Page 24 of The Scent of Seduction

Jaryn shrugged. “That’s what some of our historians say. But there’s really no way for us to know for sure. Beings such as my fairy friend Collin are technically immortal, so they really don’t have a born-on date.”

Nicole’s face went slack and Jaryn knew that he’d overwhelmed her. He picked up her limp hands and raised them to his lips. Nicole blinked, then smiled when he nibbled on her dainty fingers.

“Don’t worry, love. I promise if I ever invite a vampire or fairy into our home, I’ll warn you,” he said, smiling.

Nicole gently shoved Jaryn away, jumped off the desk, then straddled his legs. She combed through the hair on the back of his head and pulled his face to within an inch of her. Her soft breasts pressed against his chest, and he wished they were naked so he could feel her plush vaginal lips surround his cock as they rocked together in his office chair. He sat still, letting Nicole call the shots in their play. His mate rubbed their noses together, then ghosted her lips across his cheekbones. Her nails scraped his scalp, making his skin tingle all over as her hips ground against him in a hypnotic rhythm. Jaryn couldn't resist her spell—his mind filled with need and his heart overflowed with love for the enchantress in his arms.

Nicole leaned forward and placed her lips against Jaryn’s ear. “If you ever invite a vampire or fairy or any other supernatural being into our home, I expect more than a ‘oh by the way’. You got that, mate?”

Jaryn’s arms came around Nicole’s back and pulled her into his embrace. “Yes, love. Anything for you.”

Nicole gave Jaryn a peck on his forehead, then leaped off his lap. “Good. Now how do we set up this secure link you promised me?”

Jaryn growled and captured Nicole’s hips as she bent over his desk to access a new window in his communication programme. He pulled her back into his lap and tickled her as he nibbled up and down her neck. Nicole’s laughter echoed in his office. Her little body squirmed in his arms, and Jaryn couldn’t think of a single moment in his life when he’d been happier.

When Nicole gasped for air from laughing so hard, Jaryn settled her by rubbing her belly beneath the soft T-shirt she wore. He held her securely in his arms and enjoyed a quiet moment with his mate.

“You ready, love?”

Nicole nodded eagerly and her smile made Jaryn’s heart turn over in his chest. “Who should we call first?”

“Can we have a three-way?”

Jaryn raised one eyebrow and chuckled when a cute little blush stole across Nicole’s cheeks. “Sure. Let me tap into the secure uplink.” Jaryn pulled up the program the military trained him on. He still had access, since he occasionally did consulting work for them. He inputted the contact information for Nicole’s parents and her brother. Nicole’s leg bounced in the chair next to him and she nibbled on her thumbnail. Jaryn hit the last key stroke and took his mate’s hand in his. In a matter of seconds, the wall came alive with a split image of a middle-aged couple of and a young man with dark brownish-red hair.

Nicole leaped off the seat and ran to touch the wall where the projection showed. “Hello? Can I help you?”

Jaryn smiled at the happiness on Nicole’s face. “Mr and Mrs Holland? Cameron Holland?”

“Yes,” both images answered.

“I have someone who’d like to talk to you.” Jaryn waved Nicole back over to the desk and pointed to the camera lens imbedded in the E-sphere.

Nicole slowly walked over and sat in the chair. She reached for Jaryn’s hand and squeezed tight. “Mom? Dad? Cam? I’ve missed you so much,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Chapter Nine

Jaryn looked up as Shaun entered his office and sat in the chair across from his desk. “You ready for this?” Shaun asked.

“I think we’re as ready as we’ll ever be. We’ve gone over these plans so many times, I see them in my sleep.”

"I'd expect your dreams to be filled with much more enjoyable things than the details of this operation."

“You know, sex isn’t all I think about. I have pack details to keep up with, various business projects… speaking of which, I need to get out to the site and check the foundation on the McGuire project. Then, lest I forget the various family obligations. Charlie has this huge science fair thing to work on, and my mom and dad asked if I would come fix their Eco Cleaner. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mate. Since she came into my life, I couldn’t be happier, but life is a lot more complicated than one roll in the sheets after another.”

Shaun leaned forwards and braced his elbows on his knees. “Look, Jaryn—I know we all place a lot of responsibility on you. But you have to admit you willingly shoulder a lot of that burden alone. I am your business partner, as well as your Beta. Use me, that’s what I’m here for.”

“Are you saying you’d like to go out and wine and dine the clients?”

“Hell no. We both know if you gave me that task, we’d lose more business than we gain, but you could let me take over the books. I know you hate doing that. Let me handle this business with the pack’s chalet. You can interview for a manager, and I’ll deal with getting the actual structure up and running. You already drew up the plans, and it’s not as if I can’t track you down if I have a question. As soon as we take care of this ASC investigation, I recommend that you and Nicole take a vacation or spend some quiet time with your family away from the pack lands. Charlie is going to go away to college before you know it—stop worrying about being a third parental unit and simply be his big brother. Take Nicole home to see her parents, whatever.”

Jaryn sat quietly and watched his best friend for a moment. Shaun was right on some levels. Jaryn knew he didn’t delegate as much as he could, but he was Alpha. All the little things he took care of both as a business owner and pack leader were his responsibility. That’s why he’d set up the pack offices in the same building as his business. He didn’t want to leave the office just to go home and work some more. Then again, the separation didn’t do him much good if he continued to put in such long hours that when he did finally get home, he barely had enough energy to shower and kiss Nicole goodnight. There’d been a few times already that he’d wanted to make love to his mate when he got home, but his body simply didn’t have enough gas. Nicole had taken to tucking Jaryn in bed, and he’d quickly fall asleep to the soft caress of her hand brushing back his hair and her sweet lips whispering her love in his ear.

Truthfully, a lot of his recent late hours had been spent with Shaun and Cooper ironing out the plans for the raid on Broyles’ compound. It had brought back memories of nights back in the military when the three of them had sat with their commanding officer and team doing the same thing. In fact, all three of them were thankful for their experience because setting up an op such as this wasn’t for the uninitiated.

Jaryn nodded at Shaun. “Okay, from now on the books are your problem. I’ll transfer the files to your system today. I haven’t filed the building permits for the chalet yet, so that’s step one.”

“I know the job, Jaryn.”

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