by Zoe Chant
“Too far.” Shoshanna steered him through the door into the living room. He went blindly along, too caught up in the intoxicating taste of her to pay much attention to where they were going.
She pushed him down onto the couch and went to work on his fly. He paused in kissing her only long enough to get the rest of his clothes off, then tugged her forward until she was in his lap and turned the tables, pulling off her shirt and going to work on her bra.
When she was shirtless, he caught one of her nipples between his finger and thumb. That made her gasp, so he bent his head and tongued at the other one, biting lightly.
Shoshanna made a strangled noise. “Oh God, keep doing that.”
There was nothing he wanted to do more. Shoshanna was a curvy woman, and her breasts were generous; he could spend the rest of his day paying attention only to them and not get bored.
Her nipples were hard peaks under his hand and mouth now, and she was making high-pitched noises with every quick, panting breath. Max pinched her left nipple lightly between his fingers, held it, and then slowly, slowly increased the pressure.
She shuddered as he did it, and ground her hips down against him—which reminded him that she was still wearing pants. He pulled back.
“Whoa, hey, don’t stop,” Shoshanna said indignantly.
“Just for a minute,” Max said, laughing a little. He flicked open the button of her jeans with one hand. “I thought it might be a good idea to get you out of these before we go any further.”
“Fair point,” Shoshanna acknowledged, and slid backwards off his lap. She stripped out of her jeans, socks, and underwear with casual efficiency, and came back to him fully naked. “Where were we?”
Faced with her whole gloriously curved, naked body, Max had to pull her in close. Once he was touching her, he couldn’t wait any longer, and twisted to lay her out full-length on the couch.
She gave him an unimpressed look, although it wasn’t very convincing with that smile trying to break through. “I know that this wasn’t where we were.”
“Then how about something else?” He spread his hands over her hips, ran them down her smooth thighs, and nudged them apart.
“Well,” Shoshanna said breathlessly. “I guess.”
Max laughed—he couldn’t remember ever laughing like this during sex before—and leaned down to taste her.
Shoshanna tasted amazing, warm and musky and womanly. Max loved doing this for her, using his tongue to drive her absolutely wild. He licked deep into her right at first, and then pulled back to use his tongue on her clit while he stroked the rim of her pussy with his fingers.
He kept up a fast, intense pace, following every twitch and spasm, listening to the noises that sounded like they were being yanked out of her—and then, just as he was sure she was about to come, he pulled back again.
“Max Rowland.” Shoshanna was glaring at him, her dark eyes snapping with arousal, irritation, and a hint of amusement. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “If you don’t get inside me right this second—”
“There’s nothing in the world I want more,” he told her honestly, and kissed her hard as he thrust inside.
God, she felt so good. They moved together on the couch, her hips driving up just as hard as his thrusts into her. Shoshanna was anything but a passive partner in bed, and he loved it. They were joined together in body and soul, moving as one being, and he never wanted it to end.
Then Shoshanna shifted underneath him until his thrusts were hitting a spot that made her cry out and clench harder every time he pushed in. “Yes,” she gasped, breathless and urgent. “Yes, right there, right there—”
Max drove in hard, right where she needed, watching her face as she was overwhelmed by orgasm. Her mouth opened, her eyes fell shut, and she surrendered to it utterly.
He kept it together long enough to stroke her through it, and then gave in and came, surrounded by her breath, her scent, her taste. Shoshanna.
They lay together for a long time, breathing each other in.
His mate. He was never letting her go.
Then the oven timer went off.
Max groaned in protest, but Shoshanna shoved at him until he sat up. “Don’t complain,” she said. “This dinner is going to blow your mind.”
So he got up and followed her into the kitchen, collecting his clothes on the way. They got the empanadas out of the oven, washed up, set the table, and sat down to eat.
And as he took a bite of the meltingly delicious spiced chicken, he looked across the table at Shoshanna and knew that this was his home now.
***
The next morning, they went to New York.
Shoshanna was nervous. Not because of the city, though; for some reason, with Max by her side, her usual anxiety about being surrounded by strangers with nowhere to shift and run had faded completely. She thought she might be happy to explore New York with Max sometime.
No, she was nervous because they were going to Max’s office. And when they got there, they were going to see his sister.
They didn’t even stop at his apartment first. “No reason,” Max told her when she asked. “I want to get this taken care of as quickly as possible.”
So they walked in to the RGS offices together. Max nodded to the receptionist and started down the hall.
“Excuse me, sir? Ma’am?” the receptionist called after them.
Max turned. “Yes? What is it, Ms. Taylor?”
The woman’s mouth fell open. “Mr. Rowland! Sir, I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you without your suit. I mean—I’m sorry, sir. Carry on. Obviously.”
“Thank you, Ms. Taylor,” Max said gently, before the receptionist could work herself into any more of an apologetic corner.
He led Shoshanna down the hallway. She glanced at him. “Not a business casual sort of an office?”
“This is not business casual,” he said, sounding offended. “I’m wearing jeans.”
Shoshanna stifled a giggle. “Of course. I should’ve known.”
