Shifter Romance: BODHI (LOST CREEK SHIFTERS NOVELLAS Book 4)

by Samantha Leal

  His eyes widened with surprise, their green depths impossibly brilliant as he stared at her in surprise. “I don’t know where you’ve been getting your information, but if you had bothered to consult Google, you would have known what the rest of the world knows: that Sophie Durante died five years ago.”

  Her breath whooshed out of her in a rush as her eyes frantically searched his. The truth was written nakedly in his eyes.

  “I don’t understand,” she began. “Olivia said”

  “Olivia is responsible?” he interjected, his eyes hooded as he stepped closer to her, his long legs bringing her within a hair’s breadth of him. He was standing so close that his shirt grazed her blouse.

  The very air crackled with electricity and tension. He hadn’t changed so much as his facial expression, but suddenly, there was this intensified, underlying aura of danger around him.

  Caitríona swallowed nervously but stood her ground as she looked up into his eyes. “Olivia showed me your wedding pictures. She never mentioned that um, Sophie had died.”

  “Look at me, Caitríona,” he said firmly, grabbing hold of her shoulders. “Sophie is dead; it’s been over five years now.”

  She stared up into his eyes with the bone-deep certainty that he was saying the truth sweeping through her as she looked at him. Why had Olivia lied to her? What did she stand to gain? More importantly, where had he been that ugly day?

  “Why did you leave me alone?” she asked now.

  “I went to get breakfast. You were sleeping so soundly I didn’t want to wake you. Besides, I wasn’t gone long. In less than thirty minutes, I was back to see your note,” he said quietly. He didn’t say anything else, but she could see the question in his eyes. He wanted to know why she had left him that note.

  Regretfully, Caitríona shook her head. “I felt used after she told me about your marriage. I was angry and hurt, and I guess I just wanted to save face.”

  It was his turn to scan her eyes for truth, and apparently satisfied with what he saw in her gaze, he nodded.

  “I must apologize for Olivia. She always has been rather possessive of me, I’m not sure why. Um, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” he asked.

  Caitríona stared up into his familiar green eyes and hid a grin. He’d always had a talent for saying one thing with his mouth and another with his lips. Even now, he was undressing her with nothing more than his eyes; he had that skill down to a science. She didn’t need a soothsayer to know that that was exactly what he was doing as he grinned lazily at her.

  She knew now why it had hurt so much when she thought he’d betrayed her. She had fallen for him. He made her feel things no one else made her feel; he thought she was sexy and hot, even though she was worried about her weight. Lately, she had started to see herself through a fresh pair of eyes, thanks to him. When was the last time she worried about her thighs or her arms? She was perfect the way she was and she had only come to believe that because of this man.

  Biting her lip, she looked down at her hands, wondering whether to tell him about the baby or not. She didn’t want to trap him in something he didn’t want any part of. Tremulously, she looked up at him and said quietly, “Yes Alec, I would like to have dinner with you.”

  “Your place or mine?” he asked.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Caitríona was nervous, even though she hated to admit it. It wasn’t everyday one told a holiday fling that he was going to be her baby’s daddy. What if he thought she had been trying to trap him? What if he reacted nastily? What if he

  The doorbell rang, cutting off her train of thought and she shot a panicked glance in the direction of the door.

  Alec!

  But he was early, she thought with a frown at the big clock in the hallway. They had agreed on 7pm and it was ten minutes until the time.

  With shaking hands, she tugged her gown down, ran her fingers through her long, waist-length hair and dashed toward the door, almost tripping over her own feet in her haste.

  She opened the door with a wide smile that promptly dimmed when she saw the five count them five happy faces on the other side of the door. Ciara, Sam and the kids, with Cindy in tow, all stood grinning at her from the other side of the door.

  She looked at them, “Uh, what’s going on guys?”

  “Aunt Cait!” the twins exclaimed, flinging themselves into her arms.

  Everyone rushed in, smiling and laughing; well, everyone except Cindy that is. She strolled in slowly, looking this way and that, her nose upturned as though she had smelled something bad.

