CLAIMED BY THE ALPHA UNDERBOSS

by Candace Ayers

  I felt his mass fill me like a tidal wave covering the shore. An explosion went off inside my body. My head filled with sensations of ecstasy I'd never known existed. He looked at me with worried eyes. "Are you alright?" he whispered, worried when he saw my eyes water.

  "I've never felt so alive," I told him. He smiled and pressed his lips to mine as he continued to pleasure me, his thrusts keeping time with the steady rhythm of our hearts.

  His movements were gentle, but firm and focused. He let me get used to him. I loved the way he filled me so completely. We were like two puzzle pieces finding a match in one another. I moved my hips up hard to meet his, letting him know he didn't need to be gentle with me. He answered my call by pushing deeper, his cock making slick sounds as he pumped furiously in and out of me.

  I screamed under him and clawed his back with my hands. His body arched and I felt his lower extremities stiffen.

  My skin tingled each time his pelvis slapped mine, and soon I saw the door to a new world open before me. I stepped through it and felt my body give in to the erotic sensations that racked me now. I shuddered uncontrollably and Brett picked up the pace, pushing himself harder and faster as my body began to convulse. My heart raced and my mind stopped being able to think.

  "Brett!" I screamed as he pushed into me one last time. Then the world went black except for his face, which glowed above me. His warm seed rushed into me in throbbing pulses and my head filled with light and air until my body gave out and we fell together into a deep abyss.

  We laid quietly together for a long moment, his breath soothing me. "I love you," I whispered, nuzzling my head against his chest.

  "It doesn't matter," he said. "This will never work." Then he fell asleep, leaving me alone with a fresh hurt and time to think.

  Chapter 14

  I walked towards the bus gasping for air. The idea of going home sent waves of panic through me, but I didn't know how to stop them. The sidewalk wavered and for a second I thought I might faint, then I regrouped somehow and felt my resolve steady. At least for now. For a moment last night, I'd been so certain that everything was going to work out. Brett loved me too, I'd thought. It had seemed that way when our bodies were connected. I'd almost thought I could read his mind. Then he'd said it: "This will never work."

  Even after the incredible physical connection we'd shared, he still wanted me to leave. My heart had crumbled into a million pieces while he'd gone to sleep. I wondered if he had any idea how much those words had hurt me. If he knew, would he be sorry? Did he even have feelings? I was beginning to think he repressed everything about himself. Maybe he didn't even know what he wanted himself.

  I'd written him a quick note and had left it on the pillow next to him. It was still early when I'd left. Brett had been snoring, but I had been certain he would wake up before night fall. I'd stopped in to say good-bye to Jeremy and let him know he'd have to lock Brett up that night. He'd actually hugged me and told me he was sorry to see me go.

  Now, I was waiting for the bus to open its doors so it could whisk me back to Bliss, Idaho, where my mother was waiting to berate me until I died. I was leaving Brett against my will, but at least I was leaving with my pride intact. No putting me up in an apartment or paying my bills like I was his painted doll.

  Rejected, painted doll.

  I pictured the small town I was from, it's general store no bigger than a closet, one doctor for the whole town, the boys I'd either have to settle for or end up an old maid. My phone rang and I jumped, dropping it. I fumbled to pick it back up, so certain it was Brett I didn't even check the caller I.D.

  "Hello," I said, breathless, my heart starting to race. My agent's voice crackled into my ear.

  "Hey kid, glad I caught you. I got you an audition for today. Get to Sunset and La Brea by noon."

  "Er... that might be a little difficult," I said, disappointment rushing me.

  "Don't give me that. You've been out of it for weeks now. If you don't go to this one, I gotta drop you." He wasn't mean exactly, just perfunctory. He was right, too. I don't know why I was clinging to the idea of keeping my agent when I was waiting for a bus to take me back to Idaho.

