ClaimMe by Calista Fox

Chapter One
     
    “You’ve taken over my desk, Jane?”
    Her head whipped in the direction of the door and Jane Van
Kamp let out a squeal of delight as she sprang to her feet. “Drake, you’re
back!”
    He gave her his usual slow, sexy grin as he strolled into
the spacious office above Body Scenes, the nightclub he’d opened last year. It
was one of Manhattan’s most exclusive venues, with a bonus naughty art gallery
showcasing murals painted on naked bodies. The erotic joining of the models
completed the creative and intricately designed pieces.
    Over the decades, Jane had been Drake Halston’s assistant in
various capacities, locations and business ventures. But since he’d been in
Mexico on his honeymoon, she’d gladly taken over management of the club, his
latest investment.
    Despite how much she enjoyed being in control of the
business while he was away, she was thrilled he’d returned. She rushed across
the room to greet him with an enthusiastic hug.
    He chuckled at her exuberance.
    She pulled away and composed herself.
    “You’ve made yourself quite comfortable in my absence, I
see.” His British accent was a tad subtler than hers and it held a dark
sensuality Jane found alluring.
    Too bad Drake was no longer on the market. Not that she’d
wanted everlasting love with him. She’d carried a torch for someone else the
entire fifty years she’d been a vampire, though her lover Sean was long staked
and burned to ash. Being a reclusive immortal ever since had left Jane lonely,
but for some time at least, she’d had Drake, a once-reclusive immortal himself,
to scratch the itch when need be.
    No more .
    Feeling the familiar void deep within her, she had to admit
the sexual disconnect from Drake saddened her. Despite her recent intimate
detachment from him, however, she was genuinely happy he’d found true love.
He’d married the human object of his desire months ago, which meant both he and
Shana, his new wife, were off limits.
    Doubly unfortunate, really, given the very wicked
night the three of them had shared before Drake had marked his territory with
Shana. Now Jane was resigned to throwing herself into her work in order to keep
her mind from the one thing she’d discovered she wanted most when she and Shana
had pleasured each other in front of Drake. A human’s touch.
    Pushing that disconcerting thought aside, she focused
instead on business. “I have a better view of the security monitor from your
desk than from mine.” She pointed to the large flat-panel screen mounted over
the fireplace in the living room setting of Drake’s massive office. In a
teasing tone, she added, “I promise I didn’t prop my feet on your desk or smoke
your cigars while you were away.”
    “You’d be entitled,” he told her. “I can’t thank you enough
for holding down the fort while I was in the Rivieria Maya with Shana.”
    “I wondered if the two of you would ever come back to
Manhattan.”
    “We considered staying awhile longer. She can do her work
from anywhere with her Internet hotspot. But she missed you, Yvette and Finn
terribly.”
    Finn Griffith was the renowned artist who’d given Drake the
idea for the gallery portion of the club. His girlfriend, Yvette Samson, was a
trendy writer and blogger. They’d become good acquaintances of both Drake and
Jane.
    “Mm, you came back so Shana could be with her
friends,” Jane said, a tinge of amusement still in her voice. “How thoughtful
of you.”
    “All right, fine.” A dark brow lifted. “ I missed you
terribly too.”
    “That’s better.” She turned back to the desk, wandering over
to it as she continued. “You’ll also be pleased to know I didn’t spy on the
models while they were placing themselves for the murals.”
    Another low chuckle from Drake filled the otherwise quiet
room. “And what about afterward?”
    She tried to feign innocence with a look over her shoulder,
but was sure she didn’t succeed in pulling it off. He knew her too