by Ava Walsh
“No. I work hard to survive, and I’m doing fine. I don’t look for guys with money,” I assured him, because it was true. I would rather be alone than with a man who treated Daisy and me badly, even if he had all the money in the world. “I just can’t help but wonder why I am here now. There's so many pretty dancers at the club."
“I go to The Goods for my friends. They like it because they haven’t found their mate and want to play until that time comes. They like that I pay for drinks a lot of the time, though sometimes they do as well. You are mine, so I only want to focus on you.” The look he gave me was possessive and long, making me shiver.
“You don’t know me,” I protested, and he shook his head.
“I don’t have to. I just feel it,” Remy stated. He looked up to see the waitress coming in with some steaming cups of coffee. She set them down with creamer and sugar and meekly left before he spoke again. I wondered why as I watched her scurry away. “Tell me about yourself.”
“I live in an apartment with my seven-year-old sister, Mr. James.”
“Remy. Call me Remy.”
“Fine, Remy. I am supporting my sister because we have no parents and no family. I work at night and sleep when I can around her schedule. Is that what you want from a woman? I can’t do every night.” I waved my hand around to the setting that I would probably never see again. “My sister is worried that I am going to go away just like Mom did, and she comes first.”
“She’s beautiful and looks a lot like you. I saw her when you were eating dinner,” Remy softly told me, as I looked at him. “I can see how much you love her, and that’s one of the many things that I enjoy about you. I am willing to take care of both of you."
“Are you following me?” I asked him, as he gave me a long look.
“No. I just feel you inside of me all of the time. You came to my restaurant, Lucia. Have you ever thought that you were drawn there that night, or perhaps that I was brought to you the night we met?” Remy asked, as I held my hand up.
“That is not how the world works,” I protested, as he shook his head.
“That’s how my life works. I have been waiting for this, for you, for a long time. I live for fate, Lucia, and you’re it for me.”
“A long time. What are you, thirty at the most?”
“Not exactly,” Remy looked around the room and shook his head. “Let’s eat something, and then we’ll talk later.”
He told me a little bit about his family as we ate, though I could tell that he was hiding something. Two parents and four siblings, two boys and two girls. He was the middle child. It sounded healthy enough, and they lived in Montana now, out in the country. What a perfect upbringing.
Then he asked about mine. I filled him in on my father dying when I was ten, and then my mother being single until she met Daisy’s dad, who had skipped town after she was born. It was quite different than what he'd described, though he looked riveted by every word that I said.
My mom had died in a car accident five miles from home. I heard that statistic from time to time, but I never thought it would happen to me. I was confident that I was driving him away with my Lifetime movie drama, but when he paid for our meal and led me to the car by the hand, I felt the connection between us.
He drove me to my car and then followed me home. We sat outside in his vehicle where he kissed me until I was breathless. Remy knew how to use his mouth and those hands…I was ready to go at it right there and then. We got close, but as my bra came off and my pants ended up unzipped, Remy pulled back. “I want you, Lucia.”
“I am right here,” I told him, as he stared into my eyes before kissing me again.
“I claim you when we get together like that. I make you mine…forever,” Remy told me, as I laughed.
“Just from sex? Are you a virgin saving it for the right girl?” There was no way with the way he looked, not to mention the way he had played my body.
“No, but this time I am in it for life.” It was so sincere, and I leaned back against my seat as I took a deep breath.
“I hope there isn’t a ring involved in our first…not even a real date,” I joked, with fear in my heart. I didn’t know this guy, but I was ready to let him have me in his car. Even odder was that he had denied me.
“No, but there is something you have to know,” Remy told me, as I looked at my messy state and stared at him. “My family has a certain gene, all of us. It makes me who I am, and it makes me want you so bad, but it can affect everything for us.” Remy looked into my face for a long moment. “I am a shifter, Lucia. A werewolf, to be exact, just like my parents before me.”
