Perfumed Heat

by Judy Mays

  Artemis glanced at his daughter.

  Hands clenching and unclenching the strap of her evening bag, Belle was staring at him. A scent of confusion and surprise drifted to Artemis. He smiled. His daughter had nagged him for years to find another mate, but deep down, Artemis knew, she never expected him to. But then, neither had he.

  Lifting his other hand, Artemis traced Belle’s cheek then cupped her chin. “Don’t worry, little wolf,” he murmured. “Even though I never expected this, I must follow my instincts. You’ll understand someday.”

  Artemis dropped his hand and turned to his son.

  Tensed as if he were ready to run, Brendan was watching him warily. The slight scent of fear drifted around him. Artemis grinned. Seems like his cocky, self-confident son still recognized his father as Alpha.

  Artemis reached out and squeezed Brendan’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, but…”

  The wariness fled and Brendan grinned, “You have to follow your instincts. Yeah, I know, I’ll understand someday. And, I’d never challenge you, Father.”

  Artemis chuckled. “At least not until I’m an old, old man, I hope.”

  Tucked against Artemis’s side, Moira observed the byplay amongst Artemis and his children. Beneath her hand, his forearm relaxed then tensed then relaxed again. He seemed at ease, yet something about the way he had maneuvered her so that he stood between her and the entire room piqued Moira’s curiosity. And what were he and his children talking about? Little wolf? What kind of pet name was that? Belle must have been a holy terror as a child. What kind of challenge was Brendan talking about? For a minute there, Moira thought Brendan and Artemis were going to fight.

  Moira shifted and shivered. Standing this close to Artemis’s big body was wreaking havoc with her senses. The spicy fragrance of his cologne seeped deeper into every pore with every breath she took. Every nerve she had felt overly sensitive. And it wasn’t just his cologne. Somehow he was different. How? Deep down in her soul she knew he wasn’t like any other man she’d ever met.

  When Artemis looked down into her face again, her gaze went immediately to his mouth.

  He lowered his head towards her. Beneath her hand, hard muscles of his forearm tensed again.

  His scent teased her senses. She rose on tiptoe. One kiss. Just one kiss. She had to taste him.

  “Moira, what do you think you’re doing?” Sylvia James demanded in a strident voice behind her.

  Moira felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her head. Shivering, she tried to step away from Artemis.

  He placed his free hand over the one tucked under his arm and pulled her back against his side. Warmth spread up her am. His hard thigh brushed hers.

  Moira closed her eyes and snatched at her scattered wits. For the first time in six years, she was grateful for Sylvia’s interference. Artemis was so appealing she’d been ready to make a fool of herself in front of a room full of people.

  “As long as you’re wearing that atrocious scent, Ms. James, don’t come any closer,” Artemis said before Moira could reply to her boss. “And, though it’s certainly no business of yours, Moira has agreed to join us for dinner.”

  “She’s my personal assistant. Of course it’s my business,” Sylvia spat from three feet away. “Moira, I forbid you to have dinner with them.”

  Moira’s head snapped up as her anger surged. Her body, already on edge from Artemis’s subtle sexual stimulation, had to release some pressure somehow. Sylvia James was the perfect catalyst. For the last seven years, Moira had put up with her boss’s condescending comments and superior attitude. She was sick and tired of it, and she didn’t care who heard her.

  “You forbid me! You supercilious bitch. Last time I checked this was a free country. I can go where I want, eat dinner with whom I want, whenever I damn well please. I am not a slave. I am an employee, one who can quit whenever she wants to.”

  Conversations around them died.

  A flash of fear appeared in Sylvia’s eyes and her tone immediately became more cajoling. “Now, Moira, you’re overwrought. Let’s go somewhere and talk about that raise you wanted.”

  Another shiver of anger raced up Moira’s spine. “A raise? You want to talk about a raise now?” She leaned forward.

  Artemis squeezed her hand. His thumb slipped under her palm and began to trace delicate circles.

  A different kind of shiver raced up Moira’s spine.

