Scandalous Shifters Paranormal Box Set

by Mia Taylor

  She raced to the doorway, watching his BMW disappear up the cul-de-sac and out of view. Certain he had fled for good, Victoria slammed the door shut, her heart racing in fury.

  That son of a bitch! How dare he say that to me?

  She leaned heavily against the door, fighting against tears of anger. She tried to reconcile what had just occurred. They had been having a lovely dinner of roast lamb and potatoes over candlelight when Ryker had made an off-color remark.

  “You are such a sensational cook, Tor. I love that you cook for me every night.”

  She had nodded, a demure smile upon her lips.

  “It’s my pleasure. I love cooking and while I can’t promise I’ll be cooking every night, I’ll do my best,” she replied, taking a sip of her wine. Ryker frowned at her response and regarded her in confusion.

  “Why won’t you cook every night?” he asked. Victoria blinked, the smile fading from her lips.

  “Uh… why don’t you cook every night?” she retorted. Ryker laughed nervously.

  “You know full well I don’t have the time, darling. I am partner at one of the biggest firms in Manhattan. I mean, if I have time, of course I will help you with the kids, but let’s be honest, most of my time will be consumed by work.”

  “Kids?” Victoria echoed, her mouth dropping open. “I have a career too, Ryker, or have you forgotten about that?”

  It was Ryker’s turn to look surprised.

  “Yes… but…”

  “But what?” Her voice was a cyclone of derision. Ryker seemed to recognize his mistake instantly and tried to backpedal.

  “Of course I remembered, but I just assumed with me working, you’ll quit your job soon. Someone would have to stay home with the kids.”

  “My job? I have the fourth most successful clothing line on the East Coast! And what goddamn kids?” she shrieked, jumping to her feet. “I’m two hundred and thirty-six years old. If I wanted children, I would have had them by now! If you want kids, you pop them out and raise them yourself. How dare you make assumptions like that?”

  The shock on Ryker’s face had almost been palpable and Victoria wanted to throttle him into unconsciousness.

  “Victoria, I had no idea you felt so strongly about these things,” Ryker said, his face blood red and reflecting his inner turmoil. “I thought you were a staunch Republican!”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Victoria’s tone had lowered significantly and she clearly read the fear in his eyes.

  “I mean, I thought that you and I shared the same views on traditional values,” he choked, his dark azure eyes clouding.

  “Just because I am a Republican, Ryker, doesn’t mean I should be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen!”

  “I never said you should be…” he trailed off, incensing Victoria more as she realized that was precisely what he was thinking.

  “You misogynistic ass! Get the hell out!”

  Victoria banged her head against the wood and took a deep breath. They had been married less than a month.

  Looks like I’m heading into divorce number nine already, she thought, swallowing tears. She wondered if she’d ever learn.

  ~ ~ ~

  Ryker pulled off the highway at Cedar Grove, barely noticing the pines as they shadowed the black BMW.

  How could I not have known about this? he asked himself, fists closed tightly around the steering wheel.

  He had genuine feelings for Victoria, something he had never experienced with another woman.

  His ex-wife had simply been a pawn in a chess game which he had won. Other women had been mere conquests or simple pastimes, but Victoria had inspired something in him, something deep and romantic. She had woken up a long-lost passion which he had forgotten ever existed.

  Perhaps it was the way she had rejected him on first sight, making him work harder for her love. He was accustomed to women throwing themselves at him but Victoria seemed to want nothing to do with him. His frustration at the initial chase had turned to deep admiration and then unwavering respect for her. There was something amazing about a woman who was so sure of herself, so confident in her own company.

  Where other men would have given up, Ryker put forth more effort. He had asked her to marry him three times before she agreed and Ryker had promised himself that he would not lose this woman after giving so much of himself to gain her affections. He was certain that the fates had thrown them together, that he had finally found his proper and true mate. And Ryker was determined to keep them together until death did them part.

  Yet, there he was, not even a month after they had said their wedding vows, ready to pack up and leave.

