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Seconds passed before Samantha broke the silence again. She moaned and glanced at the ceiling. Was she moaning in pleasure or distress? He didn’t know her enough to be able to discern the nuances of her tones.

When she flopped into her black leather chair, she motioned to the one on the opposite side of the desk with her hand and a nod of her head. “Please, sit.”

Her brow furrowed and her expression turned serious. The cheery twinkle in her eye disappeared.

Josh cleared his throat. “Well, this isn’t what I had in mind when I got up this morning.” He grinned—a fraud of an expression even he could sense through the stiff feeling in his cheeks.

“Yeah, you and me both.” She glanced around the desk and the floor, all surfaces covered in folders and haphazard documents. She looked back at him and scrunched up her face. “I’m in the middle of a big case.” As if that explained the mess.

“You’re a slob,” he teased, though he found her mannerisms endearing somehow. She was not type A by any stretch of the imagination. He was. Way too far off the anal spectrum to be precise. Would they balance each other out?

“Um, well, not always.” She paused and returned her gaze to his. “Okay, maybe a little.” She wrinkled her nose up at the white lie.

They stared into each other’s eyes for long moments. Josh soaked in her face, the way her shoulders heaved with each breath. The way her curls hung around her cheeks in the same messy fashion as her desk. “You’re beautiful.” He meant that. Was it the appropriate thing to say?
Probably better than pointing out she was a slob
.

She smiled. “You aren’t half bad yourself. I could have done worse.” She grinned. She licked her lips and Josh gripped the arms of his chair. He fought against the urge to swipe everything off her desk and take her mouth over the top, drag her up onto the surface and strip her.

The entire room smelled of her sexy pheromones—her perfume, a subtle floral blend, her body soap that almost matched the fragrance, her shampoo. God, he wanted to bury his face in her hair and inhale her.

The phone on her desk beeped, startling Samantha, who nearly jumped out of her seat. She reached for the wireless handset and fumbled it before managing to bring it to her ear. “Yes, Teresa?”

Somehow she must have pressed the wrong button, however, because the voice of the blonde receptionist filled the room through the hands-free speaker. “Your one-thirty is already here. Just wanted to let you know.”

Samantha set the phone on the desk and stared at the receiver. She swallowed as Josh watched her. “Tell Mr. Burns I’m so sorry, but I’m going to have to cancel. Reschedule him for early next week. And, Teresa, please clear the rest of my day.”

“Clear your day?” Teresa asked, surprise clear in her hitched voice. Obviously this was not characteristic of Samantha.

“Yes.” His mate didn’t elaborate.

“Okay, Ms. Albertson. Do you need anything else?” Josh imagined Teresa adding
like a strait jacket
to that question. The image made him grin. Samantha was flustered. And it was his fault.

“No. Thank you, Teresa.” When the connection cut off, Samantha lifted her face to Josh once more. “Where were we?”

Josh stood and rounded the desk until he could stare down at her. He lifted her gently to standing with his hands on her biceps. She was wobbly and bit her lower lip. He was nervous and imagined she was too, but he needed to taste her worse than he needed his next breath.

He lowered his face and took her mouth in a gentle caress. Her lips were soft and she yielded to his touch, opening her mouth as he tipped his head to one side. She tasted of mint, probably a breath freshener she’d sucked on. He licked the seam of her lips and stroked over her teeth. Her tongue met his and she moaned into him, her body going slack beneath his grip.

Her silk blouse was slippery under his hands. He feared releasing her, afraid she wouldn’t be able to remain standing if he did.

When she grabbed his biceps with both hands and pulled back, they both sucked in long breaths.

He set his forehead against hers. “I needed to taste you. Couldn’t resist.” Truth be told, he needed much more than that, but he wasn’t about to press the issue right now.

“I’m not complaining.” She licked her wet lips, drawing him to the erotic motion of her tongue.

Josh weaved both his hands into the loose hair escaping her bun and held her head between his palms. The strands caught in his fingers, trapping him to her. “God, I’m lucky.” He released her with great reluctance and stepped back. Before he could change his mind, he circled the desk and plopped back into the chair initially offered to him.

