Description
Excerpt
Chapter One
The moment she walked into the boardroom, Heath Garrison knew three things. She was his mate. She was pregnant. He was the father. The last in particular should have been completely impossible, since he had never seen her before in his life.
The scent hit Heath like a freight train the moment she stepped into the room. Crisp citrus and honey, with an undercurrent of fertile earth that made his wolf sit up and take notice. His gaze locked onto the newcomer, drinking in her lush curves barely contained by a deep purple sheath dress. Raven tresses framed a heart-shaped face, and those emerald eyes behind cat’s-eye frames sparked with intelligence.
Every fiber of his being thrummed with the rightness of her presence, even as his rational mind rebelled. This couldn’t be happening. Not now, not with the future of his company hanging in the balance before potential investors. He was the soul of control, unflappable in the boardroom.
Yet she commanded his full attention, her very existence a siren’s call he couldn’t resist. The subtle sway of her hips as she crossed to the empty seat shot lances of pure craving through his core. When she bent to settle into the chair, the fabric stretched taut across the flare of her hips, and he caught a glimpse of toned thighs. A low growl built in his chest before he ruthlessly stifled it.
Clearing his throat, Heath attempted to tear his gaze away, but her scent caressed him, igniting a primal hunger he hadn’t experienced in years. The realization slammed into him with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. She was pregnant. With his child. The scents didn’t lie, not to a wolf of his caliber. They spoke of fertile life, creation, and the unmistakable imprint of his own essence intertwined with hers.
How in the hell was that possible? He hadn’t so much as seen this woman before today. A thousand questions ricocheted through his mind even as his wolf rallied, recognizing her as its mate on an elemental level.
“Mr. Garrison?”
The tentative query from his left barely penetrated the haze of disbelief and raw need clouding his senses. He blinked, struggling to regain his equilibrium as all eyes turned toward him, a few furrowed brows in the mix.
Right. The quarterly review. They were waiting on him to kick things off.
With an effort of sheer willpower, Heath dragged his attention from the raven-haired siren and refocused on the matter at hand. “My apologies. Where were we?”
Beside him, his second-in-command and CFO, Olivia Nguyen, shot him a quizzical look before referring to her notes. “We were discussing the latest earnings report and preparing to project growth potential for the upcoming quarter.”
“Of course.” Heath accepted the folder she passed him, flipping it open to reveal the meticulously prepared financial statements. Numbers and figures jumped out at him, data he’d pored over countless times in preparation for this very meeting.
Yet, try as he might, comprehension eluded him. His mind kept circling back to the newcomer and the baffling realization she carried. Who was she? How could she be pregnant with his offspring when they’d never even met?
Risking another glance across the sleek obsidian table, he found her watching him with open curiosity. For a suspended heartbeat, their gazes collided and held, a frisson of awareness crackling between them like an electric current. Her lips, lush and full, curved in the barest hint of a smile as if she could sense his regard. A flush stained those high cheekbones, lending color to her golden-toned complexion. Her features suggested she had some Pacific Islander in her heritage, and he wanted to trace the contours of her cheekbones.
The urge to simply vault across the table and claim her, to bury his nose against the slender column of her throat and drink in her essence, nearly overwhelmed him. He clenched his fists beneath the table until his blunt nails bit into his palms, grounding himself through the sharp sting of pain.
“Sir?” Olivia’s tone sharpened with a hint of rebuke. “If you need a minute…”
“No.” The curt response emerged rougher than intended, and he forced himself to moderate his tone. “No, I’m fine. Please continue.”
With obvious reluctance, Olivia launched into her projected analysis while Heath struggled to focus on the words. Beside the financial figures, he was jotting a series of disconnected notes.
Who is she? How is this possible? Need to know her name. Scent. Mate? Pregnant?
The meeting stretched into its second hour with no resolution to the burning chaos devouring his concentration. If anything, each passing moment amplified his distraction until he could scarcely track the discussions unfolding around him. He was watching her out of the corners of his eye, studying the elegant lines of her profile, and the swell of her belly visible beneath the fabric.
Pregnant. The thought ignited a fierce protectiveness and a bone-deep sense of possession he couldn’t deny. His wolf demanded he sweep her into his arms and spirit her away to his den, to keep her safe and secure until she gave birth to their offspring.
With an abrupt screech of his chair against the glossy marble floor, Heath surged to his feet, oblivious to the startled glances and questioning mutters. “Let’s call it a day.”
He barely registered Olivia’s concerned frown at his abrupt announcement, every step an exercise in restraint. With the meeting finally adjourned, Heath wasted no time seeking out the raven-haired beauty who had so thoroughly upended his world. His wolf prowled restlessly beneath his skin, driven by an inexplicable compulsion to claim her, to pull her into his embrace, and lose himself in her intoxicating scent.
