Secret Baby Lion: A BBW Lion-Shifter Romance (Shift Your Fate Book 2) (4 page)

“Glad to hear that,” she said.

Silence for another couple of minutes. She decided to drink her coffee faster, then head back to her room. This tension… whatever was happening right now… she couldn’t deal with it. She had to focus on more important things. Kassandra hadn’t texted her the address yet. Or, had she? She needed to check her phone.

“Olivia…”

The sound of her name made her sit back down just as she was starting to stand up.

“Yes?”

“I actually suggested Miranda to take the kids with her.”

Liv’s eyebrows shot up in curiosity. “Why would you do that?”

“So we’d have some time to talk…”

“About what? There’s nothing to talk about.” She spoke so quickly that she almost tripped over the words.

“About that night.”

Olivia sighed. That was why she had been avoiding him.

“It’s in the past, Logan. I, for one, have long forgotten about it. I thought you did the same.”

He shook his head slowly and smiled. “I still can’t believe you walked out on me like that.”

“Yeah, well… that was my moment of sanity.”

He looked straight into her eyes, pinning her in place. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t look away from his intense gaze.

“Can you tell me right here and now that you never regretted running away?”

Liv swallowed heavily. “The only thing I regret is that we didn’t stop sooner.”

He shook his head again. His eyes let her know he didn’t believe her.

She furrowed her brows and placed her palms on the table, straightening her back and adopting an air of complete seriousness. She had to make him understand, once and for all, that what had happened that night had been a huge mistake which needed to be buried. Deep. For the sake of their loved ones.

“You were married to my sister. You already had a daughter, and your son was on the way. What happened that night…” she hesitated. “Actually, nothing happened.”

“We kissed.”

She closed her eyes and fought the memory. “Logan…”

“Your hands were all over me, I had your dress rolled down your shoulders…”

She could feel his eyes lingering on her shoulders just then. She snapped her eyes open and stood up in one swift motion.

“Stop.”

She walked to the sink and started rinsing her cup, her hands slightly shaking. Her whole body froze when she felt him behind her, his big, calloused hands sneaking around her waist.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“You smell so nice…”

Olivia turned off the tap water and turned around in his invasive embrace, placing her small hands on his wide chest to push him away. They stayed like that for a moment, looking into each other’s eyes. And that was when it hit her: she didn’t feel anything for him anymore. Yes, he was hot and handsome, and just her type, but he was also her brother-in-law and off-limits. She wasn’t the woman she had been two years before. Selfish and spoiled. She was a mother now. She had responsibilities and she understood what family meant, how important it was for her sister and her sister’s children that she, Olivia, was mature enough to respect some boundaries.

“Logan, no,” she said in a low, calm voice. “You have to let go now.”

His reaction was to squeeze her harder against his chest.

She fought him. “Let go, please. Nothing happened that night. I was young, drunk, and confused, then I got a hold of myself and made the right call. I like to believe that if I hadn’t had the decency to stop, you would’ve. You love Miranda, I know you do. So, let’s act like two responsible adults, never do it again, and forget it ever happened in the first place.” She pushed against his chest. “I know you agree with me right now.”

Logan sighed and let her go. Slowly, hesitantly. When she managed to wiggle out from between his body and the sink, he ran his hands through his hair, his shoulders slouching in defeat.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Of course you’re right,” he said.

Olivia smoothed down her dress, gave him a weak smile, and started towards the door.

“I’m sorry,” he added.

She waved him off and walked faster, eager to put as much distance between them as possible. Yes, she knew now that she felt nothing for him, but she couldn’t be so sure about what he felt for her. She didn’t want to know.

Reaching her and Liam’s room, she closed the door and leaned with her back against it. A heavy sigh left her parted lips.

“Damn it!” she whispered. “I knew I couldn’t stay here long.”

She should have gone to a hotel. But that would’ve meant spending a fuck ton of money. And what would she have told her sister? That she didn’t want to stay at her place because… what? She couldn’t have possibly come to NYC without telling her, either.

“What a ridiculous mess!”

