ROMANCE: BAD BOY ROMANCE: Basketball Daddy (BWWM Alpha Male Billionaire Pregnancy Romance) (African American Unexpected Pregnant Contemporary Romance) (79 page)

The media firestorm over Scarlett's bruised face quickly died down, and nobody found out about the attack on the island. She did end up in therapy, at Max's insistence, and that helped her deal with the trauma she had been through. What helped even more, though, was having Max's arms around her at night whenever she woke with nightmares, and preparing for the baby that grew inside her day by day.

On the day that marked two years after she and Max had made their deal to be fake engaged, Scarlett stared impatiently at the clock while her beautiful ten-month-old baby boy nursed. His clear blue eyes, the same color as his father's, drifted shut, signaling that he was ready to go down for a nap. Even though she and Max had planned for this, and had tried to adjust his sleep schedule so that he would be awake and happy during the ceremony, it looked like their son would be sleeping through the wedding.

"It's a good thing Max is so patient." She sighed as she eased the baby off. They had named him Maximillian after his father, but would be calling him Liam so as to avoid confusion as he grew up. "Do the guests look like they're getting impatient? A gentlewoman never keeps her guests waiting. I knew I should have fed him before we left the house."

Vanessa chuckled. Scarlett had chosen to have only the elderly housekeeper as matron of honor, with no bridesmaids. For the wedding, Scarlett and Max had planned the most elaborate affair they could, then taken all the money that would have been spent on it and gave it to various charities, instead putting on a simple wedding with only friends and family in the church Max's parents had married in.

"A gentlewoman takes care of her baby before her guests," Vanessa said. "Give him here so you can finish getting ready."

Scarlett handed the baby over and did up her dress before she took off the nursing cover. She'd gone with a navy blue taffeta number that laced up the front for easy feeding access. The hems and sleeves were embroidered with a white accent that looked stunning. While Vanessa rocked Liam to make sure he stayed asleep, Scarlett went to the mirror to check her makeup and pin back a stray curl or two.

The white orchids that were her wedding bouquet were waiting for her nearby. They were one of the extravagant items that Max had insisted on, once she had told him that they were her favorite flower.

"You look lovely, dear," Vanessa assured her. She beamed like a proud mother. "I always knew it would take a special girl to be with Max, and I'm glad he found you."

"Found me?" Scarlett giggled, giddy and excited with a dash of nerves. "Interrupted me, more like it. If he hadn't walked in on me trying to rob him…"

She let the thought trail off. If he hadn't arrived when he had, none of this would have happened. The thought left her breathless; it was so terrifying to consider the fact that it would have been so easy for them to pass by each other, never meeting. If she didn't have the man she loved, if she didn't have her beautiful baby boy… where would she be?

Vanessa smiled at her. "I don't like to think where Max would be if it weren't for you, Scarlett. You have really brought out the best in him, and for that, I am profoundly grateful."

"He would have been fine without me," Scarlett mumbled, feeling the heat rise in her face as she ducked her head. The tiara that used to belong to his mother was perched on her head, and she wore a matching ruby necklace around her throat. It complemented the dark blue of her dress perfectly. "I wouldn't be alive without him. I owe him so much."

"And he owes you more than you know. I hadn't seen him genuinely smile since his parents died. Not until you came along."

"Oh, goodness!" Scarlet laughed in embarrassment as her eyes filled with tears. "Stop that, or I'll ruin my makeup."

"That won't do," Vanessa said, shaking her head. "You collect yourself. I'll go tell that charming gentleman that you're ready."

Scarlett smiled at the elderly woman's description of Hao. As Vanessa left, the bride turned back to the mirror. She hadn't lost all the extra weight she had gained during her pregnancy, meaning her stomach was even rounder than normal, but she didn't mind. Every time Max saw her naked, he marveled at how beautiful she was. She only really cared about two opinions as far as her body was concerned–hers and his.

