[The Shifters Committee 05.0] Sensual Hero

by Rebecca Foxx

  “Thank you,” she whispered when the nurse left, leaning her head on Blake’s shoulder.

  “Anytime,” he responded. “So what are you doing after this?”

  “You mean what am I doing after getting out of the hospital? Nothing really, why?”

  “I was wondering if you might want to come over and have a drink with me at my place.”

  Lisa smiled and squeezed his hand. “I’d love nothing more.”

  Chapter 6

  Being back in Blake’s mansion reminded Lisa of high school. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel resentment but an odd feeling of peace. Blake showed her what he’d done to fix up the place, which included adding a hot tub, a new pool, and a set of blue French doors that led out to the patio.

  They were still slightly buzzed from the wine cellar, but Blake poured them fresh glasses of wine regardless. He enjoyed drinking with his meals, and told Lisa all about the different pairings she could make between certain wines and seafoods.

  Lisa didn’t tell him she already knew most of that information, as her father was a chef. She’d grown up around food and cooking, and was familiar with every aspect of both the animal body and the vegetable body.

  Perhaps if Blake would let he she might cook for him in the future. Though he acted like an alpha male, she would probably get him to oblige to a home cooked meal or two. And she knew he’d definitely say yes if she wore a maid’s outfit. If she weren’t careful, Lisa would wind up getting turned on all over again and then they would never get to sleep.

  Once she was touched in any way shape or form—sensually—it was all over from that point forward. Like a robot with no off button, Lisa would then expect infinite amounts of pleasure until the sun made its rotation around the earth.

  Blake, on the other hand, was tired out from everything that had happened. It had been quite the emotional day, from hearing about the fire to running into the tunnel as an act of valiance. He’d spent the entire night going back and forth between past and present.

  To take a chance on the curvaceous Lisa or not to take a chance. Clearly he’d chosen the former, which had been an admiral decision indeed. He was wise to her games, and knew when she was trying to push him away out of fear.

  To his surprise, she’d stopped doing that the moment they were rescued. He’d seen a truly vulnerable side of her back in the hospital. She was like a wet dog, shaking and scared, just waiting to be claimed. Hospitals had always terrified Lisa since she was a child.

  All this and more Blake knew, remembered, cemented in his mind. Everything Blake did was carefully thought out. Though he might have seemed impulsive to most people (and who could blame him? Jumping in to save the fair maiden like he did was quite impulsive indeed) he prided himself in thinking each and every decision through fully.

  It was time for him to embrace his destiny; Lisa. Though he didn’t know it at the time, they would wind up bedding again late that night, falling back in love with each other almost helplessly. They’d admitted they still had strong feelings for each other, and that was just the first step.

  Soon they’d be engaged, married, and Lisa would become pregnant with her own slew of rug rats that would in turn steal her wine behind her back. The cycle of teenager hood would continue with her offspring making the same mistakes, falling in and out of love. But Blake and Lisa’s adoration for each other would remain everlasting, unwavering.

  The night was still young, though it was dark out. When Blake thought about it, he realized he hadn’t seen sunlight all day. It mattered not, for Lisa was the only bright light he needed to abide by. To stay inside, or to go outside, that was the newest decision to be made.

  Staying inside meant more lovemaking was in store, and Blake needed to take a break. His body was still sore from running earlier, and his neck ached a bit from when he went down on Lisa. His best bet was to go outside, perhaps to woo her further in the moonlight.

  Instead of sitting inside, Blake led her out onto the patio. It was decorated with fairy lights, which he had yet to take down. They were leftover from when he had company there a few months ago. He’d had some of his family and friends over to celebrate for no reason in particular.

  Blake told Lisa he loved parties, and she told him she understood, as they’d grown up in a secret society of sorts that prided itself on birthday and New Years Eve parties.

  Blake plugged in the lights and suddenly bright golden orbs surrounded them. Lisa felt like she was living in a fairy tale, what with the lights against the backdrop of the wine-dark sky and the dozens of dead stars that accompanied it.

  “I still can’t believe we made it out of there alive,” Blake said, sipping on his wine.

  “Are you now?” she asked. “Because it seems to me like you always knew we would get out alive. You’re quite the confident one, aren’t you?”

  He chuckled. “Always have been, and you knew that. Are you telling me that after all these years you’re unfamiliar with my ways?”

  She swirled the wine around in the cup, glancing up at him every so often. “You know that’s not what I’m saying.”

  “I see we’re continuing to play the game even though we’re not in danger.”

  “Shall I stop?” she asked.

  “Of course not.”

  A period of silence lapsed between them. In the distance, a morning dove began its slow and sad song.

