ROMANCE: Paranormal Romance: The Valley (Book One) (Fun, Sexy, Mature Young Adult Vampire Shape Shifter Romance)
Page 30
“You realize that you can’t really tell anyone the truth about some of this?” John leaned forward, his gaze went from playful to serious in one quick motion. “We have kept you a secret from the local shifters, and our elders, but we are going to have to introduce you. They are aware of your existence now.”
“I can handle it. If I can handle you two, I can handle the rest of this.” Keefa told him confidently. She’d ran with both of them on the property when they were shifted. She found them both beautiful and had spent hours brushing the both of them when they were in animal form. She loved the strength and predatory natures they both had, and how strong and ethical they were as men. She’d gotten lucky, not to have just one good man, but to have two, it would be a challenge to make a long-term relationship work, but she realized she was looking forward to the journey with them.
“Good, we will take you to meet them later this week.” John told her. George had worked his hand down to her bottom and was petting her ass through her dress.
“Stop that,” she whispered to George and swatted at his hand. “We need to finish this conversation.”
“I think we figured out enough that we can wing a lot of the rest of it and take it one day at a time,” George said, which sounded more like something John would say, so Keefa blinked at him in shock. George, willing to just go with the flow? She smiled at him and then hugged him hard. Putting her head on his chest, she snuggled close to him.
“We can handle that, now kiss me,” Keefa ordered him, and tilted her head back so he could reach her lips. When John slipped up behind her and cradled her from behind, she melted into both of them. Feeling two pairs of strong, masculine arms around her, it made her feel very feminine, desirable and wanted.
“I love you both, I hope you know that,” she told them between kisses and touches.
“I love you too,” George told her, and gave her a quirky smile and then shut his eyes as her hands found his cock through his pants and grabbed him, feeling him harden against her fingers through the cloth.
John nibbled on her neck and ear from behind and pressed a kiss to the pulse in her neck before pulling his head up for a moment. “I do know that, I don’t think you’d have given yourself to us if you hadn’t felt the mate bond from the beginning. A woman doesn’t give her virginity lightly, and to not panic or overreact when finding out we were shifters? You’re rare Keefa, and that’s not something to be taken lightly. I love you too, and I won’t say I won’t ever get jealous… sharing doesn’t come naturally to me or George, but we’ll make it work. Loving you is worth it.”
“Good, now shut up and bite me,” Keefa ordered him, chuckling softly as John nodded and then rubbed his teeth against her neck and collarbone. The three of them didn’t talk anymore that night. They spent their time romping around naked in front of the fireplace on the rug on the floor. After hours of sex, George finally went upstairs and grabbed a couple of blankets.
Bringing them back downstairs, they piled together under the blankets and slept for the night. When Keefa woke in the morning she realized there was one last thing they really needed to address. Who was going to live where? She got up and made breakfast, she laughed when it was the smell of coffee that got both of them up and into the kitchen. She was sure the bacon would have done the trick, but it was the coffee.
She served them both their plates and a fresh cup of coffee before dishing up her own and sitting down with them at the table.
“There is a couple more things I think we forgot to discuss,” she said between bites of her food. She watched them sip the coffee and sigh in delight. They really enjoyed their morning drink.
“What is that?” George asked as he speared some eggs on his fork and popped them into his mouth.
“John pretty much lives here already. I’d like to make it official. We need to pick a house. If we are going to be a family, a pack so to speak, we need to be together. All of us.” She informed him and sipped her coffee, making a face and set it down. Realizing the pregnancy hormones were probably why her taste buds were changing, she skipped the coffee this morning.
“Fine, he can move in,” George said and shrugged, not seeming to care much either way. “He practically lives here already anyways.”
“I think we should merge the two ranches into one big one.” She said quietly. She saw both men tense up and knew that addressing business decisions was an area that neither would probably take kindly to her interference, but if this mating business was going to work, they needed to commit to the big picture. All of it.
John protested first, “why would we do that?”
“If we are all going to be partners, if the kids are going to be raised with two fathers, how will it look if we keep assets separately? We need to be united if this is going to work. Just think about it. This is going to be for life, do we really need to be running two households, two businesses? What kind of impression will that be?” She said quietly, she needed to make sure the two of them were going to take this seriously. It was more than just sex for her.
George nodded, “I can see the logic in that approach. It will take a while to get it all worked out, but she has a point John. I’m in agreement to making it happen, it’s not like either of us is taking over the other person’s ranch.”
“Team effort,” Keefa said and looked at John. He sighed and finally nodded. He may be less of a dominating force in the bedroom, but when it came to his business, he was ruthless and a complete control freak. George was the opposite, he was more laid back about his business, and preferred to dominate in the bedroom.
She knew the two of them needed to learn to get along in other areas and balance each other out, just like the three of them had worked out in the bedroom. She knew they could do it, and as she ate a piece of her bacon, she smiled.
