Emily thankfully got a reprieve from her hot boss. No sooner had he sought her out to finish cleaning the room, did he start talking on the phone. From the sound of it, there was trouble at work.
She tidied up the bed, went inside the bathroom to clean it up after his shower, occupied herself by dusting off whatever she deemed in need of attention, and did her best not to ogle him. He was wearing the suit she had chosen for him, looking every bit the wealthy business man he was.
She was almost finished – she tried hard to finish in a timely manner – when he hung up the phone.
“I’ll have an early lunch today, Emily,” he said. “Kindly inform the cook that I want lunch to be served in half an hour.”
“Yes, sir,” she said in a docile tone, took the breakfast tray with her, and then was on her way out of the room.
She breathed out a sigh of relief when she exited the room, and smiled. But it was short-lived.
Indeed, when she walked down the stairs to the kitchen, she could feel stares following her around, and hear accusing whispers that ranged from “It’s her. She sure dreams big.” to “What a gold digger!” and everything in between.
The words stabbed Emily’s heart, and she did her best to maintain her smile on. But it was no longer a genuine one.
Cecilia was the only one who didn’t throw at her any accusation of the sort.
The pain was probably showing in Emily’s eyes, or on her face, when she got back up, for her she told her in a kind tone, “Don’t mind the haters. They’re just jealous you’ve been granted special treatment.”
“But is that any way to treat someone who’s worked with you for over a month?” She retorted almost bitterly.
“Believe me when I say this. I bet they wouldn’t mind selling their parents to get a shot at… shagging the handsome owner.”
“I’m not shagging him,” Emily said, half outraged, half mortified.
“Yet,” her coworker said with a sly smile. “From what I heard, he’s got the hots for you.”
“You say that way too often for it to be true,” Emily chided her.
“Really now?” Cecilia countered. “You’re oblivious. Having someone by your side to bring such things to your attention is a must.”
“Whatever,” Emily scoffed and then headed towards the door.
With a heavy heart, she entered the room.
He was back on the phone. She tried not to make a sound and disturb him.
And then, she heard him bark on the phone, “Hold that thought.”
Then, addressing her, he said in a much softer manner, “What’s wrong, Emily? Why the long face?”
“It’s nothing…” she tried to play it off.
“I’ll call you back,” he said on the phone.
Her eyes widened at that. She didn’t wish to keep him back from work.
He rose to his feet in one swift albeit elegant move. And she couldn’t help but stare at him like a lost little girl.
“You look like your puppy just died, or like you just found your long time lover cheating on you,” he observed almost tastelessly. “Don’t say it’s nothing.”
“Why do you care?” She retorted on a sigh.
“Because I do. Stop deflecting.”
She sighed again. And then, with her mind made on not bothering him with such petty matters, she turned on her heels and was ready to finish cleaning the damned room.
She never got to take the first step away. He had grabbed her hand and spun her around so that she collided with his strong chest.
Almost as if she couldn’t help herself, she inhaled deeply his manly perfume. And within seconds, her panties were ruined – for the second time that day.
What was happening to her?
What is wrong with you, girl? She chastised herself. Get your head out of the gutter.
She tried to put some distance between them, only for him to basically growl out a few words, “Don’t ever walk away from me in the middle of a conversation again.”
She stilled in shock.
So, he was angry. Beyond angry even… furious if the tone of his voice was any indication.
And yet, instead of being scared of him, of the possible outcome, she just grew more hot and bothered for him.
She was officially crazy. And she needed to get away from him – pronto.
He was going to drive her nuts.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Theodore had not meant to startle her so. But he couldn’t help himself. She tried to walk away from him. And that urged the beast within him to give chase to her, to grab her and do all kind of things to her…
But he did his best not to give in to the temptation of her supple body.
She is yours. She is your fated mate, Theos. Do not be too eager at once. You will just scare her off, he told himself.
And then, she inhaled deeply his perfume, and he felt the need to purr like a kitten when he was anything but – he was a damned full-fledged dragon.
He told her not to walk away from him again. It came out partly as a growl. And lo and behold, his little mate was aroused for him again.
He didn’t want to put any kind of distance between them, but he needed to, lest he wanted to just ravish her already.
Well, he did want to do just that, but he was sure she wasn’t ready yet to accept him as a lover – much less as a mate for life.
With his beast growling in the back of his mind at him to just take the plunge, he took two steps back.
Nevertheless, her scent was still very potent – heavenly, delicious, maddening – and it took all his willpower to focus on what he needed to say.
“Tell me,” he urged her. Much like he never repeated anything he said twice in the boardroom, he didn’t want to appear as too weak.
Mate or not, dragons prided themselves on their strength, and their steely minds.
He truly believed his mate wouldn’t appreciate him half as much if he were to appear weak in front of her.
“It’s just that I hate being under the spotlight,” she told him softly, her eyes cast to the ground.
He grimaced briefly before schooling his features into a calm face.
She sighed anew. And he realized she wasn’t telling him everything.
“Did anyone speak ill of you?” He asked, murder on his mind.
“Speak ill of me?” she echoed after him in disbelief, and a giggle escaped her. “Just how old are you?”
It was the first time he heard his sweet mate giggle. It was a sound he could imagine himself listening to all day long without tiring.
“Very old,” he told her as he chuckled as well. Like you have no idea.
“Right!” She scoffed and rolled her eyes at him .
He smiled at her, genuinely intrigued by his mate, by how innocent she was, and then found himself uttering a sentence that could have very well ended it all before it even began.
“You’re mine,” he was claiming her as his for all eternity, not just for a fleeting fling or anything… but she didn’t need to know that just yet.
“What?” Eyes wide, mouth agape, she was truly having a hard time believing him.
Why must it be so?
“Did I stutter?” He raised an eyebrow.
“You’re seriously delusional if you think I’ll be yours just because you said so,” she scoffed at him.
That was the longest sentence she addressed him.
That was also the first time anyone said no to him. He couldn’t help the smirk at appeared on his face, amused as he was by her words, by her denial. He was amused beyond comprehension.
She openly glared at him when she noticed his smirk. “I’ll have you know I’m not fling-material. And I’m not a toy either.”
He just nodded in a docile manner at her. He loved how feisty she got suddenly. And his hands all but twitched to reach out to her.
“So stop your silly games at once.”
“I’ll never stop,” he told her resolutely.