by T. S. Ryder
He reached for her breast but, even as Scarlett shied away from his hand, a deafening roar rang through the kitchen. Max surged to his feet, his mouth wide open. Scarlet stared in fascination and horror as fangs sprouted in his mouth, one pair from the top, the other from the bottom. The roar continued as brown fur sprouted over his body and his already muscular arms swelled to three times their size.
In seconds a gorilla was on the two men. Giant hands grabbed their throats. One was thrown across the room, while the gorilla–Max–bit into the other man's neck. There was a crunching noise. The man screamed. Max threw him into the cupboards, splintering the wood. The second gunman scrambled to his feet, pointing his weapon wildly. Max launched himself across the room, a clenched fist colliding with the man's face.
He crumpled and Max pounded the man's chest, swinging his arms above his head, bringing the backs of his hands down. Scarlett couldn't look away as the man’s ribs cracked. The man's chest collapsed like a sinkhole. The gorilla still pounded the body.
At the sound of a gun, Scarlett's mind reeled. She couldn't breathe. Max vaulted across the room. Grabbed the other gunman. Snapped his neck. Dropped the body. Turned to her.
Blood dripped down his abdomen. He'd been shot. As the gorilla–massive, covered in dark brown fur, with a patch of silver on his back–came towards her, she scrambled away. The gorilla stopped. His form blurred, changing back into the Max she had come to know.
It was all too much for Scarlett. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head, and she gladly collapsed into unconsciousness.
Chapter Five
Scarlett clutched a blanket around her shoulders, shivering. She hadn't stayed unconscious long, just long enough for Max to make a sweep of the house. She woke to him carrying her to the sofa in the den. If it wasn't for the blood dribbling from his side, she would have been tempted to think it was just a dream.
She swallowed dryly, remembering the pounding hands, the sound of bones cracking. How could somebody as gentle as she knew Max to be also have that level of violence in him? Beating a man to death with his bare hands…
He was protecting me, she reminded herself, for what seemed like the millionth time. That was the only reason she wasn't running, screaming, to the police about what she had seen. The thought of what could have happened if Max hadn't been there made her feel sick, and she had to close her eyes and breathe in deep to avoid passing out again.
This is ridiculous. I'm not some swooning woman from the Victorian age who succumbs to the vapors.
But at the moment, she half-wanted to be able to collapse back into oblivion. There were things that she just didn't want to think about that had happened that day…
Max turning into a gorilla was at the top of her list.
Maybe I was hallucinating because I was so afraid. Maybe I'm not remembering clearly now because I'm in shock.
She pulled the blanket tighter around herself when Vanessa came into the room, shaking her head. Without a word, the elderly housekeeper checked Scarlett's pulse and temperature, then clucked her tongue. Scarlett suddenly wondered if she could also turn into a gorilla and beat people to death and shied away from her, stomach starting to churn.
"Don't be afraid," Vanessa crooned, patting her hair in an oddly comforting gesture. "You're safe with Max, dear."
Scarlett swallowed hard. "He can turn into a gorilla."
"Yes."
"How long have you known?"
"Since he was three. He is in full control of his abilities, Scarlett, and I can promise he would never harm you. He's a gentleman. He wants to see you, if you'll go to him."
Scarlett shivered. What was a gentlewoman supposed to do in this situation? Well, go and see her lover, of course. Perhaps it was time to stop being a gentlewoman. She closed her eyes, trying to quell the queasiness in her stomach. If she didn't go to Max now, would she ever be able to look at him again? Could she go to him, though, now that she knew what he was capable of?
"I know this is frightening," Vanessa said, patting her hand. "And you're in shock. It's a lot to witness all at once, especially after we were attacked and had guns pointed at us. But Max is a good man. You have seen that for yourself. He could have had you arrested that day you tried to rob him, but he thought you deserved a chance to explain yourself."
"He wanted a fake fiancée," Scarlett muttered. "And then he seduced me."
