by Lilly Wilder
My eyes fell on her cleavage, making things even worse.
“I need a glass of water or something.”
“Here, let me get it for you.” I left her for a moment and returned with some ice water. She took it with a look of gratefulness before chugging most of it down.
When she was done, I guided her towards a private lounge, closed off from the ballroom.
She raised a brow, eyeing with suspicion. “I don’t know if I like being alone with you…” she said but her voice wavered, laced with uncertainty.
“I just wanted to thank you for a good time. I haven’t danced like that in quite some time.”
“Where did you learn to do that?”
“Rome.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Not at all. I spent a summer there. It was the summer after ¬–”
“Let me guess, you hated me so much that you had to go to a whole other continent just to get away from me,” she said. Her stance was a defensive one, but I could tell by the tone of her voice that saying those words pained her. It was then that I realized that in my attempt to protect myself, I had injured her emotionally. By pushing her away, I had broken her heart.
“No.” I shook my head as I reached out to grab her hands. She pulled back and rose to her feet. “Ari.”
She didn’t bother to look at me.
“I never meant to hurt you.” I stood behind her. When she did not turn around, I placed my hand on her waist and pulled her towards me. As soon as I did, I saw the glassiness of her eyes and the tears streaking down her cheeks. My heart tightened at the sight because I knew I was the cause of her grief. All this time and she still felt the pain of my actions.
Gently, I wiped away her tears with my thumb. My hand lingered by the side of her face, cupping it against my palm.
“I know it probably doesn’t mean much but I really am sorry.”
She turned her head and tried to slip away from my grasp but I held her by the arm.
“All I ask is that we start fresh. I am willing to bury the hatch if you are too.”
She finally looked me in the eye. “Meaning?”
“You show up to work Monday morning.”
Her expression changed to one of surprise as the brows rose on her forehead. “What are you talking about?”
“I have decided to hire you –”
“But I thought you said I wasn’t qualified for the job.”
I shrugged. “I have a feeling you’re a quick learner.”
She bit her bottom lip in contemplation.
“Look, I did my research. I know you need the money and that you’re in no position to turn me down.”
“Fine.” She conceded. “You’re right. I do need this job whether I want to work with you or not.”
“Still not very fond of me, huh?”
“A single dance isn’t going to erase our history,” she answered as she made her way for the door.
Before she could grab hold of the handle, I stopped her. The hair on the back of my neck stood on edge. My nostrils flared as I caught wind of a foreign scent.
What was that?
Just then, the lights flickered.
Overhead, a lightbulb shattered.
Ari screamed with fright, but I had her in my arms in an instant, holding her in a protective embrace.
It was then that it dawned on me.
That smell… it was… Aetos.
They were here – spying on me.
I held Ari all the tighter. She leaned against my chest, confiding in my strength. And at that moment, I experienced something I had never felt before. It stirred inside the depths of my heart.
Warmth.
Chapter 11: Ari
Monday morning.
I was wearing the same skirt from my interview but with a different blouse. Hopefully, no one would notice.
My feet were killing me as I walked the rest of the way from the bus stop. I tried to adjust my footing but to no avail.
By some miracle, I reached the headquarters at exactly 8:30 A.M. – just as Lyle had asked me to. Truth be told, I still don’t know why I agreed to work for a man I hated.
Because, deep down, you want to like him. You want to forgive him. That little voice at the back of my head was starting to become really damn annoying. It didn’t know what it was talking about.
Eager to get this over with, I tugged on the front door only to find it closed. “What the hell?” I tugged on it a little harder this time but it was still as locked as ever.
I fished for my phone out of my pocket, ready to give Lyle a call.
That’s when a red Ferrari came speeding around the bend. It flew down the street and eased into the building’s parking garage. I didn’t even wait for it to park as I marched right up to it and stand with arms folded in front of the driver’s side.
Lyle got out, dressed in a suit.
“What the hell?” I spat the second he could hear me.
He looked down at me, eyebrow raised. His lips twitched slightly like he was amused by my display of anger.
“You were the one who nearly ran me over!”
“Hmm?”
“The day it was downpouring. The day right before my interview. You were driving like a maniac.”
“I was late for a meeting., h3e answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And I couldn’t afford to be late.”
“You nearly ran me over!” I repeated. “I saw my life flash before my eyes.”
“There’s no need to be so dramatic.”
“I bet you did it on purpose!” I accused.
“Of course not.” He rested a hand on my shoulder but I pulled away.
“You didn’t even get out of your car to ask if I was okay or not.”
“I already told you. I had a meeting to go to and I couldn’t afford to be late –”
I slapped him before he could say another word. It was only after I did that, I realized that doing so would probably cost me my job and boy, did I need this paycheck. My heart stopped, waiting for him to lash out at me.