Keefa knew this was the start of a long emotional roller coaster, one that would have ups and downs, and two very independent, strong men would often butt heads, but that’s where she could help play mediator when required. She was the softness to their strength, the reason to their quick reactions. The three of them would make a good team.
The End
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Alpha Encounter
Scarlett Leblanc
Alpha Encounter
Chapter 1
The alarm was like a foghorn, blasting a ship out of the water with the force of its sonic pressure. Sophie shot up, grabbed her phone then threw it across the room. The light was already creeping in through her curtains.
“Darn it!” She threw her pillow across the room and stormed out of bed to grab the pile of clothes she left there after a midnight laundry run.
Her uniform was a white shirt with a black skirt and white apron.
She ran into the bathroom and took a quick rinse, not even bothering to check the mirror. The last thing she needed was a glimpse of her black curvy form marring her self-confidence.
The stairs outside were a death trap, probably a century old, and were flimsy enough to crack if she wasn't careful when she ran down them. One day, somebody was going to fall straight to the ground.
When she got in her car, Sophie turned the key and the whole thing shook. The clock light flickered before the car died. She was almost an hour late, and the car was going to need some love.
Sophie closed her eyes and crossed her fingers. “Start, start, start.” She turned the key again and it finally did start after a terrible coughing fit. The car was going to break down for good, and she'd have to give up most every cent she had just to get it to work.
Her life was hanging by an old thread that was unraveling more and more every single day, and when it broke, everything would come crashing down. If it wasn't her car, it would be her landlord or her boss.
Hope was a distant memory clouded by the lack of resources. Sophie started at Rita's when she was sixteen, planning to use her meager wages to find a way out of L'enfer Parish, but she ended up spending too much and got stuck.
Sophie dreamed of leaving and starting something, but it just didn't happen, and now she was stuck with a terrible job and a car that could barely take her to work.
She struggled to get the steering wheel to turn as she pulled into the gravel lot of Rita's Cajun Mess where Alberto, one of the other servers was standing outside smoking a cigarette. She gave him an evil glared and he dropped his butt, probably running to tell Rita she was there.
Sophie got out of the car and walked in to find the lobby completely empty with Alberto's tiny frame leaning over the counter, whispering something into the owner's ear.
“You've got a lot of nerve, Sophie.” Rita was almost 300 pounds of black attitude heading straight for her.
“Listen, I'm sorry.”
“You're sorry?” Rita cocked her head to the side and followed Sophie to the register behind the bar. “What makes you think it's OK to come in an hour and a half late, huh?”
“I'm sorry, Rita.” Sophie clocked in as fast as she could and turned to face the steaming mess of a woman behind her.
“You're sorry?” Her voice was a like a foghorn.
“Yes.”
“Then go get the dishes done.”
Sophie walked into the kitchen and almost retched. There was a pile of full dishes a mile high, covered in breading flakes and caked over with dried syrup. They left all the food on, so she had to drag the trash can over and scrape everything off. Most of it was already dried to the surface, and her muscles ached as she used a metal scrubber to sand away the rancid gravy.
Sweat covered her brow, but every time she wiped it off, the water on her hands trickled into her eyes. That woman was Satan herself, and her food was terrible, not even worth a cent. Sophie brought her own from home.
“You ain't done yet?” Half the pile was gone when Rita stuck her head in.
“It would take a year to clean this up and you know it.”
“Well, you're done for now. There's tables waiting.”
Sophie got a paper towel and tried to make herself presentable as she stormed out into the lobby, confronted with wicked stairs.
“Miss,” a woman called out from the table closest to the door.
Sophie tried to paste a smile on her face as she walked over. “Hi, I'm Sophie. How can I help you?”
“Well,” she looked out from her massive glasses. “You can start by bringing me a menu.”
Sophie reached back to the pile a foot away from where the woman was sitting and handed it to her. “Thank you. I'll have the shrimp po' boy with tater tots and a side of ranch.”
“And to drink?”
“Tea with no ice.”
“Yes, ma'am, coming right up.”
“Miss?” She yelled out when Sophie was about to walk away.
“Yes.”
“Make sure you bring me some lemon for my tea.”
“Sure.”
Sophie walked over to the next table where a woman was wrestling with her two young sons.
“Sit down and shut up,” the woman barked at the demonic ginger boy that was jumping up and down in the booth, swinging around open packets of sweetener, spilling it everywhere.
Sophie lingered at the edge of a table for a second, trying to keep from exploding, then the mother reached down under and grabbed his legs out from under him, careful to keep him from hitting his head.
He cried out like a siren, and Sophie decided it was time to get this over with. “Hello,” she walked to the front of the table. “My name is Sophie. I'll be your server.” She ignored the pile of packets all over the table. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
“I'll have a coffee,” the woman leaned over, “with a double shot of bourbon,” she whispered.
“Alright.” Sophie smiled at the boy. “And what will you have?”
