Romancing the Recluse

by Michelle M. Pillow

  Chapter 8

  Viktor held the lizard in his hand as he rode the elevator down to the main reception area. He’d seen a young woman at the counter when he sped through the lobby who would surely help him find the creature’s owner. By the scent on the eft, it belonged to a young boy. The reptile seemed friendly enough and Viktor knew he probably had a good home—otherwise he would never give it back.

  Glancing up as if he could see Samantha still standing above him in her broken doorway, he frowned. He’d been waiting to see her again, to see if she was really his mate, to see if he would feel the same way without her first kissing him. In the park he’d been napping, taken by surprise. It had been so long since he’d felt the soft body of a woman. He needed to know that Samantha Egan was really the one—not just the most convenient. Hearing He heard her voice clearly in his head, his frown deepened.

  Fear of scaly little reptiles is a natural and very common thing. Eww.

  This wasn’t good. It was bad enough that he’d heard her call and had left his smirking cousin at the small café down the block—a café he’d been waiting secretly at to see a glimpse of Samantha coming from her building so he could follow her. Strange thing was, he’d waited for two days and for two days she didn’t leave her apartment. Unless she was receiving visitors, the woman lived about as solitary an existence as he did.

  Viktor sighed heavily, not sure what his next move should be. It had been so long since he dealt with these delicate situations. Courting women had never been easy for him, but add to it the fact he was sorely out of date when it came to dealing with the fairer sex, and he was practically a hopeless cause. Luckily, some truths stayed the same no matter how much time passed. Women liked to be treated with respect and complete and utter honesty. Those were two things he could always do—until now.

  Now he had to deal with the fact that he’d have to explain to Samantha why he’d broken into her home, how he knew she was in trouble and why he even cared. But, worst of all, when he did try to explain it, he was better off not telling her the whole truth. With her obvious dislike of reptiles, he was in for a long road. If she panicked over a newt, what would she do if she saw him shift completely into dragon form?

  The elevator doors slid open and he stepped out. Seeing the young girl at the front desk of the apartments, he pasted on a smile. She responded instantly, batting her eyelashes a little faster than before in a subtle but unmistakable sign of interest. Even from across the room he could detect her budding desire for him. For a moment, Viktor considered doing what Laurence was—leaving his first six hundred years with a bang. It would be easy to seduce willing women to his bed. He could literally ride it out until the end of his first six hundred years.

  “No, it wouldn’t be easy,” he whispered to himself, feeling dejected. “The only woman I want is her.”

  Swallowing over the lump forming in his throat, he glanced up at the ceiling. Samantha was up there. Even now his body was tight with need for her. He wanted more than just a dry hump against a wall. His cock was hard, aching to lay claim, desperate to feel her hot depths clinging around him as he pumped into her. He could practically feel his seed building, ready to explode and mark her as his mate. It was different than the other times, than Elise, even after a hundred years he could feel that. With Elise, he had to force the mating process. It wasn’t like that with Samantha. This time, like it or not, when he came he’d be marking the woman as his for all eternity.

  Chapter 9

  “Samantha? Darling? Are you in here? What on earth happened to your door?”

  Samantha stiffened at the familiar voice, tugging her clean shirt over her head. No, it couldn’t be. Not today. Not…

  “Fredrick?” she asked, surprised. What was with today? Was every man she’d ever made out with going to show up at the front door? If her prom date Billy Jenson came over, she was definitely moving to Europe.

  “Sammy?” Fredrick yelled louder. “I know you’re in here. I can smell your favorite perfume.”

  Samantha made her way from her back bedroom where she’d just finished a quick change into a sexier pair of panties and did a perfume check—just in case Viktor did come back. Seeing Fredrick leaning opposite her broken doorframe, she stopped. His brown hair was combed back from his handsome face. He was older than she was, Samantha knew that, but he looked eternally twenty-five. There was a boyish quality that hid the smart, intellectual side of his personality and he looked more like a male model than a scientist. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was just in the neighborhood and thought I’d check in on you to see how you were doing.”

