Shifter’s Baby (Alpha Fantasy Paranormal Billionaire Shifter BBW Romance) (36 page)

Mia was still standing at a bus stop in outer Brooklyn, crying, when Jayden pulled up in his car.

“Sarah? What are you doing here?” he said, bewildered.

              Mia was crying so hard, she couldn’t get the words out. “It’s.. it’s a long story.”

              “Well, why don’t you get in the car, and I’ll take you home, okay? What are you even doing out here, anyway?”

              “I just had something I had to do… I really don’t want to talk about it right now.”

              “You know what?” Jayden asked. “Why don’t I take you to see the fireworks on Coney Island tonight.”

              “Okay,” Mia said, too exhausted to protest.

              Later that evening, Mia and Jayden were sitting on the beach, watching the fireworks and eating cotton candy. Jayden had his arm around her, and even though Mia felt extremely guilty for everything that had happened, she was actually having a pleasant time. But then, Jayden leaned in to kiss her, and she decided she couldn’t lie to him anymore either.

              “Jayden, I can’t do this. I have something to tell you. Please don’t hate me. I never meant to do you any harm.”

              She told him the entire story, from Lillian hiring her to investigate Xander, to Robert Jackson blackmailing her, and everything that had happened in between. Although Jayden seemed a little put off at first, he was eventually sympathetic to her story.

              “I’m not coming back to work,” Mia said. “I just got in way over my head. I never meant to hurt anyone, I swear. I was never going to go through with the revenge plan. And I do like you a lot, Jayden. You’re a really great guy. I’m just sorry we met under these circumstances.”

              “I understand, Mia. I’m really sorry you got caught in the middle of all of our drama. I’m disappointed, but I wish you luck with everything. “

              “I hope all this stuff with Robert Jackson works out. He’s one scary guy.”

              “He sure is. Why don’t I drive you home now?”

              Mia cried in the car the entire way home. She was so upset about the way everything had happened. She truly loved Xander, and she had hurt him terribly. Even though he wasn’t always the best guy, she knew she wanted to be with him, and now that would never happen.

              She sat down to send an email to Lillian. She informed her that she would be quitting the job and refunding her money, and that Xander had found out the truth about everything. She left out the part about her and Xander actually falling in love. She wanted to keep that between them.

              She pressed send and then went to bed for the night. She cried herself to sleep, and slept fretfully until she was awakened around one in the morning by a loud, forceful knock at the door. She went to go answer it, and found an unidentified man standing there. Before she could ask him who he was, he grabbed her, covered her mouth, and put a black bag over her head. She felt like she was drowning. She couldn’t breathe at all. She tried to scream but didn’t have any air in her lungs. So, eventually she passed out into her kidnapper’s arms.

              Mia woke up in a vacant and run-down warehouse, tied to a chair. The man who had taken her was there, keeping an eye on her.

“Who are you?” she screamed. “What is this!? Why did you take me!?” She started to cry again.

She didn’t think she had ever cried so much in her life, and wondered if her body would ever run out of tears.

              “I work for Robert Jackson,” the man said. “He will be here any minute. He wants to speak with you.”

              Robert entered the warehouse a few minutes later, wearing his usual expensive suit and tie. Mia wondered what time it was . Was it still the middle of the night? Or had the day started? Where were Xander and Jayden, were they at work right now? They were probably her only hope of getting out of here alive. Although, given the information they had found out last night, she wasn’t sure either of them would actually want to save her.

              “I’m sending a picture of you to Xander.” Robert said, pulling out his camera phone. “If he doesn’t sign the contract in the next four hours, you will die. Simple as that.”

              “Xander won’t care,” Mia said. “We had a huge fight last night. He wants me out of his life completely.”

              “I don’t believe that,” Robert said. “You have a hold over him, and Jayden too. This will work. I’m sure they will be banging down the doors of this place as fast as they can get their limos over here.”

              Mia shook her head. She was sure she was going to die. “You weren’t there last night!” she screamed. “You don’t know how angry he was!” And with that, she closed her eyes and waited to die.

***

After waiting for over three hours, Mia decided that there had to be something she could do to escape. She started messing with the knots in the rope that was holding her to the chair. Luckily, she realized that one of the threads was loose. She kept picking at it when her captors weren’t looking at her. She was pretty sure if she could just undo the knot, she could run faster than Robert and his guard. After all, she’d been an athlete in college, and neither of them looked like they were in great shape.

