ROMANCE: BAD BOY ROMANCE: Basketball Daddy (BWWM Alpha Male Billionaire Pregnancy Romance) (African American Unexpected Pregnant Contemporary Romance) (151 page)

Derek’s heart hammered in his chest as he approached the man who leapt off the Harley. The man who had been stalking him for days was huge. He was much bigger than Derek. The man called out.

“Derek Harting!” It bellowed amid the trees and reverberated through the car.

Focusing, Derek took another step forward. He couldn’t let him know that Quinn was in the car. He had to keep her safe. “Hello,” he offered his hand foolishly in peace. The stranger stared at it and laughed. He strode right on past Derek and past the Porsche further into the wood. Clearly he had no intention of being seen by drivers passing through. Twisting around and aiming her mirror the other way, Quinn followed them until they were out of sight.

Reaching a small clearing a few hundred feet away from the road, the man stopped and Derek stopped in sequence. “I assure you, I have no intention of hurting Isabel,” Derek began but was cut off.

“How do you expect me to believe you can control yourself?” Boomed the big man. “She left you because you are a Werewolf, a monster!” He rambled in anger.

Derek tried to center his thoughts. He did have a plan after all. His plan was risky and he had never tried it before. But if he was going to win this fight, he would have to try. 

Derek felt his heart race and his skin heat up like burning coals on a fire. He threw himself at the stranger and knocked him backwards. Stumbling off of him and stepping back as far as he could, Derek closed his eyes just for a moment, just long enough to picture Quinn’s beautiful green eyes in the back of his mind.

He burst out of his clothing as he embraced his Wolf and jumped in the air to meet his aggressor. The transformation happened faster than he had ever experienced it before. It was instantaneous. In the second it took his feet to leave the ground they had become paws and his nails had become claws. The clothing on his back replaced by russet fur, the scream in his throat now a threatening growl. Quinn heard it from the car and jerked herself up from the floor to look out the front window. Derek raised a giant paw and swatted the man back. But the man did not give up as he reached for a dagger hidden in his boot. It caught Derek in the shoulder and he howled in agony.

Shaking to clear his head, Derek lost balance and the stranger ran past him towards the car, towards Quinn. Derek’s protective instincts kicked in once more. Throwing himself headfirst at the attacker, he caught his teeth on flesh and pulled, jerking the man to the ground. With a gash the size of a ruler down the man’s ribcage, he crumbled in pain. He staggered to his feet and hurried back to his motorcycle, got on it and drove off as quickly as he could. When the man was no longer in sight, Derek inhaled deeply, morphed back into his human form and picked up the knife the hunter had used against him.

Hearing the car door open Derek spun around to see Quinn standing in front of the vehicle. She looked terrified as he stood there naked before her, dagger in hand. He tossed the weapon into the back of the car and slipped on a pair of track pants from the back seat. He took Quinn’s trembling hands and kissed them before helping her back into the car.

“I promised you I’d keep you safe, and I intend to keep that promise Quinn Astley,” he announced. The claim made her tears subside and her breathing ease. Watching him transform like that and being so afraid of the hunter, had left her quite shaken. But she believed it, more than anything she had ever believed in her entire life. “Come one, I’ll bring you to the cabin,” he said. Quinn nodded, tears still clinging to her cheeks, but a small smile playing at her lips. They were off again, this time with no one to follow them as they continued north.

Pulling into the driveway of the most beautiful cabin she had ever seen, Quinn slowly came out of her slumber. The cabin was small but still larger than three of her apartments put together. It was well lit with electronic candles in the windows and surrounded by lush gardens shining with moisture in the twilight. The two climbed out of the car and headed for the door.

He led her into the main room where the fireplace was and told her to relax. He went out back and brought in some wood from the shed he had built with his father when he was ten. Throwing a few chunks on the cobblestone base he turned to Quinn “can I trust you to light the fire without burning the house down?” Derek joked, tossing her a lighter.

“I think I can manage that much” she retorted grabbing a firm, round butt cheek as he passed and headed for the kitchen.
Man, she was enticing
. He flicked on the kettle and reached for the teabags but before his feet landed back on the floor he felt Quinn’s soft figure press against him from behind, making him drop the tea in the sink.

“Thank you” she purred into his back. “I’ve never been a damsel in distress before and I can’t imagine being saved by anyone sexier”.

