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When we walk into the massive office, I don’t react to her hot dad.

I can’t say the same about Mr. Ornix. That man is beyond any pretense of grossness.

He is the hottest guy I have ever seen. Raven dark hair rising from a widow’s peak and flowing to his shoulders.

Brown eyes so light they verge on amber, or even gold in certain lights.

Dark lashes rimming those spectacular orbs and thick black brows slashing over them.

His cheekbones are high, his cheeks are chiseled, his jawline is cut.

He is wearing a suit that looks as though the tailor worshipped it onto his body.

There’s not a crumple or a wrinkle anywhere.

A crisp white shirt looks sinfully good with a couple of buttons undone at the neck because the day is warm, and his pecs are visible if you look with intention. Smooth slabs of muscle.

Tempest waltzes up to him, touches this absolute god on the elbow, and trills a hello.

“I need you to meet my friend,” she says. “Melissa, this is Mr. Ornix.”

“Hello, Melissa,” he says.

I want to faint. I do my best to stay upright and vertical as I pretend his voice isn’t deep enough to make the foundations of the house shake. There are tremors running through me that I cannot stop, reverberating through my cells.

“This is my friend, Melissa Spiers,” Tempest says. “She was top of our business class. She’s so smart, and I thought she could have your internship, Mr. Ornix.”

Tempest speaks to forty-year-old men like they’re just some other guy. She has no fear, no respect, and no interest in them. She’s an ethereal being who is completely above it all.

Mr. Ornix looks me up and down with a stare I can only describe as searing.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Spiers,” he says, his tone formal. He has an accent of some kind. I’m not sure I recognize it. Faintly Russian, but also absolutely not Russian. It’s sharp and angular. It hits my ear like obsidian.

I look at Tempest to see if she has the same reaction, if she recognizes how strange he is. But she’s just smiling as if he’s just another older man who might be useful to us.

“Hello, Mr. Ornix,” I say. “It is nice to meet you.”

Ornix

Nice to meet me, she says. It is not nice to meet her. It is intoxicating.

She comes with a scent like the breeze that accompanies the setting sun. She looks at me with innocent eyes that mirror the sky. She stands before me, entirely delectable and completely unaware of the depth of my hunger, which is suddenly so intense I can barely stand it.

These humans are usually like insects to me. It is difficult to stop myself from grabbing them and devouring them almost at random, absentmindedly.

They take themselves so seriously. I have laughably heard them describe themselves as apex predators.

Imagine a creature with blunt, round, short teeth, fingers that end in nails so soft they can be broken by a ring pull tab, and no armoring whatsoever referring to itself as a predator. They are farmable prey.

I barely see them as individual distinctive entities, aside from the ones I must interact with in order to conduct my affairs. But this female, standing before me, is unique. I feel a resonance with her, instant and powerful and undeniable.

My mate is standing in front of me, innocent, nervous, entirely unaware, a young woman containing more magic than I have sensed in my own realm for a very long time.

She squirms nervously, and I become aware of the fact that I am staring at her. Cannot take my eyes from her.

“The internship, Mr. Ornix?” the child of my business partner prompts me.

“Yes,” I say. “When can you start?”

My mate’s eyes open wide. “Oh, you want… I have the job?”

“You have the opportunity of the internship, yes,” I say, cloaking myself in the words of these people.

“Thank you, Mr. Ornix!” The child of my friend trills gratitude.

“Thank you very much,” the young lady who seems to consume my entire field of vision says. “I can start when you would like.”

“She needs to be paid at least a thousand dollars a week,” the child of my friend says.

“Very well.”

Both young women look at one another as if they have just pulled off a heist of some kind. My riches are literally infinite. A thousand of their theoretical dollars in exchange for seven days of her limited life is a bargain beyond compare. Humans always sell themselves horrifically short.

“A thousand dollars a week, and a company car,” the child of my friend pushes the point. “And a stipend for clothing. And food. And entertainment.”

“Put the package together and submit it to my secretary,” I say. The girl is of her father’s blood. She cannot help but negotiate.

“Are you sure you don’t want to interview me first?” Melissa asks the question, then immediately looks as though she regrets having asked it.

