The Geek Job (12 page)

―I wasn‘t done with my work here.‖

She whirled with a growl. ―Don‘t make me knock you out like I did our last night at the conference.‖

He sucked in a breath and regarded her incredulously. ―I didn‘t pass out like I thought, did I?‖

―Pressure points, baby. Now get your sweet cheeks moving before I show you some less pleasant ones.‖ Lexie didn‘t curb her tone. She needed him to move now. Even though night had only started to fall, her wolf side pushed at her.

Called her to shed her humanity and revel in her animalistic heritage.

She watched him flee and couldn‘t help pursuing him, his prey-like action clashing with her desire to possess him. She stalked him down the hall as he scurried to enter the elevator. He paused at the threshold. He turned around and tossed her a strange look—
was that defiance I saw on
his face?
The doors slid shut before she could chase him down and reiterate the need for him to stay away from her and remain safe behind as many locked doors as possible. Assassins and enemies of their boss weren‘t the only danger to him tonight.

She loped down the hall towards the emergency stairs. She slapped her hand on the console and for a second feared her elongated nails would fuck up the reading, but the electronic portal whisked open and she barreled down the stairs, her need to run wild pulsing just below her skin.

Two more hand scans and she made it outside. Quickly, she whirled and keyed in the lockdown code—the new one that her geek didn‘t have access to. She didn‘t trust him to not try and disable it to return to his lab.

Silvery fingers of moonlight tickled across her exposed skin and Lexie turned to drink them in. She let her jacket slide from her shoulders to drop to the ground. She kicked off her boots and shimmied out of her pants. Her top and panties quickly followed suit. Naked, she strode forward, ignoring the niggling warning that she should move to the back of the building where there were fewer eyes.

But her wolf drove now, and it had no shame. It rejoiced in the call of the moon. Paced with a frenzy as the time to run—to be free—fast approached.

Bathed in moonlight, Lexie let out a long sigh as she gave up the fight to hold her inner self back. Her skin rippled, a painful thing that made her cry out, and then scream as her limbs cracked and shifted, reshaping her. Her screaming cry of pain transitioned in pitch until she stood there on four feet and howled.

Time to hunt.

Anthony rode the elevator up to his apartment trembling. Part of it was fear if he were to be honest with himself, but the rest had to do with what he‘d just seen. Something possessed Lexie, or had always been a part of her if he could believe the tests he‘d run.

With her living in such close proximity to him, it proved ridiculously easy for him to snag DNA samples in the form of saliva from her toothbrush and hair from her pillow with follicles still attached. Each test, no matter which way or how many times he ran it, came back the same.

Lexie‘s genetic code was not one hundred percent human. His discovery of the double helix of human DNA twined with wolf belonged to her.

He‘d assumed the anomaly was a dormant portion of her genetic makeup, until a few moments ago in his lab where she‘d
changed
.

Even as clueless as he usually found himself around women and their moods, he‘d noticed a strange energy imbuing Lexie all day, an almost sizzling current that emanated from her, strong enough it made the hair on his body stand on end. He‘d watched her with wary eyes, unable to help himself, intrigued—and in lust—with the wild animal magnetism that rolled off her while she moved about his space with predatory grace.

Anthony feared her coiled tension and leashed violence, almost physically visible beneath the veneer of her indomitable will, but his trepidation wasn‘t the only thing flooding his senses. Her dominant persona drew him, made him want to beg her to share that passionate energy, to touch him and let him taste it. When she finally did with a kiss so scorching he‘d expected to implode, he‘d almost come in his pants. Then just about crapped them when he felt her change.

When she‘d kissed him, he‘d felt, to his shocked disbelief, how her canines had elongated, and the way her nails seemed to suddenly sharpen into razor points. Even more astonishing, he‘d seen the way her eyes glowed. She hadn‘t needed to threaten him to get him to flee, he was ready to do that on his own as myths he‘d scoffed at tumbled around in his mind, making a mockery of his assertions that creatures of the night didn‘t exist.

He attempted to cling to disbelief, to wrap tight around him the rules governing science.