  “I was fired from my job and can’t seem to find another one,” she said, a little too dryly. “How do you think I am?”

  Fredrick smiled and glanced around her lavish apartment. “I’d say you’re all right, Sammy.”

  “Don’t call me Sammy,” Samantha frowned. “You know I hate being called that.”

  “And yet you’re so cute when you’re annoyed that I just can’t help myself.” Fredrick laughed. He’d always been at ease around her. That’s one of the things she missed about their relationship. Striding across her living room, he made his way to the kitchen. Samantha scrunched up her face in annoyance, though she really didn’t care if he made himself at home, and followed him.

  Her kitchen was clean, as it should be since she hardly used it. She had maids who came on a regular basis to clean her apartment. The stainless steel surfaces always looked a little too sanitary for her tastes, but it’s the way the apartment came and she had little desire to bother with changing it.

  “Got any beer?” Fredrick asked.

  “It’s early,” she scolded out of habit. Really, what did it matter if Frederick drank in the middle of the day? It wasn’t her concern.

  “Sammy, baby, I’ll always be your concern. We’re still friends, aren’t we?” His tone lowered an octave and he gave her a boyishly charming smile—like a kid trying to weasel his way out of trouble. She hated how he always seemed to read her mind. His smile grew and he winked audaciously at her.

  Unable to help herself, Samantha chuckled, instantly loosening up. “What do you want, Fredrick?”

  “I’m just checking.” He turned to the refrigerator and pulled the door open. Leaning over, he hummed softly as he looked inside. “Still not eating right, I see. With all your money, you could hire a chef to take care of that.”

  “What do you mean, not eating right?” Samantha sighed. “There is nothing but health food in there—fruit, veggies, juic—”

  “My point exactly,” he interrupted, shutting the door with a loud thud. “Where’s the fat? The thick cuts of meat? The sodas and ice cream? You know, the good stuff. Most women I know at least have a tub of ice cream hidden away for special occasions.”

  “Butter pecan is in the freezer, back right, behind the giant bag of frozen strawberries,” Samantha said, admitting the presence of her secret weakness.

  “Really?” His face lightened and he instantly produced it. “Perfect. Now that’s what I’m talking about, sweetheart.”

  Samantha watched him as he got a spoon from the drawer and began eating her favorite ice cream straight out of the tub. He grinned at her, making a great show of sucking the spoon.

  “Fredrick? What are you doing here?” she enunciated. Had he always been this frustrating? Watching him audaciously lick a drop of ice cream off his hand, she knew she had her answer.

  “I told you. I came to check on you.” He took another big bite, moaning in pleasure as he sucked the ice cream off the spoon.

  “Well, you checked. Here I am.”

  “Yes,” his tone dipped, “there you are.”

  Samantha arched a brow, secretly amazed that the tone didn’t give her shivers as it once had. There was something very familiar though about seeing him standing in her kitchen, eating her ice cream. They’d spent a lot of time together between personal life and work, attended museum functions and went to p
arties. Oddly, in that time, Fredrick never once had sex with her. Something always came up to stop them—usually on his end.

  Then why was so she mad about him dumping her? Samantha sighed. She was being foolish. It was only her hurt pride that kept her upset. That and she had nothing better to do with her time. It was clear they were not meant to be together. She was young and attractive. Any normal guy would have been trying to get into her pants from date one. Gasping, an idea struck her—eating ice cream straight from the tub, the model good looks, no interest in sex with her, intellectual tendencies, a great sense of style.

  Fredrick was gay!

  “So, what happened?” He motioned toward the cracked door frame with the spoon, circling his wrist. “Surely you didn’t have a break-in, not with the security in this place. You forget your house key?”

  “Ah, you know, Prince Charming paid me a visit.” Samantha crossed over to her refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of beer that was hidden in the back, automatically tossing it behind her. Fredrick caught it.

  “To rescue the damsel in the tower?”

  Samantha chuckled. “Something like that.”

  Fredrick again nodded his head toward the door, leaning against the entryway of her kitchen. “Are you sure it wasn’t a dragon?”