“Yes. Yes. Perhaps I should after our business is concluded.” I turn to my business partner. “Is there a private study where we will not be disturbed?”

“There’s the blue room, or my dad’s second office, or you could try the third dining room?

” The girl suggests a few options. There are endless rooms in this house, and not nearly enough activities to fill them all.

Humans seem not to understand that the point of building very large houses is to fill them with family, servants, and soldiers.

They knew it once, but much old knowledge has been lost over time.

I feel my gaze softening on the woman who I instantly and irrevocably know to be my mate, a beautiful creature who has asked to be judged, not knowing she cannot be found wanting.

These superficial, damsel-like creatures are so ephemeral.

To our species, they are often regarded as being barely sentient.

They emulate intelligence, but usually act on instinct.

They build societies, cities, and technologies, but deeper wisdom and peace eludes them.

I travel to this world because it contains some unique reservoirs of riches that I am attracted to.

I did not imagine I would find a jewel this rare.

“Later,” I say.

“We have the Donaldson meeting later,” my business partner reminds me.

“Very well. An internship is, by nature, a trial position. You will have an interview tomorrow at nine a.m. when you present yourself at my office. I assume this one can give you an address.”

I have forgotten the name of my friend’s child. Terabithia? No. Tasmania? No, also incorrect. Fortunately, being referred to as ‘this one’ seems to delight her.

“I’ll make sure she’s there, Mr. Ornix,” she says, removing my mate from my presence.

Melissa

I let out the breath I was very much aware I was holding. My chest feels like it’s burning, my head feels light. That man had more presence in his little finger than anybody I have ever encountered in my life.

“I can’t believe it was that easy,” I say. “He’s scary.”

“He’s actually nice. Well, not nice. He’s kind of grumpy. He demands a lot. It might not be the easiest internship, but at least you’ll be able to pay those fines in a few weeks. You can stay with us while you work them off.”

“I really can’t,” I say. “It’s so nice of you, but I can’t.”

I’d love to, but at a certain point, I’m just mooching off a rich friend. I need to pay for my own place. I need to build my own life.

“You never accept help,” she says.

“I literally just got an internship with no effort,” I remind her. “Most of the graduates of our class are going to be earning nothing. I’m going to be making bank.”

“Making bank,” she smirks. “I’m glad you’re happy with it. I think I could have said five grand a week though, and then you’d only have to hold it together for a week.”

It’s impossible to be around anybody this rich without constantly outing oneself as poor.

“All you have to do is hold it together,” she adds.

“Hold it together?”

“You know what you’re like, Melissa. You can never help yourself. You always get into trouble.”

“That was Old Me. New Me is a different person.”

Tempest laughs. “Sure. Let’s get some drinks. We won’t be able to hang out as much once you’re working.”

Ornix

The girls are by the small captive body of water that would barely serve as a bathtub for my true form.

I watch them lounging by the water. The human female form is soft and yet generous, and the young lady who draws my attention like a rare jewel is particularly well proportioned.

She lacks for nothing. Her thighs are thick, her stomach is soft and lovely, her breasts are full, straining at the bikini that barely covers her.

A surge of possession passes through me at the idea of anyone else seeing her the way I see her now, relaxed, unaware, safely contained inside the walls of this expensive home.

I hear bustling from Jack’s office. He comes out, looking faintly harried as he always does.

I look at him, take in his appearance, graying at the temples, lines around the eyes.

We have been working together for some years, but it will not be long before he begins to notice that I am not aging as he does.

A pity. I like Jack. He is a talented financier.

Perhaps I should shift my appearance slightly.

I may get another decade or so out of the illusion.

“Ornix, sorry, the call went longer than I expected.” His eyes drift from me to the pool. “Oh, the girls are still here, good. I need to talk to Tempest.”

“Hi, Daddy!” Tempest is unconcerned by his summons.

Jack takes his daughter to another room, leaving Melissa alone by the side of the pool.

I find myself walking toward her without so much as thinking about it, enthralled by the sight of her. As my shadow falls over her, she looks up at me.

“Is there something you wanted, Mr. Ornix?”

There is much I want. To be inside her. To hear her moan. To learn what she feels like when she is wrapped around my cock. To know what she desires, and to make each and every one of those desires come true.

