The first thing that I noticed was that the place was packed. Most of these people had no idea why they were there, except that it was what everybody else was doing. I’d never got caught up in that kind of trapping and then I saw him standing there. I had to wonder what would bring a man like him into a place like this.
He had a cowboy hat in his hand, a Stetson that looked more at home at the rodeo or in some kind of farm. Not here at an exhibit for the arts. His hair was slicked back, dark and short, but he seemed to be looking at this piece with a tear in his eye.
I stepped up to stand beside him and that was when I realized that he was a giant of a man. He had a beard that was bushy and a little unruly, but it only accentuated the wildman underneath. He also had a beige cowhide jacket on. One thing that was really out of place was his blue jeans, but it didn’t appear that anybody was questioning him further. There was definitely money involved and you could tell that he liked the finer things in life. The watch was one of those that would cost thousands of dollars.
“I don’t know about you, but I reckon I might like this use of space on the canvas. It would look perfect in my study. As I look at it, I feel happy and excited, or maybe it’s just because you’re standing beside me.” It would appear that he was a sweet talker He was 6’4, 200 plus pounds of solid muscle. This art had given him the perfect opportunity to chat up a lady in the vicinity. I did notice that he had a bandage on his hand and it was fresh. I could only tell that from the blood seeping through.
“I know what you mean. The artist seems to be painting a picture of frivolity and fun. You can see that it elicits the emotion of walking in the sunshine in the middle of the afternoon. It brings to mind walking in fresh fallen leaves in the fall.” He had broad shoulders, huge arms and his chest was big enough that I could probably sleep on top of it and he wouldn’t even know that I was there.
“I just know that it makes me smile and cry. That’s all that matters to me.” He motioned for the owner to come over. He whispered to her in confidence and her eyes lit up like the 4th of July at Christmas. I could see that he didn’t believe in haggling and he was willing to pay top notch dollar for the type of pieces that he was looking for. “I just bought it.” I saw the price tag and it made me swallow noticeably. “I know that it’s a bit of an extravagance, but that’s what money is for. Working in oil, it affords me the opportunity to seek out different pieces that make me think. If you were on a canvas, I would snatch you up just like that. You have this glow and this feeling of knowing who you are.”
“I could say the same thing about you.” I touched his arm and it made my knees buckle, but mostly I was staring at his package and watching it slink down the left side of his leg. I wanted to see it. It wasn’t because I wanted to fuck him. That was part of it, but the other part was to see if he was really that well endowed. Most men claim to be bigger than they were; at least until we got them out of their clothes and then we see the truth for ourselves.
“I don’t suppose that you would like to join me for the rest of the exhibit. A woman like you can explain to me some of these pieces. This one makes me grimace and try to look the other way.” That piece was a vivid and lively depiction of a child dying on the streets. This had to be from that new artist Tanner had mentioned from Cambodia.
I found out that his name was Eric Billings. He was an eccentric cowboy billionaire that had made a point to come here specifically for this exhibit. He had been here for a few days to conduct some business and then he was on his way back to Paris for the rest of the winter. Where most people went to a tropical island to get away from the cold, he wanted to immerse himself into the beauty of the snowcapped mountains on the outskirts of Paris.
“I think that you and I have a lot in common, Eric. We both live by our own rules. We both like art, but in an entirely different way. I wish that I could go to Paris in the winter. I just have too many obligations here in the city to just pick up and go at a moment’s notice.” We talked for some time and I found myself laughing despite myself at some of his badly punned jokes.
“I don’t see any reason why you can’t indulge a little< Sheila. You obviously have money, maybe not as much as I do, but it still makes it easier for you to pick up and go. You only allow these obligations to stand in your way. I actually have a farm on the outskirts of Paris with several acres that are quite magical when the snow finally begins to fall. It’s not the city that makes me who I am; it’s the feeling of solitude and a freedom to roam.” He made it sound like he was some sort of animal and it was quite interesting to say the least.
“I’ve never thought of it that way before, Eric. I’m guessing that you have a place for me to stay, if I ever did decide to get away from my work and find some quiet little place to reflect.” He was pointing to his nose to indicate that I was on the right track. “I’m sure that you have some ulterior motives for wanting me to come and stay with you. Don’t get me wrong, I find you very attractive and I wouldn’t be standing here this entire time, if I didn’t.” There was no point in playing this kind of cat and mouse game that most people play when they are dating someone. I liked him; he liked me and what more was there to say. If that wasn’t good enough, then his particular affliction for artists was going to seal the deal.
It was 2 hours later and he had bought that piece for under $1,000,000. He probably could have bought out the entire place, but he only had eyes for that one particular piece. I could understand the reason why and it really did make you smile looking at it. The swirling colors played on the canvas had a profound effect on your emotions.
“I think that I’m just about done here, Sheila. I know that this is going to come out of left field, but I’m wondering if you don’t have any plans for dinner. I have this outstanding reservation with a certain establishment that will remain nameless. My table is in the back and there will be candlelight and I can assure you that I can be quite romantic if given the chance.” I found myself lured by the promise of something that was going to dance on my palate. “The place is in walking distance. I’m sure that I can keep you warm in the meantime.”
