ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (3 page)

Chapter 4

I woke up alone in bed from a feverish nightmare. My hair was damp with sweat and the t-shirt I slept in clung to my body. It was just a nightmare. It had all be a terrible nightmare. I turned in bed to wrap my arms around Roman, but he wasn’t there. The bed on his side was still made, the way I’d done it when I’d come back inside. It was cold and empty. I got up and swapped my t-shirt for a dry one. When I got back in bed and glanced toward Roman’s nightstand I noticed his phone was gone.

When had he come in? Why hadn’t he woken me? And where was he now?

I took my own phone and found his number in the contacts list, but my thumb hovered over the ‘talk’ button. I wanted to phone him, to find out where he was so he could come back and hold me. But I didn’t know who he was anymore. And I didn’t know what I was going to do about it.

I loved him. More than anything. But now? Our entire relationship was a lie. A lot of things made sense now. How he didn’t want to mix with people. How much alone time he needed. Why he always preferred to be in the woods.

What did werewolves do? I didn’t even know. The myths in the paranormal stories I’d read went from scary to horrific. Did he steal children and kill them? Did he only change at full moon? I tried to remember if the times he’d disappeared had been at the same time as a full moon, but I couldn’t. I hadn’t ever paid attention to the moon.

I lay back down and pulled the covers over my head. I wanted all of this to go away. I wanted our life back. I wanted Roman, the way I thought I knew him and loved him. I didn’t want this new chapter in my life.

When I woke up the next morning, late, Roman was in the bathroom. I got up and walked to the door, leaning against the doorpost. He stood at the bathroom sink, shaving like this was any other morning. His usual routine, how human and perfect he looked and the golden hue of the morning light made it feel like I’d been dreaming all along.

“Hey,” I said softly, and Roman turned around. His dark eyes were almost black. I remembered the bright red eyes from the night before, and wondered where all the liquid black went when he changed.

“Hey,” Roman said softly,  patting his face dry with a towel. He looked at me, and I fought the urge to step into him and let him hold me. But his face was closed, and I knew that what I’d seen hadn’t been a dream.

Suddenly I couldn’t help myself, I couldn’t stop the emotions that bubbled up in my chest. The horrible, lonely night came back. The wolf, black and menacing. The red eyes. Tears filled up my eyes and spilled onto my cheeks.

“It’s okay,” Roman said and stepped closer to me, arms outstretched but I shook my head and stepped away. He stopped trying to come closer and dropped his hands to his side.

“Okay,” he said so softly I almost couldn’t hear it.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know how,” he said. He didn’t break eye contact, didn’t look away so he didn’t have to face me. His eyes were locked on mine all the time, arms next to his side, no signs of defense.

“You should have told me.” I sounded accusing, but I asked myself if that wasn’t what I felt. “Who are you?”

“I’m still the same person, sweetheart,” he said. He took a small step closer, but when I took another one back as an answer he stopped trying.

“I wasn’t going to hurt you,” he said. I thought back to his wolf, crawling in front of me on the ground.

“I know.”

“I don’t hurt anyone.”

“Are there more of you?”

He hesitated a moment before he nodded. “I’m part of a pack. I’m number four. Third in line to be an alpha, but the chances are that won’t just happen.”

“Are they at home?” I asked. He nodded. “And when you lived in England?”

“Transfers happen.”

It sounded so normal. So organized. I sank to the carpet and hugged my knees. It was all too much to take in. Roman took a careful step closer to me, and sat down on the carpet too, making a point of keeping his distance from me.

“I know this is all a lot to take in,” he said. “But this is something I can’t change. I have wished so many times I could make it go away. Before and after I met you. Unfortunately this is what I’m stuck with for the rest of my life.”

“Do you steal children?” I blurted out. Roman shook his head, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“I hunt small animals when the bloodlust gets bad, but no, other than that I leave humans alone. Werewolves don’t like it when humans know… it makes it harder because of superstitions.”

