Sheldandra placed her head back on his chest without saying a word.
“My family is going to be angry when they find out that I mated with you and not Accalia,” Tate began to explain, “I am the prince of my pack and I was supposed to mate a purebred like myself but I couldn’t do it.”
Sheldandra listened to what Tate was saying as she fought to keep her eyes open.
“We may have to run Sheldandra,” he placed his hands on her head and lifted it up, forcing her to look at him, “I need you to hear me. We may have to hide in the woods or run far away from here. I can’t promise you that we will have everything we want, but we will have each other.”
Sheldandra had never thought about Tate in the way that Accalia had, she had thought about him as a man. To her he was not a prince, he was not rich, he was just a man that she loved. “It does not matter to me what we have to do or where we have to go. I will go where you go. No matter where it is I will follow you. I don’t care about possessions,” she reassured him, “I only care about being with you.”
Tate felt better, but there was so much more that they needed to talk about. Tate decided that he would leave that for the morning. Sheldandra needed her sleep and she had been through enough. He knew it would be difficult for her to understand that at some point she would have to be changed and he hoped that if they did have to leave she would feel the same way.
Tate understood that saying something and doing it were often two different things. That night Sheldandra lay in Tate’s arms safe in her apartment for the last time ever. When she awoke, she was in a car and Tate was at the wheel.
“What is going on,” Sheldandra asked.
“They are coming for us,” Tate said, looking at Sheldandra, “You were exhausted and I could not wake you so I just took you.”
“You took me,” Sheldandra’s eyes widened, “Where exactly are you taking me.”
“As far away as we can get on this tank of gas and then we will have to go even further,” Tate began, “Accalia has told the police that I kidnapped you and that you are in danger.”
Sheldandra thought about what was going on. He had in a sense kidnapped her. She had never agreed to go with him or had she… She thought about the previous night but it was all a blur. She looked down at her wrist and rubbed her hands over the scar.
“Tate,” Sheldandra asked, “What is going on? Am I in danger?”
“The only danger you are in is from Accalia,” he said, looking sad, “You will remember what happened, this is the effects of the mark. Sheldandra I am in love with you.”
Memories started to flood her mind as she thought about the previous night. Flashes of wolves and Tate making love to her. “The werewolves will kill you if they catch us,” Tate said as he took her hand.
“Then we better not let them catch us,” Sheldandra said, looking back at the man she loved.
THE END
Knocked Up by a Thug
Chapter one
“I’m sending him over right now. You won’t be disappointed. Of course I know that he’s going to have to go through the interview process, but that’s something that he’ll fly through with flying colors. Don’t worry about it; this is what you pay me for and quite handsomely at that. I’ll be in touch. Let me know how things go and if you have any more needs. You know that I’m always around. You’re one of my best clients and I always have time for you, Jackson.” I was walking down the sidewalk with my black highs heels clicking against the pavement and pretending that I was in the office.
I had several clients that are looking for new hires and they have me to thank for bringing them the talent that they need. I am the go between when it comes to finding people that are looking for work and have the resume to prove that they can do the job. They pay me a stipend to put them on my website. If they really want the personal touch, they’ll pay the premium and I’ll make a concentrated effort to work my magic.
It doesn’t hurt that I’m not hard on the eyes. Being 5’9, 115 pounds with the kind of chocolate skin that makes most men look at me two times and then a third time just to make sure that I was not some kind of mirage. I don’t know how many times I almost caused an accident with my high black skirts and ample bosom that literally looked like it was trying to escape my blouse. It’s definitely true that sex does sell.
My long black hair and my piercing green eyes are the things that makes it easy for me to get into doors that most people wouldn’t be able to accomplish on their own. I make other headhunters look like they are going through the motions. I don’t just take my client’s money; I make it work for them in the best way possible. Even now, Jackson is going to get a rude awakening. He hasn’t been able to find anybody on his own to fit the bill of an advertising executive in training. Nobody’s willing to take what he’s offering, but Peter Isles is a struggling college graduate that will bend over backwards to please him.
My blue tooth goes off and I hear the ringing in my head and I know that from the caller ID on my phone that it’s Mike. He has a law firm that has a revolving door when it comes to receptionists. Apparently, he can be a bit of a handful. It’s the reason why I was going to team him up with Tanya. She has shown that she has the attitude to give back just as hard as she is getting. This blond bombshell will tongue tie him and make it very difficult for him to chastise her for anything that she does.
It’s good to hear from you Mike. I do believe that in the next 5 minutes, Tanya will be walking through your door. Give her a chance and I think that you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Of course, we can do dinner sometime. It’s the least that I can do for my favorite client.” All of my clients were my favorite client. It was just my way of making idle chitchat and giving them a reason to continue hiring me on a permanent basis. I not only get money from the clients that I team them up with, but I also get money from them with 10% of the wages coming back to me. It’s really small, considering what I give them on a silver platter.
I stop in front of this shoe shop and I see a pair that really does cause me to stop in my tracks. Something about them calls to me and I know that this is a sickness, but I just can’t help myself. I have several shoes in my closet that I’m probably never going to wear, but it doesn’t matter.