Samantha sat much more slowly, glancing behind her on both sides, undoubtedly to make sure she didn’t miss the seat and end up on the floor.

She gripped the arm rests with both hands until her knuckles turned white. She blew her bangs out of her face. “I have so much to do. This is bad.” She squirmed, scooting the chair in.

Shit
. Josh looked down at his lap to regain his composure. She thought
she
had a lot to do. Ugh. He had a missing sister. He felt a huge weight of guilt over spending the last five minutes without his sister on his mind. How long had it been since he’d done that? Not recently, that was for sure.

“My sister is missing,” he blurted. “I have to deal with that before anything else.” His words sounded much firmer than his internal resolve. If he could hold his breath until he got out of this room, maybe he could avoid inhaling the sweet scent of his mate and his cock would stop growing stiffer by the minute.

It was true.
Everything
they said about mates was true. He couldn’t stand another minute without having her. Unfortunately, he had to. Apparently neither of them was in a position to play house today.

“Right. Sorry. My brain flew out the window when you came in. Please, tell me about your sister. What’s her name?”

“Ashley. She mated young. Four years ago at The Gathering. She’s been acting weird ever since. Barely ever calls home. She sounds distant. Well, she did, until I stopped hearing from her altogether. I’ve never been pleased with the situation. Something seemed off from the moment she mated. She was the sweetest girl. I adored her growing up. I was six when she was born. Our parents are older. My mother hates not having any contact with her, but she figures Ashley is busy. Or maybe she hopes that’s the case. I don’t believe it.”

“Where does she live?”

“I’m never quite sure. When she first mated, the asshole dragged her off immediately without saying goodbye. None of us have seen her since.”

“Wait. They simply left from The Gathering and no one saw them?”

He nodded. “Yep. They called the next day from the road. Mom said Ashley sounded strained. She muttered something about her mate needing to get back to work and that he didn’t want to waste any more time at The Gathering. I always thought that explanation sounded fucked up. I mean, why did he even come to The Gathering in the first place if he thought it was such a waste of time?”

“To find his mate?” she offered.

He shook his head. “Not buying it.”

“Or… Maybe he didn’t want a mate? Perhaps he was just disgruntled at the time because finding a mate wasn’t on his agenda?”

“Maybe he didn’t even find a mate.” The idea had always niggled in the back of Josh’s mind that Ashley didn’t belong to that bastard. Damon Parkfield. “Having met you, I’m seeing things through clearer lenses. Even if he did go to The Gathering intending to remain single, after he found my sister, if she truly was his mate, he’d have changed his mind about claimings.”

A blush covered her face at his implication. “You think he lied?”

“I do.” He wrenched his fingers together in his lap. “She was distraught every time I spoke to her. I’d hoped it was in my imagination. But now I have my doubts. And she always sounded like she’d been crying. She said it was because she was so sad to have left us. They went to Florida first. At least that’s what she said. Not sure I believe that. Same bullshit all the time about moving around because of his work, whatever that is.”

“Why didn’t you go after her in the beginning?”

Good question. Josh leaned back and stared at the ceiling, his gaze landing on the square tiles with their random dimples. “I wish I had. Hindsight. She insisted I not worry about her. Laughed at my concern. Said she was fine. I was so busy with my residency; I took her word for it. Stupid, really. I could kick myself, and I will if…” He couldn’t finish his sentence. He swallowed, desperately trying not to lose it.

“Hey, you can’t beat yourself up. If she said she was fine, who were you to judge?”

“I was her brother, that’s who. I should have known her better.” He lowered his gaze, knowing his eyes were watery.

“Gabriel said you have a PI?” Her voice was gentle.

“Yes. Evan Harmon. And he’s getting close. Maybe Alabama. I’m really hoping he’s found her this time. He’s tracked them to several locations that proved to be dead ends. Sometimes they had never been there and sometimes they had just moved. It’s been frustrating—all the ups and downs for the last six months.”

“And financially draining.”

