Tamed By My Alpha Vampire

Paranormal Mail Order Bride Romance

Kelly Iris

Having lived for hundreds of years, one man bears this curse as he suffers through an endless cycle where he must lure women into his home and feed on their blood to keep himself human and whole. For hundreds of years he has done this, and now he has created a network of mail-order brides to satisfy his hunger whenever it arises.

He is a tortured and lonely soul who only wishes to be free of his curse. The women he preys upon are merely lost souls seeking a better life.

When a new wife arrives, one that reminds him of a love long lost, fires he thought forever silenced are suddenly reignited. Passion, pain, lust, and desire; these are the emotions of the living. He has been dead for as long as he can remember.

Is there any hope for a vampire to marry his woman and live forever? Find out in Tamed By My Alpha Vampire!

WARNING: This eBook contains mature language and content. It is intended for 18+ readers only!

Copyright 2016 by Kelly Iris – All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

Table of Contents

Tamed By My Alpha Vampire

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

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Tamed By My Alpha Vampire

Chapter 1

There’s this dream that I have almost every night. It’s so vivid and beautiful, but then it becomes a terrible nightmare just before I wake. I shed a single bloody tear each time I’m wrenched from my dream and placed back into my accursed existence. In my dream, I’m walking through the halls of my mansion. The windows are open and sunlight gushes through them in bright columns. I can see the particles of dust dancing through the light like fireflies. I step through the light and feel the warmth of the sun brush my skin like the touch of a lover’s fingertips.

I can feel my heart beating in my chest. Thundering forward like a proud stallion. I can feel blood coursing through my veins. I feel life bursting out from within my soul. I want to run, shout, dance, and see the world around me, but I don’t. I continue walking calmly down the hall. The house is empty, but for once I don’t feel alone. My heart races faster as I approach the intricate doors that lead outside. There’s a table to the left of the door. It has a painted finish that depicts vines growing across the surface and down the legs.

The vines portrayed on the table have the illusion of life, but they are not living. I, on the other hand, can feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I can feel my soul singing a song it had long forgotten. On the table is a pitcher filled with ice water. Droplets of condensation run down the sides of the glass like tears. I reach down and pick up the pitcher and the empty glass beside it. My parched mouth aches for water as I watch the liquid slosh into the cup.

I bring it to my lips and drink as slowly as I can. The crisp and refreshing taste of water splashes against my tongue and for the first time in hundreds of years, I taste it. My stomach clenches as if reaching out to take more of the water. My body begs for more of it, but I put the pitcher down.

I turn towards the door. My hands reach out, trembling as they touch the smooth metal of the elongated door handles. This is it, the moment that I reach every night, and every time I wonder if this is the only way it can end. My hands pull the handles down and the doors swing open. The morning sunlight rushes past me like a tidal wave. I feel the warmth spread across my skin. I close my eyes and smile as I bask in a light I had all but forgotten.

There’s a moment here, in the apex of this dream that I have had every night for centuries, it’s a moment where everything is right and perfect. A moment of perfect serenity as I teeter over the edge of my fate. As the moment passes, the warmth on my skin intensifies. Every inch of my body starts to crackle and burn. My eyes shoot open as the pain overwhelms me. I lift my hands up and watch as the skin bubbles and blisters. My flesh peels back and blackens before falling off my bones.

The sunlight evaporates my body like a puddle of morning dew. My bones turn to dust and my soul shatters in the burning light.

My eyes shot open and I felt the warmth of a crimson tear sliding down my face. Another day, but the dream is still the same. I reached up and pushed against the metal ceiling directly above my face. The lid of a human-sized box lifted above me and followed the path of its hinges to the right. It clanged against itself and sent an echo through the underground chamber.

I pressed my hands against the metal side as I climbed out. It should have been cold, wet, damp, or something, but I didn’t feel anything. I stood silently in the darkness and listened for my heartbeat, tried to feel it like I did in the dream, but there was nothing. My chest was silent and cold. Whatever heart once thundered there, beat its last long ago.

When the lights were on, my vision was the same as any human, but when darkness came I saw things differently. My eyes could pierce the veil and gaze upon the very fabric of existence. I could see her heart beating in her chest. It appeared to me as a tiny sphere of light that pulsated in the center of her chest. Her veins ran outward from it, painting an intricate network of illuminated pathways.

That stale white glow that appeared to me. It was the way blood looked in darkness. The light called to me like water called to a man stranded in the desert. I didn’t feel things like excitement or adrenaline anymore, but I still felt some kind of supernatural rush when I saw the way blood glowed in the darkness. I traced its path through her body, looking for the perfect point to drive my teeth into her flesh and drink that liquid light from her veins.

I walked over to the light switch and flipped it on. The intricate network of light that made up her body faded as the fluorescent bulbs above illuminated the darkness. I no longer saw her as food, instead I saw the hair, skin, eyes, and lips that made her something more. I was once like her, human that is, and there was a time when I pitied them, but that time had passed long ago.

She had dark caramel colored skin and jet black hair. When she first came to me, she was voluptuous and healthy, but now she was barely more than skin and bone. Without enough food and water, my daily feedings were slowly killing her. She wouldn’t eat or drink most days either. When I asked her why she would willingly hasten the arrival of her death, she would simply spew out words unknown to me.

I preferred it when they didn’t speak my language. It was easier that way, but in cases like this one it could be problematic. My business connections allowed me to have a new “wife” whenever I wanted, but all the money in the world didn’t change the fact that it would take several days for her to get to me. I couldn’t wait that long, not at this stage in the cycle.

I walked across the cold marble floor to the bars of her cell. It was built into the corner of the basement, with polished steel bars running from the ground to the ceiling. Barbaric, yes, but necessary. There were times when my wives would be excited by the concept of being fed on, but in most cases they acted like caged animals. This one used to have fight in her, but now her skin didn’t hold the same color. It was dull and clung to her body. Her eyes were sunken back into her skull, but they still held that same fire. I could taste the fight in her blood, it added a spice that I particularly enjoyed. Today, though, that fire would be snuffed out. I could tell by looking at her that she had no more fight left.

I took no pleasure in this, not anymore. I had to feed, which meant that she had to die like all the others. If I felt compassion and freed her, I would suffer a fate worse than death. Besides, in her current state, death would be a mercy.

“Get back,” I said.

The woman stood on shaking legs in the center of the room. Her voice rattled as she spewed forth harsh and sharp words that held no meaning to me. She clutched her naked and frail body, as if covering herself would somehow shield her from my intentions. I had given her clothing when she first arrived like I did with all the others. I treated them all equal when they came to me. I gave them the finest clothes, fed them meals that many would only dream of having, and gave them a soft bed to call their own.

I even laid with them if they wished. Anything to keep them happy and comfortable. Blood was flavored by emotion. Joy, sadness, pleasure and ecstasy, these were the spices that gave blood its unique taste. I tried to keep my wives happy and comfortable, if only to make their final months on this earth peaceful ones. I was not a monster, despite what many would think. I was merely a cursed soul seeking solace in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth.

These women came from strife and pain. I offered them a brief glimpse of paradise for as long as their bodies will allow them to feed me. They sustained me, and I in turn gave them something they never had.

They did not see it that way. There came a time with every wife when she was faced with her own dwindling mortality. She would try to run, take her own life, or even foolishly try to take mine. That was when I took them underground and put them in the cell. They ate, slept, cried, and languished in their final days beside me as I slept each day and awoke each night.

My current wife’s angry shouts quickly devolved into sobs as she backed towards the wall behind her. I didn’t need to speak her language to know she was pleading for her life. This always happened as well, sooner or later.

“I’m sorry, truly I am. I tried to make this easier for you, but it wasn’t meant to be. Hush now, it will all be over soon,” I whispered.

She flailed at me with her bony fingers and her nails that grew like claws from her fingertips. I grabbed her arms and pushed her up against the wall. Her defense crumbled and I felt the cold rush of hunger wash over me. A pair of fangs pushed outward from my upper gums. I opened my mouth and let them fill the space between my lips. I tiled my head and looked down at her neck. The bulging vein beneath her skin called out to me. I dove into her, my fangs parted her skin like a thin sheet of paper. Her blood gushed forward. I pulled air through my nose which caused air to flow up through tiny holes in the bottom of the fangs. The suction pulled her blood up through the hollow teeth and into my brain where the curse laid waiting. My wife struggled for only moments before I felt the beating heart in her chest go silent. The blood stopped flowing soon after. I had my fill, and she suffered no more. I slowly lowered her limp body to the cold ground.

My fangs slid back into my gums, giving me full range of my mouth once more.

“It’s over now, you can finally rest. I envy you and all those who have come before you. I have been awake for far too long.”

I stood up and walked out of the cell. This was the apex of the cycle. In these final hours I always felt strong and powerful. I had the strength of a god, but it was fleeting. Soon the curse would call to me, and I would answer as I always did.

I tried to enjoy those moments. It was the only time I felt closest to being alive. I turned off the light and walked up the concrete stairs to the main floor of my mansion. As I emerged from the trapdoor and stood in the hall from my dream, I saw pale white moonlight flowing in through the windows instead of the sunlight from my dream.

The final moments of my latest wife’s life were enough to satiate me for the time being, but I would need another soon. This time I wanted someone younger, someone with spirit and drive. I walked down the hall to my massive bedroom and stepped inside. The door groaned as I pushed it closed behind me. To my right was a lavish bed with silk sheets that I hadn’t used in centuries.

On the left side of the room was a large metal door large enough to accommodate another room. A digital panel was mounted on the front with nine numbered keys beneath the LED readout. I walked over to the door and heard hollow whispers coming from within. The voice spoke words from a language long forgotten. Even without understanding the voice, it had a seductive tone that always grabbed my attention while simultaneously making my stomach turn.

I pressed in the code on the pad and heard the gargantuan lock turn within the steel door. I grabbed the side and pulled the massive doorway open. Inside was a large room lined with metal walls. In the center of it sat a statue made from a strange black stone. It depicted a goddess with a voluptuous form dressed in modest clothing. She held a long sword in one hand and gestured to me with the other.

Her mouth was opened and a pair of stone fangs filled the open space between her lips. She was like me, but that was where the similarities ended. The whispers in my mind grew louder as I stood in the statue’s presence. Within days those whispers would turn to screams. My chiseled and healthy body would start breaking down and a pain beyond description would tear through me.

I wouldn’t die, no matter how long I endured the pain, death would never come. I tried countless times to resist the statue’s call, but sooner or later I would give in to its call, if only to return to the numbness of my everyday life.

“I have come to answer your call. You will have your pound of flesh, and the cycle will begin anew,” I said.

The seductive voice in my mind cackled with laughter. It understood me, despite the fact that I did not know what it said. I approached the statue and held out my arm. The slender stone fingers of the goddess’ outstretched hand clamped down onto my forearm. I was pulled off the ground as she brought my wrist to her stone fangs.

They slid into my flesh as if they were sharpened knives. My vision went dark, and for a brief moment I was taken back to the night when I first encountered this statue. I caught a quick glimpse of my fellow warriors after we collapsed into that underground chamber. I remembered the pain in my side from the spear that had cut into my stomach.

Blood gushed from the wound as I laid on that sandy ground. I remembered the statue calling out to me in that same voice, that same rotten language. It offered an alternative to death, but I did not want any part of its black magic. Somehow, though, somehow I had given in and offered myself to it. How and why I did such a thing still escapes me. The statue finished draining me and I felt myself reduced to nothing.

I emerged from those ashes as nothing more than flesh and blood. I had no bones, no eyes, nor ears. I was reduced to a basic and useless form of life with only a long sharp tube protruding from my disgusting and primordial form. I would need blood, life force that could help me rebuild my body until I was human again. Just when I achieved my human form, the statue would demand another sacrifice.

And so the cycle continued, on and on through the centuries without end.

Chapter 2

When we’re born, we’re told we can do anything, be anything. I grew up in the slums of Moscow, surrounded by gopniki, children of the slums who became Russian mobsters, but my parents told me I could be anything I wanted. I didn’t know anything better than the rundown streets and the iron fist of the mob until I was much, much older. Despite everything, I believed them for a long time.

How stupid I was to think that. Happiness and privilege are something you’re born into. If you draw a bad hand, then you have to play the cards you’re dealt. I was sixteen when the mobsters killed my mother and father. No doubt it had something to do with money, it always does, but they didn’t kill me. No, they kidnapped me instead. I was dressed up, shown off, and idolized by powerful men with nothing but time and money on their hands.

They wanted to sell me off to a scumbag who would abuse me and use me for his own personal pleasure. They dangled me like a carrot on a stick, taking orders that would go into effect when I was old enough to be sold to them. It disgusted me beyond words. The only thing that kept me going was hope that one day I would escape. One day, I would be free. Now that I was a fully grown woman, they would sell me off to the highest bidder again and again. I couldn’t wait any longer, that day was today.

I was dressed in high heels with a tight leather dress that clung tightly to my body from head to toe. I had grown into an attractive woman. I knew this by the way men looked at me. They required me to stay in shape for potential investors, but I went above and beyond to become stronger and faster. They looked at me and saw a frail woman, but underneath the snowy white skin and womanly curves burned a fire that would reduce them to ash.

It was night, the moon hung high in the Moscow sky. A large thug sat beside me in the backseat. I felt his eyes exploring my body. After years of moments like this, they still made me sick to my stomach. It wasn’t something I could ever get used to. The keys were still in the ignition and the engine was running. The driver said he would be back soon to get me. When he came back, I wouldn’t be here.

More so than strength, what I needed most was courage. Any attempt to escape from the clutches of these men would most likely result in my death. I had only one shot at this, and I couldn’t afford to mess it up. I kept the upper half of my body still as I slowly slid one of the heels off my foot.

I reached down to the shoe and felt the cool metal of a small knife across the surface of the heel, buried just beneath the fabric on the slope of the shoe.

“What’re you doing?” the thug asked.

I looked over and saw his eyes wandering down my backside where the dress revealed open skin in the center.

“I have an itch. Don’t worry, just enjoy the view,” I said, trying not to let my disgust come through.

The thug grunted and continued staring me down as I pried the hidden blade out of the shoe. When I had it in my hand I sat back up. My entire body pounded with each racing heartbeat as I clutched the knife beyond the thug’s view. It’s now or never.

I looked over to him and felt my stomach turn as I saw his thick and scarred face. He had uneven stubble, numerous slashes of scarred tissue through his face, and a nose that had been broken more times than it healed itself. He was mesmerized, which meant his guard was down.

“How long until the driver comes back?” I asked.

“Shouldn’t be much longer, why?” he replied.

“Oh I don’t know, I was just thinking that maybe we could have some fun while we wait?”

The thug’s beady eyes opened wide. I could see sweat building up on his brow as he eagerly licked his lips. Just wait for the right moment.

“Come here, and let me show you what you’re missing,” I whispered.

His grubby hands traced a line from my shoulders to my breasts as he leaned in closer. I smelled cigarettes and vodka on his breath as he awkwardly groped my body. I turned the knife around so the blade was facing outward just as his scraggly lips touched mine.

I gripped the handle and drove the blade deep into the left side of his neck until only the handle remained. The thug fell backward, choking on his own blood as he desperately reached for the knife. I dove out of the car door, kicked my heels away, and climbed into the driver’s seat. The engine was already running, so I put the car into drive and slammed the gas. I thought I could make out the horrified yelling of the driver behind us as we sped off.

The thug in the backseat soon stopped his struggles. As I sped through the deserted streets, I stole a glance in the rearview mirror to make sure he was down for the count. My eyes met his just as he wrapped his hands around my throat. His strength was waning, but he gripped me tight enough to make my vision start to blur.

The car swerved off the road and down into a ditch. We hit a tree during our descent and my head shot forward with the sudden stop. I slammed into the steering wheel and everything went black.

When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed. White sheets surrounded me as I took in the wires that ran into my veins and into devices that were affixed to my body. The steady rhythm of the heart monitor beside the bed told me I was still alive. I wasn’t sure if that was a miracle, or if I would have been better off dead in the wreck.

I sat up and felt pain shoot through my head and down my side. It didn’t matter, if they found me here, I was done for. I had to get out and find a way out of this country. I grabbed the I.V. that they had running liquid into my arm and ripped it out. I pulled the clips off of my body and fingers, and threw the sheets over the side.

The door to the room I was in swung open. I froze in panic for a brief moment and then laid back into the bed, hoping and praying that it was simply a doctor or a nurse. Instead, I saw a businessman enter. He had a perfectly manicured haircut, a fine business suit, and a solid red tie.

The wrinkles on his face and the cold ice behind his gaze told me he wasn’t my type, but he was far more inviting than most of the men I had known in my life. Still, he could work for them, I couldn’t let my guard down.

He picked up the clipboard at the foot of my bed and looked it over.

“Jane Doe, that’s not your name, is it Natalia?” he asked.

My heart stopped. No one but my captors knew my name, he had to be one of them.

“Please, don’t kill me! I’ll go back, I promise!” I shouted.

The man raised one of his gloved hands and silenced me.

“I don’t know who you’re running from, and frankly I don’t care. I represent a powerful businessman who specializes in mail-order brides from around the world. I have reviewed the current options with him and he believes you will make an excellent wife. If you come with me now, I can not only promise your immediate safety, but also a life of luxury. I don’t have much time, so you must decide now.”

I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by “mail-order bride,” but if he wasn’t with my captors, he was a way out. By all accounts I should have been dead, so I wasn’t about to turn down a second chance.

“Yes, fine, I’ll come with you. When do we leave?”

The businessman reached over to the bag with my clothes in it and threw it onto the bed. “We leave now. Get dressed.”

Chapter 3

I could not stand the sight of myself during the initial days of the cycle. When the statue drained me, it reduced me to nothing. It was the closest to a true death that I could feel. I always came back as a creature with no certain form or shape. Until I fed on blood, I was nothing more than a grotesque creature made from flesh and with nothing but a long bony tube with which to feed.

I could barely move. I usually spent my first nights in this broken and simple form beside the statue that had cursed me with this eternal existence. Soon, Richard would arrive with another wife to call my own. He was instructed never to enter the vault while I was in this form. Similarly, my new wife was to be blindfolded with her hands tied behind her back.

The hunger for blood struck at me with a vengeful pain that emanated from my very soul. I had no form, no nerves, or body to harm. No, this was beyond a physical hunger, it was a spiritual and supernatural one. The door to the vault swung open, and though I could not hear it, I could feel the presence of a healthy young woman. I acted out of instinct. I was not gentle, but I was precise. The crude feeding tube that emerged from my shapeless form shot into the skin at the base of her neck.

Blood flowed freely into me, and I felt myself coming back from the brink. Death, once again, was forced to watch as I drank the life of another and took my first uncertain steps back into my miserable and cursed life. She was terrified, I could taste it with every drop I took from her. That was normal, they were always scared at first.

I pulled the tube back and retreated into the shadows behind the statue. Learning restraint was perhaps the most difficult part of my existence. When I tasted blood, all I wished was to drink until there was none left. It was a lust that couldn’t be satiated, but there were limits. I only took what I needed, and no more.

Richard entered the room, I felt his presence next. He guided my new wife out. She was alive thanks to my restraint. As instructed, he left the door open so I could emerge when the time was right. We had done this countless time since he was first taken into my employment. One of my wives had been his mother. Before she died, she begged me to take care of her son. She was one of the few I truly loved, so I obliged.

Richard spent his entire life working for me in one capacity or another. He was the only person I trusted in this world. As the blood of this new wife surged through me, I was given form. Arms and legs grew from my uncertain shape. A body with bones, a head, eyes, a mouth, and a nose also took shape.

I still lacked true skin to cover my newly formed body. I walked awkwardly on brand new legs like a toddler to the entrance of the vault. Hanging on a hook beside the entrance was a long red robe with a hood that I wore at this stage in the cycle. Richard knew to have it washed and waiting for me after my first feeding. I draped the robe over me and pulled the hood over my head. Richard was waiting for me outside the entrance to the vault.

I saw my new wife for the first time as the vault door slowly closed behind me. She was sprawled out on top of the sheets. She wore a silk nightgown that fit her perfectly. Her jet black hair was spread out behind her on the pillow. Her snowy white skin matched the shade of moonlight pouring in through the nearby window.

Looking upon her, my hollow and cold heart felt something for the first time in hundreds of years. She looked just like her. I could barely remember her face after all this time, but before these mail-order wives I once had a true love. One that I left behind to fight in someone else’s war. This woman laying before me was a spitting image of her. Her beauty cut through the immortal curse that separated me from her all this time.

“She’s perfect, Richard, utterly perfect,” I whispered.

“I’m glad you agree, sir. She looked exactly how you described your true wife. I thought, after the last one, you needed someone you could talk to, perhaps even love.”

I shook my head. “I’m incapable of love, Richard.”

“With all due respect, sir, one does not require a beating heart to feel love.”

I felt a tear welling up behind my freshly formed eyes. I turned away from her and looked to the open door.

“You’re a good friend, Richard. What is her name?” I asked.

“It’s Natalia, sir.”

“Have a meal prepared for her. I will need to feed again soon and she needs her strength.”

“Right away, sir.”

“Oh, and Richard?”

He turned and looked at me and I at him.

“While I appreciate what you did, we will not speak of her again. Are we clear?”

Richard nodded. “Yes, sir, I understand.”

I made my way to the banquet hall and sat at the end of the long, intricately crafted table. This place was the definition of luxury, of success and wealth, and yet I could enjoy none of it. I only used it as a place to my make my wives feel comfortable and safe. It was nothing more than an illusion.

Richard’s gesture stirred up old emotions and memories that I had long thought forgotten. Seeing my new wife, Natalia, reminded me of her. Her name was Reyna, and she looked just like her. My mind wandered back, hundreds of years, to the last night I saw my true wife, the night before our expedition into the forbidden tombs.

I was a prized soldier back then. I fought and died beside warriors for a place that no longer exists. It cannot be found in history books, our enemies made certain of that when they crushed us beneath their heel. We knew we were losing, but our military leaders insisted that we push forward and die with honor if we must.

Reyna didn’t want me to go. She begged me to stay. I recalled the night we sat in our bedroom, surrounded by luxuries which only that time could afford. We argued by candlelight as electricity was a far-flung fantasy from that time period.

“It is madness! The king has gone mad, can’t you see that, Constantin?”

“Mad or no, Reyna, he is my king and I must follow him!”

Reyna threw her hands up and stepped back into the darkness. The candlelight briefly illuminated the silk dress she wore. Made from the finest of materials our dwindling empire could offer. We had both returned that night from a somber celebration of tomorrow’s final push into the enemy’s land. Reyna looked indescribably beautiful. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on.  I would say that again even now hundreds of years into the future, even after countless wives that came and went, she was perfection.

“Where must you follow him, Constantin? Into death? Because that is where he marches his armies when the sun rises!”

I crossed the gap between us and took her hands into mine. She wouldn’t look directly at me, but I saw the candlelight flickering in her endless blue eyes.

“I will come back to you, my love. I always do.”

Reyna pulled back and wiped tears from her eyes. “I can’t believe you, Constantin, not this time.”

I wrapped my arm around her back and pulled her into me. We locked eyes and I gazed deeply into hers.

“Very well, then believe this: I love you, and no matter how far apart the winds of time may carry us, I will always find my way back to you,” I whispered.

The tears welled up in her eyes as her soft hands grazed my face.

“I love you too. Please, don’t go.”

“Very well, tomorrow when the king’s army marches to the east, we shall go to the west, together.”

“Truly?” she asked.

“I swear it.”

She smiled through the tears and pressed her lips to mine. Even after hundreds of years, I could still feel her passionate kiss against my lips. I felt the heat that emanated from the fires of our love. Her hands desperately tried to undo her clothing. I reached down and gripped the frilled centerpiece of her dress.

“Here, like this,” I said, as I tore open the front of her dress. One of her soft white breasts spilled out from within. I cupped it with one hand as I furiously tore off the rest of her dress. She laughed and grinned. Her hands gripped the waistband of my leggings and wrenched them downward. My thin shirt tore like parchment when faced with her passion. We were both naked within seconds. Our tongues danced as our lips never left each other’s embrace. I lifted her up and sat her upon the intricately crafted dresser where we stored our clothing. As her hands slid down my back, I softly kissed her neck, tracing a line down to her thick and curvaceous breasts.

I lifted one with my hand and it slid it into my mouth. I gently suckled on her as my hand slid up her thigh. My fingers slid into her with ease as she begged me to take her. I pushed her legs apart and stepped forward. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I gripped her waist as I thrusted forward into her.

She cried out in ecstasy and bit into the flesh on my shoulder playfully. I roared like a beast and thrusted into her again and again. With each thrust I heard the sounds of pleasure erupted from her. I picked her up and took her to the bed. As I laid her down I hovered over her, taking in the depths of her beauty as she laid there with her breasts falling to the side and her legs tucked together.

There was nothing so beautiful in this world, of that I was certain. I leaned down and kissed her as I spread her legs apart and gently slid inside. We made slow, deep, and passionate love. With a steady rhythm I pulled out and then slowly slid back inside of her. I wanted her to feel every part of me and the way I felt her. We stared deeply into each other’s eyes as she climaxed. Her head shot back, her back arched, and her entire body quaked as she screamed to the stars.

She wrapped her hands around the back of my head and pulled me down. I returned to a thundering rhythm. The entire bed shook with each thrust as I felt myself reaching a climax. One final thrust into her and a wave of pleasure crashed over my entire body. It was a feeling that I still desperately clung to after hundreds of years, but one that faded with time.

Our story did not have a happy ending. Our plans to leave before the final push were foiled before we could exit the borders of the city. As punishment for abandoning my post, I was forced to march at the front lines, along with the rest of the prisoners and fodder for the enemy. When it came to desecrate the enemy’s holy ground by entering the forbidden tombs, I was first to cross that line and attract the ire of their gods.

Had we simply made it out of the city, none of this would have happened. I would have spent my life with Reyna as I always intended. We would have been happy. We would have grown old together and I would have long been gone from this world. Fate, it seemed, did not have a happy ending in store for me. My story was one without end, only endless torture.

Natalia and Richard entered the hall. I retreated further into my hood so she wouldn’t seem me. She moved with a purpose, as if each step meant something to her. She approached the table without fear and sat in one of the ornate chairs beside me.

“I know what you are,” she said.

“Do you?” I asked.

“Yes, Richard told me on our way here.”

I leaned back into my chair, pulling myself deeper into the robe to hide from her gaze.

“Then you must think I am a monster. Are you afraid of me?” I asked.

Natalia shook her head. “No, I don’t think you’re a monster, and I’m not afraid of you. The men you rescued me from, those are monsters. You, you’re unique.”

I scoffed. “Unique? I am cursed with an eternal burden. Do you know how many have come before you? I must feed until you have nothing left, and then I will move on to the next one.”

Why was I being so crass? Normally I did everything in my power to make them feel comfortable and welcome. Was it because she reminded me of Rayna? Was it because my memory of her filled me with rage at the curse that has corrupted my soul? I could see Richard’s disapproving gaze.

“I am sorry. It’s just, you remind me of someone that I once knew. I haven’t seen her in hundreds of years,” I said.

“Was she your wife? I mean, your real wife?” Natalia asked.

“Yes, she was.”

“What was she like?”

My eyes shot up and I looked at her through the darkness of the hood. She had Rayna’s eyes. Calm, calculated, but also caring and soothing. Could this be her? Did her immortal soul, if such a thing did exist, find its way through the winds of time to be with me once more?

“She looked identical to you. She was calm and collected. When she wanted something, she took it, no matter the cost. I tried to flee with her, tried to escape this fate, but it found me nonetheless. I, I—”

I ducked my head down to stifle a sob. I waved to Richard who departed with haste to fetch Natalia’s food. She found her way into my past faster and more efficiently than any who came before her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Natalia said.

“It’s fine. You should eat, I will need to feed again soon.”

Natalia nodded as her eyes wandered around the hall.

“Can I ask you something personal?” Natalia said.

“Have you not done so already? Speak.”

“Do you, you know, sleep with your wives?” she asked.

I looked back up to her and for a moment I felt Rayna’s hands on my face once again. I longer for her touch. Rayna, Natalia, they were one and the same in that moment.

