by Milly Taiden
She swiveled in her chair to face him, her long, shapely legs visible beneath her glass desk. “Yes, have a seat, Adam.” She smiled, crossing her legs à la Sharon Stone in the famous pussy scene from Basic Instinct. “Help yourself to a drink, first.”
His frown deepened. “Cut the crap, Margot, and cut to the chase. What do you want?”
“You know the answer to that question.” She smirked.
He shook his head, not amused. “You know that’s never going to happen no matter what you flash at me.”
Margot angled her head, examining her fingernails. “Yes, your unwavering loyalty and commitment to your own kind. How could I forget?”
“You know nothing about my kind, Margot.”
With her head still angled, she lifted her eyes to him, a smirk on her lips. “Oh, I know all I need to know and it’s in black and white on the security footage from the house. You killed a man, but that’s not what’s so incredible.”
“Margot—”
Her name on his lips was a warning, but she waved him off. “No, what’s so incredible is that you somehow transformed into a giant wolf and then ripped that poor man’s throat out.” Shaking her head with a laugh, she spread her hands. “—and I’d bet enquiring minds would definitely want to know.”
“Poor man? He was hired to abduct Gracie! Then again, what would you care? Forget the fact she was barely fourteen years old!” Adam sneered. “If Oliver was alive, he would have eventually found out you hired that piece of shit to hurt his daughter.”
She eyed him, the smirk still on her face. “Yes, Oliver. Poor sick, weak, Oliver Snow. Well, unfortunately he did die and thanks to you, we’ll never know who was behind the near miss, will we?” Margot pushed herself to stand from her desk chair. “Oliver knew your secret, Adam. He had to. He wasn’t at all surprised when the police report listed cause of death as a random animal attack on a trespasser.”
“It doesn’t matter what Oliver knew or didn’t know,” Adam replied.
She nodded. “Yes, you’re right. Oliver no longer matters, but his daughter does—at least to you.” Her eyes narrowed. “And from the way I caught her looking at you, it would seem you matter to her as well, probably more than you think, which brings me to why I summoned you here.”
Margot moved around the end of her desk to the credenza bar along the wall. She lifted a square-cut glass decanter and angled its neck toward Adam. “I’ve got a job for you.” She waited, but when he didn’t respond, she poured herself a glass of whiskey. “You are conspicuously uninterested.” She looked at him. “Even more so than how conspicuously uninterested you are in the opposite sex.”
Adam opened his mouth to protest, but she waved him off again. “Oh, you’re a man’s man, all right, so don’t get your boxers in a bunch. You notice women. Of that, I’m sure, yet you never act.” She lifted her glass to her lips and took a sip. “I wonder why?”
He stared her down, unblinking. “Again, you know nothing about my kind.”
She exhaled, carrying her drink back to her desk. “Yes, yes…so you keep saying.” Turning, she eyed him. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not into whatever it is you are and I’m certainly not in the market for another pet, however fond I am of—canines. I have a job for you and you will do what I ask or that surveillance tape of you will find its way to NYPD homicide faster than you can shed.”
“What makes you so sure you’ll live long enough to send it?” he replied. “I’ve already proven I don’t respond well to threats. Not against those I care about, and certainly not against myself.”
She laughed. “You think you’re so clever, well, honey, I’ve survived long enough to make sure I hedge my bets. There are copies of that surveillance tape. Call them my insurance policy. If something happens to me, instructions are in place to deliver the tapes and certain notes I’ve prewritten directly to the police. Either way, I win.”
“Either way?” He raised an eyebrow.
She drained her whiskey and put the tumbler on the glass desk with a thud. “You’re not the only one who doesn’t take well to threats, and that little bird you so wanted to protect is in my way. She needs to be removed, permanently.”
He scoffed. “As evil as you are, I can’t believe you’d want Grace dead.”
“I don’t want her dead, Adam.” Margot’s jaw tightened. “I want her face cut. I want her scarred! Every time she looks in the mirror, I want her reminded who has the fairest face at Snow.”
