Taming the Warrior

by Samantha Bates

  "Sorry but you were gone for so long."

  Ignoring them, she continued her walk through heading for the exterior doors. Wow, there was a breathtaking view and vast floor with a diamond shaped outdoor pool that dominated the space, the water shimmered in the suns reflection. The small table and sun loungers sat surrounded by high glass walls that allowed an undisrupted view of the city. Money talked, she had never seen anything like it not even at pack.

  "It's a spectacular view; you should see it at night when the stars are shimmering like spotlights lighting the way to heaven."

  Her cell rang at the right moment shattering the tension building up between her and Luke; taking a breath she thanked whoever had given her the reprieve.

  "Hey May honey, how are you?"

  Luke was watching her as she murmured, the dress had been spectacular, yet the black jeans and boots were hot, so deliciously hot. She had no idea how sexy a strong woman could be especially with the hint of sensuality all wrapped up in defences that needed breaking down. That she was protective of him while knowing that he housed a Jaguar made no difference to him, she was just heaven all wrapped up and waiting for his attention. He needed to keep her close; he wanted to break through that ice and now was an opportune time to start putting that into action.

  "Okay May, I will thanks, love you too."

  She continued to look at the landscape surrounded by the tall skyscrapers with hints of green parks in the distance, the blue and white skyline seemed so close yet so far away.

  "Here's the thing Luke, the chocolates had been laced with small doses of arsenic and before you say it; your stalker is pretty unimaginative. It wasn’t enough to do serious harm although it would have caused illness to a human. Imogen has also found some concerning emails to you so I am afraid that you will get what you want, I get to be the PRETEND new love in your life, but you are not going back to Silvers until I say so. There is no way you are putting my family in harm's way."

  Luke was watching her with interest; the indecision and annoyance emanating from that lush body just screamed to him. His heart rate increased as he waited for her to finish her sentence.

  "So here is the plan although I am loath to verbalise it. I will stay here for the time being although be warned if you come too close I will maim you in a decidedly delicate place. I will be back in a couple of hours after I have shopped and organised my things, do not leave." Turning on her heel, she headed out before he could speak to her.

  Waltzing through to the large stark lounge area, she found Beth having a near orgasm at a Faberge egg displayed in a small glass case. "For god's sake Beth, let's go Vlad can buy you the goose that lays the Faberge eggs. Andy, do not let anyone else in this place until I return and if the prince needs food tell him to make a goddamn sandwich."

  As they were getting ready to leave, the rude and annoying manager wandered in without knocking. "About time you returned." He stopped when he saw Beth. "Well hello there."

  He totally ignored Ellie to focus on Beth using what he must have considered to be a suave voice, when in reality it was annoying and fake. "Now I understand why he found his own date, you certainly are majestic although your stylist must be a dream because you look so different today."

  She felt Luke's presence sneak up beside her as he laid his hands on her shoulders in a sign of propriety. "Nearly Eric, this is the lovely Ellie and she was my date last night who has also agreed to come and stay with me for a while."

  To say the small man was unimpressed by Luke's words was an understatement, his narrow mouth formed an O while his green beady eyes squinted, his brown facial hair failed to hide a protruding chin that wobbled as he struggled to form words. Brushing his long black hair back, Ellie got excited when he seemed speechless, her excitement was short lived.

  "What does 'she is coming to stay with me' mean Luke? Excuse me sweetheart but I need to speak to Luke ALONE."

  How many jumped up dicks did Luke surround himself by? She didn’t have time for this although Beth it seemed did and she used her haughty tone on Eric. "Firstly we are not your sweethearts or anyone else's, secondly do not use that patronising tone on either of us, both of us could buy this hotel if we chose to and thirdly maybe Luke needs to remind you of whom employs whom. Now Luke make sure you rest up for when Ellie returns, after all you are going to need it."

  Jesus this was a ridiculous situation and once again Ellie realised that she did not belong in this world.

  Chapter 15

  Luke was furious at Eric for making a ridiculous fuss over Ellie coming to stay with him; he actually tried to tell him that she could not stay. As Beth reminded him, Eric was the employee though normally he did not like telling him this, Eric today had left him no option so when Luke threatened to fire him if he did not butt out of his life, he was relieved when Eric stormed off.

  With a sigh, he took the phone and made his way to the bedroom dialling the familiar number.

  "Hey it's me."

  "Baby, how are you? You sound tired, are you eating enough?"

  He smiled at the worry in her voice which served to increase his feelings of melancholy; he missed her warm smile and gentle nature. "I am eating more than enough. How is your hip?"

  "My hip is fine Luke, tell me what's happening with you? How's the tour going, are you in New York at the minute?"

  It didn’t matter what was happening in his mom's life, she was always more concerned with him. Growing up as a single parent had been hard for his mom, hiding that her son was a shape shifter was even harder. Yet she had never tried to suppress him; instead she tried to guide him and he would be eternally grateful for the sacrifices she had made for him.

