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  He cocked an eyebrow, his gaze raking her from head to toe, making her extremely uncomfortable and a bit pissed off. She knew his gaze was lingering on her crutches and she wanted to defend herself. Scream at him for making his silent assumptions, but she kept her mouth shut.

  She didn’t like this guy very much.

  After what seemed like an eternity the security guard turned and the doors slid open. “Follow me, Constable Banks.”

  “Just Ms. Banks. I’m no longer a member of the RCMP.”

  A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Fine, Ms. Banks.” He stepped aside and let her walk ahead of him.

  Adele didn’t really relish the idea of turning her back on this guy, but what choice did she have? Once the door slid shut behind her, the security guard punched in a code, apparently locking them in.

  “Follow me,” he said gruffly, walking past her and heading straight toward a gilded bank of elevators.

  Adele followed him, but let her gaze wander over the lobby. It struck her as odd, but this didn’t look like the lobby of a company. It seemed much too residential to be in the financial district.

  They stopped at the elevators. Once again the security guy popped open another panel and entered a code. The elevator doors slid open.

  “After you, Ms. Banks.”

  Adele shuffled as quickly as she could into the plush elevator. He followed her and the doors snapped shut. He pressed the button for penthouse and the elevator began to rise, giving her that queer sinking feeling she always experienced when riding express elevators.

  He said nothing more to her on the ride up and she was thankful. It would give her time to collect herself to make a good impression on Jared Stevens. She didn’t even know what he looked like. The press had been trying for years to get pictures of the Stevens family, but with no luck, and standing next to their security guard she began to understand why.

  The elevator slowed and stopped without so much as a bump. The doors opened and Adele had to stop herself from gasping when she saw the elegant apartment laid out before her with a three-sixty view of downtown Winnipeg.

  “Mr. Stevens will be joining you shortly. Make yourself at home.”

  “Thanks,” Adele said. She stepped out of the elevator and when the doors closed she breathed a sigh of relief that she was away from that man.

  She wasn’t sure where she should go and she felt a bit odd ambling around Jared’s apartment when she hadn’t even met the man. She headed for a bank of windows close to the elevator so she could take in the sight of Winnipeg from so high up, and could see when Jared Stevens entered the room.

  Adele set her attaché case down on the parquet floor and shimmied out of her parka. Drat, she needed to find a place to hang it and stat. There was a door just off to the left from the bank of elevators and she hoped it was the closet

  * * * * *

  Jared was as hard as a rock.

  After his meeting with the elders he headed straight for his shower. He was hoping the water would take the edge off his hard-on.

  It seemed he was perpetually in an aroused state when he was alone, but when he was around other females, especially of his kind, he had no reaction.

  For fuck’s sake, he was just in a meeting talking about his future mate, who was present and gorgeous. If it had been a year ago he’d be ready to mount her and mark her as his own. Cassandra was everything he thought he wanted. She was the kind of mate his father would’ve wanted for him.

  She was blonde, blue-eyed, with creamy-white skin—an innocent. Her family was high up in the clan and she was also in heat, but he felt nothing.

  His cock had a mind of its own lately and he got hard at the most awkward times. The worst thing about it, he couldn’t release. No matter how much he jerked off.

  His release, like his shifting, was stuck in neutral.

  Standing here in the shower, he was as hard as anything. He braced one arm against the tile backsplash. Rivulets of almost scalding hot water ran down his back. Jared closed his eyes and tired to the picture the face of Cassandra, but it was not her face he could see.

  The face he saw was blurred, but he was aware of long black hair the color of midnight, her skin copper and the scent of green tea thick in the air. There was an aura of power surrounding her, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on but it made the trapped bear inside of him growl with the need to release.

  Her body was lithe, her muscles taut. She was a warrior, this mystery woman who had been haunting his dreams since his return to Winnipeg.

  Dark eyes briefly came into focus, sparkling like obsidian in brilliant sunshine. She beckoned him closer as she lay down on a fluffy white bed and spread her thighs, her sex glistening, moist, pink.

  “Fuck,” he cursed as he gripped his cock, wrapping his hand around it. It pulsed under his fingers and he began to pump up and down the length of it.

  God he wanted to come so bad.

  He wanted to shift so bad.

  The bear inside him roared and he increased the tempos of his strokes, paying close attention to the underside of his head, trying to work an orgasm. His balls tightened and pressure pressed against his lower back, but nothing happened. Over and over he came to the brink. Jared was poised and ready to jump, only he couldn’t. He was so close to climaxing, his blood rushing like fire through his veins.

  The scent of the mystery woman was stronger and instinctively he knew the only way he could release was to thrust his cock into her tight pussy.

  Only she was just a figment of his imagination. She wasn’t real.

  “Fuck,” he roared and then slammed his fist against the frosted glass doors in frustration, shattering it. Blood gushed from his hand. He stepped over the broken glass and blindly grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his hand to stanch the flow of blood. As he tied it off there was a gasp of surprise and the voice was distinctly female, it was followed by shuffling and the thud of the door closing.

  Jared’s head snapped up. The scent of that woman he’d been dreaming of was heavy in the air. Like his figment had materialized. It was clinging to the tendrils of steam from his shower.

