Stroke of Midnight: A Midnight Breed Novella (The Midnight Breed Series) Read online

“You

  should

  call

  your

  brother,” she murmured. Marcel had

  left two messages on her phone in

  the past couple of hours, asking

  them to contact him as soon as

  possible. “We should let him know

  we’ve returned, at least so he can

  stop worrying that we’re going to

  break the pact.”

  Jehan’s chest rumbled with a

  sound of disregard. “I should call

  the Order too, and tell them what

  I’ll be bringing back to Rome with

  me in a few nights. But my brother

  and everyone else can wait. The

  only thing I’m concerned about right

  now is you.”

  He pulled back and looked at

  her, a dark storm brewing in the

  pale blue of his eyes. When he

  lifted her chin and took her mouth in

  a slow, savoring kiss, it was easy to

  imagine that what she saw in his

  gaze—what she felt in his embrace

  and in his tender kiss—was

  something deeper than concern or

  simple affection.

  It was easy to imagine it might

  be love.

  “You’re

  trembling,

  Seraphina.” He reached out to

  caress her face and shoulder. “And

  you’re cold too. Come on. Let me

  take care of you.”

  Maybe Leila had been right—

  that there was some brand of magic

  at work when it came to the pact

  between their families. Sera could

  almost believe it now because with

  Jehan leading her through the villa,

  his fingers laced with hers, it was

  far too easy to imagine that

  everything

  they

  shared

  since

  entering the handfast was somehow

  paving a path toward a future

  together. A future that might just last

  an eternity.

  She

  hadn’t

  missed

  his

  reference to the life waiting for him

  at the end of the handfast. She

  couldn’t pretend that her own life

  wasn’t waiting for her too.

  But for the next few nights, she

  wasn’t going to let reality intrude.

  Jehan brought her into the

  cavernous bathing room with its

  towering marble columns and

  steaming, spring-fed bath the size of

  a swimming pool. He sat her down

  on the edge, then crouched down in

  front of her to remove her shoes.

  The soft leather flats were caked

  with sand and spattered with

  Karsten’s dried blood. Jehan hissed

  a low curse as he set them aside.

  When he lifted his head to

  meet her gaze, there was doubt in

  his eyes. “Can you forgive me,

  Sera?”

  “For

  saving

  me

  from

  Karsten?” She shook her head.

  “There’s nothing to forgive.”

  “No.” His mouth flattened into

  a grim line. “I mean, for saving

  myself. For giving him the chance to

  get a hold of you in the first place.”

  Oh, God. Is that what he

  thought? Is that what weighed on his

  conscience now?

  Sera leaned forward to take

  his tormented, handsome face in her

  palms. His anguish was palpable.

  She could feel the dull pain of it

  through her empathic gift. “Jehan,

  when I saw that flash of light as

  Karsten let the grenade go, I knew it

  would be lethal to you. I thought I

  was about to watch you die. If you

  hadn’t protected yourself, we both

  would’ve been dead today. You

  saved me.”

  He studied her for a long

  moment, as if he wanted to say

  something more. Then he turned his

  face into her hand and placed a kiss

  in its center before drawing out of

  her loose grasp. “Let’s get these

  clothes off and get you warm.”

  He stood up, taking her with

  him. With careful hands, he

  undressed her, peeling off the

  rumpled linen tunic and her bra.

  Then he drew down the loose-

  fitting pants and her lacy panties

  beneath. His gaze drank her in

  slowly, his eyes crackling with

  amber sparks.

  When he finally spoke, his

  voice was dark and gravelly, rough

  with desire. “Earlier tonight, when I

  saw you naked like this for the first

  time, I said you were beautiful.”

  She licked her lips. “I

  remember.”

  She

  would

  never

  forget

  anything he said in her tent a few

  hours ago, nor anything he’d done.

  Arousal spiraled through her, as

  much at the reminder as under the

  intensity of his gaze now.

  “I said you were beautiful,

  Seraphina...but I was wrong.” He

  cupped her cheek in his palm, then

  slowly let his fingers drift down her

  shoulder, his thumb pausing to

  caress the Breedmate mark on her

  upper arm. “You are exquisite. The

  loveliest female I have ever, and

  will ever, lay my unworthy eyes

  on.”

  She started to shake her head

  in protest of his self-deprecation,

  but his kiss caught her lips before

  she could speak.