Vanessa shook her head. "I've seen the way you look at him. He didn't have much seducing to do."
Well, that was the truth. There was no use denying it. Scarlett sighed, unfolding her limbs. She wanted answers, if nothing else. Like when Max had been planning on tell her that he could turn into a gorilla. If there were others like him. If it was contagious, if she was going to start sprouting fur now.
She wasn't going to get those answers if she refused to see him.
Scarlett pulled the blanket tighter around herself as Vanessa led her back to the kitchen. Max was lying on the table. He was too tall for it, and so it had been pulled over to the counter so his feet could rest on there. He was shirtless, a pack of bloody bandages pressed to his abdomen. Scarlet glanced around. The attackers were nowhere to be seen.
"So what are we going to tell the police when they come?" she asked, trying to bolster her quailing courage.
"They're not going to come," Max replied. His skin was awfully pale. Despite herself Scarlett stepped forwards, wanting to help him. "I have… friends who will take care of… what happened."
"Friends."
Vanessa bustled over to him, carrying a bottle of rubbing alcohol and fresh gauze. "Stay still, Max, unless you want us to tie you down. This is going to hurt and I don't want to cause more damage."
"I can stay still." Max's gaze didn't leave Scarlett. "You asked me why I need all the money I have. Well, situations like this are on the top of my list. I need the resources to be able to cover up… what I am."
The hesitant look in his eyes had Scarlett straightening. She realized she had been huddled into herself, and took a deep breath to calm herself before swinging around a chair to sit next to him. Vanessa was peeling back the soiled bandages, but Scarlett refused to look at that. Blood made her queasy. How Vanessa could be so calm about it, she didn't know.
"What exactly are you?" Scarlett asked, her voice no-nonsense and far more confident than she had thought it would be.
Max smiled wanly. "You know how there is a trend in paranormal romances to have the love interest be able to transform into an animal of one kind or another? Werewolves, werebears, etc.?"
"I don't really read romances. I prefer biographies and the classics, like Shakespeare."
"Of course you do." Max barked out a laugh that sounded more like a cry of pain. Sweat beaded his forehead. "Well, I'm a weregorilla. It's all completely voluntary, so you don't have to worry about me turning into a bloodthirsty monster."
"Gorillas aren't monsters," Scarlett said automatically. "They're gentle and shy."
"I'm not a gorilla, though," Max replied, his voice and gaze both soft. "And I'm not human. I'm… I'm not sure what I am. My mother was a shifter like me, but my father wasn't. He never wanted to hear anything about where she came from, and so I never… she promised that she'd tell me when I turned eighteen, but…"
"But she died."
"Yes. And I don't know her side of the family that well, so answers are hard to come by."
"And I am going to turn into one now, too?"
He shook his head. "It's genetic, not a virus."
Scarlett hesitated, then took his hand. He was the same man as before, wasn't he? "Shouldn't we get you to a hospital?"
"He'll be fine, dear. I was a doctor in my younger days, and my hands are still steady enough to remove a bullet." Vanessa held up something. There was blood all over her latex gloves and Scarlett closed her eyes. She felt the color drain from her face.
"I'll be fine," Max assured her, squeezing her hand. "I'm not human. I heal at an incredibly accelerated
pace."
"You were shot."
"Not the first time," Max grunted, as Vanessa poured rubbing alcohol directly into his wound.
Scarlett thought she was going to faint again, and it took all of her strength not to vomit. She kept telling herself over and over that a gentlewoman did not release bodily fluids in the presence of others. She didn't care if she didn't feel much like a gentlewoman at the moment. It was all that was keeping her stomach contents in place.
"You've been shot before?" she blurted.
"I told you was in the marines for a while." Max panted, sweat coating his pale face. "Once I got separated from the rest of my squad. Took a bullet to the back. It was healed before I made it back to the others. Had to come up with one hell of an excuse as to why I had a bullet hole and was soaked in blood but didn't have a scratch on me. The bullet was later removed from where it was lodged in my heart. Right in it. I should have died, but weregorillas are damned hard to kill."