Olivia had to fix it, and quickly. The guilt was still there. Her feelings for Logan had vanished, probably a long time ago, but the guilt had remained. It was wrong, so wrong of her to live here, with her sister, sleep in her guest bedroom, let her son play with her children, when she had been so close to betraying her once. Sisters didn’t do that to each other. They simply didn’t.

Liv took a deep breath and tried to chase the dark thoughts away. She spotted her smartphone on the nightstand. The blue, blinking light let her know she had a text.

CHAPTER THREE

Andes was a three-hour drive from NYC. Olivia had never visited that part of the state. She asked Miranda to look after Liam, telling her she’d be back in a couple of hours, then rented a car and started preparing herself emotionally for whatever was to come. She tried imagining herself knocking on Tristan Ward’s door, back straight, chin held high, asking him if he still remembered her. Then what? He would surely ask: “Why are you here?”, and what would she answer? “I’m here to tell you that you have a son.”

“No. Fuck no,” she whispered as she stopped at a red light.

She couldn’t tell him right away. What if what she was doing now was, in fact, a huge mistake? She had no idea what type of person Tristan Ward was. After all, what sort of man picked up a half-drunk girl in a bar, took her to his hotel room, and fucked her thoroughly until morning? Not the type of man who wanted a family, right? Or any sort of serious relationship. Did Olivia want such a man to be the father of her child? Not in a million years. So, no, she couldn’t tell him right away.

She slowed down when she entered Andes. The picturesque village was on the western edge of the Catskill Mountains. Lovely houses, large gardens filled with green trees and flowers in bloom, clean streets, and welcoming people – Andes certainly looked like a small piece of Heaven God had left on Earth intentionally. The village was already quite isolated, so Olivia was surprised to realize the address Kassandra had given her was taking her even closer to the mountains, away from the houses, shops, and friendly bars and inns of Andes. When she finally stopped, she found herself between two rows of houses which looked very much alike, as if they had been built at the same time, by the same people. It looked like a separate neighborhood that belonged to Andes, but not quite.

Liv stepped out of the car and took a deep breath. The air was so fresh that her lungs almost couldn’t take it. Clean and sharp, it stabbed her chest mercilessly. Or, was that the adrenaline which had been making her pulse race like mad for the past half hour? She sighed and checked Kassandra’s text again. Yes, she was at the right address. Tristan Ward’s house was the one in front of her. All she had to do was cross the street, but she just wasn’t ready. She wasn’t brave enough. Not just yet. She looked up and down the street. It was odd that everything was so quiet. There was no one around, and no movement came from the houses. Yet, it was obvious that people lived there. The lovely yards were well-maintained, the balconies were filled with flower pots, and expensive cars were parked in front of a couple of houses. These people were certainly not poor.
“That’s a good sign, I guess,”
she thought.

Eventually, Olivia decided she couldn’t just stand there forever, and crossed the street. She climbed the five stairs leading to the front door, squeezed her hand into a tight fist, and knocked three times. Her mind was blank. At that moment, she had no idea what she would say to the man who would answer the door. Her knees were shaking, and there was no point in trying to control them. She cursed herself for having chosen to wear the tight, blue dress that stopped right above her knees, and high heels. It was an outfit that only worked for a confident, independent woman, and even though that was exactly who Olivia was, she didn’t feel like it now, and she wasn’t so sure she’d be able to act the part anymore. When no one answered the door, she swallowed heavily and knocked again. Her whole body was fighting the impulse to turn around, run to the car, and drive back to the city. She had tried, he hadn’t answered. End of story. But that would’ve been too lame, wouldn’t it? She was stronger than this. She wasn’t doing it for herself, anyway. She was doing it for her son, and her son needed her to be brave.

The sound of footsteps coming from behind the front door made her heart beat even faster, if that was possible. Liv tried to calm down, telling herself it might as well be someone else. Tristan could be married. Or, he could live with a brother or a sister, and they could be the ones to open the door. It didn’t have to be him. The fact that this was his address didn’t mean he had to be the first person she saw. The door opened, and Olivia forgot how to breathe. It was him.

