Rascal (Edgewater Agency Book 2)

by Kyanna Skye

  Now, at 29, she had an amazing job that she loved teaching kindergarteners at one of the best k-12 charter schools in the area, and a quaint home of her own, which she had signed the last check for six months ago.

  But for years she had felt the empty ache in her life continue to grow, until she found herself reading an article about a woman who had gotten pregnant using donor fertilization at the Jackson Fertility Clinic.

  For the next three years Amelia had worked hard, saved her money, and delved into research, learning more about the donor fertilization process, all the while hoping for the right guy to come along. Well, she was tired of waiting for Mr. Right to happen by and make her dreams come true. She was ready to take her life into her own hands.

  Amelia was about to get up and ask the nurse at the reception desk how much longer it would be, when the chime of the door opening chirped loudly. She turned to look at the new comer, desperate for a distraction, and froze.

  The sexiest man she had ever seen stood just in the doorway, looking concerned, not slightly perturbed, and his dark brows slashing over unusual gold eyes. Her gaze swept up and over jet black hair that curled just slightly where it brushed the tops of his broad shoulders, lending him an unkempt, wild look. Her eyes took in the chiseled pecks and the hint of a six pack under his tight white t-shirt. Oh my! This was one handsome beast.

  Caught up in enjoying the sight of this fabulous man candy, it took her a moment to realize that those amazing golden eyes had settled on her with a razor sharp stare. Amelia jumped at the visceral response, like a physical touch as he returned her thorough perusal. She didn't think it possible, but his gaze sharpened, brows lowering even further as his nostrils flared, almost as if he could smell the delicate lemon verbena perfume she had donned earlier that morning.

  “Ms. Price, the doctor will see you now.” The receptionist nasal voice broke whatever spell Mr. Tall, dark, and dangerously handsome had thrown over her, and she jerked around just as a pink flush rose, tinting her normally pale cheeks. Get a grip, she mentally scolded herself as she grabbed her bag from the seat next to her, and walked down the hall toward Dr. Pearson’s office.

  Kaeden exhaled roughly, finally able to breathe as the dark haired beauty disappeared through the frosted glass door that he knew led down a hall to a set of offices, including Dr. Pearson’s. He started toward the front desk but couldn’t shake the image of the wide, grey eyes staring at him from across the room, and wavy auburn hair reflecting the cool fluorescent light. He mentally traced each and every delicious curve accentuated by the white lace dress she had been wearing. She had looked like a sexpot dressed up as a pre-school teacher.

  His mouth salivated at the juxtaposition of unbelievably sweet and undeniably sexy, remembering her ripe, pouty mouth glistening slightly pink, and her scent. Something light and citrus-y, but underneath, all woman.

  “I need to speak with Dr. Pearson.” His voice came out as more of a growl, husky still from the thoughts of the tempting woman who had just stood where he was now, her perfume filling his senses, distracting him anew.

  “I’m sorry, Dr. Pearson is busy. He’s seeing a patient right now. You can take a seat if you would like to wait.”

  “Well, this is an emergency! I need to talk to him right nnn….” His words trailed off as his brain made the belated connection that she was the perfect match the Doc had been referring too. That angel was going to have his child? Pregnant with his seed? He was instantly hard at the thought, and took a deep breath to get his body back under control. He took off toward the glass door that separated the waiting room and the back offices, throwing the door open and striding through. It closed violently, muffling the receptionist’s admonition to wait.

  He stood still a moment, concentrating on breathing normally, but the spike of excitement and adrenaline was still wreaking havoc with his body. He fought to keep his thoughts clean, trying to calm himself before he walked into Dr. Pearson’s office. The last thing Kaeden wanted to do was to scare the future mother of his child, even if she was only a surrogate.

  Amelia walked into the Doctor’s office more nervous than she could ever remember being. Even more than when she had to give the Valedictorian’s speech in front of her entire fellow graduating class, and she had thrown up twice right before taking her place in front of the podium. Dr. Pearson looked up from a stack of charts as she entered, and gestured for her to take one of the two charcoal grey leather seats in front of his oversized cherry wood desk.

