The Panther's Surrogate: A Paranormal Pregnancy Romance (17 page)

She looked back at Charles, who was softly massaging her breasts and waiting for her to move faster. They seemed to both be caught in this leisurely exploration of each other’s bodies. Charles wrapped an arm around her, bringing her closer, so he could press a gentle kiss to her lips and that seemed to be the cue to make her move faster. She began to move when they broke apart in a steady rhythm, a faster one, and Charles ducked his head to begin giving her breasts attention again, alternating between licking, biting and fondling.

The room was filled with heavy breathing and the slapping of skin as Julia began to move faster. Without warning, Charles grabbed one of her hands and moved it in between her legs, directing her movements so that she could rub herself. Almost as soon as that started, she began to see stars. She felt her orgasm come on much stronger than she thought it would. As she tightened around him, Charles came with a few muttered curses and then they both stilled against one another trying to get their breathing under control.

Once they both seemed to have calmed down, Julia slid off Charles and offered him a shy smile. “Do you wanna stay?” she asked hesitantly.

Charles grinned and stood up beside her. “Let’s see the bedroom,” he said, and she giggled unnecessarily before taking his hand and leading him to the bedroom.

Neither of them had considered using a condom.

Chapter Three

The next morning Charles awoke in a strange bed. He looked over at the woman in the bed beside him and immediately recognized her from his Sinder date the night before. As he lay there, going over the events of the night before, he realized with a drop of his stomach that he had slept with this woman. He cringed – not at the fact that he had slept with her, but that he felt like he used her.

He had wanted to sleep with her but at the same time he felt guilty for doing so. He actually genuinely liked her and maybe that was why he snuck out of bed without waking her. He didn’t want her to feel obligated to behave a certain way; he was certain she'd regret her decision to sleep with him. Nor did he want to force a life on her that she didn’t want.

So he slipped out of the apartment with half of his shirt buttoned and then transformed into a panther and ran home, hoping he would never see Julia Swiftman again. In truth, he didn't know what he was feeling; everything had gone so fast. Perhaps, if they had given it more time, he could've accepted a life with her – and her with him. But how things ended up, Charles believed she would never consent to be his mate or bear his child, even if he did feel a connection with her.

He already felt guilty that he slept with her and wasn’t planning on calling her again. He could at least just let her go without causing too much damage.

***

A few weeks after sleeping with Charles, Julia began to feel sick. She wasn’t sure what it was from. Initially, she figured it was from eating something that she shouldn’t have. She had a sensitive stomach and sometimes things didn’t settle well. When the sickness only seemed to last part of the day, she began to suspect something a little more intense than a simple stomach problem. When she began to get headaches and her breasts became sore, she feared it was way more than stomach problems that seemed to be making her upset.

She decided to wait a few days to see if maybe it magically disappeared on its own. When the symptoms seemed to worsen, she knew they weren’t going to be going away until she found out what was going on with her body. She finally made a doctor appointment when the symptoms didn’t seem to lessen, even though she wanted with all of her might, to ignore everything her body was trying to tell her.

As the days to her doctor’s appointment got closer, she began to get nervous. She had a strong suspicion as to what her symptoms meant, but she afraid of the news to be confirmed, to be real. She had looked up her symptoms on the computer and that had only led to scary deductions, such as pregnancy or something far worse, cancer.

After the end of her “relationship”  with Charles, she wasn’t sure what to think or even if she was pregnant, how she would get in contact with him. Overall, it wasn’t an ideal situation. If she was pregnant, she knew she had options, but she didn’t feel comfortable making the decision on her own until she talked with Charles. She hadn’t even heard from him since he left in the early hours of the morning after their night together.

She knew she shouldn’t be surprised; you never sleep with someone on the first date. But it was hurtful he didn’t even seem to want to try to get to know her outside of sleeping together. She thought they really hit it off but all she ended up with was a broken heart and some sort of sickness. She felt so fucked, and not in the fun way.

She waited in the waiting room with baited breath on the day of her appointment until they called her in to the office. The nurse that talked to her was nice and she talked to her about a bunch of things but Julia wasn’t even paying attention to them.  All she knew was that her stomach was in knots and she had no idea what would happen if she were indeed pregnant.

The nurse asked her some procedural questions and then asked why she was visiting the doctor today. As Julia explained, the nurse nodded slowly and then handed her a dressing gown to put on while she waited for the doctor to appear. She gave her one last sunny smile and then left the room to let Julia change. Julia sat on the cold counter after undressing and nervously wondered what she was going to do if she was indeed pregnant. She had the funds to support a child, kind of, but what about Charles?

