by Cate Troyer
Shannon worked as a top computer securities agent in DSI, both protecting their network and designing information hacks on DSI's top targets. The thought of her friend getting fired because of Lyssa’s cowardice was the push the young woman needed to get out of the car and climb into the elevator headed for the top floor of the office building. She patted her golden-brown hair, searching for any escapees from her bun, smoothed down her skirt, and steeled herself as the floors ticked by.
The young woman attempted to smooth the black, knee length skirt down and double checked to make sure there was no gap in the buttons down her chest as the floors dinged past. She made a face at her distorted reflection in the elevator doors, certain she could see the outline of her bra through the white fabric.
“I should never have let Shannon talk me into this,” she grumbled, and not for the first time. Although, Lyssa hated to admit, this outfit made her look like a sexy librarian, especially with her hair up in a bun. The new, daring excitement that floated through her veins was addictive, almost like a drug. But, this was no time to lose focus, she straightened her shoulders. She needed to be on her toes, ready to go.
Lyssa reviewed what she knew about her new place of employment in her head. Delun Security held numerous private and government contracts, including some desirable protection details for diplomats. They were an elite force of well trained guards and mercenaries founded at the turn of the century and handed from father to son, for generations, until now. The previous owner, Anselm Delun, had broken with tradition and had not one, but three sons. The three Delun brothers, triplets, ran the company with equal shares, though business operations remained in the hands of Rafe Delun, now Lyssa’s direct superior.
Lyssa recalled the picture she had seen online last night of the CEO leaving the grand opening of some club. Rafe Delun, the charming face of DSI, was tall, blond, and devastatingly handsome. Pushing through the paparazzi, his grin showed even, white teeth in tanned skin. He appeared to be laughing at something as he dragged his date through the crowd behind him. Delun had a reputation for his heart of stone in the boardroom and his playboy attitude with the ladies, Lyssa’s lip curled, a real love ‘em and leave ‘em type. He was currently dating that one actress or model, she waved her hand in dismissal. It wasn’t really important. It was some matching blond bimbo with a waist the size of Lyssa’s thigh, and that told the curvy woman all she needed to know about her boss. It didn’t matter how good he was in the boardroom, his tastes didn’t differ that much from any other man she had known, including Ryan. That meant he posed little danger to the buxom, brown-haired woman. The elevator dinged, and the doors opened onto Lyssa’s new life.
Most of her day was spent filling out paperwork and arranging for security clearance. It was explained to her by no fewer than three people that there were certain items she wasn’t going to be allowed to see or even know about until that was complete. At the mid-point, she caught a quick bite with Shannon, who arranged to meet her after work in the bar that was on the premises. Lyssa had to give it to Delun, that was a clever move. It was harder for someone to drink too much and tell something that they shouldn’t know when everyone around you had the same power.
Now, she was back on the top floor, spending time with the woman whose retirement left Lyssa her opening. Abigail Spencer was about sixty years old, and appeared fragile and birdlike, but Lyssa already knew that the woman was the embodiment of a Southern lady. She might appear all fluff and smiles, but Abigail could give you every bit of information on any of the contracts Delun held. And, it turned out the older woman was quite the fighter as well, judging from the certificates on the wall. Even as the woman clucked over her, Lyssa’s stomach turned a bit with the familiar feeling of inadequacy.
“Are these all yours,” Lyssa said breathlessly, moving from one frame to the next.
“Oh, yes,” the older woman looked up from her desk. “Admittedly, some of those are older than I care to admit, but working here gives you a chance to learn.” She chuckled and stood from her desk, moving next to Lyssa. “For example, I earned the one you’re looking at about 14 years ago. I’d be a little rusty now.”
Lyssa chuckled appreciatively, “I’ve just never heard of some of these. And I know I am way too uncoordinated…”
Abigail gave her a motherly pat on the shoulder, “No one expects you to be able to fight, Lyssa. You’ll do fine. Now, I need you to do me a favor and go water those plants by the window.”
