COWBOY ROMANCE: Justin (Western Contemporary Alpha Male Bride Romance) (The Steele Brothers Book 1) (32 page)

Chapter Five

Three Months Later

Krista

              In her apartment in the city, Krista sat upon her bed, surrounded by stylish pillows that cascaded down around her, and looked at the artifact she held in her hand. It was a locket, but it held no photo inside. There had been one. A faded edge of one was trapped in the hinge, the photo itself likely torn out long ago.

              “I have to go back,” Krista said out loud.

              The mystery still taunted her, invading her waking and slumbering thoughts, but her reasons to go back to the desert valley far surpassed her desire to figure out what happened to the lost settlers. She placed a hand over her growing stomach, knowing that the baby who grew inside may possess a very special ability.

***

Nothing about the desert had changed since Krista had left, running from the secret Bridget had revealed, running from the enemy that was also her lover. That was the beauty of the desert. It was a time stamp, reminding the modern to revere the past, even when the future was so uncertain.

              Krista pulled into the ranch. It was unkempt, losing the wonder it had before. The horses were huddled into their stables, the feed in their coral trays growing mold. The statue of the mustang in the courtyard was tarnished. It felt… defeated.

              Taking a deep breath, knowing her life would never be the same, Krista left her smart car, ready to reveal her own secret to Derek, a secret that would soon enter the world.

              “Derek!” she called from the courtyard. “We need to talk!”

              Derek did not answer her call, but someone did.

              Bridget.

              “What are you doing here?” the redhead snapped, emerging from the main building.

              “That’s a bit of a tired response, isn’t it?” Krista countered, in no mood to deal with the tigress.

              “You shouldn’t be here,” Bridget said. “You’re a threat to my people.”

              “I’m no threat,” she mumbled then called out again, “Derek!”

              “He’s not here,” Bridget revealed. “He hasn’t been here for some time.”

              Krista’s heart sank. It had taken her weeks to build up the courage to come back. She wasn’t sure she could a second time. “Where is he?”

              “None of your business,” Bridget said. “I suggest you leave.”

              “No,” Krista refused. “I’m not afraid of you.”

              It was what Bridget wanted to hear. “You should be,” she teased before transforming into a tiger.

              Krista didn’t flinch. Her instincts wanted her to run, but she knew that was what Bridget wanted, not because she was a tiger but because she was sadistic. She enjoyed her games.

              Growling, Bridget sprang, her paw held out to claw Krista to the otherworld, but she stopped midair and dropped to the ground, human once more, fully clothed.

              “You’re pregnant,” she muttered, stumbling over the words. “Is it Derek’s?”

              Bridget changing into a tigress and back into a human had not been the astonishing transformation. The astonishing transformation was the softness she now spoke with. Her menace was gone, beaten by the truth that lie in Krista’s belly.

              “It is,” Krista said. “I’m carrying his child.”

              To her further amazement, Bridget hugged her, tears in her eyes. “Our people are near extinction,” she said. “This is good news. Every child born means a chance of our survival.”

              So Bridget wasn’t so sadistic after all. She was just desperate to protect her people. Krista prided herself on her ability to analyze human behavior, it was what made her a decent anthropologist, but she had failed to see that behind Bridget’s temper was a woman desperate to save her own kind.

              “Where is Derek?” Krista asked again.

              “He’s in the city, looking for you.”

              This time, the tears swelled in Krista’s eyes. “Really?”

              “Of course.” Bridget took her hand. “But don’t worry. I’ll call him. Come into the house and rest, and by this evening, he’ll be here.”

***

“You’re pregnant?”

              Derek was stunned, frozen by the news. Standing next to him in his bedroom, a large suite fitted with dark furniture, Krista was sure he was going to pass out.

              He didn’t. Instead, he smiled broadly and picked her up into his arms. “Woo wee!” he shouted. “I’m gonna be a papa!”

              “You are,” Krista said, laughing as her brawny cowboy spun her around.

              “I went looking for you,” Derek said, setting her down, growing serious. “I wouldn’t have stopped until I found you.”

              “I know,” she said. “I’m glad.”

              Her words were simple, but they were weighed with emotion, an emotion that propelled them to the bed. Silent and admiring, Derek undressed her, venerating the beauty of her curves as he did.

              “You’re more gorgeous every time I see you,” he said, kissing her stomach.

              It was an affectionate kiss, but it turned into one much more provocative. He continued to kiss her, all the way down to her core. Pulling her closer to the edge of the bed, he spread her legs apart and pressed his tongue against her clit. He circled his tongue around, awakening her body as he drank in her femininity. She moaned with pleasure, savoring the caress of his tongue against her flesh, allowing it to ignite every nerve in her body.

              “I want you inside of me,” she said, pulling on his hair, lifting him back up to her. She helped him pull off his T-shirt and remove his jeans and boxers until he was as naked as she was, except for his cowboy hat, which she told him to keep on. It complimented his hard, tanned body perfectly.

