More Than Attraction
By Selena Blake
© 2011 Selena Blake
Elijah Cooper watched the woman cartwheel down the mountain in front of him, a graceless tangle of limbs and skis. Of course, in a snow suit, the only thing that gave indication of her gender was her small stature and the tiny waist he’d been admiring seconds before her crash. Veering left on his skis he barreled down the slope toward her.
By the time he got to her, several other skiers had gathered.
“Let me through please, I’m a doctor.” Those words parted the group like the proverbial Red Sea.
Without a moment to lose, he removed his skis. Then he glanced down at the woman for the first time.
“Jessica?” The name tumbled from his lips and his heart started to hammer in his chest. A jolt of adrenaline shot through his system. The only thing that kept him from dropping to her side and pulling her into his arms was the group of strangers surrounding them.
“Elijah!” He didn’t miss her gasp, or the way her eyes widened. Or the fact that she’d called him by his given name for the first time in the four years he’d known her. “What are you doing here?”
He was scarcely able to believe she was the woman he’d been watching while trying to decide what the hell to do about the Jessica situation. He took a deep breath to steady himself.
The breath brought her delicious scent deep into his lungs and the wolf inside him wanted to howl. He’d know those green-blue eyes and the dark strands of hair peeking out from beneath her sock hat anywhere.
“Skiing. Same as you. What have you done to yourself?” He knelt at his assistant’s side, quickly surveying for injuries.
Her eyes were clear, focused and her speech was precise – as always. According to his patients, they loved the fact that Jessica would look them in the eye and “chat-a-while.”
Elijah had rarely gotten her to look him in the eye. While she was friendly enough, he doubted they’d ever had more than two or three minutes of conversation, and it usually pertained to work. She was extremely professional…too professional, his wolf inserted.
Everything he knew about her personally, he’d gleaned from the occasional discussion about weekend plans or vacations. Or second hand snippets from his patients.
“Nothing, I’m fine. Help me up.”
“Are you sure you haven’t broken anything?” he said for the benefit of the others. As a weretiger, he knew she’d heal quickly if she had sustained any injuries. But that wasn’t the kind of thing she’d announce publicly.
“Of course I’m certain,” she snapped.
He’d never known her to have a sharp word for anyone, but he was on the receiving end of her temper today. Something about the way her blue-green eyes narrowed on his face intrigued him. He tried to ignore it, just as he’d tried to ignore the way she made him feel as she fluttered around his office.
“Thanks everyone, think I’ve got it from here,” he told the other skiers. Several of them took to their skis immediately. The others hung back for a few moments longer.
“Think you can make it to the bottom?” he asked with a smile.
“Of course I can. I just got distracted.”
What had distracted her, his wolf wanted to know. Was there any chance she was as attracted to him as he was to her? Occasionally he caught a whiff of her desire, but not nearly often as he’d like. Not enough to make him break professional protocol. Even though he was half animal, his human side knew enough to not make an enemy out of a great assistant.
“Come on. I’ll help you up.” He stood and held out his hands. It’d be so easy to rip their gloves off so he could feel his skin against hers, but they’d only shared accidental touches. Whenever she was around he had to keep a tight leash on his wolf, otherwise he feared he’d have his hands all over the curvy little package in front of him.
Her brows pinched together. Then she put her hands in his. He pulled her up. Ski poles and skis tangled, she tipped forward and he caught her around the waist. Even with the extra padding of her suit, his fingers almost touched behind her back.
No doubt about it. She was built like a tiny little bombshell. He closed his eyes for a moment, inhaling her fresh lilac scent. How the hell was a man supposed to resist that? Her?
The urge to carry her off into the woods, strip her naked, and find every spot where she’d dabbed the perfume was overwhelming. So overwhelming that he released her and stepped back, lest he do something stupid. Like give in to the urge.
Looking down at her upturned face, he tried valiantly not to stare at her wide red lips. Tried and failed.
“Please be careful, Jessica. I can’t afford to lose my number one assistant.” But those weren’t the words rattling through his brain. He couldn’t afford to lose her.
Despite the fact that she showed no interest in him and drove him crazy with lust, he couldn’t imagine not having her in his life. Even if it was just knowing she was sitting behind the front desk waiting to greet his patients and offering the occasional assist in the exam room.
Knowing he’d see her every day brought him a small measure of peace. His wolf didn’t agree. The beast wouldn’t be happy until they were cozy together in front of a fireplace, mating like wild animals.
A grimace played over her perfect features and alarm shot through him.
“I’m you’re only assistant, Dr. Cooper. And I quit!”
With that, she hopped left and took off down the mountain.
What the hell?
The question rang through his mind as he fumbled to put his skis back on. The alarm bells blared through his mind now.
“Dammit!” She was getting away. Stupid gloves. Stupid skis.
She couldn’t quit.
Skis on, he gulped in the icy air and took off after her. Leaning forward, he tucked himself as aerodynamically as possible and followed her descent. Thanks to the fact that he outweighed her by at least seventy pounds, he closed the difference fast.
