Edwynn recoiled from the wound but the prince grabbed at her hand and forced her to touch the wound as it healed beneath her fingers. “Feel it,” The prince said to her. “For it is real. It is no dream Edwynn. What you are seeing here is real.”
“It cannot be.” The raven haired girl whispered exasperatedly. “You, you cannot be.” Not releasing his grip from off of her hand, Lord Morris pressed himself closer into the shaking young woman. “But I am.” He purred into her ear. “I am prince of the skin changers Lady Edwynn.” As he spoke the words the words made sense. The dark haired black smith, the black wolf, the attack, it all made sense to her now. “But your kind was extinct.” Edwynn whispered. “The history of our land,”
“Is wrong.” The prince finished. “We have been living among you for centuries.” Suddenly Edwynn remembered a story that her brother had told her as a child. The story of two brothers, one born from darkness and the other born from light. They were the princes to Wearhalla, the rightful heirs. Before mortals took over the kingdom of skin changers, Wearhalla had been a place where all kinds could live free. After the death of the brothers' father and betrayal by the one with golden hair, both swore to kill the other for power. Edwynn's mind raced as he thought of the blacksmith. “He is your brother?” She whispered. “That' why you both almost killed the other.” Lord Morris laughed at her perception. “Your a clever woman Edwynn. All this time you have been lying in the arms of my brother and he is the evil one. His ability to change his skin forces him to forget his humanity. He transforms into a wolf. A true wolf. One that knows no mercy. He is a dangerous man.”
“I..I loved him.” Edwynn whispered to the skin changer who knelt in front of her. She dropped her head so that she did not have to look into the beings eyes, yet she felt his hand raise her chin. “Even though he tried to kill you?” He told her. “I have control over my ability my lady, one thing my brother does not. He is a savage and has killed many during his episodes. I am surprised he hasn't killed you yet.”
“He does not know what he does.” Edwynn defended the black smith weakly. “He is blinded by rage.”
“By jealously.” The prince corrected her. A sickness rose within the young woman then.
“Thank you.” Edwynn whispered weakly through hot tears that fell from her eyes. For the first time when Edwynn spoke to the prince, her words were sincere. “I may have misjudged you.” For a moment the golden haired skin changer said nothing. With his finger he brushed Edwynn's lip tenderly. Edwynn looked into his eyes and nuzzled her face into his hand.
It was then that he took her. Desperate and commanding, the golden haired prince consumed Edwynn's lips and forced her to submit to his touch. At first the raven haired girl was afraid but then something stirred inside of her where she felt the need for him. Like the animal that he was, he pushed Edwynn down onto the bed, her shift being torn from her body as she ran his big, strong hands over her bareness. When he cupped her breasts Edwynn groaned beneath him and pushed herself further into his touch. She found herself clawing at his breeches.
Forcing herself to sit back up, her lips still locked on his, Edwynn forced the prince to sit, she now taking control and ripped his belt from out of breeches and forced him to lie flat on his back. In an instant his hardness sprang free, big and thick, begging to be relieved. Without her consent, the strong arms of the prince forced Edwynn to impale herself on his hard cock and she obeyed without hesitation. The feel of him inside of her as she rode him to his climax felt good. With his strong hands wrapped firmly around her waste goading her to ride him faster, Edwynn's nails dug into his broad shoulders as she rode him beyond any speed that she had rode a man before. It was then that she felt his hot seed explode inside of her without any warning. Edwynn screamed in ecstasy as she rode through her orgasm, body shaking from pleasure and excitement.
Panting hard and rolling off the man that she had so despised only a month before, Edwynn curled up into his arms. The golden haired prince stared up at the ceiling of her bed chamber while spoke. “I told you would be mine.” He teased as he looked down at his wife to be, but Edwynn did not hear, for she was already asleep.
#
Epilogue.
The night before her wedding, she made the biggest decision of all. He was waiting for her just as he said he would be. Amber eyes leering out at her through the darkness as she walked the narrow streets under the cover of moonlight. “Now you know.” He confirmed darkly. “Now you know what I really am.”
“You tried to kill me.” She whispered angrily. “If it wasn't for your brother then I would be dead.”
“My intentions were not to harm you!” The black smith suddenly roared then. In an instant he was upon her, forcing her into a wall, amber eyes glowing now that she knew the truth. With adrenaline Her heart pounded, her head swam, her mind raced. He was on her in an instant. Strong arms barricading the door, preventing her from leaving. The dark haired man slammed her roughly against the wooden door, so that her eyes could stare into his. “Do you understand now why I despise royalty?” He roared down at her. “Your people are responsible for the death of my kind. Its your people who have made my bloodline extinct. I am all that's left!”
“I had no part in the death of your people!” Edwynn hissed angrily though she was terrified. She struggled in the grasp of the wear changer to no avail. He shook her to silence, his amber eyes burning with fury. “Do not think because I spared you I wont kill you human!” He growled. “I desired nothing more than to frighten you today out there princess. I could have killed you in an instant, ended your pathetic life and fed off you whilst you were still breathing. It was only two things that stopped me from ending your life. The moon was not full and the fact tat I love you.” Asher's strong hands dug into her flesh, bruising her. Edwynn heart was racing.