“Only if they wish to, and only when my body is fully formed.”

“Is that why you’re hiding your face and your body? Richard told me it had something to do with a cycle.”

He never tells them this much. Was he trying to soften the blow? Was it for my sake, so I wouldn’t have to watch her suffer in confusion, or was it for hers?

Richard emerged once again with a plate of food. He set the piping hot dish down in front of her.

“Wine?” he asked.

I grunted and Richard turned to look at me.

“No wine tonight Richard.”

“What if I want some?” Natalia asked.

“Out of the question. It taints the blood.”

Natalia smiled playfully. “Taints it? Or makes it better?”

She was smart. If she drank too much wine, her blood would have an equal effect on me. My mind would become dulled. In that state I wouldn’t be able to control my thirst. I could drain her completely and not even realize it.

“One glass, but that’s it,” I said.

Richard poured a glass of red wine for Natalia and she began eating. While she nourished her body, I allowed myself a moment to admire her. She had a perfect physique. Her jet black hair fell across her shoulders, which descended to thick breasts that filled out the shape of her gown. She was exactly as I remembered Rayna. The resemblance was uncanny to say the least.

“When you’re finished eating, I’ll take you to your room and feed,” I said.

“Will you stay with me tonight? I mean, if your skin grows back.”

“Why do you wish to lay with me?”

“You make me feel something I’ve never felt before,” she said.

Could it be something as cliché as love? No, we barely knew one another. Even if she did look like Rayna, it couldn’t be that. Not yet.

“What is it? What do I make you feel?”

Natalia’s cheeks blushed as she set down her fork. She looked over at me with piercing blue eyes.

“You make me feel safe, Constantin. No one has ever been able to do that since I was a child.”

She knew my name? Richard must have told her that as well.

“How could you feel safe with me? I drink your blood.”

“I know, but somehow I know you won’t hurt me. Honestly, it’s kind of a rush. So, what do you say? Will you stay?”

“Only until dawn, then I must leave.”

Chapter 4

After dinner, Constantin lead me to my room. I wondered what he could possibly look like beneath the robe. I wanted to see his face, but I knew he wouldn’t show it until his skin grew back. He seemed kind, gentle even, despite his “condition.” When Richard told me my new husband was a vampire, I didn’t believe him, but after everything that’s happened, I had no choice but to believe.

We walked into the bedroom and he gestured to the bed beneath his robe.

“Take off your clothes, lay on the bed, and close your eyes. Do not open them until I tell you,” he said.

I was nervous, but also excited. The first time he fed on me, it was terrifying, but there was this rush of adrenaline. It was euphoric, and the entire time I somehow knew that he was in control, that he wouldn’t drain too much. That was when I knew, I knew he would keep me safe.

I laid back onto the soft silk sheets and closed my eyes. I felt something land on my stomach. It was a strip of cloth.

“Put this on,” he said.

“A blindfold? You don’t trust me?”

“I don’t want you to see me until it’s time. Put it on, please.”

I tied the blindfold around my head and laid back on the bed. The room was cold as ice. I felt Constantin’s hot breath on my thigh. He hovered just above my skin.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Do not worry, you will have pleasure to balance the pain.”

His fangs dug into the flesh of my thigh. My entire body flooded with adrenaline as blood was pulled from it. My heart raced and I felt the room spinning around me. It lasted for what seemed like an eternity before he stopped. I struggled to catch my breath, but barely could before I felt soft and supple hands gently wrap around my legs.

“Can I see you?”  I asked.

“Not yet,” he whispered.

He kissed the skin on my inner thigh and moved upward until I felt his breath between my legs. My body quaked with anticipation. His tongue emerged and gently parted the folds. He wandered upward and started gently licking at me, moving in perfect circles. The pleasure was beyond words. Wave after wave of chills ran down my body. My muscles spasmed, I didn’t know what to do with myself.

He was incredible, so precise and consistent. The pleasure was overwhelming, I felt a new and exciting feeling pouring through me. I lost control of my body and screamed out as a powerful climax crashed into me. Constantin’s hands came up and gently pulled the blindfold off of my eyes. I saw his face for the first time. Chiseled jaw, warm brown eyes, and short silvery hair. He was an incredible looking man. My head was spinning from blood loss. He looked down at me and smiled.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

“Incredible,” I whispered.

I sat up as he laid down on the bed. He had a perfectly toned body, perfect from top to bottom. I climbed onto him and looked down at his deep and mysterious eyes. I positioned myself and let him slide into me. He lacked warmth, like a living person. I didn’t mind, though, I still felt his passion. I leaned forward and grinded myself against him. I pressed my hands on his chest and braced myself as his hands reached up and cupped my breasts. He gently massaged them as I rocked back and forth.

“It’s been so long,” he said.

“Since you’ve made love?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Since I’ve felt something.”

I leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips. His hands traveled down my back until he gripped my backside and thrusted upward into me. My whole body shook as a wave of pleasure shot through me like lightning. Our hips found a common rhythm. I threw my head back and let him flow through me as he came inside me. I collapsed onto the bed beside him.

I couldn’t move. I felt myself fading, but I didn’t want this moment to end.

“It’s alright, Natalia, rest. I’ll be here to protect you.”

He made me feel safe. That was perhaps the best gift he could give me.

Chapter 5

That night, I had a different dream. I wasn’t in the mansion, nor was I in the time I knew. I was in the past, lying on the ground amidst rubble and dust. Around me, several prisoners laid crushed by rubble or impaled on spikes that were spread out across the floor. I had managed to avoid the trap, but only by a few inches. I had been hit with an arrow while the other prisoners and myself tried to flee into the depths of the enemy tombs.

The floor gave way and we fell. I still lived, but just barely. The arrow pierced my side. I was bleeding profusely. I didn’t have much time. My thoughts were only on Rayna and what had happened to her. Surely they would have killed her for conspiring with me, but if I made it out, I would find her.

Death was coming, though, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I knew this memory all too well, but for some strange reason or twist of fate, that night as I slept by Natalia’s side, the missing pieces revealed themselves.

A gaunt and emaciated man emerged from the darkness in the back of the chamber.

“You’re dying by the looks of it,” he whispered.

He sounded like he was in pain himself. He hid his mouth from me with his hand as he spoke.

“Please, help me,” I whispered.

“Aye, I can help you, but it is not a fate I would wish upon any man, even my enemies.”

“I must find her, I must save her,” I said.

“You would do this, at any cost?”

I coughed. Blood splattered across the sand covered ground in front of me.

“At any cost.”

“Very well, I will take you to her.”

The man dragged me across the ground by my arm. The pain was overwhelming. My screams echoed through the chamber, but no one responded, not even him.

“I will give you life eternal, but it will come with a cost. You will have the chance to save your beloved, if indeed she still lives, but you will live long after she is dust. Do you wish to take this burden from me?”

I was delirious. I shouldn’t have said yes, I should have died there!

“Yes.”

“Very well.”

The man lifted me onto his shoulders and I saw the statue of the goddess that now sat in the vault of my home. He lifted my arm into the statue’s mouth and its stone fangs dug into my skin. I had a brief moment of clarity as it drained everything from me. I looked over and saw the man’s vitality return to him. He took his hand away from his mouth and I saw a pair of fangs. They fell out like children’s teeth and landed on the ground in front of him. Joy filled his face as my vision went black.

***

I awoke to the sound of yelling. The lights in the bedroom illuminated and I saw a portly fellow stroll into the room. He swayed as if drunk and waved a pistol around that he had clutched in his hand.

“How dare you! How dare you steal my property!” the man screamed.

“I climbed out of the bed and pulled on my robe. Richard stood in the doorway behind the drunken man.

“I’m sorry sir, he threatened to kill me!”

I waved Richard off. “Go, I’ll handle this.’

“Did you sleep with her? Huh? Did you?”

I nodded.

The man pulled back the hammer on his revolver and growled.

“I had people lined up, people who paid good money for her first time! Now you took that from me!”

“I assure you, I can offer you something far more valuable than her in exchange. It’s just inside that vault there,” I said.

The man looked to the vault and then back to me. “In there? Unless you got another virgin woman in there, I’m not interested!”

“Constantin, don’t do this for me. I’ll go with him,” Natalia said.

The man spit on the ground. “I don’t want you back, whore! I want what’s owed to me!”

I looked back at Natalia. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle this.”

I typed in the code and opened the vault. The man followed me inside and looked at the statue with contempt.

“This is it? Seriously? How is this supposed to help me?” he asked.

“It’s not the statue that’s priceless. It’s what it does. Go ahead, give it your arm,” I said.

“What’s it going to do?” the man asked.

“It’s going to make you immortal. Would you like that?”

“You’re shitting me!”

“Even if I am lying, what do you have to lose?” I asked.

The man raised his arm and placed it into the statue’s grasp. It grabbed him and lifted him off the ground. He screamed and dropped his gun as it bit into him. I picked up the gun and watched as it drained him entirely until he looked like nothing more than a fleshy sack of blood. I backed away from the scene and looked down as the fangs fell out of my mouth.

I felt a rush of adrenaline as I ran to the vault entrance. I pushed the door closed and it locked. I stepped back and fired the gun into the control panel, sealing him inside.

Natalia was dressed and standing beside the bed.

“What happened?” she asked.

I laughed as a smile swept over my face.

“Constantin, you have to go, the sun is coming up!” she said.

I shook my head. “No, I want to see it.”

I turned and ran down the hall. Natalia chased after me, begging me not to do it, but I had to know, I had to know if it was truly over.

Just like my dream, I approached the doors and grabbed the knobs with shaking hands. I pulled the door open and ran outside as the first rays of sunlight illuminated the world. I closed my eyes and felt it wash over me. I felt warmth, live giving warmth. Tears slid down my face, but when I touched them they weren’t crimson, they were real.

I looked over as Natalia stood in the doorway with a shocked expression on her face.

“I don’t understand,” she said.

I ran over and wrapped my arms around her. I felt her warm skin against mine.

“It’s over, the curse is broken!”

The nightmare had finally ended. I was awake. My hands were shaking and my heart was pounding in my chest.

I was alive.

Asian Bad Boy

Chapter 1

Daiki Uchida

“I know your ears are probably still ringing, but listen close because I’m only going to say this once. Payment is required when services are rendered, and not a moment later.”

I stood up and nodded to the rather large individual to my left named Kraig. He enjoyed hitting people, and he was quite good at it. I let him do the talking most of the time.

Money is power. Anything in the world can be bought for the right price. The only question one must ask, is how far are they willing to go? It’s all about how you exercise the power afforded to you by the wealth you’ve accrued. I, for example, have decided to invest in the one business that will never go out of style: war.

I lifted a hand to stop the relentless punching. The conviction in his eyes told me he still hadn’t learned his lesson.

“Listen, I get it, I do. You want to forge a better life for yourself and your people. I want to help you do that, but I’m not a charity,” I said.

I motioned to the hulking man beside me and he resumed his duties.

Whether it’s a border skirmish in a third-world country, or a full-scale rebellion against the local dictatorship, I’m always there product in hand. I’ve been accused of prolonging conflict and increasing death tolls, but I would argue that these conflicts would rage on regardless of my presence or lack thereof. If people want to kill one another, they will find a way.

Of course, a weapons dealer isn’t the public face I want to wear. No, my “day job” is running a dummy corporation designed to launder the funds and put on a pretty face for the world to see. We specialize in private security solutions, the perfect cover for purchasing weapons and ammo. Some of our clients are very important people after all, but most are angry refugees determined to overthrow the governing body of their choosing.

I stopped him again.

“Untie him, I think he’s learned his lesson.”

The man could barely stand. His emaciated body stood like a rickety tree in the dimly lit room.

“Now, you’re going to find a way to pay me for those weapons and ammo within the next twenty-four hours, or my face is going to be the last thing you’ll ever see.”

It’s all money to me. So long as they pay, we don’t have any problems. But then, of course, you run into situations where we disagree on the speed at which payment is rendered. In those situations, I like to take a hands-on approach.

“I don’t have any money,” he babbled.

“Figure something out!” I shouted.

I motioned to Kraig, and we the left the room. I walked out into an abandoned bunker that this particular resistance was using as a base of operations. The armed men in the halls regarded me with blank stares, but I saw the hatred in their eyes. I was both their savior and their vanguard of destruction. They needed me, but ultimately my services would send them deeper and deeper into the maw of war.

Such is the way of the world, I was simply providing supply to meet demand. We reached the surface and emerged onto a makeshift helipad where my chopper was waiting. The pilot had been standing at attention in the freezing cold with a fur-lined hood over his head and thick goggles over his eyes.

He pulled down the bandana over his face as I approached. The icy snow-filled wind cut right through my trench coat and bit at the skin beneath. I was ready to leave this cold hell and get back.

“Everything fixed sir?” he asked.

“He has twenty-four hours. I’m not coming back to this ice box, though, send one of our own to collect.”

“Very good, sir. Where to now?”

“Back home, I need a drink.”

I climbed into the chopper. Kraig slid in beside me, taking up almost two seats on his own. It was all muscle, though, he was truly a powerful weapon.

“Do you love your job, Kraig?” I asked.

He looked over to me as he polished the blood off his fists with a dirty cloth he kept in his jacket.

“Yes, sir,” he said.

I leaned back and closed my eyes.

“Me too.”

As the helicopter’s blades picked up speed, I felt the entire machine lift itself off the ground and ascend toward the sky.

My phone started ringing and I felt my fists clench. It was probably my wife, calling to remind me that I should be at her beck and call.

I pulled the vibrating device out of my pocket and saw not her name, but the name of a contact I had in Africa. I couldn’t remember which country. I looked at his name on the phone and focused on how to pronounce it when I answered. I set the headset I was wearing to Bluetooth from my phone and picked up.

“Babatunde, what can I do for you my friend?”

“Went to collect Mr. Uchida, Baako didn’t have the money. You said to call.”

I really needed to get better at delegating these things.

“One moment, Babatunde.”

I turned to Kraig.

“Are you able to do more negotiating today?” I asked.

Kraig flexed his thick hands and nodded. I switched back to the phone call.

“Thank you, we’ll be there soon to take care of the situation.”

I hung up the phone and sighed. Looks like we were going out of the freezer and into the frying pan.

I turned off the Bluetooth and radioed to the pilot.

“Change of plans, it seems we have another debt to collect.”

Chapter 2

Kamaria Ife

When you grow up with nothing, not even clean water, love is something you never expect to have. Your dreams are composed of the things most people take for granted. I grew up in a small village somewhere in Africa. I never knew the name. This was a place where most people didn’t survive past their infancy, let alone to adulthood. There came a day when a man claiming to be a prince came to our village. He was looking for a woman to bring home as his wife.

Everyone wanted to be chosen. A chance to leave this place, to enjoy the comforts of a normal life, who wouldn’t want that? He arrived dressed in a flowing shirt and pants that were embroidered with magnificent colors. Blue like the sky and red like the sunset. He truly resembled royalty as he walked among us. I didn’t push past the other girls, nor did I shout at him to attract his attention. I simply stared at him as he passed and he looked back at me.

I was young, I had only just turned eighteen, and I had never once considered the possibility of love. Still, when our eyes met, I was convinced that I had felt it. It was a rumbling in your stomach, but not the kind you heard when you went to sleep hungry. No, it was more like sparks of fire dancing around inside of you.

My heart raced, but for once it wasn’t because I was scared. On the contrary, I was excited. He walked over to me and smiled with perfect white teeth. His hand came down and gently touched mine. I felt like lightning was shooting through me. I was convinced that this was the love so many people strived for in their lives.

He took me with him, and we went back to his home. It was magnificent, the largest building I had ever laid eyes upon. There was a fountain in the front courtyard that flowed with fresh clean water. I remember trying to drink it, but the prince stopped me. I was embarrassed, but he didn’t seem to care.

We went inside and I marveled at the lush carpets, the intricate art that hung upon the walls, and the priceless vases and sculptures that were spread throughout the house. I took a shower for the first time in my life and it was magnificent. I could change the temperature of the water whenever I wanted. When I was cleaned up, that night I was served a meal fit for a princess. It was hard to believe that any of this was real. It all seemed too good to be true.

That’s because it was.

I lived the greatest years of my life in that house. I had grown from a scrawny and emaciated girl into a black and big beautiful woman. Then in one night it was all taken from me. I didn’t know much about my husband, all I knew was that he cared for me, and I in turn cared for him. He was clearly rich and powerful, but that was the extent of my knowledge.

I was sleeping comfortably in a bed with silk sheets when I heard a furious pounding on the front door. My eyes shot open as my husband climbed out of bed.

“Who could that be?” I asked.

“Stay here,” he said.

I watched him walk over to the wardrobe in the corner. He had a key for it that he kept around his neck for safekeeping. I had never seen him open it before. He took the key off, unlocked it, and threw open the doors. Inside was a plethora of weapons. Everything from pistols, to assault rifles, to shotguns and grenades. He pulled out one of the assault rifles and went to work checking the clip. He held it in one hand as he picked up one of the grenades.

He set everything down on his desk beside the wardrobe as the pounding on the front door resumed downstairs. He pulled a pistol from the arsenal, checked the clip, and then walked over to me.

“You don’t know how to use this, I’m sure, but you’re going to need it.”

I was terrified, my heart was thundering my chest as I took the gun with shaking hands. This was fear, an emotion I was more than acquainted with.

“What am I supposed to do?” I asked.

He picked up his rifle and the grenade.

“Point and shoot, love point and shoot.”

He walked out of the bedroom and I sat on the bed with the gun in my hand. He had turned the safety off before he handed it to me. It was ready to take lives, all I had to do was pull the trigger.

A deafening explosion came from downstairs. I fell back against the headboard of the bed as the sound of gunfire came from downstairs. There were several pops, followed by the repeating tap of an assault rifle. The exchange continued for some time as I sat perfectly still staring at the open doorway. Fear had paralyzed me, my legs were like stone.

The gunfire stopped. The silence was almost worse than the noise.

“Come on out! We know you’re up there!” a man shouted.

My hands gripped the gun tightly. I lifted it up and aimed it at the open doorway. The barrel shook as I tried to hold it steady. I heard the footsteps of someone coming to get me. Several men filled the doorway. I froze, I couldn’t pull the trigger. One of the men walked over and pulled the gun out of my hands.

“Well, I suppose Mawimbi won the bet,” one said.

They all laughed as if it didn’t matter. Something hard struck me across the back of my head, and everything went black.

When I woke up again, I was in a room with no windows and only one door. It smelled horrific. It was also pitch black and I was laying on a thin mattress. Before I moved I heard someone else stir in the room. Metal clanged together and echoed through the space.

“Who is that?” I asked.

When I tried to stand up, I felt a cold metal cuff around my right ankle. It was attached to a chain that didn’t afford me enough slack to stand on my feet. I could barely climb onto my knees.

I heard another chain, and then another. No one spoke, though, but I could feel their eyes on me.

“Where am I? Please, someone answer me!”

No one answered.

A loud grinding noise came from the door to the room. A moment later it swung open and light poured through. I had to shield my eyes, but for a brief moment I caught a glimpse of the other people in the room.

Three others in total, all women. They seemed to be African like me, but judging by their bodies, they had been here for a long time. I saw the rusty chains that held us down and the stained mattresses.

A large man stood in the doorway with four plates stacked atop one another. He walked inside and set them down just within the reach of a woman.

“Share this time,” he said.

I picked up the plate and smelled the food on it. It was slop, with no definitive flavor or texture. I ate it anyway, I needed my strength. One way or another, I was going to get out of here.

Chapter 3

Daiki

It was time to collect another debt. People seemed to think that I was some sucker bank handing out credit cards. They thought I wouldn’t come for my money, but they were wrong. I had to teach them a lesson, one resistance fighter, or inspired revolutionary at a time. They could wage their war, so long as they paid their debts.

The helicopter set down in a blistering hot field. Sand and debris scattered all around us as the engine cut out and the blades slowly came to a stop. The pilot leaped out of his seat and opened the back door. I climbed out and immediately broke a sweat. I hated the cold, but I hated this kind of heat even more.

Kraig stepped out beside me. I could still see pink on his knuckles from the blood. He would have them wet again with someone else’s very soon. I turned to the pilot.

“Wait here, we won’t be long.”

The pilot nodded. He had taken off his winter wear on the ride over, but I could see sweat emerging on his forehead. We walked across the flat terrain towards a military camp with tents set up across the landscape. Rusty jeeps drove in and out of the camp as men dressed in ragged uniforms passed by carrying my guns.

I even saw kids, no older than ten or eleven-years-old, patrolling the camp and armed to the teeth. It wasn’t right, but it also wasn’t my business. I only made house calls when the debt wasn’t paid. We made our way to the largest tent in the center of the camp. It wasn’t hard to find these types of people.

We walked into the tent with bravado, and the guards immediately put away their weapons when they saw who had arrived. I never gave these people my name, but in recent years they have taken to naming me themselves. I heard them whisper Vita when I passed by. It was Swahili for War. An appropriate name, given my trade.

At the back of the tent, a short African man sat dressed in ragged camouflage pants and a green vest. His skin glistened with sweat, no doubt because the interior of the tent was like a sauna.

“You have come for your debt?” he asked.

“Yes, I hear you have not paid.”

The man grinned as he stood to his feet. I could tell by the way he carried himself that he thought he could kill me and walk away a free man. So many had tried, enough that I invested in both gun and martial arts training myself. It had been a long time since I needed either, but I was up for some practice.

“I do not plan on paying!” he said, spitting on the dirt beside him.

“I thought as much.”

The guards in the tent all raised their rifles.

I applauded slowly. The smile faded from the man’s face.

“You do not fear death?” he asked.

“No my friend, because I am death.”

The man’s resolve cracked for a moment. I saw true fear in his eyes, but it didn’t stay.

“Kill him!”

I had my hand in the pocket of my slacks the entire time. In there I kept a failsafe that would disable all of my weapons. The easiest way to deal with a snake in the grass was to first take his teeth.

The two guards fired but nothing happened when they pulled the triggers. Kraig took the right, and I the left. I ducked down and hit the muscular guard with a strike that knocked him out cold. He fell to the ground. I spun around as Kraig tore the rifle out of the other guard’s hands.

He turned the gun around and cracked it against the guard’s skull. He went to hit him again, but I stopped him.

“Enough, Kraig, save your strength for the main course,” I said.

Kraig stood up and nodded. He dropped the gun onto the ground and we both turned to the man at the back of the tent. He was cowering in fear, mumbling, and begging for his life.

“I’ve disabled every gun in your entire army. If you want them back on, you’ll give me my money.”

The man dropped to his knees and pleaded with me as if I were some sort of merciful god.

“Please, I have no money! We need these weapons, for our cause is righteous!”

I couldn’t help but start laughing. I looked to Kraig who cracked a smile.

“Do you hear that, Kraig? His cause is righteous! Oh, if I had a dollar for every time I heard that, I would have my fucking money!”

I swung out with an open palm and back handed the man. He fell backward onto the dirt and covered his face.

“Get him up,” I said.

Kraig grabbed the small man by his shoulders and pulled him to his feet.

“Now listen, you’re going to pay with your money, or you’re going to pay with your life. It’s your choice.”

“I have women, big beautiful women! You take one, no cost! They are young, supple, she will treat you like a king!”

I had never been offered a woman before, this was new. I mulled it over for a moment, if only for the concept of being treated like I deserved. No, I wouldn’t stoop to human trafficking, nor would I cheat on my wife. I was an arms dealer, yes, but I wasn’t a monster.

“You have two weeks to come up with my money. After that I’m coming back, and my face will be the last thing you see.”

Kraig and I left as the man begged for me to take his offer. I had to admit, it sounded tempting, but I only dealt in currency I could count. I wasn’t about to put a price on someone’s life.

Chapter 4

Kamaria

I didn’t know how long they kept me down there. Weeks? Months? It felt like years. I tried counting based on the meals they brought us, but I didn’t know if they brought meals three times a day, or once, or merely when they felt like it. All I knew is that I was slowly losing my mind. Every night I had nightmares.

“Are you going to finish your bread?” a voice called out.

I wouldn’t have called it bread, it was more like a rock that you could eat if you tried really hard. My stomach rumbled, begged me to try, but I didn’t want it.

“No, take it,” I said.

I threw it in the direction of the voice. It landed with a loud thud on the other side of the room. I heard a chain rattle and a strained noise.

“Damnit, I can’t reach it!”

“Not my problem,” I said.

They didn’t talk to me much after that. I think we all hated each other, despite the fact that we hadn’t ever met prior to this room. It was like all of us just wanted someone to blame.

The door swung open with a loud groan and the silhouette of a man stood in the center for a moment.

“I’m coming in there,” he said, “No sudden movements.”

He lumbered through the doorway and walked toward me. I vaguely heard the man calling to me as he stood over me. I felt his hands reached down and grab the shackle around my ankle.

The chain was off and he pulled me up. As I walked out of the room, I had to shut my eyes against the light. It felt like I was staring directly into the sun. They pulled a bag over my head that smelled like dirt and sweat. One of the men took me by the arm and led me through hall after hall until we emerged into the scorching sun. I felt the heat on my skin as they pushed me into the backseat of a jeep.

The engine grumbled as the car bounced across the uneven landscape. Dirt roads stretched out in every direction, there was no such thing as a smooth ride out here. We drove for a long time before the car stopped. They pulled me out and we walked towards the sound of plane engines. They led me up a ramp and into a cool and air-conditioned environment. I sat down in a thick and comfortable seat as they pulled the bag off of my head. Light flooded my sight. My eyes screamed in pain as I shut them tight. I briefly saw the empty seats around me as I tried to slowly open my eyes and catch a glimpse at what surrounded me. The plane started to move as I tried to move my hands and realized they were handcuffed to the seat.

I managed to regain my sight, despite the glowing lights above me. In front of me, a small screen was playing a movie. It showcased men in a prison, but I didn’t pay attention to it at first. It reminded me of my own story. Of being imprisoned and forced to do what you must to survive. However, I had little else to do or look at during the flight, so I waited and watched the movie.

I didn’t have sound, but that almost made it better. I imagined what they were saying and I tried to follow along. When they brought me food, it was better than I had expected. The food was delicious and when I was finished, a woman in a business suit came over and sat on the seat across the aisle from me. She had shoulder length black hair and a thinly framed body.

“State your name, please,” she said, extending a recorder.

“Kamaria Ife,” I said.

“Good, now I must brief you on the relationship you’re about to enter into,” she said.

“Relationship? What are you talking about?”

The woman ignored my question and looked down to a clipboard in her hand.

“Your new husband’s name is Daiki Uchida. He’s an Asian billionaire with powerful ties in both the corporate world, and various resistance movements and military groups in Africa, the Middle East, and in Russia. All you need to do is make him fall in love with you. Do you understand?”

Falling in love was the easy part, it was the fear of losing someone else I loved that scared me the most.

“Why am I being taken to him? Did he choose me?”

The woman sighed and placed her hand on mine. It was the first sign of compassion she had shown since our conversation started.

“Oh no, he didn’t choose you, but he’ll like you all the same. Trust me, you’re his type,” she said.

“How do you know so much about him?” I asked, “Do you work for him?”

She laughed. “No honey, I’m his wife!”

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.

“He’s married? Then why do you want me to take him from you?” I asked.

She set down the clipboard as her eyes wandered around the room.

“Things are different where I come from, Kamaria. Where I’m from, money and power is far more important than love. I loved my husband once, but that was a long time ago. It’s time we parted ways, but he doesn’t see that. I need our divorce to be mutual, otherwise I can’t take half his fortune when I leave. Do you understand?”

I nodded, even though I didn’t understand in the slightest.

“Good, so what’s your job?”

“Make him fall in love with me.”

“Very good. Can I get you anything before we land?”

I shook my head.

“Great. Thanks for doing this. I know you didn’t have a choice in the matter, but I appreciate your help all the same.”

I didn’t like the way any of this felt, but anything was better than being locked in that room. I wasn’t sure if I could love again, but I tried to keep an open mind as the plane landed. Soon it would be time to meet my new husband

Chapter 5

Daiki

Traveling the world is overrated. Every time I came back from another collection trip, I was exhausted both mentally and physically. I wanted only to sit and drink, nothing more. There was a brief moment when I came back, the moment when I opened the door and I waited for the hollow greeting from my wife. When she wasn’t home, I could relax instead of answering twenty questions or more about where I had been.

