by Leela Ash
“Are you sure you’re ready for that?” he asked.
Carmen raised an eyebrow at him and she could feel him swelling inside of her.
“You’re a hell of a woman,” he mumbled.
Carmen cried out in shock as Clark began to unleash his full power on her body. His cock plunged into her again and again, consuming her with hot tendrils of pleasure. An eager fire coursed through her, and a feeling beyond her control began to build in her abdomen, a deep climax unlike anything she had ever felt before.
“Fuck,” Clark whispered as she tightened around him. The contractions had already begun, even though she didn’t want to let go yet. “Let it happen.”
Clark buried his mouth against her breast and stroked it lovingly as his mouth found her nipple. She moaned deeply as her pleasure was intensified, and Clark’s powerful hips began to thrust against her in earnest.
Carmen was overwhelmed by the hot sensation of his body pressed against her, the shaft of his cock stimulating and teasing her, and she gripped his shoulder blades tightly as a tingling sensation overcame her whole body. Clark hissed, his orgasm spilling out deep inside of her, and the heat of his seed released a powerful explosion that brought Carmen to her peak.
Carmen cried out loud, her earth-shattering orgasm completely releasing all of her inhibitions. Clark’s powerful body continued massaging her inside as her body writhed against him, until both of them were completely spent.
“Can I sleep in here with you tonight?” Carmen whispered, laying her head on Clark’s chest. “I don’t want to be alone.”
“You can sleep in here every night,” Clark said, kissing Carmen’s forehead. “I love you. And I’ll take care of you for the rest of our lives.”
Epilogue
“What do you mean you two are together?” Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow at Clark. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged.
“Some things are beyond our control, Rache. And you just go with it. You know?”
“I’m not going to pretend that this isn’t weird,” Rachel said, turning her gaze to Carmen. “But I always knew there was something better out there for you, Carmen. I guess my dad’s the best there is. Except for Bobby. I guess this is a good time to be out with it…Bobby and I are engaged!”
Carmen squealed in delight and she and Rachel embraced. When they pulled apart, Rachel met her dad’s serious eyes and she stopped bouncing and cleared her throat.
“I think he intends to ask you for my hand,” Rachel said. “But if he doesn’t bother, it’s just because he thinks you’ll say no and we’re going to do it anyway. He’s pretty sure you hate him.”
Clark laughed deeply, surprising both Rachel and Carmen.
“I’ve always thought of Bobby as a son. He’s one of the best betas in the pack. He’ll make a fine mate for my little girl.”
Rachel’s eyes widened. “I can’t wait to tell him you said that.”
“Oh, sure, tell him all you want. Just remember to include that if he hurts you, I’ll kill him,” Clark said in a cheerful voice.
Rachel’s face fell slightly, but Clark grinned sincerely.
“No, really. I’m happy for you, kiddo.”
“I’m happy for you two too…I think,” Rachel said with a laugh. “You’ve been on your own for such a long time, dad. I was starting to worry about you. You couldn’t keep pining after mom forever.”
“I have a feeling your mother would understand,” Clark said.
It was true. He had done a lot of soul searching after he met Carmen, and he knew that his wife had been a free-spirit who believed in fated attraction. Who knew it could happen with a human mate too?
“Are you guys coming to the crowning tonight?” Rachel asked. “Bobby and I have great seats.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss cheering on King David for the world,” Clark said. “I don’t know anyone more fitting of the honor.”
“Why did you turn down the invitation to be king, anyway?” Carmen asked. She never did quite understand the shifter hierarchy the way a native did. But they were all confident that with a little bit of time and practice, she would get the hang of it.
“Well, honey, I think my place is a little more subtle than all that. David is a brilliant strategist with a keen eye for politics. He truly cares about the pack and values every member equally.”
“Besides, dad’s just reckless. You can’t have a reckless leader, right?”
Clark grinned. It was just what he had always told his daughter growing up.
“Exactly right.”
“Well, we still have some time before the ceremony. Who wants to get something to eat first?” Rachel asked. “Bobby’s buying. The shop is doing really well. He’s looking at another promotion.”
“That sounds great,” Clark said, walking to the closet and grabbing his coat. “There are a few things I wanted to go over with my future son-in-law.”
Rachel laughed and rolled her eyes.
“Sure, dad. Whatever you say. You’re just lucky I don’t have a thing or two to say to my future step-mother.” Rachel shivered. “God that’s weird to say.”
Carmen grinned and laced one arm through Rachel’s and one through Clark’s.
“Just remember, I’m Carmen, and I’ll never even try to replace your mother. Not to you and not to your father. If we just play it by ear, then everything’s going to be fine.”
Clark grinned and kissed Carmen on top of the head.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
THE END
A Secret Baby for the Shifter
A Stonybrooke Shifters story
Leela Ash
Copyright ©2017-2018 by Leela Ash. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
1.
“But you already have half the estate!”
Dean Resner slammed his fist down on the table, and the two lawyers and his ex-wife looked up at him frowning.