              Raising her knees, she opened her legs wider, her core pulsing for him to enter her. When he did, sliding his cock into her wetness, her body convulsed with pleasure, relishing the feel of his cock against her inner flesh. He rode her like a gentleman, his movements sweet and smooth, until his need for her took charge. As the heat in her body rose, so did his pace, and he thrust into her with a profound desire, moving in and out of her as their bodies melded into one.

              She arched her back, taking all of him in, the heat within her peaking, sending her over the edge. As she came, she grabbed his backside, pushing him further into her. He came with her, shuddering as he released himself into her, her tiger.

              Later, as he held her in his arms, Krista told him about the locket she found. “The way the bones of the man reached out, I can’t help but feel he was reaching for whoever’s photo was in the locket.”

              “He was,” Derek proclaimed, surprising her. “The mystery of the lost settlers is no mystery at all, not to my people. They were a group of shifters – tigers, my ancestors. Their forefathers and foremothers had come to America long before them, but it’s not easy to hide your tiger form in a land tigers are not native to. Eventually, the settlers were pushed out West, running from those who hunted them. They thought they were safe here, but a group of hunters caught up to them and massacred them. Very few survived.”

              “That’s terrible,” Krista said, borrowing tighter into his arms. “Why didn’t the survivors leave?”

              “They were tired of running. The hunters continued on, searching. So the survivors stayed, hiding in the plateaus, letting the hunters wander ahead. It was within the plateaus that they buried those who were massacred, hiding their bodies. Some, like the man you found, had been killed as they shifted, caught between the world that murdered them and the world they were most free.”

              “And the locket?” Krista asked.

              Dermott chuckled, though it was a mix of sadness and amusement. “Actually, Bridget has the photo that goes inside. It’s a photo of her great-something grandmother, whose husband was killed saving his wife and children. The bones you found are her family.”

              “Does she know?”

              “She will once you give her the locket.”

              “How devastating,” Krista sighed, “to be torn apart so brutally from the one you love.”

              Derek cupped her face into his hand and kissed her tenderly. “I have a small notion of how it feels.”

              “Never again,” she said, smiling into his piercing blue eyes. “We’ll never be torn apart again. We’re a family now, all three of us. And all our children to come. We won’t go extinct.”

THE END

Introduction:

Laura has been running for as long as she can remember. She can’t remember the last time she didn’t catch herself looking over her shoulder to check that someone wasn’t following her or that she wasn’t being watched. She has lived in fear moving from place to place whenever her past got too close for comfort.

When it seems that her past has caught up to her again it is too late to pack up and run. She finds herself trapped in her apartment with flames leaping high.

She would never have expected to fall for the man who saved her from a fiery fate yet she also never imagined what he might turn out to be. Though he could protect her from her past he might also be able to kill her himself.

Laura has a hard choice to make: Will she continue running from her past or will she start a new future with the man that she loves?

Chapter 1:

It was a call Laura had hoped to never receive. She stared at the screen of her phone at the words 'unknown number' and debated whether or not to answer it. Taking a deep breath she pressed the green button and put the phone to her ear. 

          Instead of speaking she simply listened. Any normal person would begin speaking when she didn't yet the only thing she could hear was heavy breathing. Her heart pounded as she threw the phone across the room. 

          It was the same every time. She'd move to a new city, buy a new phone, do anything she could to disappear yet he always seemed to find her. This time there was nothing she could do, nowhere left to run. She was out of money and out of luck. 

          She sat on the edge of the bed and felt the tears streaming down her face. No matter how many times she wiped her cheeks they just kept on coming. Her entire body shook violently and she could do nothing to stop it. 

         The knock on the apartment door made her jump so much that she almost tumbled off the bed. She did her best to dry her eyes as she headed for the door. Her heart stopped and her breath caught in her throat as she opened the door. 

         The corridor on the other side was empty of any signs of people. When she glanced down something pink caught her eye. She looked at the floor to see a pink scarf sprawled on the threshold. She recognized it immediately with its small white flowers and long tassels. It was the scarf he had brought her three years before for her twenty first birthday. 

         To look at it made her feel sick as she picked it up, rolled it in a ball and threw it into the bin beside the door. She slammed the door closed and locked it quickly. 

         Rushing back into the bedroom she grabbed her phone off the floor. She pressed the button and waited for it to light up. Nothing happened. She tried again. The phone showed no sign of life. Laura felt all hope drain from her body. She had no way to call for help. 

         That's when the smell hit her nostrils. She poked her head around the bedroom door to see the flames lapping at the front door across the way. Her heart pounded as she saw the living area begin to fill with smoke. The fumes blew toward her, choking the air from her lungs. There was no escape. The only exit was the front door. She turned, slammed the bedroom door behind her and ran for the window. After a few tugs the jammed thing pulled open. Cool night air poured into the room and for a few moments she could breathe. 

         "Help! Someone help me!" She could see people gathering in the street six stories below. There was no way she could climb out of the window and not kill herself. There seemed to be only two choices. Death by burning or death by falling. 

        "Look up there!" An onlooker called from the street and she saw people begin to point. She could hear the sirens in the distance but she was sure they would be too late. She could already hear the flames crackling against the door behind her. 

