Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Clive Manning has no idea which of his new clients is threatening his life, but when they send someone to break into his home, he knows he can’t handle this alone. He lives a perfectly ordered life and works from home for a reason. Lifelong fear. He calls Protective Solutions and hires a bodyguard, and when that man shows up, Clive is shocked. He expected something like a man in black and instead, he got a rockstar.
But Clive is highly attracted to this colorful bodyguard and soon Bain proves he’s very good at his job…among other things.
Basilisk is a long novella with a sexy shapeshifter who’s stunned by his fierce attraction to an uptight accountant and the accountant who learns his lifetime of fear had good reason.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter One
Bain
With only the slight glow of the moonlight streaming through tree branches, the forest had become a twisted maze, and Bain Ophion knew the man he chased was actually lost. Craig was the last person who should be. But pure terror had a way of fogging the mind. Of making a familiar reality morph into a surreal nightmare.
A red fox darted into his path, and he easily jumped it. Bain could clearly see in the dark, and he ran with sure feet, listening closely to the erratic pattern of the park ranger’s footsteps. The moss-covered ground was uneven, with fallen logs and wild tangles of broken branches making navigation a challenge, and more than once, he heard a heavy grunt as the asshole tripped.
Technically, Bain wasn’t supposed to be running down a murderer in Mount Rainier National Park. He was supposed to be guarding his actual client, Alisha. But Alisha was safely ensconced with one of his coworkers from Protective Solutions, so he’d felt justified in running the fucker down. An image of the way he and Alisha had found her sister raged in his head. Craig had killed the sister in the most twisted way possible, and Alisha had spent the night before curled into his side and sobbing.
The bastard had probably thought he’d have the advantage on familiar ground, at least until he’d become disoriented. What he didn’t know was that Bain could easily jump the tangled underbrush and pick out the smallest of creatures in the scant light. That he instinctively knew where he was in the world at all times and could find his way out of even the most elaborate maze. Craig had no idea what he was in for.
The footsteps abruptly stopped, and Bain spotted Craig up ahead, resting a hand on a thick hemlock trunk as he leaned over, panting. He twisted to look behind him, spotted Bain, and took off again.
Craig had taken one look at him and completely dismissed him. That happened a lot. Bain was built long and leanly muscular, wasn’t as bulky as a lot of his coworkers and friends, though he always ended up proving his skills. As a basilisk, he had superhuman strength and could shift into his alternate form and easily overtake Craig. But he wasn’t quite ready to reveal that side of him. It was amusing to see the utter shock in a human’s eyes when they tried to believe what they were seeing. Plus, he was having too much fun knowing the absolute terror Craig was feeling.
Craig deserved every moment of fear.
Growing tired of the chase, Bain sped up until Craig’s darting figure was only a few yards ahead. Snarling, he shot over the last bit of space and grabbed Craig by the hair, pulling him to an abrupt halt.
Craig squealed loudly as he lost his footing and fell to the ground. He hurriedly flipped to his back and began back-crawling, his expression full of panic. Bain flashed back to how they’d found Alisha’s sister, sprawled on the floor, blood pooling all around her and smeared in a trail of ragged handprints across her kitchen because she’d obviously tried crawling away from Craig. The police would need to analyze blood spatter, search for fingerprints, check alibis, but Bain had no such need. He had read the scents of the scene in an instant—pungent rage, acidic fear, and above all else the stench of Craig himself. He would have been the top suspect in any mundane investigation, but Bain’s knowledge was beyond human. He had all the proof he needed. This nasty excuse for a human had cut out her tongue, stabbed her multiple times and, in the end, slit her throat.
And he’d drawn it out as if he’d gotten off on her fear. Bain hadn’t seen that much blood since the last war he’d fought in. And Alisha’s utter horror, her consummate loss, had been stamped onto her features in an image he’d never forget. He’d only met the woman a few weeks before but had gotten to know her well enough to understand how much she’d loved her sister. She’d never completely recover.
Bain had no intention of letting Craig live, knowing he’d never stop until he killed the actual target of his wrath—Alisha.
“What the fuck do you want?” Craig panted out, the sweat on his face shining in the moonlight. He licked his lips, eyes wide with dread. Oh, he knew exactly what Bain wanted.
Bain slammed his foot down on Craig’s groin so hard Craig screamed. He kept his foot pressed there as he leaned over the writhing man. “You raped Alisha’s sister before you tortured her, didn’t you?” He knew the answer because he’d smelled it. Disgust fired in his belly as he pressed his foot down harder.
Craig twisted, trying desperately to get away but his strength was nowhere near Bain’s.