Chapter One
Tessa pressed the elevator button and waited as it went to the top floor. She had twenty minutes to drop the assessment sheet at the CEO’s desk, then get her bag and run to the bus stop to get the bus, otherwise she’d have to wait another hour for a bus to her neighborhood. It was eight o’clock and she’d been at work since a quarter to nine, and had been awake since seven this morning. Right now she was tired and hungry. She thanked God it was Friday and she had two days off. She intended to spend those days relaxing and sleeping.
On days like this, when it was so cold she was surprised it wasn’t cold enough to snow, Tessa would give anything to afford a car. She wished she could relive her teenage years. She had apologized to her parents for running off with her ex-boyfriend six years ago. They had forgiven her and even paid for her secretary courses as she couldn’t get a loan because she was in so much debt. Ben had deserted her as soon as the creditors came knocking at the door. No one knew where he was, and Tessa was now stuck paying for all the things they’d bought. Tessa sold everything and came crawling back to her parents at twenty with a massive amount of debt and shame.
Tessa had worked two jobs for a year to pay off as much debt as she could. She cut down to one job when her parents paid for the secretary course. She worked hard and got the best grades, so her parents also paid for little side courses to better her chances at a good job. Tessa was grateful to her parents, and she promised, once she finished paying off her first lot of debts she would pay her parents back.
Four months ago, Tessa joined Devils, Inc. as a secretary for one of the higher bosses. It was supposed to be a dream job. The pay was high and it had been advertised as a nine to five. That had been a lie. Tessa found out why the pay was so high—because her boss Greg was a grade A arsehole who fobbed his work off onto her. Tessa couldn’t afford to lose her job or quit. This job was helping her pay her debts a lot quicker.
The company was part of the Fortune 500. The owner and CEO of Devil’s, Inc.—Lucian Samson, bad boy billionaire—was known for turning any venture he was a part of into a success. Tessa knew if she could last two years and pay off her debts, she would be able to get a job anywhere. All she would have to say was she had worked at Devil’s, Inc. and left on good terms.
Tessa glanced at her watch and groaned. She had less than fifteen minutes to place the file on Lucian Samson’s desk, then get back to her bag and leave for the bus stop. She hurried along the corridor toward the big office doors in sight.
Almost running to the door, she gripped the assessment tighter and barged through the big doors, thinking no one else would be here at this time. Tessa paused and gasped at the sight before her. Lucian Samson stood naked with three women fawning over him. A redhead sucked his cock and two blondes were moaning and kissing his sculptured body.
At her gasp, Lucian’s glowing blue eyes shot from the redhead to stare at her. A wicked grin came over his face before he sniffed the air and growled. In an instant, his whole demeanor changed. His relaxed stance turned rigid and his cheeky grin vanished, replaced by a serious one.
Oh, God, she needed to get out of here. Backing up, she muttered, “I’m so sorry. I…well…um… I… didn’t see anything.” Tessa was terrified as she swore Lucian grew from his already impressive six-foot something to seven or eight. His jet-black hair lengthened and seemed to grow, his skin turned a dark shade of red, and his eyes went from blue to black.
“Mate. My mate. Come to me now.” Lucian’s voice was deep and it sent a shiver of pleasure straight through her. What the hell was wrong with her? The guy in front of her was scary, not something to get turned on by. Crap, Tessa needed to get out of here, like now.
Backing out of the room, she slammed the door shut and ran for the elevator. The door opened and she pressed her work floor so she could get her bag and get the hell out of there.
Sighing in relief when the door closed, the elevator went down and as soon as the doors opened on her work floor she ran to her desk, dropped the assessment she’d been gripping like a lifeline, then gathered her bag. She took a couple of deep, calming breaths, giggling as she remembered what she thought she saw. Tessa needed sleep. She was so tired she was seeing things. Tessa hoped she wasn’t fired for her rude behavior. Looking around her, she checked everything was turned off before she went back to the elevator and took it to the ground floor. Once there she nodded to Fred, the security guy, and walked as fast as she could to the bus stop.
At the bus stop Tessa laughed. She had the best imagination, imagining a man growing and turning bright red. God, she needed food and sleep. There was no way, what she saw Lucian Samson do was real. She was grateful it was Friday—she would have two days to catch up on some much needed rest.