Chapter Four
“Werewolf?” I asked in disbelief, as he nodded slowly. “That’s only in books and movies.” Granted, I loved a sexy paranormal show just like the next girl, but I never thought that it would be in my face like this.
“It is all throughout the state. My friends at the bar are my pack. We’re as close as brothers, and we would kill for each other without a second thought. We would kill for you, Lucia…even Daisy,” Remy explained to me, as I shook my head. “You will never worry about anything again, including your safety and your financial security, if you choose this.” He leaned closer and brushed his lips against my swollen ones as I closed my eyes. “I can promise you that you’ll be very happy, and that I can satisfy all of your needs.”
I was losing my willpower even as his words played through my mind, over and over. This wasn’t what I should choose for my sister. I needed a guy with a nine to five job that could help out with her days. “What do you do? I mean, I know that you own businesses and have money. What do you do, though?”
“I’m the alpha of the pack. What I say goes.” The tone of his voice suggested that he was that role in every way possible. I hadn’t had sex in two years, and I wondered what he could do for me as I leaned in and met his lips. Everything that I should be thinking about left my mind, and I crawled over the center console to squeeze into his lap.
“I am not a small girl, as you’ve noticed.” I laughed as my body fit tightly into the space until he moved the seat back. Remy kissed me hard, and I wrapped my arms around his neck as I hoped that nobody was outside.
“I did notice. I love your curves.” His thumbs found my hard nipples, and I moaned as I arched them forward. “I didn’t want this to be in a car, baby. I’d like it to be in my bed. When do you need to be home?”
“She gets up at seven for school,” I admitted, as guilt washed over me. Remy kissed me again, before we adjusted ourselves and he drove down the street to a cabin on the edge of the woods. With a glance at the digital clock in the car, I knew that I had plenty of time. He parked in a big garage and pulled me out of the car and into his arms to carry me through the spacious house and into what I assumed was the master bedroom.
I dropped onto the bed, and my jeans were ripped down my legs before Remy crawled between my legs and kissed me with a raw need in his lips. He kneaded my breasts with his big hands, and my tongue met his eagerly as I whimpered. I lost myself to him as he kissed down my neck and slipped my shirt to the side to draw my nipple into his mouth. He moved back to slide off the white button-up shirt that he was wearing to reveal a sculpted chest and tattooed arms, before he unbuttoned the slacks that he was wearing. “You’re mine after this, Lucia,” Remy told me again and I nodded. There was no turning back right now for me. I was all in.
“I have been yours since I met you,” I assured him, before he dropped his slacks to the floor and stepped over to me with his cock hard and ready. He slipped my thong off with one swipe of his hand, and his fingers were inside of me as he felt how much I wanted him.
“You’re so tight, Lucia.” Remy dropped to the bed, and I watched as his mouth took over for his hands, and he made me come all over his gorgeous mouth as I cried out his name. He pulled away and gripped my face as he kissed me, before he spread my legs with his knees. My taste was all over his mouth, and then Remy was inside of me, opening me a
nd spreading me wide as I gripped his hair. He moved slowly and deliberately for a few thrusts before I begged him to go harder, which was when he started moving faster and deeper.
I groaned as Remy lifted my feet to his shoulders and started driving into me like a man who had been waiting for me for as long as he claimed. I couldn’t comprehend anything at that moment as he kept moving, and my sensitive core started to tighten as I cried out his name again. I came with a release. He was so deep inside of me that it took my breath away, and I dragged my fingers down his chest in my rabid enthusiasm before he stilled and shot inside of me.
I looked up as my body continued to pulse around him. Maybe there was something to the fate that he claimed, because I had never felt like this about anybody. Before today, my only motivation was Daisy, and though she was still one of my biggest reasons for living, now I felt invincible inside.
He moved beside me as I looked at the bedside clock to see that I had about an hour before I would ask him to take me home. I looked at his chest to see the faint scratches healing before my eyes, and then I smiled at him. “Sorry about that.”
