High House Draconis Box Set

by Riley Storm

  Two hands found his chest and pushed back, separating them. Olivia was staring straight ahead, directly at his pecs, her own chest rising and falling as she gasped for breath.

  “Like I said, just do it,” he repeated, his voice deep, a surefire sign of the arousal threatening to overwhelm him.

  “You just kissed me,” Olivia managed to get out.

  “Did you hate it?” Aaric was surprised by how much he truly wanted to know the answer to that question.

  “It, or you?” Olivia said, anger blossoming across her face again. “I need to go.”

  Aaric stepped back as she all but fled into her car and raced out of the parking lot, leaving him standing there with nothing but the slightest taste of her mouth on his lips, and an overwhelming urge to have more.

  Fat chance of that. She doesn’t even want to talk to you again. Time to move on, Aaric, you don’t have any time to waste. You must find your mate.

  Before it was too late.

  Chapter 8

  She plunked herself down into her chair, fighting the urge to lean back and stare morosely at the ceiling.

  “Shit.”

  There wasn’t much else to say. Not just then. Her carefully crafted plan had gone down the drain. Her backup plan had joined it. Olivia was currently out of ideas on what to do.

  She inhaled deeply, then cursed as the scent of leather and oak threaded its way into her nostrils.

  “How is that possible?” she hissed to herself. “I showered twice!”

  Yet despite the extra cleansing session, she was still smelling Aaric every time she breathed in deep through her nose. Of course, she could also feel his lips on hers every time she closed her eyes, but that was another problem, separate from this one.

  “Angela,” she called out to her assistant. “Any messages?”

  “No, boss. Quiet morning so far. Why, are you expecting anyone?”

  “Not really,” she said. Now Olivia did lean back in her chair and stare at the ceiling.

  What am I going to do?

  Her eyes strayed from the roof of her office to a stack of papers in her mailbox. The only stack of papers in it. A contract. The contract, the one from her new clients down in South America. A signed contract.

  If she didn’t get the property for them, Olivia would be on the hook for a portion of their losses in the deal. She could be ruined by this, all because Aaric was a stubborn asshole who wouldn’t just sell her the property.

  “He could have his pick of any other place in Plymouth Falls,” she muttered. “Why the hell did he have to pick this one?”

  “Boss?” Angela said, pushing back her chair, sticking her head into the open door. “Everything okay in here?”

  “Everything’s fine,” she said tightly. “All good. Do me a favor, shut the door, will you?”

  Angela gave her a reluctant gaze, but then nodded. “Of course. Just buzz me if you need me.”

  Olivia nodded, waiting until the door was closed to bury her face in her hands, leaning forward onto the desk. She wasn’t going to cry. She wouldn’t cry. Not over this. Not like this. There had to be some way she could convince him to sell to her.

  But what?

  Her ears picked up the sound of the phone ringing outside. Maybe that was him now, calling to say he’d thought about it, and that she could have the property. Fifty percent over asking was higher than the budget her client had given her, but even if she used her own money to top up, the payout in the end would still ensure she came out more than ahead in the deal.

  “It can be done,” she said, trying to reassure herself.

  Angela’s voice came through her phone. “Boss? You have a Mr. Martinez on the phone? He says he’s from Northern Aspiration Charters, Holding & Trading.”

  Olivia went still. It wasn’t Aaric calling to say he’d reconsidered. It was her new client, calling to see if she’d secured the property or not.

  “Fuck me,” she moaned even as she composed herself, reaching out to punch the buzzer to Angela’s desk. “Thank you,” she said, then reached for the phone.

  You can do this.

  “Edgar!” she said, forcing a cheeriness into her voice that she didn’t feel. “How are you? It must be about lunchtime for you. I hope I’m not interrupting.”

  “I called you,” the smooth, clipped voice of her South American business partner came back. “So of course, you aren’t interrupting.”

  “Right,” she said awkwardly. “Of course. How silly of me. How are you though? Are you doing well?”

  “I am, yes, thank you for asking. I will be doing better once I receive word from you that we can begin to proceed with our new factory. I admit I was hoping to hear from you by now with the good news.” There was a pause. “After all, you did promise us that this would be easy. That you would not encounter any problems in securing this property.”

  Olivia swallowed nervously. “Yes, yes I know. I do apologize for not contacting you sooner, Mr. Martinez,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as uneasy as she felt. “Unfortunately, we seem to have run into a problem.”

  “I do not like that word,” Edgar said icily. “Problem. It is a bad word.”

  “A slight delay,” Olivia said instead. “Another interested party has stepped up with an offer that, frankly, I don’t think they have any intention of following through with, given how ludicrously high it is, and—”

  “I do not care for excuses either, Miss Lawton,” Edgar said in that same frigid tone. “We gave you what you assured us was a very generous budget to secure the property for us. Are you telling me you have broken your word to us?”

  Olivia licked her lips. This phone call was not going the way she’d expected it in the slightest. Edgar’s polite and pleasant attitude from the day before was gone. This was an entirely different person.

