Only I didn't get all that far. A hand caught mine and I found myself being pulled into a body that was hard and familiar. The scent of warm leather and exotic spices wrapped around me, teasing my senses, stirring my hormones. Not Quinn. Kellen.
"Hello, Riley," he whispered, his breath so warm against my ear. "It's lovely to see you here."
Fate sure as hell was intent on playing games with my life—or was she merely trying to point me in the right direction?
I turned around to refute his statement, but as my gaze met his, the words died on my lips.
Because he knew. There was no doubt in his green eyes at all. Despite the disguise, despite my scent being covered, he knew it was me. And the depth of that recognition scared me. How could I connect so deeply with someone I didn't really know?
Someone who Quinn distrusted?
But what was perhaps even more scary was the fact that, unlike the Kellen I'd met in Melbourne, this Kellen was all alpha, all power, all need. The patience was gone. This wolf would take what he wanted, and what he wanted was me.
It was a thought that made my blood race. And yet I wasn't here to enjoy myself, wasn't here to play with a prospective mate.
But maybe, just maybe, he could help me with some information gathering.
"I need to ask you some questions—" I started, and he squeezed my hand tightly, making the words cut off.
"Not here. Let's go somewhere else."
I could have resisted. I should have resisted.
I didn't.
And while I would have loved to use the excuse that I couldn't go to Misha aching with need because the bastard didn't deserve it, truth was, I wanted this wolf just as much as he wanted me.
He strode out of the main ballroom and up the hall to the lifts, his grip on my hand forcing me to almost run to catch up with him. "Where are we going?" I asked, a little breathlessly.
"To my office. We won't be disturbed there."
The thought had my pulse skipping. As did the heated, determined look in his eyes. "You work here?"
"I own the building."
"Wow."
A smile touched his lips as his gaze slid down my body. Heat stirred deep within. "That dress is a wow." His gaze rose. "But I intend to take it off you in precisely"—he glanced at his watch—"twenty seconds."
The lift chimed softly as the door opened. He tugged me inside and pressed the top floor button.
"You're getting a little presumptuous, aren't you?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"
The lift zoomed upward, and for a change, my stomach had no reaction. Maybe it was the presence and heat of the wolf standing so close keeping any reaction but desire at bay. "I came here with someone, you know."
"Quinn O'Conor." Cold amusement touched his green eyes. "It gives me a great deal of pleasure to steal you away from that bastard."
I stepped back. "I hope that's not the only reason because otherwise—"
He laughed, cutting me off. "If I truly wanted to annoy him, I would have taken you somewhere closer, somewhere his vampire senses could feel every little glorious thing I intend to do to you."
And I thought the horse-shifter was hot…
I blew out a breath and resisted the urge to fan myself.
The lift stopped and a small bell chimed as the doors opened. Only they didn't open into a hallway but a huge office with billion-dollar views over the harbor.
"Stunning," I said.
"It is,'" he agreed, but he was looking at me when he said it.
I smiled, liking this wolf more and more. "That lift a private one?"
He waved a keycard I hadn't noticed before. Observant, that was me. "Totally. Why?"
"Because I'd hate for us to be interrupted."
"Oh, we won't be." He tugged me forward. The office was huge, and not just an office. There were double doors to our left that led into a bedroom that looked to be as big as my whole apartment, and a single door farther along that same wall that led into a bathroom.
"You live here?" I asked, almost running to keep up with him again as he skirted around several perfect-for-seduction leather couches.
"Most of the time. I have an apartment in Melbourne, too." He looked over his shoulder, his eyes flashing green fire in the shadowy light. "I intend to be there a whole lot more often."
"Well, good." Then I saw where he was headed and stopped. "Umm, sorry, but I'm afraid of heights, so getting near the windows is not a good idea."
He switched tack, tugging me toward a long mahogany board table. He pushed several chairs aside, some of them crashing to the thick beige carpet as he spun me around and backed me against the table.
My breath caught as his hands slid teasingly down my waist and hips. His fingers briefly caressed my thighs, sending little sparks of electricity shooting through my system, then he caught the hem of the dress and it was being pulled up and over my head. "Twenty seconds, on the dot," he said with a smile.
"I do so admire a man who keeps his word." I hitched my butt onto the tabletop. "Now that you've got me naked, what are you going to do with me?"
"Offer you a drink, of course. What would you like?"
"Would a coffee be pushing the friendship?"
"One espresso coming up."
He walked over to a bar that was bigger than my entire bathroom back home, and grabbed one of the cups sitting beside the coffee-making machine. "Why are you here with Quinn?"
I shrugged. "It's business more than pleasure."
The machine hissed as he began pouring coffee into the cup. "So you are fucking him?"
There was no judgment in that question, just a statement of fact. Which was nice when compared to Quinn's uptight attitudes. I smiled. "Of course I am—why?"
"It just makes it all the more delicious when I steal you away from him." He walked across the room and handed me the cup. "Now, where were we?"
"Chatting," I said. "And drinking coffee."
"You're drinking coffee," he corrected, his voice slightly distracted as he ran one finger down my neck and across my shoulder.
Desire trembled through my veins, and the fires of need leapt into focus. I took a quick sip of coffee, but it didn't do a whole lot to ease the deep-seated ache. "It does take two to keep a conversation going."
"I've always found talking to be overrated."
"And I've always found one person being dressed while the other is naked somewhat unfair."
He grinned and stepped back, then unhurriedly began to strip. I sipped my coffee and enjoyed the show—and it was a good show. The man knew how to do a decent striptease. Once naked, he stepped between my legs, brushed my hair from my left shoulder, and lightly planted a kiss on it.
"I prefer the natural color of your hair," he murmured, his breath hot against my skin. "It's so much prettier."
"And yet you recognized me, despite the changes," I agreed huskily. "How?"
"An alpha always recognizes his chosen mate."
His words made my heart do crazy things. I barely even knew this wolf, and yet here he was, declaring his intent to make me his. It was thrilling, sexy, and just a little scary. "I'm not your mate."
"But you will be." His mouth replaced his breath on my shoulder, and slowly, languorously, he kissed his way toward my ear. When the sweet heat of his tongue delved inside, a helpless sound of pleasure escaped my lips.
He chuckled, a throaty sound as seductive and as arousing as his touch. His fingers trailed from my hips to my breasts, and lightly began to tease and pinch the engorged points. I squirmed, put my coffee on the table and forgot about it as every inch of my body vibrated with the hunger that flowed through my veins.
When I could stand no more, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close, so that my breasts were squashed against his chest. The beat of his heart was as wild as mine, and the heat of his desire a furnace that burned my skin, making me sweat. Want.