by Adrian, Lara
“Does she know about your mission for the Order?”
“No. That part of my cover is intact. As far as she knows, I want to take Opus out for my own personal reasons.”
Lucan grunted. “I don’t think that’s all too far from the truth.”
“No, sir. You know I want to redeem myself. I’ve never made a secret of that. But my loyalty is with the Order. I’m not going to let you down again.”
“You didn’t let us down in Montreal, Rafe. That’s a burden you placed on your own shoulders.” Lucan studied him for a long moment, his brows flat over his measuring gaze. “This is your mission, Rafe. As long as you don’t compromise your cover with her, I’m going to let you call the shots where this female is concerned. But understand, that means you’ll live with the results.”
“Yes, sir.”
“So, what do you recommend we do about Devony Winters?”
Rafe knew all it would take was a word and Lucan would ensure she was placed under Order protection somewhere out of the blast range of Opus or anyone in their circle. She would be safe. She would be out of his way, somewhere he didn’t have to think about the prospect of her getting hurt or distracting him from his goal.
But all of those things would come at a price.
And as much as he wanted to think their partnership wasn’t real, the warrior in him recognized he wasn’t going to find a stronger ally in this quest.
“Devony stays. She’s mine to look after.”
Lucan gave him a grave nod. “All right, son. She’s yours.”
As he spoke, a chime went off on one of the devices on his desk. He glanced at it and scowled, a look of true concern on his face. His low, whispered curse spoke volumes.
“Is something wrong, sir?”
He started to shake his head, then slowly exhaled and met Rafe’s stare through the monitor. “We’ve been dealing with an issue in Europe for the past few days. It concerns the team doing some black ops work near Budapest.”
“Micah’s team,” Rafe said. He recalled that another of the Order’s elders, Tegan, had only recently come back from that region where his son had been deployed. “What’s going on?”
Lucan gave him a sober look. “Micah’s team went dark the other day.”
Holy hell. Rafe felt a jab of worry, even dread, for one of his closest friends. “Do you mean they’re MIA?”
“We’re not ready to call it that yet.”
But he didn’t have to. Rafe could see the truth in Lucan’s shadowed expression. No wonder he and Chase and Gideon had barked at him the other night for reporting in late. It wasn’t often the Order had to deal with the loss of one of their own, never mind an entire team that included a family member.
“Go take of your business, son. As soon as you have something solid to move on, you let me know. We’re going to get this done. I’ll be damned before I accept the alternative.”
CHAPTER 15
Rafe strode into Asylum around nine o’clock that night and headed to the pool tables in back where Cruz’s text had directed him to go.
The gang looked like they’d been there for a while, already settled in at one of the far banquettes with a round of beers half-consumed between them and a game of eight-ball nearing its completion on the billiards table.
Devony was with them, too, dressed in that hot-as-fuck black leather motorcycle jacket and a pair of dark jeans and high-heeled boots that made her legs look like they went on for days. Now, the sight of her in her long-sleeved turtleneck made him as hard as he would be if he saw her standing there in lacy lingerie. Mainly because he had no need to imagine what she was hiding under all of her concealing clothes.
He had touched every inch of her.
Had tasted every sweet curve and crevice.
She met his gaze across the tavern and he felt it as powerfully as if she’d wrapped her hand around his cock.
A private smile tilted her lips before she abruptly glanced away from him—and not before he glimpsed the faint flicker of amber sparks dancing in her eyes.
His own gaze crackled with heat too. He masked it with bravado, swaggering past the tables of bar patrons and ignoring the flirty feminine stares and whispers that followed in his wake. He didn’t give a shit about any of the would-be blood Hosts or other women who tried to catch his attention.
There was only one female in the place who stirred his interest. The one doing her best to pretend he didn’t exist as he walked up and knocked fists with the guys standing around the pool table.
Fish was sporting a flashy new watch on his wrist. Ocho and Axel were both garbed in gaudy designer shirts that Rafe guessed must have come from the Fall Collection for douchebags. Cruz had opted for a less overt display of his recent windfall, but Rafe didn’t miss the diamond pinky ring sparkling on his left hand.
“Someone’s been doing a little shopping, I see.”
Fish grinned, holding his arm up to show off the new hardware. “Set me back twenty-five large, but ain’t it sharp?”
Rafe played along, nodding as if he were impressed. “Nice.”
“Already got my eye on an upgrade once we collect on our next job.”
“Yeah?” His curiosity piqued, he glanced at Cruz. “Sounds like something big.”
“It is,” Fish further volunteered, keeping his voice to a conspiratorial level in spite of the music drowning out most of the conversation in the place. “We’ve been sitting on this one for weeks, just waiting on a go-time. Right, Cruz?”
Rafe had hoped it wouldn’t take long to hear something about the job Devony had alerted him to. Based on the gang leader’s cautious gaze as it cut away from Fish, it seemed he was in luck.
“I’m intrigued,” he told Cruz. “However you can use me on this, count me in.”
A tight nod. “We gonna finish this game, or what?”
They returned to their places around the pool table. Rafe hung back, watching as Axel took his shot. He sank a couple of stripes for Fish and himself before losing his turn to Devony on the opposing team with Ocho.