“Yes.” Not that he cared. His sister’s life was the most important thing right now. Not money.

“When did you last hear from her?”

“A little over a year ago.”

“So, I assume you came to see me because your gut tells you she’s no longer living.”

“Yes,” he whispered.

“And you think you’re close to discovering the truth.”

“That sums it up, yes.” He inhaled slowly, which was a mistake. Samantha’s scent filled his nostrils again and he leaned forward as though he’d been sucker punched. He spoke again, his forehead in his hands. “Everything changed since I walked into this room.”

“That’s an understatement.” She chuckled and her voice was music to his ears.

“Before I met you, I couldn’t really be sure whether or not Damon Parkfield was truly my sister’s mate.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “She was
not
his mate.”

“How do you know?”

“Even in the early days after they left town, I never once heard any excitement in her voice. There was no indication of the emotion and passion I should have heard.” Silence filled the room. He started again. “She didn’t say anything that would indicate she felt an inkling of what I’m feeling right now.”

“I understand,” she whispered.

“Can you take the day off?” It was stupid and irresponsible, but Josh didn’t see how he could walk out the door right now and leave Samantha here.

She looked around at the piles of folders and papers. “I have to be in court tomorrow morning at nine a.m. and I’m not ready, so completely playing hooky isn’t an option.”

“Is there anything I can help you with?” He couldn’t imagine what, but he did want to assist with anything that would get her naked beneath him the fastest.

“You’re a doctor, right?”

“Pediatrician, yes.” He raised one eyebrow.

“I might need resuscitation soon.”

He grinned. Bless her.

“Maybe we could go grab lunch?” She raised an eyebrow. “I can’t take too long, but at least we could get to know each other better.”

Lunch? Like in a restaurant? With other people around? Not a chance
. “Maybe we could go through a drive thru instead and go back to my place for a few hours?” Was that presumptuous? Of course it was, but they were mates. This is what mates did when they met. Fucked like bunnies. And now he understood why. His palms were sweaty. His knees bounced. His cock ached and pressed against the front of his khaki pants. It took actual effort to avoid mauling her.

She ducked her face. Embarrassed? “I like that plan.”

He exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“I have to come back here though. I’m not kidding about that.”

“Why don’t you bring your work with you?” How much of this stuff required immediate attention? He glanced around at the stacks again.

She followed his gaze, her head turning to the right and the left with his. “I could, but do you think I could really get anything done in your presence? I can’t think right now. My concentration is shot.”

“And you think it will improve after I claim you? I hear it will get worse. I think you stand a better chance at my place than coming back here.”

“All right.” She stood and gathered her laptop and stacks of files, all of which she stuffed in an oversized bag. He watched as her shaky hands grabbed papers and notes. She pushed her curls behind her ears several times, but they never stayed. He couldn’t wait to lean in to that glorious hair and inhale her for hours.

Except she has to work in the next twelve hours too, dimwit
.

He sincerely hoped she could work with his arms wrapped around her, her breasts in his palms. He moaned.

She tipped her head and giggled. “Glad it’s not just me.” She paused and stared at him. “Is this a good idea? My entire body is…distracted.”

“And you have another plan? Because me leaving here to let you work won’t fix anything anyway, right?” he hedged.

“No. You’re right. But please help me get on track and get my shit together for morning. If I show up unprepared for court, I’m gonna hold you responsible.” She gave a wry grin.

“And this is because I’m so much hornier than you that I won’t be able to give you a moment’s rest?” He pulled himself to standing with his hands on the arm rests. He sauntered around her desk and took her bag from her hand.

“I find that unlikely.” She tipped her face up, stepping closer to him, leaving only inches between his chest and hers. “This is the weirdest, most out-of-body experience of my life. I’ve never done anything remotely like what we’re about to do.”

He reached with his free hand and caressed her cheek. “Nor have I, baby,” he murmured. “And you aren’t the only one with urgent life happenings. I need you to know I will leave on a moment’s notice if my PI calls. It might not be convenient.”

“I understand.” She set her forehead on his chest. He wrapped his hand around her.