ROMANCE: SHAPESHIFTER ROMANCE: Dragon Baller's Bride (Dragon Shifter Alpha Male Romance) (Paranormal Romantic Suspense) (6 page)

I fell into a deep sleep then and he laid his body on top of mine, holding me while he rested his head on my breasts. We woke up periodically throughout the night. And each time, we made love. I didn’t ask him to release me. I slept with my hands handcuffed to his bed, but with Greer, I felt completely safe. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me…unless I asked him to.

I
was
in a deep slumber when a noise pierced the silence and Greer immediately sat up next to me. I groggily looked around.

“What was that?”

He didn’t answer, he just leapt up and I instantly panicked. I was handcuffed to a bed and it sounded like a burglar was trying to get in.

“Wait here, I’ll be right back,” He said, and I sputtered as he quickly disappeared, “Greer! Don’t you dare leave me like this! Greer!”

I instantly shut up as I heard what sounded like something scratching at the window and then to my shock, an animal vaulted through the window, shattering it open as glass flew in all directions. It was a wolf and it pounced on the bed where I was and leaned over me, growling softly as it looked at me with eyes clearly showing it was moving in for the kill.

I opened my mouth to scream when another wolf appeared suddenly at the doorway of Greer’s bedroom and flew through the air. It tackled the wolf that had only a second ago been about to rip out my neck. I screamed and screamed and tried to pull the cuffs off the headboard with all my might, but to no avail. I watched in horror as the wolves flipped each other, tearing at throats, growls and howls ripping through the silence and then I heard a scream. It wasn’t my own and I searched for the source of the sound. I then heard a moan and the words, “Enough is enough, Leila.”

The wolves that had previously been in front of me attempting to kill each other had instantaneously transformed into humans, but not just any humans. One was Leila and the other was Greer.

“Get out of here, Leila. If I see you anywhere near Jasmine or my home, I will kill you, slowly. Do you understand? I will rip off every single one of your limbs. Is that clear? She is my mate and I will kill anyone who comes within an inch of her meaning to do her harm.”

His voice was dark and deadly and I knew he meant every word. Leila held her arm in her hand, blood pouring from where the bone and flesh were no longer connected.

She had scratches across her face and her features were lined with bitterness as if she didn’t feel any pain. She didn’t dare look at me though as she transformed into a wolf and crawled back through the window, disappearing into the night.

Greer stood at the window, watching Leila go. I lay there shaking, not believing my eyes. Finally, he crossed to the bed and reached for my face.

I flinched and moved my face away. The one man I could share everything with wasn’t a man at all. He was something else entirely different, some sort of wolf. A werewolf! And most likely he would kill me. I turned my face to him knowing I couldn’t delay the inevitable, determined to not show fear, as I met his eyes straight on.

F
ive minutes later
, I sat at the dining room table, facing Greer not knowing whether to flee or check myself into a mental hospital. To my surprise, when I expected him to kill me, he had instead released me. He had told me to leave if I wanted, that he understood if I did.

I had high-tailed it out of his bedroom as soon as he released me, not hesitating at all. I didn’t even bother to grab my clothes, but then I happened to look behind me. His face showed sorrow and deep regret. That wasn’t the face of a cold-blooded killer.

“Stay, let me explain,” he had then called out to me, apparently changing his mind about allowing me to leave. Every cell of my body wanted me to stay, but my mind told me to leave. I told my mind to hush. If he wanted to kill me, surely he would have already? Right?

I sat down naked, stiffly, my legs and sex feeling sore from our lovemaking. He went to walk towards me but I held out my hand.

“No. Stay there and explain. Come any closer and I’ll scream.”

He looked hurt, but said, “Fair enough.”

“What are you?”

“A werewolf, obviously.”

I didn’t know what else to say. “What happened? How did this happen to you? Were you born a werewolf? Is your mom a werewolf too?”

He nodded, not moving an inch, “Most werewolves are women. It’s rare for a son to carry the trait, so males who are werewolves are highly sought after. Leila was jealous.”

“So jealous that she wanted to kill me.”

He swallowed hard and said, “I would never let that happen. Not in a million years. I would rip her throat out before I would ever let that happen.”

I believed him. After all, wasn’t that evident tonight?

He gestured to a chair, “Can I sit down?”

“It’s your house.” I said in a noncommittal tone.

He sighed as he sat down and placed his face in his hands, “I’m sorry again. I couldn’t tell you obviously. How was that conversation supposed to start?”

I shook my head, “I don’t know. It’s not every day that a woman finds out her boyfriend is a werewolf. It’s a big secret to keep.”

