Saturday, July 26, 2014

CHAPTER TWELVE is Now Available To Read 


CHAPTER TWELVE
The next morning, Nick noticed that she was walking with more of a
pronounced limp. He started to ask her about it, but one look at her face told him
he’d live longer if he didn’t. Since she’d come in at seven-thirty, she’d not spoken
a single word to him and it was nearly five-thirty now. The only time he’d heard
from her was in email form and that was to give him an update to his schedule
change she’d made in regards to a cancelled appointment. Oh, and there was the
mumbled thank you when he’d given her her check at lunch time.
He realized he was hiding in his office at six, waiting for her to leave, when
he heard the door close to the main area. Nick had never hidden from a woman
in his life, especially one who worked for him.
He was just slipping on his jacket when his cell phone rang. Overseas call, he
thought, and answered with his first smile of the day.
“Bonjour, my friend. How’s France treating you?” He really liked André
Marcus, and was genuinely glad to hear from him.
“Ha, Nickolas! I was hoping to get your little cupcake. She is gone for the
day, yes? I sometimes forget the time changes.” Cupcake?
“Yes, but Marie no longer works for me, I’m sorry to say. I have a new
person.” He would have thought André would have called before now and
known about Morgan.
“Yes, yes. Morgan. Ah, she must be a vision. She speaks French like it is her
native tongue. I have so enjoyed speaking with her. She is very knowledgeable,
that one. I hope you keep her. Why, I have spent more money on the market
since she has been helping me with the paintings than I did before just to hear
her lovely voice. You must send me a photo of her, so that I may dream the
dreams of little boys about her.”
Nick sat down hard in his chair. She spoke French? And helped with
thirteenth century paintings? And he wasn’t even going to think about what he
meant about dreaming about her.
“You’ve talked to Morgan? In French?” He heard André chuckle and felt
himself blush. She worked for him and he knew nothing about her. It was all her
fault, too, going all day without saying a word. Of course, he’d been hiding in his
office all day and, which would not allow conversation. He was becoming an
idiot over a woman.
“Oui. I’m thinking I shall need to come to the United States and see this girl
for myself if she has the great Nickolas so flustered he doesn’t listen to her voice.
Maybe I will come and steal her away back to Paris with me. She will make a
nice addition to my collection, no?”
“No, I mean, no, you can’t have her. I...did you need anything from me,
André?” The two men talked for a little while longer and made a time for next
week to meet for dinner when Nick was going to be in Paris for an estate sale.
He was still stewing about it when he got downstairs to the main lobby and
David stepped in front of him. He’d apparently been trying to get his attention
for some minutes.
“I’m sorry, David. My mind is all over the place. What can I do for you?
Wait, I thought you got off at four on Fridays.” For some reason, it bothered him
that he knew that. He knew the man in the lobby’s schedule, but nothing about
the woman who worked beside him every day for the past few days.
“Yes, sir. I wanted to come in and tell you how sorry I am about Ms. Becky. I
should have called the workmen right away, but I thought it was a fluke. I
should have known better. Her having to spend all night in that stair well, I got
them out here right away this morning, sir. She won’t have any more issues with
that anymore.” He didn’t think he could handle any more problems with
Morgan “Cupcake” Becky tonight, but asked anyway.
“I’m sorry, I had to go to the police station last night and file a complaint
about Bambi Jenkins. I must have missed what happened with her. What did she
do now?” He was rubbing his chest again. The burning was nearly up to his
throat and he wanted a drink of water in the worst way.
“The door jammed again. She came down the stairs after work last night and
couldn’t get out of the well. Jeffrey didn’t find her until after midnight when he
was walking the stairs. Poor thing couldn’t hardly walk, her all kinked up and
all. But he didn’t touch her, no sir. I told them all not to. Must have been in there
for about six hours, I figured. But the door’s fixed up. I wanted you to know that
personally.” Nick could only stare at him for a few seconds. Then he thanked
him for taking care of the situation.
Morgan had hung up on Byron at six-thirty and Jeffrey hadn’t found her
until after midnight. Six hours. He suddenly realized why she was limping more
pronounced today. She’d probably been sitting on the stairs waiting for someone
to come and get her. And why wasn’t she using the elevator, for Christ’s sake? It
was right there. Or her cell phone? Come to think of it, did he even have her cell
phone number? No, he did not, he realized. Stubborn woman.
Well, she had a phone; he’d had it installed before she’d moved in. He
started dialing her phone number in her apartment as he made his way to his car.
It just rang and rang. Okay, it was Friday night; maybe she went to get her
something to eat, a pizza or something. It was payday, she probably had things
to do, he decided. Maybe she had a date. No, not a date. She wouldn’t be on a
date. She’d better not be on a date, he thought furiously. Frowning, he considered
why she couldn’t be on a date and that he didn’t want her to and decided she
just couldn’t be. She was getting a pizza to bring home.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Morgan, but your credit history is non-existent. You can’t
open a checking account, or any other account, without a credit report.” This was
the third bank she’d been to tonight. Her first paycheck and it might as well have
been a tissue for all the good it was doing her.
“You do realize that I can’t have a credit history without first having credit,
don’t you? I mean, no one will give me a credit card without a checking account.
Without a credit card, I can’t open a checking account. Do you see where this is
going?”
Morgan’s head hurt. And the woman was looking at her as if she didn’t have
a clue what she was talking about. Or, more likely, that she didn’t care. She had
her rules and she was following them, damn it.
Morgan left the bank and went to the bus station. She only had seventy-five
dollars left of the money she’d gotten from the prison and if she couldn’t cash
her check, she’d not be able to eat. She’d never used the company credit card
because the first time she had pulled it out, she realized she didn’t have a clue
how much the limit was, if it had a pin, or if they had to call Dr. Grant to get it
approved. So she put in back in her wallet and paid cash. The card was now in
the freezer in Byron’s apartment.
Morgan stared out at the building across from her and it took her a few
minutes to realize what the sign said. She walked across the street and went into
the bar. There was a seedy-looking man at the bar and two half-naked women
dancing on the stage.
“Hi. I was wondering about the bartending job that you have advertised. I
was hoping I could fill out an application.” The bartender looked at her, up then
down. After focusing on her breasts and licking his lips, he looked at her face.
“Might make more money on the stage if’n those are real.” He looked down
again as if judging if he could get away with testing the realness of them.
“No, thanks. Just the bar please. I used to tend a while ago, hummm about
five years now, I guess.” She wanted to leave, take a hot bath, and then burn her
clothes. But she needed money she could get to now.
“Okay, you’re hired. You fuck up, and you’ll be out the door right quick. Mr.
Mick don’t cotton to no slackers. Can you start right now? We’ll be getting the
Friday night crowd in soon and I need someone tonight.”
Tucking her bag behind the bar and putting on an apron, Morgan began her
career as a tap maid
Her first doctor’s appointment was the next morning. Dr. Mercer had been
all right with scheduling it for then. She said that she knew what it was like to
work full time and try to have a life too.
“How are you sleeping at night? I’ve read your file. I know that you had
frequent nightmares while you were inside.” She was a pretty lady, Morgan
thought. Her office was done up in summery colors of reds and blues. There
wasn’t a couch to lie down on, which she was profoundly glad for. She sat in a
regular chair across the desk from her as they got to know each other.
“All right. Nothing much to report.” She’d actually had a nightmare every
night since moving into Byron’s apartment, but she wasn’t telling anyone any
more than she had to. She’d had a shrink in prison, and had learned the hard
way not to say things you didn’t want everyone on the block to know.
“You don’t trust me. That’s okay, you have no reason to. But I am here to
help you adjust. Nick said that you were coming here under conditions of your
release. That isn’t completely true. You are free. You’ve been completely
exonerated of all the charges against you. You won’t be going back.” Morgan just
looked at her. She knew that when he’d told her, but she also needed a job.
They sat there for several minutes before Dr. Mercer spoke again. Morgan
could, and had, gone for days without speaking to another human; the quiet
didn’t bother her.
“Would you tell me about the rape, Morgan? I know that something like that
can have a profound effect on someone, and sometimes talking about it can make
it seem less intense.”
“No.” She waited for the threats or the soothing tones to get her to talk. She
wasn’t going to have share time with a perfect stranger.
“Then can you tell me about working for Dr. Grant? He is a very goodlooking
man, and I’ve heard his brothers are equally good-looking. Tell me about
him.”
“No. If you want a date with him, call me on Monday and I’ll make you an
appointment. I want to go. I’ve been here long enough.” She stood now and
walked to the door. She fully expected to be stopped, but Dr. Mercer didn’t say
anything other than she’d see her next Saturday at the same time.