  Samantha raised a brow. Viktor was pretty fiery when he had her pinned against the museum wall. And she had imagined that fire ring thing with his eyes. “Perhaps.”

  “Mmm, is there something I should know about?” Fredrick asked, stepping closer. He towered over her, lightly swinging his beer back and forth. “Or perhaps, someone?”

  “I didn’t realize I needed to report to you,” Samantha quipped, slightly irritated that he thought he had some sort of right to pry into her personal life.

  “We are friends, aren’t we, darling? I had thought you’d be over me by now. You don’t love me, you said it yourself. I don’t love you, well, not like a man ought to love a woman. What really is the problem here? You’re too smart to be dictated by prissy female tendencies.”

  “I hate it when you’re right,” Samantha answered, walking past him back toward her living room to sit on the couch. Somehow, the realization that he was gay was comforting. At least she knew it wasn’t her fault that he didn’t want her.

  But I don’t want him either. Ugh, the confusing elements of the human psyche. I don’t want him to want me and yet I get upset when he doesn’t.

  No longer carrying the tub of ice cream, Fredrick hopped over the back of the couch and sat next to her. His beer was opened, but he managed not to spill it. “It is a curse, being right all the time.”

  Samantha rolled her eyes and grabbed the beer, taking a long drink.

  “Happiness will come to you,” Fredrick continued, “if you just let it.”

  Arching a brow, she handed the bottle back to him. “Aren’t we a guru today? Did something happen? Is there something you need to tell me? Did you get hit on the head with a bowling ball? Or were you sniffing the old snuff powder again out of the Victorian cases?”

  “Hey,” he protested, “that was only one time and on a dare. I couldn’t back down from Wilkenson’s challenge.”

  “It was a bet, not a dare, and a joke bet at that,” Samantha corrected, remembering the night she’d spent in the emergency room with him. It was one of the times they were supposed to have a romantic evening together. “For a scientist, you’re pretty dumb sometimes.”

  “I know it, but I did win the five dollars.”

  “And almost lost your job. And ended up with an eight-hundred-dollar medical bill.”

  “But, I didn’t lose my job.” He grinned. “And I got the medical bill wiped out because I did some appraisals for the hospital. All in all, I came up five bucks ahead.”

  “Only you would be proud of that fact.”

  “Oh, it’ll take a little more than some snuff to kill me,” he said, his eyes shaded with mystery.

  Samantha wondered at his tone. She sometimes got the feeling that Fredrick was hiding things from her. “Is there something you should tell me?”

  “Why no, darling, not that I can think of. Why? Is there something you need to tell me?” His playful smile widened.

  “You are impossible sometimes. You know that, right?”

  “Yep.”

  He finished the bottle and set it down on the floor. Glancing over his shoulder at the door, a small smile crossed his features as he turned back to her.

  “You know.” Fredrick lifted his hand, gently stroking Samantha’s cheek as he leaned closer to her. “You do have amazing eyes, Sammy.”

  The compliment took her by surprise. Samantha gasped. Maybe it wasn’t the compliment as much as the tone of his voice as he said it. It was low, like a lover’s whisper.

  Samantha opened her mouth to answer, but she didn’t get a chance. A loud roar sounded from the doorway, breaking through her thoughts. Jumping up from the couch, her eyes met Viktor’s.

  “Viktor,” she began, wondering why she felt incredibly guilty at having been caught just sitting on a couch with Frederick. It wasn’t like she belonged to Viktor or anything. But then why did she feel like she did? She couldn’t get the man out of her mind since she first saw him. Fantasy upon endless fantasy penetrated her mind, stirring her libido to the boiling point.

  Samantha trembled as his possessive gaze raked over her. There was no doubt that he was claiming her. Every inch of her body sparked to life, calling to him, wanting him. The display of animalistic dominance was arousing.

  “Laurie?” Viktor demanded, his body tense.

  A sick feeling unfurled in her stomach at his word. Samantha frowned, tensing with anger. “My name’s not Laurie, you jerk! It’s Samantha!”

