Authors: Kylie James
Chapter
5
Several
days had passed, and Landon had tried calling Cadence nine times. She had
called in sick to work three days in a row, spending her time eating sugary
snacks and binge-watching seasons of her favorite sitcoms. Wallace curled up
next to her on the sofa as she gnawed on a piece of peanut brittle that she had
made the previous evening in an attempt to ignore Landon's frantic phone calls.
She had no desire to talk to him.
All of
a sudden, Cadence heard a door open and Wallace's ears perked up, so he had
clearly heard it too. She looked up and saw Courtney standing in the doorway,
with black bags under her eyes as usual, and a cigarette hanging from her
mouth. The strong scent of burning chemicals filled the house, and Cadence made
a face. Her sister had obviously been doing something questionable in her room,
but she was used to that kind of behavior.
“Hey,”
Courtney said. “You ever gonna go back to work?”
“You
ever find a job?” Cadence snapped, taking a bite of her peanut brittle.
“Jeez.
Hostile,” Courtney murmured, as she walked towards her sister. She picked up
Wallace and sat down, sitting him in her lap as she added, “What's going on?
You haven't said a damn word since you came back from that date with that
billionaire jerk the other day. He do something to you? I've got friends, you
know.”
“N-no,”
Cadence whispered. “He just—don't ask. I just don't even want to talk about
it.”
Courtney
cocked an eyebrow and took a drag from her cigarette before asking, “He got a
little one?”
“Well,
no—”
“Mommy
problems? Weird fetish? Come on, spill!”
Cadence
frowned and replied, “Well, it's nothing like
that
.”
“So
then, what's the problem?” Courtney asked, confusedly. “He has money, and he
isn't a total asshole, right?”
Cadence
sighed. She knew that her sister would never believe her if she said anything
about what she had seen, so it was not worth mentioning. Suddenly, her phone
vibrated on the end table and she frowned. Courtney grabbed it before she could
and Cadence rolled her eyes, reaching for it.
“Come
on, give me my phone,” Cadence muttered.
“It's
him,” Courtney said. She then opened the text message and read aloud, “'I am so
sorry for what happened, Cadence. I think you're beautiful, and I want to
explain everything to you. You left before I had time. Is it okay if I drop by
your house so we can talk? I think I am in love with you and that means you're
the only person that can save me. Save me, Cadence, please. I'll explain
everything in person if you'll let me. Just please give me one more chance.'
Damn sis, that's heavy. What the hell did he do?”
Cadence's
face flushed as Landon's words resonated in her head. Then, she realized that
her sister was home with her, as well as Wallace. They were surrounded by
neighbors. Her curiosity was beginning to get the best of her, so she took a
deep breath.
“Text
him back,” Cadence said, chewing on the last bite of her peanut brittle. “Tell
him to be here at eight.”
Courtney
raised her eyebrows and asked, “You sure?”
Cadence
gave her a nod and said, “I'm sure. I want to know what the hell is going on.”
Eight
o' clock came much more quickly than Cadence had hoped, but she answered the
door nonetheless. She wore a robe with no makeup, and her hair pulled up lazily
into a bun. She was in no shape to speak to the man of her dreams, but she was
not so sure that Landon was the man of her dreams after what she had seen. As
she came face-to-face with him, he held out another bouquet of tulips for her
and gave her a nervous smile.
“Is
this a start?” he asked.
Cadence
rolled her eyes and seized the bouquet murmuring, “I guess. Come in.”
Landon
came inside and put his hands in his pockets, awkwardly. Cadence tossed the
bouquet on the kitchen table and sat down, looking up at him.
“So,
you said you had an explanation. Give it to me and get the hell out.”
Landon
took a deep breath and sat down across from her, lacing his hands together. She
noticed that under his sleeve, she could see a small patch of the red, leathery
scales that she had seen before. It only confirmed that she was not insane.
What she had seen was real.
“There
is something you don't know about me,” he said.
“Ya
think?” she asked, sarcastically, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.
Landon
sighed and added, “Well, I can't blame you for reacting the way that you did. I
guess I would've too, but I didn't expect for that to happen last night. You need
to understand that.”
“What
exactly
did
happen?”
He
looked in her eyes, his ocean blue eyes swimming in desperation, and murmured,
“I am cursed, Cadence. It is the secret I have hid from you since that day that
I met you, and I wish that I was honest from the beginning. I don't think you
would have believed me, though, so maybe this is for the best.”
“Cursed?”
Cadence asked, furrowing her brow and leaning closer to him, interested in his
words. “What do you mean?”
Landon
hung his head and quietly replied, “I am a very rich man, Cadence. Once upon a
time, I was greedy. Did you know that the symbol for greed is a dragon in a lot
of cultures? They take gold for themselves, driven mad by their riches. My
greed is my curse.”