This time she wasn’t home, thankfully. I closed the door to the penthouse suite and hung my coat on the hanger beside the door. Several steps in, and the fatigue hit me like a gushing wave. I skipped the kitchen entirely, despite my growling stomach, and walked straight to the liquor cabinet against the left wall.

Half empty bottles littered the surface, the extremely expensive bottles were placed at the bottom of the cabinet, to remove temptation. Or at least, that was the concept. It didn’t stop me from taking them out whenever I felt like it. I poured a bottle of aged scotch. It was a gift from our wedding day. Back then, when we were in love, we talked about keeping it sealed until our twenty-fifth anniversary, but that ended about three years into our marriage.

I poured the glass until it was almost full and walked into the living room. The leather sofa stretched out across from a massive television. I picked up the remote and turned it on. Apparently my wife, Ayumi, had been watching it last since the channel was on the news. As someone who managed political campaigns, she was always buried in the news.

I took a swig of the scotch and relished in the burning sensation. As I set it down, I heard a knock on the door. It was very rare that we had visitors here, and I was still riding high on adrenaline from the day’s events. I stood up and walked to the door. In the umbrella holder beside me was a pump-action shotgun with the barrel facing down. I always kept it loaded and by the door in case I needed it.

I turned the lock and pulled the door open slowly. A black woman stood in the doorway. She was wearing a sundress and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She had striking eyes and a curvy body with ample breasts beneath the dress. She was beautiful, no doubt, but why was she here?

“I’m sorry, I believe you have the wrong suite,” I said.

“Baako sent me,” she said, “To pay his debt.”

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed.

“I told him, I don’t deal in people, just money. I’m sorry, you’ll have to go back.”

“I can’t go back! They kept me locked in a room with no light and very little food. If you send me back, they will put me back in there!” she shouted.

I didn’t want her causing a scene so I waved her inside.

“Fine, fine, just come in,” I said.

I closed the door behind her and motioned to the living room.

“Please, sit down.”

I walked back to the leather couch and grabbed my drink before sitting down and taking in everything. I finished the scotch in a single gulp and set the glass down as my throat burned from the sudden influx of the fiery liquid. I looked over and noticed the woman was still standing.

“Why aren’t you sitting?” I asked.

She pointed to the empty glass.

“Would you like another?”

My eyes went from the glass and back to her. I couldn’t think of a single time my wife offered to make me a drink.

“Uh, yes, that would be great. The scotch that’s out will suffice.”

She picked up the glass and walked out of the room. Without realizing it, I found myself watching the way her hips moved beneath the flowing dress she was wearing. I wanted to know what she looked like beneath that dress.

When she came back with the drink, she sat down beside me as I took another long sip. The chill that ran down my spine told me it was starting to take effect.

“You look tense, would you like a back massage?” she asked.

Now this was getting too good to be true. Ayumi had perhaps once, in a different lifetime, given me a back rub, but even that was pushing it. I turned to the side. She placed her hands against the muscles around my neck and shoulders and went to work expertly massaging them. She dug deep and then eased up in perfect rhythm. I felt the tension melting off of me with each movement of her hands.

“Good?” she asked.

“Perfect.”

She continued rubbing and it was then that I realized I didn’t even know her name yet.

“My apologies for not asking sooner, but what’s your name?”

“I am Kamaria,” she said.

“Very nice to meet you, Kamaria, I’m Daiki, and the massage is phenomenal.”

She worked her way down my shoulders and massaged the inner muscles on my back. The pain evaporated as the scotch continued to do its work. It had been a long time since I’d experienced such a perfect moment.

It was shattered when I heard the lock turning on the door. Ayumi was home, this was bad. We both stood up and I started gulping down the scotch again.

I set the empty glass down and clenched my jaw as the liquid scorched the inside of my mouth.

“That’s my wife,” I said.

“What should I do?”

“No point in hiding, just stay there and leave the talking to me, I’ll come up with something.”

I heard Ayumi’s keys clatter against the bowl she used for storing them beside the door.

“Daiki, are you here?” she asked.

“Yes.”

I waited for her disappointed sigh, but she restrained herself this time. We hated being in each other’s company, but we both knew that if I divorced her, she would take half of my wealth. If she divorced me without any grounds for court, she walked away empty-handed. Our marriage was one long stalemate.

Ayumi walked into the room dressed in a thin blouse and a grey skirt. Her slender legs had once been a favorite feature of mine, along with her supple breasts and spicy personality, but those things were long overshadowed by our crumbling marriage.

She stopped and stared at the two of us.

“Who is this?” she asked, gesturing to Kamaria.

“This is Kamaria, she’s here for us,” I said.

Ayumi lowered her eyes. “Us?”

Either this was going to work flawlessly, or it would be a disaster, either way she couldn’t say I cheated on her in court.

“Yeah, I know things have been rocky between us, and I can’t remember the last time we had sex, so I thought I would spice things up a bit.”

Ayumi shook her head.

“Daiki, buying lingerie and bondage gear is spicing things up. Bringing a mail order bride home for your little ménage a trois fantasy is another thing entirely.”

“She’s not a mail order bride, Ayumi, and before you shoot me down, can you at least give this a chance? She’s come a long way.”

Ayumi smirked. “Yeah, I’ll bet she has.”

I felt my blood boiling, but I had to keep this civil. At the very least, I couldn’t kick Kamaria out onto the street.

“Let’s all have a drink and get to know each other, can we at least do that?” I asked.

Ayumi continued staring down Kamaria with a fierce gaze before finally nodding.

“Sure, but I’m pouring them. I don’t need your heavy hand influencing this any further than you already have.”

It was something, so I gave ground and let her make the drinks. Surprisingly, she made them fairly strong, even by my elevated standards. I sat on the couch with Ayumi to my right and Kamaria to my left.

Ayumi took a large sip of her drink. It was some sort of mixed recipe. Kamaria took a sip of hers and I saw her eyes go wide. She probably didn’t drink much where she came from.

“So, Kamaria, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?” I asked.

She described her childhood to us, but I was only partially listening. My eyes were on Ayumi as she continued to sip her drink. Slowly but surely, I saw the fire going out in her eyes. She warming up to the idea, or at the very least she was less likely to do something rash.

When it was her turn to talk, Ayumi made more drinks. I was already feeling the effects of the liquor from my first two, but the further addition of Ayumi’s drinks amplified the feeling even more.

Three drinks in and Ayumi stood up. She walked past me and sat on the couch next to Kamaria. I finished my fifth drink slowly as I watched them whispering to one another. I couldn’t make out a single word they were saying, but I saw a wry smile crawl across Ayumi’s face.

She shot me a look before turning back to Kamaria. I watched as Ayumi leaned in close and wrapped her fingers around Kamaria’s head. They started kissing, tiny pecks at first, but soon I saw their tongues sliding across one another. Ayumi’s hands explored Kamaria’s body.

Ayumi pulled back and pushed Kamaria’s head down into her neck. She looked at me with eyes that I hadn’t seen in years. She threw her head back and moaned softly as Kamaria gently kissed her across the neck. Ayumi started unbuttoning her blouse. Kamaria started moving downward, kissing each exposed piece of skin as she peeled back the clothing.

Ayumi unclasped her bra and let it fall to the couch. Her breasts were thick and perky. No more or less than a handful in size, Kamaria took one into her hand and held it in place as she sucked on the nipple. Ayumi took a sharp gasp of breath and dug her fingers into Kamaria’s head.

“Yes, very good,” she whispered.

My heart was thundering in my chest as I watched the events unfold. Had they been discussing this to each other while I descended into a drunken stupor? It seemed like something Ayumi would do, I just didn’t expect this outcome as a result.

Kamaria sat up and they resumed their passionate kissing. Ayumi started kissing Kamaria’s neck and pulled one of the shoulder straps off of her dress. She pulled the other off and the dress slowly fell away. I watched Ayumi’s hands reached around the back and undo the bra. As it fell away I desperately wanted to see what was beneath. I saw Ayumi lean down and bury her face in Kamaria’s breasts. I heard the soft moaning that escaped her lips, but I was unable to see.

I started to stand up, but Ayumi raised a perfectly manicured finger.

“Not so fast, you sit right there and wait your turn,” she said.

Normally I hated when she told me what to do, but in this situation it was more sexy than frustrating. I obeyed and sat back down, despite my curiosity screaming for a glance at Kamaria’s naked form.

Ayumi stood up and pulled off her panties as she walked over to my right and sat back down. I watched Kamaria turn to face me and I was finally able to glimpse her delicious form. Her breasts were thick and massive, with large nipples that glistened from where Ayumi had been licking them.

“Go ahead, Daiki, I know you have a thing for large breasts,”

I didn’t know a single man worth his salt that didn’t appreciate a fine bosom. I leaned down and wrapped my hands around them. I gently massaged both, running my hands over the warm and soft skin of her body.

I leaned down and pulled one of the nipples into my mouth. I ran my tongue across, flicking it back and forth as I heard Kamaria’s sighs of satisfaction. I moved on to the other one and gently bit down into the nipple. Kamaria let loose a sharp sound of pain that was mixed with pleasure.

I felt Ayumi’s hand moving across my upper thigh. She pressed her fingers against me and I felt a rush through my entire body. Her hands delicately undid the belt, button, and zipper. I turned to face her as she pulled my pants off and wrapped her hands around the thick and hardening shaft.

She leaned down and took all of me into her mouth. The sensation was exquisite. I felt her tongue crawling across every inch as she lifted upward and looked over to Kamaria.

“Care to join me?” she asked.

I looked over as Kamaria leaned over. With her hand still wrapped around me, Ayumi offered a taste to Kamaria who eagerly ran her tongue across the tip. I didn’t know what to do with my hands, so I reached up on either side and took one of their breasts into my grasp. Kamaria’s head moved slowly up and down as her thick lips slid across me.

Ayumi sat up and looked me in the eye. I didn’t see love there, but I did see passion. It was fleeting, but it was something.

“This was a good idea,” she whispered into my ear.

She leaned in and kissed me gently as Kamaria continued to slide me in and out of her mouth with perfect rhythm. My body was overwhelmed with all of the sensations. Ayumi unbuttoned my dress shirt and slowly dragged her nails down my chest. She took me from Kamaria’s mouth and slid it back into her own.

It had been so long since we made love that I forgot how good she was at pleasing me. She also knew when I was going to come and she always stopped just shy of it. After all, she couldn’t have the night end without her just desserts.

She stood up and pulled Kamaria to her feet.

“I’m not sure which position you favor, but this is my personal favorite.”

Ayumi climbed onto me and slid her legs over mine. She wrapped her arms around my neck and braced herself against the couch as she lowered herself and I slid into her with perfect ease. Her body embraced me with a tight and smooth entry. I wrapped my hands around her waist as she grinded back and forth against me.

Kamaria sat down to my left and ran her fingers across my chest as Ayumi started bouncing up and down onto me. She pulled her shoulder length black hair back into a ponytail as her moans began to crescendo into screams of ecstasy. She threw her head back as her entire body shook with an explosive orgasm.

She climbed off of me and I looked over to Kamaria who was patiently waiting. I stood up and took her hand.

“Come with me,” I said.

Ayumi followed us as I lead Kamaria to the bathroom. The marble countertops were joined by a full length mirror that ran across the back wall. I turned her around and gently guided her to the edge of the counter.

“Lean over,” I said.

She did as she was told and leaned out across the countertop. Through the mirror, I had a perfect view of her luscious breasts as they hung freely from her body. I steadied myself and pushed into her from behind. I watched her mouth open wide as her eyes went shut and she let loose a soft moan. I gripped her waist with both hands and thrusted into her.

As I threw myself into her time and time again, I watched her face and the way her entire body shook with each impact. Her breasts swung beneath her as she bit her lower lip and cried out for more. I felt Ayumi’s hand behind me. She slapped my bare ass hard and started pushing me into Kamaria.

I was going to come, I had to pull out. I looked over to Ayumi who leaned in and whispered into my ear.

“Go on, come inside her, Daiki, you know you want to. You’re a bad boy, you don’t let anything get between you and what you want.”

I detected a sinister element to the way she was speaking, but I was wrapped up in the moment. Before I knew it, I lost control. I fell into Kamaria and came into her as my legs quaked beneath me. Ayumi had a satisfied grin on her face, which brought me back to the moment. Kamaria sighed as she stood up.

We took a shower together, the three of us easily fit into the large space. Ayumi and Kamaria took turns scrubbing my body with colored luffa sponges. I tried to focus on the moment, but my mind was preoccupied with Ayumi’s master plan she was setting into motion.

When they were finished with me, Ayumi and Kamaria went to work lathering each other up with soap. I climbed out of the shower and dried off. Not tonight, but tomorrow, I would have to find out what Ayumi was planning and get ahead of it.

Chapter 6

Kamaria

We all slept in the same bed that night. Ayumi told me that I did well, but I didn’t like her. Daiki on the other hand was someone special. He had a way about him that made him look powerful, but deep down he cared for others. I could feel his passion when he was inside me, and I wanted it again.

Ayumi had told me things, things that would ruin her plans. I didn’t want to keep secrets from Daiki. I wanted her gone and I wanted him all to myself. The only way to do that was to somehow tell him Ayumi’s secrets. It felt good to sleep in a real bed again. I slept naked in the soft sheets and rolled over to press myself against Daiki’s muscular chest. He wrapped his arm around me and held me close as I fell asleep.

The next day, Ayumi left for work and I was alone with Daiki. I loved the way he looked at me. He seemed so grateful when I cooked him meals and attended to his needs. Ayumi didn’t seem like the kind of person who had compassion like that. Days went by, followed by weeks. We had sex several more times. I played along, but I didn’t like Ayumi, I wanted to be alone with Daiki.

After a month I finally decided that he had to know. I walked over to him as he sat on the couch and watched something on the television.

“Daiki, there’s something I need to tell you,” I said.

“What is it Kamaria?”

“Ayumi is planning to divorce you and take half of your fortune so she can remarry her new lover,” I said.

Daiki turned off the television and turned to face me.

“How do you know this?” he asked.

“She told me. She wanted me to steal your attention and make you fall in love with me so you would come to the decision on your own.”

He stood up and rubbed his face with one of his hands as he stared into the distance.

“Why are you telling me then?”

“I care about you, and I think you care about me too.”

He walked over to me and softly kissed my forehead.

“I do care about you, Kamaria, but if this is true, I need proof,” he said.

“There’s more,” I said.

“More? Out with it.”

I pulled a pregnancy test out of my pocket and handed to him. It was positive. I could see the color drain from his face as he looked at it.

“I saw this one coming,” he said.

“I don’t want to become a single parent, Daiki, I want to be with you, and I want to have a family!” I pleaded.

He kissed me hard and nodded.

“You’ll have all those things. First I need to deal with Ayumi. If I can find evidence that she’s been cheating on me, she’ll have nothing.”

I followed Daiki into her room and watched as he furiously went through her things. I heard the door open and he spun around. I had been dreading this moment, but it was going to happen sooner or later. I just hoped my story wouldn’t leave me with a pregnancy ending and no father for the child.

Daiki charged out of the room.

“I know everything Ayumi! Who is he?”

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

I walked out of the room to face what I had done. Ayumi lowered her eyes at me.

“You didn’t,” she said.

“It’s not right! He’s a good person, he deserved to know!”

Ayumi shook her head. “Oh you naive little worm. He’s not a good person, he’s an arms dealer!”

Daiki looked over at Ayumi and she chuckled.

“You seriously thought I didn’t know? I’m not stupid, Daiki.”

“Don’t change the subject, you were trying to frame me so you could take half of everything I have!” Daiki shouted.

Ayumi shrugged. “It worked, didn’t it? I’m guessing you have a little one on the way with your mail order bride there.”

Daiki paused and I saw him clench his fists. I walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Just let her have it,” I said.

Daiki looked over at me with a startled expression.

“You’re taking her side? She doesn’t deserve a cent of my fortune!”

“Neither do you.”

His mouth dropped open.

“Think about how you made that money. You helped people kill each other. That blood is on your hands, Daiki. This is your chance to start a new life, with me. You’ll make your money back, but this time you’ll do it right.”

I saw his eyes light up. I could tell that he had doubts about his work, but Ayumi never helped him face those inner demons. He looked over to her.

“Get out, I’ll send a lawyer with the paperwork.”

“I have things here, you can’t kick me out!” Ayumi shouted.

He turned and looked at her.

“I just did. Send me your new boy toy’s address and I’ll have your things shipped. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

Ayumi grabbed her keys and walked to the door.

“Fine, Daiki, have it your way! I hope you two have a happy life!”

He turned away from her and looked at me as she slammed the door. I saw happiness in his eyes, and the same was reflected in mine. He smiled.

“Oh, I’m sure we will.”

The Secret Baby

Chapter 1

Jackie

Everybody dreams about that perfect life: white picket fence, loving husband, great kids, and not a care in the world. Maybe there’s a reason why they call it the American Dream, because it’s just that; a dream. The real world doesn’t follow the rules of fairy tales or idyllic opportunity. It throws you into its jaws, chews you up, and then spits you back out without so much as an apology.

There was a moment where I thought I had it all. I was twenty-three and my boyfriend, Axel Blackwell, got a great job working in construction after his twenty-fourth birthday. We finally signed a lease on an apartment, and then I found out I was pregnant. Our daily lives were insane, but they were good. Axel took the news well, but we both agreed that baby would have to stay a secret from our families. He promised me he would stay, we would get married, and we would raise our baby together. We had each other, and that was all I needed.

The day everything changed, I was standing in the kitchen making breakfast before Axel’s shift; bacon and scrambled eggs with cheese. It was simple, but I wasn’t exactly a five-star chef, and Axel always liked it when I made bacon. I felt the baby kick inside of me as I was stirring the eggs.

I reached down and rubbed the mound rising from my stomach.

“I know, you’ll be out soon, I promise,” I whispered.

The bacon popped and sizzled beside me as I heard Axel walk into the kitchen. He sat down at the table and I heard his industrial strength smartphone hit the surface shortly after. He let loose a long sigh.

“Everything alright, babe?” I asked.

“Frankie wants me to work overtime again this week,” he said.

“Well, isn’t that a good thing? We need the money after all.”

Axel slammed his fist on the table and I jumped in shock. The spatula I was using to stir the eggs fell to the floor.

I turned around and saw him hunched over the table with his head in his hands. He ran both hands through his thick black hair and leaned back as he let loose another sigh.

“Yeah, course we need the money babe, but what about me? I’m killing myself out there!”

I felt the baby kick again and braced myself against the counter.

“Well, maybe you can get a better job, something less physical?”

Axel looked over to me with his dark brown eyes and shook his head.

“How many times are we going to have this conversation? I never went to college, hell I didn’t even finish high school! What cushy office job is going to hire me? The only thing I’m good for is hard labor.”

I felt a surge of pain in my sides and back. I had false contractions before, but this was different. They were coming faster, more intense. Axel was still talking, but his voice had faded as my mind focused on the tightening pain in my back.

“Axel, I think the baby is coming,” I said.

He stopped mid-sentence and leapt out of his chair. He wrapped his arm around my back and steadied me against the counter.

“Alright, I’ll call out of work. Let’s get you to the hospital,” he said.

He led me through our small apartment and out the door. The sun was just rising above the horizon. The air was thick and humid after rainstorms the night before. Sweat formed across my head as I awkwardly limped to the car. Axel laid me down in the backseat and closed the door before leaping into the driver’s seat.

“Just hang in there baby, both of you.”

I smiled through the pain as he turned on the car and pulled out of the parking space. He always drove a little on the aggressive side, but this time he was pushing speed limits and switching lanes like a madman. Normally I would tell him to cut back on the alpha male crap, but in this situation his bravado came in handy.

We were at the hospital in a matter of minutes. He led me through the emergency room doors and immediately made a scene in front of the people scattered across the waiting room.

“My wife’s going into labor!” he shouted.

I felt the eyes of the onlookers all around me as a security guard and a nurse in a pale blue smock rushed toward us.

“We’ve got it from here,” the nurse said.

“I’m just going to park the car, I’ll be right back,” he whispered to me, and then turned to the nurse, “You take good care of her, that’s my son in there!”

It’s not much of a secret baby if you talk loud enough for the world to hear.

They led me through into the hospital proper and laid me down on a stretcher. The wheels squeaked and squealed as they carried me to the delivery room. I was on a proper bed with monitors and wires surrounding me before I knew it.

It was amazing how far technology had come. I was born in 2001 and now that it was 2025 everything was so different. Hospitals had technology beyond anything I would have imagined. They even offered to genetically alter the baby to remove the chance of defects or even just change his eye color.

Call me old fashioned, but I didn’t want any of that. Even if I did, the government’s idea of health insurance wouldn’t cover it, despite our massive monthly premium. I wanted my son to be the boy he was meant to be, no science involved.

Axel returned, just as he said he would. He was dressed in the same outfit as the doctors with a sterile mask over his face. He patted my shoulder with a gloved hand.

“How’re we doing?” he asked.

I looked over to the monitor beside me. It was somehow able to show us the baby in perfect detail as he sat inside of me.

“We’re doing well. The painkillers are working.”

Despite all of the pain, the stress, and the incredibly exhausting process, I held my baby son that day in my arms. It was the best day of my life.

Chapter 2

Axel

I had a son, I couldn’t believe it. It’s never real until you hold him in your arms and look into his little brown eyes. People always say he’s got your nose, or your eyes, but I could see myself in him. It was indescribable. We decided on the name Jacob, after my grandfather. My father may not have been the figure I needed him to be, but my grandfather was always there for me. Even when the cancer beat him down, he still helped me any way he could.

He gave me a piece of advice before the disease took him, he said: The world’s going to get worse and it’s going to try and drag you down with it, boy. No matter what, you don’t let it change you. You stay true to yourself and those you love. Always remember that.

Jaclyn, or as I called her, Jackie, wasn’t one to follow current events. She always said the news was depressing. She was right, but things were brewing, big things. I barely had time to get her back home from the hospital with our newborn son before it all came crashing down.

I sat on the side of the bed, hunched over my smartphone. Jacob had kept us both up for most of the night so Jackie was finally getting some much needed rest. I was reading the news story that would change my life, forever.

Tensions between the U.S. and the countries that we all owed money to had been growing; when it became clear those debts weren’t going to get repaid anytime soon. We had powerful enemies breathing down our necks, and now they finally cracked. After forming an alliance and pooling their resources, the Eastern Organized Front, or the EOF for short, decided it was time to step over the line. Our navy and their own were at each other’s throats somewhere out in the Pacific, but that day, June 17th, 2025, they opened fire on us without warning.

World War III they called it, the war that would end the United States. It was us against them, and it didn’t take a five-star general to see that we were immensely outnumbered.

The sensible thing to do would be to back down, but our president was just as much of a hothead as I was. So we signed the documents and in his infinite wisdom he decided to reinstate a draft.

All able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and thirty would be required to enlist. Short of breaking both my legs, I qualified. My hands were trembling as I set the phone down beside me on the bed. I looked back to Jackie and then over to Jacob’s crib. I couldn’t leave them without a husband and father, but I didn’t have much of a choice either. If I enlisted, I would be killed. We all would, this wasn’t a war you could win.

So I had two choices: suicide or fugitive. If I ran, they would hunt me, but if I went quietly, they’d have me serve as fodder on some god-forsaken field for the enemy. I slowly stood up and walked over to Jacob’s crib. He was sleeping soundly, I couldn’t risk waking him up. I grabbed the leather jacket my grandfather gave me, pulled on a pair of blue jeans, and walked out to the kitchen. I took the magnetic tablet off the fridge and set it on our modest table. Paper had been outlawed in 2020 when a bill passed to cease deforestation of the Earth’s major ecosystems.

The damage had been done if you asked me, but the bill forced the government to provide cheap electronic solutions for everything from books, to journals, to sketchbooks and school textbooks. Of course, all of that was going to cost money, money we didn’t have.

I tried to type using the onscreen keyboard but it was too frustrating. I turned on the voice-to-text mode and walked to the opposite side of the kitchen.

“Jackie, by the time you read this I’ll already be gone. I know you don’t keep up with the news, but we’re at war. They’re taking everyone they can to the meat grinder, but I won’t be one of them. I have to disappear for a while, get off the grid, but I promise you I’ll come back. As soon as they lose my scent or this damn war ends, I’ll be back. Wait for me, baby. Love, Axel.”

I looked down at the digitally handwritten note. It would have to do. I had to put as much distance between myself and this place as I could before they showed up to haul off all the men. I placed the tablet back on the surface of the fridge and walked back to the bedroom as quietly as I could.

I stood over Jacob’s crib and gently touched his soft cheek before planting a kiss on his forehead. It could be years before I would be able to safely return. He would grow up without me, without his father. I had no other choice, unlike my deadbeat dad who walked out on us; I was trying to avoid him losing a father entirely.

I turned and walked over to Jackie. She was sleeping peacefully. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes upon. I wanted to stay and protect her, protect Jacob, but I couldn’t. They would haul me off like some criminal in a week and I would never see them again. I leaned down and kissed her on the cheeks.

“I love you baby,” I whispered.

She replied with a few soft sounds that barely resembled words. She was fast asleep. I reached over to the picture frame on our nightstand. It was both of us on our first date. I took her to the beach and we posed for that picture with the sun setting in the background. It was my favorite picture of us, I couldn’t leave it behind. I took the picture out delicately and placed it in my pocket.

I fought back tears as I stood up and walked to the entrance of our apartment. I didn’t feel good about any of it. This wasn’t the right thing, but it was the only thing I could do. I walked out and closed the door behind me.

Out in the parking lot was Jackie’s old station wagon. She had gotten it from her parents so the thing was ancient compared to the cars surrounding it from recent years. Parked next to it was my motorcycle. While it was also old and technically illegal because it used a combustion engine, it had class. A small gas can hung from the back of it as gas stations were few and far between.

They didn’t do much to enforce the rules about combustion engines; otherwise Jackie and I would have been out of our vehicles a long time ago. People still drove them, and gas stations, albeit small ones, could still be found in the corners of small towns.

I climbed onto the motorcycle and placed the keys into the ignition. This was it, the first day of the rest of my life. I turned the key and the engine roared. It barked and growled, nothing like the quiet and meek engines we used in modern cars. No, this was a thing of beauty. I slid my helmet on and drove off. I didn’t know where I was going. Anywhere but here I suppose

Chapter 3

Jackie

You never think about the day the person you love leaves you, mostly because there’s such a large part of you that knows it will never happen. Maybe I was naive, but I believed Axel when he said he was going to stick around. I remember, when I first saw his digital note on the fridge, my knees went weak.

I grabbed my phone and called him repeatedly, but he didn’t pick up. My first reaction was pure anger. He was being selfish; he left us behind so he wouldn’t have to join the military. Either way, he would have been taken from us, but if he was going to run, he could have at least taken us.

Then there were nights where I finished a bottle of wine after Jacob went to sleep and I thought about how he had no choice. He promised to come back, after all. I didn’t know if I still loved him or hated him, honestly it depended on the time of day. One thing was certain though, I couldn’t raise Jacob alone. Axel had transferred everything he had into my bank account before he left, but it wasn’t enough to last more than a few weeks.

I could ask my parents for help, but they didn’t know about Jacob. Their reaction would have been horrific if Axel was here, but with him gone it would be even worse. They would force me to move back in with them. They would take my baby from me, probably send him to some boarding school or offer him up for adoption.

They loved to dig their claws in and control my life like I was a puppet with strings leading right back to them. Help always came with a catch, which is why I never asked, unless I had to. No, I couldn’t tell them, and Axel’s parents were separated. He didn’t even speak to his mother anymore.

I was alone in this. Time went on and I lost hope. The money Axel left dwindled until there was nothing but pennies left. I applied for assistance from the government, but they denied me. Even with an infant son, they were too obsessed with their war to help a mother with her newborn son. I was out of options. I remember sitting on the bed, my eyes red and swollen from sobbing. I had never felt so alone in my entire life.