The words went straight to Derek’s groin and he felt a hunger for her that he had never felt before. He spun around and entwined his fingers in her mess of curls, kissing her ever so gently and building in intensity.

Quinn could feel her heart come to life and her muscles ache to be stretched and massaged. She responded to his kisses eagerly and with fervent desire, losing herself in the musty smell of him.

Tossing the blankets from the couch down onto the floor by the fire, Derek grabbed the bag of condoms and chocolate, pulling from it a bottle of chocolate sauce. He resumed his passionate kissing and laid her down gently on the makeshift bed.

Hours of endless caresses, pinches, kisses and bites later, Quinn fell asleep in Derek’s arms by the fireplace. He spent a long time looking at her face: her long, dark lashes, her rosy cheeks, and her full, pouting lips. Sleeping Beauty, he thought to himself smiling down at her. Man, had he gotten that one right. Utterly content, he drifted off to sleep beside her, his damsel, his princess, his Quinn Astley.

On waking that morning Quinn found herself alone on the floor. The scent of bacon and eggs wafting through the air gently aroused her to wakefulness. Sitting up she saw Derek coming towards her with a large plate full of breakfast food and a cup of tea wearing nothing but a blue apron.
Hot damn
. She thought wildly as he got nearer.
He was so perfect!

“Good morning my Beauty,” he cooed, joining her on the blankets, still ruffled from the night before.

“You made breakfast,” she remarked, swiping a piece of bacon and biting into it.

“I did. Because I have something I’d like to ask you,” he said. Quinn nearly choked on her morsel as he reached into the pocket of the apron and pulled out a tiny box. “Now, it’s not what you think it is,” he assured her, opening the box. Inside it was a key. “Move in with me, when we get back to Toronto. This is the key to my suite.”

She crawled closer to him, took the key from his hand and looked him in the eye, a green pearl in a sea of grey. “As long as it doubles as the key to your heart”, she said.

“You are my heart,” he replied, kissing her passionately.

They spent the rest of the weekend planning the move, falling madly in love and pretending to be husband and wife just the way he imagined.

*****

THE END

Bonus Book 32: Played by the Rock Star

By:
Ava Walsh

Description

I’m a good girl, I don’t like hot, famous rock stars. All I have to do is pretend that I’m dating one...

Brent Jacobsen is living the life of a rock star.

Sold out concerts.

All of the girls that he could ever want.

Parties and fancy hotel rooms.

It’s just too bad that he’s broken and self-destructing. After destroying another hotel room, his best friends come up with a brilliant idea on how to deflect the negative press: date their younger sister out in public and feed off of her sweet and clean life. They already know each other, so it will be easy enough.

It sounds so simple, until it isn’t.

Riley is beautiful and smart. Brent watched her grow up but now, at twenty-two, she is mature and compassionate in ways that he doesn’t understand. They both agree, but soon know that it is more than just a news story.

Can Brent find it in himself to give Riley what she deserves? Can he be what she needs?

Will his friends ever forgive him for what he’s about to do to their sister?

Will he ever be the same again after he tastes her lips?

The sun glared into the room. Brent Jacobson raised his hand to block it and turned onto his stomach in the king sized bed. “What the fuck? It’s so early.”

“Poor baby. What they hell are you up to, Brent?” the sharp voice of his publicist responded, as his head started to pound. “Nice room. Too bad the rest of it is trashed.”

“Trashed? What happened?” Brent groaned as the full effects of his hangover started to kick in and make him feel like shit.

“Jesus fucking Christ. You’re lucky the band is doing well,” McKenzie Adams grumbled, as she stared at the man who was making her life a living nightmare. “A few girls went scrambling out of here when I knocked, since you wouldn’t answer your cell. I got a call from the hotel due to a report of noise sometime this morning and had to catch a flight here from Philadelphia. It was my daughter’s fifth-grade graduation today. Thanks a lot for that, Brent.”

“Shit, I’m sorry.” She snorted at his apology as she paced the room.

“The rest of the band doesn’t even want to answer their phones anymore. Do you think there’s a problem?”

