ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (2 page)

Chapter 2

In my room I phoned Roman.

“I miss you so much,” I said to him. “I don’t know how we did it all before we got married.”

“I know. This is ridiculous. I’m literally counting down the hours. How’s Jade?”

I sighed. “I don’t even know. Things are weird between her and Don. They’re at each other right now, in fact. I excused myself before it got ugly.”

“They were so close, though.” Roman had met my sister at the wedding only, but even he had been able to see how inseparable Don and Jade were.

“I know,” I said. “It makes me appreciate what we have that much more.”

A loud knock sounded on my door.

“Jade is here, I think she wants to talk. We’ll talk later okay? I love you. Not long now.”

“Miss you like crazy,” he said and we hung up. I padded to the door on socked feet and pulled it open. Jade stood in front of me. Her cheeks were wet with tears and make up streaks trailing down her face.

“Come on,” I said, opening the door wider so she could come into the room. She went straight for the bed and climbed onto it, folding her legs underneath her.

“Can you see what I’m dealing with?” she asked with a thin voice. “He’s impossible.”

“I didn’t hear most of it, but it sounds to me like you guys are talking past each other.”

“He didn’t want a big wedding the way I wanted. So I compromised and made it a small intimate one here at the hotel. We’ve only got fifty guests coming. But he says it’s still too big and he’s upset about the money.”

I grabbed a tissues box from the night stand and handed it to her. She pulled one out and sniveled into it.

“What is it that he wanted?” I asked.

“He wanted to get married in court. He doesn’t everyone around, he says it just turns into a show and he doesn’t want to have to pretend. And now he said he feels like he’s being forced into this.” She started crying. “Forced, Sadie. Like I’m the wicked witch that’s tying him down with a ball and chain.”

“I’m sure that’s not what he means,” I said carefully.

“No? He said that if he had a choice we just wouldn’t do any of this. But I wasn’t the one that proposed to him. He did that. And I didn’t hold a gun to his head or anything. I don’t even know what we are now.” She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Her shoulders shook and I reached out for her, pulling her against me the way I used to do when we were kids.

Our mother had died when we were kids and Jade and I had been that for each other when we needed it. As the older sister I’d been the mother for her more often than the other way around.

“How do you and Roman do it?” she asked, her voice muffled against my shoulder. She pulled away and looked at me with a tear-stained face. It was in times like these she looked really young. “You only knew each other a few months before you got married. How did you know?”

“Well, it was just magic,” I said. I thought back to the day I’d seen his profile online. I’d signed up to a marriage website because I was tired of dating that didn’t want a committed relationship long-term. All my friends had advised against it, but I’d done it anyway.

“You see, on the website I wrote down what I wanted out of a relationship, and he did too, and we were matched to each knowing exactly what the other wanted. It’s not that much different from you and Don. We just didn’t find it out by chance over ice cream the way regular couples do. It was written down in our ‘about me’ sections.”

“But it could all have gone wrong,” she said. It was true. When I’d started chatting to him via IM he’d lived in England. He’d sounded like someone from a storybook, living in Notthinghamshire, on the edge of the royal Sherwood Forest. I hadn’t believed him the first he’d told me.  I’d thought he’d been too good to be true. His photo online had been hot, he had been the handsomest man I’d ever seen.

“I was very skeptical,” I admitted. “There was just so much that could have been fake, like his photo and his information, and I couldn’t even meet up for coffee to be sure. But when he phoned me that first time we clicked right away. It was like a piece of me had been missing, and the moment I answered that phone it fell into place.”

Jade sighed and lay back on the pillows. “Your life is like a fairytale,” she said, but I shook my head.

“It wasn’t all hearts and happy endings, you know. I went over there on a whim because I believed what my heart felt when I spoke to him. I started feeling like a big part of me was off-balance when I wasn’t talking to him. But when I arrived in England he was distant and strange. I was worried he didn’t like me, after all. I thought I was going to go home and never see him again.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. I was about to leave, and he came after me and told me that he knows it’s crazy, but he loves me. And I felt the same. It nearly didn’t happen because he was so switched off. I really thought he just didn’t care.”