He nodded, “You’re taking it surprisingly well though. I have to admit.” He met my eyes and reached for my hand. I hesitated and then let him take it. “I try to stay clear of relationships, but when I ran into you the second time around, I couldn’t help but ask you out. It was almost as if we were meant to meet again, so I pursued you.”

“And now because of that Leila tried to kill me.”

“She’s the jealous type that’s for sure.”

“More like murderous.”

“You won’t have to worry about her anymore. I guarantee that. Even if you walk away now, which I’ll understand, I’ll continue to protect you.”

His words were spoken sincerely. And I found myself believing them as I met his eyes.

“I don’t know what to say. How is a girl supposed to react when she realizes her boyfriend is a monst---?” I instantly stopped myself. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

He let go of my hand and said stoically, “It doesn’t matter. You’re right. How can you see me as anything else?”

He then stood up and walked away from the table and I heard the shower soon start. I was torn. I was frankly afraid to leave in case Leila was out there, but I also felt terrible for what I had said to Greer.

My mind made up, I walked towards the bedroom and retrieved my clothes. I was about to walk out of his bedroom and out of his life, but for some reason I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave things between Greer and myself where I had left it. He had listened to me talk about my past and hadn’t judged me and yet what I had done had been unforgivable, in my book. I had almost taken someone’s life. He had saved mine. I didn’t deserve a second chance. He did. Could I possibly make things work between us? I didn’t know anything about his kind. But maybe I could learn…

And as I dropped my clothes to the floor, I knew my decision was made. I pushed through the bathroom door and walked into the steam filled room. I saw Greer in the shower, his back was towards me and I knew he knew I was there as he abruptly turned around, pushing the water back from his hair. He was a gorgeous man, I thought yet again: A gorgeous, understanding man who genuinely cared for me. He had cared for me enough to risk his life to save mine and revealed a secret to me that he probably hadn’t told a soul. He watched me watching him and then he reached out a hand. I walked forward, opened the shower door and took it. And he embraced me as our lips met, hungrily kissing me, and I responded willingly, hoping that the feeling of being loved by Greer would never end.

“
O
kay
, okay, what do you call a cow asleep on the ground?” My nephew Jason said bouncing up and down. I placed my hand on my chin, pretending to deeply consider my answer.

“I don’t know…Hmmm. A sleeping cow?”

He began to laugh really hard, deep belly chuckles, and Kennedy poked her head around the corner and made a face at her brother. “You’re so silly, Aunt Jasmine. Ground beef. Ground beef is the answer, duh. Get it?”

She rolled her eyes and walked away as if she were fifteen. She was actually four going on fifteen, if you asked me.

Jason ran after her, “You weren’t supposed to tell yet!” And I could hear them arguing in the kitchen.

Nahla came into view, shaking her head as she exited the kitchen. “Let me reiterate Jasmine, if you want to babysit anytime you just ask me. It’ll give you plenty of important hands-on experience.” She pointedly looked towards my belly.

I laughed, “No thanks,” and I felt Greer’s hand reach out to place a warm hand on my tummy that was currently holding up a bowl of popcorn. It was that distended and round that I frequently used it to hold plates and trays. And that was often, because I ate all the time. I was about nine months along and due any day, and instead of feeling tired and cranky, I was practically glowing. I was excited to see what my baby would look like. I couldn’t wait to hold him in my arms. But I wasn’t ready to do the whole labor thing. And I’d had a perfect pregnancy. No stretchmarks, no varicose veins and no swollen ankles. I waddled and gained a ton of weight, but most of it was in my chest, so I was sort of happy about that. I just hoped that post-pregnancy, I would get to keep my current cup size. Greer certainly hoped so too.

I looked up at him as he started talking to our baby, pressing his ear against my stomach.

“Hey little one, are you ready to come out or are you going to bake a little while longer in there?”

“I think he’s going to bake a little while.” I said just to be contrary. Greer grinned, “That’s what you think.”

I felt my belly move as the baby rolled and Greer’s eyes grew big. “Is it time? Is he coming out?” He said startled, reaching for the bottom of my dress and peeking under.

I swatted at his hand, “He’s just moving around. He’s not coming out.”

Greer instantly looked relieved and I had to laugh. We were celebrating our first wedding anniversary this weekend after having lived together for about three years. It had been the happiest time of my life thus far, and Greer was responsible for that. Having his child was just icing on the cake, so to speak. His mother had even eventually come around when the presence of a grandson was announced. She had gone so far as to play an instrumental role in landing me my first big acting gig as a nurse on a popular TV show. I enjoyed the work. It was exactly what I dreamed of doing.

I relaxed against the couch, feeling grateful for all life had given me. I knew Greer would be a wonderful father, and as he chased the twins around leaving me to snack on another bowl of popcorn, I was happy. I had found the man of my dreams, and I thought to myself how funny it was that the man of my dreams turned out to not even be a man at all.