Cadence's
eyes widened and she hissed, “A
dragon?
I thought you were an alien or
something! That explains the scales...”
Landon
chuckled and nodded, “Yes, they're a bit alarming. I could show you, if you
like, but you must promise me not to be alarmed.”
“Aren't
dragons...big?” Cadence asked, looking around the room, nervously. “I don't
want you to break my—”
Before
she could finish her sentence, Landon stepped away from the table and his skin
began to change before her eyes in the same way that it did before, but that
time, it did not terrify her. In fact, it intrigued her. Small wings began to
sprout from his back and his eyes turned a bright shade of gold. Spines stuck
out from his shoulders, tearing his suit as they grew. He let out a reptilian
call and looked at a candle on the mantle above the kitchen backsplash.
Cadence's eyes widened as he coughed up a flame and lit the small candle,
filling the air with the refreshing scent of clementines. He then returned to
his human state and breathlessly sat back down across from Cadence. She stared
at him in awe.
“That
was amazing,” she breathed. “How come it happens when you don't want it to,
though?”
He
laughed and said, “Ah, yes. That's the worst part, I must admit. Sometimes, I
just can't control it. In fact, I would rather be entirely normal, but there is
only one way to rid me of my curse. I thought we were well on our way, but when
you ran the other day, I didn't know what to make of it.”
Cadence
frowned and asked, “What are you talking about? There is a cure? How can I
help?”
“I must
give up my greed for true love,” he whispered, looking up at her with his
cerulean eyes. He placed a hand on hers and breathed, “I want you to marry me,
Cadence. Maybe not right now, but in the future. It is the only way.”
Cadence
swallowed, nervously. She had ignored the poor man for days, and he was
suffering from a terrible curse. Although she knew that she could not make up
for her ignorance, she knew she could help heal him. As much as she tried to
fight it, she loved Landon. She had loved him from the second she first laid
eyes on him and his honestly only made her love him more. She leaned across the
table and kissed his lips. Landon, surprised by her actions, did not
reciprocate for the first few seconds of the kiss, but after a moment, he
kissed her back. They pulled away, blushing.
“I will
marry you,” she whispered. “I'll do anything to help the man that I love.”
Landon
grinned.
“I was
hoping you would say something like that.”
THE END
Bride
of the Alpha Bear
Chapter 1
The
Meeting
The bell over the door rang
with the visitor’s entrance. Paige sighed deeply as she swept the long wisp of
blond hair that had fallen from her pony tail from her face. It was hot. More
than hot, it was scorching in the kitchen of her latte shop she opened with her
best friend. Paige was what you would call reserved, yet she loved to host
parties. Tonight, she was doing just that. She was catering for one of her
favorites that evening. It was the women's book club, and they would be talking
about the last romance novel they had purchased. She smiled when she thought of
the characters. The women in the group were supposed to take turns hosting the
monthly gatherings, but it somehow always seemed to be her turn. The women had
said it was because she was the best cook. She really didn't mind though. She
had a large three bedroom house she lived in by herself, and it was nice to
share it with people, if only for one night a month. Her thoughts were
interrupted when her best friend ran through the door of their small office,
which was located at the back of the small shop.
“He's here. He wants you.”
“I’m busy Becca. Just take his
order. You know what he wants. Coffee black, two sugars. It's the same every
time.” She shook her head at her friend with a smile.
“Uh, duh. He will only order
from you. He even said so himself. He said that he likes your company. Come on
girl. He's so hot.”
“No.” She said the word without
second thought. It wasn't rudely spoken but was said with finality.
Becca looked at her friend
sadly. “Come on. Why not?”
Paige turned to look at her
friend with a long lost look in her eyes and sighed. Knowing her friend would
not serve him, she began washing her hands and pulling her hair back tight into
a messy bun. Becca could be persistent and nosy at times, but she had been her
best friend going on three years. She was the person who had helped her during
her worst time. “You know why Becca. If anyone does, it's you.”
She felt her friends’ hand
squeezed her shoulder lightly. Without turning around to face her, she knew that
her friend was feeling the melancholy from the situation. She heard it in her
voice as she spoke. “That was a long time ago, Paige. You have to let it go.
You need to move on. You deserve better, to be happy.”
Putting on a brave front, Paige
painted on a smile and turned to face her friend. “I am happy. I have this
place, my friends, and I have you. What more could I want?” She walked towards
the door and stopped at her friends next words.
“None of that will keep you
warm at night Paige. You can be surrounded by people and still be lonely. You
know that as well as anyone and so do I.”
“I need to go help our
customers.”
“Yeah, you do that.” Her voice
wasn't mean, but it was irritated as it floated through the door with Paige.