  How could I have been so blind? I can’t believe our marriage is over before it began, he thought somewhat mournfully. And over what? Her unwillingness to give up sewing? How stubborn and ridiculous of her.

  Driving a few more miles, he finally saw his mother’s cottage hidden in the thick of the coniferous trees.

  As if she had been expecting him, Lenora Duvall opened the door to her small home and peered expectantly into the drive as Ryker pulled up, her eyes glittering knowingly.

  “Ryker, what are you doing here?” she asked in a way that made Ryker think she already knew. “Is everything all right?”

  Lenora had the gift of foresight and Ryker was sure she had known he was coming even before he did.

  Ryker jumped out of the car and embraced her quickly, shooting his mother a smile which didn’t meet his eyes.

  “Yeah, Mom. I just wanted to see you. How’s everything?” he asked but Lenora wasn’t having it.

  “Don’t give me that, Ryker. What are you doing here?”

  Ryker feigned a look of hurt.

  “What? A son can’t just visit his mother out of the blue?”

  “You can’t fool an old fool, Ryker,” she replied. “Come inside and tell me what you did this time.”

  Once inside, mother and son sat on the small leather sofa and stared at each other for a moment.

  “Mom, I made a mistake marrying Victoria,” he blurted out. Lenora eyes, so much like her son’s, widened with interest.

  “The woman you chased like a dog? I find it hard to believe you couldn’t make it last a month, let alone a lifetime.” There was a smirk on her face that Ryker took personally.

  Ryker hung his head, his heart heavy, and Lenora abruptly changed her tone, seeing his distressed expression.

  “What makes you say so?” she asked pensively but Ryker thought he saw something understanding in her gaze.

  “She’s gone back on everything we talked about before we got married. She doesn’t want kids and she’s not going to stop working.”

  Lenora glanced down at her hands, choosing her words carefully.

  “Is that something you actually discussed before you were married? Children and career?” she asked quietly.

  “Of course!” Ryker declared, but as his mother continued to stare at him with penetrating intensity, he suddenly found himself trying to remember specific conversations he and Victoria had shared on the subjects. It seemed to Ryker that they discussed everything and yet…

  His mind went blank with any such memory.

  “Well, maybe not exactly in those words…” he faltered after a moment and Lenora nodded.

  “Why am I not surprised? You have always heard what you wanted, son. It has always landed you in hot water or disappointed. You met a beautiful woman who captured your heart and you knew what you wanted but you didn’t give a thought to what she wanted. You just assumed that she would come around as they always do.”

  “That’s not true, Mom!”

  Lenora checked herself before trying a different tactic.

  “How can you be upset with your wife if you aren’t seeing eye to eye on something you haven’t previously discussed? It would be different if she lied to you or misled you in some way.”

  Ryker did not know how to respond and found himself embarrassed.

  “Moreover, how ca
n you expect a woman who has built a successful business for herself to drop everything simply because you put a shiny rock on her finger? That is a little arrogant, don’t you think, Ryker?”

  “But Mom, you raised us!” Ryker protested weakly. “You always said having children was the most important job in the world!”

  Lenora laughed but her eyes were clouded with something Ryker couldn’t decipher.

  “That is because I didn’t have a career and back in those days, it was expected. Truthfully, Ryker, being a mother is the most important job if you choose to have children. If I hadn’t had children, of course I would have wanted a career. Being a mother is a full-time job, especially when the father is never around to help.”

  Ryker was shocked at his mother’s response. He had been reared in a traditional household where Lenora had stayed home, tending to him and his three siblings. Dinner was always on the table after his father came home from work, there was never a pile of laundry. It had never occurred to Ryker that his mother could have been happy any other way.

  Hearing that she might have considered working outside the home was foreign to his ears and filled Ryker with confusion he’d never known.

  “Do you regret staying home with us?” he asked, desperately wishing he had not voiced the question. Lenora smiled kindly and shook her head.