Long, blond hair tied in a ponytail that reached his waist, soft beard covering his strong jaw, those intense blue eyes that could hypnotize her and make her forget why she was there in the first place… Liv parted her lips, tried to make her tongue work and her vocal cords cooperate, only to fail miserably. She wanted to look away so he wouldn’t see the panic in her eyes, but there was no way she could. He looked even more imposing than she remembered. His wide shoulders blocked her view inside the house, and his rock hard muscles rendered the white T-shirt he was wearing absolutely irrelevant. It wasn’t as if the thin fabric could hide anything.

“Olivia,” his full lips whispered.

And she melted right then and there. On the inside, of course. She struggled to hold it together on the outside.

“You remember me,” she said in a voice that didn’t sound like hers.

“How could I forget you?”

She smiled, though she didn’t know why, or what she was trying to convey through the small, unexpected gesture. She felt as if her body didn’t belong to her anymore, her muscles didn’t listen to the commands of her brain. What was she supposed to say now? She was sure she had made up a speech in her head just some minutes before, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember one word, let alone a full sentence. It was a miracle she was still standing on two legs on this man’s doorstep.

“You’re here,” he said. “How is this possible?”

He studied her from head to toe. She looked even lovelier than that night, two years ago. Had it really been two years? He had looked for her the next day, had tried to detect her scent, but it had been no use. She had been gone just the way she had appeared in his life: like a flash of lightning. There, for a split second, enough to enslave him forever. Tristan Ward couldn’t believe his mate was before him, her big, green eyes boring into his, her body radiating the delicious warmth he had been craving for so long. He wanted to ask her why. Why had she run away that morning? Why had she disappeared? Why had she returned? But he realized it didn’t matter. Not now. All that mattered now was that she was there, three feet away from him, that he could touch her, could take her hand and pull her inside, never let her go. No, he wouldn’t let her go this time, even if that meant tying her to his bed.

“I… I had to see you,” she managed.

“After all this time…”

He did something Olivia hadn’t expected: he offered her his hand. She looked at it reluctantly, then took it. When he wrapped his fingers around her small hand and pulled her over the threshold, she found her legs moving of their own accord. There was no fighting it… the attraction. She hadn’t been able to fight it that night, she wasn’t able to fight it now. Before she knew it, the door closed behind her, and Tristan had her pinned against the wall.

Entranced, he stared at her lips. He breathed in her unique fragrance and felt his beast awaken inside his chest. He pressed himself against her and felt her whole body tremble, her full curves responding to his rough touch. His nose caught the scent of her arousal, and the lion growled underneath his skin. His cock was painfully hard, his tight jeans becoming more uncomfortable by the second.

Olivia placed her sweaty palms on his chest and made a weak attempt at regaining some control over her body and senses. It was pretty much in vain.

“Tristan, we have to talk.”

The sweet sound of her voice made his stomach tighten in anticipation. This woman… this woman was loud and passionate in bed. He had dated many women, human and lion-shifters alike, but none had been as wild and uninhibited as Olivia. He wanted her. He needed her. Why she was there… that was a detail which could wait.

“Later. We’ll talk later,” he said right before capturing her lips in a deep, desperate kiss.

Olivia gasped in surprise, which gave him access to her hot, wet mouth. When his tongue slipped in, she closed her eyes and abandoned herself to the kiss, to his big hands exploring every inch of her body, to his expert fingers pulling at her dress, sneaking up her thighs, teasing the sensitive skin of her generous hips. Before she knew it, she had her legs wrapped around Tristan’s waist, and he was carrying her down the hall, across the living room, and into a large, cozy bedroom. As he placed her on his bed and climbed on top of her, she opened her eyes just enough to notice the walls were of a pale green. Then, he bit her neck and all the other details became a blur.

Tristan licked her collarbone, then found his way between her breasts. The cleavage was deep enough for him to have a small taste of her round, white breasts, but it would have been stupid to think that could be enough. In his impatience, he tore her lovely blue dress instead of trying to figure out how to take it off properly, without causing any damage. Olivia shrieked, then laughed. He looked up at her, and the mirth he saw in her eyes made his heart swell. She had been a bit hesitant a few minutes before, but now her wild side was resurfacing. She was becoming the woman he had met at the club, the goddess whose screams of pleasure had annoyed everyone at the hotel that night. He turned his attention back to her breasts. He was determined to make her scream even louder. No one would care in this remote part of the Catskills.

