Romance: The Lion's Chosen Mate: BBW Lion Shifter Romance Standalone (Hunky Shifters Book 1)

by Ashley Hunter

  Then she walked away, aware of Webster spluttering behind her. She was unlocking the door when Webster's voice stopped her.

  "Be in here after lunch." He said gruffly. "We'll go over some paperwork."

  Cadence smirked and opened the door.

  "I'm sure we will."

  #

  The next week seemed to plod by. Webster put Cadence through her paces, making her run out for coffee and lunch, suggesting that she ran articles up to the print room and fetch his mail.

  In between he would give her written tasks to complete, ranging from writing recipes to a full-length article. He rarely let her take a break and Cadence had to grit her teeth to stop herself from letting loose at him.

  It had caused some amusement around the office, particularly with Jolene, who sneered at her and attempted to make Cadence do extra jobs for her. Cadence had protested but was silenced when Jolene threatened to go to Webster and say she wasn't doing her job.

  The boot was on the other foot, however, when Webster found out what Jolene was doing and reprimanded the woman for abusing her position. Cadence felt some satisfaction walking past the woman after that.

  But one thing stood out which surprised Cadence. Despite indicating that there would be sexual interaction between them, which had Cadence's heart rate picking up every time she entered his office, Webster didn't touch her after that day. He made sure not to touch her, barely looking at her. It was as if some light had gone off in his head.

  Cadence didn't know whether it was because she was an employee or she wasn't attractive enough for him. Either way, it made her furious. He couldn't play with her like that and then walk away. She wasn't that sort of person.

  Jasper Webster was just like any other rich man; he walked away when he got what he wanted. He had taken a taste of Cadence and then decided she wasn't worth it.

  That stung but Cadence wasn't going to say anything; there was no point in making it worse.

  Despite her opinion of him, Cadence knew she was inadvertently softening towards him. He saw how he took command and gave orders, not blinking when someone went on the attack at him. In meetings, she had been made to sit in, she had admired his way of taking charge of the whole room, every person hanging on to his every word.

  But she also saw another side of him. She saw the tiredness in his eyes, the exhaustion he tried so hard to hide. Women flocked around him and Cadence was surprised when Webster politely extracted himself from them, barely stopping to speak to them. She had been expecting him to lap up the attention but his mind seemed to be elsewhere. Cadence didn't know what to make of it.

  Maybe he was getting tired of the lothario lifestyle. Mattie had told her Webster was forty-one and he wasn't able to keep up with his own life. She also said he wanted to settle down but he's too scared to take the step when the woman he wanted doesn't accept him.

  Cadence silently thought the woman must be mad not to accept Jasper Webster. She had wished on a few occasions that she wished she was that woman but she brushed it off. Webster was way out of her league; Cadence Steel, junior reporter, was far too beneath him.

  Cadence was still mulling over Webster's 'woman' one evening in his office. They were working late, Webster having set Cadence a task and she sat on the couch scribbling in her notebook while he worked at his computer. She heard a heavy sight and looked up. Webster was slumped in his chair, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

  "Mr Webster?" Cadence put her notebook aside. "You okay?"

  "I'm fine." Webster opened his eyes and looked at her. Cadence saw the tired lining his eyes and the drained expression. He was wiped out. "What have you got left to do?"

  "I've just finished." She was nowhere near done but Cadence was more concerned with Webster. "You need to rest. You've been going flat out for the last three days."

  Three days of working late and Cadence was feeling the effects. Strong as he was, Webster had to be feeling it as well.

  "I said I'm fine." Webster snapped.

  But Cadence wasn't having it. She stood and came round to his side of the desk, leaning against it with her hip, armed folded.

  "Look at me."

  Webster shook his head and stared at his computer screen. Rolling her eyes at his stubbornness, Cadence reached out towards him. She was intending to turn his head so he was looking at her. But Webster's hand snaked out and gripped her wrist before she touched his face.

  "Cadence, you know what happens if you touch me." He growled.

  Cadence didn't but from the way Webster's body stiffened and shifted in his chair, she had an idea.

  "Then look at me, Jasper."

  It was the first time ever she had called him by his first name. Webster seemed to realize this as well because he looked up at her, eyes glowing. Cadence couldn't look away. He was downright gorgeous and those eyes...they were beautiful.

  Forcing back the temptation to climb onto his lap and run her hands all over him, she leant over and looked Webster in the eye, her body trembling as she sank into the brown swirled with gold. There seemed to be more gold lately than brown.

  "You've got black rings under your eyes. Any bigger with your pale face and you'd be mistaken for a panda. Your face has thinned down and you look like you haven't eaten in days." This was probably true because Cadence hadn't been told to get any lunches from the burger bar down the street for the last two days. "You need to go home. It's Friday. Take the weekend off."

  Webster stared at her for a moment. Then he tore his eyes away and sat up, focusing on the document he had up on his screen.

  "Once I've finished this." He grunted.

  "If needs be, I'll do it." Cadence grinned. "I am meant to be your personal assistant, after all. I work the long hours, not you."

  Webster sighed and looked pained.

