Taking the Leap

Chapter 2

I couldn't help that I liked challenges, competition and everything that came with it. So the wolf...That fucking wolf. Even meeting him the one time, I could tell he'd be a challenge. The kind of person who would only reveal themselves piece by painstaking piece.

The wolf made me consider if it was time to look for love again. I imagined the wolf for a moment...He had been a study in contrast. Large and muscular, with a gentle voice and large capable hands. I liked the way he looked at me, simultaneously adoring and bewildered. Almost afraid of how I made him feel.

Or maybe, I considered, I was the one who was afraid.

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I pushed the elevator button for the 16th floor. Once. Twice. Then again. Fuck, it was slow. It finally dinged open and I got in with a huff, moving to the back corner. As the elevator crawled upwards, others entered and soon the space was full. Vamps didn't have as great a sense of smell as wolves but something was tickling my nostrils. I wondered why there were so many people in the elevator before I realized there had been some kind of meeting today in the Ruthington Music Centre because they were thinking of expanding the facilities. The monthly staff bulletin had said something about investors, architects and developers meeting around this time.

My stomach growled obscenely and the person in front of me turned her head to the side slightly. I touched my stomach, surprised I could be hungry. I'd had a quart of blood just this morning, that could normally tide me over for the day. But something smelled... intoxicating.

As the elevator stopped on every single floor, more and more people got out until it was just me and another person. He was standing in front of the elevator doors, a silver bracelet glinting in the fluorescent lights. Nice broad shoulders, and a slender waist that seemed familiar. "Do I know you?" I began to say before the elevator lurched violently and the lights shut off.

I lost my balance hitting my head against the railing on the inside of the elevator. My vision flashed white and I fell to my knees, trying to breathe. What the-? The other man in the elevator's hands were on me in the dark, touching me and...talking. What? What was he saying. "Je ne comprends pas." I said, pushing him away from me.

And then suddenly my ears started working again. The gentle voice was gusting over my face. "It's okay. It's me, Achilles. We met the other night. You just hit your head. Do vampires get injured? Are you injured? Your forehead is swelling. Do you need blood? I can, or I don't know, can I?" His large capable hands were featherlight on my forehead, gingerly spread over a growing painful lump.

"Are you stalking me?" I said quietly, gripping his wrists and pushing them away from me.

I couldn't see him in the dark so I didn't understand why he paused. But then his voice got quiet. "What the fuck? Why the hell would I be stalking you?"

"Why are you at my place of work?" I stared where I thought his eyes were. "You were all over me the other night. Perhaps, you've picked up my scent and have been trailing me."

He nearly growled through his teeth, the deep grumble reverberating through me. "I was drunk."

"Uh-huh." I settled back and sat on the floor, crossing my ankles. "Is this elevator stuck? All my years and that's never happened to me. What about you, Mr. Wolf?"

"I have a name." He grumbled, settling beside me. Just a few inches to my right, emanating heat. Damn, my heart shouldn't be beating this fast.