Shifter’s Baby (Alpha Fantasy Paranormal Billionaire Shifter BBW Romance) (70 page)

Chapter Three

Victoria Manning opened the telegraph notice. It said, “You’re hired. Have wired money to Kansas City Bank & Trust. Come quickly.”

She happened to be in her classroom at the time. She dismissed her class and took a carriage to the bank. The money was there. She withdrew it, packed and was on the 2:15 PM train west.

Chapter Four

Artimis called his partners together. He and two other men sat at a table in the upper room of the Bright Diamond Saloon. They occupied their hands with well-played and ruthless hands of Texas Hold ‘em.

The man to the right of Artimis said, “Raise two hundred.”

Artimis tapped his cards on the table. “The bastard’s going to find a whore to have his kid. I wanted him to contest the will.” His hand moved quickly and efficiently. “See the two hundred.”

The man on the right was named Tim Rheihnold. He was a little below medium height and tubby. His skin was sallow and had a yellow tinge. He had no hair on his head of any kind. He said, “Can you tell me again, why we don’t just shoot the asshole.”

“Denver’s not the kind of town that lets you get away with that. It used to be but not anymore.” He looked at Tim with aggressive eyes. “There’s another reason.” He paused. He was demanding that Tim ask him about the other reason. He needed to assert his dominance in their little group.

Tim waited until he knew Tim wasn’t going to go forward with the game or anything else until Tim asked the question. “Okay. I’ll bite. What’s the other reason?”

“Because I said so. That’s the other reason.”

Tim carefully and obviously looked Artimis up and down. After a significant period of time, he said, “You’re not bulletproof.”

Both men started to rise from their chairs and their hands went to the revolvers in their holsters. A bored voice stopped them. “Gentlemen, sit back down. We’re together for the money, not to be each other’s bosom friend. Raise another hundred.”

Both men took their seats. Artimis examined his hand again. “See the hundred.” His chips clinked against the others already in the table.

The third man owned three banks and a railroad. His name was J. Wilkinson Hardy. He was patient and thorough with strong charisma. He never got excited and never took chances.

Tim said, “The river, gentlemen.” His thin fingers flipped over an ace. It lay on the table demanding that something be done.

Texas Hold ‘Em is a variation of straight poker. Everyone starts with two cards hidden in their hands. They bet. Three cards are dealt face up (the flop) and the players bet again. The dealer throws another card called ‘the turn’, then another card called ‘the river’. The player makes more bets, players fold or stay, and the players put down their cards. The hand is decided according to the traditional hierarchy of winning combinations in traditional poker.

If the player has strong confidence in his cards, he can bet everything. It’s called, “All In”. Artimis called, “All in” and shoved all of his chips in the center of the table. Artimis never showed any emotion over the cards in his hand. Neither of his opponents had any idea about his ability to strip them of everything they had.

Hardy folded, with reluctance and threw his cards on the table. The cards included another ace.

Tim waited. He had to think about his odds of winning the hand as well as the position of himself and Artimis in their trio. A loss could damage either one of them. Having put all of his chips in the game, Artimis held the high ground.

Tim threw his cards in. “Damn.”

Artimis finally smiled. As he retrieved the cards and shuffled them, he said, “We don’t kill Nathan Burdette. That would lead straight back to me. And we don’t kill which ever woman he uses to get the heir. That would lead straight back to me. We let the state kill her.”

Hardy grunted. “The long way around I say. What if you can’t make the state dance to your tune?”

Artimis gave them another smile. “With my contacts in Denver? Not much chance of that.”

Chapter Five

The train steamed into Denver the next morning.

Nathan stood straight and tall and tight lipped on the platform. Victoria walked off with her face set in a neutral expression. She was withholding judgment until she saw the man in person. She wasn’t going to contribute her virginity to an ugly or an old man.

