Page 31 of Alpha’s Hated Mate (Shifters of Clarion)

Clyne

“Come in.”

The knock at the door comes about an hour after Adara left to have lunch with her mother. Even though the door is closed, I know it’s her. I can feel her vibrations when she’s this close to me. Just a kiss and I can already sense her presence.

The door opens, and she sticks her head in. “You said you needed to speak to me, Mr. Novian?”

“Come in. Please.”

She enters and sits down at the desk. I can’t help but notice her long legs in the short blue skirt she’s wearing. She has on a nice silk top with a stain on it as well. I smile to myself at the symbolic nature of it. The shirt is like her, elegant, but beautifully imperfect.

“We haven’t spoken since our date,” I say to her. I can see she’s stiffening a little. “I apologize for that. I’ve been meaning to get you alone so we can talk like adults about it.”

I see a slight change behind her eyes. Relief? Disappointment? I’m not sure. She brushes her magenta tresses over one shoulder. “I guess this conversation is a little overdue.”

I nod. “I have good intentions toward you, Adara. Kissing you felt right in the moment, and I’m not the type of man that ignores his instincts.”

The space between her eyebrows creases slightly. “So . . . so, is this an apology?”

I’m a little shocked by that statement. “An apology? Why would I need to apologize?”

She doesn’t say anything at first, her mouth opening slightly. Then she closed her mouth and looked away from me, clearly regrouping her thoughts.

“You don’t regret kissing me.”

“Of course not. Do you regret kissing me back?”

Her face flushes almost instantly. “We’re not supposed to be doing things like that, Mr. Novian. You’re my boss.”

“So, I am.” I get up, walk around the desk, and sit on the corner. Being this close to her is almost intoxicating. “And that’s a problem for you?”

She shifts uncomfortably in the chair and says, “Well, don’t you think engaging in any kind of sexual relationship is inappropriate?”

I smile at her, the idea of holding her in my arms while fucking her against my office wall flashes through my mind. “Who said anything about sex?” Her face turns even redder, and I add, “You have a dirty mind, Ms. Stafford.”

She clears her throat and crosses her legs. “So, what you’re saying is that you’d like us to . . . to date. Properly?”

“Why not?”

“Because I work for you.”

“Would you accept a relationship with me if you didn’t work for me?”

She pauses, then, “Perhaps.”

I nod as I smile down at her slyly. “I ought to fire you then.”

“Fire me?! For not dating you?”

“No,” I laugh. “To remove the obstacle keeping you from considering me. I don’t engage in office politics, Ms. Stafford. I do what I want, when I want, and how I want.” I lean into her. “And right now, what I want is to be with you.”

We’re staring in each other’s eyes for a long moment. She finally says, “Fine. But we’re doing this the right way if we’re doing this.”

“Which is?”

“Dinner. Not a business dinner, though. A real romantic one with candlelight and roses.”

I stand and walk around behind her, thinking over the proposition. “Your place or mine?”

“Who said anything about eating in?”

I pause and smile to myself. Crafty girl. “I have a chef who cooks for me,” I say. “And a wine cellar with any fine wine you’d find in a restaurant. I don’t see the difference.”

I complete my circle around her, and she looks up at me, one eyebrow raised. “I’d be alone with you. How can I trust you won’t take advantage of me?”

“Fair,” I say. “Let’s make a deal. We’ll have dinner for thirty minutes. You’re only required to stay as long as that. If, after those thirty minutes are up, you don’t want to stay, you’re free to leave, and we can chalk all this up to a failed experiment.”

She was smiling, and the corners of her eyes turn up with her luscious lips. “How can I trust you’ll let me leave?”

“I’m a man of my word,” I say to her in all earnestness. “What kind of businessman would I be if I wasn’t at least that?”

She looks away from me, and her leg bounces on her knee as she thinks about it a little more. “All right,” she says. “Deal.”

I put my hand out to her. “Shake on it.”

She stands and shakes my hand, and I pull her in, wrapping my arms around her waist. We’re face to face for a moment before I lean in and kiss her, my lips gently pressing against hers, letting the electricity spark between us.

When our lips part, she smiles up at me. “Sealing the deal with a kiss. Tricky.”

“Handshakes are for friends,” I say. “Kisses are for lovers . . . which is what I’m hoping we’ll be before the end of the night.”

She pulls herself out of my arms and walks toward the door, a smile on her face. “Eight o’clock tonight?”

“I’ll have Mr. Randall give you the address.” She leaves, and I feel more satisfied with that meeting than any other I’ve had this year. I can feel the success already.

