The exhausting day went through. From the opening shift, Martin asked Rachel to extend and take overtime, both Craig and her. She couldn't say no since she would receive night differentials to compensate for it, even though she was already exhausted from running back and forth to the kitchen and bringing the customers' orders to their table. She thought she could go home early and reminded herself to buy a padlock to replace the broken one using the tip given to her. Unfortunately, Martin called for her last minute when she was about to punch out in her daily time record. After Helen finished with her orders, Rachel made sure that she would be the one to clean up her table. Though she hasn't expected that she will give her a hundred-dollar tip. She kept her surprised expression to herself and pretended that she was wiping the crumbs off the table. She cupped her hand at the edge of the table and swept the rag across the table before taking the money and slipping it between her finge
Alerted by her scream, Craig turns around. His face turned from worry to annoyance when he saw the man standing behind her. A pair of large hands clamped down on her shoulders. He rubs the side of her neck with his thumbs slowly, raising the tiny hairs on her body and releasing the countless butterflies that have taken up residence on her lower belly. A sharp intake and exhales of hot breath breathe blowing at the top of her head. Dissipating the rush of cold air around them and the palpable burgeoning tension thickens the atmosphere. “Move away from her,” Craig demanded. His brows knitted closer to each other as he stepped forward. Challenging the other man with his stare. “What did I tell you, boy? Didn’t I clearly say to stay away from her?” Rachel’s back vibrated with his dangerous voice, threatening. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at Craig with a terrified expression. Not for herself but of what might he do to him. “Craig, please, go.” She uttered, her voice alm
However, as much as how many times she denies it. She definitely felt the pull he was so adamant about, and there’s no way that could ignore it. She “Rachie?” Dylan’s voice broke her out of trance. She blinked at him three times and pulled her hands away from him as if his touch was burning her. “I can manage to go on by myself.” She declared defiantly, her chin jutted in the air and her head tilted to one side to hide the spreading shade of pink on her cheeks. Rachel just hoped that there wasn’t enough light for him to see her face flushed. “Don't be ridiculous.” Dylan snickered, his brows furrowed in disapproval with her statement, “It’s dangerous for you to walk alone.” “I wouldn’t have to walk on my own if you didn’t threaten Craig.” She countered, her arms akimbo to her waist, and bit the inner side of her cheeks to keep herself from ogling over him. Like, how can she not? He’s damn hot with his baby blue polo with three of his buttons undone, teasing her with the curls of t
Rachel watches Dylan standing in faze outside his car, head lifted upwards. Her hand caressed over the flower petals wrapped with fancy paper and ribbon. She fought the smile that was threatening to spread it on her lips, and moved her gaze down to the flower arrangement she was cradling on her lap. It was beautiful. Dylan’s crestfallen reaction over what she said being an asshole was priceless. She could sit and watch it for the rest of the night. The way his mouth gaped astonishingly wide in response to her remarks, and the way his piercing glare penetrated beyond his car's window, was hilarious. After seeing that Dylan had already recovered from a daze, Rachel straightened her back on the passenger’s seat, clearing her face from any emotion and closed her eyes, and leaned on the window, pretending asleep as Dylan pulled the car door open. The car dipped a little as he climbed onto his seat, followed by a soft thud reverberating between them as he closed the door shut and fumbled
Caught by surprise, Rachel dropped the bouquet from her hands as Dylan wrapped his around her body as he pressed his back on the door, listening to anything strange, and readied himself if someone would suddenly come and attack them. Rachel tries to pull away from him and take his hands off from covering her mouth, glaring at him with confusion. “What...”“Keep your tone down.” Dylan silences her off. He could sense her fear began to emanate from her. Dylan could feel the loud pounding of her heart against his body. “What happened? Is something wrong?” She murmured ina very low tone, almost inaudible to his ears, complying with what he just instructed. He didn’t answer right away. He tilted his head closer to the door, pressing his ear on the hard surface. Waiting for the ominous feeling inside him to abate until it was finally gone. His wolf huffed, confirming that the presence was no longer there. Dylan let out a long sigh, shaking the feeling of foreboding away. “Nothing.” Ju
Realizing that he had stocked groceries for her, Dylan went to open the fridge, his thumb and index finger pinching his chin as he scanned its content and deliberated what he would have for a meal and cook for something for Rachel as well. That woman might be hungry as a pen-up lioness who hadn’t eaten for days. He saw her cook steak the other night and ate it with gusto. Dylan contemplated for a bit, reminiscing the aroma of the delicacy wafting in the air. He wasn’t a chef, but he could cook. He didn’t just live for hundreds of years for nothing. Knowing precisely what he needed to do, Dylan pulled out the ingredients of the meal he decided to cook and began preparing them. Not wanting to soil his shirt, he took it off and hung it on the rack, taking the black and yellow apron with cartoon characters printed on it in exchange and laced them on himself. He worked around her kitchen effectively, guaranteeing he hadn't left whatever would make the spot look grimy. Might as well he c
