Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed 8-Book Bundle (246 page)

He walked with her to the bathroom down the hall. He put up no resistance as she helped him undress, removing his boots and socks one at a time as he stood on the tiled floor, his broad palm feeling like an electric iron against her shoulder as he held on to her for balance. Alex carefully stripped him of his black fatigues and briefs. She couldn’t contain her soft gasp, struck as always by the masculine perfection of his body and the complex artistry of his
glyphs
, even though at the moment she was too concerned about soothing his burns to take much pleasure in the sight of his nakedness.

She helped him step into the tub, watching as he slowly sank down into the cool water on a hiss that stretched into a long, deep sigh.

“Is that all right?”

He moaned and gave a faint nod, his eyes drifting closed as steam from his heated skin curled over the surface of the water. “Thank you,” he murmured thickly, settling deeper into the bath.

Alex picked up a soft cloth and submerged it in the tub. “Just relax now. I’ll do the rest.”

Gingerly she trickled the clear, cool water over the blistered bulk of his shoulders. She did the same to his burned back and chest, then his strong, bare arms. As carefully as she could, she brought the cloth to his face and cleansed the raw, reddened skin of his lean, angled cheeks and the strong, stern lines of his chin and brow.

As he relaxed deeper, Alex gently tipped his head back so she could wet his ebony hair and run cool water over his scalp. “The things you said in the chapel today about Seth, and about yourself … I was very proud of you, Kade. It took a great deal of courage to stand up there like you did.”

He grunted, a wordless sound of denial.

“You may not think so, but you were a good brother to Seth. I think everyone saw that today. You are a good son to your parents, too.”

His eyelids flicked open even as his dark brows lowered in a frown. “A few minutes of talk,” he rasped on a dry voice. “That’s all it was. Doesn’t erase the past. Doesn’t mean a damn thing.”

Alex squeezed more water into his hair and tenderly ran her fingers through the silken strands. “Why are you so hard on yourself?”

“Seeing what my brother was should tell you the answer to that,” he said, all but growling the words. “I’m sure I don’t have to remind you what he was capable of. You saw that firsthand in the woods outside Harmony.”

“Yes,” Alex agreed softly. “I did. But that was Seth, not you. Or do I have to remind you that those were your very words to me when I told you what I saw? Seth was a killer, not you.”

He exhaled a vivid curse, but Alex ignored his rising anger.

“Seth was the one who went Rogue, Kade. That doesn’t mean you will, too.”

He shifted in the tub, lifting his head so that he was looking her squarely in the eyes. “Most of my life, Alex, I have been hiding from the truth, living in denial. Running from the things I couldn’t control. I thought if I put enough distance between myself and my problems, they would just … go away. Well, they don’t.”

Alex nodded. He could just as well be talking about her life. “I know now that running away doesn’t solve anything,” she whispered. “You have to stand up and face the
things that scare you the most. You’ve taught me that, Kade.”

His scowl deepened. “That’s what I intend to do. But I need to do it alone, Alex.”

“What do you mean?”

“The things I talked about in the chapel today, and on that mountain when we brought Seth’s body up from the ledge. I can’t risk putting you in the middle of my problems.”

“It’s a bit late for that, don’t you think?” She caressed his tight jaw, only the barest skate of her fingers over the tender skin. “I’ve heard everything you’ve said. I’ve seen what happened to your brother. I understand your fear, Kade. But I’m not going to run away. Not ever again. And I won’t let you push me away, either. I love you.”

He expelled a harsh breath, and when he looked at her now, sparks of amber lit the silver irises of his eyes. She saw the glint of his fangs behind his lips, sharp white points gleaming with deadly power.

“I love you, Kade,” she insisted, refusing to back down. “And unless you tell me here and now that you don’t love me, too, then I can think of no reason why either of us should be alone.”

He stared hard at her, his jaw held tight. “Goddamn it, Alex. You know I can’t say that. I do love you. And that has complicated everything.”

She smiled with a humor she barely felt. “A little too much gray for you?” she asked softly. “And here I thought I was the one who liked to keep things simple, black and white.”

He didn’t return her smile. He was too far gone for that. As Alex drew back, she saw his eyes move from her lips to the base of her throat.

Her pulse was fluttering there, a fast tick that intensified to a heavier throb as she watched Kade stare hungrily at that spot. He caught her looking at him and abruptly glanced away. Tried to hide his awareness of her blood, pounding below the surface of her skin. Tried to hide his thirst from her.

Alex brought his gaze back to her with a coaxing touch. “You don’t have to deny who you are or what you need, Kade. Not from me. Not anymore.”

Silently she put down her wet cloth and positioned herself against his mouth, sweeping her hair away from her neck.

Her name was a reverent whisper on his lips as he drew in his breath, then blew it out in a heated rush against her skin. Kade descended on her in a swift motion, his sharp bite filled with need and a desperation that he made no effort to conceal.

Inside Zach Tucker’s house in Harmony, a pair of Alaska State Troopers recently arrived from the post in Fairbanks slumped in subdued silence, both men tranced on the living room sofa.

In a recliner next to them, Mayor Sidney Charles snored softly, tranced, as well. The elderly Native man had proven immensely cooperative, albeit unwittingly so, to the Order’s mission objectives in town. Not only had he delivered on his promise to summon every citizen of Harmony into the church a few hours ago, but he’d also had the good manners to escort the newly arrived Staties to Zach Tucker’s place when their plane had touched down from Fairbanks around daybreak.

With Brock still on post at Jenna’s cabin, Tegan, Chase,
and Hunter had since relocated their operation to Tucker’s house. They’d waited out the scant few hours of daylight there, using the idle time to dig into the dead trooper’s computer records and look for further evidence of his corruption in the house. They hadn’t had to look very far.

