The Mating Rite (Big, Beautiful Werewolf) (Werewolves of Montana) (9 page)

Darius turned to Jenner. “But I can cancel it, arrange for someone to cover my duties at the ranch for a few days. I’d like to see what your company can do. Is it possible for you to arrange a real demonstration?”

Samantha stared. What kind of demonstration? Did it involve a bed and a naked Darius?

Oh yeah!
Her long-dormant female wolf wagged her tail at the prospect.
Naked Darius, all those yummy muscles you’re dying to lick all over, and his big strong body…

Horrified at the sudden emergence of her Lupine self, Sam forced a tight smile.

Jenner considered. “We have a water recovery project on the coast. However, tomorrow we have a company business retreat nearby for senior staff to brainstorm ideas and analyze the productivity of the coastal site.”

The president tapped a manicured fingernail on the table. “I’ve booked a beachside house for our retreat. Plenty of room and only ten of us are attending. Would you like to join us, see how we work?”

“Will Miss Smith be there? Seeing as this is her deal…” Darius hinted.

Jenner glanced at her. “Of course Sam will be joining us. We couldn’t do without her on this account. This is her baby. Right, Sam?”

A dozen bricks settled on her chest. She’d yearned to attend this exclusive meeting, but only senior staff were permitted. It was a company perk, combining business with pleasure. Sam had even asked Ken Johnson, her manager, but he’d turned her down. Maybe next year, he’d said.

Now the president of Comairise Energy expected her to go. Not because of her work performance, but only because Darius wanted her there.

For a moment, she wondered if Jenner wanted her as a sexual lure for Darius. Then she dismissed the thought. No men in the office ever bothered giving her a second glance. They valued her research and her hard work, not her sexuality. She could walk into the office naked, and they’d ask when she’d have the next report ready. Even now, with Darius’ mark gone, they remained disinterested and professional.

Squeezing her water glass, she gave Jenner a cool look. “Of course I can clear my schedule.”

But in such proximity, within sleeping distance of Darius…their bedrooms close together…

Hell yeah!
Her wolf howled.
Let’s go now!

Darius’ warm gaze centered on her. “I’m staying here at the Heathman tonight. I’ll take care of business in the city this afternoon and meet you there tomorrow.”

“But until then, we don’t want you to be alone, seeing that you will be our guest.” Jenner’s keen gaze shot to Samantha. “Samantha, could you take Mr. Bryant to dinner? You could expound on your theories about solar and wind power being key to tomorrow’s energy sources.”

Sam struggled with her rising temper.
Thanks for tossing me to the wolf, HG!

“Of course.” She gave Darius a cool look. “I don’t have a car, but there are plenty of good restaurants within walking distance.”

“I’m renting a car to meet with a client,” Darius offered, the smile never leaving his face. “Shall I pick you up at your apartment around six?”

“How about meeting me here in the lobby? I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.”

Safer, and neutral. No way in hell was she granting him access to her quiet haven with its miniscule space and tiny sofa bed…

Don’t even think about the bed, tangled sheets, Darius nude…

Nude! Yes, yes!
Her wolf whined.

His delicious scent, much stronger now and holding hard notes of sensual musk, engulfed her in a cloud. Long-dormant Lupine instincts kicked into life inside her, like an old car’s engine finally turning over. Sam slammed down the surge of pure lust.

But his smile widened, as if the damn wolf knew, or had deliberately sent out a wisp of scent to allure her…

Then he became all brisk business. “Here’s my card.”

Darius reached into his jacket pocket and removed a leather business card holder. He fished out several cards and handed them out. As he gave one to Sam, their fingers touched and heat crackled between them. His eyes searched hers, the look shifting to something deeper and more intense.

He wanted her.

Not as his solar power rep, either. But for something much darker, richer and sinful. Images flared in her mind—them tumbling together between silk sheets, Darius’ hot, hungry mouth upon hers, him caressing her skin.

