Three days later …

Vicky watched as Talon paced back and forth, his cellphone jammed to his ear. He'd made the same call every day since she'd met him. Always sometime during the course of the morning. She wondered who he needed to speak to so urgently. Maybe it was more than one person. She couldn't hear anything he was saying since he was too far away.

As on all the other days, the call didn’t last long. All of two, maybe three minutes and he was done. Pushing the off button and stuffing his phone into his hoodie pocket, Talon ran a hand over his short-cropped hair and looked up at the sky for a few moments. Damn, but he looked good in sports clothing.

Shorts, running shoes, there was a t-shirt under the snug-fitting grey hoodie. Despite all the muscle, she noted that he moved with ease and agility. Instead of coming back over to her, he rolled his shoulders and did a couple of stretches. He looked agitated and out of sorts. His chest expanded and contracted slowly as he sucked in deep breaths. Like he was trying to calm himself down. Two worry lines marred his forehead.

Vicky had been shocked when he’d asked to join her at this morning’s jog. She’d warned him that she was out of shape. That he would run rings around her and it was true. Here she was, sprawled out on one of the park benches, hair plastered to her scalp. Clothing sticking to her body. Despite the plume of white that billowed from her mouth with every breath, she felt hot and overdressed. It would be a mistake to peel off any layers though. A person got sick that way.

Argh! Just look at him. Talon hadn’t even broken a sweat. It wasn’t fair. Worst thing was, they still had to go all the way back to her place. Had to be a couple of miles.

Talon dropped to the ground and began doing push-ups. He made it look easy. Up, down, up, down. She watched in fascination.

Shit! It was hot. Her only wish was that he would take off one or two layers so she could watch his muscles work beneath his skin. How sad was she?

Vicky swallowed hard as she watched him switch to one-handed push-ups. She’d never seen anyone do one-handed push-ups before. He changed arms, his big body moving up and down in an effortless motion that went on and on.

Such stamina.

Big puffs of white rose around her and she realized that she was actually panting. Good lord! She really was incredibly sad. Drooling over a client. A guy she could never have. With that in mind, it was time to do something about getting herself a date. She needed to stop being such a sad excuse for a woman and get her ass back on the dating scene. It turned out that she was ready. More than ready.

She dug her phone out of her own hoodie and looked up her assistant’s number.

“Yello.” Maggie’s voice was bright and breezy, especially since it was so early.

“Hi, shit, sorry, I just realized that it’s not even working hours yet.”

“No problem! I’m already at the office.”

“Why?” It wasn’t like Maggs had that much work to do. Vicky had two other clients and it wasn’t as if the phones were ringing off the hook.

Maggie huffed out a breath. Oh no, Vicky could sense her PA was psyching herself up to say something important. “We should probably talk about this in person, but I’ve started sending out my resumé.” Oh shit! What a way to drop a bomb!

“What?” Vicky slumped back on the bench. “Why?”

Another sigh, softer this time. “You don’t need me anymore. I’m sitting here twiddling my thumbs all day.”

“Wait a minute. No need to make a rash decision here. I can afford to pay your salary.” Vicky moved the phone to her other ear. “For at least the next six, maybe even seven months.” All thanks to Talon. “I’m sure I’ll be able to pick up more work by then.” Maybe … hopefully … surely.

“Yeah, but you don’t need me. I’m not earning my keep. Save the money, when things pick up, or …” there was silence for a few seconds, “when you decide what you want to do with your life and it ends up being a huge success, you give me a call.”

Looked like Maggie knew her better than she knew herself. It was time to move on. “I don’t want you to go. You’ve been the best Personal Assistant a girl could ask for.” A lump formed in her throat. “You’ve also become my friend. The only person who stood by me when Jeff and I split up. Well, not the only person but the only person affiliated with us both, who stuck by me instead of siding with him.” It had been nasty. “It still means so much to me. You are one of the main people in my life who helped get me through the last year.” Her eyes pricked with tears.

“I haven’t found another position yet and besides, we can still be friends. Even better friends than we were before since you won’t be my boss anymore.”

“You’re probably right.” Vicky fidgeted with the zipper on her hoodie. “I’m sure you’ll be snapped up in no time. I would be more than willing to give you an excellent referral.” Oh good lord! Now he was doing squats. Those thighs were just … well … they were superb.

“What is it?”

“What’s what?” She frowned.

