I saw Hollis appear suddenly from nowhere and he reached for my hand. I reached out to take it and as my hand disappeared into his, I felt it morph and I began to shake in fear as my screams grew hoarse and Hollis became one of them. A monster.
I snatched my hand away and attempted to run the other way, away from Hollis, away from the guests and as I fled, I heard a voice calling.
“Ivy! It’s okay. Ivy!” It was Winslow. He stood at the entryway to the cabin and I ran into his arms.
“We have to get out of here! They’re monsters, Winslow! Run!” But he didn’t budge he didn’t move and as he too began to transform, I suddenly knew why. He was one of them. It was no use, I thought to myself as I sobbed in fear and fell to my knees. They were going to kill me.
I felt a hand cup my shoulder and with all my strength I fought, flailing at it, wondering suddenly why it was so dark as my body hit the floor with a thud. I sputtered realizing that I had been fighting my sheets and I was still in my bedroom. It had all been a dream, I thought to myself as I attempted to detangle myself from the linens. My heartbeat was still racing and I was breathing heavily, but I was safe.
I finally pulled the blanket from over my head and screamed. There was someone at the foot of my bed just sitting there staring at me.
I turned to get off the floor and run when the person reached out a hand and turned on the desk lamp.
“You really taught that comforter a lesson. I was just trying to cover you up when you began fighting it or me. It was hard to tell for a second there,” Hollis said smiling.
I tossed a pillow at him. “What’s wrong with you? You scared me to death!”
He looked pointedly at my chest and said, “Nope. You’re perfectly alive.”
I looked down and realized then that my breasts were exposed. After Winslow left me, I had taken a shower. While drying my hair and wondering what I would put on, I’d heard a knock on the door. The giant from earlier had stood there looking a little uncomfortable as he handed me some clothes. I took them from him and promptly closed the door, realizing then that the clothes were really lingerie. I had decided on the least skimpy and that had been a long white gown that was cut indecently low in the front. And of course, after my fight with the pillows, my breasts had spilled out.
Apparently, Hollis was enjoying the sight. I fixed my wardrobe malfunction as best I could and shot Hollis an annoyed look.
“You know both you and Winslow are bordering on the edge of creepy.”
“Thanks, that’s the feel we were going for,” Hollis said sarcastically leaning against the bench at the foot of my bed. His teasing tone disappeared and his next words were serious, “What were you dreaming about? You were screaming. That’s why I came in here actually.”
“So you just happened to hear me? I couldn’t have been screaming that loud. Is your room right next door or something?”
“Or something…” He said mysteriously. “You still didn’t answer my question. What made you scream? What was your nightmare about?”
I shook my head, feeling childish. “Monsters,” I said sheepishly.
“You were being chased?”
“Something like that. I was all dressed up at the party and the guests started to turn into monsters.” I laughed at myself and took a shaky breath. Hollis stood up then and took my hand helping me up.
He was frowning as he did.
“Hollis, what’s wrong?”
He laughed mirthlessly to himself, “I hate to give Winslow credit for anything. But he was right. You do deserve to know, because no matter how much I don’t want to admit it, part of you already does know.”
“Part of me knows what?” I asked Hollis feeling suddenly apprehensive. I slid my hand out of his hold and took a step back.
“What are you talking about Hollis?”
He sighed deeply and said, “You have a right to know. But if I tell you, you’ll leave. And I can’t accept that.”
I was scared now. What was Hollis and Winslow hiding? Oh God, what had I gotten myself into?
I took another step back and looked towards the door. I was not waiting for Hollis to continue explaining. I ran for the door and scrambled to unlock it, scared that at any moment Hollis would stop me. But as I barreled out the door and ran down the hall towards the elevator. He didn’t try to stop me, he just watched me go. A forlorn expression on his face.
I pushed the button over and over. And wrapped my arms around myself as the doors closed and a short trip later I was on the ground floor. I ran across the ground floor until I heard someone call my name.
