by Sky Winters
Ian stopped in his tracks, seeing that Brody’s plan was to shield himself with Olivia and Noah as he made some kind of escape. Looking around, he saw that the audience was stunned, the guards of the room positioning themselves to begin some kind of intervention.
“Ian!” shouted Olivia.
“Olivia!” shouted Ian in response.
“You fucker!” cried Brody. “You’re dead fucking wrong if you think you’re taking my family from me again!”
With that, he pulled open the door to the balcony, the evening wind rushing into the apartment. Ian watched as Brody pulled Olivia out onto the deck, looking up at something before climbing a flight of stairs that seemed to lead to the roof. Within seconds, he was up the stairs and gone.
Ian ran towards him, making it to the deck door before the guards had a chance to react. Hurrying out onto the deck, he shut the door behind him, bolting it shut. Through the glass of the door, her could see the crowd of wedding-goers rush about in a frenzy, the gang member guards drawing closer to him by the second.
Ian looked up, watching as Brody and Olivia, Noah in tow, disappeared up the stairs. It was a covered stairway that, as far as Ian could tell, led up to the viewing deck of the skyscraper, just near the top of the tower. Ian dashed up it, hoping to catch Brody in time to prevent him from doing whatever he had in mind.
“Not again!” screamed Brody over the sound of the wind.
As they reached the top, Olivia heard the sound of rotors spinning up, and sure enough, in the center of the observatory was a helipad, a helicopter in the middle.
“That’s our ticket outta here, baby!” shouted Brody.
“Then where?” shouted Olivia. “Ian will find us wherever we go.”
“Shut up!” shouted Brody in response, as if her words were interrupting his thoughts.
Noah wailed in horror as Brody dragged the pair towards the helicopter. Turning around, he watched as Ian ascended onto the roof. To Olivia’s horror, Brody responded to this by pulling a gun out of his tuxedo jacket, leveling it at Ian.
“I had a feeling you’d be back!” he shouted the gun wobbling in his nervous hand. “I was bluffing before, but this one’s loaded with real silver bullets! One more step and you’re fucking done!”
Rage boiled in Ian as Brody made his threat. Anger overcame him, and before he realized what was happening, he felt the tell-tale signs of an impending shift. His body expanded, his limbs tearing through his clothing, his hands and feet morphing into massive claws. A deafening roar sounded from his jaws over the whipping of the wind and the steady thumping of the helicopter rotors. Ian stood on his hind legs, his powerful bear form now fully revealed.
“There’s the freak!” shouted Brody, his expression manic and wild. “Come closer. I just wanna talk!”
Ian’s front paws slammed onto the ground. Throwing a fixed stare at Brody and Olivia, he regarded the gun being pointed at him. Through his bestial thoughts, he considered that a single silver bullet round could kill him.
“There you go,” said Brody, inching towards the helicopter, Olivia and Brody held close. “Just stay there; no one needs to die today.”
Ian held fast, a hot snort of air bursting from his nose. His claws dug into the helipad surface, the sharp ends gouging the concrete. He wanted to lunge at Brody, to tear into him, to rend him to shreds. But he knew that he couldn’t risk harm coming to Olivia or Noah.
Moments later, Brody was mere feet from the helicopter.
“Just stay there!” yelled Brody. “It’ll all be over soon.”
Ian’s claws were tight and ready to do their work.
“Just stay…” said Brody.
He inched closer to the helicopter.
“…right…”
Closer still.
“There.”
The gun fired, the crack cutting through the mixing dins in the air. A sharp whizz sounded, and the bullet hit home, slamming into Ian.
He knew instantly that this was no bluff—it was silver this time. The pain was exquisite; it felt as though he were being carved into with the curved end of a hammer. Ian let out a deafening roar, rising to his hind legs as the pain tore through him.
Olivia screamed in horror as she saw what Brody had done, Noah held tight to her breast.
“There!” shouted Brody. “Problem solved.”