“Apparently, the lady feels she is entitled to more,” Dean’s lawyer said, kindly touching his shoulder; his silent way of telling him to back the fuck off before ruining what good had been done. Letting the wolf out wasn’t going to get him anywhere, and everybody in the room knew it. They were maybe even counting on it.
But Dean wasn’t the kind of man who was used to compromise. Not only was he the alpha of his pack, he was the single most successful businessman in Stonybrooke. He’d had magazine articles and television specials devoted to him, even being labeled the sexiest entrepreneur alive (which he didn’t consider much to brag about considering the competition, but still). He had traveled the world and educated the humans on both shifters and good leadership for the past twenty-five years. And now he was being told wordlessly to reign it in, because this was a battle he might not win.
To put it mildly, it was a lousy fuckin’ feeling.
“Well, we will have to consider the offer and set up a time for negotiations,” Jake, Dean’s best friend and lawyer, said firmly.
Kiera smirked at Dean and stood, and despite himself, Dean found himself staring at the woman he’d thought would be the love of his life. Tall, blonde, with long legs and a body he would kill for, but eyes as cold as steel. If he hadn’t been so preoccupied with his own feelings, he would have known it.
Usually, he didn’t let himself get so close that he was blinded like this. He’d done everything in the book with every woman he’d wanted to do it with and had managed not to get attached. But, somehow, Kiera had snuck under his radar. She’d seen things in him others hadn’t, and he’d let himself get suckered.
Maybe it was karma. Maybe he’d been forced into paying for sins he hadn’t cared he was committing. He’d had more than his fair share of young women who thought he might love them if they played along with his fantasies; and
the truth was, he hadn’t exactly left a lot of clean breaks when he was playing the field.
Still, Kiera left him feeling lost. Even now, he could picture what she might look like with his child inside of her; the smile on her face when he came home after a long day and they lounged together, making plans for the future…he’d never let himself feel so happy.
It had always been a secret dream of Dean’s to be a father. To have a child and pass on his legacy. He thought that he’d have his litter of pups with Kiera and raise them into amazing beings. He was wealthy enough to give them everything he’d never had as a young boy. But it was a future that he and Kiera weren’t meant to share. That was the harsh reality.
“I know you’re not going to want to compromise,” Kiera said, slicing into Dean’s thoughts with a cruel little smile. “But you should really consider it. You have a lot more to lose than you might think.”
Dean’s face contorted in confusion and anger, and he opened his mouth to reply. Fortunately, Jake was on the ball and put his hand on Dean’s shoulder just in time to cut his words off. They weren’t out on the field, brawling to the death. This wasn’t the kind of fight that the wolf was good at. This was bureaucracy. Kiera was using the rules of the human world to get under his skin, and if he played into it and let the wolf have its way, he might as well be letting her win.
“You can think what you want, Kiera, but there’s one thing I know for sure,” Dean said. He felt everybody’s eyes turn back to him, and he smiled brightly. “You can blow me.”
Kiera’s face distorted in disgust and irritation and she huffed, turning her back on Dean and stalking out the door.
Her lawyer followed with a slight nod to Jake, and Dean leaned back in his chair.
“I think that went well,” Dean said cheerfully once they’d disappeared down the hallway. “How did you read it?”
Jake sighed.
“Same as always,” Jake said. “They’re aiming to kill.”
“No shit.”
“Don’t worry though, it’s just material. There’s nothing she can take that we can’t replace.”
Jake slapped Dean on the back and left the meeting room.
Nothing they couldn’t replace?
Dean frowned and stood, walking to the long, narrow window and looking out. He spotted Kiera outside beneath him, walking briskly to her little red car and turning the engine. He had actually opened himself up to this woman. She was everything he had ever hoped for; the only woman he had ever wanted to settle down with.
Kiera was gorgeous, smart, and wild in bed. She was high-maintenance as shit, which was nice for the alpha in him, who always wanted to be working hard for others. Kiera’s hot and cold ways always left him guessing, constantly on the hook and eager for just one more smile. He had been more excited to promise the rest of his life to her than he had been to drink his first beer. That wasn’t the kind of thing you could just replace.
Dean sighed and turned away as Kiera’s car peeled out of the parking lot. He could live without her. He had no other choice.
His cell phone rang suddenly and he answered without thinking.
“Yeah?”
“Mr. Resner, Dr. Graham is here to see you now.”
“Shit, I’ll be right there.”
“Of course.”
Dean put his phone away and sighed. He’d completely forgotten about the meeting; nobody had updated his schedule. He missed having a real intern. It was getting tiresome being understaffed. Lately, since the divorce scandal had hit the tabloids, he’d been having issues with interns that were simply around to get the gossip up close and personal. He’d fired three interns in a matter of weeks. It was getting old.
His business was slowly unravelling, and it was time to start getting serious. There were more important things in this world than Kiera Michaels-Resner. He would just have to be more careful next time, both with his interns and with his heart.
2.