Adam’s fists clenched. “You touch her and I’ll do more than tear out your throat. I’ll rip out your heart and eat it while it’s still beating.”
Watching him, her eyes hardened. “Wrong choice, wolfman. Trust me. Very wrong.”
4
In her underwear, Grace looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her dark hair was soft and shiny, hanging in soft waves past her shoulders. She’d carefully applied her makeup and then put a dab of perfume in strategic places, behind her ears and in her cleavage. Now, all that was left to do was get dressed.
She padded into her closet and stared at her clothes. She had no clue what to wear. Was Adam taking her for dinner or just drinks? Would the place be trendy and crowded or small and intimate? Was it just the two of them, or had he invited a gang of people from the company to meet them?
He didn’t say, and she didn’t ask. If she was headed out with anyone else, she would have the 411 on everything and everyone involved. But this was Adam Hunt, and the man made her so nuts, she lost the ability to think.
She smirked to herself. Thinking was the last thing she wanted to do when it came to Adam. Her entire life she had thought too much and too long, and it never got her anywhere. Tonight, she wanted to throw caution to the wind and feel. Preferably Adam’s hands all over her body and everywhere in between. Closing her eyes, she imagined him pressing his lips to hers, his fingers slipping beneath her panty lace, circling for her clit.
Moisture gathered between her legs and she sucked in a breath. Her eyes snapped open and she glanced over her shoulder to her nightstand: 7:15 p.m. He’d be here in less than an hour. Plenty of time to put those fresh batteries in the top drawer of her night table to good use.
Turning on her heel, she walked out of the closet and through the bathroom, straight to her bed. She reached for the drawer when her cell phone buzzed. Gracie thought to ignore it until she looked at the name on caller ID.
Adam.
Gracie closed her eyes in annoyed disappointment. Going out in the flesh with the man who inspired all her battery-operated boyfriend fantasies was too good to be true. She considered letting the call go to voicemail rather than hear his excuses firsthand, but she didn’t.
She tapped accept call and lifted the phone to her ear. “Hey, Adam. Are we still on for eight o’clock?” Cringing, she waited for the shoe to drop.
“There’s been a slight change of plan, little bird,” he replied. “I’m outside your front door. I rang the bell, but you didn’t answer.”
Her eyes flew open. He was here? Now? She glanced down at her black lace panties and matching bra. Holy shit! Maybe there was hope yet.
“Gracie? You there?”
She looked from the bedroom door to the robe hanging on the bathroom hook and back again. “Uhm, yeah. I was just picking out my outfit for tonight. Gimme a sec and I’ll be right down.”
“Okay, but hurry up. I need to talk to you.”
She pressed end on the phone and tossed it on the bed. A frown itched at her mouth. He sounded so serious. Grabbing her red silk robe, she shoved her arms through the sleeves and belted the waist, rushing down the stairs to unlock the front door to the condo.
Standing in the warm night air, Adam looked amazing. He wore a pale blue shirt perfectly fitted to his broad shoulders and a pair of soft denim jeans that seemed to mold to his long legs and strong thighs. His collar-length hair was brushed back, its sandy color darker in the early evening light. His gray eyes met hers, but they were somber.
�
�What happened?” she asked, taking a step forward.
He shook his head. “Not out here. In fact, we need to get out of here as soon as possible.”
Confused, Grace searched his face. Something awful had to have happened for him to look that way. “What’s going on, Adam? Has something happened? Was there a fire or an attack?” Her stomach clenched at the thought of an active shooter in the Snow Industries building.
Shaking his head, he inhaled. “No, nothing like that. But I need to talk to you.”
“Okay. Can’t we talk over dinner? You’re acting as if we’re racing the clock,” she replied.
