Shifter Romance: BODHI (LOST CREEK SHIFTERS NOVELLAS Book 4)

by Samantha Leal

  She looked at him in surprise, “You’re staying?”

  “Just to sleep, I think you wore me out,” he said with a chuckle as he dropped a light kiss onto her nose.

  He shed his clothes and strode into the bathroom. He emerged a few minutes later, looking refreshed with a tiny towel knotted around his waist.

  Alexandra swallowed as her gaze trailed down that hard, beautiful body. Then she resolutely shrugged into her bathrobe and disappeared into the bathroom. When she returned minutes later, Leandro was fast asleep, his face looking sweet and almost boyish in his slumber.

  She slipped into her pajamas and crept into bed with him, placing her head onto his chest. Alexandra sighed, feeling as though every last bone in her body had melted away in Leandro’s arms. She sighed contentedly, rubbing her cheek against his hard, hairy chest as she shut her eyes and began to drift off to sleep.

  Chapter Five

  Leandro came awake slowly, savoring the soft feel of a woman’s body pressed against his own. He could not remember waking up with a woman in his arms - ever. He had bedded several women in the past but he had never slept overnight with any one of them. He was a strange man in that regard, but he had always known it was just a matter of meeting the right woman for him.

  He cuddled her closer in his arms. She made him do things he could never have imagined. Incredibly, he realized he was falling in love with her. That was something he had certainly not counted on. Suddenly the tables had turned slightly. How would she react if she found out about the true reason for their meeting? His original suspicions and subsequent manipulations were hardly the stuff of fairy tales. Would she ever forgive him if she learned that they had not just met by chance? His company, Lead Inc had bid for a very huge contract and he had managed to learn that the choice was down to his company and hers. He had come to the Island with the express purpose of convincing her to drop out of the bid. But he had met her, made her laugh, erased the sad, haunted look in her eyes when she spoke of her ex. Apparently he had even helped her to see the reality of her beauty. But now, he wasn’t sure how to come clean without putting that haunted look back in her eyes.

  They had been together for eight days now and she was due to return today but he hadn’t figured out a way to let her know he had wanted something else from her. In fact, he wouldn’t even broach the subject; he would just leave it to the fates and let the best man win, he decided.

  Alexandra stretched in his arms, a smile spreading across her face which was half hidden-by a mass of blond curls as she grinned up at him, “Hi handsome.”

  “Hey sexy,” he responded, dropping a light kiss onto her nose.

  “Why are you smiling like that?” she asked, grinning at him.

  “Because I’m happy. Why are you smiling like that?”

  She grinned wickedly at him. “Happy you asked,” she murmured just before she bent her head and disappeared beneath the sheets.

  He jumped when her warm tongue suddenly laved the tip of his semi-erect penis. His erection immediately sprang to life as she took him completely in her mouth for a moment. Fully-erect, hard and ready, he began to pulse his cock against her ever so slightly. He groaned as she flicked her tongue over the tip again with a feather-light caress of her tongue.

  Suddenly, he flung off the sheets, his eyes widening as he watched her start to take him back in her mouth again. Sensation unlike anything he had ever felt coursed through him and he began to rock his hips with more vigor, thrusting back and forth into her mouth.

  Alexandra grinned enjoying his reaction to her touch as a heady sense of feminine power thrilled through her. She unselfconsciously licked him slowly from base to tip, her blue eyes holding his gaze boldly.

  “You’re driving me crazy,” he grunted, grabbing her head with both hands as though to still her up and down movement.

  Alexandra grinned inwardly. Well duh, that was the idea. Slowly, she released his penis. It glistened wetly and even more invitingly.

  “You were asking why I was smiling?” she said innocently, her blue eyes wide.

  “Yeah I think I now have a general idea. It’s because you’re a little witch,” he chuckled, tumbling her onto her back and following her down.