Ian’s vision began to blur as the silver worked its way through his body. He watched as Olivia’s horrified expression twisted into one of wild anger. Then, she stuck her arm out straight, driving it backward into Brody, her elbow slamming into his stomach. Lungfulls of air were knocked out of him as her elbow hit, and he staggered backward, losing his grip on Olivia.
“You bitch!” he shouted, Olivia escaping from her grasp.
Then, to Ian’s horror, he watched as anger overcame Brody and he leveled the gun once more, this time at Olivia.
Ian’s mind filled with fury. He could think of nothing beyond stopping Brody, at any cost. The pain now nearly crippling, he heaved his body into action, stomping towards Brody. His leg howled in pain, barely able to support his weight. But he took the pain.
“You’re dead now!” shouted Brody, turning his wild eyes to Ian.
Brody turned to Ian, his face twisting in horror as the bear barreled towards him. The gun fired again, but as he faced Ian the shot went wide, hitting the helicopter with a metallic pang. Ian closed the distance, pulled his arm back, and swiped at Brody with all of his strength. His paw hit Brody square in the chest, a dull thud sounding with the impact.
Brody’s body went flying as Ian’s swipe passed through him. He careened off of the helipad, back towards the stairs and off the roof, a scream escaping his lips as he fell down, down the thousands of feet to the streets below.
Unable to hold his form any longer, Ian shifted back to his human form. Olivia ran to him, holding Noah tight. Collapsing under the weight of his wound, he looked down at his leg and saw a bullet hole in his upper thigh, blood oozing out.
Ian had never been struck by silver before. Knowing that if it had hit anything vital he’d be dead already, he understood that even a shot to a limb could be fatal if the wound was left untreated.
Olivia looked around, her eyes settling on the gun that fell from Brody’s hand as he flew from the roof. She picked it up, ran to the helicopter, and got in the back.
“Hospital, now!” she shouted while pointing the gun at the pilot, who’d been watching the scene as a silent, horrified witness. “And you didn’t see a thing.”
He nodded in understanding before Olivia got out of the vehicle and helped Ian into the back. She snatched the tattered remains of his shirt from the ground and tied them around the wound, hoping to stop the blood flow.
Tears were in her eyes as the helicopter lifted off. The uncertainty of Ian’s fate was heavy on her mind as they flew off and into the night.
CHAPTER 15
“Easy, now,” said Ian, his hands on Olivia’s hips as she prepared to lower herself down onto him.
Olivia rolled her eyes and sent a puff of air through her lips. “It’s been a month; you have to be back into it by now.”
“Hey,” said Ian, his mouth a smirk, “you get shot with a silver bullet and let me know how that works out for you.”
“I guess I’ll just have to take your word for it,” she said, matching his smirk with one of her own.
“I guess you will.”
Olivia placed one hand on Ian’s pecs, the other gripping the base of his cock. She touched the head of his prick against her sex, and once it was lined up, she lowered her hips. Her eyes closed in sweet bliss as his prick filled her. They’d made love dozens of times by now, but she still had yet to grow bored of the feeling of his massive member sliding into her, filling her completely.
Once she had fully slid him inside, her thighs resting against his, she lifted her hips at the same slow speed she’d brought them down with, allowing his cock to sheathe. Then she lowered herself once again. Oliv
ia looked down at Ian as she slid him in and out of her, a look of pleasure playing on his handsome features, his hair splayed out around his head like a wreath. She kept her back straight for a time, using her thighs to lift herself up and down, moving her body at a slow, steady pace. Ian could last for a long, long time, but Olivia had learned by now that fucking him as hard and fast as she could was an easy way to bring things to a close a little faster than she’d like.
Besides, they were in no rush, and she wanted to savor every second.
Ian’s hands moved up her body, caressing the curves of her hips, then along her stomach, finally coming to a rest on her breasts. He squeezed and kneaded them as she rode him, paying special attention to her hard, pert nipples. Olivia loved the feeling of his large, strong hands on her body, almost as much as she loved the feeling of her own hands on the hard contours of his muscles.
