Unleashed Love: A Neighbors to Lovers BBW Romance Read online

  CONTENTS

  Unleashed Love

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Epilogue 1 - Part 1

  Epilogue 1 - Part 2

  Epilogue 2 - Part 1

  Epilogue 2 - Part 2

  Follow the Author

  Also by Ember Flint

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  Unleashed Love

  By EMBER FLINT

  34-year-old Axel Constant is a guide dog trainer at ‘Pawfect Friend’, one of Boston’s largest non-profit foundations that has recently fallen on hard times. A firm believer in the importance of service four-legged friends for children in need, he’s training his furry pals for free now and has to work two jobs to support himself.

  There seems to be no time for love or distractions in his very busy life, but then a beautiful girl moves right next door and boy if he doesn’t want to bark at that tree!

  But what could he possibly offer to such a lovely woman?

  Tess Fetchin is a 24-year-old, newly minted vet that just moved to Boston, finicky cats and grumpy old tortoise in tow, to work as a surgeon in an established vet clinic. Busy with the move and her new work, she doesn’t think she’ll have time to find someone, but then across the hall she meets the eyes of the only man that has ever made her heart thump and wag, the only problem is he doesn’t seem to be interested at all.

  Fate will come running unleashed right into danger, in the shape of Didar, a spirited Husky puppy, and will bring them together.

  Dear Reader:

  This story is as fuzzy as a tiny fluffy puppy, as sweet as honey and as steamy as the scalding first sip of your favorite blend of tea. There’s NO-cheating, no OW/OM drama, it has a guaranteed Happily Furever After and features a tall, dark and handsome protective alpha who also loves puppies and babies —what more could you want in a guy?!— an adorable curvy cat-lady heroine who knows how to wield her sass just like she does a bistoury and an endearingly naughty puppy just waiting to put a smile on the face of a child in need.

  Come on in, grab a puppy, cuddle up and stay a while!

  *Please note that this short novella was previously released as part of the anthology ‘Must Love Dogs’ and it's now being republished with two never before released chapters and an extra epilogue.

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2020 Ember Flint

  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 author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. To request permission, contact the author.

  Note from the Author: this is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental. Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18, that it contains explicit love scenes and naughty language and that all sexually-active characters in it are represented as 18 or over. Also, in real life, remember: always safety first.

  Cover design by: Ember Flint – Pink Diamonds’ Waterfall Designs

  Edited by: New Wave Romance

  Dedicated to service dogs and the amazing people who train them. Thank you for all the light you bring to those who need it the most.

  Chapter 1

  AXE

  I down the scalding cup of coffee over the sink with one eye on the screen of my cell as I reply with a funny emoji to the last ‘good morning’ GIF Lennox, my oldest nephew, sent me in our group chat and I smile, shaking my head as I immediately get bombarded with a few more animojis from his younger brothers, four-year-old Robert and two-year-old Paul.

  Considering they’re toddlers, most of their texts are just gibberish unless they are recording or sending emoticons, but Lennox, at six years, actually types small sentences and has gotten into the habit of texting me first thing in the morning. It’s too damn cute and makes me miss them more than I can say.

  Juggling two jobs and pulling 14-hour-long shifts almost every day, weekends included, I haven’t spent time with my nephews as much as we’re used to in the last two months or so. We are a small, but very tight-knit family and the kids were starting to miss me too, so Luna, my sister, came up with the idea of the group chat so we could keep on interacting, even if I’m not around.

  I don’t know when, if ever, things will go back to normal, but in any case it doesn’t look like it will be soon.

  I work as a service dog trainer for one of the biggest foundations in Boston, ‘Pawfect Friend’, but recently the charity has fallen on hard times and most of the staff had to be let go.

  One of the directors was embezzling money and nearly ran the foundation into the ground. By the time they caught up with his dirty dealings and put an end to them, there was no money left to recover and while we got the satisfaction to see that piece of shit behind bars, the charity barely managed to stay afloat and has been floundering for months now.

  It will take our management quite some time to regain what was lost in terms of funds and in order to keep our training facilities in working conditions, all the personnel that could be spared was let go or left because they could not take the pay cut that came with retaining their positions.

  As of right now, Pawfect Friend is working at minimum capacity with just a couple of us dog trainers still in place, a single caretaker and the help of the volunteers.

  I’ve been training service dogs for children with special needs for eight years and I could not see myself doing anything else with my life and despite the unfortunate behavior of that thieving douchebag that nearly destroyed the foundation, I still believe in our mission. Leaving them in their moment of need was out of the question; I stayed on and decided to devolve my salary back to them each month so that we could keep a few more trainee dogs in our program and at the same time ensure the best possible conditions for them while they are in our care.