“What?” Was all the raven haired woman could whisper.
“I only agreed to meet you tonight to tell you that I am leaving.” Asher told her carefully. “My brother has taken the only thing that was good in my life away but he is right in doing so. What he says is true, I am a dangerous man. If you were to stay with me you would not make it past dawn.”
Edwynn did something then that she thought she would never do. With a weak hand she interlaced her fingers through his. His hands felt callused against her soft skin, rough from his work and rougher from his life as a wolf. Edwynn looked into his eyes. The wolf changer did not pull his face away from hers, he merely stared back at her. The wolf changer's eyes burned yellow with a lust that she had never seen before. Leaning his face into hers, Edwynn's heart raced as she looked from his full lips to his stubble, to his eyes.
In a furious motion the wolf changer consumed her lips within a fiery kiss that knocked the breath from out of her. Her hands tangled up in his mane of wild hair, desperate and wanting. She pulled his body closer to hers, relishing the sensation of bear skin against soft silk. She lusted after, wanted him, every part of him she desired. His passion was that of an animal, raw and dominant. When he deepened the kiss and pushed himself lie over Edwynn on the dirty mattress, he bit down on her lip, playfully at first, then wilder, then desperate. Edwynn found her hands wandering the bear torso of the the skin changer. Beneath her fingers he felt soft, his skin supple but every now and again her fingers would discover a rough scar or two that he maintained through his years of war.
With a growl and a thrust, his hard cock entered into her weeping hole and Edwynn cried out in pleasure as he fucked her with a wildness that he never done before. With his teeth biting down on her flesh, Edwynn's nails clawed at his back urging him to thrust her faster, harder, wilder.
It was over as soon as it had begun. Lying in the arms of her secret lover, she placed her head upon his chest. “Where will you go?” Edwynn whispered sadly, looking up into his eyes. Asher was silent for a long moment when finally he spoke again. “I don't know.” He lover answered truthfully.
A BEARS TOUCH
Chapter 1
Bodies against bodies. Skin and against skin. The party is in full swing, and as Alex Montgomery treads through the crowd, he pulls the corner of his lips up into a smirk. With luminescent azure orbs and startling white blond hair, every single woman he passes moves her head to get a glimpse of the six-foot Adonis. Only a couple though are daring enough to walk up to him and turn on the charm.
“I know I’ve seen you before…” asks one of the women, her tube top providing ample cleavage. Alex stares openly. Why wouldn’t he? They’re practically begging to be stared at. “What’s your name again, handsome?”
“Dance with us,” says the other, reaching out for Alex’s hand and intertwining their fingers together. “Are you up for a human sandwich?”
Letting the two women drag him to the center of the dance floor, he trails behind them and watches as they purposely accentuate their hips with every step of their heel. Bump. Bump. Bump. A number of men look on in unbridled jealousy and curiosity. How can they be like him? Alex doesn’t even try anymore when it comes to women.
He knows he looks stupid, frozen in between the two women as they grind their hips against his lower torso. There’s one thing he’ll never do, and that’s to dance. He would if he had the talent for it, but his parents wouldn’t even lie for him regarding his non-existent skills on the dancefloor. Suddenly, he’s turned around by the brunette, the second one to walk up to him, as she wraps her arms around his neck protectively. Then, using her hand to push the back of Alex’s head downwards, she closes the distance between their lips. Alex responds to the kiss, pressing once and then deepening the contact. Instinctively, he wraps an arm around her lower back with his hand propped on her ass.
He only breaks away when the music changes. When he does, he sees the full lips of the woman – swollen – and her breasts heaving up and down and tight against her top. Alex knows he can be an ass at times, such as right now, when he turns around and walks away from the two gorgeous vixens.
“Bored so easily?” his good friend, Nate Anderson, asks.
They met back in the military and retired when they both reached the big 4-0 a couple of years ago. Now, Alex is the Chief Information Officer of a multinational security intelligence firm, while is the CEO and Founder of his own technology company.
“Can you blame me?” is Alex’s reply. “We’re past forty. We’ve been there, done that.”
“Ho-ho,” says one of their friends – Grant. “Did you finally grow a heart?”
Alex shakes his head as he barks out a laugh. Then, he eyes the bartender and asks the man to get him another beer before he turns back to his friends.
“I’ve always had a heart for beautiful women,” is Alex’s witty reply.
“And you don’t know how to keep them,” says Nate. “Anyway…I’m heading out guys…” When his group of friends look at him in disbelief, he then supplies, “I have an early start tomorrow.”
“But it’s Sunday…and you work for your own company!”
That elicits a light chuckle out of Nate, ever the introvert. He buries his four fingers, sans thumb, into the pocket of his jeans and shrugs his shoulders.