“What was wrong?” she asked. She’d finally stopped crying and dried up her tears.

“To be honest, I don’t know. He disappeared often, and when I asked him about it he told me he just needed to get out to clear his head. When I left I told him it was because I didn’t want to be the person that made him feel he had to escape all the time. He told me it wasn’t me, and then he proposed. So he wouldn’t lose me.”

“And you just said yes?”

“The alternative was not seeing him again, and I couldn’t do that. Imagining a life without him was like imagining what it would be like if you went blind after a lifetime of seeing. Or losing your legs when you’re used to jogging every day.”

Jade shook her head. “It’s just like a fairy tale. You’re one of the few people that had love at first sight, and ended up living happily ever after.”

“It’s never just that easy though,” I said, looking down at my hands. “Everyone had downtimes, and every relationship has flaws, just like the people in them. You just can’t give up.”

“But if it’s not working?”

I looked at her. Her blue eyes rested on my face, filled with hope that I would be able to give her all the answers.

“Then you make it work,” I said matter-of-factly. “Can you break up with Don?”

She flinched at the suggestion.

“Exactly,” I said. “You don’t even have to answer that for me to know that you can’t just walk away from this. So there’s only one more thing left to do. Fix it.”

Jade nodded. “You’re right.” She walked to the door, but turned before she walked out of the room. “I still think your relationship is like a fairytale. Even if you tell me it’s not perfect. You and Roman together really are the cutest thing in the world.”

“Go fix it with Don,” I said, smiling. When she gone, I admitted to myself that she was right. Roman was my prince charming. He was my knight in shining after. My forever. I couldn’t be happier.

The next two days passed quickly. There was so much to do to get ready for the wedding. We sat until late at night bent over seating charts and wedding favors, labeling with calligraphy pens and making up little packages. Jade hadn’t gotten a wedding planner, so we were doing it all by ourselves.

By the third day, everything was ready and the guests started arriving. We were drowned in family get-togethers. Jade and Don had ended inviting mostly family and one or two close friends to stop the wedding party from getting too big, we had quite an elaborate family, and soon the hotel was alive with people greeting each other and commenting on the choice for the wedding location. The hum of conversation hung in the air.

I kept glancing at the door. Roman would arrive any minute now. It felt like there was a hole in my chest, and I wouldn’t be whole again until he arrived. The minutes ticked by and more and more people arrived, but none of them were Roman. When I tried his cell phone it was off.

Finally, two hours after schedule, he walked in through the door. I walked up to him and threw my arms around his neck, breathing him in.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, pulling me tightly against him. “Almost everything went wrong, but I’m here.”

“I’m so glad,” I said. I’d been aching for him since the minute I’d left.

“How are Jade and Don?”

“Better,” I answered and looked to where they were standing. They had their arms wrapped around each other and they were talking to some family members. There wasn’t another couple in the room glowing as much as they did, and Don’s warm eyes were back. He glanced at Jade every now and then like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen and he couldn’t believe she was clinging to his side.

“They look so happy,” Roman said.

I took his hand and pulled him upstairs and into the bedroom. I’d had enough of small talk and entertaining guests. If we slipped away now no one would notice.

In the bedroom the door was barely closed before we had our hands all over each other. His lips came down on mine and it was heaven. It had been only three days, but it had felt like a lifetime without him. He pulled back and looked at me, and his dark eyes had me under a spell the same it had the first time. Every time with Roman felt like the first all over again. I’d heard a lot of women say that the magic died down after a while. But Roman was magic to his core. I wanted to be with him. I wanted every inch of him.

Roman kissed me again, hard and urgent, and his hands found what they were looking for, slipping underneath the hem of my shirt and finding my bra. He worked his fingers underneath and I sighed. I melted in his hands the familiar twinge between my legs told me my body had woken up to Roman’s hands. I was intoxicated by the power oozing out of him.

