ROMANCE: MC BIKER ROMANCE: Bad Boy Biker's Baby (Bad Boy Alpha Male Motorcycle Club Romance) (Contemporary MC Biker Pregnancy Romance) (85 page)

“No… I guess you didn’t.  But let me tell you… humans can’t bear the children of shifters.  You have a
bear
growing inside of you.  How well do you think that will go?  That thing will rip you open from the inside.”  Jay continued to spew these lies at her.  Kerri tried to block them out.  She tried to ignore him but soon enough she started to believe him.  What if he was telling the truth? 

“It will be a very painful death.  Much worse than a normal birth.  The bear will claw its way out of you, causing immense pain and then you will bleed out.  Sounds fun, doesn’t it?”  He grinned as he looked at her horrified look. 

“The truth of the matter is that bear of yours.  Patrick, is it?  He used you.  Shifters like us only use human women to carry our children.  He doesn’t love you.”  The words pierced through Kerri’s chest like an arrow.  She felt like her heart was breaking into a million pieces.  It couldn’t be true, could it? 

“Patrick just used you,”  Jay said the words casually.  They ripped through her soul.  Tears started to spill out of her eyes, trailing down her cheeks.  She couldn’t believe this.  She loved Patrick.  She had trusted him.  Now she felt so betrayed. 

“But don’t worry sweetie.  I will put you out of your misery before that happens.”  Jay grinned at her as he pulled out a gun.  Kerri’s eyes grew large as she looked at the black barrel pointing at her.  He had the gun between her eyes, his finger on the trigger. 

“Don’t worry this will be a quick and painless death.”  There was a smirk on his face now.  Kerri sobbed with terror as she closed her eyes and uttered a small prayer.  She didn’t want to die. 

She flinched as she heard him cock the gun.  She knew the end was near and started to tremble.  She tried to plead with him through her gagged lips, but it was useless. 

Jay was about to pull the trigger when a crashing noise sounded throughout the room.  Patrick, in his bear form, suddenly tackled Jay to the ground.  The gun flew to the other side of the room, out of his grasp.  The two of them started to fight, their animal forms roaring and lashing out at each other.  Suddenly, Patrick turned into his human form and dashed for the gun.  He grabbed it quickly and pointed it at the wolf.  Without reserve, he pulled the trigger.  Jay hit the ground, lifeless.  Patrick unloaded the gun to find silver bullets.  How ironic. 

Patrick then made his way to Kerri, who was sobbing.  He quickly untied her before pulling her into his arms. 

“Shh… it’s okay now… you’re safe… he’ll never hurt you again.  I promise.”  He whispered as he kissed the top of her head.  She cried into his chest for a moment.

“P…Patrick?”  She whispered softly, looking up at him with red-rimmed eyes. 

“Yes, sweetie?” 

“J… Jay… said that you were using me… that the baby would kill me…”  Kerri was going to continue when Patrick stopped her.  He gently put his finger to her lips.  He gently took hold of her face, his hands on her cheeks. Their eyes locked. 

“Would I ever hurt you?”  She hesitated before shaking her head.  “And do you know why I would never hurt you?”  She again shook her head. 

“Because I love you.” 

****

THE END

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The Gambler’s Bride – A Clean Western Romance

Chapter One

The sun was burning brightly in the Virginia sky. Caroline was grateful she had thought to wear a pretty hat with a wide brim. It kept her face from burning. She walked briskly down the sidewalk, anxious to get home. Her shoes were beginning to wear and she hadn’t thought to ask her mother to purchase her a new pair while she was out.

She preferred to choose her own shoes anyway. She would just go past the store on her way to work in the morning and stop for a pair. She passed several young men who were walking in the opposite direction. They all looked at her and smiled. She smiled back.

She could see the differences in their smiles and wondered if they realized they did that. She passed them every day on her way home. One of them was tall and thin and though he wore a shirt and tie, he didn’t look like he was coming from an office. The two with him were dressed in work clothes. They were shorter than their companion and were almost always covered in dirt. It was an odd sight until Caroline became used to seeing them.

