Christ, what had gotten into Rafe?
He’d had no shortage of women throwing themselves in his path from the time they were teens, yet Aric had never seen his best friend pay more than passing attention to any single one. Now, after a handful of days, he only had eyes for this soft-spoken Irish beauty.
Aric practically snorted at how ridiculous it seemed.
Until he considered the woman he currently held in his arms.
But whatever was going on between Kaya and him was different. She was no meek flower in need of rescuing. She was a tough, ambitious woman. Fiercely independent, formidable.
He liked that about her. Hell, he respected her as much as any other warrior he knew.
And yes, he wanted her.
Of all the complications his detour to this city might have posed for him, Kaya Laurent had been the one he’d least expected.
She seemed determined to avoid his gaze now, keeping her attention rooted on Mira and Kellan who swayed on the makeshift dance floor only a few yards away. “They make it look easy, don’t they?”
Aric didn’t suppose she was talking about dancing. Not the way her eyes followed the mated pair, a tender awe in her expression.
“It wasn’t easy getting here, though. First they had to come through fire together,” he reminded her. “But yeah, their bond is stronger than anything that could ever come between them again. Even death.”
She gave a small nod. “If I didn’t know them--if I didn’t see Mira and Kellan together the way they are after all they’ve been through--I wouldn’t think that kind of love was possible. Not in real life, anyway.”
“My parents have it,” Aric pointed out. “My sister and her mate too.”
“But not you.” Slowly, Kaya’s gaze swung back to him. “Why haven’t you found someone yet?”
“I haven’t been looking.” As he spoke, her deep brown eyes held him with a vulnerability that devoured every cynical remark or feeling that he might have reached for in the past to explain why he preferred casual encounters over anything that might last. He lifted his hand and stroked the silken side of her face. “Maybe I haven’t been looking in the right places.”
She went still in his arms, silent for the longest moment. “What are you doing?” There was wariness in her voice, even a note of anger. Although she’d stopped dancing with him, she didn’t draw out of his embrace. “What are we doing, Aric?”
“I thought we were trying to decide whether to finish this dance or end it and say goodnight.”
He wasn’t merely talking about moving together on a dance floor, and she knew it. Her guarded gaze said it all. “Don’t you mean good-bye? You’re leaving Montreal as soon as you can.”
“Yes. I am,” he admitted. “I’ve been getting the feeling you might be happy to see me go.”
The fact that she didn’t answer right away took him aback. When she finally did speak, her voice was barely a whisper. “I can’t do this with you, Aric. I want to go back inside now.”
Her eyes said just the opposite. So did the small, jagged sigh that escaped her parted lips.
“No, you don’t. That’s not what you want.” He shook his head, refusing to believe her lie. “You’re still in my arms. You don’t want to run away from me any more than I want you to.”
He knew he was right when he gently cupped her face and instead of protesting, she murmured his name like a plea.
Like a softly uttered prayer.
He bent his head and she met him more than halfway, their mouths coming together in a kiss that was both tender and explosive. The connection blazed through his senses like a wildfire. He didn’t want to release her, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that they weren’t alone on the terrace.
He broke away on a low curse, his amber-lit eyes bathing her face in an unearthly glow. There was no denying his desire for her. It was there in his transformed, heated gaze, and in the fullness of his fangs, which throbbed with the same intensity of the arousal now straining behind the zipper of his dark jeans.
“I’m afraid,” she whispered, so quietly it almost wasn’t a sound at all.
Aric knew what it cost her to say that. Kaya Laurent was a warrior at heart. She didn’t need the Order to tell her as much. Aric didn’t need anyone to confirm that about her, either. He saw her bravery and resilience in everything she did. But especially in this moment, in the wake of that soft confession.
She was tough and indomitable, yet he held her like glass in his arms now, certain that beneath the strong exterior was a woman who’d been broken in more ways than she would ever admit.
He kissed her again, then ran the pad of his thumb over the glistening softness of her lips. “Come with me, Kaya.”
It was more question than demand. He had to allow her that, because if she stepped away from this terrace with him, they both knew where the night was going to lead.
She stared into his eyes in silence.
Then she slipped her hand into his.
CHAPTER 12
Kaya didn’t look to see if Mira and Kellan were watching as she and Aric stopped dancing and slipped away from the terrace together. The moment felt too personal, no room for anyone else’s eyes or judgment.
Right now, it was only Aric and her.
No room for the reality of the fact that his life waited in another city, while her future with the Order teetered precariously here in Montreal.
He picked up the blanket Siobhan had left behind on the terrace, then walked Kaya out onto the lawn. The mansion was built on a large, woodland hill. The forest of tall pines and enormous maple and oak trees provided seclusion for the command center, as well as acres of privacy for training exercises and other Order business.
Aric led her into the dense woods, walking what seemed to be a deliberate path.
“Where are we going?”
A smile curved his sensual mouth. “You’ll see.”
In a few minutes, they reached the summit and a steep ledge of granite that overlooked the city below. The tree line stopped only a couple of yards short of the edge, which provided an unparalleled view of Montreal’s lights and the wide river that cut through it in the distance.
