Breaking the Wolf's Rules: Howls Romance (Wolf Mated Book 1) Read online

  As he rattled off demands and expectations, my brain worked overtime trying to store all the information. I thought to ask to go get up to grab my notebook, but had second thoughts. I didn’t want to disappoint my new boss. Not on the first day. First days were rough. I didn’t expect to get it right the first time. Even a dominant male wolf should understand that.

  “Today, you are lucky,” Mr. Vetrov stated.

  I tore my attention away from his impressive collection of art pieces decorating the walls. “Lucky?”

  “Yes. As much as I’d like to put you to work now, I have a pre-scheduled meeting with the other executives this morning. We’ll be in discussions all day with a business partner. You won’t be seeing much of me. This is a good day for you to look over some of my work and get a better understanding of what you’ll be doing here for me. Later on, I can walk you through my process.”

  “You mean I won’t just fetch your coffee and log your calls for you?”

  My tone came off as sarcastic before I could stop myself.

  Mr. Vetrov’s gaze shot to me. His lips formed a grim line.

  Oops.

  “I’m sorry.” I pressed my lips together.

  “What is it that you’d rather be doing for me, Ms. Lincoln?” he asked.

  “Um…whatever you ask really,” I replied, wringing my hands under the table.

  “Whatever I ask…”

  Wait a minute! What was this?

  I wasn’t some weak woman who let men pushed her around. Ivan Vetrov seemed like a powerful man, but I wasn’t going to sit here and cower because he was controlling and arrogant.

  “Let’s set the record straight here, Mr. Vetrov. I’m highly educated and very experienced. Isn’t that the reason you hired me?”

  He raised a perfect eyebrow but said nothing.

  I continued. “I’ve worked at numerous successful top firms with some top-level executives—just like the ones that work here. I respect your firm guidance, but I need minimal supervision. Trust that I will perform my job duties to your satisfaction. My independence is often considered a plus since I don’t need hand-holding which frees up more time for the people in the past that managed my work. It’s quite simple, I think—you give me a list and I’ll get the job done within the time frame of my employment contract.”

  Mr. Vetrov sat back in his chair. His expression had changed. A grin twitched at the corner of his lip.

  “I have a question, Ms. Lincoln.”

  “Yes?”

  “In your former roles as a personal assistant, were you typically granted the permission to do whatever, whenever?” he asked.

  “I was. There was a level of trust. They trusted me to complete my work every time, on time.”

  He leaned forward in his chair, placing his hands on top of the desk. “I see.”

  “You seem like a man who loves being in charge of all things. But for what it’s worth, I’ll do things your way, Mr. Vetrov. After all, you are the boss.”

  His sexy lips spread into a slow grin. “Of all things, yes. I love being in charge. But, I see that you love being in control yourself. One more question for you, Ms. Lincoln, and then I must leave to go to my meeting.”

  I bit the corner of my bottom lip nervously and waited in anticipation for his question.

  Ivan Vetrov caught my gaze and held it. “At what point would you relinquish control? If not in a business setting, what about in a more personal setting?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think it’s the other way around, Ms. Lincoln. You don’t relinquish control because it’s you who doesn’t trust.”

  I gasped, wondering why his conviction seemed so spot on.

  “I, um…I’ve been married before.”

  “I know.”

  I shook my head. “How...?”

  “Background check.”

  I frowned. Since when was marital status included in a criminal background check. As much as I wanted to forget about all the time I wasted, I couldn’t.

  Only a year had passed since I finalized the divorce with my ex-husband. We’d been together for a year and a half when we realized that we got married for all the wrong reasons. We were high school sweethearts and everyone expected us to get married, stick it out, and weather all the storms. But our love for each other wasn’t that strong. We separated for a couple months, hoping that would give us the time and space we needed to figure out what we wanted. At the time, I didn’t want to be alone, so I thought the only option for me was to work on our relationship only to find out that he had slept with my best friend while we were separated and again for some time after we moved back in with each other. The betrayal had hurt more than anything I’d ever experienced. I couldn’t let that happen again. I couldn’t lose control over my life. I couldn’t let another man steal any more of my happiness. But how could I be happy utterly alone?

  “Don’t worry, Jada,” Mr. Petrov said, softly.

  My name on his lips sent heat rising through my core.

  “I’m not worried about anything,” I whispered. Lies.

  “And you shouldn’t be. I’m the boss who will change all that. Trust that you will relinquish control to me…but not in the way you think.”

  My mouth fell open.

  Mr. Vetrov collected his leather agenda from his desk, stood, and straightened up his tie.

  “Call me Ivan.”

  I nodded.

  “I’ll screen all my calls to your office line. You’ll tell them that I’ll be in a meeting all day and I’ll return their calls promptly tomorrow morning. The passwords to the company system are on your desk. You should be able to access and review my agenda for this week. I trust that you’ll be able to manage yourself the rest of the day while I’m gone.”

  “Yes, sir—Ivan.”

  He grinned at me once more before leaving me seated at his desk.

  I breathed a sigh of relief the moment he was gone.

  What the hell had just happened? How had Ivan managed to solve me like a puzzle?