Over the last six months or so of passing them every day, she had noticed that they all looked at her in different ways. The tall one greeted her with a quick nod of his head and half a grin. One of the other boys gave her a leering look and his eyes scanned her from head to toe every day. The third was the one she liked. He looked friendly, his smile was warm and genuine and she saw a gentleman in him.

The three never spoke to her and she never said anything to them.

She was almost home, turning onto her street and walking to the third house on her left. She didn’t look up at it as she went through the gate and down the sidewalk, missing all the new flowers that had recently been planted and the artfully shaped sculptures and fountains that dotted the wide green yard. The groundskeeper was a master at his craft. But Caroline didn’t notice.

She went up the steps to the front porch, crossed it and pulled open the storm door first. She went through both doors and immediately stopped to the sound of upset voices in the den. She made a beeline for it, dropping her light shawl, which she had regretted taking in the first place and her hat on the foyer table.

“Who’s there?” She asked as she went, not recognizing the voices. She was surprised when she turned into the den to see it was her family that was upset, not some visiting stranger. Raised voices were not common in Caroline’s home. Her parents were extremely calm people, upstanding citizens in their small town.

“Caroline!” Her little sister Dorothy came running over to her and threw her arms around her middle.

“Ooof, Dottie, what’s the problem?” Caroline attempted to disentangle herself from her sister’s grip, but Dottie was too upset.

“Oh, Caroline, that’s it. We’re done. Nothing left. It’s all gone! Oh, Caroline!”

Caroline looked up at her parents in confusion, but they weren’t much help. Her mother was holding a glass that had some type of liquor in it, probably brandy. Another wave of shock went through Caroline. What in heaven’s name could have happened that would make her mother drink the brandy that had been in the cupboard ever since Caroline could remember.

“Please someone tell me what’s going on here?” She said, taking her sister’s face in between her hands and giving her kisses on her forehead. She hugged her and Dottie finally released her.

“It’s a terrible situation for us, Caroline.” Her brother replied. He was standing with their father next to the huge bay window, staring out over the land, where their cows and horses were.

“What is?”

“We’re bust! Got no money left! We’re done!” His words came out forceful and he didn’t even look at her. She shook her head.

“I am afraid I don’t understand, David. What does that mean?”

Her father was the first to look at her. His round face was red with anger and frustration. When he spoke, she knew the underlying pain in his voice was real. The anger he felt wasn’t directed at her, she could see that. “Mr. Stapleton has up and stole all the profits from our restaurant for the last three years. He’s been fudging the books, lining his pockets with stolen cash for a long time. Now he has disappeared and no one knows where he or the money he stole is at.”

Caroline frowned. “I don’t understand. How can that be? Is there anything you can do? Do you know where he is?”

Her father shook his head. “I don’t know where he is. There is nothing I can do. He has pulled off a scam that will ruin this family. We can’t keep the business going for long with no money behind it. We would have to start from scratch with a corner food stand.”

Fear ran down Caroline’s spine. The restaurant had been her family’s life. They all worked there, they were comfortable because of it and the plan was to continue running it for the next hundred years if possible. Without it, there was only her job.

Her secretary’s job.

She looked around herself at the furnishings and other luxuries she hadn’t seen before. Her mind even took her to the front yard, where there were beautiful sights to be seen. This would all disappear.

Her breath caught and her mind began to race. There had to be some way to prevent this from happening.

“Father,” she said. “What will we do? Do you have a plan?”

He stomped to the couch and dropped down as if he had given up on life. “Right now, I’m too angry to think of one. Surely there will be one. But no, I have no plan for now. We will have to do something.”

“Can we get a loan from the bank?” Caroline sat next to him and put one hand on his knee. “Papa, we have to do something! We can’t just give up.”

He nodded. “Oh, we might not have a choice, daughter. Our loans at the bank are already in place from the expansion this summer.”

Her heart fell into her stomach. She had forgotten about the expansion. They had been considering opening another restaurant, as well. She shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. The weight of it all gave her a headache.