“You just made a weird noise.”

“Yeah … um … I just remembered why I called. You know how you’ve been trying to get me to sign up for one of those online dating service things?”

“Yeah.” There was an upturn to Magg’s voice.

“Well, I’m finally ready to take the plunge.” She made sure she sounded upbeat and excited when, in truth, the thought of dating terrified her. The thought of trusting someone again terrified her.

“Why the sudden change of heart?” Maggie sounded skeptical.

“I don’t know. I’m just ready, okay?”

“Funny how that hunk of a guy moves into your apartment and suddenly you’re interested in getting back in the game.” Maggie made a humming noise. “Coincidental? I think not.”

“No, it’s not like that at all.”

“Oh really?”

“I explained how Talon got kicked out of two hotels. He has some weird customs.”

“You said he’s from somewhere in Switzerland?” Maggie still sounded skeptical.

Vicky squeezed her eyes shut. “Yeah, he’s from a small rural town.”

“What is it called?”

“What difference does that make? Something with an M. He’s trying to find a love connection. They don’t have many eligible women out in the mountains where he’s from.” Vicky hated lying to Maggie but what else could she do? She had been sworn to secrecy.

“Trying to find a love connection? Not with you though?”

Vicky made a noise of disbelief. “Of course not with me. He’s my client. And he’s not living with me, he’s paying me to sleep on my sofa … On my sofa,” she repeated. “Not in my bed. I can’t mix business with pleasure. It wouldn’t be right.”

“And why not?” Maggie sounded far too upbeat for her liking.

“How can you even ask me a thing like that? It would be wrong.” Vicky spoke under her breath even though Talon wouldn’t be able to hear her. “I can’t do that with my client. I also have no plans to move to Switzerland, thank you very much.”

“Why not? Sounds cozy. If I wasn’t already engaged and living with the man of my dreams, I might be tempted to—”

“Don’t say another word! It’s not happening,” she whispered, not wanting Talon to hear any of her conversation. He was doing lunges, still looking sexy. “Even if I wanted to go there and I don’t, he’s not interested in me.” Of course he isn’t. Nowhere near interested. Talon was still mourning the death of his wife. Very much so. Even if that wasn’t the case … it still wouldn’t happen.

“Why not?” Maggie sounded pissed off. “You’re beautiful and sexy and did I mention really beautiful?”

“I’m,” she looked down at herself, “plump. I haven’t waxed or had a facial or any of that fun stuff in the longest time.”

"Look, none of that matters. If a guy really likes you, he won't care about all of that."

“You’re right.” Shit! Her self-esteem had taken a bit of a knock since Jeff ‒ the asshole ‒ had stuck his dick in a much younger woman. He may not have left her for said woman ‒ not really since he wanted to stay with her and she had declined ‒ but that wasn’t the point. “I’m going for a cut and a blow tomorrow.”

“Good. There is nothing wrong with looking after yourself, as long as you do it for the right reasons. Not to please some guy.”

“You are absolutely right.” It looked like Talon had finally finished his solo workout. He was breathing heavily. Only made her wish even harder that he was shirtless.

So very sad.

He began to walk towards her.

Time to shut down this conversation. “I’m ready. I’m really ready and need you to set something up for me, please.” Talon stopped when he reached the bench. She could hear him breathing. There was a light sheen of sweat on his brow.

This is how he might look after hot sex. Stop it, you perverted weirdo!!

“Okay, but only if you’re really sure you’re not interested in hooking up with your houseguest?”

“I’m really sure,” she insisted, using the right tone of voice to convey her feelings about it. “Please set up a profile for me. You know me well enough and I know I’ll just mess it up if I try to do it myself.”

“I’ll need a picture of you. Then again, I can get something off of Facebook.”

Vicky widened her eyes at Talon and mouthed ‘nearly done’ and then ‘sorry’.

He nodded once and sat down next to her. Great! Even all sweaty like that he smelled really good. Like really, really—

“Did you just hear what I said?”

“No, sorry, I missed that. The line broke up.” She was such a liar. Vicky toyed with her zipper some more.

“I said I would be happy to put something together for you and that I’m really proud of you for taking this step.”

Vicky smiled. “Thank you.”

“I’ll see you in a bit—”

“Wait,” Vicky blurted. “One more thing.”

“Yes?” She could hear Maggie was smiling.

