ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (209 page)

Approaching her slowly I tried as hard as I could to read her, to read her face, her features, her looks. Ultimately it was impossible, it was either that like me she had learnt to hide it, to seal away her true nature, or I was getting rusty. The thought wasn’t one I wanted to dwell on; I had built this business and earned my fortune on being able to read people perfectly. She looked wild, untamed but in essence completely normal; nobody would suspect her of anything.

Jasmine’s eyes landed on me once again before they shifted and gazed off somewhere else in the room. I couldn’t help but to follow her look, intrigue over-powered me. She stared off into the corner of my office, directly at where my laptop lay broken and beyond repair. Instantly I stopped in my tracks, mere meters away from her as I waited for her reaction whatever it may be. I was nervous, it was stupid but I was. Slowly she turned to me once more and I braced myself for her reaction and my mom’s to follow.

“William Hastings, it’s wonderful to meet you,” she said perfectly innocently, holding her hand out to me. Her eyebrow raised in a questioning look as see indicated to the laptop and her mouth twisted into a teasing smile, one I had seen so many times before on myself. This time though my mouth dropped open. This woman was a mystery, one that I hoped I would be able to uncover and maybe, just maybe learn to love.

Chapter Four

After our first meeting everything moved quickly, more quickly than I could ever have believed. If I was the suspicious type, even just a little, I was sure I would have believed something wasn’t right. As it was everything seemed normal, other than the speed of things that is. I had had nothing to do with the wedding, I hadn’t even chosen my own suit; not even a grown man of my status had been able to pick out his own wedding attire. There was only one part I had played in the whole arrangement and that was the funding. Yes, on the first day, maybe a little into the second, I had been asked permission every time a large chunk had been carved off my bank balance, but every day since then I had just watched my wealth wither away.

I couldn’t do much other than to just sit back and laugh to myself, my mom of course had everything under control, who even needed a groom at a wedding? If it wasn’t for the surprise wedding invitation I had received yesterday I doubted I would have even been spared an invite. The most I knew about the wedding was the company gossip and the small snippets from the newspapers that had been thrust onto my desk by the nervous hands of Linda, no doubt forced to do so by my mom or maybe even Jasmine, my wife to be, I didn’t know.

I suppose I could have asked, could have shown an interest, but they seemed to be doing so well without me. It was only in the last week, after finding out that the color theme was an old and slightly unappealing shade of pink that I had realized that they could probably perform the whole ceremony without me. Perhaps they could have used a cardboard cut-out, one of me in some suit from some event that I had most likely forgotten about. I even looked it up once, wasting a little time before a meeting, only to find out that you could in fact buy a cardboard cut-out of someone without their consent, in fact it seemed that people had done it before.

But through it all, through all the planning and all the shaving of my bank account there was one thing that I cared about and it was something I would rather not. My soon to be wife. I couldn’t get her out of my mind, couldn’t shake the image of her fiery red hair and her teasing grin, one that had my body tighten every time I thought about it. Yes, if there was one thing I cared about it was her, as much as I hated to admit it, I was attracted to my fiancé. I had never believed I would be, not after I found out the whole thing was to be arranged at least. It was an odd concept, to me anyway, that I was attracted to her.

After that first day we had only met once more, like most things it seemed I was disillusioned when I thought I might actually get to know her before I married her. We had been allowed to have dinner, a dinner that lasted at best 30 minutes before it was interrupted. The word ‘Allowed’ was a word I could only use loosely; the whole event was more of a forced meeting that I had insisted upon. When your son, at the age of 28 and with a billion pound company to his name threatens to run away if you don’t let him meet his fiancé for only the second time you generally have no choice but to ‘allow’ it. It was an odd meeting to say the least, I don’t know what I was expecting but it certainly wasn’t what happened.

“William, it’s lovely to see you again,” Jasmine said softly as I met her in the middle of the restaurant. Her voice wasn’t like she was greeting a stranger or even her soon to be husband, it was like she was addressing someone she had known her whole life, the oldest of friends. I was startled but as soon as I laid my eyes on hers everything was forgotten, that shade of blue, so mystical that it had haunted even my simplest of dreams.

“Jasmine,” I greeted her after a short pause, “I’m sorry this took so long to…” I thought back to the three arguments I had had with my mom about this very meeting just today “to set up,” I said, smiling widely to cover my stumble.

