She waited outside, next to the Datsun, while Jeremie went into the derelict building to look for the scroll. The bracelet had led them here, and the angel did not take long finding it. Willa tried to ignore the sense of loss she felt when he re-emerged, wrapped in his over-sized coat. The scroll glittered seductively in his hand.
When he joined her, she mustered a smile. “So, I guess you’ll be going now. I’d offer you a ride to the train station, but you can get around on your own steam.”
He gave her a long, unreadable look. “Come with me,” he said at length.
She blinked at him. “What?”
She saw his Adam’s apple bob in his throat and he lowered his gaze. “There is nothing for you here. This town is cursed by Moon’s dark past. You’re not happy here, and you said that Alec could come looking for you someday.”
“But where would we go? Back to where you come from?”
He shook his head. “My mission is to stay on earth. Though Flick and his men have gone back to Deimos now, there are other demons, other artifacts to recover. That’s my task. Life will not be easy with me, but I don’t want to be parted from you.”
His voice was raw with emotion, as if the words had been physically torn from his throat. She stared at him in the pale light, never feeling so happy or such terror as she did at that moment.
Somewhere in the distance, she heard the distant rumble of thunder. Coming to a decision, she reached out and took his hand and they got into the car in silence.
*****
THE END
In Love With A Beast
Chapter One
Glory pushed her curly blond hair out of her eyes. Someday she would learn to tame her mane. Her hair had a mind of its own. Today it wanted to be in her face. It was like it expressed her moods for her. And right now Glory wanted to disappear. She pulled her tight skirt down from riding up her ample ass. She was sure this skirt had shrunk. It was conspiring with her hair to make her miserable.
She had arrived at the restaurant early. She was always early. Glory was always conscientious of other people. The restaurant was new and she had wanted to try it, it had been getting rave reviews. She scanned the restaurant for any signs of her date. Nothing yet. Phew. She sighed in relief. She had no idea why she had let her friend Shania talk her into using an app to date. Because you haven’t had sex in 5 months, a voice in her head interrupted. Right. Desperate times, desperate measures.
Glory followed the hostess to her table. She ordered a glass of red wine right away. She needed to calm her nerves. Glory was shy by nature and meeting a stranger, with the pressure of a date on top, was her idea of a nightmare. Her wine arrived and she sipped it and looked at her watch. Hmmm. He was now officially late. Glory checked the dating app for messages. Nothing. That’s okay. Anything can happen, traffic, work emergency. Just finish your wine and then you can start worrying.
Glory could feel herself wanting to shrink a million sizes. She tried to look like she was busy on her phone, by checking Facebook. What she found there was a bunch of pictures of Todd, her ex, and his new girlfriend from a trip they took to Hawaii. She missed Todd. He was her boyfriend of six years, excuse me ex-boyfriend. Todd had dumped 5 months ago for his yoga instructor. She couldn't help sneaking a look at his profile. Glory tried to blink back tears as she looked at their happy faces.
She took a huge gulp of her wine. She checked the time again. Oh great, now he is 20 minutes late. How long do I have to sit here before I am officially stood up?
Glory open the horrible app. She swore under her breath. I hate you app. No messages. She shot off a quick
Her phone buzzed and Glory nearly dropped it. It was a message from her date.
Was he joking? Anger rose up from her belly. He was standing her up! That was the rudest thing that had ever happened to her. He couldn't tell her that before she came all the way to the restaurant and sat there like a loser for a half an hour?!
Glory tried to wipe away the tears that she hadn’t managed to hold back. She didn't want to cry in public on top of being stood up.
“No one is allowed to look that sad in my restaurant.” said a deep voice. Glory looked up to see a very tall and very broad shouldered man holding out a glass of wine to her. “It’s on the house.” he said.
“Thanks.” Glory said and took the wine with a shy smile. She never turned down a free glass of wine. She may be sad but she wasn’t crazy. “I guess I’ve been stood up, it’s not my day.” she tried to laugh nonchalantly but it came out a sigh. She could feel her cheeks getting red. It was hard to keep her composure with this intriguing man staring down at her. He was the handsomest man she had ever seen, with his dark black hair and grey eyes. He had thick eyelashes that she would kill for. He was clad in a dark suit that was tailored perfectly to his muscular body. As Glory’s eyes travelled up his body to his face she saw a twinkle in his perfect grey eyes. Oh God, he saw me blatantly checking him out.
“This is my restaurant. I never leave a beautiful woman by herself on my watch.” he winked at her. Omigod is he flirting with me?
Glory tried what she hoped was a sensual smile and took another large sip of her wine. This guy was so hot she could barely think. Her face must be an incredibly bright shade of pink by now.
“It’s very nice of you, but it’s not your fault. You can’t give free drinks to everyone that’s had a hard day!” she managed to say out loud.
“Oh, I only give free drinks to the incredibly attractive curvy blondes.” he said and winked at her again as he walked away.
What just happened? He couldn't have been flirting with her? He must have felt sorry for her. She was crying in the middle of his restaurant. Glory suddenly felt ashamed, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop the flood of tears. She threw down money for her wine and practically ran out the door.