My phone starting ringing on the bed next to me. I looked over and saw the name of my best friend, Lisa, lit up on the screen. We hadn’t spoken since Axel left, but something told me to pick up the call. Honestly, if someone would just listen, that would be enough for now. I picked it up and swiped across the screen to answer.

“Hey Lisa,” I said.

“Jackie, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” she asked.

She always knew, she could tell when I was sick, when I was sad, and everything in between.

“It’s Axel,” I said.

“What did he do? Did he hit you?”

She didn’t think very highly of him.

“No Lisa, nothing like that. He ran out when they announced the draft.”

Lisa sighed into the speaker.

“How are you holding up?

“Well, we had a baby before he left, so not well.”

I heard Lisa’s voice turn sour through the speaker. We agreed not to tell anyone about the baby, friends included. I knew this moment would come sooner or later.

“You have a baby? Why didn’t you tell me? We tell each other everything, Jackie!”

I felt the tears welling up behind my eyes again. Lisa sounded hurt, I knew I would be.

“We didn’t want anyone to know. You know how my parents are.”

“You thought I would tell them?” Lisa asked.

“No, not that, I just, I promised Axel I wouldn’t tell a soul.”

Lisa scoffed. “A lot of good that did.”

“Listen, Lisa, you know I love you like a sister, but I’m not good right now. We’re out of money and I don’t know what to do. Can I call you back later and we’ll talk about this?”

I could practically see Lisa shaking her head.

“No, that’s not how this works. You need someone there to help you.”

“Lisa, I couldn’t ask that from you.”

“I’m not talking about me, Jackie, I’m talking about Tyler.”

Tyler was Jackie’s older brother. He was kind of a dork in school, but he grew up fast and got in shape. Last time I heard about him, he was a professional athlete, playing as the quarterback of a big football team. Asking Lisa for help was bad enough, but asking help from my best friend’s older brother? I couldn’t.

“Lisa, Tyler is busy; he’s a famous athlete isn’t he?”

“Yeah, but he busted his shoulder last season, they won’t let him play for at least a year. He’s too busted up to get drafted like the other guys, so he’s been moping around my house for the last three weeks. He’s driving me crazy, to be honest. He can’t lift anything heavy, but otherwise he’s fully capable and he’s got enough money for three lifetimes so he can help you out. He owes me, and besides, he’s always had a crush on you,” Lisa said.

“No, Lisa, I can’t. Axel said he was coming back!”

“Listen, Jackie, I don’t know if you’re bad boy biker is coming back, or if he’s in some kind of MC, but in the meantime, you have a newborn to take care of and bills to pay. You don’t have to sleep with him, but you’d be doing me a favor if you take him off my hands.”

It didn’t feel right, but I was out of options. Axel leaving had finally backed me into a corner.

“Alright, alright, he can stay here,” I said.

“Good, it’s done then. I’ll talk to him tonight and he’ll be there in a couple days. Are you going to be alright until then?”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine.”

“Good. Oh, and Jackie?”

This was the part where she lectured me about what I had done wrong. She was wise, but I swear sometimes I thought she was more of a mother to me than my real one ever was.

“Yes, Lisa?”

“I want to meet that baby. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

She always knew how to make me smile.

Chapter 4

Axel

I wasn’t the only one who dodged the draft, but I still saw my face on the news and on the digital billboards. They cycled through pictures of all the dodgers, offering a reward to anyone who turned them in. They were ruthless, trying to get other people to do their dirty work. I kept my face hidden, wore a hat and sunglasses everywhere I could.

I stuck to small towns where the gas stations still existed anyway. I looked for work, or any way to make money, but I soon learned that people would rather turn me in instead of hiring a draft-dodger. I had already given everything I could spare to Jackie when I left. The only money I kept was for gas and food, but even that was running low.

Just like my money, I knew my luck was going to run out eventually. They had an entire broadcast channel running the names and faces of all the people who didn’t report for the draft. My fortune turned for the worst at a gas station in some no-name town just west of nowhere. I had to pay with cash; it was too easy to track cards. That meant going inside and paying, something I always dreaded doing.

I made the walk to the main building and pulled open the glass door. A bell clanged against the glass as I was hit with the stale and cold breeze that seemed to exist in every gas station. The teller sat behind a counter, his face buried in a magazine as I casually browsed the candy bar aisle.

I checked for exits like usual, just in case I needed to run. I walked back to the ATM and looked at the bulletin board. The owner had flyers up with lists of the dodger’s names. That wasn’t a good sign. I could always bail and head to another station, but I didn’t think my bike would make it. I walked back up to the counter and saw the magazine lower. A tattoo revealed itself from beneath his sleeve as he set the magazine down.

It was an emblem, military if I had to guess. No wonder he had a list of draft-dodgers, he was veteran. This was all way too risky, but I wasn’t about to run out of gas on some stretch of road in the middle of a blistering desert.

“Twenty on pump two,” I said.

His wrinkled eyes glanced up at me and then back to his register.

“You look familiar kid,” he said.

“I’ve just got one of those faces,” I replied.

He pressed a few keys on the register and the drawer popped open.

“Take off the glasses and the hat,” he said.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

He picked up the crinkled bill from the counter and placed it in the register. His hand came back out with a revolver. It had a long silver barrel that gleamed as he turned its gaze on me.

“Did I stutter?” he asked.

I pulled off the glasses and the hat. I slowly lowered them onto the counter and let him stare at me with his piercing eyes.

“Why’d you do it?”

“I have a family,” I said.

He chuckled. “So you run and leave them behind?”

“Better than fighting a war we can’t win.”

He pulled back the hammer on the revolver.

“Watch your tongue. Now you just stay real still until they come to get you and we won’t have an issue.”

“Please, just let me go! I can pay you double the reward!”

“I’m not interested in money.”

“Then why? Why are you turning me in?”

He kept the gun perfectly trained on me, but I could see his hand shaking. If I timed it right, I could get that gun from him. He picked up his phone and placed it on his ear, holding it with his shoulder.

“Yeah, I’ve got a dodger here. Yeah, hold on one second.”

He held out the phone towards me.

“Say your name.”

I clenched my fists. “Axel Blackwell.”

“You got that? Good, he’ll be here.”

The teller put down the phone and steadied his grip on the pistol.

“I’m turning you in because you’re exactly like me.”

“We’re nothing alike,” I said.

He nodded. “No, not anymore we’re not.”

I waited for his hand to start shaking again, that’s when I would make my move.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I was like you once. I had a girl, a kid, a bike, and not a care in the world. War or no, you we’re always going to leave. You want to know why?”

I saw his hand starting to quake.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Because you don’t care about them, not really. You don’t value them like you should. You’re not cut out for the office job, two kids, and a trophy wife life. Take a stroll with death, though, and you’ll find that they’re suddenly the most important things in the world.”

“I’m not going anywhere. When this is all over, I’m going back to them,” I said.

“Just keep telling yourself that.”

I had enough of this. I swung out with my right hand and gripped the revolver’s barrel. The gun slid out of the shaking man’s hands like it as covered in grease. His eyes went wide as I turned the gun around on him.

“Go ahead, shoot!” he said.

I slid the gun into the back of my pants and shook my head.

“You don’t know me.”

I turned and ran to the door. They would send a special unit to come get me. With that kind of tech I had two, maybe three minutes before they would descend in hover jets and swarm like locusts. I could have stayed, could have gone willingly, but that wasn’t my style. I climbed onto my motorcycle and started up the engine. It grumbled and sputtered, but it held in the end. I fired the gas and shot out onto the dusty road.

I was somewhere in the Midwest. Vast plains of dust and sand stretched out into every horizon. Towering mesas dotted the landscape like strange mountains. I wasn’t on the road for more than a minute before I heard the roaring crackle of jet engines. The agile vehicles tore past me and spun on a dime. Soldiers dressed in full body suits descended from within, rappelling down onto the road in front of me.

I pushed the bike harder as the engine released a roaring battle cry. I wasn’t going down without a fight. I pulled the gun out of my pants and fired blindly into the throng of soldiers. They dove out of the way and created a pathway for me to escape. I made it past their impromptu roadblock just as they opened fire. Bullets soared past me, hissing as they barely missed their target.

I weaved the bike across the road, making it as difficult as possible for them to hit their mark. Of course, these weren’t your standard beat cops fresh out of the academy. These were trained killers. They never miss.

They wanted me alive, but perhaps that plan changed when I opened fire on them. I felt a bullet strike true. White hot pain exploded through my back as my vision went red. I lost balance and tumbled off the bike. I hit the road with my shoulder and rolled into the momentum. My vision thrashed and tumbled until I my head hit the ground just right and everything went black.

The last thing I saw before everything went dark was the picture I took with me when I left. My mind went back to that night on the beach. The sun was setting behind us; Jackie’s scented sunscreen made her smell like coconut. I could feel her in my arms; I could feel the salty air rushing off the ocean. That moment was perfect, I never wanted to leave. Maybe now I won’t have to.

Chapter 5

Jackie

Tyler was nothing like I remembered him, but that was a good thing. In school he was always this lanky awkward kid who clearly had a crush on me, but never knew how to show it. Now he was a suave and chiseled professional athlete. He was the kind of guy you saw on magazine covers and in shaving commercials. I had to admit, he caught my eye when he first arrived.

I was different too, though. I had once been a skinny girl lacking in curves, but now I was a big beautiful woman who had a lot to offer for the right man. Up until he left, I had thought Axel was that man.

Tyler was a sweetheart underneath it all, though. He was great with Jacob and he took really good care of me when I needed help. There was a sexual tension between us from the moment he walked in, and as time went on it only got worse. I saw the way he looked at me, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t return his looks, but I was still hopeful that Axel would keep his promise and come back to me.

That hope started to fade though. Tyler was going to be with us for a year while he recovered and that was a long time to live with that kind of tension in the air. Things progressed slowly, like the pace of a high school relationship. We flirted almost constantly in those first few months. Then there were mornings when I was cooking breakfast that he would come out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

I stole a glance every time he walked by. My heart started racing when I traced a line down his chest and towards his waist. Part of me always hoped the towel would accidentally slide off. When Jacob was sleeping, we would put on a movie or watch one of my cheesy reality TV shows. As the nights went on we started sitting closer and closer until one night, after several glasses of wine, I found myself laying against him. His arm was draped over my shoulder. I felt comfortable and safe for the first time since Axel left.

It had been over eleven months since he left. They stopped talking about draft-dodgers on the news, but he never came back. Either they found him, or he really did just run away. I didn’t want to think about that, though, I wanted to exist in this moment.

Tyler reached up and ran a hand through my hair. A gentle chill ran down my spine as he delicately massaged my shoulders. On the TV, two contestants on a cooking show were fiercely arguing about the proper way to use turmeric in a dish.

“Jackie, can I ask you something?” Tyler asked.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“It could just be me, but I feel like there’s been something between us over this last year. I didn’t want to say anything out of respect, but I can’t stop the way I feel about you,” he said.

My heart froze solid in my chest. I felt it too, but I was hoping this moment would never come. I didn’t want to choose, I just wanted things to go back to the way they were.

“It’s not just you, Tyler, but I, I don’t know what to do,” I said.

I sat up and looked at him. I stared into his emerald eyes and I realized that even after all this time living with him, I still didn’t know him, not really. Of course, after several glasses of wine, my judgement was impaired to say the least.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he said.

I felt his fingers run through my hair as he pulled me toward him. At some point, I just let go and gave in to my desires. I fell into his kiss and felt his lips press against mine as his coarse stubble rubbed across my cheek. His confident hands slipped under the t-shirt I was wearing and pulled it up over my head. We broke apart for a moment and I saw a fire in his eyes. Whether it was passion or simply desire, it was a look that I severely missed.

We fell back into each other’s arms. His hands unclasped my bra and it fell to the ground. He cupped one of my breasts in his hand as he laid me down on the couch. He broke our kiss and buried his lips in my neck, gently kissing as he traced a path to my breasts. He took one into his mouth as his tongue danced around the nipple. With his other hand, he deftly undid the button on my jeans and pulled them off of me, along with my panties.

He threw them both to the floor as he pulled my legs apart. He planted a kiss on my knee, then my inner thigh, and then his tongue slid into me. He gripped my legs to steady himself as he wandered up and began tracing circles and lines with his tongue. With each movement my body shook with ecstasy. Pure pleasure exploded through me as Tyler dug his fingers into my thighs. He showed no signs of slowing down.

I grabbed a pillow from behind me and used it to muffle the moans that eventually became shrieks of uncontrollable pleasure. I lay perfectly still as he stood up from the couch. My legs twitched and shook in the aftermath. Tyler pulled the pillow off of my face and grabbed my shoulders. He sat me up and stood naked in front of me.

“Your turn,” he said.

I reached out and took him into my hand. He reached up and pressed his hand against the back of my head. I opened my mouth and let him slide in. He pushed me forward until all of him was inside my mouth. He held me there for a moment before letting me go. I pulled back and wiped my mouth. He was getting rough, but I actually liked it.

I wrapped my hands around his ass and pulled him toward me. I slid him into my mouth, felt his hips rock backward and then thrust forward again. I let him set the rhythm as my hand descended between my legs. Two fingers, moving slowly, I kept my mouth open and let him thrust into me as my fingers danced.

Muffled cries escaped my lips as I felt another climax rising within me. I pulled him into my mouth as a tidal wave crashed over me. I pulled him out to catch my breath as my legs shook uncontrollably. I felt Tyler grab me by the shoulders and pulled me to my feet. He spun me around and pushed me forward. I threw out my hands to stop the fall and landed on the back side of the couch. I was bent over; he spread my legs apart and reached forward. His hands grasped my dangling breasts and twisted the nipples playfully. I heard him tear open a condom as I stood there in front of him.

I was still trying to catch my breath as he furiously slapped my ass with a loud crack. I let out a cry of both pleasure and pain as he stepped forward and threw himself into me. He gripped my waist tightly to hold me in place as he rammed and thrusted into me. My hair shook all around me. My body crashed into the cushions with each powerful push.

The pleasure and ecstasy crackled within me like thunder and lightning. Tyler’s true nature was animalistic. It was exciting, but also scary. He seemed to lose control as he came. He slapped my backside two; three, four times before he pulled out and I fell onto the couch. He didn’t fall onto the couch with me, didn’t hold me in his arms like Axel once did.

Instead he walked away, washed off, and went to bed. He had his way with me and now he was finished. I felt dirty, like I had been used and thrown out. I took a scalding hot shower that night and when I went to bed I used the pillow to muffle my sobs. I just wanted things to go back to the way they were.

Chapter 6

Axel

I should have died on that stretch of road in the middle of nowhere, but I didn’t. The bullet they shot me with was pulled out, and when they patch me us they decided against putting another one in my head. Instead they offered me a choice: rot in jail for the rest of my life, or take on an impossible mission.

If I somehow pulled off their mission, they would let me go back to my family. I would have to go deep undercover behind enemy lines. It would take a year, easy. I was part of a team, all of whom posed as immigrants defecting from the states. We had military training, but they didn’t know that. We all had different stories; some of them even had a fake family to go with their fake names.

I was a loner before, and I was going to be a loner again in this new life. It wasn’t too hard to fool them. They expected a bad boy with an attitude problem and an issue with authority. That’s exactly what they got. I almost didn’t make it over the border, spent some time in a holding cell after taking a few swings at a military man, but it was worth it. He was an asshole, and my cover was more believable than ever.

I was assigned work at one of their factories producing weapons and ammo on an assembly line. It was mindless work, but they had me steal small samples on a weekly basis. It was never enough to really cause a problem, but enough for them to get a leg up on the enemy. That, of course, wasn’t my ultimate mission.

No, I was just biding my time until the real target showed up: the General of the EOF, chosen by representatives of its countries. The brains of the operation as it were. He was due to tour the factories at some point during my stay. It took almost a year before they gathered us all in the main hall and announced that the glorious leader of the EOF would be coming to tour our factory.

I didn’t sleep a wink that night. The mission involves killing the General, but that was just the beginning. Once it was done, we had to get out on our own. That way, if we’re captured, they could deny involvement. We were all draft-dodgers, but now, we were all going to do this together.

The phone rang in my one-bedroom apartment on the morning of the tour. I picked it up with a shaking hand.

“Oh-four-seven-two-six-victor-Charlie-Zulu, checking in,” I said.

There was silence on the other end for about ten seconds. I thought I heard someone’s breath crackling in the speaker.

“It’s just us,” a voice said.

“Sir?”

“Don’t ‘sir’ me, none of that matters anymore. Blackwell, they’re all dead.”

If everyone else was gone, that left myself and our squad leader, Patterson. He was undercover as a bodyguard for the General. Another of our agents was supposed to get a job catering the event, and still another was supposed to sabotage aspects of the plant to create an accident. We had multiple options for taking out the target, but now we were down to two: Patterson could kill the general himself, or I could try and come up with another plan.

“How do we proceed?” I asked.

“Report to your shift like usual, I’ll be at the General’s side. We’ll just have to improvise.”

I put the phone down and went through my usual routine to get ready for the day’s work. I was at my post, ready and waiting when the bells rang and the lines started up. The equipment they used was outdated and the items we were assembling were volatile. Other men have died on the line because of a misplaced firing pin, a loaded clip, or a botched grenade.

The door to my section of the factory swung open and a loud voice declared the arrival of the General. We were told to keep working like it didn’t matter. We had to showcase our skills to him and ensure that everything was being done properly. Despite the grinding metal gears and the hum of the machines, I somehow heard every single footstep, moving to the beat of my heart.

I made brief eye contact with Patterson. He eyed me with a glare as if he expected me to have done something by now. As the General approached from behind, I deftly assembled a grenade and placed the trigger pin beside it, as per protocol.

“Excellent time,” the General said.

I continued working as if he hadn’t said anything. He walked past me, along with Patterson. When the next grenade came, I assembled it, placed the trigger pin inside, and then pulled it out. The timer started. I threw the pin at Patterson. It hit him in the back of the head as the grenade slid down the assembly line. He spun around and looked at me as the General continued walking.

I pointed to the assembly belt and Patterson immediately understood. He dove away from the General just as the grenade detonated in a massive fireball. Smoke rushed past me as I was thrown to the ground. The factory alarms blared all around us as I struggled to climb onto my feet. Patterson appeared and helped me stand. My ears were ringing and my vision was blurry.

“That was some quick thinking,” Patterson said.

“Yeah, now comes the hard part.”

From within the swirling smoke, the General emerged. His face was burned and charred. I could see shrapnel protruding from his legs. He lurched toward us and grabbed Patterson by the neck. They tumbled to the ground as Patterson struggled to push him off. I reached down and pulled the pistol from the General’s holster.

He was growling words that I couldn’t understand. His lips could barely move.

“Blackwell, shoot! Do it now!”

I aimed the gun at the smoldering General, but I had trouble pulling the trigger. This would be my first time killing someone.

“Do you want to see your family again?” Patterson asked.

I pictured Jackie and Jacob. That I was all I needed. I squeezed the trigger and put two rounds into the General. Patterson stood up and took the gun from me.

“Hesitate again and I’ll leave you behind. Let’s go.”

We left the factory in all of the commotion. The military was moving in from every angle. The place would be on lockdown in mere seconds.

“How are we going to get out of here?” I asked.

Patterson looked around.

“Find cover, they should be here any minute.”

I followed Patterson to an outcropping hanging over a supply cache. Bombs started falling from the sky. The factory was awash in flames as we hid behind a stack of steel crates.

“An air strike? I thought they wouldn’t come for us?” I asked.

“Not until the job was done! The men on a suicide mission are the most desperate, and the most creative!” Patterson shouted.

“You knew?” I asked.

He nodded as he grinned. “Yeah, but I’m not a draft-dodger. Consider your sins absolved.”

I shook my head. Yeah, maybe one sin, but not all of them.

Chapter 7

Jackie

Tyler was sweet at first, even loving. As time went on, though, he started to become angry. Ever since we made love, he became more distant. He seemed angry all the time, and he drank every night until he passed out. I hated thinking about it, but it seemed like he was acting for the past year. A part of me wondered if he only wanted to sleep with me, so he forced himself to be nice.

There were times when we got into arguments, and I was terrified that he would hit me. I wanted to say something to Lisa, but how could I tell my best friend that her older brother was an abusive asshole? Up until then, he hadn’t laid a finger on me, but I truly felt like he was one argument away from hitting me.

He loved going out to sports bars to watch the big games. Being a professional athlete, he was always dragging me out to the bar when his team was playing. He was too persuasive, so I usually went and hired a babysitter for Jacob. He was, after all, paying for everything. He loved to hang that over my head.

We were at the sports bar; sitting at a table, and Tyler was downing his fourth beer as he pointed at the screen and called out random player’s names. I watched him drink another, and another, and another, until the game was over. He paid his tab and we left the bar. He was too drunk to drive like most nights, so we walked home.

About halfway back there was an alley that was largely deserted. Tyler grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the darkened alley.

“I can’t believe I never thought of this!” he shouted.

“What are you doing?”

“Take off your panties,” he said.

He started undoing his pants and I realized what he wanted.

“No, absolutely not! You’re drunk, we’re going home!”

That was the moment. He pulled back his hand and struck me across the face. Pain lit up across my vision as I fell against the wall. I was in shock, stunned, as he started unbuttoning my shirt.

I reached out to push him away, but he was too strong. He closed his fist and hit me again. My head shot back and hit the wall. The alley was spinning as I felt him undressing me.

“You should have listened,” he whispered.

I felt his dirty hands clawing at me. I wanted to fight back, but everything was blurry and the pain was unbearable. Tyler disappeared. I felt his hands leave me as he tumbled to the ground. I stood up from the wall and turned to face him.

Another man was lying on top of him. He sat up and started punching him repeatedly. I saw blood spewing from his nose with each subsequent hit. I ran over and grabbed the person by the shoulder.

“It’s fine, don’t hurt him!” I shouted.

The man turned to face me. It was Axel.

“You?” I asked.

He stood up. “Jackie, it’s me, I’m back!”

I threw up my hands and walked away from him. He chased after me. I felt his hands on my shoulders. They were rugged, but gentle at the same time.

“You think you can just show up like nothing happened?” I asked.

“Baby, it’s not like that. I don’t know who that asshole was, but please, let me get you out of here. I’ll explain everything.”

I wasn’t ready to welcome Axel back with open arms, but I didn’t want to go home with Tyler either.

“He knows where I live,” I said.

Axel’s eyes lit up. “He lives with you?”

“It’s complicated.”

“I’m sure it is. Here, I have a car. Let’s go home to Jacob and I promise I’ll tell you everything.”

“What about him, what if he comes for me?” I asked.

Axel laid his hand on my cheek, just like he used to do when we first started dating. I felt scars on his face. They were new and fresh, which made me wonder what he had been doing all this time. I looked into his eyes and I saw that love that we shared, burning brighter than ever.

“I’ll take care of him. From here on out, I’m going to protect my family, whatever it takes, I’ll never leave you again,” he said.

I smiled as he took me into his arms. I didn’t know why, but I felt like I could believe him. I loved him with all my heart. It was like he never left.

The Dragon’s Love Affair

Chapter 1

Ragnar Eriksen had lost everything to the Dragonslayers. His wife and son did not choose to be born as dragon shifters. Ragnar promised his wife and son that he would protect them, that no harm would ever come to them. That promise was broken when the Dragonslayers came and slaughtered an entire village of dragon shifters living peacefully in the Scandinavian mountains.

Ragnar and his people had been ruthlessly hunted for centuries by humans, but the Dragonslayers were different. They had the form and persona of humans, but their strength and longevity revealed that they were something different. Some say it was because they drank the blood of the dragons they killed and drew strength from the blood. Others say they are fallen gods who cannot rise to power again while the dragon shifters exist. The truth remains a mystery, for the Dragonslayers are an elusive group.

After the loss of his family, Ragnar’s people were scattered. He followed one of the wounded Dragonslayers back to a place where they met. It was a veritable fortress hidden in the Black Forest of Germany. There were hundreds of them, but Ragnar was confident that he and his fellow dragon shifters could overpower the fortress if they had the element of surprise. The Nordic ice dragons were among the most powerful of the dragon tribes. Ragnar’s icy breath tore through flesh and bone and leveled cities faster than fire ever could.

Frozen solid in the blink of an eye, Ragnar would shatter those who took everything from him. He returned to his people and pleaded with the elders to form an attack party. They told him his need for revenge would lead only to more bloodshed. They told him to mourn his family and leave the Dragonslayers to their own devices.

They have grown old and soft. Their icy hearts have melted, Ragnar thought. He would go himself then and infiltrate the fortress. He shifted into a beast of legend, with scales blacker than the night sky and cold blue eyes that reflected his frozen soul. His wings spanned far in both directions, casting an ominous shadow on the clouds below. The air was thin and crisp. The full moon above refracted across his shimmering black scales, casting him in a white glow.

Flying this close to heaven was the only time Ragnar thought he could feel the presence of his wife and son. He imagined them flying by his side, soaring above the cares and worries of the world below. Ragnar descended beneath the clouds and dived at rapid pace to avoid being spotted. He landed in a clearing and quickly shifted back to his human form.

He was naked. His human form could not withstand the icy chill of winter for long. Fortunately the fortress was close. He made his way silently through the forest until he spotted a lone guard standing watch. Ragnar circled around and approached from behind.

Ragnar wrapped his arm around the man’s throat and pulled him down. He clenched his thick bicep and pulled his forearm upward, cutting off the man’s air supply. He was too shocked and surprised to fight back. He lost consciousness and Ragnar slowly released him. He pondered for a long while if he should deliver a killing blow, but decided against it. He would die with the rest of them when the time was right.

Ragnar took his clothes which consisted of a suit and crimson tie with plain black slacks. He had a gun holstered at his side and a wireless communicator in his ear. Ragnar took everything and dressed himself as the guard. He made his way to the fortress and walked with a quiet confidence that he hoped would allow him to blend in.

There seemed to be an event being held within the high walls of the complex. Various humans were arriving dressed in military uniforms and decorated with medals. There were representatives from various countries. Ragnar saw all manner of different flags stitched upon the shoulders of the men entering through the main gate. Many of them walked with woman by their side. The whole scene made Ragnar think he was attending a celebration or gala instead of infiltrating the heart of his enemies.

The guards at the front gate wore the same clothing as Ragnar. They afforded him a slight nod as he passed through without issue. Ragnar breathed a sigh of relief as he melded himself into the crowd. Guards were placed at various intervals and directed the guests through the open complex. Buildings passed by on either side, holding secrets that Ragnar was determined to reveal. All in due time, he thought.

“Don’t you have something you’re supposed to be guarding?”

Ragnar turned and saw a woman dressed in a tight black dress that traced the outline of her curvaceous form. She had jet black hair and glistening emerald eyes that regarded Ragnar with a quiet curiosity.

“I’m on break,” Ragnar muttered.

“Ah, I see. Going to see this Apollo fellow then?” She asked.

Ragnar hadn’t heard that name before.

“Apollo?”

“Yeah, one of your bosses. Are you new or something?”

Ragnar shook his head. “I’ve been doing this a long time.”

“Well, since you’re on break, maybe you can be my date?”

“You’re here alone?”

The woman waved her hand to dismiss the idea.

“No, but I haven’t the slightest idea where my husband is. Besides, if you turn me down, I’ll tell your boss you’re skipping out on work.”

Ragnar clenched his jaw. This woman was becoming a nuisance.

“Very well,” he said.

The woman interlocked her arm with Ragnar. He hadn’t felt the touch of a woman in some time. It was both welcome and distracting. He had to remain hidden until this Apollo revealed himself. Then he would strike at the heart of the Dragonslayers.

The earpiece crackled with static. Ragnar stopped in his tracks and focused on the sound. The woman’s pace came to a grinding halt. She teetered on her heels and let loose an audible sigh.

“Gamma post, report in! You’re late again!” A voice shouted.

Ragnar pressed his finger against the communicator and heard a click.

“All clear here,” he said.

“Miss another check and I’ll have your ass, you hear me?”

“Yes sir.”
Ragnar looked back to the woman who was still relentlessly clinging to his arm.

“Trouble in paradise?” She asked.

“I don’t know how long I can stay,” Ragnar said, “They’re going to find out I’m away from my post.”

