Shifter City, page 3
Hell’s bells. These people paid for the privilege of having his expertise at their disposal. The contract included his brand of no-nonsense, hands-on treatment. And at no extra cost.
He was so in demand, Larissa often fielded offers from executives begging him to work for them. It always amused him when they included instructions to not hold back, as if Silas would. He had too much respect for himself for that. Silas was damn good at his job.
He’d skyrocketed Safia Inc. into the big time with his consultations. Making a real positive impact on the environment, while helping corporations improve public relations. All of that came at a very high price. But it was worth it. The more money he made, the more power he held, the more he could improve things for the planet.
He blessed the day Larissa Clark came in looking for a job. She fit right in with his company’s mission statement. He knew she believed strongly in the very real threat humans and supernaturals alike were facing, even though many did not care to admit it.
Larissa was dedicated and sharp as a tack. She dealt well with their clients and held her own in board rooms full of powerful men and women alike who thought they could dismiss her with their rude behavior and condescension.
The last time an unfortunate entrepreneur had made the mistake of telling her to run along to grab him some coffee, accompanied with an uninvited slap to her bottom, Larissa had handled herself more than admirably.
She sure did, he thought, grinning at the memory. Hell, before Silas could intervene, she’d grabbed hold of the man’s hand, flipped his arm behind his back, and squeezed it until the thing turned purple.
It was a move that brought back memories of Silas’ mercenary days. Executed perfectly, in his opinion. And that was saying something, considering the fact he was a Master Martial Artist.
All the while the man bucked and begged to be let go, but Larissa held him firm. She’d explained the latest legal repercussions on sexual harassment in the state of New York and made him vow to never again abuse a female in the workplace. She’d dislocated three of that particular client's fingers, if Silas wasn’t mistaken. The man was a Shifter, so it was hardly a big deal.
Still, Silas had fired the man as a client, without refunding his hefty retainer. He then gave Larissa the fifteen thousand dollars as hazard pay. She, in turn, donated it to the local animal shelter with his blessing.
Good times.
Grrr.
Even his Lion agreed. Now, some believed a consultation with Silas was exorbitant, but they paid. And gladly too. All because Silas McKennon got the job done, often with Larissa by his side. Safia Inc. didn’t just clean up the world, they made their clients look great while doing it.
This week had been particularly grueling, and really, he should just call it a night. But for some reason, his gaze kept darting to the large clear glass walls of his office, to where Larissa’s desk was visible.
Safia Inc. had offices on half the floor in the skyscraper. Inside comprised floor to ceiling glass walls with sliding doors. The idea behind that particular floor plan was no secrets, no lies. Not between clients and consultants or coworkers. Not in his company, period.
Of course, it did not always work for him. He sometimes needed a bit of privacy, which was why he had blinds installed inside his office. But no one else’s office had them. However, right then the blinds were up, and he could see everything around him.
Larissa picked up her phone. Those wide, pink lips that always seemed on the verge of smiling suddenly turned down. Her face paled, and she ran a hand over her thick, blonde hair that she usually kept pulled back in a loose bun at the office. She quickly texted back whoever had bothered her with frantic fingers flying over the small screen. He knew she was upset. Could see it in the rapid fluttering of her blouse over her chest as her breathing increased.
What the hell was going on?
Frowning, he watched as she put her cell phone down and closed her eyes, biting her lip and giving her head a rough shake. Something was upsetting his assistant. Something bad.
Shit.
He couldn’t have that. Not on his watch. Silas growled softly. He needed to think of a way to ask her what was wrong. He took a moment to collect himself, but that proved a moment too long.
With a loud crash, a couple of large males opened the doors to the office, forcibly slamming them into the only solid walls in the place. Larissa’s head popped up, and before Silas knew what was happening, they were grabbing her by the arms and pulling her from her seat. The two soon-to-be-dead fuckers were trying to force her to go with them.
Hell.
Fucking.
No.
Grrr.
Chapter Five
Come on, come on, come on. Move, you slow fuck!
Larissa stared at the clock on the wall and frowned. Stupid skinny arms. No wonder the thing hardly moved.
Ugh.
Great.
Now she had arm envy from a stupid clock.
Whatevah.
Larissa was a big girl and had made her peace with it a long time ago. No point in fretting over shit that would not change. Most Shifter females were lithe and lean, but not her. She was chunky and thick with boobs and ass that wouldn’t quit.
It wasn’t all bad. Some guys liked a little jiggle in the middle, but she was not concerned with the wants or approval of any male. Larissa happened to like herself just fine. Plump booty and all.
Come on, move!
She growled again at the slow ass clock. The minutes seemed to tick by like hours. And today of all days!
Ugh.
Fucking hell.
Usually, her Friday nights were uncomplicated. A little sashimi dinner, a movie on Netflix, and a bottle or three of her favorite California red wine. She was uninvolved at the moment, dedicated to work, and overall, simply happy with her life.
Lucky gal, right?
Yep. She totally was that. Well, mostly. Larissa lived her own life, her own way, with her own rules. How many people could say that? Few, she’d wager, and she was hardly a betting gal.