Thank fuck for loud sound systems and poor human hearing, because there was no curbing the low, possessive animal growl that boiled out of Rafe’s throat as he watched her grip the long cue and bend over the edge of the table in front of him to take her shot.
She was all business about the game, not doing anything designed to make him squirm, but damn if he could keep his cock from standing at attention. Behind the flat line of his lips, he clenched his molars together and struggled to keep his fangs from erupting out of his gums. Sparks danced in his field of vision as she shifted her stance on those spike-heeled boots, then struck with her cue.
Balls nicked against each other, followed by the clean thump of the red solid dropping into the pocket she’d called. Axel and Fish groaned, realizing they were all but beaten now that she had control of the table.
“Impressive,” Rafe murmured as she walked past him on her way to set up her next move. And he wasn’t talking about her precision-perfect shot.
She gave him a private little smile. “You game to try me? Once I clean up here, I’ll be happy to take a turn running you around the table too.”
He arched a brow. “That could be interesting.”
“Very.” She kept walking, smoothly heading to the other side of the table.
With his erection straining behind his zipper, Rafe tugged his jacket down, and leaned his back against the wall to watch the final rounds of play.
Cruz flagged a waitress and ordered another round of beer for the group. Then he sauntered over with his near-empty mug in hand. He glanced toward the pool table for a moment before settling in beside Rafe.
“Looks like Brinks is starting to warm up to you.”
“Think so?” Rafe shrugged. He knew their conversation had been well out of earshot of the man, but he couldn’t feign indifference when it came to a knockout like Devony and expect to be believed. “She’s not hard to look at, is she? I mean, despite all the razo
r-wire in her attitude.”
Cruz chuckled. “When a bitch looks as good as her, who cares about attitude? In the end, they all fuck the same. Some like her just need to be slapped around awhile first, show them who’s really in charge.”
Rafe felt his lip curl back from his teeth, a smile that was far from friendly.
Not that the gang leader noticed the difference. He relaxed next to him and drained the last of his beer. “So, you asked about the gig we’ve got coming up.”
Rafe gave a curt nod, still incapable of a reply when disdain for the man had his fangs cutting into his tongue. It took Herculean effort to bring his Breed nature to heel and keep his fists away from Cruz’s ugly face while the guy kept talking.
“Like Fish said, we’ve known it was in the pipeline for some time. I’ve got it on good authority that everything’s almost in place.”
“Good authority, meaning LaSalle?” Hardly a need to ask, and Cruz’s flat stare was confirmation enough. “What kind of job are we talking about?”
“Merchandise pickup,” he said. “The goods are on the move as we speak, heading for Conley Terminal from overseas. They’re expected to arrive tomorrow night. Customs agents will have already been paid off and turning a blind eye, so all we need to do is be there to intercept the merchandise and reroute it to our client.”
“Intercept and reroute. Meaning we’re going to steal it.” Rafe frowned. “Steal it from who? What is the merchandise we’re grabbing?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. You don’t need to worry about where we get our orders, either. You’re getting paid for your muscle and your other Breed skills, that’s all.”
Rafe grunted, about two seconds away from punching the dirtbag in his sneering face. “How much are we talking about on this job?”
“Three-quarters of a mil. Split five ways.”
“Don’t you mean six ways?”
He shook his head. “I mean five. We don’t need Brinks on this one.” The gang leader’s thin lips flattened in a cold smile within his goatee. “Now that we’ve got you to break us into anyplace we need to go, we don’t need her at all anymore.”
Shit. He didn’t like the idea of Devony being mixed up with lowlife criminals like these, but he wasn’t ready to lose his sole ally. She wasn’t going to like any of this, either.
“We’ll meet at Ocho’s tomorrow night and go from there,” Cruz said. “I’ll message you as soon as I get word that we’re on.”
Rafe nodded, but his attention was somewhere else. He surreptitiously glanced Devony’s way, just in time to see her slam the eight-ball into the corner pocket for the win. With Ocho hooting over their victory while Fish and Axel hurried to rack up another game for a rematch, Devony murmured that she was done playing and was going to the bar for something stronger than beer.
Rafe watched her cross the tavern. Her stride was swift and purposeful, but he knew her well enough to recognize when she was upset. No, she was flat-out furious. He had no doubt she heard every word Cruz said.
Bypassing the bar, she headed into the short hallway toward the restrooms.
Fresh beers arrived for the gang as Cruz moved over to the pool table to team up with Ocho against the other pair.
Rafe clapped Cruz on the shoulder as if they were old friends. “I’ll be back in a few. All this drinking is making me thirsty, and there’s a hot little blonde at that far table over there who looks like she’s eager to help me out.”
The gang chortled. Rafe left them behind and swaggered over to one of the human females who’d been undressing him with her eyes since he walked in. She couldn’t get off her chair fast enough when he curled his finger at her in invitation.
Wrapping his arm around her bony shoulders, he ushered her past the bar and into the hallway where Devony had disappeared a moment ago.
A small pack of women stood chattering and applying their makeup in the cramped ladies’ room when Rafe stepped inside.