  Moira took a deep breath. Screaming at Sylvia James wasn’t going to accomplish anything except entertain the avariciously nosy groups around them. There was only one thing left to say to her. Looking straight into her boss’s face, she said, “I quit. My resignation will be on your desk in the morning.” Moira looked up into Artemis’s face. “I’m ready to leave any time you are.”

  With a nod, Artemis acquiesced. “Of course, my dear. Brendan, Belle.”

  “I’ll fetch the car,” Brendan said. He swept the room with a quick glance then walked away.

  Sylvia’s voice became desperate. “Moira, please…”

  Moira opened her mouth, but Artemis squeezed her hand again. He directed his comments to her ex-boss. “Good night, Ms. James. The proper paperwork to dissolve any tentative partnership will be delivered to your offices tomorrow. Belle, Moira, shall we go?”

  Moira smiled as Artemis led her away. She could hear her ex-boss sputtering something, but she ignored it. Finally, after seven years of Sylvia’s snide comments, unreasonable expectations, and, at times, unqualified dishonesty, Moira had found the courage to quit her job. For one night at least, she was going to damn the consequences. Tomorrow she’d worry about how she’d support her grandfather.

  Belle slowed until she was walking at Moira’s side. “That was interesting. I didn’t think Sylvia James would care so much about losing a secretary. What do you have that she wants so badly.”

  Moira knew her chuckle sounded spiteful, but she didn’t care. “I have the formulas to all her best selling perfumes memorized.”

  Belle’s eyebrows rose half way to her hairline. “Oh? Sylvia James didn’t impress me as the type of boss who’d allow a secretary such vital information.”

  Moira’s next chuckle was filled with malicious joy. “I developed them.”

  Moira didn’t notice the sudden flare of satisfaction that gleamed in Belle’s eyes.

  Outside, Brendan was waiting next to a limousine.

  Artemis helped Moira into the car then turned to his children. “You two don’t mind taking a cab, do you?” He slid into the car without waiting for their answer and pulled the door closed behind him.

  Chapter 3

  Soft light illuminated the inside of the limousine, as Moira settled back against the buttery-soft, leather cushions. The opaque window separating the driver from the passengers was closed.

  Artemis slid into the limo, pulling the door shut behind him.

  Brendan and Belle did not join them.

  Moira’s glance leaped from the closed door to Artemis. She was alone with him, and he was staring at her with that same intense expression that had been on his face earlier.

  Trying not to seem too obvious, Moira inched across the seat away from him.

  A predatory glint appeared in Artemis’s hooded eyes.

  Moira’s breath caught in her throat. Okay, what have I gotten myself into now ? “Where are Brendan and Belle?”

  He leaned closer. “They’re taking a cab.”

  Her back against the opposite side of the limo, Moira swallowed. “Oh. Ahhh, thank you for getting me away from Sylvia. You don’t really have to take me to dinner.”

  Artemis stretched his arm out along the back of the seat behind her. “I know.”

  Lifting his other hand, Artemis rubbed his knuckles against her cheek. “Your skin is as soft as it looks.” His fingers slipped behind her neck. Gentle pressure pulled her towards him. He bent closer. “You are a very lovely young woman.” Then his mouth was on hers, his lips moving in a gentle, searching manner.
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  At first, Moira stiffened, but his kiss was so gentle and undemanding, she relaxed. Her lips softened and moved under his. Her hands drifted up to his shoulders. She sighed and inhaled his scent.

  The fragrance of Artemis’s cologne began to weave its spell again, enveloping Moira, seeping into her senses, tightening its hold on her psyche. How could cologne be so—seductive?

  Pulling her lips from his, Moira asked, “What’s the cologne you’re wearing? It smells like Artemis Gray, yet it’s different, somehow. The bottle I bought doesn’t have the same ingredients.”

  Artemis’s hand remained on her neck. He slipped his fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck and began to trace delicate circles on her sensitive skin.

  Her pulse beat erratically.

  He caressed her cheek with his thumb. “It’s a special blend for my personal use.”

  Breathless, Moira stared up into his eyes. Why was he so irresistible? “The audacity, to name a cologne after yourself.”

  “I’m an audacious man. I see what I want, and I take it.”

  Moira noticed flecks of gold in the irises of his gray eyes. Butterflies danced in her stomach. “What do you want?”

