Beauty and the Wolf

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Beauty and the Wolf Page 2

by Lynn Richards

“Damn it,” he muttered the curse this time.

  The five foot piece of fluff had him so screwed up he was impotent around other females.

  “What’s wrong?” his father questioned him again.

  “Nothing, Dad.” He still wasn’t ready to admit to his father, to anyone, that he had found his mate. Much less she had him so tied up in knots he couldn’t fuck. He took a seat behind his desk and the other man sat in low slung leather chair to the side.

  “What did you do?”

  “You’re concern is touching. Your questions went from what happened to what did I do wrong in less than a minute. That’s a new record even for you.” He didn’t know why he was giving his old man such a hard time, his father was usually quite supportive of him.

  “I can smell fear.”

  Oh, that’s why he was giving him shit; he didn’t want his father discovering who his mate was. If he didn’t get his father out of the office, he’d recognized her scent and also know he’d just jerked off in the shower. There was no privacy between wolves when it came to emotions or bodily functions.

  “I smell aroused female, Jake. Who was here?” He stared at this son, trying not to let the smile break through. He knew exactly who had been here, the same lovely girl he’d meet in the elevator. He also knew his son had discovered she was his mate some months ago. His son just didn’t know he knew.

  “None of your damn business.” Whether Jake wanted to admit it or not, he’d started to exhibit signs that he was a mated male. The little failure of last night and growling at his dad were prime examples. No one talked about a mate’s arousal. No one but a mate.

  “I’ve tried not to interfere in your, um, sex life son, but I won’t abide you hurting a female.”

  “Damn it, Dad, butt out.” He flung himself out of the chair to prowl in front of the windows.

  He was saved from giving an explanation he wasn’t ready to give by a knock on his office door. “Come in.”

  His secretary’s eyebrows rose when she saw the two holes by door but she didn’t say a word which wasn’t unusual. She’d seen some strange shit in the last year but hadn’t questioned any of it. Because of her ability to keep a secret she’d risen in the ranks and now held the position of his personal assistant. She knew more about him than he cared to admit. She also knew he had the hots for her friend.

  She smiled at him and ignored his angry countenance. “Did Sophie drop off the file you requested?”

  “Yeah, she brought the file. Would you care to explain why she brought it?” He knew she’d been behind Sophie’s unexpected visit. They had gophers in the mail room to message files from department to department. There was no reason Sophie should have hand carried it. No reason at all.

  As he expected she ignored his question. “I’m so glad she was able to help you. Is there anything else I can get you, sir?”

  “No Mary Ann, I think you’ve given me quite enough today, don’t you?” His smile was lethal. His pack members would have been bowing before him at that look but the woman was made of sterner stuff. She simply smiled at him and his father and backed out of the room.

  * * * * *

  Sophie sat on the couch dressed in her favorite sweats and t-shirt. Both were baggy as hell but so comfortable she didn’t care. Lord knew she needed comfort. After the incident with Jake she’d left work early and come home to lick her wounds.

  Not that Jake had hurt her in any way. In the business world she was use to men who ranted and raved when things didn’t go their way. No, she was hurt more by what he hadn’t said or done. He had been giving off an “I want sex” vibe you could feel a mile away and he had looked at her with anger and contempt.

  But man, oh, man he’d been gorgeous. She closed her eyes and pictured him as he’d looked in the hallway. The light from the bathroom had cast an aura behind him setting off his muscular physique in an oh so mouth watering way. The top button of his dress pants had been open and his crisp white shirt unbuttoned to reveal the dark hair covering his chest. She so loved dark haired men with just the right amount of body hair. Jake had just the right amount, forming almost a perfect arrow from his pecks to his, um, well, past the waist of his pants. She assumed he didn’t go in for manscaping, or at least she hoped he didn’t. She thought that look so unmanly.

  He had presented a perfect OMG moment.

  And then he had growled.

  And then his eyes had glowed.

