by Sky Winters
A one-night stand. She’d never in her life done that before.
The last text from Marcus was recent and she almost didn’t open the pics attached. When she did click on them though, she saw the divorce papers she’d printed out with his signature scrawled across them.
He’d done it.
Just like that. It was over. Five years ended.
Corinne set the phone down and sat at the table. She peeled the foil back off the plate Gordon had left her. It was a perfect omelet with hash browns on the side. She glanced at the sink. No dirty dishes. He’d even cleaned up after himself.
She picked up the fork and snagged a bite.
It was delicious and suddenly she was famished. She must have expended quite a few calories the night before.
Corinne cleaned the plate and washed up after herself after having one more cup of coffee for the road.
But before she left the little duplex, she turned Gordon’s note over and wrote him one on the back.
Gordon,
Thank you for the night of my life. Yes, it was fun for me, too. Take care.
Corinne
She fished in her purse for her red lipstick, smoothed it on and pressed her lips to the paper, leaving a kiss behind.
Corinne slipped out the door and felt like a strange layer of protection had been peeled off. Drawing a deep breath, she held her head as high as she could and strode down the street, high heels and slutty dress at ten in the morning, trying to ignore the looks she got from passersby – ogling from the guys and daggers from the ladies.
It didn’t matter. She knew she wore her situation for the world to see. Maybe it was better this way. That’s what she got for losing all sense of morals.
It was a long march back to the club for her car, and only when she opened the door to the apartment did she suddenly consider what would happen when she saw Marcus in person. But once again, no one was there. The table still lay on its side, nothing touched since she’d discovered Marcus’ phone and stopped cleaning.
It already seemed ages ago.
With a deep sigh, Corinne set to packing her meager belongings. She could’ve kicked him out, and she didn’t know if it was her shame at the night of abandon she’d had or the feeling of nausea whenever she thought about staying in a place with so many memories, but she wanted a fresh start.
Time to fill in her friend, Eileen. She’d have to crash at her place until she found a job and an apartment. Maybe she should’ve thought through the divorce thing a bit longer or hired a lawyer. Then he’d owe her money. Maybe that’s why he signed them so fast.
Dickface.
Corinne laid her mother’s candlesticks gently on the top of the clothing in her suitcase and zipped it up. It had been slow going with Eileen texting her the entire time, but she felt better explaining everything to a friend. Besides, if anyone understood, it was Eileen. She’d had her share of shifter relationships, too. Even a vampire once, though she didn’t like to talk about it much.
Corinne tugged on her favorite skinny jeans – a little tighter than she remembered. Salt in the wound. All she needed was to gain a ton of weight and have Marcus thank his lucky stars for dodging a bullet when he saw her again.
Gordon hadn’t seemed to notice or care the night before though. The way he’d treated her, she felt like she had the body of a goddess.
Lugging her large suitcase out on the curb, she heard a honk. Eileen’s pickup was pulled up to the curb, music blaring out of the rolled-down windows. Her friend’s smiling face leaned out the side.
“Like attention much?” Corinne said as Eileen hopped down to the sidewalk, took her bag and swung it into the bed of the truck like it weighed nothing.
If Corinne wanted to feel tiny then Eileen was the right person to hang out with. The woman was practically an Amazon. Nearly six feet tall and built with a curvy, but solid body, Eileen had no problem with body image and if anyone dared make a comment, they’d be sorry anyway.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Corinne said, buckling up in the passenger seat. Eileen drove like she did everything else – like she didn’t care what anyone thought.
“I always knew he was an asshole,” Eileen said, whipping around a corner.
“Please don’t say I told you so,” Corinne whined, sinking lower in her seat. Eileen’s driving was making her car sick.
“Hangover?” Eileen asked at a light, sizing her up with a glance. “So, tell me more about Mr. Rebound Sex.
“His name is Gordon and I’ll probably never see him again, but yeah, the sex was amazing.”
