by Olivia Harp
Her pulse instantly raced, she wasn’t used to this. She was a programmer, not used to dealing with people. She was a woman whose domain was the net. But his warm touch was so reassuring, it melted her.
Randy, her previous boyfriend, never looked at her the way this man did. Never touched her with such amazement... or care. As if she was a fragile crystal that could be broken at any moment.
“Those guys are lucky to have you. They’re playing you, they don’t want you to realize how valuable you really are.”
“You think?”
“I know. You’re smart and strong. Don’t ever think otherwise.”
Her heart beat so fast inside her chest she thought it would burst at any moment.
Franklin`s deep black eyes were fixed on hers, she could lose herself in those eyes. In the way he looked at her.
“You’re amazing,” he said, “promise me you won’t ever sell yourself short again.”
She blushed, “don’t be silly...”
“I mean it, Sophia.”
A shiver ran down her spine the moment he uttered her name. She couldn’t help but comply.
“I promise,” she said, taking a deep breath
Everything about him was magnetic. Electrifying.
She chuckled.
“What?” he asked.
“I told you it wasn’t a software problem.”
Franklin smiled, taking his hand off her and scratching the back of his head.
“And you say I’m the smart ass.”
She shrugged, “You earned it.”
“I have to recompile this, it’ll take a while.”
“Sure, then we’ll go check the Repeater Antenna.”
He nodded, “it’s already dark. I say we wait and go first thing in the morning.”
“Sure, what do you want to do in the mean time?”
Franklin shrugged, “I don’t know. Do you have any ideas?”
Sophia felt butterflies in her stomach, her palms began to sweat.
But she shook her head.
“I think I brought some games and movies.”
She grinned, a light bulb came on over her head.
“LAN party?” she asked.
His eyes bore deep into her.
“Let’s do this.”
Chapter 4
Franklin had seven bullets left. He ran in the darkness until he hit a wall. The bridge trembled at his feet, he looked down at the abyss below and saw an explosion in the distance.
He turned back and heard them, the zombies found a way up the stairs and now were about to get him. There was no was nowhere to run to.
But at least Sophie was safe.
She would be able to finish the mission. It had been a good ride, she was the best partner he could have asked for.
But this was it.
“I regret nothing,” he said out loud as he pulled out his Desert Eagle semi-automatic and started shooting, dropping one, two, three of the undead.
But the enemy was a horde that kept on walking, the gurgling sound of their decomposing throats the last thing he would hear.
“The bomb has been planted,” a voice said from the lower depths of the overrun factory.
She did it. The job was done. It was a matter of minutes now before the whole place exploded, wiping the zombie virus off the world.
Four bullets left. The walkers marched forward. Franklin turned around to see if there was anywhere he could jump, or anything he could do to save his life.
Then he heard it.
The faint sound of a helicopter, coming from the depths below.
A zombie jumped at him, snarling as he did. It was a middle aged man, still on his office attire. Franklin was fast enough to step aside and hit it on the side of the head, making it misstep and fall to the abyss.
The helicopter was closer now.
“Stay alive, Franklin!” Sophie said, “I’m almost there!”
She gave him hope. He would fight until the end. No surrender.
He fired his last bullets and tried to keep himself from being bitten. The zombies were slow and stupid, he’d be able to fight a few of them before their numbers overwhelmed him.
There she was.
The helicopter rose up from below, just barely escaping the explosion in the distance. She was on the cockpit.
“Come on, soldier!” she yelled.
The monsters jumped at him again but he held them at bay, “save yourself!” he said, “I don’t think I’ll make it!”
“Bullshit!” she said, the helicopter going above the small passage, dropping a ladder right next to him.
He’d have to jump to get it. If he missed it he would die.
But he was surely dead if he didn’t try, anyway.
He hit the last zombie right on the forehead before stepping on the edge of the bridge.
“Do it!” she said.
He jumped.
An explosion from below made the whole building tremble, the shockwave pushed the helicopter a few inches to the side, making him miss the ladder entirely.
“No!” she screamed.
He turned around mid-air and reached out, barely grabbing the rope ladder.
“Yes!” both yelled at the same time.
The heat from another explosion told them they had wasted enough time.
“Go, go, go!” he told her.
“Yes, sir!” she replied, pulling up at maximum speed.
The whole building was falling apart around them, but she was a great pilot, swaying left and right, avoiding the debris, until finally, the sun hit their faces.
They were safe outside.
The bomb went off and the whole factory was destroyed before their eyes.
“Yes!” they yelled in happiness.
The screen turned red and said “Mission Complete.”
Sophie and Franklin held each other, delighted, their monitors in front of them, the game was over.
It took them about fifteen minutes to set up the Local Area Network so they could play co-operatively.
Franklin looked at Sophie, she was beaming.
