PARANORMAL ROMANCE: Shapeshifter Romance: The Vampire's Stolen Bride (BBW Fantasy Alpha Male Romance Books) (New Adult Vampire Fun Mature Young Adult Billionaire Steamy Love and Romance Novella) (26 page)

“I’ll make the tea but you,” he pulled out a seat at the breakfast bar. “Are hungry.”

“What do you mean? How do you even know that?” she asked as he took off his jacket.

“Because I know you didn’t eat a thing at the party and lucky for you I make a mean chicken noodle soup.” He rinsed his hands in the sink and grabbed a dish cloth.

“Spying on me now, aren’t you?” she asked, sitting down.

A smile played on Cole’s lips as he looked at her. He then got some mixed vegetables from the fridge and began chopping them up. Aleesha could not help but be impressed with his knife skills. When the water boiled, she was about to climb off the stool when he shook his head.

“I’ve got it,” he said as he got two cups from the dish rack. He took two tea bags from the box of rooibos on the table and put them in either cup before he poured in the water. “Sugar?”

“Honey. Definitely.”

She pointed at one of the cupboards and he walked over. He opened the cupboard and got a jar of honey before he made his way back to her. After getting a teaspoon of honey in each cup, he handed her cup before he resumed his chef duties.

“So, you have been a little hot and cold with me lately and I have to wonder what exactly is going on.” He emptied the chopped vegetables into a pot on the stove.

“What are you on about?” she asked.

He looked at her as he stirred the pot. 

“You know what I’m talking about Aleesha. This thing between us.” He began cutting up the chicken into strips and looked into her eyes. “Chicken broth?” he asked snapping her out of her trance.

“What?” she asked.

“Do you have any chicken broth?” he asked again and she nodded.

“Pantry.”

“I know you know exactly what I am talking about, Aleesha,” he said as he put the chicken strips and broth into the pot. She gently brushed a strand of curly hair from her face.

“Cole…” she started but he had that look that shouted ‘I don’t want to talk right now’. She bit her lower lip as he put the lid on the pot before he walked over to where she was. He took the tea from her hands and set it down on the counter. She felt a shiver going down her spine when he took her hands in his. She wanted to pull her hands away from him but her body seemed to be failing her. “Cole,” she said again, this time in a whisper.

“What?” he was slowly moving closer to her. “You are trying to push me away, again. The same thing you have been doing for four years.” He stood in between her legs and gently slipped an arm around her waist.

“Cole…” she started again before he held her face in his hands.

“I stayed away that first ear because you were still married but you have been divorced since and…” he sighed as he brushed off a strand of hair from her face. “Baby, why are we still doing this back and forth?” His voice was getting lower and lower and by this time, his scent was all around her. Her lips were slightly parted like she wanted to say something and she did have a lot to say. But for some reason, nothing was coming out of her mouth. Her throat was completely dry and her mind was completely blank. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to claim her but at the same time she had a million and one reservations.

“Cole, this is not a good idea,” she said in a soft voice.

“That’s your problem. You always overthink everything,” he said as he pulled her to himself. She closed her eyes as their lips met in a slow soft kiss. “Tell me that didn’t feel right,” he whispered.

“It was perfect,” she wanted to say but she was still dumbfounded.

“Do you want me to stop?” Cole’s hand was slowly running up and down her back. She put her hands on his shoulders and reluctantly shook her head.  “Good. Because I do not intend to.”

As they kissed, she would have done anything to have him take him on that table but she knew that he wouldn’t do that. Not now anyway. She angled her head and held a lock of his thick brown hair as his tongue went everywhere in her mouth. He pressed himself into her when he heard the sound she made at the back of her throat and slowly undid the side button that held her dress together. She pulled away and looked at him as he gently swept the two sides of her dress apart exposing her fuller than usual breasts. She felt a little weird looking sitting there as he looked at her naked torso.

“Cole…” she started as she attempted to cover up but he wouldn’t have it. No man had seen her naked, not since her ex anyway.

“No,” he whispered. “You look beautiful.” He helped her off the stool and gently pushed her dress off her shoulders. “You have always been beautiful.”

“But…the soup,” she said as he began leading her out of the kitchen. He stopped and reduced the heat on the stove getting it as low as he possibly could before he walked her to the living room. She looked into his eyes when they got to the couch and his hand went round to her back. She gasped when he undid the clasp on her bra letting her breasts fall loose on his chest. He raised her chin with his index finger and looked into her soft brown eyes.

“I want to look at you,” he whispered, his hands on her waist. “Have every inch of your body in my arms…I want to worship your marvelous curves.” He kissed her again and she exhaled deeply into his mouth. He was talking as he kissed her chin and neck, whispering little nothings in her ear.

