by Sara Spark
Bain stoically looked at her. “Do you have someone you need to get home to? A boyfriend?” He paused, swallowing hard. “A husband? Pet?”
“No, no—“ Lia brushed that off. Her mind whirling with all the decisions that would need to be made. Soon. Like today.
“No, as in you don’t have one, or no, as in they won’t worry about your delay?”
Lia turned to look at him directly. Her expression wary. “No, there is no one waiting for me.” She added just in case he was a psycho. “But my parents and friends know where I am.”
He looked at her blankly. “That’s, uh, good.”
“I think I need to talk to the Rohrs again. I need to let them know the scope of this. They haven’t even asked about my fees! I would have to delay all my other projects.” Her neighbor’s daughter’s birthday party for 20 kids on February 19th was hardly a full agenda, but she needed to sound like she was in demand.
“So, besides your fees on the presentation. I am sure they would be willing to give you a bonus for the short timeline.” Bain tilted his head almost like he was chewing something thoughtfully. “How about $50,000?”
Holy shit! Was he serious?!?
“In addition to my fees?” Her voice squeaked a little at the end. Put the phone down before you drop it, Lia! Her hands carefully and shakily set it on the table.
“$75,000? Plus your regular fees?”
He thought she was trying to up her bonus, when she was just trying not to pee on herself. Tighten those Kegels!
“Uhhh, ok?” Get it together, Lia! Sound professional! “I have a contract I need them to sign. Is Magnus’ office nearby? I probably need to go over the terms, cancellation policy, etc.”
“We won’t see them again for several hours.”
She looked a little puzzled.
“They are newly mat—married.”
“Oh.” The penny finally dropped. “Ohhhh!”
Bain watched fascinated as a blush crept up her cheeks. She was delectable. He wanted to nibble on that flushed skin. She looks hot. She should take off her jacket. We could help her take off her jacket… His buffalo was full of ideas.
Lia shifted in her seat. His intense brown eyes were just that…intense. They were powerful and seemed to see straight into her soul.
“Why don’t you email the contract?” He gave her the info. “I’m sure they will send it back tonight.” He shrugged. “Maybe tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?” Lia said weakly.
“Eventually they will come out for food, if nothing else.”
Bain pulled out her chair, reminiscent of what Magnus had just done and held out a hand. Lia managed to get out of the chair and gather her things without touching him. And the race to put together the event began.
At 8pm, Bain called a halt and would not let her look at anything else. He stood in front of the Stone employees that handle the convention setups and pronounced, “We are done for the day.” Everyone had scattered. Funnily enough, no one wanted to argue with the 6 and a half foot tall muscled giant.
Lia had been so tired and braindead that she hadn’t protested. But she would have protested, most definitely, if she had the energy. Bain silently led her to the elevator. Dead silence as they rode up to the 22nd floor. Now that Lia was alone with him again. She was uncomfortable, fidgety. She couldn’t help it.
After graduating from college and putting the past behind her, Lia made sure that she only dated small men. The smaller the better. Problem solved, right? Wrong. Just a different problem. No attraction. Oh, a few she was attracted to, but sex was frankly perfunctory. Almost robotic at times. What started out as attraction, fizzled in the bedroom. Maybe it was them, maybe it was her, maybe it was the combo? But with Bain she hadn’t felt attraction like this since she was in college. Ok, that was exaggerating her college experiences. Those dating experiences were like putting milk on the stove to warm. Bain was more like a enormous churning, boiling body of water with all your boilers cranked to super high. She had never been this attracted to someone!
Her eyes drifted to him, caressed all the muscled maleness standing stoically in front of her. He was huge. The muscles on his butt tightened as he shifted his weight. Her eyes became glued there. This man never skipped ‘leg day’ nor “butt day” at the gym. Two thighs the size of concrete pillars braced his frame. He was the essence of masculinity to her. Eye CANDY! In caps. Lia felt her nipples tightening and had to cross her arms over her chest as they echoed the tightening that was happening all over her body. She shivered a little as she thought of being pressed against that chest. That big, hard chest.
