lara-adrian-fall-of-night-v1

by Adrian, Lara

  CHAPTER 22

  By the time it was all over, the stone steps outside the old theater looked like a battlefield.

  Blood stained the ground and pavement. The bodies of dozens of dead Breed civilians lay where they had fallen in their elegant evening attire. Some of the Bloodlust-crazed victims had been taken down by Order gunfire, others felled by daggers like the one Micah still held in his hand as the warriors regrouped in the aftermath of the slaughter. The titanium bullets and blades were already devouring the flesh and bones of the dead. It would only be minutes before the corpses would be gone completely.

  Lucan’s eyes blazed as he pivoted to the news crews, their spotlights still shining over the carnage, cameras still broadcasting the grisly scene all around the world.

  “Haven’t you got enough fucking pictures? Get out of here.”

  The snarled command sent the reporters and video crews scrambling to collect their equipment and race to their vehicles.

  Micah glanced across the way where Darion and Jax were holding one of the Opus gunmen. The group of humans had scattered like rats after they sent the Red Dragon into the theater, but they hadn’t gotten far. Micah’s comrades had killed all but one. Scarface didn’t look so smug now that he was caught between two Breed warriors and left to answer to the Order all by his lonesome.

  As for Micah and the rest of his team, it was only by some miracle that none of the warriors had inhaled enough of the heinous narcotic to turn them Rogue. If not for Brynne’s early warning, this bad night could have ended up even worse.

  And then there was Phaedra.

  Micah could hardly contain the urge to run to her. She stood beside Zael, Brynne, Nathan, and Jordana as he and the rest of the Order rounded the building to meet them at the vehicles. Her private smile as she watched him approach cracked something open inside him. He had been telling himself he could hold her at arm’s length, but all of that fell away now.

  She took a halting step toward him, then paused, uncertain. He had no such reservations. Closing the distance in a few swift strides, he pulled her into his arms and held her tight.

  He felt the eyes of his comrades on him, but he didn’t give a damn. Let them stare.

  He released her only so he could tip her chin up and press his lips to hers for an all-too-brief kiss. There would be time for more of that later. He intended to make certain of that.

  “Let’s roll out,” Lucan said. “Micah, you ride with Zael. We’ve got to make room for this piece of shit who’s going to tell us everything he knows about Opus.”

  Scarface struggled against the restraints locked around his skinny wrists. “I don’t know anything,” he whined. “I wouldn’t tell you even if I did.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Darion said, flashing his fangs in the human’s face. “Come on, asshole.”

  He yanked Scarface toward the rear of the Order’s SUV and shoved him inside. They all climbed into their respective vehicles and headed back to the command center.

  Phaedra stuck close to Micah for the duration of the drive. He’d never known a braver woman, but he could feel the depth of her shock in the small tremors vibrating through her. What happened tonight was enough to rattle even the most seasoned warrior. He hated like hell that she’d been there to witness any of it.

  Everyone began to disperse once they arrived at headquarters. There would be reports to provide to the JUSTIS about what occurred, not to mention all of the countless public relations and political fires that would have to be put out now that video of the incident was circulating to all corners of the globe.

  On top of that, the Order now had an Opus asset they needed to take apart for intel.

  Micah would have loved a front row seat for Scarface’s interrogation, but he had something more important to tend to.

  He dropped a kiss to the top of Phaedra’s head where it rested against his shoulder. “I’ll walk you to your room.”

  His arm sheltering her, they made the trek in silence. Once inside, Micah closed the door and followed Phaedra to where she paused near the bed.

  She stared at him, her pretty golden gaze troubled. “The Order’s enemies are never going to let up, are they?”

  He shook his head. “Not until we stop them. And we will.”

  “How?”

  “We’ll keep fighting. That’s what we’ve done from the very beginning.”

