Contents
Cover Credit
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
About This Book
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
From the Author
About the Author
Cover Credit
Christopher Coyle
darkandstormyknight.com
Thank you for adorning my words so beautifully.
Your talent knows no bounds!
Sandra R Neeley
P. O. Box 127
Franklinton, LA 70438
[email protected]
Independently published
By Sandra R Neeley
42,489 words.
Safe On Base
— A Howls Romance
by Sandra R Neeley
Copyright © 2020 SANDRA R NEELEY
All rights reserved.
Thank you for purchasing and/or downloading this book. It is the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and/or distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes without express written permission from the author.
Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales, is purely coincidental. The characters are creations of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademarked ownership of all trademarks and word marks mentioned in this book.
For everyone out there who wakes up everyday willing to take a chance, just hoping it will all work out.
Safe On Base
— A Howls Romance
Basilio is the epitome of the rich, professional athlete overindulging in wine, women, and partying. He’s lived that life for so long he’s had more than his fill. All he wants is to find his mate. Basilio, or Base, as he’s known to all the baseball world, is a Primate shifter, a Silverback Gorilla to be exact. But none of the people in his inner circle know he’s anything other than human. He’s growing disenchanted quickly. Then, one day he literally runs into her, his mate, or she runs into him. She keeps her head down, working to clean their locker room, while doing her best to avoid the lewd, offensive remarks of some of his teammates. Turning on his teammates, Base defends her, but before he can catch up to his mate – she disappears, leaving him to run after her like a lovesick puppy…er, Gorilla.
Renata is a single mother struggling to survive. She’s got to do more than just make ends meet. She’s got to keep her head down, wary at all times to be sure she’s not noticed by anyone. Renata’s been on the run for almost four years now. The man she’s running from is her ex, her son’s father. He’s a shifter, and he’s determined to return Renata to his harem of females and to brutally raise her son to take his place as Prime of their troop. He hid his true nature from Renata until she’d delivered a male heir, but there’s no way in hell she’ll allow him to brutalize her sweet baby or herself. Now that she’s aware shifters exist and just how dangerous they are, she’ll never make that mistake again. So, she ran, and she keeps running. Every time anyone pays even the smallest bit of attention to her and her son, she’s off again.
A Major League pitcher accustomed to the limelight and a quiet, shy single mother, determined to stay out of it. Can they find a way to work out their differences and become what the other needs? Or will they end up torn apart and bleeding – possibly quite literally – as they struggle to survive the mating instinct?
Warning: Intended for mature audiences. This book contains violence, abuse both real and inferred, and sexual situations that may be disturbing for some readers. If you are offended by these subjects, please do not buy this book.
Chapter 1
Basilio Lyakhov smiled and waved as he jogged off the field toward the dugout to join the rest of his teammates who were already forming a line to shake hands with the other team. His dark, wavy hair, caramel-colored skin and perfect bright, white smile made him the ideal poster-boy for the Birmingham Beasts Major League Baseball Team. No sooner than he’d waved and smiled, had that very image been splayed across all the video screens in the stadium and every television tuned into the game across the country. He had it all, women wanted him and men wanted to be him. He had his choice any day of the week of bedmate or companion. Most of his teammates did as well, especially the circle of friends that always seemed to surround him. They were professional baseball players; it came with the territory. But there was a marked difference between him and his teammates. He was growing tired of the nightlife and the constant parties — while they showed no sign of slowing their pace. Basilio, or Base as he was known, had grown tired of that lifestyle. He wanted more, needed more. He was a different kind of male; he was a shifter — a primate shifter. He and his beast only ever agreed on one thing, they loved playing baseball. But now, they seemed to be more in sync. For the first time in his life, well almost the first time, he and his beast were focused on something other than baseball. They wanted to find their mate. Nothing less than their mate would do.
“Yo, Base! You coming tonight?” Squire called across the locker room.
Basilio thought about it, but it was the last thing he felt like doing. “No, man. I’m out,” he said, shaking his head and closing his locker to walk to the showers.
“Oh, come on! You know you’re the chick magnet. We need you there to increase our choices,” he said, laughing and high-fiving Will.
“You manage just fine without me. Ya’ll have fun,” Basilio said, disappearing into the shower room.
“And what are you going to do instead? There’s nothing you need to do that can’t wait ‘til tomorrow,” Squire insisted, pushing Basilio to come with them.
“I’m just not feeling it tonight,” Base insisted, turning his face up to the hot water blasting out of the shower-head.
“You will be!” Squire said, trading lewd hand motions with Will.
“You’re going to wish you’d come with us,” Will encouraged.
