ROMANCE: BIKER ROMANCE: Werewolf Rider (MC Shifter Pregnancy Romance) (New Adult Paranormal Romance Short Stories) (95 page)

CHAPTER NINE

The wedding was two days away and the clock was ticking.  If they were going to do this they had to act fast.  Nina and Chris had spent the last few days together, getting to know each other a little better.  He was a simple man who wanted to work in agriculture and she had somehow managed to convince him to apply to a school in New York.  Upstate New York had plenty of farms and she was surprised that she could see herself living on one. 

Chris was perfect.  He was for her, at least.  He was kind, smart and devilishly handsome.  When she was close to him she felt like everything was right in the world and she was sad that she’d wasted so much time trying to avoid him in the beginning.  None of that mattered now.  They were obviously perfect for each other and that only made them even more eager to enact their plan. 

The morning was the perfect time to do it.  Her mother always had breakfast in the kitchen, which was separated from the rest of the house by a swinging door.  Inside the kitchen there was a bay window with a little table.  Michelle had her coffee and eggs there every morning while she read the newspaper.  Michelle loved routine and so did Nina.  It made this plan simple and clear cut.  She didn’t expect there to be any hiccups. 

Nina walked in, stretching her arms above her head and yawning.  She was still in her pajamas, though she had on Chris’ favorite shirt. 

“Morning, Ma.”

Michelle eyed her daughter, her eyes narrowing at the shirt.  She knew it well.  “Good morning, Nina.  Where did you get that shirt?”

“Oh, Chris gave it to me.” She hummed, crossing her legs and sitting at the table, stirring her own coffee.

Michelle was quiet for a moment, “You slept late today.” She said, though it was more of a question than a statement. 

Perfect.  Michelle took the bait.  Nina smiled to herself and sighed a dreamy, wistful smile, “I know.  I was up late last night.”

“What in the world were you doing up?  There's nothing to do out here in the evenings.”

Oh, she was so wrong. 

Nina smiled over the edge of her cup and shrugged, chewing her bottom lip, “Chris took me out in his truck...It was magical.”

When that wistful smile came to Nina’s face, her mother’s hands began to shake so badly that the coffee in the cup spilled over the side.  She cursed and stood up, getting a paper towel and glancing at her daughter as she cleaned up the mess.

“I thought I told you to stay away from him.” She hissed, that same venom back in her voice.

The first time her mother had talked to her like that, Nina had been scared.  The sheer amount of anger and possessiveness that had leaked into Michelle’s words had been terrifying.  Now Nina knew that the very anger that was fueling her mother was going to bite her in the ass.

Nina blinked, as if she didn’t understand what had just been said to her.  Her long lashes fluttered innocently and she could see the anger magnify, “Why do I have to stay away from him, Ma?  He’s a wonderful boy.”

“He’s your stepbrother, you idiot girl!” She snapped, though she was speaking in an angry whisper. 

Andrew always worked in the mornings.  He owned a large company and so he tended to his emails early in the morning while he and his fiance were still waking up.  Andrew was right upstairs and Michelle didn't want to cause attention to this little dispute

Nina looked hurt and looked down at her coffee, frowning, “I know, but we aren’t really related so it doesn’t matter, right?” She asked casually. 

Her mother’s fist came down on the table and her eyes went from a quiet anger to something much more animalistic.  She leaned in close to her daughter, talking a bit louder than she had before, though not loud enough for Andrew to hear.

Spittle dripped from her bottom lip as she spoke to Nina, her voice quivering with anger, “Don’t play your games with me.  You think you have power?  You think you're in charge here?” She whispered, putting both of her hands on the table, “I have staked my claims here, you stupid little girl! Chris is mine! This house is mine!” She spat. 

Nina’s voice remained surprisingly calm and she watched her mother closely, “Aren’t you marrying Andrew?”

“Marriage doesn’t mean shit! Just because I’m marrying him doesn’t mean I have to sleep with him! That’s why I’m keeping Chris around.  God, you’re so stupid! Don’t you know anything?!”

She’d raised her hand to slap it on the table when the door creaked open.  Chris had brought his father down to the kitchen when the conversation first started.  They’d been standing on the other side of the door and Andrew had heard everything. 

He looked devastated and Nina felt guilty for a moment but then realized that the poor man was going to figure out her mother’s motives one way or another.  At least he didn’t lose his life savings this way. 

“Michelle…” Andrew whispered. 

Nina’s mother turned slowly, looking at Andrew with wide eyes, “Darling, I…” She stopped, not sure what she could say in this situation. 

There was a long, uncomfortable silence in the room and Andrew finally set his eyes on the woman he was supposed to marry in a mere two days.  His lips set in a thin line and he cleared his throat, “I think it’s best if you leave, Michelle.”

Michelle looked absolutely stunned and shook her head, “Andrew...No...I...You don’t understand."

"Oh, I think I understand perfectly.  I want you out of my house.  You have a week to get your things.”

Nina felt like she’d won the game.  She and her mother had been in this power struggle since she was a little girl and Nina had finally won.  She smirked and raised her hand, giving her mother a casual wave, “Toodles”.

