ROMANCE: BAD BOY ROMANCE: Basketball Daddy (BWWM Alpha Male Billionaire Pregnancy Romance) (African American Unexpected Pregnant Contemporary Romance) (121 page)

“Kiki, wake up.”

She heard his voice and peeled open heavy eyelids to see a blurry Spence looking down at her. Her whole body ached. She pushed herself up in bed and covered her mouth, her eyes wild as she realized she was about to throw up. Spence, sitting on the edge of the bed, handed her a trash can and helped keep her hair out of the way while she threw up.

When she’d finished, Spence handed her a glass of water and took the trash can into the bathroom. The smell in the room didn’t fade enough, though. She could just reach her tote bag on the floor and pulled out her wand, then pointed it at the window and cast a spell to open it. The breeze felt nice on her clammy skin.

Spence came back in and took his seat beside her again. “Everything is going to be okay.” He beamed at her and handed her a small glass bottle filled with a red-brown potion. “Drink this.”

“What is it?”

“Just drink it. It will cure you.”

“Spence. What is it? Where did you get it? What does it do?”

He closed his eyes briefly and looked frustrated. “I will explain everything after you drink it.”

“Well, I’m not drinking it until you do.”

“Kiara!” He punched the bed with his fist. “I went through a lot to get this, now just drink the freaking potion before I hold you down and pour it down your throat.”

“You went through a lot?”

He groaned and rubbed his face. “Yes. I had to convince Sindri to make it, okay? I went to the haven—and boy that was fun—but he made it and he said it’ll cure you.”

“What did you have to do for it?”

“I gave him my blood.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. Now drink.” He pulled the stopper out of the glass bottle and handed the bottle to her.

She poured the liquid into her mouth and swallowed. It wouldn’t matter at this point if what he said wasn’t true. She was dying anyway. No potion could do worse damage than that. The liquid tasted horrible, and she could taste the blood he’d mentioned. The thought made her want to throw up again.

She closed her eyes, still holding the bottle in her hand. Within seconds she started to feel better. She smiled at Spencer. “I feel better already.”

He beamed and kissed her.

“I can’t believe Sindri made a potion to cure me! Wait, how did you know his name?”

“Ah, you slipped up once when you were talking about him.”

“And all he wanted was your blood?”

“Yup. Well, sort of.”

She sat up straighter and pushed the covers back. Her stomach didn’t feel like it would turn anymore, but there was a new sense of dread that settled there. What had he done? “I knew it. I knew it couldn’t be that simple. What did you do?”

“It’s not that big of a deal, relax. He took my ability to shift. And yours.”

“What?” She sat back against her headboard, stunned. She couldn’t change into a dragon anymore and neither could he? If it meant she was going to live it shouldn’t matter that much, but this felt like a huge loss. Her heart felt hollow, as if someone had just reached in and ripped out a piece of her. She hadn’t been able to become a dragon for more than a few months, but she loved it and it felt like part of her. She’d been powerful and special. And now she was just a witch again? A witch with limited, human senses and human power?

“I’m sorry I tricked you. I should have told you, but it was the only way. I was able to convince Sindri to make the potion because none of the dragons liked that I was more powerful and was basically a freak of nature or whatever. So I gave it up and unfortunately they said that because we caused too much trouble together you had to give up your powers, too. Honestly, I think they were kind of happy to make that exchange. Though Sindri said he’ll show up at some point and wipe our memories so we don’t remember any of this.”

“But I’ll live?”

“Duh. You think I would have bothered otherwise?”

She tried to let that sink in. Slowly, little pieces of what this meant came to her. There was one thing that would be better. “And now you can be in the moonlight without having to worry.”

“True. I guess there’s one positive. And my dad won’t freak out about us crushing nature anymore with our giant tails.”

“Can we still do magic, though?”

“Of course. You can’t lose that ability, it’s in our blood. And you were right. I asked my dad. There’s no way to give anyone the ability to use magic. It only comes through the bloodline. Not even a blood transfusion would work because their real blood would replace it, though they could technically do spells while they had the magic blood in them. It’s complicated, but anyway. We’re just a witch and wizard couple now from magical families.”