“I appreciated your letting go like that. I have a very high pain tolerance,” Remy assured me, before he kissed me. “How do you feel, Lucia?”
“Incredible. It’s like something lifted, but nothing has really changed but us.” I frowned. “We didn’t use anything, Remy. I am not on any birth control because I’ve been single for some years, and I don’t know if that should happen again.”
“I had to feel all of you.” I stared at him as my growing feelings for him washed over me all over again. What was happening? "You're meant to carry my babies, Lucia." My heart jumped into my throat as he kissed me again and held me on the bed.
We talked for as long as we could before I felt like I should get home, and then I convinced him into round two before we even left the house. There was something about this man that captivated me, and when he had me on my knees and was taking me from behind, I would have given my life to him just to scream his name.
I anxiously checked my phone on the ride back to my place, convinced that the world must have fallen apart because I wasn’t home with Daisy. I even stepped carefully inside the dark apartment, expecting some fanfare, but it was just a quiet house. I touched my lips, which were still tingling from his kiss good night, and smiled as I spun around the room.
Chapter Five
I watched television on the couch until Daisy came bouncing down the hallway to find me. “What’s Mrs. Mac sleeping in your room for? Where were you?”
“I think she was just tired, baby girl. I let her sleep and crashed out here for a while.” Lies. I was drinking coffee and daydreaming out here. “Want some breakfast? Get ready for school and I’ll make you some oatmeal.”
I started the food on the stove, adding brown sugar and cinnamon just the way that she liked it as I stirred it. By the time Daisy came back into the living room in some new jeans and a flowered shirt that she’d just picked out, I had it on the table with a fresh cup of coffee.
“What on Earth is all of this?” Mrs. Mac came into the kitchen with her bobbed hair looking disheveled.
“You were sleeping so well that I didn’t want to wake you,” I told her, as I poured another cup of coffee and handed it to her. I had gone in for some yoga pants and a shirt that was folded up on the dresser, but she didn’t need to know what time that was. “Sit down and have some oatmeal with us.”
I took Daisy to school while my neighbor waited at the apartment and asked point blank what I’d been doing. “If only Daisy could hear you right now,” I admonished her, as I sat down on the couch and shook my head with a broad smile. “There’s a guy that I met at work. Not one of the weirdos, I promise. It’s such an awful place to meet anybody.” She knew where my job was and she supported it because it took care of Daisy and I.
“Tell me about him.” Mrs. MacKenzie urged me, as she propped her feet under herself as if it was story time. She was more like a mother than mine ever was, and I thanked my stars that Daisy had her growing up, and that she had basically become a part of our family.
“Well, his name is Remy James, and he’s gorgeous. I think he’s somewhere around my age, and he just started to talk to me and…I don’t know. I think I like him, but there is so much to consider.” I spoke as she smiled and patted my leg.
“I can see in your face that you do like him. You aren’t dead just because you have Daisy, Lucia. You should date. You know what, I have a family picnic coming up, I’ll take Daisy there and you can go on your date.” I looked at her with concern written all over my face. There was so much that I couldn’t tell her about him because it would scare her. She’d tell me that I was crazy for dragging my little sister into this. “Your mama made some bad choices, Lucia. You are doing Daisy good by being there for her, but you need to live as well. Between my kids, and me, and their kids, Daisy will have a ball, while you are too.” I laughed and blushed as she smiled knowingly. “His name rings a bell. I guess that he is Remington James the third. His family used to live here, but they went off somewhere…I can’t remember.”
“Montana?” I offered, and she nodded and looked at me.
“Lovely family, they were. His mother never looked like she was going to age a day and helped out so much with everything in town. One day she told me that they were moving and going to live off the land for a change. Remington stayed behind and took over some of the businesses in town and kept their names intact. They did very well, from what I’m told,” Mrs. MacKenzie said to me, as I nodded and confirmed that he was rich. “He always told me that his life was in this town and that he’d wait for it.” She shook her head. “He is a very good-looking young man and would be perfect for you.”