  He turned off the water and headed straight for the bathroom door, leaving a trail of water behind him. All he could do was follow the enticing scent of that intoxicating perfume.

  Jared flung open the door. He was pissed someone had invaded his privacy, but he had to know where that smell came from. The perfume that drove his inner beast. “What in the name of…?” He lost track of what he was going to say when he caught sight of the beautiful human female bracing herself against the elevator doors.

  It was the woman he had pictured countless times, only more in focus.

  His instincts told him—screamed at him—that this was her.

  Her scent carried her fear and he could see her pulse point pounding at the base of her throat. Her dark eyes were wide, her pink lips formed a perfect O of shock and his bear growled inside like thunder rolling, loud and clear.

  This was the female his inner bear wanted, this human.

  Human?

  Jared took a step back. She was human. He couldn’t have her as a mate. His mate was chosen. The chief had to have someone pure-blooded.

  The bear growled again, displeased.

  He wanted her.

  Jared wanted her.

  Red bloomed in her cheeks and she looked askance at him. Jared realized he was stark naked, with a hard-on, in front of a total stranger.

  “I’m so…sorry. I thought…I thought it was a closet.” She was quaking.

  Confused, Jared realized he was standing on her coat, which was now soaking wet. He noticed two crutches scattered on the floor leading to her and it dawned on him she wasn’t shaking from fright, she physically couldn’t support herself.

  Not thinking about his nudity he rushed forward and caught her in his arms as her knees buckled from under her.

  “Fuck,” she cursed as she clung to him. Her head plastered against hi
s chest, his face was nestled in her dark hair, which smelled like green tea. Exactly like the woman from his dream. “Fuck. Dammit all to hell.”

  She had quite the potty mouth on her.

  “Are you all right?” He managed to ask, but still held her close against his body.

  “Just embarrassed.” She pushed against his chest feebly. Jared helped her stand, but still held her up.

  “What do you need?”

  “My crutches.” Her cheeks were still pink and she wouldn’t look him in the eye. The poor thing was humiliated beyond all recompense and he didn’t know why, until he remembered he was still stark naked.

  “I apologize for my lack of attire,” he offered, but he wasn’t that sorry. The inner beast in him was positively purring, begging to strip her down to nothing and make up for this indiscretion in other ways. He scooped her up and carried her across the room to his overstuffed armchair and set her down. Then he turned and retrieved her crutches. She took them and held onto them, but still wouldn’t look him in the eyes.

  “Can I do anything else for you?” Jared asked.

  “You could put on some clothes.” A smile quirked the corner of her luscious, pink, full lips.

  “Again. Sorry.” He jogged back to the bathroom and shut the door and quickly toweled off. He opened the other door, which led into his bedroom. He should take over his parents’ old bedroom. At least their bathroom wasn’t off the entrance way, then he could’ve avoided that situation that just played out, but since his parents’ death he couldn’t take over their old room on the other side of the penthouse. It hurt too much. He just remained in the bedroom that he’d had since he was a kid. Of course when Étienne heard about this, his head of security was going to insist he move into his parents’ old room for privacy. He went into his closet and pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

  His dick was still hard as a rock, because her scent lingered on his damp skin. He had to get hold of himself before he went out to see her, even though that was the last thing the bear inside him wanted.

  The wound in his hand was nearly healed and he tossed the towel away. The cut was closed, but still pink and angry. It would be gone in a couple of hours. Hopefully it wouldn’t bother the human female.

  Razor-sharp claws elongated from his nail beds and sharp incisors punched through his gums. A growl rumbled deep in his chest.

  Yes.

  He was shifting.

  No. He couldn’t shift into a polar bear. She was human and had no idea about their world. If she saw him like this no doubt she would bolt and their secret would be exposed… If Étienne didn’t kill her first. Jared snarled at that thought. There was no way he’d let another Mukswa male touch her.

  Jared took a deep, calming breath and tried to focus on something else. Finances mostly, to try to contain his inner bear. His fangs and claws retracted. Only when he knew he had his bear under control did Jared venture out through his bedroom door.

  She was still in the living room, but was not sitting in the overstuffed armchair. She was standing beside it, with the use of her crutches. In her hand was a briefcase he hadn’t notice before. The front of her suit had damp splotches, the front of her white shirt had a big wet spot, but she still looked poised with her head held high.

  A warrior, his bear said appreciatively.

  He glanced at the foyer and saw her coat was still sopping wet on the floor. Without a word he strode over to it and picked it up. He slid back the paneling and hung the jacket on a hangar.

  “I’ll have someone dry clean this for you.”

  She cocked an eyebrow. “It’s late at night.”

  “We have our own dry cleaner on staff here.”

  Jared lifted the receiver on the wall and called down to someone in laundry to retrieve the jacket and to clean it ASAP. Though, not too quick. He wanted to keep this enchantress around for as long as possible.

  “I’m sorry again,” he said, offering another apology.

  “No. You have no reason to apologize, Mr. Stevens. I’m the one who blundered in. I had no idea the closet was hidden.” A blush tinged her coppery cheeks and she dropped her head.

