Billionaire Romance: MAXIMILIAN (An Alpha Bad Boy Contemporary Mystery Romance) (Mysterious Billionaires Book 3, Anthologies & Collections) (62 page)

“No,” Claudia replied, preferring to say the truth. “But that door back there will only open from the outside, and the orderly near it will only respond to my voice, so don’t try anything funny.”

“Oh, the things I would do to you are anything
but
funny, Claudia,” Dillon retorted, a slight chuckle creeping onto his face before disappearing again. “But enough about that. You wanted my story and I will give it to you. But I’m warning you: it’s about as crazy as you can imagine.”

“I can imagine many things,” Claudia commented, unaware that she was smiling just a little bit. “But please indulge me.”

“No problem. Ever heard of a werewolf? Of course you have. Well, I’m a werelion. Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, you’ve seen it with your own eyes, so you won’t need any convincing about that. Are you following this?”

Yeah, right out of a bad movie, alright.

“I’m all ears.”

“Thing is, it’s hereditary. I can’t ‘infect’ anyone with it. But it’s extremely recessive. Apparently, I’m the first my family line’s had in almost a century. As I’ve told you, not everyone can be
me
.” He seemed to want to smile, but was obviously not into it.

“So, you turn into a lion every night? And you regrow limbs? You are allergic to silver, as well? Is that it?”

“Basically, except I don’t
have
to shift. It’s just something that feels incredibly good once in a while, and I have need of it. Like
sex
.” The way he pronounced the word, combined with the manner he stared at her while he spoke, made the already present tingle in her loins intensify significantly. “And silver is not harmful to me. Frankly, I have no idea what is.”

“Do you kill people, Dillon?” Claudia asked, her expression suddenly comparable to that of a medieval inquisitor.

“What? No! Well, I did murder the guys who went after me, yes. I ripped them up
good
!
But innocents?
Never!
” The way he accentuated the word made it obvious that he was serious. “I do eat a
lot
of meat, and I can’t stand plants, but that’s about it. I hunt animals from time to time, but never people. What kind of sicko do you think I am?”

“You’re the first person I’ve ever met that has killed people, Dillon. It’s not exactly something most people tend to do.”

“Touché.”

“And speaking of that, why were those men after you, anyway? They were obviously some kind of special force members. How do you explain that?”

“Easily. They were hunters. I have no idea what particular group they were part of, not that it matters in any way since they’re all the same. Hunting organizations are essentially small, undercover militaries whose only job is to root out anything remotely
unnatural
. Incidentally, that moniker includes me, for some reason.”

“You mean that there are others like you?” At this point, Claudia couldn’t conceal the surprise in her voice.

“Like me, probably, although I don’t think there are that many. Lions, I mean. I certainly haven’t met any in my lifetime. As for other shapeshifters, you bet there are! I’m not exactly fond of hanging out with them, as a matter of fact. Their
scent
offends me.”

“So, all this time you were merely defending yourself? You won’t attack anyone without provocation, right?”

“Of course I won’t. There’s nothing in it for me.”

Relieved, Claudia exhaled. Carefully, she opened up her bag, revealing a doctor’s uniform.

“I’m glad to hear that, Dillon. You see, Doc Addams is a good friend of mine. I’ve talked to him, and it seems that he is willing to proclaim you legally deceased if you would do as much as
leave the city
and not come back. If you agree to those terms, I will go and confirm to him that you are no monster. And he will believe me. In the meantime, you are to get into this doctor’s uniform. Then, we will use it to smuggle you out of here. How does that sound?”

Almost out of breath from all that talk, Claudia didn’t even manage to react to Dillon pouncing on top of her and knocking her to the ground. The force of the impact was fierce, but the additional padding she had made sure that she was not hurt at all. At first, she considered that he may have been attacking her, but the taste of his wriggling tongue immediately put that idea to rest.

Powerfully, Dillon’s hands worked their way over and around her soft flesh, causing the traces of heat that lay within her abdomen to quickly erupt into a bonfire; a bonfire that threatened to expand and consume all of her, especially after she felt the touch of Dillon’s erect member on her meaty thigh.

“Don’t waste time and jam it in!” Claudia wanted to yell out, but all that came out of her was unintelligible moaning. Her legs slowly spread to her sides, without any input from her.