The woman gestured to the continued flow of guests.

“Then hurry up and escort me to the presentation dinner!”

Ragnar returned to the throng of moving people. Everyone was being led like sheep into one of the larger buildings. Inside the drab interior was decorated with ornate tapestries that hung from the walls and covered the plain concrete beneath. Tables and chairs were arranged across the open space and a stage with a podium lined the back wall.

“We should probably know each other’s names if we’re going to go any further with this,” the woman said.

“I don’t think I’ll be staying for the presentation,” Ragnar said.

“Nonsense! By the time my husband finishes bragging to every general in here the dinner will be over! Don’t make a woman eat alone.”

She extended her hand. “I’m Isabel.”

“Ragnar.”

“Oh, I like that name! What is that, European?” She asked.

“No, it’s not.”

“Well then, let’s find out seats, shall we Ragnar?”

He was growing tired of this woman. She was clearly starved for attention, but he couldn’t afford to have his divided. Ragnar sat beside her at one of the tables and scanned the room. He didn’t see any Dragonslayers, just a bunch of humans enjoying each other’s company.

When a Dragonslayer did enter the room, Ragnar felt the temperature drop. Their presence was haunting, like being in the room with a malevolent spirit. It was just one for now, but Ragnar knew this one was somehow important. It was the way he carried himself, the contempt in his gaze as he looked out at the humans in the room like they were cattle.

He had a chiseled jaw and ashy white skin. His thick brown hair was perfectly manicured into a high and tight haircut. He took the stage and tapped the microphone that extended from the podium. The crowd went silent.

“Thank you all for coming here. I appreciate that so many nationalities and countries are willing to work together in this endeavor. My name is Apollo, and I am one of five who will be speaking tonight. For now, please enjoy the food and relax,” he said.

No one had seen the leaders of the Dragonslayers in person. The elders of Ragnar’s tribe, in all of their years, had only learned that they numbered five. Ragnar had a name: Apollo. It was the name of a Greek god, but more than that, Apollo was known for slaying the she-dragon Python of Delphi. Could this man and the god of myth be one and the same? Being in his presence, Ragnar wasn’t certain either way.

“Hey, what are you doing with my wife?” A voice growled.

Ragnar spun around in his chair as a pair of beefy hands grabbed his shoulders. Before he could stand he was ripped out of his seating and thrown onto the ground. He felt the eyes of the room staring at him. More than that, he could feel the eyes of Apollo from across the room.

He stood to his feet and looked upon the muscular form of Isabel’s husband.

“You’ve got ten seconds to tell me why you were sitting with my wife!” He shouted.

“I meant no offense sir. She was left unattended and I provided her with escort to the dinner.”

“He’s telling the truth Harmon, I was lost and I needed helping finding the right building,” Isabel said.

The general clenched his fists, apparently not satisfied with the answer. Ragnar didn’t have time for this display of strength. He needed to defuse the situation.

“My business is finished here, have a lovely evening,” Ragnar said, turning away from the general.

“How dare you turn your back on me! Do you know who I am?”

Ragnar could no longer bite his tongue.

“I know you’re the kind of person to leave your wife stranded and desperate for attention. Perhaps you should spend more time with her and less time inflating your own ego?”

Humiliation was a sound tactic, but Ragnar soon realized his comment only made the situation worse. The general roared and pulled a gun out of his jacket. It was a small and concealed weapon, but the sight of it sent the crowded hall into a frenzy.

“Insolent fool, those words will be you last!” He shouted.

“Harmon, you’re embarrassing yourself!” Isabel shouted.

Ragnar was out of options. He had failed to defuse the situation, and the eyes of Apollo were on him. Ragnar spotted the Dragonslayer as he approached from the right. Apollo took the gun out of the general’s hands with incredible speed. His hand moved so quickly that the image of it blurred through the air.

The general’s jaw dropped as his eyes wandered to Apollo. A swift fist collided with the general’s face and he fell to the ground unconscious. A trio of guards arrived and picked up the body. Isabel chased after them commanding that they put him down.

“You’re not one of mine. Who are you?” He asked.

“I was stationed at Gamma, I left my post to escort the general’s wife,” Ragnar said.

The words seemed to float right past the Dragonslayer.

“Those eyes, I know them, and I know what you are,” Apollo said.

“Then it seems we are at a standstill,” Ragnar replied.

Apollo leaned forward and whispered into Ragnar’s ear.

“Come with me now, Dragon, and I will make your death swift. Fight me here, and I will make you watch as I slay everyone you love.”

Ragnar smiled. “Oh Apollo, you’ve missed one very important detail.”

“Have I? Enlighten me then.”

“You and your kind have already taken everything from me. I have nothing left to lose!”

Ragnar stepped back and unleashed his inner dragon. A blast of icy wind swept across the hall as his human form quickly gave way to the body and wings of an ancient ice dragon. Ragnar’s wings spread to either side of the hall and his head scraped the ceiling of the building.

Apollo turned and ran as Ragnar roared and painted a blast of ice from his mouth. Everything the rushing wind touched instantly froze. Humans stood frozen in their final fearful poses with hands raised and mouths agape. Icicles dangled from their outstretched arms and from the edges of the tables.

Ragnar charged forward, shattering everything that had been frozen by his icy breath. There was no length he wouldn’t take to get the revenge he sought. As he took another deep breath and unleashed a fury of frozen wind across the path in front him, Ragnar’s thoughts wandered back to the night he lost everything.

He watched the humans beneath him cower in fear and run for shelter. Their terrified faces mirrored the faces of his wife and son as the Dragonslayers drove their blades through them. Ragnar held them both in his arms as he watched the life drain out of their eyes. The thought ignited the blizzard within his soul. He charged forward again, shattering the frozen personas of the poor souls who dared to stand in his way.

Apollo foolishly ran out of the building. No doubt he had seen his fair share of dragons, but nothing matched the fury of a Nordic ice dragon. There was a reason the Dragonslayers rarely came into the Scandinavian Mountains. Even with their incredible strength and near immortal lifespan, the biting cold and the icy breath of Ragnar’s people made quick work of them.

Ragnar charged forward and shattered the wall of the building. Stone and steel reinforcements rained down around him as he stood under the moon high in the sky. His eyes scanned the ground beneath him as Dragonslayers assembled. He spotted Apollo emerge from behind a building in the distance. He held a golden bow that stood half as tall as he did. He reached into a quiver and pulled out an equally golden arrow. Ragnar watched him pull back the projectile as he took in another deep breath of air and mixed with the winter storms in his body.

He let loose another blast across the Dragonslayers before him. Some of them managed to raise shields in time, but many of them were not prepared for ice. Their skin turned blue and dripped with icicles frozen in time. Apollo’s arrow shot through the blizzard and slammed into the right side of Ragnar’s upper right foot. The impact was met with a crackle of pain that shot up through Ragnar’s body. It had somehow passed through his scales and pierced his flesh. Ragnar felt heat coming from the tip of the arrow that threatened to melt his icy resolve.

He charged forward and tucked his black wings behind him. The Dragonslayers shattered beneath him. Apollo was readying another arrow, but Ragnar would be on him before he could take aim.

“Cadmus, come to my aid!” Apollo shouted.

Ragnar spotted another Dragonslayer to his left. He was a thick built man with shoulder length jet black hair and an armored helmet atop his head. He swung a sling above his head that held a fiery projectile. He let it fly before Ragnar could dodge. The projectile looked to be a ceramic pot filled with a flaming liquid. It smashed into Ragnar’s side and spread the burning oil across his scales.

“Jason, now!” Cadmus shouted.

Yet another Dragonslayer emerged from the right. He was bare chested with a golden fleece hanging down his back. He held a golden spear in his right hand. Ragnar turned and let loose a blast of ice. Jason swung the fleece around and ducked beneath it. Ragnar looked on in terror as the ice passed over the fleece and left Jason unharmed. He retaliated and threw his spear into Ragnar’s side.

Ragnar had to flee before they finished him off. The pain that coursed through his body was unbearable. He unfurled his wings and looked to the sky.

“Go dragon, try to warn your brethren, but you will not reach them in time! Our brothers Perseus and Heracles are already on their way to your mountaintop sanctuary. Your time will come soon dragon, of that you can be certain!” Apollo shouted.

Ragnar drove his wings down and flew up into the sky. The fires of Cadmus’ oil went out as the cold wind swept over him. The spear of Jason departed and the arrow of Apollo fell away. Ragnar was badly wounded, but if what they said was true, and two of these fierce leaders were going to kill his people, he had to warn them. Ragnar turned and shot off into the horizon with a powerful burst of speed.

He had to make it in time, there was no other choice.

Chapter 2

Cecilia Roven was born into riches and duty. Her father, Lucius Roven, was a powerful man among the dragon shifters of Napa Valley, California. When she was growing up, he would tell her terrifying stories of how the now beautiful vineyards used to burn for as far as the eye could see. The dragon would raze any and all villages who dared to build upon the fertile soil that the valley held.

Her mother would balance these stories of violence with tales of how the valley would one day grow lush and beautiful with food for all. Cecilia used to believe her mother, but then she grew up. Her mother died young like so many other humans. Without the blood of a dragon in her veins, disease and decay took hold. Cancer they called it. A beast more powerful than any dragon and one that not even her father could slay.

They watched her wither away. Her eyes, so full of life, slowly drained until they were but hollow spheres that sunk deep into her skull. Her skin which was once lush and filled with warmth turned the color of ash and pulled taut on her face as if to somehow cling to what little life she had left.

Cecilia’s faith in the future, in her tribe, in dragon shifters, all of it departed with her mother’s soul. She was cold and bitter after that, much like her father. She didn’t understand why she had to stay. She wasn’t born with shifter genes. She couldn’t transform into a dragon, so what place did she have amongst those who could? Her father told her she was needed, that only she could pass on the dragon shifter genes that laid dormant in her.

People like Cecilia were rare. Children of shifters often became shifters themselves; however, a shifter could not mate with another and bear offspring. Instead, a shifter would need to mate with a human so that the child could receive the dominant shifter genes. That is why shifters rarely, if ever, mated with their own kind.

Her father already had one picked out for Cecilia. A man named Sebastian Tariq. He was one of the most revered warriors among the tribe. He had the highest Dragonslayer kill count, or so he said. No one had seen Dragonslayers in Napa Valley for over a hundred years. The shifters had abandoned their heritage and lived soft lives in massive mansions.

Cecilia sat in the backseat of a stretch limousine wearing a red dress with black lace. It was tight around her breasts and waist to accent the curvature of her body. Her father insisted she look her best for Sebastian. She was almost twenty-three years old and he still treated her like a child.

Lucius Roven sat beside her in moving vehicle. He was a thick built African-American man with a presence about him that intimidated most people. His bloodline was among the first to settle in this part of the world, so he commanded a massive amount of respect from those around him.

“When do you expect to consummate the relationship?” Lucius asked in a deep and gruff voice.

Cecilia gasped sharply. “Consummate? Father I barely know him! Don’t you expect us to be married first?”

Lucius dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. “Marriage is a human institution. We have more important matters to attend to. The bloodline must continue. The threat of the Dragonslayers is ever-present.”

Cecilia chuckled. “Father, in all my life I have never once seen these Dragonslayers you speak of. How do you even know they still exist?”

“You test my patience, daughter. The future of our bloodline, of dragon shifters as a species, is always at risk. Your mother may have taught you to be soft, but I will not watch my bloodline wither and die!”

Cecilia slammed her fist down on the side of the door beside her.

“Don’t you talk about her! You don’t get to talk about her!” She shouted.

“Cecilia, I miss her as much as you do, but you cannot let that pain harm your future and your purpose.”

Cecilia quickly wiped the infant tears from her eyes. She couldn’t show weakness in front of him.

“You don’t know that pain I feel, and you never will. I have more purpose than to simply give birth to our bloodline’s heir. Do you even care about my aspirations beyond this place?” Cecilia asked.

Lucius reached forward and picked up his crystal glass. Caramel colored scotch swirled around in the bottom half as he tipped it forward and took a long drink.

“There is nothing beyond the valley, Cecilia. Out there is the human world, a world that we have no place in.”

This wasn’t the first time they had this conversation. Cecilia heard stories from her mother about the rest of the world. About all the things that could be seen and done. Her mother had promised to show her those things. She broke that promise and left Cecilia alone in the cramped and crushing world of dragon shifters like her father.

The limousine slowed and came to a stop. Lucius adjusted his suit and tie as the driver opened the door.

“Come, Cecilia, we’ll finish this discussion later,” he said.

They both exited the vehicle. The entire area was bustling with people dressed in luxurious attire. Limousines arrived by the dozens and dropped off new guests. Cecilia reluctantly took her coat from the driver and draped it over her shoulders.

She didn’t recognize anyone around her, not that she expected to, she tried her best not to associate herself with her father’s friends. She looked to her right at the entryway. An ornate iron archway spread up into the sky. It was decorated with soft white lights that wound through the intricate design like glowing snakes. Beyond the archway was a massive clearing where white canopies were set up over sets of tables and chairs. In the center, under the crisp night sky, was a dance floor that had been laid over the lush grass on the ground. At the back of the clearing was a stage with a podium. At the back of the stage a small quartet of violinists and a cello player produced constant classical background noise. Lighting came from a mixture of hanging lights, standing torches, and the natural light that came from the star-filled sky above.

The people arriving talked amongst themselves as they made their way through the illuminated archway and into the clearing. Cecilia stayed close to her father, if only to avoid awkward conversation with the other people present at the event. They couldn’t even get into the event without someone recognizing her father.

“Lucius, how long has it been?”

Cecilia stopped and turned, along with her father, as a plump and elderly man approached in a grey shirt and crimson tie.

“Grayson! My, it has been a while, hasn’t it? Fifteen years I believe?” Lucius asked.

“I thought it was twenty, but at my age I wouldn’t be surprised if my memory is going,” Grayson said.

“Nonsense! You’re only, what, four hundred years old?”

Grayson chuckled. “375, but I feel like I’m 450. I’ve been told your daughter’s suitor has been chosen?”

Cecilia hated how they spoke about her as if she wasn’t there. She bit her tongue not to interject.

“You are correct old friend. I have chosen Sebastian Tariq,” Lucius said.

“Sebastian! Fine choice indeed! He will give your bloodline a strong heir to protect our heritage.”

Cecilia was becoming nauseous listening to them. She silently snuck away as they continued revealing in each other’s presence. She made her way into the clearing and spotted a waitress walking by with a plate of cocktails. Cecilia swept one off the surface. It was a martini of sorts, with an olive floating on the top speared by a toothpick.

She tilted the glass back and drank the bitter liquid down. It burned like fire down her throat until it landed in her stomach. As she fished out the olive, someone approached her.

“A woman as beautiful as you must be Cecilia Roven,” he said.

Cecilia chewed silently on the olive and regarded the man standing before her. He was a tall African American man, with a thick jaw, and a chiseled build. He reached out with a muscular hand.

“I am Sebastian Tariq. I’m sure you’ve heard about me from your father.”

Cecilia hesitated before shaking his hand. She didn’t want to be outright rude and cause a scene.

“Nice to meet you, Sebastian. I don’t suppose you could grab me another drink?” She asked.

He bowed slightly. “Of course my dear.”

He turned and left. Cecilia didn’t like him. He was too full of himself. His face was almost constantly plastered with a confident grin that did nothing but further his arrogant persona. Cecilia knew his type. To him she was nothing more than a trophy in a series of trophies that everyone worshipped him for. He had power and respect, and it all went to his head in the worst way possible.

Cecilia’s father arrived. He already had a cocktail in his hand as well. He gestured to Sebastian as he walked over to a table littered with empty drinks.

“He’s quite the specimen, isn’t he?” Lucius asked.

“He seems nice.”

Her father grunted. “He’s more than nice, Cecilia. Any woman here would kill for him. You could show more respect, or at least some enthusiasm.”

“Yeah? Well you’re not the one that has to sleep with him, father.”

Lucius finished his drink with a forceful gulp.

“Just do your job, Cecilia. I am growing weary of your insolence.”

Cecilia was fuming with anger. Sebastian returned with more drinks. He handed Cecilia a cocktail in a cylindrical cup with a slice of orange on the top. She didn’t know what it was called, and she didn’t care. She went to work drinking down the fruity liquid within.

“Something bothering you?” Sebastian asked.

“Yeah, everything. Thanks for asking,” I said.

Sebastian didn’t seem in the mood to deal with her, and Cecilia was just fine with that.

“Well, I’ll catch up with you later then. I have other matters to attend to,” he said.

Cecilia’s stomach wrenched. He sounds like my father.

She made her way to the drink table for another one, when she heard the sound of two people arguing nearby. Cecilia couldn’t resist a little trouble in paradise, so she made her way towards the sound. At the edge of the clearing, beyond the comfort of the artificial lights, she saw the silhouettes of two men in the distance. The voice of her father carried across the thin night air with ease. The other voice was more gruff and harder to hear.

“Tonight, of all nights, you decide to come here?” Lucius asked.

The other voice replied. Cecilia couldn’t make out the words, but she knew he was desperate.

“No absolutely not. You could have brought them here! Did that thought even cross your mind?”

The gruff voice urgently pleaded with Lucius.

“That’s my final answer. Have a drink then be on your way. I won’t have you ruining this night.”

Cecilia backed away to avoid her father’s gaze as he hurriedly returned to the proceedings. The other man stepped into the light of the tent. He was dressed in a trench coat. His hair was an icy white and his skin was pale like fresh snow. He had incredible blue eyes that pierced through the distance between them. He plucked one of the drinks from the table and drank it in a single gulp. He seemed nervous and angry. He had also made her father angry. Cecilia was interested in anyone who had that effect on him. She approached as he took another drink from the table.

“I don’t believe I’ve seen you before,” she said.

“That’s because you haven’t,” he said.

“I’m Cecilia.”

“Good for you. Did you need something?”

He stopped and looked at her. His eyes cut right through her resolve. They had a deep mystery to them, once that she found incredibly alluring.

“I’m sorry if I bothered you. I don’t want to be here, and you seem like the only interesting person in a five mile radius,” she said.

The man stared at Cecilia for a long while before a smile started to crawl across his face.

“You're his daughter, aren’t you? I’m guessing this whole shindig is to set you up with someone?”

Cecilia nodded. “Yeah, how did you know that?”

He shrugged. “Dragon shifter traditions die hard. Sorry lady, but I shouldn’t be talking to you.”

He started to walk away, but Cecilia stepped in front of him.

“I heard you talking to my father,” she said.

“Yeah? Well then you know it didn’t go well.”

“Look, I don’t want to be here, and neither do you. Maybe we could go grab a drink somewhere else?” She asked.

Ragnar’s eyebrows shot up. “That would make your father very, very angry.”

Cecilia smiled. “That’s the idea.”

Ragnar took another drink from the table and drank it all in one gulp. He set the glass down and looked back to Cecilia.

“You’re crazy, but I like it. Come with me.”

Chapter 3

Ragnar was more than a little buzzed as he made his way across the dark clearing. Cecilia was young and beautiful. After his botched attempt at attacking the Dragonslayers, he returned to his village only to find a barren and burned wasteland at the peaks of the Scandinavian mountains. There were no bodies, only a note left in a place where only he would look.

It didn’t say where his clan had fled to; it didn’t even ask if he was alright. It simply told him he had been excommunicated for his crimes against the clan. There was no telling how many died when the Dragonslayers attacked. First his family, now his clan; Ragnar truly had nothing left.

He shifted and flew high above the clouds where he could be alone with the stars. He thought long and hard during his travels. He knew he wanted revenge against the Dragonslayers, against the ones who killed his family. Apollo was the worst of them, but he wanted to see them all suffer for what they did.

Ragnar sought refuge with the dragons in the west, but Lucius Roven denied him sanctuary. Word travels fast among dragons, but Ragnar was no less infuriated. What he had done, he did for the good of all dragon shifters. When Cecilia offered to give him company, he took it. Shamelessly and willingly, he took it. No one would give him the time of day, let alone spend time with him.

Ragnar stopped when they were far enough from the celebration.

“Have you ever ridden a dragon before?” He asked.

Cecilia shook her head. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if my father or my assigned husband sees?”

Ragnar chuckled. “Let them. You wanted to spite them as well, didn’t you?”

Cecilia nodded. “I suppose you’re right.”
Ragnar shifted into his dragon form. The process was fast and after so long, painless. He stood proudly on his four legs and spread his black wings into the night. He leaned down as Cecilia climbed onto his back. She dug her hands into his neck, reaching between the scales. He heard her shock as her hands touched the icy skin beneath the scales.

When she sat still he drove his wings down and shot upward into the sky. Cecilia screamed with excitement as the night wind rushed past them. Ragnar flew above the clouds and leveled out. He glided across the surface of the sky.

“This is incredible!” Cecilia shouted.

Her wonder and excitement; Ragnar recalled the same tone in his son’s voice when he first rode upon his father’s back. Ragnar found another clearing near the downtown portion of the city where the nightlife was at its peak. He needed more drinks, and fast. He swooped downward and landed. Cecilia climbed off as he transformed back into his human form. When he was finished, the realization that he had no clothing to call his own hit him.

“I, uh, this is embarrassing,” he said.

Cecilia looked at him with pure desire in her eyes. He hadn’t seen such a lustful look from a woman since his wife.

“No, don’t be sorry. It’s quite the view,” she said.

“Perhaps you could fetch me some clothes? I will buy the drinks for the rest of the night,” he said.

Cecilia shook her head. “With what money?”

She had a point. “I’ll find something.”

Cecilia smiled. “Admit it, you knew this would happen.”

Ragnar honestly hadn’t considered it. He was too swept up in the moment to know better. He was also borderline drunk.

Cecilia approached him as she softly bit her lower lip.

“Well, now that I’ve seen you naked, I think it’s only fair that I know your name,” she said.

“It’s Ragnar, but Cecilia, honestly, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

She shook her head as her hands reached behind her dress. Ragnar heard the zipper slowly descended. The cold sweat on her dark skin glistened in the moonlight as she peeled the dress off of her skin. Ragnar’s heart raced as she slowly revealed her form.

“Cecilia, we can’t,” he said.

“I would rather my first time be with you, than with someone I could never love,” she said.

Ragnar’s head spun. Her first time? He couldn’t imagine the trouble he would be in with her father. Her clothes slowly fell away. Underneath she was wearing a black lace bra and panties. She unclasped the bra and let it fall to the ground below. Her bare breasts shimmered in the light. She slowly pulled down her panties and walked over to him.

“If we’re going to do this, there are some things you must experience,” Ragnar said.

Cecilia smiled. “Oh, and what did you have in mind?”

“Lay on the ground.”

Cecilia draped herself across the grassy surface of the ground. Ragnar knelt between her legs and spread them apart. He laid flat on his stomach and pressed his lips between her legs. His hot breath on her skin made her moan instantly.

His tongue slid out and gently explored the lips between her legs. Cecilia cried out as his tongue wandered upward. He moved in circular motions, stimulating and pleasing her in way she had never before experienced. She dug her fingers into the back of his head as her moans echoed all around them.

Ragnar took a quick breath and returned with renewed vigor. He gripped her legs and held her still as he worked his tongue deep into her. She cried out as her body shook and thrashed beneath him. She screamed in ecstasy as a climax washed over her. Ragnar climbed on top of her, slowly kissing his way up her chest until he reached her thick breasts. His hands cupped them, massaging slowly as he tongue swept over the nipples, gently flicking and suckling.

He positioned himself over her and grasped the bottom of her right thigh with his hand. With his body steadied, he thrusted himself into her. She cried out in a mixture of pain and pleasure.

“Are you okay?” He whispered.

“Don’t stop,” she replied.

Ragnar pulled out slowly and then thrusted into her once more with all of his force. Her fingernails dug deep into his skin. He thrusted again, and again. Each time he felt waves of pleasure he hadn’t felt in what seemed like eternity.

He pulled out of her. “Get on your hands and knees.”

Cecilia obeyed. Ragnar positioned himself behind her and wrapped his hands around her waist. He slid into her slowly, tightly gripping her backside. He found a rhythm, thrusting into her with passionate movements.

He brought one hand up to her shoulder and gripped her tight as his hips rocked back and forth. She moaned with each impact. Ragnar knew he would come soon. To impregnate her would be the ultimate insult, not only to her father, but also to her betrothed. Her cries fueled his passion, he dug his fingers into her waist again and thrusted into her one final time as he climaxed.

Cecilia collapsed onto the cold grass. Ragnar laid beside her, desperate to catch his breath.

“Incredible. I didn’t know it could feel so good,” she said.

“Me neither,” Ragnar said.

Cecilia rolled over and laid against him. He felt her breasts pressed against his chest, felt her heartbeat racing against his. There was a moment where he felt something more than a primal lust for her. Was he falling in love?

“Ragnar?” She asked.

“Yes?”

“Will you stay here with me for a while? I don’t want to go home yet.”

Ragnar was filled with conflicted emotions. He laid his head back on the cool grass and looked upward at the stars in the sky.

“Yes, I will.”

Chapter 4

Cecilia’s head was spinning. Ragnar took her home and left before her father found out she was with him. She carefully opened the massive and ornate front door of her father’s mansion and stepped inside. The foyer was dark, she was hoping he was gone, or had gone to bed.

The lights came on all around her. Lucius was standing in the center of the entryway. His arms were crossed and his eyes glared into Cecilia with a furious rage.

“You left a celebration organized entirely for you, and then I have to find out from Sebastian that you’ve been fooling around with another dragon? And Ragnar of all people, he is exiled, Cecilia! He is lower than dirt, and you let him touch you?”

Cecilia didn’t know where to begin. For starters she wanted to know how Sebastian knew she had eloped from the party with Ragnar. He had no right to spy on her, but she didn’t know how to handle her father either. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she gripped the fabric of her dress.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?” Lucius asked.

“He was kind to me; he wasn’t full of himself like Sebastian. I just wanted to be with someone who wasn’t a fake.”

“I’m not doing this with you, Cecilia, you can answer to Sebastian. He will decide what to do with Ragnar. I for one hope he’s executed for his crimes.”

“Father, no! He didn’t do anything wrong! It’s my fault, not his!”

Lucius chuckled. “Tell that to Sebastian, I’m going to bed. You’ve embarrassed me enough for one night. He’s waiting for you in the bedroom.”

Cecilia slowly made her way up the stairs to the bedroom. She was still reeling from the shock of everything. She didn’t know how Sebastian would react. He didn’t seem like the forgiving type. She reached her door and slowly opened it. Sebastian stood on the far side of her room. His shirt was unbuttoned and dangled from his sides. The window was open and sent a cold draft through the room. He held a glass of scotch in his hand. Judging by the way he was wavering, it wasn’t his first.

“Sebastian, listen, I didn’t do this to hurt you,” she said.

Sebastian gulped down the last of his scotch.

“Really? Then why?” He asked.

“I don’t believe in this arranged marriage shit, I just wanted to be with someone who actually cared about me. I wanted to be loved.”

Sebastian turned around and looked down to his glass. He gripped it tightly and threw it at Cecilia’s head. She ducked out of the way as it shattered on the door behind her.

“I could have loved you!” He screamed.

Cecilia froze in fear.

“Sebastian, I’m sorry. I just don’t have feelings for you. Not like that.”

He stepped forward and she instinctively stepped back.

“I don’t care how you feel! The dragon shifters are dying out! It’s so difficult to bear a shifter, and the Dragonslayers are killing more and more of us by the day!”

“Sebastian, you’re scaring me,” Cecilia said.

“Did he impregnate you? Did he?” He asked.

“I don’t know,” she said.

Sebastian slammed his fist down on the surface of the nightstand next to him.

“Answer me!”

“No, alright no! We had sex, but he didn’t come inside me. I didn’t want him to. Is that what you want to hear?” She asked.

Sebastian nodded. “Good.”

He reached up to his pants, unclasped the belt and then pulled them off.

“What are you doing?” Cecilia asked.

“I’m making you an offer,” he said.

“What is it?”

Cecilia watched as he stripped naked. He had a chiseled body and smooth dark skin. Physically he was attractive, but even seeing him naked she still felt nothing for him.

“I will get dressed, hunt Ragnar down, and execute him myself.”

