ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (200 page)
Authors: Elisa Elliot
Sabrina suddenly appeared next to me like she’d materialized out of thin air. I jumped and took a step away from her.
“No no, don’t worry. Just a human tonight,” she said with a low voice that reminded me of the adverts for adult entertainment. “I noticed you standing alone, and I thought now woman should be alone without some kind of company.”
Right, because Sabrina had been so nice to me the last time we spoke? I hadn’t seen her since that night. I had the feeling she’d been sulking.
“So, what are you doing out here? Not with Mac tonight?”
I hesitated before I shook my head.
“Yeah, he can be a bit much sometimes. Trust a woman who knows. You think it’s easy putting up with him now, try long run.”
“I remember you mentioned something about being with him,” I said carefully. She hadn’t said anything, only implied, and the few sentences he’d spoken about her had been very vague as well.
“Dated? We were on our way to being mated, honey. White picket fence, dog, kids, the whole spiel.” She chuckled. “Well maybe not a dog. Our kind don’t really do well with those, you know?”
“Kids?” I asked. It seemed strange to hear someone talk about something like family with Mac who seemed to untethered and carefree.
“Oh, yeah. That’s why werewolves mate at all. We have to keep our kind going. We don’t just appear out of thin air, you know,”
“Don’t werewolves get turned?” I asked.
“Oh sure, that happens from time to time. But we are a species all our own, really. It’s better to breed, makes for a purer breed. Makes us stronger. If I hadn’t lost my young who knows what kind of power I’d have now.”
It felt like the wind picked up even more, cutting through the thick fabric of my jacket and sending goose bumps across my body.
“You lost young?”
She nodded and shrugged like something like that wasn’t a big deal.
Mac and I were pregnant. Werewolves don’t really reproduce easily, it’s a miracle I was pregnant so young as it was. We stand a chance of losing the baby and we also stand a chance of dying at birth. Trust me, after a pregnancy as long as sixteen months that’s a hell of an anti-climax.”
She chattered on like we were discussing the weather, but one sentence just kept echoing around in my head. She’d been pregnant with Mac’s child. It hadn’t just been a fling or a childhood romance or something silly. It had been real.
And he hadn’t told me about it.
I felt like somehow she had a claim on him. I felt like somehow I didn’t stand a chance anymore. I felt like he lied to me. I felt a huge amount of emotions dumped on me, and none of them allowed me to keep my composure.
“I have to go,” I said, my voice thick in my throat. Sabrina pretended to be surprised but I knew she wasn’t. The fact was she’d come here to let me know exactly how things stood with her and Mac. And I understood her perfectly.
Chapter 5
Being back in New York after two weeks in the wilderness felt like a time warp. I went back to the office the next day, and sent out an e-mail to let clients know I was up and running again. The quicker I could get back into my normal routine and forget about werewolves and lost loves in Alaska, the better it would be.
It could be like none of it had ever happened.
I hadn’t spoken to Mac again before I’d left. I’d left the day before my flight and stayed over in a hotel in Ketchikan. I didn’t want to run the risk of seeing him again. I wouldn’t have known what to say.
Lidia was at her desk when I walked in through the doors, looking bright eyed and healthy. A break had done her good. I wondered with a pang of guilt why I hadn’t given her a break like that before.
“Mrs. Spencer wants to set up a meeting, and you have three client requests on your e-mail. I printed them and put them on your desk to review.” She handed me a steaming cup of coffee.
“Thank you, Lidia,” I said and walked past her into my own office, but I paused at the door.
“Have I ever told you that you’re really good at your job?” I asked her. She blinked at me surprised and shook her head slightly.
“Well, you are. And I’m lucky to have you. Thank you.”
She looked like she was going to fall over. Maybe I’d been too focused on myself for too long. Maybe I’d missed all the important things in life along the way to getting myself happy and established.
And at the end of it I’d failed, because I’d never really been happy at all.
I thought of Mac. His muscles body, the stubble on his chin because he only shaved once a week. His black eyes that drew me in.