I see my reflection and the Gucci sunglasses that I wear to shield my eyes from the sun makes me look like I have more money than brains. I’m wearing a red blouse with the first few buttons undone to show a considerable amount of cleavage. I noticed just walking down the block that a lot of men had already stopped and looked at me with a hunger that you can see in their eyes.
My last relationship was three years ago and it ended with me kicking him to the curb for cheating on me with my best friend. I know how cliché that might sound, but I have lived it and I now know that it was something that really happened. I think I gave up on men at that point, because I thought that they were all horn dogs and really were only thinking with one head and it’s not the one that was attached to their shoulders.
I decided to bite the bullet and I walked into the shop and I saw that the owner was a man. This was a little unusual and something like this kind of product would most likely be sold by a woman. He was an ebony god with a bald head that had tattoos crisscrossing over his cranium. There were several more on his arms and even one that surrounded his eye like it was supposed to be a rising sun.
“If there’s anything that I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.” He had his hand over the phone. I gave him a noncommittal wave, but I couldn’t stop staring at the muscularity of his arms and the way that they seemed to bulge obscenely like they were going to rip through the fabric like the incredible hulk.
I was browsing, but my eyes were drawn to the same pair of shoes that I’d seen outside in the window.
“I don’t care what Ramon says. I’m out of that lifestyle and I have no intention of going back anytime soon. Tell him that our business is done.” His voice was raised and I could tell that he was visibly dist
ressed about something. I could tell from his body language that this was not a conversation that he wanted to have. I picked up the shoes and I brought them over to the counter. “This is the last time that I want to hear from you. If you try to send somebody over there, you’ll regret it. Yes, that is a threat.” He slammed the phone down, before he realized that he had a client standing right in front of him.
“That sounded a bit heated.” I don’t know why I was making idle chitchat, but it was the way that I was raised. My mother was always sociable and he she had taught me that there was always a way to make a person talk. It usually came from giving them room to breathe. I didn’t say anything and instead I fingered the straps on the shoes and wondered what they would look like, as I walked down the street to the jealous glances of others.
“Let’s just say that my past seems to have come back to raise its ugly head. I would rather leave that where it’s supposed to be. They just don’t know how to take no for an answer. I’m not going to say that I’m not tempted. I’ve had several friends that went away and couldn’t make it on the outside.” The way that he said that made me believe that he had spent some time in the legal system.
He looked like he was shocked that he was, so willing to reveal such secrets to a virtual stranger. He really didn’t know me and just standing in my presence had made a lot of people reveal to me secrets that they never wanted to see the light of day. I was good at reading people and this guy had a gang related past written across his forehead in neon letters.
“I have no problem listening to you. It’s not like I have a lot to do today. It might do you good to get it off your chest. Maybe you can even give me a discount on the shoes for becoming your personal counselor.” It was worth a shot and the smile that I received was enough to make my knees shake. I’ve never had any man give me those butterflies in my stomach, until now. The black shirt that he was wearing was a little small for his frame, but it certainly did outline his muscles through that shirt with clarity.
“I’ll give you 10% off. I just opened this place about a month ago. Business has been a little slow, but with the fall season comes the need for Christmas presents. I just wished that I had a way to introduce this new line of shoes to the masses. I’ve been incommunicado for a few years. I don’t know much about business, but I had heard from an old girlfriend that she was all the rave for these new pair of shoes. I decided to throw in with her. She’s my partner in crime. It’s amazing how much I learned about shoes in such a short period of time.”
Those black pants were tight and it wasn’t because he had muscular thighs. I could see the outline of his package and the way that it was pressing up against the fabric. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but there was no way that I was going to take that kind of risk in a semi public place.
“I know a lot of friends that have gone into the system. I know a lot of them that got lost and couldn’t find their way back. I also know of a few that have made it, despite what they went through. It’s admirable that you’d want to get back into society. I like that you want to earn an honest living. Of course, it’s hard to walk away from something you know. The money must’ve been immeasurable, but sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture. You went to jail this time, but what happens the next time? You could get killed or you could find yourself carrying the blood of others on your shoulders.”
I could tell that he was looking me up and down and even though he was subtle, his eye movements were quite clear. “I’m just worried that he’s not going to take no for an answer. I know these guys and I know how they work when somebody decides to walk away clean from all of this. There really is no way to do that. Once you’re in, you never have a way out. I did get rid of the tattoos that I got when I was in the gang. I didn’t so much as get rid of them, as I did cover them up with tribal markings that I found quite appealing when I was in behind bars. I don’t know why I’m burdening you with any of this. I guess I just find it easy to talk to you.”
“I know that it must be difficult, but you have to realize that anything that is worth doing is never easy. Just continue doing what you are doing and hopefully they will realize that you have moved on. You don’t need the hassle and the drama of what they bring to the table.” I was treating his problem like it was a business transaction. It was the only way that I could truly help him see the truth right in front of his eyes.