  “Not yet,” she said. “I just need more time. I will get the property for you. It’s just going to take me a bit more time.”

  There was silence on the other end. Olivia waited, wondering if she should say more, or if that would just make Edgar even more upset with her.

  “You will get us that property, Miss Lawton,” he said at last, his voice calm, controlled, and somehow more threatening than any tone he’d used before. “You will do whatever it takes, to get it. Use everything available to you as a woman. Do you understand me?”

  She opened her mouth to protest at his chauvinistic ways, then snapped her mouth shut. How could she know that was what Edgar was truly referring to? It sounded like it, but if she was wrong, then he might become so upset with her he would cancel the deal entirely or come after her with lawyers for a larger share of their losses.

  “Of course,” she said tightly, wondering just what she was getting herself into. “I understand.”

  “Good. Because if you don’t get the property…” there was a long silence.

  Was she being threatened? Olivia was close to panicking. She fidgeted, looking around her office, trying to figure out what to do next.

  “It would not be good for your business reputation, considering you have already signed the contract with us. I trust you understand,” Edgar said with obviously false politeness. “A company as large as ours…well, we have to look out for our best interests.”

  They would ruin her if she fucked this up, in other words. Olivia tried not to lose control at the thought of everything she’d worked so hard for being taken away from her. This was exactly what she’d left the big city to avoid, and yet somehow it was following her here!

  “Miss Lawton?”

  She blinked. “Yes, of course, Edgar, I mean, Mr. Martinez. I’ll get the property.”

  “I thought you might.”

  Click.

  Olivia sagged backward, letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

  “Shiiiiit,” she moaned. “I am so screwed.”

  Her mind went back to Edgar’s last orders. That she should use everything available to her as a woman. Insinuating that
she should what, use her body to get what she wanted from Aaric?

  On a physical level, the idea of sleeping with Aaric was far from off-putting. He was gorgeous, and she already knew he was a hell of a good kisser. If that translated to everything else…

  You’re not seriously thinking about this, are you? Sleeping with him for a sale? How low are you going to sink?

  Olivia leaned over her desk, head resting against the wood. This wasn’t good. Wasn’t good at all.

  Unless…she sat up straight. Maybe she didn’t have to go through with it. Perhaps just the promise, the hint, that she would be willing to do that if he sold her the property, would be enough.

  It still felt icky, like she was betraying a bit of herself by doing so, but if all she had to do was show a bit more skin, stick out her chest a bit more, and let him ogle her all he wanted, then maybe that was a price she was willing to pay.

  After all, it was infinitely more pleasant to think about than Edgar and his huge corporation trashing her business name and taking her to the cleaners with lawyers. If she could get out of the situation with her dignity mostly intact, she would take it as a lesson learned on her part.

  Never agree to anything without contingencies. You should know this.

  Olivia did know that. But she’d been so blindsided by the profit figure floated in front of her, and the budget they’d given her to work with, that she’d gone ahead without bothering, not wanting to risk losing the deal by bringing it up.

  Now it was going to bite her in the ass unless she did whatever it took to get the deal done.

  Her phone buzzed again. “Boss? There’s someone out here to see you.”

  “Not now, Angela,” she replied. “I’m busy. I have to go see someone about this deal.”

  “He insists,” Angela said, her voice slightly thick. “Um…”

  “Who is it?”

  “He says his name is Aaric.”

  Olivia’s jaw dropped open. “This is a fucking joke, right?”

  “Pardon?” Angela sounded confused. “Why would I make a joke about that? Why, do you know this guy?”

  “Kind of.” She cursed, sitting up straight, running her hands through her hair, trying to quickly straighten and tidy it. That done, she undid another button on her blouse. Looking down, she frowned. That wasn’t enough. She undid another, and then after a hesitation, one more.

  “No, too many,” she hissed, doing the last one back up. Having two more undone revealed the curves of her chest but didn’t make her look completely like a working girl.

  “What should I do, boss?” Angela asked, sounding increasingly uncomfortable.

  “Let him in, I guess,” she said, sitting up straight, trying to adopt a look of feigned detachment.

  Her door opened and Aaric walked in.

  “Hello, Olivia,” he said politely. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  “What’s the occasion?” she asked. “I don’t recall us having an appointment.”

  “We don’t,” he agreed. “But I was thinking.”

  “Don’t hurt yourself.”

  He smiled at the not-so-veiled insult. “How about I take you to lunch?”

  Chapter 9

  Aaric tried very hard not to smile at the stunned look on Olivia’s face. That, unfortunately, meant he found himself staring past the open buttons of her shirt, admiring the smooth curves of her chest via the hints of cleavage visible to him.

  Glancing up, he knew he’d been busted, but instead of acting apologetic or embarrassed, he just stared at her.

  Establish dominance, let her know you don’t care that she saw you. After all, it’s obvious she undid those just recently. Show her you aren’t playing her games.

  “Lunch,” Olivia said, chewing on her lip while she nodded at him. “You want to take me to lunch?”

  “Yes. As a makeup for last night, I guess. I’ll be on time.”

