ROMANCE: BIKER ROMANCE: Werewolf Rider (MC Shifter Pregnancy Romance) (New Adult Paranormal Romance Short Stories) (92 page)

              “I am sorry I can't do it. If you two don't take the cake!” Marcia said laughing. Violet's Dad agreed.

              “I can't believe Mike that you would take a part of your break to work on a wedding gift for us. After as hard as you worked this season. You almost got us to the play offs. Further than we have been in years. Yet you still will work with Violet to do this,” he was shaking his head, walked over to Mike and shook his hand. Marcie came over to Violet.

              “Thank you dear. I know the time you spend on your studies. Being willing to fix up the old cabin for us is..  thank you!” She exclaimed and broke into tears of happiness. She engulfed Violet in a hug and over her Marcie's shoulder she could see Mike was being hugged by her Dad. He mouthed silently to her.
I am going to kill Jack and Janey!

             
They managed to keep their composure and go along with it. They had breakfast with them and talked about renovating ideas. Violet did like the idea and through talking with Marcie gained an understanding of what she would like to make it her own and not her sister’s old place. She figured between her and Mike they should be able to do a good job on the place. Of course than meant that her and Mike would have to find another hideaway. When Violet and Mike left they breathed a sigh of relief, they had survived this time!

*****

THE END

CASSANDRA COLE

GOING DOWN

An Erotic Romance

By

Cassandra Cole

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Copyright © 2015 Digital Graphiti, Inc.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction.  While, as in all fiction, the literary perceptions and insights are based on life experiences and conclusions drawn from research, all names, characters, places and specific instances are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.  No actual reference to any real person, living or dead, is intended or inferred.

Questions, comments or concerns should be addressed to the publisher at:

Digital Graphiti, Inc.

142 Hartington Drive

Madison, AL 35758

This book contains explicit content and

is intended only for mature audiences only.

CHAPTER ONE

Family pictures were a source of joy for most people, but for Nina Raymond they were a sad reminder of a past she’d just as soon forget.  She only had one picture that brought her any kind of happiness: a picture taken in a field of trees that were losing their leaves. 

Nina remembered that the picture was taken in late October and the air was just starting to get chilly in Maryland.  It had been dark and gloomy that day.  Maybe that as why it was still her favorite type of weather. 

The was sun peeking out from behind the clouds just enough to give them great lighting for the picture.  Her dad had been smart enough to bring the tripod and set the camera up on a timer so that they could all be in the photo. 

He’d run back and picked up an arm full of leaves and dumped them on Nina’s head right as the flash went off.  She was squealing with delight in the picture as the orange and red leaves rained down on her.  Michelle, her mother, was even smiling and looking vaguely amused.  It was one of the only times she’d ever seen her mother smile in the presence of her father. 

Michelle had always been a bitter woman, especially when it came to her now-ex-husband, Henry Raymond.  She never had anything nice to say to him or about him and Nina could only ever remember her criticizing him. 

Nina had clear memories of all the screaming and yelling.  Dishes would crash into the wall and clatter to the floor in little pieces as her mother accused her father of being lazy.  That was Michelle’s biggest complaint.  Henry didn’t work hard enough and he didn’t make enough money. 

Nina’s mother didn’t talk about her childhood much, but from what Nina could gather, Michelle had grown up dirt poor.  She was made fun of even though she was an incredibly beautiful woman.  She never had designer clothes and she didn’t get a new car on her sixteenth birthday.  Hell, her family was lucky to have food on the table every day.

The feeling of rejection and being an outcast had never left Michelle.  She always felt second best, and so she took it out on her husband.  Henry had a good, steady job as an accountant, but never made enough money for Michelle.  Nina didn’t think Bill Gates would have made enough money to satisfy her mother. 

Michelle wouldn’t ever be happy and Nina knew that.  She’d grown accustomed to living with the constant bitterness that Michelle radiated, but her father couldn’t handle it.  She honestly couldn’t blame him.  Nina didn’t get hassled the way her father did.  She didn’t see the side of her mother that Henry saw.

When the constant nagging and belittling became too much for Henry to handle, he left.  Michelle filed for a divorce on the grounds that Henry had left her for another woman  No one believed Henry would ever do such a thing, but he didn’t show up in court to dispute it.  He’d had enough of the vile woman he had once called his wife.  He disappeared overnight and Nina didn’t even get to say goodbye. 

What followed was years of Michelle bouncing from husband to husband and boyfriend to boyfriend.  She’d run their credit cards dry and leave them for the next man who was willing to pay the bills. 

Nina didn’t understand how they could be so blind and stupid, but she didn’t say anything.  It wouldn’t have mattered if she spoke up.  The last person her mother was concerned about was her daughter. 

Nina’s father resurfaced the day of her fourteenth birthday.  It had been almost five years since she’d seen Henry, but she begged him to take her away.  She was tired of her mother's games.  She knew her father could sympathize and after a very short court battle, she was sent to live with her father in New York.

Nina loved the city more than she ever thought she could.  She’d spent the last five years bouncing around from place to place and the promise of actually having a life somewhere was intriguing to her. 

There was always something to do in New York and she was never bored.  Since her mother moved her around so much Nina had become a quiet, introverted girl who preferred to spend time by herself and create things.  Art had always been her escape and moving to New York just opened up the world to her. 

Her “differences” were accepted in New York and no one looked twice when she dyed her blonde curls jet black.  She had her mother’s green eyes and full blonde hair.  She could change at least one of those things and she reveled in dying her hair.  She wouldn’t have changed her eye color even if she could.  Nina thought they made her look unique and the dark hue of her hair made them stand out against her pale skin even more. 

Henry let Nina do what she wanted as long as she went to school and kept her grades up.  She did what he expected of her and in return, he let her be the person she’d always wanted to be.  She liked being a little weird and mysterious. 

