by T. S. Ryder
"Mom, I'm going. I'm not giving up on him. I am going to find him."
"You're talking like you think you love him. You don't even know him."
Mack thought about his soft eyes, his playful smile, the ferocity of his kisses. She could feel his fingers tracing her lips, hear his hooting laughter as they scrambled up and down the jungle gym, chasing each other. The look in his eyes, so vulnerable and afraid when he revealed his gorilla side to her. The joy that had lit his face when she hadn't run screaming from him. She may not have been with him very long, but that didn't mean that she didn't know him.
"I know him enough to know how I feel for him. To know how he feels for me."
"Honey—"
"I know him, Mom. And I'm not leaving him alone again."
***
Several weeks later, Mack turned off her rental car and stared at the mansion, her heart in her throat. What if she couldn't find him? She had spent the last few weeks telling herself that she would find him and all would be well, but what if she couldn't?
The SWAT team had dismantled all of Oliver's traps, but Mack was still cautious and entered the mansion through the window in the atrium. Everything was in terrible condition. There was shattered glass everywhere, chunks of wood that bullets had torn free all over the floor, and plants that had been torn up and kicked around.
Mack checked the hidden trapdoor first. The frozen foods had thawed, in some cases going moldy. Her heart sank. Even though she had told the marshals about this place, she had foolishly hoped that they hadn't passed it along to the search and rescue team and that Oliver would be inside, nursing some injuries, but very much on the road to recovery.
The house was empty and eerily still. Mack shivered as she moved from room to room, calling Oliver's name. But he was nowhere to be found, and her heart sank further with every step she took. She was glad that she hadn't let her family come out here with her–they would be encouraging her to give up, and as the dull ache of her still-healing wound turned into a persistent throb, it would be all too easy to give in.
She was sobbing by the time she climbed the ladder to the bedrooms. He wasn't here. Would she ever see him again?
Blinded by tears, she went to his room and curled up on the bed, pushing her face into his pillow to breathe in his musky, manly scent. She wasn't certain how long she lay there, crying, but when her face shone with sweat and her throat was dry and sticky, she rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling.
How long could she hold onto hope? Her mother was right–if search and rescue couldn’t find Oliver, then how could she? If she tried to go out into the swamp looking for him, would she end up lost and dead? Was that what he would have wanted?
But how could she just give up on him? He had defended her to his last, and it was only because of her stupidity, trusting Tom Meyer instead of waiting for Oliver to get her, that they were separated like they were.
Moving as if she was in a dream, Mack wiped her tears and headed for her room. While she was here, she might as well pick up the books she had left behind. And maybe take a cold shower while she was at it. Her temples throbbed from the heat.
She stopped in the doorway of her room. The bed, which she distinctly remembered carefully making the morning of the incident, was crumpled, the blankets in a twisted mess. Leaves were scattered all over the floor. Some were brown and dried, but others fresh, like they had just been plucked from the plant. Her heart beat with hope and she trembled, leaning against the doorway as her knees weakened. Could she withstand more disappointment if he wasn't here?
"Oliver? Oliver, please, if you're here…"
She rushed to the bathroom. Empty. But he had to be here somewhere, he had to be hanging around…
The screen in the bathroom window was missing. If she hadn't noticed that, Mack would never have seen the small shadow cast onto the sill. Like something was just outside, against the wall.
With a cry, she rushed to the window. Oliver stood on the small ledge just outside, clinging to the wall with his giant, nimble hands.
"Oliver!"
He winced as he looked down at her, not even attempting a smile. With a sigh, he slipped back into the room. Mack threw her arms around him, sobbing in relief.
"I thought you were dead! I thought that I'd never see you again."
Oliver's hands cased her shoulders, and gently but firmly he pushed her away. His eyes were on the floor as he shook his head. "I should be dead. No normal person could survive getting shot multiple times and falling off a building like that. But me, not even a scar,"
"You're alive." Mack reached for his face. He caught her hands, holding her away.