After a time, she decided to pick up the pace. Leaning forward, she rested her palms on his pecs and began moving her hips up and down at increased speed and intensity. Hair long, dark hair hung on his face, like a veil that hid his expression of manly pleasure. A moan escaped from her lips as the pleasure began to bubble and roil within her, the sensation of his hard, firm prick buried deep bringing orgasm almost near her grasp.
Soon, she was bouncing hard on top of him, small gasps of pleasure slipping from her as her breasts bounced heavily in front of his face. Sitting up slightly, Ian brought her breasts closer to his mouth, lashing her nipples with quick, wet darts of his tongue. Pleasure welled and tightened within her, the dual sensations of Ian’s cock in her and his tongue upon her nipples working in tandem to fill her body with ecstasy. She leaned forward further, resting her head on Ian’s shoulder, feeling her breasts graze his skin as her hips continued to bounce, the soft sounds of skin-on-skin sounding through the bedroom.
A spasm of pleasure shot through Olivia, her back going spear-straight as she rode Ian. Her rhythm grew faster by the second, and she could sense by the tightening of Ian’s expression that he was arriving at his own orgasm. She rode him harder, and harder, the sound of their flesh mixing with the gasps and moans that left their mouths. Olivia’s orgasm thundered towards her, and just as she realized that it was achingly within reach, it seized her body. Her back stiffened even straighter, her hips shook, and she let out a quick shriek as the pleasure took hold. She continued to ride Ian, the orgasm exploding from the exact point where his cock was buried in her. She pressed her hips down hard on him, wanting him as deep within her as he could possibly be.
Ian’s orgasm came soon after, a long, protracted grunt rising up from deep within his lungs as he came. Olivia, still in the throes of her orgasm, took sweet pleasure in knowing that he was emptying himself deep inside of her, filling her with him.
Olivia rode hard until her orgasm ebbed, the feeling of pleasure that had hold of her only a moment ago now replaced with a sensation of sweet, relaxed fatigue. Ian’s orgasm finished, and when they were both done, she collapsed on top of him, his chest warm and wet against her cheek.
“Not a bad way to wake up,” said Ian, a sinful smile on his face.
“I agree,” said Olivia, stretching her warm limbs out.
She turned to the window of their bedroom, the morning sun streaming in, a thick layer of fresh, untouched snow on the ground, the sky above blue and clear.
“Looks like that snow finally came,” said Ian.
Olivia’s eyes tracked down his body to the scar on his leg. The wound had healed just about fully; months had passed since the night he rescued her from Brody and took the shot to his leg that incapacitated him for weeks. But Atticus did tell them that it might be months more before the pain subsided entirely. Silver was the most potent poison to their kind, and Ian was lucky that the wound he had was the extent of his injury.
“Smell that?” asked Olivia, her nose in the air.
“Smells like…” said Ian, lifting himself up, “…pancakes.”
“Clyde must’ve gotten an early start on breakfast,” said Olivia.
“Fine with me,” said Ian. “I’m so hungry I could probably eat him for breakfast.”
The two heaved themselves from their warm, cozy bed and threw on some loungewear. Leaving the bedroom, they were greeted with the sight of the Swift family in the living room, cups of steaming coffee in hand and in the middle of light conversation. The children of the family were all there, Tessa’s babies in her arms, Noah on Atticus’s lap.
“Morning, all,” said Atticus. “’Bout time you’d get up for your own housewarming.”
“Sorry,” said Ian. “It’s hard to get out of bed when it looks like that outside.”
He gestured to the deck door, the white stretching out into the horizon.
“I’m sure that was it,” said Atticus with a smile.
“Breakfast is ready!” said Clyde, poking his head from the kitchen into the living room.
The family all got up and marched into the kitchen, seemingly as hungry as Ian and Olivia were.
As the room emptied, the couple hung behind for a moment, looking over their home. After the bullet was removed from Ian and his condition stabilized, he and Olivia had made the decision to leave New York. While the Gabrizi family would certainly have a hard time tracking them down, it was simply too risky to stay there any longer than necessary. Not to mention that rumors of a bear on the roof of the luxury condo that Brody was tossed from could be heard here and there. Fortunately for them, a blurry photograph taken from an apartment of an adjacent building was the only proof beyond the word of the helicopter pilot who witnessed the event. With this scanty evidence, the talk of a man shifting into a bear was dismissed by anyone with a sensible mind.