  “We can apologize all night, but how about we do something a bit more constructive. You already know my name, but please call me Jared. Mr. Stevens was my father.”

  She looked up at him again, relief evident as she grinned, and her shoulders relaxed. “I’m Adele Banks. Gordon Thomas recommended me.”

  This is Adele?

  Her smile disappeared. “I know, you’re probably wondering about my qualifications… I can assure you that although I am impeded I am a damn fine investigator.”

  Jared cocked his head to one side and he was angry that Adele felt the need to explain her situation to him. He moved closer to her, her dark eyes widened again as her gaze focused on him, assessing him.

  Sure, she required the use of the crutches, but he didn’t give a flying fuck in space about that. Adele’s scent wafted up to him, even from a few inches from her.

  God.

  All he wanted to do was bury his face in her hair and his dick in her pussy. Hampered by the crutches or not, she was still a damn sexy woman and he could tell she was just as affected by him. Jared could smell her arousal. He seriously needed to get his shit together.

  “There’s no need to explain, Ms. Banks. My brother-in-law recommended you highly and I trust him implicitly.”

  “Just call me Adele, Jared.” She said his name with such hesitation, but he liked the way she said it. He raked his hands through his hair, cursing himself inwardly for acting like some kind of horny youth.

  He cleared his throat and moved a safe distance from her. What he thought was a safe distance anyway, but it wasn’t working. “Well, let’s get started.”

  Adele nodded. “Just point me in the direction of a computer and we’ll see what’s going on.”

  Jared took her over to the computer station, just off the sunken living room. “I hope this is adequate.”

  Adele set her briefcase on the desk. “More than adequate. Will I be able to access your company’s financial records from this location?”

  “Yes.” Jared quickly logged on, giving her access to everything. “Anything you can do to track down the missing funds would be most appreciated.”

  “I’ll do my best.” She moved past him, her long hair brushing his cheek like silk. The growl erupted from his throat so quickly he didn’t have time to stop it. Adele glanced up at him, surprised, but said nothing. She just turned back to the computer.

  “I’ll leave you to it then.” Jared moved away from her, across the room. “Just holler if you need anything.”

  “Will do,” she answered, but she wouldn’t look at him as she set her crutches against the desk beside her.

  Jared headed to the couch, so he could still see her, but she was far enough away to not tempt him.

  Yeah. Right.

  He leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes, but she invaded his mind. One thing for certain, he needed to get her out of sight.

  He headed toward his bedroom and shut the door. His cock was hard and heavy as he undid the fly to his jeans and grasped his erection. A bead of pre-cum clung to the tip and he slid his hand up, rubbing his thumb against the head while his mind distracted him with her.

  Only her.

  “Come here, Jared.” Adele beckoned. She was naked, her glorious body bared to his as she walked across the room toward him. He didn’t know how she got in his room and he didn’t give a damn. “Let me take care of that for you.”

  She dropped to her knees, her hair brushed his thighs as her small, soft hand encircled his dick. She began to stroke it, before her hot, wet mouth claimed it.

  Jared quickened his stroke, wanting to come.

  “My pussy is wet.” She lay on his bed, spreading her thighs, as he’d pictured a thousand times before he knew her face. Her pussy is pink, wet and so inviting.

  “Ah fuck.” The pressure building i
nside him exploded and he cried out as he released. It erupted from him violently and his body tensed as he came. He continued to stroke himself, savoring what he’d been denied for so long.

  Release. Blessed release.

  Chapter Three

  Crap. I can’t remember a thing. I’m a fraud. A total fraud.

  Adele shook her head and stared again at the computer screen, going through spreadsheet after spreadsheet, but it was all beginning to blend together. All she could think about was Jared Stevens, naked.

  It’d been a while since she’d seen a man naked, with a raging hard-on. Hell, it was the first time she’d ever walked in on a man masturbating. It scared her, but thrilled her, fired her blood and made her ache with need.

  She was painfully aware how long it’d been since she’d been pleasured by a man or had even pleasured herself. Her sex drive had been at an all-time low during recuperation.

  Jared Stevens was like some kind of magic woman’s Viagra or something. And he was just the way she liked them. He was easily six foot two and broad-shouldered. She’d never seen a man like him before, maybe on the movie screen or something, but not in real life…in Winnipeg.

  It wasn’t so much his rugged good looks that appealed to her, though they helped, it was that Jared Stevens exuded something dangerous and magnetic. Those blue eyes drew her in and seemed to pierce her very being. Adele had always prided herself on being a quiet and protective person, but one look from him and she felt so vulnerable.

  Usually she wasn’t one for feeling so unguarded. Not in her line of work. Since the attack she’d kept her emotions, her desires to herself, but one look from Jared Stevens exposed her to the very nerve endings of her body.

  Adele closed her eyes and pictured him in the shower with the water running in rivulets down the hard planes of his body, over his chest, his tight bare ass and thick, muscular thighs. Heat flooded her veins, creeping up her neck to bloom in her cheeks. She touched her face and it was hot.

  God, please don’t let Jared see me like this.

  What if he did? What would she do? In the safety of her mind she knew exactly what she’d do. She’d tell him to fuck her.