  His dark eyes caught hers and held them in her gaze. Something glinted in his eyes; something warm and rich. Before she could ascertain what it was, he smiled and it was gone.

  Leandro rubbed the tip of his penis against her opening, and her stomach immediately clenched in reaction. Slowly, he guided it in, groaning as her tight wetness enveloped him.

  She shut her eyes in ecstasy but he kissed her eyelids and said, “Look at me Cara mia. I want to watch you watching me make love to you.”

  He was velvety hard, pulsing with life and passion. She saw and felt herself the sublime pleasure etched into his features as he thrust into her silken sheath.

  Alexandra spread her legs wider and he began to pump his hips in earnest as he made love to her. In seconds, she was hot all over, set on fire by a thousand sensations.

  Panting with mounting excitement, Leandro squeezed one generous breast, kneading roughly as he pounded into her again and again.

  “You’re so tight! So tight and warm,” he groaned as he fucked her. “You’re so wet!”

  “Yes! Yes!” she moaned, mindlessly undulating in his arms even as she strained against him.

  He slipped a hand between them and rubbed his finger against her clitoris again and again wringing new sensations from her already over-sensitized body.

  Leandro grunted louder with each thrust as he increased the tempo, setting her on fire. Alexandra mindlessly raised her hips, arching upwards to match the uniform rhythm of his finger on her clitoris, and of his rapid thrusts into her body. She was helpless to stop the onslaught of feelings he had unleashed; and before she knew it, the dam burst and she was peaking and trembling with ecstasy as she sighed his name and convulsed in his arms.

  Once she had finished cumming, he changed the angle of his thrusts, focusing now on his own primal desires, hammering away at her pussy and groaning as every thrust brought him closer to fulfillment.

  Alexandra reached up one finger and slowly began to circle his nipple with light caresses.

  Leandro threw back his head, his teeth barred as he began to peak. Her name was wrenched from his chest in a mighty groan as he rammed into her one last time before spewing his hot, wet seed straight into her warm, willing body.

  He collapsed beside her, spent and sated as he drew her into the comfort of his arms to still their mutual trembling.

  ***

  “The man is an absolute sex fiend,” Alexandra whispered, laughing into the phone as she spoke to her best friend. Leandro had gone into the bathroom for a quick shower and she had seized the opportunity to call Claire.

  “He sounds positively delicious,” her friend Claire observed dryly from her end.

  “I’m telling you, he is beyond delicious! He... he makes me feel things I’ve never felt before.”

  “Like?”

  Silence.

  “Come on Alexis, you can’t leave me high and dry. My ears are almost falling off,” Claire pleaded. She was the only person in the whole world, besides her parents, who could get away with calling her Alexis.

  “Um, perhaps we’ll talk about that whenever we see. Why did you call?”

  “Nice dodge. Alright, first off, I’m glad you’re having fun and Andrew was over here the other day sniffing around to know where you went; I didn’t tell him zilch!”

  Alexandra waited to feel the familiar pain at hearing Andrew’s name but she felt nothing; not even a dull throb.

  Grinning, she said into the phone, “I hope you tossed him out on his ear.”

  “Sure did, and kicked him in the butt to help him on his way. Also called security and got his ass blacklisted; he can never step foot onto the premises of Beautiful Designs again on their watch.”

  Alexandra snorted with laughter; she knew Claire well enoug
h to know she was serious and not kidding around. The mental image of her prudish partner shoving her foot at Andrew’s ass made her smile.

  Her wandering attention honed in as she caught the last few words of whatever Claire was saying, “ the bid by Beautiful Designs.”

  “Huh? Say that again.”

  “I said I got a call this morning from our guy at Alistairs Plc; he says he thinks Lead Inc may be positioning themselves to either change their bid to a figure below ours, or to convince us to bow out.”

  A cold fist of fear clenched around Alexandra’s heart, “Someone wants us out of the running for Alistairs and you’re just telling me now? You know how much we have riding on that.”

  Silence.

