by Meg Ripley
“That makes me feel a little better, actually,” she said with a smile. Her muscles were relaxing, and she sank into the back of the couch. “My girlfriends were so focused on his good looks that they never saw anything wrong, so I thought maybe it was just me. But he always has this weird vibe—and an underlying scent of metal on him. Like blood. I kept waiting to find out if he was some sort of serial killer or something.”
Lance’s eyes widened and his posture became rigid. “You should stay away from him at all costs, Sabrina. He’s dangerous.”
“After tonight? That’s obvious,” she smirked, but his sudden change in demeanor caught her attention. She paused, slowly squinting her eyes at him. “Do you know something I don’t?”
“How could I? I haven’t been at the company very long, or even in this state. But I don’t think any man who raises a hand to a woman is much of a man at all.” He stared into her eyes, challenging her to argue with him.
Sabrina leaned a little closer to him. Her glass was almost empty, and she could feel it. The alcohol was pushing her mouth up into a permanent grin. “You know, you’re a much nicer guy than you let on. You go to the office and pretend like you don’t care about anybody, but that’s not true, is it?”
There was something in his eyes that she couldn’t quite read. “It is true, for the most part.”
“But you wouldn’t have bothered to help me tonight if that were true.” Sabrina scooted a little closer, and she reached out and playfully tapped his arm. His eyes flicked down to her lips and back to her eyes again, and Sabrina felt a thrill of excitement burning in her veins that she hadn’t known for a long time. “So, what does that say about me? Am I special?”
Lance hesitated for a moment. “Sabrina, you’re not really like the others.”
Their faces were only inches apart now. Her chest heaved as she breathed, her lips so close to his. “It isn’t smart to have relationships with coworkers,” she whispered. “It doesn’t work out well.”
“That’s true.” But he didn’t push her away. Instead, he licked his lips.
Their lips melded together, exploring slowly at first. Sabrina felt the heat of his breath, the hard muscles of his arms underneath her hands. She ran them slowly up toward his neck, touching his soft hair. As she leaned forward, her breasts brushed against his chest, and she let out a soft moan of pleasure.
And the efforts weren’t all on her part. He kissed her back, encouraging her to part her lips so their tongues could dance. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer so that their bodies were crushed together, locked in a fiery embrace of passion. He tasted of whiskey and coffee and something else, a deep tang of energy that danced across her tongue and made her want to drag him to the bedroom.
Finally, he put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back. Their faces were still close, and his breath was hot on her skin as he spoke. “We really shouldn’t do this, Sabrina. You’ve had a long day, and it isn’t fair of me to take advantage of you.”
“I promise, you aren’t.” She pressed her lips to his once again, letting go slowly. “I don’t want you to leave.”
“I tell you what.” He returned her kiss, then kissed her forehead. “I’ll leave tonight and let you get some sleep. But maybe I can take you out for dinner tomorrow night.”
“If I say no, then will you stay?”
“No, Sabrina,” he whispered. He was grim and solemn again, a mood he seemed to sway back into easily. “I can’t stay. No matter what. But I’ll pick you up here tomorrow night at eight. Walk me to the door; I want to hear you lock it behind me.”
She sat back and frowned, her heart pounding. She wanted him desperately, more than she had wanted any other man in a long time. With someone else, she would have found some excuses in the back of her mind as to why she shouldn’t be with him, but it just wasn’t like that with Lance. Even the fact that they worked together didn’t coerce her.
“You’re no fun.”
“You’ll get over it. Come on.” He stood up and took her by the hand to help her off the couch. “You keep this locked until you’re ready to leave for work in the morning. I can come over and walk you down to your car, if you’d like.”
Now that she had stood up and walked across the room, her head had cleared a little. Lance was worried about taking advantage of her, but she was trying to take full advantage of him. “You don’t have to do that. I can call one of the security guards, or I can time it so that I’m walking down with one of my neighbors. I’ll be okay.” She leaned against the open door, biting her lower lip and smiling at him. She had never felt like such a schoolgirl around a man.
He had that steely look on his face, the one that she was coming to understand meant business. “Alright. But call me if you need me. I just want you to be safe, Sabrina.”
“I will.” She slowly closed the door, pulling it back open a few inches just before it shut all the way. “Lance?”
“Yes?”
“You’re not really like other people, either.”
“No, I’m really not.”
She let the latch fall into place this time, then she flicked the dead bolt and secured the chain. Leaning against the door, she listened to his footsteps recede down the hallway. Sabrina wasn’t sure what she was getting herself into, but she didn’t care. Lance was wonderful.
5
Lance stormed through his front door and threw his briefcase and suit jacket on the sofa. His keys bounced onto the floor, clacking against the wood, and he left them there. He ran his fingers back through his hair, frustrated and angry. So much had happened that night, and he wasn’t sure if he had handled any of it correctly.
It was late, but he knew there was no way he could sleep. He headed into his bedroom to change into a t-shirt and shorts. Even the little bit of whiskey he’d had at Sabrina’s place wasn’t enough to take the edge off.
