Romance: Claimed By The Ape: BBW Shapeshifter Romance Standalone (Spicy Shifters Book 4)

by Ashley Hunter

  Brock wasn't going to argue with that.

  "Ren's the quiet type, preferring to be with a good book than a night on the town. She's also a fitness bunny. The batteries never stop with this woman. She cycles to and from work and she also runs every day. Since the age of seventeen, she has competed the Boston marathon every year. Don't be deceived by those curves; this girl can easily keep up with you and overtake you. She likes to keep people on her toes."

  Brock could imagine that. He stared at Ren as she managed to keep her head up. And noticed the slight tremble in her hand, the fear in her eyes. She was nervous. Brock wondered why she was doing this if she was nervous.

  But that question died away when his serpent hissed and writhed. Brock didn't need to guess what it meant. It smelt its mate clearly. Brock closed his eyes and inhaled. There it was. The smell of his mate.

  And it was coming from Ren's direction.

  Brock opened his eyes, knowing that his eyes had changed. He blinked to clear them and made a decision.

  He raised his hand to make the first bid.

  Their First Date

  He had bid. Ren stared at the man who had given the highest bid and won her. She had only seen one picture but she knew exactly who he was. Brock Willier.

  Billionaire recluse Brock Willier had successfully won her for a date. For thirty thousand dollars.

  Ren's head was spinning. This couldn't be real. She wasn't expecting to raise that much but it had happened. To start with, it had been between two middle-aged men, neither of them particularly attractive, bidding up to over ten thousand dollars. Ren had been bracing herself to accept a date with either of these men - neither looked very inviting - when Brock had made his bid of thirty thousand. When her two bidders saw who was competing for her, they had backed off and Brock had easily won.

  Now Ren was about to go on a date with the most eligible bachelor in Boston. And she was terrified.

  She hurried off the stage, wafting at her face with her hands to cool the flush.

  "Oh, my God. Oh, my God."

  "What's wrong?"

  Alasia hurried to her side as Ren staggered through the door and into the corridor. She leant against the wall, her head pounding with what she had seen. This couldn't be real, could it?

  "I can't believe it." She gasped.

  "Neither can I." Alasia looked impressed. "You got Brock Willier? That's incredible. I've been forcing him to come to this event for four years and we've never been able to get him to bid on anyone. We've only been given a check at the end of the night."

  Ren stared at her. Brock had never bid on anyone before? She didn't know whether to be flattered or worried. Agreeing to do this for charity because it was on her bucket list was one thing but going out with a gorgeous man like Brock Willier was something else entirely. She wasn't sure if she could handle being in the same room as him.

  Alasia seemed to sense her nerves and approached her, giving her a one-armed hug.

  "Take it easy, Ren. I know Brock. He's not actually that bad. He's a pretty decent guy. When you're not trying to flirt with him, that is." She squeezed Ren's shoulders. "Just be yourself. That always makes people relax."

  Ren knew she was right. There was no need to get into a flap about it just because she had actually gotten a date with a man who could make any woman weak at the knees. And Ren's knees had felt weak. It was the strongest reaction Ren had ever had towards men.

  She straightened up and rolled her shoulders.

  "I'll try. But it won't be easy."

  "Of course it will." Alasia nudged her towards the dressing room. "Go and get changed. And be quick. I'll make sure he waits."

  Ren wobbled on her way back, her focus on the imminent date rather than on controlling her shakes. Then she got herself back under control and walked as sedately as she could into the dressing room, retrieving her things and ducking into the toilet room before anyone could talk to her.

  She knew they would be curious but Ren didn't want to talk to anyone. Especially Anslee. The bitch queen would be expecting Brock to be there to bid on her and would be furious that he wasn't.

  The thought of stealing Anslee's thunder did make Ren giggle for a moment. It would serve the girl right. But Ren wasn't the sort of person to be unkind and dismissed the thoughts. She needed to focus on not making a complete fool of herself and keeping her body under control. If Brock even scented the slightest thing wrong with her he was hightail it out of there.