  I thanked him and hung up, with no intention of going. It was too late for me. The bus doors opened and my heart seized. My head felt dizzy. Maybe you're giving up too easily. But I was broke, and I was hurt and angry, and I didn't know what else to do. There was a quarter laying on the ground. I bent over and picked it up, deciding at that instant to leave it to fate. After all, fate had steered me to Brett's house, and despite all that had happened there, I was glad for the time we'd shared

  "Heads I stay, tails I go." I took a deep breath and flipped the coin high into the air. Heads. Relief flooded me. I turned and headed back to Hollywood. One last audition couldn't hurt anything. If I bombed it, I could still take a later bus.

  It was one of the largest casting calls I'd ever been to. The room was filled with trampy looking blondes and plastic boobs. I saw Melissa in a corner. She saw me and waved, then stuck her tongue out like a fourth grader and leaned towards the person next to her. Soon they were pointing and cackling at me.

  I had no idea how I'd landed this audition. I didn't fit in with any of the girls here. They were all skinny and dressed like they were going to a club. Skin tight dresses clung to their manmade curves, making me ill. It was like they'd called me in just for a joke. I sat in a chair and pulled my phone out. I'd been hoping Brett would at least shoot me a text he woke up this morning and read my note, but nothing. Even a simple "good-bye" would have been nice.

  He'd slept the whole day yesterday, or at least up until the time I'd left. I'd stayed for a while, waiting for him to get up, thinking we could talk, and had finally decided it was pointless. Maybe the extra sleep was some weird side effect of turning into a dragon. I'd let him sleep while I slipped out and spent the night on a park bench at Griffith Park. It was the same bench I'd slept on the night that Colin had tried to drive me out of the apartment by screwing another girl with a megaphone attached to the bed.

  I paced the room like I usually did before an audition. The script they'd given me to go over was short and humorous. I thought the part would actually be better suited to someone like me, rather than the stick figures that permeated the room. It was a dark romantic comedy, about a woman in love with a man she couldn't have. He wasn't a dragon, he was just rich. And she was poor. It was close enough to hit home for me.

  I turned and saw Leah, the floozy that Colin had brought home that time, sitting with her legs crossed and her lips pumped full of collagen. I tried to turn before she saw me but it was too late. She waved and started walking towards me. Just then, they called my name.

  "Sorry," I told her, "that's me."

  I ran into the room and almost knocked over a casting assistant who was trying to bring his boss a coffee. The room was dark. The glow of the lights allowed me to see some of the front row of chairs filled with people. I couldn't even see the back of the room. It was a little unusual. Generally, these rooms were brightly lit and sometimes cameras were even set up to capture your audition.

  The casting director glanced down at his paper without any introduction. "Start whenever you're ready," he said. "Renee will read with you." He indicated an eighteen or nineteen year old girl on his right.

  My heart hammered in my chest. How was I supposed to pretend that that girl was the man I was in love with? This was a pivotal scene. I wished I was at least reading with a cute guy, not someone who reminded me of all the things I hated about this city. I sighed. It wouldn't be the first time I bombed an audition, but if I didn't nail it, it would be the last.

  "Um," I said, kicking myself for the lack of confidence in my voice. I understood this part perfectly. There was nothing to be afraid of. I reread the lines, trying to feel the emotion. "Okay, I guess. Ready."

  I read the first line. It came out sounding flat and stilted. The girl reading with me didn't help. She had no personality (or m
aybe she was just bored) and read everything in a monotone. I tried my best to deliver the lines the way I knew they should be, but nothing helped. By the time I was done, I'd already decided to leave and go back to the bus stop. No good could come for me in Los Angeles.

  "Alright, Ms. McGrath. Thank you," the casting director said. I moved toward the exit but froze when a strong voice reached out of the shadows from the back of the room.

  "Let's try it again," the voice said. "I'll read with you this time. If you don't mind, that is, Ms. McGrath." Brett stepped from the shadows, his face luminous. He looked almost like a whole new person. The haggard lines were gone from his face. The pain that had been permanently etched there since I'd met him was gone. He actually looked happy. My throat dried up.