She was Skin, lived in Skin, breathed as Skin. Not wolf. She couldn’t risk returning to a Lupine life and the savagery of wolf packs. Especially after what she’d done to his father, and the dangers she faced if Maxim found her…

No, she must remain hiding in Skin and embrace this lifestyle.

Automatically she stood politely and shook his hand before he left. Automatically she returned to her seat and listened to Jenner and the others discuss, with great animation, how this account would be their golden opportunity to break into other western ranches. Automatically she picked up her glass of water and drank, only to realize it was empty again.

Dinner tonight with Darius, she could handle. But three days with the Lupine who wanted to claim her as his mate?

How could she survive this?

Chapter 4

At 7 p.m. Samantha entered the Heathman Hotel to find a chauffeur in a suit and black cap waiting in the lobby. He escorted her around the corner to where Darius sat in the back of a sleek Town Car.

Samantha slid into the seat next to him, and the driver shut the door. “Good evening, Mr. Bryant.”

His mouth quirked. “C’mon, Sam, no formalities. This is me, remember?”

Keep it cool, professional. Don’t blow it.

But the closeness of his body and the coolness of the air conditioning sending tendrils of Darius’ scent into her nostrils made her want to squirm and rub herself against the smooth leather seat. She resisted the urge to fan herself. Damn, her body temperature was soaring.

“Mr. Darius Bryant, executive vice president of the Mitchell Corporation Cattle Company. Where would you care to dine tonight? Dinner is on my firm, of course. We want you to feel comfortable.”

He tapped a finger on the armrest, looking thoughtful. “Comfortable? Huh. What are the best strip clubs in town?”

She stared. Darius laughed, then tapped her chin with a single finger. “Close your mouth, Sam. I’m teasing. How about I take you to a place I think you’ll like. We can have privacy, talk…”

“It’s your choice. If you wish to know more about Comairise Energy’s solar power incentives?”

Darius spoke into the intercom. “Mark, the usual.”

As the car pulled out into traffic and executed a smooth turn, she stole a peek at her escort. He looked good enough to eat. Dressed in a dark gray silk suit with a navy blue tie, he looked polished and urbane, but for the shoulder-length ebony curls brushing against his collar.

She’d seen her share of sharp businessmen in the city, but Darius made them all look boring. In a suit, he was grace and refined elegance. The polka-dotted dress she wore rode too high in the leg, and she was suddenly very aware that her Coach purse was secondhand, bought at a consignment shop.

“The usual. You’ve visited here before?”

He nodded. “I’ve conducted business many times in the city. Enough of me. Tell me about your life here, Sam.”

The sensual timbre of his voice stroked over her raw nerves. Darius could make the most innocent question sound suggestive. Samantha decided to keep the conversation impersonal.

“I’ve been employed by Comairise Energy since—”

“I wasn’t talking about your work life. I meant your personal life. Are you happy here? Have good friends? Lupines?”

She glanced at the driver. “Keep your voice down when mentioning the L word.”

“Mark can’t hear us. You don’t have a car. Do you go with other Lupines to the country to shift and run with the moon? Cities are restrictive when it comes to shifting.” His beautiful mouth pulled downward. “You’re more liable to be picked up by the dog catcher and tossed into a shelter.”

Wondering at his bitter tone, she pressed on. “I’m living in Skin, Darius. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Ah, finally, first names. We all live in Skin, Sam, but the moon—”

“Is a large, dead rock orbiting the Earth and it has no influence on me. No more than it would any other human.”

He stared at her, his gaze blue and intense. “Sam, you can’t reject your heritage…”

She turned to the window. The day had grown colder and grayer and though the night remained clear, rain threatened. The kind of cold, listless rain that soaked through the skin and made you shiver as you walked home alone after a broken date.

“Not to even leave the city for a weekend or two, to run in the woods…”

“My personal life is mine. Let’s leave it at that. I’ve been happy here in the city and have no intentions of changing my routine.”

