Bite Me (The Transfigured Ones Book 2) (4 page)

Chapter Four

“Caroline,” Magnus asked, his voice startling her enough that she gave a slight jump in her desk chair. “Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you, love.”

She looked up from her monitor, her hand over her heart, to see him leaning against the doorframe of her office. Christ. He was heartrendingly gorgeous. She let her eyes drift over his lean form in appreciation for a moment before she said, “I was in the zone. No worries. Was there something that you needed?”

He grinned at her. He clearly knew exactly what was going through her mind. He crooked a finger, calling her out from behind the desk. “There are a great many things that I need right now, Caroline. None of those things are appropriate to discuss in the work place, though.”

A grin of her own, she stood and slipped out from behind her desk. Closing the space between them, she urged, “Don't let that stop you.”

In the two days since they'd spent the early morning on the roof, they'd essentially been passing ships. Friday and Saturday night had both been brutal for them. Both the bar and restaurant had been slammed non-stop. Other than a brief, stolen kiss in the supply room the other evening, there hadn't been any contact. She hoped that was going to change soon.

When she was close enough that he had to look down at her, she asked him, “So, what can I do for you, Magnus?”

He tilted her chin up and lowered his mouth toward hers. When his lips almost grazed hers, he said, “This.”

She felt the first gentle brush of his lips against hers and then she swayed into him. Her heart pounded in her chest as he placed light, gentle nips against her lips. Caroline brought her hands up, running them along the firm planes of his chest and then locked them behind his neck.

He made a low noise of approval and sucked her lower lip into his mouth, gently running  his tongue along it. She leaned into him and gave in to the leisurely kiss. Magnus made no attempt to deepen it. He seemed utterly content to nibble at her lips.

The kiss went on for some time, slow and careful, like he was trying to memorize the taste of her. When she eventually sighed against his lips, he took advantage, sweeping his tongue boldly into her mouth. While their lips melded and their tongues explored, his arms wrapped around her, pulling her body flush against his.

Magnus made another low moan of approval as his hands swept over her curves. It was silly, but the longer that the kiss drew out, the more it felt like he was making love to her mouth. By the time his mouth gentled on hers, she was dizzy with desire. Need coursed through her, and if the bulge pressed against her stomach was any indication, then she was certain that it coursed through him as well.

“Well,” Lilly's voice dryly interrupted the moment. “I guess I don't need to ask if you two are getting along okay.”

Caroline made the attempt to step back, but Magnus simply broke off the kiss. He didn't release her. “I don't suppose you do,” he answered for them both, his eyes never leaving Caroline's face.

Lilly smirked at them and said, “That's one way to settle your differences. But seriously, let's keep it PG in the halls, okay? Come see me when you get a moment, Caroline.”

“Sure thing,” she agreed, her face flaming. Without another word, Lilly waddled down the hallway.

“Christ,” Caroline muttered, leaning against him. “So embarrassing.”

“Embarrassed to be seen with me, then, love?”

“Your tongue was in my mouth. That was a bit more than being seen with you,” she corrected. “But no. I just feel bad because it was a little inappropriate for work.”

“Mm,” he said, leaning in to press his mouth against her neck. “That brings me to my next question. I know you're off tomorrow night. Are you busy?”

Caroline tilted her head and asked, “How did you know I had off work?”

“I have my ways. I thought maybe we could finish the menu and be inappropriate at my place.”

“Your place?” she asked.

“Unless you'd rather me come to your place?”

She studied him for a moment and then confessed, “I have an electric stove.”

He gave a quick grimace. “That won't do, love,” he said, leaning back in to brush his lips against her jaw line.

“I thought as much. I'll come to your place. Besides, it'll give you a chance to show me your etchings,” she teased.

She felt his grip on her tighten for just a split second before he murmured, “It's a good thing I'm feeding you first then, because it's an
extensive
collection. Might take all night. You'll need your strength.”