Base shook his head. “You guys have to grow up at some point, right?” he asked.
“Why?” Will asked.
“What the hell for?” Squire asked, seeming affronted that anyone would suggest such a thing.
“Because at some point the women, the liquor, the never-ending parties, it gets old. Don’t you want more? Someone to share your home? A place to just relax and be able to be yourself without all the fanfare?” Base asked.
“I got that!” Squire answered, grinning. “And a huge King Plus bed for me and as many women will fit at once. After they’re all worn out and snoozing, that’s my relax time.”
Base knew for a fact that most of Squire’s mouthiness was just that, mouthiness.
“I think maybe the reason you preach so much about all your women, is because just one won’t have your ass,” Base shot back at him.
“Fuck you!” Squire retorted.
“Naw, not interested,” Base answered, finishing his shower and stepping out to grab his towel.
~~~~~
Renata stood outside the locker room door, listening to the shouts, booms and crashes of the men inside, celebrating their latest win. She had to go in after them, clean up their mess and put the locker room back in order. She hated this part of her job and the harassment it subjected her to. Some of them were arrogant
pricks. Not all were bad, in fact some were very good men, but not all of them. And no matter how long she waited, there always seemed to be a few players left inside. Those were the ones that treated women like notches on a bedpost. Those that didn’t comment on how much they’d like to handle her ample hips and curves, commented on how she should do more to hide her hips and curves. She hated it. But the job paid better than any other she could find, and they hired her on as a contract laborer which meant she didn’t have to give them a lot of information on her background. Despite the crazy hours, she needed a good paying job so she could stash away as much money as she could, so she counted herself lucky to have the job.
Renata was a single mom. She’d been on her own for a long time, just her and her son. She had to prepare for the future, to make a better life for her son. He had special needs. They hadn’t come to light yet, but they would, with puberty. She needed to be sure she could afford to get them out of this city, into a more accepting atmosphere where he would never be at risk. That’s what kept her coming back, kept her dealing with the arrogant attitudes of the men inside that room. She stood in the shadows after every game, waiting as they left the locker room in two’s and three’s, some headed home to families, others headed out to the bars where they’d choose their flavor of the evening.
Finally, after what seemed like forever the locker room grew quiet. Renata pushed the door open and went inside, wading through the mountains of towels, socks, empty drink bottles, and even an errant jock strap strewn about here and there. She pulled her laundry cart behind her, tossing anything that could be washed into it, and anything that couldn’t be washed into the garbage bag tied to the side of it. She made her way through the front half of the locker room, closing a few lockers and cleaning as she went. She still had to do the same in the back half of the locker room before she went into the showers and cleaned them as well. With that in mind Renata worked quickly, moving toward the back of the room on the other side of the half wall of lockers partially separating the room into two halves. As she got nearer that half wall, she could just make out male voices coming from the showers. The water was still going and she felt reasonably sure she could dart inside the main dressing area, pick up the rest of the towels and such and get them into the laundry down the hall. She’d come back after those still in the shower left and take care of the showers then. She grabbed the towels, the sock or two, a couple of t-shirts, turned to rush back to her laundry cart, and crashed head first into a huge, masculine chest, water droplets still clinging to the shiny black hairs of his chest and the happy trail leading beneath the towel he wore wrapped about his hips. She lost her balance and bounced off, but large, strong hands reached out for her, holding her by the waist to keep her from falling.
“Whoa! Watch it,” Base said. “You okay?”
Renata looked everywhere but at the behemoth holding her steady. His voice surrounded her in a warmth that she didn’t want to think about, and the accent he spoke with caused parts of her she’d thought long dead to flutter suddenly back to life.
With her arms loaded with dirty laundry, she couldn’t use her hands to push his away from her waist, so instead she took a step back, brushing at his hands with the backside of her wrists at the same time, trying not to let go of the laundry. “I’m sorry,” she answered very quietly. “I should have watched where I was going.”
“It’s alright, no harm done. You alright?” he pressed.
Renata nodded, sidestepping to go around him, her head still down, she’d not yet looked him in the eye.
“Hey, hold up,” he said, reluctant to let her slip away. This woman had his entire attention, he was captivated, but she wouldn’t even look at him so he could be sure of what he thought may be happening.
“Base! Dude! Why you hitting on the help, man?” Squire called as he walked into the dressing area with Will on his heels, rubbing his hair with a towel, but nothing wrapped around his waist. “Hell, the size of that one you’ll need both of us to help you,” he chuckled.
“What?” Base snapped at Squire, and shot him a look that said, ‘Shut the fuck up’.
Then he went after the woman making a beeline toward the exit of the locker room.