  He raised his horn-rimmed reading glasses as his eyes focused on her face, pale as a ghost now that the flush of seeing that magnificent specimen out in the waiting room had fled, leaving her complexion almost porcelain and making her dark grey eyes stand out starkly. Amelia felt every second crawl by like an hour as he re-positioned his glasses on his beak of a nose, and finished reading through the paper in front of him. She couldn’t take the silence any longer.

  “Well…” Her voice cracked through the silence, startling her and her quickly deteriorating nerves. “What are the test results? Am I…am I pregnant?” She stumbled over the words. After so many years of hoping and wishing and dreaming she could hardly let herself believe that it might be actually be happening. She desperately wanted it to be true, but she was afraid if she got her expectations up just to have them dashed, it would be that much harder to continue on, to start the process over from scratch.

  “Ok, Ms. Price, I have just been looking over the results of your test. Let me start off by telling you that your lab tests came back perfect, you are in great shape, and everything is at healthy levels.” Amelia sighed in impatience, as she mentally urged the doctor to get the news she urgently needed to hear.

  “With that being said, on to the results of the pregnancy test. Amelia, you are…” The sound of the door banging open interrupted him, and the doctor jumped and looked up at the sudden intruder. Amelia was on the edge of her chair, her purse twisted in a white-knuckled death grip as she was waiting to hear the verdict. If she didn’t get the answer soon, she was pretty sure she was going to have a heart attack. Her nerves were completely shot as she turned to see what was so incredibly important the someone had to barge in right at the very second her entire life might have changed.

  She sucked in a breath as she turned around, struck again by blindingly handsome stranger who had stopped her dead in her tracks in the waiting room. Just as she opened her mouth to demand to know what the hell he was thinking just barging in like a Neanderthal, Dr. Pearson spoke.

  “Kaeden! You…you’re here….finally.” He cast a guilty look toward her, probably because of the unconscionably rude interruption. “Um…uh, why don’t you wait in the office next door, so we can…uh, talk. Yes, talk. We definitely need to do that.” Dr. Pearson nervously fiddled with his glasses, directing his words in the he-man’s general direction, but refusing to meet his burning golden gaze.

  “No.” His deep rumbling voice sent an involuntary shiver running down her spine. What was it about his guy that affected her so much? His windswept black hair, disgustingly broad shoulders, and the fact that he would tower over her own five feet seven by about eight inches probably had something to do with it. As well as that incredibly potent gaze of his that made her feel like he could see everything under her clothes. Yep, exactly like the look he was giving her right now.

  “Um, this is a private meeting.” Damn, she was trying to sound stern but all that had come out was a breathy whisper. Get. A. Grip! She had important, life altering business to get back to. “You really need to go.” She frowned, that still wasn’t right. “Now!” There, that was better. She started to turn back toward Dr. Pearson, who was still standing behind his desk looking strangely guilty, when his deep voice stopped her.

  “No, I’m not leaving. This has as much to do with me as it does with you,” He took several steps into the room, “…more really, when you think about it.” He didn't notice the sudden widening of her grey eyes as he continued until he reac
hed the other chair, and started to sit.

  “Excuse me? You have no idea…”

  “Wait, Kaeden, I really need to talk to you in…”

  Amelia and Dr. Pearson spoke over each other, making an unintelligible jumble that seemed to have no effect on Kaeden as he sat, stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankles, crowding Amelia and unintentionally brushing her bare calf with the denim of his black jeans.

  Kaeden sucked in a breath at the contact as goosebumps erupted, traveling outward from the point of contact. He tried to remain casual as a wave of arousal followed, trying to distract him from the matter at hand. The very gorgeous, and obviously confused, matter.

