A Careful Scent Ch. 1
Being Valko's secretary was a work of patience and personal care. You were told upon being hired that the CEO had a very sensitive nose. You were given a list of recommended perfume's and body care to help with this issue, along with ways to mask any strong scents in case of emergencies.
You had also been taught about your bosses tendency to run off for days on end. Rarely actually being in the office and found in either the lab, his personal gym, or his high-end apartment. Hunting him down was, unfortunately, part of your job description.
A year of this. A full YEAR. was completely exhausting.
"Mr. Valko," you say to your boss as he bench presses some insurmountable weight you would never be able to hold yourself, "you have a meeting with your business partners in less than an hour."
"And?" he huffs as he holds the the barbell up above.
You clench the tablet in your hands. "And, unless you want to lose funding for your precious experiments, you might want to...I don't know...clean up."
He racks the weights and sits up. Running his hand through his burgundy hair, sweat gleaming off of him. He looks up at you, his canine poking out as he smiles at you.
"Well why didn't you say so pup?"
You groan at the nickname he gave you. You throw his towel at him, hitting him square in the face. He laughs, standing up and walking over to you. His smell immediately surrounded you. Strong, musky, manly.
"For someone who's sensitive to smells, you get super stinky after a workout." You scrunch your nose up as if disgusted.
He ruffles your hair, "For someone I pay so well, you sure nag like my aunties."
You wave his hand away and push him towards his showers. In reality, his smell stirred something in you. Something you always knew was wrong to have for as a secretary for one of the richest, youngest CEO's.
You pushed the notion out of your head while sitting in the backseat with him. You gave him the run down of the meeting, summarizing everything and focusing on who to look out for. He nodded, eyes closed as he listened to you carefully.
He may be young and immature, but he was an attentive boss. Knowing just the right words to say, the questions to ask. He was a true wolf in the boardroom. Hungry for me, not afraid to show his claws.
It was no wonder so many women constantly came after him.
"Mr. Valko," one of the female business partners said, grabbing his arm and pushing against it, "our team would love to invite you to dinner and drinks tonight."
Her breasts were fully flushed against him. Her long eyelashes fluttering.
You saw Valko's nose scrunch up at the smell of her strong perfume. He glares down at her with his golden eyes, pulling his arm out of her grasp.
"Not on your life," he growls.
The woman looks confused until you step in.
"What he means is," you interrupt, "he unfortunately has other plans tonight. If you would like to schedule something ahead of time just give me a call." You push your business card into her hand and gently nudge Valko to the exit.
He was covering his nose and mouth with his hand as the two of you walked out. You pulled a smelling stick out of your handbag to hand to him. Something you always carried on you in case of emergencies.
Relief washed over him as he smelled it. Oak and lily. He smiles at you as he hands it back.
"Perfect, as always." He teases as he hands it back to you.
You roll your eyes at the comment and move along with your day. Not noticing the way he seems to keep close to you.
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You had just returned from your long needed vacation. A girls trip you and your girlfriends had planned a couple of months back.
Sun, sand, and sangrias.
It was sad to come back, but the real world awaited. You had left everything in perfect order...to come back to a complete mess.
Apparently the temp that replaced you completely ignored all of your instructions to try and flirt her way to a permanent job. Ignoring meetings, phone calls, screwing up paperwork. She had even raided your desk and stole so many things on her way out.
Everyone was overjoyed to have you back. And not just because you returned with gifts.
"Valko pretty much locked himself away in his lab the whole week." One of the managers told you. "That temp wore this horrible smelling perfume. After a day he pretty much barred her from any area he would be in."
So here you were, walking to his lab, ready to give him an earful for pushing aside his job just because you weren't there.
Even if the thought of that made your heart flutter.
"Valko!" you yelled out into his large lab. Maneuvering through the mess of technology and testing areas you couldn't wrap your head around. You heard a clatter in a far corner of the room, then footsteps running towards you. You see him come quickly around a corner, eyes gleaming behind glasses, lab coat falling off of his shoulders, a smile so big you could see all of his pearly whites.
"You're back!" He runs up to you and almost tackles you as he hugs you. Heat radiating off of him, strong arms holding you so tight it steals the air right out of your lungs.
"You have no idea how badly I missed you." He pulls you back, a smile reaching his crinkled eyes.
"I went a whole year without a vacation." You wiggled your way out of his hold. "And besides, how could you let someone mess up so much in just a week!"