It was Winslow. I recognized his voice, but I didn’t stop running. Something wasn’t right and I didn’t want any part of it. There was something they weren’t telling me. And I feared it was a secret that might mean my life. I didn’t know how I was going to get off the island, but it didn’t matter to me right then. I just had to get away from them.
As I ran towards the forest, it was then that I saw the large shapes that were slowly coming out of the water. They moved easily and purposefully towards shore and I stared at them. They walked on all fours and then slowly stood up and I watched too afraid to move as these bear-like creatures began to transform. Fur, monstrous shoulders and snouts were replaced by human features and anatomy. And one after another, as they left the water they watched the others transform as if this was the norm.
They smiled and laughed among themselves and then one of them sniffed the air and slowly turned to stare in my direction. Then one by one, the others did the same. I was too terrified to move as they all moved as one towards me.
I felt someone’s presence then and realized it was Winslow. He picked me up as I screamed and fought his grip.
“You’re okay, Ivy. They are not going to hurt you. No one here is going to hurt you. Please trust me.”
His words meant nothing to me as I kicked, screamed and continued to fight him until another pair of hands snatched me from him and shook me.
“Calm down, Ivy! You’re going to give yourself a heart attack. You’re safe. You’re okay. This is just who we are.”
It was Hollis’ speaking and his words did nothing to quench my fear. I just began to shake and sob, begging the others who were approaching us not to kill me.
Hollis sighed and said, “Winslow. Show her.”
And he did just that, transforming into those things that I had seen coming from the water. Those bear-like creatures who morphed easily from human to monster.
I shook my head and then closed my eyes, my brain refusing to accept what my eyes had just seen.
“Your turn, Hollis,” were the words I heard next and I opened my eyes and watched, as Hollis became one of them. I recognized him immediately. He had been the monster I had thought I had hallucinated. It had been real. He had saved me. If he saved me once, my frazzled brain reasoned, he certainly meant me no harm now. Right? I desperately wanted to believe it was so.
With shaking legs, I approached them. They were almost identical in this state and as I reached out to touch Winslow, he began to change back to his human form. I winced and took a step back and Hollis began to change as well. Within seconds, both men stood in front of me. Nude, their bodies illuminated in the moonlight.
“What are you?” I said to Winslow.
“We’re shifters.”
“Shifters?” I said looking to Hollis who nodded and added, “We can shift between human and animal form. Not quite human and not quite animal. A hybrid of sort.”
I gestured to the others who now stood looking at the exchange in their human form. “And they are too?”
“All of us are,” Winslow said simply.
“Hollis,” I said in a small voice, “I think I’m going to be sick.”
I started to dry heave and Hollis picked me up and quickly made his way into the house. It all happened within a matter of seconds. Then instead of taking the elevator, he took the stairs, running up them so quickly that before I could even take another
breath we were in my room and he was placing me down on my bed.
And, at the head of my bed stood Winslow.
“How did you–” I didn’t even bother to ask. I already knew. He wasn’t human; he could probably do all sort of miraculous things.
Hollis laid me down and slid into bed next to me. Winslow did the same. As I lay there between them, the fear completely abetted, that all-consuming desire that I became accustomed to feeling in their presence began to show itself again.
If Winslow’s erection was any indication, he felt it too. So when he wordlessly parted my legs and entered me as I lay on my side. I could do nothing but lay there and moan. He felt amazing; he filled me, stretched me and strangely enough made me feel whole.
As Winslow pumped in and out of me, he kissed my neck and stroked my hip. I thrust my hips back loving the feel of him inside me and then I felt Hollis’ rough palms on my nipples. He wasn’t gentle like Winslow. No, Hollis squeezed my nipples until the point of pain and I moaned, wanting and needing more. When his hand made its way down between my legs and began to play with my clit, I screamed and became wetter, if that were even possible. I heard Winslow groan behind me and attempt to bury himself even deeper.
