I reached up, tracing my fingertip over the hard line of his jaw, over his bottom lip. A low growl rumbled from his chest, awakening every sleeping nerve in my body. “You too,” I said. “With me.”
He held my gaze, his eyes shuttering at the words between us. And as I stared into his eyes, I could see it…see everything. See the nights working side by side and the days sleeping together. I could see every passionate embrace, every laugh, every calm evening. All of it…a future. I could actually see one around all the agony and unknown of our current situation.
And the notion terrified me, taxed me with questions I didn’t and couldn’t have answers to. Namely my human lifespan and his very not human one.
I shoved every emotion storming me with unknowns down in a box.
“Tell me what you need,” he whispered, drawing me back to him.
“You,” I said. “Now.” I needed to get back to familiar ground—the place where Lachlan and I never had any doubts or questions or fears.
He growled as my fingers flew to his pants, unfastening them in a matter of seconds. I hopped off of him, shimming out of my clothes as he did the same. I pushed him back on the chair, and he smirked up at me as I straddled him.
I gasped at the hard length of him as it slid between my thighs.
“Fuck, Valor,” he hissed, nipping at my bottom lip. “You’re drenched for me.”
“Always for you,” I said against his mouth, slipping my tongue between his lips and tracing the edges of his teeth. He trembled beneath me, and I rocked my hips, teasing his cock as I slid over it without letting him in.
He skimmed his hands over my bare back, raising warm chills everywhere he touched. My heart ached from everything we’d talked about, and I couldn’t kiss him hard enough. Each time our mouths collided together, a bit of pain released from those dark spots in my heart.
And I needed more.
More of Lachlan.
More of this escape for both of us.
So I reached down between us and fisted his cock, situating him at my hot, aching core. I held his gaze, my breaths fast and tight between us, and I sank on top of him in one hard motion, taking him to the hilt so deep it hurt.
“Valor!” He hissed, and I dug my nails into his shoulders as I started to move on top of him.
“Damn,” I moaned at the way he filled me—too much and not enough at the same time. Never enough. I would never and could never get enough of him. “You feel…” I rolled my hips, lifting all the way up only to slam down on him again. My head fell back, a cry ripping from my lips.
“Amazing,” he growled and palmed my ass, taking over control of my movements. “Eyes on me,” he demanded, and I snapped my eyes to his. I tried to move on him again, but he held me absolutely still. We were chest to chest, nose to nose, and there was no escaping his burning gaze, not that I wanted to. But this…this pulsing, aching, tightening string of light between us roared all the louder as if now that we held nothing else back, it could fully shine and glow.
He moved me then, slow at first, then faster and faster. Using his leverage on my ass to up our pace, all while holding my gaze. He shifted beneath me, adjusting so he leaned back just enough to—
“Omigod!” I moaned at the small change in position and the way it had his cock sinking deeper and deeper with each time I rocked against him, hitting a spot so deep inside me I saw stars. “Lachlan,” I breathed his name as he used one hand to tease my clit and the other to keep control of my body atop him.
Heat danced and sparked beneath my skin, all of my muscles clenching as he pushed me toward that sweet edge. I reached behind me, yanking his hands up and positioning them on the arms of the chair. “Hold these,” I demanded, and fire ignited in his eyes. “Or I’ll spank you,” I teased. His lips turned up in a smirk, but he obeyed.
Me.
He obeyed me.
Because here, with him, I wasn’t a human with a traitorous past. I wasn’t an enemy.
I was his, and he was mine.
“Eyes on me,” I mimicked his earlier words, and then I lifted so his cock slid all the way out of me before slamming down and taking him to the hilt again.
And again.
And again.
Over and over until he gripped the arms of the chair so hard I heard the wood groan.
I switched paces, from slow and hard to fast and frenzied. I kissed and nipped at his chest as I moved on him, took all the liberties with his perfect body as he continued to hold the chair. Dizzy, the power over this male made me absolutely dizzy.
