PARANORMAL ROMANCE: Shapeshifter Romance: The Vampire's Stolen Bride (BBW Fantasy Alpha Male Romance Books) (New Adult Vampire Fun Mature Young Adult Billionaire Steamy Love and Romance Novella)

by Sophia Hunter

  I hovered the cursor over the 'send a message' button but I dared not take the plunge. I looked at the pictures again and saw that she had moved on from me. She was always one to look forward, and we were something from the past. I didn't want to go ruining that memory either. I also figured that if she had wanted to get in touch with me then she could have messaged me when she returned, and that was that. Shortly after seeing her I didn't feel like trawling through the site any longer so I turned my laptop off and crawled to bed.

  Out of idle curiosity I checked my mails the following afternoon and was surprised to see that my inbox had a few messages, some of which were actually from people that I had sent messages too, and I know it was shallow but the fact that these people had chosen to reply to me did give me an ego boost, and I enjoyed the thrill. I was about to reply to the first one when I realized that Shannon had sent me a message. My heart caught in my throat and I stared at the message for a long time, almost not believing that she had messaged me. I clicked it, nerves reverberating through my body.

  'Jenny, hey...surprised to see you on here, and a little sad that you didn't send me a message! Been a long time, would be great to catch up, shoot me a message when you're able x'

  It was such a simple message, and so characteristic of her to keep things light and breezy. Before I knew it I was already tapping out a reply, and anxiously waiting the return message. To occupy my time I looked at the other messages that had been sent to me and I engaged in conversation with them, but I felt bad because I could only think of Shannon. She was the only one I wanted to talk to, the only one I wanted to hear back from, so when she finally did reply I instantly opened her message, not caring whether it made me seem to eager.

  'You're looking good in your photos...yeah I got back a few months ago. Things happened, you know what life is like. It's nice to be back but it feels different to when I was here before, or maybe it's just that I'm different? Maybe I've been away for too long. I'm just surprised to see you on here because, well, I don't want to seem like a stalker but when I got back I looked you up on Facebook and saw that you were in a relationship. I figured that your girlfriend wouldn't have been impressed if you received a message from your ex, especially since I'm sure you told her how intense things were between us ;). But I'm guessing things didn't work out? I'm here to talk about it if you need to. X'

  'I totally know what you mean. I haven't left and even I think the place has changed, but yeah maybe it's just because we're getting older or something. Well, I've never had a stalker before so that's something to cross off the bucket list but I would have liked it if you said hi, I can understand why you didn't though. But yeah, we were having problems then anyway, it's a long story, maybe I'll tell you sometime. Things are still a bit raw, you know? To be honest I'm not even sure why I'm on this thing, it's just so hard to meet people nowadays. You mentioned on your profile that you'd just gone through a breakup, same deal goes for you. If you need to talk about it, I'm here. X'

  I decided not to acknowledge the comment about the intense sex between us, but it did send a flush of arousal surging through my body. Shannon was always good at making me feel good about myself. Whenever she gave me a compliment she had a way of saying it that made me feel like she had never said the words to anyone else, and she always made me feel special.

  'Yeah tell me about it, god, I feel so much older than I did when we were together! That seems so long ago now...so much has happened and I can't even begin to tell you everything. All I know is that everything feels more important now. When I was younger I didn't care if something didn't work out because, hey, there was always tomorrow, but now I'm almost thirty and everything has this weight to it, like I'm going to be locked into a choice forever. Don't worry about it, break-ups are never easy, sounds heavy. I know mine wasn't and thanks for your offer. I don't want to bore you with the details but actually it was kinda similar to what happened with me and you. I was coming back home and he wanted to stay there but this time he asked me to keep things going long distance, and I agreed, figured that we could make it work because we had been talking of spending the future together, even kids and everything (I know, me, talk about kids, who can believe it, right?) And he promised that he would come and see me because I told him that there was no point having a long distance thing if there wasn't a point when we could see each other, and the first time he was supposed to come up he canceled. Then it became harder and harder to get to each other on Skype and I didn't need the hassle of it, so the last time we called we had this big row and he tried to tell me that he was sorry and he would do better but I can't be dealing with that. I just need someone who is reliable. Anyway, so I thought I'd try this thing because, as I'm sure you've experienced, it's hard to meet new people, and I can't just go up to anyone on a bench and start speaking to them anymore! But this isn't great. Too many timewasters. Have you met up with anyone yet? I've had a few first dates but never any second ones...maybe we can grab a drink soon? It'd be great to have a proper conversation again, let me know when you're free x'

  The offer was made in such a way that she expected me to agree, and of course I did. The thought of seeing her again after so much time was exciting and as we arranged the date my heart was beating more and more quickly.

  Chapter 6

  I felt a surprising pang of jealousy when she mentioned her ex and that she'd spoken about children. I don't know why I felt jealous when I had been in a relationship as well, but it was there all the same. We agreed to meet at a bar we used to frequent, and when I arrived she was already there, dressed up for a date even though she said she was looking for friends. Her face lit up as our eyes met for the first time in years and she still had that easy way of making the rest of the world fade into nothingness. She greeted me with open arms and a soft kiss on the cheek that she let linger. Our arms slipped around each other’s bodies and it was so easy to be transported back to that one dreamy, hedonistic summer. She'd already ordered the drinks.