She couldn’t very well leave him in the dark about whether or not he had a child out in the world. She didn’t want to be the type of person to keep a child apart from their parent. She wouldn’t be that type of person. She knew she was going to have to tell him some way, if she were pregnant, but she had no idea how to go about it. The only way she knew how to contact him was over Sinder, and she didn’t want to be that person who tells someone life altering news over messaging.

She tried to tell herself that she’d only deal with telling Charles if she was pregnant, but until the doctor told her for sure, she wasn’t going to jump to any conclusions or freak out the way she so desperately was about to. Although, on some level she was already freaking out because she knew deep inside where all of her insecurities lay, that she was definitely pregnant. She couldn’t really remember using a condom with Charles anyway, which was really unlike her.

The doctor came in with a bright smile on her face and asked her what the problem seemed to be today.

Julia grimaced in her nervousness. “I think I’m pregnant.” Julia proclaimed nervously.

“Alright, let’s take some blood and see what’s going on,” the doctor said, patiently.

Julia answered her questions and finally the doctor was finished, once she had taken some blood and she'd given the doctor a urine sample. The doctor told Julia she’d be back in a little while as Julia sat in the sterile room waiting for the results. As she waited, she thought about everything that could possibly change when she found out the news. She was already wondering how she was going to tell Charles. She wondered how she was going to tell her family. She wondered what she was going to do. But the thing she thought the most about was what the child would be like.

She was scared about what was to come. What if she was a terrible mother? What if Charles didn’t care? Well, she already sort of knew he didn’t care. He had a one-night stand with her and hadn’t talked to her since.

The thing that bothered her most was that she had thought Charles was different. She had fun with him that night, not just because they slept together, but because she had actually had a good time. He had genuinely been interested in her and she would never understand why he had run when they could've had so much together.

But now she was pregnant and had no idea what to do about it. On top of that, she was scared and had no one to talk to about her fears. Then again, she still wasn’t sure if she was pregnant. The doctor had yet to come back. She hoped maybe she had anything other than her worse fear, because if she were pregnant, she was fucked.

After a time, the doctor returned with a chipper smile and told her she was pregnant. “There are options…” the doctor began.

Julia tried to listen but it was as if the world dropped away. What was she going to do? Could she go through with this? Could she be a mother? And what about Charles? What was she going to do about that? She had no fucking idea how to tell Charles, anyway. She couldn’t deny it anymore. She was pregnant, screwed, and had absolutely no idea what to do.

The first thing she knew that she had to do, the right thing to do, was tell Charles. She had no idea how well that conversation would go but judging by his behavior the next morning, leaving without so much as a good bye, Julia would take a gander and determine the news that he was about to become a father wasn’t going to be all peaches and cream.

Chapter Four

Julia waited a few weeks before making any move to deal with the life altering news she’d received at the doctor's. It wasn’t that she wasn’t taking care of herself, she was, and she just wasn’t sure where to even begin. She knew she had to tell Charles but she genuinely had no idea how to do so. Should she tell him through Sinder? Should she ask him out again? Should she track him down and find him?

She had spent the next few weeks avoiding the entire topic, even though it was probably the last thing she should do. She was pregnant, she couldn’t change that fact, but it was easier focusing on things like work, social life – even though she couldn’t drink anymore – and her family. It was easier to ignore the large white elephant in the room rather than deal with it. And she knew she would deal with it soon but she just wasn’t sure how soon.

As she entered into the third month, she knew she wouldn’t be able to hide it forever. She had to tell Charles and then they had to decide what to do from there. Should she even consider adoption or an abortion? The doctor said she still had a few weeks, but Julia already knew she wasn’t going to be able to give up her baby. She already had dreams about the little zygote. She was already excited to meet him/her.

She decided she would tell Charles and then go about her business, at least that’s what she kept telling herself, for the last few weeks. Regardless, even if she was planning to raise the child alone, he deserved to know. And even though she had been avoiding the issue all together, she knew she was just plain scared to tell him. How do you tell a complete stranger that you're pregnant?

Finally, one morning while she was getting ready to go to work, she saw herself in the mirror and noticed the first sign that a baby was growing in her stomach. She seemed to choke on the air she was breathing and then went into a coughing fit as she took in the small change to her body. It was a small change, but in the overall scheme of things, it was pretty monumental. She was pregnant. The little fantasy world she had been living in shattered in this moment as she stared, flabbergasted, at herself in the mirror.

“I need to tell him,” she said decisively to her reflection.

