“No.” Blake whispered. He took the baby that the nurse had handed him, holding its small form tight to his chest. Their child. It could be his last piece of Julian.
“Is it a boy or a girl?” He asked.
“A little girl.”
“Karinna,” he said, looking down at the girl, remembering his sister who had died as a child. “Karinna Julia Lionel,” he said, thinking the name fit. Julia after Julian, and Karinna after his sister. He took the seat beside the bed, cradling the baby against his body and watching as the doctors bustled to and fro. The heart monitor by the bed was beeping slowly, but steadily, and Blake listened absentmindedly as he stroked Julian’s hand with his. It was late in the afternoon before Julian stirred.
“Julian, Julian, it’s me,” Blake said, speaking quietly but urgently. “Can you hear me?”
“Blake?” Julian sounded groggy, as if coming out of a deep sleep.
“Yes?”
“Hi.” He wasn’t quite awake yet, but he was smiling. “Where is he?”
“It’s a she,” said Blake, smiling back. “She’s right here. Say hi to Daddy, Karinna,” he said, gently moving the baby to lie on Julian’s chest.
“Karinna?”
“Yeah, is that okay?”
“Beautiful,” said Julian. “I would have suggested naming her after your sister… Wait. You named her without me. How long have I been out?”
“Six hours,” said Blake, “you had a terrible reaction to the anesthetic and I didn’t know if you’d make it.”
“Damn,” Julian said, quietly.
“We’re all here now,” said Blake, squeezing Julian’s hand tightly. “You, me, and Karinna Julia.”
“Can you give her another name?” Said Julian.
“You don’t like Julia?”
“I don’t want her named after me. There’s nothing in me to be proud of, or worthy of a namesake.”
“I don’t agree.” said Blake. “You’re brave. You’ve carried my beautiful baby for nine months, and you’ve stood up to the evil in the world. I want her to be named after you.”
“Okay.”
“Julian?”
“Yes?”
“Hardly anybody gets married anymore, but…”
“Yes?”
“Will you marry me?”
“And I thought you weren’t romantic,” said Julian, laughing. “Of course I will.” Blake crawled up onto the hospital bed next to Julian, and the three of them, Blake, Julian, and Karinna fell asleep. The cares of the world could wait for tomorrow. Whatever challenges came to them next, their strong minds and lions’ hearts would get them through. Blake smiled. Here he was, lying next to his daughter, and his Omega.
**********The End**********
Tiger Boss
Description:
As the head of the most well known and highly criticized company in the country, Lushian Solidus, a tiger shifter, is always expecting perfection in business and from his employees. When Alexin Penrose isn’t preforming to Lushian’s standards, he is called into the boss’s office and given a choice. With the risk of losing his much needed job, will Alexin agree to his boss’s unconventional proposal.
Alexin isn’t sure he’s into men, but Lushian wont let that stop him. Will Alexin find out what lies behind Lushian’s professional exterior?
******************************
“Stop! Please, let me go!”
“Hey, don't squirm so much!”
“Hold still, we'll take real good care of you!”
The young man tried to escape the grasp of the three larger men whose hands were grabbing at him, trying to hold him down, and tearing his clothes from his body. It was dark and hot, and the young man was trying his hardest to get away. Suddenly, from the shadows came a low growl. The four froze and their eyes turned toward the sound. A pair of glowing blue eyes stared at them from the darkness, followed by another louder growl. And from the shadows emerged a tiger with beautiful white fur and dark blue stripes.
“Holy shit, where did that thing come from?!” one of the men yelled in terror.
“Who cares?! Let's get the fuck outta here!”
They took off, leaving the younger man standing frozen in fear as the tiger made its way toward him. His large brown eyes shone with fright as the tiger came closer. It stopped in front of him, sniffing the front of his shirt. It seemed to sense his fear, the overwhelming feeling of terror and dread that made the young man's heart quiver and his legs tremble.
“N-Nice… Nice tiger...” He whimpered, swallowing hard. “Please d-don't eat me!”
Fortunately, the tiger took one more sniff, and then turned away and padded back into the darkness, his tail flicking behind him. His legs finally gave out and the young man slid to the ground, his heart pounding hard. He let out sigh of relief and ran a hand through his brown hair.
“Thank goodness, I thought I was going to be eaten.” He looked up at the night sky. “That tiger had really beautiful eyes. They were really familiar for some reason...”
It was around nine in the morning, and people were steady at work in the large skyscraper that housed the main section of the multimillionaire company known as Nitroxic Corps. It was a wide spread business, sectioned in various parts of the country, and famous for its high stocks and pleasant agreements with both smaller and larger organizations. A dark haired woman strolled through the neat chaos of the workplace, a clipboard and papers in her arm. She walked down the hallway and knocked on a dark brown wooden door with gold handles and a plaque above that read, “Company Owner: Lushian Solidus.”
“Mr. Solidus, may I enter?” she asked.
“Indeed.” came the deep voice from inside the room.