The car pulled up before a restaurant. Sam’s tension ratcheted as she stared at the terrace with its steel railings.

“Irving Street Kitchen. Love their food.” Darius opened the door and held out a hand. “Sam? What’s wrong? You’re pale.”

The scene of her last, laughable “date.” She swallowed hard. “I’m fine.”

He gave her a questioning look as he helped her out of the car. So courtly, so gentlemanly, this wolf. Much more polite than the men she’d dated over the years, trying to forget him.

Darius placed a hand at the small of her back, his possessive touch burning through her dress. Inside, she saw the restaurant was crowded. “We’ll have to wait for a table. Maybe we can try someplace else.”

She hoped.

“I reserved a table.”

A beaming maître d’ greeted them as Darius gave his name. “Your table is ready.”

They walked past a bank of private booths with their curtains tied back. As they passed the bar, several women gazed at Darius as if he were sex on a stick. A big, long stick. After they slid into their booth, their server arrived. He looked young, lanky and had unremarkable features. But he grinned with such warmth, she felt herself smiling back. The male attention certainly was enjoyable. All these years, carrying Darius’ mark and thinking she was butt ugly…

Darius saw the waiter’s reaction and went still. Then his gaze narrowed and his body tightened beneath the Italian silk suit. A dangerous tension rippled from him, along with a low growl.

She’d seen this predatory stillness before in Maxim’s pack, right before Darius had attacked a male who’d insulted her. Sam felt a ripple of fear, though his fury wasn’t directed at her. She covered his hand with her palm and felt him relax.

“Let’s order,” she told him.

Darius asked what wine she preferred, and then ordered a bottle of her favorite Chardonnay. She wasn’t thirsty for alcohol. A sudden longing surfaced within her to drink from a cool mountain stream, then splash and play in the water, chasing Darius in wolf form…

Shutting down her wolf, Samantha rattled off trivial information about the renovated downtown area, how the city had turned it around from seedy and crime-riddled to upscale and swanky. She remained determined to stay aloof and professional.

Though it was extremely hard, looking at the handsome Lupine sitting across from her, his blue gaze mesmerizing as he studied her. The enticing smell of his spicy aftershave drifted into her nostrils. Her wolf senses sharpened around Darius. Hearing, sight and awareness were fully cranked up.

Along with a vicious need to touch him, and run her hands over his yummy body…

Stop. It.

“Your nose is twitching. Do you smell something interesting?” he asked.

“It’s your cologne. Very nice,” she admitted.

An amused smile touched his full mouth. “I’m not wearing any.”

That was his natural scent. She’d forgotten. Samantha turned her attention toward the waiter, who was returning to their table with the wine. The man ignored her and focused his attention on Darius. Darius inhaled the scent of the cork, sampled the vintage, letting it swirl on his tongue and then nodded. They placed their orders.

After the server left, it hit her. He hadn’t even glanced at the menu…

“You still have trouble reading. That’s why you want to eat here, because you’ve eaten here before and know the menu by heart. That’s why you brought your own copy of my proposal to the breakfast meeting, so you could have time to read it.”

Expression impassive, he shrugged. Samantha touched his hand. “It’s okay. I understand, remember. That’s why you hire a car. Street signs.”

Red flushed his high cheekbones. Suddenly he looked more vulnerable and…human…than the charming and suave businessman who’d sampled the wine with expertise. “I can manage. It takes me a long time to read contracts and proposals. Street signs don’t give me a problem, but it’s easier to hire a car in the city and our business is doing well enough to afford the expense.”

Her heart twisted as she remembered his shame, how he’d confessed his disability to her. And how he’d struggled to learn, how proud she’d been when he managed to read an entire passage without faltering. Darius was stubborn and strong-willed and he’d succeeded. “You’ve done well for yourself, Darius. I always knew you could.”