  Currently, I’m training Didar, an energetic eight-month-old Siberian Husky male puppy.

  Some days he drives me insane because he is just too spirited and doesn’t like to stay still more than sixty seconds, but despite his lack of inner calm, he is intelligent and passionate, eager to please and willing to learn so I just know he will grow to not only be the eyes, but the best friend of someone; he has the perfect attitude and instincts to become a loyal guide dog and I feel deep in my heart that he’s gonna shine light and happiness into the darkness of some kid’s life when the time comes so I’m giving him my undivided attention.

  The only issue with my decision was that I still had to find a way to keep a roof over my head, pay rent, bills and stuff, and that’s where Nate, my brother-in-law, came in handy: he owns a construction company and offered me a job in one of his sites, so now I work there from eight to four and then, after a quick shower and a bite to eat, it’s straight to Pawfect Friend until ten p.m. for me.

  By the time I’m done, I’m beat and the only thing I want is fall face first down on my bed, hence the lack of free time
or personal life.

  If one of the friends I no longer have time to see, had told me a month ago that in such a hectic hot mess with zero social ventures in the outside world, I would have found the time to fall head over heels in love with an unattainable and beautiful woman that stars in the hottest wet dreams ever known to human imagination every time I close my eyes, I would have laughed them out of the room, but, incredibly enough, it happened.

  Apparently, sometimes you don’t need to go far to find your one true love, the only woman that has ever made you feel like you could have a future, like happiness could really be in your grasp if you just held her, no: sometimes she just happens to move across the hall from you and becomes pivotal in your life and the center of every single one of the emotions and needs that run through you even if you only get to see her for a couple of minutes a day, even if you know nothing about her aside from her name.

  Tess Fetchin, even her name is pretty and seems to call to me and everything I hold dear, but I could never have someone like her.

  I don’t need to know my beautiful, genteel neighbor better to be sure of it, despite the inexplicable depth of my feelings for her.

  I’m rough and big and work with my hands and more often than not, I come back to my lonely apartment covered in dirt and sweat, while she is some type of doctor, according to some of the mail that has been misdirected to my address.

  She barely reaches my chest with the top of her head of shoulder-length coffee-colored hair, her delicate-looking peach complexion makes her look like a little doll, the effect only enhanced by her large honey-brown eyes.

  Tess’s lovely and dainty but her small, compact body packs a set of curves a man as big as I am could hold on to, and she has the power to turn me rock-hard with the smallest of innocent actions like biting into her full lower lip without the tiniest trace of guile, tucking a strand of that shiny dark hair behind her ear or lowering her eyes until her long black lashes flutter against the pink of her cheeks.

  She’s so sweet-looking, I feel like a bastard for the things that run through my mind every time I see her, but I can’t stop even if I know that nothing could ever come of it.

  We are like day and night and besides, every time I’m in her company, I turn into this bumbling, blathering fool I can barely recognize.

  I’m by no stretch of the imagination a ladies’ man, but I’m not socially inept either and even though I’ve been alone for the last couple of years, I’ve never lacked those skills that can score you a date with a pretty girl, but with Tess I know that even if I tried, I would fail.

  Thirty seconds in her presence, surrounded by her fresh, green scent that makes me think of summer rain and grass, and my heart is pounding, my mouth is dry, my hands are fucking shaking, the back of my neck turns hot and my brain fills with this never-ending slide-show of me backing her up against the nearest wall, lifting her off her feet and holding her tight until her curves are plastered to my chest while I kiss her hard and deep.

  Not exactly stuff that’s conducive to intelligent speech.

  If I was a sane man, I would avoid running into her as much as possible: she holds too much power over me already and I know I can’t have her no matter how much I want to take her under me, but I must be a sucker for punishment when it comes to her, ‘cause I do my damnedest to catch at least a glimpse of her every day when I go out.

  She’s bad for me and at the same time so, so fucking good for me, I can’t escape this want; the need to be in her presence is too damn strong and I’ve come to crave the sweet pain that squeezes my heart every time I’m near her.

  Must stop thinking about her.

  I put down the empty cup and steal another glance at the time.

  Damn, I’m gonna be late. No time for breakfast.

  I pull up the chat again and record a voice message for the kids.

  “Uncle loves you, little worms, now I’ve got to go to work, be good for your mommy, okay?”

  I pick up my jeep’s keys and my wallet and I sprint into my living room.

  When I get to my door, as usual, I feel the hope I’ll catch a glimpse of her start to grow within me and I squash it.

  Can’t think about this now. Gotta go.

