Man of Mystery: A BBW Romantic Suspense (16 page)

I look up and indeed find that expression isn’t one of pity. Her eyes seem to shine; a smile breaks through her lips as she beckons me closer. The kiss that follows confirms it. She loves me for all that I am.

“Status update,” I say, while swallowing the lump that tends to develop in my throat whenever Liam is in the field. I’m scared for his safety, of course, I am. But he’s capable, and Clark has his back.

“We’re in pursuit of two suspects, armed and dangerous, heading up the M1 in a stolen black SUV. We’ve just passed Exit 9,” Liam responds. The line crackles slightly, and I can hear Clark remark something about the traffic in the background.

“Understood. Air backup is on the way. I’ll soon be able to update you in real time once I have eyes on the road. Be advised that Exit 10, two miles from your position is shut with road works, though the suspects may opt to break through the barrier in an attempt to evade you. It’s a dead end, so they’ll be forced to stop.” I zoom into the satellite image of the road ahead searching for more possible escape routes, but there aren’t any.

“No problem. We’re ready.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks, Tess. We’ll get them.” Although the conversation is over for now, we keep the line live for future updates.

Within minutes, the helicopter I’d called in catches up, and its video feed pops up on my screen. The SUV swerves through the traffic with Liam and Clark hot on their heels. Every move the suspects make, they copy. Clark is great behind the wheel. There’s no way they’ll get away.

As the road works come into view, I brace myself for what’s about to happen. This is the moment of truth. Was I right about the exit? Sure enough, the SUV swerves to the left and races through the coned-off slip road. Clark pulls in just behind him when the driver of the SUV realizes what a mistake he’s made and slams on his brakes.

Clark and Liam’s black sedan narrowly avoids a collision. As the SUV skids to a halt, the driver attempts to turn the vehicle around in order to head back onto the motorway. Before he gets the chance to do any of that, Clark has blocked his way with their car, and Liam is already out with his gun drawn.

I forget to breathe while watching it all unfold. Crouching behind the sedan, Liam aims and fires in the SUV’s direction. The suspects respond with counter shots. This back and forth continues for another minute or so, until Liam hits one of the SUV’s tires, as well as the windscreen, which shatters.

Obviously, the video feed from the chopper has no sound, so I can only imagine Liam shouting at the suspects to surrender themselves if they want to live. Sure enough, two figures exit the SUV with their hands raised and kneel down, putting their hands behind their heads.

Finally, I can breathe again.

“Done. Threat neutralized. Send in bomb experts to sweep the vehicle, just in case.” Liam’s voice in my headphones makes my heart skip a few beats.

“Sure thing, and great job,” I say.

“Couldn’t have done it without back office support,” Liam says.

I smile.

“Glad you’re safe. Love you,” I whisper into my microphone.

He won’t respond, not around the suspects, but that doesn’t matter.

They say working with your other half can be challenging. Personal conflicts can make their way into the work environment, but I’ve found the opposite to be true. Not only do I get to spend more time with him, he can freely share what he’s up to with me, retraining to join his unit as support staff has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me professionally as well.

No more boring meetings about customer satisfaction metrics. No more Karen to steal my ideas.

Finally, my inputs, ideas and even the most mundane jobs I do at the office
matter.
We’re making a difference,
together.
And now, a year since we’ve first met, we’ve never been happier.

- THE END -

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An Excerpt by Lorelei Moone. 
Buy the Scottish Werebears Boxset on Amazon

McMillan Farm had been in Derek's family for generations. He was born there, grew up there, and was likely going to die there if he had his way. Ever since his parents' passing many years ago, the farm had been mostly Derek's responsibility. Sure, he had an older brother, but Aidan preferred to travel the world rather than stay home and tend the land, and as such only came by a few times a year.

Derek's farm was the perfect place for a bear, actually, that's why his ancestors moved here two centuries ago, and why he was never tempted to leave like his brother. The vast countryside gave him plenty of space to roam. The rivulet carving its way through his property provided ample opportunity to fish when the season was right, and the best part was, there weren't many people around.

The only people that did turn up were paying guests: mostly middle-aged or older couples, or the occasional young family that was trying to teach their children about nature. Avoiding them when the urge to shift took over was quite easy. He'd never been caught, which was fortunate, because all bears lived by the code of secrecy.

The holiday cottages were set away from the main farmhouse by a safe distance, and visitors were mostly self-sufficient. All Derek did was make sure everything was in working condition and provide some basic supplies. Although it wasn't ideal, inviting strangers into his territory, it was his way of earning a little extra money from his land without much effort.