  “How do you do it, Micah?” Her eyes were soft on him, as tender as a caress. But there was pain in them too. Pain for him. “The violence that never ends. The ugliness you have to face every time you put on your patrol gear and go out there. All the hideous things you have to bear because of your gift. How do you keep it from consuming you?”

  “I deal with it,” he said. It was an automatic response he was so used to giving, it slipped right past his lips now, too.

  But she deserved more than that.

  Reaching down for her hand, he traced his finger over the silken skin of her palm. He could feel her power thrumming there, the warmth of the light she carried within her, not only as an Atlantean, but as a unique, singularly extraordinary woman.

  “What I’ve done, Phaedra, is built a wall. Stone by stone, one layer on top of another. Nothing could get past it. Nothing ever did. No has one ever gotten inside. Then I met you.”

  She stared up at him, inhaling a shallow breath. “I thought you only had room for the Order, for your duty to their cause.”

  He nodded. “If you had asked me that several days ago, I would’ve agreed. I would’ve told you that’s the only way it could be.”

  “I’m asking you now, though, Micah.”

  He brought his other hand up and stroked her cheek. A storm of emotions swamped him when he thought about Phaedra and what she meant to him. All the words he wanted to say jammed in his throat, inadequate and clumsy.

  It would take him a lifetime to express what she had come to mean to him in only a handful of days.

  He scowled, frustrated at his lack of eloquence. “I don’t want you to go back to Rome.”

  “That’s where my life is,” she said softly. “That’s where my work is.”

  He felt his brow furrow deeper. “It’s not safe for you there. Not without someone to protect you.” She started to draw back and he knew he was fucking things up. “I know you’re strong, Phaedra. I know you’re smart and resourceful. You’re the most courageous and powerfully gifted woman I’ve ever met. Yes, you’re immortal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be hurt . . . or that you can’t be killed.” The very notion gripped his heart in a vise. He blew out a curse as he caressed her beautiful face. “I thought about that tonight, when I saw that Rogue going after you. If anything had happened to you—if you had gone into that theater tonight and not come out . . .”

  She turned her cheek toward his palm. “I felt the same way about you, Micah. I don’t know what I’d do if that Red Dragon had poisoned you like it did those other people. Or if it had been you the other night along with Eli when—”

  He gave a harsh shake of his head. “I’m here.”

  Lifting her chin on the edge of his hand, he lowered his head and kissed her. Need erupted inside him, but he kept his mouth gentle on hers, unwilling to mistreat her the way he had the last time he’d gotten close enough to kiss her.

  She moaned as he moved his hands to her delicate shoulders.

  No, it wasn’t a moan. Not one of pleasure, that is.

  Hearing her sharp little intake of breath, he realized she was in pain.

  He pulled back at once, releasing her. “You’re injured.”

  “No. It’s nothing.”

  “Let me see.”

  Taking the hem of her black shirt in his hands, he carefully lifted it over her head. His gaze lit on the purple bruise in the shape of four large fingers and he ground out a low curse, recalling how the Rogue at the theater had grabbed Phaedra as she was trying to get away.

  The edges of his vision burned amber with rage.

 
; “It’s okay,” she assured him. “Micah, I’m okay.”

  He couldn’t take his eyes off the dark outline of the Rogue’s fingers. It was impossible for him to ignore how her blood was gathered there, just beneath the creamy velvet of her skin. Being Breed, his hearing was acute enough to detect the flutter of her pulse, which sped to an even stronger tempo under his hungered stare.

  He hadn’t fed in days. Too long, especially considering he was little more than a week out from serious injuries of his own.

  But what he felt as he watched Phaedra’s heartbeat throb in the graceful curve of her neck and shoulder, he wasn’t thinking about satisfying his need for nourishment or healing.

  His thirst was something more than that.

  The thirst to claim her.

  To make her his alone, for as long as he lived.