Tune in next week for  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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Agon
“She is not going to be my wife. In any way, Riss.” Riss nodded as Agon started pacing again. “I want to touch her. Feel her body close to mine and kiss her. I have a need to taste her mouth to see if it tastes as good as I think it might. Then there is my body. I cannot control it around her. I run so hot and hard that I feel as if the world knows that I need her in ways that are not right.”
“She will taste better than you can ever dream of, and her body will give you pleasure in ways you cannot imagine.” Agon stared at him for several seconds. “But you cannot touch her. She is your charge. If you do not wish to have her as your wife, then you must not touch her in any way. If you do…if you do, my friend, then there will be no turning back. For the touch of the woman you are to spend your days with will haunt you in ways that will make you want to end your life in order to be with her. Trust me on this. I am well aware of how your body will crave her, and you will stop at nothing to have her again and again.”
“I do not want her.” Riss nodded and could see that Agon was lying to him as much as he was himself. “She is beautiful and stubborn, but I do not want her. But I fear that it might be too late for me.”








Next new release is Hunter

Releasing  July 25th 2014

“Do you know what you are to me?” She shook her head as he whispered to her. His mouth was doing incredible things to her and she wanted more. “Mate? You’re my mate. Do you know what that means?”

Her body seemed to come alive at his words. She struggled to pull from him and he let her go, but he didn’t back off. She moved back from him as far as the wall and tried to get her mind to function again. She was not going to be his mate, not any man’s.

“You have to go. I won’t bother you anymore if you do the same for me.” He moved to within a foot of her and she put up her hands. “I don’t want you here. Please, you can’t want me as a mate. I don’t…I’m not even sure that this isn’t some ploy to get what you want. Or money. Is that it?” She looked up at him as he started cursing.
Hunter Emerson and his brothers answered the request of a pack looking for a new Alpha and moved to Sommersville. Since they were all Alphas, Hunter didn’t have the clue that he was the new Alpha until he arrived. It didn’t sit well with him at all that a woman held herself in recluse and wouldn’t answer and pledge herself to the new Alpha. What she could be doing there on that big estate with no one around to witness… His mind reeled with the possibilities―none of them good.
Slone Morris had an understanding with the local pack―leave her alone and she’d let the pack stay on her land free of charge. It was as simple as that. She didn’t deal well with people. But the new Alpha in town wouldn’t take “Fuck off” for an answer.

Slone’s past threatened to rear its ugly head at every turn. There was one―someone she thought she trusted―who didn’t want the past dredged back up. He was determined to stop her―at all cost…
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Kathi S Barton 






 




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