Chapter 1: Introduction
I couldn't believe I let my best friend, Brenda, drag me to this seedy bar after I got off work. She insisted, saying I needed to find a guy and loosen up. I love Brenda, but she's got a one-track mind. I was dead-tired, and the last thing I wanted to do was mingle with the inebriated patrons. I sighed into my gin and tonic at the scuffed table, eyeing Brenda dancing with some shiny-shirt guy.
My thoughts drifted to my current life dilemmas: the bills piling up and my dead-end job. A flicker of heat seared my neck, jolting me out of my self-pity. I spotted him, even amidst the crowd. Maybe it was the bull's head, or his imposing presence, who could really say? But as his animalistic eyes locked with mine from across the room, my heart raced.
He neared, a beast of a man, muscular, with legs unending.
A rugged stench of sweat and earth wafted from him. I had never met anyone like the Minotaur, not in real life. I was alone with him; Brenda kissed her date and abandoned me.
My heart hammered and tiny beads of sweat made their way down my chest. His gaze seared my skin like a brand, eliciting an involuntary shiver. I was scared, but also electrified, constantly checking him out from the corner of my eyes. Questions flooded my mind, but I felt compelled to engage, utterly bewitched.
"Who are you?" I stammered out, my voice barely a whisper.
"I am the Minotaur," he growled, his deep, husky voice making me tingle all over. The live performance on stage faded away, and an intense magnetic pull bound me to him.
His hand reached out, brushing hair away from my neck as he leaned closer. My senses ignited, the roughness of his touch driving me wild.
His voice resonated through me, like a primal chant, and I felt my core clench.
He pressed his lips to my ear, whispering, "I've been searching for someone like you, Alexis." My entire body shuddered in response. He knew my name.
A magnetic force pulled us together, inexorable and maddening. His palm landed on the small of my back, searing through my clothes and branding my flesh. I glanced up, meeting his feral gaze and I detected a glimmer of vulnerability.