BULL: MC ROMANCE (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 6)

by Samantha Leal

  Chapter 8

  Lana was pulled outside and into her mother’s SUV before she could so much as breathe. Everything happened so fast, and no one stopped to explain anything. Her mother knew more than she did about the situation, and Lana was getting quite irritated. “Can someone please tell me why you are carting me around like a rag doll?”

  “Not now, baby,” Conner replied tensely. He was usually so calm and relaxed that Lana bit her lip with worry. If he was this stressed, that meant it was bad. She sighed and left it alone, but she would get her answers. This was her life, and there was no way she was going to stand idly by and allow someone else take care of her problems. It was obviously bad, but that didn’t mean she was useless in the situation—whatever it was.

  Her mother opened the door and pulled her into a hug with tears in her eyes. Now Lana knew there really was something horribly wrong. “Do what they tell you to do, sweetheart, and text me when you get there. When this is all over, we’re going to Hawaii on vacation.”

  Lana leaned back. “Mom, what’s going on? You’re never scared, and you sure as hell never cry. You’re freakin’ me out.”

  “Honey, this is bad, and Conner and his family will explain it to you—they’ll keep you safe. I know them personally. She looked off to the side, avoiding eye contact.

  “How do you know so much about his family?”

  She didn’t respond.

  “Mom, tell me.”

  He mother bristled. “Fine.” She stepped out of Lana’s embrace and threw her hands up in defeat. “You and your brother’s father was half werebear. He never shifted, but Graham’s family raised him, until he passed, after you were born.”

  Lana sputtered. “You—you always refused to talk about our father, yet when one of the boys talked about a deadbeat dad, you ripped them a new one. I never understood why.”

  “It’s because he was no deadbeat. He was an honorable man who died and was also part beast, because even though he never shifted, he still had the bear’s spirit inside, much like Conner does. The only difference between him and Conner is that his bear gets to come out whenever it wants. Your father’s couldn’t. He felt like he was half of a man who didn’t fit in anywhere. He was too human to be a bear, and too bear to be a human.”

  “Oh, mom, why didn’t you ever tell us?”

  “Because he wouldn’t have wanted you to know. But since you have found yourself a part of the same family, I figured it was time to tell you.”

  “Does Conner know?”

  “No, but Graham will as soon as he meets you. You look the most like him.”

  Conner jumped in the car and started it, signaling he was ready to leave but not rushing her.

  “Oh, well I guess we better get going. But when I get back, you and I will be talking.”

  “Okay, I love you,” her mother said, wiping away tears. Lana was flabbergasted. Her mother never cried. She never got emotional, and she never let on that she knew people like Conner existed.

  ***

  Conner shook Lana gently. It had been a long ride, but it was time to get her inside the safety of the den. The den was protected by magical wards, which meant Campbell wouldn’t be able to find her, and eventually he would die leaving them safe. Until then Lana would have to stay with him and his family. He had overheard her mother talking and couldn’t believe how small the world was. Lana’s father was like an uncle to him. His death had left a gap in his heart, and now to find out that Lana was his child was amazing. It made sense now why she fell into the heat and submitted to him so easily, without question. Although she did not have the spirit of one, she was still part bear and her instincts were strong.

  “Baby, it’s time to wake up,” he said before kissing her brow.

  Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him until she realized why she was waking up in the car. She was running. The only good thing that came out of the whole situation was the fact that she wouldn’t be in trouble. Without Campbell’s body there was no crime, which mean his mate was free of any guilt.

  “Hi,” she replied. “We’re here?”

  “Yes, baby, it’s time to meet your new family.”

  She glanced away as tears filled her eyes.

  “Hey, sweetheart, this is good. Because here, your father was well loved and respected. No one thought any less of him because of his mixed heritage.”

  “Really?”

  “Of course. He was one of us.”

