by C. D. Gorri
Besides, the good doctor here didn’t seem to have an issue with either her body or her personality. So back to that tongue…
“What was that?”
“Uh, nothing,” Cassie stifled her moan as she shook her head.
That’s what you get for daydreaming. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to stop herself from picturing the sexy doctor on her soft heather gray sheets wearing nothing, but her. No! Bad girl. She’d have to save that image for later.
“I said,” his voice sounded low in her ear, and she opened her eyes to meet his, “Would I have asked you to dinner if I had a girlfriend, Cassie?”
“Uh, no?” It came out more of a question than a statement. Cassie didn’t know him at all. Still, she had a feeling he was being truthful. Maybe she was foolish to hope, but she always was an optimist.
“Come on, what do you say, just us and some food?” His hand brushed the side of her face and she shivered.
Whoa. She must have been daydreaming when he crossed the room. He was fast. Like, supernaturally fast. He stood so close to her, she couldn’t think straight. Her body seemed to lean into him all on its own. As if bowing to some unseen force. Her skin felt warm, it was getting harder to breathe.
“I don’t know if we should do that, doctor, um, what’s your first name again?”
“It’s David, and yours is Cassiopeia,” he said.
Cassie sucked in a breath and almost moaned. He’d invaded her space, filling her senses with him. He smelled so damn good, like fresh pine trees and clean snow. Mmm.
He was a lot bigger up close than she thought. Larger than life. His shoulders were wide. The button-down shirt he wore did nothing to take away from the muscular expanse of his chest and arms. He must workout, she thought, but somehow, she couldn’t picture him at a gym.
There was just something about him, something different. She breathed again and swayed slightly towards him. Helpless to keep away. She closed her eyes and tried to stem the furious beat of her heart. In doing so, Cassie slipped into that private place inside her mind where she sometimes saw things.
Heat, fur, teeth, claws, frustration, abandonment, anger, lust, craving, freedom, emotions and images swam through her mind. That’s it! Suddenly she knew why David seemed so familiar and different all at the same time.
That special magic of hers, that second sight as Stephanie sometimes called it, gave her answers she didn’t even know she was seeking. Cassie opened her eyes and breathed him in. His aura was pulsating and swirling around her. All blues and calming greens. Beautiful, she thought.
“Dinner?” The sexy doctor with the secret asked again.
“Huh?” Very articulate, Cassie.
He leaned down and nuzzled her cheek. Taking that last step that brought her into his arms. His lips caressed hers and she felt as if she’d been zapped by something. Something wonderful.
Oh crap, she needed to nip this in the bud before she became infatuated with him. Really, Cass, he’s a Werewolf. Didn’t Stephie always warn you to stay away from them cause they’re all players?! They can’t help it.
She stepped back. Cassie you are all kinds of an idiot. She was nothing special. Compared to the she-Wolf hotties he was used to, she was downright frumpy. Besides, he just had a hyperactive sex drive. It was nothing personal. Damn the man, er, Wolf!
Still, she wished that perhaps for once in her life a man like that would look at her as if she were something he couldn’t wait to get his hands on. Uh huh. Keep dreaming. He was Werewolf and she was not. Oh well…
“So, look, I get it that you know, you’re trying to be nice and all, but it was an accident, David. No worries, but still, I insist that I have to pay you back,” Cassie spoke quickly needing to get it all out without sounding like a pathetic loser.
She knew a little about Wolves, having lived with one for years! She was sure he could scent her attraction and she desperately needed to tone it down. He frowned as he listened to her but made no move to cover the space she created between them. Well, damn it, she was right. Just another horn-dog or, wolf, as it were.
At least this way neither of them would be in an uncomfortable situation. He couldn’t help his amazing hotness and she couldn’t bear it if he did more than flirt. That kiss was more than friendly flirting. Oh, shut up! This time she yelled at her inner voice.
