“Shut up---”
“Oh, poor baby,” I said faking sympathy, “Are you going to cry now? Did I guess right? I bet you’re even impotent too. What are you packing in those pants of yours? An inch worm?”
He grabbed me by my neck then and began to strangle me. I tried my best to get away from him and eventually fell over in the chair.
He stood above me with a look of fury on his face and as he raised his leg to stomp me, the door flew open courtesy of Pinkie’s body that went flying through it. Pinkie attempted to sit up and realized belatedly that his arms were no longer attached to his body. Mr. Wall Street stared at his friend and then his eyes widened as he saw the creature standing there in the hall.
He backed up, slowly, shaking his head no. The bear-like creature snarled and raised up on its hind legs. It eerily walked over to Mr. Wall Street and lowered its head to his face. I saw liquid pool around Mr. Wall Street’s feet and realized that he had peed himself.
And then his eyes widened even more as a second snarling creature appeared at the door. This one approached me on all fours and easily cut away the ropes that bound my wrists with its razor sharp nails. It then nudged me towards the door.
Mr. Wall Street was shaking as both creatures began to pace around him. I turned my head away knowing what would happen next. I walked as quickly as my tired legs would carry me out of the room and down the stairs.
I could hear the screams of Mr. Wall Street as they echoed across the house. They went from screams of fear to screams of pain and then finally there was silence. I pushed through his front door and finally my legs gave out on me. Someone caught me in their arms. It was Honey. I instantly began to sob.
“It’s okay, love. We got you. We got you. It’s okay. The nightmare’s over. It’s okay,” she said as she hugged me to her chest and rocked me like a child.
Epilogue
“Girl, I almost forgot to give this to you,” Nico said reaching into his pocket and handing me my bracelet.
My eyes grew wide and I felt tears forming, “Oh my gosh, I almost forgot completely. Thank you so much,” I said hugging Nico tightly.
He hugged me back briefly and then let me go. “You’re welcome, babe. Now if you don’t mind, we need to get these drinks out to our guests before we have a riot on our hands.”
Our guests were my grandmother, her fiancé, Honey, Winslow and Hollis. I doubt any of them would riot, but I humored Nico and followed him outside.
It was a beautiful fall day and although there was a chill in the air, I didn’t care. I was feeling good. The most important people in my life were here. We were having dinner at Hollis’ house which was a townhome with three floors in an affluent area of town.
I placed the drinks in the middle of the table and to my surprise, Grandma was the first person to reach for one. Her fiancé, Mr. Davis, reached for a drink as well and they clinked their glasses together. With a giggle, my grandmother batted her eyelashes at Mr. Davis and sent him a meaningful look. I blushed and turned away, pretending I hadn’t noticed.
Honey wasn’t so shy. “Wow you two. Get a room.” Grandma smiled widely and Mr. Davis had the grace to look embarrassed.
“They’re obviously in love, Honey. Leave them alone,” Nico said, swatting at Honey’s arm. He sat down next to Honey and took a long sip from his drink. He popped his lips together afterwards and said, “God damn, that’s delicious.”
I giggled. Nico and Honey had become my best friends after the ordeal that happened nearly six months ago. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Honey who used her police connections, I probably would have been dead before they found me. Immediately after I had been kidnapped she had called it in. And Nico had been the one to contact Hollis. It turned out that Nico realized that he and Hollis had attended law school together after he dropped me off that night. He hadn’t realized it at first, but something about Hollis had bothered him and so he had looked him up and realized that they actually did know each other. From there, they had combined resources with the cops, but of course Hollis and Winslow had arrived first and dealt with Mr. Wall Street who I later found out was named Clint Maryland. He wasn’t even affiliated with Wall Street. He was actually a well-known psychiatrist and most of his clients were affiliated with the mafia. Pinkie for instance was a “retired” hitman. I heard Pinkie was serving ten to fifteen years. And Clint, well when the police got there, there wasn’t much left of him to arrest and Pinkie’s blubbering about werewolves made him not such a reliable source regarding what had happened that day. Winslow and Hollis had disappeared before the cops got to the scene. I claimed that I didn’t see what happened to Clint since I was too busy trying to escape. Luckily that had been true, although I knew very well what Clint’s fate had been.