“Hey! Hold on. What’s your name? Can you wait a minute?” he shouted as he hurried toward her.
Renata paused momentarily as she shoved the laundry into the top of the cart and swung it around to wheel it out of the room. She’d been anxious to get the room cleaned so she could get home to her son at a decent time, but she’d been wrong — she should have waited and made sure that all the players had already gone home. She wouldn’t make this mistake again.
Just before she cleared the door, the big man she’d bounced off of earlier came rushing toward her. “There you are! I thought you’d beat me out the door!”
Renata stood frozen like a deer in the headlights, her hand on the door handle, waiting to see what he wanted. When he didn’t say anything else, she gave in and spoke first. “Is there something you need?”
Base, not used to women running from him, was not sure how to proceed. “Well, not really. I mean, I uh, I wanted to say hello. So… hello.” He shrugged, offering her his most brilliant smile, but she didn’t see it because she still wouldn’t meet his eyes. He didn’t like that — she should have been surer of herself than that. Whatever had her believing she couldn’t look him in the eye, definitely needed to prepare itself, because Base was coming after it.
Renata nodded her head, very slightly, just one time, almost whispering when she replied. “Hello.”
Squire and Will followed him to the front of the locker room, Squire still completely naked, hanging it all out proudly for the world to see.
“You don’t seem very impressed with my friend here, maybe you’d like a taste of me instead,” Squire said, hands on his hips, his junk at half-mast. “But, don’t be thinking you’ll get more than a taste, better yet, just a look, because you are most certainly not my type. Loose a few pounds and maybe I’ll let you really taste,” he added snidely, laughing, thinking himself funny, with Will laughing along.
Base lost it, he stalked toward his friends, a snarl on his lips. “Shut the fuck up! Don’t disrespect her like that, and cover your damn self.”
Base glanced at her, concerned for her feelings while he defended her from his friend’s remarks.
She was almost ready to step completely through the doorway and slip away, but when he defended her, it surprised her. She raised her eyes and stared into his eyes. Her own eyes locking with his just as he turned back to her after shutting up his friend.
While it made her feel a little better that Base defended her, Renata was angry for having placed herself in this position. She should have waited longer to be sure all the players had left the locker room. She was standing in the doorway, holding the door open while Basilio spoke to her. It was a simple matter to step out of the way, let the handle go and allow the door to close, separating them from her. But she couldn’t help but raise her eyes to Base’s when he defended her. He seemed shocked, taken aback when she’d met his gaze. Maybe he wasn’t as nice as she’d thought he was.
Renata stepped clear of the door, and let it close. She hurried down the hallway and ducked into the laundry facility for the stadium, praying none of them were fast enough to see which door she slipped into. While she processed the laundry she’d gathered from the locker room, her mind kept taking her back to Base’s reaction when his friends had insulted her. It was unexpected. While she planned to just fade back into anonymity, she didn’t think she’d ever forget his defense of her, or the look in his eyes when her gaze finally met his.
Base stood frozen in place. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. He took a step toward the now closed door, and reached for the handle, fumbling to pull the damned thing open. He yanked the door open, hoping to catch the female and apologize for Squire’s behavior. But there was no trace of her, she’d run from them so fast it was like she’d
never been there.
Before she’d gone, her eyes had locked with his. It’d only been for a second, but a second was all he needed. She was his mate. He’d just met the first female he’d cared to actually talk to in a long time, the only female he’d ever want again, and Squire had chased her away and ruined everything. Squire not only intruded on what may be his only chance to get her to talk to him, but actually thought he had a right to even speak to her, much less insult her in any way. Base’s beast was pissed off, indignant even, that his asshole of a friend would insult their mate in such a way.
His beast was calling for blood, and he wanted it now! Base turned away from the door and stalked back to Squire, a snarl on his face and in his throat. “You ever speak to her like that again, I’ll fuck you up!” he shouted at Squire. He stood there, daring Squire to defend his behavior, but Squire was too smart for that. He simply stood where he was watching Base.
Find ours! His beast insisted.
Where? Where do you want me to find her? Base thought at him.
Just then a group of girls pulled open the locker room door.
Base turned, hoping it was his mate coming back to him.
“Base! Looking good! Want us to help you get out of that towel?” one of them purred at him, letting her eyes rove up and down his body.
The offer that he’d have at one time considered, just irritated the hell out of him now. Irritated the hell out of beast, too. He didn’t answer them, just shot them a disgusted glare, punched Squire in the jaw on his way past where he and Will stood still watching Base, and hurried to his locker to get dressed. He had to go find his woman. Now that he knew for sure she existed, he’d stop at nothing until he held her.
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