  Ren didn't want a knock to her self-confidence when she needed it the most.

  Dressing in her jeans and her favourite dark blue sweater, she let her hair down and gave it a quick brush. Then she sat on the lowered toilet seat and took out her diary from her bag. Fishing out her pen, she opened up to her bucket list and scanned down until she saw 'help give money to charity'. She crossed it off firmly before closing her diary with a snap and putting both diary and pen back into her bag.

  Standing, Ren looked at her reflection in the mirror. She didn't look too bad. She scrubbed up nicely. It would do. It wasn't as if she had prepared for a date with an eligible bachelor.

  Ren left the bathroom, ducking through the room before anyone noticed her, and entered the corridor. Alasia was by the stage door, taking to Brock. In her heels added to her five-nine height, she was easily on Brock's eye-level.

  Ren stopped a moment and stared at her date. God, he was gorgeous. Over six feet over slim, firm muscle, jet-black hair that curled at the collar and a rugged complexion that belied his twenty-nine years. He wore all black: black shirt open at the collar, no tie, black jacket and black slacks. Black shoes finished off the ensemble.

  He looked dark and dangerous. Ren was reminded of the vampires she read about in her romance novels. If they needed a template for the vampire hero, Brock Willier would be it.

  Then Brock seemed to sense that she was there. He turned his head and his dark eyes speared her to the spot. Ren's body heated and she felt her breasts getting heavy. Swallowing, she squared her shoulders and approached him, clutching her bag to her chest.

  "Mr Willier."

  "Miss Riceluk."

  Wow. Even his deep voice did something to Ren's insides. She trembled. Alasia grinned and sent Ren a wink.

  "I'll leave you to it." She patted Brock's arm. "Thanks for the check, Brock."

  "My pleasure, Alasia." Brock kissed her cheek. "Have fun."

  Alasia patted his cheek and went back through the stage door. Ren raised an eyebrow.

  "You know Alasia?"

  "We're old friends." Brock chuckled at Ren's surprised expression. "She's not a conquest. I haven't got my fangs into her."

  "I should know that. She prefers people without cocks."

  Brock laughed. It was a deep rumbling laugh that had Ren wanting to swoon. Dear God, whoever said Brock Willier was an ice-cold man obviously hadn't seen this side of him. He was smoking-hot in Ren's opinion.

  Brock took Ren's arm and they began to walk towards the side door. At five-three, Ren felt tiny compared to Brock and had to almost jog to keep up with his easy stride.

  "I thought we'd go to that seafood-Italian restaurant on Hanover Street." Brock said. He glanced at her. "Do you like seafood or pasta?"

  "I like pasta fine." Ren loved a plate of pasta. Nevertheless she hesitated. "But..."

  Brock stopped and turned, a frown appearing between his eyes.

  "But what?"

  Ren knew she should just keep quiet and let them have the date where Brock wanted to go but she didn't want to have a miserable time. And she didn't want Brock to be bored. If they were going to have this date then they would do it on her terms. The place Brock had mentioned was nice but very pricey. Ren didn't want pricey. She wanted real.

  "I don't want to go anywhere fancy." She admitted. "That's not my style. I'd be happy with a cup of coffee and a burger."

  She bit her lip. Brock stared at her, surprise evident in his eyes. Then the surprise cleared and he shrugged.

 
; "Well, if that's what you want, we can do that."

  Ren stared. Had he just agreed with her?

  "Really?"

  "Really. This is the first time I've actually put a bid on a woman here so I'm really just going through the motions. And," He looked slightly embarrassed, "It's been a while since I've been on a date."

  Ren was surprised at that. He hadn't been on a date for a while? That didn't sound right.

  "If you have a better idea, I'll go with it." Brock added.

  Ren grinned. Maybe this would be a better date, after all.

  "I know just the place."