Caroline made an involuntary noise that was almost a whimper and then pulled away from his roaming lips. “Much as I'd like to continue this, I need to go talk to Lilly.”

He groaned in displeasure and then said, “I should probably go make sure they haven't burnt my bloody kitchen down anyway. Stop by tonight before you go so we can exchange information?”

When she nodded her agreement, he placed another quick, hard kiss on her lips and then left. She watched him walk away, her head still spinning.

The moment his mouth touched hers it was like she had ingested truth serum. She'd all but just told him she was a sure thing.
Way to keep it classy, Caroline,
she thought in disgust.

The other night on the roof, she had essentially done the same thing. He'd asked her about herself. Suddenly an hour had disappeared while she talked about how she was a disappointment to her parents. She shook her head in frustration, then headed down the hallway to Lilly's office.

Caroline approached Lilly's door, then took a calming breath. Tentatively, she tapped against the doorframe. When Lilly looked up, she had a smug grin on her face. “Magnus? Really? After your first meeting in the kitchen, I can't say I expected to see his tongue down your throat.”

Flushing, Caroline asked, “You wanted to see me?”

“Oh, yeah. That. Right. I was actually checking in to make sure you guys were making progress on the pairing menu. I know he can be a bit temperamental, so I figured I'd ask you instead.”

“The dishes he came up with the other night were perfect. We're going to get together and finish the rest tomorrow,” Caroline explained.

Lilly nodded and said, “I've been thinking about it. I think I'd like to make a big splash with the tasting menu. Maybe do an invitation only evening. Invite the media, bloggers. People like that. I think we're doing something really special here. Now that we've had a modicum of success, I'd like the world to know what new, exciting things we're doing. And the valuable people I've got working here that are doing it, too.”

“Oh,” Caroline stammered. “Um... If that's what you want to do. I don't have to plan this, do I?”

“God, no. I don't have the foggiest idea how to plan it either. I'll talk to Talan. See if he'll lend me some of the event planners from the hotel.”

Caroline snorted. “I feel like you could talk him into just about anything in your current state. He's all but swaddled you in bubble wrap.”

“Don't think that I'm not using that to my advantage, Caroline,” she admitted, her smug grin returning.

If she didn't know how blissfully with each other those two were, she'd actually feel a little bit sorry for Talan. Lilly was like a pit bull. When she locked onto an idea, she typically made it happen. Even if he did object, he didn't stand a chance.

“You guys are absolutely adorable,” Caroline admitted, a soft smile. “It makes me a little nauseated, if I'm being honest.”

“I think he broke me. In the best way possible, though. I'm a no nonsense, levelheaded businesswoman until he walks into the room. Suddenly I'm a puddle of mush.”

“You broke him in the exact same way. The one time I met him before, he was very stiff and formal. Now he's like a slightly menacing teddy bear,” Caroline said with a snicker. Then she sobered for a moment to add, “Please don't tell him I said that. But seriously. I'm glad I decided to take the job here. When they closed down the sports bar after, well... you know. They gave me my pick of where I wanted to go.”

“You were hand-picked for my bar,” Lilly admitted. “I would have bugged you unmercifully if you'd turned me down. If that didn't work, I was going to throw money at you. You were wasting away in the sports bar.”

“I didn't realize it was a negotiation. I would have tried to weasel a unit into my contract like Magnus. Or at least use of the upstairs oasis.”

“He's a shrewd negotiator,” Lilly conceded, clearing her throat. “And while we're on the subject... I know it's not any of my business, what's going on between you and Magnus. Being with someone who's Transfigured is a little bit complicated. If you ever want to talk, I've been where you are. I'd be happy to listen.”

Caroline opened her mouth to tell Lilly that this was just casual, but then she realized that it didn't exactly feel that way. It was definitely early, but she didn't exactly feel like Magnus was strictly trying to get into her pants. He could have done it with ease the other night, yet he'd kept his promise.