A
my was a CPA
, stuck at a CPA firm working for a man who seemed to hate everything and everyone around him. She didn’t really like public accounting, and every day she went to work thinking it was time to get out of public accounting and start working for a large corporation, or at least start her own accounting office. Good accounting jobs for the larger corporations were hard to come by, and no matter how many times she applied, she rarely ever got so much as an interview.

Mark was the CEO of such a large corporation, and after firing his CFO because he was too busy drinking as opposed to working, he hired Glommer and Glommer Associates to do his financial statements, payroll and tax returns. While this worked just fine, it was much more expensive than hiring a full time CFO but after the last one he was hesitant to hire anyone to be in charge of their books.

Amy got the new account of Carren Enterprises and while she normally has one of her bookkeepers pick up the information, she decides it’s about time she met the CEO of her largest account. Mark and Amy clash from the moment they meet, but at the same time they can’t help but feel attracted to one another, and Mark offers Amy the job of CFO on the spot.

With Amy in her dream job, will she be able to separate work from personal, especially when she finds out that Mark isn’t exactly from this planet?

A
my was
positive her boss was out to make her life miserable, but she hadn’t been able to prove it yet. Every day when she arrived in the office she got straight to work, always checking her emails and voicemails first and making sure she was on time with all her deadlines second. Every day her boss Jack arrived at nine, glared at her, and proceeded to point out that she had deadlines to meet and she should spend less time drinking coffee and more time working, before telling her to go get him coffee. Every day, Amy wanted to walk out and tell Jack where to shove his coffee only to be reminded that she had rent to pay and food to buy. Amy then proceeded to get Jack his coffee and after getting back to her desk, she checked the classifieds to see if there were any jobs out there. Every day she was disappointed and after a moment of drowning in misery, she’d get back to work to ensure her clients stayed happy.

Carren Enterprises was her newest account, while she had gotten a handsome bonus for signing them, and one of the other bookkeepers usually picked up the backups and documentation needed to prepare their financial statements. Those weren’t due for another two weeks, but on Tuesdays she also prepared payroll for them, which they emailed to her by ten in the morning. When Amy still hadn’t received it by eleven, she picked up her phone and dialed the direct line for one of the bookkeepers at Carren Enterprises. “Hi, this is Amy. I was just calling to see where payroll was?”

“Hi Amy. We are having some issues with our computers. Would someone be able to pick it up? I was able to print the spreadsheet but both our email and the fax machine are down.”

“Sure, I’ll come get it. I think it’s about time I meet you all anyway so I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

Amy hung up the phone and sighed. While it was true she really should meet the bookkeepers she worked with regularly, she also wished the bookkeeper who worked under her at Glommer and Glommer didn’t have the day off so she could go instead, like she usually did. Amy changed her status on the time entry program to indicate where she was going, switched her phone to out of office and walked out into the sunshine. It was a beautiful day, and Amy wished she could stay outside but instead she walked down the street to Carren Enterprises. It was only four blocks and walking was easier; the fact that it got her out of the office longer was an added bonus.

“Hi, I’m here to pick up a spreadsheet from Susanna,” Amy told the receptionist as soon as she walked in.

“She told me you would be coming. You can go right up to the tenth floor.”

“Thank you,” Amy said with a smile before making her way to the elevators. Carren Enterprises was a large corporation, employing thousands of employees and with revenues at hundreds of millions of dollars. She only did payroll for the management level salaried employees while the hourly payroll was outsourced, and for that she was glad. She looked around in interest and noticed that the walls were granite and the floors a beautiful stone. As soon as she stepped into the elevator, she couldn’t help but admire the beautiful woodwork that adorned the walls. It was clear that whoever had designed the building had not spared any expense and paid great attention to detail.

“Hi, I’m here to see Susanna,” Amy told the next receptionist up on the tenth floor.

“Go right on in, she’s the third office on your left,” the girl smiled back at her, pointing at the doors to her left.

Clearly the receptionist downstairs had called up to announce her arrival, and when she walked into Susanna’s office she was already out of her seat and ready to great her. “It’s so nice to finally meet you! I feel that so much is lost when you can’t put a face to the name. Here is the spreadsheet, before I forget. Also, Mark heard you were coming and asked me to show you up to his office so he can meet you. While he has heard great things about you from other clients you work with, he felt that it was important that he actually met you. Come on, it’s one floor up.”

The ride up was quiet, and the second they stepped out of the elevator Amy knew they were on the executive floor. Not only were the walls granite, the floors were marble. The chairs in the waiting area were nice comfortable arm chairs and there were large, expensive looking paintings on the walls. Large wooden doors to either side of the receptionist’s desk fit into everything perfectly, and yet gave a feeling of exclusivity at being allowed through them.

