Staring Into the Eyes of Chance (5 page)

“You want me, no, need me…to like you. You’re nervous.”

Chance shut her door and walked around the truck, climbing in behind the steering wheel. This might be a long afternoon of fumbling around if he didn’t get his game face on. He looked over at her but found himself rendered speechless. Olivia faced the windshield and slid her seatbelt on. Chance noticed the slight curve at the corner of her tantalizing lips.

“Touche`,” he said. Both sat in silence for the fifteen miles to his small cottage.

He’d set the patio table with wine glasses, plates, and silverware. The back porch faced a beautiful view of trees and nature. He grilled orange marmalade chicken, a side of asparagus, and buttered cinnamon apples, now all foil-wrapped, staying warm in the oven. Chance directed Olivia into a chair at the table.

“This is so lovely, quaint. Have you lived here long?”

“Yes and no. I bought it years ago as a vacation get-away and rarely use it. I’ve been here for only a couple weeks. Our office building is only a few miles from here, and I have a room there where I usually stay.” Chance thought about it and wondered why he didn’t come here more often. He was always so wrapped up in his missions, rarely leaving the club-house, as they affectionately called their home-base operations facility.

“I think it would be hard staying overnight at another location after being here. The ambience is quite serene, peaceful.”

“I’ll be a second, going inside for our lunch and a glass of wine.”

“Wine in the afternoon?” Olivia held his gaze, challenging his wolf. It strummed under his skin, wanting out, needing her beneath him, dominating her, claiming her. He reeled his wolf back, barely, by breaking eye contact. Damn! His knees trembled.
Take a breath.

“Would you prefer something else?” he managed.

“Actually, wine might be exactly what I need right now.” She stood. “May I help you?”

“No, no, no, you’re my date, you know, the
one
I must impress so you’ll like me.” Chance watched Olivia’s jaw tense. He chuckled, but his attempt at lighthearted banter wasn’t working for him either. When she didn’t respond, he continued, “I’ll be right back. Sit and enjoy the tranquility. It makes me happy you like it here.”

Chance grabbed the glasses and plates and then walked into the house. He thought about what he just told her. For some reason, it mattered what she thought of his place. He’d never brought another female near his cottage in the woods. The air tasted of her, sure he scented her arousal, but he also sensed her body clenching in anger or a rough case of nerves. Maybe his charm faded with the silver hair fanning his temples.

Chance poured the wine, carefully tapping a few drops of relaxant into Olivia’s glass. He would up the dose in the next glass. Its effects were gradual but lasting, something she wouldn’t suspect or detect. He quickly pulled the food from the oven and then dressed the plates with it like he imagined a chef might.

When he came out carrying a huge serving tray Olivia stood again and then sat. He recognized her struggle over helping him or relaxing in her chair. He set a glass and plate in front of her, set his down, and then settled into the chair across from Olivia, sliding the serving tray against the porch rail.

“Oh my, this smells divine. Did you cook it all yourself?” Her violet eyes sparkled like bright amethysts in the mid-day sun. His breath caught when she smiled. He watched her smell the chicken before she stuck a small morsel between her generous tempting lips. The pink tip of her tongue glided across her top lip. “Oh my, this is absolutely delicious.”

“I’ll toast to that,” Chance said, raising his glass. Olivia swallowed her bite of food and raised her glass, clicking its rim with his. “Drink, drink, drink,” he prompted and tipped his glass up. She followed suit, shocking him by drinking every drop.

“Oh-h-h, wow, the wine, so smooth, breathes on my tongue and all the way down to my toes.” Olivia giggled.

Chance couldn’t believe she downed a whole glass of wine. He learned a lot of information about Olivia from the research he and his team had done earlier, but with all of that he still had no idea if she drank like a lush or if this was her way of dealing with nervousness. He picked the empty glass from her fingers.

“I’ll be right back with another glass of breathable wine.” Chance hurried inside, not exactly sure what kind of effect he should expect from the relaxant on a human, it was a concoction their lab prepared for Lycan.

Damn, maybe he tapped a bit too much of it into Olivia’s first drink. He tapped less drops into her second glass, made a slight adjustment at the front of his pants, which went out of his control whenever Olivia was near, and walked back to the patio. The sunlight glowed across her flushed cheeks. She giggled when Chance handed her another full glass.

