When the Clock Strikes

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  I’d woken up yet again with a hard-on around 5:00 a.m. and never got back to sleep. At eight o’clock I made the phone call.

  ‘Rufus Humphries speaking.’ said the polite voice.

  ‘Mr. Humphries, this is La Caz, am I calling you at an appropriate time?’ I asked feeling like my usual self.

  ‘Nathaniel La Caz? Really. Is this a joke?’ he asked, sounding angry.

  ‘No, it’s not a joke. I’m a businessman, Mr. Humphries, and I wouldn’t’t joke when it comes to business. I had a meeting with a few of your consultants yesterday, and I was wondering if I could pop in at your Croydon office today?’

  There was a long silence on the other side of the phone and I grew tense wondering if he would take me seriously.

  ‘Of course, Mr. La Caz. I do apologize, but it’s not every day I get phone calls from the most powerful businessmen in London—’

  ‘I got your number from one of my business partners. Miss Taylor sold me your services yesterday, so I just wanted to speak to her about the number of staff that I would require for the next couple of months and take a look at the office we’ll be dealing with.’

  ‘Not a problem. Allow me to be sociable and pick you up, Mr. La Caz. After all, my wife knows you from Oxford.’

  He was right. I did know his wife from Oxford, but she’d been a year below me.

  We exchanged the details, and by nine o’clock I was sitting in his car. Everything went smoothly. I made small talk with him, found out more about his business before he dropped me outside the office while he found a parking space. My whole body reacted in anticipation. I was going to see Julia in a few seconds.

  I entered the office and looked around. She was alone, staring intensely at a computer screen. She didn’t even notice that I was at the door. I was happy seeing her again, and I hadn’t felt like that since I proposed to Isabelle.

  ‘I’ll be with you in a moment,’ she called out, not lifting her eyes off her screen.

  I smiled to myself and walked up to her, stopping in front of her desk. My pulse started racing out of control. She looked even sexier today, chewing her pen. Images of her spread on my bed flooded through my mind. She inhaled and lifted her eyes.

  ‘Mother of God, what the fuck are you doing out of your coffin?’ she asked and sprang up, dropping the pen on the floor. She looked so shocked seeing me in front of her I almost laughed.

  ‘Well, hello to you, too, dear Julia,’ I responded with my sexiest voice.

  She stared at me, bewildered, her jaw hanging open. ‘Seriously, aren’t you a vampire?’

  I laughed. ‘I’m Dhampir, Julia, so I don’t need to hide from the sunlight.’ I looked around the office, giving her some time to pull herself together. The space was large, filled with a few cupboards and two black sofas. There were a few desks by the windows.

  Humphries appeared at the door a few minutes later.

  Chapter four

  I would like to teach her a lesson. No one talks to me like that.

  ‘Oh, Mr. La Caz, I can see that Julia is already keeping you company.’

  Julia looked speechless, glancing from me to Humphries and not getting what was going on. Then she glanced at my Rolex, looking unimpressed.

  ‘Rufus,’ she began, clearing her throat, ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you all morning.’

  ‘Oh yes, Julia. Mr. La Caz here called me out of the blue and explained everything that happened during the meeting. He wanted to see Paranormal Personnel for himself, so I offered to drive him here,’ Humphries explained, smiling.

  ‘Right,’ she muttered, staring at Humphries. I could see she was too intelligent to believe in such a lame story, but I was happy to make up a bunch of lies in order to see her again. Luckily, Humphries’s phone started ringing and he walked off.

  ‘So…welcome to Paranormal Personnel, Mr. La Caz. Would you like a cup of coffee with a dash of blood?’ she asked with obvious sarcasm in her voice.

  I sucked in a long breath and arched my eyebrow, admiring her beautiful lips that I really wanted to kiss right now. I leaned towards her desk, aiming to see her blush. ‘I would love to have you on this table, Miss Taylor. You can’t even imagine how much you turn me on,’ I whispered. My face was close enough, so I closed my eyes and inhaled her incredible earthy scent. I smiled when she let out an uncontrolled gasp.