She lowered her head to her hands, trying to think. No loan from the bank. No money in profits. Very little in petty cash kept on hand in the restaurant safe. What would they do?

Dorothy began crying loudly. “Oh, papa. We will be living on the street.”

He shook his head. “No. That won’t happen, Dottie. We will get through this. God is on our side.”

“On our side?” Dorothy stood up, her small face pale and thin. Red rings had formed around her eyes and she shook her long brown curls around as she spoke. She clenched her fists and stomped her foot. “If he was on our side, then why did this happen? We haven’t done anything wrong to deserve this! We go to church every Sunday and all that. Why would he do this to us? Why didn’t he stop Mr. Stapleton??”

David was the one who replied to their sister, looking at her, his hands pushed deep into the pockets of his pants, his suit jacket open and pushed back behind his elbows. “That’s not the way he works, Dottie. You’re just too young to understand it.”

“Well, I don’t understand it! I don’t understand it!” She stomped her foot again. “Mr. Stapleton is the Devil! He’s the Devil!”

With that, she turned on her heel and ran out the door, weeping. David turned back to the window. Her mother began to cry. Caroline stood up.

“I’ll go after her. I will talk to her.”

She was out the door only a few minutes after her sister and could see when she opened the door that Dottie was already at the barn. She was going for her horse. Caroline had to get to her before she went riding off. She wasn’t in the mood for a horse race.

“Dottie, wait!” She called out. Her sister stopped at the door of the barn, turned back to look at her and then dropped to her knees, crying. Caroline ran to her and dropped to her knees next to her, wrapping her in her arms tightly. “Sshhh. It’s going to be okay, Dottie. It really is.”

“No. This is too much. We can’t run the restaurant with no money. You heard what Daddy said.”

“I did. But you have to trust that things are going to work out the way they should. There is always a blessing on the horizon.”

Dottie shook her head, covering her face with her small hands. “No, Caroline. This is too much. This is too much. God hates us.”

“Dottie, don’t say that. You know that isn’t true. He has blessed us tremendously all through our lives. There are dark times, too. You can’t expect all sunshine and roses all of your life.”

“Why not?” Dottie was just being unreasonable. Caroline could tell that even her young sister could see that. “I want sunshine and roses. I don’t want to be desolate and poor. Where will we live when they take the house? Why is God doing this to us?”

“Dottie, this isn’t the work of God. This is the work of evil. It was evil and deception that caused Mr. Stapleton to do what he’s done.”

“But why did God allow it to happen to
us
? We are good people!”

“He doesn’t exactly allow these things to happen. He just takes what’s bad and makes something good out of it. This is a fractured world, Dottie, it’s imperfect and there are bad people who don’t know or care about following God’s laws or even moral laws.”

Dottie snorted.

“Please don’t believe otherwise, Dottie, just because you are in a bad place. You can’t lose faith because he is going to come through for us. There will be a way.”

“Lots of people lose their money and never recover.”

“Lots of people don’t know God. When you have to start out all over, you have to trust that he knows what he’s doing and that he’s there with you through the storm.”

Dottie became quiet, her tears stopped. She was thinking about Caroline’s words. She didn’t really see what God could do at this point since he didn’t give money out like a bank. She looked up at her sister’s eyes.

“Do you really think things will work out just because we go to church every week?”

Caroline smiled softly. “No, that’s not what I’m saying, Dottie. I’m talking about faith.” She put her finger on her sister’s chest just above her heart. “It’s in here. That’s where you have faith. And if you have it, you will have peace, too. Trust in him. He will give you peace to get through this.”

Again, Dottie was quiet, staring out over the land. “I don’t want to leave here, Caroline.”

“I know you don’t. I don’t either. We will have to see what happens. But right now, we really need to be strong for mama and papa. Do you agree?”

After a moment, Dottie nodded. “Okay, Caroline. I’ll pray on it and maybe he will make me feel better and bring someone who will give Daddy a lot of money and everything will be okay.”

“That’s the spirit, honey. You pray and we’ll see what happens.”