  "The tour is fine and yes I am in New York which will be the last stop in a gruelling, but great tour. Two more performances here in the next month in the recording studio and then my time is my own for three months so I should arrive in about five weeks or so."

  "That's great Luke, the roses are nearly in bloom and the veggies are set to be picked in a few weeks, it will be wonderful to have my baby home to help. Now tell me about the woman you took to the awards, the one who scowled at you on more than one occasion."

  He could just imagine his mom sat on the stool next to the phone; she would have her nail file out while flicking through the tabloids preparing to defend him against any negative press. She rarely asked about any female he was seen with, knowing that females were a transient element of his life, someone to take to some event, occasional sex when the medication didn’t reduce his libido.

  "Where should I start mom, her name is Ellie and I am actually paying her to be my pretend girlfriend."

  His mother immediately jumped in with a stern. "LUKE, a man as good looking as you should not resort to escorts or prostitutes, you have so much to offer in fact, when you get home I will set you up with………"

  No, not another attempt to set him up with a lovely homely woman to take loving care of him, he didn’t need that again. "Mom, you jumped in before I had time to finish."

  He wasn’t angry with his mom or even annoyed, how could he be when she was looking out for him. "As I was saying, I have received some unwanted attention from an excited fan so I approached a security company and now have extra bodyguards and Ellie by my side."

  He could almost hear his mother's brain ticking through the phone receiver. Now she would be twisting her long brown curly hair round her fingers while she processed this. He missed her simple yellow kitchen with the huge stove, and central table and chairs. She still had some of his childhood photos on the fridge and old school drawings on the cupboards, he stopped attempting to take them down when it provided his mom with a reason to remind him that if he gave her grandchildren she would replace his pictures with some of theirs.

  "So if she is your employee why was she scowling at you?"

  Why oh why, an excellent question? "It seems that I infuriate her."

  "How so?"

  "Well I don’t always do what she w
ants me to do, if I tell her that she is beautiful and flirt she gets cross because she is working and it's inappropriate, I say the wrong things to her, if I make a promise she expects me to break it, I don’t take my safety as seriously as she does and the list goes on even though I have only known her for a couple of days there is already a list."

  "Well it seems to me that you need to take your safety a little more serious, is she really as beautiful as she looked?"

  Just the question made Ellie's image appear in his mind though it wasn’t the image from last night, the first image was the one of her in bed play fighting with her brothers, then it was her in combats and boots scowling at him.

  "She is truly breath taking mom, when she smiles it lights up her face, when she frowns I want to hug her, when she laughs I am drawn to her, she is kind and protective and gorgeous."

  There was a pause in his ramblings when Luke realised what he had said, there was way too much information for him, although not enough for his mom. "She sounds strong and confident tell me more."

  "Actually mom she is, she is confident in her abilities, she protects the people around her, and she is extremely smart and great company. Anyway enough about me, tell me is Amos still doing okay?" He wanted to distract his mom; he had not planned on discussing Ellie at all.

  Amos was one of his mom's helpers and had been since Luke was a young boy. To make space for a child hiding a Jaguar, his mom had rented farm land. Unfortunately, all of the farm animals except the horses were terrified of him, rather than be dismayed by this; his mom had rethought and developed a gardening business, growing and selling produce and roses. Amos had been their first employee and was their oldest; he had developed some issues with arthritis as he had aged so now he predominantly helped with pruning.

  Luke spent the next few minutes getting an update on Amos.

  "Mom, I need to go now how about I call you in a couple of days? Do you need anything?"

  "No baby I don’t, I love you, be good and keep safe."

  "I will mom, love you too."

  His mom's voice interrupted him just before he hung up. "Luke, I think I like this Ellie girl, if I am lucky I might get to meet her."

  His mom hung up on him leaving him a little confused, his mom would like her, but he only had two months with her. As a plan started forming in his head, he smiled.

  Chapter 16

  Ellie was exhausted, shopping with Beth had been more fun than she expected even though her sister was merciless when it came to clothes. Looking at the bags in her hand and the rucksack on her back, she had to question when she would ever wear the clothes Beth had pressured her into purchasing.

  Arriving at the reception desk, she found the same receptionist she had met this morning, Ellie was therefore unsurprised when she proceeded to ignore Ellie by serving everyone else first. The lobby was large with a white marble reception desk, and matching floor with a gold carpet which led the way from the front doors to the desk, it had a regal feeling that was magnified by the enormous chandelier and large albeit fake wall sconces.

  "Good evening madam how may I help you?"

  "I need to be taken to the penthouse please."

  With a haughty smile, the woman looked at her log. "Are you on the guest list for the penthouse?"

  The bags were becoming cumbersome as the weariness started to penetrate her body. How the hell was shopping more physically challenging than a workout? "I am part of Silver Security."

  "I am afraid that I have no proof of that, so unfortunately I can't allow you access."

  Ellie was losing her patience, which was unfair to the woman in front of her. Although the woman was annoying and Ellie thought that she was being deliberately difficult, at least she had not breached the security protocol. However, Ellie now had an idea.

