Taking on Tory(9)

A dangerous growl escaped Simon. Two nights until the full moon and the only female the beast inside him wanted was the one he saw yesterday. He would have to be locked up in the special room he had built in the basement if he couldn’t find and convince the woman to stay with him. He would lose control of the beast otherwise and that could prove to be deadly to everyone, including Youssef.

He turned back toward the huge set of windows looking out over the long driveway. A white van was pulling down it. As it turned the curved in the driveway, he made out the name of the company he had employed to find the exact furnishings for his new home.

Alexandru Carson of Magic Furnishings had managed to find all of the pieces he had requested so far. Simon wondered if the mysterious entrepreneur could find the woman he had seen yesterday. It appeared to be a task beyond his security chief’s ability.

A moment of regret washed through him as he admonished himself for being so hard on his friend. It was not Youssef’s fault the camera was defective. His friend had spent years protecting him. In fact, he bore the scars from it across his chest when Simon had lost control one night and almost killed one of the gardeners who had returned after dark when he was running.

“Replace the…” Simon’s voice died as he watched in disbelief as the door to the van opened and the woman that he had seen yesterday stepped out of the driver’s seat.

“Simon!” Youssef called out in surprise as Simon turned and rushed by him. He glanced back and forth from the window to the open door before he cursed again as he turned to follow Simon. “I really do hate it when he does that.”

*.*.*

Tory carefully folded the papers and slid them back into the envelope. The guards at the front had been about the strangest thing she had ever seen. They acted like she was trying to steal the furniture instead of delivering it!

She shut the door to the van and looked up at the house. It was beautiful in a huge, I-want-to-bury-a-dead-body-in-it, kind of way. She had seen pictures of houses like this. It reminded her of the houses from the Vampire movie she had watched on television a couple months ago.

She rolled her eyes as she walked up the steps to the front door. The actors had been really good, and really hot to look at, but they had gotten the whole Vampire thing wrong. Hell, when the little girl had turned to ash, Tory had laughed so hard she had almost wet her pants. Then, there was the other one where they were supposed to be all sparkly in the sun!

“Not unless I took a bath in glitter,” she muttered as she raised her hand to knock on the massive door. “Damn, Hugo would love to have a set of these on his house,” she muttered as she thought of the gentle giant that lived off of Dust Bowl and Redwood back home.

“Who is Hugo?” The male who opened the door demanded.

“What?” Tory squeaked in surprise. She hadn’t heard him walking to the door, so when it opened it had surprised her.

“Who is Hugo?” The male demanded again. “Is he your boyfriend or husband?”

Tory tilted her head and frowned. Great! She came all the way to Charleston to meet… a Werewolf! Like she didn’t have enough of those running around back home.

She wiggled her nose at the distinctive scent. She refused to admit he smelled a hell of a lot better than Maverick. Still, she didn’t want to meet another Werewolf! She wanted to meet a cute human male! Preferably with Type A positive blood. It was the only one she could safely drink.

“No, Hugo isn’t my boyfriend or husband. He’s just a g… guy I know. I’m here to deliver some furniture for Mr. Drayton. Can you let him know? I’ll need some help carrying it in, as well,” she added, folding her arms as the tall male continued to stare down at her. “Please.”

She thought she better add the last part for good customer service. She didn’t really need any help with moving it. She could shrink the stuff and pop it back up when she got it inside, but she had promised her mom, dad, Nonny, Gramps, Alexandru and half of the town of Magic that she wouldn’t do anything ‘different’ in front of ANYONE while she was gone.

Tory sighed. That might mean biting on a Type A positive neck is a no-no, but I can enjoy a guy’s company without biting him.

“What is your name?” The man demanded.

Tory bit her lip to prevent the word Elvira from popping out. She didn’t think he would appreciate her reference to the 1980’s Mistress of the Dark. Instead, she slowly looked over the man standing between her and a night out on the town, all on her little own. He was tall and handsome with his thick blond hair pulled back at his nape. The dark suit he was wearing emphasized the muscles under it. He had a wide chest, narrow waist, and… a blush rose over her cheeks at the bulge in the front.