“Why not see him again then?” Eileen asked, zooming off the second it turned green.
“Seriously? What? Start a relationship – with another shifter, mind you – the very night I get divorced?”
Eileen shrugged. “Good sex is good sex, honey. But take your time. No rush. Try not to puke in the car though.”
Corinne curled up in the corner and closed her eyes until she heard Eileen cut the motor. The second she got out of the car, she felt better. In fact…
“Got any food?” Corinne asked slyly as Eileen welcomed her inside. “I’m starving.”
Eileen turned and furrowed her heavy brows, drinking in a long look at Corinne.
“You were just sick two minutes ago,” Eileen finally said.
Corinne shrugged. “I must’ve been car sick.”
“You’ve never been car sick before.” Eileen stalked closer, her height making Corinne suddenly uncomfortable.
“What?” Corinne asked, shrinking back.
Eileen stopped, her expression softening. “What type of shifter did you say he was?”
“I don’t think I did. Dragon. Why?”
Eileen shook her head, her expression unreadable. “I could be totally wrong, but honey, you’re pregnant.”
It took a minute for the words to sink through Corinne’s brain. “What? No. You’re definitely wrong. Marcus and I have tried for ages. I’m infertile. Besides, we haven’t had sex in forever.”
Eileen continued to stare at her with a pitying look.
Corinne thought back to her alternative acupuncture session the day before. But that was ridiculous. “People don’t get pregnant and start having symptoms within twenty-four hours. Hell – more like twelve.”
Eileen nodded slowly. “Shifters do. Didn’t Marcus tell you that? Haven’t you had any shifter friends who were pregnant?”
“You certainly aren’t,” Corinne snapped.
“Damn right.”
Eileen was really her only shifter friend. Okay, her only friend who had stuck around since she married Marcus, come to think of it. It would be just like him not to tell her some important detail like that.
“So, you think I’m pregnant from a one-night stand?” Corinne asked in a much less defensive voice. She searched for the edge of Eileen’s sofa and sat down right on top of a bunched-up blanket thrown over the seat.
“You should take a test,” Eileen said, retrieving a beer and a bottle of water from the fridge and handing Corinne the water.
“I drank last night. I was sick from a hangover.” The second the words came out, her stomach grumbled loudly and she remembered the omelet she’d eaten that would’ve filled her up for the rest of the day normally.
“Yeah? And did your stomach pooch yesterday?” Eileen asked, hand on hip.
“What? No. I know I’ve gotten a little soft around the edges but—” Corinne stopped when she felt her own stomach. Somehow it had expanded since she’d checked the mirror in a matter of hours.
“I’m pretty sure it was Marcus the Ass whose boys didn’t work and not your equipment that was the problem,” Eileen said, plopping down next to her and taking a swig of her beer.
“Of course, it was,” was all Corinne could say, feeling the start of another headache.
“Hang on.” Eileen patted her knee and disappeared into the bedroom for a minute then reappeared with a small box.
“A pregnancy
test?” Corinne asked, eyes wide.
Eileen shrugged. “When one has a healthy sex life, one can never be too prepared.”
Corinne took it and locked herself in the bathroom, where she pulled off her clothes and studied her body while waiting to look at the results.
Sure enough, her stomach stretched out in a bulb-like shape. Not huge, but definitely noticeable without clothing. And it was firm, not soft like belly fat.
Corinne swallowed, hand shaking as she picked up the little pink stick. Two dark lines filled the tiny windows and she gasped, throwing her other hand over her mouth.
After twenty minutes of alternating between crying, laughing, and feeling every emotion known to man, Corinne emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed, eyes rimmed in red.
Eileen glanced over from the sofa where she was watching a Mexican soap opera. “I know a good OB. He’s a Shifter, so he’ll know how to take care of you. It’s a three-month cycle,” she said, all without Corinne saying a word.
“I’m having a baby dragon?” Corinne asked in a small voice as she sat back on the couch, holding her stomach.