* * * *
Lucian pushed the bitches off him, eager to go after his mate. The three women wouldn’t let him go. They wanted to satisfy the alpha Demon, the one and only Lucifer, ruler of the underworld.
Ha, they have no idea they already live in my kingdom.
They had tried to seduce him individually, but other than a quick fuck, he wasn’t interested. Lately Lucian was bored, sick of fucking the same type of woman over and over. He knew it wasn’t going to go anywhere with any of them. Lucian couldn’t have children unless he and his demon accepted the woman and she was their mate. He’d been searching for her so many years he’d not only lost count, but he’d given the fuck up.
This didn’t stop women from trying to get him to mate with them. Lucian knew he was a hot commodity. He was the legendary Lucifer and he lived lavishly, had more money than anyone in the world, and owned many properties all over, the biggest being a large acreage where he currently lived. His house was grand and he liked his cars and motor bikes. Toys, his mother would have called them.
Stacey kept throwing herself at him, blocking him from going after his mate. His demon snarled and Lucian let him free. Lucian’s bat like wings unfurled as the scent of his mate invaded his heightened senses. His demon roared as the scent of their mate lessened. Lucian hadn’t been able to stop the change coming over him when he saw her. He’d looked into her big, doe brown eyes and her chestnut hair falling out of its bun and knew he was a goner.
“Lucifer, let the human go. Stay and play with us,” Tiffney moaned.
Lifting Stacey off him, he threw her across the room and growled at Tiffney. “Get out of my way. Get out of my sight. I don’t want any of you anymore.” Lucian felt ill at the thought of their touch right now.
Furious that his mate was getting away and he’d wasted precious time on the bitches before him, he stormed past the cowering women, not caring about his nakedness—just eager to find his mate. When he couldn’t find her he let out a deafening roar. Lucian let the change come over him and let his demon have free reign. Tomorrow he would begin the search for his mate. She worked in the building and he would find her, even if he had to interrogate every one of his employees.
Closing his eyes, he brought up the image of his mate. Her hair was a light chestnut brown, the strands that had fallen from her tight bun long and wavy. Her skin was creamy porcelain white. Her eyes were big brown pools that showed every emotion. Her body had him drooling and eager to find her. She had a Coke bottle body shape, full up the top coming in and flaring out again. She was roughly five-six, maybe seven. She was perfect for Lucian and he couldn’t wait to find her and learn more.
* * * *
When she’d arrived at work on Monday after her much needed restful weekend, Greg had been furious with her and threatened to let her go that day. She had begged for her job and told him she would do better, but didn’t tell him she hadn’t dropped the assessment off because she walked in on Lucian with three women. Greg had caved, but only because he’d been praised for doing great work. Tessa was an idiot and Greg was a dick, but if he took credit for her work again she was going to bury him alive.
The week seemed to just get worse. A lot of employees were on edge and snappy; supposedly Lucian Samson was on the warpath. Looking at the computer screen in front of her, the image blurred and she saw herself kicking Greg’s arse into the snow. Tessa groaned because she knew she could never hurt anyone, fuckwit or not. She reminded herself tonight was Friday and she had two days to relax again. At least, she hoped she could relax. Ever since she’d seen Lucian and heard his deep sexy voice, Tessa hadn’t been getting much sleep. Her dreams were filled with fantasies that had Tessa waking with want and need. Lucian holding her in his embrace as he worshipped her body. Lucian sweeping her off her feet and making slow, sensual love to her. Lucian rubbing suntan oil on her and being her personal cabana man. She tried satisfying herself with her vibrator, her finger, anything, but nothing worked.
Since she wasn’t sleeping, Tessa had come to work early all week so she wouldn’t have to stay back again like last Friday. Today she hadn’t been as lucky. Glancing out the frost-covered window, Tessa turned back to the screen to check the time—seven-fifteen. Great, she had stayed over two hours, longer than what she would be paid for again. Cursing Greg for the millionth time, she sighed and started double-checking her work so she could save it and turn off the computer. Rubbing her eyes, she blinked as everything went black.