"Please don't curse," Scarlett said automatically. Her mind was racing at this new information. This all ought to be impossible, yet treating it as reasonable fact was the only way she could think of to process it. "So this wound will be healed in a few hours?"
"Less, since Vanessa removed the bullet and stitched me up."
"I see."
Vanessa slapped some gauze onto Max's abdomen and began cleaning up the mess. Max lay still, panting with pain, though the pallor on his cheeks was already retreating. Her hand was still in his, and Scarlett stood, using her free hand to stroke his hair back from his face.
"So is this why you needed a fake fiancée?"
Max's massive shoulders tensed. His eyes flickered open. "Is what?"
She hesitated, then gestured vaguely around the kitchen. "What happened here today? Were those men after you? Or were they just robbing you? Did they know you were…"?
Max shook his head. "I don't think so. But how they got in is of concern. I have security measures… I'll have to look into that. Maybe I'll fire my whole security team, in case it was an inside job. This is one of the drawbacks of not being able to call in the police, you have to do all your own investigations—"
"Is it because you can turn into a gorilla?"
No answer.
Scarlett took her hand from Max's, her head starting to spin again. "The reason who don't have a real fiancée. A real girlfriend, even. Is it because you can turn into a gorilla?"
"Yes." Max stared up at her. "Vanessa is the only one who knows, aside from my mother's family. I couldn't tell anybody else because I know that once they find out what I am, they'll be afraid. They'll leave. And when somebody is so afraid of me that they leave, then maybe they'll tell somebody else, and my secret will be out. Now, maybe I'm rich enough that I can protect myself from public knowledge. But what if somebody in the government decides that I'm a threat simply for existing? What if… so that's why I can't tell anybody."
He had never been planning to tell her. Somehow that disappointed her. He hadn't trusted her with this secret, this terrifying secret. But why should he? In seven months they were going to go their separate ways.
"I'm tired," Scarlett whispered bleakly. "I need to go lie down… get better, Max."
She turned on her heel and left the room before either of them could continue the conversation.
Chapter Six
Where do we even stand with each other now?
Scarlett let out a deep breath as she waited in the bathroom. It had been two weeks since the attack on Max's home had revealed his unique abilities. She had stayed because she wanted to find a way to come to terms with knowing her lover could turn into a gorilla. But as much as she hated herself for it, she was a little frightened of him now.
It was foolish of me to get sexually involved with somebody I didn't know.
Even more foolish to allow herself to get emotionally involved. Maybe that was the real reason that she wasn't leaving, because she cared for Max, and was still hoping to wake up and find out that this was all a dream. But the two of them had not exactly been talking of late. Whenever she wasn't avoiding him, he was avoiding her.
At least she knew he was just as frightened about the situation as she was. That was a small comfort, but it was a comfort.
She opened her eyes again and looked down at the stick in her hand. It showed a little pink plus sign. It was the third in a row. Nausea that she now knew had nothing to do with her emotions made her choke, but Scarlett ignored it, threw the pregnancy test into the trash and washed her hands.
Pregnant. She knew when it had happened, too. Three weeks before the attack. Max couldn't find a condom and she had been so impatient, she had decided to just rely on the birth control she was taking. Apparently, that hadn't been enough.
As if finding out her lover could turn into a gorilla wasn't enough to wrap her head around, now she had to be pregnant as well. Pregnant. With a weregorilla's baby. What was she supposed to do now?
In a daze, Scarlett ran a brush through her dark hair, then dressed in a tasteful summer dress and went in search of Max. Even though they were avoiding each other, he deserved to know he was going to be a father. Although what would happen once the baby was born?
It would be like Max. Scarlett's brow furrowed as she remembered how he told her his abilities were genetic. The baby inside her was going to have the ability to turn into a gorilla. Would it be able to control it as an infant? Would she have to breastfeed a little ape, because it would shift from one form to the other all the time? Would they have to hide the baby from the world until it was old enough to control its abilities? Would her child cry from pain during involuntary shifting, leaving her with no way to help?
