The Island Of Alphas: A BBW Paranormal Romance Page 6

  The entire time Eric had been talking, nearly from the moment he'd first sat down on my couch, my mind had been racing a mile a minute, flitting from shock to shock, and thought to thought. But one thought, or rather, several thoughts that made up a mystery, in particular, kept jumping out at me. Eric was no older than his early thirties.

  Yet, supposedly, he and the other shifters had been created during the Cold War, which had been some three or four decades earlier. He'd also said that the Gray Forms had begun troubling the villages about two decades earlier, which would have made Eric no more than a preteen at the time. Something wasn't adding up. I was also recalling Laura's vagueness when I'd asked her how long she'd been a nurse, which had struck me as strange at the time, though I hadn't really thought about it since.

  Seeming to notice my wheels turning, Eric told me to ask him any questions I had for him. "Anything at all. Ask me whatever you're wondering about."

  "The time line of all this. It doesn't make sense. Or does it somehow? What am I missing?"

  "Only something that all of us on the island don't even fully understand. Though we have normal twenty-four-hour days like the rest of the normal world, time is somehow skewed here. Either the outside world moves faster, or we move slower, or we simply don't age very fast here. At the rate we're all aging, or aging incredibly slowly rather, we figure maybe the outside world will advance a hundred years before most of us are even in our fifties. Which is one reason some folks are actually a little on the fence about even wanting to go back to the States at all.

  “On one hand, we can stay here battling the Gray Forms and always being in danger, but we'll all get to enjoy unnaturally long lifespans. On the other hand, we could all return home, but only live as long as regular people in America. Though, of course, this issue doesn't even matter compared to our current infertility crisis. It seems likely that we'll all be here on the island forever, and eventually our people will die out.

  “At the rate we've been reproducing, or have not been reproducing the past decade or so, it's already started. Which is why I brought you here and why we still need your help."

  I sighed, wishing I had a better report for him. "I'm afraid there's still a lot of work to do. All I've been able to determine the past week or so, is what you already seemed to have known...that most of the women here are anovulatory. Precisely meaning, they're still having cycles, but they're 'blank' cycles, to speak. There are no eggs being released for the men to fertilize, anyway. And I just haven't been able to figure out why.

  “None of the tests I've done have shed any light, and now, considering all you've just told me, I have to wonder if there's some sort of a supernatural component to the infertility...as bizarre as that sounds, but really, I'm beginning to think anything is possible on this island.

  “Though if this is the case...that the infertility is being somehow supernaturally caused...I hate to say it, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to help. I'm not saying there's no hope, but...I don't think there's much hope."

  With his deep gray eyes troubled, Eric took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It was my fear that you'd eventually say that. But there is still a way you can help."

  "How?"

  Eric hesitated before responding. "Before I get to that, please just let me say something else first, and I'm just going to be fairly blunt about it, I guess. I think you're an incredibly smart, attractive, beautiful woman, Liz. The moment I saw your picture in the newspaper article, I was attracted to you. Your beautiful smile, your sparkling blue eyes, your gorgeous figure...just, everything."

  With a rush of heat rising to my face, I sat speechless.

  Eric continued without skipping a beat. "Then I found out more about you...about the caring and dedication you showed to your patients, and I became even more drawn to you. When I met you in person, I was floored.

  “I'd be lying if I said that some primal, masculine part of me didn't want to just take you in my arms, tip your head back, and give you a kiss that would leave you breathless, right then and there in your office."

  With my face flaming, I remained speechless, wondering where he was going with all this. My mind was already beginning to spin off in some pretty interesting and sensual directions.

  Raking a hand through his thick, dark hair, Eric continued. "I guess, in short, I'm just trying to express how incredible you are to me, and I've picked up a few clues here and there that this feeling might be mutual. At the same time, I've also been getting a few little clues that you've been trying to keep things professional between us, which I respect, and which is more than fine, but...I get the feeling that you might be holding yourself to your position here because you think it's expected. And I just want to tell you that if-"

  His words were cut off by the sound of his cell phone going off.

  Wincing, he pulled his phone from his pocket. "Sorry. So sorry. Just one moment."

  He glanced at the screen and then answered the call, leaving me to wonder just exactly what he'd been going to say. Head spinning, I dared to hope that maybe he'd been about to say what I thought, that I didn't need to keep things strictly professional if I didn't want to, that maybe we could begin some sort of a relationship. The thought was absolutely dizzying.

  Though I wasn't sure how a long-term relationship would work out, with me living in the States and him on the island, I knew that wouldn't preclude a short-term relationship at any rate, maybe a very physical one. Just contemplating this while surveying Eric's long, hard body from head to toe, trying to be discreet about it, I developed butterflies in my stomach. I couldn't deny that a night with him, or several, would be like some sort of erotic fantasy come to life.