Someone else might not have been capable of it, but he understood her perfectly. In a single motion, he let his right hand slip inside her wrinkled white skirt, moving her panties slightly to the side. Then, having pulled his tongue out of her mouth in order to take some air, he swung his hips and impaled her mercilessly.

Oh, yes!

Claudia felt the pleasure expand across and over her prone body. There was a little pain, but the enjoyable sensations quickly drowned it out completely. Without a word, Dillon pulled out for a little bit, then jammed it back in, this time all the way to the base.

Oh, God, it’s so good!

Grabbing her left breast with his right hand and her right thigh with the other, Dillon proceeded to work his way in and out of her. Soon, he lifted her leg up in the air, creating an angle that made his thrusting feel so good it threatened to obliterate her sanity.

At this rate I will, I will—

An explosion followed, originating from within her center. The fire did indeed expand, and it consumed everything in her existence.

Everything except pure, refined bliss.

Epilogue

A month had passed since Claudia and Dillon had disappeared from the city.

Pleased with her life, the former nurse sat upon a sunny beach, thoroughly enjoying the day. She wore a tight (by her standards) bathing suit, one that accentuated her assets and made them spill out whenever she moved. Some would consider the display shameless. She called it an offering to her lion.

There is no one around here yet, anyway.
She observed the area with wonder, though this was not her first time here, not by far. The beach was crystal clear, the sand soft and pleasant to the touch. Even the nearby mountains looked amazing.

Now all that remains is for the repairs to be finished and we will be good to go!
Indeed, liquidating their assets and buying the slightly old motel they now lived in turned out to have been the best idea they could ever have.
Who’d have thought that he had that much money around!

As if summoned by her thoughts, Dillon appeared from behind her, still in his lion form. He didn’t do it that often, but she didn’t mind when he would shift and go on a run.

After all, love is all about not suffocating the other person’s needs.

While he transformed back into his human self before her eyes, Claudia took on a different, more seductive position. With a single enticing wave of her hand, she moved her bikini bottom to the side; just the way her panties were the first time they made love.

Now human again, Dillon stared into her emerald eyes with sheer desire. In case his expression wasn’t enough, his fully engorged manhood spoke volumes about just what was on his mind. With the fury only a wild animal could muster, he leapt on top of her, burying himself all the way.

Though love is like that, it doesn’t mean that you can’t drown them in other ways, of course.

THE END

An open road

Moving at top speed, an armored personnel carrier traversed a barren landscape.

Inside was a tightly packed team of trained soldiers, as well as a single non-military person. Deep in thought, she stared out the window, the glass preventing the wind from making her gorgeous raven hair dance. She was sizeable, easily taking up two seats with her wide backside. A specialist had had to stay behind so she would be accommodated properly, a fact none of the men seemed to be willing to let her forget.

“Is there a problem?” she asked one of the soldiers, the only other woman in the vehicle. Physically, the female soldier was the exact opposite of the big woman, lean and dark-haired with a plain face.

“No problem at all, ma’am.” The soldier’s voice was rough, but in a distinctly feminine manner. “At least for now.”

Raising an eyebrow, the civilian replied with a question. “And what in the world might that mean, huh?”
Military personnel can be simply unbearable, self-righteous as they are.
The current world hailed them as heroes, while those of the less sought-after professions were often now considered second-class citizens.

“What she means to say, Doctor Deborah Hall,” the voice of another soldier prevented the female one from answering, “is that we are one man short. If everything goes FUBAR, we might have needed that missing member of our unit. That is all.” The two specialists exchanged glances, not unlike a pair of combat hounds.

Deborah scoffed at the unlikely prospect of potential danger. “What could possibly go wrong? When was the last time we had any contact with the invaders? Oh, I read the headlines, so let me give you an answer—three months.” She accentuated the words carefully, as if she had to manually stuff them into the soldiers’ ears. “That’s a full three months of complete lack of alien activity. That sounds like the end of the war to me.”

“Or preparation for a greater offensive,” the female soldier interrupted.

“Oh, please. Your guys have made such a media circus since you’ve put that new weaponry to use. I feel perfectly safe. Are you trying to tell me the claims about to the weapons’ effectiveness were exaggerated?”

“No, ma’am,” the male soldier replied, again in place of his colleague. “Not at all. But an ambush is an ambush, and even a properly outfitted unit such as this one can lose to a good surprise attack.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Deborah spoke her thoughts out loud. “But I don’t suppose the lack of one man would help you with that, would it?”