I nodded. I felt like I was in a daze.

“I can’t do this,” I finally said.

“We can figure it out together,” Roman said, but I shook my head.

“I can’t do any of this. I can’t do us anymore.”

“But we’re married—“

“Then we’ll get a divorce. But this isn’t what I signed up for. I need you to leave. I’m going downstairs. When I come back later you need to be gone.”

“But the wedding…”

“I’ll do it alone.”

I marched out the room. When I closed the door behind me I leaned against it with my back and took a deep breath. This was the right thing to do. I couldn’t love a werewolf. Why then, when I’d told him to get out of my life, did it feel like I’d just ripped out my heart?

The wedding started at ten in the morning. Roman and his bags had disappeared. I’d told everyone there’d been an emergency back home. Only Jade knew I was lying, because she knew me well enough. When she tried to ask, I just shook my head. What was I going to say?

I wore my aqua dress, but I didn’t feel beautiful in it anymore. I felt like a failure. All the advice I’d given to my sister about making it work had gone the drain in my own life. And now I was witnessing her wedding when my own marriage was falling apart. Was my advice going to ruin her marriage, too?

I walked in with two other bridesmaids and took my place in the front. Don was standing on the other side with his own entourage, looking white as a sheet. When the music started and the doors opened, Jade came in. Her hair was pinned up in a side-do with blond curls cascading over her shoulder, and her make-up was professionally done. When Don saw her, his fear melted away. I lump formed in my throat when I thought of my wedding to Roman, and I tried to breathe around it.

Jade and Don stared in each other’s eyes through the entire ceremony, and when they’d said they’re ‘I do’s’ the audience broke out in applause. It was beautiful.

Jade and Don were just about to walk down the aisle again, their first steps as husband and wife, when the doors burst open. Everyone froze and whipped their heads around to the back.

Roman stood in the door, a hand on each handle. He had dark circles under his eyes and his black hair looked like he hadn’t combed it. He had stubble on his chin, something I’d never seen before, and his black eyes looked haunted.

“I can’t do this without you,” he said, looking at me. “I can’t keep going, knowing I let the only girl I ever loved get away from me.” He walked down the aisle, headed toward me. Everyone was watching us, and I was very aware of the flowers in my shaking as my hands trembled.

“I made a promise to you that I would love you forever. And that’s not going to change. I will still love and protect and take care of you, because I promised, and because you’re the woman of my dreams. I need you, Sadie. Do you remember what you promised me?”

I nodded slowly. I remembered my vows word for word.
I promise never to forsake you, even in the darkest night, to stick by your side and fight your demons with you. I promise to love you until the end of eternity.
In the darkest night. This counted as a dark night, didn’t it? As demons we had to fight together?

“We said we would be together for better or worse,” he said. My eyes welled up and tears ran down my cheeks. My make-up was going to be ruined. “
You
are the better half, Sadie. I know I have flaws. But I don’t want to lose you. You’re my one and only, baby.”

Roman had come closer and closer when he’d spoken, and now he was right in front of me.

“I love you,” he said. “Please give us a chance.”

I hesitated. Could I do this? Could I be married to a werewolf and overlook the fact that he failed to tell me something as important as this? Could I do this for the rest of my life? But when I looked into his eyes, falling into the liquid pools of black, I remembered how it had been that very first time we met. He’d come to the airport to pick me up, and he’d been even more attractive than the photo on his profile. And when we walked up to each other he’d bent down and kissed me like we’d been together forever.

And suddenly I knew that I could do it all, if it meant I would get to have him.

“Okay,” I said softly.

“Okay?” he repeated, like he wasn’t sure if he’d heard me right. I nodded and smiled through my tears.

“Oh thank god,” he said and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into him. His face was in my neck, and the love that radiated from his wrapped around me like a blanket. When I looked over his shoulder I suddenly became aware of everyone, still watching us with a mix of confusion and awe on their face.

I gently pushed Roman away from me and he looked Jade and Don for the first time.