And soon, I couldn’t keep up the game. I couldn’t keep torturing him in the way he’d done to me so many times. My body demanded his, and I lost myself entirely to the instincts roaring in my soul.
I crashed against him, my body clenching tight.
“Fuck,” he hissed, his fangs descending. The sight made me liquid, and I grabbed the back of his neck, hauling him flush against my chest. “Valor?” My name was a question, and I answered by tossing my hair over my shoulder to expose my neck.
“Please, Lachlan,” I said, groaning while I still moved on him.
He hardened to another degree inside me, and my eyes rolled back in my head.
“Lachlan,” I moaned.
His hands flew to my back, supporting me as his fangs slipped into my flesh.
Stars burst behind my eyes with the flood of heat sizzling through every inch of my soul. I shattered into a thousand pieces of brilliant light, my heart soaring with each tug he took at the holes he’d created in my neck. His groan against my flesh sent me tumbling over the edge again, and my thighs trembled around his hips.
Lachlan jerked his head back, lips stained red with my blood as he roared, finding his own release inside me.
I fell over his shoulder, breathless against him as my heart beat wildly.
He ran his tongue over the wounds in my neck, and I shivered against him. His cock hardened inside me again, and I sat up, laughing. “Already?”
“Always,” he growled and slanted his mouth over mine. He tasted like him and me, and the combination made my head spin.
“Get on the bed, Lachlan,” I demanded, gently sliding off of him.
He arched a brow at me, his eyes lighting up with the demand in my tone.
“I owe you a spanking.”
15
Lachlan
“A hundred, easy,” Ransom said as we walked into the residence.
“I’d guess a hundred and fifty,” Benedict argued, raking his hands over his hair.
“Or more,” Hawke added.
My mind was already working, calculating odds based on what we’d just seen. It would take a full-on assault to breach the walls—
“Lachlan?” Valor asked, coming out of the library as we passed by, headed for the war room.
My heart clenched as she stood there, eyebrows raised in curiosity. “You guys head down. I’ll be right there,” I said to the guys, motioning for them to continue down the hallway. A few seconds later, it was just Valor and I standing on the hardwood.
The muscle in my jaw ticked as I clenched my teeth. Why was I delaying? Wasn’t this what we’d been working for the whole time? The obvious truth danced in front of me—the second I told her, it was the beginning of the end.
“What’s going on?” Her smile faltered as Alek walked by, giving us both a silent nod.
“We found Daphne.” The words tasted acidic, but they had to be said.
Valor’s eyes flew wide. “You did? Where? When? How?” She clutched my arms, and her heartbeat accelerated.
“Xavier called while we were out handling something else. One of his men stumbled onto a Sons facility in demon territory.”
“Where?” She swallowed hard.
“Over by the shipping yard, near the coast.”
“That’s why you’ve been gone all night,” she said softly, glancing toward the window. Dawn was only an hour, maybe two, away.
“Yes.” I rubbed the back of my nec
k, and her hand fell away. “Look. I know it’s your family, but any extra intel you might be able to give us would help.”
She opened her mouth like she thought about saying something, then closed it, her brow puckering. “I’ll help you in any way I can. Kyle is my family by blood, but not much else, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Daphne safe.”
I nodded, then took her hand in mine and pressed a kiss to her palm, breathing in her scent and committing every note of it to memory. Too soon, and she’d be gone. I needed to set up a safe house for her wherever she intended to settle. Needed to see to the security and access of the place. Even if she wasn’t my mate by choice, I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
“Come with me.” I barely recognized my own voice. It was so fucking tortured. Hold your shit together.
I walked her past the living room and down the long steps that led to our war room. “I’m trusting you, lass,” I whispered as I put my hand on the biometric scanner.
“I know,” she answered softly, stroking her thumb over the back of the hand that still held hers.
