Break the Day Read online

  “She was,” Devony said. “She was the bravest woman I knew.”

  Tavia nodded. “I have a feeling she would say the same thing about you, if she were here to see you now.”

  Devony swal owed, emotion jamming in her throat at the sentiment, however unwarranted. She wasn’t brave. She was angry. She was hurting.

  She wanted to deliver pain—not only as retribution for her family now, but for how close she’d come to losing Rafe.

  And if Opus thought they could scare her away by torching her home tonight, al they had done was galvanize her need for vengeance into

  something stronger, steelier.

  And now, she had a partner in that battle.

  If it had to be the two of them against the rest of the world—even against the Order, if it should come down to that—she was ready for that fight.

  She was ready for anything, so long as Rafe was at her side.

  Breaking into her grim thoughts, Tavia leaned in and kissed her cheek. “We’l have time to talk some more after you’ve had a chance to settle in.”

  Devony managed a smile. “I hope so.”

  She closed the door behind the women, realizing just now how exhausted she truly was. And she smel ed awful, too. Al the death and violence

  she and Rafe had left behind in the city stil clung to her jacket, turtleneck, and jeans. A bath and a fresh change of clothes were more than a temptation; they were a necessity.

  She turned on the water to the large soaking tub and traded her clothing for the white silk robe Carys had given her. The cool, glossy fabric was pure decadence against her bare skin. With the warm water slowly gathering in the tub, she checked out the tal bottles of bath oil, settling on a rose-infused vanil a fragrance that smel ed almost good enough to eat.

  A quiet rap sounded on the door in the other room.

  She hurried out, expecting to find Carys or Tavia waiting on the other side.

  “Rafe.”

  She flew to him. She couldn’t have stayed out of his arms if her life depended on it. He stepped inside with her wrapped in his arms, and shut the door behind them, turning the lock with his mind.

  They had only been apart less than an hour since arriving at the Order’s mansion, but to her it felt like an eternity. After the night they had endured, she never wanted to be separated from him again.

  “I’ve been worried,” she whispered against his lips. “How did it go?”

  “I’m handling it.” He shrugged, dismissive of her concern as he continued to kiss her. “You look gorgeous in this. Smel like vanil a.”

  “Carys lent me a few things. I was just about to take a bath.” Her words were al but lost amid the fevered brush of his lips over hers.

  “I feel like I’ve been away from you for days.” He tipped her face up to his, a look of torment and wonder in his glittering aquamarine eyes. “Do you have any idea how much I need to feel you in my arms right now?”

  Breathless with desire, she shook her head. “Show me.”

  He frowned. “I’m covered in grit and grime. Christ, I smel like death.”

  “Do I look like I care?”

  She pul ed him down for her kiss. Her fingers tangled in his hair as her tongue sought his, their hot breaths mingling, bodies crushed together, held there by his strong arms.

  Devony whimpered, overcome by the flood of emotions that rushed up on her as Rafe kissed her senseless. She couldn’t explain her desperation

  for him. Somehow, the moment she saw him in the open doorway just now had felt so fragile—an il usion that could shatter with a single breath.

  Maybe it was the havoc of the past few hours that made her feel so breakable. Al of the death. So much ugliness and violence, topped off by a

  brutal demonstration of what it meant to make an enemy out of Opus Nostrum. And, then, the destruction of her home.

  But worst of al was the stark understanding that tonight she had likely been only minutes away from losing Rafe forever, if the liquid UV had been al owed to do its worst on him.

  God help her, she would never forget that awful feeling as long as she lived.

  The anguish swel ed inside her, a black tide of dread.

  “Hey.” Rafe pul ed back from their kiss, his brows knit. He gave a tight shake of his head. “Don’t think about what happened tonight.”

  He knew how bleak her thoughts had gone. Of course, he knew. He could feel her strongest emotions through the blood she had given him. Now,

  he always would.