  Reining in all of the needs he felt when he looked at her, he lowered his head and lightly kissed the unmarked skin around her bruise. She would heal soon enough, and while he knew his beautiful Phaedra could withstand far greater pain than what the Rogue’s punishing grasp had inflicted, Micah wanted to take away every hurt she suffered. Now and in the future.

  Forever, if he had his way.

  He lifted his face to hers, blown away by the affection shining in her eyes.

  And the desire.

  Holy hell, her desire sparked a fire in his blood now. It ignited all of the need he’d been fighting since he brought her into the room.

  Cupping the back of her head, he pulled her toward him and brushed his lips over hers. Her soft gasp against his mouth was raw with invitation. Drawing her closer, he slid his tongue inside her heated kiss, then gently nipped his way along her jaw line. She said his name on a broken whisper. He answered with a deep growl that unfurled from somewhere deep within him.

  “Christ, I’ve needed to kiss you again,” he murmured, his breath harsh and heavy. “I’ve needed to touch you again.”

  Her shuddering little moan spurred his desire. He reached between them to caress her breasts, his fingers searching out the front closure of her bra and snapping it open. He groaned against her mouth as he stroked and kneaded the soft, buoyant swells and the pearled peaks of her nipples.

  Breaking their kiss, he bent so he could bring one of the cherry-red buds up to his mouth. Her head fell back as he suckled her, taking care not to abrade her tender skin with the sharp points of his fangs. The temptation to bite down and pierce the soft flesh—to claim her by blood—was nearly overwhelming.

  On a snarl, he pulled back. “You look so fucking hot dressed in combat gear. I’ve been hard all night just from seeing you like this. Now, all I want to do is strip you out of it.”

  She gave him a saucy smile, her lovely face flushed with arousal. “I want you naked too.”

  They moved with urgent, determined fingers, unfastening buttons and buckles and laces, tugging at fabric and zippers. When the last of their clothing and boots lay on the floor, their hands found each other.

  Questing fingers on bare skin.

  Soft curves pressed against hard planes.

  Hot, mingling breaths and a wild, escalating desire that had both of them shaking with the depth of their mutual need.

  Micah brought her over to the large bed and followed her down onto the mattress. He stroked her gorgeous face, then let his fingers trail along her shoulder and onto the beautiful terrain of her body.

  Her touch moved all over him too. He shuddered at the feather-light feel of her fingertips as she traced his dermaglyphs, anticipation wringing him as tight as a coil as her exploration continued downward, where the thick jut of his erection rose between them.

  Her grasp wrapped around his shaft and he bit off a guttural curse at the arrow of pleasure that shot through him. Then she began to stroke him, her fingers moving from root to tip, making his blood surge in his veins.

  He took her mouth in a hungry kiss, bucking his hips in time with the tormenting tempo of her caress. He slid his hand down her silky curves and over the pliant angles of her body, memorizing every velvet inch of her on his way to the juncture of her thighs.

  She sucked in a sharp breath as he slid his touch over the delicate patch of dark curls between her thighs. She was drenched for him already, her clit a tight knot at the top of her tender folds. He moved his thumb in teasing circles over her flesh, then slipped one finger inside her.

  She moaned and arched as he penetrated her, her tender walls constricting around his finger as he teased her with what was yet to come.

  “You feel so soft and wet,” he uttered thickly. “Fuck, I need to taste you.”

  Shifting lower on the bed, he moved between her legs and spread her open for his hungry gaze. Her sex glistened, as ripe and succulent as a peach.

  On a growl, he lowered his head and took her juicy sweetness into his mouth. Where his fingers had been a moment ago, now it was his tongue drinking in every tender part of her, savoring every nuance of her pleasure.

  He didn’t let up until she came, her throaty cry exploding out of her as she shuddered and broke against his mouth.

  He could have devoured her all night, but his own needs were a demand he could no longer deny. He moved so he was kneeling between her parted thighs, her legs wrapped around him. She stared at him with pleasure-drunk eyes, her hands reaching for his stiff cock.