Zach Tucker might have been a bush cop but he had an accountant’s eye for record keeping. He’d logged every drug deal and bootlegged bottle of booze that had passed through his hands and into Skeeter Arnold’s for distribution around the area.

When the two Staties woke up, they were going to find every handwritten ledger and computer-stored spreadsheet in Zach Tucker’s ransacked house. They were going to find the safe where Zach kept all of the considerable cash he’d made from his little side business over a period that had to have been several years.

The uniformed troopers were going to follow a hunch neither one of them could shake that would lead them to a remote area of the bush where they would discover Harmony’s sole police officer, brutally murdered and scavenged by animals. Near the body, they would find Skeeter Arnold’s cell phone, showing a history of plenty of calls to and from Trooper Tucker. With Skeeter nowhere to be found, nor heard from, the Staties would conclude that Tucker, and possibly Skeeter, as well, had apparently found themselves on the losing end of a deal gone horribly, fatally wrong.

What the troopers from the Fairbanks unit would not find was evidence of any other strange happenings in Harmony. With no one in town recalling the spate of recent deaths, let alone the names of the victims, and with a strategically placed computer worm originating from Boston that wiped out half of the AST’s dispatch logs for
the past week, there would be no reason for the Staties to look for anything more than a disappointing matter of police corruption in the otherwise peaceful town of Harmony.

“That’s gonna do it,” Chase said as he came out of Tucker’s home office. “The computer password is disabled and there’s a spreadsheet of our boy’s current-year transactions conveniently left open on the monitor. These troopers are going to think Tucker was not only an asshole, but a complete moron besides.”

Tegan chuckled. “I’ll finish in here with the humans. Tell Hunter we’re rolling out in five minutes.”

Chase nodded. He took a step, then paused. “Any word from Kade?”

“Nothing yet.”

“Damn shame about his brother,” Chase said, his voice oddly wooden.

“Yeah,” Tegan said. “It is a shame.”

When the ex–Enforcement Agent pivoted to walk away, Tegan cleared his throat. “Hey, Harvard. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about what happened out there at the mine.”

“What about it?”

“Just wondering what the fuck you were thinking when you held that Minion by the throat for a while instead of going for a clean, quick kill.”

Chase’s grin seemed somehow too tight for his face. “Just having a little fun, is all.”

Tegan stared, assessing the once-straitlaced agent who’d proven to be a valuable asset to the Order, if a bit reckless at times. “Fun can get you killed, my man. You’d do well to remember that.”

Chase’s expression was nonchalant, the lift of his shoulders casual, unconcerned. “Sure, Tegan. Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep it in mind.”

Tegan watched him walk outside, then he turned his attention toward instructing the tranced humans to awaken once he and the other vampires had time enough to get several miles out of town.

CHAPTER
Thirty-three

K
ade stood outside his quarters at the Darkhaven compound in a black silk robe, leaning against the timber post of the back porch that looked out over the property’s vast acreage. It was now a few hours after the sun had retreated, and darkness blanketed the region once more. He was lost in his thoughts, staring out at the far horizon, where the greenish glow of the aurora borealis streaked across the starlit sky.

Alex drifted outside to join him. He heard her walking up softly behind him, closed his eyes as she gently wrapped her arms around his waist. She made a soft noise in the back of her throat, then sighed when he skimmed his fingers
tenderly under the white satin sleeve of her robe to stroke her bare arms.

They had spent most of the day in his bed, lying in each other’s arms. His body was still healing from the funeral rite, though much improved, thanks to the blood Alex had given him. Now his skin was merely red and tender, no longer blistered and searing with pain. His libido reminded him that he was well enough to want Alex. God knew, there was nothing that would keep him from desiring her.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he murmured as they stood together as one under the starlit sky and watched the aurora dance in the distance. “You’ve been through a lot the past few days. You should rest some more.”

Alex moved around to the front of him and burrowed into his warmth. “I came out here to tell you the same thing. How do you feel?”

He grunted, gave a brief nod. “Better, thanks to you. And all the more so when I have you in my arms.”

She lifted her head to meet his gentle kiss. The brush of her lips was warm, inviting. Filled with tenderness for all they’d been through, and ripe with a tentative hope for what may still lay ahead for them.

“I needed you today, Alexandra,” he whispered against her mouth. “I tried to convince myself that I didn’t, but you are all that I need. Thank you for everything you did for me today. Thank you just for being here.”

She smiled up at him, her voice soft with emotion. “You never need to thank me for that.”

“God, I love you,” he murmured, his chest tightening as he gazed down at her. “You honor me, Alex. You humble me. I don’t think you realize how much. You could have any male you choose—”

She reached up to caress his cheek with aching sweetness. “There is only one male I would choose. Only one male I could ever love.”

His words perished on a low moan as he bent his head to hers and caught her mouth in a deep, passionate kiss. Need surged within him, hot and demanding. He wanted Alex—wanted her in his bed, beneath his fangs. He wanted her in every way he could have her.

So total was his desire, he hardly heard the rapid knock that fell against the front door of his cabin.

He would have ignored it completely if Alex hadn’t drawn back, breathless. “Someone’s here.”

“I don’t care.” Kade moved to kiss her again.

The knock came again, louder now. Insistent and demanding.

Kade snarled a curse as he caressed her beautiful face, then withdrew to stalk toward the door. He knew who he’d find on the other side, even before he opened it.

“Father,” he said, his clipped tone hardly able to be interpreted as a greeting.

Kir stared at him, then glanced past Kade’s shoulder to where Alex had drifted in from the back porch. “We need to talk.”

Kade stood firm, blocking the threshold with his body. “I’ve said all that I needed to.”