The Lost Seal: A Seal Romance

by Bell, Victoria

  She had to leave before anyone learned of her pregnancy. She could not risk word of it getting back to Aaric.

  If he learns about it, he will never leave me alone. He’ll use the baby as an excuse to keep me under his thumb. The divorce will be finalized, and if he ever happens to learn about the kid down the line, he will have no way of knowing if it’s his. By then, I will be living in Georgia, away from the madness of Florida.

  From Saint Mary to Miami was only a six-hour drive or an hour and a half plane trip.

  When the baby was born, she would visit her parents and brother to introduce the child. There was no reason for them to know the identity of the child’s father either. It was better that way, less chance of having Aaric find an excuse to wiggle his way back into her life.

  The nerve of him. “Come home with me.” The ego of that man. I hope he falls in love with someone one day who rips his heart out and mails it back to him in tiny pieces. Oh, who am I kidding? He doesn’t have a heart.

  As they drew nearer to Miami International Airport, Elena ran her palms over her stomach and sighed sadly.

  “I’m sorry, little one,” she murmured. “You deserve better than this, but I will be the best mother and father to you I can possibly be.”

  “Did you say something, miss?” the cabbie asked, and Elena shook her head, watching the scenery flash by.

  In an hour she would be boarding a plane to Georgia, and she wouldn’t be back to Florida for at least a year. It would be the first time she would have lived out of state, and she wondered if she would be able to do it.

  Of course, you can do it, she told herself angrily. Aaric Buckley stole your pride and maybe your heart but not your fight. You are still the same woman you were before this ridiculous affair began. Everything will play out according to plan.

  Pulling into the departures terminal, Elena tossed the driver some bills for the ride, hopping from the car.

  Before entering the airport, she turned to gaze back into the Florida sunlight, squinting against the steel and light.

  She raised a hand in silent farewell and disappeared into the building.

  It was time to start her new life away from Aaric Buckley.

  Chapter Twelve - Three Months Later

  “Aaric, can I come in?” Lilyanne did not wait for a response, storming into the office and thrusting a piece of paper onto his desk.

  “What do you want?” Aaric slurred, glaring at the secretary with bleary eyes. It was nine o’clock in the morning, and he had almost emptied the decanter of scotch perched on the edge of his desk.

  “I quit,” she snapped, pointing at her resignation letter. “That’s my formal resignation.”

  Aaric sighed and waved his hand.

  “All right then. Goodbye.”

  Lilyanne stared at him, her mouth open with anger.

  “Really? That’s all y’all have to say? Goodbye?” she screamed, her southern accent overriding all culture.

  “What the hell do you want me to say, Lil? You threaten me with quitting once a week. It’s about time you followed through. I hate women who can’t make up their minds.”

  A wry, sarcastic smile fell onto Lilyanne’s lips, and her green eyes narrowed.

  “Well we can’t all be Elena, boss,” she retorted. “I guess leaving you is easier for some of us than others.”

  Aaric’s face became a mask of fury as he stumbled to his feet.

  “What the hell does Elena have to do with this?” he roared. “Get the hell out of here. Good riddance. Your voice is beginning to bore a hole in my skull anyway. I have no idea how you lasted here so long.”

  He pointed at the door, and Lilyanne shrugged, spinning to leave.

  “You’re not doing yourself or anyone else any favors by moping around here, Aaric. You should accept that she’s not coming back. You screwed that up like you do everything else. Learn to accept it and move on before you destroy your business again.”

  “Get out!” Aaric whipped a glass at the door, but of course, Lilyanne was long gone.

  How dare she assume to know anything about Elena or me or anything else. She’s a goddamn secretary!

  “What the hell was that about?” Cameron demanded, entering the office and noting the shattered glass over the floor.

  “Lilyanne just resigned,” Aaric replied, falling drunkenly back into his chair.

  “How many drinks have you had today, Aaric?” his assistant asked, his eyes narrowing and the CEO glowered.

  “Are you my secretary now, Cameron?” he snapped. “Perfect timing since mine just quit.”

  “I am your assistant and your friend,” Cameron replied evenly. “And I can’t help but notice what a lush you’ve become since your divorce. Are you going to argue me on that?”

  As if to bait Cameron further, Aaric rose to refill his glass and took a swig, his gray eyes daring the younger man to challenge him.

  “Want one?” Aaric asked. Cameron’s mouth grew into a fine line.

  “You’re a big boy, Aaric. A big boy who listens to no one but yourself. Maybe you should do that.”

  Aaric sat back and regarded Cameron pensively.

  “How is that now?”

  Cameron smiled a half grin.

  “Seriously, even you aren’t so stubborn that you can’t see you’ve fallen to pieces since Elena left. You should probably go after her now. I think you’ve tortured yourself enough, don’t you?”

  Aaric snorted.

  “Suddenly all my underlings know about my inner thoughts, yeah? Tell me, Dr. Cam, what do you do when you love a woman, and she loathes the very sight of you?”