I was panting, out of breath, consumed by pleasure. And then Hollis kissed me again, hard as he traced a finger from where Winslow was buried deep inside me, back up to my clit and then around one of my nipples. I shook and began to come. Closing my eyes tightly as my own orgasm triggered Winslow’s and we both reached our peaks and only then did our breathing settle into a comfortable rhythm.
Hollis stroked my face, staring at me. I could feel his eyes on me even though my own eyes were closed. I knew if I opened them, I would have to face reality. And that’s not what I wanted to do. I wanted to lie there and pretend that the world was exactly as I remembered it, that what I had seen earlier was a figment of my imagination.
But that wasn’t going to happen. There was no going back from this so I opened my eyes.
Winslow slowly pulled out of me and my sex protested his abandonment, but I forced myself to sit up anyway and say the words that pained me.
“I can’t do this. Winslow. Hollis. I’m sorry. I just can’t.”
Winslow was the first to speak, “I understand. You’ll be on the next ferry out, until then go to sleep my Ivy.”
Hollis didn’t say a word, but I did as Winslow said, laying down between both men, overwhelmed by my own feelings.
“I love you both,” I blurted out in the darkness.
“We know,” Hollis answered.
“And we love you too, but this life is our burden to bear and your choice to choose. And you made your choice.”
“And you’re making the wrong choice, Ivy.” Hollis spit out, making me wince.
“But we will respect it,” Winslow said, winding an arm around me. “Get some rest, Ivy. You’ve had quite a night.”
And I did as I was told. I closed my eyes and felt Hollis take my hand and raise it to his lips. He placed a chaste kiss there that spoke so much to me that I did not know I was crying until the warm tears slipped down my cheeks.
I would not ever see either one of them again. And that was my cross to bear.
The End
Bearly Over
Part 3
Prologue
My body slowly began to wake up, but my thoughts were still sluggish. As I struggled to have enough willpower to open my eyes, I attempted to move my hands only to realize that they were tied behind my back, secured in place on the chair where I sat. I realized that my feet were also tied together. Clearly he had made sure that I had no means of escape.
I managed to finally open my eyes and the movement was painful as I slowly raised my head. My breathing was uneven and blood dripped down my face, partially preventing me from seeing out of one eye. My whole body was in pain, but the pain was only secondary to the rage I felt. I wasn’t going to die like this. By his hands. That wasn’t going to be my ending. I wouldn’t give him the pleasure.
As if reading my mind, he slapped me hard then–so hard that my head jerked back at the impact and I felt that my neck was going to snap at the force of the blow. My thoughts became discombobulated as I attempted to stay conscious through the pain. I didn’t know how much longer I could take it.
Nothing but pure hatred towards the man in front of me kept me alive. I wouldn’t give him the pleasure of showing fear. And then I heard a howl in the very near distance and this time as he raised his hand to slap me again, I smiled at him…
Chapter One
“Hey, Nia, baby! Bring your sweet booty over here! I have something for ya, sweet thing!”
The man trying to get my attention was a regular. He came in every night dressed in ten-thousand-dollar suits, reeking of expensive cologne. He was probably a catch by most women’s standards. I wasn’t most women. I wasn’t interested in a sugar daddy and I figured that was the only thing he had to offer. When I’d first met him, I immediately disliked him. His sense of entitlement and arrogance had been instantly off-putting. I heard he worked on Wall Street and he liked to throw money around. He had pretty much made his way through most of the waitresses and dancers who worked here. He made my skin crawl. I could see from the corner of my eye the he was waving money at me, as if I were a dog that would just come running at the sign of a treat.
I ignored him and continued to scrub the bar. It was after closing hours and all the patrons were supposed to have vacated the premises by now, but unfortunately the guy currently yelling at me didn’t get the memo.