"I don't want you to touch me right now."
The smile slipped off her face. "Oliver?"
"I was going to tell you I'm alive. I wasn't going to make you suffer." His eyes fixed firmly on her feet. "But this… this just proves what I was worried about all along. I'm not human. I don't belong in your world. And after seeing what I did to all those men… Mack, I'm just too dangerous to be around people."
"You say that like you're not a person."
"I'm not! I'm an animal." He turned away.
Mack stared at him. The anger she never felt when she was around him blossomed in her chest and her fists clenched at her sides. "An animal? We're all animals. We all evolved the same way. I don't care if you turn into something that doesn't look human, you're a person. You're a good man, and as for what you did here–you were defending me! All the men you killed would have killed me and you if they had the chance. That doesn't make you dangerous."
Oliver lifted his eyes to hers. "You're angry."
"Of course I'm angry! You can't take this one incident, where you were protecting me, and say that it's more important than all the good times we had together. Playing on the jungle gym? Hide and seek in the atrium? Not to mention sex in the theater room!" Mack put her hands on her hips. "When have you ever hurt me? Not once."
"That doesn't mean I won't. In the future."
"You won't. Don't cut me out, Oliver. Please."
"I can't have children."
"I don't care. I love you."
"You love me?" A brief smile crossed his face. "I was afraid you'd run away from me. But I was wrong. You ran towards me." He stepped forward, and his fingers brushed her cheek. She pressed her hands to his chest. His heart beat sure and strong. "I don't understand why you want to be with me."
"Because you are the most unique, wonderful man I have ever met, and you let me be me." Mack pressed herself against him, smiling up into his deep eyes. "I'm happy when I'm with you… and I like to think you're happy with me."
Oliver wrapped his strong arms around her. "Deliriously happy. Happier than I've ever been in my life."
He pressed a kiss to her mouth and, with a sigh, Mack wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him in deeper.
Epilogue
Florida was growing on her. To hell with spanx and whatever else was going to make her look thinner and hide her wobbly bits. Now it was all tank tops and short shorts. Even less when she and Oliver were home in their countryside getaway, but with a business to run, they could only get out there during the weekends.
Mack smiled as she carried a basket of squirming, mewling kittens back to their mother after being weighed. Oliver had purchased a few acres of land just outside Orlando so she could finally set up her animal rescue shelter. They only had licenses to take in domestic animals at the moment, but she was working on getting registered to care for wild animals.
"Here you go, lovely." She slipped into the large pen where the mother cat was anxiously waiting for her kittens to return. As Mack put them down one by one, the mother cat began licking them. "All healthy and purrrrrfect."
She scratched the cat behind the ears, making her purr. In a few weeks, the kittens would be old enough to adopt out, and she already had a new owner for the mother and the runt of the litter when that happened.
Adopting out kitte
ns and puppies was easy. The older animals, however, were starting to get overcrowded. They'd have to put out more advertisements. Even with all their space, they just didn't have enough room to care for them all.
After she fed the cats and cleaned a few cages, Mack sought her lover and business partner out. He was where he always was at this time of day, sitting outside the cage of a cat they had gotten from a hoarder two weeks ago. The poor thing had been half-starved, and though it had fattened up since then, the ragged patches of fur on its body had not regrown. The fur that was growing was a hideous poop-brown. As Mack approached, the familiar warning hiss issued from the cage.
"I don't know if there's hope for this one, Oliver." Mack put her hand on his shoulder. "He just doesn't like people."
Oliver pressed her palm to his lips. "And that's why I think he's perfect for us. Think about it. I don't like people, you don't like people. If we don't take him, who will?"
The cat spat at Mack as she looked at it. She closed her eyes very slowly several times until the growling ceased, then sat beside Oliver. Her family had found him strange and a little off-putting when she first introduced him, but he had soon won them over. Her mother had confided in him that she had never seen Mack so light-hearted and happy in her whole life, and his eccentric ways were soon labeled endearing.