A click sounded as the giant door came unlocked, then swung open, revealing the war room.
“Damn, it’s like a safe,” she marveled, looking down at the various bolts that secured the door.
“It basically is a safe,” Alek said from the head of the table as Owen put two cups of steaming, black coffee next to my chair. “It’s designed to keep the royals and the families of the Order safe in the event of an attack.”
“Impressive.” Her eyes swept the interior quickly, then went wide as she took in the wall of computer monitors and the large map tacked to a bulletin board. “You’ve been holding out on me.”
I grunted.
“Can you blame us?” Benedict asked, shifting in his seat. “Your last name is Moorehouse.”
“It is,” she agreed softly. “But if that lock is anything like the one on Lachlan’s room, it probably would have let me in if I’d ever tried to access the room, right?”
“Yes,” Ransom agreed, leaning back in his chair to face us. “It recognizes you as Lachlan’s mate.”
A fierce jolt of protectiveness rattled through my system. She was my mate. The bond between us glowed so fucking bright it may as well have been paved in bricks and led the way to Oz. In that regard, she would always be mine, but in every other? I was hers.
“Right.” Valor nodded, leaning forward to study a monitor. “You found other facilities.”
Alek and I shared a look, then he nodded.
“Aye. You only know about the ones you’ve told us about. We’ve found them here and here,” I pointed to the monitor. “A weapons cache here. You already knew about the legitimate portions of the business here and here—”
“Oh God, did you…” She tugged her lower lip between her teeth as panic rolled off her, the scent of fresh cut grass flaring. “Did you…harm the businesses?” Her gaze flew to mine. “There are ordinary people working there. They have no clue what Moorehouse does, or the Sons.”
“They’re fine, lass.” I squeezed her hand. “We did some recon on the businesses but left them in place. They’re too valuable for potential future intel, and regardless of what you may think of us, we don’t harm civilians. Ever.”
“I know,” she whispered, worry flickering through her eyes. “I just…” She sighed.
“Trust but verify. I get it.” I leaned forward and brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Come sit.”
Benedict vacated the chair next to me, and Valor took it. I passed a cup of the coffee her way, and we began.
“Here’s where we stand.” Ransom typed on the laptop in front of him, and the monitors on the wall changed. “This is everything we know about Edgemont BioMed.” Pictures filled the screens, and a map blew up on the right monitor. “The building was bought five years ago by a trust. The law offices of Bryson, Craftsman, and Williams are listed as trustee—”
“As in Carson Williams?” Valor leaned forward, bracing her elbows on the table.
“Yes,” Ransom nodded.
“He was one of my father’s attorneys at Pratt and Goldstein but left that practice years ago.” Her brow puckered. “You think he started up a practice of his own?”
“Yeah, and took on a whole other branch of your father’s business,” Ransom answered.
Disbelief washed over Valor’s features. “Sorry, I just thought I knew pretty much everything about the business—the setup, at least. I’m a little surprised, that’s all.”
“Don’t blame you,” Alek said, crossing one ankle over his knee and leaning back. “Operations like this would divide up the intel. I’m sure you knew a few things your brother didn’t and vice versa. It’s probably one of the reasons they want you back so badly.”
Valor nodded.
She’d already told me as much.
“Okay. So Edgemont BioMed?” she asked, squaring her shoulders.
Fuck, I was proud of her. You could throw a tank in Valor’s path, and she’d only gawk for a second before finding a way around it. Her resilience and determination were incredible. My chest practically caught on fire with how much I loved her.
I’d made my peace with the emotion sometime in the last week, once I’d realized that loving her didn’t weaken me. She was already my weak spot and had been since the day I’d seen my mark on her neck. Loving her didn’t change that. It only made me that much more determined to keep her safe.
“That’s the facility Xavier brought to our attention,” I answered. “It’s located on the shore, about five miles outside the city limits, and it looks to be comparable to the compound where Lyric was held. The security is thick, patrols don’t gap, and the walls appear to have iron rods.