  "Hi," I said, then noticed the casting director watching me a little too closely. "I mean, um, sure. Whatever you say." Brett stepped to the front of the room with me and took the script from the girl I'd just read with.

  "Whenever you're ready," Brett said. I started again. This time, the words came alive. I didn't have to fake the emotions; they were there waiting for me. I moved in the body of the character, feeling everything she felt and more. By the time we had finished, the casting director was on his feet, moving towards me.

  "Wonderful!" he shouted. "Perfect! Exactly right!" He began making notes and talking to another man about calling my agent. Brett pulled me aside.

  "I'm sorry," he whispered.

  "For what?" I squeaked.

  "For not realizing that without you, I am nothing. For letting you walk away, when I am so madly in love with you." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "You said once that you wanted to help me find my treasure." I nodded, breathless. "Well, please. Please do help me, but we don’t need to look, I’ve found her, you just need to stay." he said.

  Tears welled in my eyes. I threw my arms around his neck and he held me so tightly I could barely breathe.

  He leaned his head down and whispered against the soft flesh of my neck, “Kaitlyn. The heart of the dragon.”

  I could tell by the way he held me that he'd never again let me go.

  Epilogue

  Someone was nudging me. I opened one eye and saw Brett staring at me, a coffee in his hand.

  "Ugh," I said, covering my head with the pillow. "You said I could sleep in today."

  "You did," he smiled, setting the coffee on my nightstand. "It's almost noon."

  I threw the pillow back and stared at him, unbelieving. "It is?" He nodded. "I can't remember the last time I slept so late."

  "Well, you deserve it."

  I beamed at him and held out my hands.

  "Where is it? Give it to me."

  He laughed. "Are you gonna start sleeping with it now?"

  "No," I pouted. "But I just got it last night. It's gonna take at least another month before the thrill is gone."

  "From what I hear," Brett said, handing me a golden statue with my name scrolled across the bottom, "the thrill never goes away."

  I smiled and clung to my Oscar like it was a new teddy bear. Brett handed me something else.

  "Check out the paper," he said. "And I think your mom sent you like fifty text messages." I rolled my eyes and opened the paper. The headline screamed at me:

  POWER COUPLE SWEEPS OSCARS, KAITLYN ELLIOT WINS BEST ACTRESS

  I laughed and threw the paper in the air like a rocket. "Feels good, doesn't it?" he asked. "I've still got about eight more Oscars than you, you know," he said, kissing my forehead.

  "Yeah, but I'll catch up. Just you wait." I smacked his cheek lightly and he jumped into bed with me, his hands reaching out and tickling me in all the right places.

  "Wait, wait!" I squealed. There was a quick knock on the door and Jeremy poked his head in. His cheeks flushed when he saw us in bed.

  "Sorry," he said. "Just checking," then he winked at me and shut the door again.

  Brett rolled his eyes. "It's been eight months. You'd think he'd lighten up by now."

  "I don't think Jeremy is capable of lightning anything," I said. "Hey, let’s read my mom's stuff. I bet she shit a brick when I won."

  Brett laughed. "So crass... so cute."

  I picked my phone up, ignoring the hundred other messages I had and searching for my mother's.

  "Oh my God," I mumbled.

  "What? Is she still convinced I'm using you for your body?" At our wedding, my mother had tried to talk Brett out of marrying me. She was convinced that he was using me for my body and that he'd get tired of it fast and go looking for a real woman. One who wasn't so fat.

  "No," I said, covering my mouth with my hands, fighting back tears rising from my giggles. "She says..." I could barely get the words out; I was choking on the laughter. "She says that... that..."

  "Oh just give it to me," Brett said, swiping the phone from my hand and reading. "Darling," he looked at me. "Darling? Has she ever called you that?"

  I shook my head. "First time in my life."

  He continued. "Darling, I've always known you were special. I've always believed in you. You were too good for Colin. By the way, the roof in my house is leaking."