Mack put her head on her lover's shoulder, enjoying the warmth from his skin.
"If we take him home, he'll run away and end up being an alligator's snack," she said, while Oliver made gentle hooting noises towards the ugly, defensive cat. "I have to admit, though, you're really good with him. Look at that. He's visibly relaxing."
"We could have him in our city apartment at first until he won't run away. I just hate to see him in here. It's so lonely… And I know how he feels. Like he's not wanted, like the world will hurt him if it gets too close." Oliver turned sad eyes on her. "What if I promised to stay home every day to take care of him? I'll buy scratching posts and toys and treats. I'll buy you a new car," he added. "And a new dress. And I'll buy your parents a new house."
"You just bought them a new house."
"I'll buy them another one. And your brothers, I'll buy them houses, too. I'm very rich, you know." He said it seriously, as though she didn't know that already.
Mack laughed. "You crazy monkey."
"Ape," he corrected. "Or hominid-ape. Maybe I'm Bigfoot. It doesn't matter." He beamed at her. "I have you and I'm happy. I just want to give him the same chance that you gave me."
Mack felt herself caving. She straddled Oliver's hips and nodded. "Fine. We can adopt the cat."
Oliver's eyes lit up.
"If, and I do mean if, you clean up after yourself for a full week," Mack smiled, knowing that he wasn't going to do it and she was going to let him have the cat anyway. Her heart felt full to bursting and she pressed her mouth to his. "Let me change that. You can have the cat if you tell me you love me."
"I love you," Oliver said at once. "Have since I first laid eyes on you."
"I love you, too."
He drew her back for another kiss. Their lips parted and their tongues flicked against each other. Mack moaned, pressing herself tighter against him. The cat hissed and Oliver laughed, sticking one of his fingers through the cage.
"Silly kitty. You're coming home with us tonight. You're going to have to get used to it." He sighed, resting his head on her chest. "He's perfect, isn't he?"
"You're perfect," Mack replied, smiling at him.
Oliver chuckled. "No, you're perfect."
Mack tilted his face to hers, cupping his face in her hands. "This is perfect."
"Can't argue with that." He pulled her in for another kiss.
*****
THE END
Mated to the Dragon King
Description
A lost heir to the dragon throne PLUS a curvy witch who meets the man of her dreams PLUS a fight to win the kingdom!
Sullivan has been wandering the world alone for so long that he’s almost forgotten his dragon. Expelled from his land and forced to live among the humans, he tries to blend in. But when he meets Cynthia, all bets are off. No woman has ever made such an impression on him. His hormones are on high alert and his inner dragon is slowly waking up from its slumber.
Cynthia runs her plus-size boutique with confidence. All she needs to do is wave her wand to give her clients the perfect outfit. But her orderly little world is shaken to its core when she meets the new shop owner next door. Even through his tight, black sleeveless shirt, it’s obvious that he sports a chiseled midsection and maybe even one of those scandalous V’s that leads down to his crotch.
But pleasure and lust cannot hide the danger that Sullivan and his newly found mate are in. Sullivan is the heir to the dragon throne, which he can claim once he has found his mate and impregnated her. But Sullivan’s brother has his eyes set on Cynthia and the throne too. Sullivan knows one thing for sure. He’d fly across the Earth for her. And when it comes to that, he’s ready.
Chapter One
Cynthia whisked around her small boutique, making sure that everything was in its place. Even though Better with Size was tiny, it still seemed to carry everything a girl could ever want, from underwear to prom dresses, BWS had it all. It was Friday, and a new shipment of inventory had come in. Cynthia was just putting out the new, summer-style shoes when she heard the sound of the bell ringing, indicating the arrival of a customer.
Cynthia turned around and greeted the large, busty girl, who looked a little embarrassed to be walking into a plus-size store. “Hello. I’m looking for a prom dress…” Her voice was low and she kept looking out into the hallway as if the mall goers would judge her for being in there.