The grandfather clock struck, its chimes announcing the half hour. “You need to go upstairs and pack a bag. Just for a few days. I’ve already let your assistant know you’re going out of town for a series of last-minute meetings on the new roll out and that you’d be in touch via phone and email.”
Gracie shook her head, even more puzzled. “Adam, what is this? I have no meetings planned. If this is your way of getting me to go away with you for the weekend and keep it quiet, then why don’t you just say so?”
Her silk robe slipped open, giving him a bird’s eye view of her full breasts cased in seductive lace. His gaze dipped to the enticing sight and lingered before meeting her eyes again. Heat suffused her skin at the way his gray eyes darkened. He wanted her, and her clit throbbed with the knowledge.
He inhaled, and the corner of his mouth curled as if he knew she was turned on. Oh my God. Did he just growl? A distinct rumble left his throat before he coughed, clearing it.
“Gracie, I would like nothing more than to whisk you away with me for the weekend, but there’s more to this than just what I want. It’s a matter of your safety, and that trumps everything.”
“Safety?” Grace hesitated, unsure. “Adam, please. Tell me what happened.”
He shook his head. “Go. Do as I ask and pack a bag. I promise I’ll answer your questions the best I can once we get there.”
“Where are we going?”
Adam exhaled. “You need to trust me.”
The moon hung low in the dark sky. A mere ghost behind the dark haze of snow clouds hanging in a blackness that blurred the horizon into an inky smudge. The car’s high beams cut a yellow swath through the gloom, leaving a shadowed snowy landscape illuminated in slender fragments. Her eyes drooped the later it got, with the roads getting narrower and more snow-covered the farther they drove.
They had been in the car for what seemed like hours, stopping at one point to change vehicles because Adam claimed the transmission warning light was blinking. She didn’t see it, but then again, what did she know about cars besides turn key to start engine.
Still, Adam was attentive and tried to make the ride as comfortable as possible, offering to let her sack out in the back seat with the pillows and blankets he packed while he drove. They were headed to his family’s cabin somewhere north. From what Adam said, this was her stepmother’s fault. She was on a tirade, and he thought it best to whisk her away so she wouldn’t have to deal with the dragon queen’s antics and posturing.
Grace had seen enough of Margot’s tactics to know she aimed for a social blood-letting rather than a real one. Rumor and innuendo were her arsenal, and being a media darling for decades made it easy for her to ply her stock and trade.
Still, something didn’t hold water with what Adam said. Maybe he wanted her all to himself for the weekend. She shook her head. Tonight would have been their first date after years of flirting and sidelong glances on her end. That’s if tonight even was a date. Adam said he wanted to take her out to celebrate. Maybe he felt someone should, especially since her father was dead.
Oh my God. Adam was definitely not a daddy substitute.
Eew! The thought made her skin crawl.
Soft music played, and when she realized it was from a CD player, she raised an eyebrow. No one had CDs or DVDs anymore. People streamed music and movies straight from their phones and iPads.
“I have a charger with me if your phone’s dead,” she offered, bending to reach for her purse on the floor at her feet.
Adam glanced from the road to her and shook his head. “I left your phone and charger behind in the last car. That and every other electronic device you brought. Mine as well.”
She sat up straight in her seat, her inner alarm awake and on alert. “Why would you do that?”
“Because,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the dark road ahead.
Her forehead knotted and she shifted in her seat to look at him better. “Because is a preposition, not an answer. Tell me now or stop the car. I’ll hoof it to find civilization if you don’t tell me why you’d do something so odd.”
“You’re right, Grace. I told you a little about what’s going on, but not everything. You’re a smart cookie, so I won’t hand you lame excuses. I had to be sure we weren’t followed or bugged.”
Adam was the one person on earth she trusted as much as her father. Still, this drive, combined with his evasiveness and now paranoia at being bugged or followed sent her warnings bells blaring.
“If you don’t tell me what the hell is going on, I swear I’m going to punch you in the face.” She stared at him from the passenger seat, but when he stayed silent she slumped back, both annoyed and disappointed, her gaze falling to the dark horizon ahead.
