Her Billionaire, Her Wolf--The Novel (A Paranormal Alpha Werewolf Romance)

by Aames, Aimélie

  Jackson wanted to giggle. He simply could not imagine anyone surprising his master. On the contrary, these foolish beasts were about to have the shock of their miserable lives.

  “Now leave this one to me,” said the shadow.

  “I have a few things I would like to tell him.”

  Jackson grinned as he heard the others leave them, then said, “Ha. Ha! The joke’s on you, big boy. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay back.”

  The one-time deputy sheriff of Cavanaugh County curled his fingers into the semblance of claws, what he was sure must have looked terrifying to any sensible person.

  “I’m dangerous. Very dangerous.”

  The huge man in the shadows nodded his head and as he did, his face slipped briefly into a patch of moonlight and back out again. But, Jackson had not missed the flash of amber eyes that looked as though they were turning to a full moon’s silvered yellow.

  “Yes. You are,” the man said to him, “But I am so much worse.”

  The voice that said those words had deepened with each syllable until upon the last, the sound had become a veritable growl.

  Jackson readied himself, ready to give the man the worst beating of his life, worse than anything he had ever dealt out in a drunken barroom brawl. He was brimming over with his master’s power and in short order the fellow across from him would be missing some teeth.

  He watched as the man crouched down in the growing darkness. Jackson strained his eyes, looking to see if he did it to take up a fistful of dirt to fling into his face. He knew all about dirty fighters and the tricks they get up to.

  But, what he had not counted on was the shadow that roared toward him, running like a freight train on four legs.

  He had not known about that and all the borrowed strength he possessed was blown away in the raging tempest of fangs and claws that rained down upon him.

  That was something that Jackson had not counted on at all....

  A blur of dark violence stormed out of the forest, across the overgrown meadow that had once been a modest country home’s backyard and into an abandoned barn. From its claws, something fell with a dull thud to the floorboards.

  There was no one there, but for the woman who swayed slowly in the air. Her hands were tied together at the wrists by a rope leading to the structure’s rafters overhead.

  Her eyes were open, her face slack. From time to time, a tear would gather and build before falling down in a silver track across her cheek.

  She gave no other sign of life as powerful arms snapped the rope like a worn shoelace, only to catch her and lower her gently to the floor.

  Yellow eyes gazed down at her intently, then their color softened into a deep amber that was filled with the image of the woman. Her, and only her. Nothing else existed for the man who took the place of the beast.

  His fellow shape-shifters drifted in close, then backed away again as he waved them off.

  With no other choice left to him, Braze did what came more naturally to him in that moment than breathing itself. He held her to him and he waited.

  And from faraway, Sara heard a familiar sound. It was like a distant war drum that drew nearer with each beat. It should have been a frightening thing. Only, there could be nothing more frightening than what had just shoved her back down inside herself. Rather, it was a comfort to her and in time, she stirred and nestled her head more tightly against his chest.

  Under her ear, his heart beat for her, she knew. In his arms, she was safe and soon it would all come to an end and they could at last live out their lives in peace.

  Braze bent down to press his lips to her forehead, then Sara tipped her head back and his mouth was on her mouth. They kissed with a hunger that threatened to devour them both, then Sara broke away as the unmistakeable scent of raw blood at last registered in her numb mind.

  The hands that held her were bright red, as were his arms on up as far as his elbows.

  Braze watched her and in answer to the question he read in her eyes, he nodded toward something on the floor nearby.

  “I apologize. For all of this,” he said, “I know that I had promised you I would bring it upon a platter.”

  Sara looked over at what he indicated, seeing a fist sized, bloody red mass...then looked back to Braze, before saying at last, "Is that...is that what I think it is?"

  Braze nodded slowly, then replied, "That man will never trouble you again, Sara. Such was my promise and I keep my word."