  “I hope you still have your usual,” she said. I did.

  “So here we are, after all this time,” I said, feeling a little awkward. It was one thing to speak online but quite another to be face to face with her. Now that she was sitting before me I could compare her with the image I had of her in my mind. She still had the same refined beauty but her hair was a little darker and there were a couple of lines around her eyes that didn't used to be there. Her skin was darker too, and the warm climate of South America had obviously agreed with her.

  “I know... it's really good to see you again. I'm glad you came across me, I was starting to wonder if there was actually any normal people on there.”

  “I'm not sure I'd classify myself as normal,” I said with a smile.

  “True, true, and you still haven't told me why you didn't message me?” she said, a challenging look in her eyes.

  “I just felt weird, it had been so long and I didn't know if you'd want to hear from me...”

  “Of course I do!” she said, and reached over the table, placing her hand on mine. Our eyes met and I could see something familiar swimming in hers. The gesture was natural, and all the years that lay between us evaporated as swiftly as the love between Lacey and me. My hand met hers and we squeezed our palms together, mending the bridge that had been broken between us.

  “So I told you about mine, now it's your turn to tell me about the story with you and your ex,” she said sliding her hand away from mine and back to resting in front of her. I leaned back in my chair and looked at her, pressing my lips together. I hated how she could get me to talk about anything even when I didn't want to, and I knew that she wouldn't relent until I had told her everything, so there was only one thing to do – I told her all about Lacey and everything that happened.

  Shannon listened without judgment or interruption, and as I spoke I tried to keep my voice even but things were still raw and the wounds had yet to heal properly. I could feel my voice cracking under the weight of emotion as eve
rything came out, all the bitterness about the betrayal I had felt when I found the e-mails to Rebecca and then the emptiness where the love had been. After I had finished I felt drained, but I was glad she was there.

  “You...need another drink,” she said, and ordered two more. It would have been easy for her to ask me more questions or give me some generic advice but that wasn't Shannon's style. She acknowledged what I said but kept the conversation moving so that I didn't have to dwell on the sadness. The drinks flowed as did the laughs and it was like the two of us were back on the bench, sitting together in the sunshine, laughing as we peeled away the layers of our psyche. The dim light of the bar cast us in a romantic ambiance and the more we drank the more we slipped into that easy familiarity of two people who had shared the same bed. We sat next to each other and our legs brushed together. Neither of us attempted to move. I looked at the way her hair fell down her face, covering one eye, and she smiled imperceptibly at me. Her glass was empty so she took mine, something she always used to do, and raised it to her lips, leaving a stain of lipstick against it. It was a way for her to mark her territory, a secret signal that we used to share. It felt like I had been transported through time and was back to that youthful time again. All my jadedness and cynicism had been stripped away, and the hurt that had ensconced my heart was rendered powerless, for nothing could withstand the force of Shannon.

  “You know, I really missed you,” she said in a breathy whisper, bringing her mouth to my ear, so close that I could feel her breath. I closed my eyes and felt my chest heave as I inhaled sharply. Her fingers ran down my thigh and squeezed tightly. All of a sudden I felt my pussy twitch and I wanted her more than I wanted anything. I growled and locked eyes with her, and she wanted it too, I could see everything. We were naked with each other, completely vulnerable, hurt by our exes and the only way to tend to the wounds was to by re-discovering everything we had lost.

  Chapter 7

  When we returned to my apartment the world was a blur of hands and lips and hair. I lost myself in her, just like I always used to do, stumbling about and crashing into things as we kissed. We laughed at the destruction we caused but I didn't care about anything other than being with her. It had been so long since my body had felt true passion that it was screaming loudly and every one of my erogenous zones was alight with a fiery burst of steaming lust.

  Our lips locked and our tongues danced together as we surrendered to the whirling hurricane that enveloped us. It was so easy to be with her, so familiar and natural and I suddenly felt sad that we had missed out on so many years together.

  We tore each other’s clothes away and I was surprised to see the presence of a ring in her navel and a tattoo on her hip, winding down to her thigh. I stroked it with my fingers and kissed it, breathing in her sweet feminine scent, as I grew ever closer to heaven. As I buried myself in her she told me all about her tattoo and what it meant. Her words were strained as they combined with moans. I felt her back arch, and she placed her arms over her head, as if her body was mine. I licked and sucked and got as deep inside her as I could, my hair splayed over her thighs and soon enough I rendered her speechless with the force of my passion. I felt her shudder and it was the sweetest feeling because it made me feel sexy again, and when she moaned my name my heart jumped out of my chest and I traveled up her body once more to lose myself in a long embrace.

