize, Philomena was wildly flailing her arms and screaming for help.

To everyone else in the room she looked like a woman suffering from delirium tremens, but Aziza knew the wolf was still on top of Philomena. Only now, he was lapping at her face like a domesticated dog.

It took everything in her to keep from laughing and giving herself away.

“Get this wild beast away from me! Get it away before he kills me!”

The two policemen stepped forward, one on each side of Philomena. They each took an arm and dragged her to her feet. “Is this the woman who dropped off the damaged Benz at your shop, Mr. Lemeauix?”

Philomena glared at the man standing behind the two

uniformed policemen and spat, “You treacherous bastard!”

He just smiled while the two police officers dragged her out of the room past him.

Nine Inches of Snow and the Ebony Princess

55

One of the officers stopped in the door as his partner waited for him in the lobby. “We’ll need you to come down to the precinct to finish giving your statement, Mr. Lemeauix.”

David’s grandfather spoke up, grabbing one of the younger man’s hands in both of his and vigorously shaking. “I can’t thank you enough for contacting the authorities with your information.”

He handed the man a business card and slapped him on the back.

“Call me when you’re ready to receive your payment.”

“I’d have done it for free, just to see the look on that uppity bitch’s face when they took her away.” Lemeauix took the card, jerked a thumb at the door and smiled before bidding David’s grandfather good-bye and heading out in the hallway behind the two policemen.

Before the door could close, Nurse Goodwich popped her head in, a wide grin on her face. “Coast clear?”

“All clear.” David’s grandfather smiled, went to the door, and pulled her into a one-armed embrace. “I’ll be out with you in a minute.”

Aziza noticed the proprietary way he held Nurse Goodwich before guiding her out the door, felt a tingle between her legs at the memory of David handling her the same way and wondered just what was going on between the two older people. Whatever it was, she thought they were two of a kind that made a perfect couple, both protective decision-makers.

David’s grandfather came back to the bed, where she was standing beside David. “I gave the rest of the family instructions to stay out in the waiting room. You won’t have any interruptions from them. And that fine Nurse Goodwich has taken care of things on her end.”

“Her end? Interruptions?”

He put an arm around her, the same way he had done with her supervisor. “To keep you from doing what you need to do.”

“Oh yeah. That.” Whatever
that
was.

56

Gracie C. McKeever

Lead our David out of the darkness...
How was she supposed to do that?

David’s grandfather gave her arm a squeeze before releasing her. “Just follow your heart,” he whispered, then left.

Aziza stood at David’s bedside, looking down at him. After a long moment, she reached out a hand and ran her fingers through his silken waves.

He looked so serene, she almost didn’t want to wake him. Like his grandfather seemed to think she could.

Follow your heart…

Right. God, if she was wrong about this…

Aziza disengaged the ventilator and waited a beat as she watched his chest. No movement. No spontaneous respirations.

She didn’t panic, simply bent over the side rails, closed her eyes, and sent up a quick prayer to forgive her folly when she pressed her lips to his.

She opened her eyes to stare at him. Nothing. Not a blink.

She’d just try it again and again and again until it worked.

Aziza pressed her lips to his, firmer this time. After an endless moment, she felt his tongue thrust into her mouth, stroking hers.

She jerked up her head with a gasp, stumbling back and almost falling into the chair behind her. “David!”

“Who else were you kissing?”

She lowered her face for another kiss, this one deeper and longer, and when she came up for air, she whispered, “You scared me.”

“Didn’t mean to.”

“Were you…you know, outside your body watching me when I disconnected your ventilator?”

He nodded.

“And you weren’t worried?”

“I knew you wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”

Nine Inches of Snow and the Ebony Princess

57

She wished he had said something, because she hadn’t been half as sure as he sounded. “Between you and your grandfather…”

“He’s a smart man, and I’m learning more from him every day.” David cupped her face and drew her closer. “Kiss me again so I know I’m really alive and that you’re mine.”

Aziza kissed him, becoming more alive beneath his lips when he claimed hers. She wondered what it would be like to make love to him after they both shifted.

She felt him smile against her lips once she completed the thought and pulled back to ask, “What’s so amusing?”

“You won’t have to wait long to find out what it would be like.”

“What—” She snapped her mouth shut, almost afraid to ask.

He took her hand and held it. “Your father told you what you needed to know about your soul mate. He didn’t tell you what you needed to know about yourself.”

“You mean—”

“Once we consummate our relationship in the real world, your first shift will occur.”

She gaped, too stunned to speak.

He laced his fingers through hers, held her wide-eyed gaze.

“Don’t ever be frightened of me, Aziza. Don’t be frightened of what you are.”