I felt sick as I scrubbed away at the grime and God knows what else that had accumulated there over the course of the night. I was just glad I didn’t have to do the floors. They were probably covered with body fluids galore, I thought sourly to myself feeling like crap warmed over. I was fighting a hangover that seemed to be never ending and I wanted nothing more than to just go home and sleep it off. I was a lightweight, but you wouldn’t know it from how much I’d been drinking lately. Funny how binge drinking had never been a habit of mine during college, but for the past three months, it was pretty much my only habit. I ignored the headache that made me feel as if I had been run over by an 18-wheeler and tried to focus on cleaning the remaining section of the bar.
My whole body hurt and I just wanted to take a nap right then and there, standing up even, if my boss would have allowed it. It was a struggle. I desperately wanted to just pause for a moment and close my eyes. Not that closing my eyes gave me any peace. Instead of nightmares about monsters, I struggled with dreams of Hollis and Winslow. I always dreamed that I went back to them, back to my old life, but that wasn’t possible. I knew too much; I had seen too much. This was my life now. This bar, this job. I told myself that it was better than the alternative, trying to build a life with two men who weren’t even men at all.
I had been so deep in thought that I hadn’t even heard the annoying guy get up until he was right next to me, leaning against the bar with his elbows bearing his weight. He looked squirrely, like a washed up politician trying to make a comeback. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. He was a creep and we both knew it.
He gave me an oily smile. “You didn’t hear me calling you earlier? I wanted to give you a tip.”
I made my way around the bar to distance myself from him.
“The bar’s closed sir. I’m sorry.” I said pretending that I hadn’t heard his earlier comment.
“Sweetie,” he said leaning towards me, “You feel like getting a few drinks with me outside of this fine establishment?”
My face grew tight and I didn’t make eye contact as I said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t date our customers.”
He laughed humorlessly, “Who said anything about a date? I was just talking about a few drinks and then maybe we could go back to my place to get a little bit better acquainted.”
“I uhhh…I have a boyfriend,” I lied.
“Bring him along,” the guy said with a smirk, “T
he more the merrier.”
I knew he was baiting me, trying to shock me, but it wasn’t going to work. I had fallen in love with two men who were part bear or some other were-creature, not much could shock me now.
“I don’t think he would be into that, but thanks for the invite,” I said smoothly, turning my back to him.
“Can I get you to reconsider?” He called to me and I shook my head without turning around.
“Your loss,” he said bitterly and I waited for the sound of his footsteps signaling that he had walked away before turning around.
I turned around to look behind me subtly to ensure he wasn’t there. I gave a sigh of relief and finished cleaning up the bar. I had been filling in for the bartender for at least a week and a half. She had left on maternity leave and given that I was sure the bar didn’t have a family leave policy, I figured she would be back sooner rather than later since she wasn’t earning a paycheck.
It was an easy job that paid the bills. Until I figured out what my next step would be, I was pretty much just living life one day at a time, albeit sometimes in a fog, courtesy of drinking way too much. I knew I was self-medicating. I was drinking to forget. But frankly it wasn’t working.
When I was finally done I gathered my things and made my way towards the door.
“Have a good night, Nia!” My boss called to me as he appeared in the hall.
I smiled wanly and waved goodnight. Nia. I had changed everything about myself to become someone else. I had even changed my name. No one knew me here by Ivy. As far as I was concerned, Ivy was gone. I wore colored contacts and dyed my hair a rich burgundy. I changed the way I dressed, sticking with dark clothes and sneakers. I looked like a harder version of myself and I noticed people readily gave me my space. While Ivy had been a people pleaser who was bright eyed and innocent, Nia was anti-social and jaded.
I was only a few blocks away from my apartment in a crappy part of Newark, New Jersey. I had moved there figuring a change of state would mean maybe the guys wouldn’t try too hard to find me. I honestly didn’t know if they tried or not, but I didn’t plan to make it easy for them if they were so inclined to look for me. I figured Hollis was probably pissed that he couldn’t find me and I smiled to myself thinking about how easy it was to ignite his anger…among other things. God, how I missed him.
Jocked Up: Sports Romance (A Secret Baby Second Chance Romance) Page 39
