Possess: An Alpha Anthology

by Anthology

  Crouching, Kat snapped her fingers in front of Jasper’s face, then laid a hand on his chest. “He’s not breathing.” She looked up at me.

  I felt myself go cold.

  By law, restaurants this size needed to have a defibrillator as part of a first aid kit. But they didn’t need me to use it. Did they? This was a Stroop Finders job, so I was in charge, but surely there was a nurse or doctor in the dining room?

  Fear and panic swirled through my head, making it impossible to think.

  “This creep has been stalking me,” Chaew insisted, his voice slightly hysterical. “His name is Rob Stroop. He’s a bounty hunter.”

  “Bounty hunter?” repeated the host. “We don’t want trouble. This is a nice restaurant. Get out.”

  Apparently that reminded Chaew that he didn’t want the police to find him there, because he bolted for the door.

  Which reminded me that $300,000 was running away while I was panicking about Jasper.

  I stood rooted in place, unsure what to do. Either Chaew would escape or Corbin would win. But… I couldn’t abandon the poor, chinless dope lying prone at my feet.

  Dropping next to Kat, I pressed two fingers to Jasper’s neck. “His heart is beating fine,” I said.

  “Really?” Kat slapped his cheeks. “Wake up, Jasper.”

  “What are you doing?” I shoved her hands away. “Go get Chaew!”

  Jasper’s arm twitched. She slapped him again.

  “What happened?” His voice was weak. His eyes fluttered open, and he managed a faint smile. “Did you stab me, Audrey?”

  Not yet, I thought. I took off like a shot.

  Chaew was nowhere to be seen, but I spotted his empty car in the parking lot. I needed to call Rob…

  My hands flew to my hips, but I wasn’t wearing jeans, didn’t have pockets. Or zip ties, which were in my purse.

  Cursing myself, I ran back into the restaurant. Someone had brought a chair for Jasper to sit on. His cheeks were flushed red, almost the same color as his hair.

  Red hair. That was how he’d been mistaken for Rob. I wondered who had alerted Chaew.

  “You’ll be fine,” I muttered as I rushed past. My phone and purse hadn’t been stolen. A miracle—it felt like the kind of day when everything was destined to go wrong. I scooped them up, dialing Rob as I sprinted back outside.

  He didn’t answer. I tried Martin, then dialed Rob again.

  Corbin was here, somewhere. Right? If so, why didn’t I see him?

  Flustered, I turned in a circle, trying to guess where Chaew might be hiding. Maybe Corbin had him already.

  Better Corbin than another bounty hunter. I knew Corbin. If he caught Chaew, he would try to give the money to me… to Stroop Finders, rather. I wouldn’t be able to accept it, but I didn’t see anything wrong with agreeing to split the bounty. After all, there were four Stroop employees in the area. Five if Jasper counted, which he did not.

  Even a quarter of the prize would help. It wouldn’t be enough, but it was better than nothing.

  I walked across the lot, thinking I’d be able to see something from a different vantage point.

  Across the four-lane highway, the construction site was shut down for the day. Rob’s car was there somewhere, but I couldn’t see it, not with all the traffic and the approaching twilight.

  My gaze swept to the far left of the construction site, attracted by a different kind of movement, far away.

  Corbin, in a dark shirt and jeans, looking like vengeance personified.

  He was walking quickly, disappearing and reappearing as cars sped past.

  “What the hell?” I murmured. Obviously his attention was fixed on something I couldn’t see. And where were Rob and Martin? Goddamn traffic.

  Almost directly across the street from me, a blur exploded from under a tarp. Corbin immediately gave chase.

  “No, no, no…” I began to jog on my side of the street. I was technically closer to Chaew than Corbin was, but I didn’t see how I’d be able to get across. As far down the road as I could see, there was nothing but fast-moving, unforgiving steel.

  Maybe if I took it in sections… if I stood on the median.

  It wouldn’t matter. Corbin was going to get to him first.