CHAPTER TEN

Nina and Chris left Tennessee together.  Andrew was handling things better than one would expect and he was thankful to his son and Nina for showing him that Michelle had been pulling the wool over his eyes.  He was two days away from burying himself into a hole he couldn’t get out of. 

He was glad to see his son broadening his horizons.  Nina was already having a positive effect on him and he was eager to send his son away to continue his schooling.  All of the money that would have gone into an extravagant wedding got put away in an account for Chris’ school expenses. 

They were able to get an apartment with the money when they returned to New York and with little convincing, Chris agreed to let Petra be their roommate.  The two got on wonderfully and Chris even introduced Petra to the woman who would eventually become her wife. 

Nina had expected some retaliation from her mother after what had happened in Tennessee.  When Michelle accosted her on the street outside school, Nina had been prepared to defend herself.  When Michelle came after her, fists raised and ready to swing, Nina put her down with a little pepper spray. 

She was arrested for assault and got herself a year in prison.  Chris often asked Nina what she was going to do when her mother got out of prison, but that wasn’t a concern for her at the moment. 

Nina wouldn’t see Michelle again for almost ten years.  Her mother would show up on her doorstep one year during Christmas, homeless and lost.  She would bring Michelle into her home and discover a humbled woman who wanted nothing more than time with her daughter and grandchildren. 

But that was years away. 

Nina was focused on the here and now and so was Chris.  They both worked hard to finish their degrees and Nina would become a world famous animator and Chris would eventually get his degree in agriculture and they would buy a farm in upstate New York about thirty minutes from Nina’s father’s home. 

Henry adored Chris.  He was the big strong man he’d always wanted his daughter to marry.  Chris and Nina decided that it was better if they told a bit of a fib about how they met.  Henry didn’t need to worry about Michelle or the things that had happened between Nina and her mother.  So they told him they met at the wedding.  As far as Henry knew, Michelle was married to some banker in Tennessee.

Nina and Chris were happier than they ever could have been apart.  Nina was still a little weird and a little dark and Chris loved her for it.  Chris was still a good ‘ol boy from Tennessee who slipped into that down home accent every now and again and Nina loved every inch of him. 

They were married on Halloween five years after they met.  They had both graduated the year before and had steady jobs and one bun in the oven.  Chris constantly brought out new things in Nina and a desire having kids was one of those things.

Nina didn’t want kids before she met Chris.  The idea of being responsible for the life of a tiny child was intimidating to her.  She was afraid she might mess her kids up the same way her parents had messed her up.  It had taken a lot of convincing, but eventually she tossed out the birth control and they were trying for kids. 

Four years later, Nina was the mother of two wonderful bouncing baby girls with a third baby on the way and she was happy.  It was something she didn’t really think she’d be allowed to have.  Happy families were the product of other happy families, right?  How could Nina possibly have happy children when her own childhood had been nothing short of a wreck? 

She had never been happier to be wrong. 

Lindsey and Lisa were the lights of her life and she knew she’d be lost without her husband and her children.  Her belly was huge and she was ready to pop any day now.  Lindsey, the oldest child, asked a lot of questions about the baby with a limited vocabulary.  She was two and while she tried talking up a storm, it didn’t always work for her. 

She knew she was getting a baby brother and that excited her.  She gave the baby a new name every day even though her parents had settled on Xavier.  Lindsey wasn’t having any of it and today, she was calling her little brother ‘Snoopy’.

“Snoopy play?” She asked, pulling at the hem of her mother’s dress. 

Nina had hated dresses before pregnancy and when she wasn’t eight months along she still hated them but jeans were just so damn uncomfortable during the last trimester.  She looked down at her daughter, Lisa balanced on her hip as Nina stirred a pot of soup.

“Not today, Lin.  He’ll come out and play soon.” She assured. 

Lindsey pouted but her face lit up when the door opened with a crash.  She gasped and turned, running and screaming, “DADDY!”

The still tall, still blonde Chris, swept his little angel up into his arms, bouncing her as she squealed, “Hey there, precious.  Are you helping mommy cook?”

“Yeah!” The little blonde baby sang.

Chris chuckled and walked into the kitchen, stealing a kiss from his wife. 

“Hey there, beautiful.” He hummed, setting his daughter down. 

No matter how many days and nights she spent with Chris, She couldn’t believe that this was her life.  She was happy.  She had a family and she was in love.  Nina set the spoon down and turned to kiss him, cupping his cheeks. 

Lindsey groaned and covered her face, telling her parents they were ‘icky’.  Nina smiled up at Chris as she pulled away and as she stared into his eyes, she couldn’t believe that all of this had started in the bed of a pickup truck under the moonlight. 

THE END

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Cassandra Cole is much like the characters she writes about.  Definitely female, fiercely independent, and hopelessly romantic. She writes romance novels about ordinary people in extraordinary situations with strong feelings and few inhibitions.

