Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Slow down,” Emmett chuckled as Jonah practically speedwalked to the elevators that would lead them to the IT floors. “It’s not going anywhere.”
Jonah made a face at him over his shoulder. “I’m already late. Hurry up. I know you werewolves are faster than– eep!”
He yelped when Emmett lunged at him, snatching him around the waist and out of the way of the giant he’d nearly walked into.
He ended up plastered against Emmett’s chest, his heart pounding wildly and acutely aware of the body pressed against his as the giant grumbled out an apology and sidled past them.
His libido sat up and took notice, and his voice went all breathless as he said, “Thanks.”
Emmett didn’t respond at first, tightening his grip on Jonah just enough to remove those scant centimeters between them.
Jonah was horrified to feel himself harden in his jeans and felt his blush burning the back of his neck as he tried to keep his hips away from the werewolf who’d only grabbed him to keep him from getting injured.
It probably would’ve hurt to get bowled over by a giant, and it would’ve been entirely his fault for not paying attention.
It was when he noticed Emmett’s nose near the crook of his neck drawing in a deep breath that Jonah finally pushed his embarrassment aside long enough to squeak, “Are you sniffing me?”
“You smell good,” was Emmett’s growly reply.
Oh gods, that didn’t help with Jonah’s tight pants issue.
If anything, it made it worse, and goosebumps popped up along his neck where Emmett was sniffing him.
Maybe he needed to reevaluate his thought process on dating while still living at home.
His family hadn’t found out about him working at Spellbound yet.
Would they notice or even care if he started seeing someone?
As long as he didn’t bring Emmett home, it would be fine, right?
Emmett’s phone going off caused them both to jump apart, Jonah looking anywhere but at the werewolf as he fished his phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear.
“Yeah?”
Jonah couldn’t hear the other end of the phone, but Emmett’s voice went serious when he replied to whatever they were saying.
“I want to be there, but I need to bring Jonah up to IT first. Give me fifteen? I’ll take the stairs on the way down so I won’t have to wait for the elevators.
Yeah. Yeah.” Jonah glanced over just as Emmett’s lip lifted in a snarl.
“I won’t unless he gives me a reason to– Okay, okay.
I won’t. I still want to be there. Yes. Okay, bye. ”
When he hung up, Jonah cocked his head curiously. “What was that about?”
“Tasha was calling to tell me my alpha would be having a meeting with Kyle. Apparently Kian wasn’t kidding. He’s fast when it comes to protecting his people. I want to be there for that confrontation. Let’s get you upstairs so I won’t be making them late.”
He put a hand on Jonah’s lower back, guiding him to a short line waiting for the elevators. Luckily, the morning rush had already died down, so when the next elevator appeared, it wasn’t too crowded once they got inside.
“Are you sure that’s necessary? I was probably just overreacting.
Do other humans even react like that?” Jonah asked uncertainly.
He didn’t like that the werewolf had intimidated him, but he didn’t want to cause trouble either.
Especially for Emmett’s pack, who’d done a lot in making him feel comfortable around supes already.
One bad experience wasn’t worth all the trouble.
“You weren’t overreacting. It might have been a little more intense because it was your first time experiencing it, especially after being so isolated, but intimidation is nothing to just sweep under the rug.
It’s a big deal, and he needs to face the consequences for that.
Besides, it wasn’t just you, remember? He’s done this before.
If we want to make sure he doesn’t do it again, we need to address it now. ”
Jonah’s shoulders slumped. He hated that Emmett was right. And since it wasn’t only him, it made him feel a little bit better about his reaction.
“Will I get used to it now that I’ve experienced it?” he queried as the doors opened and a few of the passengers shuffled out.
“I don’t want you to have to get used to it,” Emmett growled. “Just let me handle Kyle. And if anyone else makes you feel uncomfortable, I want you to tell me immediately. I’ll come set them straight.”
Was it wrong to be a little turned on by the protectiveness? Jonah had never had someone so determined to have his back before.
It almost seemed like Emmett picked up on that thought because he leaned closer, doing that sniffing thing again that made Jonah shiver.
He was lucky the elevator opened onto their floor before he could pop a boner.
Meeting his new coworkers while aroused wasn’t the kind of impression he wanted to make, especially with the IT department, where he might potentially find permanent work in the future once he got a little experience.
Hustling out of the elevator, he took a shaky breath, heading for the reception desk where a woman who looked human but probably wasn’t sat behind it.
She was looking down at something and not paying attention to their arrival until Emmett cleared his throat to get her attention.
Her head whipped up, and she was too slow to hide the magazine fully under her keyboard, her fanged smile strained as she greeted them. Definitely not human.
“Good morning, gentlemen. How can I help you?”
Stepping forward, Jonah offered her the paper Kian had given him. “I’m Jonah, a temp from Charmed Away. Kian sent me.”
