Page 1 of Dominion

Alpha’s Hunger

A Dark Paranormal Romance

1

Ben hit the button for the parking garage on the elevator and rubbed his face. As the unit plunged down the shaft, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. His instincts warned him to pay attention.

To what? He looked up to read which floor he was passing and without thinking, hit the next one. The elevator stopped and the doors slid open. He put his foot against one side to hold it open, listening. His skin prickled. Yes, someone or something was here.

He stepped out, keeping his movements silent. Most of the lights were off, computer screens on screensaver. By seven-thirty, all five hundred twenty-three of his employees had left for the night. He rounded a corner and his senses sharpened when he caught sight of a woman’s arm lying on the floor, extending from one of the cubicles. He surged forward, the adrenaline already causing him to partially shift.

A young woman lay sprawled on her back on the floor, eyes closed. What in the—? As he lunged to kneel at her side, her eyes fluttered open and she shrieked. She scrambled up to stand. “M-Mr. Stone!”

He grasped her arms and lifted her to her feet, taking a deep breath and willing his vision back to normal. Something about the feel of her flesh under his palms made it harder to relax. He released her. Still, the hairs stood up on his arms, his instincts screaming for his attention. Why? What danger lay here?

“What happened?”

“Oh, nothing!” the young woman exclaimed, smoothing her long reddish-brown waves back from her face. “I just… I have a migraine, and it affects my vision, so I didn’t want to drive. I was trying to meditate it away.” She spoke quickly, no doubt flustered to have the company’s owner and CEO in her cubicle. “I’m sorry, I’m sure it looked like I’d fainted or collapsed. I didn’t mean to alarm you.” Her blue eyes appeared shrunken with pain, but even so, her beauty was undeniable. High cheekbones, big eyes, and a wide, sensual mouth. As he looked at her lips, his vision domed again, bringing the peripheral into focus along with her face. He blinked, pushing back the threatened change, hoping his irises hadn’t changed color. She didn’t appear to have noticed anything. Strange… no human woman—hell, no female at all had ever had such an effect on him.

Too gruffly, he demanded, “Do you work here?”

The acrid scent of fear told him he’d made her nervous. Which was nothing new. The employees of Stone Technologies had learned in the three years of his reign to watch their step around him. He had little tolerance for any of them. He knew what they called him: Stone Man. Because he never smiled.

“Yes, Mr. Stone. This is my office. I’m a marketing assistant.” She grabbed a framed photo of herself and a girl who looked identical to her and held it up. “See? This is my desk.”

“You can’t have security clearance. How did you plan to lock up when you left after hours?”

Her eyes widened. “Well, Steve is still working down in R&D. He said I could stay as long as he was here.”

For some reason the thought of her getting cozy with anyone named Steve—whoever he may be—made him want to tear the man’s throat out. He gave himself a shake. What was wrong with him?

“What’s your name?”

“Ashley. Ashley Bell.” She held out her hand.

“Ben Stone.” He took her palm, once more experiencing a strange reaction to touching her skin. Heat tingled in at the contact, shooting up his arm.

“I know,” she said with a smile.

He yanked his hand back, unsettled by his reaction to the slip of a human female. “Get your things. I’ll drive you home,” he said curtly.

Her expressive mouth rounded into a littleO. “Um, that’s not necessary, Mr. Stone. I can call a friend, or a cab, or—” She broke off at his stern gaze. “All right,” she said meekly. He caught a whiff of another smell, mixed in with the fear: arousal.

He stiffened. For him? The wolf in him surged and he had to steady his breath.

Ashley opened a drawer and grabbed her purse. A paperback book fell to the floor.

He retrieved it before she could snatch it up.

“Oh, that’s?—”

He turned it over to look at the cover. A man with a naked torso and washboard abs graced the front, wind blowing his shoulder-length hair. A romance reader. Cute.

“That’s… not mine,” she said lamely, a pretty blush coloring her cheeks.

His mouth twitched in a smile. “Right,” he said, handing it back with a raised eyebrow that caused her to blush again.

She shoved it in her purse and licked her lips. The sight of her tongue sent a pulse of heat to his cock. He took another breath and blew it out slowly, trying to understand what was happening. The girl was human, he was sure of it. Not his destined mate. Weak. Fragile. Not even able to withstand a marking. How could she be calling up his most base desires when no female—human or wolf alike—had ever done so?

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