Rutledge Werewolves 1: Scent of Passion (3 page)

But she was damnably human, and now he had to work out how to woo her without scaring the pants off her and having her run away.

He would think of something, he always did.

Jumping out of bed and hastily dressing in jeans and a shirt, Artemais made a mental list of things to take care of before he went into the city. Debating the wisdom of telling his brothers about his pregnant almost-mate, he figured not telling them would create more trouble than telling them would.

It was his turn to wake up his siblings, and what a proud moment it felt for him. Knocking on each of their doors, he thanked the heavens that all his siblings were home last night. This was not something he would be allowed to live down if it occurred over the phone.

Telling each of his brothers to meet him down in the kitchen in ten minutes, he returned to his room to pack a small overnight bag. Still uncertain as to how he would convince Sophie to come back here with him, he realized he might need to spend the night with her to help convince her.

He knew that his life would never be the same, and yet he couldn’t help but be glad for it. No more hunting for his Mate, no more feeling alone. Now there would be a woman in residence, hopefully, year round. Someone important for him to come home to. Someone for him to love and be loved by in return.

Frowning, he realized just how big a change this would make in both his own life and Sophie’s. It truly hit him just how large a change he was asking of her. For perhaps the first time he really considered how hard it might be to convince his True Mate to leave aside her own life and come join his. The more he thought about the changes he was asking and expecting, the more serious his mood became.

Resisting the impulse to pack any toys, he shoved a clean shirt, socks and pair of briefs into the small bag along with his wallet.

Determined to try and put a positive slant on his suddenly somber thoughts, Artemais grabbed the keys to his Jeep, and hefted his bag over his shoulder. He left his bedroom, eager to start the rest of his life.

Bouncing down the stairs, bag slung casually over his shoulder, Artemais came through into the kitchen and beamed at his disgruntled and tousled-looking brothers. Opening the fridge and nabbing an apple for breakfast, he slammed the door shut and faced his family.

“I’m going to be a daddy,” he announced. Instantly the three grumpy brothers turned into excited, eager uncles.

“Really? Who is it?”

“It was that chick from the bar, right?”

“When do we get to meet her?”

“Have you checked out her background?”

“You lucky devil you.”

“Does she have a sister?”

“Does she know what she’s getting herself in for?”

“Has she been to a doctor yet?”

The last comment, from William, had everyone sober up a little. Artemais wasn’t going to admit to his brothers that he had invaded Sophie’s dreams each and every night since they first slept together and he hadn’t been physically in contact with her since that night.

“No, but she’s planning to go sometime today. I’m driving down and will meet up with her tonight. I just wanted to tell you all before I left.”

“I’ll come with you. No knowing what mess you’ll make of trying to bring a human out here. They’re not all those pliable, brainless bimbos you’ve been searching amongst, brother dear.” William insisted.

Dominic laughed.

“Oh, and
you
have so very much experience with the headstrong type? You’ve been grumpy as hell now that you’ve finally met a woman you can’t seem to charm and wrap around your little finger, not that you let us meet her.
I
have the most experience with charming the woman here, so I think I’ll come along and make sure you don’t dig yourself deeper into the hole you’re already in.”

Before Artemais could issue a scathing retort at his two brothers, Samuel cleared his throat and jumped in.

“Actually, I was planning to go into the city for a few days to…er…do some research. So there’s no need to waste all that gas. Might as well come along with you three.”

Artemais raised an eyebrow, doubting the legitimacy of Samuel’s work, but realizing none of his brothers were going to miss this golden opportunity to make him writhe in embarrassment. Sighing, he nodded. When Dominic slapped his back and jeered, Artemais struggled not to grin.

“Cheer up, old man. If your lovely mate decides to make life hard for you, we can always come to your rescue. Tell her a few stories about your wild single days and how
The Howlers
is such a huge joke. You know I’m always happy to step up to the plate for you, if you don’t feel you can rise up to the challenge.”

Artemais growled and grabbed his youngest brother by the throat. Jerking him up against his body, he simmered down as Dominic laughed out loud. Realizing he had been baited, he let his brother go and gruffly ordered, “I’m leaving in ten minutes, with or without you all.”

The hasty exodus and slamming doors showed that at least his brothers believed some of what he said. Artemais closed his eyes and wrestled his temper back under control. Picturing Sophie, all spread out before him, golden curls gleaming, pale thighs spread, picked his pulse up for a totally different reason.

Only partially aware of his three brothers filing past him out to where the large Jeep was parked, he took a deep breath, ended his wicked fantasy of eating Sophie, and locked the door behind him.

Time to go hunt his mate.

As he climbed into the Jeep, his brothers rowdily jeered and complemented him on his prowess. As they started singing one of their favorite bawdy songs about this woman from East Tipples, with the large, incredibly luscious nipples, Artemais finally relaxed and allowed himself a huge, toothy grin.

Chapter Three

Sophie parked her little Suzuki in her apartment’s underground car park and rested her head wearily on her steering wheel.

It had been worse than the day from Hell.

An average day in her job as a Personal Assistant to the manager, or Personal Slave as she liked to think of herself, for the godson of the CEO of an advertising company could easily be described as a day from Hell.

Not only were average duties such as making coffee, typing reports, organizing calendars, taking dictation, and keeping the office running smoothly part of her job. But other extras that particularly annoyed her were instances when her boss brainstormed ideas with her when “he wanted a woman’s point of view”.
She
knew he used her ideas and carried them out as his own—but proving such was almost impossible.

Sophie had found herself fantasizing more and more frequently about simply not turning up one morning and telling her boss where he could go shove his male chauvinism and abuse of power.