I squeezed my eyes shut and forced the memories of him out of my mind. Someone else’s beau, I told myself. The father of someone else’s children.
I saw three clients that day, and scheduled them all for the next month. It was a lot of work. I was burying myself and I knew it. But I was doing it on purpose. I wanted to stop myself from thinking. Stop myself from feeling. Stop myself from anything and everything that was remotely human.
The thought of it was ironic. I wanted to stop feeling human because the man I’d fallen had broken my heart because he wasn’t human in the first place. I was an idiot.
The rest of week was dull and colorless. I took care of paper work, a lot of things I needed to catch up. The gray shades of the city and the harsh unnatural colors of the advertisements that surrounded Time Square like a barrier that kept all feeling out.
By Friday night my phone rang. One of my friends that had been too busy to see me for months wanted to go out. I could get dressed up, do my hair and make-up, put on my high heels and paint the town red like nothing was wrong.
But I didn’t want to do it. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see her. It just felt like everything in my world now seemed fake and unrealistic. And a waste of time and money.
What was I doing all of this for? It wasn’t the first time this week I’d been wondering.
I locked my door and curled up in front of the television. I flipped through a hundred channels before I realized there wasn’t anything on that would hold my attention, and I switched it off again. I stared at the black screen, tracing the outline of myself, wondering how my outside was suddenly unrecognizable just because my insides didn’t feel the same.
A knock sounded on the door. I walked to it and looked through the peephole, but there was no one on the other side.
I unlocked it, expecting a package. The doorman did it sometime when he missed us coming through to pass it on. When I pulled the door Mac stood on the other side, larger than life.
His presence was like a wind that nearly pushed me over.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, forcing myself to be stony and cold. My voice sounded adequately defensive. He looked around himself like he wasn’t sure he was a the right place, like he felt completely uncomfortable in the narrow passage that ran past all the doors on the floor.
“Mac?” I asked because he didn’t answer me.
“This is quite a bit different than Metlakatla,” he said. Great first opening line.
“It is,” I said. “What do you want?”
He took a deep breath and blew it out in a shudder, the first signs, and the only I’d ever seen, that he wasn’t perfectly composed and confident all the time.
“I want you back,” he said. “I miss you.”
It was quite a speech for a man of his stature. But he looked like he was struggling to keep the pieces together. I felt sorry for him, and stepped away, opening the door wider.
“Come on,” I said. He nodded curtly and stepped into the apartment. He looked around like he was in a museum, and it looked like he was shrinking in on himself, trying to touch as little as possible.
“I spoke to Sabrina before I left,” I said. She’d spoken to me, but that was hardly the point. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it was a mistake. She wasn’t right for me, and I didn’t want to be forced into a marriage with a woman that loved herself more than she could love someone else.”
“But a child? And the amount of time… it sounds really difficult to have children for werewolves.”
“It is difficult. But at the end of the day it was just like any other miscarriage. And I hate myself for it every day, but I was relieved when she lost the baby. Not because I resented the child – I love children and I’d like to have some someday. With the right person – but because it was a narrow escape from a life with a woman that would have locked me up emotionally. She’s a prison Nadine. I didn’t want that.”
“You could have told me,” I countered.
“Do you tell someone your life story two weeks into a relationship?”
“Is that what it was?”
“Isn’t it?”
I took a deep breath. He was confusing me. His presence made me feel unstable. I wanted to wrap my arms around his waist and bury my face in his chest. I wanted to feel his arms around me like a barrier that would ward off all the pain and all the hurt and all the evil. But he hadn’t wanted to commit.
“Are you here to ask me to come to Metlakatla with you?” I asked. Because I would say yes. But I couldn’t let him get off that easily.
He nodded.
“And what if you get tired of me? What if I’m just another kind of prison to you? I can’t just let it go and then run back when it doesn’t feel right anymore.”
He looked like he suddenly gained all the confidence I knew him to have. Like it had been slower than he had and it finally caught up with him. He pulled into me, pressing his lips down on mine and kissing me like he’d never kissed me before.
