8.

It wasn’t even noon and Cally already felt as if she had done a week’s worth of work. Her mind was worn out with all of the information and from both the excitement and confusion of coming so close to Hugo again.

The night she had met him in the bar, she had just assumed that he was one of the office workers. An account manager maybe, blowing off steam after a hectic day of making deals and pandering to clients. She never in her wildest dreams would have thought that Hugo Carter was one of the world’s richest men. And that he was there, wanting her. That he had dreamed about her and thought of her every day since they had come eye to eye across a drunken haze and the pounding of music.

She felt herself begin to blush. She suddenly felt way out of her depth.

“I... I don’t know what to say,” she whispered as she got to her feet and looked back at him. “I thought I was coming here to start work today... And now, suddenly, I’m here with you and you’re telling me all of this. It’s a lot to wrap my head around.”

Hugo rose too with a worried look on his face and reached out and took hold of her hand.

“Please don’t leave,” he said. “I know it seems crazy after all of this time, but you need to know how much I wanted to contact you. The only reason I didn’t was for your own safety.”

“And am I safe now?” she asked almost accusatory. “Or is one of your rivals going to burst in here and threaten me?” She put her hand on her hip and tried to hold her own, but she felt as if she was being over dramatic, and deep inside of her, she knew that he was telling the truth. There was something about him that was incredibly open and honest, and she felt their soul connection. It had formed the night they met and it had never faded. Just being around him was making it pulse stronger with each passing second.

“You’re safe, trust me,” he whispered as he took her hand in his and pulled her to him again.

She looked up into his eyes and felt herself go giddy. They were so dark and he was so intoxicating that she was already hooked. She didn’t want to leave, it was the last thing she could bring herself to do, but she knew that she must if she were to ever be able to see him again.

“I’m going to go now,” she said softly as his lips grazed hers.

“Please, Cally,” he panted. She could feel something stirring in him and she was sure that when he spoke, a soft growl escaped from his lips. It took her by surprise, as if she couldn’t be sure that she had actually heard it. And although it startled her, it was also incredibly arousing.

“I must,” she whispered as he touched her cheek and let him kiss her softly on the lips.

She turned and left him standing there, pleading for her to stay. And although it was killing her to leave, she knew that was what she had to do.

She lay in bed that night staring up at the ceiling and churning over the events of the day in her mind. For once, the tiredness that had been plaguing her was at bay and she tossed and turned until the small hours. When she had gotten home, she had dashed straight into her room and hadn’t emerged until Erica had returned from work, much, much later. She hadn’t said a word for fear her friend would try to change her mind, because Cally already knew what she wanted to do.

She had always been a big believer in fate, and there was something about Hugo that felt right. She lay there with her palm flat on her stomach and as she drifted off to sleep, she realized that she had been stroking it protectively, and her mind jerked with the edge of realization before the idea drifted away from her again and sleep started to claim her. Her body was weary and she had a big day ahead of her. She was going to go back to the Carter house and speak with Hugo properly.

As she fell asleep, all that ran through her mind were images of him. Of how he had wrapped her up in his big, thick arms and held her tight. Of how she knew that he would never let her go. And of bears. Big snarling bears with wide jaws and sharp claws. Of her running her hands through its fur and of it protecting her and something else. It was also protecting another part of her. A part she didn’t yet know of, but of which was hiding deep within her.

My fate... her mind told her... is here and waiting for me to take it.