Big. Hard. But that was the problem, as well as the attraction. He was big and hard. No way would she stand a chance against him in a fight.
Bain gave a few sniffs, turned his head back towards her and then snapped it forward again. She thought she heard a groan.
“Are you okay?” She realized he was rubbing his eyes.
“Yeah.” Which came out as more of a grunt than a word.
The elevator dinged. Bain put his back to the open door and held out his hand to her. Lia pretended to be absorbed in her phone and avoided him. Absently, meandering down the hall then realizing that Bain had stopped several doors ago. She turned back and hurriedly squeezed by him into the apartment, avoiding touching him. But getting close enough to feel a little of his body heat and pure male scent. The way he smelled got her circuits sizzling. She shivered a little.
“Food!” Which came out louder than he expected it to. Lia jumped. He couldn’t help it though. Scenting her arousal, yet seeing the fear in her eyes was pushing him to his limit. He had to change the subject or he would act on those little shivers that kept running through her body, getting her all wet and ready for him.
“Oh, that’s ok. I’m not all that hungry. Plus, I’m sure you want to get to bed.”
“I sure do.” He intoned while his eyes moved slowly up her body. “But you’ve barely eaten. I can get something.” He walked to the kitchen. Lia gave up and went in search of her suitcase that someone had brought here in the day. There was also several bags filled with…clothes?!? Wha--? Guess this meant they wanted her to stay, not try and do this long distance. For 75K+, she would stay as long as they needed her.
Feeling grungy from the flight and the long day, she took a quick shower. Slid on her “pjs” which just meant a tshirt and a pair of shorts. Putting her hair up into a towel, she walked out into the living room and kitchen, only to come to a screeching halt.
Jumpin’ Joseph’s underpants! And she had thought he was devastating in jeans and a tshirt! Bain was in the kitchen, shirtless, drops of water still beading on his shoulders-guess he had a shower too!- wearing only a pair of slouchy sweats and he was chopping carrots. Carrots! He was like a working woman’s fantasy come to life! All rippling muscles and taut abs. His arms flexed a little as he worked. Her mouth dried up like she’d been walking through the desert for hours, or at least West Texas for hours.
Bain noticed her standing there. “Would you like some wine?” He didn’t really need to ask. He knew she liked wine from her profile on Date UR Mate, but he went through the motions. Earlier, Bain had made sure there was a variety of wine and food stocked in the kitchen for them.
“Yes!” And there was even a chilled Riesling wine. Light, fruity, perfect. Accepting the glass, she cleared her throat. “So when do I meet my roomie? Is she here?” She looked at the other door.
“I’m your roommate.” His eyes clashed with hers.
Say what?!? She was speechless. She fumbled for an excuse to kick him out. “I, uh, I’m just not comfortable with that.”
He just looked at her saying nothing. His brown eyes glittered across the kitchen island from her. He turned and put all the chopped carrots into a pot and stirred it.
“You do know that we are a private security firm?”
She nodded. She had done her homework before getting on the plane. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“We are digital security, too.” She nodded. What was he driving at? “No one is allowed in this building unless they go through rigorous background checking and we do not leave strangers in the building without security. Ever.”
“But I’m just an event planner! You called me, remember?”
“We uncover corporate spies more than you would think. Digital security is a competitive market.” True. But not the reason he was here. “Someone could have gotten to you after we made contact.” Bull shit, but he had a feeling he needed a really good reason to stay. She didn’t look very open to the idea. He took a deep breath in. Even if her body was very interested. Mater, he wanted to bury his face in her scent! But every muscle in her body was tight with warning—Caution, Danger Ahead!
“I, I—just don’t know if I can—“ She wiped one hand nervously on her shorts. Her voice died out and she upended her wine glass gulping down the entire thing in a few seconds. She must be awesome at beer-chugging contests! He watched the whole scene placidly. He was content for the moment. He was with his mate and they both had way fewer clothes on. That was progress!