“Don’t put anything up until I okay it first.”

“Sure thing.”

“You promise?” Somehow Vicky didn’t believe her friend.

“Just trust me, okay?”

Vicky sighed. “Fine.”

They said their goodbyes and she tucked her phone back into her pocket. "What is a profile?" Talon asked.

Oops! “Um,” she shook her head, “it’s nothing.” She shook her head some more and wrinkled her nose.

“Didn’t sound like nothing. Something to do with work?” He raised his brows.

Why didn’t she want to tell him? It was never going to happen between them. “Well …” she pulled in a deep breath. Still struggling to get the words out. “I’ve decided it’s time to start dating again.”

“Dating?” He frowned. “Oh, dating.” His eyes widened and locked back with hers. “Where you meet someone and go to dinner in order to get to know them.”

“Well, dinner is one type of date. People do different things. They might go for coffee or drinks. They might do an activity like biking, movies or horseback riding as well.”

“Where will you go on this date of yours?” he asked.

She wasn’t sure where this was coming from. Talon definitely wasn’t jealous, so maybe he was concerned for her? “I don’t know.” She smiled. “I haven’t actually met anyone yet. The way it works is that you put a picture of yourself and a short description online on a dating …” She could see that she had lost him. “You know, your iPad and online?”

“Google?”

"Yes, if you look updating sites. Anyway, I'm not sure how it works exactly since I've never actually done it before."

“Is it something to consider when males of my species are actively looking for potential mates?”

Okay, so that’s where this was coming from. He wanted to put this in his feedback. “Yes, I suppose so.” She nodded. “I don’t normally advocate using dating services though.”

“Why not?”

She pushed out a breath. “Well, it’s my understanding that they’re very often used as a place to find a hook-up. I know how they work but I’ve never explored them before. My ex had better knowledge of them. He was the one to stay abreast of such things. Not really the best idea to have allowed that. I thought his profile being up was for research purposes only. Boy was I wrong!” This was normally when anger would course through her, followed by a good dose of pain. It never happened this time though. The only thing she felt was mild irritation that Jeff was such a dick. That was it.

Great!

This was good. It meant that Vicky was well and truly on the mend.

“By hook-up I assume you mean sex?” Talon asked.

She nodded. “Yup. Sex without any emotions attached. Normally carried out by two people looking for a good time.”

"Your ex-mate sounds like a terrible person."

Vicky shrugged. “You never know, maybe I wasn’t the right person for him or something. He should never have gone about things the way that he did. I really hope he does right by,” that hussy, “the person he’s with now, especially since she’s pregnant and due in the next couple of months.”

“You are a good female. Any male would be happy to have you as his mate, I am sure. The problem lies with that male.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you know how the online thing goes.” She looked him in the eyes. Trying to find … trying to see … jealousy maybe. Vicky got nothing. There was nothing there at all.

Talon nodded. “I would appreciate it.” He looked like he was mulling something over.

“What is it?”

He shook his head, whatever had been there before was gone. “Nothing. We’d better get going.”

Vicky nodded. Why was she feeling so damned disappointed? How stupid of her. Talon stood up. “We’d better head back. You are taking me to the mall today so that I can buy a … watch?” He touched his wrist.

“That’s right.” She didn’t feel much enthusiasm. “Maybe we can go and catch a movie afterwards. A romantic comedy for training purposes.” To cheer her up. She needed cheering up all of a sudden. Weird since she should be thrilled she was finally getting over her failed marriage.

“A movie,” he repeated. “So it would be like a date?” Talon smiled.

A date with Talon. That sounded better than it should. She shook her head. Talon didn’t know what he was saying. “No, not like a date. We’re friends.” Um, well, sort of friends. “You’re also my client,” she added more firmly, more to remind herself than him. “I am working for you, so it wouldn’t be a date. If it was a date, we might hold hands or kiss.”

“No dating then.” His voice was deep. He looked angry. Then his stance relaxed and he put out his hand. “Get up. Let’s go.”

She groaned as she let him pull her to her feet.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s the thought of having to go all the way back.” She shook her head.

Talon looked at her like she had lost her mind. “Why have you started jogging every morning then, if you don’t like it?”

“I told you, I need to get back into shape. I’m not very fit and quite unhealthy.”

"If you don't like running, you should pick something else to do." He looked up and then back at her. "I don't enjoy running much myself. I much prefer to fight and fly." A wistful look took hold of his features

“Fly,” she sighed. “That must be amazing.”