  She looked away, thinking that she had always believed such things to be larger. But the truth was that she knew Jackson had always been a stupidly cruel, small-hearted man.

  ~~~

  Flair drove them back into the city. The ride was quiet except for an occasional murmur between the two women squeezed into the front seat beside the driver.

  Sara did not know who they were. She did not care.

  Strong arms held her as she stared out the car window. The city did not care either, its lights shining brightly as they passed along its dark arteries. Then, like a bastion out of legend, the tower known to the world over as the home of Abraxis Industries loomed into view.

  What the world, however, did not know was that it was also the home of the secretive billionaire, Brazier Abraxis, himself.

  Sara felt him lean forward and watched as he tapped Flair on the shoulder.

  “No need to park the car within, Flair. Take the Twins home, then go home yourself. Everyone deserves some rest this night.”

  “Yes sir,” Flair replied as he brought the car up to a curb just before the tower.

  Without missing a beat, he was out of the car and holding their door open.

  Sara shook her head as he held a gloved hand outstretched to her.

  “It’s ok, Flair. I’m fine,” she said as she climbed out of the car, then, despite what she had just said, stumbled slightly before catching herself.

  Braze was at her side, then, his arm around her shoulders, steadying her with his presence alone.

  The closest entry was the parking garage level, so he led them down its sloped drive and past the night guard’s booth.

  The man within nodded to them both, no doubt recognizing Braze, then Sara caught herself snapping a look back at him.

  Thick glass and shadow did not allow her to see him clearly, but from what she did see, the man seemed strangely familiar. He was large, maybe even with a shaved head, and bore a strong resemblance to the man who had knocked a lunchtime cocktail all over Sara not so long ago.

  “Hey. Is that..?” she started to ask, but Braze shushed her at the same moment a brushed steel door slid open and the two of them stepped into his private elevator.

  “Shhhh..,” he whispered into her hair, both his arms around her again.

  “Know that you risk nothing, my darling,” he said, “You are safe here. There is no danger that can penetrate this place.”

  She did not respond, content to simply rest her cheek against him as all thought of the security guard slipped away along with all the rest of that day’s terrible events.

  It was just one more detail that did not matter as her man held her and told her what she needed to hear.

  She was safe.

  After a long moment, the elevator door slid silently open and while Sara had not really considered what she expected to see when they did, it was far, far removed from the wildest dreams she might have had.

  They stepped into a lavish suite with its exterior walls entirely in glass. The ceiling rose to a dizzying height and warm lighting brightened gently before them as they walked upon what appeared to be a hardwood floor of rare essences.

  Sara was about to walk further into the extraordinary suite when Braze stopped her.

  He raised his arm and then tapped his finger against what appeared to be thin air. Except that there was a dull sound and, faintly, she made out a nearly glare free wall of clear glass that barred them from going forward.

  “There are no security measures from this point for
ward, Sara. But for one....” he trailed off then indicated the grey, metallic wall next to them.

  It was of brushed steel, similar to the elevator, and Braze touched a section at waist height.

  As Sara had seen in a different elevator meant for Braze’s private use, a small sort of drawer slid out of the wall and within she saw the pattern of a hand inscribed in dark metal.

  “It is quite possibly the most sophisticated device of its kind in the world,” Braze said as he settled his hand within.

  “While DNA analysis remains the focus of most research in the security field, we have taken a different approach. Genetic identification is too cumbersome, taking far too long. This, on the other hand...” and he smiled at his own pun, “...is keyed to a myriad of factors, any one of which might be artificially subverted, while the whole is impossible to fool.”

  A light glowed green around his hand and there was the sound of a pleasant chime that accompanied it. A whispering sound came behind them and Sara glanced over her shoulder. The almost imperceptible glass wall had slid open to allow access to the living quarters beyond

  “Here,” he said, drawing her attention back to him as he pulled her close, “Place your hand there.”

  Sara did as she was told while Braze tapped a series of codes into a small touchscreen.

  “The system will take just a moment to learn who you are. First, it samples volatile chemicals on your skin. Then, it examines your fingerprints as well as your heat signature. It also analyzes the subtle electrical pattern of your touch, your pulse...among other things.”

  Sara smiled, then said, “So...are you saying this thing is sniffing me?”

  Braze chuckled and said, “Yes, that’s exactly right.”

  A second chime accompanied by a green light rang softly, then Braze gently lifted her hand away from the drawer which slid smoothly shut.

  Sara looked about them, then leaned into the big man who still held her hand and said, “Did you just give me the keys to your apartment?”

  He did not answer. Instead his lips went to hers and she did not hesitate to kiss him back.

  Their tongues slipped along one another as Braze brought his hands to Sara’s breasts, then he pulled back from her and asked, “Would you like to see the rest?”

  She nodded as he interlaced his fingers within hers, then the two of them walked forward.

  “Welcome to my sanctuary, Sara,” Braze said, gesturing in a wide motion with his free hand.

  “My home is here and while some might consider it too close to the workplace, I do not.

  “That is because work rarely intrudes here,” he said, then pointed to a corner of the room where she saw a simple desk, a computer screen, and several large file cabinets, all of it in tones of brushed steel or matte black and greys, “But when necessary, I can retreat from the fray down below and get things accomplished while cut off from the rest of the building.”

  He looked into her eyes then, his visage as serious as ever, then said, “I want you to understand what I meant when I said there are no security measures in this place, Sara. All key elements of Abraxis Industries are housed in those file cabinets and in that computer. Our most secret of secrets are there...as are long term projections and the hundreds of scenarios envisaged to arrive at our goals.

