Chapter 1

Julia

I hated him!

Gryph was by far the most infuriating man I’d ever known, and he’d been getting on my last nerve since the day we’d met. At first, I was irritated with him and his bossy, arrogant attitude. I’ve mostly dated women and never really understood the appeal of alpha males. What woman wants a guy trying to run her life? Not me. With my natural disdain for dominant men, it was no wonder I’d clashed with Gryph the moment we met. I’d planned to do my best to avoid him. He’d been determined to thwart my plan to avoid him.

At some point, my feelings morphed to something other than irritation—something that left me feeling achy and empty. Being pushed up against a wall and kissed stupid was apparently all it took to make me want him in every way imaginable. Sadly, those kisses had been as far as Gryph would allow things to go between us. It should have been simple. I wanted him, and I knew he wanted me. Just when I’d thought he was going to fill that need, Gryph had acted like a barbarian, talking about me like I was his property.

Now, all I had were dreams of the sexy werewolf touching me and taking me in ways I knew would make me scream his name. It had been my vibrator and dreams of Gryph for far too long. I needed to get that werewolf out of my system.

The soft knock on my office door reminded me I was at work and had clients coming in soon. I might not be able to make my own fantasies a reality, but I’d be able to help others with theirs. As co-owner of Bliss, I got to work with couples to plan fantasy dates and getaways that met their every sexual desire. It was a great job for a witch who’d always excelled at spells involving sex.

“Come in,” I called out, and my business partner, Allie, walked into my office. I loved working with Allie. We were a great team. It was no exaggeration to say our business venture was a success. After being in business less than a year, we had a four-month waitlist. Bliss was also perfect for Allie, who was half-succubus. Her heritage meant she needed to feed on sexual energy, but even before her marriage, she’d had no interest in casual encounters. She was an unusual sex demon.

Allie’s brown hair was secured in a complex braid that I’d never be able to manage. Her purple tank dress did nothing to hide her generous curves. I was, not-so-secretly, a little jealous of her figure.

“Hi, Julia,” Allie greeted, her whiskey brown eyes clearly conveying her stress and worry. “We have a problem.”

“What is it?” I asked. “Did one of our clients have a bad experience? Did we get a bad review? I’m assuming we aren’t being sued since Dylan and Trevor aren’t here.” My older brother and Allie’s husband were both lawyers; one or both would have come immediately if we were having legal troubles.

“This is worse,” she began.

“Is it worse than legal problems, or worse than a bad review?” I asked.

“Both,” she replied before adding, “There is a possibility this isn’t a real problem, but I think we should call the police.”

The fact that Allie was considering involving the police made me nervous. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“There was a disturbing email sent to the main Bliss account,” she began. “It was directed at you, and it definitely sounds like a threat,” she explained.

“I’ll read the email, and then we can decide what to do about it,” I stated. Allie’s nerves were starting to get to me.

“I moved it to the follow up folder,” she told me. “The sender made it look like the email came from Bliss.”

I logged into the Bliss email account. The email was definitely directed at me since I was the only one working at Bliss who could be described as a Blonde Bitch. After reading it, I wasn’t entirely certain it was a threat. Clearly, I’d angered someone, but I wasn’t convinced they were planning to act on their anger. It was always possible insulting me was all they had planned. In fact, that seemed likely. I didn’t have enemies.

“Do you want me to call the police now?” Allie asked.

“I’m not sure it’s that big of a deal,” I argued. If we called the police, my brother would hear about it. I love my brother. Honest, I do. He’s just one of those annoying alpha males who get on my nerves. He’s worse than most annoying alpha males, because he’s also an overprotective older brother. “Trevor will lose it if the police are involved, even if they say there’s no threat to me.”

“Worrying Trevor is really the excuse you plan to use to avoid talking to the police about a potential threat to you?” Allie asked slowly.

“There will be nothing the police can say to stop him from acting crazy,” I began. “He’ll wonder if they missed something and try to talk me into staying with him and Mel.”

Allie put her hands on her hips and glared at me until I put my hands up in surrender. “Fine,” I relented. “We’ll let the police look at the email and tell us there’s nothing to worry about.”

She nodded. “You’re not at all worried about this, are you?”

“Not really,” I replied as an idea came to me—an idea that would get me what I wanted most.

“Why are you grinning?” Allie asked.

“What are your thoughts on hiring security?” I asked. “Someone to make sure I’m safe, just in case there really is a threat to me.”

Allie nodded, looking thoughtful. “That’s not a bad idea. It will make me feel better. I’m sure it will make you happier, too, since it should keep Trevor from panicking too much. We can call the local pack and hire someone to guard you while you’re at work. We should also find someone to watch your house at night.”

“Or we could call Gryph,” I said with a sweet smile. “Maybe he should even stay with me until we know it’s safe.”

Allie eyed me suspiciously. “Are you trying to seduce Gryph?”

“That’s my plan,” I admitted. I figured it wouldn’t take long to convince Gryph to help me with all those fantasies I’d been having. If his reaction in the past was anything to go by, he wanted me as much as I wanted him. All he needed was a not-so-subtle seduction.