“What do you mean, you quit?” he shouted.
Startled, she jerked her head to the right.
“Just what I said.” Her voice carried back to him on the wind.
“Why?” He slowed up as they swerved around a corner.
“Does it matter?”
Elijah bumped over a rough patch of snow and his teeth rattled. “It does to me.”
“This is not the place for this conversation,” she called before cutting through a grove of trees.
Frustrating woman. He sank his right pole in the snow and turned around it. “You started it,” he shouted after her.
As if admitted defeat, she straightened, spread her skis and slowed.
When he caught up to her he saw tears in her eyes. But he caught something else too…the faint hint of desire that set his blood on fire.
Mine, his wolf growled.
“I’m always going to be your number one assistant,” she said sarcastically, letting her poles drop long enough to air quote the last three words.
“That’s because you’re the best assistant I could ever hope find.” Cheerful, hardworking, organized.
She rolled her eyes.
That was a first.
“I want out, Dr. Cooper.” What happened to Elijah?
They were going slow so he reached out and pulled her to a stop. Heart aching, he took in her lovely tear streaked face, saw the quiver of her lower lip.
“Explain it to me, Jessica.”
“There’s nothing to explain.”
“Do you want a raise?”
She shook her head.
“Bonuses? More time off? Extra vacation?”
She looked as miserable as he felt, standing there, shaking her head.
“Then what?”
She remained silent.
To hell with it. He jerked off his gloves.
“Talk to me, honey.”
Her adorable nose was pink from the cold and he knew he should get her somewhere warm, but he didn’t want to move from this spot. Didn’t want to give her any opportunity to come up with reasons and excuses to leave him.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t be your assistant anymore.” She stared down the mountain.
“What will you do?”
She gave an inelegant shrug.
It was now or never. He cupped her cheek in his hand, marveling at the contrast between his dark skin and her creamy complexion. “Would you be interested in a new position?” He asked, staring at her lips again.
She stopped snuggling against his palm long enough to parrot “a new position?”
He nodded and pulled her closer, one hand around her waist, the other loose around her throat. The luscious mouth he’d dreamed of far too often to be decent dropped open as he trailed his thumb back and forth along her jaw.
“Something a little less professional,” he murmured just before he brushed his lips against hers.
Jessica couldn’t believe that Elijah was kissing her. She clung to him because being this close made her lightheaded, but mostly so that if she passed out, she wouldn’t fall so quickly.
Four years of working beside this handsome man, daydreaming about his sexy voice, warm brown eyes, and killer smile… Oh those lips…so wide and kissable. And now, he was kissing her. Softly. A gentle exploration.
Unable to stop herself, she kissed him back, just like she’d dreamed about hundreds of times. Full on, no-excuses-kissed-him.
Someone let out a cat call, but she couldn’t have cared less. The only thing that mattered was the person on the other side of her lips. A groan rumbled out of him and he tightened his hold.
Oh, please, don’t let me be dreaming.
But as their mouths mated, tongues tangling, she couldn’t completely lose herself. Not with his words still bouncing in her mind like a ping pong ball.
“What do you mean,” she murmured against his lips, “less professional?”
If he hinted at a tryst or—she pulled back. Her heart couldn’t take it. Predators and death didn’t scare her, not the least little bit. But Elijah’s rejection would crucify her.
“Something a little more permanent. A twenty four seven job.”
“Elijah…”
She felt like she was hovering on the tip of a sharp blade. One side held happiness, the other side: hell. Which direction would she fall?
“Say it again,” he whispered against her cheek.
“Say what?” Lust was clouding her brain. Or maybe it was her recent tumble down the mountain.
He pulled her hips against his, the skis and poles and thick suits making a mess of things.
“My name. You know you’ve never called me by my first name before today.”
“I call you that all the time,” she admitted.
His smile was sly and at the moment she thought he looked more Cheshire-cat than big-bad-wolf. “Not when I could hear.”
“Elijah, Elijah, Elijah…”
He closed his eyes and her heart ached. No man, were or otherwise, had the right to be that handsome. She remembered the first time she’d seen him as if it was only moments ago. It’d been early autumn and he’d been wearing a lightweight sweater that set off his beautiful black skin. And the sunglasses…she’d been a goner from that moment.
“Tell me you feel it, honey. Something. Anything.”
He sounded positively desperate and the bone melting smile had been replaced by a frown. She couldn’t fathom it. Dr. Cooper was never desperate or nervous about anything.
“Kiss me again,” she begged.
“Not until you answer me. I’ve been trying to ignore this thing between us for years. Tell me I’m not the only one. Tell me it’s more than attraction.”
“Of course it’s more than attraction, you crazy wolf! Why do you think I quit?”
Elijah Cooper, MD and badass werewolf, stood there with his mouth agape, staring at her dumbfounded. Unbelievable.
He was so dense. She’d known that. Super smart. A typical male. Sexy as sin. And adorable as could be.
“Get me out of these skis, Doctor, so I can show you exactly how I feel.”