They went back to the compound soon after, and Olivia tended to Ian as he worked through his silver poisoning. Things seemed touch and go for a time, but she never left his bedside. After a difficult week, he seemed to be on the mend.
Olivia wondered for a long while how Ian was able to find her that night. He dodged the question at first, and Olivia began to sense that he knew the answer, but was afraid of the implications. One night at the compound a few days after her return, she—after a couple of glasses of wine for courage—asked Atticus for an explanation. He told her that among their kind, there are those in the human world that they’re fated to bond with. And when the bond is formed, they have a connection that can tap into the supernatural nature of their power. Psychic connections were not unheard of, though quite rare. Upon learning this fact, Olivia decided to keep it to herself. She knew that the realization of the special nature of their bond must’ve been a lot for Ian to take in, and she decided she’d let him come to terms with it in his own time.
Eventually, when Ian’s health improved, their conversations turned from concerns about his recovery to their future together. The house where they spent their time together while hiding from Brody came up from time to time, and after some discussion, they decided to make it their new home. Atticus approved, stating that it was about time that the Swift family spread themselves beyond their compound.
Weeks later, Olivia, Ian, and Noah were off. They finished repairs on the home, and soon it was a house to be proud of. The winter came on in the coming months, and the couple only grew closer. When Ian presented her with a diamond ring, hope in his eyes as he proposed marriage, she could only say yes.
He and Noah grew closer, and Olivia soon realized that he would be the father that her boy deserved. They began to talk of growing their family, giving Noah a brother or sister, and decided not only upon that, but that one more sibling wouldn’t do—they wanted as many children as they could have.
But for now, they were content to have the family over, to share in their happiness, their home now finished.
“I love you,” said Ian.
“I love you, too,” said Olivia.
They kissed quickly before following the rest of the family into the kitchen. Once there, they watched as Clyde stacked plate af
ter plate high with pancakes with freshly cooked bacon on the side. Once all the plates were full, the family took seats wherever they could, pouring syrup and butter on their meals before setting in. Conversation flowed freely as they ate, all of them in good spirits. The babies were fat and happy, their hands reaching out for affection from anyone nearby, which was of course given.
Olivia, her head on Ian’s shoulder, looked over the scene, taking in the familial warmth. Her eyes flicked out to the window, spotting fresh flakes of snow flurry down from above. Happiness held her heart, for the first time, she felt that she had somewhere she belonged. She didn’t know what the future held for her, but she knew without a doubt that with Ian at her side, the love between them strong and unbreakable, she could do anything.
NYC Vamps Bonus
Chapter 1
“Going once? Going twice? Sold, to the gentleman in the double-breasted suit!”
The auctioneer gestured to the winner with the silver body of the mallet before slamming it against the gray stone of the podium.
“A fine choice, sir; I’m sure you’ll be more than pleased with this, ah, lovely specimen.”
The “specimen” he was referring to was the slim-bodied blonde in red silk bra and panties, and black manacles standing in the middle of the stage. She’s certainly a cute one. Kieran looked at her bare, slender legs, which she crossed as she stood in an attempt at modesty. She was a slip of a girl, her straw-colored hair tied back in a thick French braid and her arms crossed over her small, pert breasts.
But, just like all the others, not my type.
With a slow, sweeping gesture of his arm, the auctioneer beckoned the girl to leave the stage. She nodded. Her face was tight with fear; her blue eyes were wide and shimmering, which Kieran could see from his seat dozens of feet back from the stage.
Docile, timid, and willowy. He traced the circular rim of his drink with a long, graceful finger. I’ll leave those girls for the Ukrainians.
And, as though on cue, the buyer, a stocky man wearing a pin-striped double-breasted suit and with oil-black hair slicked into a tight sheen stood from a seat closer to the front.
