Shifters in the Snow: Bundle of Joy: Seventeen Paranormal Romances of Winter Wolves, Merry Bears, and Holiday Spirits

by J. K Harper

“No.” Her sister sounded very sure.

  Amani pulled up Google Maps.

  “Okay, I’ve got an address.” She gave it to her sister, who had perfect recall.

  “I can send a car to pick you up in an hour. Will you be ready by then?”

  “Yeah, absolutely.” Amani looked around. She’d have to shove her dirty laundry into her suitcase — she hadn’t found a washer and dryer — but that was it. He had swept her up like a waving heading for shore. She didn’t know why she’d gotten tangled up with some crazy maniac who met her, fucked her, proposed to her, and then vanished like smoke, but she didn’t really want to see him again.

  When the car came, she was waiting outside with her suitcase. She loaded her suitcase and climbed into the back seat. As they went down the long gravel driveway, she didn’t turn to look at the safe house that she’d left behind.

  Doctor’s Office

  Amani

  TWO MONTHS LATER

  When the door opened to her exam room, Amani said, “The flu test was positive, right?”

  Amani had been incredibly exhausted after her weird interlude with the Sicarii and the man who had vanished. She didn’t even know if his name was really Gerard. She still had four weeks left of her sick leave, but she needed to go back to work.

  Some days, she wondered if it was an elaborate ruse. But she’d checked things out, and there were rumors of the Sicarii if you knew where to look. She had to try to extend her medical telework — if she couldn’t, she’d go back to work. She’d be a sitting duck.

  She’d barely left the house that her sister had directed her to, but she’d been exhausted for so long that Zuwena had made her go see a doctor.

  “Well, we did the flu test and we did a quick test with your blood.”

  “And I have the flu.”

  “I’m afraid not. Miss Amani, you’re pregnant.”

  Amani leaned back onto the table. The room felt like it was spinning around her. She felt like she’d been sucker punched.

  “Miss Amani — are you okay?”

  “Pregnant?” she asked weakly.

  “Yes, you’re pregnant. We’re pretty sure. You don’t have the flu.”

  Pregnant. Amani touched her soft stomach. There was a baby growing inside of her. She smiled softly at the idea.

  “You’ll need to read some pregnancy pamphlets. Just ask the front desk for them when you check out. Do you have a partner?” the doctor asked gently.

  Amani shook her head. “I don’t.”

  “Okay, well, you can take parenting classes on your own. You’re better off with a partner, a friend or a relative.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Are you keeping the baby? I guess I’ve assumed that you are, but if you don’t have support…”

  “I can take care of the baby,” Amani said more firmly than she felt.

  “Very well. I want to send you to an OBGYN.”

  “Okay,” Amani said softly.

  “Be careful driving home, now, you hear?”

  “Yes. Thanks.”

  Amani got off of the table/bed, waved at her doctor, and went to sign out. She handed them her credit card while still turning the news over in her mind. When she had her receipt, she thanked them and walked out to her car.

  Pregnant.

  She knew who the father was, of course. She’d only had sex with one man in the past few years. Zuwena said that she was too picky, but it came down to being busy at work and not particularly interested in the hassle of a relationship. There were plenty of girls who needed to have a boyfriend. Amani wasn’t one of them. She liked boys, but she didn’t care enough to chase them.

  Gerard had chased her, saved her life, and then vanished. It was strange. Zuwena said that once she felt safe, Amani should trying getting out there, but Amani didn’t feel safe. She knew that there were people still looking for her.

  She’d stopped digging into the information that she’d gathered, information that could’ve meant her death.

  She’d caught up on all the movies she meant to watch and all the books that she’d put in her to-be-read pile. She understood a lot of pop culture references now, but she was starting to get cabin fever. Zuwena had a little exercise bike in her hideout, so at least Amani wasn’t growing sideways, but Amani was used to going out and about. Her feet were itchy.