  After listening briefly with his phone to his ear, he said all right, ended the call, and got to his feet, gazing at me. "I'm so very sorry, Liz. The dragon shifter sharing information with me observed some activity at the lake a while ago...a few Gray Forms heading this way. I have to go deal with things now, but I'll be back as soon as I can. Maybe not tonight, but tomorrow for sure. Until then, Nate, the shifter of mine who's been keeping an eye on you, will continue to guard you here."

  Pausing, Eric dropped to one knee beside me and took my hands. "Please don't worry about a thing. This kind of problem with the Forms is pretty typical, and it will be resolved very soon. You're safe, and you'll always be safe here on the island. I promise you that. I care about you, and I'll always keep you from harm.”

  With that, he leaned in, gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and left my bungalow, leaving me sitting on the couch feeling as if I'd had my mind blown on a thousand different levels over the course of the past hour. Which, really, was not far from the truth.

  I sat for a while, just being quiet, just being still. Just letting everything Eric had told me sink in, trying to digest it all and make sense of everything. I realized that the one thing he hadn't told me was how exactly I could still help with the infertility issues in the village if the cause indeed turned out to be of supernatural origin.

  Eventually, only slightly hungry, I made a small salad for dinner, ate it at the table, and then took a glass of wine out to the wide porch out front. In the dark, beneath a beautiful velvety blue sky studded with stars, I sat in one of several wooden rockers and sipped my wine while listening to the gentle sound of the ocean, which was not too far distant from me. The air held the definite tang of salt, a fresh, clean scent I'd grown to absolutely adore during my time on the island.

  Part of me felt like maybe it wasn't wise to be out of the house, even on the porch, with the Gray Forms causing trouble, but at the same time, I didn't feel particularly worried. Though I certainly hadn't known him very long, I trusted Eric to keep me safe.

  However, just as I'd finished the last of my wine, a soft noise around the side of the bungalow startled me and made me jump a bit. I gripped the stem of my glass, wondering if I should try to stay silent or make a dash to the front door. But before I could make up my mind, a shadowy form came
around to the porch, though it wasn't one of the forms that Eric had described. This shadowy form was clearly that of a large silvery wolf.

  I exhaled, feeling a little stupid. "Oh. Are you Nate?"

  I was pretty sure it was the same wolf I'd seen earlier; not that I'd seen him very clearly then, or could see him very clearly now, but he was about the same size and light shade of silver.

  The wolf shifted into human form within the blink of an eye and nodded. "I'm Nate. After all these days of keeping an eye on you to keep you safe, it's nice to finally speak to you and properly meet you, Liz."

  He strode up on the porch and extended a hand, and I took it, nodding mutely.

  "It's nice to meet you as well, Nate."

  His touch seemed to cause a warm tingle of electricity to run from my hand all the way up my arm.

  I'd seen him around the island in human form before, though I hadn't known him by name. I recalled Laura pointing him out one day as one of the single men in the village.

  As far as looks went, he was Eric-level gorgeous. He had a long, muscular body like Eric's, though maybe just not quite as muscular. He was a little longer, a little leaner. He was also lighter in complexion than Eric and had much lighter, sandy brown hair, just about the same shade as my own. With only the light from a full moon as illumination, I couldn't quite make out the color of his eyes, though it didn't even matter. No matter what color they were, he was a stunningly attractive man.

  One thing that was also stunning was that when he'd shifted into human form, he'd shifted already dressed, wearing a fitted t-shirt and battered jeans that hung low on his slim hips. Too embarrassed to ask a man I'd just met about that fact, I just figured that shifters' clothes somehow magically shifted with them.

  I invited him to take a break and have a seat in the rocker beside me, and he did so, seeming glad to do so. We made small talk for a while, and I told him that Eric had told me all about the shifters and the island.

  Appearing unsurprised, Nate nodded. "I figured he'd probably have to give you some explanations after you caught sight of me today. Well, that and the fact that there was a dragon flying overhead, too, which was the reason I was a bit distracted and wasn't being quite as stealthy as usual."

  Like Eric, Nate had a very attractive, handsome, strong-jawed face, and in the moonlight, I could see that he also had long, dark eyelashes as well. While we continued to talk, I began to feel a bit uncomfortable for some reason, to be sitting next to a man who'd been clandestinely protecting me from afar for over a week.

  I was also a bit self-conscious because I couldn't seem to stop myself from imagining what his long, lean body might look like naked, even while at the exact same time, I was having similar thoughts about Eric's body. Becoming a bit flustered, I realized that what Eric had said earlier, about finding me so attractive and wanting to grab me and kiss me, had gotten my sexual wheels turning a bit.

  Nate soon got up and wished me goodnight, saying that he was going to shift back into wolf form and do some more patrolling of the area around the house.