“Today’s the day!” Janie Alexander said optimistically to herself in the mirror.
She smoothed her blouse and practiced a smile that quickly turned to a frown. The suit she was wearing accentuated her curves (she had her fair share of them) and she’d put her light blonde hair into a neat bun, but she still felt self-conscious. Janie knew she wasn’t knock-it-out-of-the-park beautiful. But, hopefully, Howler Inc. was looking for professionals, not models.
Working for Howler would be a dream come true. She’d just finished her bachelor’s degree in business and wanted to go where she saw a need for the work she was passionate about. Tensions between shifters and humans had been high, and integrating their suffocating society was a must.
Stonybrooke was a strange little town, but Janie had managed to settle in pretty easily. It was surprisingly easy to find a small house to rent, but she hadn’t made an offer yet. Currently, she was using her savings to stay at a motel until she was sure she could enter into a lease. Without a job, that would be impossible.
That’s where Howler Inc. came in. Janie had been studying business, but her true passion was the relationship between shifters and humans. She felt there was untapped potential in the market, and the one man who seemed to understand it was Dean Resner.
Her heart fluttered at the thought of meeting him; he was one of the most handsome men in the world, and she knew, from television interviews, that he looked good in a suit. At least, that’s what the magazines would have her believe. The idea of actually meeting him in person was thrilling and intimidating.
But she knew that were they to meet, the illusion would fade. Despite her shallow little crush, they said not to meet your idols for a reason. She probably wouldn’t even be taken seriously.
The sad truth was, he wouldn’t be interested in Janie in the least, professionally or otherwise. She was a curvy girl, not rail thin like that model of a wife he’d had. And besides, she wasn’t there because she wanted to date him. She was there because she shared his vision and hoped to help Howler Inc. remain one of the leading forces of change in the world.
The phone rang suddenly and Janie rushed to answer it. There wasn’t much time left before she had to leave. “Hello?”
“Janie! Today is your interview! How are you feeling?”
Janie relaxed. It was her best friend from college, and her leading source of moral support.
“Leah, hi! I’m really nervous, actually. What if he takes one look at me and laughs me out of the office? Ugh, why did we make so many brownies in college?”
“Because those brownies just happen to be the most amazing thing to happen to North American cuisine since apple pie.”
“You let me eat too much of that too,” Janie replied.
Leah laughed. “Seriously, you’re gorgeous. Don’t worry about your weight so much. If they’re only hiring people who are stick thin, they can go to someone else. If they want sexy and competent, then it’s Janie Alexander all the way!”
“You’re too kind,” Janie said with a dismissive laugh. Still, it was always nice to hear from her best friend. She was a great source of support, and Janie missed her every day. “So how did the date go?”
“Oh, you know Tom. He took me to these super boring museums and disgustingly healthy restaurants…I loved it, even though he was miserable.”
Janie grinned. “I think you two are made for each other.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Leah said. “But we’ll see. Are you excited about the interview? This is what you’ve been working your whole college career for!”
“I’m actually terrified,” Janie said with a soft laugh. “But it’s a hell of an opportunity.”
“Well, whether you get it or not, you’re a young woman with her entire life ahead of her. And you’re cute. That counts for something in this world.”
“Does it really count for more than drop-dead gorgeous does?” Janie asked skeptically.
“You have the skills they need. They’d be crazy not to hire you. Just go in there and show th
em how it’s done!”
Janie smiled, feeling heartened for the first time since she’d woken up. It was hard to stay optimistic. The world ran on certain principles, and favored women who looked a certain way. She wasn’t used to being in the favored group, and it was probably going to stay that way. Still, Leah was right. She was more than qualified. And it was a job, after all, not a popularity contest.
“Thanks, Leah. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
“You better. Break a leg!”
“Thanks!”
Janie hung up the phone feeling significantly better than she had before Leah called. Whether the world saw her as a conventionally attractive woman or not, she had skills and she wasn’t afraid to use them.
3.
Dean looked up from the paperwork on his desk as a soft knock sounded on his door. He glanced at his watch and cursed under his breath. It was time for another meeting with a potential intern. This time, he was going to be harsh. He couldn’t afford losing any more time.
“Come in,” Dean said, sighing and looking back at his paperwork. He heard the shuffling of footsteps and soon, someone, a woman (young, he could tell by her smell), was sitting across from his desk.
He made no move to speed up his work. It was going to be a powerplay today. The wolf would lead the interaction, discerning whether or not the person across from him was a waste of time or had the potential of a keeper.
She didn’t make a sound, and simply waited patiently for him to finish. She had passed the first test.
“Nice to meet you,” Dean finally said, setting his pen down and reaching his hand out to shake hers. He made eye contact pointedly, nearly forgetting the purpose of his game as she held his gaze for a few moments before dropping her eyes back to her hands. She knew he was dominant here, and wouldn’t make any plays to prove otherwise. That, or she was familiar with how to treat an alpha, which was surprising for a human. Either way, she’d passed the second test.