  ‘What the hell are you doing here, Nathaniel? Let’s face it; you didn’t come here to see our office, did you?’ she asked in a husky tone, pretending that she was annoyed.

  ‘I came here because I wanted to see you,’ I replied. Humphries’s back was turned to us, so she didn’t have to worry that I would put her in a bad light in front of her boss.

  ‘Well, you’ve seen me. Now, I have a lot of work to do, so just skip this bullshit and leave me alone.’ She sat back down and tried to look busy. I liked her smart mouth.

  ‘Julia! Mr. La Caz was telling me how you convinced him to sign up with us. We will need to take on some extra staff here to help you with his account. La Caz Corporation is starting the production of a shot for vampires that eases the demand for blood from humans, so his company will have to take on a lot of temps.’ Humphries looked excited. I wasn’t surprised that he was glad that he had me onboard. We were both going to make a lot of money through this relationship.

  ‘Yes, so we will need at least a hundred temps for the next few weeks,’ I said dryly, letting Julia know what she should expect.

  ‘Julia will take care of this; she knows what she is doing,’ Humphries assured me.

  ‘I don’t doubt that. Miss Taylor here already gave me the impression that she had everything under control. Do you think I can have a private word with her?’ I asked Humphries. I didn’t need to ask him, but I had to play a gentleman. As I expected, he looked slightly taken back by this unusual request, but he flashed me a positive smile.

  ‘Of course, you can use the interview room, Mr. La Caz. I have another phone call I need to make.’ Humphries sent Julia a sharp gaze, obviously telling her to obey.

  She started chewing her bottom lip, got up, and marched to the interview room. I followed, admiring her sexy arse and the way she moved. The room was wide and she stopped by the window, facing me, looking like she didn’t really want to be locked in there with me. I had to step up my game.

  I didn’t say anything for a little while, watching her, taking it all in, and trying to control those odd waves of ecstatic emotions I got when I laid my eyes on her. My gaze began to wander to her neck, traveling down to her waist, hips, and those legs. I admired her body, questioning if it was wise for me to even ask her out for a date, knowing that she was an elf. Other paranormals wouldn’t take this kindly, but I never cared what other people thought about me.

  ‘What do you want, Mr. La Caz? I don’t have time for this,’ she snapped.

  I would like to teach her a lesson. No one talks to me like that.

  I kept my hands in my pockets wondering how long she was going to pretend that she wasn’t attracted to me. ‘As I said before, please call me Nathaniel.’

  ‘That’s unprofessional, Mr. La Caz; we will be working together,’ she observed, sucking the corner of her lips.

  I smiled and stepped towards her, inhaling the air that was filled with her energy. ‘I want to take you out for dinner, Miss Taylor, and I won’t take no for an answer,’ I said.

  She looked surprised. I’d hoped that she could see this coming. After all, I could tell we were both dying for each other and I didn’t care that she didn’t want to admit it. ‘How long are we going to stand here, Julia? I thought you had a busy day?’ I asked, amused.

  She blinked twice and took a step back. ‘Mr. La Caz, I don’t like your odd sense of humour,’ she said, shifting her weight to the right.

  I ran my hands through my hair, annoyed that she wasn’t taking me seriously. Using my vampire speed, I moved close to her, wondering if I’d be able to control myself. I pressed my body to hers and brushed my li
ps against her ear, trying to lock into my memory the way she smelled. Everything about her felt right, and I wanted her to say yes to my proposition. My body reacted when she moved. I realized it wasn’t just about her blood and scent. It was also the fact that she wasn’t like other women that I’d known. My heart started thumping away in my chest. An image of me and Isabelle in Paris flashed through my mind. I had to stop thinking about the past.

  ‘Don’t play with me, Julia. I’ m not a patient vampire. I want to get to know you a little better.’

  She was probably petrified that I was going to bite her. Although I did want to sink my fangs into her neck, I had a bit of self-control left. She didn’t move and was obviously waiting for me to get away. I couldn’t help but touch her. I brushed my thumb down her neck and let go of a small, controlled breath. She locked her eyes with mine and I smiled, knowing she was enjoying my touch, betting she wanted more. But I pulled away from her and drew a long breath. I didn’t want to cross the line.