Lyssa found the watering can and added water to the massive ferns against the far wall, taking the opportunity to look out the window at the city sprawled before her underneath the hazy heat of the sun. It looked so small from above, and Lyssa shook her head. As she crossed the open office area, heading back to her desk, her feet stilled as the elevator doors dinged open and an entourage of men in suits poured out. A familiar tall blond in sunglasses led the way, listening half-heartedly to an animated, florid bald man.
“I don’t care, John. Contact Seth if you have problems,” the blonde’s voice was butter smooth.
Lyssa paused, waiting for the crowd to cross her path taking advantage of the opportunity to study her new boss. He was over six feet, she noted. His blond hair was smooth and sleek. His broad shoulders trimmed down into a narrow waist and every movement betrayed an athletic lethality. He was, Lyssa had to admit
“But Rafe,” John was apparently trying to convince his boss of something, but he had stopped listening. The man’s steps had faltered, his head scanning from side to side, and Lyssa saw his nostrils flare.
Rafe Delun, she thought, watching him absently. He was definitely handsome in a cold, commanding sort of way.
“Enough, John,” Rafe whipped off his sunglasses, his golden brown eyes searching the room. His scrutiny landed on Lyssa, and she could feel his intent stare slowly moving over her body. Lyssa felt the prickly heat rise up her body and flood her face as his gaze lingered on her chest and hips. She shifted from one foot to the other, and his nostrils flared again and his gaze flicked away, dismissing her. “We’re not going to discuss this here.”
Lyssa watched as the group continued silently through the large entryway of the Delun brothers’ offices. When the doors clicked shut behind them, Lyssa continued to her desk. Her heart was pounding in her chest as though she had just finished running a marathon and she found it hard to catch her breath. The way he had looked at her, he seemed so angry. But why? It was only her first day. What had she done? The only conclusion she could come to was that it tied into the fact that she wasn’t model thin. Her face flushed a dull red as she situated herself back behind her desk. Instead of the pull of desire, now her heart beat angrily, but still Lyssa fixed a smile on her face as Abigail approached.
“So that was Rafe Delun,” she said cheerfully to the older woman.
“Yes, dear.” The older woman nodded absently, stacking file after file on Lyssa’s desk. Lyssa soon found herself awash in intricate details of the security forces around the world, nodding as Abigail explained the notations.
Rafe Delun stood next to his office window studying the city below and barely listening to his legal counsel. He stroked his lower lip absently, his mind on the curvy girl standing in his lobby, the one who had nearly freed his inner beast in the daytime. When he had walked out of the elevator there had been a scent of something, something intoxicating, something alluring, in the air. It was enough to distract him from John’s yammering about the son of a Saudi prince who wanted a new guard. His inner wolf had immediately started stirring, the smell rousing him, but Rafe had collared it, searching for the source of trouble. That was when he saw her, his new secretary.
She wasn’t his normal type, a bit heavier than usual, his lips curled in a sardonic smile. Her light brown hair was piled messily on her head, her plump pink lips pursed thoughtfully as she waited politely, submissively, for them to cross. Her blue eyes had wandered over his body, and he had seen the slight flutter of her pulse jump and speed up.
Her white blouse was just sheer enough that he could differentiate between flesh and cloth, and as his eyes traveled lower, he had to admit he liked the fit of that skirt on her hips.
You’d like that skirt better on the floor, his wolf whispered, trying to surge free. The taste of brand new pennies filled his mouth as he fought the change.
Fighting the wolf and his own libidinous urges while trying to carry on a business conversation was not going to work, he decided, so he had stormed off the floor with his entourage, leaving the bemused looking woman behind. Even now, the scent of her filled his nose, floral and sweet, and Rafe balled his fists to control the shaking.
“Rafe, are you listening to me?”
“Sorry, John,” Rafe smiled, trying to be genial. “I’m just not in the game today. If there’s a problem with the contract, let Seth know. I just make the deals. Seth picks the details.”