He undressed me like I was made of glass, like he hadn’t touched me before. His eyes slid over my body, following his hands, and he drew me out like a sigh. My body screamed for his, every inch aching for his hands, his mouth. He planted kisses down my neck, leaving a trail of fire behind, and his hands left me burning wherever they touched my skin. He was big, all bulk and muscle. But at the same time he treated me like I was delicate and fragile. I ran my fingers over his shoulders, and my nails bit into his skin when he pushed into me. It was like coming home after I’d been wandering. My body arched under his, my chest pushing against his with nothing to keep my skin from touching his. His mouth was in my neck and he was doing wonders with his tongue. I made small involuntary sounds.

He built up a rhythm inside me, guiding me closer and closer to the edge. My body was hot and moldable, every inch submitting to him. I knew if I fell he would catch me. And when I did topple over the edge, heat flooded me from my belly all the way out to my fingers and my toes. He rode it out with me, his own climax shooting into me and enveloping us both in a cloud of ecstasy.

When I finally came back to earth her rolled off me and pulled me into the crook of his arm. Here I felt safe. Here I felt beautiful. Here in his arms, my world was completely.

Chapter 3

When I woke up it was hours later and the room was dark. Night had fallen. We’d slept right through the afternoon. I sat up. The bed next to me was empty and cold. Roman hadn’t been here in a while. I dialed his number but his phone vibrated on the nightstand. He’d left it behind.

I crawled out of bed and pulled on my jeans and blouse that lay scattered on the floor. I found shoes and opened the bedroom door. I went downstairs to the restaurant, but he wasn’t there. Only two people sat at the tables still talking. I walked through the bar that led from the restaurant, but it was quiet, too, and no sign of Roman.

When I turned to head back up to the bedroom, Jade came down.

“Oh, there you are. I was wondering where you disappeared to.”

“I just needed to spend some time with Roman,” I said. Jade smiled. She knew what that meant.

“Have you seen him?” I asked. “I can’t find him anywhere.”

Jade shook her head. “I haven’t seen him at all since he arrived, actually. Don?” she called up the stairs. Don came down too. “Have you seen Roman?”

“Sure, he asked if there was somewhere he could go to be alone,” he said. I rolled my eyes. Three days away from me and he had to be alone so soon after?

“Where did you tell him?”

“The storage house. No one goes there, it’s technically off-limits but I went out there last night.

When I asked where it was Don gave me quick directions. Apparently the hotel had been a large family house long ago, and it had a few buildings scattered across the property that was still in its original state.

“It’s in the back, bordering the forest,” Don said. “But he’ll be back, I’m sure. You don’t have to go out there in the dark. It’s late.”

“I know, thanks Don,” I said. But I was going to go. Roman didn’t like being around crowds of people and this hotel was full of them now. If being with him in seclusion meant I could spend time with him, that was what I was going to do. I knew it was a big sacrifice for him to be here when I needed to be here for my sister.

I walked out the front door and around the hotel. The night was clear with starts scattered across the inky black sky like pinpricks of light. The moon was full and round like a white disk in the sky, and there weren’t any clouds as far as the eye could see. A light breeze stirred through the trees and secrets chased each other on the wind like whispers.

As I walked further and further, weaving my way through the trees and outbuildings on the property, the atmosphere changed. It became thick and heavy, almost like a fog even though it was still clear and I could see in front of me with ease. I took deep breaths, trying to breathe the air that had become so thick I could run my fingers through it like water.

I found the building Don had been talking about. It was a large, dark building, black and ominous in the night. It sat squat on itself, like it’s existence was tiring.

“Roman?” I called out. He had to be around here somewhere. “Honey? Where are you?”

There was no answer, only the eerie silence that wrapped around me like a cloak. Shivers ran up and down my spine and I had goosebumps on my skin.

“Roman,” I called out again. I’d come out here to spend time with him, and I’d wanted to find him because I missed him. Now I wanted to find him because I was scared.