Ever since that day, I had made myself a home at Nico’s apartment. He had a spare bedroom and since he worked so much during the day and was a DJ by night he was never home so it was like having an entire luxury apartment to myself. I even helped myself to all his toiletries which felt and smelled amazing and must have cost a small fortune. Honey came over to take care of me and of course the guys and Grandma had been there for my recovery too. The physical wounds had healed but emotionally I wasn’t quite back to normal, but the psychologist I saw said that it would take some time.
Nico made a great roommate and between him and Honey, they kept me laughing and happy. In fact, I was extremely happy, happy and grateful for these people around me and for my life in general. I even got a job. I started working for an online-based nonprofit whose CEO was a client of Nico’s. I did all their blog posts, social media marketing, newsletters and everything else they needed. I loved it. I felt my life was complete.
After my grandmother and Mr. Davis went back to their hotel, Nico and Honey left shortly thereafter. I suspected my grandmother picked up on the fact that both men were interested in me, but she didn’t comment. For that I was relieved. Not that I felt guilty about my relationship with Winslow and Hollis. I didn’t. I loved them both. There was no denying that, but it was complicated. I couldn’t choose one or the other. They were both integral parts of my life. They loved me hard and I loved them harder.
As they cleaned up the kitchen, I decided to shower in Hollis’ guestroom. I stripped quickly and stepped in. The bathroom was huge and had a large walk in shower that was almost as big as my closet. I sighed and placed my hands against the walls of the shower, letting the pressure of the water beat against my shoulders. I then closed my eyes and wound my fingers through my hair, gathering it at the nape of my neck. I let the pressure of the shower beat against my face this time and was startled when I felt hands caress my shoulders.
I immediately recognized Winslow’s caress as he trailed his hands down my spine and kissed the nape of my neck. I moaned as he brought his hands up to the front of my body and began to gently caress my nipples with one hand, while fingering me with the other. He didn’t say a word as he continued kissing my neck. There was complete silence besides my heavy breathing. And then he turned me around and kissed me deeply on the mouth. My tongue found his and we explored each other while his hand found my clit and began to circle it gently. My legs began to shake and I moaned as I came fast, gasping for breath against his chest. He wasn’t done with me yet and he easily scooped me up and slid my legs around his hips. He planted my back against the wall of the shower and entered me. He slid easily in and out of my wetness and my hips bucked up greedily to meet every single delicious thrust. He stretched and filled me, taking his time, making me feel loved with every inch of him that filled me to the brim and stretched me out. He continued kissing my neck, my lips, my cheeks.
“I love you, Ivy,” he said pulling back away from me and allowing me to stare deeply into his eyes. I wound my arms around his neck and kissed him back soundly, letting him know through my touch that I felt the same way. He came then, hoarsely shouting as he buried himself inside me. I wrapped my arms tightly around him and held him until he slowly raised h
is head and pulled out of me.
He got out the shower first and held a towel out for me. I stepped into it and he gently began to dry my body, caressing it again, arousing me further. I moved to kiss him and he kissed me back and then broke off abruptly saying, “Hollis is getting jealous, I’ll see you in the morning, love.”
I was confused by his words and as he exited the bathroom in full nudity I couldn’t help but admire his taut butt. “Your loss!” I shouted behind him and I heard him laugh. I smiled to myself as I finished drying off and made my way into the bedroom.
Hollis sat on the bed, looking annoyed. “Ohh now I get it,” I said, noting his look.
Hollis stood up and wordlessly began to undress. I watched trying to keep my look impassive, but I gulped when I saw his sex, forgetting again how big he could get.
