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

  between his teeth? Or would he

  spring on her like the predator he

  was, dominating her with speed and

  force and white-hot power?

  Some troubling part of her she

  didn’t recognize stirred with the

  need to know.

  Sera groaned. She squirmed in

  her seat as her pulse thudded faster

  and

  erotic

  warmth

  bloomed

  between her thighs.

  She wanted to cross her legs to

  relieve the unwelcome ache, but the

  skirts of her ceremonial dress were

  too restricting. Elsewhere in the

  banquet room, her father was

  reciting the traditional terms of the handfast. She only half-listened, too

  distracted by Jehan’s presence

  beside her and the heat of his gaze

  on her as she fidgeted and shifted in

  her chair.

  It suddenly occurred to her that

  the room had gone strangely quiet.

  Expectantly quiet.

  All eyes in the room were

  fixed on her, and her father was no

  longer speaking.

  Jehan stood up and pointedly

  cleared his throat. “It’s time for us

  to go, Seraphina.”

  “Oh.” She rose to her feet,

  eager to escape the weight of

  everyone’s gazes. Plus, she couldn’t

  wait to put some much-needed

  distance between herself and Jehan.

  But he wasn’t moving. Why

  wasn’t he moving?

  “Don’t

  forget

  the

  kiss!”

  someone shouted cheerfully from

  among the gathering. “It’s tradition

  to seal the pact with a kiss!”

  Leila. Damn that girl.

  Sera shot a narrowed glare at

  her exuberant sibling but her grin

  showed no remorse.

  “Kiss her!” she shouted again.

  And then across the room,

  Marcel called for the kiss too.

  Someone else picked up the chant,

  then another. Before long, the entire

  place

  was

  applauding

  and

  thundering with the command. “Kiss

  her! Kiss her! Kiss her!”

  Sera turned a miserable look

  on Jehan. “We don’t really have t

  —”

  Before she could finish, he

  moved closer and his mouth slanted

  over hers in a blast of heat. His lips

  caressed hers, impossibly soft,

  achingly sensual. His hands held

  her face, and yes, they were gentle.

  His kiss was too, but beneath its

  tenderness was a possessiveness—

  a raw power—that rocked her.

  He mastered her mouth in an

  instant, and every brush of his lips had her aching to be claimed by

  him.

  Her thoughts scattered. Her

  knees went a little boneless.

  Even worse, the coil of

  warmth that had gathered between

  her thighs a few moments ago

  blazed molten and wild now.

  Sera raised her hands to grip

  his shoulders, if only to keep from

  sagging against him in front of a

  hundred

  onlookers.

  All

  the

  reassurances

  of

  their

  private

  agreement to spend the next week in

  separate corners flew away like

  leaves on the wind as Jehan kissed

  her. She couldn’t help it. She

  moaned against his mouth, her pulse

  quickening, hammering even louder

  than the cheers of the gathering

  around them.

  Jehan released her abruptly.

  His blue eyes glittered with sparks

  of amber heat, their transformation

  making his desire all too clear. He

  ran his tongue over his wet lips and

  she saw the points of his fangs, now

  gleaming in his mouth like razor-

  sharp diamonds. His breath rasped

  out of him, rough and raw.

  “Let’s go,” he growled for her

  ears only. “The sooner we get this

  damned farce over with, the better.”

  Then he took her by the hand

  and stalked away from the table

  with her in tow.

  CHAPTER 6

  Jehan’s body was still rock

  hard and vibrating with lust more

  than an hour after he and Seraphina

  were delivered to the oasis retreat.

  Holy hell. That kiss...

  As short-lived and chaste as it

  had been, it had gripped him in a

  way that staggered him.

  He hadn’t been able to deny

  how attracted he was to Seraphina

  from the instant he laid eyes on her.

  Now he knew she wanted him too.

  Her response to their kiss had left

  no question about that. The color

  that had rushed up her throat and

  into her cheeks couldn’t be blamed

  on anything else, nor could her soft

  little moans. He’d felt her desire for

  him. He’d breathed in the sweet

  scent of her arousal, felt it

  drumming in her blood.

  His own blood had answered,

  and now that his mouth had sampled

  a

  taste

  of

  Seraphina’s

  kiss,

  everything primal and male in him

  —everything Breed—pounded with

  a dark, dangerous need for more.

  Somehow, he’d managed to

  rein it in back at the Darkhaven

  celebration.

