Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“You disappeared on your first day of work, didn’t manage to follow simple instructions, and I’m not convinced that you are a fit for this job. I’m sorry, Kira Smith, but I am going to have to let you go.”
Heat flashes through me. I am shocked, and horrified, and wet. Why the fuck am I so damn wet? I certainly don’t have a thing for being fired by big mean men who haven’t given me a chance.
“What? No.”
“No?” He cocks his head to the side and gives me a slightly sardonic look.
“No,” I repeat.
“I know you don’t have an extensive employment history, but just so you know, when your boss fires you, it’s not customary to refuse to be fired, Kira.”
I like the way he says my name. It feels like molten heat rushing through the very core of me. It’s hot. I’m hot. Every part of me. It’s like I have some kind of sexual fever. I can suddenly feel my nipples against my bra. I can feel my underwear clinging lightly to my sex. I am aroused as hell, and I am not going anywhere.
“Well, I am refusing, because I have tried to follow your orders, but frankly, nobody here has been very helpful. It is as though the entire company is set up simply to get me fired, which feels like a waste of all our time.”
It’s hard to form a coherent sentence in this state, and I know I shouldn’t be arguing. I promised myself before I started this job that I wouldn’t argue. People don’t like it. It’s one of my very worst habits that I’m trying to change. But I guess I got fired anyway, and now my clit is just… mnngghh. I can feel it like it’s… what the hell is happening?
I look at him with a mixture of annoyance, longing, and confusion bordering on fear. This isn’t normal. Feeling this level of attraction for a complete asshole who hasn’t even been nice to me is not okay. Have I been drugged?
CHAPTER 2
Cain
She’s my mate.
I smelled it on her the minute we met.
There’s just one problem.
I don’t want a mate.
But now she is in heat. Every part of her body is calling to me. When she walks, the sway of her hips, the subtle movement of her hair, it is irresistible. Her scent especially is threatening to drive me mad. To anybody else it would be a light fragrance, barely noticeable. To me, it feels like a damn compunction, an order from the universe to fuck her immediately and claim her as my own.
The last thing I expected to do today was to meet my mate. I’m busy. I have contracts to negotiate on multiple continents. I have a dinner tonight that I need to attend. I have a meeting in half an hour with one of the executives from… fuck it. None of that matters, and I know it.
She’s looking at me with those bright, hopeful, innocent eyes that are close to brimming with tears. She’s trying to be brave, but her lower lip has just a hint of a quiver. I know I am being an asshole. Usually that doesn’t bother me. Right now, it bothers me a great deal.
“This isn’t fair,” she says, her tone softening into heartbreak. “I tried my best.”
I didn’t think I could feel worse.
I want to go to her, lap the tears she does not want to cry from her cheeks. I also want to pick her up, strip her, and fuck her—but if I do that, I change her life forever. She could go for the rest of her days never knowing what this encounter meant. She could be happy. Goddamnit, she could be normal.
I have a reputation for firing people on short notice, but that’s because I have exacting standards. This young woman lives up to all of them and more. She’s beautiful, and I know she’s smart and accomplished, because there is no way she would have been hired if she were not.
I can see the little beast inside her. I know it probably makes her restless. I know it makes her feel different from other people. If she’s like most women of our kind, she probably thinks there’s something deeply wrong with her. She hides it well, but I can see it now, that doubt in her eyes brought out by my cruelty.
It is physically painful to not fuck her. Not to pick her up, throw her on my desk, and ravage her until we are both entirely animal. But I promised myself I would not take a mate.
“I am doing this for your own good.”
“No, you’re not. I need this job,” she sobs.
“There are many jobs.”
“Not like this one.” Her shoulders are shaking as she cries, covering her face with her hands. “It took me months to find this one. And I don’t have any money left for another month’s rent, and…”