Worship her marvelous curves, he had said. The last time she had thought of her curves as marvelous was…never. She had struggled with her plus size body and she was surprised that he still found her sexy.

“Marvelous curves?” she whispered and he pulled away to look at her.

“What? You don’t think you are sexy?” he asked and she opened her mouth to answer him. But he didn’t let her. He brought his mouth down and his lips crashed down on her chest, completely pilfering her train of thought as he orally kneaded one of her nipples and then the other. A deep rumble hit her from the core and then upwards as she raked her fingers through his thick hair, caressing his scalp. He looked up at her and slowly brought himself up to kiss her again before he gently lowered her onto the couch. She was moaning, panting. Her skin was ablaze with wanton desire as he kissed her lips and then her neck over and over. All she could do was hold his head steady as he went on kissing her breasts, sucking her and licking the already hardened tips. She shivered with excitement when he began trailing down his kisses to her tummy and then pull down her panties. She raised her head and looked at him, still a little unsure of what she was doing. She knew that they were about to cross a line they could not come back from.

“I’m sure about this, baby,” he said as he looked at her. “I have never wanted anything or anyone more than I want you right now.”

She raised her hips allowing him to pull her panties off. Cole never gave her an opportunity to get used to the fact of having him looking at her. All she knew was that one moment, he was taking off her panties and the next, he had his mouth over her pussy. She moaned out loud and held on to the edges of the couch as he flicked his tongue over her already hard clit. She was squirming and gasping for breath and he was savoring every minute, every taste of her dripping cunt. She could feel herself getting closer and closer to the edge. There was a soft cry of frustration leaving her mouth as she pushed her hips forward. She longed for him to be inside her. For him to claim her but he just kept denying her that final push. She whimpered when he pulled away from her. He diverged from the soft teasing kneading of her breasts and began taking off his clothes. He had just taken off his boxer shorts when he began stroking her thighs slowly and gently. She suddenly moaned when he cupped a feel of her breast. Settling in between her legs, he pushed her knees apart exposing her pussy to himself. She spread her legs even wider and he began working his cock into her making her gasp loudly. She might have been sopping wet but his girth was literally splitting her apart. She held on to his shoulders as he began working himself in and out of her. He was going slow, stretching her out with every long slow thrust. He was filling her up, feeling her every fold.

Without even realizing it, she was digging her nails into his back and Cole took that as the green light he needed so much to go on pushing her. And pushing her he did. He had gone from long low strokes to fast hard thrusts making her shiver under him. She buried her head in his shoulder as he began driving himself harder and deeper. Soon enough, he was slamming into her like a battering ram, as if he was a warrior trying to take down a steel door. Aleesha’s moans had graduated from soft low ones to loud gasps. She was now raising her hips to meet his every downward thrust and she could feel herself getting so close she was shivering. She suddenly let out a loud cry when he suddenly thrust hard and deep making a shiver go through her body. Every sensory organ was alive, every hair on her body was on high alert. She wrapped her legs around his waist pulling him deeper into her pussy. She nibbled on his shoulder and that was the final straw. She moaned and gasped as she felt herself unraveling all around him and him exploding inside her.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Cole pulled out of Aleesha’s dripping pussy and collapsed next to her. She was breathing hard and he was too.

“Oh my god,” she said in an exhausted whisper.

“I know.” He turned and looked at her. He kissed her softly and pulled away to look into her eyes.  “You were definitely worth the wait.”

Part 2

When she first started working for Cole five years ago, Aleesha was not the woman she presently was. She was a quiet associate who put on a strong face in the office while she dealt with her husband at home who was not much of a husband at the time. She would only see him when she got out of bed in the morning on the nights that he had actually spent the night at home. Aleesha’s husband Neil Keller had more business trips than POTUS and the UN secretary general combined. She always felt like there was more to the story when it came to his travels and she was right. Her sister had always advised her to trust her instinct, something that she didn’t always do. As far as she was concerned, she might as well have been overthinking everything. Maybe Neil was actually as busy as he claimed. Maybe everything she was feeling was actually a figment of her imagination but her sister, Amanda wouldn’t have it. She could smell a rat even though her sister couldn’t.

“There is something going on, Aleesha. You and I both know it,” Amanda had said. “And even though you don’t want to admit it, you know at the back of your mind that something feels off.”

“I don’t know Amanda. I don’t want to be the one to cry wolf while there is actually nothing to worry about.”

“But there is something to worry about, Aleesha. You know it,” Amanda insisted. “While you are here trying hard not to give in to that hot boss of yours…” 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Aleesha asked, feigning seriousness.

“You think I haven’t noticed the way Mr. Cole Turner looks at you?” Amanda asked and her sister shook her head. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

Aleesha rolled her eyes.

“There is nothing to tell.”

Amanda smiled.

