Curves & Alphas: A Paranormal Box Set: (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance)

by Willow Brooks

  “I’m sorry, I’m just really busy right now. I can’t say,” I managed to get out, but in in my head I was screaming for him to scoop me up, to take me back to his place, but my mouth wouldn’t work with me.

  I didn’t have a clue what I wanted as far as Logan Worthington was concerned. I guess what concerned me most was this unrelenting attraction to him. I feared the intensity of it, as much as I did the absolute strangeness of it. For now, the safest way to deal with that was to avoid him, no matter how much of a feat that was to pull off. He’d come around my desk, grabbed my head and kissed my forehead before leaving. I got up, stumbled to my door and locked the world out.

  After that, flowers came on a daily basis, as did an increase in snide comments from my coworkers. On top of that, Ava and Brittany were all but avoiding me, so when I did manage to get ahold of them, they were anything but available to listen to me talk about Logan. I went home Friday night, wanting a return to normalcy as badly as I wanted to give in to Logan, only to find him standing outside my apartment door with another floral arrangement in his hand, looking like he’d just stepped out of a fashion magazine in his jeans and T-shirt, high-end clothing made to look old, of course.

  “Logan,” I exclaimed, swallowing hard, fighting for something to say. “You should really leave some flowers for the rest of the world. I mean, they are beautiful, but you shouldn’t do so much.”

  “I want to. I don’t know how else to get your attention. Buying things is what I do. I’m sorry.”

  “No. Please don’t apologize,” I said in a rush, in response to his fallen face.

  I couldn’t be the one to make him sad. That hit me like a bucket of cold water. I stood there, shivering despite the fact that the weather was warm. Shit, I wanted this man like I’d never wanted anyone before, and yet, I’d never tried so hard to force anyone out of my life. I’d never had to. The whole thing was maddening, especially when my body gravitated toward his.

  “I can have dinner here in minutes. Whatever you want. You have to stop to eat, right? Please, just give me a little of your time. This week has been torture being away from you. Please, at least tell me that you want to spend time with me. Put me out of my misery. I’ve been behaving as best I can, giving you space, but I want to be with you, Ashlyn. You are all I can think about. Do you think about me? Do you want to be with me?”

  I shook my head as I moved past him to unlock the door. Gritting my teeth, I hissed, “I do…”

  He let out a loud sigh of relief that made me jump as he followed me into my apartment.

  “Sorry. I know this small place isn’t what you are used to. I live comfortably with little. I am happier giving all I can to my family to improve their lives,” I said, my brows furrowed as he let his body fall onto the couch, not at all uncomfortable here.

  “Is that the problem? My money? I mean, I didn’t think of that. Most only want me for it. But, if it makes you uncomfortable, I will sell the mansion, the limo, get an apartment here close to you and drive an old Mustang, and not the one in mint condition in my garage already,” he said with a shaky laugh. “I’ll do anything to just get a chance with you. I’m not afraid to admit that.”

  I was, I thought, but said out loud, “No, it isn’t your money… I mean… well not exactly. I don’t know. Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I have all the time in the world to find out what is holding you back. I know that no one is as busy as you are claiming to be. Something is holding you back, and I am willing to put in the time until you tell me what it is.”

  “I don’t even know myself,” I sighed, standing there rigid, afraid to make one move toward him lest I start ripping off his clothes.

  “It’s okay. I get it. I do. What I feel for you, after just hours with you, from the moment I laid eyes on you, it is like nothing else I have ever experienced before. It can be scary, but I know that it is easier for me, I’m sure, and that isn’t a money thing, but a knowledge thing, though that will make no sense to you. We can take it as slow as you need to, but as long as you don’t tell me that you never want to see me again, I’m not going anywhere.”

  I dared a look at him then, seeing the truth in his bright blue eyes as he ran a hand hastily through his dark, wavy locks that fell like strands of gleaming silk around his face in a tousled look that was anything but unkempt. I nodded his way, grateful, shaky, unsure of what to do next. I no longer had full possession of my body. Somehow, I felt it belonged to him, and that not only terrified me, but left me a virgin in the area of a relationship like this one, with not the first clue as how to proceed, especially when giving in to it was suddenly all I wanted to do.

  “You like hamburgers and beer? I’m a simple girl. Cheese with mustard and pickles is about as fancy as I get.”

  “I would love that,” he said with his award-winning smile, which should be outlawed as dangerous to me as it was.

  “Okay, well, make yourself comfortable, and I will get them ordered,” I said, moving over to him to take the flowers from his hand. “Thank you, for these, for all of them. They are beautiful. My favorites, but then, you knew that, didn’t you?”

  “I hired a private detective,” he said with a small, stiff laugh.

  “You called Ava,” I said softly back, our faces now inches apart.

  “I did. Hope that was okay.”

  “It was sweet. She’s not talking to me, but it was sweet.”

  “Because of me?” he asked, his face having fallen again.

  “Ava and Brittany, though I love them, have been friends with them forever, unlike me have been obsessed, growing up with nothing or little, on finding that rich man to take care of them. I take care of myself, and get the attention of the richest, most wanted bachelor in all of New York City. Guess that stings. They will come around.”