  At least a baby would fill her life. She smiled bitterly. She had enough money saved up that the baby would have everything it needed, but it’d be a tight squeeze. She didn’t even know Gerard’s last name, so she couldn’t track him down. When she’d walked out of that house, she’d walked out of his life. She wasn’t going to show up on his doorstep with a baby in a little carrier.

  No. She was a grown woman who was more than capable of taking care of her own business, which included her baby.

  In a daze, she went to the mall on the way home. She know she shouldn’t, but she also didn’t think that anybody would catch her in a mall full of people. Everyone was frantically shopping for last-minute Christmas presents. She went into the baby stores and admired the tiny clothing with outrageously cute and funny slogans on them. She bought some androgynous clothing, since she didn’t know which gender the baby would be. Lots of yellow. She used her card, since she didn’t have enough cash to handle everything that she’d bought.

  By the time she was done at the mall, her feet hurt and she was more than ready to pass out at Zuwena’s second home.

  She drove herself home carefully. When she got in the door, she left her bags next to the door and began to strip. By the time she got into her bedroom, she dove, totally naked, for her bed. She wrapped herself up in her blankets. At least she didn’t have narcolepsy.

  She was pregnant.

  Knocked

  Amani

  Somebody was hammering on her door. Didn’t they know that it was Christmas Eve?

  “Five minutes,” she told her mom. “Just five more minutes.”

  “Amani, open up!”

  Not her mom. Amani was abruptly fully awake.

  Gerard was downstairs.

  Amani threw on a dress and went to peek out her peephole.

  Yup. Gerard was outside. She tried not to make a sound.

  “Amani, I heard you come down the stairs. Open up. We have to talk.”

  Amani felt childish enough to make a face at the door.

  “Amani, I know you’re there. Open the door or I’ll kick it in.”

  There was a solid thump on the door. Amani knew that he would. She didn’t know what Zuwena was paying for this place, but she didn’t want to damage anything, even if she wasn’t the one who was trying to kick in the door.

  Amani went to unlock the door and let Gerard in.

  As soon as the door was open, Gerard swept in. He tripped on the baby clothing bags.

  “What the…” he began, only to look at the bags that he’d tripped over.

  “You’re going to a baby shower.”

  “Uh…” Amani didn’t know what to say.

  “You’re pregnant?” Gerard whispered, his face as white as salt.

  If Amani had made a list of the top ten ways that she could’ve told Gerard that she was having his baby, she wouldn’t have chosen having him trip over a pile of baby clothing.

  But now the cat — or panther — was out of the bag.

  Gerard went into the living room.

  “Sit down. Let’s talk about this.”

  Amani went and sat down in a chair. She was reminded of their earlier conversation in her apartment.

  “You proposed to me after we…”

  “After we fucked, yeah.”

  Amani blushed furiously. “Do you have to be so blunt?”

  “I’m a bottom line guy. So we’ll have to get married a little faster than we planned. It’s a good Christmas present.”

  “I wasn’t planning on marrying you.”

  “Are you jilting me at the altar?”

  “No, Gerard. You just left one day an
d disappeared. Why do you think that I’d feel comfortable enough to marry you? Why would I trust you? You abandoned me once — what if you abandoned the two of us?”

  “I was kidnapped.”

  Amani’s jaw dropped.

  “What?”

  “I would’ve come back to you, I swear, but I got kidnapped by the Sicarii. Do you see this scar?”

  Gerard pointed to a white scar that was near his right ear. It wasn’t there the last time that Amani had seen him.

  “What happened to you?”

  “Just a little bit of torture,” he said casually, as if it didn’t matter.

  “Torture!”

  “They wanted to know where I’d put you. I’ve been hunting them, but they’re just amused about that. They’re interested in putting you away. They don’t want anybody at the DOJ looking into their origins.”

  “But I don’t know anything!”

  “They don’t think that you are harmless, let’s put it that way.”

  “If you were kidnapped, how did you even get out?”