Jasmine nodded simply and sat down in the chair I had pulled out for her. It didn’t take me long to notice the eerie silence that surrounded us, a silence that I should have noticed minutes before; the restaurant was completely empty. I shook off the odd feeling it gave me, and it was odd, I had never booked a whole restaurant before; I could have done but it just seemed like a waste of money, money that I worked hard for. But then I hadn’t booked it, no, I hadn’t been given the chance.

“How are you?” I asked quickly as the silence began to get the better of me, I didn’t like the silence, my bear almost growled in approval as the thought crossed through my mind, no, he didn’t either.

Then Jasmines eyes were on me again, they didn’t leave my own; they didn’t shift not even for the briefest of seconds. Even when our food arrived they never left my face, boring into my soul, into me. She nodded in all the right places, agreed and disagreed without saying a single word. It almost seemed like she wanted to but she didn’t; question after question I asked her but with nothing in response. After 30 minutes the restaurant staff ushered us out of the building claiming there had been some kind of accident and then we went our separate ways without a single word.

I had chalked the odd meeting up to nerves, nerves on her part and strangely on my own, I didn’t get nervous, my bear agreed. I questioned my mom of course, about the odd dining experience and our rushed removal from the restaurant but as innocent as ever she denied everything. Now I was at the church, dressed in a tux with an unusual and slightly horrid pink tint, waiting for a woman whom in the last two weeks had only said seven words to me.

Chapter Five

My paws dug into the soiled earth as I ran, they dug deeper and deeper until they almost buried themselves in the freshly damp earth. I hadn’t run this fast before, never pushed myself this close to my limits, it was exhilarating. The light morning wind brushed against my fur forcing it backwards as my legs pounded against the earth. I could run like this forever, feel the freedom of the wild, and let the part of me that normally lay hidden take over. But something wasn’t right, there was no noise, the normal morning tune of the birds was vacant. The sun didn’t shine right; the golden rays were just a little tainted. This wasn’t right, I wasn’t there; I wasn’t as free as I felt.

“Stop it,” I groaned as my feet shuffled uncomfortably on the now seemingly harder wooden floor boards of the church. The walls of the room closed in a little around me, sealing my fate and then I was completely back, the forest just a half memory.

He had a habit of showing me what I couldn’t have did my bear; he had a sick sense of humor like that. Drooling over pastries in meetings, forcing me to schedule company events a little too far into the forest and worst of all showing me where I would rather be. He was me of course in a strange way; it was me who wanted the pastries, me who watched the same people year after year get lost in the woods and me who wanted to be running rather than waiting for my fiery fiancé to arrive.

“William,” she said my name, no she whispered my name. It was barely a gentle breath against her lips. The sound was fitting; my name sounded right coming from her tinted lips. I turned to my fiancé, having only just noticed that she had arrived.

As I stared into her wistfully blue swirling eyes I almost lost myself. It was only my stupidity that knocked me out of my daze, I hadn’t even noticed her walking down the aisle, hadn’t even heard the wedding march. If I hadn’t been in front of at least a hundred people I would have hit myself in the head.

“Jasmine,” I spoke back, a little louder than her. My lips formed into a smile as I said her name aloud for the first time since our dinner date. She smiled right back at me, the image of utter jaw-dropping beauty. I shifted my legs again as my body tightened. With her stood in front of me in the most elegant wedding dress, perfectly sculpted to fit her body, I knew for sure I was attracted to her, but then who wouldn’t be.

The ceremony was a daze of words and movement with only one thing remaining constant the entire time, a pair of bright blue eyes reading my soul. It wasn’t unnerving now, it was familiar, I liked it when she looked at me like that. It was such a curious look but with a ferocious intent that lay so badly hidden below the surface. My bear gave me no visions now; he was just as enthralled and just as taken with her as I was. Whatever lay shifting beneath her skin, whatever was ready to break free, my bear wanted it.

“I do,” I muttered as I looked into the eyes of my wife. My wife. She was my wife. Jasmine was my wife. I was someone's husband.

That was it, those two tiny words, completely innocent by themselves, completely unsuspecting, was all it took. When put together those words were a life sentence, one I was oddly not starting to regret. I fingered the ring on my finger, twisting it slowly, feeling the permanent metal against my tanned skin. We walked away from the crowds and a little too late I took her hand as we passed them by, of course to much applause from the people around us.