She studied the tall man waiting for her. Her mouth curved into a restrained smile. She thought, “If that’s my future husband, I don’t object. If I must have sex, he’s not the worst partner.”

Nathan removed his hat. “Miss Manning, I’m Nathan Burdette. Thank you for your quick action.”

Victoria shook his hand and noticed the confidence in his manner. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Burdette.” Victoria liked dealing with confident men. Discarding them was easier. No gaping wounds to embarrass her.

“Let’s get your luggage and go to the office of the Justice of the Peace.” He stopped speaking. “Let me explain the reason for the speed at which we’re moving through this process. My father left me a gold mine with more than three million dollars worth of gold ore still untapped. He constructed a will that forces me to marry and produce an heir before I can touch it. I don’t want to offend you, but I want a marriage without emotional entanglements. I don’t mind the presence of a woman in my life. I just don’t have the time or resources to look after her. I hope that doesn’t offend you.”

“No, it doesn’t. In fact, that is exactly what I’m looking for. I love being alone and independent and will continue that state for the rest of my life. I would also like to raise a child. I see this as an arrangement that will meet both our needs.”

The wagon was loaded with her bags and suitcases. Nathan helped her up the first step. Her back was toward him. He glanced at her body and said, “Just a minute.”

Victoria glanced over her shoulder. “What is it, Mr. Burdette?”

“I noticed your exquisite shape as you climbed the step. I have never had the pleasure of a woman’s intimate company. I must say you are lovely indeed.”

Victoria didn’t blush, as a rule. In fact, she hadn’t blushed since Mr. Simpson, the chemistry teacher, got his pants caught on fire and had to shed them quickly. His long underwear was burning also and she had her first look at a man’s equipment. She hadn’t blushed since that time until now. She paused to see if it she could get it under control and found she couldn’t. She didn’t turn around, simply said, “Thank you, Mr. Burdette. That is an enjoyable compliment.”

They boarded the wagon. She smiled at Nathan who smiled back.

Nathan said, “As I said, this business has to be completed as soon as possible. If it doesn’t distress you, we will proceed from the Justice of the Peace to a room in a hotel and make our first attempt at creating a child at that time.”

“I love action, Mr. Burdette. Your plan pleases me.”

The ceremony at the Justice of the Peace was very quick. When the Justice said, “I now declare you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.” Neither moved. They didn’t look at each other or say anything. After long moments of embarrassment for Nathan and Victoria and the Justice of the Peace, Nathan thanked the Justice and they left.

They drove in silence to the Denver Prime Cut Hotel. Nathan had a room reserved. They completed the necessary ritual of checking in and walked upstairs.

They hit a snag as soon as the door closed.

Nathan said, “Let’s get our clothes off as quickly as possible and get my sperm planted near your cervix. I see no reason to indulge in the usual preliminaries.”

Victoria raised her eyebrows. “You have little knowledge of female anatomy, Mr. Burdette. My body will not allow your stiff and enlarged penis to enter until my vagina has been sufficiently stimulated and produced lubrication to facilitate entry.”

“I apologize, Miss... Well, I guess I can say Mrs. Burdette. With your permission, of course.”

“That’s my name, now. Of course, you may use it.”

They faced each other across the room. The bed in the room seemed huge and unavoidable.

Ten minutes passed without a word being spoken by either Nathan or Victoria. They shifted from foot to foot and cleared their throats or coughed gently into their hands.

Nathan broke the painful silence. “We must face this problem or we will never move forward. I think we need to simply jump off the bridge, as it were. Let’s take our clothes off and see if that doesn’t get us closer to our goal.”

“I agree, in theory. I am loathe to reveal myself to a stranger.” She held up her hand in a stopping gesture. “I know that this moment is exactly what I signed up for. I apologize. I wish I were able to jump into it, if I can use that phrase; but I can’t.”

“How about this. I’ll leave the room. You take your clothes off and get into bed and pull the covers up to your chin. I’ll come back and get into bed alongside you, and we’ll see if we can touch each other.”