  There was the smallest break in traffic, and I darted across. Vehicles flew past me so fast that my hair whipped around my face and my skirt blew up. Horns blared. Pervy bastards.

  “You fucking psycho!” a woman’s voice screamed, but I barely heard her. My attention was laser-focused on Chaew as I sprinted down the median, my purse thumping, an invisible jockey urging me faster.

  All I needed was a small opening, but the traffic in this direction was even heavier. Forty miles an hour, bumper to bumper.

  Desperate, I glanced to my left to see how much ground Corbin had gained.

  He wasn’t looking at Chaew—he was watching me. Raising his hands, Corbin came to an abrupt stop, then took a big step back.

  I stopped running and quickly glanced around.

  There wasn’t anyone coming up behind me, no one pointing a gun at Corbin. I shook my head and held my arms out in confusion. Someone in a passing car yelled something vulgar.

  Corbin thrust out his right hand like he was pushing on an invisible chest, trying to stop someone from walking into him.

  This wasn’t the time to play charades. I dialed him.

  “Audrey, stay where you are.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  There was no humor in his laugh. “It’s not worth getting killed over,” he said. “Anyway, it’s done.” He hung up.

  Done? Someone else had gotten Chaew? I looked far to the right but didn’t see him anymore.

  “Fuck!” I screamed. Chaew was gone.

  But then there was a break in the traffic. A short one, but enough for me to see Chaew flailing on the ground like he was trying to swim across it, a redheaded man kneeling on his back.

  It was Rob.

  Tears of relief briefly blurred the scene.

  I let out a breath and felt tension slowly begin to seep out of my bones and muscles. The stiffness of my boots was probably the only thing keeping me from melting into the pavement.

  I turned to look at Corbin, but he was gone, and guilt began to set in. Corbin had stopped running because of me… but maybe Rob had been closer the entire time and I just hadn’t seen him? Maybe I hadn’t cost Corbin the bounty.

  But deep down, I suspected otherwise.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Rob and Kat hauled Chaew to the sheriff while Martin, Jasper, and I headed to a bar downtown to celebrate.

  I wasn’t in the mood, but without a car, I didn’t have much choice.

  Besides, lauding our achievements was good for company morale or something.

  “What happened?” I asked as Martin and I tapped our bottles together. Jasper was drinking water. His face was still splotchy, but he was fine. Apparently Chaew had simply knocked the air out of him.

  Martin took a long swig before saying, “Chaew came running out. Rob and I were already waiting. I’d come over on my bike, and Rob was in his car, parked on the shoulder on the far side of the road.”

  “I thought you couldn’t chase anybody,” Jasper said.

  “Not to chase,” Martin said. “To follow. From a distance. Anyway, dude comes shooting out of the restaurant. He sees me, and instead of going for his car, he sprints down the road. Zig zagging, darting into traffic, then back on the sidewalk. I followed him, but then the light changed and he ran up the other side.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t just drive across the median,” I said. “Would it have ruined your bike or something?”

  He grinned. “Two deputies drove by. I had to slap on my halo and wings and ride down three lights before I could make a legal turn.” He took another long swig, then shook Jasper’s shoulder. “So what do you think? Ready to be a bounty hunter?”

  Jasper’s nervous laugh made me feel guilty as hell. “Not in this lifetim
e,” he said. His gaze flickered to mine. “Got enough for my story, though.”

  I was more than ready to drink to that. “I don’t suppose you know who might have tipped Chaew off?”

  Martin’s expression soured. “There’s a new fugitive recovery company forming.”

  “Uh-oh.” The last thing we needed while we were still vulnerable was more competition. “Any idea who?”

  “Five former deputies. One of my buddies called last week to see if I was interested. I reckon they wanted to keep Chaew free until their license came through, then grab him. A bounty that big is one hell of an inauguration.” He looked at Jasper. “You didn’t hear any of that.”

  “Hear what?” Jasper asked wearily.

  “Cheer up, man,” Martin said. “You helped apprehend a vicious embezzler.”

  Jasper choked out a strangled laugh.