We hadn’t kissed at the altar but now as my hand was firmly gripped in hers I was wondering what it would be like to kiss her. What would she taste like? I shook my head rapidly, forcing away any thoughts of that nature. I still wanted to get to know her, to know what lay beneath that teasing smile and swirling blue eyes. I knew that would come soon, she couldn’t keep it hidden for much longer. I had a feeling now that my mom knew; perhaps that was why she had refused for us to meet for too long? Curiosity was getting the better of me but I tried as best as I could to keep it hidden, to keep my burning questions to myself.

“So my wife, where are we going?” I asked casually. It was the first time I had called her my wife, at least directly to her anyway. I mouthed the word to myself again, testing it out; I could get used to it.

“You don’t know?” she asked curiously, it sounded like she was honestly shocked but the small tear at her lips and the little almost unnoticeable glint in her eyes told me otherwise. She was playing with me, nobody ever played with me.

“Of course not, my dear,” I said putting a little emphasis on the last part. Her eyebrows rose in a teasingly look, almost like she was challenging me, nobody ever challenged me; who would challenge a bear?

“Then I guess it will be a surprise,” she said, clearly trying to hold back a small laugh. Jasmine walked away from me, dropping my hand as quickly as I had taken hers. Leaving me bounding after her she moved quickly towards the waiting car. Jasmine would challenge a bear, that much was now clear.

Chapter Six

It was completely dark when the driver slowed to a stop and we arrived at where we would be staying for the next two weeks. I wasn’t sure when Jasmine had fallen asleep on my lap or when I had started running my hands through her vibrant red hair but it was almost painful to stop. We had been traveling for almost a day and it was surprising what 24 hours of traveling could do for a couple. I had gotten to know her in the time we had spent together; learnt about her job, her family and her childhood. In turn I had shared things with her, things I hadn’t really spoken to anyone about.

Of course everything had been slightly guarded; I still didn’t really know where we were or even what Jasmine really was.  Of course she knew what I was, she hadn’t even tried to hide it, but I hadn’t questioned her, I could already tell she didn’t want to share what she was hiding and for now I was reluctantly ok with that.  I felt like I knew her at least a little now; I had heard my wife laugh for the first time, I had seen her truly smile and something inside me had changed a little. My wife was normal, perfectly beautifully normal.

Reluctantly I left her, I knew it would just be for a second but it was reluctant nonetheless. Carefully I lifted her head and placed it down softly on the back seat of the car before climbing out. I nodded quickly to the driver who was already unloading our bags from the boot and made my way over to her side of the car. She didn’t stir as I quietly opened the door and she stayed still as I gently lifted her into my arms. Her head fell against my chest, a mess of fiery red and I couldn’t even begin to hold back the smile that the simple act had caused.

“Are we there yet?” she questioned softly making me jump slightly. My smile grew and I chuckled lightly at the words.

“Yes my dear, we have arrived,” I said endearingly, whatever it was she brought out in me I wasn’t sure, endearing wasn’t exactly normally in my nature.

“Do you like it? I hoped you would like it,” she asked quietly in between a small yawn as her eyes fluttered slightly.

“Of course I love it,” I answered immediately, already knowing that she had fallen back to sleep. In fact I actually had no idea where we were still, it was pitch black.

Even with my heightened senses I couldn’t make out a single thing other than the lights that streamed out from a white building behind the car. I could just about see the building and hear the sound of what seemed to be birds but that was it. I couldn’t remember seeing anything outside of the cars windows for quite a while, all there had been was darkness. Chuckling I followed our driver into the house, curious to know if this was a hotel, I had never heard of a place like it before.

“Where are we?” I asked the driver when we walked together into the lobby of what was more of a house than a hotel. I gave his back a questioning look as he struggled along with our bags, it seemed as though neither of us traveled light.

“The jungle,” the man answered simply. My mouth dropped open and I tightened my grip on Jasmine quickly so I didn’t drop her.

“Where?” I questioned again, doing everything I could to keep my voice even, it wasn’t working well.

“The jungle,” the man said again, confirming that I hadn’t gone crazy. I looked around; the house was white, immaculacy presented and clean, but almost completely void of color, definitely not befitting of the jungle.

“Yeah, I got that bit, why are we in the jungle?” I asked, I knew I sounded stupid from the vaguely hidden smirk that formed on the man’s face.