  All of her desire for him—all

  of her tangled emotions—rose up to

  engulf her. She wanted him.

  Loved him so powerfully it

  staggered her.

  Only fear held her confession

  back.

  Fear, and need.

  She

  pulled

  back,

  breath

  heaving. Wordlessly, she unbuttoned

  his shirt and pushed it off his strong

  arms. Each swirl and flourish of the

  dermaglyphs that tracked over his

  powerful

  chest

  and

  muscled

  abdomen was a temptation to her

  fingers and her mouth.

  She touched and kissed and

  licked her way down his immense

  body, finally lowering herself to her

  knees before him. His lungs rasped

  with the ragged tempo of his

  breathing as she unzipped his jeans

  and slid them down his hard thighs.

  His cock bobbed heavily in

  front of her, the thick shaft and

  blunt, glistening plum at the crown

  making her mouth water for a taste.

  He groaned as she grasped his

  length in her hands, his muscles

  tensing, breath hitching, as she

  stroked him from root to head and

  back again.

  When she leaned forward and

  wrapped her lips around him, his

  spine arched and he let out a tight

  hiss and guttural snarl. She’d never

  held so much force and power in

  her
hands before, nor in her mouth.

  She couldn’t get enough. And as his

  body’s response quickened, it only

  made her hungry for more. For all

  of him.

  She glanced up as she sucked

  him and found his fiery eyes locked

  on her. His pupils were thin and

  wild, utterly Breed. His broad

  mouth was pulled into a grimace,

  baring his teeth and the enormous

  length of his fangs.

  She moaned, overwhelmed by

  the preternatural beauty of the male

  staring down at her. His large palm

  cupped the back of her head, his

  long fingers speared into her hair as

  she took the full depth of him into

  her mouth at a relentless tempo.

  “Seraphina,”

  he

  uttered

  hoarsely. “Ah, fuck...”

  On a sharp groan, he withdrew

  from between her lips and scooped

  her up into his arms as if she

  weighed nothing at all. He carried

  her down into the steaming bath,

  fastening his mouth on hers in an

  urgent, fevered kiss as he sank to

  his shoulders in the warm water

  with her held aloft in his arms.

  He tore his mouth away from

  hers,

  scowling

  fiercely.

  “I’m

  supposed to be the one taking care

  of you, if you recall.”

  She lifted a brow in challenge.

  “Is that your charming side talking

  or your wicked one?”

  Sparks flared in his hot gaze.

  “Which do you prefer?”

  “I

  haven’t

  decided

  yet.”

  Pivoting under the surface of the

  water, she faced him on his lap and

  wrapped her legs around his waist.

  The thick jut of his cock rose tall

  between them, the crisp hair at its

  root tickling her sex. She looped

  her arms over his shoulders and

  drifted close for a teasing kiss.

  “Fortunately, we’ve got all day to

  figure it out.”

  His hands gripped her ass and

  he smirked against her mouth. “All

  day, and another five nights after

  that.”

  “You think it’s long enough?”

  she murmured, her lips still

  brushing his.

  His answering chuckle was

  purely male and totally wicked. As

  was the meaningful shift of his hips

  that positioned his erection at the

  hot and ready entrance of her body.

  “Why don’t you tell me if it’s long

  enough?”

  He lifted her onto him, and her

  laugh melted into a pleasured sigh

  as he sheathed every last inch.

  CHAPTER 14

  When he’d first arrived at the

  villa, Jehan had imagined what

  Seraphina might look like unclothed

  and wreathed in the steam of the

  bathing room as he made love to

  her. Now he knew. And none of his

  fantasies were any match for the

  true thing.

  She met his rhythm stroke for

  stroke. Arousal arced through him

  with each rotation of her hips,

  making his vision bleed red as fire

  filled his gaze. This woman had

  ruined him for any other. She

  destroyed him with a smile, with

  every moan and gasp, and he hadn’t

  even begun to show her what true

  pleasure was.

  He rocked inside her, balanced

  on the edge of madness for how

  incredible they felt together.

  Eight nights wasn’t enough.

  The part of him that was more

  beast than man snapped at that

  tether. Eight nights was nothing.

  And they had already lost three of

  them.

  The part of him that was nearly

  immortal demanded much more than

  that. It wanted forever.

  Something he couldn’t give

  Seraphina.

  Not when forever meant one of

  them would have to give up the life

  that waited for them on the other

  side of the handfast.