"This is it," she whispered to herself. She twisted the engagement ring that had belonged to Max's grandmother on her finger. "Who would have thought, two years ago, that I'd be getting married?"

She didn't have long to muse on the events of the past years. Vanessa returned with Hao, who beamed at her and kissed her cheek when he saw her. True to the promise she had made two years ago, she had asked him to walk her down the aisle, and he had been more than happy to oblige her.

Soon they were in the chapel, Scarlett's hand tucked into the crook of his arm.

Scarlett's breath caught in her chest at her first sight of her husband-to-be. He was wearing a black tuxedo paired with a white shirt. A navy handkerchief was just visible in his breast pocket. A smile lit his face, like he was seeing clearly for the first time. Scarlett's heart beat faster and she smiled back, the same feeling filling her. Hao had to pull her back when she picked up her pace.

"A gentlewoman never rushes," he whispered into her ear. "And this is exactly why I never play at things. It gets real far too quickly."

Scarlett wanted to remember every detail of this moment. The way Max's hair curled at the back of his neck. The way he held his hands in front of him but checked once for the ring in his pocket. The flash of light in his eye when he gave Vanessa a smile. And she did. Later she would remember a lot more, like how Hao choked up when they reached the front of the aisle, and how the wedding guests looked. But at that moment she was so wrapped up in Max's eyes that everything else disappeared.

She was vaguely aware of the exchange of vows, the words she had practiced coming off her tongue so readily that she didn't need to think about what she was saying. Liam woke up during the exchange of rings, and both Scarlett and Max smiled at him as he began gurgling and chomping on Vanessa's finger.

Scarlett could hardly believe this was real… it was all too good to be true. And yet it was happening, it was true.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the priest said. "You may kiss the bride."

Max moved in to kiss her, but Scarlett was faster. She threw her arms around his neck and pushed herself to her toes. Their lips came together to the sound of a thunderous applause.

*****

THE END

Bonus Book 16: Kidnapped by the Alien Dragon

By:
Abella Ward

Description

I need him to get me pregnant! There’s no other way...

Libba Ross is no quitter. Once she sets her mind to something, she sees it through come hell or high water. The only problem is that she has no idea what she wants to do with her life.

It stops mattering, though, when she is abducted from Earth by a sadistic alien from a species of dragon shifters known as stlozyn. Human DNA can be used to cure a plague of infertility among these aliens, and the dragon who stole Libba, Din, intends to melt her down to the genetic level and sell her DNA on the black market.

When Justice Warrior Brask comes to her rescue, Libba learns that the only way to stay out of the government's hands is if she's pregnant with Brask's child. Strangely, she doesn't find the idea of having the exotic warrior's baby all that upsetting…

But Din is determined that he will have Libba and her DNA, and he is backed by his mother, a dragoness who commands a fleet of ships and would do anything for her little boy.

Between becoming accustomed to the fact that she can never go home and being hunted by the sadist who wants to kill her, Libba finds that the most impossible thing yet is happening… she's falling in love.

The walls were so shiny she could see her face reflected in them. Her eyes were wide and her mouth open, although her screams had long since stopped. Her fists were bruised and bloody from repeatedly smashing them against the unforgiving walls. Even though anger and fear had long since given way to despair, she kept beating the walls, refusing to give up.

Libba Ross was no quitter.

She backed away from her own crazy-eyed reflection, scraping her fingers across her bare scalp as her stomach churned.

This was impossible. It was just impossible. She had heard the news reports of young women disappearing from all over the planet, starting with homeless women and prostitutes. At first, the theory had been a bunch of deranged, misogynistic serial killers all surfacing at once, though no bodies were ever found. But then other women began to disappear: college students and women who worked in fast food, at the grocery checkout or in other thankless jobs.

And it wasn't just in the States that it was happening. In Canada, the UK, China, Nigeria, Afghanistan, all around the world, women were simply vanishing.

