#who asked for werepenguin romance novels

[decembers-sunshine-dancer]

A Werepenguin Romance Novel

Sofia never thought she would fall in love. Or, more accurately, she never thought she would fall in requited love. Especially not with the handsome Sir Percival Arthur James Charles Eustace Brougtham-Langton. When she first saw him, in front of her favorite exhibit at the local zoo, she'd been convinced he was Not a Real Person. No Real Person wore a tuxedo to the zoo. No Real Person had that sharp a jawline, or such a fine figure, or (as she learned when he turned his head and caught her staring) such deep, dark eyes. She was so caught up in his eyes that she didn't even notice he'd moved until he was right next to her.

“You are also a fan of the penguins?” he asked, tilting his head endearingly to one side. Sofia was only able to nod. “Wonderful little birds,” he continued. “Did you know they mate for life? When a male penguin finds a female he likes, he gives her a pebble as a form of proposal.”

“Oh,” Sofia managed faintly, still a little lost staring at his broad shoulders, imagining his arms around her.

“But he doesn't, as commonly believed, search the beach for the perfect pebble. Any old pebble will do. It's for their nest, you see. Some species of penguins build nests out of stones –” he seemed quite content to prattle on about penguins forever.

“Forgive me for interrupting, sir, but I do not even know your name!” Sofia exclaimed, as much to stop his rambling as to learn more about him.

He blinked, seeming almost confused by the polite request. “I am Sir Percival Arthur James Charles Eustace Brougtham-Langton ,” he admitted after a moment.

“I'm Sofia Lareine,” Sofia answered, holding out her hand. Instead of the handshake she had expected, Sir Percival brought her hand up and pressed his lips against her knuckles.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Sofia,” he smiled. His eyes crinkled nicely at the corners.

Then an overexcited child bumped into Sofia from behind, knocking her into Sir Percival's arms. They were just as warm and solid as she had imagined them being. And he smelled nice, too. With all the dignity she could muster, Sofia straightened, reluctantly puling herself out of his accidental embrace.

Sir Percival looked at the ground, then back at her. “May I ask you something, Sofia?” he inquired shyly. At he nod, he looked up, thought he didn't quite meet her gaze. “I was wondering if... perhaps... you would like to… That is, I would like to… I wish to see you again. If you wish to see me again.”

“That would be lovely.” Sofia pulled a pencil and pad of paper from her purse, jotted down her phone number, and handed it to him.

He looked at the paper like he couldn't believe it was real. “You mean it?” he asked, eyes wide and incredulous. “No one has ever agreed to that before. Not that I've ever asked anyone before, I guess...” he trailed off, staring at the paper for a while. “I'll call you!” he declared, looking Sofia in the eyes and nodding firmly before turning on his heel and marching away.

It was two days before Sir Percival called. Sofia began to suspect he was not as interested as he had appeared at the zoo, when her phone lit up with an unknown number. Sir Percival invited her to dinner at his Manor, oddly named “The Rookery,” which Sofia had happily accepted.

One the day of The Date, Sofia found herself quite nervous. She had never been to a proper Manor before, let alone dined with the Lord of the place. She put on her best dress, black and elegant, and accessorized with a strand of fake pearls, hoping Sir Percival wouldn't know the difference.

When she arrived at the Manor, a young man in a tuxedo opened her door and offered to park her car. Sofia handed over her keys and walked up the steps to the grand front entrance of the house. The doors opened before her, no doubt thanks to some unseen servants behind them. Immediately to her left was a large, empty formal dining room. To her right was a blank wall. Sofia waited a minute, to see if someone would come show her where she was supposed to be. When no one appeared to help her, Sofia took a couple hesitant steps further into the house.

“Hello?” she called. “Sir Percival?” Getting no response, she took a few more steps. “Sir Percival?” she repeated. This time, there was a clatter from somewhere in front of her.