She drove to Shania’s house. As she pulled into the driveway she saw Shania’s lights were on. Thank God. Glory ran up the steps to Shania’s door and pulled it open. They had been best friends since high school, they were way past formalities. Beautiful, charming Shania had taken shy fat unpopular Glory under her wing in high school. Glory was forever grateful to Shania. She made her life exciting and fun. Which was why she had let Shania talk her into the blind date in the first place.
Glory collapsed into a heap on Shania’s couch. Shania came out of the kitchen.
“Oh no! That bad? Let me guess, he had bad breath?”
Glory shook her head and sniffled.
“He was from a far away planet where they have their genitals on their faces?”
Glory threw a pillow at Shania, but she couldn't help laughing. Shania always managed to make her feel better.
“He didn't even show up! I messaged him to ask if he was running late and he told me he wasn't coming.”
“Whoa! He didn't even have the decency to tell you beforehand?!What a dick. Modern dating is a war zone.” Shania had been with her boyfriend Matt since College. And they were still madly in love.
“I am never going on another date again! I miss Todd.” Glory wailed as she buried her head in a pillow.
“Now, now. Let’s not get crazy.” Shania cooed.
“I am going to die alone.” came Glory’s muffled cry from the pillow.
“Oh For Pete’s Sake. It was one date! That guy is a piece of shit and so is Todd.”
Glory hiccuped. “I know. I know. Can’t I be miserable for one second? I just got dumped!’
“No.” said Shania, “now I have a crazy idea. Hear me out.”
“Oh God, what next?” Glory knew that look in Shania’s eyes. Trouble always followed that look.
“Well, Matt has a new client. He is so beautiful! And single! And looking for a date to a charity event this weekend! It’s perfect!” Shani
a eyes shone with wicked thoughts, Glory could tell.
Matt was a lawyer. A very successful lawyer. His specialty was supernatural clients. You know, just your typical shifters and vampires.
“No way Shania! I can’t handle anything paranormal! I can barely date normal guys.”
“That’s exactly it! You are too special for just any old regular human. You need someone extraordinary!”
Glory rolled her eyes. “What is he?” She sighed.
Shania could barely contain her excitement. “A shifter!”
“A shifter! What if I get torn to shreds?” Glory cried.
“Don’t be silly. He is a professional man. A restauranteur.” Shania scolded her. “The event is this Friday. It’s black tie. You get to dress up!” Shania knew her weakness. She did have the perfect dress hanging in her closet with the tags still on, begging her to be worn. Glory owned a popular coffee shop, which she loved, but it didn't give her many opportunities to dress up.
“Okay! Fine. But if this is a disaster then I am never dating again.” Glory crossed her arm defiantly.
“Of course, if this date is a disaster, I will take you shopping for 50 cats myself.” Shania smirked.
“I like cats.” Glory smirked back.
Chapter Two
Glory arrived at work the next day at the crack of dawn. She felt better and wanted to erase the memories of yesterday. Her coffee shop was called The Glory Hole. She was pretty proud of it. The funny name got her many customers when she first opened, customers that have stuck around for the 3 years she has been open.
Glory pushed up the sleeves of her favorite pink t-shirt. It hugged her curves in all the right places. She piled her golden curls in a bun on the top her head. Her hair seemed excited today. She could barely contain it and a few tendrils escaped to frame her face.
Glory began the familiar opening chores. She loved opening the shop. It was successful enough that she could afford staff. But she was a bit of a control freak and felt more comfortable when she was there, looking over everything.
She was so busy dealing with the daily pastry delivery that she didn't hear the bell over the door ring, signalling her first customer. The smell of fresh croissants made her breathe deep and relax. As she was inhaling their heavenly sent she looked up to see the sexy man from last night standing at her counter. He was looking at her with that intense stare that made her knees weak. She nearly dropped her tray of croissants.
“Well, hello again. What a pleasant surprise.” he smiled a smile that made her panties moisten. What is happening to me?
She recovered enough to squeak out, “Oh, hello. I haven’t seen you here before?”
“I just moved to the neighborhood. Is this your shop? It’s beautiful.” he practically purred.
“Y-yes. I own it. For three years now.” Her body was on high alert. Her breathing deepened as he came closer to her. He dipped his head so near to her face that her breath caught in her throat and she felt her nipples harden. Omigod is he going to kiss me? Her heart pounded in her chest so loud she was sure he could hear it. He leaned forward a bit more and inhaled the scent of the croissants.
“Mmmmm. I can’t resist the fresh scent of pastries.” He was inches from her now. She dropped the tray on the counter and backed away.
“I-I should get you a coffee on the house, you know to thank you for yesterday.” She couldn't handle being in such close proximity to this man. She didn’t trust her herself. She scurried away to the coffee machine and poured him a to-go cup of The Glory Hole’s special blend.
“Here, its our special blend, people go crazy for it.” She pushed the cup at him. “Well, I should get back to work, no rest for the wicked and all that…” She couldn't stop her mouth from babbling. She just needed to get away from this man.
He took the hint and thanked her for the coffee. “I’ll be seeing you.” he winked at her again as he walked out the door.