  Real life—the one that she had

  devoted herself to, and the opposite

  one he was equally committed to.

  Real life, where her selflessness

  had nearly gotten her killed a few

  hours ago, and where he was the

  Order

  warrior

  whose

  work

  revolved around violence and

  death. Where cowardly men like

  Karsten

  Hemmings

  served

  diabolical

  groups

  like

  Opus

  Nostrum.

  He couldn’t turn his back on

  the things that mattered to him any

  more than he could ask Seraphina to

  turn her back on hers.

  But it was damned tempting to

  think about forever when they were

  enveloped within the fantasy of the

  handfast.

  With his arms around her and

  her legs circling his waist as they

  moved together, joined beneath the

  fragrant, steaming water, forever

  was the only thing on his mind.

  Eternity with Seraphina at his

  side.

  As his Breedmate.

  Bonded by blood.

  The thought sent his gaze to the

  smooth column of her throat. Her

  pulse fluttered, beating with a

  rhythm he could feel echoing in his

  own veins. His fangs, already

  elongated

  from

  passion,

  now

  throbbed with an equally primal

  need.

  A dangerous, selfish need.

  One bite and there would be

  no other woman for him as long as

  he lived. All it would take was a

  single taste. Everything Breed in

  him pounded with the urge to sink

  his fangs into her flesh and take that

  binding sip.

  Equally strong was his need to

  bind Seraphina to him by blood as

  well. If she drank from him, she

  would belong to no other male. His

  forever.

  He couldn’t do that to her.

  He wouldn’t.

  Instead he guided her toward a

  fevered climax, driving into her

  body with all the hunger that rode

  him in his blood. He gave her

  pleasure, moving relentlessly until

  she broke apart in his arms on a

  scream.

  Then he pivoted her around

  and moved in behind her to follow

  her over the edge.

  As he came inside her on a

  shout, he couldn’t dismiss the cold

  knowledge that the clock on their

  time together was ticking—so fast

  he could feel it in his bones.

  Eight nights with Seraphina

  wasn’t enough.

  But somehow, at the end of it,

  he was going to have to find the

  strength to let her go.

  CHAPTER 15

  Sera wo
ke from a long sleep

  later that morning feeling drowsy

  and sated. Sore in all the right

  places. She couldn’t curb the smile

  that crept over her face as she

  recalled the hours she’d spent in the

  bathing room making love with

  Jehan.

  Their

  sex

  had

  been

  exhausting and incredible—which,

  she was beginning to realize, was

  the norm where he was concerned.

  He was a tireless, wickedly

  creative lover. When she’d lost

  count of her orgasms and was sure

  she

  couldn’t

  take

  any

  more

  pleasure, he had lifted her from the

  steaming pool and carried her to

  one of several nests of plump

  cushions and silk pillows on the

  floor for another bone-melting

  round.

  If she’d thought watching their

  bodies move together in the

  darkness of her camp tent had been

  erotic,

  it

  had

  been

  nothing

  compared to seeing every carnal

  nuance of their passion in the

  candlelit reflection in the bathing

  room mirrors.

  Just the thought of their tangled

  limbs and questing mouths had her

  pulse thrumming all over again as

  she wandered into the villa’s

  kitchen for a light breakfast. Jehan

  was awake too—if he’d slept at all.

  His deep voice carried in a low,

  indistinct murmur from the main

  living area in the heart of the

  retreat. He was on her phone

  apparently. She hoped he had gotten

  back to Marcel after his brother’s

  repeated messages for them to

  report in.

  Sera made some tea and

  grabbed a peach from a bowl of

  fruit on the counter. Her long curls

  poured loose around her shoulders

  and over her bare breasts as she

  padded quietly out of the kitchen in

  just her panties to join him.

  Biting into the ripe peach as

  she walked, she considered how

  much sweeter the juice would be if

  she were licking it off Jehan’s

  muscled body. Or sucking it off the

  hard length of his cock.

  Oh God...she had it bad for

  this male.

  He made her feel more alive

  than anything in her life ever had.

  Yes, she lived for her work. It had

  fulfilled her for a long time, given

  her purpose. But Jehan gave her

  pleasure. He gave her yearning and

  contentment, excitement and peace.

  He had opened a part of her she

  hadn’t even realized had been

  closed before.

  Most unsettling of all, he made

  her long for the one thing she’d

  never imagined she might need. A

  mate by blood. A bond that could