“No, no, no. Please don’t do this to me. God, Jesus, anybody who is listening, I will do anything if you turn the power back on so I haven’t lost a thing.” She banged her head on the desk, closing her eyes and praying when she opened them it would all be a bad dream, or the power would have come back on. Slowly straightening up and opening her eyes, she moaned as pitch black met her. “I’m cursed.” She stood and gazed out the window, looking to see if the streetlights were out.
“I wouldn’t say you were cursed. I know cursed people and you aren’t one of them.”
Tessa screamed and jumped from her seat as a masculine voice she knew well from her dreams spoke.
Turning to Lucian Samson, the star in all her fantasies this last week, Tessa prayed he hadn’t heard her ranting to herself. Thanks to the frost glistening on the sills and the moonlight through the window behind her, she could see him. Not that Tessa needed to see him, as his image was permanently entrenched in her brain. She’d looked him up when she’d gotten home last weekend and found that he was six-four with bright sky blue eyes and a perfect muscular body encased in olive brown skin. He was her ideal dream man and way out of her league.
Clearing her suddenly dry throat, she whispered, “Mr. Samson, I didn’t know anyone else was here.”
Lucian strolled into her boss’s office and she took several steps backward until she felt her back hit the window. “Call me Lucian. Mr. Samson makes me sound old, and I don’t want you to think of me as old.”
She bit her lip to hold in the groan that almost slipped at his proximity. Mmm, if he only knew she saw him as many things, but old was not one of them. Images of last night’s fantasy, where he was her naked cabana man applying suntan lotion to her body, flashed before her eyes.
When the images stopped, she stared into lust-filled blue eyes only a breath away from her. “I’ve been watching you. Why did you run from me when I told you to stay the other night?”
Tessa froze as his hand came up and slowly traced her lips, then trailed down her body in a leisurely caress. What did he mean when he’d told her to stay the other night? Surely, he wasn’t talking about last Friday when she walked in on him with three women?
“You’re mine. I can’t get you off my mind. I’ve waited centuries for you. I’ve been watching you all day, and every time you bend over my mind and…other things go into overdrive.”
Tessa let out a gasp at his words. “I’m dreaming.” She had to be, there was no way Lucian Samson was coming onto her. “Shit, I’ve fallen asleep over the computer.”
Lucian chuckled. “No, Tessa, you most definitely are not.”
A squeak of surprise left her as hands inched up, loosening her shirt, and his lips came down on hers. His mouth ravaged hers and her body came alive. His hands glided over her body and his touch left burning trails of fire. Tessa had never felt anything like this before. She needed this to stop. She needed to get away. This was her boss’s boss. This was Lucian Samson, bad boy billionaire. This was the Lucian she’d seen last Friday with three women.
Mustering all her strength, Tessa pushed at Lucian’s chest and tore her mouth from his. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. It couldn’t be when I barged in on you with three women.”
Snarling, Lucian let her go. She heard the snarky lilt to her voice and knew she had to get out of there before she lost her job, if she hadn’t already. Tessa was amazed at how she was acting toward a man she barely knew.
“Don’t. You can’t leave. I won’t let you.” Lucian’s voice sounded harsh and gravelly.
Gulping, Tessa moved further away from Lucian. “I can leave. You have to let me.” Reaching under the desk and keeping her gaze as much as possible on Lucian, she got her bag.
“Let me make love to you.”
Wait? What? He can’t be serious? She stared up into his beautiful face. “No.”
“Yes.”
“Um…No.”
His eyes narrowed in clear frustration and disbelief. She studied him as a flash of pain and vulnerability passed over his face, making him look softer, more approachable. “Please.”
Oh, God, how was she going to resist? His face looked like that of an angel. His pleading eyes were pulling on her heart and she wondered how many people he had ever said please to. She bet she could count them on one hand. He may be the best looking man she’d ever seen, he may star in every one of her dreams and make her body burn, but she needed to stay strong.
“We can’t do that. Not only are you my boss, but I can’t have sex with you because I don’t know you. That’s just a starter, what if the condom breaks? What if you have a disease, or what if I get pregnant? I’m not on the Pill. This is a bad idea. I’m sure there are plenty of other women who would gladly have you.”
“You can’t leave me.” He sounded broken and desperate.
The need in his voice almost made her stay. He pouted and she groaned.