“I’m sorry to steal your moment,” he said. But Jade laughed and Don shook his head.

Everyone made their way to the reception. Don got up and tapped against his champagne glass with a spoon.

“I would just like to make a toast to the happy couple,” he said, but instead of everyone lifting their glasses to Jade and Don, they lifted it to me and Roman.

I turned and looked at Roman. He smiled. No beamed, was more of the correct word. I knew I had made the right decision. He was mine through thick and thin, good times and bad.

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BY SICILY DUVAL

I saved the final draft and mailed it to my boss. “That’s it, I’m out of here!” I said, shutting down my computer.

“Go and have fun, you lucky duck.” Mrs. Lane, my personal assistant, took the last files off my desk. I was going on a girls’ holiday. Ella’s husband had connections and he’d gotten us most of it for free. The bit that we had to pay for was ridiculously cheap. It paid to have the right friends.

When I left the office, my phone rang.

“Anna! Are you packed yet?” Kate was my closest friend of the three girls.

“I just got out of the office now. I’ll be ready, I promise!”

We were going to be away for a whole week, a glorious week where I didn’t have to worry about accounts and ledgers and clients who couldn’t make ends meet. I was going to leave my lonely apartment behind and find myself a man, even if it was just a holiday fling.

I’d gone shopping the week before for winter clothes. The clothes I’d found were all the latest stuff, form fitting but warm at the same time, I would look sexy and on top of my game. I couldn’t wait!

We met at the airport an hour before our flight. I was the last to arrive, and when I spotted our group I ran to them.

“I can’t believe we’re finally going!” Kate cried out. Her brown curly hair sat in a messy bun on top of her head and she looked good in just about anything she threw on. And she knew it.

“This is going to be the best time of your life. And I heard the ski instructors are hot.” Ella did a little jiggle on the spot.

“You’re married,” Kate pointed out. I laughed.

“Just because we already bought our merchandise doesn’t mean we can’t window-shop, right Ella?” Ashleigh and Ella were both married. Kate was in a different relationship every few months because she didn’t like to commit, but with her body and looks she could get any guy she wanted. I didn’t look nearly like her. My hair was a redder-brown than hers and my hips wider. But I was special in my own way. My mom told me so.

“We have to get Anna someone then, at least,” Kate said and nudged me. I rolled my eyes but smiled anyway. We were going to have the time of our lives.

The flight from Phoenix to Kalispell took four hours. When we stepped out of the airport in Montana I smelled the snow in the air. I could almost taste it. A cold breeze whipped around us, making my cheeks numb. I breathed deeply, taking a chest full of icy air. It burned on the way in, and swirled in my chest.

“This is amazing,” I breathed out. Arizona was an oven with red dirt and merciless sun. It was so hot that even at night the heat smothered you like a big warm blanket. The crisp white layer that covered everything here was magical. Nothing like home.

We got a car to take us to Whitefish Mountain Resort. It was about 21 miles’ drive through winding snowy scenery and pine trees. The mountain rose in the distance as we drove towards it, peaks frosted with snow.

The resort was just as amazing as everything else. Ella’s husband had gotten us a condo with four bedrooms so we each had our own private space. Beige walls with light wood finishes rounded it off. We had a fully stocked kitchen and a private patio.

“What are we going to do first?” Kate asked after we’d each dumped our bags in our rooms.

“I want to go skiing! No reason we should wait,” Ashleigh said. The resort was at the foot of The Big Mountain. Most of the chairlifts were at the front of the mountain and there were already a lot of people skiing on the slopes. They were tiny dots sliding down the white strip that ran down the mountain.

Ella disappeared. With her Mike arranging everything, she was the one in control of the itinerary. Fine by me. This week I didn’t want to have to think or take responsibility at all. My brain was conveniently going to switch off and I was going to spend my vacation in a state of bliss.