  Cameron seemed surprised by the unexpected revelation, and Aaric cringed as he heard words leave his lips. His cockney accent was becoming more apparent as he fell further into intoxication.

  But it was true. He loved Elena. He had probably always loved her and been too blind to see it, too stubborn, too arrogant.

  “She doesn’t loathe you, Aaric,” Cameron said gently, perching onto a chair opposite his boss. “She is devastated by the way things played out. How do you know she isn’t missing you as much as you are missing her?”

  “She’s not,” Aaric replied flatly. “I screwed up everything.”

  It had been a gradual realization, starting with his inability to touch Ilona. The idea of laying beside anyone but Elena disgusted him, and he desperately longed to inhale her vanilla scented hair.

  “Where is she now?” Cameron asked, and Aaric shrugged miserably.

  “I don’t know. I stopped keeping tabs on her after she signed the divorce papers.”

  Cameron nodded slowly.

  “Maybe it’s time you found out – “

  “No!” Aaric interjected hotly. “She wants to be left alone. The least I can do is honor her wishes after everything that’s happened.”

  Cameron rose from the desk.

  “Okay, Aaric. We both know that I can’t change your mind if you choose to let her go but you can’t keep living like this. Get yourself together before it’s too late.”

  Aaric slumped against the desk, his head swimming with confusion and intoxication.

  He’s right, Aaric thought mournfully. I am falling into a downward spiral. I need to get my life back on track.

  With drunken fingers, he picked up the stationary phone and squinted as he read a phone number on his desk.

  “Collier, it’s Aaric Buckley. I need you to find Elena again for me.”

  “What happened? Where is he?”

  Elena rushed toward Lorenzo and Natalie who huddled in the waiting room with their girls. Her brother’s face was streaked with tears, and Natalie stared at the ceiling as if she was bored.

  “Elena – oh my God! You’re pregnant!”

  Natalie’s head whipped toward her sister-in-law, her face painted in shock.

  “Never mind me,” Elena snapped. “Where is dad? Where’s mom?”

  “Dad is in surgery. He had a stroke. Mom is in the chapel prayi
ng. How far along are you, Elena? Why didn’t you tell us?”

  Elena waved him away.

  “This is not the time or place to talk about it,” Elena said impatiently.

  “Well you’re not going to be able to get away with that with mom,” Lorenzo warned.

  “Is Aaric Buckley the father?” Natalie squealed, jumping to embrace her. Elena sidestepped her fake in-law and rolled her eyes.

  “Can we just focus on what’s important?” she hissed, the mere sound of Aaric’s name sending offended bristles down her spine. Natalie’s eyes grew wide, and she pointed down the hallway.

  “Baby daddy’s here,” she whispered. Elena felt her head begin to swim as she understood the implication of Natalie’s words. Slowly, she turned to look at Aaric who was striding toward them.

  “Oh my God, Elena, I came as soon as I heard. As soon as he’s out of surgery, we’ll have him transferred to a private – “Aaric cried, flying toward her with outstretched arms.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Elena yelled. A stern nurse shushed her from the station, but Elena barely noticed, anger and worry flooding her body.

  Aaric froze as he saw her in entirety.

  “You’re pregnant,” he whispered.

  “You didn’t tell him?” Natalie asked, aghast. “Oh, shit, he’s not the father?”

  “Mommy said ‘shit,'” Ariel chortled, and Natalie turned pale.

  “Let’s find somewhere private to talk,” Aaric urged, staring at Elena’s family uncomfortably.

  “No! You shouldn’t even be here. What are you doing here?” Elena snarled. “Go home!”

  “As soon as I heard that your father was in the hospital, Elena, I couldn’t stay away. You may not believe this, but I care about him too.”

  “Too?” Elena scoffed. “Like ‘also’ because you care about me so much?”

  She abhorred the venom in her voice, but she could not stop herself.

  “And who did you hear from?” She whirled to eye her brother and Natalie, but they both shrugged in ignorance. “Who told you?”

  Aaric’s eyes shifted to the floor.

  “Well?” she demanded when he did not respond. “Who told you about my father?”

  “I hired a private investigator to find you,” he mumbled. “He told me your father suffered a stroke and I knew you would be here.”

  “You what?” Elena screamed. “Are you insane?”

  The nurse rose from her chair.

  “Miss, you must keep your voice down! This is a hospital!”

  Aaric took her arm and steered her away from the ears of the others. Elena struggled against his vice-like grip as they turned the corner.

  “You have been spying on me?” she hissed, furiously. “Are you planning something else? You need me for another business marketing scheme?”

  Aaric shook his head.

  “No,” he told her seriously. “I love you.”

  Elena resisted the urge to slap him in the face.

  “Shut up Aaric and go home.”

  “The baby, Elena, is the baby mine?”

  She stared at him, swallowing an instant denial.

  You can’t lie to him about this; she thought, angrily. He had ruined everything again! Why couldn’t he just stay away?

  “It is mine, isn’t it?” Aaric sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Why? So you could find another way to use it to your advantage? No, this baby doesn’t need you any more than I do. Go home and stay away from my family and me.”