Paige had known who Becca had
been speaking of. He came in every day at the same time and ordered the same
thing. He was one of the few regulars they had and the only one under the age
of 60. Turning, she saw him sitting in his normal spot at the bar. Sheldon
Turner was one hell of a man. He was at least 6'3” and was muscled and built in
all the right places. His short dark hair had that messy, just stepped from the
bed sex appeal to it. His eyes were dark and held mysteries that made her
shudder. Or was that the intensity they held? She didn't know. She just knew
that there were certain times when he looked at her, and she just wanted to
melt right then and there. He started coming to the coffee shop just over three
weeks ago. It had been around the same time of the fifth killing in the serial
murders that had begun to happen around town. It was hard not to feel remorse.
The last girl had been a young girl at the age of 15. She shook the thought out
of her head and quickly sat the cup of coffee in front of him.
“Another one huh?” They never
really talked much, just sat there in silence and watched the news on the
television she had placed in the corner of the store.
Right now, there was a
broadcast about another girl getting killed. In the past month, there had been
a total of 5 girls killed, which made this one the sixth. The problem was they
weren't just killed, but they were brutalized to the point that there were no
pictures leaked out anywhere. That was what scared her. Her father, the ever
paranoid chief of police in New Orleans, was forever calling to make sure her
and her sisters were alright. Paige was the middle child of three sisters.
Portia was the oldest at 25, and Peyton was the baby at 21. That put Paige
smack in the middle and the glue that kept the three sisters together. Their
father worried, even though he knew his daughters could take care of themselves
with the abilities they had. They weren't like normal women their age. They
were special. She wondered what the yummy looking man in front of her, that was
suddenly looking at her strangely, would think if he found out who she really
was.
He seemed to mentally shake
himself as he looked at her gloomily. “Yeah. This is the what? The fifth or
sixth one within a month, and who knows how many they haven't found.”
“I know. The last one was
different though. She was really young.” Her words were matter of fact, but
they held a sadness and quiet reserve for the young woman. She looked at him as
she said the words and watched as his body seemed to tense. There was a twitch
in his jaw that hadn't been there a minute ago, and she wondered at its sudden
appearance. He seemed extremely upset, and she suddenly felt like he needed to
be alone.
Paige tried to walk away, but
his next words stopped her. “They were all young, but the last one was merely a
child. Whoever this bastard is, he needs to be stopped. It seems that the
police can't stop him, so it looks like someone needs to take matters into
their own hands.” His words held anger as well as something else. What it was,
she didn't know, but the killings had apparently made him quite upset to say
the least.
She turned with wide eyes to
look at him. “Do you mean you? But do you have any experience with these kind
of things? Are you a cop? No, you're not a cop. I know a cop when I see one.”
He turned towards her. She saw
the arch in his eyebrow as he regarded her questioningly. “And how would you
know if I am a cop or not?”
She smiled softly. “I told you.
I know a cop when I see one.”
His smile split across his face
and took her breath for a moment. “How is that little one?”
Paige knew she was not small.
She was happy with her body although a little thick. She was no Barbie doll or
thin figured like her younger sister who worried about such things. Instead,
she was healthy and happy. Her mother had told all of them that they would find
a man who loved them for them when the time was right. Not that she didn't take
care of herself. She watched what she ate mostly. Her downfall was chocolate
though. Shaking herself from her musings, she smiled back at him. “My father is
chief of police in New Orleans. I have spent my life around police and the
force. I know one when I see one.” Her eyebrow lifted in challenge, and he
couldn't help but laugh out loud at her.
“I see. As for your question, no,
I'm not a cop, but I am really good at tracking. I can sense things.”
She didn't know what he meant
by the last part but decided to push it to the back of her mind. “Well, no
matter how good you are at tracking, you need to be able to point out clues and
such. You know, look at everything. Not just where the perp is.”
“And I assume you know how to
do this then uh?”
Her hip cocked out to the side
innocently as she spoke. Although she didn't mean anything by it, Sheldon felt
his body start to warm all over. She was more than attractive. She looked like
a ripe apple that he wanted to pluck from a forbidden tree. He knew that she
was off limits. She was a human, and he couldn't mix with her no matter how
much his body wanted to. Even though his body burned with each passing minute
to make her his, he decided to push it aside. “Yes, I do.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Although his mouth was smiling, his eyes held a deep intensity as they looked
at her, which made her blush. The warmth spread from her cheeks to the top of
her chest. Her mouth formed a silent “O” when his eyes dropped to her chest
where the warmth spread. When he looked back up, his eyes met hers, and again,
she read the intensity in them. It was like her body was suddenly on fire as
she stood there. “I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow.”
“Ok.” The voice was little more
than a squeak, and she could have kicked herself for not being able to control
herself around him. She had always been cool and collected around men, but
there was something about Sheldon that just set her off. “Have a good one.” Her
voice came out sounding more of her own the second time around.