  “Uh, Sammy, if I may?” Fredrick tried to cut in, touching her arm. She shrugged him off, ignoring him.

  “I know your name, Samantha,” Viktor answered. “What I don’t know is what you’re doing on the settee with another man.”

  “What are you talking about? Another man? I don’t have a first man to warrant Frederick being called another man,” Samantha quipped. Why was Viktor yelling at her? Was he delusional? Was she for feeling guilty?

  “You kissed me in the park,” Viktor challenged. “You knew what we are to each other from the very beginning. You felt it. Why else were you at the castle that day?”

  “I thought you were dying.” Samantha didn’t know why she was getting all worked up. All she knew is that it felt as if every part of her understood Viktor and his anger. The irrationality of it only spurred her anger to counteract his. Logic and emotion warred inside her, causing chaos to reign supreme. She acted on instinct more than rationale. “I was saving your life.” Taking a deep breath, she added with just a touch of self-importance, “I was giving you CPR.”

  “And in the museum? When I had you pressed up against the wall?” Viktor demanded, his tone full of sexual meaning. “Were you trying to save my life as you moaned for my big cock inside of you?”

  Samantha paused, her pussy damp with the memory of his erection pressed tightly against her. Even through their clothing, she had felt how very huge he was. Tingling erupted, burning a trail up her stomach to her nipples. They ached to be touched, just as her body ached for Viktor to claim her.

  “Uh, Samantha?” Frederick gave a small laugh. Embarrassment heated her face as she glanced at her ex-boyfriend. She’d forgotten that he was there, listening. “At a museum? Really? I never took you for a public places kind of girl.”

  “And you?” Viktor charged, eyeing Fredrick. “What are you doing here? With her?”

  “Listen, Viktor, don’t hurt him. It’s not what you think. He’s my friend.” Samantha moved to step in front of Fredrick, having the urge to explain herself and save her ex from Viktor’s obvious wrath. “Besides, he’s gay.”

  “What?” Fredrick blinked, looking confused. “You think I’m—”

  “Well, yeah, I know that.” Viktor waved a dismissive hand. “H
e always has been a little too gay, but I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”

  “Viktor, no,” Fredrick protested. “It doesn’t mean what you think it means. I’m gay, but I’m not gay.”

  “Huh?” Viktor blinked, his balled fists resting on his hips. “You’re always jesting and laughing, ever since we were children.”

  “Wait a minute. You know him?” Samantha demanded, turning to Fredrick.

  “Well, I…” Frederick had never looked so guilty. “Yes.”

  “That’s how he knew where I lived, isn’t it?” Samantha demanded. “You set this up, didn’t you? You felt bad for leaving me and you set this up. Please tell me you didn’t pay him to come here. Did you set up the newt thing too? Knowing how I hate reptiles? Oh my goodness! That’s how he knew to…and the lizard just jumped into his hand totally at ease to be there. And that’s why he knew all that stuff about newts and efts. It’s his pet, isn’t it! All this talk of rescuing ladies from the two of you, like chivalry was something we talked about every day. You both planned this! Didn’t you?”

  Neither man answered.

  “Didn’t you?!” she demanded, raising her voice so that it echoed loudly in her home. Glaring at them both in turn, she wasn’t sure she wanted an answer. She didn’t need Fredrick’s pity and she sure as hell didn’t need to be Viktor’s pity fuck.

  Her pussy clenched, twinging with arousal. Okay, the fuck part, yes. The pity part, no.

  “Samantha—” Fredrick began, his tone soothing. She cut him off with a hard look.

  “Get out. I don’t need your charity dates. I don’t need you to set me up with some elaborate scheme involving a newt and my knight in shining armor. I’m a grown woman and can find my own dates, thank you very much.”

  Samantha pointed at the door. Fredrick gave a small laugh, but the sound held little humor. “All right, I’ll go. Come on, Viktor. Let’s leave the woman be.”

  “Oh, no,” Samantha charged, unable to stop herself. “Don’t you move a muscle, Viktor. I’m not done with you. There are a few things I need to say to you that I’m too much of a lady to say in front of Fredrick.”