After a lot of walking, they finally reached Max’s office. It had a stunning view of the city, and Shoshanna was struck all at once by how rich and powerful her mate really was.
It was almost uncomfortable. She reminded herself that she’d seen Max cooking in his underwear last night. And no amount of suits and receptionists and penthouse suites would erase that memory.
She turned to Max, to say—something, she didn’t know what. Nice view, or, So this is where you run one of the richest companies in the world, or, So how traumatized is everyone going to be when they see you out of a suit?
But there was a knock on the door before she could open her mouth. Probably for the best.
“Come in.” Max had been standing behind his desk, but he stepped out to stand next to Shoshanna as the door opened.
It was a tall, blonde woman in an expensively-tailored suit and terrifying heels, carrying a briefcase. She took one step inside the office, stopped, and closed the door behind her.
“Max,” she said. Her piercing golden eyes took in his clothes, and then traveled over to Shoshanna. “Introduce us.”
“Shoshanna,” Max said, “this is my sister Alexandra. Alexandra, this is Shoshanna Ross, whom you’ve spoken to once or twice over the phone. My mate.”
Sculpted eyebrows rose; dark red lips parted. “Your mate,” said Alexandra. “Well. That’s something I wasn’t expecting.”
“This entire week has been unexpected,” Max said. “Why don’t we all sit down for a moment?”
Rather than sitting down at his desk, he took one of the group of chairs across from it, and tugged Shoshanna down next to him. Alexandra sat down facing them and gave them a cool onceover.
“Ms. Ross,” she said. “I admit that when I called you, I wasn’t aware that you were so ideally placed to locate my brother.”
“Neither was she,” said Max. “Alexandra, this whole situation is very complicated and I can explain it to later. For now, the import
ant thing is Elite Enterprises.”
“Of course,” said Alexandra, refocusing immediately. She brought a tablet out from her briefcase and handed it to Max. “I’ve set up a meeting with Santino—the Elite CEO,” she added in aside to Shoshanna—“for later today. I’ve contacted several members of the board and we’re ready to proceed with a hostile takeover whenever the time is right.”
“One that subject, I have some good news.” Max handed the tablet back to her. “The security office should have been in communication with the Connecticut state police; we’ve uncovered evidence of extensive illegal activities in one of Elite’s properties. Once this makes it to the newspapers, the board should be more than ready for RGS to move in.”
“Excellent. I’ll have the security office send the files over as soon as they receive them, then.”
Shoshanna watched them go back and forth. It was obvious that they were siblings; Alexandra had the same tall, imposing, regal bearing, the same gorgeous blonde hair, the same golden eyes.
They were acting like business acquaintances more than siblings, though. Shoshanna supposed that made sense, since they were in Max’s office discussing business arrangements, but still.
But then Alexandra closed her tablet with a snap, leaned forward, and said, “Now, Max, tell me what on earth happened to you? And don’t leave anything out.”
So Max explained. And Shoshanna got to hear it all from his perspective.
He barely described the car accident, focusing on the death of his employee, Tom, rather than how badly he’d been hurt. When he said, “I was still drugged, and I’d been hurt a bit in the crash myself,” Shoshanna couldn’t keep quiet.
“You mean you were covered in blood,” she interjected.
Max gave her an annoyed look, but Alexandra said, “Oh, look at that. I could get used to having someone to interpret Max’s impression of himself as an invulnerable machine.”
“He’s definitely not invulnerable,” Shoshanna agreed. Or a machine, she thought privately, remembering the heat of his skin against hers, the way they’d been wrapped up together, a contented sweaty mess on her couch.
She shifted in her seat and brought her attention back to the conversation.
“In any case, I went to Shoshanna’s place because it was nearby and I wasn’t thinking very clearly,” Max continued.
“So let me get this straight,” said Alexandra. “You knew she was your mate...but you hadn’t told her?” She sounded incredulous.
“I’ve already received this lecture,” Max said stiffly.
Shoshanna was surprised at the difference in Max’s manner. Even talking to his sister about something personal, here in New York he was much more formal, much cooler and more uptight. It didn’t even seem to matter that he was wearing jeans instead of a suit. He looked like a businessman, instead of just like...Max.
Alexandra was looking approvingly at Shoshanna again. “I’m glad to hear it,” she said. “Perhaps we’ll talk about it further in private. What happened then?”
Max gave a very abbreviated account of them finding the Elite thugs and staging the raid on the warehouse. Alexandra sat back in her chair, eyebrows going up again.
“Cowboy tactics,” she said. It was impossible to tell from her tone of voice whether she approved or disapproved.
“We won’t have left any evidence,” Max assured her. “The security team is very thorough.”
“All right, then.” She tucked her tablet away in her briefcase and stood. “I’ll get in touch with security and make sure those documents are in your inbox.”
“Let’s talk again this evening, after the meeting with Santino,” Max said, standing too. “There are some more things we should discuss.”
Alexandra’s eyes flicked to Shoshanna, and then back to Max. “I agree. Until then.”
She left the room, heels clicking on the tile in the hallway as she walked away.
Max let out a breath, and turned to Shoshanna. “Well. That went all right, I think.”