Yet she had been making progress with the top managers. They had begun to notice all her work and effort, and a few quiet noises had been made of them opening a new position for her. So she had been patient and put up with the chauvinistic comments, pats on the ass, and sly winks.

Until this morning.

This morning, she had carelessly asked one of the other personal assistants if she had known how long the company’s paid maternity leave was. She had been incredibly unlucky in that her boss had been entering the room right at that moment, and obviously overheard her remark.

Twenty minutes later he called her into his office. She knew from the smug grin on his face that soon everyone from the CEO to the janitors would know she was pregnant. Her visions of a bright new start in a higher job blew up into a puff of smoke.

She exploded when her boss had made a smart remark about her finally realizing her place in the world. She had uttered a few very unladylike remarks about her boss’s parentage, upbringing, outlook on life, and his life expectancy. She quit on the spot.

Ten minutes later she had collected her meager belongings, typed up a resignation—which she had been mentally writing for months, anyway—and left the building without a backward glance.

All thoughts of making her doctor’s appointment forgotten, she had spent the afternoon indulging herself by eating Ben and Jerry’s to celebrate her newly unemployed state.

Sophie had no idea where she would go from here, but her resume looked very healthy, and her background was flexible and adaptable. She was a natural organizer and shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up something temporary while she thought about the future.

She visited the library to scour the reference section and borrowed everything they had on pregnancy and prenatal care. A brief flip through the introductions of a few of the books showed her one of the most important and commonly overlooked aspects of prenatal care was a healthy diet.

A vision of her practically bare fridge and cupboards flashed through her mind. She smiled at the thought of the ice cream nuggets and vintage cheese and crackers she had been planning on consuming for dinner. Packing up her bags and borrowing the library books, Sophie headed off for a quick stop by the supermarket on her way back home. At the checkout she made a mental note to remember to pick up tomorrow morning’s newspaper, to search through the employment section. She also made a note to search online later tonight.

Reminded of her mental “to do” list, Sophie lifted her head from the steering wheel, picked up her satchel, heavy due to all the books crammed in it, and her two bags of groceries. She locked the car and headed towards the elevator.

Pushing the call button, she tapped her foot, impatiently waiting for the car to arrive. Usually she climbed the three flights of stairs to her apartment for the exercise, but today she simply couldn’t be bothered. With the strain of her day and the heavy satchel of books and groceries, Sophie forgave herself the soft treatment.

As the elevator took off, her stomach rolled uneasily. Thinking she should have missed that second serving of Ben and Jerry’s, she hoped she wasn’t coming down with a bug.

As the elevator lurched, arriving at her floor, Sophie realized her stomach was having a serious turf war over something. Stepping gingerly out of the car, wondering what the hell was going on in her stomach, she realized with a startling clarity that she was going to be sick all over the hallway.

Running flat out to her door, she stuck the keys into the lock and rushed inside. Dropping her satchel and groceries carelessly onto chairs and tables, she ran into the bathroom, and just barely made it to the toilet.

A minute later, she sat weakly onto the floor, removed her shoes and contemplated the wisdom of standing back up again.
Who ever heard of afternoon sickness?
Sophie smiled wryly.

“Here,” a deep, recognizably sexy voice drawled. “This might make you feel a bit better.”

Even as her brain recognized and registered Artemais’ sexy voice, she shrieked and jumped up onto her feet. Feeling instantly dizzy and worrying that she was going to lose whatever was left in her stomach, Sophie teetered for a moment before a big, warm hand clasped her around the arm, steadying her.

“Wipe your face, Sophie. Are you sure you don’t need to…er…go again?”

Face flaming in embarrassment, Sophie took the wet washcloth from Artemais’ other hand and buried her face into its cool depths. Taking a deep, soothing breath to gather her nerves, Sophie lifted her head again.

“What the hell are you doing in my apartment? And how did you find me? And why
now
?”

When Artemais merely smiled that devastatingly sexy smile of his, Sophie groaned and put her face back into the washcloth.

“You left the door open in your rush to enter the apartment. It took me a while to track you down, but I finally found you from another guy in the bar. I’ve been searching for a while.”

Which was true, Artemais consoled himself—he’d been searching for her since his eighteenth birthday. It mightn’t be exactly what she would assume his words to mean, but they were truthful nevertheless.

Sophie took careful, deep breaths, inhaling the fresh, warm scent of her washcloth. Today certainly wasn’t turning out how she had anticipated.

She had mentally rehearsed how she would tell him about her pregnancy a number of times throughout the day. Yet she always managed to push it back out of her mind.

Before she could manage to arrange her thoughts, he solved the problem himself. Gesturing vaguely out into the hallway where she had dumped her bag and groceries, with a casual ease she envied, he commented, “That’s an interesting book collection Sophie. There something you want to tell me?”

Uncertainty and panic entered her brain. Her body, still shaking from the rather brutal expunging of her ice cream, left her gaping like a fish out of water. Feeling her stomach roil, whether in fear or sickness she couldn’t tell, she turned back to the toilet, retching miserably.

A pair of strong, well-remembered hands held her gently, and began to wipe her forehead soothingly as she emptied the last of her stomach’s contents down the toilet.

Yeah, one hell of a day
, her brain remarked.

Chapter Four

Artemais held Sophie very gently, half-afraid she would break. He had never been attached to a pregnant woman before, he wondered if morning sickness was usually so severe.
Or afternoon sickness for that matter
, he silently laughed. As Sophie finally quieted down, he helped her stand, and led her to the basin to wash her face and brush her teeth.