“I’m just following your wife’s orders, sir. The bedroom is that way by the way,” the man said, pointing off down a corridor that led off the main room. I nodded slowly and left the man in the room before heading off in the direction he had pointed.

I carried Jasmine carefully despite my shaken body and mind, why where we in the jungle? I wasn’t angry, just confused; my bear on the other hand was completely ecstatic. I followed the corridor until I found the bedroom, an elaborately and expensively decorated room that was very similar to the room we had just left, other than the large bed in the center that was. I gently placed Jasmine down on the silk covers before turning away. Stopping in my tracks, halfway back out the door I turned around. Against my normal nature I walked back over to the beautiful image of my sleeping wife and pressed a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Sleep well,” I whispered quietly and walked away.

Chapter Seven

“What do you mean I own the house?” I screamed down the phone. I owned a house in the middle of the jungle, I actually owned it.

“I don’t care, I never authorized it,” I shouted back at Linda who I knew was trying desperately to calm me down. Now Jasmine was safe in the bedroom I had no control over my voice.

“Ten million dollars Linda, are you joking?” I screamed, not even waiting for a coherent answer from the bumbling woman. The damn house had apparently cost me ten million dollars. Even my home back in the city hadn’t cost that much, I mean the cost was nothing , not really in comparison to what sat in my personal and company account but it wasn’t the point.

“How could you let this happen?” I shouted again, knowing it wasn’t her fault, knowing that she probably had nothing to do with it. She had known though, she had known and not told me. The first thing I had done when I left my wife was to phone Linda. She had been waiting for my call of course, probably fretting about it for the last week or however long it had been since the house had been bought.

“Look I’m sorry, I know you were worried about telling me,” I said, finally calming down a little. What did it matter in the end, she wasn’t the one I should be angry at.

“I know, look its fine, don’t worry about it,” I said quickly, trying to calm her down, being shouted at by a bear would worry anyone and especially someone like Linda.

“Who are you talking to?” the arrival of another voice in the room made me look up. My wife stood at the mouth of the room, her hair slight messy but otherwise perfect. I smiled at her, I just couldn’t help it, it didn’t matter what she had done.

“Nobody honey, go back to bed,” I said to Jasmine.

“I’m not angry, I’ll talk to you later,” I said down the phone, “yes, you too,” I said to Linda before hanging up the phone.

“Who were you talking to?” Jasmine said again, her voice was firmer this time, angry even. My eyebrows ruffled as I looked at her; her eyes were almost burning now, she did not look happy.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said in confusion, what was the problem?

“Who were you talking to?” she said again, her teeth almost gritted as she hissed the words. She took a step towards me now; it was a measured step that almost made me back away.

“It was just Linda,” I said innocently, holding my hands up, unsure of what exactly to do.

“I don’t believe you,” she stated. There was no wavering in her voice; it was a statement that made her eyes turn impossibly darker.

“Check for yourself, ring her back,” I said carefully, tossing her the satellite phone I had used to ring Linda on, it was just typical that normal phones didn’t work here, there was no way I was going to be able to work.

I watched my wife re-dial my secretary, her face staying stony cold as she did so. It was unnerving, she wasn’t the same person who had fallen asleep in my lap, wasn’t the woman who had avidly told me about growing up in the countryside. She nodded as Linda answered the phone but stayed quiet, scarily quiet. After just a few seconds on the phone she ended the call and looked up at me. I smiled reassuringly at her and out of nowhere the phone came flying towards me. Without a second to spare I dodged it quickly, watching as the expensive phone and my only contact with the outside world crashed against the wall and broke into half a dozen pieces.

“What’s going on between you two? That woman is clearly in love with you,” Jasmine screamed loudly, her voice high-pitched and furiously angry. I didn’t have an answer for her; I couldn’t even fully register her question. The concept of something going on between me and Linda was laughable at best; she was married and had been so for as long as I had known her.

“Well!” she shouted making me jump in shock. She had lost it; my wife of less than 24 hours was completely crazy. My mouth dropped open and as my baffled mind failed me I simply shrugged my shoulders, probably looking more bear-ish than I ever had before.

It made it worse. I had no idea how but the simple move had made things a thousand times worse. Quickly I jumped out of the way of a pure white vase and then another, both joining the phone in pieces on the floor. I just stared back at her, now a mess of red and anger I could almost feel it radiating off her, covering the distance of the room that was slowly getting smaller and smaller.