  ******************************

  Enjoying the peace and solitude was all well and good until the boredom set in; Luke had however had a really productive afternoon, with a new song written he now felt inspired and elated before he became bored. With the adrenaline having worn off he wanted some free time, he wanted to do something fun.

  And then she walked in, albeit looking slightly smug and weighed down by shopping bags and a backpack that must have been as big as her, running from the couch he relieved her of the burden resulting in a radiant smile before she dropped onto the couch. He watched her relax for a minute though it was only a minute before she reached for the phone.

  "I believe you are the receptionist that refused me access to the penthouse. Mmm I thought so, can I please be transferred to the security manager. Where am I, why I am in the penthouse?"

  From listening to the rest of the conversation, he deciphered that Ellie had been refused admittance to the suite, so had taken it upon herself to test how robust the security was, obviously she had decided that improvements could be made, Ellie then proceeded to inform the security manager of her ideas. He was rather surprised when rather than telling him off, she was complimentary of the current services and made him feel that she was assisting him rather than complaining. By the time she hung up the phone Luke was impressed with her people skills.

  "So do I get to see the purchases?" He was curious, he could see some of the bags were from rather elite designers and he was not sure that Ellie would be comfortable with the range, and guessed these were courtesy of her sister.

  "No you don’t, right now I don’t even know if I will wear them so I see no point in obtaining your opinion."

  "Do I get to know what is in that bag which looks as though it is a Forces issue bag, which begs the question of why you have a Forces issued bag?" He was pointing at her large rucksack even though didn’t challenge her when she didn’t answer him.

  Luke's first thought was that an ex may have given her the bag, his Jaguar whined at this so he tried to ignore it. Then he thought, well actually he didn’t have another thought.

  "I was in the forces for a while."

  As she stood she turned giving him a prime view of her tight butt as she flounced off to what was to become her room, he took a moment to appreciate what was in front of him before following.

  Watching from the doorway he saw her assessing the room, pulling out photos from her bag she placed them on the bedside table, her brothers faces shining from one, the other showed four girls all smiling and finally one of which he assumed were her parents with the four girls before she pulled out a folder and laptop setting them on the dressing table.

  He watched in silence as she turned the hotel room into a bedroom, she had even brought a purple fleece blanket to add some colour. In the space of minutes she had made this her room while he spent his time living out of suitcases and never really unpacking. Suddenly he felt lonely, in an existence where he had half the world at his beck and call he was no longer a person, he was an entity pleasing others but never really making himself truly happy.

  To shake the feelings he waited for Ellie to accept his presence, when she was done she sat on the bed with a sigh.

  "All done."

  "It’s nice, it looks roomy and cosy. Now why don’t we go bowling, do you have any suitable clothes?"

  Her expression was one of surprise and disbelief. "You want to go bowling."

  Bowling wasn’t terribly important, he just wanted to do something normal with a woman who didn’t see Luke Drakos the superstar, just Luke Drakos a guy in his thirties.

  "Yes I do, and I am ready to go when you are."

  Now she was frowning. "No you are not ready, I don’t think you get this Luke, for things like this to happen I need to make plans and prepare the security."

  And just like that she had gone into work mode. Starting up the laptop Ellie Googled bowling alleys before imparting a series of tasks to whomever she had called. She was impressive; within minutes she was opening emails and looking over her shoulder he saw more plans for buildings.

  "What are you doing?"

  While she answered she continued to compare plans. "Floo
r plans for two bowling alleys." When her cell rung she listened before telling whoever to arrange the second place. Ellie then contacted the bodyguards who were stationed outside, and included a wolf shifter.

  "Okay guys we are going bowling." When her cell beeped she checked the message before continuing with her instructions. "This is the one we will be going to; it has a private lane that we can use. The exits and entrances are here, I want one of you outside the private lane, another at the main entrance and another at the emergency exit. The car will be parked here by the staff car park, no limos just a normal car if Mr Rich owns one of those. Before we leave, I want one of you to go out in the limo then take it to Silver's Club and catch a cab from there, that way people may think that he is there. Everyone knows the plan now so we leave in half an hour."

  The body guards left them giving Ellie time to change. Opening the clothes Beth forced her to buy; she looked for something that said bowling. Discarding all skirts and dresses, she then discarded pants before finally finding a pair of faded jeans to which she added a cashmere sweater.

  "Before you go anywhere Luke, we need to assess the risks and reduce these so please do not make plans without giving me notice."

  He was watching her brush her hair, the bob providing a neat and tailored look that really was sexy.

  "Uh sorry fine, but it won't happen again because over the next two months, you will be with me?" He didn’t give her time to respond choosing instead to grab a jacket.

  Chapter 17

  By the time they had finished bowling it was close to midnight, and Ellie was ready to sleep although she had to admit it had been a lot of fun because both she and Luke were somewhat competitive, so the game had been on.

  Each had tried to distract the other with Luke throwing chips at her while she made rude noises just as he was about to bowl. With the old style disco music in the background they sang to cheesy hits, well Luke sang as Ellie murmured.