The door was opened and revealed a large room with an extended window that overlooked the city below. Expensive items such as couches, paintings, a velvet rug and a deep dark brown Victorian like desk, were situated in the room. A man with dark blue hair, black almost, but not quite, wearing a dark suit with a crimson tie. He glanced at the woman as she entered the room, his eyes that were a very rare sky blue shining with irritation.
“You look pleasant this morning.” the woman said, a hand on her hip as she stopped in front of the desk.
“Caera, it's that new employee. He lost another company agreement. What was his name? Alexin Penrose?”
“He is a newbie, sir.” She told him with a sigh. “You can't be too upset with him, especially since you're the one who put him in charge of getting the agreements.”
“His resume said he was a top notch debater and able to persuade people. I thought he would be able to handle this.”
“You should consider changing his position.”
“I'll think about it.” Lushian looked at Caera. “What's on the schedule for today?”
She glanced at her clipboard. “Well, you have a lunch meeting at 12:30 with the head of the recent group we signed with. After that, there's some paperwork that needs your signature, and more people have set up interviews to apply for open positions.”
“Do I have anything scheduled right now?”
“No.”
“Bring in that Penrose boy.”
“Alright then.”
About a minute later, another knock graced Lushian's ears and the young brown haired man appeared, looking meek and nervous. He entered the room, closing the door behind him.
“G-Good morning, sir.” He said, apprehension in his voice. “Ms. Marisa said you wanted to speak with me?”
“Why have you not been getting the agreements?” Lushian asked with a frown at Alexin. “I thought I could rely on you to persuade those groups to partner with us and sign the agreements. Was I wrong to put my trust in you?”
“No, not at all sir! I'm really sorry! I-I just get really nervous in front of new people so...”
Lushian slammed his hand on the desk, making Alexin flinch. “We don't have the time for you to be getting cold feet! You do realize that the agreement you just lost was with a ma
jor company, with sections across this country as well as Europe and Canada? We could have stretched our reaches farther than ever, but you screwed everything up!”
“I-I'm sorry...” Alexin muttered, looking down at the floor, his face red with embarrassment.
Sighing, the older man ran a hand through his hair. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell like that. But if you can't handle this, you need to let me know now. Our company is rising, not falling, and if you're going to be a hindrance to that rising, then I'll replace you with someone who can do the job properly. Now what's your answer?”
Alexin frowned and looked at his boss, his hands clenched at his sides. “No, please don't replace me! I promise I'll do better next time! I won't let a single agreement get past me!”
“Is that right?”
Lushian stood and crossed the room, standing before the young man. He lifted Alexin's chin with his index finger, a smirk on his lips and a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Well how about if you miss another agreement, I'll make you my personal pet.”
“Y-Your pet?!” Alexin stammered, his face bright red. “P-Please do not worry! I'll make sure I don't mess up again!”
“Good boy.” Lushian leaned back but noticed Alexin staring at him quite oddly. “Is there something wrong?”
“No, it's just… You have beautiful eyes, sir.” The realization of his words made Alexin's face turn red again. “That was so weird to say! Please forgive me! I'll excuse myself now!”
The brown haired young man turned quickly and left the room before he said anything idiotic, his ears beet red. Lushian stood there, dumbfounded and a bit embarrassed himself. He brought his hand up to his face, touching the skin near his eyes. He frowned and turned away, moving towards the window. A thoughtful look came over his face.
“He looked scared that time as well.” Lushian said to himself, then smirked. “That scared face was actually...very cute.”
What Alexin hadn't realized was that the tiger he had encountered on that fateful night was the very man that he worked for. Lushian Solidus was a shape shifter, or to be more specific, a tiger shifter. One could say he was similar to a werewolf, however, he didn't require the beautiful rays of the moon to change his form. Another thing unique abut Lushian was that he wasn't a regular tiger, he was blue tiger. His fur was a light shade of blue, his stripes were much darker and his eyes were a shiny bright blue. As tigers of his species were extremely rare, it would stand that someone who could shift into such rare beasts were one of a kind as well. His parents were normal humans, but their theory was that farther back in their family tree, someone must have been a shifter and no one knew about it. And of course, no one knew about Lushian being a shifter either. But Alexin had seen his tiger form that night. So, by using the excuse that if the newbie screwed up the next agreement and keeping him close, it would lower the risk of him saying anything to anyone.
In a mere three days, Caera came to him once again and reported that Alexin had froze up, losing another agreement. The young man stood in Lushian's office again, his face red with shame, humiliation, and embarrassment. He had his head lowered, unable to look at his boss, but knowing he was angry. While that was the case, Lushian felt more relieved than enraged. He had predicted this, though he hadn't predicted it would happen so suddenly.
“So, what happened this time?” he asked, his arms crossed over his chest.
“W-Well, the owner was a really large and scary looking person… And I froze up again… I'm really sorry sir, and even after I promised I was going to do better!”
“Yes, you did promise that, didn't you?” Lushian stood up. “And do you remember what I said if you messed up one more time?”
“Y-Yes...sir...”
The blue eyed male stood before Alexin, looking into the brown eyes that stared up at him. “What did I say?”
