by Ruby Forrest
Like his brothers, Stetson and Darian, he had learned control over his ability to change form. Only in cases of dire emergency or intense passion did the change start happening without his conscious decision. When he was a boy, it had taken over anytime he was mad or experiencing strong emotions. It had taken his older brother, Stetson, to show him that if he didn’t gain control over it, he’d be locked away like some sort of science project in a lab where they poked and prodded him and took samples. He didn’t know all the details, but he knew that Stetson had once been betrayed and since then, was more careful than any of the three of them not to let humans see his real form.
He remembered asking Stetson as a kid why they were shapeshifters. Was it their parents? Was it some mutative gene? Had they fallen into vats of radioactive fluid? Stetson had just laughed at him. This wasn’t a fairytale and they certainly weren’t heroes, he’d told Brett. We’re the villains.
Brett hadn’t believed that for a long time, but Darian once had lost control and injured a woman he’d loved. It was then that Brett had realized what Stetson meant. They weren’t made to protect and serve, or be superheroes. They were meant to be in the shadow, to hide what they really were. It was too much to ask that someone, even someone as amazing and understanding as Bronte, could ever really accept that he wasn’t really human.
When she moved against him, he brought his thoughts back to the present instead of the past and the future. He couldn’t say how long this would last, but he wanted to give it a try. And if he started to lose control or put her in danger, he’d have to walk away. He wouldn’t be put in the same position as Stetson or Darian. He would never accept captivity and he certainly would never intentionally put Bronte in harm’s way – he’d die before he allowed that to happen.
She was pure light to him. She was good and funny and so beautiful it made him ache knowing that someone like that existed. He couldn’t think of anything worse than causing her pain or making her unhappy.
“Brett?” She murmured, her eyes fluttering open. He looked down at the crystalline blue eyes and her long black eyelashes.
“Hey sweetheart,” he responded, thumbing her soft skin on her face and rubbing her red lips. “It’s still early. You can go back to sleep.”
She sighed, her eyes closing and a smile crossing her face. “You make me happy.”
His heart hurt at her soft admission. He wondered if she even knew what she was saying, if she’d remember it in the morning when they were both awake and conscious. “You make me happy too.”
She smiled again in response, her fingers hooking around his and holding tight. He pulled her tighter against his body, feeling her relax with his protection. He tried to ignore the morning wood that was attempting to insert itself inside of her, wanting her to get a few more hours of decent sleep before he attacked her again.
He looked down at her sleeping face, acknowledging that he probably wouldn’t be able to keep his distance from her any longer. He’d tried hard to keep his business and public life separate from his intimate, personal one, but she’d bust through his defenses in only a few dates.
As he rubbed her skin, he closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
God help the man that ever attempted to separate the two of them or hurt her.
One Hour Later
Brett had begun to doze off again, enjoying the feel of Bronte’s soft, warm body pressed up against his own. He couldn’t help but smile at the soft, gentle murmurs that escaped her lips every so often and the way he could feel her cheek sliding against his hair-covered chest every once in a while. Her lips tickled the bare skin of his pec whenever she made a sound. He felt pure, simple harmony deep inside him at the silence of the room and her warm presence beside him.
It was a moment he wanted to linger within forever, but it was not meant to be. He heard the raucous, annoying tone of his mobile phone chiming from his suit pants pocket across the room. The noise clearly disturbed his lover who groaned in annoyance and he watched in anticipation as her nose wrinkled with disgust at the sound.
“Is that me?” She scowled up at him with squinted eyes in a cute expression that caused Brett to smile. He ran his fingers through her golden hair and pressed his lips against the tip of her nose to smooth out the wrinkles.
“No, beautiful,” he kissed her on the forehead gently. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I will take care of it.”
With that, he attempted to slip out from beneath her only to feel her limbs constrict around his own. He couldn’t help but smile to himself, thinking that she was a lot stronger than she looked.
“Please don’t go,” she whispered sleepily as her eyes fluttered shut again. The pleading tone of her voice pulled on Brett’s heart strings. “Stay in bed with me a little while longer.”
There was nothing Brett wanted more than to remain with his arms wrapped protectively around her, but when he glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table, he knew that he would have to get up and make a few arrangements first.
“I promise I will be right back,” he told her gently as, again, he tried to move. And yet again, her muscles grew tense and she held onto him causing him to smile all the more.
Opening one eye to look up at him, she asked in a sultry voice that caused his manhood to wake again, “You sure you promise?”
“I promise I will be right back,” he repeated again insistently. As though she was satisfied that he wasn’t lying, she finally unwrapped herself from him and allowed him to slip off the bed. As he stood there, he took a moment to appreciate the fact that although the bed was large enough to fit four people comfortably, she had remained with him on his side all night.