  Alistairs Plc was a company with at least two branches in each state; not to mention some foreign holdings. They had recently decided to rebrand their offices across the states and had invited bids from interior design companies. Beautiful Designs needed the kind of exposure just such a contract would give them if her dream of becoming a household name was to be a reality. Beautiful Designs had sunk months of manpower, research and effort into this bid, not to mention the series of expensive high-powered meetings they had conducted to convince the Board of Alistairs Plc that they were the right people for the job.

  If she lost this deal, it would mean Beautiful Designs had sunk a lot of money down the drain which it really could not afford to lose right now. They had come too far; made it to a point where it was just down to them and some other company. They needed this deal. Besides Beautiful Designs was in debt and if it didn’t get a huge cash infusion soon, they would have to start laying off some people and that was the last thing she wanted.

  “Claire?”

  “I’m here?”

  “Who the hell are the Lead Inc people?”

  Silence reigned at the other end and then quietly, Claire asked, “Have you checked your email recently?”

  “Okay I haven’t. Who’s trying to shove us out the door and why?”

  “They really just want contract as an additional feather in an already heavily-decorated cap. These guys are the big league; I even heard they officially decorate the White House. Last two weeks, someone contacted me and wanted to know if we would drop out of the running but I told them we’re in it to win it. I was going to tell you that day but that was the same day you found out about Andrew and you were so torn up about it. The man was all cocky like his boss is the most persuasive man this side of the planet and when you factor in the fact that he’s the Alarico, you can understand why they have such faith in his abilities.”

  Alexandra fought off a sudden wave of nausea as she digested this latest bit of information. The Alarico? “What is his name?”

  “He’s a Spaniard…Leandro Alarico. He’s a big deal apparently.”

  “Claire, do they know where this Alarico person is at the moment?”

  “Um, I actually demanded to see him and tell the man off myself and the pissy rep assured me that he was out of reach. Something about him needing a working holiday or some such thing.”

  Alexandra felt a great chill chase up her arms and straight into her bones. Her eyes swung to the briefcase lying open on the bed across the room. Wordlessly, she replaced the receiver and turned to stare around Leandro’s suite with new eyes. Who was this man?

  Muffled singing from the bathroom told her he was still in the shower and she hurriedly rushed to peep into the documents lying in his open briefcase. Her heart stopped; it was a copy of a bid by Lead Inc for the same contract. The envelope beside it also revealed some pictures of her as well as some reports detailing her life and her personal habits. Tears blurred her vision. Was this why he had sought her out in Hawaii? Obviously their meeting had not been an accident at all. Everything that had happened  the lovemaking, the laughter, the companionship  it had all been nothing but a master-seducer at work!

  Her sense of betrayal was absolute and complete as she stared at the document. With a flip of her hand, she flung it back into his briefcase and with quick jerky movements, picked up her clothes and fled to the sanctity of her room.

  ***

  Leandro whistled to himself as he emerged from the bathroom. The world suddenly seemed brighter. He felt more cheerful and happier than he could remember. He was interested in finding out more about Alexandra, he wanted to know everything! That was a first for him, most women he dated, he barely knew more than their first names. There was just something unique about her. As much as he was captivated, it also that scared the hell out of him. At some level though, he thought, maybe that’s what I have needed – someone who can really see me.

  He loved her, he realized. He waited to feel choked or trapped but all he felt was exhilarated.

  He would tell her the truth today, he decided.

  “Alexandra?” he called as he dried his hair with a towel, looking around the room. It was empty. Where had she gone? He strode into the adjourning bedroom, but she was not there either.

  A niggle of unease trickled down his spine and he immediately swung about the room, searching wildly for something. He didn’t know what it was but he couldn’t shake the sudden feeling in his guts that there was something he should look out for. His eyes fell on the open briefcase and with a sense of dread, he walked closer. Instantly he knew what had happened. Dammit, he thought to himself. She had found the pictures and the bid. What a mess. He had not gone through the papers yet, but he knew, essentially what he had asked his people investigate for him. He picked up the first document and his jaw tightened as he read what was written on it; the idiot had even detailed where she shopped for lingerie!

