Chapter Twenty-eight
The next few days passed quietly, and Lillian was glad for it. Well, quiet if she didn’t count the time she’d spent together with Erik either in his swanky upscale apartment or in her cozier apartment.
Still, neither quite had the feel of the little house nestled in the heart of his land. Something about that rustic place spoke to her in a way she didn’t know a place could. Just something about it felt like a home the way nowhere else did.
As she sat at her desk at work looking over a document on her computer, she realized how dramatically everything had changed in her life recently, even if the last few days had been peaceful.
There had been no further trouble or signs of Hall, vampires, or anything bizarre other than her werewolf boyfriend, and he wasn’t interested in anything more exotic than just mind-blowing sex. That was some unusual activity she could get behind.
Over the week, Lillian had gotten to know a few more of the men the more time she and Erik spent together. Despite the fact that they operated as a pack, she noticed that each man had a specific job. All of them pulled their own weight to create a perfect harmony. Only now with Hall gone, that harmony was slightly off. There was a hole in their carefully constructed quilt. Especially since his brother Tyr had made it his personal mission to find Hall all on his own.
She could see it was hard for them to watch one of their own go through something like this.
And despite things going so well between Erik and Lillian, it was hard not to have that in the back of her mind. The question of Hall always lingered. What was the young werewolf doing? Was he safe?
She knew the questions weighed on Erik and his men. Despite the fact that life went on as usual, and they continued their day-to-day work, nothing was usual for them. A piece of their family was missing, and the worry wouldn’t go away until they found Hall, one way or another.
Lillian’s thoughts kept returning to what Hall had said to her and the warning he'd given her. Erik dismissed it as the rantings of a man strung out on drugs, but she couldn't seem to shake the feeling that the warnings were something more. If only she could decipher just what he meant, but she was new to this world and had no clue where to even start.
The silver tattoo remained on her back as well. In fact, she’d come to like the way it looked on her, but Lillian still couldn't explain it and neither could Erik. She knew it meant something more than just being pretty. What if all the things were connected? She couldn't really say how, but what if Erik's grandmother had been right? It was hard to ignore the way they met. It was as if they really were destined to meet.
The few times she tried to broach the subject with Erik, he clammed up and would change the topic, dismissing it all as nonsense out of legends and myths. She didn’t understand his attitude. He lived in a supernatural world, but he wanted to act like everything could still be rationally explained. It was almost as if he was afraid.
It was frustrating. All she wanted was a few answers to what was going on with her. To what all these things meant.
The one thing that didn't change was work. Margaret continued to be her charming self, and Lillian continued to work from where she was at her desk, despite her relationship with the boss. They had decided that it was best they kept things still on the down low and not risk causing a lot of waves at the office. The last thing they needed was more drama to worry about.
Margaret walked passed Lillian’s desk glaring down at her. Lillian could only imagine what would happen if the Dragon Lady knew she was sleeping with the boss. She might be a bitch, but she was pretty good at her job when she wasn’t screwing with temps.
Besides, Lillian was determined to win over Margaret at some point. She didn't know if it was possible, but she’d take a wild guess that sleeping with the boss probably wasn't how to do it.
Lillian breathed in a sigh of relief as Margaret moved away from her desk without saying anything else. She glanced down at her computer. She’d just finished the research on a couple paintings that Gwen was anxious to acquire. The buyer was a little more adamant about having their pieces sooner than most other clients.
The skill of finding art and verifying provenance could be more difficult than most people expected. Still, Lillian found she loved the job. It was also fascinating now that she understood many of their clients were supernatural in some way, and it made more sense why they were so anxious to get their pieces.
She reached over her head and stretched. The blouse she was wearing rode up slightly as she glanced over to Erik who sat in his office, the door open.
It wasn't exactly like she was trying to tease him, but there was some satisfaction in knowing that even from across the room, she could see the hunger in his eyes. She’d never been desired by a man like him, and it was almost addictive.
Lillian chanced a subtle wink and pulled her arms back down.
One more hour left of work, and they were out of there to head back to his land where she could meet more of his people. It was such a strange thing really. They'd spent so much time together, but she never got tired of him. The more time she spent with Erik, the more time she wanted to spend with him. Addictive, indeed.
Was this what love was?
Her heart fluttered at the idea. She'd asked herself many times where this was going. But she never risked asking him. She was too afraid to spook him off. They had so many things going on that it seemed like the wrong time pretty much always. There’d be time enough once all the trouble with Hall calmed down.
That didn’t stop Lillian from hoping it was love, and that Erik felt the same way.
He was a hard man to read sometimes. Through his grunting and huffing, it was hard to know what was going on inside his head. But he was thoughtful in all the ways that mattered.