  “Hey, look at me.” He stroked her brow, her cheek, her lips. Sparks danced and smoldered in his eyes. “I’m here. You’re safe, Devony. As long as I’m breathing, you wil be safe. I promise you that. Tonight, we’re together . . . because of you.”

  “Rafe.” His name was a sigh through her teeth and emerging fangs. That shivery breath melted into a moan as he lowered his mouth to hers

  again.

  Al of the trauma and worries incinerated under the heat of his kiss. But where their need for each other was so often an explosive one, tonight there was as much unhurried tenderness as there was unbearable desire.

  On a harsh groan, his lips moved away from hers, trailing down over the edge of her jaw and onto the sensitive column of her neck. Devony

  sucked in her breath, arousal spiraling through her. It twined with the powerful craving to feel his fangs sink into her bare flesh.

  He growled in response to the hot coil of her need. “Fuck, you’re kil ing me. I can feel everything.”

  She couldn’t help it. Couldn’t curb al the sensations he stoked within her. They climbed higher with every flick of his tongue and graze of his sharp fangs. Each caress of his hands over the silk covering her naked body licked through her like an open flame.

  “Jesus, Devony . . . you are amazing. So fucking beautiful.”

  He opened the robe and slid his hand onto her breast, kneading and stroking, pinching the pebbled nipple. His palm skimmed the front of her,

  down onto her abdomen as his tongue swept inside her mouth. She squirmed under his sensual assault, desire swamping her, pooling hot and

  wet in her core.

  And then he touched her there. His fingers delved into the cleft of her body, slipping through her juices, making the hard hammer of her pulse

  become a drumming roar. She pul ed in a sharp breath as he teased her clit and the sensitive flesh surrounding it. When he stepped back from

  her, she couldn’t hold back her protesting groan.

  “I wish you could see yourself as I am right now,” he rasped. He licked his lips as the heat of his glowing eyes raked every inch of her. Everywhere his amber-fil ed gaze touched her, she burned. He drank her in slowly, as if he had al night to savor every inch of her.

  God help her, she would never last.

  She took a step toward him and he shook his head, a wicked tilt to his sexy mouth. He pul ed his shirt off with impatient hands, tossing it aside. No trace of the UV burns remained on him anywhere now. Across his muscled chest and the ridges of his stomach, his glyphs roiled, alive with al the deep colors of desire.

  Behind the zipper of his black jeans, his cock strained, thick and strong.

  Devony’s vision burned even hotter as she studied him. Need rol ed through her, along with a surging wave of possessiveness. Mine.

  She didn’t know if she spoke the word out loud or merely thought it. Either way, it lived in her blood. It pounded through her veins and into al of her senses as he moved in close again and caught her face in his strong hands.

  “Yes,” he said, his blazing eyes locked on hers. “Mine.”

  He kissed her until she was breathless and quivering in his hands, then slowly sank down before her. “Open for me, baby.”

  His hand guided her thighs apart, his thumb flicking over the crest of her sex. Her clit was already engorged and aching for his touch. When he stroked his fingers over it, she nearly climaxed on the spot.

  A low purr vibrated deep in h
is throat as he pressed his lips to her. “I could get drunk on the smel of you,” he rasped, his hot breath skating over her sensitive flesh. “I already know how sweet you taste.”

  His head dipped between her legs. His mouth closed over her, his tongue delving into her folds. She cried out when he suckled the tight bundle of nerves nestled between them. The pleasure was searing, intense, wrenching a jagged moan from somewhere deep inside her.

  And Rafe’s mouth was relentless, merciless. She couldn’t slow down the mounting wave of release that crashed into her. She shattered against

  his tongue, one gale after another buffeting her as he held her against his mouth and wrung every last gasp and shiver from her body.

  She sagged forward as the tremors slowly began to ease.

  “You should’ve warned me you were going to do that,” she murmured, breathless as he rose to his feet. “I have a bath running. I should turn off the water before the tub overflows.”

  Rafe smirked. “I’ve got a better idea.”

