“Come on,” I muttered, glancing back toward the penthouse.
Maybe I was being foolish. It was true that I couldn’t trust my own instincts–they always led me astray.
Well, if I’d just abandoned the company laptop and paperwork for nothing, Eugene could patch up this mess later when he got released from the hospital. I could say I had diarrhea or something and had to run.
But the door to the penthouse pushed open.
Shit. Were they coming after me? I wasn’t sticking around to find out. I glanced up at the up and down arrows above the elevator. Nothing.
My only option was to take the stairs. I ran down the hall away from the penthouse, turned the corner and–
A burly guy wearing a flannel and jeans came through the doorway from the emergency stairwell.
Fuck!
Was he one of theirs? Blocking the exit?
“You take the stairs. I’ll take the elevator.” A gruff voice carried around the corner.
Oh God. They were chasing me! Fortunately, this wasn’t their guy coming up from the stairwell because the man swiped his keycard over the electronic lock of a room halfway between me and the stairwell.
I sprinted toward him.
He paused in his open doorway and stared at me, brows slamming down.
Could I make it to the stairwell before the goon rounded the corner?
No. No, I didn’t think I could.
I ran right for the guy, shoving past him into his hotel room.
In perfect choreography, he looped an arm around my back, spun into the room with me, and kicked the door shut with a booted foot.
2
ROY
* * *
Damn. I guessed Fate didn’t hate me after all.
She’d dealt me some pretty shitty cards in the past, so I’d lost faith. But now, I was a believer. Because she just delivered something I hadn’t even dared to hope for. Hadn’t ever asked for. Hadn’t believed would happen for me.
My mate.
Not just to my hotel room but straight into my arms. The second our bodies collided, I’d recognized that the fleeing female was mine.
Her delicious scent swirled around me–the most incredible notes of caramel and sweet bread, marred by the metallic taste of fear. I simultaneously wanted to taste every inch of her and rush out the door to tear the head off whoever the fuck was chasing her and making her afraid. Because someone was after her.
There were at least two of them. My strong shifter hearing picked them up when they divided up in pursuit. I’d seen her look of panic.
Whoever the fuck they were, they were chasing my mate.
A muted growl rumbled from my chest. I would kill them.
The curvy Asian human with long, shiny black hair blinked up at me. “I’m sorry, I–”
I stopped her frightened whisper with a finger over her soft lips. Her eyes widened, and a burst of air escaped her lips.