  “Listen, that is my child you are carrying,” He nodded at her midsection, his eyes wandering over her ample curves of their own volition, otherwise he would have noticed the battle light suddenly firing in her eyes, making them deepen to the color of steel. He also would have seen her tense, pull back the hand still holding her purse, and swing it towards him.

  “Are you kidding me? Who the hell do you think you are?” Each question was punctuated by another swing of her purse, and he raised his hands up to shield himself from the sudden and unexpected onslaught. “You can’t do that! Just walk into some random Doctor’s office and say ‘that one’s mine’ like some sick, demented caveman!” Another smack as the bag made contact with his forearm, Kaeden still trying to wrap his mind around the situation. “I don’t even know if I am pregnant yet, but if I am this baby is sure as hell not yours! What is your problem! I’m calling the cops! If you don’t leave, I am calling the cops. Right. Now!”

  He grabbed hold of her wrists and held them gently but firmly, preventing her from continuing her attack. She wasn’t making any sense, this was the woman who had met all of his criteria? She seemed a little unstable to him, but he racked his brain for some explanation for her reaction. He was obviously missing something. Still holding her wrists, he directed his gaze towards the doctor, who had taken his seat and was rubbing the bridge of his nose underneath his glasses.

  “Doc, care to explain?” His voice was deceptively calm.

  “Not really,” Dr. Pearson sighed and leaned forward, supporting himself on his elbows, and looking suddenly a lot older than he had at the beginning of the meeting. “First, Amelia…you are pregnant. The tests came back positive.”

  “Oh my God…” The words whispered passed her lips on a puff of released breath that she didn't even realize she was holding. “Oh, oh my…” All her thoughts were suddenly wiped from her as the words she had so long hoped to hear were finally a reality. She didn’t even notice the strong fingers that had at first restrained her wrists were now rubbing gentle, soothing circles on the backs of her hands.

  Dr. Pearson cleared his throat.

  “Yes, well…that’s the good news.” He looked at her, and she could see the sincerity in his eyes. “Congratulations, Amelia. I know you’ve wanted this for a long, long time.” His softly spoken words had sudden tears burning threateningly at the corners of each eye. His next words jarred her back to reality. “Kaeden…is the father.” The words sounded as if they were dragged out him with a crow bar. “He is the donor, and he had very specific instructions and criteria that we…had thought you met one hundred percent.”

  Kaeden jerked forward at the last part. “What do you mean, you thought?” The words rumbled out of him in a soft growl. “You said you found a perfect match, the perfect surrogate I’ve been waiting for.” A gasp had him looking over, and he was instantly captured by the big, charcoal eyes that stared at him, clouded with too many emotions to decipher.

  “Surrogate? No. No, no, no.” She shook her head in time to each ‘no’ for emphasis. “Nope. Listen,” Amelia pulled her hands from his, making him aware that he had unconsciously been holding them the whole time, and placed them protectively over her stomach. “This is my baby. My child. I didn’t sign up for some sort of surrogacy program. I decided to go through this process so I could have a child. To raise, and love. Not to carry for nine months and then give away.”

  Kaeden felt his heart pound heavily as he suddenly realized the severity of the situation. Years ago he had contacted Dr. Pearson to help him find a surrogate who would be capable of not only being impregnated by a shapeshifter’s semen, but also carry the baby to term. It was incredibly rare to find a woman physically, chemically, and emotionally able to do both, which was why their population had dwindled so drastically, and why he had searched out the doctor in the first place.

  But somewhere, someone had made a terrible mistake. It was obvious to him that Amelia would never consider giving the baby up to be adopted by someone else. But she had no idea what she was in for. A headache started pounding behind his right eye and his mind raced as he examined and summarily discarded several possible solutions to this suddenly complicated and fraught situation.

  Kaeden turned in the chair to face Amelia but without any thought as to how to begin explaining everything. “Listen, this is a really complicated situation. But, like the doctor said, that is also my child and…” He was stopped short as she jumped out of her chair, and he unconsciously flinched as she grabbed her purse from where it had slid to the floor.