Perhaps in his fear of her strange mood, he‘d imagined or exaggerated some of the things he‘d perceived. People couldn‘t grow fangs and their eyes definitely didn‘t shine with an inner light, and the woman he‘d once made love to most assuredly wasn‘t a werewolf even if her DNA seemed to want to say otherwise.

Then why did I run away?

Anthony moved across his darkening living room and leaned his head on the glass overlooking the front of the building, the soft glow of the moon bathing him in a pale radiance.

His eyes fluttered shut as he sought to control his rampaging imagination, but a motion outside caught him before his lids fully closed.

Peering down, he saw Lexie. He forgot to breathe as he watched her strip until she stood naked, her body a thing of beauty. Head held high, she walked forward, away from the building, the light from the moon along with the security lights behind her illuminating her bare shape. And then despite all his scientific knowledge, despite everything he believed in, he saw the impossible.

Her whole body rippled as if alive. His stomach churned at the sickening movement on her flesh that brought to mind alien movies he‘d watched in his youth because, just like those horror movies, it appeared as if something tunneled under her skin and fought to escape.

Under his riveted gazed, her skin darkened as fur sprouted spontaneously while, at the same time, her limbs contorted. As if that weren‘t horrifying enough, through the tempered glass he could hear her strident screams, her rapid change from woman to beast an obviously painful ordeal.

When the agonized cry transformed into a howl, the truth hit Anthony like a freight train, refuting every logical assumption he‘d ever made.

Lexie was a werewolf just like her DNA touted.

He slumped to the floor in disbelief as the woman he‘d made love to bounded off into the darkness of the trees his boss kept on the premises. An eternity passed as he stared out into the night, his mind a clean slate as his psyche adjusted to his sudden, new reality. Shock could only last so long before his brain and common sense kicked in.
So what if I’ve discovered that the
impossible is real. This is a moment to celebrate, to explore
a new frontier.
How many scientists could boast they‘d been given the chance to research a live werewolf? And yet, here he sat like a dolt, staring at nothing.

Eagerness to not let this opportunity escape made him spring from the floor and head to his bedroom to change. He dressed in dark clothes and found a navy colored hat. Snatching his digital camera, which he set for night-time photography, he moved to the elevator and slapped his hand on the console. The light flashed red and a message scrolled onto the screen.

System Lockdown.

Lexie had locked him in. Or so she thought. Anthony didn‘t spend much time attempting to get around her lockdown code.

Why, when he already had an alternate escape route for the times he needed to spend time alone without guards or cameras watching him.

The fire exit to his apartment hid behind a large pantry in his kitchen. He‘d hidden it early on in his tenure and programmed it to run on its own network. He slid the heavy furniture to the side revealing the door and security panel. When he tapped his hand to the scanner, the light turned green and Anthony grinned.

He jogged down the dark stairs, excitement bubbling in him. He reached the bottom and with another slap of his hand, opened the door to the outside. Hidden behind dense brush, Anthony fought his way through until he stood in the clear. It was only as he viewed the dark tree line that he wondered how he‘d find Lexie. Mr. Thibodeaux‘s property spanned over a hundred acres, a good portion of it wooded. He refused to allow discouragement to bring him down. Somehow, he‘d find her.

Anthony searched the darkness for some of the guards that usually lurked, but not seeing any, he sprinted across the grounds to the shelter of the forest. The white light from the moon didn‘t reach under the dense canopy of branches and Anthony stumbled for some time through the underbrush like an idiot before halting.

How the hell am I going to find her? At this
rate, I’m more likely to twist an ankle than document her.

The easy and probably smart solution involved him returning to his apartment and confronting Lexie in the morning. However, Anthony grew tired of always taking the safe route. All his life, he‘d followed rules whether of science or society‘s making. Tonight, for the first time in his life, he realized that rules didn‘t need to apply, not if he wanted to live life to the fullest and truly discover things. In order to open his mind, he needed to leave his comfort zone and confront the unknown, starting with one intriguing werewolf in the woods.