  Had she seen these? Of course she had.

  Hurriedly he shoved his legs into his pants and dragged a tee-shirt over his head. He barely remembered to shove his foot into his loafers before he was barreling towards the elevator. He reached her room and shoved open the door; it was just as he had feared! All her belongings were gone.

  Cursing in rapid Spanish,”Mierda, mierda, mierda” Leandro rushed downstairs, his heart in his throat as he looked over the crowd for any glimpse of her.

  “Where is she?” he demanded of the receptionist.

  The young woman took one look at him. All of the staff knew exactly who he was. She responded without asking who he meant, “She left Sir. She checked out.”

  “When?” he bit out so furiously, that the startled receptionist drew back.

  “A few minutes ago Sir. She was in quite a hurry.”

  “Did you see which way she went?”

  “No. But I’ll take a wild stab and say she was heading for the airport.”

  Leandro didn’t wait to hear more; he left at a run, searching even as he headed for the door. But she was already gone. Weakly, he sank onto the pavement in front of the hotel. Whatever brightness had illuminated his day a scant twenty minutes ago had gone out completely.

  Chapter Six

  Alexandra Jordan was a mess. It had been seven weeks since she’d left Hawaii and while Lead Inc had not contacted them at all, she had been unable to get its conniving CEO out of her mind.

  She had also been a nightmare to be around at work because she was so sensitive these days that the least thing set her off. In a single day, she had berated her CFO, fired a janitor and sent two new interns crying from her office after an intense scolding.

  Three weeks after she had returned, the tension around her had been so palpable that Claire had pulled her aside and reminded her she was supposed to have gone on the break to relax and not to return an ogre. She had the temperament of a bear with a sore paw and she knew it.

  When she had noticed that her normally stoic secretary now blanched every single time she so much as looked at the woman, and that even Claire was giving her a wide berth, she had gone home and had a good crying session just to get it all out of her system. These days she was more withdrawn and quiet which was a decided improvement from her earlier raging-bitch persona.

  The pas
t week, she had forced smiles until her cheeks hurt. She had smiled for real though when she learned that Beautiful Designs had somehow clinched the Alistairs Plc contract. Things were looking up, she had thought as she joined her colleagues for a toast in celebration.

  But just when she had started to convince herself that Leandro was not worth her tears, her doctor had delivered what might have been amazing news under other circumstances, but felt pretty grim as things stood now; she was pregnant!

  She had lost some weight, rather than gain some as one might expect, and the bags under her eyes were so prominent they threatened to dwarf her nose. She hadn’t been sleeping much either, she admitted but all that had to change now that she had a baby to think of. She looked around at the park; it was midday and she was pretty much alone. A few kids played in a nearby swing set while adults sat on some benches similar to hers, watching over them.

  Alexandra’s hand rested both pensively as well as protectively on her stomach as she leaned back against the park bench and shut her eyes. She wasn’t showing yet but she already loved the tiny human being inside of her with all her heart. It wasn’t its fault that its father was a two-faced rat! But still, this was not how it was supposed to be!

  “May I sit?” an achingly familiar voice said from right in front of her.

  Alexandra’s eyes flew open disbelievingly. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The two-faced rat was standing right in front of her looking so unbearably handsome that she unconsciously started to grind her teeth. He was wearing a pair of well-washed jeans and a tee-shirt with simple sneakers and yet somehow he managed to look utterly respectable, male and delicious. He was also slimmer than she remembered; he actually looked a little gaunt.

  “What are you doing here?” she whispered, her throat almost closing up. She had been torturing herself with images of his handsome, lying face since Hawaii but seeing him in the flesh was even more painful than her fevered anticipation had imagined.