  She nodded. He got out of the SUV and jogged to her side, opening the door before she was out of the car. She thanked him with a kiss on his cheek. He grabbed her hand and led her into the den. Finally, he was home.

  His father greeted them as soon as they stepped into the main house.

  “Conner,” he said and pulled his son into a hug. Then he looked at Lana and gasped. “No, it couldn’t be?”

  “Yeah. She’s James’ daughter, dad.”

  “Oh, my dear, come here.” He didn’t wait for an invitation before pulling Lana into a tight hug and squeezing her until she couldn’t breathe. But she didn’t complain. Her arms wrapped around him and hugged him back. Finally Conner was able to pull her from his father’s grasp. “You look so much like him, dear girl.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “I do?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “Dad, have you heard anything underground?”

  He smiled. “It seems your rush to bring her here for protection was unnecessary. But I’m glad you’re here. It seems Mr. Mark’s body was found, in pieces and nearly unrecognizable early this morning.”

  Lana gasped. “How is that possible?”

  His dad glared at him. “Did you tell her anything?”

  “No, she was sleeping, and I didn’t want to scare her.”

  He sighed. “Come sit.” He patted the seat next to him on the couch, and she sat down, waiting for him to explain. “You see, Mr. Marks was possessed by a demon. When Conner killed him—and he did in fact kill him— a more powerful demon, one we will not name, couldn’t have them exposed so he cleaned up the mess. But since Mr. Marks was wanted by the police, he couldn’t just disappear. So he was ripped apart and only recognizable by his DNA. The demons win by shedding his blood and by knowing the humans aren’t any closer to finding out the truth. You’re lucky, though. Some demons wouldn’t have let you go, but since Conner was caught on the tape killing him, they knew there would be no reason to worry about you telling the world about its darker side.”

  Lana paled. Conner moved to her side and put his hand on her shoulder. She calmed a little beneath his touch but was still worried. “So I’m safe. No one is after me?”

  “No, you are good to go, luckily. Sometimes it doesn’t end this well, for anyone. I’m glad you’re here and I was able to give you good news. Now we must celebrate your mating!” He clapped his hands and stood. “The clan will be thrilled. There hasn’t been a new mating in far too long.” Then he strode out of the room, leaving behind a happy peace.

  Conner loved his father, but he had just driven for two days straight. He was tired and hungry. And most of all, he wanted his mate so badly it hurt. They hadn’t stopped long enough to do anything other than get cheap food and have a bathroom break. Now he wanted more. He pulled Lana to her feet and kissed her lightly. “See, baby, I told you everything would work out. But my dad was right, we got very lucky in this situation.”

  She nodded and kissed him back forcefully. It seemed she was in the mood, and he had no intention of turning her down. They both wanted to forget the stress of the past week. He lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the house. Cheers surrounded him, and he could feel Lana’s body heat with embarrassment.

  He chuckled. “You can meet her later,” he told the crowd of gathered bears. All of them wanted to meet her and welcome her to the family. It was a bear’s way.

  His Darkness Revealed

  Samantha Leal

  Copyright ©2015 by Samantha Leal. All rights reserved.

  N
o part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Thank you so much for your interest in my work

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter One

  Love at first sight was as unrealistic as unicorns and vampires, at least according to Ginny Night. That was until she saw him. It all happened by chance really. Ginny had been walking down the street, rather late for her first day of her new job as a journalist. She hadn’t been paying attention to where she was walking, more concentrated on not tripping over herself to notice the man coming straight for her. They had collided in a pretty intense way.

  Of course Ginny had given countless apologies but her voice went soft when she first laid eyes on the man. Tall, dark and handsome would be the perfect way to describe him. He was easily over six feet with thick jet black hair perfectly coiffed. With matching dark eyes and a rather pale complexion he was a sight to behold. Upon seeing his broad shoulders and muscular arms and chest Ginny nearly drooled on the spot. But after bumping into him, she gathered herself up well enough and apologized one more time before walking off.

