Nya's Wolf: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance

by Roxy Wilson

  Dammit.

  Yes, he shouldn’t date Nya. What if she found out he was a werewolf and spilled the beans about him? There were already a lot of people against him; he didn’t need to add to his worries. The pack would disown him if the secret was made public because of anything he did. Perhaps it was time to keep his distance from her. After all, he barely knew her. There was no need to call her or to take her out again.

  Shit.

  The thought of never seeing her again, filled him with dread. He might never be able to sit across from her and listen to her musical laughter, or enjoy her company again. He recalled the beauty of her eyes, the gentleness of her mannerism, and the grace that epitomized her.

  How could he not be with her again?

  But maybe that was the best thing, the wisest choice.

  His cell phone rang. The number was unknown. He snatched the phone from his desk after a moment of thought. “Yes?”

  “Reece?”

  Her voice startled him. How did she get his number? He didn’t give it to her.

  “It’s Nya.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  There was a brief pause. She sighed. “I need to see you now. Outside. Somewhere private. Can you get out of office?”

  Was she in trouble? “Yes, sure.”

  “Meet me at the same place where you were doing the survey.” Her voice showed no emotion. “I’ll be there in half an hour. Okay?”

  He wanted to ask her a million questions, but Reece forced himself to stop. He could be patient. “Sure.”

  He heard the click on the other end and knew that she disconnected the call. After placing the phone back on his desk, he sat. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. His life had become a roller coaster ride, and he didn’t have a clue where he might land up the next moment.

  What could prompt Nya to summon him in such an urgent manner?

  What was wrong?

  He had the distinct feeling that more trouble was about to land on his doorstep. While he was a strong man, Reece wasn’t sure how much more he could handle. Still, there was only one way to deal with these unexpected turns and twists in his life, and that was to keep going forward.

  And that’s exactly what he intended to do.

  Chapter Nine

  She was a little pissed off.

  No, she was a lot mad at the man who spent the last few weeks lying to her. Sure, one date didn’t make them lifelong partners but she had expected he would at least tell her the truth. Apparently, he didn’t think she deserved to hear it.

  As she drove her car, Nya pressed her foot on the accelerator. She wanted to get this job done as quickly as possible. Maybe she was wrong to come here.

  What the hell was she doing?

  Perhaps she shouldn’t have called him. It wasn’t as if she owned him anything. While he might think she was the one who landed him in trouble, the truth was that he standing in a pit of bigger shit—and this one had nothing to do with her.

  She parked the car and got out. Nya took a look around at the land which he’d surveyed with his men a few days ago. If he made a factory here, it would change the town even more, but yes, they needed the new jobs and the economic boom that would follow. A few new families had come in because he hired people from other towns. More and more people were employed by him. The whole town owed him, and yes, maybe she did too.

  When he parked the car behind her, she crossed her arms. This was crazy, ridiculous.

  He strolled towards her, concern written all over his face. “Hi. What’s going on?” His gaze took in her features for a moment, as if he were trying to gauge her mood. “Is everything all right?”

  “Everything is not all right,” she said. “One of my cousins works in the police department, and I had coffee with her yesterday. I was…thinking if I should inform you, and then I figured, it was okay to do so.”

  Something shifted on his face. Perhaps he sensed she was a little conflicted about this situation. “What did your cousin tell you?”

  “She told me that the police have information that you had an argument with Miles the day before he was killed. That’s suspicious, Reece, because the next day Miles ended up dead. It’s enough for them to bring you in for questioning,” she said in a stiff voice.

  Reece shook his head. “I didn’t kill him.”

  “If I thought you did, do you think I would be here?”

  “Shit.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, we don’t have time for this. The only reason why I’m telling you this is because they’ll come for you. Today, tomorrow. Soon. They might take you in for questioning, and they might try to push the judge to issue an arrest warrant. It all depends on how much information they have. You need a good lawyer, and you shouldn’t waste any time in getting one.”

  “What else have they got?”

  “If they have anything else on you, I don’t know about it.” She’d expected him to be scared, but he wasn’t.

  He tapped his foot on the ground. He was just…perturbed. He was thinking through the problem and trying to come up with a solution. There wasn’t any panic.

  Or was he thinking of lies he would tell her and the police?

  “I’m sure you’re wondering why I didn’t tell you about this,” he said.

  Oh, right! Of course, she was. “Yes.”

  “I had an argument with Miles, yes. But he was the one yelling. He denied embezzling money from my company but there’s a good deal of it missing, and he was in the perfect position to get away with the theft.”

  “Who did it?”

  “He said he also found out about the embezzlement two days before and was working on uncovering the identity of the person who did it. I didn’t know what to think, what to do. Rather than going to the police, I told him to get all the information he could.”

  “You believed he didn’t do it?”

  He walked forward until he stood in front of her.

  Dare she believe him? He should have told her this on their date. That would have been the perfect opportunity to bare his soul, but she could—somehow put herself in his shoes. Of course, he could be lying, but she didn’t think he was. If she was in his position, she might have kept certain cards close to her chest.