She nodded. “That’s standard practice. There will also be traces of rubies, steel, and silver nitrate.”
A corner of Hawke’s mouth drifted upward. “You do know that lycans can’t be harmed by silver unless it comes in direct contact with their skin, right?”
“Well, I do now.” She rolled her eyes. “But before I got my permanent tourist visa here in Vampire-ville, I had no clue. The only information we had was what was passed down through journals, and though some supernaturals, like the demons who attacked Lyric, might have been willing to go against him”— she motioned at Alek — “they didn’t betray their own kind, so we didn’t exactly get a lot of tips on how to take down a particular species.” Red crept up her neck, but she kept her chin high. “And yes, I know how fucking callous that sounds—”
“Stop,” Alek ordered. “No one in this room cares about what you’ve done in the past. All that matters to us is who you are moving forward.”
The group grunted in agreement, me included.
“Thank you,” Valor whispered, then cleared her throat and leaned forward slightly, focusing in on an aerial shot Ransom had pulled off some server. “Wait. Shit. Ransom, can you blow that up?”
“She’s talking about the drone shot,” I added. It wasn’t like everyone in the room was so in tune with everything that captured my mate’s attention.
“Gotcha.” Ransom clicked on his keyboard, and the photo took over the largest monitor.
“Oh shit,” Valor whispered, her gaze scanning the photo. “They actually built it.”
“You’re going to have to be a bit more forthcoming than that, lass.” My whole body tensed at the apprehension I felt on the other side of our bond.
“I may have designed that compound. A long time ago.” She shook her head. “You can’t get in there. It’s physically impossible. See those?” She pointed to a row of buildings. “Those are supposed to be barracks. There will be at least a hundred and thirty men there at all times.”
“You have an army,” Hawke said, a note of amusement in his voice. “Look, Lachlan, she’s a general just like you.”
“Used to,” she snapped his way. “And yes, the Sons have soldiers, but I never saw any of the facilities actually being built. If they built this t
hing, it’s pretty much impregnable.”
“Fun times,” Benedict drawled. “I was wondering when it was going to get interesting around here.”
“Where’s the easiest approach?” I asked.
She sighed, studying the photo, then shook her head. “Probably over there, where the gate opens to let the trucks in. Lachlan, this isn’t just a facility. It’s a munitions plant. See those greenhouses?”
My stomach hit the fucking floor. Valor wasn’t just good at everything she did, she was fucking phenomenal, so naturally the plans she’d drawn up to bring us all down would be just as foolproof.
“That’s all Night Thistle?” Ransom asked, the color fading from his face.
“That whole greenhouse is likely to be Night Thistle, but trust me, that’s not all of it. Every family in the Sons has their own system for growing it, but my family focused on militarizing it.”
“And how close to that antidote did Gabriel say we are?” Benedict asked.
“Another six months to mass produce it,” Alek answered.
“How sure are you that she’s in there?” Valor asked me directly.
The hope in her eyes nearly undid me. “Very.” Xavier had provided photos, not that I was going to show those to her. There was no reason to upset her further. “We’ll have her back in twenty-four hours, Valor.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s not going to be easy.”
“That’s why we’re moving tomorrow night. Xavier offered some of his men, and our troops are already preparing. We’ll overwhelm them by sheer numbers if nothing else.”
Her lips parted. “You’re going for a full-on assault? What if they see you coming and kill her?”
“An assault is the only way we’re getting through those gates, lass,” I said as calmly as I could manage. “There are no gap in the patrols. We can’t wend into the building. They’ll see us coming whether there’s five or fifty of us. I’d rather have the numbers in that case.”
She visibly struggled with that thought. “Okay, well, how about we sneak first, then fall back on the whole D-Day scenario. My retina scan might still unlock—”
Crimson Highlander: An Onyx Assassins Novel Page 18