  His stormy gaze was even more intense than it had been before. “You, Moira. I want you. Do you want me?”

  Instead of answering, Moira inhaled. She’d been mixing scents since she was a girl but had never encountered anything like this blend of Artemis’s cologne. Its uncanny fragrance was pure sexual stimulation, titillating and promising at the same time, an eclectic mixture of pine, sandalwood, cedar, and something else, something more subtle. Who would have ever thought those diverse scents could be melded into one compelling fragrance.

  Opening her mouth, Moira inhaled and swallowed, using taste as well as smell to analyze the elusive ingredient in his cologne. Her eyes widened. “Aconite,” she murmured. “Wolfsbane. That’s your base. That’s why I’m so attracted…”

  As Artemis planted light kisses on Moira’s neck and throat, her scent and taste settled around him like a warm blanket. The urge to mate grew stronger. “Why?” he murmured. “Why is aconite so appealing to you?”

  Sighing, Moira closed her eyes and bent her head to the side, giving Artemis greater access. “Aconite is a base ingredient of the perfume I’m wearing now.”

  Artemis lifted his head from Moira’s neck and stared down into her face. No wonder his reaction to her had been so strong. Aconite, wolfsbane, just a whiff of its pungent aroma had the werewolf in him howling for dominance. He should have known since he used it himself. Now he recognized the subtle scent enhancing the lily of the valley bouquet of her perfume, could isolate its sharp bite on his tongue from kissing her neck. The arid bite of the aconite based perfume combined with the earthy smell of Moira’s own sexual heat was an enticement impossible for Artemis resist. Lust surged through his blood. His balls contracted, and his cock expanded and stretched to its full size. His body demanded that he mate— now .

  Sweat broke out on Artemis’s forehead as he struggled to control the urge to tear Moira’s clothing from her body, to pull her beneath him and plunge his cock in and out of her as hard and deeply as possible. He cupped Moira’ face in both hands. “I want you, Moira,” he repeated. “Do you want me?”

  Moira opened her eyes and stared into his. Why fight fate? She’d wanted him since she first saw him stalking across the room. “Yes, Artemis, I want you.” Lifting her head, she melded her lips to his.

  Groaning, Artemis pulled Moira onto his lap, his left arm curled around her shoulders while he slid his right hand down her silk clad back and hip and thigh. He bunched her dress in his hand, pulling it up until he touched skin. When his hand slipped back up her thigh, her dress went with it. The combination of the cool skin whispering against her thigh followed by his warm, rough fingers had her shivering with anticipation. She wanted this man more than any she’d ever met.

  Blood pounding in his ears, Artemis sucked Moira’s tongue into his mouth. Still, he had his werewolf soul firmly under control. He wanted more than just a quick mating. He wanted to play first, to have Moira fall apart in his arms so he could watch her face as she came. Then he would take his pleasure—and bring her to climax again.

  Repositioning Moira on his lap, he pushed her dress to the top of her thighs and slid his fingers between her legs. When his fingers reached her wispy, silk panties, he tore them away.

  Still in the first stages of her heat, she was only slightly swollen but wet, so very, very wet.

  His cock strained against his trousers. He needed her to touch him.

  Pulling his hand away from her thighs, Artemis jerked his pants open unmindful of the button that flew across the limo. He ripped his silk boxers and allowed his cock to spring free. Capturing one of Moira’s hands in his, he guided it to his erection, shuddering when her fingers first teased its length—dancing and stroking down one side and up the other.

  As her tongue mated with his, Moira gripped Artemis’s cock and, slowly at first, then faster and faster, pumped it, her fingers squeezing, relaxing their grip, then squeezing harder again. Artemis groaned into her mouth when she palmed his first drops over the head over his cock. His balls tightened even more. The urge to explode built higher and higher.

  “Easy, love. Not yet. You have to come for me first.”

  She didn’t fight him when Artemis pulled her hand from his cock and slipped his between her thighs. He slid his fingers into her wet slit.