  "We haven't done anything 'personal', though." He said quietly. "That part of your job title seems redundant."

  "I'm not the one who suddenly decided there would be no touching."

  Much as it had been a bit of a relief at the beginning, Cadence was now desperately waiting for some human contact. Just being this close to Webster was making her pussy contract, wanting to be filled, and her body felt like she was overheating. She just wanted him to do something - anything - to make the aching ease up.

  "I know." Webster started typing again. "Five minutes."

  "You said that yesterday and it turned into two hours." Tapping the button to save the document, Cadence switched off the computer. "Go home. Now."

  Webster turned to her, opening his mouth to argue, but Cadence glared at him. While he was a bastard, she was becoming to care for him and she knew he would keel over if he didn't rest himself soon. She knew that all too well from personal experience.

  It seemed she was winning because Webster closed his mouth and nodded grumpily.

  "Okay. But Mullen isn't here. It'll take him forty-five minutes to get here."

  "Then I'm taking you home." Cadence snagged the office keys from the desk and went to where she had left her bag. She hefted her bag onto her shoulder and slung her coat over her arm, jiggling the keys at Webster. "Get your things. If you're not out in ten minutes I'll pull you out the office, lock you out and you'll have to walk home."

  She could still see him staring at her with his mouth open as she walked away.

  Chapter 5: Getting Past the Walls

  Webster lived in West Chester, just outside of Cincinnati. Cadence could only stare at the houses as she drove past. They were huge. Humongous sprang to mind. They weren't simply for those with a bit of money. The place screamed of extreme wealth.

  Cadence felt very out of place in this neighbourhood, especially with her beat-up precious car. It stuck out like a sore thumb. She was sure if someone saw it they would call the police.

  Swallowing back her unease, she pulled into Webster's drive. His house was not the biggest on the street but it was extravagant. Two storeys with steps going up to an ornate wooden front door,
white brick with immaculate gardens.

  Cadence had always wanted a garden but it had never happened. The garden she had had as a little girl was the only memory she had of grass. The rest of the time she lived in apartments with her mother until she had high-tailed it out of there at seventeen.

  Remembering the garden, she played in as a child reminded Cadence of what she saw when she skipped off into the woods that were at the bottom of their garden. Of what might have happened if she hadn't somehow gotten away. She shoved away the memories and turned off the engine.

  Webster looked dead on his feet when he climbed out so Cadence slipped an arm round his waist and made him walk up to the front door. Webster leant against her, his chin on her head. Cadence could feel the bristles from his unshaven jaw rub against her forehead when she moved her head and she had to bite back the sudden shot of arousal that went through her body.

  She was in serious trouble if she could get turned on simply by stubble.

  Webster gave her the keys and Cadence unlocked the door, leading the way inside and switching on a light, revealing a huge foyer with a sweeping staircase.

  "Do you have any people here?"

  "I have a cleaning lady who comes in three times a week and a personal chef but neither of them will be in."

  "What about Mullen?"

  "He lives back in Cincinnati. He drives up here every morning." Webster keyed in the alarm code and shut the door. He leant against it and closed his eyes. "I need a drink."

  "That's the last thing you need." She guided him to the nearest room, which happened to be the lounge, and made him sit down. "What you need is something to eat."

  "I'm not hungry."

  But Webster's protest was argued by the sudden loud rumbling noises from his stomach. Webster blushed as Cadence laughed.

  "Care to rephrase that?" She set her bag on the couch beside him. "What have you got in the fridge?"

  "I don't know."

  Then Cadence remembered he said that he had a cleaner and personal chef. The cleaner probably did the shopping using her own initiative and the chef made the meals. She would bet a month's salary that Jasper Webster wouldn't know how to cook a decent meal.

  She went through the house and found the kitchen at the back, its huge windows overlooking a massive pool and spacious lawn that looked like it was there for decorative reasons rather than practical. He probably had a gardener as well.

  Cadence felt a shot of sadness for Webster. He had all this money, these people doing his bidding, and yet he seemed lonely. Very lonely.

  She wished she could figure out how to stop him feeling so lonely.

  Shoving her thoughts aside, Cadence searched the kitchen, opening every cupboard to find some food. She found the fridge, disguised as part of the decor, and saw two thick steaks on a plate, a note written on top of them:

  "For Mr Jasper's dinner Saturday. Don't forget he likes medium rare."

  Probably from the cleaner to the chef. It wasn't Saturday but it sorted what to do for food. Cadence pulled the steaks out and picked out two carrots from the vegetable drawer. A search through the cupboard revealed ingredients Cadence could use for a peppercorn sauce and she also found baby potatoes.

  Rolling up her sleeves, she set to work, boiling the water for the carrots while she peeled and sliced them, peeling the baby potatoes and dropping them into another pot of boiling water. Then she worked on the steaks.

  It wasn't often Cadence cooked, preferring to eat takeaway meals at her laptop, but when she did she went all-out to make it gourmet. Belinda and Dorian were appreciative whenever she did cook, especially Dorian whenever she made a meat-heavy meal. She and Belinda were lucky any meat was left after Dorian made his way through it.