In fact, now he could see much more, he was way more than content. Her soft skin, her curvy legs, and her luscious boobs. More than a generous handful. Damn! He was a lucky son of a bitch! He wanted to eat her up. He blamed the next event on his own horny absorption with his mate.
Crash! Lia had set her glass down on the counter but only caught the edge of it and the wineglass shattered spectacularly all over the floor. Hitting her bare legs with shards of sharp pieces of glass.
Bain had swept Lia up and put her on the couch before she even had a chance to think about gasping. He was hunkered down in front of her as he raised her legs and inspected the damage.
She was bleeding from several scrapes on her right leg. Unacceptable! Licking his fingers quickly, secretly, he rubbed them on the wounds as he hunkered over her leg, blocking the view. She was squirming like a trapped eel, so she wasn’t exactly making it easier.
Finally with a gasp of, “I’m gonna get blood on the couch!” He let her pull away. His hand was tingling from where he had been cupping her plump little calf. She was pure sexiness. So soft. He wanted to trail his hands up the legs in front of him that were now parted quite a bit from all her gyrations, and spread those round thighs wide. Pushing off the couch to stand upright, he frowned as an obnoxiously acrid scent touched his nose. Was that fear? From her? What the fuck? Did his mate actually fear him?!?
A sharp inhale from her drew his eyes. She was locked onto his erection tenting his soft athletic pants like she was a laser targeting system. Normally, that would get his engines revving more than they were already, but not with the foul scent of her fear in his nose.
“I can’t help my reaction. You are a beautiful, single woman.” He said gruffly as he walked into the kitchen. “But no worries, bunny, I can read your ‘No Trespassing’ sign loud and clear.”
He deliberately walked away and started cleaning up the glass. Concerned about her, he waited for her fast breaths to settle down and for the scent of her fear to dissipate. Stirring the quick soup that was simmering on the stove, he poured her another glass of wine and broke out the crusty French bread that someone had thoughtfully supplied.
“Come, bunny, eat so you can rest.” For several minutes, he didn’t think that she was going to react. Then slowly, almost quivering in her trepidation, she approached the bar stool next to the island where he had set her dinner. Her towel had been knocked off and wet hair straggled down. Somehow it made her seem more vulnerable than she already was. Slowly, he turned around and served himself, leaning against the counter to eat. They didn’t talk. He was content to just ‘be’ with her. His mate was eating. He was providing for her. For once, his buffalo hummed in happiness.
She ate cautiously at first, but then her body seemed to all of a sudden realize it hadn’t eaten in hours and hours and she scarfed down the rest of the bowl. Bringing the pot and ladle with him so that she knew why he approached, he refilled her bowl. With measured movements he broke off some more French bread and set it on her plate.
“Lia.” He let her eat her fill, but when she started slowing down, he interrupted. “Lia, can you look at me?” She paused as if considering the question then gradually raised her eyes to his. “This is important. I need to know that you feel the truth of this inside you. I will never, ever touch you sexually unless you want it, Lia.” He let that statement ring through the quiet apartment. Her dewy, blue eyes widened in surprise. “There may be times that I have to touch you for your safety and protection, but I will not take it beyond that unless you want it, too. Yes, I am attracted to you.” Helluva understatement, there! “But you are in the driver’s seat for this. What you say goes.”
Lia tilted her head as if puzzled and stunned at the same time. Join the crowd. He was just as stunned. He had never done this before. Never put the woman in charge. His dominant nature, his cantankerous buffalo meant that he was usually the one calling the shots. But her fear had been real and substantial and he found that was completely unacceptable to him. Never, never would he have his mate fear him. She had to understand that he would never hurt her. Other people might be in danger from him, but never her! “Now, little bunny, I want to touch you. Do you want me to touch you?”
A panicked look flitted across her face briefly, as she shook her head ‘no.’
Bain sighed and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched her stride quickly to her room and lock the door.
Well, that went well!
Shut the fuck up! He snarled at his buffalo.