  Chapter Five

  Ivan

  The next morning, things went a little more smoothly for Jada and I. Not only was my coffee and agenda waiting on my desk when I arrived promptly at nine a.m., but I had also learned that Jada had taken it upon herself to have my business jackets and spare suits taken to the cleaners. Between this week and last week, I’d had several impromptu meeting—both on-site and off-site, so my choices were limited as far as spare suits were concerned. That and the way she stacked this morning’s mail so neatly on my desk in the correct tray was how I knew she was a professional.

  Although, I understood that she wanted to hold on to a certain level of control when it came to this job, I was impressed with her independence. I’d been dabbling with the idea of having a full-time secretary or personal assistant for years now, but truth be told I was just like her—I hated surrendering control. My work was completed by the deadline and I had never been late on a project, but recently the company had almost doubled in size with the recent merger with another firm. For the past month, I’d been working over sixty hours a week and that didn’t even include weekends. Even my brother Sebastian had begged me to get help before things got out of hand. I’d had a little part-time personal assistant before, so I agreed that I needed help, but only temporarily.

  I couldn’t lie. I thought Jada would be a setback. I thought that I’d have to train her and teach her everything which would take away from my time, but unlike my prior PA who was always needed and asked too many questions, Jada surprised me this morning when I went over to greet her. She had the Vetrov Corporation Manual propped open on her desk reading through it.

  My cell phone rang. After checking the caller ID, I promptly picked it up.

  “What is it, Sebastian?”

  My younger brother had a knack for calling me at the most inopportune times.

  “Why do you sound so grumpy? Did that meeting go sour or something?”

  “The mee
ting with the Scotts? No, that went fine. I have ourselves a new project by the way, so I’ll need funding by the end of next week. I’ll have my new PA scan and email you the contract. Think you can handle the initial outlay?” I asked, opening up my email and shooting off a quick message to Jada.

  “New PA, eh? So, is she worth it?”

  “She just started.”

  “If you’re giving her free reigns to email shit to me, she must know what the fuck she’s doing?”

  “Unlike the last one, yes, she has over a decade of experience,” I said.

  “Told you that you needed the help. And you can think me later for putting you in contact with that agency. I trust their talent any day of the week. You know who owns that whole thing, right?” Sebastian asked.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah…I do. The Beta’s sister. You’d think with the owner being like us that they’d have sent me one like us.”

  “You should be grateful you got a human woman. Less aggression and hormones and all that stuff, right?”

  I grinned. “Only you would know, dear brother.”

  Sebastian laughed, heartily. “You know me well. I’ve got two PAs fighting over who gets to massage my back when I get back in town.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Hey, listen,” Sebastian said. “I might not be back in the country until later this week…maybe even next week. Depends on how this deal goes. Do you think you can meet with the contractor’s about the roofing at the old estate sometime this week?”

  “Yeah, I was going out that way this weekend to relax a bit.”

  My brother and I lived in our own separate houses, but we still kept up our old childhood home near the lake. We’d probably sell it eventually once we had time to field buyers. Because the property was on our pack’s territory, we couldn’t just sell it to anybody. It had to be shifter. It had to be someone who could keep secrets.

  “Right…now that you have that new PA and all, you can blow off some steam and live a little.”

  “I plan to,” I said, and then looked up to see Jada standing in the doorway.

  As it did the previous times I’d seen her, my dick instantly hardened. Which was issue number two. Not only was she independent and most unlikely to be controlled by me, she was also sexy as fuck and I was deeply attracted to her. But was having a sexy and uncontrollable PA really an issue?

  “Um…I’ll call you back later, Sebastian,” I mumbled into the phone.

  I heard Sebastian talking on the other end, but I hung up anyway and placed my cell on the desk.

  Without saying a word, I waved Jada inside with two fingers.

  “Uh…” she mumbled as she stepped into my office. “The notes say that your last PA ordered your lunch at eleven-thirty. Would you still like me to do that?”

  Her short black skirt clung tightly to her hips and legs that went on for days. She did that thing that she always did with her lips, running her tongue between them and then biting one corner.

  I leaned back in my chair and contemplated her request. Her hair was pulled back into a modest bun today with only curly strands trailing down her long, delicate neck. Her blouse was thin, but if I could guess, her bra was lacy. She wore a single diamond pendant that nestled between her breasts. She was the perfect size. She had a nice curvy figure that had my balls tightening. Too bad what I wanted to taste wasn’t on the menu.

  I couldn’t help but to smile. “Yes. Why don’t you order lunch for both of us?”

  “A BLT with extra bacon and some pickles on the side, right? From Jeffries Deli.”

  I was surprised that she had gone as far as to research my preference down to the deli. “That’s right.”

  “Well, I guess I’ll go order that now while the deli’s not too busy.” She started to back out of the office.

  My attention dropped to her ass. It looked like a ripe peach, the way the fabric of her skirt clung it.

  “Wait,” I called out.

  She paused mid-stride and swung around.

  “I wasn’t done talking to you.”

  “I thought maybe you wanted me to order your lunch before it got too late,” she said.

  “Come sit down.” I gestured to the empty chair in front of my desk.