His gaze homed in on her lingering by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city skyline, one hand cradling the gentle swell of her belly. The sight punched the air from his lungs, desire and disbelief warring within him. This woman carried his child—children, his wolf whispered—yet he didn’t even know her name.
Squaring his shoulders, he crossed the room with purposeful strides, his polished oxfords striking the marble with a cadence of subtle clicks. She turned at his approach, those emerald eyes finding his with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation.
“Dr. Holt.” The name slipped from his lips, plucked from the recesses of his mind, where he had committed the details of every employee to memory. “Might I have a word?”
One elegant brow arched above the slim frames of her glasses as she studied him with frank appraisal. “Of course, Mr. Garrison.”
His name on her lips resonated through him like the toll of a great bell, awakening tremors of awareness that rippled through his very core. The subtle lilt of her voice, rich and honeyed, beckoned to the primitive side of his nature he kept leashed with an iron will.
Gesturing toward the door, he waited for her to precede him, every nerve ending afire with her proximity. The faint scent of her perfume teased his senses, stirring a fierce yearning to bury his nose against her throat and bite her, leaving her with his mating mark.
With measured strides, he guided her through the maze of corridors toward his private office suite. The few staff members they encountered offered respectful nods as they passed, no doubt assuming he intended to discuss some aspect of her research.
If only they knew the truth. This woman, this complete stranger, was his mate. That the child she carried was the heir he longed for, yet never imagined could exist outside the boundaries of his kind.
At last, they reached the sanctuary of his office. He ushered her inside, ensuring the door sealed them away from prying eyes and ears. Only then did he permit himself to fully drink in her presence, to savor the play of her scent across his senses.
“You’re pregnant.” The words emerged in a low rumble, more growl than speech.
She stilled, her gaze finding his with a hint of wariness. One hand drifted in an unconscious caress over the burgeoning swell of her belly. “Yes…”
A dozen questions burned on his tongue, yet he was struggling to articulate any of them coherently. Instead, he simply closed the distance between them with two strides, entering her personal space until the heated radiance of her body brushed against him like a brand.
Her breath caught, those lush lips parting on a soft exhalation as her pupils flared wide. He could smell the spike of her arousal, heady and intoxicating, mingling with the rich essence of her femininity in a dizzying blend that made his wolf want to howl in triumph.
Reason deserted him in that endless moment. Instinct surged, a primal drive to claim her, to taste her flesh and lose himself in the velvet heat of her body. With one hand cupping the nape of her neck, he angled her face up toward his, their lips a scant breath apart.
“You’re mine,” he growled the words with a feral edge of possession.
Heath didn’t give her a chance to respond before crushing his mouth to hers in a searing, possessive kiss. His hands slid into the silken strands of her hair, angling her head to deepen the embrace as his tongue swept past her parted lips to taste her fully. She tensed for the briefest of moments before melting against him with a soft whimper, her fingers clutching at the lapels of his suit jacket as if to anchor herself.
A low, rumbling growl vibrated in his chest as the rich, honeyed flavor of her essence flooded his senses. She tasted like ambrosia and sin, igniting an inferno of need that blazed through his veins with each heated caress of her tongue against his. His wolf reveled in her surrender, in the way she yielded so sweetly to his dominance, accepting him as her mate on an instinctual level.
For endless, suspended heartbeats, they clung together in that scorching liplock, the world around them fading into insignificance. Only she mattered—the velvet glide of her mouth, the desperate clutch of her fingers, and the rapid staccato of her pulse fluttering wildly beneath his questing touch. He drank her in with an avid hunger, savoring every nuance of flavor and sensation as if committing her to memory.
At last, oxygen became an imperative, and he gentled the devouring onslaught of his kiss. With a final, lingering sweep of his tongue, he reluctantly broke away, drawing in a ragged breath. Her eyes remained closed, those lush lashes fanning across flushed cheeks as she panted softly, swollen lips glistening with the lingering traces of their heated exchange.
Possessiveness swelled in his chest at the sight of her so thoroughly disheveled by his attentions. He couldn’t resist brushing the pad of his thumb along the plump curve of her lower lip, thrilling at the way her eyes fluttered open to meet his heated regard.
For a suspended heartbeat, they simply stared at one another, the silence thick with unspoken questions and a dizzying tangle of emotions. Then, like a shattering of glass, awareness flickered in those emerald depths. She jolted back a step, one hand lifting to her kiss-swollen mouth as if to verify what had just transpired between them before that hand fluttered up to push up her glasses back to the bridge of her nose.
“You… I…” Words seemed to fail her as myriad expressions—confusion, desire, and wariness—played across her delicate features in rapid succession.