  A rival company was bad news for Stroop Finders, but at least this time it wasn’t my fault. In any event, we would survive. Somehow.

  Erin showed up, and she and Martin started making out. Jasper stared at a cute waitress.

  I wondered if Corbin was at home.

  Rob and Kat entered. They made a beeline for the bar.

  “My hero,” Erin said, applauding as they approached the table carrying two beers.

  “Thank you, thank you,” Rob said. “Audrey gets some of the credit, though. If she hadn’t done such a good job setting everything up, you’d all be paying for your own drinks tonight.”

  Martin pounded the table and raised his beer. Erin and Rob joined in, then Jasper.

  My phone vibrated with a text: Come outside, baby.

  I tapped Rob on the shoulder and held up the phone. “How does he know where I am?”

  “I told him,” Rob said, frowning. “Was that bad?”

  Yes. “No.” I sighed and pulled out the remaining hundred-dollar bills Corbin had given me to buy the baseball hat. I placed them underneath my half-empty beer. “I’m done. This should cover the drinks.”

  “Look at you, moneybags,” Rob said.

  “Good work, everyone.” I pushed out into the chilly evening, my arms wrapped around myself.

  Corbin seemed to materialize out of the darkness.

  “Hi,” I said with a tentative smile, uncertain if Corbin was going to yell at me about earlier. “I wasn’t going to get run over,” I said.

  “Come here.” His voice was solemn.

  When I reached him, he pulled me into an alley. Shafts of white from the streetlight slanted in, just enough spilling over Corbin to illuminate his blue-green eyes. He shook his head. “You almost caused an accident when you ran across the road.”

  “No,” I said. “That’s not true.”

  “I saw the whole thing.” His gaze drilled into mine, and I shifted uncomfortably.

  Was it true? I remembered the horns blaring, but no screeching tires or anything. “I don’t think so.”

  “Audrey. You had tunnel vision,” he said. “Ever see a cheetah fixated on its prey? That’s what you were like. Now how the hell am I supposed to do anything but worry when you’re at work?”

  I stifled the shame welling up in my chest. “You know very well that most of the time I’m doing research or waiting quietly.”

  He sighed. “The night you came after me in the blizzard, I thought you were reckless. Over the last few months I’ve realized you’re not, but after tonight…” He caught my face in his hands. “If something happens to you…” Emotion tightened his deep voice.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, barely managing a whisper. “You were worried about me, and it cost you the bounty. Unless Rob was already closer?”

  “It would have been close, I admit,” he said. “But I don’t care about the money, and I don’t need the prestige. The only thing that has ever mattered is you.” He settled his hands on my hips and pulled me into his rock-hard body, then stepped forward, forcing me against the wall.

  His belt buckle, and the impressive bulge below it, pressed into my lower stomach.

  A little moan escaped me as he yanked up the bottom of my dress. He thrust a powerfully muscled thigh between my legs, driving them apart.

  “Do you understand that?” he asked. “If I ever hear about you doing something so stupid because of fucking money, I’m going to… I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I don’t think we want to find out.”

  I gasped as he moved his thigh higher until I was riding it. His body was so hard, so authoritative. The rough wall behind me was probably messing up my hair, but I didn’t care.

  Corbin unzipped his jeans and freed his erect cock.

  He jerked my panties aside and positioned himself at my slit. “You need anything, you come to me.” He thrust into me, impaling me on his swollen length.

  My cry was muffled by Corbin’s broad palm across my mouth. Oh god, his cock felt so good.

  He was motionless inside me, and I tried to twist my hips, to get him to thrust the way I so desperately needed, but he was too strong, and I couldn’t move.

  “Do you understand, baby? We’re together now. What’s mine is yours. I want to hear you say you understand.” Slowly, he removed his hand.

  I stared up at him. “Corbin—”

  He pumped his hips, and I cried out. The walls of the alley seemed to tilt and spin.

  “Do you understand?” He pumped again.

  “Yes,” I whimpered.