“Not a problem miss. I’m sure we can find you something to your liking in our selection. Are you here alone or do you have someone to help you?” Cynthia asked, wondering what this sweet, young girl was doing all by herself. “May I add that you have great skin?” She reached out, touching the girl’s arm, letting her fingertips run along the soft surface. “Do you use any foundation?”
“I don’t wear makeup…” the girl said meekly, batting her eyelashes.
“Oh? No? Really? I would’ve never guessed!” Cynthia said enthusiastically, a bright smile on her face. “Well, I wish I was that lucky.” The high school student looked up at the shop owner and shook her head.
“Are you kidding me?” the girl blurted out. “You’re gorgeous.” Her cheeks colored and she quickly looked down. Cynthia just smiled at her and took her hand, bringing her toward the back of the store, where there was a rack of dresses.
“This is all we have for now. If you find a style you like, let me know. Even if it’s not in your size, I sometimes have other sizes in the back.” The girl nodded and started going through the selection.
A few minutes later, a large, burly man entered the shop, a disapproving grimace on his face. Following close behind him was a pale-skinned woman, holding a bag that was much too big. She swayed her hips as she walked and her high heels clicked loudly on the floor. Quickly, Cynthia walked up to the counter, holding a gnarled wooden pencil up to her chin, as if in contemplation. She took a piece of paper and jotted something down. Instantly, the woman’s shoes grew quiet and Cynthia smiled to herself. Her spell had worked.
“How may I help you?” she asked from behind the counter, a friendly smile painted on her face.
The man just shook his head, his beefy hands clasped behind his back. “We’re here with our daughter, Tamara.”
The woman followed him to the clearance section. “I still think she would be better off going to Macy’s,” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “My daughter? In a plus-size store?” The woman shook her head. Cynthia’s eyes narrowed in their direction, feeling her blood boil in her veins.
“Well, I’m sure your daughter will fall in love with the right dress when she sees it,” Cynthia said through gritted teeth, suddenly standing right next to the woman, a hand o
n her voluptuous hip, looking intimidating.
“Yeah…” the woman mumbled, walking away. Cynthia grinned subtly in victory, walking over to the young girl. “Do you need any help picking out a dress?”
“I don’t know what to get…” she responded worriedly, biting her bottom lip.
“Well, let’s start with color. What do you like?”
“Blue. Darker shades of blue,” the girl answered. Instantaneously, there seemed to be an increase of blue dresses on the rack.
“Okay. Now do you know what style you’re looking for? A tight, sexy fit or something a bit more princess-style?” Cynthia asked, holding up two wildly different dresses, both in a pleasant shade of blue.
“Well…” The girl looked over at her parents and then dropped her voice down to a hushed whisper. “Anything that would make me look good. I want to prove to them that I’m not some whale.” She sounded like she was about to cry. Cynthia felt pity for the girl, bringing her into a tight hug.
“Why don’t you hop into a dressing room and I’ll bring you some dresses to try on,” Cynthia offered.
“Oh, do you need to know my size?” The girl looked even more worried than before.
“Not at all. I do this for a living. I’m pretty good at working these things out.” She winked at the girl who suddenly looked hopeful. Cynthia took her time, browsing through the rack, occasionally tapping her finger against a piece of fabric, seeing it change before her very eyes. “This will never do…” she mumbled, pulling out a dress and then hanging it back up again. “Ah! Perfect!” She held up a shimmering blue dress, her hazel eyes now sparkling with excitement. She couldn’t wait to see how the girl would look in this.
She brought it over to the dressing room and then helped her put it on, zipping it up for her and guiding her to the floor-length mirror. The girl stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her reflection. The dress fit her perfectly. It seemed to hide every ounce of fat that ever made her feel self-conscious. Its tapered pattern gave her the illusion of an hourglass figure, making her look even sexier than she already was.
