ALIEN SHIFTER ROMANCE: Alien Tigers - The Complete Series (Alien Invasion Abduction Shapeshifter Romance) (Paranormal Science Fiction Fantasy Anthologies & Short reads)

by Tanya Jolie

  The day after Brian’s text, Susie and I received official invitations to the Grammy awards. For a couple women famous for being naked, the only problem was figuring out what to wear on the red carpet.

  THE END

  Billionaire Seduction: Obsession

  A Billionaire Romance

  Billionaire Seduction

  Obsession

  Raine pulled the battered old Ford F150 to the side of the road, which led down into the heart of Crutch Junction, the town she had grown up in. ’Dust from the Ford’s tires blew across the landscape, clouding her vision of the place.

  “What the hell have I done to end up back here?” asked the long-haired troll figurine, which sat lopsidedly in the middle of the dashboard. Silent as usual, the troll looked back at Raine as if to say, “You messed up. You missed the biggest pair of clues in your journalistic career, obvious clues which anyone else would have spotted. Oh, yeah and your mom’s dying. ’There’s that too.”

  Raine took a deep breath in and let it slowly out. She had spent the majority of her high-school years trying to get away from this place, and it had dragged her back like raw sewage on the tide.

  “Let’s get this over with, then,” she said to the troll, who shook as if palsied when the truck moved off again.

  Raine was shocked at the changes the town had undergone in the six years she had been gone. Many of the stores she remembered from her teenage years were either boarded up, had changed hands or been bought out by faceless multinational companies. The Baptist church, whitewashed clapboard with a green metal roof, was overgrown with weeds and scrub roses. The movie theater, where Raine had her first kiss with Steven Argent, who was a year older than her, was closed and boarded up. The old sign above the entrance had missing letters and now read ‘Last Night Before Closing – Inception.’

  Raine steered along the deserted streets as the morning sun began getting uncomfortable as the heat warmed her skin. She drove past the family-owned gas station in the middle of town. It was called ‘Crutch Junction Gas and '’Store. ‘’Raine slowed as she passed the place, which had no pumps gracing its forecourt, She observed the smoke damage to the place, which marred the whitewashed building and was a vivid reminder that someone had set it on fire. Farther down Main Street, graffiti graced many of the buildings and even some of the stores, which claimed to be open but had boarded up windows.

  “Hell, what a crap hole,” Raine said to herself.

  Raine sped up, passing the residential areas in a blur of bleached, sandy colors, all normal for this part of Texas. According to her mother, the only gym in town was in the Paradise Hotel at the far end of town. Three days of sitting and listening to her mother’s opinions on which of her neighbors was having an affair with which other neighbor had driven Raine to the point where she had to get out.

  “What do you want a gym for?” Her mom had asked that very morning in response to her daughter’s query. “You’ve always been a chunky girl, and you always will be.”

  Raine had smiled, remembering another reason she so hated being there. “Thanks, mom. Thanks for that,” she had replied.

  Her mom had looked at her as if she was insane. “Well, it’s true!” she exclaimed. “You take after me in that department. We Daniels women have got child-bearing hips and bottoms to match.”

  Raine groaned at the memory. Please God, don’t let me end up like my mother, Raine thought. And that expression, child-bearing hips! What the hell does having wide hips have to do with giving birth? If having big hips is a prerequisite for having children then Victoria Beckham must have made some kind of deal with Satan to get her kids. Raine’s train of thought was interrupted by her apparent arrival at the Paradise Hotel.

  “Paradise?” She asked the taciturn troll. “Looks more like the set of a bad Star Trek episode.”

  Even though the Paradise Hotel sat on a large plot of land, much of it had turned into scrub. There were no signs of the irrigated, manicured lawns and gardens Raine expected. While there was an array of different buildings on the site, including what looked like a swimming pool, they all had a thick layer of dust on the windows and peeling paint on the fire escape staircases.

  Raine pulled into the parking lot, pulling her aging truck up next to a gleaming, black car she couldn’t identify. It looked like something out of a black and white film shown on TCM, trimmed in chrome and sporting whitewall tires.