  Brett tossed the phone aside and pulled me into his arms, laughing. "Tell you what," he said. "We'll invite her over next month. Really show her what she's missing out on there in Idaho."

  I kissed him and felt my body tense. The passion between us hadn't slipped one bit in the last eight months, and I didn't think it ever would. "You invite my mom out if you want, only give me plenty of notice so I can make sure to book myself a weekend at Lake Tahoe."

  Brett wrapped his arms around me and drew me close. His sweet scent filled my lungs, and I reveled in how lucky I was that his treasure and my dreams were one and the same.

  THE END

  SNOWBOUND WITH THE ALPHA

  STORY DESCRIPTION

  MIRA

  Curvy Mira Jenkins has sworn off men. After suffering a traumatic experience at the hands of an ex-boyfriend, she just can’t get to that trusting place- not with any man. On the outside, she is a confident, together woman. Inside, she carries a residual fear and anxiety from her trauma that threatens to envelop her if she doesn’t manage to get the upper hand over it.

  Following her therapist’s advice, Mira plans a much needed escape from Denver’s city life in the form of a hiking excursion through the mountain trails. So what if her friend backed out at the last minute? Mira needs her getaway to keep her sanity in check and that means she’s going with or without a hiking buddy.

  CADE

  Cade Donovan has seen war first hand—different battles, different countries, same senseless slaughter of humans by humans. He now spends his days holed up in his secluded estate deep in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. He no longer has any use for the human race and leaves his home only on rare occasions like when the wolf inside of him needs to run wild.

  When Cade finds an endangered hiker on an isolated trail, he is enraged at having his paradise invaded. He really has no choice. His sense of honor demands he help her, and soon she is lying in his bed while he offers his home as a sanctuary to recover from her injuries.

  How did that happen?

  No worries, it’s temporary. A day or two, max and then she’s gone.

  There’s only one problem. This woman stirs feelings in Cade that he hasn’t felt for a very long time. The way she tames his hot temper and soothes his beast is making it very difficult for Cade to say goodbye. Not to mention the fact that his wolf wants to keep her and claim her as his mate!

  Chapter 1

  “Honestly, Amanda, there's nothing wrong with getting out of the city every now and then, letting yourself enjoy the wonders of nature!”

  Mira Jenkins pouted into her iPhone. Her brow was furrowed in annoyance as she paced the room. Even so, she knew her pleading was in vain, she was pretty sure she was going to lose the argument, but she had to at least give it a fair shot.

  “Besides, you've been cooped up indoors so long, at wor
k and at home, you'll go crazy without some fresh air!”

  She placed a hand on her thick waist, drumming her index finger and waiting for a comment back from her best friend.

  “I'm sorry, Mira, I just... Look, me and Randy haven't had much time together. Dealing with work and other obligations, we haven't had any couples time! C'mon, you've got to understand. Next time? I promise I'll go with you the next time you are ready to go hiking, okay?” Her friend's voice begged on the line.

  Mira paced a bit more along the floor and let out an overly dramatic sigh. She tugged at the neck of her warm, black turtleneck that rested a little too snugly against her throat.

  “Alright, Amanda, I'll stop bugging you. But, when we get ready to go next time, you bring the hot chocolate, 'kay? I'll be taking the Pear Lake Trail.”

  Mira smiled as she heard her girlfriend’s squeal of delight at being let off the hook, her eyes lingering briefly on the second pack on her floor.

  “Okay, I promise, Mira. Thanks for understanding, hon, it's reeeeeeally important for us tonight!” Mira laughed at her friend’s voice. She sounded like a joyous puppy able to jump in the snow for the first time.

  “Promise to use protection,” Mira said in a light, singsong tone, then, she heard the line go dead silent, a grin spreading along her lips.

  She knew Amanda was as red as an apple at her comment. A short laugh slipped out before she disconnected the call, shaking her head. She did love to torture her friend. Shy as heck, adorably so, and so naively innocent. So different from herself.