“Out,” he commanded in a growl, his fangs bared. They fled at once. He mentally locked the door behind them and held it there.
Then he turned to the woman staring up at him with lust-filled eyes under his arm. He put his hand on her forehead. “Sleep.”
She slumped into an immediate trance that wouldn’t lift until he willed it to.
Rafe brought her into the largest of the three empty stalls and seated her ragdoll body on the toilet.
Only one stall had its door closed. Devony opened it from inside. She stood there, fully clothed and fuming, her booted feet planted wide, arms crossed over her breasts and her eyes blazing amber in her outrage.
“He thinks he can screw me over?” The tips of her fangs glinted with each word. “He called me a bitch who might need to get slapped around a little? He has no idea what I could do to him. I want to kill that slimy bastard with my bare hands right now.”
No wonder she practically ran for the restroom. She was so pissed off, there was no way she could have hidden her true nature in public.
And damn if she wasn’t even more beautiful when she was snarling like a Valkyrie.
Outside the restroom door came the sound of tittering female voices. Someone tried the door, but it didn’t give. Rafe was still holding it closed with his mind.
“Out of order,” he growled, and the unwanted interruption went away.
He went back to the more immediate problem of Devony’s righteous anger. “Cruz is an asshole. You think I don’t want to park my fist in his chest cavity right now? Unfortunately, we need him. We need both him and Judah LaSalle alive and well until we can establish if there’s a link between them and Opus. We’re getting close. This big job could be the thing that gets us there.”
Nothing he said seemed to cool her fury. Her fangs filled her mouth, razor tips as bright and sharp as diamonds. Her pupils were slender vertical slits, surrounded by molten light. Rafe couldn’t see her dermaglyphs, but he knew the skin markings would be livid with color beneath her turtleneck and jeans.
Since he was a Breed male with red blood flowing in his veins, it was impossible for him not to take a moment to appreciate the otherworldly glory of Devony’s transformation. As a woman, she was stunning. As an outraged, indomitable Breed female, she was magnificent.
Ah, Christ. She was hot as fucking hell and what he wanted to do more than anything else right now was to feel her body crushed against his. He wanted to cool her anger by stoking a different kind of fire in her.
But then she narrowed her seething glare on him.
“I’ll bet you’re glad Cruz wants me gone, aren’t you?” She took a step forward, coming out of the stall and closing the short distance between them. “You’ve wanted me out of your way from the minute you showed up. Now, you’ve got it. Congratulations.”
“That’s not true.”
Over her searing stare, one brow lifted in challenge.
Rafe cursed and tried again. “All right, it was true. Everything’s different now. We’re a team, Devony.”
“Okay, then go back out there and tell Cruz you want me on that job tomorrow night.”
“If I do that, it’s only going to make him suspicious. You know that. He thinks you’re human. We need him to continue believing that until this is over. If we give him any reason to get skittish, he’ll tip off LaSalle and we’ll be starting all over again.” Rafe caressed the side of her face. “The job tomorrow isn’t as important as the intel we might take away from it. And I promise to share it with you. Partners, remember?”
Her breathing slowed from its furious gallop of a moment ago. She held his gaze, her forehead still furrowed as she considered everything he said.
Rafe couldn’t resist brushing his lips over hers. “Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are? I’ve been standing around out there with a raging hard-on ever since I walked in and saw you again. But right now?” He blew out a low breath and shook his head. “Right now, I don’t think I could keep my hands off you if Cruz and everyone else in the whole
fucking place tried to knock down that door.”
“Would it hold?”
Her saucy question went straight to his erection. “I’ll make damn sure it does.”
Moving closer to him, Devony gestured toward the stall where the tranced blonde was snoring quietly. “What about her?”
“The guys assume I’m somewhere tapping her vein. She’s out until I wake her.”
Devony made a purring sound as her hands waded into his hair. “Want to hear a secret? I was hoping you’d follow me back here. Because ever since you walked into this bar tonight, all I can think about is how long I’d have to wait before I could feel you inside me again.”
“Ah, fuck.” Rafe’s breath sawed out of him, raw and rasping. “I’m not going to let either one of us wait another goddamn second.”
He crushed his mouth against hers. Gathering her into his arms, he pivoted around with her, pulling her clear of the stalls and moving them both into the center of the small space in front of the sinks. Their hands moved greedily, frantically. Zippers rasped open. Jeans abraded skin as they were hastily pushed down off each other’s hips.
Rafe was hard as stone in Devony’s fevered grasp. On a groan, he slid his fingers into the cleft of her sex. Hot, liquid silk drenched her delicate flesh, slickening her folds. His hips pumped in reflex to the feel of all of that velvety wetness, his erection surging and rampant in the vise of her stroking hand.
He slipped a finger inside the tightness of her body. “You’re so soft here, baby. So ready for me.”
“Yes.” The word boiled from between her parted lips. She dropped her head back on a hiss, the tendons in her graceful neck pulled taut as she ground against his hand. Tiny muscles rippled along his fingers as he stroked into her. “Oh God, Rafe. I need you. I need this. Right now.”
His answer was a feral-sounding snarl. He needed her too. He needed everything with her.