“This is crazy. I don’t know you,” he said after he pulled away. “I mean, look at this place… it feels like all this suits you so much better than what I can offer. But I want to offer it. I want you to come and try doing things forever with me. I mean, I’m an animal. Literally. And you’ll get mad at me because I’m a pain in the ass. Ask your parents.”
I pulled a face at the mention of my parents.
“Or don’t,” he said quickly. “Please say yes?”
“You’re asking me to give everything up and jump with my eyes closed.”
“I promise I’ll catch you,” he said, and I believed him. I nodded and he kissed me again, this time lingering, like he was thanking me this time, instead of pleading. My business would stay behind. My life here would go.
I knew exactly who I could leave it to. Lidia has been faithful and loyal for four years. She deserved a promotion.
“This place is terrible. It bombards your senses. Well, mine at least. I don’t know how you can live here.” He shivered visibly and looked around the apartment. “It’s really classy, though. It suits you.”
“It suits the person I’ve forced myself to become,” I said. “Deep down inside you know I’m small town. I think I’ve finally figured it out too.”
It was weird how I suddenly felt like I never belonged here in the first place.
“It gets tiring,” I finally admitted. “It’s always a rat race.”
“And you’re not even a rat,” he said and grinned at his stupid joke.
“Right. I’m not a wolf either though. Don’t you think we don’t really fit?”
I took my hand and held it against his chest. I could feel the thump of his heart.
“Do you feel that?” he asked. I nodded.
“Then we fit.”
He wrapped his arms around me, the warmth and security I’d missed so much suddenly flowed over me. I smiled and breathed in the scent of him, rough and manly, like forest and musk.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
“I followed my heart.” I linked his fingers into mine. “And I asked your mom for your address.”
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Cara stared at the map with one hip lightly touching the side of her Ford. A frown puckered her mouth and drew her eyebrows together. With an exasperated sigh, she haphazardly folded the map and tossed it into the backseat. She placed a slender hand along her forehead and squinted down the two lane road and into the afternoon sun. According to the map, she was nowhere near Rt. 66, and to be honest, this dirty little place wasn’t even on the map. Albuquerque was a long way still, and that was just one of her stops before Phoenix.
Three days. She thought glumly. Three days to make it to Gram’s house, and I’m not even on the right road!
She turned to the diner and kicked up dust with her cowboy boots as she walked purposefully to the door. A bell announced her arrival, but no one looked up, other than the ancient waitress wiping an equally ancient counter.
“Sit anywhere you like. I’ll be right over.”
Cara chose a booth next to a window, although any booth facing the highway would have afforded a window; the entire front of the small building seemed to be made of glass. She tried to smile at the waitress as she approached the table with a laminated menu.
“Coffee?”
“Yes. Black, and a glass of water, please.” She scanned the menu (mainly breakfast items) until she found a ham and cheese platter with bacon fries. Cara mused that if she must be lost in the desolate brown desert of America, at least she could enjoy some splurge food.
When the waitress returned with her drinks she took her order without another word, disappearing efficiently through swinging silver doors just behind the counter.
Cara stretched her long legs under the table and smiled lightly. She and her sister Tara always seemed to need to stretch their legs at the same time, and usually ended up with something akin to a pretzel as a result. Her parents couldn’t figure out their height. It was like they were an enigma. Cara often remembered her mother shaking her head at them and speaking the same words they had heard since birth. “Not one set of twins in five generations of your father’s family, and not any at all in mine! Not to mention tall women!” Cara’s mother was scandalized that her daughters were not only identical twins, but over 5’7” to boot. 5’7” and ¾ to be exact. Their mother was a petite form at 5’3” with a nearly perfect figure. Their father was only 5’9”, so the height was a mystery, just like their black wavy hair. The Carson family was blonde and blue eyed. A Neo Nazi’s dream. Janet Carson, AKA Janet McKenzie, was also blonde and blue eyed. She blamed the dark hair, large features, and height on her own Great Grandfather. An apparent swarthy skinned flint eyed thief that was hung for treason in England, but not before yelling blasphemies that are still talked about in good ole’ Derbyshire today.