  “I can hook them up with eligible rich guys until one takes,” he offered, a bit too seriously.

  “That could work,” I said with a wink, before moving away to put the flowers on the small breakfast bar that divided the living room from the kitchen. It already looked like a small indoor garden, but I shoved arrangements aside to make room for this one too.

  “I’m dying to kiss you again. Really kiss you,” he said, strolling over to me, his hands shoved into the pockets of his tight jeans.

  I only managed a nod before his arm snaked around the small of my back, pulling my hips to his, taking my feet off the ground as he held my weigh against him like I weighed nothing, and I didn’t. His other hand caressed my cheek a second before his mouth crushed down on mine. A noise came from deep in his chest, rumbling through me, shooting a chill down my spine with a good, healthy fear of this man who was possessing me, body and soul.

  “Why is this happening?” I stuttered when he gave me a chance to catch my breath, his cheek pressed against mine.

  While my feet were back on the ground, I still felt like I was floating, unable to get a hold on reality. His hot breath bathing my ear made me quiver, wanting, no, actually needing him like I needed to take my next breath.

  “I have so much I want to share with you, but I don’t want to overwhelm you any more than I already am. I’m just so grateful that I’ve found you. Forgive me if I come on too strong.” He whispered it like an apology he wasn’t sorry about, though he meant it with all the sincerity that he possessed.

  “We have time to share. We know so little about each other, which makes what we ae feeling, at least what I am feeling, all the scarier. I don’t know what to do with it.”

  “I want to tell you to just give in to it, but that would be selfish of me. I’ll try to be patient. I promise, I will try. Though, I want to know everything about you, where you come from, who you are, what you want.”

  “There’s honestly not much to tell. I came from nothing, from a neighborhood I would venture to guess you have never been to. I’m a workaholic, as I have said. I work to help my family while trying to also fight for my dreams. Basic story of the American dream, I guess
. Never enough hours in the day and all.”

  “And I’m the top one percent,” he said, not apologizing, but getting it, not holding it against me, just stating the obvious.

  “You are the top one percent of that top one percent,” I teased, well, half teased.

  “It won’t be a problem. I won’t allow it to be.”

  “I believe you. While I know you get what you want, from what little time I have spent with you, you are genuine. You tell the truth, and believe me, I’ve met my share of crooked businessmen. I do trust you, just not me with you.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I have a need to deny myself of whatever this is. I don’t understand it. I didn’t plan for it.”

  “The best things I have found come unplanned. Life doesn’t follow our rules. There is such a thing as fate, at least I believe, and it is our job to make room for it when it offers us a gift. You are my gift. Accept me.”

  “I’m trying. I am. I want to as much as it terrifies me.”

  “I can live with that,” he said, his tone uneven, unsteady, making me believe that I made him as nervous as he made me, and I found a strange comfort in that. “Just don’t make me live without you, even if I scare you, if the idea of us together terrifies you. Hold on to me.”

  “I am, if you haven’t noticed,” I semi-teased, nipping at his ear, feeling a boldness coming on, inspired by all he had said.

  The growl that came from him shook me to my core, making said core contract, tighten, wanting him. He swept me up off my feet then. Literally. I didn’t know how it was possible. He was strong, but given my generous curves, my size in comparison to his, he should not logically be able to lift me so easily, without breaking a sweat.

  I held on to his neck tightly as he made his way to my open bedroom door.

  “Please, say this is okay. I will only do as you wish, but I will say that I want you, in the worst way. Let me have you, then hamburgers.”

  I nodded before I could even think it through. What happened next though, once he got us through the door of my bedroom, was truly unbelievable, magical really. We came together in a way so passionate that I didn’t feel like I’d ever truly had sex before. At least, I’d had nothing like what I had with Logan. He tossed me onto my tiny bed, making the springs in the mattress protest. For a moment, as I held on to the comforter, gained stability on the bed, he stood over me, one foot in front of the other, shoulders turned in a warrior’s pose, arms curved down to his side like a caveman, just staring at me, making his claim, looking over his prey, making me wish to be devoured.

  “I don’t want to sound like the guy that gets whatever he wants, so, may I have your permission to take the lead, this time? I’ll gladly give it to you next time. You can tie me up if you wish. Do whatever you will with me. I don’t mind. Just, right now, let me take over,” he asked, his voice harsh but not demanding, making me nod my consent lest my mouth dare go with no.

  “Good,” he continued. Without missing a beat, he said, “I can tell you are self-assured, confident, comfortable with yourself, but I don’t believe you see your body in the way I do. You, Ashlyn Davis, are a goddess among women. I’ve never seen a woman so beautiful. Your curves are so succulent, I want to ravish you. Show me what I long for. Take off your clothes. Slowly. Everything from your heels, to your dress, to your bra and underwear.”