Cecilia’s heart stopped. “No, you wouldn’t!”

“Don’t test me! He’s been exiled. As far as the dragons are concerned he’s already dead.”

Cecilia felt something when she shared that special moment with Ragnar. She felt the seeds of love planted in her heart. She couldn’t lose him.

“Maybe I can convince you otherwise?”

Sebastian grinned. It was a smug and satisfied expression. It made Cecilia sick to her stomach.

“Just let me take care of you. By the time I’m done, you’ll forget all about what happened,” she said.

Cecilia walked over and knelt before his naked body. She took him into her hands and gently guided him into her mouth. She took it in slowly, but Sebastian wasn’t satisfied with that. He wrapped his hand around the back of her head and pushed her down onto him.

Cecilia gripped his legs and pulled him out of her mouth. She wanted to get up and walk out, but there she knew she couldn’t. If she was going to do this, she had to channel her anger. This didn’t mean anything. It was the only way to save Ragnar.

She wrapped her hands around his muscular thighs and took all of him into her mouth. He gripped her hair and held her head in place as he thrusted forward. He moved with a swift and vengeful rhythm. She closed her eyes and focused on Ragnar. After several minutes he stepped away. She wiped her lips and looked up at him.

“Walk over to the bed and bend over,” Sebastian said.

She stood up and walked to the edge of the bed. She leaned over the railing at the bottom and wrapped her hands around the metal bar. Sebastian pulled her dress up and ripped her panties off. He grunted like an animal as he positioned himself behind her. His hands gripped her waist as he slid into her.

He thrusted forward with a loud grunt, he wasn’t gentle like Ragnar. He was angry and it came through in the way he made love. Her entire body shook with each powerful thrust. He didn’t last long before she heard him roar and felt him finish inside her. He stepped back and she stood to her feet. He was satisfied, she was not.

“We’re done here.”

Cecilia was disgusted; she could never love someone like him. She left the bedroom and held back her tears. She didn’t want Sebastian to see her cry that would let him win. There were other bedrooms in the house, but she didn’t want to sleep there. She ran downstairs and out of the front door.

The tears flowed like water as she stepped out into the massive front yard. A hand wrapped around her mouth and gripped her tightly. She struggled by the person was too strong.

“Cecilia Roven. How nice to finally meet you. You’re going to stay right here with me while my friends go fetch your father and your future husband. We have some talking to do,” a man said.

He let her go and she stood perfectly still. Four other men appeared from the shadows and made their way into the house. The man in front of her was dressed in what looked like the armor of a medieval knight. He had a golden bow and arrow with a quiver hanging from his back.

“Who are you?” Cecilia asked.

“I am the Dragonslayer Apollo. Those other men you saw are my associates Jason, Cadmus, Perseus, and Heracles. We’re here to simply do some business, and then we’ll be on our way.”

Cecilia eyed him suspiciously. “You’re not here to do business; you’re going to kill them!”

Apollo shrugged. “In our work they are one and the same. Don’t worry though; I’ll kill you first so you don’t have to watch.”

He reached down and plucked a dagger from his waist and walked toward Cecilia.

“This will only hurt for a moment,” he whispered.

She considered running, but knew she wouldn’t make it far before he used the bow on his back.

“Apollo!”

He stopped. Cecilia looked over and saw Ragnar standing at the entrance to the mansion grounds.

“We have unfinished business!” Ragnar shouted.

Apollo dropped his dagger on the ground and grabbed the bow from his back.

“Yes, we do indeed!”

Ragnar shifted into his dragon form. He was a majestic beast covered in shimmering black scales. He charged forward on foot and let loose a column of icy wind from his gigantic mouth. Apollo rolled out of the way and Cecilia ran toward the entrance of the house. Her father and Sebastian came out, escorted by the other four men that had arrived with Apollo.

Sebastian immediately broke free of the others and shifted himself. He was a smaller dragon than Ragnar, but still incredibly large. He had coarse leathery skin. He swung his tail around and knocked over the Dragonslayers as he flapped his wings and hovered above them. He released a torrent of fire upon them.

One of the Dragonslayers was badly burned. His skin was blackened and raw from the blast. He cried out in pain. Apollo rushed to his aid and miraculously healed his wounds with a simple touch of his hand. Cecilia realized that he was the leader. Without him they would fall with ease.

She ran forward and picked up Apollo’s dagger. One of the other Dragonslayers hurled a ceramic pot filled with flaming liquid at Sebastian. It exploded across his skin and he fell from the sky. His body crashed into the face of the mansion. Windows shattered as the entire corner of the home collapsed into rubble.

Ragnar came to his aid with another hurricane of ice. Apollo was caught in the blast. Cecilia ran towards his frozen form as the Dragonslayers approached Sebastian. He was clearly wounded and in need of help, but if Apollo broke free from the ice, he could potentially kill Ragnar with a single arrow if he shot true.

The ice around Apollo cracked. Ragnar flew to Sebastian’s aid just as the other four Dragonslayers leapt onto him. With swords and spears they plunged their weapons into his side. Blood spilled from his body as Ragnar breathed ice across the four warriors, freezing them in place.

Apollo broke free of his ice and readied an arrow. Cecilia approached from behind and raised the dagger above her head. Apollo pulled back the arrow.

“Today you die, dragon!” He shouted.

Ragnar turned to look at him. Cecilia drove the dagger down into his back, right between the shoulders. The arrow fired askew and missed its target. Apollo fell to his knees and desperately tried to reach the dagger as blood flowed from the wound.

Cecilia ran away as Ragnar blasted ice over Apollo. He was frozen solid, his face locked in a state of fear. Ragnar raised one of his scaled feet and brought it down on top of the frozen Dragonslayer. He shattered like glass into a thousand crimson crystals. Almost immediately after his demise, the other four Dragonslayers who were frozen also shattered. Sebastian had transformed back into his human form.

Ragnar shifted back as well. They approached Sebastian, but it was clear he wasn’t going to survive.

“You fought well, Ragnar,” he said, gripping the gushing wound in his side.

“As did you, Sebastian. I wish our first meeting was not like this.”

“You must protect her. You entered into this fight, now you must live with the consequences.”

Ragnar nodded. “No harm will ever come to her.”

Sebastian nodded. “Good.”

He took one final breath before his eyes became like glass and his head fell limp. Ragnar took Cecilia into his arms. She was confused and terrified. Lucius approached and stood silently watching over Sebastian’s body.

“You must take her and go,” he said.

Cecilia looked up at her father. “Why must we leave?”

“Ragnar has slayed some of the most powerful Dragonslayers ever to have lived, but one of our own was also killed in the fray. The other members of our tribe will not take kindly to these events. They will say that he brought them here. Ragnar, you’ve earned my respect and my blessing. Take care of my daughter and see that she lives a long and happy life. Should she bear a shifter, I expect to see him when things have quieted down.”

Cecilia wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. “Or her, it could be a girl, you know.”

Lucius smiled. “Yes or her; now go, the others will be here soon.”

Cecilia hugged her father tight. Ragnar transformed into his dragon form and she climbed onto his back.

“Just start flying; we’ll go someplace where no one knows our names. We’ll start over.”

Ragnar shot up into the sky with Cecilia on his back. After so much suffering and hardship, they both had found hope in each other.

The Billionaire Wolf Shifters

Chapter 1

I’ve often asked myself if what I am is a gift or a curse. The blood of the dire wolf flows through me; it is an extinct blood that has long been forgotten by the Earth and its people. I have the strength of humans and dire wolves without the weakness of either. Time has forgotten me, and all those I have ever loved have succumbed to death, yet I live on. I was truly alone in a world that no longer had need of me.

For countless decades I have roamed the halls of a castle that I built hundreds of years ago with my blood, sweat, and tears. Even with the help of my allies, friends, and fellow warriors, it took almost a lifetime to build. While their bodies wasted away, mine stood aside the flow of time. They didn’t know my secret, no one did. When the moon hung high in the sky, casting its white glow down upon the world, the blood of the dire wolf took hold.

My skin fell away as my bones shattered and reformed. My body was covered in a thick layer of matted grey fur as thick teeth erupted from my newly formed snout. I couldn’t control the transformation. It would come as it pleased and leave me a slave to the ancient instincts of a long dead race.

On those nights I would leave the castle, despite my many attempts to keep myself captive on those cold nights. I would chain myself to the wall in the deepest corner of my empty dungeon and wait for the wolf to take over. The chains did nothing to hold a creature without arms, and though metal bars sealed the exit to the chamber, the dire wolf would always find a way to escape. I would often wake up the following morning in my own bedroom with a vicious headache and a vague memory of the night before.

The dire wolf dug a tunnel beneath the door. The dire wolf found a loose stone and pried it free, thus compromising the outer wall. The dire wolf did what it must to be free and hunt as it had always known. Thought my memories of the hunt were always fuzzy, I relived parts of them in my dreams. My prey was anything that dared to roam the endless frozen forests outside my isolated home.

I tracked my prey with a precision unknown to today’s predators. The sensations were incredible; I could smell their fear just before the dire wolf attacked. There was a time, hundreds of years ago, when humans used to roam these forests. During those years, a legend was spread of a giant wolf that would devour explorers who ventured too deep into the woods on a night when the moon was full.

It was I they spoke of, I saw it in my dreams. They created stories, stories that came close to the truth, but still left many of the details unspoken. They called me a werewolf, that was the name I had been assigned. I was not a werewolf; I was a shifter, one of many. Still, humans had their stories to help their feeble minds comprehend something they couldn’t possibly understand.

For the longest time, I embraced the dire wolf and its need to hunt, but soon the humans realized that their murdered sons and husbands always seemed to be found near my castle. They came with fire and blades to kill me. They waited until the moon was gone from the sky, and they struck without warning.

Moon or no moon, the dire wolf would not be threatened by its prey. I lost control that night, hundreds of years ago. I still have nightmares of the slaughter. The dire wolf was a perfect predator perhaps that is why nature sought to balance the scales and kill off the entire species. I slaughtered countless people before the villagers were freed of their bloodlust by fear and fled back into the forest.

When I awoke the next morning, I was covered in their blood. It was then that I knew this gift of mine was a curse. I had spent so long secluded from the rest of the world, but it was clear that I could not hide forever. The dire wolf would not be subdued, and it would not permit me to take my life.

No, I had to seek control. I ventured forth from my castle and traveled across the lands looking for others like myself. There were those with the blood of a bear, a lion, a tiger, and many other powerful beasts flowing through them. Other shifters like me who also struggled to control their shifts. Most had simply succumbed to their animal spirit and became feral as both human and beast.

Others stayed isolated and moved from place-to-place seeking new refuge and a place where their transformation would not result in the deaths of innocent lives. Meanwhile, humans continued telling their stories of monsters that hid beneath their beds and sulked in the shadows. We shifters were creatures of myth and fear, used to control and subjugate the masses through a uniform terror.

After countless years I came into the presence of an ancient and forgotten tribe. They found me after a hunt, naked and freezing. They took me into their village and brought me to a shaman who lay on his deathbed. They clothed me and when I recovered, I spoke to the shaman. He told me that his people were among the first shifters. He had lived for thousands of years, but now death had found him.

He spoke of a future where our kind would be driven to extinction by humans who were too fearful to understand our place in the world. He told me that he had spent the last several decades of his life trying to create a formula. It was supposed to be a serum that would allow shifters to control their animal spirits and thus keep themselves hidden from the prying eyes of humans.

He was close, he knew it. He gave me everything he had and told me to finish his work. When I asked him why he had chosen me, he shook his head:

No, wolf it is not I that chose you, but you who have chosen me. Your journey is at an end, return to your home and save our people.

I returned to my castle and set about creating a means of saving our people. Countless failures only served as fuel for the fires of my resolve. When I finally perfected the formula, I found myself living in a brave new world where anything could be bought or sold at the right price. With my new formula in hand, I set about creating a business empire that would not only provide me with the means to save my people, but with the power to ensure that no human could stop me.

Chapter 2

Present Day

Humans liked to think they had total control over the world they lived in, that they were at the top of the food chain. In reality, many of the people they knew as leaders and celebrities were shifters that had achieved a mainstream lifestyle through my medicine, now labeled a drug by modern society. Weekly doses would ensure that a shifter could resist the transformation and choose to transform whenever they liked.

It was not a perfect solution. The voices of the beasts within them still called out, but their cries were reduced to a dull roar when taking my medicine. I never gave it a name, for the shaman that had bestowed it upon me never decided on one. The people who purchased it from me around the world took to calling it “Instinct.”

My secluded location in northeastern Russia made shipping one of the premiere costs of my growing business, but those costs were quickly balanced by the ludicrous rates shifters were willing to pay for their supplies of Instinct. To prevent copycats, I made all the batches myself, which meant that I spent a majority of my time in my lab in the bowels of the castle.

Centuries of lifetime had afforded me not only strength and brawn, but also a genius intellect in the field of medicine. I refined Instinct with each batch I created, and while others made pitiful attempts to recreate the recipe, no one has been able to touch my empire. My connections with shifters in powerful positions of government also ensured that my products made it across international and state lines without hassle.

As I perfected the formula for Instinct, I found ways to allow the strengths of the beast to meld with the human side. Even in my human form, I had impeccable hearing, however it was not consistent. I had a theory that it was only triggered by adrenaline. Danger was the only thing that could awaken the sleeping beast within me.

My hands shook as I worked tirelessly with the equipment that lined my lab. Winding glass tubes travelled from basins to flasks. The process was complex and long. A single batch could easily take eight hours or more. I would often work through the night, pausing to sleep only if absolutely necessary. I picked up one of the flasks that contained a mixture of fermented liquids and breathed in the pungent scent.

A loud crash came from the floor above me. I set the flask down as my heart galloped in my chest. I heard methodical footsteps as adrenaline flooded my veins. As I made my way up the darkened stone stairway to the main floor, my heightened senses kicked in. I heard the ragged breathing of beasts and the slow pace of a predator.

I carefully approached the door at the top of the stairs. With as little pressure as possible, I pushed the door open and looked through the sliver of light. Moonlight passed through the glass windows of the main hall. I couldn’t see the intruders, but I could hear them. I stepped out of the doorway and into the main hall. I heard the low growl of a beast to my right. I turned and saw a lion standing before me. It bared its teeth as it slowly approached.

Another emerged from the shadows to my left. These lions were a long way from home, they had to be shifters.

“Do you know who I am? I am Sergei Ivanov, creator of Instinct and last of the dire wolf clan! You will abandon your beast forms, or you will die by my hand!” I shouted.

The lion to my right leapt forward. Its claws dug deep into the flesh of my shoulder as I fell to the ground. I threw the lion off and relinquished control as rage consumed me. The beast within was more than happy to come forth. Thick fur ripped through my skin as my bones shattered and reformed. Instinct worked against the process, but with enough focus and a catalyst like danger, the beast would break free.

It was painful beyond measure. I could feel the very structure of my body, my organs, and bones changing. Perhaps the most terrifying aspect was the change in facial structure. My eyes shattered like glass and I was submerged in darkness as my entire head formed into a long snout and my teeth grew into thick teeth.

I stood to my feet as a dire wolf and looked through the eyes of a predator that hasn’t roamed this world for thousands of years. The two lions stood on either side of me. I had some control over the dire wolf, but its instincts were sometimes too powerful to control. I was forced to watch as the violence unfolded in moments like these.

The lions made the first move and charged toward me. I felt my legs clench and I shot off just as the lions closed in. I ran to the far end of the hall and spun around to face them. They regrouped and came at me again. My lips peeled back, and a fierce snarling bark came from deep in my throat. The lions showed no signs of stopping. The wolf took over and leapt with incredible speed onto the back of the right lion. It let loose a shriek of pain as my nails dug into the flesh of its back. I brought my open jaws down around its neck and bit with incredible force.

Even though the blood tasted bitter to me, the dire wolf relished in the flavor; it eased up on the bite for only a moment before clenching its jaw down again. The lion collapsed from blood loss and lay silent on the ground beneath me. I could feel the thundering rhythm of the lion’s heart as its blood filled my mouth. It soared and pounded fiercely as it clung to life, but soon I felt that life fade until there was nothing left.

I heard the other lion to my left and swung around to face it. The lion roared, sending a deafening echo through the main hall. I replied with deep howl filled with bloodlust. The lion and I stared each other down from across the main hall. The ecstasy of the kill still flowed through my veins. I was eager for another and ready to fight. The lion made the first move.

“Stand down!” A booming voice shouted.

The lion stopped and looked to the doorway. I followed its gaze and saw a towering black man standing in the entrance of my castle. He wore a pair of black pants, but his chest was bare. He had a long thick coat made from animal skin and fur. The moonlight glistened on his chiseled abdomen and his bald head. I looked back to the lion to ensure it wasn’t going to try anything while my attention was divided. It remained still.

“Return to your human form, now! Do it or he dies!” The man shouted. He spoke with a thick Creole accent that told me he was a long way from home.

He snapped his fingers and stepped to the side. Another, much smaller man in thick winter clothing stepped through the doorway with a man whose hands were handcuffed behind his back. This man I recognized. I had no choice but to shift back. Thankfully the lion did the same. I stood to my feet, naked and freezing as I faced the only connection I had left to the woman I ever truly loved.

The man was my son, Dmitri. Over the course of my centuries of life, his mother was the only woman that I felt truly bonded to. I did not believe in soulmates or destiny, but when I met her, I became a believer in the romantic story. Of course, she was human, and even knowing what I was, she still stayed with me until time wore her down to nothing. Our son was only half-shifter. He could not transform into a beast, but he still had the blood of the wolf within him.

It gave him instinct, strength, and the longevity that we shifters enjoy. When he mother was taken by death, I wanted to disappear into the folds of time and abandon my quest. Dmitri did not let me; he helped me find some kind of peace between the pain. He was my last connection to her. I would die before watching harm come to him.

“I stand before you, bare and unarmed. I mean you no harm, so long as you release my son,” I said.

The black man’s eyes went wide as he looked past me and saw the corpse of the lion I killed.

“You wish to speak like men, and yet you slaughter one of my own like the dog that you are? I should have you killed, but you’re no use to me or any of us if you’re dead. Instinct is a powerful drug, you were smart to keep the formula a secret,” he said.

“Is that why you are here, to try and steal the formula? Far greater men than you have tried. None of them left this place alive.”

The man laughed. “No, I am not here for your empire. I have my own clan to watch over. I am here because I have been a long time purchaser of Instinct and recently I’ve been missing my shipments. What’s more is that my supplier has mysteriously vanished.”

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I am Brakha, leader of the lion shifter clan in south Louisiana. When I couldn’t reach my supplier, I decided to go over his head and talk to the one in charge.”

“Well, Brakha, I fail to see how this is my concern. I do not handle shipment, only creating the product. I know you’ve come a long way, but I cannot help you. You’ll just have to deal with your problem yourself.”

Brakha growled and grabbed Dmitri from the other man’s hand. He pulled back his coat and ripped a long machete out of a sheath that dangled on his leg. He pressed the blade against Dmitri’s throat. The boy stood silent in the face of death.

“Without Instinct, I have lost many of my brothers. They turn and threaten to undo all the work we have done to stay secret! I have had to kill them myself to protect our people! The blood of my people is on my hands, and soon it will be on yours! The Black Hand will not stop with my clan, soon they will cut more ties until your entire empire comes crashing down! Without you, without Instinct, the humans will discover us, and we will be outnumbered. If you truly wish to see our people survive, then you will come with me and end this menace!”

“You have my attention, Brakha. I will come with you, but only if you release my son,” I said.

Brakha lowered the machete and sheathed it. “Your son stays here with my men. You will come with me and find the leader of the Black Hand. When she has been caught, we will return here and you will give me the Instinct that has been taken from me, at no cost.”

I had never been in such a situation before. In all my years I was the one with the power, with nothing to lose. Dmitri made me weak in as many ways as he made me strong.

“Very well, I accept your terms,” I said.

Brakha released my son to one of the other men. I looked at him and he looked at me. A thousand words were said with a single glance. He thanked me, told me to come back alive. I told him to cooperate until this ordeal was at an end. All of this was said in silent passing as I followed Brakha out into the cold.

“Shift and follow me. We have a long road ahead of us,” Brakha said.

Brakha turned into his lion form and I returned to my dire wolf. Together we charged off into the snow covered forest. For a brief moment my thoughts wandered to her, to Dmitri’s mother Svetlana. Every time I looked at him I saw her. If she were here, she would tell me to go and do what must be done. She would tell me to save our son. Wherever she was, I wouldn’t disappoint her,

I will do what must be done.

Chapter 3

I remember the first time I saw Instinct. It was a sickly green colored liquid suspended in a syringe. Brakha told me I had to take it, that not only the lions, but the panthers, the wolves, the bears, and all of the shifters would die without it. I saw it a different way, I saw it as yet another means of controlling us. Why do we cower in fear of humans? Is it simply because they have the advantage of numbers? Shifters are stronger, shifters are smarter, and shifters deserve this world far more than they do.

I left the clan and gathered the other panthers to my side. We met in darkness and slept in the sewers beneath the city and the swamps that surrounded it. During the day, the French Quarter was our territory, and for a time Brakha respected that. He knew that I believed in our gifts, that I could control the panther within, and I didn’t need a drug to do it for me. Instead of trying to change our nature, I sought to embrace it.

The other panthers in my clan, like most shifters, couldn’t control when the beast took over. As animals, they would wander the streets of the French Quarter and wreak havoc. They would wander into Brakha’s territory and wound or kill his people all while under the influence of their other halves.

Brakha became furious, demanded that we take the drug and control ourselves. I still refused, and soon he declared war on the Black Hand, on my people. He was blinded by the drug, perhaps even addicted to it. I had to clear his mind to avoid more bloodshed among our people. I cared not about the humans, but it wounded me deeply to see shifters fight, brother against brother or sister.

I had to remove the drug, maybe then his mind would clear and Brakha would see that these are not gifts to suppress, but instead something we should embrace. If the humans would stand in our way, then they would become our new prey.

And so, plans were laid. I would join my fellow panthers and stop not only his incoming shipment of Instinct, but all of the ones coming into New Orleans. He would have nowhere to go, no one to turn to. I already destroyed two shipments over the last several weeks, and then this new one came to my attention. Perhaps Brakha paid for a rush delivery? It didn’t matter, when this one was gone, he would be left without recourse. Shipments came rarely so I only had one shot at this to prevent war between our people.

We approached as humans under the cover of night. A large shipping vessel was coming into port. I stood with six others at the fence that surrounded the docks.

“Give me the wire cutters,” I said.

One of the women with me handed over a pair of cutters and I went to work cutting through the chain-link fence. There was sparse security during these shipments. There were very few people they could trust to keep this secret under wraps. I cut in a circle and pushed out the center to create a simple yet effective hole in their security.

I stepped through first and we quickly made our way to one of the large stacks of metal shipping containers. We regrouped and I looked over to one of my girls. She was holding a large cloth bag with explosives that I acquired through my connections and with a few womanly wiles. There was something men found irresistible about a sleek and sexy black woman known for her roots deep in the Voodoo culture of New Orleans. I was a mystery to them, an enigma that they wanted desperately to solve.

If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that a good mystery on a woman is far more seductive than any dress. Curiosity was the ultimate downfall of any man. Their lust for knowledge and power are the strings I pull to get what I want, when I want it.

I pointed to each of my comrades. “Each of you, take a brick of C4 to your position. You’ve all done this before, and this time is no different. Remember to arm it when you’re finished. We will meet back here in ten minutes. If you’re not here, you get left behind.”

My girls split up and scattered into the shadows. The others were assigned structural weaknesses on the ship. My task was the most important. It wasn’t enough to simply sink the freighter, I had to be certain the Instinct within was eradicated as well. That’s why I always took the hold. The stuff was incredibly volatile when explosives were involved, so it made for the perfect catalyst.

I cut across the graveyard of containers stacked high above. Beams of moonlight broke through the gaps and painted milestones on my path to the ship. I clung tightly to the brick of plastic explosive in my hand. It was no larger than a standard package you’d receive in the mail, but it was enough to bring down an empire.

One of the guards near the ship was already unconscious. He lay sprawled across the ground just beside the bridge that led onto the ship. I told my girls not to kill unless they absolutely had to. I knelt down and pressed my fingers against his neck. I felt a pulse, a weak one, but it was there.

I made my way onto the ship. I expected to see at least one of my girls moving and winding through the maze on the upper deck, but it was deathly silent. The voice of the panther in the back of my mind told me that something was wrong, but I was so close to victory over Brakha that I ignored its cries.

As I made my way down to the lower decks where they kept the supplies of Instinct, I felt the panther’s influence weighing down on me. That side of my being detected danger and it didn’t trust me to handle it properly. A human was nothing compared to the raw power and skill of the Black Panther. I suppressed it and held it back. I needed human hands to arm the bomb.

I reached the hold and saw rusted barrels stacked high that held the raw liquid Instinct. It would be distributed in syringes and rationed out to the shifters in this area for months before another shipment would come. I walked over to one of the barrels and pulled the lid open. It was empty.

“What is this?” I asked.

“This, little panther is a trap,” a voice said. It was low and thick with a Russian accent tying the words together.

I spun around and stared into the darkness. I couldn’t see properly with human eyes. The panther within me screeched and roared for control. Now was the time. My body twisted, broke, mended itself, and then broke again in a hundred different ways before I adopted the sleek and stealthy form of a black panther. I darted behind a stack of barrels and looked through eyes that pierced the darkness.

I could smell his scent. He wasn’t afraid; in fact, he seemed excited by the thrill of the hunt. I slinked through the shadows and approached him from the left. He had the scent of a wolf on his skin, but he was in human form. It was like no other wolf I had ever smelled. The pieces were falling into place. It quickly became apparent who this was and why he was here. This was Sergei Ivanov. He was the creator and sole distributor of Instinct.

“You’ve made quite the name for yourself over the past few weeks. Our mutual friend, Brakha saw fit to travel halfway round the world to enlist my aid. Beyond your petty protests, I have no quarrel with you or your clan. Show yourself and we can resolve this peacefully,” he said.

His voice sounded tired, as if he had fought enough wars to know when it was time to fight and when it was better to simply speak. I wasn’t about to simply surrender to him. The panther within me would not allow it and for now it was in control. I turned a corner and saw him standing in the center of the dark hold. He was tall with a wide and chiseled frame. I couldn’t make out any other features in the darkness, but he exuded power and wisdom. I heard stories of him, but so few had actually been in his presence that I wrote them off as tall tales of an immortal and dying breed of shifter.

Some say he was thousands of years old. Standing in his presence, I was inclined to believe them. He didn’t look a day over 25, but the way he spoke and carried himself told the story of a man who had seen and done enough to fill a hundred lifetimes. Had we not met as enemies I would have been thrilled to speak with him and listen to the countless stories he could offer.

This was my chance to strike. I charged forward on light footsteps and approached from his left. He turned just as I was about to pounce and I felt his icy blue eyes cut into me through the darkness. He reached out with a thick hand and gripped me by the neck. He fell to his knees and flipped me onto my side. I struggled and shrieked but his strength was overwhelming.

“I do not have time for games! Return to your human form now or I’ll snap your neck!” He shouted.

The panther retreated and my body returned. I was naked; my clothes had been left behind the barrels on the other side of the hold. Sergei’s eyes wandered down my bare body. I could see a spark behind his gaze. How long had it been since he laid eyes on a woman? I heard he was a recluse, but the hunger in his eyes told me he hadn’t felt a woman’s embrace in some time. I could use that against him.

“When you’re finished looking, I’d like to get my clothes,” I said.

Sergei snapped back to the present. “I was not, I mean, I did not expect—”

“Pick your tongue up off the ground and let me get dressed. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. You won this round.”

I caught him off guard. His stone cold exterior was showing its cracks already. This would be too easy. I found my clothes and got dressed. Sergei seemed almost disappointed when I returned fully dressed.

“Lead the way,” I said.

Chapter 4

Madame Aveline was not what I expected. The way Brakha had described her, he made it sound like she and her clan had become feral. He painted the picture of a woman who had lost her humanity and given into the life of the Black Panther regardless of her form. When I encountered her in the trap I had laid, I found myself face-to-face with someone very different.