The waitress placed Cara’s food in front of her and refilled her coffee cup, as the doorbell tinkled a new arrival. Cara unscrewed the top off of the ketchup and glanced up. Her hand froze over her fries. A man stood in the doorway, his hands hanging loosely from his pockets, with a dark duffle bag slung over his shoulder. Cara sucked in her breath slowly. Never in her twenty four years had she been so immediately attracted to anyone. He stood with an easy grace, yet he radiated masculinity. He was human, but Cara’s first thought was animal. Dark eyes scanned the room and he shifted slightly from one foot to the next. His eyes slid over her, hesitating a fraction of a second before moving on to the waitress. Her thin lips were scowling.
“What? You need an invitation?”
The man’s mouth twitched in amusement. “No, I suppose not.” He sauntered to the counter and straddled one of the anchored stools. “I’ll take my usual.”
“Yeah, yeah. Coffee with four sugar and six cream and a side of bacon.”
“Perfect, Gladys.”
Cara tried to refocus on her plate, but suddenly had no desire to eat. She wanted the man to speak again. His voice reminded her of water running over rock. Powerful but gentle at the same time. She could feel eyes on her and glanced sideways to see the man watching her from the corner of his eyes as well. Her hands felt clammy and she really just wanted to take her food and leave. And that’s exactly what she tried to do.
Raising her hand, she motioned for Gladys to return to the table. “Umm, could I get a box?”
Gladys raised her penciled on eyebrows in surprise.
Cara smiled weakly. “I really need to get back on the road.”
“Suit yourself.” She said and retrieved a Styrofoam box from behind the counter.
Cara quickly transferred her food into the box and left a ten and two ones on the table with the bill.
The glare of the sun and the surprise of dry heat took her breath after the air conditioned diner. She felt foolish as she walked to her car. Why did she feel the need to get away from the man so quickly? He was just a stranger after all. No one to her, and she doubted she would ever see him again.
She drove next door to the two pump gas station and got out to fill her tank. She had no idea when she would reach another gas station.
A greasy man came out of the tiny service station wiping his hands on an equally greasy rag. “Need a fill up?”
“Uh…yes. I didn’t realize this was a full service station.”
“Oh yeah.” He said showing a mouth full of gaping teeth. “We service most everything here, don’t we, Carl?”
Cara hadn’t noticed the presence of another man leaning near the door. He was stocky with a noticeable scar running from one ear lobe to his chin. Cara diverted her eyes quickly, turning back to the attendant. The man made her feel naked.
“Ok. Just fill it up for me.”
The first man nodded and winked subtly to his companion. “So where ya headed?”
Cara hesitated. “Arizona.”
“Whoo wee! Pretty little thing like you, traveling that far alone?” He shook his head and spat on the ground. His dark brown eyes narrowed slightly. “Ain’t anyone ever told you how dangerous it is for a woman to travel alone?”
The other man had moved another two feet closer to her. Cara felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Something was wrong with the entire situation. She wished there was another customer.
“I’m a big girl…”
“Oh, we can see that!” Both men laughed at the same time. Cara could feel the other man inching closer. She watched as the pump switched off and Mr. Greasy removed the nozzle with a languid motion.
“How much do I owe you?”
“It’ll be fifteen dollars.”
Cara opened her purse with now shaking hands and pulled out a twenty. “Here. You can keep the change.”
“Big spender.” The man didn’t take the money, and she could practically smell the breath of the man behind her. “Say, why don’t you hang around for a while. Have a pop.”
“No thank you.” Cara murmured and tried to move toward the driver’s side of the car.
The man behind her moved in front of her more nimbly than she would have thought, and leaned his back against her car with his arms folded. “This little car good on gas?”
“Yes. Please excuse me. I need to get going.”
“What’s the rush?” The man smelled of sweat as he lifted an arm and tried to touch her hair.
My Lord, I’m in Deliverance!