She nodded slowly and then took a deep breath to steady herself. She looked one more time at her belly and then she attempted to get dressed. It was a lot more difficult, since she was beginning to run out of things to wear. When she was ready and on her way to work, she logged on to Sinder (which she hadn’t done since the week after her date with Charles) and sent him a message. She hoped he still used his Sinder, otherwise she would track him down another way.

The rest of the day seemed to pass on by without a hitch, though Julia still hadn't heard from Charles. She had sent him a simple hello and hoped maybe he would reply, but nothing. She wasn’t sure what to do by the time the end of her day rolled around.

She began to look through her phone, remembering they had exchanged a few texts before their date. She almost danced for joy in her living room when she found it. She ignored how late it was, dialing the phone number and waiting impatiently for him to pick up. The call went immediately to voicemail and she frowned but decided to play it off.

“Hey, it’s Julia…from Sinder. Listen, I was wondering if we could talk? I…uh…need to talk to you about…something.” She has stuttered, and hoped she didn’t sound as idiotic as she thought she did.

The phone beeped, signaling the end of her message and she hung up, hoping that he would call back. She was tempted to call him again and leave him a message telling him that she was pregnant but she didn’t want to sound crazy. She wanted to tell him when the time was right, talking like normal adults.

Julia ended up going to sleep early that night, thoughts of Sinder, Charles, and babies filling her mind. The next morning when she looked at her phone, it was void of all calls and texts and even messages from Sinder. She knew she had to amp up the stacks. She decided on her last resort, and that was to go to Google and look up his address.

She told herself she wouldn’t be so adamant to talk to him if she wasn’t pregnant, but also a part of her was a little hurt he had thrown her away so callously. A small – okay, large part of her – wanted to give him a piece of her mind for treating her the way he did. She googled his address and printed it out before heading in to work.

She was nervous all day about what she was about to do. She was going to his office and tell him she was about to have his child. She couldn’t believe the turn her life had taken, but that seemed to be the sum of it. She was having a baby by a stranger who couldn’t even return her phone calls. A part of her was wondering if it was even worth it. Should she even tell him? Did he deserve to know?

But it really wasn’t about what he did or didn’t deserve. It was about what was right for the baby. She wondered vaguely when she had gotten so adult. And maybe a part of her wanted some closure too, because in all honesty, she probably would yell a little bit.

After work, she got into her car and headed toward the place where Charles apparently worked. When she got there, she couldn’t believe her eyes. The place was huge and there seemed to be a large amount of cars in the driveway. She wondered if he owned the entire building.

Suddenly, a thought stopped her cold. What if he had another family? What if he was married? But she hadn’t seen a tan line or ring, so that couldn’t be it. But he very well could be married. What would she do if he were? She shook her head and tried to reel in some bravery before going to ring the doorbell to be buzzed in. She waited patiently, hoping she wasn’t about to ruin someone’s life. Finally, the door opened to reveal a nicely dressed gentleman with a smirk on his face. His smirk widened when he saw her.

“Hi.” She said smiling shyly at the man.

“Hello.” The man greeted, smirking at her. “What’s your name?” he asked, when she opened her mouth to try to get some words out, but when she didn’t say anything, he decided to fill the silence.

“My name?” she asked surprised.

“I suppose that’s what people ask when they want to be introduced,” he said, shrugging carelessly.

She frowned, wondering why he was asking her name and why he was preventing her from coming into the building. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure if I have the right office,” she said shyly.

He grinned and looked her over. “Whose office are you looking for?” he asked, eyeing the pencil skirt she had squeezed into that morning.

“Uh…well…I’m looking for a man named Charles.” She stuttered, biting her lip and shifting her weight from foot to foot.

The man’s smirk dropped and he suddenly was looking at her coldly. “Charles?” he asked, a little loudly with a slight sneer to his tone.

Julia frowned at the sudden change in his behavior and looked over his shoulder to see another man watching them with an intense look.

“Yes, does he work here?” she asked when the man who answered the door didn’t say anything else.

The man scowled and Julia wondered if he was going to slam the door in her face.  Instead of answering, the man eyed her with less than concealed annoyance. She looked over his shoulder to find the man who had been watching them, gone and she felt her heart sink. Well, at least she had tried to get into contact with him.
No one could fault her for trying
, she thought.

“What do you want with him?” the man asked, bringing her back to her original problem.             

“I need to talk to him about some things,” she said, uncomfortable about having this conversation in the doorway of a very public building.

“What types of things?” the man hedged and Julia frowned at him, wondering whether he was going to let her in or not. She was tired of playing games and she just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible so that she could go home and curl up on her couch.

