by Adrian, Lara
Rafe murmured something to Siobhan, then the two of them got up and joined Mira and Kellan. Kaya watched them all for a while, desperately, achingly aware of Aric’s thigh pressed against hers on the bench they shared. His body heat seeping into her skin and bones, into the rush of blood racing through her veins.
She was relieved to see Torin and Bal get up from their places around the fire pit and saunter over to her and Aric. Webb had already disappeared into the night, going wherever it was he preferred to spend his time after hours.
The two warriors nodded to Aric as they approached. “We’re going to head back into the city to look for blood Hosts before the feeding curfew,” Bal said. “Care to join us?”
“No, thanks.” Aric’s reply was immediate. “I fed before I left London. I’ll be back in D.C. before I need to find a vein again.”
The two vampires glanced at Kaya. Torin had the audacity to wink at her. It was all she could do not to leap up and pummel the amused look off his face.
“You should go,” she told Aric as her comrades strode away. “You don’t have to keep me company. I was just about to turn in for the night.”
Aric smiled. “Always trying to get rid of me.” He rose, then held his hand out to her. “Come on, Mrs. Bouchard. As I recall, we never finished our dance.”
CHAPTER 11
For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Aric found himself holding Kaya close in his arms while a crooner waxed on about true love and happy-ever-after. Sappy, fairy tale sentiments that should have made his molars ache with their impossible sweetness. But it wasn’t his molars that ached while Kaya swayed against him.
Everywhere their bodies brushed, currents of electric heat crackled beneath his skin. Instead of making jokes or searching for other ways to demonstrate that he wasn’t susceptible to the kind of hearts-and-flowers weaknesses that seemed to have overtaken the other two couples dancing nearby, Aric found himself riveted to Kaya’s lovely face in the half-light on the terrace.
His veins pounded, a possessive need surging inside him as he moved to the tempo of the music and tried not to imagine how soft she felt, how the scent of her was making his mouth throb with the presence of his fangs.
Damn.
Maybe he should have gone with Mira’s teammates to look for a blood Host. It was true he wouldn’t need the nourishment for days, but that had little to do with the hunger he’d been battling since his first taste of Kaya. Kissing her that first time had been an impulsive mistake, though one he couldn’t seem to regret.
Kissing her again in the war room tonight had been worse than impulse or a mistake. It had been possessive, a compulsion he couldn’t have fought even if he tried. That need still raked him. Now, try as he could not to imagine the two of them naked and in a sweaty tangle, his mind refused to obey.
The fact that she seemed to meet him with equal passion each time they’d kissed only made his desire for her burn all the hotter. And now that she was in his arms again, it took everything he had just to keep that desire on a short leash. Especially when she gazed up at him, a note of pleasure in her dark brown eyes.
“Are you going to tell me what that cryptic smile is about or leave me guessing?”
She shrugged, still watching him with an avid interest that made his pulse kick into a higher gear. “I was just thinking that if things don’t work out for you with the Order, maybe you should take up ballroom dancing.”
He choked on a laugh. “Oh, thanks. Remind me never to come to you for career advice.”
Her smile flashed brilliant white, the joy on her face utterly captivating. “I’m serious. You’ve got some impressive moves.”
He grunted, arching a brow. “You haven’t even seen my best ones yet.”
With her face still lit with amusement, he spun her into a low dip. Her surprised squeal and burst of easy laughter drew the attention of their friends. Someone applauded, but Aric hardly noticed and didn’t care. Nor did Kaya, from the delighted look on her face as he brought her back up and held her close.
Her cheeks were bright pink, her dark eyes glittering along with her broad smile.
“Careful, now, or I might think you’re actually starting to have a good time.”
“I am.” She did a little jig in his arms, nodding toward her shoes. “I feel like I could dance all night. Thank you for asking Rafe to heal me. And thanks for standing up for me during the meeting with everyone too.”
Aric shrugged. “No thanks necessary for either one. Partners stick together.”
“Is that what we are now?”
He nodded, brushing a stray tendril of dark hair off her cheek. “For better or worse, Mrs. Bouchard.”
“Right,” she murmured. “Until D.C. do we part.”
He nodded, uncertain why the comment felt like a jab. Once his work for Nikolai was finished, he was leaving Montreal. Kaya had been making it fairly clear that she was as eager for him to go as he was. Perhaps more so.
They continued to dance in silence now, one slow song after another. Eventually, Rafe and Siobhan drifted quietly back into the mansion. Aric didn’t have to guess anymore if his friend was falling hard for the female. The truth of it had been written all over his face tonight.
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 g
etting 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?”
