I escort them to the door, and Mason turns, once again attempting to stare me down. I just stare back, deep into his soul. I am centuries older than either of them and a hell of a lot higher on the food chain. He lowers his gaze. Smart boy.
“We don’t mean any disrespect, Jaxon. We’re on the same side, trying to find out why he was, as you put it, left out for anyone to find. If we do have a rogue vampire out on the streets, he needs to be dealt with swiftly and harshly. If for no other reason than to set a precedent that this sort of behavior is unacceptable.”
“If there is, I’ll deal with him myself.” I pat Mason on the shoulder. I know it was a careless act on my part, and honestly, I didn’t think anyone would find him quite so soon. I had every intention of cleaning up my mess tonight, which also would give me another chance to see Maitlin.
As we exit my office, I hear the elevator doors slide open. I smell her sweet, honey scent before she steps around the corner. The little minx wears the same uniform as last night. Any other employee would have altered the top, perhaps even showed up for our meeting in a turtleneck.
But not her. Nope, she knows precisely what she is doing, showing up here with that one button pulling the material tight across her bust. It’s enough to drive any ordinary man crazy, and I am no average man.
Our eyes meet, and she gives me a devilish little smile. The devious expression tells me she is well aware of her choice of shirt and likes to live dangerously. It isn’t until she notices Mason and Ridge with me that her expression changes. Her eyes dart between the two detectives and me as she continues walking towards us, never once losing her composure.
“Detective Stone, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.” Is she… is she blushing as she speaks to him? My hands tighten into fists at my sides. “Did you find out more about the case since this morning?”
I watch their interaction, not paying any attention to what Mason is saying. It is more than clear that he finds her attractive. He stumbles over his words as he speaks to her, evidently not accustomed to talking to a woman as strikingly beautiful as Maitlin.
And if she is any part shifter, she’ll pick up on the heady scent of an alpha male wanting to protect his female. However, that isn’t the case, and she seems more concerned with what he is doing here as it pertains to the case than she is to see him.
Before I can interrupt their little reunion, the phone in my pocket vibrates. I look down at the screen and see a single name. Neil.
I hold the phone up and give it a small shake so Maitlin can see I am going to take the call, then I adjourn into my office. I don’t bother to shut the door so she’ll know just to come in when she’s done talking to the detectives. There is no way this is going to be a long conversation.
I slide my finger along the green answer button and hold the phone to my ear. “Yes?”
“Who the fuck is this?” the voice on the other side yells. “And where the fuck is Ken?”
I walk over to the floor-to-ceiling window and look out over the city. It’s past nine, and the city that never sleeps is coming alive. I have to wonder if the talking corpse on the other side of the line is in my town as we speak. If he is, I’ll find him.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Ken is… permanently unavailable.”
I wait and listen to the groan at the other end. A full minute passes before he speaks again. Negotiations are won and lost by who speaks first, and he just lost.
“And the girl?”
I see Maitlin’s reflection in the window as she stands in the doorway, waiting for me to finish my call. Neil knows her and is capable of sending someone out to grab her and bring her to him. Is he the reason she’s here? Is she in some trouble, or does trouble just seem to find her?
I turn and wave her into my office. I can’t help but let my gaze travel down the length of her body. Fuck me, there was a bar between us last night, and I wasn’t able to take in the full beauty of her from my barstool. But she as she comes forward, she more glides into my office than walks. The sway of her hips nearly makes me drop the phone.
“She’s safe.” I smile at her as she takes a seat in front of my desk. “For now,” I add. If he wants what is going to be mine, he will have to come himself and get her, and I will be waiting.
“I’ll be coming for what belongs to me, you asshole. And after I get it, there won’t be enough of you left to identify.”
I smile, watching the woman in front of me. “I look forward to it.” I disconnect the phone and slide it back into my pocket. There are other much more meaningful conversations to be had sitting in my office.
JAXON
Maitlin sits staring up at me with her larger-than-life blue eyes and a smug look of defiance plastered across her face. Her legs are crossed demurely at the ankle, a striking contrast to the nearly indecent button-down shirt she has on. And, fuck me, is that a hint of black lace peeking out from under that crisp white shirt? She really is trying to kill me, isn’t she?
I feel my cock swell as the thought of slowly unbuttoning that shirt, one deviant button at a time, to reveal her black lace bra. Did she wear that on purpose, knowing it would drive me crazy? Probably.
“Miss Addams.”
“Mr. Krieger.”
She purses her lips together as I let the silence between us grow until it is almost unbearable. Welcome to negotiations 101, Miss Addams.
“Do you know that Krieger means warrior in German?”
My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. I expected her to speak—most people find silence to be unnerving somehow. I often find it very telling, especially by the first words spoken to break the silence. And true to her form, Maitlin shocks the hell out of me when she speaks.
“Do you speak German?”
“No…” Her cheeks redden, followed by the skin of her neck and down to her décolletage. She fidgets in her seat and crosses her arms around her waist, which causes a little bit more of the black lace to peek through.
I am delighted that she is as challenging as she is, wearing a shirt that got us this meeting in the first place. It is quickly becoming my favorite uniform.