“Sofia!” Sir Percival appeared from a side room a little ways down the hall. “I didn't send anyone to meet you! I'm so sorry, I'll make it up to you, I promise!”

“It's okay,” Sofia assured him. “I'm sure the food will still be delicious.” He brightened.

“Yes!” he exclaimed. “My cook is the best there is! She keeps the freezer full of all sorts of food!”

“It must be a big freezer,” Sofia commented.

Sir Percival paused. “Yes, I suppose it is,” he murmured. He turned away without another word. After a moment of hesitation, Sofia followed him to a cozy room with a small table and two chairs in the middle.

Sir Percival pulled out a chair and motioned for Sofia to sit down, then settled himself across from her. As if on some unseen cue, a hidden set of doors opened and a middle aged woman pushed a large metal cart into the room. She set a plate down in front of Sofia and whisked the cover off with a flourish, revealing a fancy looking meal.

“I hope salmon is okay?” Sir Percival seemed genuinely nervous that she would reject the meal.

“Salmon is wonderful,” Sofia answered. As each course was finished, the cook removed their plats and presented them with new ones, until Sofia thought she couldn't possibly eat another bite.

“It is late,” Sir Percival began, “but perhaps you could stay a little longer? I don't want you to go yet.” Sofia acquiesced, herself not willing to leave the awkward but charming Lord. He showed her around his house, from the kitchen, with the promised walk in freezer, to the gardens, with their prettily arranged paths.

Finally, Sofia deemed it to be Too Late, and declared that she must return home. When Sir Percival opened the front door to let her out, the same young man who had greeted her was waiting to give her back her car keys. But as Sofia started down the steps, Sir Percival put a hand on her arm, stopping her.

“Sofia.” She turned to look at him. He was closer than she'd thought, so close she could feel the heat of his body. He leaned in, eyes closing. Then he jerked away. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rush things. I'd like to – I'd like to kiss you,” he admitted, “but I don't want to make you uncomfortable.”

Sofia put her hands on his shoulders. Using them as leverage, she pushed herself up to kiss Sir Percival.

“Oh,” was all he managed to say when she ended the kiss.

“Thank you for dinner, Percival,” she said.

“Oh, uh. Percy's fine,” he stammered.

“Thank you for dinner, Percy,” Sofia amended. “I hope I'll see you again soon?”

“I'm always at the penguin exhibit at the zoo,” he informed her. “Did you know that sometimes penguins will steal eggs from each other?”

“I didn't,” Sofia said. “I look forward to learning many more fascinating penguin facts on future dates.” She left him at his front door, apparently reeling at the fact that she had considered their night a date.

So it continued. Sofia visited Percy at his Manor and listened to him ramble about penguins. She didn't mind, really. He was quite endearing when she started talking about his favorite animal. He became very animated with his hands, once knocking over a lamp because he hadn't realized it was so close.

He also asked Sofia about her life, encouraging her to elaborate on her job (secretary for a reasonably good boss), her hobbies (gardening and sewing, as stereotypical as it was), and her family (mom, dad, an older brother, and an older sister). He listened intently to everything she had to say and remembered the littlest details about her. It wasn't long before Sofia realized she was falling in love with the handsome nobleman.

Sofia called Percy, intending to set up a date where she could admit how she was feeling. But the phone rang and rang and rang. She figured he was busy and set herself a reminder to call later. But he still didn't answer. After a day of not being able to reach him, Sofia decided to try his favorite haunt. But he wasn't watching the penguins at the zoo, either. Now worried, Sofia drove out to The Rookery.

The valet met her as she drove up, but this time he refused to take her keys. “Sir Percival is not here,” he informed her.

“Well, where is he?” Sofia demanded.

“I am not at liberty to say,” the man replied.

“When will he be back?”

“Try tomorrow,” the valet advised. “Sir Percival will probably be back by then.” Defeated, Sofia drove back to her house and tried not to imagine what Percy could be doing for three days that he wouldn't tell her about.