Valko rubs the back of his neck. "The moment the smell of her perfume got stuck in my nose I refused to be within a ten foot radius of her."
"You could have yelled at her. Told her the rules. Now I'm stuck cleaning up the mess." You poke his chest, trying to take some of the frustration out on him.
He laughs and grabs your wrist, "Don't worry. You've got lots of people behind you ready to help. Including the one you are currently assaulting."
You scoff. "As if I could get through that wall of muscle." You pull a small box out of your purse and hold it out for him. "Here, I brought you back something."
He was excited as he grabbed the small black box and opening it. There laid a small metal brooch. It was the side profile of a wolf, its eye replaced with a yellow citrine jewel, the fur detailed and sharp.
"Your name means wolf right?" You speak, remembering when Valko told you the story of how he got his name. "I thought it would be a good match for you."
He looked at in awe, as if there was nothing more beautiful in the world. He placed it carefully back in the box, putting it to the side, and pulling you back in for a hug. This one much gentler.
"Thank you," he whispers to you. You freeze, unsure of how to react to this gentleness. Your stomach doing flips as he holds you for what feels like too long.
You pat his chest, "We should get to work."
You feel him nod, but not move. You could hear his heart beating. The thump-thump moving fast. Your own tried to mimic the speed and it just made your face warm.
"As an apology," Valko finally breaks the silence, "for all this work I unnecessarily caused, I'll treat you to dinner. Whatever you want."
He lets you go, turning you around quickly and walking in pace behind you towards the exit. You clear your throat.
"You better be prepared for an expensive place then."
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The next few days were a blur as you did damage control. Overtime was approved for everyone helping, lunches were ordered in as thanks, and you swore you would use your next bonus for some new shoes as you feared your current ones would give out at any moment.
By Friday everything had finally calmed down. Valko approved team leads to take their teams out for dinner and drinks. Several teams invited you to join them, but you declined. Keeping secret that the boss was personally taking you to a private restaurant you would never normally be able to go to.
The restaurant was Japanese style, holding private rooms with tatami mats, comfortable sitting pillows, and low tables. The scene reminded you of some manga scenes you read. It made you giddy.
"Interesting place you decided," Valko says as he takes off his suit jacket. The large room felt much smaller with his large frame. One knee bent for him to lean on while the other stretched out under the table. It reached all the way to your side.
You sat with your legs tucked to the side of you. Leaning on the table as you read the menu. Each multicourse meal looking and sounding exquisite, and of course with no prices.
"Do we each get our own meal or is it for the both of us?" You weren't sure how places like this worked.
"We can each get our own thing." He rearranges himself so he can lean across the table to look at the menu with you. "Doesn't matter to me though, as long as there's plenty of meat."
You roll your eyes, mumbling something about him already being a meathead. Then looked over the alcohol menu after deciding what to eat.
You earned this. You think to yourself as you prop yourself up on the table with one hand.
You were fairly drunk. How could you not be after ordering top shelf liquor. You sighed sweetly, feeling very content with how it all was going.
You look over at Valko as he read over the dessert menu. He had loosened his tie, unbuttoned the cuffs on his shirt to roll up his sleeves to just above his elbow. You could see the veins in his forearm. You unconsciously rubbed your thighs together as you recalled the feel of them around you.
"The chocolate cake sounds really good." He says as he looks towards you. "Or maybe the tiramisu?"
You hum. "Both sound good."
He raises an eyebrow at you. "You good over there?"
You wave your hand at them. " 'm fine. Why not just get both?"
He chuckles as he tosses the menu on the table. "Maybe we should skip dessert for tonight. Let me get you home pup."
"No!" You pout. "I wan' dessert!"
"I know, I know." He reaches over, not needing to even bend over to pinch your cheek. "I promise to make it up to you."
You smack his hand away, ready to throw a tantrum until you feel the room shift. You catch yourself before you fall on the floor. You blush at your clumsiness and agree.
You lean against him as he walks you to his car. The leather seats feel cool against you, and you feel your eyelids grow heavy. When he gets into the drivers seat he leans over to help you put your seatbelt on, and you catch his scent.
"You know...you always smell really good." He halts in his tracks at your statement. He looks at you, his face mere inches from yours. "I think about it a lot."
You fall asleep. Missing the way his face turns red and how he gently brushes your hair behind your ears.
"You have no idea what you do to me pup." He whispers to himself, taking a deep breath of your scent before driving off.
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