“That’s the hardest level! I swear I never completed it before,” she said.
“Me neither, thank you for helping me save mankind.”
“You saved mankind? I planted the bomb!”
Well, she was right. Ancient Legends was a hard game, he couldn’t have done it without her.
“Thank you for helping me save mankind,” she laughed.
“All right, all right,” he said, standing up and going to the kitchen, “next time you take on the zombie horde and I’ll go downstairs.”
“Sure,” she said smiling, “if there’s a next time.”
He turned off the stove, the hot chocolate was done. He started making it fifteen minutes ago, during a game cinematic, now, the whole room smelled delicious.
“What do you mean?” he asked, as he poured two cups and brought them over to the plastic desk where they set their laptops on.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Careful, it’s hot.”
“I mean,” she said as she blew some air to cool the chocolate down, “we’ll repair the antenna tomorrow and that’s it. We’re never going to see each other again.”
Franklin’s muscles tensed up. She was right. He knew they would not see each other again. But saying it out loud made it real.
He sat on the small sofa and watched her shut her computer down and put it in her backpack.
“Where are you going after this?” he asked.
She zipped up her bag, took another sip from the chocolate cup and sighed.
“Nowhere... I don’t know. I’m going back to Chicago I guess, until they send me somewhere else.”
“Can’t you just work remotely?”
“Of course, but you know how the government is, if you don’t waste your time doing what they say, they think you’re not being efficient.”
“Dumbest thing ever.”
“Hey, not my fault, I tried r
easoning with them.”
“You know what? I think I can help you.”
“Oh, come on.”
“What?”
“I’ve tried to, and it always ends up badly.”
“How?”
“They take their sweet time with my requests, and after calling them a few times they say they can’t do anything about it. Then screw me over with the trips and schedules. I think my boss hates me.”
She sat down next to him, half defeated.
“I told you. They want to keep you at arm’s length. You’re too valuable, they don’t want you to realize that.”
She shrugged, “at least I make good money.”
“But can’t enjoy it, right?”
She didn’t say anything, just sipped her chocolate.
“Who’s your alpha? What crew?” Franklin asked.
She froze for a second, it was barely noticeable, but Franklin saw it.
She swallowed, taking her time to answer, turned to him, and pretended to smile.
“I don’t have a crew.”
Franklin stomach tightened. That wasn’t right. A shifter without a crew meant it had committed an act of treason, or worse...
“My crew was shit. They forgot about their nature. Started running a blackmail operation, with intel I gathered from executives and government officials.”
“Damn.”
“I know,” she said, “I ratted them out, of course. I was young and stupid and wanted my crew to be proud of me.”
“So they’re in prison now?”
“Yeah. Shortly after that the Agency contacted me, my work had been peculiar and effective and I don’t know what else they said. Five years later I’m one of their lead programmers.”
“So you’re kind of an outlaw. I like that.”
She chuckled.
“I wish, cowboy. I’m a good girl, believe it or not.”
Franklin nodded, without a reply.
“Even if I don’t look like one,” she said.
“Oh, you do, don’t worry about that.”
“What?”
“You look super innocent, I wouldn’t have thought you were an evil criminal.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
“Bad joke, sorry,” Franklin said.
She chuckled, “don’t worry, you’re cool... for a muscle bound geek, I mean.”
“Hey! I’m not a—”
“Yes, you are and you know it, why else would they have sent you?”
He shrugged, maybe she was right.
“I expected, you know, someone more... more like me.”
Franklin tried to untangle that.
“I don’t follow...”
She shrugged, pressing her lips, careful not to spill her chocolate.
“You know...” she said, pointing down with her head, “like me.”
Still he didn’t get it, she sighed.
“More stereotypically nerdy?” she said.
He snorted at that.
“You’re anything but stereotypical, girl.”
She looked down.
“What’s the matter?” Franklin said.
“Nothing.”
“Hey, I meant it in the best possible way, he said, his deep voice resonating in the room, you’re incredibly smart and sexy and cool... and your work... damn, I admire you.”
She chuckled, “shut up, you don’t mean that.”
“I do!”
“I’m not sexy.”
Franklin was taken aback. He didn’t immediately reply because he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” he finally said, “but I think you’re the hottest girl I’ve ever seen.”
“Me? Franklin...” she said as she looked down at her body.
“What?”
“There’s a million other girls prettier than me, and skinnier—”
“Sorry,” he interrupted, patting her leg subconsciously, “I can’t let you go on. I don’t think bony girls are sexy at all. I like curvy, I—”
He stopped.
“I’m sorry I said that. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
She smiled, “don’t worry, thank you.”
“For what?”
She wondered.
“I don’t know.”
Franklin’s pulse raced. His bear roared and snarled inside. What the heck is going on with me? The way his bear acted, it felt as if it was going crazy.