  ‘I don’t think so, Mr. La Caz. I don’t date people I work with,’ she said, with obvious uneasiness. Her face was bright red, and I couldn’t believe that she was rejecting me. No other woman had ever said no to me.

  ‘Julia, technically we won’t be working together. You’ll be dealing with my HR director, so there is nothing to worry about.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Nathaniel, but the answer is no. We aren’t going out for dinner,’ she said and walked towards the door.

  ‘I have to say that I’m disappointed, Miss Taylor, but I don’t give up so easily,’ I said, massaging my wrist. I waited for her to open the door so I could leave, but she looked hesitant, like she was waiting for something.

  ‘I wanted to ask you about something else,’ she said, turning to face me. Okay now I was curious so I nodded for her to carry on. ‘You see, yesterday just after the meeting, I witnessed two large paranormals dragging my cousin into a black van. She has been missing ever since, and my whole family is very worried.’

  God, I wasn’t expecting that. This was obviously very bad timing. Her cousin had been kidnapped and here I am flirting with her. No wonder she was so stressed. ‘I’m sorry to hear that, and I’m assuming that you believe that this was a premeditated kidnapping?’

  ‘Yes, I do, and the reason I’m talking about this with you is because yesterday Mr. Porter talked about your production of Magic Shot. My father, who works in law enforcement for Paranormal Units, found a syringe with blood at the crime scene. He ran some checks and found the syringe with blood had been produced by your company. My dad suspects that one of the men dropped it accidentally when they were trying to abduct my cousin,’ she explained with a steady voice.

  Fuck, she was accusing me, connecting me to her cousin’s kidnapping. I couldn’t bloody believe that she would even consider me as a suspect or my company as responsible for this.

  ‘Miss. Taylor, I should be offended. You don’t have any proof and your accusations are lacking in substance. Although I do understand your concerns, our product called Magic Shot is not yet available. However, I would also ask those questions if a member of my family’s life were on the line. I know that you must be very upset about what’s happened and you probably want to help your father.’

  Her face went from pale to red in a matter of seconds. She looked ashamed now that she’d thrown such accusations in my face. And frankly, this news worried me. A few weeks ago one of our vans had been highjacked and my batch of the shot was stolen. Someone was obviously trying to make my life difficult.

  ‘So, am I understanding you correctly? You don’t know anything about that drug?’ she repeated.

  ‘If you have a dinner with me, then I would be more than happy to tell you all about my new product,’ I said, my tone a bit harsh. She needed to be put in her place. Okay, maybe I would have said what she wanted to hear if she had treated me better.

  ‘I’m afraid the answer is still no,’ she replied, looking seriously pissed off at my attitude.

  ‘We shall meet again,’ I said, and without another word I left the room.

  Her other co-worker was back, and she went pale when she saw me.

  ‘Mr. Humphries, thank you very much for bringing me to the office. My HR director will be in touch shortly,’ I said to Julia’s regional manager, who was scrolling thorough his blackberry.

  ‘Right, of course, Mr. La Caz. I understand that you’re ready to leave?’ he asked, taking his briefcase. I nodded and looked back at Julia, but she was trying to act busy, ignoring my gaze.

  ‘Good day, Miss Taylor,’ I said and left.

  Chapter five

  Fairies blood. Damn it. Someone must have started experimenting with my Magic Shot, adding their own supplements.

  ‘So, Mr. La Caz, how do you like the office? The location is central, so we wouldn’t have problems with registering a few more clients than usual,’ Humphries said when we were driving off.

  ‘The office looks very presentable. I’m glad to be working with a well-established agency.’ I had to keep milking him up.

  ‘I was already planning to promote Julia a while ago. She has been working hard, and after yesterday’s contract, I will definitely make her senior.’

  ‘Glad to hear it. She has a good set of skills,’ I muttered. Then Humphries went on about his other branches and the set of clients that Paranormal Personnel was working with.