Even in human form, my eyes had become adapted to darkness. When she shifted back into a human, I felt emotions and sensations that had long been dormant. My eyes immediately took in her soft features and fiery eyes. My gaze wandered down her dark skin as it glistened with sweat. I followed the ample curvature of her breasts and slid down her flat stomach. Her legs were tucked together, offering but a glimpse of what lies between them.

There was no questioning it; she was beautiful, gorgeous even. It had been over a hundred years since I was able to feast on the site of the female form. She was an exquisite example. My lust, however, was quickly replaced with guilt as thoughts of Svetlana flooded my mind. She had been gone for so long, and yet the thought of even touching another woman still made me cringe.

I took control of myself; I had a job to do. She fetched her clothing and we departed the ship. Brakha and several of his clan members stood waiting for us as we emerged. I could feel the tension in the air between him and Madame Aveline. It grew into a powerful force that hung stagnant between us until Brakha spoke and cut the tension.

“You fell right into our trap, Aveline. I knew you would,” Brakha said.

“I see you couldn’t do the job yourself, had to send someone else?” Aveline asked.

“I didn’t want things to get messy. I prefer not to let our conflict of interest get in the way of what needs to be done,” Brakha said.

I looked between them and felt lost in the conversation. There was something Brakha hadn’t told me.

“What are you talking about, how do you know her?” I asked.

Brakha remained silent. Aveline laughed.

“You didn’t tell him?”

“Aveline, don’t.”

She looked over to me. “This pitiful excuse for a lion is my brother. Same mother, different fathers.”

I looked back to Brakha. “Is this true? You didn’t want your sister’s blood on your hands, so you bring me into this feud?”

“I promised our mother that I would never harm her. I cannot break that vow.”

“Of course, but your conscience is clear now because you found someone else to do the job for you? I’m leaving; consider yourself fortunate you still draw breath!”

“You leave and he dies wolf! Or have you forgotten? One call and they will cut him to pieces and feed him to the wolves!”

I reached over and grabbed Aveline by the arm and pulled her over to me.

“Fine, but I’m taking her with me. If he dies, she dies, or is that what you wanted?”

Brakha stood coldly at us. “She is my sister, but she is also my enemy. I wish death on my enemies, but I wouldn’t wish to see my sister suffer. You shall decide wolf, I wash my hands of this. Do with her what you will, but Aveline, if I ever see you again, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

“Don’t worry brother, you won’t.”

“Go home, wolf. When my men see her with you in the hall of your castle, they will let your son go. I’ll be back in a month for my Instinct. You better have it, and she better be gone when I get there!”

We parted ways. Aveline broke free of my grasp.

“I’ll go quietly; you don’t need to pull me around like your dog. There’s nothing left for me here anyway,” she said.

I pulled out my phone and typed in a text message to one of my local contacts. I chartered a private flight back to Russia and asked him to send a car to pick us up. I slid the phone into my pocket.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?” I asked.

“Something tells me you won’t,” she said.

“You don’t know me.”
I stopped at the edge of the dock. “A car is coming to pick us up, wait here.”

I reached into my coat and pulled out a hand wrapped cigarillo. It was a concoction of various herbs that calmed my nerves and dulled the wolf senses. Smoking this recipe was the only time I felt human.

I lit the far end and took a long draw. The pungent smoke rolled down my throat, leaving a trail of fire into my lungs. I blew out the white smoke into the night air.

“Would you like some?” I asked, holding it out to her.

“You should know better than to offer someone like me Instinct,” she said.

I smiled as I took another draw. “This isn’t Instinct that only comes in a liquid form.”

“Then what is it?”

“When you’ve learned to create your own medicine, you pick up some techniques. Try some; it will calm your nerves.”

Aveline took it and took a short draw from it. She immediately started coughing. I let loose a chuckle as I took it back from her.

“That tastes like the ass of a swamp!” She shouted.

“I don’t smoke it for the taste. The car’s here.”

As the black SUV pulled up to us, I snuffed out the lit end and placed it into my coat pocket. I couldn’t risk having any of my recipes being revealed.

We climbed inside and the driver locked the doors.

“Feel free to sleep, it’s going to be a long way back,” I said.

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” Aveline replied.

“Very well.”

We didn’t speak again for the rest of the trip.

Chapter 5

Brakha’s men were relieved to see us. I suspected that lions didn’t enjoy the cold very much. My son was released and I told him to go far from here. I would find him when things settled down. I took Madame Aveline down to the dungeons beneath the castle. I didn’t trust her or the doors on the cells after all these years. I placed her in the center of the cell, tied down to a chair so she couldn’t move.

I came to bring her food and untied her so she could eat. Every time she saw me she would ask questions. Mostly she would ask what I planned to do with her. I always answered the same: I don’t know.

I had no qualm with her so I didn’t see any reason to kill her. Even so, I had no guarantee if I let her go that she wouldn’t simply find another way to slow down or impede my business. So, she sat in my dungeon while I worked in my lab. Even through the thick walls, I could hear her screaming and yelling. After two weeks, she gave up and remained silent, which I was grateful for.

It was the day before Brakha would come for his Instinct; I was feeling the pressure of making a decision on what to do with her. I wouldn’t admit it to her, but I had grown fond of her presence. I didn’t know it would feel so nice to have a woman living in my halls again. Perhaps, even after a hundred years, my heart was still capable of feeling something.

I brought a tray of food and opened the gate. Aveline regarded me with her dark brown eyes as I set the tray down.

“I have a question for you,” she said.

“I still haven’t decided.”

“No, it’s not that.”

I stood up and looked at her. “Then what is it?”

“A guy like you could have any woman he wanted. Why do you live alone, in the middle of nowhere?”

“I do not seek the pleasures of the flesh. Besides, the only woman I ever loved has been gone for over a hundred years. In my time I’ve made too many enemies and been hurt too many times. This was for the best. I could still make Instinct and save our people without interference,” I said.

“Is that what you think?” Aveline asked, “That you’re helping shifters?”

“Yes, that is why I created it. To protect us from humans who would eradicate our people.”

“We are stronger than them! We can cut them down!”

She spoke with a passion and a fire that was undeniably alluring. I stepped closer to her.

“What would you have me do? This is my life, this is my business!” I said.

“You and I both know that you don’t care about the money, and there’s a part of you that wants something more than this pointless existence!” She said.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I saw the way you looked at me when we first met Sergei. There’s a part of you that knows I’m right. Why do you resist? Together we could free our people. Shifters would no longer live in fear!”

I thought back to the night we first met. The image of her naked body in my mind filled me with desire. I took another step closer to her.

“You want me to join you?” I asked.

“I want you to look into your heart and do what you know is right,”

I reached out and pressed my hand against her face. She tilted her cheek toward me. Her thick lips pressed against my skin. A rush of pleasure ran down my body like a wave. It had been so terribly long since I felt the kiss of a woman.

“Why don’t you let me give you a taste of what you’re missing? Go ahead, get undressed,” she said.

I took off my clothes and stood before her naked and bare. “Come closer, but don’t untie me just yet,” she whispered.

I stood over her and ran my hands through her silky black hair. She leaned forward and pressed her lips against me. Her tongue emerged and traced the length before she kissed the tip.

“I want to taste you,” she said.

I reached down and lifted myself into her open mouth. She eagerly took all of me in. I slid back out and let loose a long sigh. The pleasure was incredible.

“Keep going.”

I leaned forward again and pushed myself into her mouth. Her tongue swirled and slid across me. I threw my head back and felt her lips cling to me. I slowly started thrusting my hips back and forth, relishing in every moment her lips slid across my skin and her tongue danced along my length.

The pleasure was becoming too much, I was going to cum. I reached around behind her head and held her still as I started thrusting into her mouth faster.

I felt it coming, but I was too enthralled in the moment to notice that she had undone her ropes. Before I could react she was out of the chair. She pushed me down onto my back and leaped on top of me. She took the knife from the tray of food I brought her and pressed it to my neck.

“What is this? What are you doing?” I asked.

“Now you make your choice, Sergei. Either you accept what you know is right in your heart, or you refuse my offer and you die here and now. Make your choice!”
I knew she wasn’t bluffing, I could see that plainly in her eyes. She was right, but it took staring into the eyes of certain death for me to see it. Instinct wasn’t the solution; it was part of the problem.

“I accept your terms, on one condition,” I said.

“Name it.”

“You must come with me to my private quarters so we can finish this conversation in a more comfortable setting.”

Aveline threw the knife away and leaned down onto me. She pressed her lips into mine and then pulled away.

“Lead the way,” she said.

Chapter 6

I followed Sergei up to the second floor of his castle and into his bedroom. I admired his body with each step he took. His shifting muscles and thick arms worked like a well-oiled machine. I needed him to free our people, but I was almost becoming fond of him. There was a quiet kindness to him that I found endearing.

We stepped into his lavish bedroom with a massive bed. It was covered in crimson sheets that shimmered like silk. I stepped inside and Sergei closed the door behind me. I felt his lips graze my neck as he softly kissed a path from my neck down to my shoulder. He unbuttoned my shirt and peeled it off me. His hands effortlessly undid the clasp of my bra and he pulled down my panties with a swift motion. I was naked within seconds.

I turned around to face him. I could lose myself in those ice blue eyes of his. He pulled me to him and we kissed passionately as I backed toward the bed. When we reached the edge, he pushed me onto the soft sheets and leaned over me. I felt his hot breath against my breasts as his tongue gently slid over my nipples. His hand reached up and cupped them, gently massaging as his lips wandered down between my legs.

He pushed my legs apart and buried his head between. His tongue slid out and gently touched the boundary. A shrill shot of pleasure shot across my body as his tongue pressed against the soft flesh near the top. His breathing came in short bursts as he eagerly slid his tongue in circles and lines.

Years of experience had been kind to him. He knew just how to please a woman. I felt the pressure building as a climax approached. He showed no signs of slowing as my back arched, my legs quaked, and my body was wracked with waves of ecstasy. I screamed and clutched his jet black hair.

Before he could fully stand, I pulled him down and climbed on top of him. His hands gripped my waist as I slid him deep inside of me. I could feel his heartbeat keeping time with mine and I slid and grinded myself against him. He reached up and massaged my breasts as I furiously chased another climax.

His hands descended down my back and gripped tightly. He started thrusting to the same rhythm of my movements. I felt him thrusting deeper into me, sending out shocks of pleasure with each one. As I approached my second climax, I begged him to keep going. His gripped me tightly as my body once again exploded with ecstasy. The sounds of my screams prompted him to roar as he came inside me.

I collapsed beside him on the bed.

“I wish we could sleep Sergei, but there’s work to be done. My brother will be here tomorrow.”

“Yes, he shall, he will not find us or his Instinct,” I said.

“What are you planning?” I asked.

“I will set fire to the lab. When the flames reach the Instinct, this entire castle will be destroyed in the explosion. The secrets will die with me, and our people will finally be rid of the drug that keeps them from realizing their true destiny.”

I lay on his chest and closed my eyes. For the first time in my life, I felt hope for the future.

Chapter 7

I stood beside Aveline in the lab that had occupied my life for centuries. I never saw a future beyond this. I had assumed I would spend whatever time was left for me on this Earth making a drug that I had convinced myself was the savior of the shifter race. As it turned out, I was wrong. It wasn’t a solution, it was a crutch. For so long we had denied our gifts and chose to live among the humans.

No more, today everything would change. Without my lab, without Instinct, shifters would be forced to embrace their animalistic sides. They would finally stop denying their destiny and instead walk proudly into the future. The scene was set; all I had to do was start the fire. There was a long fuse that led through the lab and into a cloth that sat suspended in a vat of Instinct. There was enough here to destroy any hope of the drug existing again.

“Brakha will be here soon. Light the fuse so we can leave!” Aveline said.

“I spent countless years here. I built this place with my own two hands. This is my home.”

Aveline took my head in her hands and turned me toward her.

“This isn’t your home anymore, Sergei. It’s lost everything that made it one, now it’s just a building. You can do this, I promise.”

I struck the match and lit the end of the fuse. We had just over five minutes before this place would explode. By the time Brakha arrived it would be smoking rubble. I leaned down and lit the fuse. The flame took hold and started following the path to its destiny. Now, it was time to follow my own.

Aveline and I left the castle behind and shifted into our animal forms. We ran full speed into the jungle until we were far from the castle. I spun around and watched my home explode in a ball of fire through the eyes of the dire wolf.

I looked over to Aveline who glistened in the night like a living shadow in her Black Panther form. We locked eyes and I knew I had made the right decision. She turned and ran off into the forest. I took one last look at what used to be my home and then followed her into the night.

Mission: The Double Edged Heart

Chapter 1

I remember the day I died. It was raining, hard. Lightning temporarily added illumination to an otherwise overwhelming darkness. Thunder growled all around me like the inner demons that tormented my mind. I stood atop a stone tower in the concrete jungle of Hong Kong and looked out into a night illuminated by lights just as artificial as the people who made them. This was a world that would smile in your face while it stabbed you in the back.

I was once a part of this, an empire of deceit built on a foundation of lies and paved with the bones of the poor. Businesses in this world was nothing more than dirty warfare covered in a fancy pressed suit and tie. Careers and lives were made and broken as often as the tides changed. It made me sick thinking about all of it, but more than that, it made me feel like there was nothing I could do to stop it. I was once one of them, a shark preying on the weak and sleeping like a baby while families bled out watching their financial futures fall to ash.

In a world where no one cared about anyone but themselves, and anything could be bought for the right price, no one would be left standing when it all burned.

The suit I was wearing cost me over six-thousand dollars. That was the kind of money that could feed a family for a year, and I spent it on a piece of clothing that was currently being ruined by a torrential downpour of rain. We all have our masks that we wear: masks for the world to see, and masks to convince ourselves we're still human, deep down in our souls. My mask was broken, and I was forced to look in the mirror at what laid beneath. There was nothing, just an empty shell of a man.

The smartphone in my hand started vibrating. I swiped to the right and placed it to my ear.

“I’m here, are you on your way?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be there soon. Just stay out of sight.”

I hung up and placed the phone in my coat pocket.

“Zhang Wu! Stay where you are!”

I knew the voice, just not the face. It didn’t matter; he was death coming to finish me off. It was time I paid for my sins.

I heard his footsteps approaching, and I felt myself deeply conflicted. There was a part of me that thought I deserved this, all of it. I told myself I wouldn’t run anymore, that I would face the consequences with honor. Then I saw her face, perhaps the last angels left in a world filled with demons.

You made her a promise.

Death was knocking at my door, howling my name.

Sorry, I can’t answer today, I won’t leave her alone in this world.

I turned and ran as gunshots roared through the night. The bullets passed by my ears, screeching like banshees. I approached the edge of the rooftop and looked down on the building adjacent to it.

Remember your training. Jump!

I leapt off the side of the building and passed over the city below. I tucked my legs into my chest and rolled as I hit the coarse surface of the neighboring building. The assassin behind me wasted no time in doing the same. He hit the ground as I climbed to my feet and ran to the edge of the rooftop.

The next building was too far. I couldn’t make it. I stood on the edge and looked down. There was nothing but darkness until the bottom.

“There’s nowhere else to run Zhang! Stand there and accept your fate!” the voice said.

I slowly turned around and looked my assassin in the eye. His face was all too familiar.

“You?”

He nodded. “They’re not stupid Zhang, they knew from the beginning.”

“I should have known. You’ve made a living out of stabbing people in the back,” I said.

He chuckled. “Don’t put this on me, Zhang, you’re the one who dug your own grave.”

“Better me than the rest of the world, don’t you think?”

He checked his gun and cocked it. His finger curled around the trigger.

“One last question for you, old friend: where’s the drive?”

I smiled and closed my eyes. “If you have to ask, you’ll never find it.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, you’ll never know. Goodbye Zhang.”

He pulled the trigger.

Chapter 2

I hate my job. Most people aren’t very fond of their chosen careers or the ones they’ve settled for, but I hate mine. I get treated like a servant and tossed around like yesterday’s garbage. The last time I heard a “thank you” seemed like an eternity ago. I thought taking a job as a secretary for a major corporation would open doors for me, but it mostly just slammed them in my face on a daily basis.

Even with a pay bump, I was still struggling to pay my rent and bills. Brand new stressors like increased taxes and health insurance continued to cut into my paycheck like a psychopath on a war streak. I wanted to quit and walk out. After all, there was nothing left for me here in this city. The closest thing I had ever felt to love walked out on me the second things started to get hard, and my mother drifted off one night while I was asleep without saying goodbye.

It was just me now, me and this empty city filled with hollow people. Today was the day. Yes, today I would finally tell my chauvinistic boss off and walk out those doors forever. I just had to wait for the right moment.

“Tanya, are you alive in there?” Anderson asked.

I looked up from my keyboard and saw my boss, Anderson Grey, leaning over my desk and ruining the organized piles of memos, business cards, and other assorted junk. He had beady little grey eyes and a fancy haircut, but his scrawny frame and thin jaw did nothing to make him look as intimidating as he thought he was.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Grey?” I asked.

“You can start by getting those spreadsheets done; I needed them an hour ago!”

I clenched my jaw. Not yet.

“Mr. Grey, you asked me to do them an hour ago,” I said.

He nodded. “Yeah, I know. Get them done!”
He stormed off and left me staring at a screen full of empty boxes. My heart was pounding and my palms were sweating. I wanted to follow him down the hall, corner him in his office, and tear him a new one. Not yet.

I went to work on the spreadsheet, mindlessly filling in box after box. Another hour went by as workers came in and out. Some had the common courtesy to say hello as they passed my desk and scanned their I.D. badges, but most of them just walked by like I didn’t exist.

As I typed in the last of the numbers on the spreadsheet, Anderson reappeared with a terrified look on his face.

“Tanya, stop what you’re doing immediately!”

“I thought you said you needed these spreadsheets done?”

“Yeah, I do, but not now. Something more important came up. You’re familiar with Zhang Wu, yes?”

I shook my head.

Anderson growled. “Zhang Wu, one of our biggest clients? He’s the C.E.O of a major Chinese corporation? Did you even read the memo I sent out about his visit?”

“Actually I sent the memo and I typed it. What’s the big deal, his visit isn’t for another two weeks.”

Anderson shook his head so hard I thought his glasses would fly right off his head. “He pushed it up, he’s coming in today!”

Now I felt nervous. I couldn’t make a scene on a day like today. Word would spread like wildfire and my reputation would be ruined. I’d have to tell Anderson off another day, when a C.E.O wasn’t visiting.

“Okay, so what do you need me to do?” I asked.

“He’s going to want reports, and I haven’t done them yet. I need you to stall for me,” He said.

“Stall for you? What do you expect me to do?”

“I don’t know, give him a tour, show him around the city, use your womanly ways on him or something!”

I sat back in my chair and shot Anderson a glare. “My womanly what now? I’m a secretary, not an escort service.”

“I know I’m sorry. Just do me this favor and I promise I’ll get off your back about everything.”

That did sound nice.

“Alright fine, I’ll keep him busy.”

“Yes! Thank you, Tanya!”

“You’re welcome.”

Anderson scurried off like a frightened mouse and left me to my ways. I decided to do a little research on this guy so I wouldn’t look like a total idiot when he arrived. I jumped online and searched his name, “Zhang Wu.”

His picture popped up at the top of the list. He was a clean cut Asian man with a sharp jawline, warm brown eyes, and perfectly cropped jet black hair. In his photos he had a piercing gaze that seemed to leap out of the screen. I delved deeper into his biography and I was shocked at how little information was available.

They had his birthday, two years before mine, and where he was born: Hong Kong, China. I already knew he was C.E.O of some fancy corporation, but beyond that the man was an enigma. Either he wasn’t important enough to write web articles on, or more likely he had something he didn’t want public.

It took a lot of money and power to remain anonymous in the modern era. I had learned that the hard way when my ex started stalking me after I moved. Anything I did, from Facebook to checking my email, all of it left a digital footprint that he could use with the right tools to follow me.

“Hello, I’m here to see Anderson Grey,” a voice said.

I looked up from my screen and stifled a gasp. Zhang Wu was standing in front of me, in the flesh, as if he had leapt out of my computer screen. He couldn’t see it, but I fumbled with the mouse to close the window and feigned typing.

“Hello Mr. Wu.”
“You can call me Zhang. Only my butler calls me Mr. Wu,” he said.

I looked up at him. He face was perfectly still and stoic. After a long moment he cracked a smile.

“It’s a joke. I do have a butler, but he calls me Zhang as well. And you are?”

“Tanya, Tanya Bates. It’s a pleasure to meet you Zhang,” I said.

He shook my hand with a firm grip and continued to hold a perfect smile. Another long moment of silence passed as I found myself speechless in his overwhelming presence.

“Is Anderson ready for me?” he asked.

I fell back to reality and shook my head.

“Uh, no. He apologies but there was an emergency that took him out of the office. He will be back soon. I would be happy to give you a tour of our offices in the meantime?”

Zhang’s smile faded and I saw the cold fire return in his eyes. He clearly wasn’t someone who liked waiting.

“An emergency? He could have called me. I just stepped off a flight from Hong Kong; I’m not in the mood to be waiting on him.”

“Well, like I said, I can give you a tour?”

He waved away the thought.

“I’ve been on a hundred tours of this place. How long will he be?”

“I’m not sure,” I said.

Zhang ran a hand through his perfectly cut hair.

“Tell him I’ll be back tomorrow, and I expect him to be ready for me.”

I couldn’t let him walk out; I had to think of something. I looked down at my desk and saw a stack of requisition forms from the week prior. The offices had been outfitted with new equipment. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

“Wait! Did I mention our offices recently received new equipment? It’s state-of-the-art, I’m sure someone of your business stature would like to see how we’re staying on the cutting edge,” I said.

Zhang turned around and looked at me. His eyes lit up for a moment and he snapped his fingers.

“Yes, I do recall hearing about that. You also received new servers in that hardware refresh if I’m not mistaken? I’d like to see those; they’re supposed to have updated security features.”

I nodded eagerly and stepped out from behind the desk.

“That’s correct, I’d be happy to show you them,” I said.

Zhang pointed to the desk.

“Who will be watching your post?”

I reached down and programmed the phone to forward calls directly to Anderson’s office. A little payback.

“Not to worry, I’ll have my calls forwarded. Right this way!”

I scanned my I.D. badge and Zhang followed me through into the back offices. The server room was on the floor beneath us. I knew I didn’t have the security myself, but I also knew Anderson’s password. He had the memory of a goldfish with amnesia, so he enlisted me to memorize his passwords so he wouldn’t have to remember them himself.

We reached the door that led downstairs. I paused at the panel, running through the passwords in my head.

“Is there a problem Tanya?” Zhang asked.

“No, no problem at all.”

The numbers hit me. I typed in the password and the door’s lock clicked open. We stepped inside and walked downstairs to the main servers. Zhang followed silently as we passed the glass enclosure. I stopped at the door leading inside.

“Here we are. Would you like me accompany you inside?” I asked.

“I don’t know are you familiar with the specifications on these servers?” he asked.

I blushed and looked away from his gaze. I knew as much about computers as I did about quantum physics.

“No, I’m afraid I don’t,” I said.

Zhang laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed softly.

“Don’t feel bad, I don’t know either. I’ll just take a look around, wait here.”

He stepped inside and I waited for the door to close behind him before breathing a long sigh of relief. His presence was overpowering at times. He exuded power and control to the point where he rendered me speechless if I let my guard down. I stood outside the server room awkwardly looking around as Zhang inspected the new hardware.

One of the techs came walking down the hall. I stood out like a sore thumb, so naturally he came over and started grilling me with questions.

“What are you doing down here? You don’t have clearance to be here!” he said.

“I’m showing Mr. Wu our new servers. Anderson is busy catching up with his work so he asked me to keep our guest busy,” I said.

The tech looked into the glass enclosure, then back to me with a bewildered look on his face.

“So you just let him into the most secure part of our facility? He could be stealing files for all you know!”

“He’s our biggest client,” I looked down at his name tag, “Frank, so I suggest you keep your paranoid accusations to yourself. If you really want to accuse one of the most powerful people associated with our company of corporate espionage, then be my guest. Here’s the thing though, if you tell anyone we were here, or even whisper that kind of bold accusation again, the next job you’ll be working at is in a drive-thru at McDonald’s. So, I suggest you keep on walking Frank.”

The scrawny guy seemed taken aback. He adjusted his glasses, cleared his throat, and left without another word. I may not have been a Harvard graduate, but I had more street smarts than everyone in the building combined. I could talk my way out of almost anything if I needed to.

Zhang emerged from the servers. I spotted a few beads of sweat on his brow, which he quickly wiped off with a handkerchief that he pulled out of his jacket. He flashed me a cool smile and looked down both sides of the hall.

“Everything alright? I heard you talking to someone,” he said.

“Yes, everything’s fine. One of the techs got a little snippy with me, but when I told him I was showing you around, he backed off.”

My phone started ringing in my pocket. I answered the call and placed it to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Tanya, is Zhang with you?” Anderson asked.

“Yes, are you ready for him?”

“I am, send him up. By the way, does he seem angry with me?”

I looked over at Zhang who stood calmly waiting for me to finish my call.

“No, everything’s fine. I’ll let him know you’re ready.”

I hung up the phone and placed it back into my pocket.

“Anderson will see you now. It was a pleasure Zhang; I hope you are satisfied with our new servers.”

He nodded. “The security on them could be better, but otherwise I was happy with the performance I saw. Listen, before you go, I was wondering if perhaps I could repay you for your hospitality? I can book us a table at Le Bernadin? They have an excellent seafood menu.”

Once again he took me off guard with his confidence.

“Wow, that’s very generous of you, but I don’t know what I would wear. The pay here doesn’t leave much room for fancy dresses,” I said.

Zhang nodded. “Of course, I’ll have my tailor deliver something. Type in your address here. I’ll pick you up at seven?”

He handed me his phone to enter my address.

“I haven’t said yes,” I said.

“No, but you will, won’t you?”

He was good.

I typed my address into his phone and handed it back to him.

“Excellent, I’ll see you at seven.”

He walked away without another word and I was left with butterflies furiously crowding my stomach. A few hours ago I was going to quit my job and dive head-first into the world of the unemployed. Now I was going to have dinner with one of the most powerful businessmen in the world.

It’s amazing how things can change in a moment.

Chapter 3

I expected a fancy car, but not a limousine, or a chauffeur for that matter. I should have expected both when I saw the dress he sent me. A young Asian man, probably in his early twenties, showed up at my door shortly after I had gotten home from work. He was dressed in a suit and tie, something you didn’t see often in the neighborhood I lived in.

He introduced himself as Phiet and informed me that he was Mr. Wu’s personal driver. He asked if I was Tanya Bates and I told him I was. That’s when he handed me a white cardboard box and told me he would return to pick me up at seven for my engagement with Mr. Wu. It was all very formal. I took the box to my room; a short journey across my tiny apartment. I pulled the top off and almost fainted at the sight of the dress within. It was soft as silk, with black straps and a flowing purple interior. It shimmered in the orange sunlight coming through the window. I picked it up by the hanger and draped it over me as I turned and looked in the mirror.

The shimmering purple paired perfectly with my caramel colored skin. I always loved purple, I felt like it made the emerald in my eyes stand out. However, it had been so long since I could afford to wear something this beautiful, let alone enjoy myself.

I undressed and took a hot shower. The steaming water relaxed the tense muscles in my back. As I lathered myself with soap, I closed my eyes and thought of Zhang. I remember the way it felt when he spoke to me. He was so confident; his presence was both overwhelming and consuming. Being away from him, all I could think about was when I would see him again. He was infectious.

Perhaps it was the mystery about him, or maybe I was just a woman who appreciated a man that exudes that kind of assuredness without coming across as arrogant. I climbed out of the shower and toweled off. After applying a thin layer of lotion to my taut and dry skin, I finally put on the dress Zhang had sent.

Standing in the mirror I felt tears welling up behind my eyes. I was a slender and sleek woman, but it had been so long since I felt beautiful. Until that moment, I was just someone the world had chewed up and spit out. Seeing myself in the mirror, watching the way the dress fell over the curvature of my breasts and how it hugged my backside and hips, I felt more than beautiful: I felt gorgeous.