I walked through the building. It looked a lot like an old garage, with wide double doors that stood open and a hard-packed dirt that looked like a parking area. Boxes, some closed and some half-open, were stacked around the walls of the building. It was deserted.

A door toward the back of the building stood ajar, creaking as it moved slightly in the wind. A strip of moonlight fell through the crack onto the floor. I walked towards it, and poked my head through.

Roman sat on the fence surrounded the property. It was a simple fence built with two wooden beams fastened to upright beams. Roman sat staring into the dark trees beyond the fence. They were much bigger and taller than the trees on the property. It reminded me of the woods back home.

I put my hand on the door to push it open and step through, but Roman got up and threw his head back, eyes closed and facing the moon. I frowned and stayed where I was. There was something mystical about him, his skin paler than usual in the milky light and his hair a shock of black on his head.

Then he doubled forward, hands wrapped around his stomach and he grimaced. I took a step forward. If he was in pain he needed me. But then his body started shifting and changing. His muscles rippled underneath his skin, and there were other movements too. I watched, rooted to the ground, and realized the other movement was his bones moving. I could hear the clicking and popping as they moved to take on another shape. His clothes tore apart, ripping open at the seams as his body became too big. His back was to me, and I could see his spine, protruding like a thick rope on his back. It sprouted fur, a strip on his back, and started moving across his body.

The atmosphere became even thicker, almost to the point of smothering me, and I gasped for air. In front of me the man I’d married was changing into a creature, something hideous and deformed. As I watched, it took on the shape of a wolf, and suddenly it was beautiful and majestic in the way deadly predators were. The wolf was much larger and muscle than normal wolves, and it had a thick black coat, the color of Roman’s hair, with a gray stripe along its back.

I clamped my hand over my mouth. Terror rippled through my body and settled in my chest like a raging fire. It pushed up into my throat and drew out a scream that I couldn’t stop.

My scream sliced through the night and bounced around the building, settling around me like broken glass on the ground.

My eyes were still riveted to the wolf that stood there now where Roman had stood a moment before. At the sound of my scream the wolf snapped its head around, and looked at me with blood red eyes. There was no pupil. It was only a slit of bright red.

My body finally caught up and I energy returned to me. My feet thought what my brain wouldn’t, and I turned and ran. Darn all those nights I'd spent eating large amounts of sour cream and onion chips and Breyers ice cream. I loved my curves most of the time but this was definitely not one of those times. I tore out of the building, heading for the hotel, for safety, for people. I looked over my shoulder, and my body turned to ice when the giant wolf leapt over the fence like it was a log on the ground, and set out after me. I wanted to scream again but my throat was suddenly clamped shut and I couldn’t make a sound.

The wolf passed me and stopped in front of me. I skidded to a stop and lost my footing, falling into the dirt. The wolf came closer to me, head low. This was where I was going to die. I was sure of it. I didn’t know where my husband had gone, but a menace had replaced him.

The wolf went down onto its belly and crawled towards me, dragging itself forward. It made small whiny sounds. It looked like a dog when it had done something wrong and it was begging for forgiveness. But this wasn’t the kind of thing I could just overlook. Forgive with a pat on the head and go back to the living a life with a werewolf.

A werewolf. I shuddered.

The wolf had stopped. It had a magnetic pull to it, something that wasn’t very unlike what I’d felt with Roman that first time. Was that what he’d done? Had he pulled me toward him somehow? How much was our love worth if he could do that to me?

Without thinking about it I lifted my hand and brought it closer to the wolf’s head. It’s ears were flat against its head. My hand snuck closer and closer, until my fingertips touched the thick fur. The contact surged through me like a jolt of electricity, and I pulled my hand away.

What was I doing? This was a wolf. A werewolf. My husband was gone. He’d lied to me. Our marriage was a lie.

“Stay away from me,” I cried out and pushed myself up. I ran towards the hotel, towards safety and reality. Towards a world I knew.