We walked down the street like a couple of lovesick teenagers, talking and laughing and him holding his jacket around me like we were in our own private world. We were halfway down the sidewalk, when he stopped suddenly and raised his head in the air with his nose sniffing. I tried to smell what he was smelling, but there was nothing, but the odor of doughnuts from a nearby coffee shop.
“Sheila, I’m afraid that I’m going to have to cut this thing short. Here’s my card and if you feel a need to find me, then all be there, until the end of the week.” I don’t know what got him freaked out, but he seemed like he was standing on the edge of something. His face had that pensive look and I could tell that something was bothering him. “I’m going to flag you down a taxi.” He screamed and I thought that he was going to blow my eardrums clear out of my head. It did have the desired result of a taxi screaming to a stop with its brakes fishtailing in the street.
It was good to see that the salt trucks were out and that the temperature had risen above the freezing mark to melt some of this slime. He threw several $20.00 bills at the taxi driver and then he scurried off down the pavement with his cowboy boots clicking on the surface. I was about to get in with my hand on the door, when I slammed it shut and went after him. I know that most people would leave it alone, but I had a scientific mind. I wasn’t just going to stand on the sidelines. I had questions and I wasn’t going to stop, until I got answers.
Chapter three
I ran after him and I lost him, until finally I heard what sounded like growling coming from down an alley across the street. I went over to the other side, hugged the façade of the brick building and looked around to see something that made my eyes go wide with surprise. A black bear was tangling with a white wolf. They were attacking each other and if I didn’t know any better, I would think that there was something personal involved in all of this.
; I was about to call for help from animal control, but then something compelled me to watch this dance take place between two rival factions. It didn’t look like either one of them was going to back down.
The white wolf had blood on its paw and a bandage, which brought to mind the very thing that I had seen on Eric’s hand. It had to be a coincidence, but I had never believed in such a thing and that wasn’t going to be any different this time around. They were angry and they fought, until the black bear was hurt severely enough that it was necessary for it to run off in the other direction. I saw that the wolf was going to follow, but it stopped and turned towards a noise. I didn’t mean to do it, but my boots had scuffed the corner of the building. It only happened, because there was a little bit of ice left over from the rainstorm. I slipped and I caught the attention of an animal that didn’t look like it was use to being spied on.
It walked right over to me and stood there looking at me. I saw in its eyes something that couldn’t be. It sneezed and then shook its head and then it morphed and changed in a way that made me take a step back in horror and fascination.
I heard the cracking of the bones and all those things that my father said about there being no such things, as monsters came back to me in a flash of memory. I remember him telling me that life was unpredictable and there was no room for those things that didn’t have any semblance of being real. If he had seen what I had seen, then I think that he would have a change in tune. Unfortunately, he had died several months ago and I was still feeling his loss profoundly deep down inside. My mother had disappeared when I was younger and I had no way to reach out to her for comfort or anything of the sort.
A naked Eric was on all fours in front of me. I could see that he did not walk away from that fight unscathed. His face was bloody with claw marks and his body showed bruises that came from going toe to toe with an animal that was three times his size. I should’ve run the other way, but instead I put out my hand and helped him to stand.
I couldn’t help, but to notice that his cock was flaccid and still it rivaled some of those ones I had taken in the past. It had to be 6 inches of solid beef between his legs and that wasn’t even when he was excited.
He could barely stand and I saw a bundle of clothing peeking out from behind two garbage cans. He leaned against the building and I went to collect them, keeping my eye on where the bear had gone off to and straying my hand to the can of pepper spray in my brown Gucci purse.
He had the good fortune to change, most likely worried that changing into the wolf would destroy the expensive clothing that he had on. I helped him put on his pants, taking some liberties in feeling the length of him and touching him in a not so subtle way. I couldn’t help, but to grab a feel, even if it was inappropriate at the time.
“I’m not going to insult you by saying that it’s not what you think. I’m a werewolf and that was a bear shifter. We’ve been enemies for a long time. Sometimes I look back and try to think what started it all. I know that it had something to do with a girl, but her name escapes me.” He hobbled to the curb and thankfully there was a taxi driver nearby that came to the rescue.
The black man behind the wheel looked into his rearview mirror and saw the damage to Eric’s body. “I’m assuming that you want me to take you to a hospital. Then again, I have no idea what ‘you’ people do.” He was obviously mocking the very fact that we had money at our disposal.
Eric tossed a card into his lap “Take us there and don’t be stingy about flying through a couple of red lights.” There’s always something to say about people with money. It may not make you happy, but it does make things easier. I was sitting on the other side of him thinking about what I had seen and I was trying to put everything into perspective.
There was no need to talk and even Eric was unable to put into words what he had to say to me. Every time he turned to speak, he would have his mouth open, but then he would turn away like he was disgusted by the entire thing.