This month's visitor was probably going to be the same. Clarice Adler from London.

The name had conjured up images of white permed hair and floral dresses in Derek's mind. A posh old lady, no doubt, who he imagined used to spend her younger days riding horses in the English countryside before moving to London. Her insistence in the comment box of the booking form that her stay should be as quiet and undisturbed as possible only supported his assumptions. This was going to be someone who had grown up in the country, who was now yearning to get back to a simpler life for two weeks.

When her grey rented hatchback slowly crawled through his main gate, he didn't need to sneak a peek to know what she'd look like. After fifteen years in the tourism business, his instincts were always right, so he kept on mowing the lawn as if he hadn't noticed the new arrival.

The car came to a halt a little way up the drive, and then it turned left, following the signs he had put up last winter, leading to the cottages. Derek had already prepared Moss Cottage for its latest guest. The bed was made, the pantry was stocked, and the key was in the front door.

Although he did often check in with visitors on the first day, just to see to it that they were comfortable, he preferred to play as small a role as possible in their visit. It wasn't that Derek disliked the tourists, he was just a very private person.

When he was done with the lawn in front of the house, he prepared himself for his regular evening routine: check on the bees as well as the other animals, take a round of the kitchen garden to harvest the last of the summer crops to add to his winter stash, perhaps say hello to the visitor before retreating to the farm house to prepare a nice cut of meat for dinner.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" a clear female voice called out to Derek from outside the barn where he had just parked the lawn mower.

He wiped his hands clean on his overalls, then marched out to greet what he assumed must have been the old lady staying at Moss Cottage. Nothing could prepare him for what he saw waiting for him outside, though.

The shapely woman with brunette hair standing in front of him couldn't have been older than thirty at the most. Her amber eyes flitted back and forth skittishly between him and the surrounding trees as she waited for him to reach her.

It took a lot of focus for him to remember the usual niceties city folk expected.

"Derek McMillan. Nice to meet you," Derek said, sticking out his hand to greet his guest.

Though he tried not to stare, her feminine curves invited a closer look. Instead of acting rude, he tried to focus on her face. High cheek bones, full lips, almond-shaped, kind eyes. Perfection.

"Oh. Clarice. Just call me Clarice." She hesitated for a moment with her arms hanging down her sides but finally took his much larger hand anyway.

It was as if an electric current passed between the two when their fingers first touched, but she barely reacted - at least not favorably. In fact, she pulled her almost fragile little hand back almost possessively after the shortest of greetings. That proved it; the attraction was definitely not mutual.

"Is there anything I can help you with? Did you find the cottage to your liking?" Derek asked.

Her eyes met his for a split second, but then she looked away again. Her demeanor reminded him of prey, painfully aware of the danger it was in. And her scent was more enticing, lovelier than a summer meadow in full bloom. There was something about her that he couldn't put his finger on. Something tempting that made the most primal part of his being want to own her.

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Dear Reader,

Thanks for reading Man of Mystery. Although this is my first non-paranormal release, after my debut series Scottish Werebears, I'm not new to writing in general. In fact, my mom still tells me to this day about how I would make up stories, and attempt to record them in my clumsy, shaky handwriting from the moment I learned to read and write. From there I went on to write fan fiction and other stuff meant for my own eyes only.

I've always enjoyed stories of the paranormal. Vampires, shape shifters, witches and magic, all featured in the books I loved the most, even when I was still growing up. But it wasn't until much later that I got into romance. One of the first writers (a self published author just like me!) I came across was Tina Folsom, via her Scanguards Vampire series. I was hooked. From there I went on to read more paranormal romance until I found a new favorite kind of hero: bear shifters, like the kind written by Milly Taiden, Zoe Chant, and T.S. Joyce. What I love about bears is how they can be all strong and independent, a bit reclusive, and almost grumpy, but they always end up having a heart of gold (plus they tend to know their food, and we all know that a man who can cook is doubly sexy). All that (except for the shifting into a powerful bear) almost exactly describes the sort of man I ended up falling for and marrying in real life, so it's no surprise that this is what I started my publishing career with.

For this book, my inspiration was slightly different. Together with a friend of mine, we decided to write a fun romantic suspence. It's got the inevitable alpha male secret agent hero, and the girl-next-door who finds herself involved in all sorts of craziness all of a sudden. After starting off completely out of her element, the heroine finds her place in this strange new world and even gets a chance to make a difference in the end! I was heavily influenced by the movie Knight and Day, which perfectly combines the excitement, romance and humor we were aiming for in this book. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did while writing!