Misty leaned forward, cutting into my thoughts.
“You’re not feeling this at all, are you?”
“What—I mean, you’re gorgeous—no—”
“You like Penny.”
“I hired her to—”
“Yes, that’s what she said. Thing is, if you’re going to be with Penny, you have to be made of tough stuff. I don’t know if you’ve heard about the others.” She raised her eyebrows significantly.
“Looks like they were all ass-hats.” Misty laughed bitterly.
“That’s the right attitude. Penny thinks it’s her fault, but none of them were right for her. If you want to be with her, you’ve got to step up though. She’s scared of putting another person she cares about in intensive care. Or having the dude get caught by a flash mob of YMCA singers while butt naked banging a girl in an abandoned subway.” I laughed.
“I saw that on YouTube.”
“It was epic. I don’t know what it is with Penny. Her luck with men is also epic. And by that I mean terrible.” The song ended. Misty stepped away from me. “You better go ask her to dance before it’s too late.” I smiled at her and nodded.
~*~
He was walking toward me. I downed my glass of pinot grigio. He smiled at me, and I raised my eyebrows at him, expecting to hear him start to sing Misty’s praises. Instead, he held out a hand to me.
“Dance with me?”
“Okay,” I said. The music was fast-paced, safe. The first few songs maintained the high-energy dancing. He had some weird dance moves that he pulled out, and I found myself laughing hysterically as he did a dance-off with some of my young cousins. The next song; however, was a slow one. He pulled me close to him. We were both sweaty, but he still smelled good. I melted easily into his arms, letting him rock me back and forth.
The wine that I had had gave me a buzz, and that combined with the haze that being near Davey induced, I was irrevocably intoxicated, although still in control of my faculties. He placed two fingers beneath my chin, forcing me gently to look him in the eye.
He kissed me, and it was everything. I responded, thinking, I want this, I want this. He pulled away suddenly, looking at me, trying to gage my reaction. I smiled hesitantly.
“Do you—”
“Let’s leave.”
With that, we were rushing out of the reception, hand in hand. I thought that I saw a flash as we left the Country Club, but I thought nothing of it. I was entirely focused on getting Davey to my apartment.
~*~
We entered my apartment, the door slamming shut behind us. I was already pulling at the buttons of his oxford. He unzipped the awful bridesmaid dress.
“This dress—”
“It’s horrible, I know.”
“Oh, no. It’s totally sexy. I just want it off of you.” I paused. He was joking with me. He smiled at me devilishly as he let go of the dress. It fell to the floor at my feet. He picked me up, carrying me over to the couch. Placing me down, he removed his shirt, and then his pants. He knelt down, and I sat up, kissing him. He was pulling at my panties, running his hands over my naked skin. The spell—I could feel it tingling across the surface of my skin, but I wasn’t going to regret this, not at this moment.
A gorgeous, well-toned werewolf was making love to me, the heat from his body making me sweat. He was inside of me, making me feel filled up, erotic. He looked me in the eye, and I took his face in both of my hands, bringing him to me, kissing him deeply as he pumped. Our breathing was rushed, heavy. I could feel myself building—it had been too long, and I felt like I was going to explode. He stopped, pulling out of me.
“Quick—barricade yourself in your room.”
“What?”
“It’s the full moon,” he was facing away from me. His skin was moving in strange ways. “I’m shifting. Get yourself to safety.” I got up, running naked into my room. I pushed my heavy mahogany bureau in front of the door.
~*~
“Have you checked the Twitter?” My mother had left me a voicemail. Frowning, I brought it up on my phone. A picture of Davey and I leaving the reception, my hand in his. I did a Google search, finding that the tabloids had already attacked.
“Davey Allred hires and seduces Matchmaker.”
“Allred Braves the Bad Luck Penny.”
I groaned, covering my face with my hands. I put on pajamas, and pushed the bureau away from my door. I opened it, and inhaled in shock. My apartment had been destroyed. Davey lay curled at the epicenter of all of the damage. He was still naked. I knelt down beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He flinched. Opening his eyes, he sat up, looking around.
“God. I’m sorry,” he said. “I meant to leave before I—”
“You meant to leave?”
“It’s not like that,” he reached out to me. I held out my phone to him, showing him the Bad Penny headline. He exhaled, raising his eyebrows.
“It’s my curse,” I said. “I set a spell on myself when I was twelve. I can only marry my One True Love. All of the others are injured, or obviously, dragged through the mud via the tabloids.”
“We can get through this,” Davey said. “This is nothing.”
“Nothing?” I fumed. “This is the end of my business. My curse has struck again. I need to stop seeing you before it does something worse. The faster that you get away from me, the better for you.”
“Please reconsider.”
“No. Absolutely not,” I said. “I won’t have you hurt on my account.”
Chapter Tenth
As I was leaving Penny’s apartment, Aunt Anna called. She sounded excited.
“You’re dating Penny!”
“Not quite,” I replied. “I wolfed out and destroyed her apartment in addition to having her dragged through the dirty press.”
“That’s not right. I want to meet Penny,” she said.