“You should confirm with – Gordon, was it? – to make sure it’s not a litter. If it was Marcus…”
Corinne swallowed down the bitterness. Yet one more detail her husband had never shared with her. “I’ll ask the doctor,” she said out loud. “Gordon isn’t in the picture.”
Eileen sat up straight. “Don’t you think he deserves to know? I mean, I know you and you’re not even thinking about getting rid of it. Them. Whatever.”
Corinne’s grip on her stomach tightened. It didn’t matter if there was no father. She’d wanted nothing more than to be a mother for years. She was going to be there for her kids, unlike her own mother, who wasn’t able to be there for her.
Did Gordon deserve to know? Technically, he was the father, that she didn’t doubt. But she didn’t really know him. He was kind and thoughtful on their date, but would he always be? What if he was angry about the pregnancy? Could he be dangerous? He was a dragon after all.
“The tougher the animal, usually the gentler the soul,” Eileen said, breaking her out of her reverie like she knew what she was thinking.
“But Marcus was tough.” Corinne felt the tears well behind her eyes again. Was it hormones or real feelings or both?
Eileen snorted. “Marcus is a wolf, but not exactly a big one. Remember you showed me that picture of him shifted that you snapped on your phone? And how he didn’t want you to do that so you deleted it later?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s because he knows. He’s a runt. He’d be tossed out of the pack or maybe he already was and that’s why he’s on his own.”
Corinne sunk back into the cushions, feeling like she might disappear. She remembered what Gordon had said the night before. The ones who brag about their standing are usually the ones who couldn’t make it as a pack leader – at least in my experience.
“I can’t believe I fell for it for five years. I’m so naïve.”
Eileen put an arm around her. “Don’t worry. It isn’t you. How would you know he was lying?”
That was exactly what she was afraid of with Gordon. How did she know what he was really like?
“I’m going to go down to the fire station where he works. He told me yesterday.” Corinne stood up. He did deserve to know, but whether she’d want him as part of the child’s life would have to remain uncertain until she knew him better. If he even wanted to. Besides, if he was angry, he couldn’t do anything to her in front of the other firemen, right?
“Good luck, hon,” Eileen said, raising her bottle in a cheers motion.
Corinne smiled warily. She might need it.
Chapter 5
Corinne swallowed her last bite of the greasy hamburger she’d bought at the diner while trying to come up with just the right words to tell Gordon what she was sure he didn’t want to hear. She’d taken the food to go and sat on a park bench across from the fire station, staring at the building like it was suddenly going to take flight or disappear into another dimension. At least that was what she was hoping for. It seemed about as likely as the idea that she was pregnant from a one-night stand with a dragon when just yesterday she’d been married and unable to get pregnant at all.
“You can do this, Corinne,” she said out loud, standing and tossing her trash before heading across the street to the fire station door, painted bright red. With each step, she felt more and more nervous and her stomach churned with the food she’d been so hungry for just minutes ago.
“Hang in there,” she whispered, rubbing her stomach. She was already getting used to the idea that there was a little person inside of her.
Somehow that gave her courage. If, by some miracle, Gordon was actually half as good of a guy as he seemed the night before, well, then he’d be a good dad whether he’d planned on the kid or not. And didn’t her baby deserve that chance?
Unsure whether she was supposed to just walk in or knock first, since she’d never been to a fire station before, Corinne hesitated.
She didn’t have to think too hard though because the door swung open and she was left with a fist raised in the air like an idiot. It wasn’t Gordon at the door though. It was another buff-looking guy, but older – maybe late forties – with a mustache and eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Welcome!” he said in a low, but friendly voice. “Corinne, isn’t it? Come on in. We’ve been hearing a lot about you and I must say, you are every bit as beautiful as Gordon said.” He took her raised wrist and led her gently inside, where four other guys sat around a table, finishing lunch. But they were all quiet and focused on her.