  She wondered if that was because of being a shifter. Although he denied it Dorian was showing signs that he changed into an animal every now and then. Eating more meat than the average man was one of them. Especially if it was virtually rare.

  Cadence was aware of Webster standing in the doorway at one point, watching her as she checked on the potatoes and put the steaks on. She could feel the heat from the hob and the heat from his eyes as he perused her from the back. It made her arousal spike and Cadence found it hard to breathe.

  She ignored it by pouring a glass of wine and focusing on that.

  When it was all done, she set the plates on the center counter, setting up a glass of wine for each of them including a glass of water for her. Webster sat opposite her and looked down at his meal, avid hunger in his expression.

  "This looks delicious." He growled.

  Cadence cut her steak, watching as Webster dived into his, barely chewing it before he swallowed. She observed him as he wolfed it down, attacking the baby potatoes and carrots with equal gusto.

  "I don't know how you can eat your steak like that."

  "What, with a fork?"

  Cadence rolled her eyes.

  "Medium rare. Never mind rare, that looks like it's still got a bit of moo left in it."

  Webster chuckled and indicated her half-eaten steak, which was a nice dark brown with barely any blood.

  "While you prefer yours cremated."

  "At least I know it's definitely dead."

  Webster laughed. Cadence's breath caught in her throat. When he laughed, the man was gorgeous. It was all she could do not to launch herself at him and tear his clothes off.

  She was in serious trouble if she was beginning to find his laugh attractive.

  Finally, they finished their meal, both of them engaging in simple conversation that wasn't involved in work. Webster told her about his family, who had been all right with money but they still had to scrimp and save.

  Cadence reluctantly spoke about her mother, the father she hadn't seen in years, and her constant moving. She even told him about the attack in her childhood where she had been chased and attacked by a lion.

  That had got Webster's attention. He had stared at her in astonishment. Cadence had wondered what she had said to make him react that way but Webster wouldn't elaborate. If anything, he was gentler with her, reaching out to touch her hand on numerous occasions.

  His expression softened and Cadence found herself lowering her guard, something she never did around men. There was something about Webster that made her want to tell him everything, open up her soul and pour everything out.

  But she held herself back. If he was anything like the other men she had met, he would walk away and use that as a hold over her. She wasn't prepared for more heartache.

  Eventually she realized that they had finished dinner long ago, their glasses had been refilled twice and Webster was looking at her like she was the most desirable woman in the room. Glancing at her cell phone, Cadence gasped when she saw it was gone midnight.

  "Shit, I'd better get home. It's after midnight."

  She hopped off the stool and started to hurry towards the door. Webster snagged her wrist and spun her round.

  "Please. Stay."

  Cadence could only stare as he climbed off his stool and came towards her, gently tugging her against him. She swallowed as she looked up into his eyes and saw the desire there, so strong she felt like she was being wrapped up in it.

  Her pussy dampened and her nipples hardened against her bra. She could feel them brushing against the fabric and bit back the urge to whimper.

  "Why?" She asked hoarsely.

  "I want you to." Webster reached up and brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek, very softly. "I want you...to stay."

  Cadence caught the hesitation and knew what he wanted. And the prod of his erection in her stomach confirmed her suspicions. He wanted her in bed with him. He wanted her.

  She knew she should back away and say no. Even though he had firmly said he would satisfy their needs sexually, he hadn't touched her after that. It was part of his obligation.

  But she couldn't walk away. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him. She knew the moment he crooked his finger, she could com
e willingly. There was no way out.

  She swallowed.

  "You do realize I haven't got a spare pair of knickers."

  Webster grinned, the brown in his eyes swallowed up by the golden glow. He bent his head and pressed a kiss to her neck.

  "Then don't wear any." He whispered. "I won't complain."

  Cadence's eyes fluttered shut and she clutched at his biceps as she arched into him, his mouth brushing across the skin on her neck, his tongue tracing the outside of her ear. It felt incredibly erotic, all of her nerves alight. He was setting her on fire.

  "Jasper."

  Webster stopped. He raised his head, looking down at her with heavy-lidded eyes. Cadence couldn't stop staring at his eyes.

  "Say my name again." He growled.

  Cadence swallowed.

  "Jasper."

  It sounded so good saying his name. She closed her eyes and said his name again. Jasper growled and cupped the back of her head.

  "God, Cadence."

  Then he was kissing her.

  #

  Jasper could feel his control slipping. Any moment now, he would feel his lion pushing to be let out. Cadence whimpered and clutched at him, wrapping her arms round his neck and arching into his body. He wrapped his arms round her, his hands going everywhere as he adjusted the angle of the kiss, plunging his tongue into her mouth.

  Cadence gave it back as good as she got.

  Jasper wanted to do it right. He wanted to take her upstairs, lay her on his bed, and make love to her, just as she deserved. But he couldn't wait. Not with Cadence pawing him, trying to get his clothes off.

  He swung round and pressed her against the wall, pinning her in with his body. Cadence broke away and gasped as their hips came into contact. Jasper watched her pupils dilate. He cupped the back of her head and brought his mouth down to hers. Cadence responded to him immediately, pulling him closer.