I had chosen a bright pink jacket with black and white gloves to go with it and black pants that were designed to keep the cold out. Even with my ski gear I was frozen solid five minutes after we’d left the condo. It didn’t matter how well dressed I was, years of living in Phoenix just didn’t prepare me for this kind of weather.

“Ladies, this is George,” Ella announced behind us. We turned around and I looked our ski instructor up and down. Kate nudged me. He was like a coil, muscle and power wound up in a perfect body. He wore the thick ski pants with sheepskin lining, but only a thin thermal-type shirt stretched over his chest and his biceps, and there was more than enough for us to ogle at.

“Have any of you ladies skied before?” he asked. His eyes were the color of ice, and his dark hair was shiny and smooth. Like the kind you would want to run your hands through... He looked at each of us, but his eyes lingered on mine. A shiver traveled through my body. We all shook our heads.

“Don’t worry about that. We’re going to have a lot of fun.”

Oh, I bet we were.

We followed George to a room that looked a lot like a shop, and he helped us find skis. We walked out onto the snow and sat down on a bench. I couldn’t clip the ski around my foot, it just wouldn’t tighten. George kneeled in front of me in the snow and helped me. His fingers were nimble even with his gloves on. He wrapped his other hand around my ankle. I could feel his skin burn mine through my pants. Shivers traveled through my body again, fanning out from his fingers. He was close enough for me to smell. Clean and manly.

“All done,” he said and looked up at me. His blue eyes smiled at me, even though his face was serious and professional, and like a love struck teenager, I blushed. When George moved on to Ella to help her, I scolded myself. I was twenty-four dammit. Not fourteen.

The first session consisted of more falling into the snow than really skiing. I wasn’t as elegant as I would have liked to be. So much for impressing the handsome hunk that was showing us how to glide over the snow like he did. He made it look like he didn’t even need to think about it. The skis might as well have been an extension of his feet, and his muscles moved and rippled under his shirt when he pushed himself forward with his ski poles. We all stared.

Three hours later every muscle in my body complained and my face felt raw.

“Tomorrow will be easier,” George promised us. I groaned. Right now I couldn’t think of doing it all again.

We headed back to the hotel.

“Good god he’s hot,” Kate breathed.

“I know, right. Makes you wonder what you’re doing with Charlie, eh?” I stuck my tongue out at her. She rolled her eyes.

“It’s not like Charlie has to worry about anything. George was paying the most attention to you. I could stand on my head and he wouldn’t notice me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I giggled. “Every guy looks twice when he sees you.”

“Everyone except George, apparently.”

I shrugged. She wasn’t right about that. She was the one that got all the male attention among the four of us.

In the hotel I showered until every part of my body was thawed again, and brushed out my hair before I used the hairdryer on it. In Phoenix I never blew my hair, but nothing dried here by itself.

“Let’s head out to the restaurant. There’s one facing the slopes,” Ella said. We followed her and got a table at the large window that faced the slopes.

“They make it look so easy,” I said, watching the people lean from side to side, gliding down the slope like it was nothing.

“Well, with George teaching us we’ll do that soon.” Ella said. “Or at least, you will,” she added, looking at me.

“Why is everyone saying that?” I asked.

Ahleigh and Kate laughed.

“You’re too modest, Anna,” Ella said.

The next lesson was easier already, as George had promised, and this time it was clear he was paying me a lot more attention. Ella and Ashleigh figured it out by themselves. Kate sat down on the bench and watched me with a skew grin. When I looked at her she blew me a kiss and I rolled my eyes.

“No, keep your legs like this,” George said, drawing my attention back to our lesson. He put his hand on my thigh an guided my leg to where it had to be. After he took his hand away I could still feel the print of it on my skin. He straightened out and looked at me, smiling.

“Much better. You have the build for this,” he said.

I chuckled and shook my head.

“Really, there’s a build for skiing?”

“There is. But your build is good for everything.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He was flirting outright with me. And what was more, I liked it.

When the lesson was over he gathered us together.