  “Caitríona, honey, we thought we’d come spend this evening with you. Since you got back, you’ve been so moody and you’ve been keeping to yourself so much I thought we’d come cheer you up,” Ciara said, giving her a quick hug and a peck.

  Sam also bestowed a kiss on her other cheek before chasing after the twins who had promptly disappeared in the direction of Caitríona’s bedroom with every intention of playing dress-up.

  Caitríona grabbed her sister’s arm and hauled her closer. “I don’t suppose it occurred to you that including Cindy in the cheer-up committee was a bad idea.”

  Ciara rolled her eyes. “Come on, Cindy wants to see you happy just as much as I do. She likes you.”

  “Yeah right,” Caitríona said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

  Ciara drew herself up to her full height. “She’s my best friend. I don’t care if you don’t like her, at least pretend to.”

  “Then I’ll just watch what she does and do that, shall I? Because, trust me, Ciara, that rattlesnake doesn’t like you any more than she likes me,” Caitríona said.

  Ciara’s face darkened with anger. “Sam? Get the girls, we’re leaving,” she yelled.

  “Good idea,” Caitríona supplied.

  The doorbell rang just then but before she could even head in that direction, the door opened and Alec strode in, “Babe?”

  Silence fell as all three women turned as one to stare at him with varying expressions of surprise on their faces.

  “Well hello, so many beautiful ladies in one place. What’s the occasion?” he asked with suave charm.

  Cindy blushed and preened, Ciara automatically reached up a hand to straighten her hair and Caitríona resisted the urge to slap Cindy.

  “They were just leaving,” she said.

  “We were?” Ciara asked.

  “Well, weren’t you?” Caitríona asked, glaring at her sister.

  “Not on my account I hope?” Alec said, amusement clear in his husky voice.

  Sam reappeared just then with a twin in either arm. It was remarkable how both girls had managed to paint lipstick on their eyebrows and cheeks in less than two seconds. The bright red and pink lipstick smeared every part of their little faces, making them look like Halloween celebrators.

  Caitríona chuckled, “You do need to go home, Cici,” she told her sister, eyeing the devilish glint in the twins’ eyes. They apparently had more mischief up their sleeves.

  With a nod, Ciara swept everyone out the door, barely giving Sam time to size up Alec and proffer a hard hand for his handshake.

  When they were finally alone, Alec grinned down at her. “I missed you,” he said.

  Then she was in his arms and he was kissing her; open-mouthed, intense kisses that made her toes curl as she wound her arms around his neck. Desire coursed through her as she clung to him, and in two seconds, she was wet. Alec always seemed to have that effect on her, she mused dimly. Just one touch and she was good and ready. How had she ever thought that she was over him, she wondered?

  His hands trailed expertly down to her chest and slowly began to unbutton her blouse. Caitríona moaned into his mouth, almost light-headed with passion as he loved her with his lips.

  “I can’t wait! I have missed this for more than two months,” he growled as he bent her over the back of a sofa and deftly raised her skirt.

  Caitríona looked back at him over her shoulder, her heart in her
eyes as he hurriedly unbuckled his fly. His gaze met hers and he leaned forward and took her lips in a slow, tender kiss as he slid into her pussy from behind, sheathing himself to the hilt in one deft move.

  Caitríona gasped automatically as she wriggled her hips beneath his, moaning into his mouth as he began to rock against her, thrusting into her again and again and again.

  His hand reached in front of her and began to squeeze her breast, kneading the swollen flesh tenderly as he made wild torrid love to her. His other hand reached in front of her and stroked her tiny nub of flesh rhythmically as moisture seeped onto his fingers.

  Caitríona moaned, her breath thin and wild as she strained against his hand while his finger played with her clit and his large dick plowed into her from behind. She was losing her mind, she thought frantically, almost sobbing as he loved her.

  “You are so wet, baby,” Alec crooned.