  Sophie started to hyperventilate when she thought about what she’d seen.

  Why would a man’s eyes glow? Surely it had just been a trick of the light.

  Before she could think too much more about it, or scare herself silly with wild, fanciful thoughts, the front door burst open.

  “Sophie honey, what happened?

  Her friend’s concern unleashed the flood of tears she had tried hard not to shed. The other woman pulled her into her arms, stroking her back.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t there. Right after I called you, things went to hell in a hand basket. Jake cancelled the meeting without warning, then ordered me go take notes in a meeting in marketing – which I have never done before. There wasn’t time to call and warn you not to come.”

  The tears finally stopped and Sophie pulled back from the comforting embrace of her friend. She grabbed a tissue from the coffee table, wiped away her tears, and blew her nose.

  “How did you know something was wrong?”

  “The two holes by Jake’s door were a dead giveaway.” Mary Ann grinned at her friend’s look of disbelief.

  When she’d walked into Jake’s office, she hadn’t seen any holes. “What holes?”

  “He didn’t confess to me, but I’m assuming he put them there after you left. What exactly did you do to the man?” Mary Ann’s voice was dry with suppressed humor.

  “Oh Mary Ann.” She didn’t know what to say. The walls were solid oak paneling, thick and sound proof or so Mary Ann claimed. It would have taken something – or someone – very strong to dent the aged wood. “Oh Mary Ann,” she said again.

  Mary Ann didn’t know what she should tell her friend. She knew her boss had made those holes, and she knew they’d been made with his fist. Over the last two years she had seen things at Anderson Trading that couldn’t be explained. Even though they purchased top of the line brand furniture, said furniture broke on a regular basis. There were clandestine meetings late at night when no one was supposed to be there. And her boss’s eyes glowed when he was angry.

  “His eyes glowed.”

  “What?” For a moment Mary Ann thought she had spoken out loud.

  “His eyes glowed, Mary Ann. When he got mad at me, his eyes turned this beautiful golden brown.”

  Mary Ann saw the look of adoration on her friend’s face and wondered what she should say. She’d heard rumors for several months now, rumors that were so far fetched she knew they couldn’t be true. But…

  There were just too many things that while explained away with a perfectly logical explanation, were just a little off. That didn’t stop her from trying to fix her best friend up with her boss. Despite all the crazy theories she might have about exactly who or what Jake Anderson was, she also knew he was one of the best and most decent men she’d ever met.

  “Exactly what happened?” Maybe if she knew a few more details she could come up with the next plan of attack. She knew her boss liked Sophie, was even slightly obsessed with her. He was always asking about her, subtlety, but still enquiring. If she mentioned a date Sophie might have had, he was in a bad mood for the rest of the day. She smiled thinking of all the little white lies she’d told him over the last few months. Sophie hadn’t been on a date since she’d started work at Anderson Trading. She knew her friend had fallen in love with her boss the day she’d seen him in the gym without his shirt.

  “He told me to leave. Not just told me to leave, ordered me
to leave. He didn’t even ask why I was there. He was, uh, acting strange. It looked as if he had just gotten out of the shower. Why would he take a shower in the middle of the day?”

  Mary Ann couldn’t suppress her laughter this time. She knew what her boss had been doing in the bathroom. She had five brothers after all. Sophie, despite her ripe old age of twenty eight, was still woefully naive when it came to men. Which was why she needed to get her best friend and boss together, fast. Sophie needed a protector and Jake Anderson fit the bill.

  “Well, the first thing we have to do is get you alone with the man again.”

  Sophie shook her head. “No. I’m done with that. I’m just going to have to accept the fact that he doesn’t want, never could want, me. You didn’t see his face, Mary Ann. You didn’t see his face.”

  Both women lapsed into silence each lost in her own thoughts. Mary Ann was mentally shaking her head at her friend. She knew her boss was attracted to Sophie and she knew if they were able to spend some time together that attraction would flame into a white-hot fire. There had to be a way, she just had to think about it.

