Page 17 of Blood on the Ice

What?

“I…”

A loud growl echoes out of his chest and before I can find the words, his clothes drop to the floor and he’s yanked me against him in a way that tells me he’s not lying. His cock is pressing against my entrance and I have to strain not to rock until it fills me. “Clean? Pill?”

Swallowing hard, I nod. “Yes.”

His grin is feral as his hips slam forward, and our bodies are joined. I’m more full than I’ve ever been and for a moment, I wonder exactly how big my one and done shifter is. My questions float away when he leans down and bites the juncture of my shoulder hard, causing me to whine in pleasure. He likes that and his hips withdraw, swirling the tip of his cock around briefly before he thrusts into me again, hard. I shudder, enjoying the opposing sensations as he repeats the motion over and over. He doesn’t let go of the bite, even when the snakes hiss and snap above him.

Motherfucker, this boy is goddamned perfection.

My hands lift and claws rake down his back as we pant, and our hips slap together wildly. I dig in harder and he lets out a dark growl that says his own beast is close to the surface. I have no idea what that would look like, but if he keeps fucking me like this, I don’t care. Every time his hips piston and he buries his cock in me, it feels like it’s going deeper. When my walls flutter around him, I let my head fall back on my shoulders again and bury one hand in his shaggy hair.

“Lucas, I’m gonna come,” I breathe, squeezing my hips on the outside of his thighs hard as the tremors zing through me like electricity.

His answer is another primal sound, and he stays right where he is, holding on as I drop over the edge and his cock swells inside of me. The waves of pleasure make my gut tighten and he finally lets go of the bite to throw his head back with a roar that vibrates over my skin. His body pins me in place as sweat rolls down my spine and my breathing hitches. Something about the way ourbodies are connected, and he’s buried inside of me, keeps me still as the colors behind my eyes slowly fade.

The room is silent for a few moments and I hear him mutter under his breath in a weird, gravelly voice. “Mine.”

My lips curve and I decide not to correct him—after all, he did just rock my world off of its axis.

His head dips and he pins me with darkened pupils, his large bear canines poking out of his normal mouth oddly. “We’re in deep trouble.”

working bitch

Lucas and I spent the next couple of hours cleaning up the kitchen mess, and by the time we finished, it was less awkward. He was quiet and despite my penchant for frankness, I couldn’t bring myself to ask what the hell he’d meant by ‘we’re in trouble.’ It was obvious the situation rattled him, but Magnus and his antics left my self-esteem in tatters. Myfear mightily outweighed the need to know if I’d done something wrong—after all, what the fuck did I know about polar bears or their sexual habits?

I’m not inexperienced, but I didn’t spend three hundred years getting dipped by every species out there, either.

When everything was righted, he walked over, pressed a kiss to my forehead and told me he’d see me later. Not the worst brush off ever, but also not the kindest ‘thanks for the good time’ I’ve received. I gathered my clothes up and headed to the first floor bathroom for a shower. That lasted far longer than it should have because I kept drifting off into space and the only thing that pulled me out of the trance was the water turning cold. I dried off and headed for the nest on the couch, tucking myself in with numb limbs and a heavy heart.

Getting up this morning wasn’t easy, but I packed up my breakfast, snacks, and a huge tumbler of coffee so I’d be able to stay in my office as much as possible. Since I had no idea if my indiscretion was all over the campus, I wanted to make certain I could hide out. Plus, that plan had a bonus of preventing me from running into my one night fuck-up. Staying busy with work and putting Lucas Wolfberg in my rear-view mirror is for the best.

That decided, I finished getting dressed in my sharpest black pinstripe Zegna suit, a killer pair of heels, and a high ponytail that said ‘all business’ before I left for the comfort of my cloistered office.

Hopefully, Channing beat me here, and she’s already cleaning up the mess that is my fucking calendar.

I wasright to assume my new assistant would have things well underway when I arrived. Coming in at nine is late for me, but when I saw the progress made in the office, I knew Channing had arrived hours earlier. She cleaned out the desk of Magnus’ old gatekeeper, reorganized the waiting area, and had neatly stacked papers waiting on my desk. I peeked at them for a moment before looking for the efficient elemental in the copy room next to her office. She was humming under her breath as she made collated copies of what looked to be various forms, stacking them cross-wise as they spit out of the heavy duty machine.

“Channing?”

Jumping a foot in the air, she turned and pushed her glasses up with a surprised expression. “Oh! Dean! I didn’t hear you come in over this thing. Good morning.”

Smiling to myself, I lean against the door frame, nodding at the papers. “What are those?”

“The assistant previous to me didn’t have a recognizable filing system. As I went through her files, it appeared protocols for most things weren’t being followed and I’m sure that contributed to the situation they sent you here to address. I’m setting up the system so that going forward, we do everything legitimately.” She pauses for a moment and tilts her head. “Is that okay?”

“Of course it is! I’m grateful that you are familiar with the correct procedure, to be honest. Having someone who can execute and monitor the paper trail is significant going forward. Fixing the mess left by those who didn’t, intentionally or unknowingly, will be a nightmare for me. Speaking of which, what are the stacks on my desk?”

Channing presses a button on the machine, stopping its progress. She turns on her heel, gesturing for me to follow, and we head into my office. Picking up the stack on my desk, she lays them out one by one as she explains. “These are expenditures already approved for review, these are additional requests, these are parental communications I will respond to after you make notes, and the last one is personnel files for the remaining admin staff in this office. Once you review their information and give your opinion, I’ll decide who stays and who goes. That will allow me to build a new team.”

I blink as she fires off the different paperwork. This isn’t even a dent in what she has for me, I’ll bet, but it’s what she wants me to look at first. “Okay. I’ll settle in and focus on these tasks until lunch. If you need me, just pop in and I’ll pause. Does that work?”

“Of course! That’sexactlyhow it should work, in fact.” She looks at me for a moment, squinting. “Are you okay this morning? Something seems… off. Did you sleep poorly? Shall I order more coffee?”

“I’ll always accept coffee, Channing. However, you’re right—my night was fitful and I’m still debugging my hard drive, so to speak. Don’t worry; I’ll be okay once I get enough caffeine in me.”

“I’ll go order a delivery and make sure it’s strong.” She gives me a mock salute, and I chuckle as she heads out quickly.

---