His enthusiastic inner pep talk held him for a while as he tread through the forest; however, the further he went, the more the icy grip of fear tried to clutch him. His neck prickled as if eyes watched him. His skin grew cold and clammy as the gloom hugged him tight and mocked him for his inability to see further than a few feet in front of him.

He stood still, his heart racing, and listened to the sounds of the night, but he had to admit, he had no idea what the heck he expected to hear. The outdoors wasn‘t exactly his strong point and he grew tired of tracking her, if his feeble attempt could be termed such. It occurred to him that while he couldn‘t discern her presence, with her probably heightened senses, she could more aptly find him, especially if she were made aware her charge had escaped the building she‘d imprisoned him in.

Taking in a deep breath and ignoring his manly pride, which at this point was mostly swallowed by fatigue and fear, he bellowed for her. ―Lexie!‖

A hush seemed to descend over the forest, and he shivered as he reminded himself there was nothing to fear. The woods on Mr.

Thibodeaux‘s lands were not truly in the wilds with any number of feral creatures; although, Lexie‘s assertion that his life was in peril came back to haunt him. In leaving the lab to satisfy curiosity had he painted a target on himself? And now, by bellowing like some idiot, pinpointing his location, was he signing his own death warrant?

Fear descended on him, a blanketing cold that amplified every noise from the crackle of underbrush to the slight whistle of the wind through the branches. His heart rate sped up as the darkness became cloying, and he whirled, sensing more than one predatory gaze on him, yet he saw nothing. He started to walk, his steps noisy compared to the quiet that had fal en because even the whirring of the insects ceased. Soon, his slow steps turned into a paced jog, then a full out run. Something roamed out there in the shadows.

Irrational as it seemed, Anthony could sense it there, a dark hunter watching him hungrily.

Anthony crashed through the shrub, almost losing his balance several times in his headlong flight. Around him, the sounds of chase erupted as those stalking him dropped their pretense of hiding. His breathing hitched and sweat poured all over his body as he pumped his legs faster, cursing his own stupidity in not listening to Lexie. She‘d warned him about leaving the building. Warned him that things waited for their moment to harm him, but like the stupid blonde in the movies, the one he used to mock, he‘d not obeyed. And now, like the victim of a horror flick, he ran for his life.

He saw the welcoming glow of building lights, closer than expected, and he didn‘t take the time to hear his mind mocking him over walking in circles; in this instance he thanked his ineptness as it meant safety loomed nearer than expected.

He strained harder to reach the haven he should have never left. He hit the edge of the woods and stumbled out into the cleared area. The nightmare followed him with snarls.

Anthony reached the main door to his lab and slapped his hand on the console only to have the lockdown warning flash.

―No,‖ he whispered. He‘d forgotten about Lexie‘s extra security. He whirled around to move to his secret exit, but froze as he encountered a line of beasts moving toward him.

Anthony backed against the door, riveted in fear as three large wolves stalked towards him, their eyes glowing balefully. He could hear their low growls and see their raised hackles as they approached. He scanned them, desperately looking for Lexie, whose pelt, he recalled, gleamed a solid black; however, she didn‘t appear to number among the approaching wolves.

Standing and waiting to get eaten wouldn‘t save him. His only chance at survival involved him making it to that damned exit. He shuffled his feet and almost tripped over Lexie‘s clothing. His foot nudged a hard lump and he chanced a quick look down. He almost gibbered in relief when he saw the revolver. Quickly, he stooped to grab it and pointed it with shaking hands at the encroaching beasts.

―Stop,‖ he whispered. Then louder, ―Stop it, or I‘ll shoot.‖ Why he assumed the creatures would listen he didn‘t analyze. Perhaps it was the cunning intelligence in their eyes that made him realize these wolves hadn‘t sprung forth as a cubs, or their immense size which made it seem more likely he‘d found more werewolves. If they understood, then they chose to ignore his command. Squeezing his eyes shut, Anthony pulled the trigger. The loud crack of the gunshot rang loud, and Anthony pried an eye open to see if he‘d scared the beasts.

Nope. They still approached, but now he could swear he saw disdain in their eyes. Given he couldn‘t shoot worth a damn, Anthony went to plan B—
run
.