  When Artemis slid his fingers between her legs, Moira moaned and spread her legs. Yes. This was what she wanted, what she needed. She stabbed her tongue into his mouth, mating it to his. When he slid first one finger then the second inside of her, she sobbed and thrust her hips against his hand.

  “More, please, more.”

  Moira tilted her head back when Artemis’s mouth left hers to trail kisses down her neck to her silk covered breasts.

  The sound of ripping cloth filled the limo as Artemis used his teeth to tear her dress and bra from her breasts. He sucked first one then the other nipple into his hot mouth, fingers sliding around and around her clit.

  Moaning into his mouth, she thrust against his hand again.

  He raised his head from her breast and stared into her face. “What do you want, Moira?”

  Moira gripped his shoulders with both hands, straining against the fingers that swirled and dance between her thighs. “You,” she sobbed. “Please, I need you inside of me.”

  Artemis’s breathing grew harsher. “Like this?” He thrust two fingers into her.

  A low keening moan escaped from Moira’s throat as she arched into his fingers, her internal muscles clutching at the slippery digits as she ground her hips against his pumping fingers. The combined scents of Artemis’s cologne, her own perfume, and musty aroma of sex swirled and wafted around them, flooding Moira’s senses. Her arousal spiraled.

  Artemis sucked her nipple into his mouth and slid a third finger inside.

  Her stomach muscles clenched, and her thighs shuddered. “Oh God, oh God, oh God.”

  Artemis lifted his head from her breasts and looked into her eyes. “Now, love, come for me now.”

  She shattered.

  Before Moira stopped shuddering from her orgasm, Artemis sat up and settled back against the seat and pulled Moira onto his lap facing him. He had to be inside of her. Now! “Put your legs around my waist, love.”

  After she complied, he shoved her dress up around her waist, lifted her up, and dropped her onto to his cock, thrusting into her deeply as he could.

  “By all the gods, you’re tight,” he groaned. He buried his face in her neck, gripped her ass, and pulled her towards him as he began to pump.

  Moira’s hand slid down his shirt, bunching it in her fists. Buttons flew as she jerked it open and threaded her fingers through the hair on his chest. She pinched a nipple.

  Artemis gritted his teeth as his balls burned. He didn’t think his dick could get as hard and
achy as it felt now. Still he fought against the pressure. His cock hadn’t been inside of a woman for more years than he cared to remember so he was going to fight the urge to come and keep burying himself into Moira as long as he possibly could, allowing her slick muscles to grasp, clench, and squeeze him until she milked him of every drop of resistance. Only then would he allow himself his release.

  Moaning, Moira arched her breasts towards Artemis’s mouth as he impaled her on his cock. He was so very hot, so very, very hard. Her muscles stretched to accommodate his length then tightened to suck him further inside.

  Sitting on Artemis’s thighs with her legs around his waist, Moira shuddered as he stretched and filled her more than any other man ever had. She wiggled, and he slid deeper. She caught his rhythm, pulling him deeper and deeper with each thrust.

  He lifted his face from her neck, lowered his head, suckled a nipple then nipped it.

  A bolt of electricity seemed to jolt from her nipple to her groin. He suckled again and gyrated his hips, pushing his cock deeper.

  Moira swiveled her hips and strained against him, sucking his cock even deeper into her body. She was hot, so hot. Pressure built. She threw back her head and screamed as another orgasm ripped through her.

  This final tightening of her muscles was too much for Artemis. He slammed his cock into Moira as he felt his come erupt through his cock all the way from his balls.

  Gasping for breath, tears rolling down her cheeks, Moira collapsed against Artemis’s chest, inhaling the combination of cologne and male that comprised Artemis’s unique scent. Never has she experienced such wild, uninhibited sex. At the moment, she didn’t think she could even lift her head. Nuzzling his neck, she caught a bead of sweat on her tongue.

  The warm rasp of Moira’s tongue against his neck sent an electrical jolt into Artemis’s still hard cock. He slid his hands around down over her ass and began to knead, lifting and separating each cheek then pushing them back together again.

  Moira moaned and tightened her muscles around his cock.

  Then Artemis realized the car had stopped moving.

  Sighing, he slid his hands up to her waist, lifted her off of his cock, and set her on the seat next to him.