AFRICAN AMERICAN ROMANCE: A Thug to Remember (Hood Alpha Male Pregnancy Romance) (African American Urban Contemporary Short Stories) (57 page)

She knew that even if it cost her everything this moment in her life was going to be worth it. It would be something that she would never forget. Tate began kissing her harder as his hands slid up and down her back. Never in her life had she been kissed by a man like him. He was successful and his family well known. Accalia was the type of woman that these men went after, but here he was in her apartment, kissing her.

Shandra felt as if she were melting into Tate as he kissed her and held her close. When he pulled his head back she whimpered, not wanting it to end, glad that he did not let go of her. “This is not a test from Accalia,” he said, smiling down at her. “This is me telling you that you don’t have to let her yell at you anymore. She is never going to put you down again and your days of working for her are over.”

Shandra wished that what he was saying was true, but in her life she had learned that she could not trust people, especially ones that made big promises like the one Tate had just made.

“How can you say that?” Shandra asked. “Your families have arranged for the two of you to marry. What are you doing here?”

Shandra was becoming more and more confused as each minute passed.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Tate said, as he released Shandra from his grip. “Then we can talk and I can explain everything. You never knew if Accalia is next door with her ear to the wall.”

Tate smiled as he talked, but Shandra could tell that there was a bit of truth in what he was saying. She was not going to give up the chance to be with the man of her dreams so she quickly grabbed her things and they headed out the door. The two of them were quiet as they passed Accalia’s apartment door. Tate did not want her running to her father just yet. He knew that as soon as he had mated with Shandra nothing less than war would break loose in his family and he wanting to enjoy the little bit of time he had before that happened.

Tate had thought a lot about the consequences of his actions. He knew that there was a huge chance that his father would excommunicate him. He would lose his title as prince and he would be on his own in the world. What gave him hope was knowing that he would become the king of his own pack. He knew that some of the werewolves of his pack, the ones who were not purebred anyway, would follow him and that he and Shandra would be able to start a pack of their own. That was if she was willing and did not freak out when he told her what he was.

They headed out of the apartment building and into the night air. It was already dark outside and the town was lit up with life. Tate missed seeing the stars the way he had when he was just a cub and lived in the forest. He missed that life and wanted to go back, but his family had not allowed him. They told him that his responsibilities were in the world of the humans. To live like a human. It bothered him that he could no longer tell the difference between members of his pack and humans. This was not how it was supposed to be and Tate knew it.

Tate took Shandra’s hand and led her through the city and into the park. It was the closest that he could get to the forest and he wanted to feel at home when he opened up to her.

“Why have you brought me here?” she said. Her voice was teasing, but the smile on her face was unmistakable. Tate had never seen her so happy in all of the times that he had seen her with Accalia.

“I want to be alone with you,” Tate replied quietly. He was unsure how to begin telling her about himself. What could he say? He began to question his entire plan.

“We could have been alone at my apartment,” Shandra pointed out.

“With Accalia next door?” Tate growled and made an ugly face that made Shandra laugh.

“You really can’t stand her, can you?” Shandra asked.

“Do you have to ask?” Tate laughed. “She is a terrible excuse for a were… Person.” Tate bit his tongue, knowing that he had almost slipped and that was not acceptable. He had to ease into this.

Shandra looked up at him confused. “What were you going to say? A ware…what?”

“Oh, nothing,” Tate stammered. “I just got lost in my own thoughts.”

The two of them were walking along a path in the park, it was dark and he held Shandra close to him. He could feel that she was shaking and felt bad that she was cold.

“Come here,” he said, pulling her closer. “You’re shivering.”

“Yeah,” she replied, snuggling into his chest. “I do that sometimes.”

The smile never left her face as they talked and walked through the park. When they reached a bench at the edge of the park Tate asked her if she wanted to sit. He knew she had been walking all day and that she had to be tired.

“There are some things that you do not know about Accalia and myself,” he said as they sat down.

Shandra looked at him curiously. “Did the two of you have something going on?” she asked quietly.

“No,” Tate quickly answered. “Nothing like that. This thing I’m talking about is what keeps our families so close together. We’re not like other people. In fact, we have an entire group that is like a large tight knit family.”

Shandra leaned back away from Tate. “I don’t understand what you are telling me,” she stated. “Are you part of a cult?”

Tate let out a loud laugh. “No, not a cult,” he said, trying to compose himself. “I don’t think I’m doing a very good job of explaining myself.”

Shandra shook her head and Tate reached over to her, pulling her close to him. “All that matters is that I want to be with you and not with Accalia. Can you tell me that I can have what I want?” he asked, looking into her eyes.

“Why do you want me?” Shandra asked. She knew that was not what Tate was looking to hear but she needed answers. She was not the type of woman that she would expect for a man like him to be interested in. “Why not Accalia?”

Tate looked down at the ground in frustration. “Has she really beaten you down so low that you can’t understand why I would want to be with you and not her?” he asked. “She is an evil woman, one who treats others as if they are not as good as she is. You have more class in your pinky finger than she has in her entire body. You are sweet and meek and gentle. What man in his right mind would want a woman like Accalia raising his young when there is a woman like you sitting right here?”

Shandra’s eyes widened. Tate hadn’t realized what he was saying and could tell that he had startled her. “I’m not saying that I want to have any right now,” he smiled, trying to play it off, “but I am not the type of man who leaves things to chance. Can you imagine the type of mother she would be?”

Shandra laughed at the idea. “The type that would make me raise her kids.”

She was right and Tate knew it. No matter what he had chosen to do it was always going to be Shandra or another woman who raised his cubs. It would never have been Accalia. She would have been too busy with her own life. He just wished his family could see her the way he did.

