"How did you know?" Rachel asked, certain that Merinus had to have known that she would be Jonas's mate.
Merinus swallowed tightly. "Remember the blood and saliva tests that were requested before you were allowed to land in Sanctuary on the flight back from Switzerland?"
Rachel lifted a brow. "The ones to ensure that I wasn't carrying the flu or some infection that could affect your precious Breeds?"
Merinus's lips twitched at Rachel's acidic tone. "Yeah, those." She nodded as she came closer before taking a seat in the padded chair that sat against the side of the house. "Actually, that is truly what the blood was for. It's standard procedure to run the mating test against any Breed you may come in contact with, though. Jonas was here at Sanctuary when you called, so the test was run against his." She rubbed at her nose thoughtfully. "I actually thought perhaps Diana would be a better match myself. You surprised me."
Merinus was amused. Why didn't that surprise her?
"Diana would have castrated him," she informed her friend as she leaned back against the railing and faced the Prima of the Feline Breed species.
"She would have." Merinus nodded with a smile before sobering. "What about you, Rachel? Will you kill him, or will you love him?"
"Does it matter?" she asked, knowing that Jonas wasn't a very well-liked person among either Breeds or humans.
Surprisingly, Merinus nodded. "It matters very much. You can be his salvation or his destruction. Jonas is one of the most intelligent of the Breeds, and definitely one of the most dangerous. His very nature is his own worst enemy."
"And you think I can save him?" she asked incredulously. "Merinus, when did you lose your mind?"
A rueful smile curved the other woman's lips. "Let's say I've been warned by someone who cares a great deal for him. If Jonas doesn't learn to temper himself, then he'll self-destruct and we'll lose him forever. Win or lose, stay or go, the only thing that's going to temper him is his mate. Tag, my friend, you're it," Merinus finished with the childhood rejoinder.
"It was my turn last time," Rachel argued. "Remember? When I took on your brother's temper and that mess he called an office?"
Merinus bit her lip to hide a smile, but Rachel caught the merriment in her gaze as she responded. "Oh yeah. My bad."
"Your bad indeed." She crossed her arms over her br**sts and glared back at her. "He's a pain in the ass."
"I'm sure he can be." Merinus nodded with no attempt to hide her amusement now.
"He makes me crazy, Merinus."
"He'll make you crazier," her friend promised.
"I refuse to accept this mating crap."
Merinus sighed then. "It doesn't matter if you accept it. You're here; that's all he needed. Like I said, win or lose, accept or reject, it doesn't matter. Whatever Jonas has to face with you as his mate is what he needs."
"You sound as though you've been looking into crystal balls or something." Rachel snorted.
"Perhaps I have," Merinus responded soberly now. "But really, who needs to? You've seen him. You've worked with him. I knew him before he laid eyes on you, before he sensed that you could belong to him." She leaned forward intently. "He's never known love. He's never known a caress that didn't involve some sort of payment, or a kind word that he didn't suspect didn't come with strings. And I know you, Rachel. I've watched you. You might not love him, but you care for him."
"I lust after his body," Rachel griped. "He's seriously ripped. That doesn't mean I want to risk my sanity for it."
"You care for him." Merinus shook her head in denial. "Don't lie to me. We both know you do."
"He's not completely hateful." She shrugged. "He's tolerable. I don't hate him."
"Are you in love with him?" Suspicions suddenly clouded the other woman's eyes.
"Indeed not." Rachel's eyes widened. "I haven't lost my mind yet, you know."
"Give it time." Merinus waved her hand negligently as though losing her mind were a foregone conclusion. "You haven't lived with Jonas yet."
"And you have?" Rachel questioned the confidence in her tone.
"Not on a bet." Merinus laughed. "Not even for the world.
This is one time, my friend, I do not envy you the adventure."
Just what she needed, an adventure Merinus wasn't willing to fight her for.
"You're going to owe me," Rachel promised her.
"And as always, I'll pay up." There was blissful unconcern.
Rachel had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling, things were going to get very, very complicated.
And unfortunately, she had yet to see a time when her bad feelings didn't pan out.
She had a feeling it might have been more prudent to have stayed in Switzerland.
CHAPTER 5
The office was set up on the far side of the cabin, a vacant wing that Rachel had learned had been added only in the past year in case Jonas was forced to attend to business from his cabin in Sanctuary rather than the Bureau's offices in D.C.
The three-room wing boasted a large outer office for Rachel, a larger inner one for Jonas and an attached nursery for Amber complete with a Breed nanny to oversee her while Rachel was working.
What more could a personal assistant ask for?
Outside the wing was a large parking area, a sheltered yard with a toddler play set that Amber wouldn't be playing on for quite a while, if ever, and a Breed guard.
All the benefits of the D.C. office complete with additional security. There was no chance of meeting Brandenmore after dark any longer. Nope, all she had to contend with now was Jonas.
After a week of dealing with Jonas in his mating mood, Rachel was starting to wish she simply had to face Brandenmore. She doubted the other man was as completely arrogant as Jonas on a bad day.
"Rachel, if you schedule another appointment with Racert in D.C., we're going to have words." Jonas stepped from the office first thing that morning and glared at her with the promise of retribution gleaming in his eyes.
Rachel lifted her brow once that first breathless, sensually weak feeling that always assailed her when he walked in the room had passed.
"Racert is important to the funds that Senator Tyler is attempting to get approved through the Senate, Jonas, you know that," she reminded him as she kept her attention on the file she was currently adding information to. "I would be more than happy to deny the meetings he requests once you get those funds."