Cara jerked her head away. A male voice caused all three of them to swivel their heads back towards the diner. Cara blew out a sigh of relief as the man minutes before she was trying to escape from came sauntering towards them. He grinned at her.
“There you are! Hey, can I still get that ride?”
Cara nodded and gratefully watched as the two, obviously disappointed men, moved slowly away from her car. She didn’t waste any time getting in and buckling her seatbelt. She gripped the steering wheel and waited for her hero to throw his duffle bag into the backseat, and get buckled into the front. She had no idea what she was doing or where she was going as she pulled onto the road throwing gravel in the hurry.
They rode in silence for almost a mile. When Cara was able to pull her tongue from the roof of her mouth she glanced at the man beside her. “Thank you for that.”
He shrugged. “Those guys are scum. They harass every female customer.”
“You know them?”
“Not exactly. I’ve been stuck here for a couple of weeks. I notice things.”
Cara shook her head. “Stuck here? Wow, I can’t imagine. A diner, a gas station, and one crummy hotel.”
“Yeah.”
She cleared her throat and allowed her body to relax. She really couldn’t remember why he had made her so uncomfortable at the diner. “So where do you need a ride to?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t have anywhere in particular to go.”
“Oh.” Her mind began formulating a plan. He was obviously down on his luck. She didn’t want any more unsavory encounters. Why not hire him to ride with her to Arizona? Her mind responded rabidly. Because he could be a murderer, a rapist, a druggie…you idiot! Cara silenced her voice and glanced at him again. She could think of far worse riding companions. He certainly was pleasant to look at. “I’m going to Arizona to see my Gram. If you ride with me, I’ll pay you a hundred dollars when we get there.”
She could tell he was giving her a sidelong look. Perhaps he was having a similar mental conversation about her. “That would be fine.”
Cara grinned. “Great! I’m Cara.”
“Mark.”
She waited to hear more, but he didn’t seem to be in a talkative mood. It wasn’t until they were crossing the line into another county, that she realized the greasy gas station man hadn’t taken her twenty.
It was well after dark when they crossed the border into New Mexico. Cara felt like such a fool. She lost the rest of the afternoon trying to fix her mistake. Mark hadn’t spoken hardly three sentences, but seemed content enough to listen to Cara talk about her botched attempt with the map, the weather, the beauty of the South West, and whatever else she felt like.
“Are we stopping somewhere for the night?”
His voice startled Cara out of her mental reverie of the day’s events. “Yeah, I was planning on it.”
“Good.”
Cara grinned in the dark. “Hungry?”
“I guess.”
Cara drove into Clovis and picked a Howard Johnson with a Denny’s attached.
“Tell you what, I’ll spring for dinner, ok?”
Mark regarded her with flashing eyes. “I have money.”
“Oh.” Cara responded weakly. “I just assumed…”
“Just because I don’t have a car, and am currently looking for…well…myself let’s just say, doesn’t mean that I don’t have money.”
“Great. Then you should be able to afford your own hotel room.” She replied tartly, and got out of the car, slamming the door.
Mark ran a hand over his face and got out as well. “Sorry. I’m just grouchy from being in the car so long.”
Cara nodded slightly and tried to smile. “Guess I am too.”
Mark and Cara ate in greedy silence until nearly all of their food was gone. Mark leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. “This was so much better than the cooking at that hole in the wall diner.”
Cara giggled. “You’re right about that! And the coffee is definitely better!”
Mark let his dark brown eyes rest on Cara. She was tough, that was evident, but there was a soft feminine way about her that caused his manly protective instincts to turn on. All of that aside, she was beautiful. Long dark hair and striking blue eyes. Her height was just another plus. She fell just short of his 6’0”, and her bone structure was strong. She might be the perfect match.
Cara felt uncomfortable under his intense stare. She cleared her throat. “So, tell me about your family. Are they nearby?”
Mark’s eyes darkened for a moment. “No. My family is from the blue hills of Virginia.” He said dryly.
“Ah ha!” Cara laughed. “I knew I heard a slight Southern drawl.”
Mark leaned forward with his elbows on the table. “And your family?”