“Sure. Keep telling yourself that.”

Aleesha shrugged.

“You have only seen me around him twice.”

“And that was more than enough time to notice the chemistry between you guys. Plus, I have seen the way he treats you. So much more of a gentleman than Neil has ever been.” Amanda looked into her sister’s eyes. “You can try and convince yourself otherwise as much as you can but the truth is that you know something us up with Neil. So follow it up.”

“I’m just an associate at Mayfield Inc. which means that I get to do most of the work while my bosses sip on their expensive coffee,” Aleesha said.

“So?” Amanda asked shaking her head.

“So I don’t have the time to run around playing detective.” Aleesha shrugged. “I work forty hours a week and I still have to be a full time wife when he gets home.”

“But that’s just it, Aleesha. He never does get home.”

Aleesha sighed. Her sister was not mincing her words. She was hitting the nail right on the head. For years she had convinced herself that there was nothing to worry about but it was clear from the way her sister was talking that she needed to take action. After all, she had been in what Amanda called a solo marriage for close to two years now.

“If you need a PI you can rely on, I know a few guys,” Amanda said.

“What are you even doing knowing a PI?” Aleesha asked and her sister shrugged.

“Private investigators are kind of in my line of work. Every person acting shifty on my watch…let’s just say I like knowing who I am dealing with.”

“Well, I am not having a PI follow my husband around like some kind of crazed woman,” Aleesha said.

“Well, if you change your mind,” Amanda scribbled a number on a piece of paper. “This might come in handy.”

“Amanda, I am not going to use this,” Aleesha said in a soft voice. “I don’t need to.”

“Well, you never know when that number might come in handy,” Amanda pointed out, winking at her sister. “Paul is really good at what he does.”

                                                        *****

After her talk with Amanda, Aleesha just couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe her sister might have been right. She had always prided herself at being the kind of woman who never had to snoop around her husband’ phone when he was in the shower or worse still hire a private investigator to find out if he was cheating. But at the back of her mind, she kept on thinking that there must have been something more. That was the only way she could explain the fact that she only saw her husband once or twice every couple of months.

“This is ridiculous,”
she thought on one Thursday afternoon when she got yet another text from her husband claiming that he had to take off to Tallahassee on business. This would be the third time that month that he was travelling to Florida. She didn’t know why but she had kept the number her sister had given her and when that text from Neil came in, all she could think of was calling the PI. She had expected the investigator to take around a couple of weeks before she heard anything from him so it was a big surprise when he called her less than twenty four hours later claiming to have found something.

“But you got started yesterday,” Aleesha said shaking her head when the investigator got to her house. “There is no way you would have gone all the way to Florida and back.”

“Well, I didn’t have to go to Florida.”

“Why? Do you have a team out there or something?” she asked and Paul shook his head.

“No, I work alone. That’s how I do my best work.”

Aleesha nodded and took a long deep breath.

“So?” she started, twiddling her thumbs nervously. “What’s going on? Why didn’t you gout to Florida?”

“Because your husband is not out there. He is actually staying at Renaissance,” he said and Aleesha’s eyes grew wide.

“That’s just an hour away,” she said in a whisper. “But why would stay so close to home and tell me that he is in…” her voice trailed off when she realized that she already knew what Neil was doing at Renaissance.

“The room was booked under Mr. and Mrs. Mayfield.”

“Mayfield? That’s my maiden name,” Aleesha said in a whisper. “Why the hell would he do that? Why wouldn’t he just use his own name?”

“Well, it could be a counter measure. A way to make sure that he is not tracked down. So, I called the hotel just to verify my information and found out that two people had checked into the hotel. A man and a woman.”

Aleesha forced out a cynical laugh.

“I should have known,” she said in a low voice. “And to think I put off everything important to me for this. My career, having kids…” she shook her head as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

“I thought Amanda said you are an associate at Turner Financials,” Paul said and she nodded.

“I am. But my boss Cole Turner offered me a partnership but I turned it down because I knew it would be a strain on my marriage…especially with the plans I had of starting a family and…” her voice trailed off as she wiped off another tear.

“Word of advice, Aleesha,” Paul said as he put an envelope on her kitchen table. “Never put your life on hold for anyone. Especially not for a man who doesn’t appreciate the sacrifice of the woman he has.”

Aleesha looked at the envelope and shrugged.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Photos of your husband’s indiscretion,” Paul said before he walked out leaving Aleesha to her thoughts.

At that moment, if anyone had told her that she would be a senior partner at her firm in just three years and expecting a child too, she would have never believed it. But she had managed to turn her life around and leave Neil in her past so that she could get a chance to have the future she had always wanted. And it was happening. It was finally happening. And apart from all that, she had caught her boss’ eye. In more ways than one.