  Now, he just had to make sure

  to keep his desire in check for the

  duration of their confinement at the

  private villa.

  Eight nights, that’s all, he

  reassured himself.

  One hundred and ninety-two

  hours, give or take the few that had

  already passed tonight.

  Which

  meant

  somewhere

  around eleven thousand minutes.

  All of them to be spent in too-close

  quarters with a woman who lit up

  every nerve ending in his body like

  a flame set to dry tinder.

  Yeah, the math wasn’t helping.

  Everything they might need had

  been provided for by their families.

  Clothing, toiletries, a fully stocked

  kitchen for Seraphina. They would

  want for nothing from the outside

  world, and no one would interrupt

  their

  time

  together

  until

  the

  handfasting had ended.

  They’d divvied up the place as

  soon as they’d been dropped off,

  negotiating

  territory

  and

  establishing

  boundaries

  where

  neither of them would cross. It only

  seemed right to give her the privacy

  of the massive bedroom. As for

  Jehan, he would inhabit the general

  living quarters, and use the big nest

  of cushions in the main room as his

&nb
sp; bed for the next week.

  With Seraphina settling into

  the sole bedroom suite on her own,

  Jehan prowled the open space of

  the villa like a caged cat, taking

  stock

  of

  the

  unfamiliar

  surroundings. He strode across

  richly dyed rugs spread over terra

  cotta tiled floors. Above his head,

  the high, domed ceiling glowed

  with soft golden lights that glinted

  off a mosaic of gem-colored glass

  embedded into the white stucco

  plaster.

  Down the wing of the hallway

  opposite

  the

  bedroom

  where

  Seraphina had sequestered herself

  was a traditional bathing room with

  a

  steaming,

  spring-fed

  pool

  surrounded by silk-draped columns

  and fat pillar candles.

  In the adjacent, open-concept

  chamber, more beds of cushions and

  pillows were arranged around the

  room, some steeped in shadows,

  others strategically placed in front

  of tall, ornately framed mirrors.

  Erotic statuary and tables holding

  bottles of perfumed oils and incense

  jars completed the pleasure den.

  Jehan frowned, shaking his

  head. The handfast agreement may

  forbid a male from forcing himself

  on the Breedmate sent with him to

  this place, but every room in the

  villa was obviously designed with

  sex and seduction in mind.

  And try as he might to resist

  imagining Seraphina reclined on

  those cushions or stepping naked

  out of the steam-clouded baths, his

  mind refused to obey.

  Eight nights.

  He would be lucky to make it

  through this first one without losing

  his mind or tearing down the

  bedroom door she was currently

  hiding behind on the other side of

  the villa.

  He needed fresh air. What he

  really needed was a hundred-foot

  wall between him and his unwanted

  roommate. A length of sturdy chain

  wouldn’t hurt either.

  Jehan walked back out to the

  main living area and headed for the

  French doors leading out to an oasis

  patio in back. As he crossed the

  room, he heard Seraphina hiss a

  curse from inside the bedroom.

  He paused, listened. Told

  himself to keep walking in the

  opposite direction.

  She swore again and he

  detoured for the passage leading to

  the bedroom.

  “Are you all right in there?”

  “Yes. Everything’s fine.” Her

  reply was quick, dismissively so.

  He stood outside the closed

  door and heard her grumble in

  frustration. “I’m coming in.”

  “No. Wait—”

  She stood in the center of the

  big

  room,

  tangled

  in

  the

  complicated yards of red silk that

  comprised her dress from the

  celebration. When he chuckled, she

  glowered. “It’s not funny, you

  arrogant ass.”

  “Really?” He didn’t even try

  to curb his grin. “Looks pretty funny

  from where I’m standing.”

  She huffed, narrowing a glare

  on him. “If you’re going to stand

  there laughing at me, you might as

  well help.”

  He held up his hands. “No

  touching, remember? How can I

  help without breaking that part of

  our deal?” Of course, they’d also

  said no kissing, but that rule was

  already shot all to hell, even before

  they’d arrived tonight. “Ask me

  nicely and maybe I’ll consider

  bending the rules.”

  Her

  shoulders

  sagged

  in

  defeat, but the baring of her straight,

  white

  teeth

  hardly

  looked

  submissive. “Jehan, will you please

  help me?”