“Okay, I probably deserved that,” he said, his voice as calm as water on a warm summer’s day. “But…” An edge crept into his voice as he grabbed me by the wrist. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll think before you do something.”
Was he threatening me?
Fear swept underneath my skin, leaving me cold.
He dropped my wrist and proceeded to the side door. There, he took out an ID card and ran it through the scanner. “And so long as we’re working together, you will address me as your superior.”
A copper taste rose at the back of my throat. I should have known that his little act at the gala was just a façade to get me to accept his job proposal. He wasn’t sorry at all. He was still the same ol’ asshole.
Down the hall, we waited for the elevator. It arrived within seconds of pushing the button.
I hesitated. “Maybe I should take the stairs,” I said despite the fact that my feet were covered in blisters. Any unnecessary walking would be torturous. Yet, it seemed better than being trapped in a small space with a madman.
“Get in,” was all he said. His eyes darkened as his tone was one of pure authority.
I couldn’t have defied him even if I wanted to.
The doors closed shut behind me, nearly pinching the fabric of my skirt between them. Lyle was quick to pull me out of harm’s way. “Careful,” he hissed.
It was strange. In a way, it seemed like he was trying to protect me but why did he have to be such a dick about it?
“I don’t get you,” I mumbled underneath my breath. I didn’t even realize I had spoken my thoughts aloud until I felt the weight of his stare.
“Let’s get one thing straight here, shall we? This here is a business. The way we act and the way we handle things will decide whether his business is successful or not. So, if you’d like a paycheck every w
eek then I would suggest you take this seriously.”
Ding!
As soon as the doors opened, he walked out. There was confidence in his every step. More than that, Lyle walked with a certain swagger that only came when you knew you owned the place.
As much as I hated to admit it, his alpha attitude was sexy as hell. He was the kind of man who wouldn’t take no for an answer. He knew exactly what he wanted.
I only wished he wanted me.
With a sigh, I followed him.
This was going to be a nightmare of a job. I could already tell that Lyle was going to drive me insane.
But what choice did I have? It was either take his offer or get thrown to the streets for failing to pay rent. In this case, Lyle was definitely the lesser of two evils.
And the more attractive one, that’s for sure.
Besides, I only needed to put up with him long enough for me to find another job worth keeping.
Chapter 12: Vern
That evening.
“So, how was it?” I asked as soon as Lyle walked through the door.
He did not answer me.
I turned around and saw him slump into the kitchen table.
“Rough day at work?”
Silence.
Knowing it was pointless to try and have a conversation, I went back to cooking. The smell of sautéed onions wafted into the air. I added a bit of condensed cream to the mix and waited for it to bubble overtop the pasta, coating it to utter perfection.
I was practically drooling by the time I brought two heaping plates over to the table. I didn’t bother to wait for Lyle to dig in. If he wanted to starve himself then that was his decision.
“Do you know how difficult it is to know that she resents me?”
I looked up as I slurped a particularly long noodle. “Who?”
“Who else?” He huffed as he finally picked up his fork and stabbed it into his meal.
“Jeez. I can assure you that the noodles are already dead.”
Lyle shot me such a dirty glare that I immediately ceased my teasing. This was why he was alpha. He just had this aura about him. To go against him was blasphemous.
“Alright, so Ari gave you a hard time today?”
“No. She did exactly as I said but I could see it in her eyes. She doesn’t like working for me.” He kept twirling the pasta around his fork, gathering it up, but never actually eating it.
“Were you harsh with her?”
“Harsh? No, I don’t think so. I believe I acted as any good boss should,” he said.
I grabbed my glass of water and swirled it around. Sometimes, Lyle didn’t take criticism very well and I had a feeling that this would be one of those times. “Well, you see, sometimes you come across the wrong way to those who don’t know you very well.”
He pressed his lips together, eyes burning into me.
“So, you might think you were acting as you should and Ari, on the other hand, might think you’re a massive dick.”
I could almost hear his teeth grinding together. His nostrils flared. A vein in his temple started to throb.
Uh-oh.
I had really pissed him off now. I prepared myself to duck for cover but instead, he took a deep breath and the tension from his body seemed to disappear. “I suppose I do not realize it. I am so accustomed to keeping people at arm’s length that I might come across as being rather cold.”
“Yes, you could say that,” I agreed with some trepidation. “And if you want Ari as our mate, you’ll need to be nicer to her.”
We finished the rest of our meal in silence.
To my surprise, Lyle picked up the dishes and rinsed them off before placing them in the dishwasher. As he wiped his hands on a rag, he turned to look at me. “What happens if she refuses us? There have been plenty of humans to renounce the existence of dragons. She may never want to see us again.”
“You’re nervous, aren’t you?” I asked. It was rare to see Lyle looking this vulnerable.