“I came here because we’d be alone.” Her eyes popped wide, and she giggled again. “No, I mean, I didn’t want an audience.” She giggled louder. “No, no, no, stop Olivia.” She giggled in a higher pitch. “Okay, stop, Olivia.” Her look at attempting to straighten her mouth reminded him of a little girl trying to stop a smile. Her brows pulled together into a scowl and then she erupted in giggles again.

Before Chance sat back in his chair, Olivia scooped another bite onto her fork, and using her tongue expertly she pulled the morsel into her mouth. He assumed she needed some other focus in order to regain her wits, but it sent a spike of heat low in his pelvis, straightening his building bulge of discomfort.

“Ah-hum, are you trying to get straight-faced or shit-faced?” He couldn’t help himself.

Olivia snapped back, red-faced, serious. Her shoulder length hair framed her face in soft brown silk with a patch of white. It fell over her forehead above her left eyebrow, which was split by a thin pale scar, dripping down into her lid.

“Stop, don’t interrupt,” she slurred, closing her eyes for a moment. Chance watched her head weave slightly right, and then her eyes fluttered open. “Okay, I came here so we could be by ourselves, and…” Her eyes went large and her hand flew to her mouth.

“Olivia, are you seducing me?” She turned away for a moment, shutting him out. God, he wanted her. Her taste rode the air around him, reminding him of his run-in with her last evening. It fused inside him, along with her arousal and was more stimulation than he expected for this afternoon. He’d been too long without a woman. His desire for Olivia blindsided him in Lycan-form, but now, his strength in resistance fizzled away fast with a sense of urgency. His arousal made that urgency an insistent booty call, and his wolf pawed from inside in agreement.

Chance took another sip of wine, refusing thoughts of her being his primal-mate. It didn’t make sense a mature woman like Olivia was “his” one and only, although nothing about her seemed aged. He didn’t understand how primal-mates found one another, but he figured it wasn’t the way he and Olivia met each other.

“You lied,” she yelled it. Chance looked over his glass at her. He figured her raised voice was simply a way of getting words out. “I want you to admit it. I mean… God. Just tell me you lied about the animals in your truck at my house this morning. I’ve never been wrong about sensing animals, and then all of a sudden I start sensing you.” She stopped and sat straight up in the chair. “Except for right this moment, I can’t sense anything. Almost like when I took a muscle relaxant. Doctor’s orders, I’ve never done drugs.” She looked up at him, head tilted, with a crease at the bridge of her nose.

“I’ll drink to that. Here’s to Lacey getting us together.” Chance raised his glass and sipped, but Olivia didn’t drink this time.

“You’re different, aren’t you? I mean, there’s something I can’t quite put my finger on with you.” Olivia raised an index finger toward Chance. He caught her hand and kissed the tip of her finger. She gasped and her hand shook inside his.

“You’re cold.” Chance noticed Olivia had only taken a few bites of her food, same for him. His appetite hungered for something other than food. “Shall we take our food inside? I can get a roaring fire going in the fireplace if you’d like.”

“Chance, as good as this food tastes, I’m no longer hungry. I came here for the soul purpose of you admitting your lie and why did you?”

Olivia stood up and her chair crashed over backward. Her legs folded. Chance caught her before she went down on top of the chair. He swept her into his arms and carried her inside.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened. Maybe too much wine,” she said, the words came out slurred, her body rigid. “Put me down.”

Her long slender body fit perfectly in his arms. He wrapped her closer against his chest. Olivia’s body sagged, as if in surrender, and her arm automatically linked around his neck, even though she just gave him instruction to set her down. Her gaze rose, meeting his, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Chance lowered her onto his tapestry couch and pulled off the fluffy blanket from across the back of it, draping it over her.

“Chance.” She swallowed hard, his name coming out in spurts. “What have you done to me?” As soon as the words left her lips, her head lulled back and her eyes closed. He ignored the wolf clawing beneath his skin. Olivia’s last words prompted the wolf’s burning need for protecting her, matching his human needs as well. The name “asshole” came to mind, exactly the way he felt for drugging her.

