The Total Sum of Two

Chapter 10

The smell of pine mixed with wet grass, the feel of a gentle, light breeze wakes you.  Something large, warm, and soft lay next to you.  As you sit up Fenrir turns his head to look at you.

“Mate” you hear in your head.

You look around at the familiar meadow with the waterfall.  Curiosity gets the best of you and you rise, heading towards the pond. Fenrir gets up, padding along behind to you, watching intently. 

You turn to look at the big wolf, “Is it safe to swim here? Is it deep?”

He tilts his head, perks his ears up and then shakes his furry head as if giving approval. 

You smile, “I’ll take that as a yes.”  

You begin to remove your clothes, looking back over your shoulder at Fenrir who hasn’t moved, his eyes glued to you.

“A little privacy please,” you say trying to shoo him away.

“Why? Mate.”

You stop at the waistband of your shorts and turn, covering your breasts.  “Yes, I’m sure you do have a mate and she wouldn’t be happy with you here ogling me.”

He stands and shakes his whole body, coming forward and licking your face.  “Sam is mate.”

You raise an eyebrow, “You think I’m your mate?”

“Not think.  Know.  Mate.”

You start to laugh, careful to keep yourself covered.  “You have noticed that we aren’t the same species right? I can’t be your mate.”  You reach over with your free hand and stroke his head, “But thank you, what a beautiful compliment.”

You again try to shoo him off and finally he turns around and sits back down facing the trees. 

The water feels glorious against your skin.  Cool yet sun kissed enough to not have you shivering.  You duck under the surface and swim underwater from one side to the other.  Upon cresting you see Fenrir laying down, head on paws, watching you.

“Enjoy?”

“Yes,” you answer him.  “Very much so, the water is sublime. You should join me, do wolves not swim?”

“I do swim.”

“Then why are you still on the shore?”

“To give you privacy you wanted.”

You smile, but then he does something unexpected.  He suddenly stands up, trots over to your clothes and picks them up in your mouth.

“What are you doing?”  You ask, afraid of his answer.

“Mate.”

“We discussed this already." You reply trying to calm yourself, "What are you doing with my clothes?”

“Sam is mate.  Shouldn’t be shy.  How will you get out now?”

You swear you saw that darned wolf smile around your clothes as he trotted off into the trees.

BEEP…BEEP…BEEP

Was that real?  You quickly look down to make sure you still have your night clothes on. Letting out a sigh you shake your head, such a weird dream.  You laugh at yourself on the way to the bathroom, how could a human be mated to a wolf?  I need to stop watching those sci-fi movies before bed.

As you step out of the shower, a knock sounds at your front door.  Grabbing your robe, you fasten it tightly, grab Gregory’s cane and limp your way to it.  Peering through the peep hole you open the door with a grin.

“By my calculations I still have thirty minutes before you’re supposed to pick me up for work,” you comment to the gorgeous man standing there.

“By my calculations I’ve arrived right on time!”  He lets out a wolf whistle, walks up to you and captures your lips in his.  When he lets you up for air he adds casually, “Have I ever complimented you on your taste in clothing?”  He runs his finger along the crisscross of your robe and adds, “or lack thereof?”

You smack at his hand playfully and close the front door.  “I need to get dressed."  You say as you head back towards your bedroom. "Honestly, why are you here so early?”  

He into the kitchen to start the coffee.  “Honestly?  I was hoping to rescue you in the shower again.  However, your presence at the door was just as nice of a reward.”

You shake your head at his chuckle, hearing him clank around in your cupboard.  “The mugs are in the dishwasher,” you yell out.

“Ah…good!” He yells back and then you hear him in the fridge.  You try to ignore the fact that he’s scavenging through your kitchen like it’s his own.  Little does he know, he really won’t find anything.  You haven’t been shopping in almost a month.  Shrugging and leaving him to figure it out on his own, you continue your morning routine.

Shutting off the hair dryer, you walk back into your room and jump at the sight of Gregory sitting casually on your bed drinking coffee.  “Well, make yourself at home,” you comment sarcastically.