“Okay. Let me arrange a few things and convince her to leave her apartment,” I said, making plans. “Once I’m done, I’ll bring her to the assisted living community to meet you.”
“You better not hurt that girl, Davey.” Her voice was stern.
“I won’t, Aunt Anna. I promise.”
“She’s wholly in love with you.”
“And I’m wholly in love with her.”
~*~
There was a knock at the door to my apartment. Figuring that the man who worked at the front door wouldn’t let the press in, I answered it. My mouth fell open to find Davey standing there. He was dressed in a plain black t-shirt, jeans, and Converse.
“I need a favor,” he said.
“Haven’t I done enough?” He smiled.
“The woman who raised me—my great Aunt Annalise, would love to meet you.” He looked down at his feet. “Could you just come—as a favor to me?” I nodded.
“Okay. Just give me a few moments.” I walked back into my bedroom. I had magicked away most of the mess from Davey’s shift, crying as I went. I put on a dress and some mascara. My hand was shaking, I realized. I was happy to see him, but it was also painful.
This was worse than with my past fiancés, but I knew that it was only right to end it before anything drastic happened to Davey. I did it because I cared for him.
We sat in silence as we were driven in a limo to the senior living facility that his great aunt lived in. The whole time, I could feel the heat of his body. I could smell his scent—I wanted to launch myself at him. I got out of the car. We walked inside in silence.
A tiny woman sat on a couch inside. She grinned widely when she saw us.
“You must be Penny,” she said. She held her arms open, taking me into a surprisingly strong hug. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”
“It’s wonderful to meet you, too.” I liked her already. Davey wandered away, mumbling something about having left something in the car, and I sat down on the couch beside her.
“You have a shimmer about you,” she said to me.
“You have some witch sight,” I responded.
>
“Some,” she replied. “Werewolf shamans tend to have the tiniest bit.” I had a million questions to ask her about it. Her gaze was trained on Davey, who had returned with a man dressed in a priest’s clothing. Davey threw down a stack of papers, dropping to one knee.
He pulled a tiny black velvet box out of his pocket, opening it. Inside, there was a plain gold band.
“Marry me,” he said. “Right now.”
“I can’t,” I said. “I love you too much to put you in that kind of danger, to be engaged to me.”
“I love you too much to play it safe,” he countered. “Additionally, if we get married this moment, we will have never been engaged. I mean, the chances of me getting in a horrible accident before the wedding, this moment, are very slight.” At that moment, a huge crack of thunder struck outside. He raised his eyebrows at me.
“Marry me, Penny,” he insisted. “I will keep asking until either the sky falls on us, or you say yes.”
“Yes,” I said, my voice cracking. He picked up the marriage certificate, handing me a pen. He had already signed them. I signed them, and he took my hand, gesturing at the priest.
“Do you promise to love, cherish, and honor Penelope?”
“I do.”
“Do you promise to love, cherish and honor David?”
“I do.”
“By the powers vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife.” Aunt Annalise clapped loudly, and Davey kissed me on the lips.
He took me back to his apartment, picking me up off of my feet, and carrying me over the threshold. I kissed him. The haze began to clear, and I could see the threads—our threads, I realized. They were a warm pink, thick and entwined.
“Oh,” I said.
“What?”
“It’s all clear now,” I said. “I can see our threads.”
“Really?”
“It’s you. It’s always been you,” I said, and he smiled, heading straight for the bedroom. He placed me gingerly on the bed.
“No wolfing out,” I said.
“No wolfing out,” he agreed, peeling my panties off and throwing them to the ground. I pulled his t-shirt off, amazed at the fact that I was going to spend the rest of my life with this incredible man. He supported my back as he unzipped my dress, pulling down the straps and freeing my breasts. He kissed me, taking one of my nipples in between his teeth.
I clawed at him, wanting him inside of me, immediately. Sensing my desire, he responded, entering me. I panted with desire, and the heat that came off of his skin made me sweat. My husband placed his hand on my abdomen and looked me in the eyes as he made love to me.
Epilogue
We had a more elaborate ceremony several months after our rushed ceremony in the senior living facility. During the months that we had spent together, we had only fallen deeper in love. Davey held my hand at the reception. I was wearing a couture wedding gown that was made of a white silk that was as soft as butter.
Aunt Anna and my grandmother were seated next to each other. They had become good friends over the past few months as our families blended. One of the waiters came over with a tray of champagne in hand. Davey reached out to take champagne flutes for both of us.
“Ah ah ah!” Aunt Anna yelled.
“Penny gets cider,” my grandmother interjected. Davey and I looked at each other, our eyes wide.
“Congratulations,” Aunt Anna said, settling down in her seat.
“Well?” Davey asked his aunt.
“What?” she looked at him with innocent eyes.
“Boy or girl?”
“You’ll see,” she responded, primly cutting into her slice of cake with a fork.
~*~
THE END
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The Night I Was Rescued
~ Bonus Story ~
A Steamy Werewolf Shifter Romance
“This should suit you.” He went over to the dresser, and pulled out black lace lingerie, that would cover nothing. He walked around behind me, using his fingertips to ease the straps of my wrinkled, sweat-infused dress. I stiffened, feeling deeply uncomfortable with this, but it seemed that I had no choice.
