ALIEN SHIFTER ROMANCE: Alien Tigers - The Complete Series (Alien Invasion Abduction Shapeshifter Romance) (Paranormal Science Fiction Fantasy Anthologies & Short reads) (163 page)

Chapter Five

Lily rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.  She still didn’t want to tell him about her past, but to go on concealing it would only make him more determined to find out.  “You had it turned around on the island.  My father is Chinese, and my mother was French.  They became lovers in college, and I was the result.”

“That’s why you’re so beautiful.”  He traced the outline of her lips with his finger tip.  “You’re a love child.”

She didn’t bother to correct him.  “My mother died of influenza when I was still an infant, and her family didn’t want me, so my father took me back to Taiwan to live with him.  He cared for me as much as he could, but most Asian people don’t approve of children with mixed blood.  Father’s very wealthy and important family took one look at my blonde hair and blue eyes, and then pretended that I didn’t exist.”

Gard uttered a low growl.  “Morons.”

Lily smiled.  “It’s just the way it is.  They weren’t cruel to me.  Neither was my father, although I seldom saw him.  When the time came for my father to marry, they sent me away to school, and then arranged for me to work as a translator at one of the family businesses in Taiwan.”

Gard brushed the hair back from her brow.  “How did you end up on the island?”

“Zempa had me abducted.”  Remembering the day she’d been dragged off the street on her way to work made her feel sick.  “When the drugs wore off, I was so terrified.  Zempa threatened to expose the affair unless my father did what he wanted.  But he overestimated my value.  My father contacted the media first, and admitted to his youthful indiscretion, and formally apologized to his wife and family.  He then legally disowned me.”

              “Oh, sweetheart.”  Gard pulled her closer.

              “Zempa was so angry at first I thought he would kill me.”  Lily blinked against the hot sting in her eyes.  “But instead he kept me, and told me one day he’d give me to someone important.  Someone he wanted to impress.  Which was you.”  She gave Gard a sideways glance.  “And here we are.”

              “Does your father know you’re free now?”  When she nodded he frowned.  “When will he be here?”

              “He arranged a new passport and some money for me, in return for my promise never to contact him again.”  She tried to smile, but her heavy heart pulled at the corners of her lips.  “So I am on my own now.”  

              “Not for long.”  He gave her a tender, lingering kiss.  “You’re coming back home with me.”

              Lily stared at him.  “Didn’t you hear anything I just said?  I have nothing.  No home, no family, no job.  Zempa was right, James.  I am worthless.”

              “Maybe to him, and your idiot father, but not to me,” Gard said, pulling her on top of him.  “You’re beautiful, and sexy, and more courageous than any woman I’ve ever known.  You risked your life to save mine, so now it’s my turn.”

“You don’t have to do anything for me,” she whispered.

“You should remember that I’m a demanding ass who is going to boss you around, and dominate you, and keep dragging you off to bed,” he warned her.  “But I can give you a good life, Lily.  I can give you almost anything you want, but the one thing I’ll never do is give up on you.”

              “Why?”  She cradled his face between her hands.  “You don’t even know me.”

              “I’m working on that.”  He smiled slowly.  “And I love you, sweetheart.”       

              Lily kissed him, and tasted her own tears on his lips before she said, “All right.  Take me home, James.” 

THE END

Bound to the Alpha Billionaire

Book 2

(Can be read as a standalone book)

By: Lucy Wynand

The Spy’s Desires

Chapter One

“You’ve worked for Simon Denning for five years,” the perspiring tabloid reporter said as he blocked the office door with a pudgy arm.    “So you gotta know if he’s seeing Chanda Lear.”

Anna Kerr imagined how much easier her life would be if she were licensed to kill, like her boss.  “Mr. Denning doesn’t date light fixtures.”

He snorted out a laugh.  “Don’t you watch television?  I’m talking about Chanda Lear, the hottest reality star on the planet.”

When Anna had moved from London to Nassau, she’d left behind everything but her summer clothes, and she’d never bothered to buy a television.  Living in a tropical paradise where the temperature rarely dipped below sultry made it impossible for her to stay indoors; she spent most of her spare time swimming in the jewel-bright sea or tending to the exotic flower garden she’d planted behind her little beachside cottage.