Sabrina. What had he been thinking? She was a human, but she was so goddamn irresistible. He hadn’t been lying when he told her she was different. Any other human woman would have been nothing more than an easy lay and he’d just move on with his life, but he didn’t feel that way with her.
He stepped into the guest bedroom, which he had easily transformed into a home gym. Instead of a bed, a weight system took up most of the far wall. He’d added a treadmill, a punching bag, a set of free weights, and a shelf for towels.
His mind instantly cast back to that scene in the parking garage. It had been difficult to keep his human shape when he saw that monster raising his fist to Sabrina. It would have been so fast and simple to shift and eliminate him, turning Max into nothing more than a blood stain on the concrete. But that would have traumatized Sabrina, not to mention he would have to deal with the security cameras he was sure were placed throughout the garage. He might have been able to dispatch him with his words, but sending Max away wasn’t enough to satisfy the animal urges that surged inside him.
Lance laid down on the weight bench and lifted the barbell from the rack. He slowly let the weight descend toward his chest before shoving it back up in the air, pushing all his anger into it. His animal urges hadn’t stopped with destroying Max: he wanted to scoop Sabrina off that couch and drag her into her bedroom. He’d seen the corner of her bed through an open door while she poured the drinks. She wouldn’t have turned him down, and he could have gone as far as he wanted with her, had he stayed.
Sabrina was a sexy, beautiful, strong woman, but he had caught her in a weak moment. The distress of dealing with her ex-lover topped by a large glass of wine—which she had downed quickly—had brought down all her defenses. He wanted to flatter himself into thinking that she truly was interested in him. There was no doubt that he wanted her badly. But she could just as easily wake up in the morning and realize she had made a horrible mistake. Humans weren’t supposed to date their coworkers, and Sabrina was already paying for that mistake once.
Lance moved on to the treadmill, turning it up so that h
is feet pounded against the base of it as he ran. It would have been an amazing night, seeing her naked in that soft bed and having his way with her. But he had let it slip through his fingers. At work the next day, she would probably have avoided him, embarrassed. Their easy banter as boss and secretary would dissolve to a stiff silence. What little pleasure he knew he could be guaranteed from working with her had been taken away, and it was all Max’s fault.
He turned the treadmill up as high as it would go; the downstairs neighbors would probably complain, but he didn’t give a shit.
There was definitely something wrong with Max. Sabrina had wanted to split with him, but he wouldn’t accept it. She hadn’t come right out and said it, but it seemed as though Max harassing her had been a fairly regular thing. Why hadn’t she said anything before? If not to him, to someone else? Wasn’t that what the human resources department was for? It was clear she couldn’t fend him off on her own.
The part that pressed like a thorn into the back of his brain was what she had said about him smelling like blood. She suspected that he had some deep, dark secret, and Lance was beginning to suspect the same thing. He was an abusive ass, but he didn’t strive to cover that up so much. No, there was something else about him that was off. Lance’s mind whirred as he imagined what the truth might be, hoping that he was wrong.
Sweat was pouring down his back. Lance knew he would have to keep his human body in shape, especially now that he no longer had the opportunity to exercise in dragon form anymore. There would be some time while he was at The Club to shift, but that just wasn’t going to be the same. He couldn’t spend hours soaring through the air or a day hunting in the forest. Most of the members who bothered to shift simply lounged their long bodies on the cool grass.
No, nothing was the same here in New York. He turned off the treadmill and grabbed a towel from the nearby shelf to wipe the sweat from his face. Draping it across his shoulders, he left his makeshift gym and stepped outside on the balcony. The night breeze dried his skin and tempted him to let his wings free. It would feel so good to soar up above the buildings and into the night, to get away from the fetid stench of humans that permeated the city.
Lance shook his head. What was he doing? He was surrounded by humans, he worked with humans, and now he was actually considering getting involved with one. What would Uncle Bill have had to say about that? Lance leaned against the railing and closed his eyes.
6
Sabrina carefully swept a new shade of violet eyeshadow over her lid and studied herself in the mirror, wondering if it was too much. She’d been rather buzzed when she kissed Lance, and she had woken up that morning beating herself up for it. She wasn’t the kind of girl who threw herself at guys. She was aloof and self-sufficient, not interested in any man unless he was going to suit her purposes.
But Lance had performed that knight-in-shining armor routine, and it made her lose all her senses. She swiped a shimmering silver shadow over her upper lid and lined her eyes with a slate pencil. He hadn’t acted any differently at work, and she had done her best to do the same. But now that the hour was upon her, she was so nervous, she nearly cancelled.
The doorbell rang, and she dropped her eyeshadow back into her bag before trotting to the door. Lance had changed clothes since he’d left the office, swapping his khaki trousers and white button-down for a dark gray suit that made his blue eyes light up. “You clean up nicely,” she said as she let him in.
“So do you.” His eyes roved down her dark green dress, which just skimmed her knees, and quickly jumped back up again. “Are you ready?”
There was no turning back now. “Let me just grab my purse.”
The restaurant was lavish, the kind of place she couldn’t really afford. Sabrina caught sight of the prices of the entrees and then forced herself not to look at them again. She wanted to be able to enjoy her meal instead of feeling guilty about it. “What’s good here?”