“I have no diseases, and as for getting pregnant…”A wicked glint came into his eyes and he grinned as he stalked her. “ I’m technically sterile. The only woman who can fall pregnant with my child is my mate.” His eyes darkened until she swore they turned black. “You can’t leave me. You’re mine. I will have you.”
Shaking her head at what she thought she was seeing, she gave a snort. Ah yes, she could leave, and she wasn’t falling for his caveman act. “Look, Mr. Samson, I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m really sorry about the other night. I have told no one and I won’t. I really need this job and I don’t want to upset you. I think it’s best if I leave.” Backing up until Lucian was out of her sight, she turned and fled before she gave in to her crazy craving for the man.
* * * *
Fuck!
Tessa was running. His demon wasn’t reacting very well to their mate leaving them. He’d learnt yesterday afternoon who his mate was when he got to the floor she worked on, and he could smell her. Lucian had come in on her bending over a cabinet, putting a file away. Greg, her boss, had stopped him from introducing himself. He was a pup that Lucian employed to keep in the good graces of the Werewolf Council, just in case he ever needed them. Greg was one of the councilmen’s sons.
“Do you need anything from Tessa, sir? She is only a human and is willing to do anything to keep this job, so if she has—”
“She hasn’t done anything. If you touch a hair on her head, councilman’s son or not, I’ll kill you.”
The pup had turned white and nodded. Lucian narrowed his eyes on him. “I want her to stay back tomorrow night.” The pup nodded and Lucian had stormed off.
He’d found out everything he could about Tessa. Her full name was Tessa Jackson, she was twenty-four and lived in a granny flat at her parents’. She had left her parents as soon as she turned eighteen and racked up a huge amount of debt with a boy named Ben Nixs. Tessa came back to her parents at age twenty and had spent the last four years working to pay off her debts. She loved children and helped at Vision Australia in her spare time, doing the fun days and being a camp leader on their weekend trips. That had been all his private investigator had been able to dig up on her. She made friends easily and was close to a group of women who worked and volunteered at Vision Australia. He was keen to learn more and get to know her.
The further Tessa ran from him, taking away her sugary sweet scent, the more he let his demon take over. Inhaling deeply, he slowly let it out and chased after his mate. Lucian caught her before she reached the elevator and stairs exit. His picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, and pressed the elevator button.
Tessa fought, kicking at his chest and punching his shoulders. “Put me down. Put me down this instant! You have no right to manhandle me like this.”
He chuckled as she used all her might to fight him. His mate was a little hellcat. “Kitten, I have every right to take you like this.” He’d waited centuries to find the one woman he and his demon would accept. The elevator opened and he pressed the top floor button. When the doors closed he placed her on the ground, his arms around her waist. “Tessa Jackson, you’re mine. I have waited many, many years for you. I’m not giving you up now that I have you.”
Startled, big brown eyes stared up at him. Lucian leaned down and met her lips with his own. For a moment she didn’t respond. He gathered her closer to him and deepened the kiss. His hands yanked open her shirt and slid up her soft, smooth stomach to cup and caress her breasts.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Moving his hands down to her waist, Lucian picked her up and walked to his office. He was going to claim his mate, take her home, and look after her. He was going to make her love him and care for him, and give him everything he craved from a mate.
Lucian placed his fighting mate on the table and hiked up her skirt. Spreading her legs as she cursed at him, he settled down between them, burying his face into her heat and nuzzling the prize he was eager to taste. His fangs lengthened and Lucian ripped Tessa’s pantyhose and moved her underwear to the side. Spreading her pussy lips, he licked from bottom to top, sucking in her clit. Tessa lost her fight and froze. Lucian let his fangs scrape each side of her clit.
Tessa gasped and arched into his touch. “Oh. My. God. What are you doing to me? What have you done?”
He didn’t answer. He knew he was devious by using the mating pull to make her his. He lapped at her pussy as he sank one long, thick digit into her core and pumped it in and out.
“Mmm, feels so good.” She panted out as he added another finger and picked up speed.
Lucian kept his demon in place. Tessa wasn’t ready to see his demon fully released and the power they wielded. He needed to know she would stay once she knew what he was, and the war he fought. Lucian was going to do everything he could to make her stay with him, even become the demon his people were known to be. He licked, lapped, and sucked her in, loving her sugary sweet taste. Lucian felt her legs tighten around him, and the fingers he buried inside her felt her muscles contract around them.