“Google?” I ask. The way her eyes fall to the floor tells me all I need to know. “Find anything interesting in your search?”
“Nothing that I can’t find in the employee newsletter. By the way, a picture in the newsletter would be helpful.”
“I’ll take it under advisement.”
We seem to have a battle of wills going on between the two of us, and I am rather enjoying it. It is unusual for anyone to test my patience as she is doing, and completely unheard of from anyone who works for me. She is as stubborn as she is beautiful, which is becoming evident the longer we sit here. I catch her glancing down at her watch.
“Someplace you need to be?” I observe as she fidgets again in her seat and then openly looks at the time on her wristwatch again.
“I have a shift starting upstairs at ten that I would hate to be late for. I’m sure adding tardiness to my uniform violation will not look good to my employer.” Her tone is playful but full of sass as she speaks. The more I watch her crimson lips move, the more I want to see them wrapped around my cock as her big blue eyes look up at me from her on her knees.
“I’m sure Leif is more than capable of handling things while you and I have our chat.” I walk over and take the seat next to her instead of the one behind my desk. “Evidently, I’ve lost the battle over the shirt. But I’m willing to let it slide.” I wave my finger up and down so she looks at her choice of outfit.
I watch as she pulls at the offending button in a feeble attempt to close the gap in her blouse. “It’s the company-issued shirt. Not my fault. It’s meant for waifs with no breasts or curves to speak of.” She rises from the chair. “If there’s nothing else, I do need to get to work.”
I don’t want her to leave, and I desperately want to have a conversation with her and ask her just what kind of trouble she is in. What happened in her life that some psychopath would be w
aiting outside her apartment for her to go to sleep so he could do God only knows what with her. As if on cue, the phone in my pocket buzzes.
I stand. “Actually, there is something else.” She glares at me from two steps away, placing her hands on her hips, causing that fucking button to expose just a little more of her creamy flesh covered in black lace. I can feel the familiar tingle along my gum line as I inhale her sweet, natural scent and a mixture of anger and… arousal. That certainly does nothing to curb what I am feeling.
“Skirt length?” She questions, looking down at the modest black knee-length skirt that hugs her curves like a second skin.
I admire her bravado at speaking to her boss with such sauciness. So much so, I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. She taps her foot and openly looks down at her watch again, waiting for my response.
I close the distance between us. Maitlin is taller than average, but with my six feet six frame, I still tower over her. “Who is Neil?” The question is out of my mouth before I think better of it. If the look on her face is any indication, it’s a question I have no business asking her.
Shock, panic, and anger sweep over her features. “What? Why, did he call here or something?” I watch as she spins on her heels, ready to smash through my office door, her fists clenching and unclenching in what could only be described as pure, unadulterated fury. “I can’t believe he would do something so… so…. Neil.”
She turns and storms back towards me with fire in her eyes. Her quick advance has me taking a step back. I don’t know whether to be frightened or turned on anymore as she comes to within a hair’s breadth of me. If I thought she was sexy before, Maitlin in a fit of rage is… well, let’s say if she looks down, she’ll probably see just how much of an effect she is having on me.
“How many times did he call here?”
She jabs her finger into my chest to emphasize her point, clearly not caring who I am. Not that I mind the personal contact—entirely on the contrary. I grab her wrist before she can jab me with her finger again.
The action pulls her body flush against mine, and I hear her breath catch as I hold her. Her eyes are wide, and her lips just slightly parted. I watch, transfixed by her as her little pink tongue darts out along her full lower lip, making it moist and utterly kissable.
“Are you finished?” My voice comes out gruff, and I might have pulled her against me a bit tighter, not caring that the position we are in is beyond inappropriate for any working relationship.
She gives me a quick nod of her head. “I think so.”
Her voice is soft and breathless, utterly devoid of the anger it held just a moment ago. Her pupils are dilated, and the faint scent of arousal is now permeating my nostrils. There can be no doubt that she is feeling our connection as well.
I release her wrist and motion for her to sit back down. I take my customary stance against my desk, needing to distance myself from her before I do something beyond stupid…like taking her in my arms and kissing that tempting mouth of hers until we are both breathless. Then I’d sink my fangs into her delicate flesh to taste her sweet blood until I hear her moan my name and beg me to fuck her.
“So tell me, who is Neil, and why is he harassing one of my employees?” I watch as she crosses her legs, her skirt riding up her creamy white thigh ever so slightly. I should probably move to behind my desk before I embarrass myself by sporting a hard-on right at eye level.
I adjust myself and continue, “Boyfriend? Husband?”
She chuckles, shaking her head as she looks down at the floor. “No, neither.”
I let out the breath I’m not even aware I am holding while I wait for her answer. Just hearing that this Neil is not her boyfriend or husband gives me an odd sense of relief. Not that she can’t still be involved with someone. But it will make it much less complicated when I have to kill Neil for, as he put it, “coming for what was his.”
“He’s my ex-fiancé.”
I remain quiet and just watch as she fiddles with her naked ring finger on her left hand. “And to say that it ended badly is an understatement.”