“That suggestion has merit. If it works, we may be able to get over our initial feelings of discomfort.”

“I’ll retire to the corridor in that case. You may take your time. I’ll go to the lobby and buy a newspaper.”

“Very well, Mr. Burdette. I will see you in ten minutes.”

It sounded like a fine plan and might have worked had they not been so shy about their own bodies. When Nathan returned, he undressed, not in front of Victoria but in the bathroom. He ran, naked and embarrassed, from the bath to the bed. He pulled the covers up to his chin and stared at the ceiling.

Nothing changed. Nathan couldn’t bring himself to talk to Victoria or reach out for her. Victoria couldn’t get past her native shyness. After half an hour of silence which threatened each moment to make them run screaming from the room, Nathan said, “We must rethink this. We must be going at it wrong.”

“Yes. I hate to fail, yet we have failed completely.”

“This situation and the possibility of complete failure brings up something I should have mentioned earlier. I will make sure you have a place to stay, food to eat and money for living expenses while you’re here. If we don’t solve this problem, I will reimburse you for all your expenses and make up for any salary you may have lost. You may consider this room as yours as long as you wish. I need to go to the office. I will pick you up here at six this evening, and we will go to dinner if that’s acceptable.”

“It is.”

Nathan paused. He started to lift the sheet to look at Victoria before he got out of bed. It rose two inches and stopped.

Victoria saw the movement and wanted to help it along but didn’t know how. They both looked at the sheet in despair.

Nathan finally slid out of the bed and fled to the bathroom.

When he was dressed, he stepped out and said, “Until tonight then, Mrs. Burdette.”

“Yes. Until tonight, Mr. Burdette.”

Chapter Six

Artimis Gordon watched the progress of Nathan and Victoria with mirth. He followed them from the train station to the Justice of the Peace. He saw the aborted bridal kiss and laughed.

Artimis rented the room next to Victoria and Nathan. He’d been there earlier and bored a small hole in the wall. It wasn’t hidden very well; but Nathan and Victoria were so uncomfortable, he could have blown a hole ten feet high in the thing, and they wouldn’t have noticed.

He had to put his hand over his mouth again and again to keep the sound of his smirking laughter away from the couple in the next room.

Artimis Gordon was a thorough and detail oriented man. He saw the likelihood of the marriage never resulting in intimacy, much less an heir, but he liked to plan for all eventualities. He met with a man who’d ridden in that afternoon. They went to the saloon and used a back room to talk.

The man was a lawyer from Kansas City named Andrew Metzgar. He wasn’t exactly a lawyer. He’d been disbarred the year before for rank bribery of a judge. He was a slovenly man with stains on his coat and vest and a dirty collar on his shirt.

Andrew handed Artimis a pile of documents. Artimis looked them over casually. “Are these real?”

“Define reality. They’re real enough to occupy time and space. There they sit before you. You can touch them. Hold them. That’s reality.”

Artimis took a moment to make himself calm down. He said, in a reasonable voice, “Are they legal and authentic?”

“Hell, no. You know they can’t be. The Manning woman has never been accused of a crime. She didn’t commit these. Look them over. You’ll see they’ll fool the local yokels in Denver. Where’s my money?”

“Waiting for you in Kansas City.”

“What?”

“I’m not going to give you money now and have you paint the town with it and draw attention to yourself.” He placed carefully stacked bills on the table. “Here’s money for expenses.” He dropped a piece of paper on top of the money. “And here’s the information on the bank account that contains your money.” He raised his voice. “Slim. Come in here.”

A cowboy who may have been slim at some point in his life and now looked bulky and menacing stomped into the room. Artimis continued, “And here’s the nice man who will take you to the train station, buy your ticket for you and see you off on the train.” Artimis stood up. “You’ve done well, Metzgar. Finish it. Go back to Kansas City and enjoy yourself. We’ve completed our business.