  She stroked him with both hands, her touch as greedy and possessive as her immortal gaze.

  “Please,” she gasped jaggedly. “I need you to fuck me now, Micah.”

  He wasn’t about to make her ask twice.

  Shifting position, he covered her with his body and entered her slowly, pushing all the way to the hilt in one long stroke. She sucked in her breath as he filled her, then moaned in protest as he began to withdraw.

  Together they watched their bodies joining, then their eyes found each other and locked as they settled into a deep, perfectly matched rhythm.

  “You’re mine,” he growled as he rocked into her. “I’ve known it all along. Even fate knows you’re mine, Phaedra.”

  “Yes,” she answered, her gaze fearless and without a shred of reservation as she stared up at him. “I never knew it was possible to love someone so deeply, so quickly. But I do, Micah. I love you.”

  It was more than he was prepared for her to say. Everything about this woman was more than he was prepared for. She was his. God help her, but he belonged to her too.

  On a low growl, he took her mouth in a rough kiss. Passion had him in flames now. He was savage with the possessive need that swamped him. He was ravenous with thirst for this woman.

  His woman.

  As they kissed and moved together, he could hear the strong beat of her pulse ticking at the side of her neck. The sound grew, filling his head as he pounded into the welcoming heat of her body.

  Christ, the temptation of that vein was too close to his mouth, too close to his fangs, which throbbed with the demand that he make her his in the most primal, permanent way he could.

  On a curse, he broke their kiss and turned his head away from her, his breath heaving.

  Phaedra’s hands lit tenderly on both sides of his face.

  Slowly, she brought his blazing amber gaze back to her. Understanding simmered in her shining golden eyes. “I want it too, Micah.”

  His reply was wordless, just a rough snarl of warning. She shook her head, her stare locked on him.

  “I want this. I want you to do it.” She tilted her head, giving him full access to the delicate column of her neck. “Drink from me.”

  Ah, fuck. Her plea burned away what little control he had where she was concerned.

  She clung to him as he drove deeper, unable to hold back on the desire he had for her . . . or the thirst.

  “I don’t ever want to let you go,” he confessed thickly, then lowered his head and sank his fangs into her yielding flesh.

  She cried out, flinching in his arms. For one awful instant, panic gripped him. It was too late for doubt
s now; there was no turning back what he’d just done.

  But she didn’t have any doubts. He could already taste that truth as the first hot rush of her Atlantean blood surged into his mouth. He had only ever drank from humans, so the electric taste of her came as a shock.

  Holy hell, it was more than a shock. It was a revelation.

  There were no words powerful enough to describe the flood of heat and energy and light that poured into him from her vein. She lit him up from within, her blood as sweet as nectar and as pure and bright as heaven and the stars combined.

  He drank more of her, unable to get enough.

  He would never be able to get enough of Phaedra. He’d known that even before his bite had now cleaved her to him in an unbreakable bond for as long as either of them lived.

  And through that bond, he could feel the overwhelming wave of her oncoming release.

  Her pleasure intensified his own, until he could no longer hold out against the force of it.

  With a hasty swipe of his tongue over the punctures he’d made, he sealed her wound and began thrusting into her in a blind, desperate rhythm. She raked her fingernails over his shoulders as the first crash of her climax slammed into her.

  He was right behind her, his release exploding inside her. Holding her in his arms as they both gave themselves over to the power of their connection, he felt invincible.

  He felt complete in a way he never imagined he could.

  And he couldn’t stop moving inside Phaedra. Whether he was still hard or hard again, he didn’t know. He only knew he needed to feel her around him, for the rest of his days and nights if fate would allow it.

  Eventually, he would have to let her sleep. The morning was going to arrive too soon, bringing with it the mission to the Deadlands.

  But for now, there was only room for pleasure.

  Kissing Phaedra again, he pressed her beneath him for more of what they’d just shared.

  CHAPTER 23

  Phaedra woke at the edge of night and daybreak.