  I couldn’t listen to him much and kept thinking about Julia’s cousin. I wasn’t surprised Julia had rejected me, considering she had a lot on her plate. Maybe I shouldn’t have treated her so harshly. She wasn’t one of those women that I was used to. I should have offered her my support, shown her that I understood what she was going through.

  But it looked like I was in the shit, because the shot that had been found was produced by my company. Humphries probably had no idea that Julia’s cousin has been kidnapped. On top of that, her father was a policeman. This wasn’t going to end well for me. I wouldn’t be surprised if the police were in my building already. I shouldn’t have come here to see her. This was a bad idea. My life was fine as it was, I didn’t need any more problems.

  Humphries dropped me outside, we exchanged some polite accords and I went in to work. I knew plenty of people who would want to see me bankrupt or in prison, but I had to focus on getting the facts straight and talk to Porter.

  The Vampire Association wasn’t too keen on my new product. Vampires liked pure human blood and unofficial hunts. I’d gotten a few threats through the mail, but nothing too serious until my van had been highjacked and the driver murdered. Magic Shot was a revolutionary product, but maybe vampires weren’t prepared to stop feeding on humans. I had to brief Porter and Carter on this and make some phone calls. My name couldn’t be associated with kidnappings. My business would suffer—and maybe that was exactly what someone was aiming for.

  ‘Mr. La Caz, are you early?’ asked Cerry, passing me a few messages. It was just after one and I normally didn’t show in the office until five. Porter couldn’t work in the daytime and I hated working in the nights, which was odd as I was part a vampire.

  ‘Yeah, just keep it quiet. I will be busy for the rest of the afternoon. Oh, when Porter shows up just ask him to see me as soon as possible.’

  ‘Of course, Mr. La Caz.’

  I locked myself in my office. I had no idea what was going on with me. Julia had been messing with my head. I couldn’t get her out of my system. I rubbed a hand over my face, wondering if she was worth the effort. She wasn’t going to go out with me knowing that I might have something to do with her cousin’s disappearance. Her father was in the police, but she didn’t look like a woman that would sit at home and wait for the news. I had to help her, clear my name, find her cousin, and take her out for dinner and then take her home to my bed.

  Okay, maybe I was going too far with this. She gave me the impression that she’d want something more than just being my fuck buddy. When I was around her I felt an urge to just be with her.
We could date. And then maybe, just maybe I could love again.

  I pushed away that longing inside me that came alive with excited thoughts of finding someone I could truly love and actually changing my lonely life. Instead, I spent the rest of my day trying to gain some information about that odd kidnapping, but all the people I contacted kept their mouths shut. In the end I got frustrated and went to work out for a few hours. Porter showed up in my office around seven, along with Carter, and I gave them both updates about the recent events. They were both ready for the long and probably exhausting visit from the police.

  Next day, I didn’t have to wait long because early in the morning I got a call from Cerry, my daytime secretary, that Chief of the Paranormal Unit Jerry Taylor was on his way to the to La Caz Corporation. It was ten o’clock. I got washed and dressed, and an hour later I was in my office when Cerry knocked informing me that he was outside.

  ‘Send them in,’ I told her, feeling a little tense, not because he was here to question me about the shot. I was tense because I was about to meet Julia’s father.

  ‘Mr. Taylor, how are you?’ I asked, getting up when he came in. He was a spitting image of Julia with the same blue eyes and baby blond hair. Being a man, he was much broader in his shoulders, dressed casually with his badge tacked to his belt. His scent told me straight away that he was a full elf, like the guys who came in with him. Their scents were so intense that my mouth started to water.

  ‘La Caz, I presume?’ he asked, eyeing me. ‘This is one of my subordinates, Stewart Williams. We are investigating the kidnapping of my niece. She was abducted not far from here by two paranormals and we would like to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind?’

  I liked that he went straight to the point without any kind of chitchat. His gaze was intense and I had to prove to him that I was innocent, otherwise I could forget about Julia.

  ‘Of course, Mr. Taylor, it’s not a problem at all. Would you care for anything to drink? I can ask Cerry to fetch you something?’