  “I wouldn’t call staying at home a regret, Ryker. But do I wish I had done more for myself in my life? Absolutely. Why do you think I live out here in the middle of nowhere? I’m enjoying my own company now, learning who I am after three hundred years of taking care of everyone else.”

  Lenora saw the stricken look on her son’s face and patted his hand reassuringly.

  “Of course, I miss your father dearly, honey,” she told him comfortingly. “But if your father had allowed me to spread my wings somewhat when he was alive, I would probably be a stronger woman for it.”

  Ryker did not know how to respond but Lenora saved him from having to speak.

  “I know you have always been somewhat set in your ways, Ryker. You’re stubborn just like your father and brother, but sometimes you must pick your battles and compromise for what is most important to you. Do you love your wife, son?”

  Ryker stared at her.

  “Of course I do, Mom. I married her.”

  Lenora shrugged.

  “In this day and age, that doesn’t mean anything. You know that better than anyone. You married Evangeline Crowe for a partnership in her father’s firm.”

  “Mom, I did not!” Ryker denied hotly, his face flushing as he remembered that his mother knew much more than she let on.

  “You may be able to use that silver tongue of yours to sway your judges and juries, but I am your mother. I know exactly why you married that half-wit. Granted she was not hard on the eyes, but I, personally, would rather have had a conversation with a houseplant.”

  “Mom…”

  Lenora rose and wandered toward the kitchen as if she was suddenly antsy.

  “All I am saying is that if you truly love Victoria, you’ll find a way to make it work. Lord knows, I wanted to kill your father in his snoring sleep dozens—no, thousands of times! But we worked it out. Coffee?”

  Her son processed her words, his mind whirling.

  “No, thanks, Mom. I-I’ve got to go buy some flowers.”

  “Think jewelry, sweetheart. It sounds like you really pissed her off,” Lenora called from the other room.

  Shaking his head, he rushed to give her a kiss on the cheek before leaving the cottage.

  As he drove home, Victoria’s statement reverberated in his mind.

  “Just because I am a Republican, Ryker, does not mean I believe the world needs to be set back seventy years.”

  It was there that it had all begun.

  Chapter Four

  Playing Both Sides of the Fence

  “Mrs. Duvall, you should be resting!” Riley hovered about, irritating Victoria as she bustled around the kitchen, pulling out pots and pans.

  “Riley, you are not a doctor. You’re an aide. Please attend to the phone. I can hear it ringing from here.”

  Riley stood, looking uncertain as she began to remove ingredients from the fridge. When she paused to shoot him a meaningful stare, he scampered off to obey her orders, leaving Victoria to pause herself and stand by the counter, collecting her breaths.

  She’d just returned home from the hospital and had suddenly been overcome with the urge to cook roasted lamb. The events of the day had fueled her full of adrenaline and she hadn’t given herself a moment to ponder them until that moment.

  Of course she hadn’t been hurt, not even scratched, but that didn’t make what had happened any less frightening.

  “Victoria, get to bed,” Ryker ordered, strolling into the kitchen, his face taut with worry. She sighed and shook her ashy hair, barely glancing up at him as he drew near.

  “I can’t sit around in bed all day, Ryker. I’ll go crazy with all the thinking,” she told him honestly. She dropped a bag of potatoes in a roasting pan and leaned over to dig through a drawer for a peeler.

  Ryker stood behind her and encircled her slim waist with his muscular forearm. She immediately straightened at his nearness. Gently he kissed the back of her neck.

  “I know you’re worried,” he murmured. “I am concerned too, but we must focus—”

  “Yes, yes, on the end result. I know.” Victoria pulled away, irked that he was feeding her the same line as if she was one of his constituents. She continued to search for the utensil but suddenly, she was whirled around. Ryker grasped her arms firmly and glowered at her.

  “What do you want me to do?” he asked gruffly. “When we started on this journey, you were completely on board. You thought this was a wonderful idea. Run for Senate and unite the parties.”