“And to think all I hoped for tonight was that you kissed me. Now, I’ll be lucky if you don’t kill me,” she mumbled under her breath.
Adam’s head jerked to look at her. “Do you actually think I’m abducting you?”
She turned to meet his incredulous stare. “I’ve been a good sport, Adam, but I need to know what’s going on and why—and yes, I watch too many crime dramas for my own good, but when you give me half answers or no answers at all, what else do you expect?”
Yanking the wheel to the right, the car screeched to a stop on the side of the road, skidding slightly in the snow. He put the car in park and shifted in the driver’s seat to look at her. “How could you even think that of me?”
She exhaled, dragging a hand through her hair. “I don’t. Not really. But you’ve got to admit, this clandestine shit is getting a little old. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a teenager anymore.”
His gaze dipped from her eyes to her full mouth and lower to the long column of her throat and the full swell of her breasts and back again. “I noticed.” He cupped her cheek. “I more than noticed.”
Grace didn’t dare move.
Adam slid his fingers into her hair, moving his face close to hers. “You said you hoped for a kiss tonight, right?”
She could scarcely breathe, let alone answer. He was still evading her questions, but right now, she didn’t care. She’d dreamed of him for a decade, and if this was some ploy to shut her up, then he’d be the one worrying she didn’t kill him!
“I hoped for much more, Grace,” he continued, and at her tiny gasp, the corner of his lip curled up, sexy and teasing. “A single taste from your lips would never be enough.”
His words were both corny and romantic and she ate them up with a spoon, but another question bloomed and she pulled back to look at him.
“Why now?” she asked, knowing full well that questioning his motives was probably not the best way to keep the mood, but she had to know. “I was in Paris for five years after Dad died, yet you never approached. Even when I came home to visit, and not in the six months since I’ve been back for good.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “It’s not for lack of wanting you, Grace. At first, I kept my distance out of respect for your father.” He paused. “Then for other reasons—”
Again, Adam didn’t elaborate and the sentence felt unfinished, but there was time enough for details, and with his lips hovering so close, she could barely concentrate as it was. Their breaths mingled in an anxious hush until he crushed his mouth to hers.
Was this happening for real?
His fingers traced the edge of her coll
arbone as his tongue delved and fought with hers. She moaned against his mouth, his hand teasing the scooped edge of her blouse and the swell of her breasts hidden beneath.
Grace dragged in a steadying breath as he broke their kiss. Adam Hunt tasted even better than she imagined. Lips tingling, the throb in her crotch was real and demanding, and when he moved to settle back into the driver’s seat, she balked.
“Wait, is that it?” Ten years of waiting had to be the longest foreplay ever, and she wasn’t ready for this to be all she wrote.
A grin spread across Adam’s face and he traced the bottom seam of her defiant lips. “Not by a long shot, little bird. There is still so much I have to tell you. About me…who I am, what I am. Where I come from.”
“Then tell me,” she said. “If it’ll get you to kiss me again, I’m all ears.”
He smiled and shifted in his seat again. “Do you ever feel as if you know things other people don’t?”
“How do you mean?” Confused, she angled her head, waiting.
Adam shrugged. “Like being able to sense things others can’t. Like knowing when someone’s lying or is sick before they have symptoms.”
Grace nodded slowly, eyeing him. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because, I’m the same way, Grace. It’s a special talent we share, and not because we’re especially good with people.”
“You? Good with people?” She laughed. “Me. Maybe. But you? Definitely not.”
“Hey!”
She chuckled even more. “You’re my no-nonsense head of security. You’re not supposed to be nice.”
“Can we stay on topic, please?” he shot back, a little exasperated. “I’m trying to tell you something important. Something that will impact your life from this moment.”
“Okay, okay. What, then?” She grinned. “Tell me, oh wise and magnificent one, why do we sense things in others the way we do?”
“We’re shifters.”