John studied his face, concern clear on it. “Are you feeling all right? You look… ill.”
“I’m fine, John,” Rafe ground his teeth. He briefly considered allowing the shift to happen, imagining the look on John’s face as his solid, staid boss really did turn into an animal. “Just…talk to Seth.”
He kept his gaze on the window, focusing his energy on tamping down the wildness inside. He barely noticed when the soft click of his door indicated he was once more alone. He allowed himself a soft growl, the low rumble flowing up from his chest and through his throat. His body shuddered involuntarily as his bones struggled to shift and meld, the wolf inside a breath away from escaping. Rafe’s eyes jumped around the large room. By business standards, it was huge, but right now he felt the walls closing in. He want to strip naked and race through the woods, shifting to his wolf form and howling at the sky. If he went out into the lobby, he might do just that, particularly if that woman was there.
He picked up his phone and punched in a few numbers, waiting for the ringing to end.
“Yeah.” The craggy old voice, rough with years of smoking and shouting, made Rafe smile.
“It’s Rafe, Uncle John.”
“I can see who it is. I know how to use a phone.” John was his father’s brother. After the triplets’ parents had been killed, John became the interim Alpha and the boys’ guardian. He had done a fine job raising them, but he was only too relieved to had the business over to the boys and run off to the mountains. That didn’t stop Rafe, Seth, or Ulric from calling him up when their tails got tied in knots.
“I’ve got a problem.”
“What?”
“I’m trapped in my office.” Briefly, Rafe outlined the situation to his uncle and was rewarded with a humiliating guffaw through the phone.
“You’re trapped because a bitty girl made eyes at you? You need to get laid.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve got a date tonight which should remedy that.” Rafe sat at his desk and leaned back, a hand covering his eyes. His head was starting to pound.
“Is it that actress? The blond one with the big tits? She’s a looker.”
“Vanessa. Her name is Vanessa, Uncle John,” Rafe sighed. This phone call had been a mistake, but at least the wolf had lapsed back in to slumber.
“Listen, Rafe,” the old man said. Rafe could hear the grin through the phone and could almost see John and his wicked, toothy smile. “Bed one or the other, hell, bed them both at the same time, but remember, you’re 30 years old, boy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rafe scowled up at the ceiling. Age for wolves was generally irrelevant; 30 was about the same as mid twenties, and that gap would only lengthen as time went on.
“I mean, maybe it’s mating season.”
Lyssa rode down with Abigail at the end of the day, stopping at the second floor where she exchanged pleasant goodbyes before pulling the strap of her small black purse up on her shoulder and stepping out into the long, tan-carpeted hallway in front of the company bar, the Moonlight Lounge. She could her the low hum of chatter and laughter from inside the open portal leading into the dark room lit by blue neon lights. Lyssa walked through the entrance and felt the wave of relaxation spread over her like warm wool. She had survived her first day and sighed happily, peering into the dimly lit lounge for the familiar shock of dark hair. She didn’t have to wait long because she soon heard her friend’s voice cutting across the chatter.
“Lyssa! Lyssa! Over here!” Shannon was waving her hand wildly over her head from a table against the wall where she was seated with several other people. Lyssa’s lips curved into an unconscious smile as she made her way through the crowd to the table and slid into a seat next to a darkly handsome man.
“Guys, this is my friend Lyssa,” Shannon drawled, leaning forward, her glossy black hair sweeping across her face. “She’s new, so be nice. Lyssa, these are the guys.”
A rumble of laughter echoed across the table before most of the group returned to their own conversations. The man next to Lyssa turned to her, open curiosity on his face.
“My name is Ben,” his voice was exotically accented, and he offered his hand to the newcomer. “I work with Shannon in The Maze.”
“I just started on the top floor.” Lyssa shook his hand before flicking a questioning glance to her friend who was watching with interest. “The Maze?”
“It’s what we call the programmer’s floor,” Shannon waved over a waitress. “Thanks to the different doors and servers, it’s easy to get lost in that place. Ben is new here, too. Both to the company and the country.”