She looks up and our eyes lock. There is much more to this story than she is letting on. Evidently, the relationship has ended, but sane people don’t send henchmen to kidnap their exes. It just isn’t done.
“And?” I motion for her to continue.
“And… he’s the reason I moved here from Boston. He calls my cell non-stop, and I avoid most of his calls. I never thought in a million years that he would stoop to harassing me at my job.”
“What do you mean, you’ve been avoiding most of his calls?” I know my line of questioning is going way over the boundaries of employer to employee conversation, but I don’t give a fuck.
“He called me last night after my shift. The only reason I even answered was to tell him to stop calling me.”
Her answer sends a jolt of anger through me. The asshole called her, knowing someone was waiting at her apartment for her. I am going to kill him very slowly and enjoy every second of it as I do. To my surprise, and before I can even stop her, she grabs her cell phone out of her bag.
“I’m going to call him right now and put an end to this.”
I open my mouth to stop her, then I think better of it. But not before she holds up one slender finger instructing me to wait before I speak. I’ve never been drawn to a woman more.
I can’t remember the last person who dared to silence me with nothing more than a finger. Besides, I am curious as to what this douche-bag ex will say when she asks why he was calling her job—when clearly, he hadn’t.
She paces in front of my desk, her cell to her ear, waiting for Neil to answer. All I can do is sit back and watch. After only a few rings, he picks up.
“Where are you?” I can hear him speak loud and clear from where I lean against my desk. Maitlin must realize that her phone volume is louder than usual and clicks it down before she speaks. Not that it matters to me, I’ll still be able to hear him as clearly as if he is standing in the room with us.
“Can you please explain to me why I’m sitting in my boss’s boss’s boss’s office having to explain why you’ve been calling my job? This is completely unacceptable and low, even for you.”
I love that she ignores his question and launches into her line of interrogation instead, obviously a woman who isn’t going to take shit from anyone. Although, she should have added a few more bosses in there to be accurate.
“Who’s in there with you now?” I hear Neil ask, despite the lower volume.
“What? Why?” I watch as her nose crinkles at the question. It seems to be a habit she has when she is confused. She did it the night before, when I asked for a Macallan, and she thought it was my name, not my drink. “It’s just Ja… Mr. Krieger and myself. He is nice enough not to get Human Resources involved. So I’m assuming your little stunt isn’t going to get me completely fired.”
“Let me talk to him.”
She finally looks up at me, catching me staring at her intently. Fuck, I want this woman.
“Are you insane?” For a moment, I’m not sure if she is speaking to Neil or me, although the description fits both of us perfectly.
“I want to apologize for my… poor use of judgment.”
“Fine.” She lets out a huff and hands me the phone.
It is evident that this Neil is no fool. He knows he never once called here for any reason. But he has my curiosity piqued. “This is Jaxon Krieger.” My voice is all stern business, even though I skipped the formal introduction. I keep my eyes locked with Maitlin’s as I listen to Neil on the other end.
“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are or what game you’re playing. But you and I both know I never called there.”
“Well, Neil, I appreciate your earnest apology. As you can imagine, we are just concerned about Maitlin’s safety. I take the well-being of people in my employ very seriously.”
Recognition courses through Neil’s voice. “So you�
�re the fucker with Ken’s cell. Interesting. As I told you before, she’s mine. And I intend to come back for what’s mine.”
“Of course, I completely understand. A woman like Maitlin is…” I let my gaze roam down her curvy body then back up before meeting her baby blues once again. “Unforgettable. I probably would have done the same thing. But her life is here now, and I think you need to accept that and let her move on.”
I disconnect the call before he can even respond. Not that there is much to say with Maitlin in the room. The phone in my pocket vibrates, and I ignore it… for now. I place Maitlin’s cell on my desk instead of handing it back to her.
“You need to change your number.” I deadpanned. “In fact, please go down tomorrow morning and see Kelly in accounting. She handles expenses. She’ll have a corporate cell phone waiting for you.”
“Mr.Krieger—”
“Jaxon,” I interrupt her.
“All right, Jaxon. That’s not necessary. He’s not some deranged stalker. Neil’s harmless.” Her head bobs forward as if she doesn’t have the strength to hold it up and be strong anymore.
I can’t tell if her voice is full of sadness or embarrassment over the situation in which she finds herself when she speaks, but it nearly breaks me. I am not a hundred percent sure she even believes what she is saying.
I think something inside her knows that Neil isn’t as harmless as she wants to convince herself. I want so badly to take her in my arms and tell her that no one will ever hurt her so long as I draw breath. But I have already far overstepped the employer line by a mile.
I know better than to reach for her, but I do anyway. I place two fingers under her chin, forcing her gaze to mine. “He’s not the man you think he is. Let me help you.”
MAITLIN
Jaxon holds me hypnotized in his stare. He radiates power by doing nothing but standing there. His eyes are the most fantastic hazel-green I’ve ever seen. But behind them lurks something dark and foreboding. They remind me of a dark, haunted pine forest, and they are just as mysterious.
Jaxon (Blood Angel Chronicles Book 1) Page 7