“I don’t even know your name, but I would like to thank you for your kind words. If you have the time, there’s a coffee shop down the way that serves the best cappuccino that I’ve ever had. I didn’t even know that I liked cappuccino, until my ex girlfriend introduced me to them upon my release.” I’m not one to get caught up in lame come ons. I usually am able to shrug them aside, but for whatever reason I didn’t feel like I could do that with him.
“Jerome, I would love to have a cup of coffee with you. Give me about 15 minutes to clear my calendar and I’ll meet you down there.
I’d seen his name on his name tag and I was just hoping that I didn’t get caught up in the fact that he was a bad boy. I didn’t want to be the kind of girl that would think that she could save him from himself.
Chapter two
I stood there and waited in line, until I felt a warm presence behind me. I turned my head slightly to see Jerome standing behind me, so close that I could almost feel something that gave me a moment of pause. I’d not been this close to a man in quite some time and I guess I was starting to realize that waking up in a cold bed by myself is a bit lonely. I never had time to truly think about it and I was always on the go.
“I hope that you didn’t feel that it was presumptuous of me to ask you out to coffee. I just thought that it would be a nice gesture. After all, you did listen without judgment and that is more than I can say for most people. They hear that I’m an ex con and they want to turn around and go the other way. I’ve even had some new friends walk away, because they can’t deal with the fact that I have a checkered past. They think that just because I used to live by a different code that I would go back to it with not so much, as a thought about the consequences.”
“Jerome, I think that most people get caught up with stereotypes. They think that just because you’ve gone to jail that you can’t be rehabilitated. It’s true for some, but that ruins it for the rest of you that are truly trying your best to pick yourself up after going down a disastrous road.” We got our coffee and we went to a nearby table by the window. It was a beautiful day, but in here you could not feel the humidity that was seeping through my clothing with each step that I made on the sidewalk.
“I knew from the moment that I got involved with them that I was making a very bad mistake. It’s just that when you live in my neighborhood, there is really only one way to go to avoid getting beaten up by the gang. You become one of them, go through the initiation and then do what you have to to survive. I was glad that I was able to shield my little brother James from that kind of life. I saved a lot of money to send him to college, where he is right now doing his midterm. He wants to be a marine biologist, whatever the hell that is. I’m just happy that he wants to do something with his life.” I wanted to ask him about his mother, but I could tell from his faraway gaze that she was no longer in the picture.
“It has to be very hard for you to raise your little brother on your own. No wonder, you felt like you had no other choice.” I was now moving my hand across the table, until I was touching his. He didn’t try to pull away and the heat of his fingers on mine only made me well aware of the fact that life was nothing without a man in it.
We told each other about our childhoods and where he was more in the line of fire, I was sheltered, as an only child in a household that looked more like a business meeting than a family atmosphere. My father would barely speak and I would always find him head deep in the stock exchange. My mother was always cooking and owning her own catering shop had made her a very busy lady. I soon realized that they were both burying themselves in their work to a
void talking about their feelings.
“I think that we all know that there are skeletons in everybody’s closets. Those skeletons could be minor like wearing women’s clothing or something else that could land them in jail. He had scars, which were physical and emotional.” I found myself leaning in for a kiss, when I noticed out of my peripheral vision a black car with tinted windows coming down the block very slowly.
He had his eyes closed, but I was well aware of my surroundings and this was sending off all sorts of alarms in my head. I saw the window roll down and then the projection of a weapon that wasn’t meant to say hello. On instinct alone, I pulled Jerome from his seat and down onto the floor. The glass shattered and a young man with a courier jacket on got caught in the crossfire. He danced to his own tune and landed not more than a few feet away from us. He was bleeding profusely and I acted quickly and grabbed a tablecloth and placed it tightly against his wound.
While I was doing this, I noticed that Jerome had raced out the doorway. He wasn’t even thinking about his own safety and he was following an instinct that was ingrained into him. I heard metal striking metal. Outside the window on the other side of the coffee shop, I saw him lift the post office mailbox and heave it with everything he had. It landed heavily on top of the car. It careened to the side and smashed into a nearby truck that was parked across the street.
I didn’t dare move, or this man was going to die, but I was fascinated by his ability to compartmentalize his own safety. He wasn’t even concerned and he was now stalking the car. He wasn’t running or showing any kind of emotion whatsoever. He was walking in a straight line towards the vehicle that was now smoking from the hood.
“Somebody call an ambulance.” People were now scrambling out of their seats with their cell phones to mark this moment for posterity. One guy that had a flip phone dialed 911 and then came over to render aid.
“I used to be a medic in the army. Let me see what we’re dealing with.” I lifted my hand and was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn’t gushing out like a dam that had burst from its seams. “I would say that this man will survive. He’s going to need surgery, but I can see that at least two of the bullets went clean through and didn’t do much more than superficial damage. It’s the one in his stomach that concerns me, but with the right attention and the right surgeon, he should come out of it.” I wasn’t even sure if I was listening, as I got on my feet with blood on my hands and walked in what felt like a trance over to the window.
SCOTTISH ROMANCE: My Sinful Surrender to a Highlander Werewolf (Scottish Werewolf Pregnancy Romance) (Historical Medieval Shape Shifter Paranormal Science Fiction Short Stories) Page 46