“Just a white wine,” Lyssa told the waitress before turning her attention to the man next to her. “Where are you from?”
“Eastern Europe,” the man laughed, revealing even, white teeth. “Over by the Black Sea.”
“That explains the accent,” Lyssa grinned.
“He’s from Romania,” Shannon leaned across the table toward Lyssa again. “Where the vampires are from!”
“And do you often feast on maidens,” Lyssa laughed.
“Not yet,” Ben’s mouth tilted wickedly. “I haven’t found the right maiden.”
“I told him I’d help him find a girlfriend,” Shannon’s voice took on a tone Lyssa feared. “In fact, you’re single now, aren’t you Lyss? Maybe you two should go out sometime…”
The look Lyssa threw her dearest friend would have had the other woman buried on the spot, but Ben laughed, breaking the tension.
“Shannon is a little sneak, is she not?”
“Hey!”
Taking a sip of the cold, sweet liquid, Lyssa grinned at the easy camaraderie around the table and found herself relaxing and, dare she say it, flirting. Other introductions were exchanged, and soon everyone was laughing and chatting like old friends. For the first time in a long time, Lyssa felt accepted. Ryan had never gone out with her friends, and when they had gone out with his, he invariably made a comment about her weight before blowing it off with a “Just kidding.” And Ben wasn’t bad looking, she decided, her cheeks turning a delicate pink. Getting back into the game was hard though. After a couple hours, people began to peel off for their nightly routines.
“We stop down here every night after work,” Shannon said, sitting back, an easy smile playing at the corner of her lips.
“I can see why,” Lyssa swallowed the last of her wine.. “It’s amusing that there’s a company bar. How much profit does Delun make off of this?”
“It’s wholesale prices,” Shannon twirled her glass between her fingertips. Her eyes jumped around the room. “But, you could always ask him yourself.”
“Yeah,” Lyssa smirked. “I don’t see us becoming buddy-buddy in the office. He didn’t seem particularly inclined to talk to me.”
“Maybe not, but he just walked in.”
Lyssa turned her head to see the handsome businessman enter. He stopped at the doorway, head tilted to the side, and then his eyes landed on her. Their eyes met across the room and Lyssa’s pulse jumped as an almost palpable connection linked them across the room. A muscle contracted on his
jaw, and he turned on his heel and took a secluded stairway to a back room.
“Shit,” she hissed. “My first day and the boss catches me in a bar.”
“Relax,” Shannon laughed. “It’s his bar, and he’s here almost every night too. He likes to keep an eye on his peeps.”
“Peeps,” Ben sounded confused. “Aren’t those the candy birds and rabbits?”
“In this case, Shannon is referring to us,” Lyssa turned back to the table, her fingers drumming softly on the wooden top. “His employees.” She sighed. “I probably ought to go anyhow. My head is just buzzing with all of the information.”
“I’ll walk you to your car,” Ben said, jumping up. “I should go home too.”
“All right.” Lyssa delivered a kick under the table to the black-haired woman across from her. Shannon started snickering into her glass. Lyssa dropped a few dollars on the table and then they left.
The ride in the elevator was quick and quiet. The pair exchanged shy glances, but felt too self-conscious to start up a conversation. They got off together, their footsteps falling into an easy rhythm that echoed through the garage all the way to Lyssa’s beat up 2000 Chrysler. She rubbed at a smudge on the hood of her trunk before turning shyly to face Ben.
“Well, this is it, my ride home,” she offered him a tentative smile.
“So it is,” he looked around and than let out a bark of laughter. “So, uhh, will you come back tomorrow? To the Lounge, I mean. I expect that you’ll come back to work.”
Their nervous laughter echoed in the emptiness, but then Lyssa nodded, a small smile playing on her lips.
“I’ll be back. I had..fun.”
“Good, then. I look forward to seeing you there.”
“Me too. Seeing you, that is.”
Another round of nervous laughter and then Ben stuck out his hand. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”