She smiled at him, a little awkwardly, biting her lower lip.
This woman was magnetic.
Her eyes turned to him, shining in the dullness of the cabin as a diamond in a dark tunnel, her red lips asking to be kissed.
He held back as much as he could, but his bear roared mightily inside, “mate!”
Every hair on his skin bristled, the animal wanted to come out. His jaw began to give way to the beast.
No. You stay inside.
He was a White Paw shifter. The hardest, most powerful clan in the country. He would not give in to his instincts.
He was smart.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
The longest second passed. Franklin looked away, he couldn’t see her any longer or he’d die when the work was done and she went away. He took a deep breath and finally answered.
“My bear wants you,” he said.
She gasped, unable to articulate any thought for a moment.
“What?”
“I’m sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable.”
Her eyes would not leave him. She didn’t recoil in fear or turned away.
“Why me?”
His eyes explored every inch of her body. Her full lips, her curvy waist, her eyes, the tone of her voice... and her wit, her intelligence, the way she carried herself.
She was on top of things. She acted.
She had everything he could ever want.
She had been right, after all. She was perfect.
He sighed and said, “I don’t know.”
He didn’t want her to feel threatened. They’d started an awesome friendship and now his bear acted like this.
Ready to fuck everything up.
But he wouldn’t let it.
Even if it was right and he found his true mate.
***
Sophie had to hold back. This man is my boss. Well... kind of. But the way he looked at her, almost devouring her with his eyes didn’t make her nervous.
It made her horny.
Stay professional, Soph. This is a cool guy, don’t mess it up.
She could tell he really wanted her. And it had been years since she’d been with someone.
But she didn’t want a one night stand. Even if it was with a freakin’ Adonis.
He cleared his throat and looked at his cell phone.
“It’s late,” he said, pretending to be surprised at the time, but she knew that another 5 minutes in there would have been their downfall.
She nodded and stood up. He was smart. He was a gentleman.
Her bear purred inside, it wanted to be taken. To be claimed.
That made her nervous. It never acted like this. It was ridiculous. From the moment she saw him she knew she was in trouble. He was absolutely hot, but she didn’t think her inner animal would act like this.
He got up behind her and walked to the small corridor leading to their rooms. They acted professionally, but the emotional undercurrent took them places she wasn’t sure were innocuous.
She followed him, the warmth of his body reaching out to her even from a yard away.
“This is me,” he said, opening the door to his room, and just as he did an intensely cold drift hit her square in the face.
“Oh, God,” she said, “why is it so cold?”
He went inside the room and sat on the bunk, taking off his jacket.
“I don’t know,” he said, “but it’s fine, don’t worry.”
She knew alpha bears like him could endure hard weather, but this was much mor
e than she imagined.
She took a glance at him again, wide neck and back, big pecs pressed against the soft fabric and huge bulging arms. His tanned, olive skin made him look like a Mediterranean God.
The way he looks at me. As if I was the only woman in the world... Was this connection happening to him, too?
The cold breeze grazed her skin again and she found the culprit. A tiny crack on the upper corner of the room made it impossible for the A/C to do its job.
“You won’t be able to sleep,” she said.
“I’ll be fine, seriously.”
He was hiding something. It was as if he wanted her to leave.
She started to get wet. It was embarrassing. They were both bears, she knew he’d pick up her scent.
“Okay,” she whispered and bolted away to her room.
Too close.
It had been too close.
***
Thirty minutes passed. Sophie laid on her bed, cozied up on the thick bedsheets she found on the room’s closet. It was comfortable enough.
You’re an ass, how could you let him sleep over there?
If it had been the other way around, if he’d gotten the comfy room and she the cold one, there was no way he would’ve accepted her staying in it.
Do something now, if you wait longer it will be too late.
She pressed her lips and sat on the bed, put on leggings and a big sweater and walked out the room onto the corridor outside.
A cold drift escaping Franklin’s room beneath the door caressed her naked feet, making her shiver. Gosh, I am an asshole. How cold is that?
She raised her hand to knock on the door. Her heart raced, God knows why. What was she going to say? He could come sleep with her? I mean, not with me. On the floor, or something. Still, he made her nervous.
What if he was already asleep?
Just do it already, what’s the worst that could happen?
She took a deep breath and knocked once, twice and on the third time a thundering crash on the side of building made her bounce away and fall.
The ringing in her ears was the only thing that overcame the silence around her.
Chapter 5
Sophia’s nature kicked in, sharpening her senses, trying to listen for something else, was this an accident? An attack?
The red emergency lights turned on, making the small corridor look ominous and scary. The very next instant, Franklin opened the door and saw her laying on the floor.
“What happened?” he asked, but she didn’t reply.