Chapter 2

The big guy curses. "No reception in here!"

My heel twist under me, and I grab the rail, breath coming in quick gasps.

"Hey." The guy has a voice to match his giant size, deep and resonant. I'd find it sexy under different circumstances. "Are you freaking out?" Slight disdain in his tone. It's not my fault, buddy. "Yeah ." I barely get the word out on a pant. My death grip on the handrail tightens.

Stay on your feet. Don't faint - not now, not here.

"I don't like small spaces." Understand of the year. Did the elevator just move? Or is my body reeling out of control? Old panic grips me. I'll die in here. I'm never going to get out .

Two large hands push me back against the elevator wall, pinning me with pressure on my sternum. "Wh-what are you doing?" I gasp.

"Triggering your calm reflex." He sounds calm, as if he shoves hyperventilating girls up against a wall on a daily basis.

"It is working?"

"Yeah. Having a strange guy grope me always calms me down." I swore I'd hide my sarcasm until I landed the job, but here it comes, spewing out. Being seconds away from passing out will do that to a girl.

"I'm not groping you," he says.

"That's wall all the guys say," I mumble.

His short chuckle cuts off as soon as it starts. It's almost like he didn't mean to let it out.

Who is this guy?

My heart rate slows, but my head still spins. I've never had a man stand so close to me before. Not to mention, touch me. A few inches over, and he'd be cupping my breasts.

Now, there's a thought. Sensation I haven't felt before outside the privacy of my bedroom thrill through me.

"Not that I mind you groping me," I babble. "I just think you should buy me dinner first--"

His hands leave my sternum so fast, I lurch forward. Before I can fall, he catches my shoulders and flips me around. He locks his arms around me from behind, applying pressure to my breastbone again.

"How's this?" He sounds amused. "Better? I don't want my good deed to get me written up on charges of sexual harassment."

God, his voice. His lips are right next to my ear. He's not trying to seduce me, but, man, oh man, just the words "Sexual harassment " light my body up.

"Sorry." My voice strangles a bit. "I didn't mean to accuse you. What I meant was... Thank you."

For a moment, he doesn't move, and I breathe into his firm hands, surrounding me, protecting me, keeping me safe. And all I can think is damn. I thought a panic attack would be bad.

Now I'm stuck in an elevator, wrapped in a total stranger's arms. So very turned on. It's my pussy is disconnected from my body. The rest of me is running around wringing my hands with worry, but my hooha thinks being manhandled by a stranger in a dark elevator is a good reason to get all excited.

"You should sit down."

Apparently, I have no choice because he lowers me to the ground with steady, inexorable pressure. Once there, he eases me against the wall, his firm yet gentle hands maneuvering me like a doll. Sharp words dance on the tip of my tongue - I'm a grown ass woman, not Barbie, but sitting feels good. Despite his blunt caveman act, he's taking care of me. I almost miss his hands on my sternum.

"Where'd you learn that?" I ask to distract myself from the fact I'm trapped in a tight rectangle of space with a guy who has no qualms about running his hands all over me. I am totally qualm-less about it, too. Though I wish I could remember what he looks like. All I have is a vague impression of a rugged jaw and air of impatience. I was too focused on psyching myself up to ride the elevator to check him out.

"Years and years of terrifying women in the dark places."

Ah. A kindred spirit in dry wit. I like him even more.

"Thanks," I say after a moment.

He sits down next to me, his suit jacket brushing mine.

"You're still freaking out."

"Yeah, but it's better. Talking would help. Can we talk?"

"Okay." He adopts a German accent to sound like freud,

"Ven, did you first notice a zee problem?"

~•~•~•~

JACKSON POV:

The beautiful human female's laugh comes so hard, she almost chokes on it. She continues to giggle for a moment - somewhat hysterically. Little bubbles of laughter keep rising to the surface every time she tries to speak. Finally, she choked out, "I meant talk to distract me about something else."

I never joke, especially at work, but the leggy brunette in a short, tight skirt puts my body on alert in an all too pleasurable way. It's better now that I'm not touching her. When I did, the electricity between us set my skin on fire. The itch and burn of the change came up upon me as fast as it does a pubescent teen just learning how to shift. I nearly shoved her legs apart, pulled that miniscule skirt up around her waist, and claimed her right there.

Actually, my wolf senses went haywire the moment she stepped onto the elevator. It was all I could do to keep quiet and study her. Her scent intoxicates me like some exotic flower begging to be plugged, except decidedly human. None of it makes sense. There's no reason I should be attracted to her, apart from the fact she's gorgeous. I've never been attracted to a human before - hell, I've hardly ever been attracted to a she-wolf, even at the full moon.

To make it worse, she became aroused when I touched her - the scent of her nectar fills the confined space. For the first time in my life, my fangs sharpened, slick with serum, ready to sink into her flesh and forever mark her as mine.