“Hi Erica, Mark asked me to bring Amy up,” Susanna told the receptionist.

“Thank you Susanna, I will let him know she is here.”

Susanna left and Amy turned to Erica, who was smiling sweetly. “Go ahead and have a seat, I’ll let Mr. Carren know you have arrived. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“That would be amazing, thank you.”

Amy sat down on one of the chairs, and soon Erica handed her a cup of coffee. Amy couldn’t help but notice it was a nice cup, not a cheap paper or foam cup she got at most places she went. She couldn’t help but appreciate the proper cup, as paper and foam had a way of making coffee taste different. She didn’t have to wait long and soon Erica was leading her through a hallway to the left until they came to more large wooden doors. Erica opened one of them, and gestured for Amy to enter, which she did.

The office in front of her was incredibly bright, which she attributed to the fact that the entire wall opposite the door was made out of glass. In the middle of the office was a large glass desk, behind which was a stern looking man looking at her. The marble flooring continued, as did the granite walls, and Amy found she truly loved the office and the layout. “Good morning. I’m Amy, I’m glad we finally get the chance to meet.”

“I agree. Have a seat.”

Amy walked towards the chairs in front of the desk and took a seat, getting her first chance to observe Mark up close. She realized he was a good looking man, if he would just smile instead of look so forbidding, with his green eyes appearing to pierce her soul. His black hair was neatly combed to the side, curling slightly at the end indicating that it was about time for another haircut to keep it nice and straight.

“Now that we’ve met, there is something I would like to discuss. We just received your invoice and I must say I’m shocked at how high it is. I mean, it is almost double what it would have cost me to simply hire someone, which I wasn’t expecting.”

“I understand, but if your bookkeepers would know what they were doing and would get us the information we request in a timely and orderly fashion, we wouldn’t spend as much time fixing everything. Our invoice is based on the time spent on your account.”

“I see. You think my bookkeepers don’t know what they are doing?”

“It’s clear they have some knowledge but they need someone to supervise them and they need additional training. Some of the mistakes are so basic I wonder if they even went to school for accounting.”

“Well you sure don’t mince your words. Are you always this straightforward with your clients?”

“I find that telling the truth works best. You asked why the invoice was high, I’m giving you the reason.”

“And you’re not worried about insulting me? I’m sure your boss would not be happy if we took our business elsewhere.”

“Look. I’m only on my third cup of coffee for the day. I need at least six or seven to care what my boss thinks.”

Mark raised an eyebrow at that statement, as it was clear there was no love lost. “So you think we can do better.”

“Yes. If I didn’t need my job so much I’d tell you to simply hire a new CFO who can oversee those bookkeepers and make sure everything is done right. It would save you money and it would save someone else the headache of figuring out what they did.”

“How would you like to be my new CFO?” Mark asked as if he had just asked her if she wanted more coffee, not if she wanted a job.

“What? You can’t be serious.”

“Oh I am. I think we could use someone like you around here and you’ve proven that you know the work and are capable of doing it.”

“I have a non-compete clause in my contract. I can’t work for you.”

“I’ll handle that if you want the job. It comes with a six figure salary if that helps? Full benefits?”

“You have got to be joking. Six figures and full benefits?”

“Yes, and I can’t be harder to work for than that boss of yours. You might not even need six cups of coffee first.”

“Look, I’d love the job simple because I’ve wanted to switch to corporate accounting anyway, but I can’t get out of that clause in my contract. I can’t work for anyone who has been our client in the past two years.”

“I’ll have my lawyers draw up your contract and get you out of the clause in your current one. Why don’t you come back after work on Friday, and we will have dinner and discuss everything?” If asked later Mark would deny having ever done this, but there was just something about this woman. He wanted to get to know her better, unrelated to work, and he knew the best way to do that would be to have her in the same building every day. Money could do a lot of things so he knew her contract wasn’t an issue, and the dinner was an excuse to see her again.

“I think I can do that. Don’t feel bad if you don’t succeed,” Amy said as she stood up to leave. “I need to get back to work. I will see you on Friday.”

Walking back to her office Amy couldn’t help but be slightly excited at the prospect of getting out of public accounting, even though she knew she shouldn’t get her hopes up. The job would be perfect, and silently she had to admit Mark wouldn’t be so bad to work for. If nothing else he was pleasing to look at while her current boss was mean and looked like a rat. She knew it would be challenging at first to get the bookkeepers to do things the proper way, but once she had policies in place and they knew they could come to her for anything, she had no doubt it would be a wonderful job. The salary wouldn’t hurt either, as she had seen what the previous CFO was making and if she made even half that she’d be tripling her annual income. Goodbye student loans, hello sunny beach vacations.