Working as a secretary to Simon Denning wasn’t exciting, exactly, although it was part of Anne’s job to protect her British billionaire playboy boss.  She did so primarily by helping to maintain the myth of the hedonistic, jet-setting lifestyle that he used as a cover for his intelligence work.  That included arranging deliveries of very expensive flowers and gifts to whatever beautiful woman he was currently bedding, although she hadn’t yet heard about this oddly-named celebrity.

“Come on, Ms. Kerr.”  The reporter’s tone became wheedling.  “If you give me something juicy, I can make it worth your while.”  He rubbed the tips of his fingers together.

“Right.”  She took out her mobile.  “I’m calling security now to have you escorted from the building – unless you’d rather leave on your own, and not be dragged out and tossed in the street?”

“You Limeys are so snotty,” the reporter snapped before he stalked off.

“Half-Scottish, actually,” she called after him before sighing and unlocking the office door.

Once Anna put her bag and keys on her desk, she went into the little kitchen to put on the kettle.  She could make tea in her sleep, so the task gave her time to ponder the reporter’s ambush, and the possibility that her boss might be romantically involved with a woman using such a ridiculous name.

“So what if he is?” she muttered as she measured a precise amount of fragrant Darjeeling for the pot.  “He’s a billionaire, and she’s on television.  Match made in heaven, I should think.”

Learning that Simon had taken up with a new woman always stung a little.  He went through lovers like bags of crisps, while she watched and suffered in silence.  Yet Anna knew if she told her rich, handsome boss how she felt, he’d give her the sack instead of his heart.

Falling in love with Simon had been inevitable.  From the moment they’d met at her final interview, he’d even predicted that she would.

“You’ve been vetted and briefed by MI-6, so you know what to expect from the job,” Simon said, sounding bored.  “Now, when you fall in love with me, how will you cope?”

Anna’s throat tightened; the last man she’d given her heart to had paid for it with his life.  “I’m sorry, sir?”

“Every secretary I’ve had has gone daft over me.  Damned inconvenient, but it’s happened so often that I feel I must warn you in advance.”  He glanced up from reading the file she’d presented.  “Unless you’re a lesbian?”

              “Sorry, no, sir.”  She smiled politely.  “I suppose I could become one, if you think it would help.”

              A glint of appreciation warmed Simon’s cold eyes as he tapped her C.V.  “You’ve not listed that sense of humor on here.” 

“It’s not always considered a positive attribute by the intelligence ministries, sir.”  Anna hesitated before she asked, “Why haven’t you hired a male assistant?” 

              “I tried that, too.”  He grimaced.  “Phillip still sends the occasional love letter.  As for you . . . .”  He looked her over from her neat chignon of auburn hair to her small feet in sensible pumps.  “You’re smart, accomplished, and very attractive.  Why aren’t you making some fortunate chap deliriously happy?”

              “I did, for a time.”  She refused to let her voice falter as she told him the rest of the lie.  “Gareth died last year, a month before we were to marry.  Leukemia.”

              Simon’s expression went from cynic to bleak.  “Oh, bloody hell.”

              “Yes, it was.  It’s also why I came to the islands, to make a fresh start.”  Anna regarded him with all the composure she could fake.  “I’m looking for a job, Mr. Denning, not love.  With all due respect to your many attractions, I buried my heart with my fiancé.  I’ve no desire to exhume the remains.”

“Very well.”  He tossed her file onto the desk as he stood and offered his hand.  “Congratulation, Ms. Kerr.  You’re hired.”

Anna completed the handshake, and felt a jolt of awareness as his fingers curled around hers.  In that moment she almost refused the job, but the only alternative she had was to return to London, and the life she’d left in ruins there.  “Thank you, sir.”

Simon startled her by bringing her knuckles to his lips.  “Someday you’ll love again, Anna.  I promise.” 