Dylan took the spoon from her bowl, scooped the soup, and blew in it. His breath mingled with the aroma of the chicken soup tickles on her nose. He then opens his mouth and puts the contents inside in a slow motion. Her throat bobs up and down as her eyes follow the way he chewed. She was gaping. “See? Let me tell you something. In time Rachie, you'll be swooning all over me even without the use of some voodoo enchantment.” He said with a lopsided grin, setting down the spoon he used on his mouth back to her bowl. Contaminating her soup with his saliva. Not that she minds. ‘Damn!’ Hence, Rachel doesn’t want to show him some sense of satisfaction, “Am I the one that fell asleep?” She sighs, nibbling her bottom lips in a sultry way, and leaned a bit closer to his face, their nose almost touching, and held his gaze, whispering softly, “because I think you are as yet drifting in your fantasies.” Dylan’s gaze dropped to her lips, his grin spread widely, and he pinched her chin, pulli
For some reason, Rachel felt that her cheeks warmed to what he told her, strangely flattered in quite ways. However, she pushed them at the back of her head and continued with her queries. “You mentioned something about your wolf. Is that another entity living inside you?” “He’s a part of my soul. He’s my alter-ego.” “Does it hurt when you transform?” “No, I’m used to it.” It was like they were in a talk show. Rachel is the host, while Dylan is the guest. She might not have noticed it, but his life now piques her interest, and unknowingly, she had pried out his personal life. “Do you have human friends?” “My family are all humans.” “You have a wife?” Rachel halted on her question after she fired out the last one. Her breath trapped in her lungs as she sat tight for his reply. She already hinted what he would be going to say, but a thought crossed her mind. Jealousy began to gnaw inside her if the anticipation she had would be proven wrong if Dylan would answer it with a yes.
It was already too late for her to take back the words she had said as Dylan didn’t squander any second to pass on and shut the space among them and slammed his mouth on hers. Gradually, enthusiastically kissing her. The low snarl from his throat debilitated her knees and caused her to depend entirely on his strength so that she would not collapse on the floor. Not that she minds at all. Finally, Rachel let go of all of her apprehensions, her worry, and forgot everything that was holding her down, and kissed him back. The time seems to slow down around them. The world began to slip away. So unexpected, yet deep down, she knew this was going to happen. So hot. The heat of his touch burned through her body like a fire on her flesh, scorching her skin. So perfect. He was perfect. Their mouths were flawlessly formed against one other as if they had been created perfectly by the sky above. Rachel has never received a kiss like this before in her life. She had no idea what to anticipa
They have arrived in the mansion. Rachel was surprised that Dylan had taken her directly in his place rather than to hers. She looks about like a fish out of water, her eyes big as saucers as she marvels at the place. The incredible lighting fixtures reflected on her eyes. She also noticed that despite the extravagance, its modern touches, the tall, wide, and shiny panes that would welcome and greet the morning ray of sun every day. The coral white painted rock walls, with their colors seasoned by time, seemed to belong exactly where they were, as if they had sprouted directly from the hallowed earth itself. It appears that the mansion was constructed before her great grandparents were even born. Dylan admitted his age to her, and it won’t be surprising that he had this place constructed centuries ago. For a fleeting moment, she even wondered if this place could also be considered as hunted as well, just like she had seen on a most old house that was built before the war. What was Dy
The next thing that happened was that Rachel’s feet were lifted off the ground before she even realized it and her soul almost sifted out from her. Nothing she could do was pound her fist into Dylan's back, slamming it as hard as she could while her vision swayed as he began to walk forward. She was about to walk away, turn her back on him, and be on her own path, yet this giant of a wolf man is persistent and won't be taking no for an answer. “Damn you, Dylan! Put me down!” She yelled, continuing to rain down her fist on his back. Hence Dylan seems to be unfazed by it and only releases a deep chuckle from his chest that causes his shoulders to quiver in response, jerking her along with the movement. “Didn't I tell you, either you are with me or I'll carry your ass back to my car...You opted for the latter.” He chuckled as he spanked her bottoms with his enormous hands, completely taking her by surprise. “Hey! Why would you do that?” She sneered, arching her back by pushing herself