  Before he turned and jogged down the porch steps, he looked at me intently. "It's been a pleasure to talk to you, Liz. I hope you have a wonderful night."

  Something about the way he looked at me sent a little thrill rippling through me. I watched while he shifted into wolf form and bounded into a thick copse of palms near the side of the house.

  I didn't sleep well that night. Though exhausted, I was restless for some reason, sleeping lightly and waking frequently after having had dreams about both Eric and Nate. By the time I woke up around seven, I was more than a little hungry, though not for breakfast. While I made coffee, I also made a decision.

  When Eric and I spoke again, if he said what I thought he'd been leading up to before he'd been interrupted, if he confirmed that he wouldn't mind if our relationship became less-than-professional, I was going to ask him to prove it. I was going to hint that he take me right then and there. I was going to allow myself to give in to passion. Passion that I'd been desperately lacking in my life ever since Jason had left me.

  Lost in my thoughts, and in my hopes, really, I took a cup of coffee out on the porch, wondering if Eric might stop by. I also wondered if Nate might stop by. However, after a minute or so, the person who strolled by the sandy, rocky terrain in front of my bungalow wasn't either of them

  It was a woman. She had dark hair and eyes, and she was on the shorter, slightly curvier side like I was. I knew right away who she was. Layla.

  She was Eric's ex that Laura had warned me about. To my surprise, I hadn't seen a trace of her the whole time I'd been on the island, though now I remembered Laura had said something the day before about Layla currently being in the village to visit her sister. Obviously, this wasn't what I needed at the present time. I already had enough on my mind.

  However, I was determined to be polite, on the off-chance that she wasn't stopping by to cause any sort of trouble, but simply to say hello, even though I realized the likelihood of the latter scenario was probably really an off-off-chance.

  As she drew near to the porch, I gave her a small, polite smile. "Good morning. You must be-"

  "Layla. We can skip all the pleasantries, because I just have one thing to say, and then I'll be gone. I just want to tell you the truth about Eric...the real reason he brought you to the island."

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Layla came to a stop in front of the porch, folding her arms across her ample chest. The coldness of her narrowed eyes was in stark contrast to the warm oranges and reds of a brilliant sunrise behind her. When she spoke, her voice held a cold, icy edge as well.

  "Like I said, I'll be brief. Just because I'm a nice person, and I try to look out for other women, I wanted to let you know the real reason Eric brought you here to the island. Hint, it's not because he actually thinks you can solve the fertility crisis. Everyone in the village, except you, seems to know the real reason he brought you here.

  “See, he brought you here under false pretenses. He lied to you. The real reason he brought you here is because he hopes to try to get you pregnant, to add a baby to the population. And all this time, you've been thinking he brought you here because you're a smart doctor, haven't you? Well, nope. He lied to your face. Just thought I'd let you know. Just trying to be helpful. If you have a single shred of dignity, you'll ask him to take you back home through the portal by the end of the day."

  With that, Layla stalked away, smirking, cutting across a patch of rocky sand to the boardwalk.

  I stood speechless, putting two and two together, thinking about some of the things Eric had said the night before. I didn't want to believe Layla was right, that Eric really had brought me to the island under false pretenses, but it did make sense.

  The more of our previous night's conversation I recalled, I became sure of it. Eric had been about to tell me that even if the fertility problems of the women on the island were supernatural and unsolvable, the way I could still help would be to mate with him in hopes of producing a baby. It all made perfect sense. Even knowing that I was likely wasting my time, he'd allowed me to perform tests to try to get to the bottom of the fertility issues for over a week, all the while planning to seduce me once I felt comfortable with him, I was sure.

  I felt furious yet more than a bit strangely turned on at the same time. And the fact that I was strangely more than a bit turned on only made me even more furious.

  I could barely concentrate on my work at the medical clinic that day. Partly because I was angry with Eric and partly because I couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like to share a bed with him. For some reason, it also crossed my mind a few different times what it would be like to share a bed with both him and Nate.

  Eric and some of his men were still dealing with the Gray Forms situation and weren't supposed to be coming back until evening. I texted Eric, telling him to please come to my bungalow when he returned to the village. I knew that once I gave him a piece of my mind,
he was probably going to wish he was back near the lake with the Forms.

  Once home from the clinic that evening, I choked down a few bites of dinner, then paced around with a glass of wine, still furious at Eric for not being upfront and honest with me about his intentions, yet still more than a little turned on at the same time.

  When he knocked on the door around seven, I pulled him inside by the t-shirt, and shut the door behind him. Then I kissed him. Not just a peck, either. I kissed him holding the sides of his handsome face, my tongue hungrily seeking his.

  When I pulled away, stunned at myself, I was nearly breathless, panting. "Screw you for making me feel like I wanted to do that. And screw you for not being upfront with me about why you brought me here to the island."