I paired light makeup with mascara and a deep crimson lipstick that helped my thick lips stand out from the rest of my face. I felt incredible, like I could take on the world.

Then the doorbell rang, and I felt my heart stop.

This is it, don’t mess it up!

Great internal advice as always. I put the finishing touches on my makeup and made my way to the front door. My shaking hands fumbled with the lock until I finally got it open. Phiet stood in the doorway with a blank expression on his face.

“Are you ready, Ms. Bates?” he asked.

“I believe so, how do I look?”

His eyes quickly scanned my dress.

“You look wonderful Ma’am, very beautiful.”

“Oh, you’re too kind, Phiet. Lead the way,” I said.

I locked the door behind me and followed Phiet out onto the busy city streets. It was a humid night. The crescent moon’s light was drowned out by the artificial light from the street lamps that lined the road. A stretch limousine sat idling in front of me. It was more extravagant than I expected. Phiet stepped forward and opened the back door for me. I climbed inside and sat down on the leather seat within.

Zhang sat to my left with a beaming smile on his face. I felt his eyes wander from my head to my toes and back up again.

“Incredible. You look stunning, Tanya,” he said.

“I can’t thank you enough for this dress, it’s gorgeous.”

Zhang nodded. “It was made for you, I can see that now. My tailor is very talented.”

He turned and plucked a bottle of champagne from a bucket of ice. He poured it into two glasses situated beside the bucket and handed me one.

“Thank you,” I said.

“So, Tanya, tell me more about yourself. A woman of your intelligence and beauty shouldn’t be working as a secretary,” Zhang said.

I felt myself blushing and took another large sip of the champagne. The bubbly liquid sloshed down my throat as I tried to formulate an answer.

“I couldn’t agree with you more, but without a degree I can’t do much in this city, or any city for that matter.”

Zhang took a sip of his champagne.

“I don’t know about that, I made it where I am today without any formal education. Sometimes you’re born with the skills you need,” he said.

“Well, be that as it may, I don’t know of any skills I was born with that could help me become the C.E.O of a massive corporation,” I said, taking another swig from my champagne.

“I think you’re not giving yourself enough credit, Tanya. I believe you have the skills to be as successful as you want to be, you just need the right opportunity placed before you,” Zhang said.

I almost choked on my champagne. Was he offering me a job?

“Really? And what opportunity would that be?” I asked.

Zhang finished his champagne and set the glass back into the receptacle beside the ice bucket.

“I don’t like to talk business before dinner. We’ll discuss your future after we’ve eaten. Phiet, how much longer?”

“Less than three minutes, sir.”

Zhang sat back into the leather seating and smiled.

“Very good.”

Zhang was calm as could be, but my head was swimming with thoughts about what he was going to say after dinner. I had to concentrate on the moment, but the anticipation was killing me.

I turned my thoughts to dinner and started to think about what I would order. I wasn’t much of a seafood person, but tonight I would be.

Chapter 4

Dinner went well. I found Tanya to be unique and rather enjoyable company compared to most women I came across. In those cases, all they cared about was the money I could offer them. They were blinded by it, but Tanya seemed to care about something more. She was grateful for even the smallest of gestures, to a point where she was far more genuine than I thought possible.

Her assistance earlier in the day was invaluable. I needed a way into that server room, and she blazed a trail for me. Even when it seemed that the illusion would shatter, she deftly handled the situation. Were it not for her, I would most certainly have been caught. As technology marches onward, my trade becomes more and more obsolete. I am being replaced by computer programs and hackers who do my work from the comfort of their home.

If I was to continue, and at this point I had no other choice, I would need her assistance. As we were seated at the restaurant, I thought about how I would broach the subject after dinner. I had to be delicate so as not to scare her off, but I also needed it to be worth her while. Perhaps it was just me, but I felt a chemistry brewing between us. There was a connection there, one that I could use to convince her.

I couldn’t help but notice the way the dress she was wearing complimented her body. I was a man of exquisite taste. An abundance of wealth seemed to do that to a person. I was extremely discerning when it came to women, and most often our revels were not fueled by something as poetic as love. No, typically my women were only interested in the luxuries that my lifestyle could afford, and the physical ecstasy that came with it.

Passion, true passion, was an emotion foreign to me. Could Tanya perhaps be the one to show me what it was like?

You of all people should know not to mix business and pleasure. The two could co-exist, but they had to be mutually exclusive. When you let your feelings bleed into your work, you start making bad decisions.

We ordered drinks and food. I decided on the stuffed lobster tail. Tanya was unsure of what to order. I recommended the bacon-wrapped scallops, to which she agreed. All was going well, but I could tell she was nervous. Normally that wouldn’t bother me, but I knew how valuable she was. I had to make her feel more comfortable.

“I want to thank you for earlier. You didn’t have to cover for me while I was in the server room, but your assistance made my job a lot easier,” I said.

Tanya took a sip of her wine. “Of course. I just figured that people should respect you. Obviously you wouldn’t be stealing information, that’s just ridiculous.”

“Right, of course.”

I took a large swig of the wine from my glass. I couldn’t remember the last time a woman made me nervous, but Tanya seemed to cut right through my resolve despite her hesitations.

“So, how long are you in town for?” she asked.

“Until tomorrow, I have a flight that leaves in the afternoon.”

Tanya seemed offended by my answer. She averted her gaze for a moment and I saw her lips tighten.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“I’m just trying to figure out what the angle is here. You invited me to dinner, bought me a fancy dress, and mentioned something about an opportunity, but you’re leaving tomorrow?”

“I just wanted to thank you for your help earlier,” I said.

Tanya shot me a gaze that tore through my white lie.

“We both know it’s more than that.”

“Yes, I suppose it is. I wanted to wait until after dinner before we discuss business,” I said.

“I think we would both enjoy our food a bit more if you just told me what’s going on now.”

I nodded. “Very well, I can’t argue with your logic. The truth, Tanya, is that I was stealing files from those servers.”

She sat up straight and leaned back into her chair.

“You’re kidding, right? That’s illegal!”

I placed my hand over hers across the table. She didn’t pull back, so I still had a chance.

“Please, keep your voice down. I’m fully aware of my actions, but I also think it should be illegal for them to pay you as little as they do and treat you like dirt. Wouldn’t you agree?” I asked.

Tanya shook her head. “Those are two very different things.”
“Are they? Businesses ruin the lives of people like you. Meanwhile, they cash their massive checks and remain unpunished? It’s time we leveled the playing field, don’t you think?”

Tanya seemed to be curious, I had her attention now.

“So what exactly is it that you do Zhang?”

“I can’t tell you here, it’s not safe. What I can tell you is that I need your help,” I said.

“You want me to help you do something illegal?” she asked.

“Don’t look at it that way. I’m onto something big Tanya, and with your help I may just be able to achieve it. I assure you, every need or desire you have will be taken care of. You won’t have to live like this ever again. You don’t need to answer me now,” I said.

The waiter arrived and placed the dishes in front of us. Tanya seemed to be in shock. I couldn’t read her or predict what she would do next.

“Listen, Zhang, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I don’t know how to take all of this.”

“I understand, I only ask that you take some time to think it over,” I said.

Tanya cut into one of the scallops on her plate and took a bite. I hesitantly took a bite of my stuffed lobster tail. Normally I would relish in the flavors, but in that moment I was only focused on Tanya, on what she would say or do next.

“Perhaps we can talk about something else?”

Tanya nodded, but she didn’t say a word.

“Do you have any family here? A brother or sister? Perhaps parents?”

Tanya shook her head. “No siblings. My mother and I don’t speak; I haven’t heard from or seen her in almost ten years.”

“What about your father?”

“Never met him.”

I finished my glass of wine and took a large bite of the dish in front of me. Sweat was pooling on my forehead. I could tell she was conflicted and her stress was bleeding over to me. I wasn’t incapable of empathy, but I never saw the need for it until now. Why was she affecting me like this?

“What about you? Anyone else in on this game of yours?” she asked.

“No, it’s just me. I’ve never trusted anyone enough to let them in,” I said.

She softened a bit; perhaps more of my story would give her the context she needed.

“I was born in Hong Kong, but I never met my parents. I grew up an orphan,” I said.

Tanya paused for a moment and took a sip of her wine. She looked up at me and our eyes met. Curiosity was taking hold; I could see it reflected in her gaze.

“How does one get into your line of work, Zhang?” she asked.

“Well, let’s just say it’s not something I applied for. The type of work I do is something you fall into. The wrong place at the wrong time as it were. I’m just trying to make the best of the situation,” I said.

We finished our meals and another two glasses of wine between the two of us. The drinks seemed to soften Tanya’s sharp edges. She was less reserved and more reasonable.

“Did you leave room for dessert?” I asked.

“No. I’d like to go home now if that’s alright with you.”

“Of course, just let me get the check.”

I waved the waiter over and paid for the food. I wanted to ask her for an answer, but I didn’t.

Not yet.

Chapter 5

On the ride back to my apartment, Zhang closed the border between the driver’s cabin and the rest of the limousine. It was time to talk business, but I didn’t know where to begin. At the beginning of our date I thought I was being wined and dined by one of the most successful businessmen in the world, but now I felt like I was sitting in the car with a criminal.

“Tanya, before we arrive, I’d like the chance to explain,” Zhang said.

“By my guess, in this traffic, we’ve got about five minutes. Shoot.”

“The only simple way to put this is that I’m a double agent. I was taken in by the Chinese government when I was a kid after hacking and stealing secure files from their servers from a library computer. They put me to work as an agent of corporate espionage. Trade secrets, insider trading, you name it. I made money, for myself, and for them. They gave me my own shadow corporation to run so I wouldn’t get caught, but I got sloppy. The CIA caught me in a lie and threatened to lock me up and throw away the key. I took immunity, and in return they had me start feeding them everything I sent to the Chinese. Pretty soon I started putting the pieces together, and that’s when I realized what they’re both planning.”

It was a lot to take in, too much really.

“So, what’s the big plan?”

“Economic collapse. The U.S. doesn’t want to pay their loans to China, and China is tired of waiting. They both want to pull the rug out from the other. What they don’t realize is how it will destabilize the economy. Worse, there’s something going on in the shadows, something they either don’t know about or, something they’ve chosen to ignore. The information both sides want is enough to destroy the financial future of everyone in the middle class. However, this other party, this shadow government, is poised to take it one step further if America or China have their way. They will step in and do something, I don’t know what, but I know they want to collapse the entire world economy. They want it all to burn. I can’t let that happen, so I’ve stolen the documents myself,” Zhang said.

So that’s the illegal part.

“You stole them? Where are they?” I asked.

“I can’t tell you, it’s too dangerous. If you decide to help me, though, I can steal the last piece and prevent all of this from happening. After this is done, I’m cashing out. If you come with me, you’ll spend the rest of your days living in paradise. One last job, what do you say?”

He was either absolutely right or entirely delusional. Either way, he was offering me something that would take me away from all of this. How could I say no to that?

It’s dangerous, but you feel something for him.

It’s true, Zhang had an allure that I couldn’t deny. Even so, I wasn’t cut out for corporate espionage.

“I don’t know Zhang, I want to help, but I just don’t think I’m cut out for all of this,” I said.

I could see his heart sink, and I felt terrible. I didn’t know what else to say.

“Well, it seems we are here. I’ll call you in the morning before I leave for the airport. If you don’t answer, then I’ll know. If you do, then I’ll pick you up on the way.”

I nodded. “Thank you for dinner.”

He leaned forward and brushed my cheek with his hand. His touch was serene and warming. His lips touched mine tenderly and I felt a chill slide down my spine. It was a short and poignant kiss, but it left me wanting more. It took everything I had in me to get out of the car and make that long walk up to my apartment.

I walked inside and closed the door behind me. All the lights were off, which was strange because I usually left at least one on to avoid fumbling in the dark. I reached through the darkness to feel for a switch.

“Move and you die,” a man said.

My heart froze as my blood ran cold through my veins.

“Who are you?”

“Zhang Wu, how do you know him?” he asked.

“We only just met, I don’t know him.”

“You know what he did. Where are the files?”

“I don’t know! I swear I don't know what you’re talking about!”

“Not good enough!”

A loud gunshot rang through the darkness, temporarily illuminating the apartment. The bullet hit just to the left of me, but something told me he could have killed me if he wanted.

“I told you, I don’t know anything!”

The door behind me exploded open and light flooded in. I felt a pair of hands grab me by the shoulders as two more gunshots rang out. I hit the ground hard and had the wind knocked out of me.

“Stay down!” Zhang shouted.

I heard pounding footsteps, followed by another gunshot. I heard Zhang cry out in pain as glass shattered. Once the shards hit the floor, everything went silent. I looked up as Zhang turned on the light. The apartment had been ransacked. All of my things were either broken or throw across the room. The back window was shattered and Zhang stood with his hand clutching a bullet wound on his left shoulder.

“You’re hurt!” I shouted, running over to him.

“It’s nothing, but we need to leave, it’s not safe here.”

The reality of the situation hit me.

“You saved my life,” I said.

“I heard the gunshot as we were driving away. I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t let them hurt you.”

I walked up to him and pressed my lips against his. I ran my hand through his thick hair and clutched the back of his head as our mouths embraced. It was even better than the first kiss; it sent fire through my body.

“I’ll do it. I’ll come with you, Zhang,” I said.

He smiled through the pain.

“Good, come with me.”

Chapter 6

We rode back to Zhang’s hotel where we were met by a bodyguard that hurried us through the lobby and up the elevator to Zhang’s suite. I walked into the room and saw a luxurious layout with a kitchen, dining room, a living room with a massive flat screen and a long red leather couch.

A pair of sliding glass doors lead out to a balcony that overlooked the city’s skyline. The luxurious finishes were befitting of a five-star hotel, but I was more concerned with Zhang’s well-being. The bodyguard took him into the bathroom and I followed. Inside was a tub large enough to fit at least three people. Zhang climbed onto the countertop as the bodyguard produced a med kit the size of a briefcase.

“I’m guessing this isn’t the first time you’ve been shot?” I asked.

Zhang shook his head as the bodyguard went to work cleaning the wound. He pulled off Zhang’s shirt and I had to resist gasping at the sight of him. His perfectly chiseled body was littered with scars, bullet wounds and gaping slashes. His back was the worst; it looked as if someone had whipped him relentlessly.

“It’s alright; there are a lot of scars. The price of my position I suppose. I’ll only be a minute, feel free to grab a drink while you wait.”

“I’d rather stay here,” I said.

Zhang smiled. The bodyguard shot me a look.

“I work better without distractions,” he said.

I turned and walked out of the bathroom. On the left side of the living room, against the far wall, was a fully stocked liquor cabinet. After everything that happened, I could admittedly use a drink. I mixed together a simple vodka with cranberry juice, using some of the finest vodka I had ever laid eyes upon.

The drink was heavily unbalanced in the liquor’s favor. The bite of the liquor scorched my throat as it slid down into my stomach. Zhang emerged from the bathroom with the bodyguard. He had a bandage on his shoulder, but otherwise he seemed alright.

“You can go now,” he told the bodyguard.

The bodyguard hesitated, but ultimately left. Zhang walked over to me and looked at the glass in my hand.

“Vodka cranberry?” he asked.

“Yeah, I was little overwhelmed with the options,” I said.

His eyes traced a path from my head to my legs and back up again.

“I know the feeling,” he said with a wry smile.

I took a long swig from the drink.

“We’ve both had a long night. I noticed the tub in there. Maybe we could draw a hot bath?”

Zhang grinned. “I’d like that.”

I walked into the bathroom and turned the knobs over the tub. Steaming water poured out and began to fill the basin. Zhang appeared behind me and I felt his hands gently press against my waist as his lips softly kissed the base of my neck. Desire flooded my body as he gently pulled one of the straps down my shoulder. He kissed softly, tracing a line down my shoulder as he pushed the other strap off.

I let out a long sigh of satisfaction as he delicately unzipped the back of my dress. The garment fell to the ground, leaving me with nothing but my bra and panties. He took hold of my shoulders and turned me around slowly. His index finger started at my neck and ran down to the curvature of my breasts. He ran his hands across them as he reached around and took hold of the clasp in the back.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. He deftly unclasped the bra and let it fall to where the dress sat. I turned around and pulled off my panties as Zhang finished undressing. His body was beaten and scarred, but despite his painful past, he still kept himself in impeccable shape.

He gestured to the tub. “Ladies first.”

I climbed into the tub and lowered myself into the soothing water. Zhang climbed in behind me and pulled me back toward him. He pressed himself against me as I heard him pick up a bottle from the side of the tub.

“Lavender and jasmine oil. Would you like a massage?” he asked.

I nodded and pulled my shoulder length hair to the side as he rubbed the scented oil across my back. The scents blended perfectly together as he pressed his hands into my back and released the tension in every muscle.

“You have no scars, not a single one,” he said.

I lowered my head as he massaged the base of my neck.

“I have plenty, but all of my scars are on the inside,” I whispered.

He finished and pulled me back onto him. His hands climbed up to my breasts and gently began massaging them. His hands moved with confidence equal to his personality. I closed my eyes and felt his touch as he cupped water into his hands and gently poured it down my chest.

He held me close and whispered into my ear.

“I’ll protect you, I promise.”

We sat in the warm water until it began to cool. Zhang climbed out of the tub and I felt my heart racing as lust filled my mind. I climbed on to my knees and turned toward him as he stood on beside the tub.

“Don’t go anywhere just yet. I don’t believe I ever properly thanked you for saving my life. Come here.”

I curled my finger and watched as he stepped over to me. I reached up and wrapped my fingers around his thighs I opened my mouth and gently kissed the tip of his wet shaft. I brought my hand up and curled it around him as I lowered my mouth onto him.
He sighed as he took all him into my mouth. I held him close as I pulled him out and took him in again. His fingers ran through my soaking wet hair as I found a steady rhythm. The scent of the oil filled the air. I looked up at him as he reached down and took my hand. He pulled me out of the tub and wrapped a towel around me.

“Come with me,” he said.

He led me through the suite and into the bedroom. He gestured to the bed and climbed onto it.

“I have specific tastes when it comes to my sexual preferences. I only ask that you let me do what I must, and I assure you, you won’t regret it.”

I laid down on the bed and watched as Zhang produced two pairs of handcuffs. He reached up and shackled my wrists to the headboard on the bed. It was certainly different, but I felt safe with him.

“Now, I believe it’s time I repaid you for your assistance in the servers earlier today,” he said.

He climbed onto the bed and pulled my legs apart with his hands. He dove toward the center and I felt his tongue slide into me. He gently licked at the edges before venturing upward and finding the perfect spot with ease. His tongue followed a circular motion that sent my vision spinning as ecstasy rocked my body. He didn’t stop, nor did he slow down, until an explosive climax caused me to shriek with pleasure.

Zhang didn’t waste a moment, he climbed onto me and wrapped his hands around the headboard of the bed as he thrusted deep into me. The wave that had crashed over me was given new life as he shook the bed with each powerful thrust. My entire body quaked with every motion of him against me.

He paused for a moment as sweat dripped from his body.

“We have this entire suite, let’s use it,” I said.

Zhang nodded and unlocked the handcuffs. He picked me up from the bed and brought me out to the living room. I pointed to the bar top counters in the kitchen. They seemed to be the perfect height.

He sat me down on the edge of the counter and spread my legs. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested them on his shoulders. He grasped my waist and resumed his furious rhythm. I fought to catch my breath as he passionately took my body for our mutual pleasure. He pulled me off the counter, spun me around, and pressed me down onto the cold marble surface. I spread my legs and felt him slide into me once again from behind.

He gripped my waist and found his rhythm once more. I could feel the rage, the passion, and the desire pouring out of him and into me. It was intoxicating, but I was ready to take control. I pushed myself up from the counter.

“Let’s go to the couch,” I said.

Zhang stepped back. “As you wish.”

He followed me over to the couch and I pushed him down onto it. I climbed onto him and slid down onto his lap. He leaned down and pressed his face into my breasts. His tongue flicked across the nipples as I grinded myself against him. I felt his body coming to a climax. I leaned down and kissed him passionately as we both reached a final climax together.

Zhang roared like a beast as I threw my head back and screamed out loud. I fell onto him and he wrapped his arms around me.

After a few silent minutes, which seemed to last an eternity, he kissed me softly.

“You need rest, tomorrow is going to be a big day.”

He led me to the bedroom and I fell asleep in his arms.

Chapter 7

Everything had been going according to plan when we reached Hong Kong. Tanya provided a distraction so I could steal an I.D. badge from one of the employees gushing into the entrance of the corporation last on my list. She stood in the lobby of the building, screaming that someone had mugged her and taken her purse. It was just enough time for me to lift a badge from one of the concerned onlookers.

Before the police could arrive, she ran out of the building sobbing. She had instructions; she was to meet me at a private airport outside the city. Phiet would drive her and once I had the last file uploaded to my cloud server, we would leave and never look back. They would search for us, search for the files. I had to find a way to throw them off the scent and give us enough time to escape far beyond their reach.

Getting the files was easy, getting out was always the hard part. I left the server room late, after many of the people had gone home for the night. I wanted to escape with Tanya under the cover of darkness, which is why our infiltration happened in the late afternoon. I made my way to lobby, through the security checkpoint and towards the entrance.

“Zhang Wu! Stop right there!” a voice shouted.

I didn’t have time to see who it was; I took off and hit the glass doors with a loud thud. My fingers fumbled with the deadbolt and I heard my attacker gaining ground. I turned around and ran for the elevators.

“Zhang, stop!”

The voice sounded familiar, but I knew that whoever it was, they had orders to kill. I slammed the elevator button and the doors slid open. I hit the button for the top floor and eagerly mashed the “close door” button as the silhouette of my attacker charged toward me. The doors slid shut just as I heard him beating his fists against them.

I caught my breath as the elevator ascended to the top of the building. When I reached the top floor, I took the stairs to the roof. I emerged into pouring rain and roaring thunder.

The smartphone in my hand started vibrating. I swiped to the right and placed it to my ear.

“I’m here, are you on your way?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be there soon. Just stay out of sight.”

I hung up and placed the phone in my coat pocket.

“Zhang Wu! Stay where you are!”

I knew the voice, just not the face. It didn’t matter; he was death coming to finish me off. It was time I paid for my sins.

I heard his footsteps approaching, and I felt myself deeply conflicted. There was a part of me that thought I deserved this, all of it. I told myself I wouldn’t run anymore, that I would face the consequences with honor. Then I saw her face. Perhaps the last angel left in a world filled with demons.

You made her a promise.

Death was knocking at my door, howling my name.

Sorry, I can’t answer today, I won’t leave her alone in this world.

I turned and ran as gunshots roared through the night. The bullets passed by my ears, screeching like banshees. I approached the edge of the rooftop and looked down on the building adjacent to it.

Remember your training. Jump!

I leapt off the side of the building and passed over the city below. I tucked my legs into my chest and rolled as I hit the coarse surface of the neighboring building. The assassin behind me wasted no time in doing the same. He hit the ground as I climbed to my feet and ran to the edge of the rooftop.

The next building was too far. I couldn’t make it. I stood on the edge and looked down. There was nothing but darkness until the bottom.

“Nowhere else to run Zhang! Stand there and accept your fate!” the voice said.

I slowly turned around and looked my assassin in the eye. His face was all too familiar. It was my head of security, Guan Shu, someone I thought I could trust.

“You? I had my suspicions, but we’ve been together for years. Were you with them, the whole time?

He nodded. “They’re not stupid Zhang, they knew from the beginning.”

“I should have known. You’ve made a living out of stabbing people in the back,” I said.

He chuckled. “Don’t put this on me Zhang; you’re the one who dug your own grave.”

“Better me than the rest of the world, don’t you think?”

He checked his gun and cocked it. His finger curled around the trigger.

“One last question for you, old friend: where’s the drive?”

I smiled and closed my eyes. “If you have to ask, you’ll never find it.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, you’ll never know. Goodbye Zhang.”

He pulled the trigger.

I should have died there. Perhaps I did, but the bullet didn’t leave the chamber. The gun didn’t fire because it was designed with an additional security measure. I knew I couldn’t trust anyone, especially those closest, so after being attacked in Tanya’s apartment, I switched Guan’s gun out with a different one while he was patching me up. After the encounter in Tanya’s apartment, I had to take measures to ensure he couldn’t betray me, if it was indeed him. No one else knew I was with Tanya; it was a simple matter of deduction.

Guan looked at the gun and took his attention away from me. I reached forward and hit him in the nose with a straight punch, hard enough to shatter it. He dropped the gun and it skidded across the rooftop in the rain. I ran to it as he clutched his bleeding face and picked it up.

“A simple but elegant design. The entirety of my security team has pistols that are manufactured with two safety switches; one in its normal place and one that is hidden. Both must be turned off for the gun to fire. I switched your gun with this one after you shot me in Tanya’s apartment. That was you, wasn’t it?”

Guan tried to explain himself, but his words were lost in thunder.

I aimed the gun at his chest.

“You would have done it execution style, yes? Two in the chest, one in the head?”

Guan continued pleading for his life as I fired two rounds into his chest. As he reeled in place, I fired the last on into his head and he fell onto the rooftop. I didn’t have much time, but I needed to make it look like he finished the job. I pulled out my phone, my wallet, my keys, everything I had that could identify me and kept only enough cash for a cab to the airport, and Guan’s phone in case they called to confirm my death.

I placed everything in Guan’s pockets and dragged him to the edge of the roof. Sooner or later they would know it wasn’t me, but the initial reports would say that I jumped from the roof, confirmed by the identification found on the body. It would be enough for us to get away.

I looked over the edge at the parked cars and the pedestrians below. With one decisive push, Guan flew from the building and soared to the ground below. I heard the crash as he landed on the roof of a parked car. The alarm blared as glass scattered across the ground. Nearby pedestrians screamed and shouted as I made my way back inside the building.

For now, at least, Zhang Wu was dead, and he took his secrets to the grave. Almost immediately Guan’s phone rang. I picked it up and remained silent.

“Is it done?” a gravelly voice asked.

“Yeah,” I said, “It’s done.”

“Good, report back for debriefing.”

The line cut out.

It was time to make my escape.

Chapter 8

One Year Later

We never stayed in one place for long. Cancun, Argentina, Singapore, we were always on the move. We were married almost immediately, but we wanted to see the world before we settled down. When I found out that Tanya was pregnant, that time had come. We found a quiet place that didn’t appear on any maps and we built a home for ourselves.

It was another perfect day; I was sitting in the kitchen, eating eggs and bacon when I heard the thumping sound of helicopter blades. Tanya emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body.

“What is that? Did they find us?” she asked.

I dropped my fork and held up my hand.

“Just go hide; I’ll take care of this.”

I walked to the front door and pulled my pistol out from the bottom of the umbrella holder. I checked the clip and turned the safeties off as I opened the door. A round man approached with white stubble on his face to match the grey hair on his head. I recognized him immediately. He was my CIA contact, Franklin Pierce.

He held up his hands as the helicopter whirred behind him.

“I’m not here to hurt you, Zhang, I need your help. We all do,” he shouted.

“How did you find me?” I asked.

“That’s not important, what’s important is that those files you stole are no longer in hiding. Someone else has them.”

I shook my head. “That’s impossible, only I knew where they were.”

Franklin reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. He turned the screen toward me. It was an email containing all of the documents I stole. It came from an encrypted address.

“This isn’t possible!”

Franklin put the phone back in his pocket.

“That doesn’t matter now. If these documents go public, you know what it will do to the economy, hell they could even start World War III! You need to come back, you’ve dealt with these people before, you knew about this group before anyone else, and we didn’t listen.”

“I got out of that life,” I said.

Franklin stepped forward and laid a hand on my shoulder.

“Listen, all of your crimes will be forgiven; you’ll get a clean slate and a safe place for your wife. If we wanted to drag you in, we would have by now. You earned this rest, but now the world needs you. Don’t do it for me, or for yourself, do it so you can leave behind a world that’s safe for your son, or daughter, or any other children you have.”
I looked behind me and saw Tanya standing in the entryway. Her hand was gently placed on the round shape of her stomach. I knew what I had to do.

I looked back to Franklin and nodded.

“Alright, I’m in.”