Rachel let out a heavy sigh, rolling her eyes, she uncrossed her arms to divert her attention away from him. She seemed to be more interested on her boots, instead of focusing her attention on the dense tension growing between them. “Okay. Good talking to you. I’m probably drunk with my two glasses of martini. I’m fine. I don’t know what I’m talking about.” She said it in a careless tone, waving her hand and smiling at herself as if the whole show of bravado didn’t bother her in the slightest when in fact it wracks her up on the inside. “Goodbye.” She put a smile on her face and was about to walk away. However, a yelp suddenly tore through her lips when a tight grip clamped on her arms, pulling her with much force. “Hey...” Rachel lost her footing and tripped one foot on the other, her body twirling around, and the next thing she knew, a warm pair of lips covered hers. ***Dylan let out a throaty gasp as he realized that the velvety smoothness of her lips was precisely matched to
The music appears to be fading away in the distance. As Rachel locked her gaze on his features, her heart beat like the strings of a guitar played by deft fingers. She doesn’t have any ideas what she’s going to do or if she’s going to confront him for leaving. What is he doing here? Is he here with someone? Had he forgotten all about her? Those were all the questions that raced through her mind when he saw Dylan. She finished the martini she ordered, paying a little heed to the scorching feeling that flowed down her throat, and paid the bartender the exact amount and followed him. However, she was not prepared for the abrupt eruption of a ruckus, which nearly knocked her to the ground. Lucky for her, she was shoved to the side and out of the way, allowing her to get a better perspective of what was going on around her. Rachel saw the girl in a pink dress, shouting at Dylan as he went to punch a guy in the face. Her mouth fell open, confused at the same. The guy was hauled out of the
The bouncer that stood guard on the entrance only gave him a short nod in recognition, letting him pass smoothly without asking for his identification. The blasting sound promptly plagued his hearing, and his nose wrinkled with dislike as he strung among the grinding bodies on the dancefloor. His gaze zeroed on the crowd, looking not for only one person but for two. Dylan tried to follow his mate’s scent, however he generally lost all sense of direction in this whole pack of crowd places. He couldn’t make out Stacey’s scent either. He was too centered around looking through the ocean of bouncing heads on the dancefloor until a yell tore through the booming music that grabbed his attention. “Mr. Reed!” Dylan squinted his gaze and followed his investigator’s voice. He found him over the corner, his arms raised, and waved for him to see with one hand cup beside his mouth to amplify his voice.“She’s here!” Without having second thoughts, he spears through the throng of people, pushin
Dylan was in his study office, as usual, sorting things out in his company and pushing all his inner troubles aside, and focusing on keeping the roof of his employees. Helen also dropped by and gave him his coffee and a slice of cake since he hasn’t come down for dinner. For the last few days, this has been his routine, drowning himself in his work just to forget his dreams and to get Rachel’s face out of his mind for a while. He even failed to remember that today was a full moon. If not for his alert set on his cellphone, he might have overlooked it. He went out to his usual place for his wolf to dominate and run for just about thirty minutes before he returned, washed up to get off the grime that clung on his skin. Then, at that point, back to his office to complete every one of the reports that are hanging tight for his attention. Just then, frantic footsteps came rushing down the hallway caught his attention. He paused for a moment and waited for his door to swing open, revealin
The bartender smiled at her the moment she perched on her seat as he slid in front of her across the counter. “What can | get you for tonight, miss beautiful?” Rachel thought about it for a moment, her eyes looking over the varieties of liquor that were put on display over the shelves. She wasn’t familiar with all the kinds of drinks, so she blurted whatever the first thing that came out of her head. “One glass of martini, please.” She didn’t know what kind of drink it was that, but she heard for it quite a few times, so at least she could give it a try. “One martini, coming right up.” The bartender chirped and proceeded to prepare her order. He showed her a few of his tricks by throwing and shaking the bottles, pouring the liquor on a cocktail glass in an excessive manner—trying to impress her, along with three cubes of ice and stirring it well. Then he squeezes lemon juice on it and out the peel on the glass’s rim for the garnish. After it was finished, he slid it towards her. R
Another day rolled by so fast, and Rachel was still left in wonder as to why Dylan hadn't visited her yet. For quite a long time of consistent disturbing her, she was expecting to at least see him, but days came more than a week past, he was out of nowhere to be seen. Today, she received her first payment at the shop. It wasn’t that much, but since Dylan had already filled her groceries and everything she needed, especially the refrigerator. The only thing she bought for her salary was the new padlock for her front door. Other than that, there’s nothing else that she needed. Rachel had decided to set aside half of her earnings in case she ran out of supplies. She can’t just rely on the prospect of Dylan covering everything that she needed in her house. She is baffled as to why he did it in the first place. Purchasing groceries and other necessities for her. She didn't ask for it, but refusing to accept it would be a waste. Now she lay on her bed. It was past nine in the evening, an