  “I know you would never go back on your word.” He tasted my lips, the rhythm of his kiss matching the steady pounding of his hips against mine. We’d fucked in an alley before, but it was different this time. Back then, he’d been a stranger, and I’d been afraid of him.

  I’d also been on a date with another man.

  I clawed at his shirt as Corbin claimed every inch of my pussy as his. His kisses were fire, his hands touching me in all the right places. He knew my desires, knew to nibble my ear, then whisper a stream of sexy promises to me.

  Arching, I pushed against him, and I didn’t care that his fingers had captured my nipples, that he was tweaking and torturing them.

  One of his hands teased my clit. He covered my mouth with his as he worked his magic, and I writhed in ecstasy. The orgasm tore the breath from my chest, and my heart felt like it might explode.

  This was what I’d been begging for. The moment one ended, another began.

  I felt Corbin spasming inside of me, filling me. He kept pumping, kept stroking, and he gave me another orgasm.

  Hours might have passed; I couldn’t tell. Finally he slowed, and I tried to catch my breath. My legs trembled, but he didn’t pull out.

  “Baby,” he said, moving back just far away enough to look me in the eye. “I love you. I can’t lose you. I won’t.”

  Uncomfortable, I licked my lips and willed my pounding heart to slow. “So… In fairness, Chaew was yours. Which means you won the bet.”

  “Stroop Finders got him. I’m fine with the end result, but I’m not thrilled about how it happened.”

  I suspected he was gearing up to lecture me some more about being careful, so I quickly said, “You’re right. It was reckless of me. Anyway, I…” I swallowed hard. “I’m happy to stay with your mother when we visit her, and I can’t… I can’t wait to go on vacation with you. For an entire month.” I fell silent, wondering if a month meant four weeks or thirty-one days. It made a difference.

  “Thank you, baby.”

  I felt my eyebrows and forehead begin to tighten into a scowl. “You don’t sound very surprised. Or appreciative.”

  “Oh, I’m very appreciative,” he said, his voice thickening with lust.

  “What about surprised?” I managed to ask before his lips found mine and he kissed me breathless all over again.

  Pulling slightly away, he cradled the back of my neck, keeping me close. “If you’d prefer to discuss how well I know you, we can do that instead of going home. I’d like to point out, though, that it’s been a long time since I tasted you other than on my fin
gers.”

  I shivered.

  “And even longer since I tied you to the bed and pumped you full of come.” He loved to watch my body dripping with his come, loved to fuck me over and over, and he was right—it had been a long time.

  His hand stroked down my torso to squeeze my ass, still sore from the spanking.

  “Take me home,” I gasped as I gave myself over to him. “Take me home.”

  Dearest Reader,

  Thank you for reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it. Why join my mailing list? Because I love to release new books at a special price to thank my readers!

  You might be interested to learn that there are currently TWO full seasons of By a Dangerous Man. The first book, TRAPPED BY A DANGEROUS MAN, is free on most retailers and in most countries, so pick up your copy now to discover how Audrey and Corbin’s saga started.

  I also write gritty PNR novels—shark shifters on a Caribbean island. Find out why a shark shifter is twice the man.

  If office shenanigans are more your speed, check out my Executive Toy or Office Toy series. What’s better than a hot, dominant billionaire boss? Three hot, dominant billionaire bosses.

  I offer a wide range of books at a wide range of lengths, whether you’re craving a quick bite or a ten-course meal. The one thing all my books have in common? Dominant, powerful heroes who know what they want. Yum!

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  Cleo

  http://cleopeitsche.wordpress.com/

  BITTER RIVALS

  Winter Renshaw

  Copyright 2015

  All Rights Reserved

  Chapter One

  Magnolia Grantham

  Shoes.

  There are men’s shoes by the front door.

  I pull the key from the door of my boss’ Montauk seaside home and crouch to examine a set of tanned leather loafers that shine like the day they were purchased.

  “Hello?” My voice echoes through the two-story foyer. The call bounces off the shiplap walls and lands on the wall of windows overlooking the water.