My side, he thought to himself, which implies that the other side is hers. That thought made a chuckle catch in his throat. He didn’t want to disturb her further, so he kept it inside. He watched the way Bronte stretched out beneath the black silk sheets like a gracious feline and he couldn’t help but think of how he would love to wake up to that sight every morning. So much for keeping her at arm’s length.
It wasn’t until his phone began to chime again that he whipped around and grabbed it from his pocket, hitting the call button to connect the call before the second ring could hit Bronte’s delicate ears.
He slipped into the spacious ensuite bathroom silently and took a moment to compose himself before pressing the device to his ear and speaking into it.
“Ana,” he said curtly into the phone, unable to hide the distaste from his voice at being disturbed. “What is it?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, sir, but we were expecting you at the office an hour ago and we were beginning to get a little worried. Is everything alright? You aren’t sick, are you?”
Hearing the concern in his secretary’s voice he couldn’t remain annoyed at her disturbance. He should have let her know hours ago that he had no intention of making it into the office.
“I’m sorry, Ana, I meant to call you, but I got side tracked,” he explained as his gaze was drawn down to his still-hard manhood. He couldn’t help but think of where it had been the night before. He already ached to be there again, to be inside the woman who was still asleep in the next room. He had to close his eyes and press firmly against the bridge of his nose to stop himself from reaching down and gripping his shaft. “I am not going to be able to make it into the office today.”
Ana’s quick inhale of breath told him he had shocked his secretary more than he ever had before. She was the most professional assistant he had ever had the pleasure of having and she had never let on any emotion before. He knew he must have really shaken her to get such a reaction.
“Sir, you have meetings all day, beginning with the first one in just forty-five minutes,” she exclaimed, giving off an air of complete and utter panic.
“You will have to do your best to reschedule them,” Brett explained, beginning to feel guilt at putting s
uch a hard task at her front door. He knew how aggressive his clients could get with such matters when they were in need of his attention. He had often thought of them as spoiled children, but he felt there was nothing he could do except leave them to her as he thought again of the beautiful blonde in the next room. “A family matter has come up and I need to take care of it immediately. I’m sorry, but it’s unavoidable.”
“But sir…” Ana started.
He interrupted her. “I would think, as the owner of the company, I have some say in my daily appointments. If you need me to, I can cancel them myself, but I’m taking a personal day. I haven’t had one in a very long time and I think it’s long overdue. Email me if there are any emergencies, but otherwise I know how capable you are, Ana. You can do this. Show me that you can take some initiative and you won’t be disappointed.”
She stayed silent for a moment, but he heard her breathe deep into the phone and then reply, “I can handle this, sir. I am more than capable of moving around some appointments and some of these meetings your managers can take instead.”
He grunted into the phone, acknowledging what she was saying. “Thank you.”
“And may I just say, sir,” she started, her voice growing so soft he could barely hear her. “For what it’s worth, I think it’s great that you’re taking a personal day. We all talk about you working too hard. It’s not right – a guy of your age, working this hard. Take the day and don’t even think about it. I’ll make sure to take care of everything.”
“Thank you, Ana,” he said, meaning it. Sometimes being the boss was a little fun he supposed.
Chapter 5
“Am I the family matter? That one that you need to take care of immediately?” Bronte asked Brett, her gaze laughing and the question indicating that she’d heard his phone call, regardless of the low volume he’d attempted in the bathroom. Thinking about the words, Bronte shivered with the thought of ‘being taken care of immediately’. She’d like that. She’d like that very much.
She had been listening intently from the bedroom to Brett’s luscious voice until the urge to be close to him had drawn her from the bed. She had remained in the shadow of the doorway until he had ended the phone call with the woman she assumed was his secretary. At least, she hoped that was who had been on the phone. After he’d put the phone down, she had been unable to hold herself back any longer. She had slipped into the bathroom and walked over to where he stood, his back turned to her, getting a brilliant view of his perfectly muscled backside as she went.
When she pressed herself up against his solid back and slipped her hands over his lower abdomen, she felt his muscles tense.
“Miss Welch? Were you eavesdropping on me?” Brett’s voice was a low growl deep in his throat. He turned deliciously slowly to take her into his muscled arms.
“I am sorry,” Bronte looked at him from beneath her dark eyelashes. “It’s really hard not to listen when you have such a sexy voice.”
“Don’t apologize,” Brett insisted, tugging her even closer, breathing in the scent of her until she surrounded him. “I have nothing to hide from you.”
Bronte couldn’t help a dim in her good mood at those words. She’d heard them all too often and she was finding it increasingly difficult to believe them. However, there was a large part of her that desperately wanted to believe this glorious god of a man. She wanted to believe every word that came out of his mouth. Wanted to trust him like she had never trusted another. She just wasn’t sure if her heart could take another disappointment. She was still reeling with the unfortunate relationship that had ended recently with Adair. She wasn’t sure that another one of ‘those types’ was a good idea. Although, looking at him now, she didn’t see much of him that resembled Adair besides good fashion sense.