“The types of things that I only want to talk to Charles about,” she said, glaring at him pointedly.

The man’s smirk returned and he opened his mouth to no doubt tell her where to shove her things, when magically, Charles appeared behind his shoulder. She watched as Charles put a hand on his shoulder and moved him away from the door. The man glared at Charles with such hatred, the air seemed to sizzle around them.

“I believe she would like to talk to me, not you, Bradley,” Charles said, smirking at him.

The man named Bradley glared at him again and then stomped away and out into another part of the mansion. Julia watched him go, wondering what that was all about, then turned back to Charles and saw him watching her with an odd look on his face.

“You shouldn’t have come,” he said quietly.

“I needed to talk to you,” she said, still uncomfortable about having this conversation in the doorway.

“Can I come in?” she asked, finally when all he did was stare at her with an odd look in his eyes.

He sighed and looked behind him before shaking his head. “Let’s go for a walk.” He closed the door behind him and led her towards the driveway.

“I’m sorry I came here.” She blurted it out suddenly, already gnawing on her lip since she didn’t want to blurt out anything else.

“What did you want to talk about?” he asked, steering them toward some woods she hadn't noticed before.

“Well I tried calling. I didn’t want to come here, I just figured that since you weren’t answering your phone I might as well…come here.” She rambled putting her fingers to her mouth and beginning to bite her nails, a habit she hadn’t done in years. She winced and tried to lower her fingers, but she had already started and she knew that she wasn’t going to be able to stop. Apparently, pregnancy brought out the worst in her behavior.

“I got your message,” he said sheepishly and then sighed. “I got both of your messages.”

“Oh, okay, well, good. I’m glad you can ignore me so well,” she said, rolling her eyes at him and then huffing.

He smirked slightly and put a hand on her arm to stop her walking. “So what brings you here after three months anyway?” She bit some of her nail off and chewed on it thoughtfully as she tried to think of something to say. Should she just blurt it out, or should she really gear up for the biggest shock of his life? What should she do?

“Well, okay…why did you leave that night?” she blurted out and winced since that was definitely not what she wanted to ask him.

He blinked, confused at the question and then looked down. “I liked you and…well…alright I’ll be honest here. You know what Sinder is used for, right?” he asked.

She nodded, wondering why he suddenly looked so nervous. “Sinder is used for people like me…to find…people who like people like me.” He said it uncomfortably.

She frowned, not fully understanding what he was saying. “What do you mean?” she asked, when he didn’t feel like he needed to elaborate.

“I’m the…I’m the Alpha of my pack,” he said after a long moment of silence.

She blinked rapidly, not knowing how to take that in. She knew very little about packs, shapeshifters, and all that, but this was the first time she had met one personally. And now he was the father of her child.

“Okay…” she said hoping he would go on but all he did was stare at her.

He cleared his throat loudly and looked away from her. “Alright, well…it’s a little complicated. Well it’s not really that complicated.”

“Charles, please just tell me whatever it is you need to tell me,” she said, frowning at his stuttering. She didn’t know him that well, but she knew him well enough to know that this wasn’t like him at all. He was not a stuttering person, he seemed to be pretty sure of himself and now it seemed like he had fallen out of his element.

“I’m a shapeshifter and the Alpha of my pack,” he said again.

She nodded slowly, “I got that part.”

“That means, that a year after taking the Alpha status, which I did from my father, I needed to find a mate and…procreate.” He was shifting his feet uncomfortably.

She felt her heart stop and wondered for a brief moment if he had impregnated her on purpose. But the more logical part of her brain told her that if he had done that, he wouldn’t have ignored her.

“So what does that mean?” she asked, again her brain working too slowly to fully catch up to what he was saying.

“It means I got on Sinder to find someone to be my mate and to have pups with.” He sighed heavily and was running a hand through his hair.

“And now what? What changed?” she asked carefully.

He shrugged, “Nothing specific. I mean I’m a few months away from my birthday and the guy who greeted you, Bradley, well he wants to take over as the next Alpha. Obviously, I can’t have that happen. So I went on Sinder and I began to look for possible mates. The thing is, after we slept together, I couldn’t put you through that. I don’t want to make someone be with me because of this rule. I’m just going to have to find another way,” he said quietly.

She was quiet for a few minutes as she took in what he was saying. “So Bradley is going to challenge you on your birthday for the Alpha role?” she asked to clarify.

“Yes.”

“But what happens if you have a mate and a child?” she asked carefully.

He laughed and shook his head. “Neither of those things will happen. I want to love someone, not force them into something they don’t want.”