Brent turned in the bed and kept the sheet over his body, even though he knew that Kenzie didn’t care. When she wasn’t babysitting him, she was a happily married mother of two kids. “The gig was great, and we partied afterward. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, except that you have another bill from another trashed hotel room. It’s in the thousands of dollars this time, Brent. That TV was quite large. Judging from the mess of bottles, you owe on the mini bar as well.” She looked at him with worried, jade green eyes as she ran a hand through her wavy, chestnut hair. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, Kenzie. I wanted to have some fun after a show, and the girls were hot.” He looked at her with dull blue eyes that before covering his handsome face with one thick, tattooed arm.

“You know it’s more than that,” she said, before letting out a sigh. “Are you going to stay calm for a while? I have to do damage control.”

“I’m fine, Mom.”

“I am going to call Declan and have him come be here with you.” Her brother was a roadie for Nothing Lost and staying in the same hotel, but she hadn’t made the call yet. She knew how late he’d been up, and this was her job. Technically. Declan just helped her out.

Brent groaned as he saw her shadow leave the room and pulled the sheets over his head. He had no recollection of last night apart from the girls and the drinks, but Brent was well aware that he could lose control quickly these days. His life was successful, and he was doing well on paper, but inside he was a mess.

Brent had wanted more for himself at thirty, but things had just happened to bring him down. He rode the high that was being lead singer of one of the most popular bands in 2016, and tried not to think about the rest of it. Brent knew that he was awake for the day and got up to hit the toilet and pull on some shorts before he walked out into the living area of the suite.

Kenzie was right. It was destroyed. He looked around at the broken and upturned furniture and the shattered television on the floor, not to mention the general mess from the party that he’d thrown at the last minute. He pushed a reddened hand through his dirty blond hair, which was hanging down into his face, and closed his eyes slowly as he heard a knock at the door.

Brent made his way through the destruction and opened it to find Declan Keller standing there in board shorts and a t-shirt, looking as though he’d partied as well. He just didn’t look or probably feel nearly as bad as Brent did. “Were you here last night?”

“I did the after party with the opening band. Cool guys.” Declan walked inside and whistled as he looked around. “Is Kenzie pissed off? It was Scarlet’s graduation today and she scheduled hard to be there. She could’ve just called me.”

“I think she wanted to scream at me in person. Hopefully she can write a check and get back in time for some of it,” Brent replied, as he walked into the kitchen and sat at the table. Declan followed him and grabbed some water as he looked closely at his best friend. “I think she’s done with me this time.”

“This is…five rooms?” Declan asked, and Brent nodded. “You guys are making bank, but you’re dragging the band’s name through the mud right now. The media is all over your shit, and the other guys didn’t ask for any of this.”

“I know,” Brent responded, before he downed the bottle of water. He’d already done a stint in rehab to clear one of his predicaments, but it hadn’t seemed to help. Besides, he wasn’t really addicted to alcohol or drugs as much as he used them to cope with things in his life. Rehab was always a good cover when you got into trouble, though, and it cleared the air, at least until you messed up all over again.

Declan’s phone chimed and he slipped it out of his pocket. He grinned and punched something in. “Riley’s here. She’s going to hang out with us for a couple of months while you tour, if you’re not fired soon.”

Brent rolled his eyes and drank some more. He was close to Declan’s family and thought that his sister Riley was a good kid. Hell, she was twenty-two now. “How is she?”

“Dad fucked her out of college money. He said something about Mom being remarried so she can afford it herself. Mom married a plumber this time, and they have their life to live.” Declan looked at him. “I asked her to hang out to get her mind off of things. She only has a couple of years left and hell, maybe I’ll pay for it.” They both knew that she had a promising future in Graphic Design with her talent, but a degree from Parsons in New York wouldn’t hurt her at all.

“You have Mel,” Brent told him, referring to his fiancée. The two were going to get married in six months, and he was already sending her to school for Journalism. She didn’t work and attended college full time while Declan made the money in the family.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve been pretty pissed off about this.” He sent something on his phone. “She’s going to drop her bag off at my room and come here.”

“Let’s get some room service and eat before we clean up,” Brent suggested, and Declan shook his head. “I’ll need the energy. We drank a lot last night.”

Brent walked over to the phone and ordered a few platters of food before he went to take a shower and face reality. Again. He got out and put some clean shorts on with a gray t-shirt and went back into the living room to see Kenzie and Declan talking to a pretty hot little redhead. “Hey there,” he said.

His eyes almost popped open as bright teal eyes met his, and he realized that Riley was the girl in his room.