  “Yes! Please!” she moaned, not even knowing what she was begging for.

  He increased his tempo, fucking her faster, faster, harder until she was coming apart in his arms and screaming his name, bucking and undulating beneath his large powerful body with the force of her orgasm.

  Caitríona drifted back to earth slowly, aware that Alec had stopped moving. Apparently, he had come too, she realized as he leaned forward and pecked her cheek lightly, before pulling out of her and sliding to the floor in the semblance of a dead faint.

  Caitríona groaned, surprised to find her legs could barely support her. She slowly lowered herself onto the floor beside him and sprawled on his chest, her hair falling into her eyes as she strove to regain her breath.

  “That was amazing,” he gasped, his hand coming up to hold her close to him.

  Caitríona dropped a light kiss onto his chin, too winded to reply.

  “You’re amazing,” he repeated, one large hand caressing her back as he held her tighter.

  Caitríona murmured. “You’re not bad yourself.”

  Alec chuckled and his hands tightened around her. She must have dozed off because about thirty minutes later, she dimly realized that someone was kissing her nipples, and biting them gently.

  Still half-asleep, she murmured, “Alec, all this sex can’t be good for the baby.”

  It was when he froze against her that she realized what she had said. Her eyes shot open in dismay and she stared up at him, her wide gray eyes clashing with his.

  “Um, I didn’t mean ”

  “Are you pregnant?” he asked.

  Caitríona stared up into his green eyes. She should lie; she had to. She couldn’t bear to trap him for life, chaining him with a child he didn’t want.

  She licked her lip, “Alec”

  “The truth,” he said quietly. “Don’t I deserve that much at least?”

  He was right, he did deserve to know he had fathered a child. She nodded.

  His eyes searched hers, wide and disbelieving, while she nervously waited for his reaction. He was so busy conquering Wall Street, surely he wouldn’t want

  For the third time in a row, Alec didn’t let her complete a train of thought. He leaned down and tenderly, reverently, kissed her.

  Heat engulfed her anew and she squirmed in his arms.

  “Marry me,” he said the moment he lifted his head.

  “”You’re crazy,” she accused, even as she determinedly squashed the inexplicable rush of pleasure at his words.

  “Yes. About you. Marry me.”

  Caitríona shook her head stubbornly. “I can’t marry you just because you feel guilty about the baby.”

  His green eyes blazed into hers for a minute then he dipped one hand into his jean pocket and produced a velvet box. He flicked it open with one hand to reveal a diamond ring nestled in the middle.

  Her eyes widened.

  “This was never about the baby, Caitríona. I came here tonight intending to ask you to be my wife because I love you. Please say you’ll marry me.”

  Caitríona reached up and slowly pulled his head down to hers as she took his lips in a wild, tumultuous kiss of her own. This man drove her wild with lust every chance he got; it was time she did the same, she decided as she rolled, taking him with her and placing him beneath her body.

  “I love you too and yes, I’ll marry you,” she vowed softly as she took him into her body again and began to show him just how much she loved him.

  THE END

  My Second Chance Billionaire

  Katrina Bliss

  Copyright ©2016 by Katrina Bliss. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Chapter 1

  Sue had been rummaging through the desk drawer for the past hour and eventually, sank back in the leather armchair with a deep sigh. Vincent was giving her a run for her money, literally, and she was tired of trying to draw neat divides between what they had owned together as a couple for ten years. She didn’t want to have to sell the house, that is the last thing she wanted to do, but if Vincent’s lawyers got their way, she would have to do exactly that. Who was she kidding? The lawyers were working on Vincent’s biddings.

  She sighed again and took a large gulp of whiskey from one of Vincent’s glasses, swirling the amber liquid around in her hand. She wasn’t being sentimental, she insisted on that to herself, but the room reminded her of him. The early days of their marriage, when they had just moved into this house, had still been good. Vincent had recently published his first novel and was working on his second, which meant that he spent nearly the whole day cooped up in this study. Sue would pop her head in around dinner time and he would look up at her, a dazed and confused expression on his face, and smile. That was until his second novel received no reviews, at least no positive ones, and it was all downhill from there.