  Stepping out of the pickup was like standing in a blast furnace, and Raine almost ran to the smeared double doors at the entrance. The foyer had green carpet with gold squares in it and cream coated the walls. The light fittings were of a fake gold that matched the flooring. Cool air poured from the rattling air conditioner unit. there was a large, wooden reception desk at which sat a wraith-like, bored-looking Hispanic man flicking through a magazine.

  “We’re closed,” the receptionist told her, not even bothering to look away from his reading. His effeminate and nasal voice had more than a trace of an accent, and Raine watched as he swung one crossed leg up and down, making his whole body move.

  “Really?” she asked. “I didn’t see a sign out front.”

  “No. I’m telling you now. We’re closed.”

  “Still, I can use the gym...” Raine trailed off as Mr. Receptionist looked at her from the corner of his eye and gave her a skeptical look.

  “What?” she demanded.

  “Look, honey, there ain’t nothing in that gym which can help someone like you.” He actually waved his index finger in front of her and dipped his head from side to side.

  “Someone like me?” Raine demanded crossly.

  “Yeah, baby. You pretty and all, but you got junk in your trunk that U-Haul couldn’t shift.” His accent made you sound like joo, and Raine had had enough of being insulted by this little fool.

  “Here’s how it goes,” Raine spat, pulling out her press card and flashing it before his eyes, “I’m going to go and find the gym. If you try and stop me, I’ll...”

  “Write me to death?” he sneered. “This whole complex has been reserved, so you can just turn around and haul ass.”

  “Whatever, Ru Paul,” she said, turning to walk through one of the matching doors to either end of reception. She heard him screeching behind her but decided to ignore him and see what happened. Raine had definitely made the right choice, passing a large dining hall, bar and the pool, all of which were eerily dark and silent. When she reached the gym, she found it remarkably well lit, if quite small. There were just two treadmills, one set of weights, a couple of cross-trainers and a rowing machine. It was abandoned, so she stepped inside.

  Not bothering to change, as she arrived in sweatpants and a t-shirt, Raine pressed the controls on one of the surprisingly advanced treadmills and set up a routine, beginning slow and then increasing her pace.

  Two minutes passed and she heard the doors open behind her, but Raine chose not to turn around. If this was the manager to ask her to leave, she was ready with the list of insults the receptionist had battered her with.

  Raine began to wonder if she had been hearing things, as no one approached or spoke to her. Looking at the display, Raine noticed almost five minutes had passed, according to the display, and she made her first mistake.

  Looking behind her revealed a man who was watching her with the same kind of intensity an air traffic controller studies their computer screen. Shocked, Raine made her second mistake by trying to turn around on what amounted to be a conveyor belt. Less than a second after she had managed to make her half-turn, Raine found herself thrown into the arms of this stranger. As Raine realized she was falling, she bareley had time to think, Hi, pleased to meet you. My name’s Raine, and I’ll call the paramedics now. Images of her crushing him as she landed on top of him flashed though her mind.

  Nothing like that happened. Raine found herself pressed up against an extra wall which had somehow materialized behind the treadmill. That the wall had arms, strong, muscular and slightly hairy arms, was he
r next discovery. That those strong arms were snugly ensconced beneath her mountainous breasts was another.

  “Are you all right?” A deep voice asked from behind herin a smooth tone and with what sounded like a French accent. Raine found herself wanting him to ask him something else – immediately.

  “I am, thanks to you, ah?” Raine wondered as she struggled to free herself from his arms. She stopped struggling as soon as she caught her first proper glimpse of him.

  “Antony,” he said, offering her his hand. Raine took it and blushed when he kissed her knuckles.

  The gym doors slammed back on their hinges, and the slight receptionist followed in behind a brutish looking man wearing a stained boiler-suit.

  “Allow me to apologize, Mr. DuBesne,” Ru Paul started, “But this woman,” he spat the word as if it tasted poisonous, “forced her way in here. I’ll have Buxo here remove her.”