“Lucian, Lucian, Lucian,” Tessa chanted as she fell apart and her orgasm came over her. His fangs sank into either side of her clit and he drank her blood and come, the mix giving him a high like never before.
Lucian knew what he had to do. Centuries of instinct kicked in as his strength tripled to a level he’d never experienced before. Closing off his entry points, he eased away and quickly shed his clothing, then gathered Tessa back to him. Pulling her closer to the edge of the desk, he lined his cock up with its home as he spread her legs further, then pushed into her core. Tessa moaned and clenched around him as he moved further into her. She leaned back against the table, her elbows helping to support her. She wrapped her legs around him, driving him deeper. She moaned and pushed her body to meet his.
Concentrating on keeping his demon contained, he closed his eyes, unable to watch her arch her back and pant at his touch. Her smell and the look of ecstasy on her face was pure torture, and messing with his renowned stamina. He gripped her hips and drove into her over and over. Lucian felt like he was in Heaven, home.
Tessa moaned and it sent thrills of power through him. Lucian argued with his demon to stay hidden as the pleasure swamped over him. He thrust into her faster and relinquished in the sweet scent that surrounded him, telling him after centuries of loneliness he’d found his mate. The tides would turn and he would get happiness.
Opening his eyes when he knew he’d won the fight with his demon, Lucian saw that Tessa now sat up, looking at his face. She pushed back at him as he retreated and slid back home.
“What are you doing to me? It’s never been like this before. I feel like I’m going to explode.” Tessa’s voice was coming out in pants as she helped his movements, pushing herself down so he went deeper each time.
His hands fell from her waist and Lucian reached up and stroked her cheek. “You’re special. You’re mine, Tessa.” Needing to mark her so all knew what she was to him, he leaned down and kissed her neck from bottom to top until he rested his lips over the juncture where her shoulder met her neck. He pumped into her with a purpose. She was going to come and squeeze the life out of his cock. He was going to come deep inside her, planting his seed. Tessa would be his mate. Letting his fangs lengthen, he pounded into her and pierced her shoulder. He drank from her as she convulsed around him, her pussy quivering and gripping him like a vice that had him pulling on her blood harder and letting himself go. He felt his wings unfurl and they closed around them, blocking out the moonlit night.
Lucian was happy the endorphins from his fangs would make her drowsy until he finished the mating bond by giving her his blood. He licked her wound enough so it would leave a mate scar. Staring down at Tessa, her head thrown back and her big brown eyes glazed over in bliss, he lengthened a sharp fingernail and sliced where his shoulder met his neck, then lifted her up to where his blood dripped. Still in a daze, he opened her mouth and held her to him. Lucian knew when his sweet taste hit her mouth—she groaned and leaned closer to him, pulling in his blood. He held her onto him until he knew she wouldn’t fight.
His cock hardened again as her moans around his flesh brought his need roaring back. Using his wings, he moved to sit on his chair and positioned her legs so she straddled him. This time he let the demon out to help claim her. Lucian knew she could handle his demon now she’d had his blood. He grew and his wings hardened. Tessa’s pulls became deeper and her nails dug into his shoulders as he moved within her. Her pussy kept going off with mini orgasms, thanks to his blood heating her and making her body burn so high that all he had to do was stoke the inferno.
Holding onto her waist, he lifted her only to slam her back down and ground himself against her. With her nails digging deeper and her pulls getting stronger, he struck, biting deeper this time. Together they came as they both bit—him to remark her, her as she shattered around him.
Tessa’s core squeezed the life out of him until he didn’t know, for the first time in his life, if he had anything left to give. Spent, Lucian grinned as his blood-drunk mate fell back against his wings, her euphoria evident.
Taking in a deep breath, he sighed with contentment as he smelt the change in Tessa. She smelt mated. She smelt of him. She mumbled incoherently, her eyes barely fluttering open as he eased out of her. Not bothering with clothes, he went to his balcony and opened it, still cradling her in his wings. Switching her to his arms, he fluttered his wings and stepped up over the edge. Holding his precious bundle tighter, Lucian took in a deep breath of the fresh night air then stepped off the balcony and flew into the night.