  “No, I really don’t have to listen. This is my baby. My baby. I don’t care what kind of scam or sick plan you have, and I don’t care. I am leaving. Now.” And with that, she stalked from the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

  Kaeden sat in silence for a brief but heavy moment before turning to the doctor. “I need her address.”

  Amelia sat in her living room, huddled under the softly knitted blanket her grandmother had made, and tried to stem the flood of tears that hadn’t stopped since she walked through the front door of her home. This should have been one of the happiest days of her life, and yet, it was marred by not only the bizarre events of the afternoon, but also her intense fascination with that man, Kaeden.

  Kaeden. She said his name in her mind again, instantly conjuring his image. Tall, broad chested, his muscles tense and flexing under the sleeves of his white t-shirt, but his hands had been so incredibly gentle as they had held hers. Long legs encased in black denim, and tipped with black leather boots that looked worn in with use and time.

  She shook her head, knowing she was being ridiculous. Underneath the anxiety caused by the scene at Dr. Pearson’s office earlier, she could feel the warmth of happiness and awe at the thought that she was going to have a baby. After all the years of hoping and dreaming, it was finally happening. She hugged the blanket tighter, wishing she could have had the chance to tell her grandmother the good news.

  After her mother’s accident when Amelia was eight, her grandmother had taken her in and raised her. Amelia smoothed a hand over the elaborate multi-color pattern. Bettie had battled cancer for six years before passing away the year before, taking with her the last relative that Amelia knew. Loneliness had reigned in her life, but she had a new focus now. A new little somebody to give all her love.

  The sudden pounding at her front door made her jump, and she set the blanket aside as she went to see who it was, standing on her tip toes to reach the spy hole. Her heart lurched, then started racing in what she told herself was panic. Not desire, certainly. Definitely not that. Get a grip, Amelia. She peeked through the small lens again, drinking in the masculine, if slightly distorted, image of him on her doorstep. Kaeden.

  She took a deep breath, a moment to compose what she hoped was an appropriately steely expression, and grabbed the brass door knob opening it just enough to see him, his arm raised to knock again.

  Kaeden paused as the door slowly opened inward, revealing the same angel that had stormed out of the doc’s office this afternoon. The flash of need was instantaneous, but he quickly banked it as he admitted to himself that the situation required a delicate touch for everyone to come through unscathed. He mentally groaned, scratching ‘touch’ off of the acceptable words list when dealing with this woman that turned
him into an inexperienced, hormone-driven cub every time he was around her.

  “What are you doing here?” Her soft voice pulled him back to the matter at hand.

  “I… I am…” He tried. “Can I come in?” He tried to look as non-threatening as possible, which was hard for him. As a lion shifter he was could be more beast than man, but the need to protect her and put her at ease rose up, dominating his baser instincts.

  “Please?” He pleaded, surprised at the word that came so easily to his lips, when any other time he would have made it a demand, confident that it would be met. “Just, give me a chance to explain? To tell you everything?” Inwardly, he cringed, knowing that ‘everything’ was actually a serious understatement, knowing he would have to tell her the truth about his species and their hidden existence. Most humans don’t react well to that sort of news.

  She hesitantly opened the door the rest of the way allowing him an uninterrupted view of every luscious curve. His gaze swept over her taking in her glossy auburn hair, now pulled up into a careless bun that left wisps to tease the nape of her neck. She was still wearing the same prim lace sundress that somehow seemed that much more provocative hugging the curve of her ample breasts, sweeping down over her waist, and flaring at the womanly swell of her hips.

  His gut clenched sharply as he noticed the smudge of tear stained tracks on her flushed checks, knowing and hating the fact that he had helped put them there. He stepped inside as she backed up, allowing him room to get through then closed the door quietly behind him. He took a brief moment to look around her house, noting the cozy decor and sunny yellow paint on the walls making it feel like he had just walked into a ray of sunshine on a summer afternoon.