Only the crazies thought it was aliens. Libba wasn't one of those crazies. She thought the most likely answer was that the women were getting fed up with their lives and simply leaving to start over. The wholesale disappearances were only because so many of them had got away with it already and emboldened others…

Now she knew better.

Her hands throbbed and Libba sat down, assessing the situation. She had been abducted by aliens and was now a captive on an alien ship. Throwing herself against the walls wasn't doing any good, she was only damaging herself. She needed to figure out what these aliens wanted with her, and what they wanted with women in general.

Did it have something to do with what she had been doing before she had been abducted?

What
had
she been doing?

She took a deep breath, trying to calm the adrenaline that was clouding her brain. It was difficult to do, but she managed to utilize the breathing techniques she had learned from her yoga classes to slow the racing of her heart and think back to her abduction.

She had been frustrated with her inability to decide what to do with her life. At twenty-seven, Libba thought that she would be steadily working to the top of her chosen field, maybe even with a husband and a child. The problem was that she didn't know what field of work she wanted to dedicate her life to. She had three bachelor's degrees, but none held her interest enough to be what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

That day–how long had she been in this ship being taken away from her home? Hours? Days? Weeks?–she had gotten three acceptance letters into three different masters programs. Two were at home in the states, one in London. But once again, she wasn't sure that any of those were fields she wanted to spend the rest of her life in. She knew she had to get a move on with her life. Being a career student and drowning in debt was not working.

Frustrated by not knowing what to do, Libba had driven out to the countryside and hiked up a mountain. Most people thought she wasn't an active person, given her size, but she always enjoyed strenuous physical activity. Going alone, though, was probably her first mistake. As she was walking, she heard the beating of giant wings. She turned to see a dragon diving at her.

Not running was her second mistake. But she had been too stunned to run, and the dragon had snatched her in its claws and swooped off. The next thing she knew, it had deposited her in a ship and turned into a man with orange scales and blood-red eyes. He told her that they were leaving the solar system. When she tried to free herself, he injected her with something that caused her to lose consciousness. She had woken up here, alone.

So what was she supposed to do now?

Libba's eyes snapped open when she heard the hiss of a door opening. She jumped to her feet, raising her hands as she faced the alien who stepped into the room. It was the same one who had taken her away; at least, she thought it was. It had the same orange scales.

"Are you finished damaging yourself?" he–at least, she thought it was a he–asked.

The alien looked human, except for the tiny scales covering his skin and those blood-red eyes. If he was a character in a movie, Libba would have found him attractive. He had a muscular build, a strong jaw and thick, curly brown hair. Under these circumstances, however, he just looked terrifying. Libba's mouth was dry and she stood straighter, trying to look important.

"If you don't take me home, you'll be sorry," she rasped, hating how weak her voice sounded. She swallowed, trying to moisten her throat, and tried again. "My father is a high-ranking air force general and he's developing space travel. If you don't take me home the whole planet will—"

"Your people are decades away from interplanetary travel, let alone being able to tesseract into string space to come after me. And I have been watching you for nearly six months now, Libba. You don't have any family, and no friends left alive. Your classmates and coworkers hardly know you exist. By my calculations, it won't be until the end of the month that anybody will notice you're gone, and even then they won't take the matter too seriously. There is nobody who will miss you, and nobody will try to come for you. Why else do you think I chose
you
?"

Libba clenched her hands to stop them from trembling. Her bruises pulsed with pain, and she welcomed it. It was something to focus on besides her fear. "You've been watching me."

"Yes. You are perfect for my means. A loner. And you have the right build for what I have in mind." His eyes trailed down her body.

"What
means
?"

Libba knew she wasn't what was considered traditionally beautiful. Her proportions were wrong, with most of her weight clinging to her belly, hips and thighs, making her top appear to be small, even though she wasn't exactly tiny in the boob department. But this dragon alien had specifically picked her because she had a little extra weight on her. Was he going to boil her down for oil? Eat her? Did these aliens need a fat-rich diet?