Shoshanna frowned. Here was plain Max again—his posture, his tone, his expression. The urbanely smooth businessman was gone.
“Why do you do that?” she asked, standing up and coming over to take his hand.
He frowned. “Do what?”
“Act like that with your sister. I could see that you were wearing a mask.” She guessed that Alexandra probably was, too, although she didn’t know her well enough to tell for sure.
His face went blank. “Habit, I suppose. Our parents always kept their emotions hidden, even from us.”
“It sounded like Alexandra would be happier if you were more open,” Shoshanna offered.
There was a long pause. Then he nodded. “I would, too. I thought I was getting better. But I can see that there’s a long way to go.” His mouth firmed. “I’ll be better when we talk later.”
Shoshanna was wildly curious about what he wanted to discuss with Alexandra later on—particularly since it undoubtedly had to do with her—but she kept her mouth shut. She wasn’t going to interfere with Max’s family.
Well, not any more than she just had, anyway.
“So, what now?” she asked. “Prepare for the meeting with Santino?”
Max waved a hand. “Barely necessary. I’d rather take you out to lunch.”
Shoshanna had never wanted glamorous dates, expensive restaurants, or anything like that. But the idea of Max taking her somewhere nice...she didn’t hate it. “Nowhere with a real dress code,” she tested.
Max kissed her hand. “The best pizza in the city doesn’t need a dress code.”
Shoshanna grinned. “What are we waiting for?”
***
Santino was waiting in the conference room when Max arrived.
Ordinarily, Max had too good of a poker face to let a revealing expression slip through at a business meeting. But this business meeting was quite out of the ordinary. He took great satisfaction in allowing the predatory smile to spread across his face.
“Mr. Santino.” He shook the man’s hand. “I’m very glad to see you here. Particularly after our last meeting didn’t go as planned.”
“Yes, well, we might as well dispense with the pleasantries,” Santino said. “Let’s get right to it, Mr. Rowland, Ms....?”
“Ross,” said Shoshanna, shaking Santino’s hand with an insincere smile.
Shoshanna had no need for a mask to use in business meeting. Max was glad of it.
“Ms. Ross. And you are...”
“I’m a private investigator,” Shoshanna said. Her smile brightened as Santino seemed suddenly much more uncomfortable.
“How unusual,” was all he said, and they sat down.
“Mr. Santino,” Max began. “There are many things I regret about this meeting.”
“Such as the fact that I will never give up my company, and particularly not to Rowland Global Solutions?” Santino suggested, raising his eyebrows.
“No, not that,” Max said. “Such as the fact that there is no proof that you attempted to kill me just two days ago. And that the plans your company has been making to experiment on shapeshifters, the steps you’ve already taken in that direction, could never be adequately demonstrated in court.”
Santino’s eyebrows stayed up. “Ah,” he said delicately. “I don’t believe I know what you’re talking about, Mr. Rowland.”
“However,” Max said, “surely it’s come to your attention by now that the police have found your lab in Connecticut. What they may not have informed you is that it was my security team that led them there, and it is my media department who is currently leaking all of the evidence discovered to the press.”
Santino froze.
“I’m afraid your board of directors is going to be eager to jump off of this particular sinking ship,” Max said. “Which is why this is truly a courtesy meeting, to let you know that a hostile takeover is in process. You won’t have a company by this time tomorrow. And I can guarantee that after the press is finished with you,
you’ll never get a business off the ground again. You’re ruined, Mr. Santino. You’ll be very lucky if you stay out of prison.”
Santino only betrayed his emotions through the clenching of his jaw and the whitening of his knuckles.
“As I said, this meeting was a courtesy. I simply wished to inform you of what will be happening in your immediate future. Security will see you out.” He stood, and Shoshanna came with him as he walked calmly out of the office.
Once they were a little way down the hall, Shoshanna grinned at him. “That was amazing. He’s really ruined?”
“He really is,” Max confirmed. “And I’ve got a few measures in place to make sure he never accumulates the capital he’d need to do something like this again. Not to mention keeping an eye on all of the remaining Elite personnel so that if they do resort to illegal methods, for whatever reason, the police will be called immediately. Goring at least will likely be in jail within a year, even if none of the warehouse charges stick to him. He is not a subtle man.”
Shoshanna let out a long sigh. “That’s a relief. And they’re the only company you found who was doing this sort of thing?”
“The only one so far. I’ll be keeping an eye out in case anyone else starts researching in that direction, but for now...you’re safe.”
“So are you,” Shoshanna pointed out.
Max ushered her into his office, closed the door, and kissed her. “You’re my mate. We protect each other.”
Shoshanna kissed him back, fierce and hot. “You’re damn right we do.”
***
He met with Alexandra later that afternoon. Shoshanna was meeting with the head of security, talking shop; he’d wanted to hear details about some of the work she and Kevin had done as PIs for the company. That left Max alone, and Alexandra had taken the opportunity to pounce.
“So,” she said. They were in her office, which was almost as big as his, with perhaps an even better views. She’d taken a seat in one of the comfortable chairs to the side of her desk, so he followed suit.
“So?” he echoed.
“So, your mate!” Alexandra said, looking fed up. “Tell me about her.”