Michelle had always pushed Nina to run with the “in crowd” and to be a popular girl.  She’d even gone as far as signing Nina up for a cheerleading squad.  Nina had screamed the entire way to the football field and Michelle eventually gave up and turned the car around, heading back to the house.

There wasn’t much Nina could do to retaliate against her mother, but one of the few powers she had was refusing to be the angel her mother expected her to be.  She would fight to the bitter end to be herself.  If Michelle thought she was getting a clone when she had Nina, she’d need to think again. 

She had gotten so used to fighting hard to be her own person that when she arrived in New York she was surprised that she didn’t have to fight anymore.  Her father simply wrapped his arms around her, kissed her cheek and told her that he loved her just the way she was.

It was the only thing she’d ever wanted to hear. 

CHAPTER TWO

Nina was a smart girl.  Smart and pretty wasn’t something that was often found in the same package.  People were always surprised when she spoke or presented a paper.  Her dark hair, heavy makeup and fashion choices left people with the assumption that she was a bad egg.  It was what they got for assuming things about her.

She was a well-spoken girl in the top of her class, which meant she had her pick of colleges.  Nina could have gone to MIT or Harvard, but she wasn’t interested in schools like that.  She wanted to go somewhere that she could be herself.  She had a fantasy of being a dark and brooding artist, though what she really wanted was to be an illustrator. 

Nina wanted to illustrate books and movies that told kids it was okay to be different.  She wanted to impact the world with the things she created.  Other artists had gotten her through tough times.  What was so farfetched about her being able to change the world?

Her father helped her apply for a total of ten schools.  Her top choice sent their letter back first and she could still remember standing in the kitchen with her father, her hands shaking as Henry urged her to open it.  The anticipation was killing him as much as it was her, apparently.  She’d inhaled deeply and slid the letter opener across the envelope. 

When she turned it over the letter had spilled out onto the floor and she bent to pick it up, reading the beginning of the letter out loud,

“Dear Ms.  Raymond, We are pleased to announce that you have been selected to attend the New York Academy for the Arts…” Her voice trailed off at the end and she leapt into the air, jumping up and down with excitement. 

The letter went on to detail orientation times, but she wasn’t concerned with that at the moment.  All she cared about was that first sentence.  It was an affirmation that she could be what she wanted to be.  It felt like redemption for all those times her mother had told her that her art wouldn’t get her anywhere.  She wanted to shove the letter right in Michelle’s face and cackle like some old witch.  She'd felt like she’d won. 

*  *  *

Packing up for her big move to campus was easy, but saying goodbye was a lot harder than she’d expected it to be.  Nina and her father had a quiet relationship.  They loved each other, but never said it much.  They never felt the need to over articulate their relationship.  Their love was simply understood. 

Her father smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her forehead, telling her to be safe and call him every once in awhile.  Nina felt a wave of sadness roll through her and she found herself thinking back to the day he’d left her with Michelle.  They hadn’t said goodbye that day because Henry didn’t want her to know he was leaving.  Goodbyes scared Nina. 

When her father started to say goodbye, she brought her pale hand to his lips and pressed her fingers to them.  Her black nails stood out against his skin and she just shook her head.  Nina didn’t want to hear him say those words. 

Henry understood and smiled, pulling away from her hand and making her promise to come visit him in the next few weeks.  If she took the train as far as she could, he’d come pick her up.  Their house was about two hours outside the city and she could get back and forth easily.  Nina felt silly for being so worked up about her father leaving. 

Henry finally turned and left, the door clicking behind him as he exited through the main lobby of the dorm.  Nina turned and went to the small, lonely window that looked out to the parking lot. 

It was still warm out since it was August and the autumn weather wouldn't set in for another month or two.  She pushed the glass pane open and when the hot summer air hit her the smells of the city came with it.  It took her a moment to realize that she actually liked the smell of hot asphalt and street food. 

She watched her father walk to his car and pull out of the parking lot, heading back towards the highway that would take him back to their small house in the suburbs.  When she was sure her father was out of sight she closed the window and locked it.  Dwelling on the fact that her father was gone wasn't going to help anyone.  She needed a distraction.

The room was completely empty except for the bland furniture that came with it.  The whole place was kind of drab, actually.  She’d expected the rooms at an art school to have a little more... something.  She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it hadn’t been white walls, tiny beds and particle board furniture.  Prisons probably had better furniture.

Since the school had a smaller number of students than a traditional college, the rooms were private and the bathrooms communal.  Nina was thankful that she wasn’t going to have to share a room.  She had always been a shy girl and the idea of sharing her personal space made her skin crawl. 

Nina was starting to feel sad standing in the boring white room and so she went to her suitcase, threw it open and started pulling out her personal items.  Her clothing was minimal and the space in the boxes and suitcases had been taken up by little plastic character figures, posters and art supplies. 

Nina hung her own work and some of her other items.  She set up her figurines around the room and went to work hanging cheap shelves her dad had bought her at IKEA.  She had a fondness for knick knacks and she wasn’t willing to give them up in this move.

It took most of the day, but the room finally started coming together.  It had been dark for a few hours, though she failed to look at the clock to figure out what time it actually was.  She knew it was late but she didn’t care.  The boring room she’d walked into finally looked like a place she wanted to exist in. 

There were dark purple and black wall hangings covering the walls and anywhere there wasn’t fabric there were posters and art prints.  Every inch of wall was covered with something that was distinctly hers and the swell of joy in her chest made her break out into a rare grin. 

The very last thing she put on her night stand was the picture of her and her parents under that beautiful tree on that beautiful day.  She set it on top of a pile of drawing books so that she could look at it while she fell asleep.