“Okay.” She nodded her head slowly. She still felt sad about losing her dragon form, but it meant they would live, and they wouldn’t have this awful secret to keep anymore. And if they could still do magic, it wasn’t that bad. “I can live with that. So long as we’re alive and together.”

“We’re alive and we’re together.” He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “I was thinking about something.”

“What?”

“Do you know anything about the bonding ritual?”

“The one that bonds two people forever through their blood?”

He nodded. “And allows them to better sense each other and know each other?”

“Yeah. It’s like having a part of that person inside you.”

He pulled his lips into a sly grin. “Not that I don’t like having other parts inside of you, but what if we did it?”

“You want to do the bonding ritual with me?”

He nodded. “It’s more powerful than marriage. Though I guess we could do that eventually, too. If you wanted to.”

“I wouldn’t dare miss my chance to wear a white dress and throw a huge party.” She giggled. “You really want to do this?”

“Yes.” He took out a knife and looked at her questioningly. “As long as you want it.”

“Yes.” She took a long, deep breath. “This is huge, Spence. You know that, right? People get divorced, but there is no undoing this spell. Once we’re bonded, we’re bonded for life.”

“For all of the eternity, actually.” He winked. “Kiara, I love you more than anything. More than dragons or magic or even life itself. When you were sick, I thought about what it would be like if you died. Then I started thinking of how I could go with you, because I don’t want to live without you. You sacrificed to save me, I sacrificed to save you. It’s clear we’d do anything for each other. I want to be connected to you forever.”

Tears came to her eyes at his words. She never thought she’d have someone want to be bonded with her. Not even all married couples did it because it was so permanent.

“I love you, Spence. More than anything.”

He held her gaze for a long, intense moment before he made a small cut in his right wrist and cut hers in the same place. They pressed their wrists together and said the words of the spell in unison. She felt a new warmth enter her body and then a strange, minty taste in her mouth.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you chewing gum?”

He smirked and pulled back his lips to reveal a white clump of gum. “Can you taste it?”

“Yes.” She giggled. “Wow. So weird.”

“Drink this.” He handed her the cup of ginger ale her mom had left her earlier. He closed his eyes while she drank. “Wild.”

“I wonder how it would feel…” She bit her lip and looked over at her bed, then back at him.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “You sure you’re up for that?”

She nodded and grinned. “Definitely.”

He put a hand to her cheek. “I love you. So much.”

“You gave up power, strength, riches, and increased magical ability for me, then bonded your life to mine. How could I ever doubt your love?” She kissed him and they didn’t let go for a very long time.

*****

THE END

Bonus Book 25: The Shifting Billionaire's Mate

By:
Eliza Moon

Description

A curvy bartender at a strip club PLUS a smoking hot billionaire PLUS a secret that reveals itself during the full moon!

Twenty-two-year-old Lucia James works at a strip club. She is a curvy girl who tries to do the right thing for her little sister Daisy. After their mother died, the little girl had no one else, and the job helps Lucia keep their heads above water...

Lucia sacrifices everything out of love, but sometimes life just gets her down. She assumes that she can make up for it later.

But that happens more quickly than she expected when she meets one of the richest men in Atlanta, Remy James...

Of course, she meets him at the strip club. What kind of man is he? Can she really give into him? She has to consider Daisy as well.

But their attraction is strong, and Lucia finds it harder and harder to deny him with every day. He is gorgeous and intense, not giving up on his pursuit of her and claiming her as his own...

But then Remy tells her his secret and shocks her even more.

Lucia will have to work all of that out in this tale of love and attraction, destiny and fate. Can she look past the glaring truth to the man he really is?

Chapter One

I opened the back door to the bar and walked through the hallway. I listened to the chatter in the dressing room between the girls as I rolled my eyes. I didn’t love my job at the local strip club in Georgia but it paid the bills, and that was what I needed right now. I was raising my little sister Daisy after my mom had died a year ago, since Daisy’s father had left when she was just one. Mine stepped out in the form of cancer, so we had nobody, since they were both only children.