“It is the best feeling in the world.” He cocked his head to the side for a moment. Come to think of it, there was a bird-like quality to the movement. Not just bird-like but predatory too. It was sexy. Who was she kidding, everything Talon did was sexy. “There is only one thing that comes close.”

“Oh?” Her interest was piqued. “What’s that?”

Talon went down on his haunches to re-tie one of his laces. He glanced up at her. "Fucking." His voice was a low rasp that did things to her.

Her girl part clenched. It actually clenched somewhere deep inside her. She swallowed involuntarily. Maybe her way of trying to choke back the sense of urgency that reached out and grabbed her as he said the word.

Fucking.

Her clit sparked to life, if that was even possible. She could feel it beneath the rub of her tight spandex pants. “Oh.” She tried to sound flippant and failed. “I’ve never flown before …” She giggled nervously. “Obviously. No wings.” She shook her head. “Having said that, I’m pretty sure I’ve never had sex that would come close.”

Talon got back up to his feet in one graceful move, he pushed a breath out through his nose. “Then you have never been fucked properly.”

Good lord!

Holy Batman and Robin. Throw in Spiderman and Superwoman for good measure. Her nipples were tighter than tight and her girl parts felt wet.

Wet.

Not just that, they throbbed. Her whole body felt robbed. Especially one part. Robbed of good, hard sex. The kind that would leave her sated and begging for more and all at the same time. Instinctively she knew Talon would be able to give that to her.

If only …

She cleared her throat. It suddenly felt like a lump had lodged itself in there. “You’re probably right.”

Sad.

Sad.

Sad.

Like in all things, her ex had been a selfish lover. Something she’d only really realized after they broke up. That was bull, she’d known it all along but had brushed it aside as unimportant. Jeff went down on her once in a while. Sex was usually quick with very little foreplay. Normally just enough to get her wet enough to take him. He’d even taken to using lube in the last year or two, so having an orgasm of her own during sex was rare. She could count the number of times on one hand. Sad. No wonder she was acting all sex-starved. It was because she was sex-starved. “I think we’d better go.” She glanced his way.

Talon nodded. His face had a pinched look.

“You okay?”

“I was thinking of flying. I miss being in my animal form. I miss the freedom of spreading my wings.” He closed his eyes, turning his face to the sky for a moment. “I miss many things.”

Like his mate. And sex. She was pretty sure he missed that as well. Not just sex, sex with his mate. Having someone in his life. It had only been just over a year for her. She couldn’t imagine ten years. A whole lifetime. Once again, she could see the sadness and the loss etched into his every fiber. It was there, clear as day. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you do.” Again, she felt for him.

“I’ve never gone so much as a day without shifting. My bones ache with the need. My skin feels tight and scratchy. I’m becoming restless. That partial shift I did before only made it worse.”

“It’s only been a little over two weeks since you got here.” Vicky frowned. She touched the side of his arm. “Are you going to last another month?”

“I will have to.” He nodded once. “My friends are feeling it almost … just as acutely. I spoke with Cadon just now.”

Oh, so that’s who he was speaking to. One of his kind. “Why not just shift? Find a patch of trees in the park and—”

He turned to her, a smile toying with the edges of his mouth. So sexy. He had two dimples that came out to play and his eyes seemed to brighten. Talon shook his head. “Can you imagine someone accidentally seeing me?” Then his expression changed. “They might take pictures. No, there are far too many people here. It would be far too dangerous. It’s not worth the risk.”

“We could go to that wooded section of the park.” She pointed to a tight grove of trees. “I could stand watch.”

Talon clasped his hand around hers. His skin was hot and calloused. He squeezed softly, letting go almost as soon as the touch registered. “Thank you, but shifting would only help a small amount. I would need to take to the sky, to stretch my wings.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure. It is something we anticipated. I don’t think we expected it to be this difficult though.”

“Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”

“I will.” His voice was deep and resonant.

“I mean it. Anything at all.”

His features seemed to darken. His jaw tightened. Had she pissed him off somehow? Then Talon dashed off, he slowed down and jogged back to her in a wide loop. Running circles around her just like she suspected he would. She really hated jogging. It was only something she had done on Jeff’s insistence. They had jogged together most mornings. Talon was right, she needed to find something else. Something fun.