              After half an hour of undoing the knot, it finally came loose. Mia ran as fast as she possibly could, heading for the door to the warehouse. Robert and his guard started shouting. Just as she opened the door, she felt a searing pain in her right shoulder blade. Robert had shot her. She managed to make it out of the warehouse and into an alley a few blocks away, but at that point she was bleeding so heavily she couldn’t go on. She had to hide. Robert would be coming for her.

              She turned around at the sound of sirens passing. Xander’s limo stopped behind three police cars. He had come to her rescue! He saw him jumped out of the car and rushed towards her direction.

“Mia!”  Xander said as he picked her up in his arms. He looked agitated and apprehensive. Mia was starting to feel woozy due to the amount of blood she was losing. She tried to reach and hold him, but she passed out, once again just before he could utter a word.

***

A few days later, Mia woke up in the hospital. Her best friend Lily was there with Xander, looking over her bedside.

“What happened?” Mia groaned. “How long has it been?”

              “You escaped Robert and his guard, but you were shot,” Xander said.

              “Oh. Oh, that’s right. God, what an insane week,” Mia said, tearfully. She was actually referring about her whole affair with Xander, and not this particular incident. Then, she turned to both of them with teary eyes.

“I’m really glad to see you both here,” she stated.

              Lily leaned over and gave Mia’s hand a quick squeeze.

“I’m glad you’re alright,” she said, thoughtfully. “I’m going to give you two some privacy,” she added and walked out of the room.

              Mia looked up at Xander, unable to comprehend what’s on his mind. So much had happened between them at this point that she didn’t know where to start.

              “I’m sorry,” they both said at the same time, and then both laughed.

              “Mia, will you give me another chance?” Xander said, holding her hands. “I was too quick to judge you before. I want to hear your side of the story. Because the truth is, I’m in love with you, and nothing is going to change that for me.”

              “Xander,” Mia said, sobbing in an instant. “I should have told you the whole truth earlier. I was never going to go through with Lillian’s revenge plan, because once I actually met you, I realized that I was falling in love with you too.”

“I know,” Xander whispered. “I can feel how you’re sincerely in love with me every time we were together. I was so dumb to actually doubt you, baby,” he admitted.

Mia finally burst into tears. “You have no idea how you made me glad for this,” she said. From now on, you don’t have to worry about Jayden. And I already broke up with him that night. I told him everything, and there are no hard feelings.”

“Yeah, I heard about that,” he replied, a trace of triumph was evident on his face. He leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. “Well, I guess now we can start over together,” he added happily.

“I-I think so,” Mia answered, kissing him back.

“Oh, God! I swear I love you, Mia,” he uttered, holding her completely.

“I love you, too, Mr. Will,” she said, as Xander wiped the tears in her eyes.

THE END

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Married To The Dragon

Dragon Shifter Romance

 
By: Lisa Cartwright


Copyright 2015 by Lisa Cartwright - All rights reserved.

In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

Lois smiled at the client, though there was something strange about him. Ever since she started working for Colin, it was never a dull day. And he never had a dull client. The tall, older man in front of her was in all black and had a pasty parlor to his skin. One would think that there was an unnatural glow to his eyes and an emptiness that made her want to look away. It was just another day at Castine, Inc. He was a lawyer/mediator of some type, but Colin liked all the strange jobs. He hardly ever went to court, everything was settled quietly and though she was sworn to secrecy by the contract she signed at hire, Lois knew more than most humans ever should.

Colin did not just take the strange jobs, but the clients that were strange. There were fights over castles, disputes over blood rites and of course, centuries-old divorces. This was law on crack and there wasn’t a basic justice code like there was in the human-world, in the para-world there were always new ways to solve an old problem.

“Mr. Castine will be out with you in a minute. Would you like something to drink?”

The Casper-white client shook his head and sat down. Vamps never said much to her, so she went to prepare a drink to suit his type. Handing the warm glass to him, he finally smiled and she wished he hadn’t. His sharp, white teeth were showing from his grin. “Thank you Lois.”

It was hard to shake the feeling of a man like that, saying her name. But after several months of working there, it seemed she was getting used to it. Funny what a person can get used to under the right circumstances. Lois had a reason to be there though. She was paying off a debt to the owner. That bound her to him in a way that assured her silence, forever.

Several months before, the day they had met, Lois was introduced to the mystical world like most were, right before she was scheduled to die. Her fate was different though and Colin had intervened to the err of many in the para-world. So her servitude to pay off the debt was in the way of an assistance job, with good pay so she didn’t have much to complain about. Her life had taken a strange turn and Lois had to admit, she kind of liked it the way it was turning out. There was never a dull day at the office. Her nights were lonely and she felt like she did not belong with the humans anymore, but her days were filled with such excitement, that it somehow made it all worth it to her.