  “No need,” Antony old him. “She’s my guest. I should have told you she was coming. This is entirely my fault. Please feel free to return to what you were doing.” Even though he was addressing the receptionist, Antony’s eyes never left Raine. She openly appraised him in return.

  He stood at around five foot ten with lustrous black hair, which he wore in a messy style. He had a square jaw and winning smile – complete with dimples – which he was dazzling Raine with. If her body could be described as being built for comfort, his would be built for pure pleasure. He was skinny but in that violently muscled way. His dusky skin was stretched, smooth and tight. It stretched tautly over the corded muscles.

  And what muscles!

  Raine’s eyes roved over his arms, and what she could see of his chest under the vest he wore. She knew, without having to see, he would have a delicious set of rippling abs.

  She assessed all these things in a heartbeat, but what captivated Raine more than anything was his eyes.

  His irises were green but the exact, specific green of clover leaves in summer, his eyelashes so thick and lustrous, it looked like he was wearing guyliner and, she noticed, his pupils were huge.

  Either he’s on some kind of drug, or he’s checking me out and liking what he sees. Raine thought. For her own part, her body had responded of its own accord. Her heart rate had increased far in excess of what it had done on the treadmill. Her abdomen throbbed deep inside of her, and her nipples had started pushing against the reinforced framework of her bra.

  “Raine Daniels.” She found herself speaking without knowing if she had said anything else – anything dumb. Not good Rainy, not good at all.

  “Pleased to meet you, Miss Daniels. Do you mind if I join you?”

  “Of course not!” Raine realized, if the receptionist wasn’t just being a bitch, this might just be the man who had rented the entire hotel for some reason. And he’s asking me if I mind?

  “Will you run with me?” He asked. Raine nodded and got back on the treadmill, self-conscious over how she looked. They set up their machines, and a hum filled the room as the motors cut on. Antony was soon pounding along, but Raine confined herself to a slow trot.

  “You don’t come from around this area, do you?” Antony asked, wiping the perspiration from his forehead.

  “What makes you say that?” Raine replied as she lumbered along. “Have you been counting my teeth?” Antony barked a laugh as he ran, slowing his machine so he could talk more easily.

  “No, but you’re not riding a horse on that treadmill, so I just assumed...” He trailed off.

  Raine smiled. “I grew up here, moved away for a while, and now I’m back.” She told him simply.

  “Now that is a concise history.” Antony said. “Where did you go?”

  “Went to Chicago, became a journalist and had to come back to look after my mom.” Raine wasn’t comfortable with telling this to a complete stranger.

  “Chicago? That must have been a culture shock.”

  Raine snorted. “You’re not wrong. I couldn’t wait to get away from this place, but as soon as I got to Chicago, all I wanted was to get back here.”

  “I bet that didn’t last very long.” Antony said.

  “No. No, I soon got used to big-city life. Now I miss being there,” Raine said.

  Why are you blabbing on about this rubbish? Raine thought to herself.

  “What brings you here?” she asked bluntly.

  “Business,” he told her. “Pure and simple.”

  “What kind of business are you in?”

  “My personal role is in acquisitions,” Antony said, “but the DuBesne Company covers many different sectors.”

  “And you’ve come to acquire Crutch Junction?” Raine joked.

  “Maybe sections of it,” he said seriously.

  Her interest was piqued. “Whatever for? Most of this place has packed up and left.”

  “We have our reasons,” he said with a grin. “I couldn’t reveal them to the press.”

  “Ex-press,” she corrected. Antony halted his machine and walked over to her. Raine stopped her own treadmill and turned, looking into his gorgeous eyes.

  “There is no such thing as an ex-reporter,” he said. “You will always have a tenacity to you, always have to find out the story.” He was right, of course. He had stirred her interest in his company as much as she was interested in him personally. “Still, I would like to ask you to have dinner with me this evening, if you are available.”

  Well that was a quick turnabout. Am I available tonight? Hell yeah!

  “Sure, but there’s just one problem.”