Chapter 3
And so the rest of the week, went by each day pretty much the same. He and Lia were up and leaving the apartment by 7:30am. Bain refused to let her leave until she had eaten something. They rode down the elevator together, he had learned, the hard way, not to stand in front of her. That got her pussy smelling all deliciously wet and hot. He could sense her attraction, but something made her afraid. Deeply so, at times.
So each morning, he took her to the second floor and he went down to the gym in the basement. He was part of the training regime for new Chimera in the clan. Eli was a sniper and he was her spotter and protector. Eli taught them shooting, MacPherson mainly just intimidated the hell of them—he said it made them tougher. Bain taught them close quarters fighting. When your opponent had you in a tight space, how to get away, how to turn the disadvantage of a closed space into your advantage. Each afternoon, he went back to her office or tracked her down and followed her until she would begrudgingly let him help with set up, sorting out tables, chairs, etc. They were setting up a stage for a band that Lia had found. Although how she found a band that was not booked already for Valentine’s Day when she was new in town, he had no idea?
Hell, that had been an interesting night! They had gone back to the apartment, Bain had thought mistakenly for the night when he caught Lia trying to sneak out on her own. Seems she needed to go hear a few bands to decide which one was the “best” one for the event. Bain snorted. If the band had enough of a beat to dance to and there was enough food present then the event was a success. The only thing that could turn a party ugly was running out of food. Well, and a danceoff. A danceoff was just asking for a lot of repairwork, drywall, electrical repair, etc the next day. The dancing wasn’t usually a problem, but deciding who was the “winner”? Now that caused some major shit! Chimera were pretty competitive.
Anyways, that night it had been diligently go from one bar to the next. Trying to convince her that the first one was fine, was a lost cause. She wanted everything “perfect.” At the fourth bar, Lia got away from him. Now, he almost outed himself right there, shifting into his buffalo and trampling the lot of them. But the unofficial leader of the clans in the US, their Sigma Alpha Brandt, frowned on trampling humans. There was so much paperwork involved.
A fight had broken out at the seedy bar with Lia trapped on the far side of it. So Bain, re
luctantly remained a human, disappointed sigh from his buffalo that wouldn’t have minded a late night trample, and fought his way to Lia. No picking up tiny little humans in his way and tossing them across the room like he wanted to. Bain finally got to her, caging her in with his body. Her breathing was light and quick. He could scent her fear.
Lowering his head, so she could hear him. “I got you, little bunny, don’t worry.” After a minute, her fear subsided, but then something worse started. Her arousal. Well, any other time he would have been doing backflips at the scent, but the middle of a bar fight was not the time for his mate to get hot! Her little hands were pressed between them on the belt of his jeans, and he just wanted to urge her to explore. He loved the feel of her hands on him. She was pressed into the corner and his big frame was surrounding her. His thick, muscled arms caging her in, protecting her head and chest. He relished every inch of contact with her. This is what he had been missing for days.
A chair crashed into his back, one of the legs pushing him hard into Lia. She squeaked as he squished her a little more. Her eyes flew to his and he captured them. He wasn’t going to let them go this time. He wanted her to acknowledge what was between them.
“Bunny. Lia. I want to kiss you.” He lowered his head but didn’t touch her. Eyebrows raised inquiringly. His brown eyes powerful, yet soft with his need. “Yes.” Her voice was hesitant, but she had agreed. That was all his willpower could handle. Right then a beer bottle crashed into his back and one shattered at his feet. But they were dead wrong if they thought that would stop him. His lips molded to hers. Timidity was not in his nature. The only reason he was going slow through their mating was due to her fear. His lips slanted across hers, taking charge immediately. Holding back a little, he discovered just her lips first. Slanting across hers, he tasted and sucked and generally kissed the breath out of her. One hand was threaded through her hair cupping the back of her head as he twisted and turned to get the right angle. His tongue was just sliding inside to do battle with hers when the sound that he had been hearing for the past minute finally percolated through the haze of lust in his mind. Sirens! Shit! Magnus was not forgiving to Chimera who brought publicity to the clan. The general public did not know about shapeshifters.