“Do you ladies want to meet with a few of my instructor friends tonight at the bar?” He looked right at me when he asked it and another shiver traveled through my body.

“We’d love to,” Ashleigh spoke for all of us. Kate grinned and glanced at me.

“This is going to be great,” Kate said, sitting on my bed while I put on make-up. “George is a nice one, eh?”

I shrugged. I was trying to make my skin look normal with concealer, but the fact was that I had really bad sunburn. In Montana. The sun’s reflection off the snow had really done a number on my face two days in a row.

“He’s okay,” I admitted. More than okay. Damn hot and his eyes hypnotized me. But I wasn’t going to admit that to Kate. When it came down to it he would probably end up going for her, anyway. I still wasn’t convinced he liked me better. That never happened when Kate and I were together.

I applied light shadow and mascara, and ran a brush through my hair. I was wearing jeans and tan boots, and a brown leather jacket. My hair hung loose over my shoulders. I stepped back to inspect myself full image in the mirror.

“Well, at least my face compliments my red hair,” I said, shrugging.

Kate laughed. “You look great. Real sexy. I bet even if George ends up being just a ski instructor one of his friends should be fun to deal with. If all ski instructors came with muscles like that I’ll take any of them.”

“I bet Charlie would love to hear you say that.”

Kate shrugged. “Charlie understands nothing’s set in stone. Well, I’m not sure if he does. But it’s not.”

I laughed. Charlie was Kate’s latest and he’d been around for six months, which was longer than any of the others had lasted.

Ella got us to the bar. She’d managed to get the details from George before we’d left. If I was ever stuck in a wasteland with no resources, I’d want Ella with me. Kate was an amazing friend but Ella had access to literally everything. For that matter, if I was ever stuck in a wasteland, I’d want it to be with George. Now there was someone I could get lost with.

The bar was down to earth and homey, with a dark wood bar and matching stools, and booths set around the edges with red seats. A cloud of smoke curled around the lights in the ceiling, and music blared from hidden speakers.

George spotted us when we walked in and waved us over to a booth where he sat with five other men. He dragged a table from the middle of the room so there was enough space for ten people, and introduced us around. I only caught two names. Hans looked like he’d escaped from Germany with the accent to boot, and Pierre had a permanent smile plastered across his face. The other four all had roughly the same color hair and eyes, and I learned later they were cousins.

They ordered us cocktails, and we talked. The conversation was light and easy-going, and after my first two cocktails my blood hummed in my veins and I’d forgotten about my sunburn and how dull I looked next to Kate.

George moved to sit next to me. His eyes stared right into my soul, and I looked away, into my cocktail glass because I didn’t know where else to look.

“You did well on the slopes today,” he said.

I snorted. “You’re just saying that to be nice. I’m pretty sure I was terrible.”

“You’ll be surprised what some of my other students do,” he said, grinning. “You did it all with elegance and finesse.”

I was aware how close he was sitting to me. I could smell the cologne he wore. It filled my nose and it was damn attractive, it smelled like ice and woods, for some reason, laced with something manly and clean. The smell of soap on skin.

“How many of your students do you say that to?” I asked him, looking into his eyes. He smiled with only one corner of his mouth which made me feel just as unbalanced.

“Only the really beautiful ones.”

I felt a blush creep up from my collar and looked away, trying to hide my shy smile.

“How many of those have you had?” I asked.

“So far, only one.”

I snapped my eyes back to him and his eyes were on me, serious. Sincere. I took a deep breath and blew it out again with a shudder. George leaned closer to me, his lips brushing against mine. A small spark traveled into my lips. When I didn’t pull away, he leaned in closer and kissed me, his lips gentle on mine. The bar fell away, my friends around me and the men we were with, and it was just me and George. He took my hand in his without breaking the kiss, and his hand was big and warm. I wondered what it would feel like on my skin, exploring my body. A small flame between my legs accompanied the thought.

I broke the kiss. I was letting my mind run away from me.