  I’m still coaching myself to keep my brain from wandering toward her when I step into the hall and there she is, right across from me.

  Tess is standing barefoot in her doorway in tiny white shorts and an oversized pink tee with a cut-off neckline, one creamy shoulder exposed. She’s writing down a digital pad with a parcel under her left arm and an asshole delivery man is practically slobbering on his feet as he stares at her.

  My entire body shakes with a jealousy I have no right to feel and I clench my fists at my sides as I talk myself into not walking up to the guy.

  I’m about to say ‘fuck it’ and do it anyway, when a blur of gray shoots from behind Tess’s legs and into the hall.

  I step right into the path of the furball and manage to catch it: it’s a large, fluffy Main Coon with a black and silver patterned coat and dazzling green eyes that stare daggers at me. The cat hisses in outrage, none too pleased about me cutting its escape short.

  “Hey, there… settle down, buddy,” I murmur to the cat and walk up to Tess just as she moves pass the tool still blocking her door and now ogling her ass.

  He really is looking to get his teeth knocked out it seems.

  “Oh, thank you for catching her, Axel!”

  “My pleasure, Tess, that’s a nice kitty you have there. She’s feisty.”

  Fuck me, I did not say that out loud.

  Please, someone just kill me now.

  “Yeah,” she murmurs, hopefully not thinking much of my words as she blushes prettily and stretches her arms toward me with a smile that almost stops my heart and then cradles the escape artist to her chest.

  “Rebel, you know you’re not supposed to run out like that, we talked about this!” she scolds, and her cat looks up at her, meowing and sounding almost contrite.

  As she cuddles the cat, I side-step her and crowd the fucker still staring at what’s mine with his head tilted and all.

  I just glower at him until he looks up and up at me and then takes a step back.

  “Get the fuck lost,” I growl softly, my voice tight and my jaw tense.

  He gets my message loud and clear and hotfoots it out of there without a backward glance at what’s mine.

  I know I’m irrational when it comes down to her: I won’t make a move, but I can’t even think of her with someone else and I can’t stand the idea of some dickhead staring at her with lust in his eyes.

  She feels mine even if she’s not.

  It’s crazy and I know it, but I fucking love her and there’s nothing rational about this kind of things as far as I’m concerned, yet my hopes and desires mean nothing.

  She would never go for someone like me.

  Chapter 2

  TESS

  The delivery guy strangely runs away without a word, leaving me standing barefoot in the middle of the hall with my misbehaving cat cuddled in my arms and my heart stuck in my throat. I stare up into Axe’s sky-blue eyes and I frown at the intense look on his handsome face.

  I swear the guy must really hate me or something: every time I run into him in the hall, in the lift or downstairs he just glowers at me and how fucked up it is that I found it really hot?

  Of all the guys my poor heart had to pick for me to fall in love with for the first time, it had to be the one who can’t stand the sight of me.

  Figures.

  Not that I can blame the man for thinking I’m weird or something: every time I’m in his presence, I just stare up at him like an idiot and stutter some platitude about the weather.

  We have been neighbors for a month already and I haven’t gotten further than finding out his name, Axel Constant.

  The most we have talked is when we cross each other on the way to our respective apartments
and even then I can barely murmur a ‘hello’ to the man.

  I think the stuff he just said about my cat was the most he has ever spoken to me in a single occasion.

  There have been the few times in which the mailman —bless him— slipped some of his stuff into my mailbox or some of my stuff into Axe’s and I’ve treasured those few precious moments.

  How pathetic am I?

  The first time I went knocking on his door, junk mail in hand, he came to open it wearing only black sweats hanging low on his sculpted hips.

  I blushed so hard, my cheeks were practically glowing in the dark and I dropped my eyes, probably looking like a complete moron in the process.

  I figured my best bet was to look away from the muscled masterpiece that is his chest if I wanted to get actual words out of my mouth.

  Who would have thought that even his feet could be sexy and turn me into an even hotter mess, but then I maybe should have known: the guy is an over six-feet-tall sex-on-a-stick with hard rock muscles and a face that could melt ice.

  In my defense, I have to say, this man could put any famous sex symbol to shame, there’s not one thing about him that doesn’t turn me into a mushy pile of overcooked Jell-O: from his large, muscular frame, to his big strong hands and all the stuff in between.

  His short dark beard alone could have me stare at him like a ninny and those lips of his.

  Damn.

  And then there’s his manly, woodsy scent and the golden tan he’s been getting lately, probably from working outside all day under the sun —my snooping brought me to discover he has a job in a construction site.

  But the things that really kill me are his deep-set eyes and the husky quality of his voice.

  Oh God, Earth to Tess: get it together!