“Don’t—” I started.”
~
Ness has recently run away from her privileged life in Boston, seeking the peace and quiet of small-town America. Soon though, she will find out that Wimberley, Texas may be more “different” than she expected.
Vampires and werewolves are real, and Ness will land right in the middle of their ancient feud. Also, the Palmers seem to have a special attraction to her, a link that may have started even before Ness moved to their turf. So when Owen, a werewolf, intervenes and rescues Ness from the fangs of the vampires, she will become the focus of their of an ancestral fight.
Hanging out with werewolves is not without perils though, and with the full moon approaching, Ness may be in more danger than she realizes around the gorgeously handsome Owen. Will she fall for him? Or will the appeal of living forever as a vampire seduce her?
* * *
My black patent heels clicked on the uneven sidewalk. Sweat was already dripping from my forehead, and smearing my carefully applied makeup. The sun had just set, but the air still felt like a convection oven. I was glad that I’d chosen my black dress, because the short walk from the small house I’d rented off of Main Street to my destination was definitely going to leave sweat stains under my arms and around the low-cut collar of the dress. I had, only very recently moved to Wimberley, a small town in east Texas, surrounded by quiet pine woods and farmlands. It had a small downtown area, where I had gotten a job as a baker in the only coffee shop, Dot’s. I passed the spare-looking buildings of the one-street downtown area. Everything seemed so simple there. I was very quickly going to learn how complicated things were in Wimberley.
I was on my way to The Ice House, the local bar and hang out. It was painted barn-red on the outside, and had a parking lot full of trucks and a few well-worn motorcycles. When I swung the door open, I noticed immediately that I was overdressed in my slinky black dress and heels. All of the other girls wore jean shorts, plaid shirts or tight, belly-baring t-shirts, and everyone was wearing cowboy boots. I was dressed for a night on the town in Boston, where I’d just run away from my life as a trust fund kid pursuing a law degree to please my parents.
“Hey City Mouse!” Kelly held up her hand and waved to me, her blonde curls bouncing. I felt really uncomfortable, but excited at the same time, since this was my first invitation to go out with the locals. Kelly and Ella also worked at Dot’s, but they waitressed out front while I was always tucked away in the bakery out in the back.
“That dress is lovely,” Ella said, pushing out a bar stool with her booted foot for me.
“Thanks,” I said. “Target.”
“Get outta town,” Kelly said. “Whatcha drinkin’?”
“Vodka tonic?” It was my go-to.
“Not here, you’re not,” Kelly said, then yelled to the bartender, a thickly muscled man in tight jeans and an equally tight plaid shirt with sleeves cuffed to show off his tattoos: “Hey Cam! Corona over here for the City Mouse!” Cam nodded, pulling a Corona out of the glass-front fridge and uncapping it with his teeth, then slipping a lime wedge into the neck. He slid it over to me on the bar.
“Two dollars, Honey,” he smiled warmly. He was sexy in a Momma’s boy gone bad kind of way.
“Two dollars? That’s it?” I couldn’t hide my shock as Cam nodded. “In Boston, it’d be at least six.”
“Welcome to Texas,” Kelly said, clinking her beer against mine, which still sat on the bar. I slid a few singles over to Cam. “Land of cheap beer, rare steaks, and affordable smokes. Let’s get us a table, ladies.”
We walked over to a booth in the front wall of the bar, where we could still be seen by other clientele, but also had a fantastic view of the pool tables, where some games were
just getting started. I wanted to laugh, because I realized that everything that is stereotyped about Texas is not a joke. Just about everyone was wearing a cowboy hat and boots, and there was a group of twenty-somethings just starting the two-step in the dance floor in the very center of The Ice House.
As I looked around, though, I noticed that some people were definitely bucking the stereotype. Standing against a wall that was decorated by multi-colored Christmas lights, framed front pages of old newspapers, and a stuffed buck’s head were three men. They all had remarkably pale skin. In the few short weeks that I’d lived in Wimberley, my skin had toasted into a light golden tan. But these men looked as though they lived underground. It was only exacerbated by the fact that they were all wearing black. They looked as though they belonged in Boston, one dressed in a fitted t-shirt, another in a soot-colored oxford, and the third in a black polo. They stood there, expressionless, not speaking, watching everyone else in the bar. Suddenly, the one in the polo looked over at me, and I realized that his eyes were a strange golden color, almost glowing. We stared at each other, and I got the very sincere feeling that he wanted to eat me. I gasped and looked away quickly. Ella noticed where my attention had been.
“Those are the Palmers. They run some kind of business out of their ranch,” She leaned in toward me and whispered, “The sheriff thinks it’s human trafficking, but he can never prove it. They’re super smart, and very dangerous. You should stay away from them.”
“On the other hand,” Kelly said, “They’re brothers. It could make for an interesting party.” She raised her eyebrows and winked at me. I laughed.
The Beast In The Castle Page 37