I didn't mean any harm--" "Get out, Claire." He drew in a breath that hissed through his teeth and fangs. "Now, goddamn it!" She startled at his thunderous bark of anger, jumping back from him as though he might strike her. She blinked up at him for a long moment, her lips parted but unspeaking Then she fled the room without a word. When he was certain she was gone, Reichen drifted over to the library doors and shut them tight. He told himself he was relieved that she was gone. If she valued her well- being at all, she'd leave the house and run as far away from him as she could get. He only prayed he'd be strong enough to resist going after her between now and sundown, when he would have a chance to go out and slake his blood thirst on someone else ... anyone else but her.
Chapter Six
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Lucan Thorne pressed his mouth against the warm, soft skin just behind his Breedmate's left ear. Standing with her in the living room of their private quarters within the subterranean compound that belonged to the Order, he found it hard to let Gabrielle out of his arms. Instead, he held her, willfully neglecting his duties as the leader of the band of Breed warriors for another moment to enjoy the pleasure of feeling her close. He let his tongue play over the little crimson birthmark that hid on the tender patch of creamy flesh behind her ear, the very spot his fangs had pierced a short while ago as he and Gabrielle had made love. "If you keep it up," she murmured, "we're going to be in here all night." He grunted, smiling as he continued to nuzzle her neck. "Not a half-bad idea. And you should know that keeping it up is never a problem when I'm around you."
"You're terrible, you know that?" He caught her earlobe between his teeth and gave it a little nip. "That's not what you said twenty minutes ago under the shower with me. Or before then, in our bed, when you had your long, beautiful thighs wrapped around my bare, bucking ass. Then you didn't think I was so terrible. You were too busy coming and screaming my name, telling me to never stop." He didn't even try to conceal his masculine pride. Not that he needed to, when his arousal was definitely obvious in both the emerging of his fangs and the hard rise in his dark jeans. Beneath his gray T-shirt, he could feel his dermaglyphs pulsing in response to his desire for her. "Correct me if I'm wrong, or did you say at one point that I was a god? An amazing f**king god, was, I believe, your exact opinion." "Arrogant bastard," she scoffed, but he could hear the humor in her tone. Her soft laughter melted into an inhaled, tremulous hiss as he grazed the tips of his sharp canines down along the curve of her shoulder. He splayed one hand into her thick auburn hair and she tilted her head to give him better access to her neck, her fingernails scoring into his shoulders as his free hand delved beneath her loose knit shirt and the waistband of her yoga pants. She shivered as he trailed his mouth and tongue along the delicate line of her throat, mewled a sweet little cry as his fingers dipped into the velvety cleft of her sex. She was still wet, still hot and gloriously responsive to his touch. "Lucan," she gasped. "Oh, my God...my God..." "Yeah, that's better," he growled, catching her mouth in a deep kiss as he brought her to a swift, shuddering cl**ax. When she was recovered, Gabrielle lifted a wry but sated look at him. "Does your ego know any bounds, vampire?" He smirked, cocking a dark brow. "Probably not." With a roll of her eyes, she grabbed his hand to lead him out of their quarters. He could have stayed there all night and not tired of loving her, of pleasuring her. But nightfall belonged to the Order, and to the crucial work that demanded all hands on deck--even the females of the compound, who were proving to be invaluable partners in a battle against an evil few could imagine. An evil that seemed intent on nothing less than all-out war. At least the evil now had a name: Dragos.
In the past several months, the Order had uncovered a lot about the second-generation vampire and the operation he'd been running for decades--centuries, in fact--while hiding behind multiple aliases and shadowy, covert alliances within the general population of the Breed. But there was much they didn't know, as well. Suspicions too grim to leave unanswered. It was the Order's current mission to uncover Dragos's alliances, locate his base of operations, and cripple his efforts before he could gain any more critical ground. They'd had some recent success there, the latest being the disruption of a gathering outside Montreal, where Dragos and a number of his associates had convened this past summer. The Order had not yet been able to discover the purpose of the gathering, but the unexpected arrival of several warriors to the place where the group had been meeting had forced Dragos and his coconspirators to scatter. The disruption of that gathering had also netted the Order a very unexpected ally--two, if the Gen One assassin who'd been bred and raised to serve Dragos and had since come on board with the Order could be trusted. Lucan still wasn't entirely sold on the vampire called Hunter. The male was as cold as a machine, secretive and aloof. Not that his unusual upbringing, denied any comforts and raised in total seclusion from another living soul except for the Minion assigned at birth as his handler, could hardly be expected to produce an easygoing team player.
Hunter had given no outward cause to mistrust him, but he still seemed to Lucan a lone wolf of dubious origin, and one whose loyalty had not yet been tested. But the other new ally to come out of the developments in Montreal was an unquestionable boon to the Order. Her name was Renata, and she had come to the Order as the Breedmate of Nikolai. As Lucan and Gabrielle walked past the weapons room on their way to the tech lab at the other end of the compound's labyrinth of corridors, he saw Niko and Renata inside, competing to obliterate twin targets at the end of the range. Leave it to a gearhead like Niko to pair up with a female who knew her way around automatic weaponry. But the couple's shared interests went much deeper than metal and explosives; they were also guardians to an orphaned young Breedmate named Mira, whom they'd rescued from a dangerous situation in Montreal and taken under their wing as their own child. With Niko and Renata at the range was Tegan, one of the longest-standing members of the Order, and the warrior's Breedmate, Elise. When Tegan saw Lucan and Gabrielle walking past, he said something close to Elise's ear, kissed her, then came outside to the corridor. He gave Gabrielle a nod of greeting, but when his gem-green gaze lit back on Lucan, he was all grim business. "You talk to Gideon yet tonight?" Lucan shook his head. "We were just on our way to the tech lab now to see him. Why do I get the feeling this is not going to be a good night?" "Bad news out of Germany" Tegan said, raking a hand through his tawny hair. "No doubt you recall the explosion that took out Andreas Reichen's Darkhaven?" "Yeah." Lucan recalled, all right. The Order lost one of its best civilian allies--a true friend--the night that Reichen and his family were killed in the freak blast that leveled his estate.