He stroked it and smiled at me. “See something you like?”
I dropped my towel and this time, he was the one to gulp, as I responded, “I don’t know. Do you see something you like?”
With a growl, he picked me up and tossed me on top of the bed. I let out a giggle before his body covered my own and things became serious. Unlike the encounter with Winslow, with Hollis our movements were frenzied, impatient and a little rough. When he pushed inside of me, I screamed in pleasure and begged him to do me harder, rougher.
He flipped me over and made me get on my knees. He then thrust into me, rubbing my clit from the underside of my body.
“Hollis!”
“Mmmm you feel good,” he gasped, slapping me hard on my behind. That was enough to push me over the edge and I felt him begin to orgasm as my own sex gripped, relaxed and then gripped him again. Over and over until finally he groaned my name and filled me with his seed.
Breathing heavily, he rolled off of me and then to my surprise gathered me close to him. “You just don’t know how much I love you.” He said a few minutes later.
Surprised, I didn’t know how to respond, so I rolled my eyes and said with an exaggerated sigh, “I don’t know...sometimes, I’m just not too sure.”
“Seriously?” he said sitting up and then he began to tickle me. Next thing I knew, Winslow was standing over us.
“Is there room for one more?” I opened my arms to him, winked at Hollis’s scowling face and said, “Of course.”
The End
Part II
Bearly Friends
Shifter Romance
Part I
Bear Baby
About the Book
A circle of friends is a thing to cherish. For Tessa Johnson a summer trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Northern Georgia is just the thing to take the edge off of a rough year and what has turned out to be a very tumultuous time for one of her friends. She has no idea she’s heading straight into fate and a world she’s only ever dreamed of. And her friends are coming with her.
A string of mistakes leads to some very interesting interactions with the very stoic Hale Masters. Tessa can’t keep her eyes off him, and the promise of excitement and passion that flares in his eyes makes her school-teacher heart beat. He makes her want to let her hair down but she holds back. Would such a rich man be interested in her when her two beautiful best friends are far more his type? Or is she wrong and she’s just what the Alpha male has been looking for?
Tessa finds herself conflicted and lost but with her friends around, encouragement to break her own rules is never far. Letting go is a hard thing to do but Tessa wants to give Hale all he asks for and more. An emergency at home changes her plans however and Tessa takes it as the answer she’s been seeking. But is it really the one she wanted?
Chapter One
“Tessa! We’re leaving in twenty minutes, where are you?” My friend Kaia’s voice came blasting out of the speaker of my mobile phone and I wanted to smother her with my pillow. Well, smother the phone with my pillow at least. Cracking an eye open I peeked at the glaring green lit numbers. It was five minutes to six, what was her problem?
Then I lurched up. It was five minutes to six, I’d overslept! Telling Kaia I’d be at her place in ten minutes I scrubbed my teeth and face, almost using the toothpaste as my facewash, threw my toiletries in a bag, and grabbed the bag I’d thankfully packed the night before. It was vacation time and I’d almost missed it.
I looked down at the clothes I’d thrown on, a conservative button up top in a shade of electric green that was about as wild as my wardrobe got, black slacks, and shoes my other friend Cora called “the erection crushers”, and sighed. I’d promised the girls I’d wear some of the new clothes I’d bought but they were packed up and I didn’t have time to change. I only had five more minutes to get to Kaia’s house if we wanted to hit the road and get to the Singing Stones Resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains we were heading to on time. I wanted to miss the morning traffic in Atlanta and only had a few minutes to spare.
Hoping I wouldn’t get caught speeding, I floored the gas pedal of my SUV and drove away from my home, hoping I’d turned everything off and locked all of the windows and doors. I was singing a version of the Mad Hatters frantic cries about not being late to myself and kind of felt like Alice after she fell down the rabbit hole. The world was surreal without coffee and breakfast, something I’d have to rectify along the way but not just now, I needed to pick up my girls.