  “Do you want to go out with me?” Blake asked. “On a real date, without the fire and the drama.”

  “What if I like the fire and the drama?”

  He chuckled once more. “ A woman after my own heart. So what do you say?”

  “I say yes, of course. You already knew I would.”

  He grinned. “Good. Then let’s go out tomorrow night. We can go to a place like the vineyard, only hopefully one with more fireproof walls.”

  “Maybe we should go somewhere that overlooks the water. You know, just in case we have to abandon ship suddenly.”

  “I like the way you think.”

  They spent the rest of the night devouring one another’s conversational skills. When at last Lisa admitted that she was exhausted, and would prefer to go to sleep than anything else in the world, Blake surprised her by carrying her up to his bedroom. He was muscular, and able to lift just about anything over his head, though Lisa was quite light.

  As they walked through the house, he was reminded of the first time she’d come over.

  It had been a school night, and they’d snuck in through the patio to have a sip of his parent’s expensive Bombay Sapphire collection. Lisa had stumbled home drunk; tripping over leaves and twigs until she finally reached home.

  She fell asleep on the couch and slept through the entire day of class. Blake had claimed that he was ill, and had run a thermometer under the sink until his parents agreed to leave him alone.

  They were used to things like this—situations, complexities that involved playing the game. Now that they were back together, they were going to be the newest power couple.

  Blake and Lisa could feel it in their very cores—they had a good thing coming indeed.

  THE END

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  Bank on It

  Chapter 1

  Michael Clooney walked the length of his mansion every day in the hopes that it would make him feel less lonely. It helped him to feel better when he understood the terrain of his lair, which was quite enormous.

  Even his yard was a maze, spanning fifteen acres and filled with exotic trees and a fifty-foot long pool. Inside his mansion he had fake wildflowers hanging from the walls and an entire hallway covered in ancient records. He loved filling every room with strange items, for it gave off the appearance of life everlasting.

  Since his ex girlfriend left him, Michael had been quite lonely. Her name was Ann, and she had fallen in love with a restaurant manager named Jax.

  “You’re seriously leaving me for him,” Mic
hael had said, rubbing his forehead.

  “He’s not pretentious, he has a decent job, and he’s a really nice person,” Ann said, packing a black Prada suit into her suitcase.

  “Are you kidding me? Working as a restaurant manager is not a decent job, you know that right?”

  “Well maybe I just wanted something to be different for once. All these parties and this mansion life, and all this money just isn’t for me.”

  “Ann, you were born into wealth just like I was.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Don’t you get bored of having all this money?”

  The moment she said that all Michael wanted to do was grab her by the shoulders and shout yes, that he was sick of all the wealth and the engagements. It bored him to death that he had to attend horse races and charity galas filled with plastic men and women.

  He’d lived in the Bahamas since his infancy, though lately it had been feeling more like a death sentence than a vacation getaway. The only thing that was keeping Michael sane was a bank teller by the name of Clare Daniels.

  Clare worked at one of the local banks downtown. She was curvy and tanned with long black hair and large green eyes. Every time Michael saw her he fell in love. She was always warm and friendly to him when he came to drop off or take out large sums of cash. If she hadn’t guessed already, she would find out soon enough that he was one of the richest men in the country.

  Each time he came into the bank, he tried to think of a different way to approach her. He wanted to ask her out on a date but strangers constantly surrounded them and she was always sitting in-between two of her coworkers.

  If he asked her right then and there, everyone would laugh in his face. Maybe she would reject him out of embarrassment, and then he would always be alone. Other than Clare, Ann had been the only other woman he’d been interested in.

  Things with Ann had ended badly. The couple had been fighting for weeks on end because Ann claimed she was bored and had no idea what to do with her money anymore. She told Michael that she was attracted to Jax because he was something new, and newness was enchanting.

  They were going to move out of the Bahamas and into a shack in Florida where they would fish and hunt for their own food. The only reason Michael even found out about any of this was because he’d caught them sleeping together in their king-sized bed.

  He’d come home from a lunch with his friends early that day. Normally he would have gone to the gym or went for a swim in the ocean, but he was feeling a bit groggy so he headed on home in his BMW. Upon arriving, he noticed another car in the driveway.

  It was an old beat-up Mustang that he’d never seen before. When he got inside, he could hear Ann moaning from the upstairs bedroom. Instead of barging in on them as people normally did in this situation, he decided to stay downstairs and pour himself a scotch. He waited until they were finished to announce his presence.

  They walked downstairs, their hair disheveled and their cheeks red, and Michael confronted Ann. They instantly got into an argument that ended in Jax trying to beat up Michael. He was strong for someone who worked in a restaurant, but not as strong as Michael, who worked out all the time.