  #

  "Here you go, honeybuns."

  The buxom middle-aged waitress put their third coffees in front of Ren and Brock, gave Brock a wink and Ren an approving look before retreating back to the kitchen. Ren chuckled. She had known Dotty Caterham for years and Dotty had been asking her for months when she was going to bring a man to introduce to her. Brock was the first man Ren had allowed to come to her favourite diner. And from Dotty's reaction she thoroughly approved of the choice.

  Pity it was only one date.

  Brock raised an eyebrow as Ren spooned in four heaps of sugar into her coffee.

  "Do you really need all that sugar?"

  Then Ren realized what she was doing. She was doing what she would do if she weren’t on a date instead of toning down. Putting the spoon down hurriedly, she lowered her head as she began to blush and put her hands in her lap.

  "I have a really sweet tooth." She muttered. She glanced up at Brock. "Sorry if I've offended you."

  "You've not offended me." Brock smiled and reached for the spoon, putting two sugars into his own cup, stirring as he watched her. Ren couldn't keep her eyes off his long fingers. "It's refreshing to have a woman who keeps to what she is instead of changing for other people."

  Ren wasn't sure how to take Brock. There was still the cold persona and he froze up whenever the conversation turned personal, but he was different to how everyone portrayed him as. He could smile, he could laugh and he could hold an intelligent conversation - providing it wasn't about his personal life. Ren could go with that. She respected boundaries.

  They had taken a walk in the park before going into the diner and they had talked for nearly an hour, Brock offering Ren his jacket to keep her warm. He was a gentlemen, although he did his best to keep his distance. Ren could see he was a little uncomfortable but he was slowly loosening up.

  "Life's too short to be fake." She said quietly.

  Brock's eyes locked with hers.

  "That's true enough." He murmured.

  Ren swallowed. The air between them was hot and heavy and it was making her body react in ways that it hadn't before. She squeezed her thighs together to stop the ache between her legs and reached for her coffee.

  "Alasia says you go to the bachelorette auction but this is the first time you've put a bid in."

  "It is." Brock sipped at his coffee. The watch on his wrist glinted. "Usually I go along, pretend to be interested, give Alasia the check at the end of the night and she and I wind up eating Chinese and watching old horror movies at her apartment."

  Ren laughed. That sounded like the Alasia she knew.

  "Sounds like you two are good friends if she can get you to do that."

  "I've known Alasia since we were at university."

  "You went to Northeastern?"

  "Sure did. Alasia's sound. I like her." Brock sat back. "She'll make a woman a fantastic partner one day."

  "That she will." Ren looked at him curiously. Trusting Brock because he was Alasia's friend was her immediate instinct but she didn't want to go with that just yet. "What made you want to bid this time?"

  Brock was silent for a moment. His gaze was piercing and Ren felt very warm under his jacket. Something in her suddenly wanted her to climb across the table and sit in his lap, kissing him as she ripped off his clothes. She blinked and pushed the image away, although her pussy was throbbing and saying it sounded like a good idea.

  "Honestly?" Brock put his cup down. "I don't know." He sat back, folding his arms across his chest. "But you drew me in. I was curious."

  "I drew you in?" Ren snorted. "That's a novelty."

  "What? You don't think you're attractive?"

  "Attractive?" Ren shrugged. "I guess. Anything beyond that and I know you've been snorting something."

  "You haven't got a high opinion of yourself, have you?"

  Ren winced. She knew this made her sound bizarre given what she had said about her size earlier but she was screwed up when it came to herself.

  "I'm a bit of a contradiction." She admitted. "I say you're happy whatever shape you are and I'm happy with my body but I don't think I'm beautiful."

  "That is a contradiction."

  "And you're thinking I'm a very strange woman."

  Brock's mouth twitched.

  "I think all of us can plead guilty to being strange on something in our lives."

  "You mean like you?"

  Ren closed her mouth when she realized what she had said. Brock raised an eyebrow.