"Forgive me, I forgot that you don't know anything." He smiled, clearly enjoying his insult. "My name is Din, and I am Science Alpha of this ship."

Libba blinked, confused by this information. "Science Alpha?"

"I command this ship. I'm essentially the king as long as we're onboard." Din looked quite pleased at his comparison. "I am a dragon of a race known as the stlozyn. Our males are dragon, our females dragonesses, like your males are men—"

"I get it," Libba interrupted. "I'm not an idiot. I don't care about what or who you are, I want to know that you're going to do to me."

Din shrugged, an oddly human gesture. "For many years, we have suffered from a disease that causes us to become infertile. It was recently discovered that an infusion of human DNA actually reverses the effects of the plague. Actually, human women can get pregnant by a dragon easily, even without the cure."

Libba went cold. Bile rose in her throat.
Please don't mean what I think you mean.

"The dragon who developed the cure was promoted to the Science Board, our highest level of government. But the synthesis of the cure is taking longer than some of us are comfortable with, and so far it's been handed out only to
dragonesses
." Din made a face. "Because one dragon can impregnate many dragonesses, it's deemed more important that they receive the cure."

Libba inched backward. If he came at her, she knew how to fend off a temporary attack, but how long would she last against him? And if she did manage to fight him off, where would she go?

"Those of us dragons who want children find it to be most discouraging that we have not been given our ability to father children back yet. I'm sure you've noticed the trend of your women disappearing?"

All those women had been abducted in order to be baby making machines? Libba wanted to be sick, and a surge of anger went through her. "You're disgusting!"

Din's brows rose and his eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"I won’t have your baby! If you try to touch me, I'll kill you, I swear I'll kill you."

Din stared at her, clearly baffled. "Such
emotion
. I've observed humans, yes, but I always thought it was emotion reacting to emotion. How can you people live with such outbursts? Do try to think logically, Libba. You are
not
here to have my children."

A jolt of relief went through her, but it didn't last long. "Then
why
?"

"I need a living specimen to extract DNA from. Synthesis takes too long. It would be much easier to melt down your body into its base form."

Melt her down. Kill her. She backed away as he came forward, her hands trembling. "And you needed my
build
why?"

"You have an extra layer of blubber on you. That means that you will provide us with more genetic material to use." Din actually smiled at her. "I think I will name my first daughter after you, in honor of your sacrifice."

That did it.

Libba launched herself forward. Her palm cracked into Din's nose. She felt the cartilage snap but didn't stop here. She jammed her knee between the fork of his legs and, as he doubled over, grabbed his ears and yanking his head down. She brought her knee to his face. With a final elbow to the back of his neck, Libba ran from the room, leaving the alien gasping behind her.

She didn't get far. It seemed that within seconds two more aliens were blocking her path. Libba snarled, shifting her weight to the balls of her feet while she lifted her arms, curling her hands. She'd started kickboxing to tone her body; who knew she'd be using it to attempt an escape an alien abduction? The two guards both held weapons, though. It wouldn’t be a fair fight.

"Human, stand down or we will be forced to fire," one of the aliens growled.

She glanced back the way she had come. The corridor ended in the room she just escaped from.

"Don't harm her!" Din's voice rang down the hall. "Just stun her."

Libba charged the two aliens, screaming. A blast of energy radiated from both guns. It knocked her to the floor. Her ears buzzed and her vision danced. Every muscle in her body seized and she struggled to draw a breath. She could feel her consciousness ebb away and fought against it.

Libba Ross is no quitter!

Her arms and legs jerked as she attempted to get back to her feet. Din's face came into her field of vision, a delighted expression on his face. He clapped his hands. "She's a strong one. I knew I’d chosen right. Her DNA will work excellently."

Libba spat at him. The glob of moisture fell back onto her own forehead as everything went black.