  Sue took another large swig of the whiskey and decided she needed some distraction, at least for a few minutes. Their shared computer, the one neither of them used in the past few years when laptops were purchased individually, was lying neglected and dusty on the desk. Sue ran a finger over the keyboard, collecting brownish dust on her forefinger-tip, which she then scraped off on the edge of the table.

  She pressed the Power button, which brought the computer back to life from its long slumber, and waited while the system updated itself. When the screen finally awoke, an old photograph of them greeted her as the wallpaper. Sue, her fawn colored hair flying to the side, her younger triangular smile had overtaken her face and she had her long skinny arms around the man she was about to marry. Vincent, with his flamboyant beard, smiled too. His smile looked genuine enough and he seemed content and happy to have Sue’s arms around his neck. She remembered the photograph, it was taken on their first and last vacation together, a few months before they married. She struggled to recognize the two people in the picture as she stared at it longer. Those two people looked happy, he looked happy and in love. Perhaps, he was happy now. Perhaps, he was happy now with the skinny arms of his new girlfriend around his neck.

  Sue clicked furiously on the browser icon. She wanted his face out of her line of vision. However, the first thing she did was log into her social media page. She hadn’t bothered looking up Vincent’s profile before, to stalk his recent activity and maybe if she was lucky, catch a glimpse of the new girlfriend. But, she was in the mood today. The whiskey was making her lightheaded all right, but it made her feel a little invincible too. She wanted to take a peek into his new life.

  He had removed her from his Friends-list. In fact, he had blocked her completely. Sue typed his name in frantically over and over again, hoping it had been some kind of technical glitch the first…ten times. She finally gave up, after fifteen minutes of trying to dig up his profile. He had removed her from his social connections with a certain severity, with almost professional perfection. Surprisin
gly, rather than the grief she was expecting to feel to be rather rudely shown the door out of his personal life after more than ten years of sharing a life together, Sue was more angered by the fact that she hadn’t thought of it first. She should have shown him the door, blocked him out of her online presence. She banged the table with her fist in rage and immediately, picked up the glass again, to drain it of its contents.

  She sank back in the chair and instinctively, started scrolling down her social media page, blankly staring at photographs of kids and smiling families, photographs of vacations, links to news articles, a few online eyesight test results that all her friends seemed to be taking these days. Sue laughed to herself, she knew she was being a maudlin bore, but there was no denying that she was pushing forty and alone all over again. The silly eyesight tests and photographs of grown up kids were proof enough that they were all getting old. She was too tired to start over again.

  In the middle of her self-pitying thoughts, her attention fell on a news story that one of her old friends from college had shared. She read the title three times over, with rapt attention, her back straight as a lamp-post now, before she clicked on the link. ‘Newcastle Alumnus, Gerard Tate in this year’s Forbes Richest in America List’. The link opened up and the smiling, older face of Gerard Tate stared back at her. Graying hair, the same sparkling brown eyes, arms crossed over his chest and Sue didn’t miss the Steel Explorer Rolex on his wrist.

  The link was an updated profile of him and Sue read every word of it. While she was vacationing in Mauritius with her fiancé, Gerard wrote the code for a hacking program and set up a company from his parents’ garage. When Sue married Vincent and they invested in a house they couldn’t afford, Gerard’s new company was shaking things up in the Silicon Valley. While Sue’s husband’s failing career and their inevitably doomed marriage sent her down a dizzying spiral of depression, Gerard’s company had begun to rake in millions; no tech-company in the Silicon Valley could afford to ignore the security services that he could provide them with. Now that she was officially divorced, sitting alone in a house she was going to have to sell, Gerard Tate was, perhaps, sitting in his living room, gazing at the city skyline from his penthouse, eating caviar and champagne, smiling proudly at his children while his gorgeous supermodel wife ran her fingers through his hair.