“Do you blame me? Deep down, I know she’s the one we have been waiting for. Everything is telling me that I need to be with her and yet…”
“And yet…?” I repeated, urging him to continue.
“This feels like a mistake.”
“How so?”
“At the gala, I felt their presence.”
“You mean the Aetos?”
He nodded, “they were there. I am sure of it. No doubt they sent spies to watch us. They must know about our interest.”
I stepped forward. “Well, if they want her so bad, they’ll have to get through us first.”
“That is what worries me. Our numbers are dwindling. The last thing we need is another war on our hands and that’s exactly what I’m instigating ¬–”
“You are only following your natural born right as alpha to take the girl you choose to be your mate. If they want to challenge that, then so be it.”
He shook his head. “You do not understand. The weight of the clan falls on my shoulders. I am the strongest alpha and therefore, everyone looks at me for guidance. If I lead our clan to war, what will they think?”
“Perhaps it is high time we return and have a word with one of the elders,” I said. “It has been a while.”
Lyle shook his head. “I have been avoiding it, but I suppose I ignore it any longer.”
Together, we headed for the back door. The porch needed a good washing but that was a task for another day.
Lyle was the first to transform. It happened in the blink of an eye. One second, he was a man and in another, he was a dragon. Even after witnessing his dragon form countless times, it still impressed me. His scales were of the darkest hue that at times they looked purple. Each one folded over the other in a perfect crisscross pattern.
He craned his long neck and looked at me. His eyeball alone was almost as big as I was.
Coming? His voice echoed inside my head with a serpentine sort of hiss.
I nodded and braced myself for the pain to come. Being a beta meant that I could never fully transform. Instead, my wings protruded from my back, ripping through my flesh. I cried out as my head throbbed with the agony of sporting brand new appendages.
Finally, they stretched and settled into place.
I was able to breathe again.
Lyle did not wait another second. He took off like a bullet through the sky. His body decimated the clouds. The moisture rolled off his body and saturated the ground.
I followed as best I could. It was much harder considering the fact that I was a hundred times smaller. Nevertheless, we reached the clan at nearly the same moment.
He landed in a giant clearing made especially for dragons. I touched down beside him, careful to avoid being squashed by one of his giant talons.
I wiped the sweat from my brow and attempted to catch my breath as he returned to his human state. Lyle hadn’t even broken a sweat. Sometimes, I truly envied that man.
As we walked through the clan, people bowed their heads in Lyle’s direction. He acknowledged their respect, but it was clear by the way he cut through the land that he was focused only on his destination.
We reached a long, wooden building. A pink-colored smoke arose from the chimney. The elders were in the middle of prayer. Lyle did not seem to care as he barged right in.
The elders immediately halted their chanting and looked up at the dragon. “It has come to my attention that the Aetos have reverted to spying. They follow me.”
“We know,” answered the oldest clan’s member. “We have foreseen what is to come.” His voice was gravelly and full of wisdom. All those who heard him were forced to listen. “You have encountered the girl. I once told you to stay away from this girl – that she would bring you nothing but trouble. It is true.” The others nodded in agreement. “But as a true alpha, you could not help yourself. She is yours and you are hers. To ignore that feeling would mean going against your own instincts.”
> The elder rose to his feet and leaned heavily on a wooden staff. He stepped forward until he was standing beside the alpha.
“We know that you will claim her as your own and that this will incite a war between the two clans. We are prepared for it and we will stand by your side as you make your decision.” The elder rubbed his thumb across Lyle’s right cheek, smearing it with red paint. “You have our blessing. Now, do what your heart tells you to do. The rest will follow.”
He then turned to my direction and smeared the red dye on my left cheek.
“You know your place beside the alpha. Protect him from himself.”
With that, we excused ourselves.
I was thankful for the fresh air. I had never liked the incense they burned during prayer.
“What do you think?” I asked as soon as we reentered the clearing.
“I think it is time for us to get us a girl,” he grinned. There was a burning in his eyes that spoke of excitement. “But we take things slow and we do things right. I do not want to scare her.”
I nodded. “I will follow your lead, whatever it might be.”
Chapter 13: Ari
A few days later.
For some reason, Lyle was much more pleasant to work with but he was far from being a ray of sunshine. He still snapped from time to time. Maybe the stress of running such a big company was weighing down on his patience.
I thought about this as I ran the copy machine. Of course, the paper jammed. I opened it up and groaned. By the looks of it, I had a real problem on my hands. I tried to pull out the crumpled-up pieces of paper but all I managed to do was break a nail.
It was one of those nasty breaks that tear right through the nail bed. I cursed under my breath and tried to shake away the pain that throbbed through the tip of my finger. When I dared to look at the damage, I found I was bleeding. “Goddamn it.” I was about to find myself a bandage when Lyle appeared at the doorway. I bumped right into that solidly built chest of his. It was like crashing into a wall.