Now, as Anna emptied the kettle into the pot, she felt her cheeks flush, but not from the heat of the steaming water.  Remembering that old-fashioned, gentlemanly gesture Simon had made inevitably stirred her.  Somehow that simple touch of his mouth on her knuckles had smashed through the icy guilt encasing her heart.  Falling for him been exceedingly foolish, and she’d done her level best to conceal her feelings, but she didn’t have to wait for a someday.  She’d loved him from then on. 

If he was dating this television star with the silly name, she would accept it, just as she had all the other women he’d bedded.  His liaisons never lasted more than a few weeks anyway.

Anna prepared the tea tray and carried it into her boss’s office, where she nearly dropped it when she saw him standing at the big window overlooking the island.

Tall and deceptively lean, Simon Denning had the presence of a prince and the features of a film star.  Some distant Norse ancestor had gifted the billionaire with thick golden hair and piercing pale blue eyes that drew admiring female gazes wherever he went.  Anna always envied how well he wore his expensive suits, as if he were about step onto a runway in Paris to model them for lesser mortals.

As for what his body was like under his clothes, she could only imagine – and did, quite frequently, when she needed a little sexual relief.

“Good morning, Mr. Denning.”  She set down the tray and filled a cup before bringing it to him.  “I wasn’t expecting you so early.  Is everything all right?”

“Not exactly.”  Simon turned, shifting his weight onto the cane he’d been using since nearly being killed protecting the Prime Minister.  “There’s some chatter about the cartel planning another assassination, and Umbra is here in the islands.  This time I’m going to get him, but to do that, I need your help.”

Anna knew how determined her boss was to eliminate the notorious cartel hitman, who, in addition to shooting Simon, was responsible for dozens of deaths.  “What can I do, sir?”

He took the cup from her hands before he said, “You can go on a date with me to a kinky sex club.”

* * *

Simon saw anger flash in his secretary’s emerald-green eyes before she poured another cup of tea and sat down.  “I know what you’re thinking, Anna.  I nearly lost my leg, thanks to Umbra, and I’m in no condition to dance with him again.”

“You should still be in hospital recovering,” she said sharply, and then sighed.  “Please, sir.  Let them send someone else after him.”

“I’m the only one who has ever gotten a decent look at this bastard, so it has to be me – or us, as it happens.  The club only allows couples as guests.”  Simon saw her twist her fingers together.  “You won’t have to have actual kinky sex with me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Not at all.”  She flattened her hands against her skirt.  “It’s just that I’m not a field operative, sir.”

He limped over to his chair and sat down.  “What does that matter?”

“Mr. Denning, I am your secretary.  I type, file, and make tea.  I chase off reporters. Occasionally I pick up your dry cleaning.  I am part of the illusion that protects you from exposure.”  Her fingers trembled as she tucked a tendril of dark red hair behind her ear.  “What you need is someone more familiar with such scenarios.  Miss Saito, perhaps – she is a practicing submissive, I believe.”

“Kameko is on assignment in America, seducing some dodgy billionaire scientist,” Simon reminded her.  “All the other female operatives within range are too old, not attractive enough, or unable to break cover.”  He could see how tight her mouth was, and wondered why she was reacting so strongly to his request.  “Anna, you do know that I’m asking only because I’m desperate.  If Umbra is targeting the U.S. President—”

“Oh, of course.”  She rose and refilled his tea.  “Which kinky sex club is it again?”

“That cesspit called ‘The Whip Hand.’”  He saw the pot wobble and deftly took it from her.  “No doubt that’s why Umbra obtained a membership; he’s always been especially brutal toward women.”

Anna sat down, her pale face awash with morning light.  Simon saw how the Caribbean sun picked out the strands of copper in her hair, the amber flecks in her viridian irises, and the gold tips of her dark eyelashes, and felt his gut clench. All this time he’d been unwaveringly diligent about keeping his hands off his sweet, sad little secretary, and now he was obliged to drag her down into the muck of his spy work.  But Simon also knew if he missed this chance to take down Umbra, he might never get another – and the President of the United States could pay for it with his life.

“I know it’s dangerous, and you’re scared,” he told her gently.  “But I won’t let any harm come to you, Anna.”

“All right.”  She regarded him with her usual calm restored.  “What must I do?”