“It wouldn’t hurt,” the female soldier replied, the coldness of her voice making Deborah uncomfortable.

She really doesn’t like me.
For a few seconds she considered if the other woman’s dislike was fueled by jealousy over Deborah’s beautiful features or plain dislike of her impressive weight. She had often been the subject of female pettiness earlier, despite her weight.
Yeah, I know that look.
Then, deeming it unworthy of effort, she put that analysis aside.
I don’t care. I enjoy my life. Can she say the same?

“So… which one of you
geniuses
inspected the site in my absence? Could it be your missing member? An archeologist as well as a soldier, you say? He must be quite a character.” She smiled as she finished her sentence at the other woman’s apparent disapproval.

“The place would never have been inspected if I ran this operation,” the female soldier responded as she rose, gesturing to a colleague for a seat swap. He obliged. Silently, she sat in what used to be his spot. The other soldier was black, and did not appear as if he was in the mood for a conversation.

Well, this shows promise of being a rather dull trip.
Having noticed Deborah’s obvious displeasure at the lack of someone to argue with, the corporal merely smiled. Then he looked out the window, his thoughts no longer in the vehicle. The black man, on the other hand, merely stared right through Deborah, a clear indication of a long service record.

Let me play along with this entire circus. It will pay off in the long run.

Deborah closed her eyes, thinking back to the reason she even undertook the expedition in the first place. A long time ago, Deborah Hall had been one of the world’s leading experts in the field of archeology. Once upon a time, star-eyed students and lesser experts paid good money to hear her talk about her area of expertise. Then the invaders came, and that world shattered. All of a sudden, Dr. Deborah Hall was dead weight, a less than useful addition to the struggling human race. She needed food, a lot of it, and offered so little in return. She could neither fight nor scout. A person of so little practical value (at least to the military, which was in charge of everything) was entitled to only the most basic living privilege.

I do not deserve the treatment I’ve gotten.
Deborah had not spent the best years of her life in school to live like a pauper, but there had been no opportunity to change her position.
Until yesterday, that is.

She was contacted without warning. A pair of government goons had appeared on her doorstep, inviting her to see their superior immediately. She had put up a significant resistance, but they were insistent. Within half an hour Deborah found herself sharing the company of General Brock, the
de facto
leader of the safe zone she resided in. The general went straight to the point, showing her pictures of an area his men had accidentally unearthed by using high-grade explosives. The place was in the U.S., yet showed signs of Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Aztec, and a few other architectural styles. All of it appeared thoroughly artificial, as if someone had been playing an elaborate joke that only experts could comprehend.

It was then that the general made her an offer: she would accompany a small military unit to the dig and inspect it personally, and he would raise her privileges significantly. Better accommodations, privacy,
quality food—
the list went on. Accepting the offer was a no-brainer.

And so are most of my travelling companions, sadly.

“Corporal,” Deborah disturbed the awkward silence again. “You wouldn’t keep anything from me, right?”

“Of course I would.” He grinned as he turned to face her. The corporal was an exception among his men, well-spoken and easy to talk to. Under different circumstances, she might have found his company pleasant. “Need-to-know basis, ma’am. Fill in the blanks yourself.” He stopped grinning. “You’re a
big
PhD. I’m sure you can manage.”

I can’t tell if he’s trying to be witty or mocking my size.

“That’s just not fair!” If the atmosphere in the A.P.C. had made her feel uneasy before, now she outright felt naked. “I’m the least combat-capable member of the group! I should be told—“

“You’re the least capable member of the group, period,” the female soldier interrupted. “You are also breaking our concentration. The others will not tell you this but I will. You are
loud
. Shut it so we can focus.” She stared into Deborah’s clear blue eyes as if the two were enemies. “You might need us to be alert later on.”

“I highly doubt it.” Deborah couldn’t resist the urge to retort in some manner. Still, the military woman had a point.
Let her have this small victory.
“But I understand. Please enjoy the trip. Don’t let
me
bother you.”

“Thanks, ma’am,” the corporal replied in place of his colleague, the smile back on his face. “Everyone here will appreciate it.”

Now without a way to pass time, Deborah turned to her own window. Everything about the sunlit scenery was just boring.

Let’s just hope that the ruins they’ve found will provide more amusement. Even if they are probably fake.

The dig site

Is this it? I expected something more impressive.