  He scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the bathroom.

  CHAPTER 21

  Fragrant suds wreathed the spacious en suite, but the vanil a-and-roses oil Devony had put in the water had nothing on the intoxicating scent of her arousal. Or the taste of her release.

  Rafe’s veins pounded in response to her pleasure.

  Every cel in his body echoed with her climax, as powerful as if it had been his own.

  Fuck. He’d heard the blood bond was intense, but he hadn’t been prepared. He hadn’t been nearly prepared for the erotic pleasure of it, nor for the feeling of connection, completion.

  He hadn’t been prepared for Devony Winters, even before her blood was living inside him.

  Rafe set her bare feet down on the cool tiles of the bathroom. He expected to hastily strip out of his jeans and boots so they could pick up where they left off, but her hands were right there with him, tugging down his zipper as he got rid of the rest of his clothes.

  His cock was on the verge of exploding as she freed it from his pants and cupped the stiff shaft in her palms. His own hands shook as he shoved off his jeans and boxer briefs.

  Her tongue met his flesh and he hissed. “Ah, Christ.”

  She guided him to the tub with her, his erection held in her caressing hands. She sat on the wide marble edge in front of him, which put her mouth at the perfect angle to take him deep.

  And she did.

  Holy hel , she took him so ful y into her throat his vision spun behind his closed eyelids.

  On a grunt, he grabbed a fistful of her dark hair, winding his hand in the silky ropes. Her fangs abraded his tender skin—not enough to break the surface, but to drive him mad with the erotic scrape of the sharp points and the velvety wetness of her stroking tongue.

  At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.

  And he didn’t want to make this night about his pleasure. He wanted it al to belong to her.

  As a balm for everything she’d been through with him tonight.

  As a pledge for al the better things he wanted to give her.

  Mostly, as an apology for the honesty he’d withheld from her from the beginning, his devotion to duty even when his heart belonged to her.

  “Come here,” he growled, gathering her to him and lifting her off the edge of the large tub.

  She gave him a sexy smile. “Turnaround is only fair.”

  “Not tonight.”

  He kissed her deeply, slowly, the taste of him on her lips making his arousal spike like a jolt of electricity. He guided her into the tub and settled her on his lap, facing him.

  “You are so lovely, Devony.” He leaned in and kissed her, taking his time to explore every nuance of her sweet mouth.

  He cupped her face in one hand, while his other stroked her soft skin. Her glyphs felt hot and alive under his fingertips, and he indulged in an unhurried exploration of every arch and flourish.

  “So soft.”

  Her breast fil ed his hand, the nipple puckered and taut between his thumb and finger as he rol ed it just enough to wring a heated, broken cry from her lips. Her spine arched, thrusting her forward like an offering. He bent down so he could kiss al the places his hand had been, teasing the rosy peaks of each breast while his fingers slid into the water to stroke between her legs.

  Rafe had no restraint. Not with her. She made him crave too much. Things he didn’t deserve. Things he didn’t dare permit himself to consider.

  Like another hot taste of her blood.

  The first had been out of necessity. Now he craved more. God help him, he craved everything about her.

  But this wasn’t about taking right now. He wanted to give.

  He wanted to give her everything she could possibly want or need or desire, and not just for tonight.

  While that should scare him shitless, it didn’t.

  No, far from it.

  Sliding his palms beneath her backside, he pul ed her farther onto his lap. His cock jutted up out of the water and frothy suds. He lifted her, and together they settled her body over his.

  “Ohh,” she sighed, holding on to his shoulders as he pierced her. “So good.”

  Rafe had even fewer words than she did. He couldn’t hold back his tight groan as she sank down onto his length, inch by glorious inch. Her sheath gripped him, the plush wal s rippling with tiny tremors as they adjusted to accommodate his size.

  Devony’s lids slowly lifted, revealing the bright coals of her eyes. “Does it feel this perfect for you too?”