I finally pulled up to Kaia’s house with a screech of protesting brakes as I threw my foot on the pedal. Cora and Kaia were at the curb, looking at me in disbelief and awe. I never drove like this, I was never late, and I was certainly never unpredictable. At 28 I was one of the most conservative, mature, “together” people I knew. I dressed to suit my job and to garner respect, I’d paid off most of my student loans and was now working to save up for a house, I owned my own car that I bought on my own because my credit rating was excellent, and I was always on time for work.
I rolled down a window as Cora and Kaia stood there, still gaping at me.
“Yes, I know. The world has just ended, hell has indeed frozen over, and yes, there are probably zombies roaming the earth as we speak. Get in before they find you.” My joke fell on stunned ears but the other two women, my best friends and coworkers, finally got into the car after loading their luggage. Kaia sat up front while Cora climbed into one of the back seats.
“So what happened?” Kaia asked after five minutes of silence. She was looking at me as if she was afraid I’d go off, or perhaps would spontaneously combust.
“I stayed up late reading that horror book you gave me. Then my alarm didn’t go off. So here we are, on time but I still feel like I’m supposed to be rushing. This isn’t a good start to our day.”
“Girl, we’re fine, slow down. If we get stuck in traffic, we get stuck in traffic.” Cora spoke up from the back seat, her fingers already busy clattering on her phone. I had to guess she was blogging this part already.
With a slight smile, I looked at my two friends and pulled into our favourite fast-food restaurant for some country ham biscuits and coffee.
“We’re going to be huge when this vacation is over.” Kaia protested but I noticed she didn’t turn her biscuit away.
I drove away from the window and back onto the interstate, my biscuit almost gone already. Kaia and Cora are my two best friends, beautiful, intelligent, and excellent educators. We are as different as day and night though, both physically and mentally. Even our personalities are different but somehow that brought us all closer together and made our circle of friends even stronger.
Kaia is half African American and half Caucasian, her skin a light coffee color with dark brown, almost black hair. She’s tall, well over my five foot six, and athletic but with exotic features that make her a stunning beauty at 27 years old. Combine all of that with her clear grey eyes and she is simply stunning. I often stared at her in wonder at just how perfectly symmetrical and beautiful she is, both on the inside and out.
And Cora! I glanced back at my friend in the rear-view mirror. Cora was about three inches shorter th
an I, and much thinner than my plush frame, but she was gutsy, beautiful, and didn’t put up with anybody’s junk. Cora could provide for herself and now that she was pregnant she’d become almost fierce about her independence. I think she was even more “with it” at 25 than I had been. The girl was going places if her pregnancy didn’t slow her down.
The baby’s father ran like a track star when he found out about the baby, breaking Cora’s heart. He’d apparently fled back to Ireland, too cowardly to stick around and take care of his own child. But Cora had me and Kaia, she’d be fine.
Cora was gorgeous in her own right. Copper red hair that just gleamed in the sunlight, with tumultuous green eyes that could never decide if they wanted to be a silvery green or a brownish green. The color changed with Cora’s mood and only highlighted just how beautiful she was.
I, on the other hand, had your average light blond hair, dark blue eyes, and was overweight. An avid walker I was often frustrated by my inability to shift some of my weight. Despite my unmarried status, I looked like your average housewife with a conservative streak that bordered on obsession. I hated showing any skin that might be deemed inappropriate and would often wear light jackets even in the summer. In Georgia that can be a very foolish choice.
I didn’t like to draw attention to myself, though, and this made dating, much less finding a life-partner, very hard to do. If I’d lose ten more pounds, you’d be able to see that my face was more pointed than round, but it just wouldn’t move. Kaia had suggested seeing a doctor about it and I was considering it. I hated the way I looked but there was nothing I could do about it. So I hid.
Fallen Angel (Paranormal Romance) Page 22