“Um,” she said, unable to get more out and wishing Gordon were one of the ones at the table or at least around so she wouldn’t feel quite so awkward. What had he told his buddies about last night anyway? She felt color rise to her face as another guy stood up and pulled his chair out for her.
“Truth is, some of the guys can exaggerate a bit when it comes to stories about women,” the mustached man continued as he guided her into the seat. “But clearly Gordon didn’t exaggerate.”
“I’m twice the man Gordon is,” the guy next to her said, leaning over and casting a large shadow over her.
His arms were lean muscle and covered in sleeves of tattoos, but Corinne didn’t like what she saw in his eyes and she squirmed in her chair.
“That’s enough of that.”
Relief washed over her as Gordon’s booming voice carried across the room, seeming to rein the tattooed man in.
Corinne glanced up to find a narrow winding stairway in the corner with Gordon leaning over the edge of the banister, dark skin gleaming over taut muscles on his shirtless chest. He was just as glorious as she remembered, which brought a smile to her face. Maybe it wasn’t the alcohol. Maybe he really was too good to be true.
“Hi,” she said, rising from the chair.
Gordon beamed at her, and leapt the banister easily, skipping the rest of the stairs. His tight black pants hugged him just right and she blushed harder, remembering what was inside.
“Hi,” he said, voice husky as he strode toward her.
The other men seemed to fall away as he did and it occurred to Corinne how Gordon’s very presence was awe-inspiring. He stopped inches from her and she could once again feel the heat roiling off his body.
“I’m glad you came to visit,” he said, in the same low, husky voice. The spicy scent of cinnamon and something more exotic soothed her churning insides somehow as he pulled her toward him with one strong arm.
“You are?” she asked, dumbly. It was like every thought she’d had planned out had flown from her head.
“Well, yeah. I felt bad leaving like that. I’d much rather have hung out with you today.”
Something in her belly fluttered, like tiny butterfly wings, and she wasn’t sure if it was something real or just a sensation caused by being this close to him again. Either way, it reminded
her why she was there.
“Can we go somewhere private?” she asked, glancing back at the men still gawking at them with lascivious smiles on their faces. “To talk,” she added loudly so they wouldn’t get the wrong idea.
“Take the rest of the day off,” mustache guy said. “You earned it, Gordon. You practically extinguished that fire this morning all by yourself and I was sure it would burn for days.”
“Thanks, Chief. I think I’ll take you up on that.”
Corinne let Gordon take her hand in his and guide her out back to his sedan where he opened the door for her and shut it before going around to the driver’s side, like a real gentleman.
“Where to?” he asked, starting the engine.
“Wait,” Corinne said, laying a hand over his to get his full attention. “I need to tell you something and I think it can’t wait.”
“Sounds serious,” Gordon said, turning to face her with undivided attention. “Don’t tell me my omelet made you sick?”
“No. It was delicious. But the thing is…” Now that he was staring at her with those bright green eyes and his scent was so overpoweringly intoxicating, it was that much harder to deal him what might be such a devastating blow.
“Just spit it out,” Gordon said, looking somewhat concerned. “I find it’s easier to confront a problem head on.”
“Okay.” Corinne took a deep breath and twisted her fingers together in her lap. “I didn’t think it could happen or I honestly would have been more careful, Gordon. I swear I didn’t mean for it to happen – I thought I couldn’t.”
“Couldn’t what?” Gordon pressed gently.
Tears fought their way out and down her cheeks without Corinne’s consent, but she forced herself forward.
“I’m pregnant.”
Gordon’s mouth dropped open in a giant O shape while the information sunk in.
“I know it’s superfast, but I guess that’s how it is with shifters? You’re the only one I’ve been with in quite a while and I know it’s yours. But don’t feel like you have to do anything. I mean, I’m keeping it, I just thought you might want to know. I’m not scamming you or anything. I can walk out of this car and out of your life and never—”