“I have no idea,” he replied honestly, a sparkle in his eye. “I’ve never been here before. But I asked Chuck for ideas.”
A wave of horror crept under her skin. “You didn’t tell him we were going out, did you?” That was one thing she hadn’t thought about when it came to this date. Max hadn’t bothered telling anyone about their relationship, probably so he could have his pick of the secretaries on other floors. But Lance was—hopefully—different.
“Is it that embarrassing to be out with me?” he laughed. “Should I have worn a fake mustache and a rubber nose?”
“It’s just that I don’t want anyone else getting into our business.” She studied the fine linen of the tablecloth, embarrassed that she had said it that way. The wall of confidence she usually wore like a suit of armor was crumbling around Lance. What was it about this man that made her feel so exposed?
“I understand.” He looked over the menu for a long minute before meeting her eyes again. “And no, I didn’t tell him.”
Sabrina’s shoulders relaxed. “I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t ask Wendy for advice. She would have sent you to one of those nude dining events.” The waiter brought her an iced tea, which seemed safer than a glass of wine.
“We could always do that next time, if you’d like,” he said with a smile.
“I suppose we could, but I think I’d rather go for that bar in a cave, instead. I’ve never been, but it could be fun.”
Lance raised his dark eyebrows. “Sounds like it’s right up my alley.”
The waiter came back, smiling and overly-helpful. He took their orders and their menus and promised to return as soon as possible.
“So, tell me,” Sabrina said, leaning forward, “why did you come to New York? I mean, for work of course, but was there anything more than that?”
“No, not really. I’m honestly not sure why anyone comes here, other than the fact that people have been raised to believe that it’s the greatest city in the country. There are good things about it, I suppose, but I don’t get all the hype.”
She tipped her head to the side. “I’m surprised. Everyone else seems to think it has some sort of magic.”
“I don’t think there’s a whole lot of magic in dirty streets, wretched subways and overpopulation.” He pressed his lips together. “But maybe that’s just me. What about you? Are you from here?”
“No, but I like to pretend I am.” She shook her head. “To tell you the truth, I come from a little backwater in Louisiana. I’ve been away from there long enough that I’ve managed to lose the accent, thank god.”
“Why are you ashamed of that?” Lance nodded his thanks as the waiter placed their entrees before them.
“Well, maybe it’s not so much the area or the accent as my crazy family. There aren’t many of us left, but my Uncle Wade—the one I told you about—is an absolute nutjob.”
“Because he believes in dragons?” His pale eyes glinted in the candlelight.
“You’ve got it.” Sabrina sliced into her steak, pleased at how tender it was. A trail of bloody juice funneled out of the cut and across her plate.
Lance was watching it with a surprising amount of interest. After a moment, he realized she was watching and cleared his throat as he focused on his own meal.
“Anyway, Wade is supposed to be coming through New York tomorrow, and he’ll be staying at my place for a couple of days. I figured I would warn you.”
“Why is that?” His eyes were suddenly sharp, his mouth set in a grim line.
She blinked, startled at his reaction. “Just so you don’t get stuck listening to his constant chatter about how dragons are living among us. That’s all. Honestly, I don’t think it would seem quite so crazy if he wanted to talk about aliens or his JFK assassination theories, but he much prefers to talk about dragons.”
Lance had returned to normal. His face was relaxed as he lifted a fork full of lobster tail. “Sounds like quite a character.”
Two hours later, they were safely ensconced once again in the plush interior of Lance’s car.
Sabrina couldn’t help but feel spoiled by being with him; he seemed to have everything. It was odd that he didn’t have the same kind of cocky attitude Max did, but she wasn’t going to complain.
“What would you like to do now?” he asked as he pulled out of the restaurant’s parking lot and waited for traffic.
“My apartment building has this great rooftop garden. We could sit up there and have a drink, if you’d like.” Sabrina smiled, wondering if she was taking this too far. But Lance seemed to have just as much interest in spending time together as she did. It would make for an awkward meeting with the human resources director at some point, but he was willing to risk that.
“Sounds wonderful,” he replied with a smile.
They stopped at her place just long enough to grab a bottle of whiskey and a couple of glasses. Sabrina happily guided him up through her building, almost hoping she would run into a few of her neighbors so they might ask her who that handsome man was and what happened to Max. Lance was certainly worth bragging about. “I’m sorry. The elevator only goes up so far,” she said as they stepped into the hallway on the top floor and she opened a door to a narrow stairway.
“That’s alright. I don’t mind a little bit of exercise.”
The rooftop space had been used efficiently, with plants at every turn and vines growing on metal arches. A few small solar lights had been installed, providing just enough illumination so visitors could see where they were going. She led him down a path created by massive potted plants to a seating area underneath a pergola. “I don’t really get to spend a lot of time up here, but I’m always impressed with how much work the garden committee does. A group of tenants spends their free time maintaining it, and it’s open for anyone in the building to enjoy.” Sabrina set the whiskey bottle down on the table and sat on a cushioned bench, thrilled when Lance sat down right next to her and began pouring.