How bad would a pity-fuck from a hot Werewolf be anyway? Maybe not too bad…No! No way! Cassie worked too hard to have good self-esteem and pride for all that.
“Cassie, I’m not sure what’s going on in that pretty head of yours, but I assure you, I’d never have asked you to dinner if I didn’t mean it.”
“Seriously, it’s okay,” she insisted.
“Look,” he grinned at her, his brown eyes twinkling in the harsh office light. She swallowed, damn near forgetting to breathe again.
“I can see I’m not going to get through to you right now, and since I’m not the type to give up, how about a compromise?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, since we’re both going to the ball, me as both a representative of the hospital and a currently single man, I was wondering if you’d like to go with me? As my date?”
“What?”
“Come with me to the ball, Cassie?”
“But-”
“Great! I’ll pick you up Friday at seven,” he stepped closer again and Cassie shivered in anticipation.
The sound of the door opening made Cassie jump. She dropped her purse on the ground and almost bumped heads with David when he reached to grab it for her. Again. Real smooth, Cass.
“Excuse me, David, oh, I am sorry to interrupt,” a slender blonde woman dressed in the tightest pair of scrubs Cassie had ever seen stared at them both. She’d opened the door to his office without knocking and breezed right in as if she had every right to. Cassie took a step back from David and took her bag from his extended hand.
The stunningly beautiful woman was obviously used to coming and going as she pleased. Cassie looked at David, he appeared not at all interested in the blonde bombshell. A fact the woman noticed with anger if her narrowed, blazing green eyes said anything about it. She glared at Cassie.
The intensity in her stare made Cassie uncomfortable. David had yet to acknowledge her. His focus seemed to be on Cassie at the moment. The stranger still held the doorknob in her hand and tightened her hold as her gaze shot from David to Cassie and back again. Did her eyes just glow and was that a growl?
“Yes? Was there something you wanted?” David asked with nothing but professional courtesy in his voice as he finally turned towards the woman.
“Oh, um sorry, Dr. Evangelos, but the trustees’ meeting has begun, and they’ve been paging you.”
“Tell them I’ll be there straightaway,” he raised one elegant eyebrow and stared down the woman until she cleared her throat and turned her head to the side, “Was there anything else?”
“Um no, sir,” she said quietly, but not before shooting another angry look at Cassie.
She watched David frown before he added, “Close the door on your way out, please. Thank you.”
He didn’t turn back to Cassie until the woman was gone and his office door was closed. He patted his pocket and silenced his pager, something he must have been doing the entire time they were in there, but Cassie hadn’t noticed. Wow. He stood up the trustees for her? That was kinda cool.
“Well, she seems, uh, tense. Anyway, you need to go. I should too. Thanks for the stitches and all. This has been, I don’t know, weird?” Cassie exhaled as she rambled. Her eyes looked everywhere but at him.
“I apologize,” he laughed a little self-consciously and ran a hand through his thick blonde hair, “I tend to like a more casual atmosphere amongst my staff, but there is never room for unprofessionalism. I’m sorry about her.”
“She seemed angry,” Cassie raised her eyebrows at the understatement.
“Yes, well, I will take that up with her supervisor immediately. Now
, I am so sorry, but you’re right, I need to get going. Will you please excuse me? I am very late for that meeting,” he smiled, and she felt her chest squeeze.
“Oh,” he said and took out his cellphone, “What’s your number so I can call and confirm our date?”
Before she could stop herself, Cassie rattled off her cell number. She stood there disbelieving as David Evangelos, Werewolf-doctor extraordinaire, strolled out of his office like he was the king of the world. But not before he ran one, long finger down the side of her face in a sort of informal goodbye.
She almost moaned again at the way he bit his lip just as he reached her chin with his finger. Cassie wondered what he would’ve done if she’d reached up and lapped at the lone digit with her tongue?
She felt warm and breathless as he left the room.
CHAPTER 7
“Oh, fuck-nuggets,” she said to herself as she stood up and shrugged into her jacket careful not to jar her newly stitched hand.