So, instead of making any sort of denial, Caroline merely said, “It's early yet, but I might take you up on it if things get more serious.”

“My door is always open,” Lilly answered, giving her a slightly sympathetic look.

****

Caroline double-checked the items in her bag. Shaker, Gin, Chambord, fresh squeezed orange juice, lime juice. She went down the list, mentally going over the ingredients for each of the three drinks she'd be preparing tonight. Satisfied, she nodded.

Pulling the phone out of the front pocket of her messenger bag, she realized it was time to leave if she wanted to make it to Magnus's place on time. And god knew, she wanted to be on time. He was incredibly fussy about his food.

When the phone began to vibrate in her hand, she looked down at the screen again and groaned. Seeing her mother's face, she winced. She thought she had dodged a bullet when her mother hadn't called her yesterday. Apparently not. Taking a calming breath, she braced herself.

“Hello,” she answered.

“Caroline. It's your mother.”

“Hey Mom! You caught me just as I was walking out the door. I've been working with a new pairing menu with the head chef. I'm on my way to a work meeting,” she explained.

              “Now? It's nearly seven o'clock! I wish you'd quit working at the bar and get a real job, honey. You finally managed to get your degree and it's just going to waste. You—”

Jesus. Caroline rolled her eyes. She had managed to
finally
get her degree about six years ago. She was managing a bar. Which, last time she checked, was a business. It seemed like a perfectly appropriate use of her degree in business management. God help her if she said that, though.

“I'm happy where I'm at, Mom.”

Her mother gave a long drawn out sigh and then urged, “Come home. Your father can get you a decent job. You can move out of your tiny little apartment and back in with us until you get on your feet. You can do so much better. You're working for those... people.”

And here it went again. For all that they claimed to be liberal, her parents seemed to have a big problem with the fact that she worked for and with the Transfigured. Caroline couldn't even  imagine what her mother would say if she knew that she was dating one of them.

She supposed that she and Magnus were dating. Or, effectively, tonight would be their first date. Sort of. Technically, he had invited her over to his place so they could finish the pairing menu. The fact that he'd invited her over as he was kissing her neck seemed pretty promising though.

“Caroline? Are you even listening to what I'm saying?”

“I'm sorry, Mom. You're cutting out,” Caroline lied smoothly. “Can you repeat?”

Her mother sighed loudly, then enunciated her words very slowly and loudly. “Are you still coming to the party in two weeks? I'm planning a tea party theme. She'll love it!”

No she won't,
Caroline thought
. She's going to hate the fuss but that never stopped you.

Caroline rolled her eyes. “Yes. I told you I'd be there. It's Nana's birthday.”

“Don't forget. She's not getting any younger.”

“I know, Mom. I said I'd be there. But, I really have to run now. I'm going to be late for my meeting. Give Dad my best.”

Quickly, before her mother could comment further, she hung up. It was small of her, but she really didn't give a damn at this point. She'd been bitched at for her life choices for as long as they'd been hers to make. She never asked for money, or help. She wasn't on drugs and hadn't ever been arrested. She successfully lived on her own and managed to pay her bills. Her parents were just never going to be satisfied.

Caroline shook off her suddenly dark mood and gathered her bag. She wasn't going to invest any more time into feeling like shit about their disappointment in her. Having done it her whole life, it was getting old. So, instead, she gave herself one last look in the mirror, and then locked up. There was no way she was letting anything ruin this night.

Chapter Five

Magnus glanced at the clock as he stirred the raspberry gastrique, then set it aside to cool. He surveyed the kitchen and decided he'd done all of the prep that he could do. Now that he was able to spend an entire evening with Caroline, he didn't want to waste it in the kitchen.

Glancing up at the clock, he cracked the oven to get a look at the venison loin. Perfect. He'd wrapped it in caul fat to keep it juicy during the cooking process. It would be able to rest for a few minutes before they ate. The duck breasts he'd done up were already resting under some tented foil. That left the Croque Monsieur, the palate cleansing orange granita, the osso buco, and the Gorgonzola stuffed figs wrapped in prosciutto.

