“Always. I wouldn’t be as good a real estate agent as I am if I didn’t.”
It was true. Treasure always made sure all her work was done before she took time to enjoy other things. And since she was an agent, the business part tended to take up more time than the pleasure. Her being on call if someone wanted to see a listing, along with having open houses on the weekends, didn’t give her a lot of free time. The amount of hours a week she put into her job had pissed off more than a few boyfriends until they eventually wanted out of the relationship. Not that Treasure had minded. She hadn’t met a man yet who she’d give up her career for. She worked hard at what she did—and was damn good at it—so she wouldn’t just up and leave it.
“I guess I can’t fault you for wanting to be a success,” Soren said with a smile.
“How about this? Since you are such a career-minded woman, what if I were to make an offer on the penthouse, for the full asking price with the condition I get possession by the end of the week. And…” He let his words trail off and shifted to stand toe-to-toe with her. “And you say you’ll go out with me.”
“What if I say no?”
“Then I might have to rethink the whole offer thing.”
Treasure gnawed on her bottom lip. It was as if Soren knew exactly what button to push to get her to agree. She didn’t want to lose the offer. With him willing to pay the full asking price, she stood to earn a hefty commission.
She looked at Soren, already knowing what her answer would be. And it wasn’t just because of what she stood to lose money-wise. She really didn’t want to turn down an evening with the man in front of her. The ones who looked like him didn’t come around too often. Plus she hadn’t been out on a date in some time. Now that she thought about it, it had to have been at least nine months since she’d been on her last one.
With a nod, she said, “You drive a hard bargain, but it’s a deal. We’ll go to my office now and start the offer. After I present it to my other client, you can take me to dinner.” Treasure stuck out her hand to seal the deal, but Soren didn’t take it.
He shook his head. “A handshake isn’t going to cut it this time.”
Soren captured her lips with his. Treasure didn’t do anything to stop him. A surge of arousal shot through her as he slanted his mouth more firmly over hers, sweeping his tongue along the seam of her lips. She opened and he took the unspoken invitation to take the kiss deeper.
Treasure found her hands coming up to rest on Soren’s hard chest as he snaked his arms around her waist, holding her against him. She kissed him back, her tongue twining with his, learning the taste of him. His erection pressed along her stomach, making her ache to feel it more intimately.
With a deep groan, Soren ended their kiss. She opened her eyes to find his closed as he breathed heavily. After a few seconds, he lifted his eyelids and looked at her.
“Let’s do that offer before I forget where I am and get ahead of myself,” he said in a gruff voice.
She nodded, feeling quite breathless. Turning, Treasure didn’t wait to see if Soren followed her as she led the way to the penthouse door. If that kiss were any indication of what was in store for her this evening, breaking her rule would be well worth it indeed.
Chapter Two
Soren walked Treasure to her car out in the parking lot at the front of the building.
Hers was just about as expensive as his own sports model.
“I’ll follow you,” he said once she unlocked the driver’s door.
“Okay. It’s not too far from here. And there is parking nearby.”
He hurried over to his own car and got in. He had the engine started by the time Treasure drove past on her way to the parking lot exit. Soren pulled in behind her.
As he followed her out onto the street, he thought about all that Treasure meant to him over and over in his head. A mate, he’d actually found his mate. His friends, Atticus and Kian, had recently found theirs. Soren hadn’t expected to find the woman meant for him quite so soon. He’d known it would happen eventually, but it still had taken him by surprise.
Now that he had found Treasure, there was no way he’d let her go. He’d claim her as his mate, but it was just a question of how long he could fight the mating urge. Her being mortal would add extra strain, since he’d have to be careful he didn’t give away what he was until he’d told her. And telling her he was a werewolf wasn’t something he particularly relished. She’d be the first mortal he told. Even though his pack had lived in Toronto among mortals for years, they’d kept what they were from them.
Soren licked his lips and caught the taste of Treasure that still lingered there. It was just as heady as her scent. Kissing her had left him desperate and wanting. He didn’t think he’d ever get enough of her. His cock throbbed painfully in response to his thoughts. He wouldn’t be getting much relief any time soon. He couldn’t fully make love to her yet. If he were to do so it would have their souls joining, bonding them to the point they wouldn’t be able to stand to be apart from each other. They’d go through separation anxiety with their minds playing tricks on them. They’d think something bad had happened to the other, and an hour apart would feel like a month. No, he couldn’t bond with Treasure until she knew exactly what she’d gotten herself into. It wouldn’t be fair to her.
That only left heavy petting and oral sex, which he hoped to hell he’d get some of before the night was over. It wouldn’t do him any favors, since penetration was the only thing that would ease his mating urge, and anything else would just make it worse. But Soren was willing to pay that price. He wanted to make Treasure come with his fingers, his mouth, any way he could, while she called his name in passion.
Noticing they were near Treasure’s office, since she’d given him the address before leaving the penthouse, Soren pushed all the carnal thoughts out of his head. It wouldn’t do to walk into where she worked with a massive erection. Her coworkers would think he was some kind of pervert. It would be bad enough he’d have to walk around semi-aroused most of the time until he claimed Treasure as his, anyway.
He followed behind Treasure’s car as she pulled into the Green P municipal parking. They managed to find two parking spots side by side. Soren turned off his car and got out. He waited as Treasure collected the briefcase on her passenger seat before she joined him.
After pushing the remote to lock her car, she walked with him toward the stairs that would take them to street level. “It’s not too far of a walk from here,” she said with a smile.
It could have been a ten-mile hike that he had to make barefoot in blistering sun and Soren still would have gone with her. “Lead on.”
Once out on the sidewalk, Treasure turned left. Soren kept pace with her by shortening his strides. She had long legs, but being a foot shorter than him, his were longer. He would have taken her hand until they reached her office building, except for the fact she carried her briefcase with it. He could have shifted to her other side to hold her free one, but he didn’t want to come across as too needy. She really didn’t know him yet, after all.
Inside the corporate building, it was another agonizing ride in an elevator up a couple of floors to where the offices for the real estate company were located. Soren didn’t know how many more of those rides he’d be able to take with her before he lost all his senses and took her against the elevator’s wall.
Soren followed Treasure past the front desk and down a long stretch of carpet that had offices lining either side of it. There weren’t many, since this real estate company wasn’t one of the larger, well-known ones. It only had high-end listings that the average middle-class person couldn’t afford. He’d gotten that much from their website once he’d found the listing for the penthouse on the MLS website.