GIANNA

A Stepbrother Romance

By

Aubrey James

CHAPTER ONE

“Gianna, you have to!  When a hot guy orders you a shot, you have to take it,” the petite blonde Hitler named Krista ordered her.  Gianna sucked in a breath, and quickly threw back the questionable amber liquid.  It burned fire down her throat, but at least tasted like regular rum.  Although, after the dozen shots prior, she wasn’t sure she even had taste buds left.

Krista squealed and grabbed her arm.  “He’s watching you!”

Desperately hoping she wasn’t referring to the fifty-something tattooed gentleman that kept reappearing behind her, she slowly turned her head back towards the pool tables that Krista had nodded at. 

She quickly saw the beefy rugby player that she had been flirting with earlier.  She squinted at him, trying to pull everything back into focus.  All she could really see for certain was a crew cut, a nondescript face, and big shoulders.  Mentally shrugging, she admitted that he wasn’t bad looking.

“He’s kind of cute,” she acquiesced.

“He’s more than cute – he’s hot!  And Brandon says that he’s been on the lookout since he got dumped by Brandy after she decided to transfer to Minnesota.”  Krista seemed strangely excited that Rugby just had his heart torn out by some cheerleader with ambitious goals.

She made a motion to grab her mixed drink off the bar and head over.  At the same time, the guy she had been sitting next to went to grab his drink, and somehow they collided, tipping over both drinks on the lacquered bar top.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so s-sorry!”  Her mouth stumbling over the last word, Gianna looked into the most beautiful blue eyes she’d ever seen on a man.  They weren’t truly blue, she realized in the dim bar light.  They were actually like a turquoise.  Maybe a teal?  Whatever it was, she was instantly jealous.  Guys didn’t deserve eyes like those.

The undeserving hunk flashed her a white smile that just deepened the jealousy.  “Nah, it was my fault.  Richie over here  --“ pulling the guys collar that was sitting on his left at the bar in mock outrage – “just can’t hold his liquor.”

Richie seemed to be completely oblivious, still arguing with the bartender about whether or not that last play shouldn’t have been a foul.  His friend seemed to realize this, tossing her a sheepish smile.

“Here, let me buy you another.”  He stood, reached into his dark jeans, and pulled out a brown leather wallet.  He tossed down a twenty.  “What are you drinking?”

“Amaretto Sour.”

“Sounds good.  I’ll just get you that lemonade with a dash of amaretto then.”  He threw her a wink and she bit back a laugh.

“Hey, why fight it when you know it tastes so good?”  She threw him his wink right back and this time he threw his head back and laughed out loud.

“So, what you’re telling me is that I should be switching my drink of choice to that?  I’m pretty sure I haven’t had a drink that weak since I was fourteen and watered down my dad’s scotch,” he teased, quirking an attractively dark eyebrow.

This time she did laugh out loud.  “I’d like to see you try to keep down all the shots I’ve had to take tonight, while drinking an ‘actual’ drink, sir!”

He caught the bartender’s gaze and motioned at their two spilled drinks, and then the twenty on the counter.  He turned back towards her, this time leaning closer to talk into her ear.  It wasn’t really that loud, but when she got a whiff of his cologne and nearly started panting, she decided not to call him out on it.  “What’s the occasion?”

“Got the internship I’ve been wanting for like two years.  You?”

“Promoted.  And my friend here just got broken up with.  You single?”  He threw a glance over to Richie.  She pretended to study Richie dutifully.  He really wasn’t bad looking, more of a rocker type look.  But then again, her mystery man also had a sense of ‘bad boy’ about him.  They both had tattoos on their arms, but Richie had them all the way down to his knuckles.  Both of them had gauges in their ears, but Richie’s were at least double the size.  He was laughing at something the girl next to him and she saw the flash of a tongue ring.

“Hmmm, well he does have good hair,” she critiqued.

He laughed.  “He does indeed.  Carson, by the way.” 

He took her offered hand in his warm grip.  His hand seemed to dwarf hers, and her fingertips tingled with the contact.  “Gianna.”

Looking at her warmly, he repeated it to her.  “Gianna.  I like that.  It suits you.”

She blushed, hoping in the ambient light he didn’t see it.

“Carson, we gotta go man!”  Richie suddenly turned towards them, eyeing up Gianna.  “Take her with!  Dave said that Green Sugar is playing at the Rowdy down the street.”

Carson looked at her, still holding her hand.  “Well?”

She glanced at Krista, who’d been suitably entertained by the bouncer sitting at the end of the bar.  “I can’t.  I’m here with the rest of my friends.”

“Alright, well then let me make an appearance over there for a few minutes, and then I’ll come back here.  Don’t.  Move.”  He placed his hand on the loops of her black skinny jeans and pushed her gently down onto the bar stool.  She could feel the heat through the material and she suppressed the urge to lean into him.

He started to walk away, grabbed at the elbow by Richie, but his shoulders faced her until he had to turn at the last second.

Ten minutes later, Krista saw one of her mortal enemies from their Dance Appreciation class, and forced Gianna to leave the bar.  Once they got into the taxi, she ended up passing out and Gianna had to take her home and make sure she was okay.

And only a small part of her wondered what would’ve happened if she’d been able to stay.

Liar, her smug subconscious whispered.