I realize I am staring. Again.

I need to say something to break the tension, or at least cover for my presence. My desire for this young woman cannot yet be indulged. I need to ensure she is made of the right material.

Ridiculous thought. Of course she is. She practically glows with mate energy.

Her eyes widen, and I realize that I am standing over her, glowering down at her, behaving in an intimidating and probably frightening manner.

“Tomorrow,” I say. “Work starts at nine a.m. Sharp. I do not tolerate lateness for any reason besides personal injury or serious illness.”

“Oh,” she says. “Yes, thank you, sir. I won’t be late, I promise. I really appreciate you offering me the position. It was very generous of you, and I promise I won’t let you down.”

Having her call me sir makes my cock throb. The urge to rip off that skimpy string bikini and have my way with her, mark her as mine, show her whose cock she was made for, is almost too much to resist.

“The internship will be intense,” I tell her. “Where are you staying?”

“Well, I’ve been trying to get an apartment. Tempest said I could stay with her, but I want to pull my own weight, so…”

“You’ll stay with me,” I tell her. “My home is large, has many spare rooms, and I will be assured of your presence when I need you.”

She looks excited for a moment, then a second later, her face falls.

“I can’t. Thank you, but I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I need to take care of myself.”

“Nobody takes care of themselves,” I tell her. “Everybody depends on others, and in your case, your need for help is evident. I understand you don’t have anywhere to live.”

“I’ll live pretty much anywhere,” she says, avoiding the point.

I narrow my eyes slightly, and I watch her breath hitch.

“You are going to stay with me because I say so, because I want my assistant to be at hand when necessary.” There is a slight emphasis on the word hand . I want to take her in hand, that much is certain.

She wavers in front of me uncertainly, looking obviously worried about the prospect of being at my mercy.

“It’s not negotiable. You will be staying here, and that is final.”

“I wouldn’t be in the way?”

I want to embrace her and tell her that not only would she not be in the way, she would be the whole world.

“I would be very pleased to have you here,” I say.

Her expression softens into a grateful smile.

“Really? That’s incredible, Mr. Ornix. Thank you so much for the offer. I can’t believe you’d provide me with employment and a place to stay when I’m just a stranger. I promise you I don’t take this for granted. I know opportunities like this don’t fall into most people’s laps.”

She continues to shower me with gratitude while I try to restrain myself from an act I know I should wait to perform. My cock is throbbing with the need to be inside her.

I pull out one of my cards, write my address on the back, and hand it to her. “Get your things and come as soon as you can,” I tell her. “The housekeeper will be informed of your arrival and show you to your room. Please also send me a copy of your college transcript.”

Melissa colors immediately, blushing red, then going pale in quick succession at the mention of the transcript.

“Oh, er, I’m not sure. I won’t be able to… the timing, the office. I think…”

“Is there a problem with your transcript, Melissa?”

Melissa

I’ve never had a simple question about paperwork send a bolt of energy directly to my clit. It’s not just sexual, it’s intense. He picked up on the fact that there’s a problem with it so quickly, and I don’t think my usual bullshit is going to fly with him.

“I mean, I think… the transcript itself? There’s no problem with that. The transcript is great. It’s very good. I did quite well in most of my classes. I could tell you about all of them, if you like.”

His eyes narrow a fraction. “I would like to see the transcript, Melissa. I believe they are able to be obtained with a simple email to the administration.”

“Usually, yes.”

“But?” He voices the part I left unspoken. I start to squirm in my bikini, not sure if the sun is hotter, or his gaze is. Both are starting to feel searing.

“Mine’s been put on hold. It’s sort of an admin error.

I am working it out, though, so please don’t worry about it.

I understand if you can’t offer me the job without it, though.

” God. Lying to this man feels like a risk I probably shouldn’t take, but not lying means probably not getting the internship.

So I lie. And I hope he doesn’t notice, or doesn’t care.

There’s a long moment in which he could say anything to me, he could revoke the job, and that would be the end of the sliver of hope I’ve had. This is going to keep happening. People are going to want proof of my academic achievements.

“I will see you at home tonight,” he says. “Dinner is at seven p.m.”