“I want Mountain Dew.” He was hopping up and down. Sophie looked over at his mother and she nodded her head.
When she ran into the kitchen to hand Rita the order, the woman snatched it up. “That woman at table 1 looks like she wants to shoot you.”
Sophie rushed out with her tea and the drinks for the other tables. “How's everything going,” Sophie asked. “ She set the drink down on the table.
“I want my food, and where's my lemons. I asked you for lemons.” The woman drummed her fingernails on the table.
“It'll be right up.”
“Well make it snappy. I don't have all day.”
“I do.” Sophie scoffed. She walked away to help the mother and her son. “Uh, Miss,” she turned around to see the woman looking at her.
“Yes?”
Their eyes met and the woman pushed the cup off the table. “Oops. I dropped my tea. Could you go run and get me another with a plate of lemons?”
Sophie marched over and put the glass back on the table. “Sure, I'll be right back with the pitcher for you.”
“Uh,” Sophie was halfway to the counter when she had to swing back around. “I need a clean glass.”
“I'll use my armpit hair as a sponge if you don't shut your mouth you old bat.”
“Excuse me?” The woman stood up and reached in her pocket.
“You can excuse yourself.” The old woman threw a penny straight at her and ran out the door.
Sophie had half a mind to tell the police she didn't pay for her tea, but considering the fact that Rita was having some issues with her temper, she decided not to push her luck and went over to hand the customers their drinks.
She took their orders and went back to get the customers their food.
“Get that,” Rita pointed at the trash can, which was overflowing onto the floor with everything from shrimp shells to fat trimmings.
“I've got customers.”
“I'll handle them, you just get that trash out of my kitchen and start back on them dishes.
Sophie grabbed another bag and started scooping the rest of the trash into it then pulled the two bags to the back door, which took a serious push to get open.
Once she did, she set them down and collapsed against the wall. If she smoked at least she'd have a reason to be out there, but she only had a second.
They used to say, when she was a little girl that man wasn't meant to live in the swamp, that everything from the water to the things running around in there, were trying to kill you.
There was nothing out there, Sophie knew, but it scared her nonetheless, and she stayed out of it. Plenty of people went fishing in there, catching crawdads and catfish. Others would hunt for alligators. Sophie wasn't about to get tied up in that. It was bad enough that every time she went outside the restaurant the swamp was there. She used to dream the water would overflow and she'd have to wade through it to get to her car.
The door slammed open and hit against the wall “What the heck you doing? Is it break time?”
“Taking out the trash.”
Rita raised her eyebrows and held the back door open for Sophie to walk in. “Finish the dishes and get ready for the dinner rush.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
Chapter 2
Sophie stared down at the spotless sink like it was the bottom of Mt. Everest and she was standing at the top, then she grabbed a paper towel and dried her hands, ignoring the way her knees threatened to give in.
Rita popped her head in. “It always takes you the entire shift to finish the dishes.”
Sophie flipped around. “That's because they keep coming. It's impossible to stay on top of them.”
Rita sighed, backing down more easily than Sophie expected. “I'm too tired. Go clock out. Have you a beer and some food.”
“Thank you,” Sophie walked out to the empty lobby and typed her code into the register. It was already ten o'clock and she got there at 10.
Rita set down some calamari and shrimp on the bar, then started pouring beer. Sophie sat
down. “I'm not that bad, am I?”
“You're slow, but you know how to handle the customers.” “Am I worth keeping?” Sophie took a bite of shrimp.
“You've been here for years, and I haven't fired you yet.”
“There's always that fear, I guess.”
“True.” Rita laughed, “but I was slower when I started.”
“You think everyone fights because of the stress of trying to get things done?”
“Maybe.” Rita took a drink.
“It's how things work in the kitchen. You can scream and fight, but you still get through it, so long as you take it in stride.”
“Where's Alberto,” Sophie looked around. She hadn't seen him since the dinner rush.
“I think he walked out. I haven't had time to look into it, but he went out on smoke break an hour or so ago, and just left.”
“He's gone?”
“I think so. It's a shame too. Alberto was one of my best servers. It's gonna be hard to replace him.”
Alberto was always causing trouble for Sophie, snitching on her, and yelling at the customers, but he wasn't a bad guy, and having him leave like that didn't feel right. There was nothing she could do.
Sophie sighed. This was a strange night, and the conversation was awkward. She didn't talk to Rita much, but she was starting to realize there was a soft shell under the woman's constant griping. She got up off her chair. “Think I could get a box?”
“You didn't finish your beer yet.”
“I know. I'm just kind of tired. I wanna go home.”
“Alright. I know how you feel.”
Sophie grabbed a bag and walked outside. It was just as hot at night as it was during the day, and the insects still swarmed around everywhere.
She walked over to her car and unlocked the door, then she saw it. Sophie jumped back and screamed at the top of her lungs. Alberto's body was lying at the foot of her tire with his eyes staring straight at her.