  Ann had left crying, returning the next day only to pick up her things and explain her plans to Michael.

  Now it was three in the afternoon and he had no one to have conversation with. There was only one thing left to do: head to the bank in the hopes of catching Clare in a quiet moment.

  The bank was fairly busy, filled with people writing checks and filling out deposit slips. Luckily for Michael, Clare had no one waiting in her line. He strode over and greeted her as he normally did.

  “What would you like to do today, Mr. Clooney?” she asked, her large green eyes trained on him.

  “I’ve just come to deposit some funds,” he said breezily. She handed him a slip, though he already had one in his left hand.

  On one slip he filled out his bank number and the specific amount of money he was putting back in the bank. These days it wasn’t safe to travel with large amounts of money, especially not at the horse races.

  On the other deposit slip he wrote something to Clare.

  You’re the most extraordinary woman I’ve ever met.

  He finished his transaction, making sure to hand her both slips before exiting the bank. He decided to start out slow, just giving her a few compliments here and there before asking her out on a real date.

  This way she could either ignore them, and he’d have his answer, or she could respond in kind with a note.

  Either way, Michael was glad that he’d gathered his courage and given her the slip. He’d been thinking about it for weeks, and it was starting to drive him crazy. Now that the ball was rolling, all he had to do was sit back and watch the show.

  Chapter 2

  Clare stared at the slip that Michael Clooney had left for her. She could feel color creeping into her cheeks and neck. Luckily she was tan enough that no one noticed she was blushing. Even if they did, she could just blame it on the heat.

  The thermostat was creeping to ninety degrees and she was wearing a blazer and skirt. It was company policy that all the men and women dressed in nice clothing, regardless of the temperature outside.

  Clare had also been living in the Bahamas since her infancy, though she’d known about Michael Clooney for quite some time. He was the famous billionaire that lived alone on the hill. She’d heard rumors that he had a wife or a girlfriend, but had never seen them together. He’d also just left her a bank note telling her she was extraordinary—he couldn’t possibly have a girlfriend, could he?

  All day Clare thought about Michael and the possibility of going out on a date with him. She wanted to see the inside of his mansion to see if maybe he had an exotic pet, like a cheetah or a tiger. She’d heard of billionaires before that had elephants roaming around in their backyards, and one of her father’s old friends even had a giraffe for several years.

  Though Clare wasn’t that well off, she wasn’t poor either. She lived on Shell Lane in a cozy house with aquamarine wallpaper. She’d been lucky enough to get a house that overlooked a private section of the beach. No tourists were allowed there, and she was the only one allowed to swim in the clear blue water.

  Some days she would head out there with her watercolors and radio and paint for hours on end. On her days off, she completely lost track of time. It was only when the sun began to set that she even noticed it was time to pack up and head back inside. The last time she’d been painting late, it had been close to one in the morning when she realized what time it was. There had been a full moon that provided all the extra light she needed.

  The moon had reflected tenfold in the water, creating bright white ripples in the water. Where she lived, there were hundreds of colorful fish that swam in the clear blue ocean.

  Occasionally she would see a manta ray or a miniature shark, but they never came near her. They always stayed a bit deeper, feasting off the fish that gathered around the coral reef. If anyone found out the kind of wildlife that was thriving around her property, she would surely be propositioned by large sums of money until she vacated the premises.

  Unfortunately for Clare, she had bigger issues than the locals finding out about her hideaway. Her property tax was going up, and she was finding it harder and harder to afford both the house and the car. Part of her resented Michael for all the money he had. Growing up, her parents had lived on a farm, which had provided all the free food they needed.

  They rose with the sun every day, working until dinnertime before falling asleep in sleeping bags on the porch. When Clare finally moved out, she started working at the bank to make some extra money.

  There she’d met a man named Earl who had captivated her body and soul. Earl had been a tourist to those parts, and was on vacation with his wife and two kids. Clare found she couldn’t help herself—she fell in love with Earl.

  One day, when they were scuba diving in the water, Earl’s wife had pulled up t
o the house. Earl still had an hour left in his oxygen tank so he stayed under the water until his wife Sora left.

  Sora was enraged that Clare had been seeing Earl. She jabbed her in the chest when she yelled at her, explaining that Clare had no purpose in life other than to tear apart other people’s marriages with her slutty behavior.

  “I’m so sorry,” Clare had said through her tears. “I never meant to let it get this far.”

  Sora ignored her, instead scanning her backyard for any sign of her husband. When she found none, she gathered her things and headed back to their vacation home. Earl exited the water a few minutes later, looking like an oceanic prince in all his wet gear.