Keeping my voice low, I whispered to him “That had to be some kind of mass hallucination. There are no such things, as wearbears or werewolves for that matter.” I didn’t know how I could say such a thing, especially with the evidence being that overwhelming.
We got to the hotel and he quickly went to the front desk and flashed his smile. The man with the dark hair behind the counter jumped into action. He escorted us by a private elevator up to the penthouse floor, opening it with a private key and then helping him up the winding metal staircase to his master bedroom. There was nobody to greet us. I was surprised that he didn’t have a butler or a man Friday.
“I’ll be fine, Randal. Just make sure that I am not disturbed for 24 hours. I don’t care if the place is on fire.” This was not a side of him that I wanted to see. He was nasty, opinionated and was pushing his weight around like he owned the place. “Let me make this perfectly clear. If I am disturbed for any reason, then you will not have the luxury of me staying at your establishment ever again. I will also make it my mission to make sure that people like me shy away from this hotel. I think you know what kind of influence I have.” Randal bowed politely and left the room shaking in his boots.
“Eric, I don’t think it was necessary to berate him like that.” In a moment that I would look back at later and wonder how I got myself into this, I found myself being grabbed by his hand and being pulled onto the king size bed with the red silk sheets. If it was kind of predictable, but the kiss that he landed on my list was a lot more spontaneous. I tried to struggle free, but I don’t think that I was fighting very hard. He had his hands wrapped around me and his fingers playing my spine like a xylophone.
“I understand that if you want to leave and it’s not every day that you find out that the impossible is possible. You’re a woman of science and you’re probably trying to come up with a reasonable explanation to make yourself believe. Trust me, I’ve been doing that ever since that I was bit 25 years ago. I’ve been fighting him for almost 20 of those years. I don’t think that it’s ever going to stop, until one of us is 6 feet under. We know each other, so well that it’s like we are doing the two step. I know exactly what he’s going to do and he knows exactly what I’m going to do. We fall into the category of a stalemate.”
“There has to be a reason for this animosity between the two of you.” I was still lying on top of him and I could feel his projection of manhood striking up against my body. I hadn’t had a good fucking in a long time. His attention was causing all things sexual to stir to the surface. My breasts were poking into his chest and he wasn’t wearing a shirt. The jacket was removed and the only thing that was preventing me from seeing him au natural was the pair of pants.
“Believe me, I’ve tried to make peace, but he just won’t listen to me. He is, so wrapped up in the fact that I took away the love of his life that he can’t see straight. Once I open my mouth, I find myself entrenched in a battle for my life. It’s getting old and I’m hoping that he feels the same way. I want to put all this behind us, so that we can live normally and not endanger innocent bystanders. Those two girls got into the middle of us and we couldn’t stop, even if we wanted to. Our animal sides were attacking and the only thing that was going to stop us was either death or an injury.”
“That would explain the two girls, but what about the guy that’s in a coma.” I figured that I may as well learn what I could. I decided to treat this, as an experiment and work it from every angle.
“He panicked and tried to pull a gun on us. That was the first and only time that we ever worked together towards a common goal. We hunted him down and we tore into him, until we were able to finally pull ourselves away. He was still alive and I think we deserve some credit for reining in the animal. It’s not the first time that each of us has had blood on our hands and it probably won’t be the last.” I hadn’t noticed, but during our interaction, he had somehow relieved me of my black leather jacket, pulled my dress down over my healthy bosom and had now buried his head in between.
&
nbsp; Chapter four
I tried to collect my thoughts and get into the frame of mind of wanting to walk away. It wasn’t easy and the way that he was touching me was igniting all those little nerves. I was almost powerless against his advances. I finally said fuck it, pulling down the dress and showing him what I was hiding underneath. My bra was already a distant memory, tossed aside like it was day old bread. My panties were stripped from my chaffed thighs, leaving a red strip where they had once been. Those marks streaked across the inside of both of my thighs.
“The one thing that I can tell you, Sheila is that you are a woman after my own heart. I’ve always had a desire to be with a woman of color and substance and you certainly fit those criteria down to the letter. He kissed me again, but it was not on my mouth. I strained my muscles, lifting my body into the air, as he stuck me with his tongue and made me feel it. I sensed that there was an animal component within him and it was that ferocity that made me want to stay here.
“If I was being honest, I would have to say that I’ve never had any interest in white men before. You might be the only one that has gotten past first base. I was using a sports metaphor, something that I wasn’t very comfortable with, but it seemed fitting.
“I have no interest in getting to first base. My interest is going around all the bases and then sliding into home.” He continued to explore my flesh, delving deeper and showing me nothing that would even resemble mercy. The feeling was indescribable and I wanted to tell him that if he didn’t stop that I was going to give him a different kind of mustache.”
“I feel like I’m spinning on my heels and I want you to know that I don’t think that I’ve felt like this with any other man.” I had my hands gripping the pillowcases, holding them tightly and digging my fingernails through the fabric like it was made of butter. I should’ve been worried that he would change me with one bite, but for some reason it never even entered into my mind.
The Highlander's Taken Bride (Scottish Highlander Romance) Page 55