Picking up the phone, she called the number for his office. “Mr. Redcliffe is here to see you Sir.”

She heard a sigh on the other side. “Just call me Colin Lois. You have been here long enough, no more Sir.”

“Yes Si…Colin.”

It was strange to her to call him by his first name, it seemed too personal. Her personal life was not the best and while she shouldn’t have been attracted to him, knowing what he was, Lois could not help but feel her heart patter harder in her chest every time she even heard his voice.

The dark-haired man came out, his eyes studying her for a minute before he waved in the client. He was there for a divorce, after five hundred years. Lois did not even want to think about what kind of an arrangement to split assets like that would look like. Surely it would be much more complicated when there were generations of children and centuries of wealth accumulation. It was not something that could be fought in any real court, so they went to Colin to mediate it.

Her eyes flicked to the clock, hoping that it would move faster for her. Her stomach grumbled and though she was used to her new life and job, the smell of blood in the morning never sat well with her. It was an hour till lunch and the hands on the clock mocked her instead of moving like it was supposed to. She fidgeted in her seat. There was nothing for her to do, but wait for noon to get there. When it eventually did, she was out of her seat like a rocket.

“Lois?”

“Yes Sir?”

He groaned and gave her a grimaced look. She couldn’t help but call him Sir. Colin just seemed to personal for her boss. Colin was name that she would scream out at night with him touching her. Her cheeks got red and she couldn’t believe that she was thinking in that way. She had it bad for someone that she could never be with. Seemed about right to Lois.

“Colin, Lois. My name is Colin. Every time you say Sir, I look for my father to walk in. I was hoping you would want to go to lunch with me. You always peel out of here without a word. I think it is time we get to know each other.”

The way he said it made her pause. She wanted nothing more than to get to know him, but she was afraid that she would end up embarrassing herself. Every time she got around him, her IQ went down fifty points and she was left a stuttering fool. “Um, sure.” She sighed to herself. There it goes again.

“Great. Let me just grab my coat and you can ride with me.”

Being alone in a car next to him did not bode well for her intelligence and she hoped that it was going to be a quick trip. “Sure, sounds good.” Fuck, it sounded great, but it would not end the way she had fantasized about it so many times in her head. Humans were not allowed to fraternize with paras, even if they wanted to. With Colin, he would have to marry her to mate her and she knew that it would not happen. With races that were far more worried about bloodlines than humans, there was no way her lineage would be enough, deemed too weak to carry on the lines.

She turned red with her train of thought. Lois knew that she was just dreaming, her employer far too handsome to deny, no matter what he was or capable of doing. All Lois wanted, was to feel his body against her just once, in the way that she needed. Her heart rate was already spiking, her breathing becoming labored as she followed him out into the cool crisp air. He held the door open for her, always the perfect gentlemen. Lois sighed to herself in the car. What did she have to do, to get him to notice her in the way she wanted. Not just as an employee, or some human girl, but a woman that he found enticing?

Pulling the red skirt down that was too short when she stood up, the garment rose dangerously high as she sat back in the low-riding seats. She waited for him to get in, his eyes never straying far from the windshield. How could he not know how much she wanted him?

“You like Italian, right?”

Lois nodded, figuring he was going to take her to the only nice place in town. Of course that would be it, she thought. Guys like Colin, while down to earth, were still filthy rich, unlike everyone else in the small town.

She said nothing as they passed Mataranos in town. It was the only place you could get Italian and she was confused. “I thought we were going there?”

“God no. Have you ever seen Mack wash his hands before?”

Lois crinkled her nose and laughed. “Ew. You know you just ruined the only restaurant in town that I actually liked. I can’t afford it, but you know, I was saving up for it.”

His eyes were sharp for a minute. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything. I am sure you pay me enough.”

“I do, but I don’t like thinking about you not even being able to afford a meal. How much do I pay you?”

She gave him the number and he honestly looked shocked. “Is that standard?”

“Sadly yes. But you know, the weird factor makes it worth it. And you saved my life, so I figure I would work for less, free even.”

Lois really hoped that he didn’t go with her words. She was already scraping by and any less, she would be homeless.

“I had Cindy in accounting take care of it. She said it was a competitive price.”

“It is, the competition just sucks though.”

“I will take care of it.”

The two fell in silence, her eyes taking in the harbor as they passed and then parked alongside the Marina. His boat came in view and her heart hoped that was where they were going.