“No. Never.”

“Tell me you want this.”

“I want this. I want
you
.”

“Good.” He nodded. “Rest assured, if Philomena ever gets out of prison—and knowing my Dad and Gramps, that’s a remote possibility, but if she does—we’ll both have something waiting for her. She’ll never hurt you again.”

Aziza liked the sound of that.

58

Gracie C. McKeever

NINE INCHES OF SNOW

AND THE EBONY PRINCESS

A Siren Adult Fairy Tale

THE END

WWW.GRACIECMCKEEVER.COM

AUTHOR’S BIO

Gracie McKeever is an author from the Bronx, and aside from several side trips along the way, has lived and worked her entire life in the New York City area. She has been writing since the ripe old age of seven when two younger brothers were among her earliest, captive audience for various short story readings and performances.

An eclectic and voracious reader whose audience has grown outside of the supportive family members, she's had the great fortune of being able to incorporate two of her favorite passions and talents—reading and writing—as a book reviewer for several online e-zines, both as a regular staff member and freelancer.

Her short stories, novellas and poetry have seen exposure in various lit and art magazines and other venues—online and in print. Of particular note, heard over the airwaves on KFJC’s morning show, Dancing In The Fast Lane With Ann Arbor (Unbedtime Stories) out of Los Altos Hills, CA (
New Life
Incognita
was the story of the month for March 2000). She's also proud to be a member of the ("Worlds' Oldest Active Homeless Paper") Street News family and has seen numerous articles, poems and novel excerpts published within its pages as well as having had a poetry reading on Pseudo On-line Network (Street News Review).

In 2001, Gracie caught the erotica bug, sinking her teeth into her first erotic e-book for a review, and hasn't looked back since, an instant affinity for the genre spawning her first erotica title,
Beneath The Surface
, published in 2006 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

Visit Gracie’s website at

www.graciecmckeever.com

TU

UT

Other books by Gracie C. McKeever at

www.sirenpublishing.com/graciecmckeever.com

TU

UT

The Matchmaker, Book 1

Beneath the Surface : Terms of Surrender : Manifest
Destiny

Angela Calminetti, mother of five, New Age practitioner and gifted psychic and telepath, is proud of her family ties and does everything she can to make sure that all of her younger siblings are as happy in love and marriage as she is…whether they want her to or not.

Note: Each book is written to stand alone.

Beneath the Surface

Former Madison Avenue ad exec EJ Vega just landed a seven-figure advance from Renegade Publishing. Older sister Evelyn convinces him he needs a fashion makeover before he goes on his first national book tour and has just the person in mind to turn his wardrobe inside out. EJ, too late, recognizes the handiwork of his oldest, matchmaking sister Angela, and by the time he realizes what he's gotten himself into, a very hot and uptight personal shopper has invaded more than just his wardrobe; she's invaded his soul.

From a broken home and driven by past demons, Tabitha Lyons is the proprietor of flourishing
Lyons Style, Inc.
and knows success when she sees it. In EJ she sees not just success, but sexy and sin with a capital "S." She doesn't want to turn his wardrobe inside out as much as she knows EJ will turn her world upside down...

Sensuality Rating:
Scorching

Genre:
Contemporary Paranormal/Psychic/Interracial
STORY EXCERPT

BENEATH THE SURFACE

The Matchmaker, Book 1

By Gracie C. McKeever

Copyright © 2006

“I have your two o’clock here, Tabitha. Mr. Vega?”

“Send him in.” Tabitha sat behind her desk and hit Escape on her keyboard.

Eric strolled in just as his dossier reappeared on her screen, and Tabitha swallowed at the sight of him, suddenly wishing she had stuck with her usual formality when they’d been on the phone and kept their relationship on a strictly last name basis. She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea, especially since her own treacherous hormones already had the wrong idea and had her pussy muscles clenching in response to his tall height and broad shoulders filling the doorway as he paused on the threshold.

Instant attraction. Not only was it not good, it was unprecedented.

Tabitha stood up behind her desk and proffered a hand across the glass top as he approached, thinking Evelyn had somehow bamboozled her and that her brother’s profile did not do him a bit of justice. There was nothing about the man that needed to be

“made over.”

He was inhumanly gorgeous, the black hair he had mentioned in his profile was sleek and wavy, worn in a longish but masculine and neat style combed back off his forehead and glistening beneath the fluorescent lights of her office.

Tabitha slowly moved her gaze down, taking in the aquiline nose, angular jaw, and cleft chin—the cleft he had neglected to mention in his profile as he had mentioned his dimples—

immediately drawn back up to his indigo eyes, ridiculously long-lashed, so dark and intense they almost looked black.