Reason reasserted itself, and he recognized the precarious edge upon which they balanced. His wolf might have claimed her in that heated moment, but his human side understood the need for explanations, for understanding to bridge the chasm between them and not send her running away.
With an effort of sheer willpower, he forced himself to take a measured step back, increasing the distance separating their bodies. Already, he felt the lack of her like a physical ache, an emptiness that cried out to be filled by her presence alone.
“I’m sorry,” he said, striving to moderate his tone into something approaching calm reasoning. “This… situation requires discussion. Explanations.”
One elegant brow arched above the frames of her glasses as she studied him with renewed wariness. “You can’t just…just kiss me like that and then act like everything is fine.”
A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth at her indignant response. There was the spark of fire he sensed lurking beneath that controlled exterior, just waiting to be stoked into an inferno.
“You’re correct,” he said with a slight incline of his head. “I allowed my instincts to overwhelm my rationality for a moment. That was unwise.”
And yet, his wolf harbored no regrets, reveling in the way her scent now mingled with his own in the most primal claiming. The beast within him recognized her as his mate, his perfect other half, in a way that transcended mere words or human constructs.
“However, I think it would be prudent for us to continue this discussion in a more controlled environment.” With a subtle gesture, he indicated the door leading from his office. “If you’ll accompany me?”
She hesitated, uncertainty flickering across her features as her gaze dropped briefly to the swell of her belly. One hand drifted in an unconscious, protective caress, and Heath’s chest constricted with a fierce surge of tenderness. His mate, heavy with his offspring ignited a blaze of possessiveness and wonder that he struggled to contain.
“Where are we going?” she asked at last, lifting her chin in a subtle challenge that made his lips twitch with the urge to grin. Clearly, she wasn’t one to simply follow without questioning.
“To one of our research laboratories. I have a particular sensitivity to your scent, so there are measures we can take to ensure our conversation remains private and uninterrupted.”
Her brows knitted briefly, and she was clearly confused, but after a moment’s contemplation, she gave a short nod of acquiescence. “Very well.”
Gesturing for her to precede him, Heath fell into step beside her as they made their way through the maze of corridors comprising the central hub of “Garrison Research.” The occasional staff member offered a respectful nod or murmur of greeting as they passed, but he paid them little heed, his entire focus centered on the woman at his side.
At last, they reached their destination—a state-of-the-art laboratory dedicated to the exploration of biochemical compounds, and their effects on human physiology. With a coded entry, Heath ushered her inside, ensuring the door sealed them away from prying eyes and ears.
“This way.” He guided her toward a bank of stainless steel cabinets lining one wall. With practiced efficiency, he retrieved a small, unassuming canister from one of the secure compartments.
Turning to face her once more, he held up the innocuous container, studying her reaction. “This is a specialized compound designed to temporarily inhibit the production and release of pheromones and hormones that govern scent markers.”
One brow arched in silent query, though he detected the faintest hint of wariness flickering across her features. She likely considered him out of his mind, having no idea about the existence of shifters.
“In other words, it will mask your scent from me for a short period of time, allowing us to converse without…” He paused, searching for the appropriate phrasing as heat threatened to steal into his cheeks. “Without the complicating factors of our biochemistry.”
Her gaze narrowed fractionally as she studied him, clearly weighing the implications of his words and offer. At last, after a moment’s contemplation, she gave a measured nod. “All right. If you believe it’s necessary and is safe during pregnancy.”
“It is.” Keeping his movements slow and deliberate, he crossed the distance separating them once more. This close, her scent enveloped him in another intoxicating wave of citrus and fertile earth, making his wolf rumble with appreciation. With deft motions, he activated the slender canister, filling the air with a faintly clinical mist.
“Just a few spritzes should suffice,” he said, carefully directing the vapor to envelop her without overwhelming her senses.
As the compound dispersed, the insistent lure of her presence faded, muting into a mere echo at the periphery of his awareness. The sudden lack of that vibrant connection made him feel adrift and untethered, though he understood the necessity.
When at last the canister fell silent, he recapped it and set it aside before regarding her once more. “There. Now we can speak candidly without…” He allowed the words to trail off, gesturing vaguely between them.
A faint line appeared between her brows as she studied him with renewed intensity. “Without you losing control again?” She was clearly puzzled, but she was also eyeing him with scientific interest she couldn’t hide. Her gaze stripped him, and he couldn’t decide if she wanted to remove his clothes or dissecting to see what made him tick.
Heat suffused his cheeks, but he met her pointed look with a slight incline of his head. “Precisely.”
Those emerald eyes held his gaze for a suspended moment before she gave a slight huff of breath. “Well, then. I believe you owe me some explanations, Mr. Garrison.”