When she’d landed the job at Safia Inc., she knew she was going to love the enormous corporation responsible for slapping the hands of those in big business who dared to tread so carelessly across the globe, leaving disastrous consequences for the environment. Many of those fuckers were long overdue for their come to Jesus meeting, in her opinion.
Stupidity and greed were most often the culprits behind the plain carelessness she dealt with every single day. Being part of the team to right some of those wrongs was a dream come true.
The way she saw it, everyone needed the planet. Everyone. No exceptions. It just made sense she put her education to good use working for a company that actually helped the environment.
Larissa fit the cliché of chubby girl alla nerd to the letter. She was a bit of geek with degrees in environmental law, science, and engineering. Technically, she was the big boss’ administrative assistant.
In reality, she was his partner. And not in the smexy fun times way she sometimes, to her undying shame, fantasized about. Okay, more like nightly, but who was counting? Silas was just so darn sexy. She couldn’t help but dream about him. All those muscles and brooding good looks.
No.
No.
NO!
Larissa had this argument with her inner Lioness often. Images of Silas McKennon flashed through her mind. Him with his shirt unbuttoned after a long, hard day, or standing in the rain with no umbrella, hair wet, and white silk shirt plastered to his skin. Ooh, or that time he’d just gotten out of the executive bathroom in nothing but a towel after making use of the treadmills and stair-climbers he’d set up in the office.
City Shifters had to get the workout on sometime, she supposed. It was just her luck she shared the same bathroom with him. Made sense since her desk was outside his private office, and since she worked so closely with their top clients.
The clock dinged on the hour, and she jumped.
We have to get out of here before shit hits the fan and we are not going to be able to if we sit here mooning over Silas McKennon!
Sad whine.
Her inner Lioness chuffed and growled at her. The fierce feline hated it when Larissa refused to allow her to lament the loss of her mate.
Eeek!
There she went again, mooning over the male!
He is not my mate!
She snapped at her inner she-Cat. It was the same thing she’d had to tell the silly feline almost daily for the past couple of years. But no matter how many times she reminded the troublesome she-Cat that her boss was off limits, her Lioness refused to accept that Silas McKennon was not for her.
She could almost see the animal rolling her big golden eyes at Larissa from the metaphysical plane where she existed, waiting to be called. The pale blonde, almost white fur of her Lioness shimmered under the ethereal lights. Pale spots decorated her coat, rosettes that resembled a Leopard, but were, in her opinion, much more beautiful and unique. Each one was golden, not black, the same tone as her coat but the color darker and much more intense. She was the only one of her kind she had ever met, some sort of genetic throwback, but she could not be sure.
All she knew was she had to keep her secret or end up a trophy like her ancestors. Most recently, a great-grandmother, or so her mother had told her. It was why she’d kept to herself and moved so frequently during her lifetime. But her mother was gone now. Only Larissa remained of the Clark line.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Claim our mate. We can have a family, cubs, a home.
Her Lioness pressed the thoughts into her mind, but she shook them off. Silas had never given any indication he was even remotely interested in her. And she wasn’t one to beg. No. It was better this way.
He is not ours!
She thought, shaking her head firmly and ignoring her she-Cat’s long lamentable yowl.
Larissa was so not going there. Not today. She had tried her best to squash her nosy feline’s interest in the big, sexy Lion, but her furrier side still lusted after the taciturn male.
Figured she would crush on a man who didn’t know she existed aside from work. Sigh. As handsome as he was, who could blame her? Larissa was a fan of beautiful things, and he was definitely that.
Tall and built, like a professional athlete, he had a thick, glossy mane of hair, no pun intended, and gorgeous chiseled features, like he was carved from marble. Gorgeous, handsome, beautiful. All words she would use to describe him.
He was like her own personal brand of male. Made to order with every feature and characteristic she was born to lust after, and yet, he was completely out of reach. Coming to work every day was akin to masochism. To have the one man she wanted in sight, but still so far away, was the cruelest torture.
Larissa knew it was pointless to lust after the cold-hearted male. But she could not help herself. Wanting him was like breathing, something she needed to live, and yet, did without conscious thought. Just another reason she should flee before shit got bad. Of course, her Lioness objected. As she always did.
Grrr.
He was not like most male Shifters she met (i.e., horny as fuck). She’d seen beautiful women throw themselves at him, and had watched him walk away, brushing the dust off his shoulder as if they’d somehow contaminated him with their touch. He was a cold fish, er, cat, and she was a wear-her-heart-on-her-sleeve kind of gal.
No way was she risking her heart on that man. And she was definitely not offering her ego either. He probably wouldn’t even notice she was coming onto him. It was like he was made of stone or something, she’d often mused.
Nope.
Not me.
No way.
Throwing herself at Silas McKennon was one sure fire way to guarantee a broken heart. He was not the man for her. She needed someone easy, kind, and sweet, more tabby than full-blooded Lion.
Sad meow.
Too bad, she told her inner feline.
Larissa was done thinking about it. Done thinking about him, and all his hard, hot muscles.
Gulp.
Now, why did her brain have to go there?
Chapter Six
Muscles?
Yummy, lickable ones?
Come to mama!
What?
No!