  Her hands roamed around my body, and she kept calling me sexy and it made me feel so good because I'd put on a little weight since we had last been together, but she dragged her hand teasingly down the valley in between my breasts and twisted my nipples and then she turned me around, straddling my ass as she pressed herself against me. I felt her breasts flatten against my back and her lips were against my neck, making me tingle with sweet delight. Her hands slid down my sides, tickling me, as she started to kiss my back and spine, and then shifted her body so that she could move her fingers down between my legs, feeling me writhe as she teased and toyed with me, just like she used to do, oh she was always so good at making me come. My eyes squeezed shut as I gave into the delirium and felt my whole body tense and throb for Shannon, my Shannon.

  I clenched the bed sheets as I tried to brace myself for the pain and I twisted my neck so that I could see her. Her red hair fell over her face once more, but when I looked at her I saw love, and I started to think that maybe, after everything I'd been through and everything that had happened with Lacey, just maybe I deserved a second chance. And that was the last thought as the pleasure gripped my mind and I felt thunder rumble through my body.

  THE END

  The Best Woman

  The Best Woman

  Chapter 1

  “Are you ready?” Natalie asked as she adjust Tom's tie, looking at the both of them in the mirror. Tom's face was lined with worry and as she stood close to him she could tell that his heart was beating rapidly. He laughed nervously, and dabbed the sweat off his temples with a tissue.

  “It's been a long time coming. If I'm not ready now then I'm never going to be,” he said, then inhaled deeply. Natalie brushed his shoulders and squeezed his arms, turning her to face him. She cupped his head in her hands and looked directly into his eyes.

  “You are an amazing guy and Lydia is an amazing woman, and you're both damn lucky to have found each other. You have nothing to be nervous about,” she said. Tom smiled and breathed a little easier.

  “I couldn't have done this without you,” he said, and gave her a loving hug.

  “You know I've always got your back, and I'll be standing right beside you when we're up there. You're going to be there, and Lydia is going to look so beautiful, and you're going to feel like a million bucks.”

  “Right now I just feel like I'm going to vomit. What if I say the wrong thing? Or I forget my name? If I mess up anything Lydia is going to be so mad. This is her special day after all.” He spoke quickly and frantically and Natalie had to temper her frustration with him.

  “Tom, I love you but you always get yourself so worked up about things. This is your wedding day, you deserve to enjoy it too. This is the beginning of the rest of your life, and I'm so jealous of you right now because the two of you are going to be so happy.”

  “Yeah, you're right.”

  “I usually am.”

  “Thank you for being here with me.”

  “I'm just glad you asked me. Are you sure Lydia isn't upset that I'm your best woman? I'm still honored that you chose me I mean, out of everyone...you could have gone for your brother or something.”

  “Yeah, he was really pissed about that,” Tom said, laughing, “but there was no other choice. You're more than a friend, more than a sister could ever have been either. I mean, we've known each other for longer than we can remember and there was no-one else I'd rather have by my side. Besides, it's not like we've ever done things normally anyway. And no, Lydia wasn't upset. She knows how much you mean to me.”

  “I'm glad of that. I don't know what would have happened if she hadn't been okay with this.”

  “If anyone had an issue with you being my friend then you would win, every time, and don't you ever forget that. You're the most important person in my life.”

  “Don't let your wife hear you say that,” Natalie said.

  “You know what I mean,” Tom said, scowling a little. Natalie squeezed him on the arm again and her eyes were filled with heartfelt appreciation.

  “I still remember the first time she caught you round my place,” Tom continued, still fussing with his appearance while looking in the mirror, “I thought she was going to go mad. She was so jealous. It was kinda funny in a way, to see her get so worked up about it. But she was fine when I told her that you were lesbian.”

  “Yeah, I kinda got the vibe that she wasn't too keen on me at the start.”

  “I think she was just being territorial. She's cool with it though.”

  “I just hope that I actually meet someone at this wedding. This is the first one I've ever gone to w
here my family hasn't been involved. I feel so free!” Natalie said, stretching out her arms and smiling widely. Her hair was curled and cascaded along her right shoulder in a long auburn wave, reaching down to her red dress, which she wore in keeping with the color scheme that Tom and Lydia had agreed upon.

  “You look very handsome, and if I wasn't gay then I'd be in serious trouble right now,” Natalie said. Tom laughed and the two friends gave each other a long, tight hug. When Natalie let him go she found herself becoming overwhelmed with emotion and forced herself to hold the tears back because she had promised herself that she wasn't going to cry, for she didn't want Tom to have to comfort her. It was his day, and she was going to do her utmost to be the best best woman she could be.

  Chapter 2

  There was a knock at the door to the small room. Tom and Natalie glanced at each other.

  “This is it,” Natalie said. Tom rocked on his heels as Natalie opened the door. One of the ushers poked his head in and told them that they were ready for Tom, so the two of them walked out through the small hotel and into the hall where the wedding was being held. Lydia and Tom had only wanted a small, intimate celebration. Both of them had small families so even with many friends invited they didn't need a huge venue. They had opted for a small bed and breakfast out in the country, which was set against a backdrop of trees and fields, giving everyone a sense that they had left the city and traveled to another world which was reminiscent of something out of a fairy tale. The rooms were cozy, and everything had an intimate feeling.