Now she was seven and needed a lot of things for school, and bartending at this dive brought in a lot of money to rent a decent apartment for us and keep our heads above water.

Yes, I am a bartender at a strip club. I am not a size zero, and I have way too much dignity to get up on that stage and take my clothes off. I make great money selling drinks to the fools that buy them for the girls, thinking that it’ll get them somewhere with them, and we charge a lot for all of our drinks. I guess, as far as this kind of establishment goes, The Goods was a better place than most in this town. I also had a sweet old lady neighbor who watched Daisy in our place after she was asleep.

“Luci, my girl,” my boss greeted me, as I gave him a dark look. “How are you tonight?”

“I am peachy, Thomas. I am going to make you a whole lot of money.” He was a bit of a creep, but he left me alone for the most part and bothered the strippers.

“Good. Amber Rain is dancing tonight, and she should bring in a good crowd. She was just in a series of films that did very well,” Thomas told me, as I nodded and walked behind the bar. I dressed in tight black jeans and a very fitted tank top, which was white and boasted the name of the place over my generous breasts. It was low cut and almost sheer, so I chose to wear some colorful bras underneath to cover my own goods and keep something to the imagination, given the men in here bug me as much as the dancers.

I locked my purse up in my locker under the bar and hung my jacket up on a hook against the wall before I looked down the long wooden bar. I was working with Jenna tonight, who was a hardworking girl and knew her stuff. It was half full of customers now, and I pulled my black curls into a high ponytail and took a deep breath.

After I’d helped a few people and got the crowd settled, I took a good look around. Most of the men who came here were middle class and hung out around the front hoping to get lucky, but we also had tables in the back for VIPs. Those guys had a lot of cash and paid well to sit there, and there looked to be a full group gathered at the middle one. That meant a successful night all around. “Who’s over there?” I asked Jenna, as she pulled her hair up before taking a long drink of ice water.

“His name is Remy James. He’s one of those independently wealthy types that does a little of this and that and makes billions, though I couldn’t name one of his businesses right now. I just know that he is hot, and he tips very well. The man loves to drink and hold court, as you can see,” Jenna said, as she gave me a smirk. She was a bubbly little strawberry blonde with huge green eyes that knew just how to work the crowd. She also had huge tits and wore tiny camisoles under her tank top that left little to the imagination.

One of the waitresses walked over with an order from the table and, since it was for a crowd of twenty, Jenna and I split the order to make it faster and agreed to split the tips down the middle. She worked here to support her two-year-old son, since his father had taken off, so I respected that. We poured the whiskey and tequila from the top shelf bottles and arranged them on two trays so Bella could carry them in two trips.

The announcer stepped onto the stage to tell the crowd that Amber Rain would be performing in a few short dances. Until then, he was going to introduce some of the local girls to get the party started, and the beat to one of the favorite songs right now started playing.

A redhead took the stage and began to move against the pole as I cleaned up the bar for the next group of people who would come for drinks. I was just finishing when I glanced up into a pair of sapphire blue eyes and the best mouth that I had seen on a man in years. He also had a tall, muscular frame and soft dark hair that hung down to his shoulders in tousled waves.

To put it mildly, he was gorgeous. I didn’t get affected by men all that much, so that was saying a lot.

“Can I help you?” I asked, as I leaned forward just enough to flirt a little bit and batted my fake eyelashes at him. I had learned in my first year how to act for more tips, but I was also very capable of keeping it harmless.

“I would like a Tom Collins, if you would.” He spoke in a low, throaty voice that reminded me of a fine whiskey, and I blinked slowly before nodding. “Top shelf, please.”

“Of course,” I assured him, as I grabbed a glass and started to mix the alcohol in one of the clean mixers. I could feel his eyes on me the entire time as I worked, and I got nervous with the intensity of the look.

“Remy! What the fuck are you doing at the bar when we have our own waitress?” a booming voice called out, as I raised a dark eyebrow in curiosity. What was the billionaire doing at the bar?