  “Better.” A growl curled up the back of his throat at her hungry look. He took a firmer hold of the curves of her ass, guiding her tempo as she began to rock against him.

  He felt her pleasure coil and loosen with each long, hard slide of their bodies together.

  He couldn’t get close enough to her. Not even when he was impaled within her completely, their pelvises grinding against each other.

  She moaned as their rhythm intensified. Rafe held her aloft in his palms, his arms doing the bulk of the work for both of them as she rode him. Her climax barreled up on her, spurring his own into a harder gal op. Lava roared into his veins. He couldn’t hold it back. Devony’s release hit at the same time his did, both of them crashing together, then splintering in a hot rush.

  He lifted his head to watch her come and found her staring at him. Her fiery eyes were fixed on his throat, her fangs sharp and gleaming as she shuddered with the force of her orgasm. He could never get tired of seeing her like this, her true nature on ful display for him, her passion

  surrendered to him with complete abandon.

  But the fevered look in her pleasure-drenched gaze was something else. Hunger. Blood thirst.

  He felt the razor edge of it. The dangerous intensity of her need.

  He felt the astonishing depth of her love . . . for him.

  It was a revelation, one that hit him with the force of a freight train. He stared at her, scowling to feel the tenderness of her affection braided inseparably with the intensity of her craving for his bond.

  She nodded, a sad smile tugging at her lips. “It’s true. I’ve fal en in love with you, Rafe. There’s no sense trying to pretend I don’t when I know you can feel it.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head. “You shouldn’t.”

  His own arousal twisted tighter, her vulnerability toward him stripping away his defenses. Not that he had many where this extraordinary woman

  was concerned.

  Devony Winters owned him. And everything male in him—everything Breed—responded with a savage need to possess her in every way.

  He lunged forward and took her in a hard kiss.

  “Fuck.” He pul ed back on a hiss. His fingers came away from his mouth stained with blood. “Ah, Christ . . . Devony.”

  She’d bit his lip. And now she stared at him, unapologetic.

  A warning blazed in her eyes. He knew he should heed it.

  He shou
ld stop this now.

  He should leave the room, before they went too far.

  Too fucking late for that. What smoldered between them could not be undone even without a blood bond to lash them together for the rest of their lives.

  Rafe knew it.

  She understood that too. He couldn’t pretend he didn’t feel Devony’s certitude coursing through his own veins with every hammering beat of his

  heart.

  He knew he should be the stronger one.

  For her, if not for himself and his future with the Order.

  But tonight, he wanted this to be about her. About giving her comfort and pleasure. He wanted to give her whatever she needed to get through an awful night and the ugliness that had gotten too close to her.

  He had come here tonight wanting to give her everything.

  What she seemed to want most right now was the one thing he wanted too. Selfishly. Undeniably.

  “Come here,” he said, his voice gravel in his throat. He took her beautiful face in his hands and kissed her again, unable to resist. Unable to deny her anything.

  And when her mouth pul ed away from his to drift down toward his neck, al he could manage was a strangled growl as her lips settled over his

  carotid and the sharp points of her fangs sank into his skin.

  His body arced violently, a raw curse tearing from his lips. The heat of her mouth at his vein, her tongue lapping hungrily at him, was the most erotic pleasure he’d ever known. His cock responded instantly, jolting back to life inside her. He moved beneath her, unable to keep his hips from

  thrusting in time with the greedy suction of her drinking.

  She moaned against him, her spine undulating. Her sex gripped him like a fist. She slammed down hard on him, his blood fueling an even wilder

  sexual thirst in both of them now. One that demanded to be sated.

  Devony’s arousal hammered through him via their fledgling blood bond, more vivid than ever.

  Her love poured into him too. Bright and fierce and powerful.

  Her trust in him burned.

  As much as he wanted a life with her, it wasn’t his to promise. Not when the Order owned his future and Opus Nostrum stil had a stranglehold on his present. If his enemies ever learned how great a weakness Devony could be for him, he had no doubt they would use that knowledge against