  Meanwhile Sophie was thinking maybe Cupid didn’t exist after all. What she hadn’t realized was who needed Cupid when she had a determined best friend?

  CHAPTER TWO

  Sophie turned, trying to see her backside in the full length mirror attached to her closet door. Against her better judgment, she’d allowed Mary Ann to talk her into trying to attract Jake’s attention again. She hadn’t revealed exactly what this great plan was yet probably because she didn’t want to be reminded of the dismal failure of the week before. Her friend had only warned her to dress cute.

  The pinstriped pants and vest coupled with a white t-shirt was about as cute as Sophie could get while still looking professional. In fact, she was looking a little too unprofessional. Taking a hand full of bobby pins she twisted her hair into a bun at the back of her neck.

  There, what looked more professional than a nun bun?

  She rummaged through the plastic container that acted as her jewelry box until she found the chunky red earrings she’d bought on sale on Valentine’s Day. Talk about a dismal day that had been. The earrings were not very professional but the outfit just screamed for them.

  Satisfied that she had done all she could to make herself cute, she stood in front of the mirror studying her reflection. She wasn’t bad looking. She had a nice nose, a full lower lip that some men had found attractive and her eyes were a pretty brown. Unfortunately, her hair was also brown. Brown hair, brown eyes. A mouse. Nothing glamorous about her appearance. Nothing noteworthy about her at all.

  This was a crazy idea. Why should Jake notice her? Find her attractive? She was a big woman, well, not as big as some, but not as small as others. Definitely not as small as the women Jake dated. She had curves. Lots and lots of curves.

  “Sophie, get your butt in gear, it’s time to go.”

  Taking one last look in the mirror, she sighed. All she wanted was for Jake to notice her.

  * * * * *

  Jake tried to rein in his alpha power. He knew the energy hit the occupants of the conference table like a dry electrical storm. Some were humans unaware of their supernatural co-workers but most were pack members. All of them refused to look him in the eye. He knew the humans had an unexplained urge to get up and flee and the wolves were curious about the show of power. Allowing his wolf to dominate in the business arena was not Jake’s usual style.

  His father just grinned. He knew his father suspected he’d found his mate. Unfortunately, this uncontrolled show of power gave credence to his suspicion.

  The reason was simple. Only one woman sat at the conference table, Sophie. She’d pinned her pretty brown hair to the back of her head with what she assumed to be a sophisticated style. It wasn’t. Sophie was too innocent and pure to emote sophistication. But she was the reason his wolf wanted to take control of the man. His mate was surrounded by twelve males. Something he – and his wolf – didn’t like.

  He took his place at the head of the table and started the meeting. He tried to ignore his wolf who clawed to be set free just as he ignored his dick throbbing to be released from the confines of his dress pants.

  “Down, boys,” he mentally commanded. “We’ll have her soon enough.” He had come to that conclusion late last night as he’d jerked off for what seemed like the thousandth time that he couldn’t fight fate. Sophie was his mate and he would claim her. It was now just a matter of when and where. His lips turned up at the corners giving him, naturally, a wolfish smile.

  The department heads made their reports in a concise to-the-point manner. There was no small talk, no bullshitting, no male bonding of any type today. Usually the men shared stories of what happened in their departments or their home lives. Jake was usually a laid back boss, a down to earth alpha, taking an interest in his men. But not today.

  All the men were relieved when the meeting was over. On any given day, they were intimated by the CEO, who wouldn’t be? The man stood six foot two, had to weigh at least 220 pounds of solid muscle and carried himself like gladiator. Today Jake had shown the side of himself that made him the head of the company, alpha of the pack, and one scary son of a bitch. They picked up their folders and headed out the door as soon as he’d dismissed them.

  As Sophie fell in behind the other department heads, Jake spoke. “If you would stay a few minutes, Miss Abbott, I would appreciate it.”