Whew. Sure was getting hot in there. She closed her eyes and counted to three. Feline Shifters sometimes went into their heat cycle unexpectedly, but she’d been taking magically enhanced pills to ward off any unwanted hormonal surges.
It wasn’t her heat. It was simply him. Normally, when she wanted a man, she’d make a play for him, but unfortunately it looked like her time at Safia Inc., and NYC was up.
Dammit.
She’d liked it there too. A lot. It was difficult enough knowing he was watching her through the glass panes of his office without reacting. The local Pride had sniffed her out, and she had to leave asap.
The Alpha’s son had been getting pushy. Larissa didn’t want anything to do with the spoiled male, whom everyone called Scooter, and for reasons she’d rather not think about, behind his back.
Much rather deal with Silas, her Cat interrupted.
Stop it.
Grrr.
She’d managed for years to work hard, keep her nose down, and ignore her beast’s claims that Silas McKennon was hers. Besides, all evidence pointed to the contrary. He never acted as if he was aware she was a woman, much less his mate. Hell, Silas hardly acted like he knew she was alive except for work related things.
Whatever. It was fine. So far, so good. Larissa was safe, happy, gainfully employed, and no one from the local Pride had bothered her.
Until now.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
She’d recently missed another Pride meeting. Typically, she accepted, then disappeared when they went on their run. She didn’t want to bring attention by having some male think she was playing hard to get. But she always had to be careful about when she let her Cat out to play lest she be seen.
Drawing attention to herself by remaining conspicuously absent was never a good idea. But this time, it was not her fault. Not really. Silas had asked her to accompany him to his friend Keeton’s wedding, and she’d jumped at the chance.
Okay, fine.
So there was a little masochistic part of her that loved to dwell in the unrequited passion she had for her boss. He’d looked so damn fine in his gray suit with his crisp white shirt. And his scent, gods, his scent, especially when in the confines of his car for the two-hour-long drive, had driven her wild. Breathing in Silas was like inhaling any one, or a combination, of her favorite things.
Like dawn at the beach in summertime, cinnamon roasted almonds from a street vendor in the winter, a steaming mug of her favorite Italian roast on a crisp Autumn morning, tulips in full bloom dotting walkways and filling ceramic pots in the spring, and so much more.
He had his own innate spicy musk that reminded her of dark chocolate, the good, expensive kind that you were supposed to nibble, but Larissa could not help but devour.
Yep. That was Silas. A Shifter sized candy bar all wrapped up in silk and cashmere. Six and a half feet of rippling muscles, incredible brain power, gorgeous dark hair, and mesmerizing eyes with a gaze so sinfully potent she’d bet anything he could make her come if he only looked at her with intent.
Great, I sound like one of those fucking god awful gothic novels I was forced to read in high school, she thought with a groan.
Her phone buzzed again, and she groaned. How many times did a woman have to say no?
Ugh.
She texted back Gaetano Leonard with a firm, in no fucking way on no fucking planet did she ever mean yes, NO to his gross proposal to mate with him. She used to think he was just being pushy with the new girl in town. But he’d let it slip, he’d seen her rare Spotted Lioness and now he’d gotten it in his thick head she should mate him for real.
As if.
Her Lioness snarled at the idea of the puny poser as her mate. She deserved a male of worth, someone strong, courageous, and handsome to stand at her side. Now that he knew what subspecies of Lion she was, Larissa found herself cornered.
She wished this was the first time it had happened, but it wasn’t. Any time a Pride found out what she was, she was, for lack of a better word, courted by the males of the Pride, and sometimes not very nicely, despite her perfectly plump size which was not always to their tastes.
Not that she cared what they thought. So, what if her body was round and curvy? She was still strong and quick with long, pale golden hair the same shade as the thick, soft fur that coated her Lioness’ back. But like her rare she-Cat, she was shorter than other Lions, more densely configured, and somewhat thick around the thighs and ass.
All facts she was perfectly fine with. It wasn’t like she had much choice. She could starve herself, had tried that once when she was a teenager only to be caught stalking bunnies with her claws and fangs in the dead of night by her foster parents’ suburban home.
She’d learned then, starving a Shifter was not a good idea. Food was necessary, and if her ass was a bit rounder, her boobs a little larger, and her thighs a tad bigger than most the Shifter teens in her adoptive Pride, that was that.
Larissa had learned to love her body, and she remembered her mother’s lessons long after the female had left her alone in the world.
“When the males of that Pride hound you, it is because of your rare she-Cat, my love. Keep it secret. Run away. Hold out for true love.”
She’d tried to honor her mother’s lessons by leaving her adoptive Pride right after high school. She’d packed her bags for college, said thank you, and left. Whenever she made it to a new town, she introduced herself, stayed off the radar, and lived quietly.
That’s how it had been for some time. She rarely stayed in any one city or suburb for more than a couple of years. Refusing to be tied down to men she did not love simply because of what she was, Larissa searched far and wide for her true fated mate.
It was what had led her to the Big Apple, at first. Young, and starry eyed, she’d believed all the stories of beings created for one another by the fates themselves. Shifter fairy tales, that’s all they were. She knew that now.