  I put triple the effort into keeping my attraction for Jada at bay, but her looks weren’t the only thing that had a hold of me. Her soft summer scent wafted up towards me as she sat down into the chair. She crossed her sexy legs and trained her eyes directly on me. It was all obsession-inducing. But especially her lips. When she spoke, I found myself watching them move, imagining them wrapped around my dick, her on her knees, those pretty eyes staring up at me, her tongue making me lose all rational thought.

  “Yes…did you want something?”

  I had to push down a growl. You’ve got no idea, a voice in my head growled. I shoved it away though.

  It wasn’t just me she was driving crazy. The wolf inside of me was baying for her, desperate to get closer to her, to claim her. Clearly, my wolf saw something in this woman. I couldn’t lie. I saw it myself. She was irresistible. My wolf had never responded this way to any woman. Usually my animal and I disagreed on which woman was worth dating, bedding, or fucking. But not with this woman. My mating instincts surged within me, reminding me how long it had been since I’d been with anyone. After my recent split, I’d pushed anyway everyone and anyone. Now, as I stared at Jada, I wanted to give into these feral instincts guiding me.

  There really wasn’t time for thoughts like that. I couldn’t afford to let my guard down or lose control — especially not at work. I had a reputation and a career to protect. Besides, I’d made that mistake before. I’d dug myself a hole I couldn’t climb out of and wound up getting buried by the person I thought I could trust. I refused to make the same mistake twice. That’s one thing about me — I might make mistakes, but I never made the same mistake a second time. I learned from them. I improved. And giving into my desire for Jada would be taking a step back.

  And calling her back into my office just to look at her wasn’t going to cut it.

  I settled back in my chair. “My contact book is long overdue for an update. I’ve kept them on paper. I need you to go through them all and update those that need updating and if I haven’t had a meeting with someone or communication with them in the last eighteen months, I’d like them moved into the new online system.” I slid a big black leather binder across the table to her.

  She picked it up and began looking through it.

  After I hired Jada, I had studied her background again and began to realize that although she used to be some executive’s personal assistant, she’d done much more than that. I knew this type of task was beneath her. Filing paperwork, fetching lunch, and fielding calls were above her area of expertise. Jada Lincoln had brains. She’d been smart enough in her last job to recommend changes that had reduced the workload of her entire department. I even wondered why she insisted on accepting personal assistant roles rather than going for positions more suited to her experience. She said she wanted to be in control…but did she really?

  When she didn’t say anything, I added, “As you can see, I have hundreds of contacts.”

  I studied Jada to see how she was responding to my request. Already, I could see her jaw clenching, her teeth grinding. It was a simple, but menial task, one that would probably take her an entire week.

  “Also, I’d like it alphabetized this time, I hope you can handle that. My last PA apparently struggled in kindergarten.”

  “Of course,” she said, forcing the words through her lips which were now pressed tightly together.

  It was petty of me, but I liked watching her get frustrated. Although she tried to keep her expression neutral and pleasant, I could smell her rising heat. But that’s not all I could smell. She was aroused, just like she was during the interview. If I focused hard enough, I was sure I could verify my suspicions that her nipples had hardened behind her blouse. And if her nipples were tight…well…
/>
  Fuck.

  This wasn’t going to work. I could see that now. I didn’t want her to do busy-work for me, I wanted to spread her legs and fuck her until we both lost control. Biting my lips hard, I tore my attention from her sexy, cinnamon-tinted legs to her face. Her lips were rosy and plump. I imagined my dick pumping down on her throat while I held her steady by the back of her pretty little neck.

  In that moment, she grinned at me. It wasn’t an innocent grin. It was an I-have-you-right-where-I-want-you grin. She uncrossed her legs and then crossed them again, lifting the left one over the right this time.

  What was this? Had she come to seduce me? Was she sent by some competitor to draw my attention away from my work in an attempt to bring down my company? Well, I wasn’t going to fall for it.

  I returned her grin. “Well…what are you waiting for? Order my lunch and then get started on that contact book.”

  She frowned and anger flashed behind her hazel eyes. “Um…you’re being an…”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I’m being a what?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing.”

  Yes, I was being an ass. I wanted to know how far I could push her before she snapped. It wasn’t fair, but I couldn’t exactly fire her for incompetence—she was anything but incompetent. But she was a distraction. A danger to my tightly held control. And when I lost control, it wasn’t pretty. So pushing Jada to her breaking point was the only option I could see, was it wrong if I enjoyed the process a little more than I should? Seeing her pretty little ass squirm in her seat and her lips pursed as she fought the urge to talk back to me.

  She rose. “Your lunch. Your contact book. I’ll get those completed right away. I noticed your appointment book was out of sync with your online calendar. Would you like me to fix that too?”

  I didn’t know that. I hadn’t done the best job at getting myself upgraded to the fancy online system like my brother Sebastian and all the other executives had. After all, when the changes were made, I didn’t have a secretary to do that for me like they had. I pretended to be unimpressed by her attention to detail and said, “I’ll tell you when I want you to do that. That’ll be all for now. I’ll see you at noon with my lunch.”