  The man had been imprinted in her mind from then on. And as she had quickly figured out the insanely attractive man walked the same path every day. Ginny had started to make a habit of watching him down the street and every once in a while she would ‘accidentally’ run into him. By now she was sure he knew her intentions but she just couldn’t help it.

  And now here she was, walking down the street with an armful of papers, ready to run into him again. Perhaps this time she would be brave enough to ask him for his name. Suddenly he came into view. Now it was time to act. Ginny averted her gaze and made a beeline for him. Just as she was sure she was about to collide with him there was a firm hand on her arm.

  “We really should stop meeting like this.” The man chuckled lightly. Ginny was sure her face was beet red from embarrassment. Surely he had figured her out!

  “Haha, yeah, I suppose I should pay better attention to my surroundings. It’s just so early I haven’t had my coffee yet so my brain is still waking up.” Ginny tried to laugh and lie her way out of the situation, suddenly very aware of how close he was to her body.

  “Well perhaps we should change that. If you aren’t too busy would you like to get some coffee?” Ginny thought she was going to explode from the excitement bottled up inside of her. She tried to play it off as coolly as she could.

  “That would be great. If you aren’t in a rush either.” Ginny mentally berated herself for how lame that sounded but kept steamrolling ahead, hoping to cover up her awkwardness with more words. “I’m Ginny by the way. All this time I keep bumping into you I never told you my name.” Ginny extended her hand and the man happily took it, shaking with gusto.

  “My name is Liam.” They shared a small moment of just smiling at each other while shaking hands. It was a small moment, but it was a moment nonetheless. Ginny would take what she could get.

  “Shall we? There is a wonderful little café just around the corner.” Liam pointed to a corner not even a half block away. Ginny nodded her head enthusiastically, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.

  “That sounds great.”

  They walked side by side to the coffee shop and when they got to the counter Liam insisted that she order first. Ginny got a vanilla latte, her secret guilty pleasure of a coffee drink while Liam got an Americano. Ginny went to pay for her latte but Liam refused to let her, saying that it was the gentlemanly thing to do. Just another reason Ginny could tell she was already falling in love with him. Though, Ginny would still never admit that she believed in love at first sight.

  “So Liam, what do you do?” Ginny inquired as she sipped her latte. Liam added a single sugar packet to his Americano as he contemplated how to answer her question.

  “I guess the best way to answer that would be to say that I am a businessman of sorts.” Ginny gave him a puzzled look.

  “And what do you mean by that?” Liam was hesitant to expand on it any further, yet there was something about Ginny that made him feel at ease. The usually closed off and private man saw something in Ginny, something that he hadn’t seen in a very long time. It was a comforting feeling, almost familiar in nature. Perhaps that was why Liam didn’t stop the words from pouring out of his mouth. There was a connection between him and this girl, a connection he wanted to explore in more detail.

  “My family owns the Langley Corporation.” Ginny thought she was going to spray her drink everywhere. The Langley Corporation was a family with money in the billions, and if this guy in front of her was for real he was likely the second son, William Langley, of the current CEO, Edward Langley. The whole ‘Liam’ nickname was likely a way to help keep his identity secret. The family had gained its wealth starting all the way back with the railroads, and through constant diversification with new ventures they had built a reputation of being the closest thing to royalty in the United States. Ginny almost couldn’t believe she was sitting across from such a ‘prince.’

  “Are you really William Langley?” Ginny had to set her latte down for fear of another crazy revelation. Liam seemed rather perturbed by the question but answered it nonetheless.

  “Yes, though I would prefer if you didn’t share that with anyone. I enjoy my privacy.” Ginny shook her head in understanding.

  “No, I get it. It’s just a bit of a shock. It’s not every day that you meet a billionaire.” Even saying the word billionaire was blowing Ginny’s mind. Here she was, a nobody journalist, having coffee with the heir to the corporate throne. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement.