David’s office seemed empty without him in it. She thought about leaving him a note explaining that he didn’t have to call her about Friday, but she decided against it. Overexplaining was one of her failures as a professional and a person. She had a way of mincing words that often led to trouble.
Like when she was in middle school and she told the teacher that she didn’t have her assignment because she’d eaten Indian food for the first time the night before and, while she’d enjoyed the variety of spicy dishes, her stomach did not.
Then, Cassie had gone on to explain in detail her sleepless night of alternating between painful belches and vomit. She’d been told to leave class until the next day.
She threw her pocketbook over her shoulder and turned to leave when the office door swung open forcefully. The beautiful nurse with the bad attitude stood in the entryway. Her nametag read Madison Rothschild. Yikes, sounds important, Cassie thought.
“What are you still doing in here?” The woman spat the question at Cassie with more venom than she thought was appropriate.
“I was just leaving,” Cassie said.
“Well then leave. You don’t belong here.”
Doubt flash through her mind, but Cassie shook it off. David said he didn’t have a girlfriend. Whoever this woman was, she was clearly overstepping.
Still, Cassie had no desire to argue with the woman, no, make that Werewolf, who was obviously intent on marking her territory. Maybe she’d planned on peeing on the floor when no one was here?
Cassie snickered at the thought, but quickly frowned when the lithe nurse advanced on her. She flinched when thin, yet strong fingers grasped her wrist and squeezed.
“Listen you, David is mine! I didn’t work so hard to get transferred here for nothing! You stay away from him!”
“Really? And does he know you are in here talking about him like he’s the last piece of candy in the bowl and here you are calling dibs? Grow up.” Cassie managed to free her hand as she spoke.
She knew better than to argue with the woman. She was a Wolf and could tear Cassie to pieces, but right then she didn’t care. The bitch was way off! She had no right to talk to Cassie like that.
“You have no idea who you’re messing with,” Madison snarled and for a moment her green eyes glowed with the power of her Wolf.
Cassie shivered, but refused to be swallowed by her fear. That sixth sense of hers was flashing red warning lights in her mind’s eye, but Cassie had learned to mask the knowledge that there were special people out there. She kept her face carefully blank as she responded to the other woman’s cattiness.
“Yeah, well, I think I’ve heard enough. I’ll just be leaving Dr. Evangelos’ office now. Don’t you have some place else to be, nurse? Bye-bye now,” Cassie turned and walked straight ahead.
Cassie moved past her with a confidence she didn’t feel. Walking as quickly as her feet would allow, she ignored the low growl coming from the nurse. Oh damn!
She kept on going, down the corridor without turning back to see the pair of glowing eyes that she knew were trying to burn holes in her back. That was stupid, she berated herself silently.
She waited until she turned a corner before she stopped and leaned against the wall. She exhaled deeply in the near empty hallway, closing her eyes and finally, allowing herself to shiver in the aftermath of the tense confrontation.
“Excuse me,” a dark-haired woman dressed in scrubs smiled and moved past her.
“Sorry,” Cassie smiled her embarrassment away and moved to the side.
“Are you alright, miss?” The woman asked.
“Who, me? Yeah, I’m fine, I was, uh, just leaving,” she mumbled.
“No worries, dear, the nurses’ station is just around the corner if you need anything.”
She smiled and left Cassie alone to pull herself together. Get a grip! She straightened her shoulders and noticed a plastic stand of flyers mounted to one side of the wall. Hmm.
A bright yellow sheet of paper with bold black letters caught her eye immediately. Wanted: Music and Drama Teachers for The Macconwood-Nighthawk Teen Outreach Program!
Cassie reached for the advertisement. She looked down at the paper, reading the flyer over twice on her way out the door. Music teacher? Hmm.