The pale blue lace bra had the same fate as her dress. At this point, Olivia didn’t care that she wouldn’t have anything to wear when the time came to drive back to NYC. Her hands found their way into Tristan’s blond hair when he bit down on her right nipple. She pulled the long, soft tresses loose, and moaned when they spilled all over her neck and shoulders. He sucked harder, making her hiss and squirm under him. She could feel his erection pressed up against her leg, and the sheer thought that it would soon be buried inside her tight pussy made her stomach tighten and her heart beat faster. Tristan moved to the other nipple, and Olivia threw her head back, closed her eyes, and released a long moan. He smiled and started licking his way down her stomach, his big hands cupping her breasts, squeezing them possessively, his fingers pinching her nipples. He didn’t want to give her time to breathe or think. The beast inside him wanted to claim her, this time for good.

Olivia let go of his hair and started pulling at his T-shirt just as he was burying his face between her legs, biting her clit through her soaked panties. He let go of her breasts just enough to allow her to pull his shirt over his shoulders and head. His long, blond hair spilled all over her chest and face, but she didn’t complain. She couldn’t have, really. Not when Tristan was tearing her lace panties with his teeth and pushing his tongue between her folds.

“Oh yes!” she moaned.

How she had missed this! She had had some decent partners, but none could compare to this mountain of a man in whose arms she felt small and helpless. And she was, by no means, a small girl. Round, heavy breasts, yet his hands could cover them almost entirely; wide hips and thick thighs his tongue could tirelessly explore for hours… He could pick her up easily, flip her in the position he wanted, make her curves dance in the rhythm he imposed.

Tristan dipped the tip of his tongue into her hot passage, moaned in delight, and pushed in as far as it went. On the one hand, he wanted to take things slowly, enjoy every minute of it, lick every inch of her body. On the other hand, his beast was thrashing inside him, wilder than ever, mad with need and lust. It took every ounce of self-control to hold the lion back, to prevent his eyes from turning the catlike shade of blue which could give his true nature away. It wasn’t easy. God, it was almost impossible when Olivia moaned like that, pulled at his long hair, and wrapped her legs around his back, her heels digging into his shoulder blades, urging him to lick her pussy harder, faster.

“Oh, don’t stop,” she whispered. “Right there, baby. Don’t stop.”

“Baby”. That word, coming from her full, delicious lips… As if it was so natural, as if there was something more between them. Something more than raw sexual desire.

Tristan groaned and moved back up to her clit, circling it with quick, steady strokes. Soon, Olivia was arching her back and releasing a long moan as she came on his tongue, her pussy throbbing and all the muscles in her body tightening under the sweet torture of her orgasm. He kept licking her slowly, teasingly, cleaning her up until she relaxed and let out a breath of relief. He replaced his tongue with his finger, caressing her entrance, then pushing in, marveling at how wet and ready she was. His cock twitched in his jeans. He couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to have her right then and there. He climbed on top of her, getting rid of his jeans and underwear in a swift motion. By this point, he didn’t even care if he moved too fast. He hoped Olivia was too dizzy with lust to notice him using some of his shifter speed.

“Come here,” he said, as he pulled her into his arms.

Once again, she hooked her legs around his waist. She closed her eyes and let him ravish her mouth as he entered her. Slowly, deliberately, his cock stretched her soaked pussy and didn’t stop until his round, heavy balls rested against her soft skin. He stayed like that for a long moment, enjoying her tightness, her warmth, the way her passage throbbed around his rod, eager to milk him dry.

“Move,” she ordered.

Tristan smiled. This was the woman he remembered, the woman who had turned his life upside down two years ago. Confident and demanding, unwilling to take “no” for an answer. She moved her hips under him, letting him know that if he took too long to comply, she would take the lead. He kissed her again, pulled out almost completely, then thrust himself inside her as roughly as he could allow himself to go without hurting her. After all, he was a lion-shifter and she was only human. Even though Olivia liked it hard and fast, he had to be careful not to bruise her. It had been difficult then, and it was even more difficult now, but he could do it. If he focused, he could keep his beast under control.