  “I didn’t know what to believe,” he admitted with a rueful grin. “My intention was to go to the police eventually and file a complaint, but I didn’t want to land him in trouble if he wasn’t the one. The man asked for a chance to clear his name and I gave it to him. The money…I can afford to lose it, but I didn’t want him to lose his dignity and his reputation. In hindsight, it would have been better if I’d lodged a complaint.”

  “Yeah, because now they will think you found out about the embezzlement, had a fight with him, and then killed him.” Nya tapped a hand on the hood of her car. Her mind raced with possibilities. She couldn’t think of any way to get him out of this situation with ease. The police knew about the fight, and they would come after him with guns blazing. It was worse that he never told them about the embezzlement.

  “I need a lawyer,” he said.

  “I can recommend one, but he’s from the town, and the more I think about it, it might be a better idea to get someone from outside,” she said. When he gazed at her, she shrugged. “Miles was from the town, and you’re not. It’s pretty obvious none of the town people are going to have their sympathies with you now.”

  “And yet you’re here, and you’re from the town.”

  Why the hell am I here?

  It was only because she knew he was innocent. While she didn’t have any proof for her belief, it was a hunch she couldn’t shake. Reece was incapable of murder. “I should go,” she said.

  “Wait. I—thank you, Nya.”

  “You’re welcome. I hope there are no more secrets between us.”

  He hesitated.

  She stood rooted to the spot. Was there something else he hid from her? If so, she was out of here and out of
his life. She didn’t want more of a mess on her hands.

  Reece shook his head. “No. I had an argument with Miles, but I didn’t kill him. That money wasn’t important to me. It’s the principle of the thing that mattered. No one should be able to steal from my company. I intended to make the criminal an example, so no one would try that again, but if Miles was innocent, I wanted to give him the chance to prove that to me.”

  The man had a soft heart. If he was strict with Miles right from the start and reported him to the police, he wouldn’t have come under suspicion now, but he was lenient, and now he would have to pay for it. Still, there wasn’t much she could do about it. While she did what she thought was right, he would have to carry on from here on his own. “Good luck, Reece.”

  “Nya, do you think…maybe once I’m out of this nest of trouble, we could go out again?” His smile was confident, as if he knew he wouldn’t face any charges for a crime he swore he didn’t commit.

  Should I?

  Or perhaps this was the right moment to sever all ties with him.

  The thought of not seeing him again shook her. She couldn’t bear the idea of it. “Sure, that would be great.” Was she imagining things or did he just release a sigh of relief?

  Could it be possible he really liked her?

  Reece was different; he was smart, funny, and capable. It was a long time since she could admire a guy and be slightly in awe of him, not to mention the heat that skipped through her veins whenever she was with him.

  “That’s great. And thanks once again.”

  “Sure. I’ll see you.”

  “Wait. I was thinking…maybe I should go to that diner on Tuesday.”

  She smiled. It was getting a little too obvious he didn’t want to say goodbye yet. Her heart melted at the realization that he was contriving ways to keep her around for a few more minutes. No man ever made her feel so wanted. “That’s a good idea. The more you mingle with the folks, the more opportunities they’ll have to like you.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “What if they don’t like me?”

  “I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t. You’re great.”

  “Really?”

  She swatted her hand at him, but he caught it. “Stop fishing for compliments.”

  Before she could react, he drew her forward. She could have resisted but instead, she allowed him to draw her into his arms. Nya glanced up at him. He bent his head. His lips hovered inches above his. If she stood on her tiptoes, she would be able to claim them. Every nerve in her body was taut with desire.

  She wanted to kiss him so badly.

  Yet, she dared not take that step.

  “Why are you really here?”

  She couldn’t breathe. It was difficult to not shiver as his arms circled around her. Her skin broke out in goose bumps. “You were the one who told me that I owed you.”

  “But I don’t think you bought that lame excuse of mine. Do you like me?”

  “We’re not in high school.”

  He grinned. His arms tightened around hers. “Whenever I’m with you, I’m as nervous as I was on my first date. It’s silly really. Whoever has heard of a grown man being anxious just because he’s meeting a beautiful, talented woman, and yet I always am when you’re with me.”

  They stared at each other. This was the time when she could have broken away from him. If she told him she was doing it out of the goodness of her heart, or perhaps because she did feel guilty about landing him in some trouble, he might have accepted her words and backed off. But Nya wasn’t a coward. Yes, she experienced tumultuous feelings when she was with him, and if he could admit to such a thing, then so could she. “I like you.”

  “Great.”

  “But we need to sort out this mess before we move any further.”

  “But may I kiss you just this once?”

  Laughter sputtered out of her mouth. No man ever asked for her permission to kiss her before. It was kind of funny really. “Sure, but—”

  He didn’t allow her to finish the sentence.

  The instant his lips landed on her, all thoughts frizzled out of her mind. Her entire body froze as she concentrated only on the way his mouth moved over hers. Heady didn’t begin to describe the feelings that sizzled through her heart.