  He didn’t want to admit how

  enticing his name sounded on her

  pretty lips. Especially when it

  involved asking him to assist in

  undressing her. His blood agreed,

  licking through his veins in eager

  anticipation as he stalked across the

  bedroom to where she stood.

  She raised her right hand and

  gathered her long cascade of bead-

  strewn, soft brown curls off her

  neck as she presented her back to

  him. “There must be a dozen tiny

  knots holding this dress together.

  And I can’t figure out where the

  ends of the long wrappings begin

  either.”

  Jehan stood behind her for a

  long moment, just looking. Just

  drinking in the sight of her graceful

  nape and elegant spine. She was

  blessed with hourglass curves and

  long, lean legs. The ceremonial

  dress hugged every inch of her in

  all the right places. Including the

  rounded swells of her beautiful ass.

  How was it that his mouth

  could water, yet feel desert dry at

  the same time?

  His gums prickled as his fangs

  swelled against his tongue. Another

  part of him was swelling too,

  pressing in carnal demand against

  the loose white linen of his pants.

  Heat rose in his blood and in his

  vision, swamping his irises with

  amber fire.

  He reached out and began to

  loosen the first of the intricate

  knots.

  There were eight of them, not a

  dozen. Each one was a test of his

  dexterity as well as his self-control.

  One by one, the fastenings fell

  away, baring Seraphina’s naked

  back to his fevered gaze, inch by

  torturous inch.

  Somewhere along the way, his

  lungs had stopped working. Desire

  raked him, sharp talons stealing his

  breath as he freed the last of the tiny

  knots and the scarlet silk slackened

  in his fingers.

  Seraphina didn’t seem to be

  breathing

  either.

  She

  stood

  unmoving, her mane of long hair

  still held aloft in her hand. Warmth

  poured off her skin, and he knew

  she had to feel his heat reaching out

  to her too.

  Her

  heartbeat

  ticked

  frantically in the side of her neck,

  drawing his blazing eyes. The urge

  to stroke that tender pulse point—to

  touch and taste every enticing inch

  of her—nearly overwhelmed him.

  Clamping his molars together,

  he fought to keep a grip on those

  urges. When he finally found his

  voice, it came out in a gravelly

  rasp. “The
re you go. All finished.”

  Seraphina paused, letting her

  hair fall. She turned a glance over

  her

  shoulder

  at

  him.

  “The

  wrappings too?”

  Shit. He scowled and began a

  quick search for one of the ends of

  the lengths of silk. He tugged it

  loose and began to unwind it from

  around her bodice and waist. The

  damn thing was too long to pull

  free.

  He swore and shook his head.

  “You’ll have to turn with it.”

  “Like this?” She obeyed,

  pivoting in front of him. He nodded,

  then pulled the silk taut, letting the tail of it collect on the floor as she

  slowly spun before him. Around

  and around and around, her springy

  brown curls dancing as she turned,

  the beads threaded through the

  strands twinkling under the soft

  lights of the bedroom.

  He couldn’t take his eyes off

  her.

  In some primitive part of his

  brain, he was the conquering desert

  warlord

  and

  she

  was

  his

  mesmerizing

  captive.

  His

  irresistible,

  stolen

  prize.

  He

  watched her spin, watched the

  ribbon of scarlet silk unwind,

  revealing more and more of the

  beautiful woman wrapped inside.

  He wanted to keep undressing

  her.

  When he looked at Seraphina,

  when he breathed in her cinnamon-

  sweet scent and felt the warmth of

  her skin with each dizzying turn she

  took in front of him... Damn him, but

  being near her like this, there was

  so much he wanted.

  The drumming beat of her

  pulse vibrated in the small space

  between their bodies, and it made

  his own blood throb in answer. It

  made him hunger in a way he’d

  never fully known.

  It made him want to burn the

  pact between their families and take

  her right here and now, willing or

  not.

  Claim her.

  Possess her in every way.

  Make her his.

  Dangerous thinking.

  And a temptation he wasn’t at

  all certain he would be able to

  resist.

  Not for this one night, let alone

  seven more.

  CHAPTER 7

  She didn’t know the exact

  moment when the air between them

  changed from simply hot and

  playful

  to

  something

  darker.

  Something so fierce and powerful,

  it made all of her nerve endings

  stand at full attention.

  Jehan wanted her.

  She’d have to be an idiot not

  to realize that.

  She wanted him too.

  And she was too smart to think

  for one second that he hadn’t picked