What if she and Max never really got along after this? She couldn't abandon her child, but it was equally clear that Max would have to be in the baby's life. He had never got the answers he was looking for as a child. She couldn't put her own baby through that.
She was wandering aimlessly now and didn't see Vanessa until she bumped into the elderly woman. Scarlett felt heat rush to her face and stepped back, muttering an apology.
"Are you looking for Max?" Vanessa's thin, strong fingers closed around Scarlett's wrist.
"I was, but I'm not sure I am anymore," Scarlett whispered back. "I…"
If she was going to tell anybody she was pregnant, it would be Max. Whatever he was, he was still a man with feelings, and she wasn't going to make him find out about this second-hand. He deserved better than that.
"He's not here. He had a business meeting." Vanessa peered at her closely. "Are you afraid of him?"
Scarlett hesitated. Was she? "I… I don't know. I am frightened."
"But not of him?"
"I don't want to be. But he's not human."
"He's the same man you got to know before you found out his secret. I've known him since he was a baby. He would never hurt anybody he loves. And he does love you, even if he won't admit it yet."
Scarlett shivered. "I don't think that helps."
Vanessa nodded. "You have a right to know, though. But if you need time to come to terms with what you've learned…"
Scarlet nearly bit her pinky nail but caught herself just in time. She folded her hands together. "And if I leave, just so I can figure out how I feel about this, will he feel like I'm abandoning him?"
Vanessa's gaze was steady. "How would you feel in his place?"
"I just… it's too much," Scarlett blurted. She gulped in a deep breath. "I don't know how I feel or what to think. I need some time. But I'm going to come back. I just need a couple of days to sort out my thoughts. I hope that's all I need. Just to really think, without worrying that he'll see my face and wonder if…"
"I understand." Vanessa sighed. "Do you have somewhere you can go?"
"Maybe. I have a friend I can call."
Vanessa nodded. "I'll help you pack."
"No need. Nothing here is mine. It's all things Max bought. I'll be fine. Thank you for your offer, though.
"
"Of course." Vanessa squeezed her hand. "Please come back. He's always been afraid of people finding out for this reason. Please don't give him more reasons to close himself off from the world."
There really wasn't anything Scarlett could say to that, but she nodded and tried to tell herself that she would only be gone for a few days.
She made sure that she cleaned out her bathroom garbage, unwilling to leave behind any evidence of her pregnancy, then she wrote a note to Max explaining what she was doing and promising she would return. It seemed very cowardly and not at all what a gentlewoman would do, to leave a note and disappear into the city. To make up for it, she made sure to give him her phone number in case he wanted to get in touch.
As soon as she was in the cab headed away from the mansion, she phoned Hao, hoping that he would answer quickly. To her relief, he did.
"Scarlett, I did not expect to hear from you. How is your engagement proceeding? Are you calling to ask me to walk you down the aisle yet?" Though Hao's voice was upbeat and teasing, there was a note of seriousness in it.
There was an unspoken rule between the two of them that they only called each other if there was a serious emergency, like when she had attempted to relieve Ken Madoc of his excess wealth and found two bodies shoved in his safe instead. She had called the police, which led to an investigation, but that hadn't stopped Madoc from searching for her. Well, searching for the Gentlewoman Thief. Scarlett still didn't know how he knew it was her that had tipped off the police; she hadn't told them who she was. If he learned her identity…
She shook her head, shaking off the macabre thoughts. "No, it's nothing like that. I just… something has happened and I need a place to stay for a couple of days until I can figure out what my next move is going to be. I was hoping that I could stay with you."
A pause. "Why can't you get a hotel?"
"I'd rather not be alone."
"Hmmm." Hao's voice took on a shrewd, knowing tone. "Then yes, you can stay for a few days. I have a couch you can sleep on."