  “Because of this, I want you to understand that absolutely no one else is allowed access here. Ever.”

  He bent down to kiss her forehead, then whispered, “Until now.”

  Braze smiled at Sara then pulled her after him and she could not help thinking he was like a little boy surprised by his own enthusiasm for showing off his treehouse to a close friend.

  Only this little boy just took down the no-girls-allowed sign, she thought, half-smiling to herself.

  They went down a corridor and as they did, Sara saw an enormous black marbled bathroom to one side before they arrived at a bedroom with what may have been the largest bed known to man.

  However, her attention was quickly drawn from the bed to something else that dominated the room above all else. There was a magnificent spiral staircase that wound its way up to the ceiling and into the darkness beyond.

  “Come,” Braze said as he led her up the stairs.

  At the top, he opened a simple wooden door and the two of them stepped out into the impossible. They walked into a forest.

  “I know I should have gardeners come and trim things back a bit,” he said as they pushed their way among low lying hemlocks into a small clearing quite similar to a meadow.

  “Yet, I appreciate immensely what nature herself has done with the space.”

  Open to the sky, Sara understood that they were at the top floor, or floors even, of the building. Trees surrounded them on all sides and she literally had to strain her ears in order to make out the least sound of the city that lay beneath them on all sides.

  “Braze...” Sara whispered, as if they were within a cathedral, “...it’s incredible.”

  Dark leaves rustled as a light breeze slipped by. She had no trouble imagining that animal life lay hidden and quiet there while two trespassers invaded their world for a time.

  “It’s like an oasis in a desert, isn’t it?” she said, turning slowly about while she tried to take it all in.

  Braze nodded gravely, then replied, “Yes, that is exactly what it is. I come here in search of a means to separate myself from the city and my duties. I have always done so, but done so alone, Sara.”

  He put his arm around her shoulders and said, “I am grateful to be able to share this with someone, at last.”

  Sara smiled at him, then, despite her happiness, she shuddered.

  After coming to her in the barn, someone had gathered up the remnants of her clothes, while Braze covered her in a trench coat. She had kept it, belting it tightly around her, but the cool air of the evening had found its way within. Sara shivered again.

  Amber eyes narrowed as he saw her shaking.

  “I know what you need.”

  Braze led her back down into the apartment below, then drew her after him to the marvelous bathroom.

  Steam billowed as he turned on every jet in the italian style shower. But, he found her through the quickly growing fog and his hands undid the belt at Sara’s waist.

  She leaned against him, wishing that she were stronger, that she could manage on her own. Knowing that she could not.

  “You are what I need,” she whispered against his neck.

  Then the coat fell to the floor and he gently nudged her into the shower.

  Sara stood there a very long time, letting the water do its work. And when she came out at last, her skin and hair were clean, while stains of another kind remained.

  Please forgive, me.

  She went to him in the bedroom. Sara climbed across a mattress that seemed to go on for miles until, at last, she snuggled in close to the man lying there, waiting for her and her alone.

  “You must be exhausted,” he murmured, then kissed her forehead.

  “I am...I mean, I was. But the shower helped a lot. You helped a lot,” she said.

  She nuzzled in closer to him then brought her hand to his thigh and slid it along until she held him. His member began to grow heavier under her touch.

  “Are you certain, Sara?” he asked, with a mouth that shifted between a half smile and a frown for concern of her.

  “I am,” she replied, then letting go of him, she turned until she rested upon his chest and looked deeply into his eyes.

  “Do you remember when you told me that you would make me regret you and that it wouldn’t be for just once?”

  “Yes, of course,” he said.

  “Well, you’re not the only one. Ok?”

  She hesitated, searching for her words.

  “I would like you to punish me...Master. I know I will disappoint you. I won’t have any choice.”

  She lowered her tone and continued, “And for that, I deserve to be punished.”

  His smile was gone. Bra
ze only looked at Sara, his eyes unblinking, before saying at last, “What are you trying to tell me, Sara? Are you hurt? Did something happen that you have not told me?”

  “No,” she said, looking away from him, desperate to hold back the sadness that threatened to overwhelm her...a sadness for what might very well overwhelm them both.

  “No, nothing like that. I just...I just need it.”

  She brought her eyes back to him and there he saw twin tracks of tears upon her cheeks as she said, “Please.”

  Again, he was silent for a time. Then he said, “I understand...little slave.”

  Sara sighed when she heard those words. Little slave.

  Oh, God help me.

  With efficient, self assured movements, Braze wasted no time in tying Sara facedown and spreadeagled across the bed.

  Only instead of a coarse farm rope, he used soft velvet clad cords and his touch was tender as he brought them around her wrists.

  He cinched them down firmly, but not so far as to chafe against where that other rope had left its mark.

  Then he was on his knees between her legs and she felt him bend down to place a hand on each side of her back. His mouth traced along her spine until he came to where the hunting knife had cut her.

  Gently, ever so gently, he kissed her there and Sara felt herself growing moister with each of his movements.

  This magnificent man, capable of terrible, beastly violence, had come to worship at her temple. The thought of it, that he did it for her, that he would punish her for crimes she had yet to commit, only made her juices flow more quickly.

  He brought his hands to her hips then pulled upward. With almost no effort, he lifted her haunches into the air, then set her back down upon bent knees, her bottom up and fully available.

  “Punishment is the request,” he said, his tone turning ever deeper, “And so punishment shall be dealt out.”

  His hand struck her without warning.

  The entire bed rocked with it and Sara felt the delicious sting rip across her buttocks. Her flesh vibrated under his touch demanding that he do it again.