  “Lower your voice!” Victoria hissed, looking nervously at the swinging doors. She worried that Riley was in earshot. If there was one thing she’d learned in politics, it was that there were eyes and ears where she least expected them.

  “I was on board, yes. I thought you could do some good for the country without sacrificing the ideals of the party. But I never imagined that your ploy would result in us facing violence.”

  In her excitement, the German lilt became more defined and Victoria saw the glint of interest in his eyes that she knew too well. A pink flush tinged her fair complexion and there was a fire in her sooty eyes. She knew what he was going to do before he reached out and kissed her slightly parted lips, his hand cupping her face. Victoria drew back, surprised.

  “What are you doing?” she gasped, but Ryker immediately silenced her with another teasing kiss, his tongue darting out to taste her.

  Instantly, her grey irises lightened with desire and she shrugged his strong hands off her shoulders. She reached around his back to embrace him, entwining her fingers into his thick hair. Pulling her back slightly, he tilted her head to the side to allow the contours of her neck to be exposed. His mouth found the tender skin and traced the lines of her throat toward her shoulders. Victoria allowed a small gasp to escape as his fingers found the buttons of her white silk blouse. As the material fell, his lips followed, gently following the outline of her full breasts.

  “Wait,” she whispered, her eyes once more looking toward the entrance of the kitchen.

  “Hmmm?” Ryker murmured, slipping the lace from around her nipples. His hot breath flowed hypnotically over her body and Victoria closed her eyes, forgetting her initial protest.

  Shivers of warmth coursed through her veins and she reached for the zipper of his pants, ready for him. Without losing contact, Ryker lowered his Gucci trousers and boxers in one swift movement.

  His free hand slipped under Victoria’s pencil skirt, pushing aside her panties. Slowly pulling the garment to her hips, he lifted his wife onto the low countertop, spreading her shapely thighs. She reached behind him, firmly grabbing his rear to allow him to enter her.

  They instantly fell
into a rhythm, Ryker rocking in full but gentle thrusts into Victoria’s waiting depth.

  A cry of pleasure erupted from her and she bit her lip to silence herself. They stared into each other’s eyes, Ryker beginning to gain momentum with each push, Victoria wrapping her calves around his naked hips and drawing him closer. Again, his mouth found the spot between her shoulder and throat, a feral groan emitting from his diaphragm as he grew closer to his climax.

  Harder he prodded himself into her, driving Victoria to the same level of heat he had achieved.

  “Are you ready, darling?” he prompted, his breath coming out in quick, harsh puffs.

  “Oh yes!” she cried, any illusions of quiet out the window now as her frame tensed dramatically. Legs clenched, Victoria felt herself buck outward to meet Ryker’s passion.

  Together they experienced wave upon wave of ecstasy until they were both spent, quivering in each other’s arms.

  Victoria clung tightly to Ryker, trying to regain her breath.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, still panting. She nodded, not yet trusting her voice. Unhurriedly, he withdrew, pulling his pants up around himself while Victoria lowered her skirt. Hopping off the counter, she straightened her shirt and turned to Ryker.

  “Don’t think that your lovemaking will distract me from the issue at hand,” she told him, but there was a small smile on her lips. Ryker sighed, running a hand through his hair.

  “It wasn’t my intention to distract you from anything, Tor. I just don’t know what you want me to do. We had a plan. A damn good plan, I thought.”

  Victoria chewed on her lower lip. It had been a clever plan, or at least she had considered it such at the time.

  It had taken several years to undo the perceptions her husband had of women and Victoria had worked tirelessly, endlessly it seemed. She had been constantly shocked at how little Ryker knew about the inequality existing between the sexes. Over and above his thoughts of what a traditional family should be, Ryker genuinely had no idea about how much less women were paid, how ignorantly they were treated, or how much sexual harassment she and others encountered day to day. He was appalled to learn about women giving birth and being forced back into the workforce if they desired to keep their jobs.