“Yeah, I wasn’t able to finish a couple of things. I want to get everything done before Monday.”
“You work too much, man,” says Alex, giving Nate’s shoulder a hard, resounding slap.
“And that’s why he’s been on the cover of Forbes, and we haven’t,” says Luke, another one of their friends, with a laugh.
“Point taken,” That’s Alex, man enough to admit when his friends do exceed him in other aspects of life. “See you, man. Don’t work yourself to the ground. Remember…when you get married, you are going to be risking half of your wealth. It’s better not to accumulate so much.”
Nate can’t help but laugh at that, and he can only shake his head in reply. He says ‘goodbye’ to all the guys in the group before he walks towards the exit of the club and disappears from Alex’s and the rest’s line of sight.
A couple of hours later and after about a dozen women attempt and fail to get him to dance, Alex finally calls it a night. When he checks his watch, he realizes it’s almost six in the morning. In a flurry of actions, he exits the clubs, hails a cab, and finally arrives at his apartment building.
Ever the smart drunk, Alex knows he’ll regret creating an online dating profile and paying a premium to access the mail-order bride feature. But he does. He remembers his earlier remark to Nate – that a spouse will get half of his assets. But nowadays, it’s easier to go around pre-nuptial agreements. Though, Alex isn’t looking to marry, not yet anyway. He’ll think about that when the right woman comes. In the meantime, he doesn’t mind paying the fees as long as he gets a good laugh out of the dating website.
Then, he sees a picture of the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, and he ends up eating his words.
Chapter 2
Thank fucking god. Nate Anderson thinks when he wakes up with no sign of a hangover. He easily sits up from his bed, swings his legs to the edge, and heads right for the bathroom. A quick shower and a toothbrush later, he’s all fresh and ready to take on the day. And that means walking over to his home office – the third and smallest room of his three-bedroom apartment – and getting to work.
When he retired from the military, he was given quite the hefty lump sum payout after having been in service for over two decades. He previously thought of using the money to take a couple of graduate degrees, work part-time, and save the bulk for retirement. But he couldn’t deny the call of entrepreneurship tugging at his heart. With no debt and only the determination and willpower to succeed, Nate was able to lift his business off the ground. He raked in millions of dollars in the two years he’s been in business, and a few months ago, he was invited by Forbes for an exclusive interview and to be on the cover of the month’s issue.
With his experience in the intelligence department of the Army, Nate knew it would be a strategic move for him to ride the technology wave. Now his software company is still experiencing month-on-month growth even after two years in operation.
When he finishes his cup of coffee – black – he reaches for his tablet at the end of his desk and starts coming up with designs for the company’s next line of software products. It’s only when his stomach starts grumbling and he realizes it’s already two in the afternoon that he decides to eat his first meal for the day. He walks over to his refrigerator and whips up his specialty – omelet. There hasn’t really been much downtime in his life since he retired from the military to learn how to cook. Even then, he wouldn’t be spending his free time cooking. Eating yes; cooking, no.
‘Run later?’
‘Need to lose the beer weight from last night.’
He reads the messages, both from Alex. He types up a quick ‘yes’, sends it, and continues answering his other pile of unread messages and emails. He knows he has to hire another secretary to do his more menial tasks, but he’s not looking forward to the headaches that are bound to come. Just in the past year, he had already hired three secretaries, and he had to fire all of them after they underperformed. They were all great at the start though, and Nate was giving them raises every month. Until he slept with them, and suddenly, they all felt they were entitled not to work anymore just because he brought them lunch and dinner and invited them to his home. He even thought they were all girlfriend-material. That was until they stopped working.
If he has to have one peeve, it has to be people who can’t stand up on their own. He’s always been attracted to women who value work and career success. It shows dedication and strength which trickle down to other aspects of their lives. He breaks his train of thought and snaps his head back to reality. Work. He has to work.
During the afternoon, he spends a few hours creating different agendas for tomorrow’s weekly reports. Every Monday, he meets with each department to go over last week’s performance. Nate prefers to keep the meetings short, and as long as his colleagues answer his questions wit
h proper reasoning backed up by numbers, he doesn’t stretch the meetings any longer. These are what the agendas are for; they serve as a guide of questions and focus points to keep the reports brief.
When he finishes all business-related work, Nate reaches for his every-trusty phone and goes through his notifications. He sees a few from Love in the Net, an online dating site he joined a few months ago.
What makes the company different is it isn’t afraid to challenge stereotypes. The site is more open (meaning, less conservative) than others and even offers a special ‘mail-order bride’ feature. There have been online protests to take down the site, but with the huge customer base and ever-increasing profits generated by the company, non-supporters are only going against a corporation that’ll cost them millions of dollars to bring to court.
Nate has never used the bride order option though. He’s never seen a profile yet that interested him enough. He’s thought about tinkering with the option and playing around – there is a choice to refund – but he honestly doesn’t have time for that. He opens his Love in the Net notifications and sees the ranking page for the site’s most eligible women.
Pursuit: A Bad Boy Romance Page 56