Glory plopped herself down in a seat. Her legs were so weak she couldn’t stand any longer. Who was that man? And why did he have such an effect on her?
Glory had found men attractive before but never like this. She felt like she had no control over body and she wasn’t sure if she liked it.
The bell rang again and her employee Paul flounced through the door.
“Mmmmm, did you see that piece of man candy that just came out of here? What I wouldn't do to that body! Girl, did you get your flirt on or what?”
“No, I did not. A man like that does not flirt with women like me.” she sighed.
“Honey, a man like that DEFINITELY flirts with girls like you. You are a man’s wet dream - all ass and titties and hair like Rapunzel.” he sang out as he put on his apron and took his place behind the counter.
“Stop it.” she giggled. Paul always raised her spirits. Her made her laugh like no one else in the world.
“Speaking of, how was your date last night? Spill! All the gory details! Now!”
“I got stood up. There are no details. But your Man Candy owned the restaurant and he gave me a glass of wine out of pity.” she mumbled the words as the memory of the shame came back.
“Out of pity? Sweetheart you need to open your eyes.” he tsk-tsked.
“I don’t want to talk about it. It was too embarrassing.” Glory said blinking back tears as she thought about how Man Candy must see her - pathetic.
Paul shot her an understanding look.
“Oh wait!” Glory cried, brightening. “I do have new gossip! I have another blind date tomorrow.”
“Getting back on the horse! I love it!”
“That’s not all! He’s a …..” Glory paused for effect, “a shifter!”
“Omigod! That’s perfect for you! Why didn't we think of that before!?”
“What? You don't think it’s crazy? Me? With a shifter?”
“Oh, honey” Paul looked her in her eyes seriously. “You need to be pulled out of your comfort zone so bad and I think a shifter is just the man to do it!”
“Oh man,” Glory groaned, “Not you too! Shania set this whole date up and she thinks a shifter is perfect for me too!”
“Well then, I think you better take your friends’ advice and be open to the idea before you end up alone with a million cats.” He sashayed away to help a customer.
“But I like cats.”
Chapter Three
Glory laid out her red silk dress out on her bed and admired it. The soft red silk slid over her body perfectly. It was long and backless with a slit that almost reached her thigh. She admired the dress for a minute longer before she hopped in the shower. Her mood had increased considerably and she was almost looking forward to this date, even her hair was behaving and fell into soft, shiny waves around her face and down her back. It must be excited for the date too.
After her shower she applied soft makeup to make her green eyes pop. She finished with smear of red on her lips, the color of her dress. She slipped the dress over her head, but had trouble pulling it down. Dammit! She tugged the dress over her breasts and ass. It was skin tight. Glory admonished herself for all the croissants she had been eating lately. Since the dress was so tight there was no way she could wear underwear.
She admired herself in the mirror. She loved this dress and she felt beautiful and even a little sexy. She had heard the shifters were really good in bed. Maybe she would find that out tonight. She thought back to Todd. She had loved him and she thought their sex life was good, but she never felt her body respond to him the way it had to Man Candy. Maybe there was more out there than Todd could provide.
She shook the thoughts out of her head, it was getting late. If she wanted to be on time she would have to leave now. She was meeting her date, Trey Donovan, in the lobby of the hotel. The charity event was being held at one of the most opulent hotels in the city. Glory was excited to see what the ballroom looked like.
***
Her cab pulled up right on time. She hurried up the stairs to the coat room and then off the
meet her date in the lobby. She quickly check her face in her pocket mirror. Perfect.
She walked into the lobby and didn’t see anyone in black tie dress looking around.
“Well, well. We meet again.” came a deep voice from behind her. She spun around and was shocked to find Man Candy! “You wouldn’t happen to be Glory Smith, would you?” His eyes twinkled as he said it.
“Oh my God.” It slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. “Trey Donovan?” she gasped out as the realization finally hit her. He was her date!
He raised an eyebrow and his eyes raked up her body with such intensity that the twinkle turned into a hunger.
“So it appears you are mine for the night.” he said, with what sounded like a growl. She felt a shiver down her back at the sound of his words. His eyes on her body made her blush at the tightness of her dress. “You look beautiful by the way.”
The hunger returned to his steel grey eyes. Her body responded to his gaze and she felt her nipples raise up against the silk of her dress.
He inhaled slowly as if he could smell the sweet scent of her arousal. A slow wicked grin crept across his face, as if he could read her thoughts. And there were many of them. Naughty ones. If this was just their introduction she had no idea how she was going to make it through the night!
Glory regained her composure. “Thank you. You look beautiful too, I mean nice. I mean, I like your tux.” Glory rambled when she was nervous. He chuckled as he took her hand and lead her to the ballroom. His hand was large and firm over hers and just the touch of his skin made her loins light up as if they had been set on fire.
All of her thoughts melted away as they walked into the ballroom. It was all deep reds and golds and decked out in Victorian splendor. She gasped audibly and did an impromptu spin so she could take in the all the room at once. Trey smiled at her.
AREA 69: An Alien Invasion Romance Novel Page 20
