Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
ANDROS
Islide a finger around the inside of my collar.
This fucking tie needs to come off, but with her in here, I don’t dare.
Better to be uncomfortable. I stop to sip my tea, letting the aroma fill my nose, in an attempt to distract me from the smell of her blood.
Not to mention the layer of vanilla on top.
Sweet, like frosting, and just as tempting.
The combination is everywhere: in our condo, the conference rooms, and now my office.
Not my best idea to hold our meeting here.
My mouth waters, and I ache with the need to sink my teeth into her. What I wouldn’t give for a sip. Not liking that thought, I tilt my neck to one side, then the other until it cracks. Control, I remind myself.
Thankfully, my mind works quite well on autopilot, reeling off the salient points of the contract as I continue my pacing. I’m flying through the dictation when a thought has me pausing. Why don’t I hear the keyboard?
“Why aren’t you taking this down?” I snarl, striding over to glare down at her. “Do you have something better to do?”
She straightens and points to the screen. “This new dictation software is capturing every word, but I’m following along in case it misses something. When it does, I jot it down.” Her finger taps on the empty notebook beside her.
“Show me,” I demand, bending over to see her screen. For a second, time slows as I follow the curve of her neck to the pulse beating at its base, but I grit my teeth and yank my gaze back to her laptop.
She points to the blinking cursor silently waiting for more words, then hits pause. “See, it even caught the last little bit between us.”
Intrigued, I skim the output and grunt at the clean sentences with punctuation.
This could be a game changer for me. I flex my fingers in my gloves to alleviate their stiffness.
Up until now, I’ve relied on my ability to memorize every word said in a meeting, so I wouldn’t have to remove my gloves to take notes.
But it would be nice to have an alternative option.
“I didn’t realize it had become so sophisticated. Last time I used dictation software, I forgot the punctuation, and it was like a giant novel of run-on sentences,” I tell her, wondering why the hell I’m sharing this with her. “Send me the information so I can install it on my laptop.”
She turns and smiles. “I’ll send it right now.” Clicking a box in the upper-right corner, she shares the link to my email.
Damn her. I stare at those curved pink lips, wanting more than I deserve. Straightening, I stalk over to the bank of windows in the corner where it’s cooler.
Where was I? For once, my formidable brain fails me. “Read me the last five minutes.”
She takes a deep breath, and her slightly husky voice repeats my words back to me. My body stirs, but I ruthlessly shut it down and let my mind take over. “Patent ownership will remain with Granite, Ltd.” I begin again, reeling off the next line.
“Granite Limited?”
“Telcom, the company we’re selling, Granite Securities, and our financial firm, Rock Investments, all fall under the one umbrella,” I explain.
She jots down a note, and I continue.
For the next hour, I stare at the mountains around us and lose myself to the intricacies of contract law, a favorite subject of mine.
Long ago, my ignorance kept me chained to the vampire who sired me. Henri, an evil, careless bastard who used my weaknesses, like an inability to read, to keep me uninformed and dependent on him.
When I finally escaped, Macklin saved me. In more ways than one. He expanded the narrow world I’d lived in for so long. First, by reading to me, then by teaching me to read. Since then, I’ve made it my mission to consume everything I can get my hands on.
Her body rustles behind me, bringing me back to the present.
I take a deep breath and silently swear as her scent invades my senses.
Not the vanilla she wears on the surface, but her blood and the wet heat between her legs.
My body hardens, and I grit my teeth, trying to think of anything else, but not even the law can distract me.
I stride over to my desk and take a seat, hiding my body’s response. Her pink tongue slides along her lips, and I almost groan. If she weren’t Teague’s, and possibly Macklin’s, fated mate, I’d stretch those innocent boundaries of hers, starting with that tantalizing mouth.
“Is there more?” she asks, her hand rising to tug on her collar.
Her instincts are good. I frown and swipe the points of my incisors. My control is slipping. Time to end this meeting.
“That’s it for now. Send me the notes, and I’ll compile the first draft of the contract. We’ll review on Monday with the rest of the team,” I tell her.
She nods and types for a minute. “Sent. I like this new deal.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Why?”
She’s silent for a moment. “The terms are more favorable than the last offer. Their intent to license and sell the product will enable them to get to market faster, which is probably why they aren’t demanding as much as the last company.”
There’s a brain behind that pretty face. “And what do you think we should negotiate or take off the table?”
She bites her bottom lip for a second. “I’m not sure. Maybe decrease the sale price to make sure they have enough money to start production right away.”
