The ringing phone startled her out of her daze, as she picked it up she nearly forgot where she was and said the wrong greeting. By the time she had finished taking a message from someone named Vlad, Nicky was back. He had actually brought food for both of them and she was touched when he answered the phone, insisting she eat her lunch. Bizarrely he made her sit on the other side of the desk while he took her place.
Morgan was gutted that Ben returned while she was eating and Nicky was answering the phone. She stood to explain why Nicky was doing her job. Ben waved her back down with his hand, while he waited for his brother to hang up the phone.
"Well it seems I now have two PA's, one prettier than the other I have to say."
"Hey that's almost incestuous Ben, does Lucky know how you feel about me?" The was a light camaraderie between them that was endearing.
Laughing Ben looked at him while Morgan blushed. "You will need to share your secret with me."
Morgan obviously looked confused. "I have spent years trying to get my brother to work with little success; maybe I should dye my hair black and red."
She laughed and suddenly she liked the idea of working long term in this place. She prayed to the Gods that things would work out for her. Nicky herded Ben into his office leaving her to continue her job in peace, although it was a little too quiet now.
Nicky was surprised that he really liked Morgan; she was sweet and funny when she wasn't crippled by her fear and panic attacks. Thinking of that riled Nicky. Ben needed to take responsibility; he was still thinking when Ben interrupted his thoughts. "Why is your top wet?"
"I assume you warned the Pixie about me?"
"Pixie?" Ben raised his eyebrow in question.
"Your little PA."
"Of course, I had a duty to, which shouldn't have mattered if you had listened to me. What happened, did she throw water over you or something?"
Nicky ignored him, not confirming what was obvious. "God damn she did, didn't she? You made a pass at her didn't you? I didn't think she had it in her?"
"Shut up laughing Ben, it won't happen again (Ben raised his eyebrow in query). It's none of your business; we have an agreement which is all you need to know. You have a problem on your hands though; the Pixie nearly had a fate worse than me."
That made him shut up, Nicky was seriously pissed that Ben had not thought to protect Morgan. "When I arrived, Harrison was here to make you an offer you couldn't refuse and was in the process of mesmerizing her."
"Shit that worm, I will deal with him."
"I already did you ass, but you can't leave her unprotected like that." Nicky could feel both his own and his wolfs anger rising.
"You are right, but I can't be here all of the time Nicky. I do have to leave the office sometime."
"Not good enough Ben, you need to arrange for someone to be here when you aren't, as her boss you have to ensure her safety. I thought you were more responsible than that." Nicky knew his voice was rising yet he couldn't help it. The more he thought about what Harrison could have done the more pissed off he was, he was disappointed in Ben.
"Nicky calm down, this place is deserted during the day. The pack who work here are here mainly at night, other than Connor but he is between the club and bars, I have no choice Nicky I don’t have anyone to babysit her."
That was not good enough. "Find a damn solution Ben."
"I told you last night, I need some more help."
He was agitated and frustrated. "Fine, when you have to go out call me, I will come baby sit the Pixie."
"That won't work Nicky, first of all I don't always know in advance that I am going out, second, what happens when I ring you and you don't answer because you're in some woman's bed? You are not reliable enough."
"Fuck you Ben, just call me." He went to walk out of the door when Ben replied. "I won't call you Nicky, you aren't reliable enough."
He didn't say bye to Morgan, he was too angry. She had no business working for wolves if she couldn't protect herself. Well it was her own fault if something happened, screw her and screw Ben. Shifting into wolf form he ran home, he thought the run might calm him but it didn't; neither did the subsequent work out and sparring with Theo.
Chapter 5
As Morgan lay in the bath, she felt exhausted but it was a delightful feeling. Before she left, Ben had actually told her how pleased with how she handled his brother. He had also apologized for not being there when the man called Harrison turned up. She didn't know why he apologized, but she wasn't going to question him. As she got dried and put on some pajamas, she poured hot water onto some noodles; hunger gnawing at her, but her exhaustion preventing her from making an effort.
She jumped when someone knocked on the door; she had the chair under it again which relieved her initial anxiety. She wasn't expecting Lucky and she didn't know anyone else, the thought of a stranger on the other side of the door caused her nerves to frazzle. Shouting to see who was there, she was shocked when Nicky answered.
"What do you want?" Maybe he had changed his mind and was really mad at her for throwing water at him; just the thought had her shaking slightly.
"To talk to you."
"I thought we made an agreement." What did he want? Her stomach was doing that funny nervous thing again.
"I will stick to the agreement, but I need to talk to you." His voiced lowered. "Open the door little Pixie."
With a sigh she opened it, but not before she had grabbed a pan from the kitchen. Yep he was gorgeous but that was immaterial, she didn't want anything to do with him, he was dangerous. "What?"