Every morning she woke up, there was hot cocoa waiting for her. At night when she fell asleep on the couch, she'd wake up warm and secure in bed with him wrapped around her.
It felt like love.
A loud bang startled her from her thoughts, and she looked up to find Margaret glaring down at her again. Lillian swallowed. She’d thought she’d escaped the horn-rimmed beast, but maybe the woman was just toying with her.
She wore an even more annoyed look than normal, likely because work was almost done, and it was Friday. The Dragon Lady wouldn’t have the chance to boss Lillian around over the weekend.
"These need to be copied and catalogued before you leave today," Margaret snapped. “If you can spare a second of your precious time.”
Lillian took in a deep breath. Maybe she should ask Erik to say something to her. After a second, she decided against it. She didn’t need to hide behind her boyfriend, especially when she was trying to keep him secret.
Besides, it was getting harder and harder to take Margaret’s shit without saying something in return. Lillian had always considered herself a patient sort of person, but apparently Margaret had finally reached her limit.
"There's only an hour left of work," Lillian said as she looked through the papers. "This is at least two hours of work."
Margaret pursed her lips together. She could see the Dragon Lady getting ready to unleash on her. "Some of us don't have the luxury of leaving every day on time," she said. "Some of us are still trying to earn their place and should realize they need to prove they are team players.”
Lillian gritted her teeth. Margaret always seemed to hit on the one thing she felt most self-conscious about. She was still a temp after all. There had been no mention from Erik that would change.
It felt strange even thinking of trying to bring up the subject with him. It’d be like she was begging for a job because of their relationship, like she was trying to sleep her way to the top.
Irritated, Lillian stood and snatched the stack of papers from her desk. Margaret raised her eyebrows in surprise as Lillian glared at her.
"Have a good weekend, Margaret. I hope that stick removal goes well.”
Margret’s mouth fell open, and Lillian felt a smidgen of satisfaction at seeing it. Likely she'd pay come Monday, but at least the old battle ax would learn that she had her limits as well and maybe back the hell off.
Lillian stomped off toward the break room. When she got there, she slammed the papers down on the copier and glared down at the machine. It beeped at her, as if it knew she was there. Ready to mock her. She might put up with crap from Margaret, but she wasn’t going to let an inanimate object win.
"Now you listen to me," she said to the machine. "I've got big plans tonight, and you are not screwing that up for me." Soft lips touched her neck, and instantly everything around her melted away.
"I think it's learned its lesson," Erik mumbled against her ear. “Or do you want me to beat it up?”
His warm hands wrapped around her stomach and pulled her back to nestle his hard length against her ass. Warmth pulsed through her body from her center. They were supposed to be keeping things low key, and he was rubbing up against her in the break room.
"You know what it does to me when you tease like that," Erik whispered.
Lillian felt her nipples pebble at the feel of him. Instantly, her center grew wet with need, and she had to bite back the moan she felt bubbling up. Maybe it’d be worth all the trouble if he took her right there in the break room.
Erik let his hands slide under her blouse and ran his rough hands along the skin there. "So you have big plans for me tonight?"
Lillian turned in his arms and stared up at him. "I do," she said coyly. She leaned in and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him lightly on the lips before making her way across his jaw line and over to his ear. "Wait till you see what I'm wearing under my clothes," she whispered in his ear and nibbled on the lobe.
Erik growled at her words and pressed his body into hers, trapping her between the copier and his hard body. "Maybe I should get a small peek now," he growled.
It was tempting. The thought of closing the door and having her way with him in the break room was beyond tempting. But someone could come in at any moment, and she wanted to take her time with Erik.
She nibbled her lip as she glanced toward the door. "I think once you see, you're not going to want just a peek. And… we are still at work. Someone might come in.”
Erik groaned and leaned his head against hers. She could feel how hard he was through his pants and knew how much he wanted her.
"You know you could ditch this work," he said. "Let’s get out of here early, and you could show me your surprise before we drive to the land.”
Lillian sighed and let her hands slide off his neck. More than anything she wanted to, but she took on the task. She liked to be a person that stuck to her word, even if it was to a bitch like Margaret.
With more strength than Lillian thought she possessed, she pushed Erik back and slid the papers into the tray of the machine. "Probably just take an hour after normal quitting time, and I’ll be totally finished.” She smiled. “This is for your company, after all.”
Behind her Erik sighed loudly.
She turned back around to him. "Why don't you go get a couple of bottles of wine and some take out for when I'm finished?" She smiled. "By the time you're back I should be done."
Erik leaned in and gave her a searing kiss. She smiled against him as he struggled to pull away.
"I’ll pick you up in two hours then," he said. "But you better be ready for me because I plan on taking you the moment I see you."
Lillian blushed but nodded. No question that she'd be ready for him. She was pretty much always ready for him.