  I gulped, shaking under his scrutiny, but at the same time wanting him to really see me, to still look at me with that ravenous look he had in his eyes, which had an animalistic gleam to them at the moment. Trembling fingers slipped off my heels, letting them fall to the floor, eliciting a fierce sound from his lungs, as if he’d blown out all his frustrations, finally getting exactly what he wanted. Being what he wanted, I didn’t think I would ever get used to, but I was going to try. The noises coming from him only grew deeper, fiercer, as I shed each piece of clothing until I sat there, bare to him, releasing any instinct to cover myself.

  He pulled a scarf from a collection I had hanging from my mirror while demanding that I raise my arms. Had I found him menacing in anything but a good way, I may not have so willingly obeyed. At least, that is what I told myself as I lifted them above my head, felt the weight of my breasts more readily fall against my ribs, making me feel more exposed if possible.

  He tied my wrists together before pushing me back down against the bed, batting my legs apart as they had raised, planting my feet against the mattress instinctively. I expected him to lung between them, but he surprised me by standing over me, observing, as he ran a finger, sometimes lightly, sometimes not, over my legs, around my stomach, circling my breasts, coming up to trace over my face before returning to my mound. He lightly circled around it, teasing me until I moaned, practically begged him for more, except that I’d taken to biting my lip harder and harder. It didn’t stop there though. He continued on, moving me around, exposing me more, playing with my body, sometimes just touching, other times kissing, even biting, until I squirmed under him, whimpering as he held my wet folds open, running a finger around my opening, biting the soft flesh of one of my thighs.

  “You are so amazing, so wet, so willing, wanting me. And I want to plunge into you, but there is more of this beautiful body to explore,” he said, standing back up, leaving me to make a sound that pleaded for him to come back. “Roll over on your stomach.”

  With wide eyes looking into his, seeing how serious he was, I did so. Though, it took some effort with my hands still tied above my head. My full ass up in the air felt naughty and made me only want more at this point, as turned on as he had me. My body buzzed with passion, a motor running at full capacity, wanting to take off and go as fast as I could. He spread my legs again, though he went to touching, kissing and biting over the backs of my legs, my ass, my back, until he bite hard enough on my shoulder to elicit a cry from me. That pain though, it ricocheted through me, inciting every nerve ending to stand at high alert, to want more though I feared I couldn’t take another touch.

  He got up to strip then, exposing that body too good to be true, his erection already hard by the time he released it with a groan. By this time, I watched him unashamedly, sprawled on the bed on my stomach, still bound, still gloriously at his mercy. His hands came to my middle, tugging my ass up to him. Though I was more than ready for him to push into me, actually wanted it fast and hard, he rubbed his body over mine, his cock driving me mad, hot and solid against the flesh he’d made warm.

  Curled over me, his erection finally poised between my folds, the head at my opening, his mouth nestled in my neck, he asked in a demanding tone, “Let me claim you.”

  “Yes,” I struggled to say.

  To my surprise, as his erection forced its way into my body, a glorious stretching pushing me up and over the edge almost instantly, he bit my shoulder again, growling. With the animalistic nature of this, the fierce way he thrusted in and out of me, continuing this ride of pain and pleasure, we ended up coming together, fierce, animal, intense beyond anything I’d experienced before.

  As we came together, my mind a whirl, my vision blurred, he demanded, “Say my name. Say you are mine.”

  “I’m yours, Logan,” I grunted, willing to say just about anything at the moment, but meaning it, wanting it. To hell with my fears of what was happening between us.

  “You are,” he growled as our bodies fell to the mattress. “And I am willingly yours. Only yours, Ashlyn.” After we’d laid there for a few minutes catching our breaths, he continued, “How about those burgers. Then you can tie me up if you want.”

  “I could go for that.”

  “Burgers or me?”

  “Both.”

  “Perfect. Then, can I stay? I promise to make you breakfast in bed, though I will call for the ingredients to be delivered. There are perks to money.”

  “You cook?”

  “For the right person, I can manage well enough. Well, to be honest, I got a few lessons from my cook this week.”

&nb
sp; “What else can you do, Logan?” I asked, figuring it a long list.

  “You will see. I’m full of surprises. But, if you really want to know me better, say you will come to meet my parents tomorrow. They have been asking to meet you.”

  “You told them about me?”

  “I did. While I don’t want you to judge me on them, I do think it is important to know where one comes from. I would love to meet your parents as well, when you are ready.”

  “Well, all of that should be interesting. Let’s get food, and then I will decide, on the parents thing that is. Tying you up, well, that I will say yes to. Having the powerful Logan Worthington subject to my every whim, in my bed… I think I could get into that.”

  “Your every wish is my command.”

  Chapter Five

  I stood in a room bigger than my apartment, concentrating on keeping my mouth from gapping open as we waited for Logan’s parents in their mansion. It was actually bigger than his, if that was possible. I remember thinking when I saw his, all this for one person, but there were parties to throw and events to host, as well as having business associates from around the world stay. Mostly, it had to be expectation, for show, not that he seemed to care, but he did do what was expected, by his family, and probably by everyone given what he’d accomplished in life in so few years. I admired that selflessness.