Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Louis

Walking out of Marcus’ office, I moved over to the espresso machine. Boston never got it right, I’d fix this and leave it for the new girl to give to him. It would give me a chance to see the one who had caught Marcus’ eye.

I couldn’t help but feel nervous at his words. That he’d felt a pull to her. How would that affect us? My hands were swift as I moved about, readying the grounds and pressing them down. I was well aware how others viewed me.

Keen ears left little room for secrets. When I was with Marcus, he made it all disappear. With him, I knew that he would keep me safe. He’d keep others safe from me, should he need to.

There hadn’t been anyone I was really drawn to besides him. Not after Elin. It was too hard to get attached to someone you could kill by accident.

My chest tightened as I thought about her, she’d trusted me to keep her safe. To protect her from Nash, not realizing that it was me she needed protecting from.

I poured the boiling water from the electric kettle into the well. Placing the small cup beneath the spout. The low hum of water boiling relaxed me as I went about my task, wiping away the spilled grinds from the shiny metal surface.

It did me no good to think about her and what we had endured together. The whoosh of the elevator doors pulled my attention away from my task as I looked over my shoulder.

That was her, I knew it without a doubt. She trailed after Boston, her arms loaded down with files as the bossy dragon’s heels clicked down the marble hallway. She was talking to her, but it was hard to pay attention to her. Her words didn’t matter as my eyes fell on her. My heart beating faster the closer they got.

Picking up Marcus’ espresso, I leaned back against the stainless steel coffee bar. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes wide as she tried to take everything in. My gaze traveled from her red kitten heels, up her long smooth legs, to the simple black fitted skirt she had on.

It didn’t hide the curves of her body, curves I wondered how they would feel under my palm as she panted in my ear. Those short heels digging into my lower back, I knew that if she were ours, I would buy her all the shoes.

Just so I could watch her walk around in them.

“Louis,” Boston said, a sneer on her red lips as she turned away from Marcus’ new assistant, “Shouldn’t you be in your basement?”

“I was just dropping something off.”

“I’m sure.” She said, rolling her eyes as she turned to look back at the woman beside her. “Amelia, this is your desk. I’ll show you how Marcus likes his coffee.”

“Give him this.” I smiled, pushing myself forward. My walk a casual stroll. Her eyes studied me and I could understand what Marcus meant.

It felt like I was a moth, drawn to the flame.

Holding out the small cup to her, I smiled, “Hello, little one.”

Her finger tips brushed against mine and breathed in her scent, mixed with the scent of the espresso it was crisp and sweet.

“Thank you, Louis.” She said and I smiled at the way she said my name. Knowing that I wanted to hear it again.

“It’ll earn you some brownie points with him.” I chuckled with a wink. She looked at the dark beverage, her cheeks heating up with the pinpricks of a blush.

“I think I’ll need them.”

“I don’t.” I said, biting my lip as her eyes shot up to mine. The blush spread to the collar of her shirt. Tracing my eyes lower I felt my own cheeks heat up, I wanted to know how far down that blush went.

“Louis.” Boston called out. With a sigh, I moved past Amelia. I now had a name to put with her face. A face I didn’t think I’d be forgetting anytime soon. Her features were delicate, like that of a porcelain doll. A soft scattering of freckles sprinkled across her up-turned nose.

I wondered where else she had freckles, what her skin tasted like as I made my way to the stairwell. An idea already forming in my mind as I pulled out my cell phone to send Marcus a message.

I would do as he asked, I’d get to know her. Maybe she would be someone that could be ours. That we could belong to, long term. Not just for the evening or a weekend.

But for the rest of our long lives.

As I walked down the stairs, I typed out a message to Marcus before unbuttoning my suit jacket and placing the phone in my breast pocket.

I needed the walk to try to get Amelia out of my head. It was already going to be hard enough to concentrate. The closer I got to the basement, the more at ease I felt.

The others of our flock didn’t like to come down here. It was too dark, too quiet.

The darkness and the quiet suited me just fine. It let me relax.

I was safe here, and so were they.