He wiped down the counter for the third time, and then acknowledged that he was a little bit nervous. He'd definitely done his fair share of dating, but in the past decade it had waned off quite a bit while he focused on his career. The busier he got, the more particular he became about who he wanted to spend his down time with.

Magnus grinned when he heard the knock on his door. Wiping his hands on a towel, he hurried over to open the door. He let his eyes drift over her, taking in the pink dress she wore. It tied around her neck and gave him an enticing view of her legs. Much more than he'd seen before.  “Caroline,” he said, his heart pounding. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks.” She studied him for a moment before she continued, “I don't think I've ever seen you this relaxed. It... it looks good on you.”

“Why thank you, love. Sorry. Where are my manners? Can I take that for you? It looks a bit heavy.”

A grateful look on her face, as she passed a large canvas bag over to him. She warned, “It is. Thanks.”

“Come in. Come in,” he said, gesturing to the living room. “What did you bring me? Bricks? A set of encyclopedias?”

As she passed him, he pressed a hand to the lower part of her back, steering her gently. When she leaned into his touch, a part of him wanted to say to hell with dinner and drag her into the bedroom. He could tell by the way that she nervously chewed on her lower lip that she was still uncertain though.

“I could only fit volumes A through F in the bag. Sorry,” she apologized, rolling her eyes. “I brought the fixings for the drinks to accompany whatever you're skillfully preparing in the kitchen. By the way, it smells amazing”

“Of course it does.”

“Jeez,” Caroline complained with a comically exaggerated frown. “I really wish you'd learn how to take a compliment, Magnus. You're too modest!”

His lips twitching, he set the bag down on the counter top and turned to face her again. His voice solemn, he informed her, “I am but a humble vessel for my art.”

“Humble?”

After a moment, his grin now full on, he conceded, “Perhaps humble is a small stretch.”

“A bit of a reach,” she agreed, laughing.

He eyed her for a moment and then closed the space between them. “Let me greet you properly now that I don't have my hands full of reference materials, love.”

She stared at him speculatively and asked, “Properly? And what exactly does that entail?”

In response, he cupped her cheeks gently and brushed his mouth against hers. Once, then again, before his lips cling to hers in a slow, sumptuous kiss. He let his fingertips trace over the exposed skin between her shoulder blades. Had he ever touched anything so soft?

The loud buzzing of the oven interrupted them. He ignored it for a moment until Caroline backed away from him and asked, “Do you need to get that?”

“Sadly, yes,” he groaned, releasing her. “The venison will dry out.”

“We can't have that,” she teased. “Should I start on the drinks?”

****

Magnus made a few mental notes as they went through the courses. Slight adjustments to seasoning and plating. Overall the flavor combinations were outstanding. He sipped at the gin, lavender and tea concoction again. “Christ, this is good. I don't even care that it's vaguely purple.”

“I think the pairing menu is going to work really well. Everything was
so
good.” She gestured at the remnants of the meal.

He watched her set her napkin aside, then asked, “Anything you'd change?”

“About my drinks? Nope.”

“About the meal,” he asked, smirking. “Smart ass.”

A teasing grin on her face, she said, “I don't know if I'm ready to have this conversation with you, Magnus. I'm pretty sure you made one of the line cooks cry about some seared mushrooms the other day. I may be a little bit too emotionally fragile.”

“That wasn't even about the mushrooms. Jimmy deliberately ignores my instructions and does whatever he bloody wants. That's why I yelled. He can have creative license with the dishes when he has his own kitchen,” he explained. “I can tell from the way you mix your drinks that you have a clear understanding of what goes well together. So tell me your thoughts.”

Caroline sighed and said, “The raspberry stuff needed some salt. There was too much tarragon on the vegetables.” She chewed on her lip, obviously worried that she'd offended him.