  "What part of me is strange? Do I have a tail or two heads that I haven't noticed?"

  Ren knew she would need to explain herself. There was no backing out now. She took a breath.

  "I mean you pass yourself off as cold and you won't let anyone in. But we've talked for nearly an hour and a half and we've talked about anything and everything that isn't close to home." She sat forward. "I think you're just afraid of letting people get too close. You're a very private man, which is fine and everything, but it causes you to push people away."

  Ren thought she had said too much when Brock was silent a little longer than she was comfortable with. She squirmed in her seat, wishing he would say something. She had blown this date, she knew it, but Ren didn't like being kept hanging.

  Brock tilted his head to the side and surveyed her thoughtfully.

  "You're far too astute for someone who's so young." He said solemnly.

  Ren relaxed. She hadn't blown it just yet.

  "I'm wise beyond my years."

  "So, you think if I was less private, I would be able to allow people to care? That I'd be more approachable?"

  "It's your choice." Ren reached for her cup. Realizing that her hand was shaking, she cupped the enamel and waited for the shakes to ease off. "But you'd find it a lot better if you let people into that head of yours."

  "I think I'd prefer people to stay out." Brock grunted. "When you begin to care, it hurts like hell when you lose that someone."

  "Or maybe it's nice to know that person is cared about when they go." Ren shot back.

  "Would you want people to care when you die?"

  Ren's breath caught. He couldn't know. Could he?

  "Would you?" She asked breathlessly.

  "I've not got many friends who would care."

  "And whose fault is that?"

  Ren picked up her cup and raised it to her lips. But her shakes suddenly got the better of her and the cup slipped from her fingers. It upended onto the table, splashing coffee across the table. Brock was out of his seat faster than Ren could keep up with him as coffee spread across the table top and dripped onto his seat. Had he stayed his lap would have been covered.

  The coffee also spilled onto Ren's lap, her jeans getting warm from the liquid. It splashed onto Brock's jacket. But she couldn't move. She could only stare at the mess.

  "Ren?" Brock knelt beside her, touching her cheek to make her look at him. "Are you okay?"

  Ren stared at him. She knew what had happened. But she couldn't tell him. She didn't want anyone's pity. And she didn't want the humiliation of this man running away from her. The door to the kitchen opened and Dotty came hurrying through.

  "Ren, darling? What's happened?"

  "We had an accident." Brock said grimly. Taking Ren's arm, he drew her out of the booth and urged her to stand. "Are you hurt?"

  Ren shook her head. Her jeans would live and
she wasn't scalded. It was just her pride that was hurt.

  "You two go on and sit down." Dotty fussed them to another table. Since it was a quiet night, the place was half-empty. "I'll clean it up and fetch you some more coffee. On the house."

  "Thank you." Brock gave her a smile and fished out a hundred-dollar bill, which he stuffed into Dotty's apron. "For your troubles, ma'am."

  "Thank you, sir." Dotty gave him a curtsy and glanced at Ren. "Look after her, will you, sir? She looks very pale."

  "I plan to."

  Dotty nodded and moved away. Ren looked at Brock's jacket and saw the splashes of coffee. She groaned.

  "I'm so sorry. I've ruined your jacket."

  "That can be cleaned." Brock gripped her chin gently and urged her to look at him. His face was creased with concern. "Are you sure you're okay?"

  "I'm fine." Ren managed a shaky smile. "It was just a little heavy. I guess I'm more tired than I thought."

  That wasn't the truth but that was what Ren was sticking to. Brock looked like he didn't believe her but he didn't push it.

  "Do you want another coffee?"

  Ren shook her head.

  "Not really."

  "Then let's go for a walk." Brock stood and pulled her to her feet. "That should calm you before I take you home."

  Ren managed a grin.

  "You see?" She teased. "You do care."

  "On occasions, I can be human." Brock slipped an arm round her waist and allowed her to lean against him. "Let's go."

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