  He stood half way across the room talking to the vice-president of marking and his father. He hadn’t turned to look at her and she wondered how he knew she was almost at the door. Just a few more seconds and she would have been out of the conference room and free.

  Immediately she started torturing herself. What had she done wrong? Why did he want to see her? She went over the presentation she had just made. Even with those dark eyes seeming to bore a hole in her, she’s managed to give legal’s report. She still didn’t know why her boss had insisted she give it this week. Surely this hadn’t been Mary’s plan? Little did she know that was her exact plan. She’d called and insisted Sophie attend the meeting. When the CEO’s assistant insisted, you did what you were told, no questions asked.

  The men walked toward her. The vice-president veered toward the door, but father and son stopped beside her. Both men exuded an air of power, but while Robert Anderson carried a veneer of civilization and sophistication, there was something raw and wild in Jake.

  He had his hands behind his back, the stance drawing the dark blue dress shirt across his chest. He wore no t-shirt and the light matt of hair pressed against the starched linen. Sophie focused on the matching stripes of his tie. His father stood to the side. She knew both men were watching her.

  “Do you want me to stay?”

  Sophie’s eyes snapped up meeting the elder Anderson’s grey eyes. They were twinkling with suppressed laughter. If he wasn’t angry then she must not be in trouble. Her face turned red. Had Jake told him about the incident in his office?

  “No.”

  Sophie shivered. Jake’s voice was cold and angry, much as it had been that day.

  Robert’s eyes lost their laughter. “It might be a good idea.”

  Jake’s gaze never left Sophie’s face. “No.”

  “But she’s –”

  “No.”

  Robert never finished his sentence. He stood for a moment before shrugging his shoulders as if to say I hope you know what you’re doing. He gave his son one last look before turning and walking away.

  Jake’s wolf howled inside his head. His mate was scared. He smelled it on her and so had his father. Damn it to hell, why was he always scaring her?

  “Did I do something wrong, Mr. Anderson?”

  “I’m sorry I scared you the other day, Sophie. And I didn’t mean to scare you just now, either. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

  S
he looked at him, her beautiful brown eyes awash with confusion, and a small amount of trepidation. “You didn’t scare me.”

  Jake’s eyebrow rose.

  “Well, maybe a little,” she admitted.

  “That was not my intention. You, uh, took me by surprise that day.”

  Sophie pushed a tendril of hair behind her ear. The hairstyle she had worked so hard on this morning was falling down. What she didn’t realize was that it made her look all mussed up from a man who’d loved her.

  Jake wanted to make her look like that for the rest of their lives. His dick twitched thinking of the nights they’d spend together.

  “I shouldn’t have walked in to your office unannounced,” she apologized prettily, pink flooding her face.

  Jake raised his hand, tracing his knuckles down her cheek. “You are always welcome in my office.” What he wanted to say was you are always welcome in my life. He sighed silently. What was he going to do? He wanted to claim this woman, had decided to claim her, but she looked so young and so innocent.

  And so goddamn beautiful.

  Her breasts pushed against the cotton of her shirt with each breath. He wanted to push it up and out of the way and taste the sweetness of her nipples. He bet they’d be berry red, peaking into hard points as he licked and suckled.

  He had to walk away before he picked her up and placed her on the nearest flat surface. The floor, the table. The wall. It didn’t matter. He wanted to slide himself inside her pussy. She’d be hot and wet. She’d want him as much as he wanted her. He’d make damn sure of it. His wolf howled inside his head.

  He bent and kissed her, hard and swift, then strode out the door.

  * * * * *

  Jake stomped into his office and the first person he saw was his secretary. His cunning, match making secretary. She knew he was attracted to her best friend and had set out to make his life a living hell. He knew Sophie hadn’t been scheduled to present the report from the legal department. If she had, he’d have cancelled the meeting. No way in hell had he wanted her surrounded by all those males.

 

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