Kaya turned a surprised look on him. “You know this place?”
“When I was a kid my family used to visit Niko and Renata and Mira here in the city. Every chance I got to explore these woods, I’d end up here. There’s no view like this anywhere else.”
She laughed softly and shook her head.
“What’s so funny?”
“This is my favorite place in all the world. Whenever I need time and space to think, I come up here.” She gave his hand a little tug. “Come on. The best spot to sit is right near the edge.”
He followed her out of the woods and into the open air on the ledge. They spread the blanket on the last few feet of smooth stone before the granite shelf ended in a sheer drop several hundred feet down.
Kaya sat down in the center of the small patch of wool, her legs stretched out in front of her. Aric joined her, leaving barely an inch between them and resting one arm over his updrawn knee. With the moon and stars above them and Montreal’s glittering lights scattered in the distance below, neither of them spoke for a while.
Maybe it should have been awkward, coming out here with the knowledge that she would soon be undressed beneath this Breed male with him inside her, but she felt only calm when she looked over and saw Aric seated next to her.
It felt safe, perched at the edge of a lethal drop next to a man she barely knew and dared not trust.
Not beyond tonight, anyway.
Nothing could touch her up here. This hill had been a beacon for so much of her life, the only steady thing she had. Tonight it didn’t only belong to her, but to Aric too.
Tonight, it belonged to both of them.
And maybe that’s why she felt comfortable giving him a small piece of her truth.
“When I was little, my mom used to tell me that terrible monsters lived on
this hill. She said they had hideous, sharp teeth and liked to eat children.”
Aric glanced at her, his brows raised. “Not a fan of my people, I take it?”
“Not really,” she replied, more understatement than he could possibly know. “I was so terrified from the stories she told me, I used to look up at this hill and wonder if anyone was sitting up here, looking at me too. Monsters waiting to swoop down into the city and chew me up. She made sure I believed every awful thing she said. She thought it was funny that I was so afraid. I don’t think she was ever satisfied until I was crying or hiding in a corner somewhere begging her to leave me alone.”
“Sounds like some great parenting skills.”
“She was an awful, hateful person,” Kaya admitted, no varnish on that truth. “From all I know of her, she was making bad choices from the time she was a teen. Apparently, things didn’t get any better after she became a mother. Some of my first memories of her were watching her either passed out or sticking a needle in her arm. We were homeless more often than not. That is, when she wasn’t shacking up with some gangbanger or john she’d just met.”
Aric’s eyes were solemn, but not pitying. Thank God for that. “I’m sorry. No kid deserves that kind of childhood.”
She shrugged. “I survived. More than I can say for her. She was dead by the time I was sixteen.”
“Overdose?”
Kaya shook her head. “One of her boyfriends beat her to death over twenty dollars she stole from his wallet. Even though I hated her, she was still my mother. I tried to defend her. I’m only lucky he didn’t decide to kill me too. But he did . . . other things.”
“Ah, Kaya. Christ.” Anger blazed in Aric’s eyes. “Who is this son of a bitch? Tell me and you know I’ll deal with him.”
“There’s no need,” she admitted tonelessly.
Still, his rise to her defense melted a lot of the cold that lingered inside her whenever she reflected on her past. But she wasn’t looking for a hero. She’d learned a long time ago that she was the only person she could ever count on.
“Mom’s boyfriend had a fetish for weapons. And because I lived in fear of monsters attacking in the middle of the night, I made sure I knew where he kept the key to the gun cabinets.” She glanced at Aric. “He’ll never hurt anyone ever again.”
He stared at her, a look of grim understanding in his eyes. “Do you have any idea how much courage that took, doing what you did?”
“Courage?” She scoffed lightly. “I was scared to death.”
“Yes. And you acted anyway.” He reached out, cradling her cheek in his palm. “What about now? Are you still afraid of the monsters that live on this hill?”
“No.” She turned her face into the warmth of his hand. “After that day, I wasn’t afraid of anything. I lived on the street for a while, bounced around with people I knew . . . people I thought I knew. Eventually, I ended up on this hill. I slept up here for two nights, waiting for the monsters inside the mansion down below to come out and kill me while I slept. Maybe I was daring them to. They never did.”
Aric cocked his head, silently considering. “Nothing gets past Niko, so I’m sure he knew you were up here.”
Kaya nodded. “When I woke up that first morning, someone had covered me with a blanket and left a backpack with food in it. The second day, I found a business card for a private youth shelter in town, run by an old man named Jack.”
“Anna’s Place?”
“That’s right.” Kaya stared at him, astonished. “How did you know?”
“I’ve heard Renata mention it once or twice. She spent some time at Anna’s Place when she was a kid too. Jack means a lot to her.”
“I didn’t know that,” Kaya murmured. “And, yeah, Jack was a good man. One of the kindest I’ve ever known. I heard he passed a few years ago, but the shelter is still up and running.”
Aric grunted. “Got a feeling I know who might have a hand in that.”
Kaya looked at him in question. “You don’t think Renata and Niko--”
“Wouldn’t surprise me at all. I don’t know the details, but to hear them talk, they credit Jack for saving both their lives back when they first met.” Aric stroked her cheek as he spoke. “What about you? How long did you stay with Jack at the shelter?”