He turned and began to kiss Shandra again. His hands slid around her and her breathing quickened. Each time he touched her, it made her heart start racing. She could feel it pounding throughout her entire body.

“Do you want to be with me?” Tate whispered in her ear.

Shandra nodded her head, knowing that she had wanted him since the first time she had seen him. She had never believed in love at first sight up until then. She had never believed that dreams came true up until this very minute.

Tate slid his hand from around her, up her arm, barely brushing the side of her breast, and then placed it on the back of her neck. He pulled her mouth hard onto his and kissed her passionately. She placed one of her hands just above his hip and the other was on the side of his face. She wanted to climb on top of him right there. She could feel the moisture between her legs beginning as he ran his other hand up her other arm until it rested on her chest.

Tate had never had a woman react so quickly to his touch. He could smell that she was already turned on. It was something that werewolves were able to do. He could also smell when a woman had just had sex. He could smell when they wanted sex. He could smell when they were thinking about sex.

It was something that he had to learn how to deal with as he became an adult. It was something that humans took for granted, not knowing when the opposite sex was horny, but he was growing up in the city where human woman always smelled of sex.

He gently moved his hand down her chest until he was at her breast. Slowly, he cupped her, and it overflowed out of his hand. He felt her take a sharp breath as the muscles in her body tightened. He had no idea when she had last been with a man, but he knew it had to have been a long time. She had worked with Accalia for years and there was no chance that she had been given any free time.

“There is so much you don’t know about me,” Tate whispered in her ear.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, trying to calm her breathing, “none of it matters.”

She heard a deep growl come from within Tate, but it did not scare her. Instead, she found that she was turned on even more. Tate began fumbling with the buttons on her shirt until he was able to unclasp them one by one. Shandra’s shirt burst open, revealing a light pink lacy bra. The lace strained against her hard nipples and Tate could not help but run his thumb over one of them. Her dark skin contrasted beautifully with the light pink and Tate could tell that the material was struggling to contain her large breasts.

He looked up at Shandra with a smile on his face as he ran his hand over the lacy material. He wanted to lay her on the ground and take all of her clothes off, but was afraid of how she would react to that. He knew they were in a part of the park that few people came to, especially this late in the evening, but he also knew that she would be afraid of getting caught.

Suddenly, Tate heard a low growl coming from deep within the woods. He quickly turned, and then the scent of the werewolves that worked for Accalia’s father came to him. As he looked at the edge of the woods, he could see the shadows starting to emerge.

He turned to Shandra. “Run,” he said sternly.

Shandra had no idea what was going on. She had not been able to hear the growls and of course she could not smell the werewolves. She looked back at him, confused at what he had just said to her.

“Shandra, run. Go home and lock your door. I will come to you as soon as I can.” He tried to make her understand before it was too late. But when he saw the look on Shandra’s face, he feared it was already too late.

Tate turned and saw three wolves walking out of the woods, followed by a man. Tate recognized the man. Langda. He was in charge of the workers of Accalia’s family. Many of the werewolves that lived in the city worked for Accalia’s family and they were intent on her becoming the princess just as much as her parents were.

“This is what you have chosen? Instead of Accalia?” Langda began.

“Run,” Tate said one more time to Shandra before he turned back to Langda.

She did just that. Shandra took off running through the park as fast as she could. Not for the first time she wished that she wasn’t a big girl. She wanted to be back in her apartment safe and away from those terrible looking creatures. Shandra’s legs burned and her heart raced but she did not stop running until she was back inside of her apartment with the door locked behind her.

As she stood staring at the door, she wondered what had happened to Tate. It was obvious by what the man had said that Accalia was involved in it somehow, but Shandra did not understand how she could have known where they were. Tears began to stream down Shandra’s face. She wanted to go back and find Tate, but she knew that he would be angry with her if she put her life at risk. She closed her eyes and prayed that he would be okay.

Back in the park, Langda smirked at Tate. “I could smell your slut a mile away.”

“You have it all wrong,” Tate tried to reason with Langda. This was not what he’d been expecting. He was planning on being safe and secret and keeping anyone from even finding out about Shandra. Now he had not only put his own life at risk but hers as well.

“I have it wrong,” Langda laughed. “Seriously? Then you tell me. What exactly were you doing out here with her?”

Tate had no words. His mind was racing and all he could think about was getting back to Shandra. It did not matter to him what Langda or the other werewolves did to him, but he knew that as soon as Accalia found out what had happened she would kill Shandra, or have it done.

“That is exactly what I thought,” Langda remarked. “Out in the park hiding with his human whore while you’re supposed to mate with Accalia. I wonder how she will feel when she finds out it was her assistant that you had out here. I’ll make sure to tell her when I bring her your heart on a platter.”

With that the werewolves lunged at Tate and he quickly shifted into a wolf himself. He jumped at the wolves wrapping his mouth around the neck of one and ripping hard at it. He could taste blood as he heard the wolf whimper. Another jumped on his back and bit him hard. He shook it off and turned to face it. This one was a medium sized wolf, not fit to fight Tate, but full of anger. Tate lunged at the wolf and ripped at it repeatedly. Soon the wolf fell to the ground, but it was not before another one attacked Tate.

Tate struggled to take the wolf down, but finally he heard a yelp and stepped away from it. His fur was dripping with blood and he did not know if it was his or the other wolf’s, his body hurt but the battle was not over. Langda quickly shifted and jumped on Tate. He bit at his body and ripped at his fur. Tate fell to the ground and with the weight of Langda on his back, he struggled to get up. All he could think about was Shandra and how afraid she must be.