“Thank you, I already have.”  He says as he tries to hand you a cup of coffee.  You pass him looking for your one and only shoe.  “Sit,” he commands, grabbing your hand.  “I need to wrap up your ankle.” 

You hop back over and sit down, accepting the coffee in gratitude.  You almost moan with pleasure as the first sip hits your throat but then you remember what happened yesterday.  Was it only yesterday?  You ponder.  Gosh it feels like it’s been weeks since I met him.  Another thought occurs to you, about just how comfortable and right he looks roaming around your house.  You’ll have to think about that one some more.  Right now your attention is pulled back to the physical man in front of you rubbing lotion on your legs.

You smirk down at him, “You realize I may have already done that right?”

“And rob me of my one purpose right now?  You wouldn’t dare!” he says as his sexy smile graces his face.  He looks up, looks around you, than adds, “Besides, it’s obvious you haven’t.”

You open your mouth in outrage, turning to look for something to throw at him, finding nothing.  

“Remember, I have multiple degrees.  I checked to make sure it was safe to say it first,” he says as he winks at you.

You nod with an O formation on mouth as you lift your left leg and kick him over backwards.  “Books don’t teach you everything,” you smirk and you limp past him into the living room.

You stop short at the archway to the kitchen.  The table has been set and there’s a dish in the middle of the table under an overturned bowl.  Arms snake around you from behind, his head lowering to your ear. 

“Surprise.”

“You made me breakfast?”

“Correction,” he says as he walks past you and pulls your chair out.  “I made ‘us’ breakfast.”  He pushes your chair in and removes the bowl, revealing plain toast and scrambled eggs.

You grin, trying not to laugh.  He doesn’t look affronted but instead splits the dish between the two of you and says, “You really need to go grocery shopping.  I was scared the little bread I found was going to be moldy.”

He forks eggs into his mouth, taking a bite of toast at the same time.  “You also don’t have anything to put on this poor piece of toast.”  He waves it at you as if trying to make you face the fact that you have empty cupboards.

“Am I old Mother Hubbard and you the poor dog looking for a bone?” 

A spark of humor lights his eyes as he takes another bite, “As you wish.”

You choke on the eggs you were swallowing.  “I’m not a princess, just a poor working woman with an injured ankle."  You look over at him with puppy dog eyes. "I currently can’t fend for myself.”  You bat your eyelashes across the table at him.  “Have you ever heard of Door Dash?  It’s my best friend.”

He raises an eyebrow over his last fork of eggs, “Ever heard of Instacart?  They shop for you and deliver it to your door.”

You nod, “Yes, but I still have to bring it in and put it all away,” you say and point to your ankle.  A thought then occurs and you tap your fork against your lips looking dreamily at the ceiling.  “Unless, do they have delivery boys? Like in the old days, they would bring the groceries in and put them away?  Now I could go for that.  Especially if it’s an attractive, teen male in tight jeans and muscles popping out of his shirt.  Yeah.  Okay, let’s place an order!"

A growl comes beside you as your plate is snatched away and abruptly put in the sink.  You swear you hear him muttering something about him and his big mouth.  After rinsing off the plates he turns to you, “You realize I’m right here right?  Why would you need a teenager in tight jeans with muscles?”

You can’t help the grin spreading across your face at his jealousy.  You shrug, trying to act nonchalant.  “Well, I’ve never seen you in tight jeans or a t-shirt, but I have very fond memories of the boys in high school.”

He suddenly appears next to you; pulls you up out of your chair and into his chest.  “You don’t need a boy, you need a man, and I’m all the man you’ll ever need.”

You reach up and put a stray hair on his forehead back into place.  “Have I told you how incredibly sexy you are when you’re jealous?”

“Woman…” 

“Man,” you repeat and bring his mouth down to meet yours for a quick kiss.  “Thank you for breakfast and my morning rubdown.”