Taking the paper, she scanned it, nodding slowly. “Okay. I think someone mentioned requesting a temp last week. Did Kian say what you were going to be doing?”
“You don’t know?” Emmett asked. He sounded annoyed, and when Jonah looked up at him, he was frowning at the woman. She frowned right back at him.
“Unfortunately, not all the IT personnel feel like they need to keep me in the loop. I do what I can.”
“Ignore him,” Jonah interjected, elbowing Emmett lightly. “He’s just grouchy this morning.” Which felt a little like Jonah’s fault, so he figured it was best to get things under control. “Kian said the IT department needed help setting up the new Cyber Security floor?”
She dragged her gaze from Emmett, forcing a smile for Jonah’s benefit.
“Ah. That’s right. They have been asking for some help down there.
” She pointed toward the stairwell. “One floor down. Go right down the hallway, and check in with Rosalind Winterblossom.” She studied him for a moment before wrinkling her nose.
“You might want to invest in some ear plugs. You’ll need them. ”
That confused him, but he noticed Emmett opening his mouth to comment, and he didn’t want the overprotective werewolf saying something that might get him dropped from this job.
“Thanks for the warning. We’ll be going now.”
He grabbed Emmett’s hand, dragging him toward the stairwell, and didn’t let go until they were at the halfway point and he knew Emmett wasn’t about to turn around and change his mind.
He would not admit out loud that he held on probably longer than he needed to because Emmett’s hands were warm, and it felt kind of nice to hold hands with someone.
The werewolf was still grumbling when they opened the door to the Cyber Security floor.
It was definitely under construction with exposed wires and half-finished walls, plastic blocking off some areas where Jonah could see silhouettes of people working.
At first he thought the woman was warning him about the hammering and sawing and the other sounds of construction, which yeah, would be a little loud if he was around it for a while.
But as they headed down the hallway the receptionist had told them to head down, Jonah found out really quickly what she had actually been talking about.
Emmett’s ears flattened as they got closer to the pounding music emanating from the room at the end of the hall, and he grimaced like the volume hurt his ears.
That was something Jonah knew even before he started working with supes—werewolves, along with a lot of other species, had heightened senses, and the volume was probably painful for poor Emmett.
“I can ask her to turn it down before you go in,” Jonah offered. The music was earsplitting even for him.
Emmett didn’t look happy about separating, but the pain must have been bad enough for him to let go of the protectiveness for a minute because he nodded. “If you don’t mind. I’m not old enough to start losing my hearing just yet.”
Snorting, he ducked into the large windowless office where the music was coming from.
It was so loud, he had to cover his ears, and the fairy who sat on the chair facing no less than six screens didn’t notice his approach until he was directly behind her.
He tapped her shoulder to get her attention and she squealed, wings flitting to lift her high above his head and out of reach.
Jonah took a few steps back automatically, hands lifted in surrender, only to clap them back over his ears to protect them.
The fairy made a frustrated sound, snapping her fingers, and the music turned off, leaving a ringing in Jonah’s ears as the silence descended. Slowly, he lowered his hands just as Emmett came into the room with a surly expression.
“Why are you playing the music that loud?” he demanded of the fairy, glaring at her. “Anyone could have approached you!”
“You mean like you?” she shot back.
Jonah’s brows drew together slowly. There was something about her speech that was off. Not an accent, but something different about it that stood out. It was barely there, but there was something familiar about it that he couldn’t quite place.
“I’m part of the security team. Does your manager know you play your music like that? It’s a security risk.”
The fairy rolled her eyes. “No one comes in here.”
“But you can’t hear them coming even if they did!” Emmett growled. He was getting a little bent out of shape about the whole thing, but Jonah was getting more and more suspicious that they were missing something.
“Are you deaf?”
He didn't know how to ask that question without potentially offending anyone, but if she was, it wouldn’t matter if she was playing music or not. She wouldn’t hear anyone coming anyway.
“Bingo. Give the human a cookie,” the fairy said dryly, flitting to her chair and sitting down again.
She sat in it backwards with her chest against the back, but he figured that was a comfort thing since she had wings.
The chair actually seemed to be built to be used like that, the back of it shorter and the arm rests were farther back.
There was even a footrest attached to it, which made Jonah kind of jealous.
He always sat weird in his chairs, it was the only way he could think to get comfortable, and a footrest would be nice.
She cocked her head at him, and once again he realized he was staring. This time, though, he was staring at the chair, not at her, and he quickly told her so she wouldn’t think he was some kind of creep.
“That’s a cool chair. Is it as comfortable as it looks?”
A grin pulled at her lips and she nodded, using a toe to spin herself in a circle. “It’s one of the nicer chairs I’ve ever had. Why are you here?”