“Not long.” Kaya shrugged and drew out of his touch, uncomfortable with the return to her own past. “I had to leave after a couple of months.”
“Had to leave?”
“Decided to leave,” she amended, trying her best not to squirm beneath the careful weight of his stare. “I didn’t belong there. I didn’t want to bring any trouble to Jack’s doorstep.”
“Trouble from the people your mom had been involved with?”
“I guess so.” She’d already said too much about her past and the people who inhabited it. If she kept talking, eventually she would have to start lying to him and that was a line she refused to cross. “I’d rather not think about that time in my life. It’s behind me now. That’s where I want it to stay.”
“All right.” His deep voice was quiet, but his eyes hadn’t yet released her. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy being alone at such a young age. I’m glad you had someone like Jack to look out for you, even for a couple of months. And I’m glad you had Nikolai and Renata looking out for you here on this hill too.”
“So am I.” Kaya stared out at the endless night sky and the glowing city lights in the valley below. “That first night I sat up here by myself, terrified of what I’d done, I realized it didn’t matter whether you were born human or Breed. The only real monsters were the ones who live to hate and hurt other people. I decided then and there if I was going to die for something, it was going to be fighting against those things. I suppose it’s ironic that the best role models I ever had for that were the warriors of the Order. About a year ago, I ran into Mira and her team on patrol in the city. She and I became friends right away. I admired her so much--envied her, really. I couldn’t have been more excited when she and Nikolai finally agreed to give me a chance to join the team.”
Aric leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. It was a chaste brush of his lips, but it touched her as deeply as the hottest meeting of their mouths. “You’re an amazing woman, Kaya Laurent. You’re also going to make one hell of a warrior. No, scratch that. You already are. The Order is lucky to have you.”
She smiled. “Is this the part where you try to make me feel good?”
His low, answering chuckle stroked her senses like velvet. “Yeah. This is that part.”
When she glanced at him, she found his eyes ablaze with amber sparks. Silently, he caught her around the nape and dragged her into a slow-burning, doubt-melting kiss.
Kaya reached for him, too far gone to pretend she had even the slightest trace of fear or reservation. They had made no promises to each other. No expectations that this desire that had erupted so swiftly between them stood any chance of becoming something more than just this one night.
She couldn’t give him anything more than that.
And he hadn’t asked her to.
He hadn’t demanded anything at all. His kiss right now was a study in control, too, despite that she could feel the power in his strong hands as he held her. She felt the sharp points of his fangs graze her tongue. Getting this close to the side of him that was pure predator and otherworldly should have given her some pause, but it only inflamed her more.
His fingers drifted along the side of her neck now, trails of heat radiating from his broad palm and long fingers. Her pulse throbbed as his thumb slowly caressed the sensitive skin below her ear. The unhurried melding of his lips against hers sent pleasure spiraling through her veins. It felt so good, heat pooled in her center, blooming into a deep, fierce yearning.
A growl rumbled in his chest before he tore his mouth away from hers. “Tell me if you don’t want this, Kaya. If you’re not sure--”
“I am.” She held his gaze, reaching up to stroke her fingers over his ri
gid jaw. “Right now, this is the only thing I’m sure of . . . that I want to be here with you. Just tonight.”
His eyes turned molten as she spoke, his pupils narrowed to thin black slits in the center of pure fire. His strong hands drifted to her shoulders, then down onto her breasts. Through the thin fabric of her shirt, her nipples peaked, the buds hard and aching as he kneaded each small mound.
Kaya moaned, wanting to feel more of his touch. She caught his hand in hers and guided him to the hem of her top. Aric understood what she needed, even without the use of the words she couldn’t find. His touch was sure yet tender as he unfastened the clasp of her bra and caressed her bare flesh with his heated palm.
Everywhere he touched her, she was in flames. He kissed a slow path up the length of her throat, then along her jaw line, until his lips found hers once more. Kaya welcomed his passion, opening to him as his tongue swept the seam of her mouth. He groaned as she sucked him in deeper, growled with pure male approval as she wrapped her fingers around the back of his head and held him more firmly against her mouth.
He caressed her naked breasts, then his hand slid down her belly and into the loose waistband of her jeans. His thick groan when he found her wet cleft vibrated all the way into her marrow. She shuddered, lost to the wicked pleasure of his fingers.
“You’re trembling,” he murmured, drawing away just far enough to study her face. “Am I going too fast?”
“No.” She shook her head, eyes riveted to all of the changes that were playing over his handsome, unearthly face and powerful body just from giving her pleasure. “You’re doing everything just right.”
Above the collar of his dark T-shirt and beneath the short sleeves that clung to the smooth power of his muscled biceps, Aric’s dermaglyphs pulsed with color. The Breed skin markings deepened from their normal golden hue to shades of burgundy, gold, and violet. Kaya ran her fingers along the swirling curves and tapered arches of his glyphs, awed by their inhuman beauty.
“I’ve never been this close to a Breed male before,” she admitted quietly. “I mean, not like this.”