The glorified hole in the ground the soldiers showed her did not meet any of Deborah’s expectations. Findings like the one in the general’s pictures never came in packages as small as the one before her. There was no external structure, no debris. Nothing that would indicate that this place was of any archeological value was present.

She spoke her mind immediately.  “This is just unimpressive. Still, a deal’s a deal, so let’s get this over with.”

The soldiers didn’t say anything, instead merely escorting her to the entrance. The hole was
big
, easily over thirty feet in diameter, surrounded by a metal fence on all sides except for right in front of them, where there was a reinforced steel ladder stretching deeper down than Deborah’s eyes could see.

She was quick to voice her protest. “No way that I’m going down there. You’ve bothered to dig
this
deep and didn’t even have the common decency to make a simple lift? Screw this, I’m out!” She tried to step away from the excavation site, but the bodies of several soldiers blocked her way.

“Did you not hear me? I quit! Now be so kind as to drive me back, please.”

They didn’t budge.

“I can’t help but wonder,” the female soldier was the first to respond, “whether you refuse to go down because the ladder wouldn’t handle your
fat ass
or because you don’t think you’d fit through the hole.” She let the insult sink in for a little while, obviously taking some pleasure from the red that spread across Deborah’s plump cheeks. “Now, turn around and start descending
.
We will be behind and in front of you. Hell, Jenkins here will go in first, just to keep you company.” The black soldier stepped forward, passing Deborah by as he approached the ladder. “Just get on with it already. We did not drive you all the way out here so you could turn back.”

So that’s the way it’s going to be…

For a moment she considered making a scene. Maybe there were a few within their group who would object to forcing a civilian into a course of action she did not want to take.
Probably not, though.
This had to be done. There was no way around descending into that hole.

“You don’t have the right,” she finally said, turning around. “I will do as you say, but you still don’t have the right.” She approached the opening, grabbing the metal ladder with both of her hands.
This is the last way I imagined myself going out.
Her body growing number by the moment, she turned around again and placed her feet on the topmost rung. She hesitated before recalling the only two ways this could go down. Even if the soldiers agreed to drive her home without inspecting the hole, what would happen to her? The life she’d had up until now could barely be called a life, especially to a woman with her appetites.
I have a chance to make everything right for myself. All I need to do is this.

She moved her foot. It separated from the metal bar and descended on to another, lower one. The other foot followed, and the arms did the rest. It was not easy. She was shivering, and it took all the willpower she had not to look down. Step by step, little by little, Deborah Hall descended into the dig, the world around her an unpleasant haze. Her awareness of the soldiers faded, and she couldn’t perceive a hint of Jenkins below her or whoever it was that came in after her. They might as well have remained back up.

It seemed like hours went by. Then, her foot hit something different, something rough. Stirred from her dreamlike state, Deborah lost her grip on the metal and plummeted downward, hitting the ground within half a second.

I didn’t even notice how close to the bottom I was.

She didn’t have time to think because within a moment another soldier descended right next to her. It was the woman, and she extended her hand as soon as she stepped aside. Reluctantly, Deborah grabbed it, rising to her feet even more ponderously than usual. The female soldier seemed pleased with herself, an expression one might expect from a dog trainer.

“You should have been a drill sergeant,” Deborah spouted while the other men dismounted from the ladder. “I’m afraid that might have made you happier than this.”

“And you should put a sock in it from time to time,” the female soldier replied, letting her hand go and stepping away.

“As should you, Private Williams,” the corporal was quick to add as he arrived. “We’ll talk later, all of you. Now, go and scout the perimeter as we’ve planned. We know it’s secure but do another sweep to be certain. Go!”

In response, the team spread out just the way he ordered, leaving him and Deborah alone in the dimly lit place.

“They’re good at what they do,” he said after a few seconds. “But no one’s perfect. I hope you can understand that, ma’am.”

“I suppose I can. Still doesn’t excuse
forcing
me into this.”

“So, you think that you exercising your right to forfeit would be proper toward us, ma’am? After we drove your…
person
all the way out here?”

“No, I don’t suppose it would be.” She stared at the rocky floor, feeling somewhat ashamed of her cowardice. “So, when can I examine the place? How many relevant spots are there? Can we do it all in one day?”

“There are more points of interest than you or I would like.” The corporal pulled out a folded piece of paper from one of his many pouches and handed it to her. When unfolded, it seemed like a cruel joke. The map was huge, and the amount of red dots on it threatened to discourage even her professional curiosity.