He checked her pulse, it was there, slow and steady, and her skin was soft and warm. Chance left for a moment and turned down his bedding. He gathered her back in his arms. If she had to be knocked out for his little foray onto her property, she might as well be comfortable in his bed. His guilt reached out and tethered justification.

Chance smiled as he placed her body in the center of his mattress, thinking of her tearful laughter earlier. God, she looked beautiful, embarrassed, giddy, and angry, all the while attempting a premeditated confrontation she couldn’t blurt out to save her life. Chance chuckled as images of Olivia’s mirth assailed all of his senses for a second time.

He liked the idea of her in his bed, so did his wolf. He pulled off her boots and covered her quickly with blankets, afraid if he stared at her pliable body nothing would keep him from sliding in beside her. Chance wanted her safe in the circle of his arms, but his wolf ruled his cock with a growing want for more than protecting her. His gaze steadied on her slowly rising and falling breasts, a trance-like state of being. Her naked body beneath his, on top of his, or his behind her bent over body, crammed his mind until he thought he’d explode.

“Boss, is it time for me yet?”
Jasmine asked. Her voice slammed inside Chance’s head like splinters of ice, bringing him back from a wolf haze of claiming a primal-mate, which his human-self still refused to believe.

“She’s out cold. Come over and tell the others we’ll meet at the public land turn-off as planned,”
Chance picked up Olivia’s boots, carried them out, and dropped them beside his back door

“Be there in a flash,”
Jasmine answered.

“We’ll meet you, boss,”
Trevor added.

Chapter Five

Trevor, Jase, and Dir were waiting at the turn-off when Chance arrived. He pulled out the map referencing what areas needed scrutiny. Jase and Dir took the west side running from north to south. Trevor and Chance took the east side running in parallel with the others. They’d meet on the south end of the property and come up the middle together.

They peeled off their clothes and threw them inside the trucks before locking the vehicles and hiding the keys under their respective back bumpers. They ran toward their assigned locations, transforming a little through each leap. Bones broke and reformed. Tendons and muscles elongated and strengthened. Teeth and nose changed to fangs and snout. Hands and feet to paws and claws, and finally skin furred over. Chance, as the largest, led the group, but the others weren’t far behind him in size.

Chance and Trevor left Dir and Jase behind for their designated trek through the wooded property. They clocked the start of their search at 4:30 p.m. and ran through daylight and into night, searching. They picked up scent trails, but nothing led them anywhere, the scents simply faded away. The frustrated group met and all ran up the middle together, where they never picked up a scent at all.

The digital clock on the dash read 3:00 a.m. by the time they returned to their trucks, quickly transformed, and arranged a meeting for 3:00 p.m. at the club-house.

* * * *

Chance walked into his cottage and found Jasmine asleep on the couch. Olivia was still sleeping on his bed.

“Jasmine, I’m back.” He barely touched her, and she sprang up into a fighting stance, grabbing his arm, and bending it backward. “Ouch.”

She released her hold. “Oh, scats, sorry, boss. You need to give a person some warning before jerking them awake.”

“So I see.” Chance bent his arm, stretching it back and forth. “How was Olivia?”

“She slept like an angel.”

“And how would you know how an angel sleeps?” Chance chuckled.

“Maybe it’s just that sweet innocence Olivia gives off, or maybe it’s because I know she is an innocent who loves animals more than anyone else I know, or maybe because she also wears your scent. What do you think?”

“Hmmm, yes, all curious comments and most likely all true.”

“How did Dir do tonight? Should I get on his case for anything?”

“We scented the rogues, but as soon as we started tracking, we lost it. I mean it simply disappeared. It has to be some kind of cloaking chemical being released into the air. Maybe something like a hunter uses for masking their scent, only much stronger. Something strong enough it gets past a Lycan’s acute scenting ability. Are you aware of anything like that?”

“I’ve heard of something, a brand new something. Let me do some checking and see what I can find. See you tomorrow.”

Chance could always count on Jasmine’s research. She had a network of contacts and was the best hacker in their pack. Jase was good at computer research also, but nothing like Jasmine. He knew if there was something out there, Jasmine would find it for him. He heard her car drive away, so cut the lights and wandered into his bedroom.