  “Jacobson.”

  “Jacobson?”

  “When you left the safe house, he notified me…or tried. But after he couldn’t get in touch, he knew something was wrong. He traced my steps to Morgantown and picked up the trail. He eventually brought in a team to grab me at night.”

  “When did you get out?”

  “A month ago…I’ve been looking for you since then, but I couldn’t find you.”

  “How did you find me? Zuwena assured me that this house was hidden.”

  “Your sister! I should’ve thought that you’d go to her own hiding place. I checked her house, but not this place.”

  “Yeah, this is Zuwena’s other home. It’s little, but it’s safe enough. How did you get around that?”

  “When you used your credit card today, we saw which area you were in. We used the cameras in the parking lot to find your license plate and then track it through several traffic lights. When I saw that car outside of this one, I knew you were here.”

  Amani closed her mouth. “You have serious resources. I thought that you were a private investigator — but if that’s true, then you have some pretty deep pockets.”

  Gerard shrugged. “When I want something, I go for it.”

  Amani couldn’t help but be flattered by his intensity and his hunt for her.

  “Well, you’ve found me. And before you try to whisk me back to West Virginia, I don’t think that it’s substantially safer than Zuwena’s place.”

  “Well, it’s a little small for two people, but I don’t mind.”

  “You’re not staying here. I’d have to clear it with Zuwena.”

  He reached forward to grab her smartphone from her pocket.

  “Hey!”

  He ignored her as he opened her phone app and pressed the button that said ICE-Zuwena Sister. Then he hit the speaker button.

  “Amani, I’m a little busy. I’m in a meeting and…”

  “Gerard is here.”

  “What?”

  “You’re on speaker.”

  “Excuse me.”

  Amani could hear a door close.

  “What the hell is going on?!” Zuwena roared into the phone.

  “I went to the mall yesterday and apparently he tracked my card.”

  “Motherfucker!”

  “Zuwena, it’s cool. The wedding is back on.”

  “Fuck no. This asshole left you high and dry. What would stop him from doing it again?”

  “Uh, if you want the asshole’s opinion, I won’t do it again.”

  “He was kidnapped by the people hunting me.” Amani explained the whole thing to her sister. “So you see, it’s not his fault.”

  Silence.

  Zuwena finally spoke. “Okay, I believe you because it’s too crazy to be fictitious. But I’m telling you, Asshole Gerard, that I am watching you. And if you hurt my baby sister like that again, there’ll be hell to pay.”

  “Gotcha.” Gerard didn’t even look scared. He didn’t know what Zuwena was capable of. She never got mad. She only got even, and she was extremely clever about it. Right now, Zuwena was probably taking steps to learn Gerard’s last name. Heck, Zuwena probably already had a dossier on Gerard. Amani hadn’t asked her sister to look for him, but Zuwena probably had done it anyway.

  “Do you want to come to the wedding? We’re going to fly to Vegas, if you want to come with.”

  “Zuwena, you don’t have to answer right now. Go back to your meeting. I promise we’ll be here when you’re done at work.”

  Gerard shook his head, but Amani persisted. “It’s a lot to take in,” she said to both of them, “and it’s better to sit on it for a little while.

  “I hope you’re happy, baby sister,” Zuwena said.

  “I’m trying,” Amani replied.

  “I’ll see you tonight. I’ll drive there straight from work.” Zuwena hung up the phone. Amani slid her phone back into her pocket.

  “Vegas?”

  “No waiting period. If you get married in some places, you have to wait for a little while after getting your marriage license. I just want to have you take my name as soon as possible.”

  Gerard leaned forward and gave Amani a kiss that almost made her spontaneously combust.

  “Bedroom?”

  “Upstairs.”

  Gerard threw Amani over his shoulder and took her upstairs to the only bedroom. He carefully deposited her on the bed before settling his big, hard body on top of hers, smashing her into the mattress.