              “I went overboard on the tarragon. Hindsight. I don't know about the salt, though,” he said, rising from the table. He grabbed a small saucer, added a medallion of venison loin, the gastrique, then salted it liberally. When he returned to the table, he set it down in between them. “Let's find out, shall we?”

Silently, he cut a small piece from the medallion and dabbed it in the sauce. He held the fork out and watched her lean forward. There was something incredibly intimate about the gesture. It felt oddly right, though.

Perhaps she felt it too, because she reached out once he'd taken a bite of his own. He twined his fingers through hers as he chewed thoughtfully. Once he had swallowed, he said, “Good call. Salt helped.” After a long pause, his voice heavy with disbelief, he asked, “Did he really bloody cry?”

She gave a nod in the affirmative. “Like a baby. But don't feel too bad about it. He was calling you an asshole in the same breath. I think he might have missed the point of your lesson entirely.”

“That little prat. Perhaps I'll have another talk with him about it,” he said shrugging it off.  He wasn't in the business of making friends. Still, he didn't like to come across as a bully.

Disentangling her hand from his, she leaned back in her chair and sighed. “This was all fantastic, Magnus. I'm glad we split this into multiple sittings. Otherwise, I think I'd be in a food coma right now.”

Before he could stop himself, he murmured, “I forget what that feels like.”

“Really?” she asked him, curiosity written across her expressive face.

“It's been years since the change happened, so yeah. I don't get colds or the flu. No food comas. No sunburn. No hay fever.”

“That doesn't seem like such a bad deal,” Caroline reasoned. “I'm sure there's some things you probably miss, though, right?”

“I don't dream. That's really the big thing that I miss. When I go to sleep, the world just  goes dark. I haven't dreamt in almost forty years.”

He didn't even realize she'd reached out again until she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. She considered him for a moment and then said, “It's hard to remember you're almost seventy. You look so young.” A moment later, humor written across her features she added, “I guess it's a good thing I've always liked older men.”

              The mood considerably lightened by her comment, he asked, “Always?”

              “Well. This is the most extreme case so far.”

“So far?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Does this mean I'm just a stopping over point to your real goal of dating an octogenarian?”

Caroline gave a mock wince and dramatically cried, “You've discovered my secret, Magnus. I never wanted you to find out this way!”

“Well, love. If I'm only being used, then let's not waste time at the table,” he announced, his lips twitching. At her dry look, he added, “I'll give you the grand tour.”

“What about the dishes?” she asked, looking at the several courses of plates currently stacked up on the counter.

“You make an excellent point. That gastrique will be a bloody bear to clean up later. Just have a seat. I'll only be a minute,” he said, gathering the few plates on the table.

Instead of listening, she followed him into the kitchen and began stacking dishes into the dishwasher. Within a few minutes, everything back to rights in his kitchen again, he asked, “Tour?”

“Sure. But, um. I was just wondering. Are you going to actually eat?” she asked, rinsing her hands.

“I ate before you got here,” he admitted. “I didn't really know how you'd feel about it.”

“It doesn't bother me. We've served blood in virtually every bar I've ever worked in.”

“You're a bit rare, then. Most people tend to keep their distance whenever the subject of my food intake comes up.”

“Don't get me wrong. I'm not asking you to pour me a glass or anything, but it's a biological necessity, right?”

He nodded, uncertain where she was headed.

“Then there's not really any reason for me to be upset about it unless you're hurting people.”

Magnus frowned. “I don—” 

“If I thought for a second you were, do you think I would be here alone with you? Do you think I would want you like I do?” she asked, interrupting him. Her usual quick grin was missing. In its place, there was an unfamiliar vulnerability.

For all that he enjoyed her sassy attitude, he was certain she'd never been more beautiful than she was in that moment. He tilted her chin up, and lowered his mouth so that it nearly grazed hers. “No. I don't suppose you would.”