  “What?” Antony asked with a puzzled expression.

  “Are you taking me to McDonalds or White Castle?”

  ***

  Nerves had gotten the better of Raine as Antony’s arrival approached. They had exchanged numbers, and he had taken down her address. Then Raine had watched as he walked out of the gym. He paused for a final look back at her before he left. She had driven home in a kind of daze, managing to find her way on autopilot, thinking about his eyes.

  “A date?” Her mother asked, as if it was the most outrageous thing in the world. “Who would ask you on a date?”

  Raine had ignored her mother’s spitefulness, knowing it was a symptom of her illness, even though it hurt.

  “You’re supposed to be here looking after me,” her mother had added in a sulky voice a little later. “Not going off with some stranger.”

  “You’ll be fine, mom.” Raine said to her. “Dr. Hernandez told you I didn’t have to be here full time.”

  Her mother had grunted. “That dyke of yours called from the paper again.”

  Raine took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “You can’t go around calling people names like that, mom.”

  “Well, lesbian then,” her mother growled out in response.

  “Lisa Gomez isn’t a lesbian, either. What did she have to say?”

  “Said you should drop by if you wanted your old job back.”

  Would that be a bad career move? Going back to the local rag I worked at when I was at high-school? I’ll have to think about it, but I’ll go and see Lisa anyway.

  While her mother had an afternoon nap, Raine scoured the Internet for anything on the DuBesne Company or Antony. Google supplied her with thousands of hits, and she picked their website first. The DuBesne Company had fingers in many pies, from pharmaceuticals to healthcare, mining to manufacture, and these were just the obvious ones they promoted. Raine knew many of the larger businesses and corporations had shell and subsidiary companies, which did their dirty work for them. Antony had a page introducing him as a partner in the business and head of acquisitions.

  So he told me the truth about that at least.

  Raine ran a search for him and found a number of articles with photographs of him at charity or business events. Raine looked with dismay. It looked as if he was with a different woman in each picture, usually some long-legged, blonde thing, who looked nothing like Raine with her black hair and fuller figure.

>   “What am I even doing?” she asked herself as she dabbed perfume on her neck and wrists, “I’m not his usual type, so what’s his game?”

  Keep your eyes open tonight, Rainey, stay on the ball.

  The doorbell chimed at exactly seven that evening, and her heart started beating as soon as she heard it.

  “He’s here, mom, I’ll see you later.”

  “Okay, Rainey. Hopefully, the house won’t get burned down by arsonists.” Her mother called back cheerfully.

  Opening the door, Raine paused at the sight before her. A middle-aged man with white hair stood on her mother’s porch. Raine looked past him for Antony but couldn’t see him anywhere.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  “I’m Carson,” the man said. “Mr. DuBesne sends his apologies, but he has been delayed.” He spoke with a pure Louisiana drawl. “If you would care to come with me, I would be honored to drive you to meet him.”

  Raine tried not to show her surprise as he offered his arm to escort her down her own front path. As they approached the curb, Raine saw the car she had parked beside that morning. The chrome trim and gray paintwork combined to make a thing of exquisite beauty. Carson opened the door and offered his gloved hand as she slid into the back seat. Inside, the leather interior was pristine white, and Raine felt the comfortable seat molding to her contours as she relaxed. Carson closed the door and made his way round to the front, slipping gracefully behind the wheel.

  Raine should not have been particularly surprised, considering they were in Texas, but she did feel a jolt of shock as she realized Carson was carrying a gun.

  “So ah, where are we going?” she asked nervously as he pulled away.

  “I have been asked to convey you to the airport, Miss Daniels, just north of Crutch Corners.” He glanced at her in the rear-view with a kind smile.

  The airport? Where the hell are we going for dinner?

  While Raine pondered this question, her cell phone bleeped at her, a number she didn’t recognize appearing on it.

  “Hello?”

  “Raine,” Antony’s voice dripped from the speaker. “I can’t apologize enough for not being there in person.” His French accent was as alluring as it had been that morning, and she smiled.