  She could feel the hard erection pressing between her legs, but they were both clothed.

  “Take my clothes off.”

  He tore them off of her body before quickly slipping out of his own.

  And then they were naked together on top of the bedspread.

  Gerard put a hand on her body and traveled from her shoulder all the way down to her knee. He kissed her deeply as he pulled her thigh over his upper thigh. She could feel him nudging at her entrance already.

  “You ready, baby?”

  “Yes.”

  When he thrust forward, Amani’s eyes closed. She moaned involuntarily.

  “Ah…so good.”

  “If you can still talk, I’m not doing my job right.”

  He rolled them so that Amani was on top of him, riding him. His eyes were glued to the motion of her breasts. Amani’s head fell back as she accepted him into her body over and over again. His hands were on her hips and he set the rhythm. She was only along for the ride.

  Then abruptly she was pulled off of him.

  “Want to 69?”

  Without waiting for a response, he arranged their bodies. She shivered when he gave her the first long lick. She took his dick into her mouth, tasting her tart juices and his salty precome mixed together.

  He was pulling her thighs a little further apart now. She was careful not to bite his dick, but it was difficult to concentrate when her whole body was caught up in a mind-shattering orgasm. She had to let go of his cock when she had her first orgasm.

  When she could think again, Gerard put her on the bottom again and he was grinding into her, swerving his hips in the perfect way to stimulate her. She either didn’t stop orgasming or experienced a second one after the first, because her body was milking him.

  “Damn,” Gerard swore as he spilled inside of her.

  Then he rolled to the side and pulled her close.

  “Was that good for you, baby?”

  “You know it was.” She gently swatted his shoulder even though her eyelids were drooping.

  “Sex with you is always so draining.”

  “Draining?”

  “I mean energy depleting. And don’t go grinning about your masculinity or virility either. I’m so tired.”

  “Is the baby okay? Is it okay to have sex when you’re pregnant?”

  “Yeah. I have some pamphlets, but I think Zuwena said that it’s okay. Not totally sure, but I’m pretty sure.”
>
  “When are you due?”

  “Nine months after our first time.”

  Amani had her eyes closed, but she knew that he was smiling. She fell asleep right there, wrapped in his arms.

  Private Jet

  Amani

  “Amani! Put some clothes on. You, too, Asshole Gerard.”

  “What?” Amani asked sleepily. What was her sister doing here?

  “You knew that I was coming here right after work! Get dressed. There’s a flight to Vegas at Reagan if you want to catch it.”

  Gerard spoke up. Amani was relieved to see that he was under the sheets, as she was.

  “We’re not flying commercial. We’re taking my jet.”

  Zuwena’s eyebrows shot up. “Convenient.”

  “Yeah. If you can give us some privacy, we’ll get dressed and then get ready to go.”

  Zuwena flounced out of the room.

  Gerard leaned over and kissed Amani’s bare shoulder.

  “Hey.”

  “Let’s clean up.”

  They went into the bathroom and took a functional, short shower. Gerard slapped her butt as she got out and toweled off. They both got clean clothes and put them on before going downstairs to face the music.

  “So, bring me up to speed on all of this.” Zuwena was eating an apple.

  “I was kidnapped, I escaped, and I looked for her. Whatever training you have, it’s good, because I couldn’t find her.”

  “She knows better than to try to pay for things with a credit card.”

  “Apparently not,” Amani sighed. “There were just too many cute things to buy and not enough cash to buy them.”

  “You realize that babies have to constantly get new clothing since they grow so fast, right?” Zuwena was still eating her apple.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “So you’ve just blown everything so you could buy baby outfits?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Unbelievable.” Zuwena sighed. “At least I’m getting a private jet trip out of this.”

  “Way to look for the silver lining.” Gerard smiled at Zuwena. “Let’s drive to the airport. I can notify them in the app that I want to fly out now.”

  “But I haven’t packed anything,” the two sisters said in unison.