"Can I come in?" She found herself moving aside to let him in.
He went through to the kitchen. "Can I get some water?"
"Are you going to throw it at me, because if you want to pay me back you are too late, I just had a bath?"
He started laughing before seeing the truth in her words, she had just got out of the bath. His brain automatically pictured her lying naked in the tub, those little hands of hers resting on her thighs near her intimate place.
"Nicky hello." Shit he had totally lost her for a minute, it was one thing getting his brain out of the gutter but his cock was a whole different matter, he was now painfully hard.
"No, I just wanted a drink." She watched him drink the water; the movement his throat made when he swallowed it enthralled her, his chest moving in and out. Morgan felt her body tremble inside, what the hell was happening to her body?
"What do you want Nicky?"
"Do you know what nearly happened today, no let's go back further, do you even know what I am, what Ben is?" That's right; he would scare her into finding somewhere safer to work.
"I do, Lucky told me. She also told me that you wouldn't hurt me and not to fear you." He could smell her fear already, and he didn't like doing that to her.
Slumping into one of the kitchen chairs, he felt himself soften inside; he didn't want her scared of him, he should but he didn’t.
"Of course we won't, I would never hurt you but it's a hard world out there. New York is a great place to live but there are a lot of horrible people out there, people who would destroy someone as tiny and delicate as you."
Morgan realized that he was being perfectly sincere, he was genuinely worried about her; it made her sad that someone like him could see that she was unable to protect herself.
"I realize that Nicky." Somehow he was in front of her, he stroked her wet hair. "Tell me how someone as precious as you thinks that, because whatever you think you've seen, New York has worse."
"You would be surprised how much I have seen." Morgan felt as though she was being bared open, yet he hadn't actually touched her.
'Tell me." He bent to smell her hair, mmm strawberries and cream.
"It doesn't matter." Morgan knew she was now staring into the blue eyes that seemed bottom less, a vast pool of liquid.
"It does matter." Although he said it, Nicky realized that he meant the words. Her life mattered, she mattered.
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br /> "It's in the past, where I want it to stay." She knew she had to break this; she had to break what was between them so very abruptly she stepped away from him and went to pick up her noodles.
As she stepped away, Nicky felt his head finally clear. God damn what the hell was wrong with him, she made him want to stay close, every time he was near her he drank her in, he needed to get out of here. With the decision made Nicky went to leave, and then he saw her stood there, with noodles in a pot.
"Don't tell me that's dinner." His voice was incredulous.
"I like noodles."
"For God's sake, mom was right." And with a slam of the door he left.
The kitchen felt empty without him, she wasn't sure what he said when he left but considering 'nothing got Nicky mad', she wasn't sure she agreed with Bens earlier words. Morgan thought about taking the noodles into the lounge, the kitchen now felt large and sterile. She felt herself hesitating, thinking of the consequences of eating in the lounge. Then kicked herself mentally, that was then this was now. She thought about putting the TV on, but settled instead for putting on some music.
Ben had left a pretty comprehensive CD collection; she didn't know most of them so picked one at random. As she sat back relaxing, she realized some man was doing what she thought might be rapping, but the lyrics were remarkably good, the emotions behind the words were raw, she found her foot tapping to the beat of the rhythm as her head digested the words of pain, a pain she could empathize with.
Yet again she was pulled away from the solitude, by banging on her door; the chair was back again giving her a sense of safety. "Who is it?"
"It's me." What on earth was he doing back?
"If you're still angry with me, I am not letting you in."
"Hell Pixie, what on earth made you think I was angry?" Nicky had been annoyed but not at her, he was certainly not angry.
"You mumbled, left without saying goodbye and slammed the door on your way out." She was sure that when he had left he had been angry, but was she really so sure?
"Open the door and you will see where I have been." Gingerly she moved the chair and opened the door; there he stood with cartons of something that smelled exceptional, mouth wateringly good. And then there was Nicky, stood there smiling with his big angelic smile.
"You need to eat something more than bloody noodles; I wasn't sure what you liked so I brought vegetarian pasta, rice, burgers, chips and spare ribs. I figured you would like at least one of them while we talk about what we are going to do."
"I like burgers, but whatever is in that bag smells lovely." As she pointed to the ribs; he watched her smile and his wolf whined in submission to her.
"Ribs it is." She watched as he pulled plates and cutlery out of the cupboards.
"How do you know where everything is?" Because he certainly did know where everything was, she watched his cheeks darken with embarrassment.
"I know from when Ben used to stay here." She did not believe him; his cheeks were positively red now. "Mm care to try a different answer?"
"No." He busied himself with the food.