“Yeah, he is,” I agreed, as I played over the part about him waiting in my mind. “Is he thirty, like I thought?”
“I would guess older, but he always looked young as well. You might seem young in age, Lucia, but you are an old soul. Age doesn’t matter with a girl like you.” She smiled and looked at me. “I always heard that they turned into dogs or something. There were rumors, but that just seemed ridiculous to me. They’re a lovely family.”
She excused herself to let me sleep, since it was clear that I was getting tired. I dropped into my bed and set the alarm for two hours before Daisy got out of school so that I could shower. I had the night off work, and I wanted to take her somewhere fun to play for a change, or maybe to the movies. I would check with her. Though Thomas was a bit shady sometimes, he did respect the fact that I had Daisy and gave me weekends off.
I showered after the alarm woke me from a deep sleep. Since it was still spring, I chose a pair of jeans and a cute yellow t-shirt to wear with my favorite pair of Chucks. Driving to get into the long line of cars, I heard my phone chime and picked it up to see a text from Remy.
Remy: I got a call from Mrs. Mac today at my office. She’s your neighbor?
Me: Sure is. She watches my sister for me.
Remy: She mentioned that and also said that there is a big family picnic this weekend over at the park that she wants to take Daisy to.
I shook my head and laughed. That didn’t take long. I heard the bell and watched as children came out of their classrooms in droves before they found their car and hopped inside. It was a terrifying part of my day with some of the bad drivers, but the smile on Daisy’s face always made it worth it.
We went to a restaurant that offered arcade style games and played for hours on the card that comes with a meal. I took her home when we finished off the card with a bag full of prizes, and Daisy went to the couch to watch her favorite show. I headed to the kitchen for some water and looked around to make sure I was alone.
Me: I would imagine that she wants us to spend some time together.
Remy: Yes, and I hear that you have weekends off.
Me: Are you spying on me?
We made some plans to do something the next day, even though Daisy
hadn’t heard about the picnic yet. That was later, when she came screaming into the kitchen about it, and I agreed to let her spend the night a few towns over with Mrs. Mac and her son’s family.
I let Daisy sleep with me, and we turned a movie on with some popcorn before we fell asleep. The next morning, we packed her a small bag of clothes and toys that she wanted to show to the granddaughters that were her age. I sighed as I watched her.
There was a part of me that wanted to keep her in my sights forever. The other part of me knew that we both needed our time apart. And, truth be told, I couldn’t wait to see Remy again.
Once my apartment was empty, I strolled back to my small bedroom to see what I should wear. Remy was planning on taking me to dinner tonight, so I thought a dress might be something different to wear. I found a black ruffled dress in the closet that offered a teasing view to my cleavage and a fun skirt that hit just above the knee, before I showered for my date.
My date.
I put on a little makeup, though not what I usually used for work, and let my curls hang down over my shoulders. The dress hugged my curves, and the heels added a little height as I walked into the living room and pressed my red lips together.
Chapter Six
There was a soft knock at the door, and I opened it with shaking hands as I took Remy in with hungry eyes. He wore a black suit that appeared to be custom fitted to his frame, and a white shirt that was crisp and tight enough to hint at what was underneath. “Hey there, handsome.”
“You look beautiful tonight,” Remy stepped inside and kissed me as he closed the door. It was like we couldn’t stay away from each other, and I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him closer.
He took me to another restaurant that was just as nice as the first and equally private. We ordered wine and seafood as we talked about things that we wanted to know about each other. It was odd already feeling so close to him when we were still getting to know each other. After dinner, Remy drove me across town, to a small house that backed up to a forest, and parked in the driveway. “This is a family home, and I was thinking about it for you and Daisy. It has three bedrooms inside and a great backyard.”