  “No,” Aaric said quietly. “I can’t. I am falling apart without you, Elena. I can’t function. I need you to come home where you belong.”

  She shook her head; her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach.

  He doesn’t mean anything he’s saying. He only thinks he wants me because I walked away. Once he has me where he wants me, he’ll just kick me to the curb again. I can’t do this to myself or my baby.

  “Are you saying that you want to do this alone? Raise a baby when you have a man willing to step up and be a father? A man who will never do anything to lose you again?”

  Elena refused to meet his eyes, willing his words out of her head. He was saying everything she wanted to hear but could she trust him? Would she be a fool again?

  “Elena!”

  She spun to look down the hallway where her brother stood, tears flowing down his face. He shook his head, and Elena felt her legs buckle as she understood what he was trying to tell her.

  Oh God, daddy no!

  Her hand flew to her mouth to stifle a sob, and she fell forward, the floor coming toward her. Aaric caught her, pulling her toward him.

  “Shh, darling, it’s going to be all right,” he whispered. “I’ve got you. We will get through this together, don’t you fret.”

  Wails escaped Elena’s throat, and she allowed Aaric to keep her in his arms as she cried for the loss of her father.

  “I’m so sorry, darling,” he murmured. “I love you so much.”

  Elena nodded, his words sinking into her grieving body.

  He is here for me now. He was always there for my father. He will make a good father. Will I ever trust my heart to him entirely? I guess time will tell.

  “Let’s get your family to see what needs to be done. Then we will go back to the Island to mourn in peace, all of us together.”

  Elena nodded and followed Aaric back to the waiting area where the Mancinis were huddled in a mass of tears.

  Despite the dire circumstances, Elena was suddenly filled with a sense of bittersweet emotion.

  She had found love in the most unexpected place with the most unlikely man during a strange time of loss.

  What was it her father had said to her?

  “Because love grows even in places it wasn’t at first. But you must nurture it.”

  What a story it would be to tell baby Frankie.

  Saved by the Alpha

  A Sci-Fi Alien Romance

  Kristina Day

  Saved by the Alpha

  Copyright 2017 Kristina Day

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to a person, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  WARNING:

  Due to mature subject matter, such as explicit sexual situations and coarse language, this story is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18. All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older, and all acts of a sexual nature are consensual.

  Chapter One

  I liked it when I believed humans were the only sentient beings in the universe. Life was a hell of a lot easier then. Maybe bitchier, and full of petty, everyday stuff, but stable and normal at the same time. It’s hard to appreciate that simplicity unless you lose it all in one fell swoop.

  I grew up in a relatively normal family. My dad was one of those dudes who liked drinking beer, particularly when it came to his matches on television, and he’d invite his friends around to slack off on the sofa each week as they watched the games. My mom probably was the perfect suburban wife, loving her potbellied husband, cooking meals, working a part time job so she could spend time with her three children, my younger by two years sister Gertrude, my older brother by three Arnold, and me, the sandwich filling, enduring flak from both sides.

  Arnold was encouraged to be a manly man by daddy dearest. You know the sort of conditioning that means. Sayings like men don’t cry, don’t show weakness, and it’s okay to be a dick because somehow people like it. My sister and I were told to be per
fect princessy angels and given names that we both absolutely hated. When we grew old enough, we were told not trust any boys because they wanted to stick their penises inside us and probably ruin our careers with STDs or pregnancy.

  That’s pretty much how my dad worded it. He even, with the help of my mother, brought us dildos and said that if we did have uncontrollable womanly urges to stick things in us, at least stick to the purple rabbit vibrators, and clean it after each move.

  Needless to say, I can’t think of many parents who would… allow that. But ours did. I suppose it worked because neither of us slept with any boys before we turned eighteen. Though that could be to do with the fact that they called me Esther, and my sister Gertrude, which is the kind of name set you’d expect if you lived in the 1800s, not today. Imagine dating a girl called Esther.

  I remember my brother used to be pretty put out by that, asking why he couldn’t get an inflatable doll or something if we were allowed this – and dad replied with that if he wanted to stick it in something, make sure he found a nice girl to do it to.

  So, it didn’t matter if Arnold fucked around with a girl and gave her an STD or pregnancy. It just mattered if we fucked around with a boy. Double standards, much?

  Still, at least we felt like a family, and our parents respected us in their own way. They might have been fairly well off, but we didn’t get handed the 1000 dollars a week like some of our friends did. Those same friends even whined about not getting enough, all the while as I sat there feeling physically sick at how entitled these teenage shits were. I mean, I’m pretty privileged myself, but I do have standards. Somewhere.

  Nothing worse than seeing some rich bitch buy clothes they don’t even need, or to have jocks laughing their asses off as they burn money in front of homeless people. Saw it happen a couple of times. I don’t speak up because I don’t really care about it myself, but it’s not something I would do.

  Maybe the inaction is evil. Maybe it isn’t.