She’d often questioned why she’d bothered with an education minor. Maybe this was it? After five years of trying and failing to make it big, maybe it was time she set her sights on helping others achieve their goals? Who knew, she might do some good!
In her youth, she’d hated the idea of being stuck in school all day and had no desire to work in one, but still her ever-practical stepmother told her she should choose a minor just in case theatre didn’t work out.
Cassie always hated when Stephanie was right! No matter how much she loved the woman who raised her! Besides this wasn’t a school. It was a community-based outreach program. She could teach what she loved in a relaxed environment. Score!
She didn’t hesitate. Cassie reached for her cell phone and dialed the number.
“Hello! Are you still looking for a music teacher?”
CHAPTER 8
Cassie danced around the kitchen as she helped get the table ready while Stephanie prepared their late-night dinner. It was after nine o’clock, but after being away from home for so long, she was looking forward to sharing a meal with her stepmother.
She hummed to herself as she placed plates, utensils, and napkins on the table. She still couldn’t believe it! She had an interview the very next day at the Macconwood-Nighthawk Teen Outreach Center!
After her near-miss at the Java Haus and the consequential stitches, almost-date, and confrontation with the nurse from hell, the past twenty-four hours had turned out to be good! Surprise!
Sure, she still had a little trouble deciphering through it all, but she had a direction now and that left her feeling overjoyed. One thing she absolutely decided on was that Dr. David Evangelos was totally out of her league.
Yup. She had no business getting involved with a man like that. Not that she wasn’t a good person, she just didn’t need that kind of crazy when she was trying to figure out her life.
Even if he turned around and offered her hot uncomplicated sex, she wasn’t sure she could go through with it. Cassie was a realist and, yes, she was aware they were different, but sex with no strings wasn’t her style. Um. Hello. Werewolf. Doctor. Rich. Office hotties marking him as theirs.
Cassie had enough problems, she simply didn’t need that kind of chaos in her life. Sure, he was just trying to be nice to her after bumping into her and all, and yes, she was flattered.
Seriously, she needed to let him find some other desperate thirty-something year old to bestow his charity on this holiday season. Boo! He’d be such a fine present on Christmas morning. Sigh.
No! Bad girl! She was resolved. Ignore the hot-as-fuck doctor. And yet, all thoughts of doing so flew right out of her head the second her cell went off.
She flew across the dining room in her haste to answer it.
A smile broke across her face as she anticipated his voice. Had it been only a few hours since she’d left him at the hospital? It felt longer. Her stomach clenched as she pressed the little green phone icon.
“Hello?” Was that breathy sound really coming from her?
“Cassie?” his deep voice sent chills racing down her spine.
That hadn’t happened since she was a teenager. Cassie took a breath and looked for a chair to sit down on. She ignored the questioning look on her stepmother’s pretty face as she breezed in to place a pitcher of iced tea on the table.
“David? Is that you?” Cassie made a shooing motion at Stephie, but the woman stood her ground. Annoying, nosy mothers!
“Yes, it’s me, why? Were you expecting some other man’s phone call?” He laughed into the phone but sounded slightly jealous just the same.
Cassie smiled. Oh yeah, that was a nice feeling. Men didn’t often get jealous over her and she was almost embarrassed to admit to herself that she kind of liked it.
“Nope, just you,” she said.
“Good,” he sounded pleased, “You know, I’ve been thinking about you all day, Cassiopeia.”
She bit her lip at the way he said her name. No one ever pronounced it like that. Yum. His voice sounded a little worn out, but sexy as sin just the same.
He was tired. She could only imagine when the last time he rested or ate was. She shook her head.
“Were you really thinking about me all day? But we just met?”
“All day,” he almost purred the words and she felt herself grow all warm and shivery.
“Are you still at work?” It wasn’t like her to get maternal, but she couldn’t help it. He needed someone to look after him. Whoa now, Cassie, easy there!
“No, I just got home. It was a very long and tedious day, but it’s better now,” he said, and Cassie smiled at the implication.