He smiles against your lips, pecking at them some more. “You’re welcome.  And you need to stop teasing me, you’ll end up being punished again.”

Your head falls back with laughter as he attacks your neck with kisses.  “Well damn!  I'll have to be really bad if you're going to threaten me with punishment that we both enjoy!”

You feel his teeth against your neck and pull back just in time.  “No!  We don’t have time for me to apply more make-up if you leave a mark.”

He pulls you back to him, “Wear a scarf.” 

You push him away again.  “You wear a scarf, it’s hot outside and it would be highly suspicious.”  You start to wander off to find your shoe when he reaches out trying to grab you.  You turn, “Stay." You command, pointing at the kitchen chair, “Sit.”

You stare him down until he obeys and then you hobble off to grab your things.

 ***

Your work day seems as though every minute lasts an hour.  You’re fielding calls from owners in regards to their financials, looking up questions and transferring them to your boss for finalizations.  Starting around ten, flying rubber band missiles begin hitting the back of your computer monitor.  You look up shocked, eyeing Gregory’s open office door. He seems intent on his work.  Each hour on the hour, a flying missile hits.  After about three times you set a timer to vibrate at the top of the hour.  

As it goes off you look up and straight into Gregory's eyes, catching him red handed.  His eyes widen as he accidently releases the one in his hand.  It zings past your monitor and lands near your arm.  You raise an eyebrow and pick up your phone.

As it starts ringing you look over at him, shaking the handset in his direction.  He stares at his desk phone as if its a snake, going to bite him.  He rolls his neck and picks up the receiver.

“Gregory Hansforth,” he states in his most professional voice.

“Mr. Hansforth, this is Sam.  A projectile missile just barely missed hitting me.  They’ve been firing upon me every hour upon the hour from your direction.  You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would you?”

“Missiles.  In an office building?  Is my life in danger?  Should we evacuate?”

“Ha ha.  May I ask you something Mr. Hansforth?”

“As you wish.” 

You can see his smile radiate from over the nine feet that separate you.  “How old are you?”

“Ah…now that is an interesting question.  I'm not sure I want to answer that yet.  Why would you like to know, may I ask?”

“Because you’re acting like a child.  This is an office, we work here.”

Glancing into his office you see him lean back in his chair, feet on the desk.  “Have you ever heard the old saying, ‘all work and no play makes Sam a dull girl’?”

You lower your voice, trying to avoid listening office ears.  “How quickly sir, you forget just how not dull of a girl Sam is.”

You hear a chuckle, “My memory is fantastic, would you like to come in for a meeting and I’ll prove it?”

You clear your throat, “Not at this time Mr. Hansforth but I’ll keep that in mind for another time.”

You hear his chair creak as he sits up quickly and you hear the chime of his cell phone.

“Have you ordered groceries yet?”

“No, I’ve been busy.”

“Do it.  But put them out for pick up and I’ll grab them.  I have to take this call. Later.”

And with that your line goes dead.  You watch Gregory walk over and shut his office door.  It must be important, you think.  I wonder if it’s his boss, what was his name again?  Christopher? No.  Waylund?  No. Ugh! Why are you this way?  It wasn’t even a hard name!  You smack yourself in the head with your pen trying to remember.  You finally give up getting back to work.

About five minutes before quitting time his name hits you, PHILIP! 

“What about Philip?”  Gregory asks as you glance up, watching him walk out of his office putting on his suit coat.

Did I say that out loud? You wonder, shaking your head, pretty sure that you didn’t.

He asks again, “Philip?  As in my boss, right?  Did you need to ask him something? I think he’s still at the office.”

As he pulls out his cell phone you shake your head.  “Nope.  I was actually trying to remember his name earlier and it just barely came to me.”

A one sided smile shows up, “You are a wonder.  Are you ready to go?  You have your groceries ordered like I asked?”

You nod, grab your bag and his cane.  “I could have just had them delivered.  Why are you insisting on picking them up?  It’s just a small fee, not a big deal.”

“And I want to do it for you, not a big deal.”