I raise my eyebrow at this tactic. “What should we ask for in lieu of the additional cash?”
“A share of their company? And maybe a percentage of the profits?”
Interesting. “What made you think of this?”
“You’ll laugh.”
“Try me.”
She scrunches up her nose. “When I was in high school, I wasn’t allowed to go out much, so I watched a lot of TV, including almost every episode of Shark Tank. It was fun to see the different approaches each of the sharks would take.”
“It’s a good tactic. We’ve done something similar in the past, but hadn’t considered it for this project,” I say, taking another drink of my now cold tea.
My phone pings, and I see a text from Teague informing me of her plans to join us for dinner.
“It might be a good fit. Why don’t we talk to Teague later? ”
“I forgot you live there too. Sounds good,” she says, slipping her notebook and pen into her messenger bag. “Do you need anything else?”
For some reason, her comment hits hard, but I shake it off. She’s their mate, but I refuse to believe she’s mine. Maybe it’s time to search for a place of my own. The thought guts me, but I’m beginning to realize her blood is a temptation that could ruin our friendship.
“No, I don’t need anything,” I reply in a dismissive tone. “You can go.”
Her eyes flash with irritation, then drop to her laptop. “Thank you, Mr.?”
“De Rohan,” I grit out before I think better of it.
“Leandros de Rohan,” she murmurs, almost to herself.
Who told her?
“Andros,” I sharply insist, but it’s already too late. The edges of my vision darken, and the past crawls into the room.
Harsh memories of him whispering Leandros, or softly calling me Mr. de Rohan, depending on his mercurial moods, crash over me with the force only tainted memories can bring.
My vision wavers as his sculpted aristocratic face appears along with the leather strap he favored. Leandros, my ungrateful pet….
I crush the cup in my hand, spilling tea all over my desk. Shards cut into the leather, piercing the scarred skin underneath. “Merde!” Pain past and present collide until I can barely distinguish one from the other.
Charli leans over, her neck exposed, to grab tea-stained papers and other items on my desk. Her blood fills my senses, and my hand darts out to grip her chin and tilt her head to the side.
“Say my preferred name,” I command her, running my nose from her ear down to the base of her neck.
“Andros,” she replies breathlessly. Her pulse quickens, and the sound pushes me one step closer to the edge. “Are you going to bite me?”
Her innocent words almost prove to be my undoing, but the second my fangs lengthen, I rip myself away from her. “Get out!” My breath comes in short bursts as I try to save her from the predator rippling under my skin. “Don’t run…until…out the door. Don’t…stop.”
She freezes, her eyes widening as her face drains of color.
Smelling her fear along with the delicious aroma of her blood obliterates the rest of my control. A familiar red haze descends. “Now!”
Swallowing hard, she backs up, eyes glued to me the entire time, and slowly disappears from my sight. Shoes click loudly against the hardwood for a brief second, then all I hear is the pounding of her bare feet.
Chest heaving, I sweep the mess off my desk and lock my knees to prevent myself from chasing after her. Macklin. My hand trembles as I tap the phone.
He answers on the first ring. “What’s up?”
“Office,” I grit out, teeth clenched tight. “Charli.”
“Stay on the line,” Macklin orders, his breathing harsh as he rushes to get to me. “Is she hurt?”
Her terrified face flashes in my mind, and I shake my head.
“Damn it, Andros. Fucking answer me!”
“No.” The word is garbled. “Hur..ry.”
Her. Blood. Everything turns red as the bloodlust consumes the last ounce of my resistance.
I inhale. There. A roar escapes; the predator announcing the hunt.
Blurring, I slip out of the office. Screams fill the air.
Bodies scramble to get out of my way. Magic arcs.
I slide to the left to avoid it and shift my gaze to the wielder.
Their powerful blood glows in the red landscape of my vision.
Tempting. But a whiff of her lures me back to my original hunt.
She’s close. My vision narrows, and I speed up, but every room is empty. The trail backtracks.
A boulder slams into me, tossing me through a wall. Dust and debris rain down. Need drives me to my feet only to get knocked down again. Granite arms wrap around my body, locking me into place. I snarl and punch, searching for a weak spot.
“I’m here, Andros,” a deep voice repeats over and over.
Her. Blood. I thrash, trying to get loose.
Shouts. Something thrust into my face. Blood. My lip curls. Not her. Growling, I shove it away. Curses rain down on me. Fresh blood drips in front of my mouth. Powerful. Ancient. I drink.