          She grabbed a cardigan off the back of her dresser chair and wrapped it again her face in an attempt to protect herself from the smoke that was seeping under the door.
I’m going to die,
she thought as she dropped down onto the floor and pressed herself against the wall.
         “Someone help me, please.” She begged, her voice growing more pitiful as her lungs filled with smoke and she struggled to breathe. The sirens grew louder still yet Laura was sure they wouldn’t make it in time.
         The flames were coming under the door now, their glow filling the dark room with light. Her heart pounded as her lungs burned. She pulled her legs up to her chest. Waiting for the flames to reach her was like watching death creep up on you.
          The breeze from the window no longer reached her. The heat in the room had grown unbelievable. Laura felt sweat bead on her forehead and drip down her spine. There was nothing she could do but watch and wait for the flames to come across the carpet.
         All of a sudden he was there, outlined against the flames in the doorway. Laura’s vision blurred as he came across the room, his heavy boots in her line of sight.
        The fireman crouched down beside her and grabbed hold of her arm. As though she was nothing more than a feather he picked her up and placed her over his shoulder. There was no strength left in her, every limb felt as heavy as lead.     
        
Laura’s eyes fluttered open. He was leaning over her, his hand beneath her head. She could feel the cold grass on her bare legs. The stars outlined the man’s handsome face as though he wore a halo. His hair fell in golden waves around his face and he smiled down at her as he realized she was awake.
         “Are you alright miss?” when he spoke his voice was soft and smooth as honey. Laura tried to speak but she found she was unable to talk. That’s when she realized he was holding an oxygen mask to her face.
         “Please don’t try to move,” he told her as he moved closer in an attempt to stop her from struggling, “The ambulance will be here shortly.” As she lay with him crouched over her she began to remember the events that came before. Her heart pounded and she felt as though she was going to throw up as she realized what had happened. This time he had gone too far. He had tried to kill her.
            She wriggled away from the fireman and struggled to her feet. Her chest hurt and she struggled to breathe as she felt tears stream down her face.
           “Miss you need to calm down.” He told her as she paced up and down the grass verge clutching her chest as she began to hyperventilate.
           “He…he tried to kill me.” she cried out as her head began to hurt. She couldn’t believe it. How could she have let it get so out of hand?
          “Who tried to kill you?” the fireman asked as he placed his hand on her shoulder, “Are you saying you know who did this?” he pointed at the apartment building behind him that was no smoldering. The smell of wet ashes hung in the air making it even harder to breathe. Laura wasn’t listening to him. In her mind’s eye she remembered the pink scarf she’d found outside her apartment door. It had to be him. There was no other explanation.
           “Miss,” the fireman grabbed her by the shoulders then and forced her to stop moving, “You need to tell me exactly what you know.”
           When Laura looked at him she could see nothing but the black hair, brown eyes and hard face of the man who had scared her enough to make her run. Her heart pounded as she slammed her hands into his chest and pulled away from him.
          “Don’t touch me!” she screamed, “Stay away from me!” the tears grew so heavy that they blurred her vision and she could no longer see. Her knees wobbled and her legs fell out from under her. The floor came up toward her yet she never hit it. Instead she found herself in his arms. Her entire body shook as he held her to his chest. Laura clutched the front of his t-shirt and wept against his chest as he held her tight to him.
           She could no longer breathe. Her lungs constricted so painfully that she felt bile rise in her throat. Her vision became fuzzy around the edges and she began to feel as though she was looking down a tunnel. The light dulled and she felt heavy headed, unable to hold herself up any longer.
           “Miss? Miss?” the fireman spoke urgently to her, “Can you hear me?” she tried to speak back but she could not get her mouth to open more than a few centimeters as she tried to suck air back into her lungs.
            She felt the oxygen mask return to her mouth just as her consciousness fell away from her…
            Heavy darkness surrounded her. It held her every limb and she found she was unable to move. When she opened her mouth to scream and yell nothing happened. She felt choked as though the darkness was liquid filling her mouth.
          “Laura.” An eerie voice came to her ears from a distance. She recognized it immediately. Her entire body shook as she tried to run. She felt as though she was falling and floating at the same time, as though she was heavy and light, living and dead. There was nothing she could do but look around her with fear growing inside her, “Laura!” the voice came again, closer this time.
           He appeared before her as though by magic. His face was pale yet smiling. His black hair fell around his face in loose waves. When he looked at her his brown eyes glinted with fiery anger.
           “Why did you leave me Laura?” his voice was filled with sarcastic pain, “What did I ever do for you to hurt me so bad?” Laura wanted to scream at him. She wanted to slap his face and claw his eyes out yet she still couldn’t move. Her throat was tight and she could do nothing but stare at him as he stepped forward. He lifted his hand and she tried to flinch away from him. Still she had no movement. There was nothing she could do but feel sick as he ran his fingers over her cheek to remove a strand of her hair from her eyes.
            “You were always so beautiful.” He whispered almost as though he was talking to himself. His hands grabbed her shoulders and his knee came up into her stomach. Finally she moved under his hands as she choked on blood.