  She gave him a very obvious up-and-down stare, her eyes stopping just below his waist, unless he was misjudging distance. What the hell was Olivia up to? This was rather different from the woman he’d met the day before. There was a lot more sexual energy and tension going on than he’d expected.

  “You’re actually more than on time,” she said. “You’re about three hours early.”

  Aaric paused. Shit. He’d been so consumed in thinking up the actual way to ask her out to lunch, that he hadn’t even considered what time it was! What an idiot!

  “Okay,” he said, thinking furiously. There had to be a way to salvage the situation. “How about an early brunch then?”

  “Early brunch?”

  He nodded.

  “Good save,” she told him, laughing quietly.

  “Well, what do you say?” he asked, not letting her steer the conversation away without an answer.

  On the way over, he’d braced himself for rejection, thinking that there was no way she would say yes to him, not after how things had ended the night before. But now, upon seeing her, and seeing the way she was acting around him, Aaric was suddenly thinking he should have held off.

  Something had obviously changed in Olivia. The unbuttoned blouse, the constant roaming of his body with her eyes, and even the body language all screamed sexual tension at him. It was far more upfront and direct than he’d sensed the night before, and it had Aaric on his guard now.

  “I can do brunch,” Olivia said, standing up.

  Aaric had been up most of the night thinking about her, replaying his interactions with the human woman in his head, trying to make sense of everything, trying to understand. Just when he thought he’d figured it out, she went and turned it all on its side, acting completely unpredictable.

  Was she that regretful for stopping the kiss between them? Were her hormones just screaming at her to sleep with him?

  No. She’s being far too blatant about it for that. Almost deliberately so. No woman throws herself at you this easily. Not unless she wants something from you…

  Aaric sighed but it was too late for him to back out now. He’d asked her to brunch, and she’d accepted. That meant he was going to have to suck it up and go.

  He watched as she got up from her chair, tugging at her shirt as if trying to ensure it stayed in place, though it only served to heighten the available cleavage visible at the top.

  Calming an eyebrow that threatened to rise up, Aaric simply turned and gestured at the door. He could control himself. Would control himself.

  “Where do you want to go for brunch?” she asked in a low voice as she passed dangerously close to him on the way out.

  “You’re the businesswoman,” he said, emphasizing the last word, hoping she might realize he wasn’t comfortable with the whole seductress act she was putting on. “You probably have a better idea than I do of where is good or not.”

  “I know just the place,” she said, tossing him a wink.

  Aaric waited until she had passed before rolling his eyes. This was going to be a very long brunch.

  It was disappointing to have all his thoughts and, dare he say it, fantasies, dashed. Thoughts of her had kept him up all night, trying to figure out who she was, what she was. But now he was here, now he was acting out the decisions he’d come up with, none of it was matching up.

  Maybe he’d been wrong, then. Maybe she simply was a horny human who wanted in his pants. Aaric was used to them, used to having women all but throw themselves at him. That wasn’t what he’d expected from Olivia, not after the way she’d dealt with him the day before.

  “I’ll drive,” he said, giving his keys a shake.

  Olivia smiled at him. “Of course, you will.”

  Aaric groaned to himself.

  It was going to be a long lunch.

  Chapter 10

  Was it working?

  She couldn’t tell. They were in public, so that would prevent Aaric from doing something as bold as leaping across the table to take her. Not that she planned on giving in if he did. Maybe some making out. After all, she’d alr
eady done that with him, what was a little more?

  “I’ll give you credit,” Aaric said, looking up from his food. “You did pick a hell of a spot for brunch.”

  She followed his gaze out the screened-in second story porch where they were sitting. A stone patio extended out below them on the ground floor before ending at the lawn as it swept down and away. A brief row of trees marked the edge of land and beyond that, water spread out onto the lake.

  “I agree. The view is spectacular,” she said, lacing her words with enough tension to make it obvious she was talking about him as well.

  Aaric smiled at her in response, but he didn’t say anything. She returned the smile, forcing her face to curve up into one instead of the frown she naturally felt coming on.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said, getting up. “Gotta use the little girls’ room.”

  Is that relief on his face? Why does he look relieved?

  Once she was around the corner from him, Olivia sagged against the wall.

  “What are you doing, girl?” she asked, catching a glimpse of herself in a mirror on the far side of the hallway.

  You’re throwing yourself at him. He must be able to see through it. Why else hasn’t he reacted yet?

  By the time she exited the washroom, she wasn’t any closer to a solution to her current dilemma. Nor did she have anyone she could contact about it either.

  Who would I tell? Angela? I can’t go to anyone about this.

  She sat back down, purposefully bending over at the waist, giving Aaric a double-eyeful of her breasts. He looked, taking his time, but still no comment. No flirtatious wink. Nothing to indicate he was interested.

  Was the night before a one-time thing only? After all, she knew he was the one who had kissed her. There was no denying that. They’d been a foot or more apart and then suddenly, his arm was around her back, his hand on her head, tilting it back, and then his lips had covered hers.