“T-That...you would make me your...personal pet…” Alexin said the last two words quietly, like a shy little mouse.
“Very good. Now, I won't replace you.”
“Really?!”
“However, from now on, you will accompany me everywhere; you will be by my side during office hours. You will move into my home with me and work as my housekeeper when you aren't working. Speaking of work, you'll take a week off to get yourself adjusted. You have no right to object and if you don't comply, you'll be promptly fired. Are we clear, Penrose?”
Alexin's jaw nearly dropped to the floor, his mouth hanging open. “You...can't be serious, sir...”
“I'm very serious. I did tell you that if you messed up once more that you would become my personal pet. If you have any objections, I'm willing to fire you right here and now.”
There was no shred of amusement in Lushian's face though Alexin's eyes desperately searched for even a hint of joking. His heart was pounding with worry and anxiety, his palms were sweaty and he couldn't find any way out of this situation. With a heavy sigh, Alexin lowered his head.
“I… I don't have any objections, sir...” he said quietly.
“Good then.” Lushian waved his hand at Alexin, shooing him away. “You're done for today. Go home and pack your things. I'll stop by after work and we'll move your things into my place so make sure you're ready.”
“Yes sir...”
Turning away from his boss, Alexin walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, sighing softly. He trudged down the hallway, feeling slightly crestfallen.
“Alex? What's the matter?”
Alexin raised his head and noticed one of his co-workers standing beside him, a man named Andere Branch, who was actually a good friend of Alexin's. The two had attended the same middle school and university, and then wound up working in the same corporation, just in different departments. While Alexin's job was to get the agreements from other companies and organizations, Andere kept track of the money intake and outtake of both Nitroxic Corps and the companies they have agreements with, making sure that neither group was getting more money than they were supposed to.
Andere noticed the distraught face of his friend and frowned in concern. “You look upset. Did something happen with you and the boss?”
“I screwed up getting another agreement...” Alexin told him, hanging his head. “Mr. Solidus said that he's going to...keep a close eye on me from now on.”
“Wow that sounds rough.” Andere said as the two walked down the hall. “Did he yell at you?”
“No, but he was really upset and threatened to fire me if I keep messing up like this. This really sucks...”
“Hey, want to come out drinking with me and a few other guys tonight? Maybe some booze will help you relax a little bit.”
Just as Alexin was about to say yes, Lushian's words suddenly halted his tongue: “I'll stop by after work and we'll move your things into my place, so make sure you're ready.” He swallowed, not wanting to think about what would happen if Lushian showed up only to find out he wasn't home. Looking at Andere, he smiled apologetically.
“I'm sorry, Dere. I really want to, but I can't. I should focus on my work.”
“Are you sure, Alex?” Andere asked, still concerned for his friend.
Alexin smiled reassuringly. “Yea, I'm sure.”
Later that evening, Alexin's apartment was bare except for the larger furniture that he couldn't simply pack into a bag, such as his couch, his bed, desk and drawers. Zipping up his last bag, he let out a sigh and fell back onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He still couldn't fully comprehend the fact that he was being forced to live with his boss and basically spend every waking moment by his side. Being by the side of someone so powerful, made him even more nervous than he already was. Alexin was clumsy and nervous enough, though he had been the star of his debate team in high school and in college. The act of swallowing his nerves came from seeing familiar faces in his audience and calming himself. He told himself that he could accomplish anything. But with no familiar faces around him when meeting with clients of other groups, his nerves
ran wild and prevented him from achieving his goal.
Covering his eyes with his arm, he sighed again. “I just have to keep my head. I can't let myself mess up anything, especially now. I might really lose my job with Mr. Solidus, if he’s always at my side.”
The doorbell ringing abruptly made Alexin bolt up from the bed, stumbling and falling, after failing to catch himself. He quickly got to his feet and trotted out of his room, down the hall and towards the front entrance hall. When he opened the door, Lushian was standing there with a few men behind him. He looked down at Alexin and smirked lightly.
“I've come to get you, little mouse.” He snapped his fingers. “Grab his things and bring them back to my house. Penrose, let's go.”
“Y-Yes sir!” Alexin followed after Lushian, glancing back as the men went into his apartment. “Um, I think I could carry my own things.”
“No, my men will bring your things, so don't worry about it. I've also talked to your landlord and paid him the rent you owed this month. You were very prompt with paying your rent, I was impressed.”
“Well, I don't like missing due dates...”
“Hm.”
That noise Lushian made had Alexin feeling flip flopped. Was he still impressed, or was he still thinking about his flaws when meeting with new people? Alexin frowned slightly and tried to push his negative thoughts to the back of his mind. A black Maserati was parked by the curb with a driver standing by the car, he had a nonchalant face. He bowed to Lushian and opened the door for the two. Lushian climbed inside and, after a moment of hesitation, Alexin followed suit. The door was closed, the driver got into the car, started it up and they sped off. Alexin sat straight up, his hands in his lap and his eyes looking out the window as they flew down the streets. He would occasionally glance at Lushian, quietly admiring him.
Omega Wanted: Bad Boy Mpreg Romance Page 91