She rubbed some shower gel over herself and as she brushed across her nipples, they were more sensitive than usual, reminding her that the usual worries didn’t keep her awake last night. It wasn’t guilt or fear of the future that caused her to awaken with a jolt…
It didn’t matter that Damien was a beast. One look at him, and she had yearned to be back in his arms, allow him to comfort her and wipe away the years of struggle in the way only he could. No wonder it hadn’t worked out with any other man—because who could live up to her first?
As she thought of him sat at his desk, power and confidence now a part of his aura, heat rushed between her legs. His eyes were even more piercing than she remembered, as if they bored into her mind. Yet she glanced the old Damien in them, even if his jawline was sharper and demeanor toughened. She did not know whether it was a trait of his species or if he spent all his spare hours in the gym, but underneath his suit, his muscles had bulged, dragging her attention. He was strong as a teenager—his body more muscled than that of the other guys at school, making the girls lust after him—but as an adult, his physique was even more impressive.
Her libido had gone dormant in the face of new responsibilities, but one meeting with Damien, and she was that quivering teenager again…the one desperate to spend her nights with him. Naked.
She turned off the shower, pulling herself out of the stupor. This meeting was important, and she couldn’t be held hostage by her own emotions when she faced him. I have to be professional about this.
Back in her bedroom, as she dried herself with a towel, she resolved she would clinch this deal. A lot of shifter families were relying on them—and it only took one project such as this to fail, and investors had an excuse to pull out of others that involved non-humans.
But why the hell does he want to deal with me after everything that happened? To remind her of how far she had fallen? She didn’t blame him if he did.
Doubts plagued her as she drove, and she was grateful when she parked outside her office building. She didn’t bother going into her own office and instead went straight to Fatima. Her boss’s door was open, awaiting her arrival. Fatima was all smiles, two coffees ready on her desk as Iris entered.
“Thank you so much, Iris. You must have had to juggle a load of stuff to get here on time.”
“As long as you understand this is a one-off.” She had made it clear when she joined All Lives that she was happy to do all the overtime needed from home but needed fixed timings for the office.
“Of course. And I wouldn’t have put you out if this wasn’t important. The funding could make or break our project.”
Iris sat opposite Fatima. “I know. It’s the reason I’m here.”
Fatima pressed a few keys on the laptop before her. “This Damien guy…he’s a shifter himself. Use the fact that the project will help his kind to your advantage.” Cynical, but they lived in a world where morals and values had little place. If they didn’t play this game, other projects would.
And if it helped others, was it so bad? At least they didn’t do it to accumulate masses of wealth for themselves.
“Perhaps we shouldn’t get too excited about this funding, Fatima.”
Especially when she suspected that Damien’s reasons for meeting were more personal than professional. The anger with which he’d reacted to her yesterday had cleared up any doubts about that. She had wondered why a man of his position would personally meet a fundraiser for a project that had no presence to speak of, but it made sense when she saw him.
It had been years, but there was much unresolved between them. How the hell is it supposed to be after the intensity we shared? Could they ever behave as two professionals? Unlikely.
“He helps plenty of other such projects,” said Fatima, her enthusiasm refusing to be curbed as she took a sip of a coffee. Today, she had dressed in a yellow dress, almost as if her choice of clothing reflected her bright mood. It was a brilliant color against her dark skin, setting off black hair and brown eyes. “He came from a hell of a background himself, didn’t he? I’ve heard his family had to leave their home on more than one occasion because of threats from humans.”
And there went that familiar guilt, surging through Iris. She was one human who didn’t need gossip columns to know what he’d been through.
Fatima frowned at her laptop. “In fact, that’s what you need to play on. These families we are helping…they’re in the same situation his own once was.”
Iris just sat there, listening to Fatima’s words, ashamed to admit even to herself that the same thing crossed her mind when the meeting was set up yesterday. Damien knew how it felt to be in the position of these families who came to them for help, so surely he would be interested in supporting them?
“If you can get this in the bag,” continued Fatima, “We can look at setting up that second branch soon…get it in place according to the timeline provided to the investors. It would give a huge boost to the project and buy the confidence of other potential funders.” She paused, leaning back in her chair. “Have you given any more thought to heading that branch?” Fatima had already mentioned it more than once. “You can do more than just fundraising, Iris. You’ve the skills and experience, and importantly, the passion. You care about those who come to us.”
With Fatima’s professional persona, it was easy to forget, but this wasn’t just a job to her, either. Before supernaturals were the group to hate and blame for society’s ills, Fatima’s human parents had experienced what it was like to be feared just because they came from a particular minority group.
“I hope this works out,” said Fatima, “Not just for the project, but for you. I know in your situation, a move would be difficult, but you can handle the work remotely. Just a visit here and there to Manhattan—”
“It’s not just about the move.” It was an important role, and Iris didn’t know if she had the time to do it justice. “I promise to consider it once we have funding in place.” It was a step in the right direction as far as her career was concerned, and hell knew, she needed the extra income.
As they went over the proposal documents, Fatima made a few changes here and there, but apart from those, there was nothing much they could add to it. They had spent nights awake going over the details, so anything they amended now made little difference.
“I think we’re done here,” said Fatima. “Good luck with the meeting.”
When Iris walked out of the building with her briefcase, her stomach flipped. Yesterday, she had not known what to expect, a myriad of potential scenarios going through her head. But now she had met Damien, she was even more nervous than yesterday.
Silly thoughts ran through her head, such as how she looked in her knee-length black dress. The dress highlighted curves that hadn’t been there when she was younger, reminding her that she had let herself go…but even if she hadn’t, did she think the man Damien was today would find her appealing?
The boy she met all those years ago was a lost soul in her school, one who needed someone, but the adult he had become carried the confidence of one who had learned to take…
How was she going to get through this? God knew, just meeting Damien sent her mind into turmoil. If he did agree to fund the project, then reporting to him might be more than she could handle.