And then it dawned on her. "Oh my God, you have brought women here, haven't you?" She laughed out loud and watched him frown.
Nicky didn’t like this conversation, he didn't want to talk to her about this; he didn't want to tell her about his previous women. "You have, haven't you?"
He also didn't want to lie to her. Although why he felt the need to be honest, he didn’t know.
"Yes I have, but not often only occasionally," he was rambling. "I prefer to go to theirs, I can leave easier in the morning."
Damn he was making this worse; why the hell had he said that? God she was going to hate him now, but she surprised him with laughter.
"Why, I think you are embarrassed Nicky, I don't know why it bothers you, although tonight when I go to bed, I might get nightmares knowing you and some bimbo have been all hot and sweaty in my nice big bed." Still laughing she went to sit at the table.
Now what was he going to do, she might get nightmares but now he was thinking of her being all hot and sweaty with him in that lovely large bed, and the result was causing a massive ol' erection. He was not sure how to get over to the table without her seeing; right now she was sat facing him with the island between them. Using some ingenuity of his own, he used a dish cloth to pick up his plate draping it out in front of him. He knew that there was still some evidence but at least it wasn't as obvious. He needn't have worried, she was so truly innocent that she didn't notice and didn't even look towards the area of his groin.
As they ate in silence, Morgan realized that she felt relaxed around Nicky, well sort of, she still had that funny feeling in her stomach but other than that it was lovely, a soft silence.
"Anyway I think I have a solution to our problem." He looked pleased with himself.
"We have a problem?" Morgan was confused, she wasn’t aware of a problem.
"Clearly you are used to someone protecting you, no, no if you don't want to give me the details than that's okay, but right now you are alone and need to be able to protect yourself."
Morgan wasn't sure where this was going, but she liked that he was genuinely concerned about her. "Anyway from tomorrow, three times a week I will pick you up and take you to Silvers for training."
He truly was sweet, and as they sat together at the wooden table she almost felt like a normal albeit plain girl having a delightful meal with an overly gorgeous man.
"It's a nice idea Nicky, but to be fair I am not sure I would be any good at training. I have never really been very sporty so I am not sure training is a good idea, and aren't we at Silver's now? Oh my God, these ribs are heavenly how do you not eat them every day?" She sighed as she took a bite, her eyes rolled in delight.
He was just watching how she opened her mouth to take the meat, and then wrapped her mouth around the bone to suck the juices off. He has stopped eating, vowing to ensure that never ate ribs in public, it could cause some sort of riot. The erotic scene was almost too much for him.
"This is Silvers club but I meant pack land, where we live. We have fantastic training facilities."
"I really am not sure, I am not very intimidating." She knew her capacity to engage in training would be slim; Morgan had never been strong although the thought of having some self-defense skills appealed to her.
"You will be little Pixie, I need to know that the next time you meet a vampire you know what to do." Nicky watched the color drain form her face.
"When did I meet a vampire?" Her voice had dropped to a whisper.
"Today when I arrived, didn't you realize?" Shit, she was starting to hyperventilate again. Moving to her side he rubbed her back, he could hear and feel the accelerated rate of her heart.
"Look at me Pixie." Turning her face towards him, he could feel when she started to calm down. "That's good, really good."
When they had finished eating, he spent the next two hours talking to her about other species, the do's and don'ts, how to protect herself, good species, bad species. They moved from the kitchen to the lounge, where she stretched out on the sofa and he sat on the floor with his back to the sofa. He couldn't see her, which he had thought might help him reduce his erection, unfortunately that didn't work, but at least she couldn't see.
As he was sat staring into the warm and crackling fire he realized that she had gone quiet, turning he found her curled up fast asleep. He stood to leave but instead he sat on one the chairs and watched her, she seemed so serene and peaceful. Although she wasn't model like beautiful, she was beautiful in a sweet and fragile way, she was tiny and her features fit her face perfectly, her body had a graceful lithe look to it. He was surprised at how attracted to her he was, normally he preferred strong tall, feminine blondes, and his Pixie wasn't any of those things.
Nicky had never spent any time with a woman where there was an attraction that he couldn’t act on, but with her, with Morgan he liked her and didn't want to jeopardize that, so
he would just be her friend. It's not that friendship with females was an alien concept to him, but friendship with a female he was attracted to, was.
Slowly Nicky lifted her and carried her into the bedroom; he laid her in the bed and tucked the covers round her to keep her warm. She didn't even murmur, when he turned to leave he took one last look at her. The bed swallowed her, she looked so lost in such a large bed, his instinct was to climb in with her and wrap her in his arms but that would break the little bit of trust she had in him, so he quietly and regretfully closed the door.
The Wolf With The Silver Smile (The Silver Series) Page 5