The next day after work, she drove back out to Percy's house. The valet took her keys without comment and the doors opened seemingly on their own, as they always did. Sofia walked through the now-familiar Manor to the sitting room where they spent most of their time.

“Percy?” she asked, knocking gently on the door.

“Sofia?” Percy's voice was muffled, his “S” a little slurred. “What are you doing here?”

“I've been trying to get in contact with you for three days,” she explained through the door. “I called you, I checked the zoo, I even drove all the way out here to see you but your valet wouldn't let me in Are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” he answered. Sofia waited for elaboration, but none came.

“Where were you?” she asked. The door handle didn't turn under her hand.

“Nowhere,” he replied.

“Nowhere?” Sofia demanded, anger rising. “You disappeared for three days and now you're locked in a room slurring your words and you expect me to believe you were nowhere?”

“Fine. I was here.”

“Here? In The Rookery? Then why didn't your valet let me in?”

“I told him not to. He knows the drill.”

“Listen here, Sir Percival-Has-Too-Many-Names!” Sofia stopped for a moment to wallow her anger and continued in a slightly calmer tone. “I was really worried about you. The least you could do is tell me where you've been these last three days.”

“I can't,” he answered. Something in his voice made her pause. He sounded pained and miserable. “I can't tell anyone. You wouldn't believe me, anyway,” he added.

“Try me.”

“I can't, Sofia.”

Sofia blinked back tears and tried to keep her voice from shaking. “Well, if you can't trust me, then I guess I'll just leave. I hope you enjoy your penguin-filled life.”

There was a sound like a sob from the other side of the door, but Percy didn't say anything.

The valet was waiting for her, as always. “Sir Percival really likes you,” he said.

“He can tell me himself, along with where he was for three days,” Sofia answered, snatching her keys.

“It was a full moon,” the valet called as she shut the door.

“It was a full moon...” Sofia mused, back at her apartment. She remembered the way Percy hadn't even tried to keep her. “Well who cares if it was a full moon? That's no excuse to be mean to a lady!”

She crawled into bed and tried to lose herself in the depths of the internet. Hoping to forget the awkward man she loved, she clicked on an article about mythological creatures from around the world.

Vampires. Next. Fairies. Next. Unicorns. Next. Werewolves. Next. Wait – go back. Something on the werewolf page had caught her eye, but she wasn't sure what it was.

Right at the top was the sentence she'd been looking for: “Werewolves are men who transform into wolves during the full moon.”

“It was a full moon!” she exclaimed. Without giving herself time to reconsider, Sofia grabbed her keys and drove back out to The Rookery. She blew past the valet, barely stopping long enough to give him her keys. She rushed back to the sitting room, only to find the door open and the room empty.

“Percy?” she called. “Percy! I know your secret and I don't care!”

“How can you not care?” he demanded morosely. She followed his voice to his bedroom, where he was laying face down on his bed.

“You've never hurt me,” She answered. “You hide yourself away during the full moons, presumably so you don't hurt anyone else. You're a good person, and being a werewolf doesn't change that, Percy. I love you anyway.”

Sofia could feel her heart beating in her throat.

Percy groaned. “A werewolf. Of course you would think that. I'm not a werewolf, Sofia.” he mumbled into his covers.

“Then where do you go during the full moons?” she inquired. The silence was deafening. Percy mumbled something. Sofia thought she caught the word penguin.

“Percy, now's not the time for another random penguin fact,” she admonished gently.

Percy lifted his head from the pillow. “I said I'm a werePENGUIN,” he repeated, then dropped his head back down.

“Even better,” Sofia replied immediately.

“I love penguins.”

“You mean that?” Percy asked, looking at her for the first time since she'd arrived.

“Yes. I love penguins and I love you, Sir Percival Arthur James Charles Eustace Brougtham-Langton.”

“I love you too, Sofia Lareine.”