“I hope that is true,” she sighed and looked down, although not quickly enough to miss the uneasy look that flashed across Brett’s face.
Although her gut told her something was off, she tried her best to push it away. She wasn’t ready to give up whatever it was she felt for him just yet. She needed to at least give him the chance to prove himself. She had given that chance to so many of the wrong men in the past that she couldn’t help but wonder, what if he was the right one?
And even though her gut told her he was hiding something, it also told her that she would regret it if she didn’t give him ample chance to reveal whatever that something was. She could hardly expect him to confess everything to her after their first night of being intimate. After all, she hadn’t told him every single thing about her yet either. Fair was fair.
“So, am I?” she asked, determined not to let him know she had seen the look.
“Are you what?” There was a playful tone to Brett’s voice suddenly and knowing that he wanted her to play along made her want to.
“Am I the family matter you need to take care of immediately?” She turned her face up to look at him as she wrapped her arms more tightly around him. There was nothing she could do to stop herself from biting her lip and showing him how much she wanted him. She was hungry for him. She needed him again. She needed him inside her again.
The moment she had woken up and her consciousness had returned to her, she had been well aware of the sweet tenderness between her legs that aided in reminding her what they had done the night before.
“Bronte, what kind of man do you think I am?” He feigned censure then, but his eyes flashed with desire. It was clear from the way his rock-hard erection pressed against her stomach that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. “I would never take advantage of you like that. Especially while I am supposed to be at the office.”
For a moment, she wondered whether she had gotten the short end of the stick compared to work, but quickly he pulled her flush against him and kissed her as passionately as he had the night before. Apparently, she’d gotten the long end of the stick. The very long end, if the outline of his erection was to be believed.
When he finally allowed her a brief respite from his passion, she breathed against his lips, “What if I want you to take advantage of me?”
Brett’s body shivered against her own, causing her heart to skip a beat and her eyes to open to look up at him. When she did, she found that his were now closed tightly. There was a pained expression on his face that worried her far more than it should have for a woman who had known him only three weeks.
“I would tell you that you should be careful what you wish for,” he replied finally without opening his eyes. She didn’t like the feeling the he couldn’t bring himself to look at her. What was wrong? Had she done something he didn’t like? Should she not have been so forward with him? She couldn’t help it that it was like a switch had been flipped and suddenly she couldn’t get enough of him. It was his fault really, for being so hot and charming. Damn him. She tried to shove her insecurities down.
“I have always been careful,” she admitted to him as she reached up to take hold of his handsome face in the palms of her hands. She reveled in the feel of him, his stubble scratchy against her skin. She loved the feel of that against her much softer skin. Her touch caused his eyes to flicker open. “I don’t want to be careful anymore. You make me feel safe. I can’t explain why or how, but you just do, Brett.”
Brett’s face dropped a little at that and she wondered whether she had said the wrong thing. She anticipated how he would react feeling her heart begin to beat faster with every second that passed without him responding.
“I will do whatever I can to make sure you always feel that way,” he vowed and there was so much more to his words than he was letting on as he dropped his hands down to her butt and picked her up into his arms.
Bronte didn’t fight him on it. She didn’t want to question him any farther, didn’t want to ask him anything else. She just wanted to feel, to be in the moment for once. She wrapped her arms around his neck even as her legs wrapped instinctively around his steel core. Their mouths connected again, his ar
ms lifting her to carry her back through the doorway and into the bedroom.
When he dropped her onto her back on the silk sheets of the bed, an involuntary gasp escaped her lips. She was disappointed to feel his body leave hers as he straightened up and stood to look down at her.
“How did I ever get lucky enough to meet such an amazing woman as you?” Even though Brett had said the question out loud, it seemed as though he was asking himself. His eyes cast a trail right down her body from head to toe, and they flashed as though he admired greatly what he was seeing. Again, he made Bronte feel as though she was the most desired woman in existence as he drank in the sight of her and his eyes flashed with satisfaction. The simple touch of his gaze on her skin was enough to make her feverish for the touch of his hands.
Just as he looked as though he was about to pounce on her like a wild animal, a loud buzzing sound made them both jump with shock.
“God damn it!” Brett growled deeply in annoyance and he stepped away from the bed.
“What was that?” Bronte asked. She was already breathless and panting with the need to feel his skin against her own. She leaned back on her elbows, her naked chest drawing his gaze before he looked away.
“That would be my doorbell,” he hissed, clearly annoyed. He didn’t seem to point his anger at her but rather in the direction of whoever it was at the door who had disturbed them. “Would you excuse me while I go and kill whoever has prevented me from already being inside you again?”
There was something about the tone of his voice that told her he was only half joking. The last part of the question caused her insides to contract with the desire she felt to have him inside her again. There was something very attractive about this primitive side of him that he was letting her see. Something hot, and dangerous, and so sexy.