  He tasted good.

  Oh, so damned good.

  Her tongue clashed with his as she tasted each nook and cranny of his mouth. Heat radiated through her veins and made her warm and tingly all over. Her bones all but melted until she was a puddle of warm jelly. The kiss was dynamic, emotional. His lips were soft, yet hard, his tongue demanding, and she matched him stroke for stroke. Her skin hummed and sizzled. She longed for more. All she desired was to feel his lips on other parts of her body and for him to caress her. But for now, she concentrated on the way his lips roamed over hers. When he finally pulled away, she was glad to see his eyes were glazed over. He was just as affected by the kiss as she was.

  Good.

  “Oh, boy,” he stated quietly.

  Yes, oh boy! They were in a load of trouble. “I should go back to the office,” she said in a weak voice.

  “This isn’t over yet, Nya.”

  Oh, no. This was just the beginning. There was no way she could stay away now that she’d experienced THE KISS. It was a long time since a man shook her like this. Actually, she didn’t remember the last time she felt so exhilarated after a kiss. If this was merely a physical attraction then she wanted to explore it more to see how deep it went, and if it was something that could—if it was something more than her entire world was going to change.

  Nya licked her bottom lip. Her mind was a bundle of confused nerves and thoughts. It was hard to make sense of things. She didn’t want to say anything else to him. As it was, they had said far too much and now it was important for them to untangle each thought and review and study it. If they were going to go deeper into this relationship, then she needed to be sure.

  And so did he.

  “Take care.”

  He turned and opened the door for her car. When she sat in, he closed it. “See you around,” he said.

  She dared not glance at him, only nodded. If she did so, she was likely to leap out of the car and straight into his arms. The man spun some potent magic, and she wasn’t immune to it. Nya raced back to her office. When she climbed out of the car, she stood still for a moment as she regained her breath.

  What was that?

  That kiss was without equal, the best she’d ever had. Her head still spun from the reverberations of the memory of it. She could still taste him in her mouth. His flavor lingered on her tongue. Her body had fit so perfectly against his hard muscles. They were one for that brief moment, and they belonged together.

  Crap.

  She was in the eye of a storm from which there was no escape. While she could only wish it was nothing more than crazed lust that would finally die on its own, Nya had the uneasy feeling this was something far more significant. Every nerve in her body shrieked that she was on the brink of a major catastrophe.

  She’d never felt such powerful emotions for another man, and when she did so for Reece, there had to be only one reason; she was falling in love with him. Nya wanted to run away. Her mind compelled her to leave town and never come back. Reece was the wrong choice. He was too dangerous, not because he was capable of inflicting physical injury, but because he could change her life in ways from which she wouldn’t ever recover.

  Another car rolled into the parking lot. It was the Chief’s. She saw him get out. Nya cleared her throat and pasted a smile on her face. “Hello, sir. I was just coming back from my lunch break.”

  He barely spared her a glance. “Fine.”

  Was he upset with her for some reason? She wanted to ask, but then there was no point opening that particular Pandora’s Box. Nya followed him to the door.

  At the door, he stopped. “Nya, I believed I told you to stay away from Reece.”

  What did he know?

 
Did he see them together on the road?

  She’d been careful, but maybe she missed his car as he swung by them. Perhaps he saw them kiss. “Yes, sir. I remember.”

  “Good. It wouldn’t be nice if you forgot.”

  He opened the door for her, and she stepped in. Nya could all but feel his gaze on her as she walked to her office. Something was up. Someone must have told him something. Maybe he was aware she went out on a date with Reece. Shit. She wanted to confess, but then this was personal domain, and no one had the right to interfere, not even her boss.

  This was her life, and she would live it the way she wanted.

  Chapter Ten

  There was no reason to ignore Nya’s advice.

  Reece was grateful she came forward when she did. As soon as he got home, he called his lawyer and asked him to set things in motion. If there was any movement from the police, his lawyer would spring into action. At least, he did get the warning well ahead of time. After he talked to his lawyer, Reece felt a lot more confident.

  If trouble was heading his way, he was at least prepared for it.

  He was grateful Nya had the gumption to call him. Most women in her place wouldn’t have taken the chance. Perhaps she really did like him. If that kiss was any indication, the heat that burned within his veins also rolled through hers. He felt glad the attraction was mutual. Reece looked forward to spending more time with her. She was a unique woman, brave and strong, and he wanted—oh yes, he did—to spend more time with her.

  Soon, they would get that opportunity.

  Reece tried to put thoughts regarding her out of his mind as he concentrated on his work. Managing his factories and so many employees required his absolute commitment and dedication, and he couldn’t let them down just because he was going through a personal crisis. That night, he worked until midnight and then finally went home. His sleep was restless. Dreams plagued him. He saw her, and she was in his arms. Her scent was real, as was the touch when she ran her fingers across his skin. But when he woke up, he was alone in his own bed and bereft of her presence.