The clock in my foyer chimes eight, and the smell of dinner coming from the kitchen surrounds me. My servants have set the table, and as I look around the dining room, everything looks as perfect as it could be. There are even a dozen roses in a vase in the center of the table.

If this isn’t the type of romantic Adara was looking for, I’ll eat my hat.

My butler comes walking into the dining room, and behind him is a vision. Adara stands there wearing a shimmery red evening gown that clings to her hips. The top is in a halter style, tying up at her neck and revealing her lovely, elegant shoulders. She has her hair up in a hot pink French roll, tendrils flowing down in ringlets that kiss her shoulders.

My butler steps aside, and I walk up to her, basking in her beauty. I take her hands. “You’re a vision.”

She smiles coyly at me. “Thank you. You look good as well.”

I look down briefly at the tailored suit I’m wearing. Designed and made just for me, just as most of my clothes are. “Thank you,” I said. “Shall we?”

I take her by the arm and lead her to the table, pulling out a chair and allowing her to sit. “Would you like some wine?”

“I would love some.”

My servants come out and pour us both a glass of wine. She takes a sip from her glass and smiles brightly. “Very good.”

She uses her hand to wipe a bit of the red from her full lips, and I want to stop her. I want to lick that drop off myself.

As our first course is brought out, she starts to fan herself a little.

“Are you all right?” I ask.

She nods and smiles. “It’s just a little warm in here,” she says.

I hadn’t noticed, but I don’t want her to be uncomfortable. “I can turn down the heat if you like.”

She shakes her head. “Not necessary. Thank you, though.”

We eat our salad and talk. All the while, I start thinking about what Erik said earlier about keeping your love interest informed about what you are. I suppose tonight would be the best night to tell her. I have no idea how I would even begin a conversation like that.

After a while, she grabs a napkin and pats her forehead while she talks. I mentally summon my butler, who appears at the doorway a second later. “Yes, sir?”

Adara starts and turns around. Upon seeing him, she looks back at me and asks, “Where did he come from?”

“Turn the heat down a few degrees,” I tell him. Adara’s eyes widen.

“Oh, no. You don’t have to do that,” she says. “I’m fine. Really.”

“You don’t seem fine. You seem hot.”

She tilts her head a little and giggles. “I don’t think it’s the heat. I think it’s just nerves, maybe.”

She looks at me, and her smile fades a little. The heat she’s feeling is suddenly sitting under my collar. I glance down at her dress and spot the telltale signs of her arousal from the imprint of her nipples.

She’s . . . turned on? We haven’t even done anything. Not yet anyway.

The servants take the first course away, and it occurs to me that something is happening to Adara in this moment. Something chemical. And it has everything to do with me.

She glances up at the clock and smiles. “Your thirty minutes are almost up.”

I glance around and see that she’s right. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

She nods. “I am. At the risk of being forward . . . do you think we can skip the next course?”

Her hand lingers over her cleavage, following the edge of the fabric covering her breasts. I imagine there’s only a button at the top of her dress that she can undo. Just a simple snap in a piece of fabric between us.

I feel myself getting hard as my body responds to the chemical reaction of her. I can’t answer her. My mind seems to be . . . slipping.

She gets up and walks over to me, then straddles me in my chair. Her hips presses against my rock hard cock through my slacks as she leans into me, the soft skin of her cleavage tempting me.

My hands move up, my palms meeting her smooth skin. I kiss the space between her breasts, my tongue running a line down the center. Then I take a moment and push the fabric out of the way, revealing her beautiful breasts. My tongue encircles her nipples, and she gasps softly above me.

“Just like that,” she whispers, her hips moving over my rock hard cock. A wave of heat hits me, and suddenly . . . I feel the change start to happen.

Scales start pushing through the skin of my back. My claws start to lengthen, and my fangs . . .

I stop, pulling away from her and turning my head in an effort to hide the brightening color in my eyes. “Get up.”

She looks down at me, confused. “What?”

“Get up,” I say, covering my mouth, hiding my fangs. “Please.”

I don’t want her to get up. I don’t want her to leave me. Every molecule in my body wants this.

I can’t. Not yet. You don’t reveal your true nature in the middle of sex. I need her to get away from me while I can still control myself.

She gets off me, pulling the fabric of her dress back over her breasts. “Did I do something wrong?”

I get up and turn away from her, mentally summoning my butler again. When he appears, I tell him without turning around. “Escort Ms. Stafford to her car.”

“Yes, sir.”

I don’t notice her move at first, but I hear her shoes click in on my marble floors, moving out of the dining room and to the foyer.

I don’t know what that was. It’s never happened before. I’m confused, frustrated . . . and slightly afraid.

Whatever kind of human Adara is, she is much more than I anticipated.

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