  “I appreciate your understanding. I just want to enjoy my coffee with my beautiful date.” Ginny felt her face turn red again from embarrassment; he was almost too much.

  “You aren’t too bad looking yourself.” Ginny wanted to slap herself silly. Had she really just said that to the William Langley?! Shoot me now, Ginny thought to herself.

  Liam chuckled a bit at her slightly awkward statement, but didn’t tease her about it, which Ginny was forever thankful for. Instead Ginny decided to shift the conversation back onto Liam and away from herself.

  “So if you are from such a well-known family why do you walk around here every day? Wouldn’t it be better to just take a car or limo or whatever it is you drive around in?” Ginny questioned as she re-gathered her latte in her hands. Liam leaned back in his chair and smiled.

  “I like to walk the streets and breathe in the … well, I guess ‘fresh’ isn’t the right word, but I like to breathe in the air of the city. I don’t like to be so isolated from the people around me. Besides, no one really knows what I look like so I can get away with walking around town unnoticed. Though, I will say I wasn’t planning to have near constant run-ins with a certain red headed woman.” Liam smirked and Ginny thought she was going to die again from embarrassment. Ginny sputtered for words, but there was really no defense for her blatant actions. “Don’t worry, I always enjoyed our little run-ins,” Liam half-smiled. Oh God, Ginny thought to herself.

  “Heh, yeah, well anyways, what else do you do during the day besides get semi-harassed by me in the streets?” Ginny was determined to learn more about the secretive man in front of her. And damn it if she wouldn’t get the topic off of her semi-stalker behaviors. It was bad enough that the conversation had primarily revolved around that singular topic.

  “Well I also enjoy Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain.” Liam stated.

  “Those are lyrics to a song,” Ginny called him out on his tease. Liam only beamed back and her.

  “You caught me, though Pina Coladas are delicious. I mostly just help out at the company doing boring business stuff like emails, memos, meeting
s and phone calls. It’s rather monotonous, which is why I love walking through the streets. Everyday something different can happen.” Liam eyes lit up as he talked about the near daily adventure of walking down the street and Ginny couldn’t help but smile along with him. His personality was infectious and the more they talked the more she came to like him.

  It was strange Ginny thought, sitting here with a man that was essentially a stranger and yet feeling like there were old friends, or even old lovers. Ginny had never felt such an instant connection with someone before and it was exhilarating. There was an easiness to him that instantly drew Ginny in and talking with him was comfortable and pleasant. The entire hour they enjoyed their coffee there wasn’t a single moment of silence or awkwardness. The conversation flowed from one topic to another, covering things from life in the Big Apple, to their careers, to the minutest of topics such as pet names and Ginny’s irrational fear of pool drains. There was just so much they had in common - it was uncanny the instant connection they shared.

  Every time Liam’s hand brushed hers, whether intentional or by chance, Ginny could feel an almost electric charge pass between them. There was just something that lit a fire deep within Ginny and she was eager to fan the flames, if only to see how much they could burn. In the back of her mind Ginny wondered what about this man before her was so intoxicating, so captivating, that he nearly had her heart on the very first ‘date.’

  The coffee date went as smoothly as it could have and ended with William and Ginny exchanging numbers. It was an afternoon Ginny was not likely to forget anytime soon. She had met an amazing man, who also happened to be an extremely hot billionaire. Things like that don’t just happen to people like Ginny. It was a day to remember and in that moment Ginny felt like she was on top of the world. There was nothing that could bring her down.

  That night, after Ginny went home, she wrote about her experience, about her date with a billionaire. It was just too good of a story to pass up. Of course she changed both of their names but it was too much to keep to herself, so Ginny decided to write it all down. Since it was fresh in her mind Ginny wrote down in as much detail as possible the entire story of her first ‘encounter’ with the nearly perfect man. When she finished she looked it over and contemplated what to do with the piece of writing. Sure she could keep it as a sort of diary, but something pulled at her to do something more with it.