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

  kiss and his tongue breached her

  parted lips, all she knew was need.

  She speared her fingers into

  his thick, soft waves and clung to

  him, lost in desire and oblivious of

  their surroundings. Willing to

  ignore everything so long as Jehan

  was holding her like this, kissing

  her as if he’d been longing for it as

  much as she had.

  He drew back on a snarled

  curse and looked at her. His eyes

  snapped with embers, his pupils

  nothing but vertical slits in the

  middle of all that fire. His wet lips

  peeled back off his teeth and fangs

  as he drew in a deep breath,

  scenting her like the predatory

  being he truly was.

  For a moment, she thought he

  was about to pick her up and carry

  her off to some secluded corner of

  the camp as if he owned her. She

  wouldn’t have fought him. God, not

  even close.

  But as they stood there, Sera

  felt a subtle sting start to needle her

  cheeks and forehead. Her eyes

  started to burn, then the next breath

  she took carried the grit of fine sand

  to the back of her throat.

  The storm.

  It was arriving even sooner

  than Karsten had warned.

  She didn’t have to tell Jehan.

  Pulling her close, he tucked her

  head against his chest and rushed

  with her toward the nearest

  outbuilding as the night began to fill

  with a roiling swell of yellow dust.

  CHAPTER 10

  By the time they reached the

  aluminum-roofed storage building

  several yards ahead, the biting wind

  had picked up with a howl. Sand

  churned across the camp, blowing

  as thick as a blizzard.

  His body still charged with

  arousal, Jehan held Seraphina

  against him as he threw open the

  rickety wooden door. “Inside,

  quickly.”

  She no sooner entered the

  shelter

  than

  a

  muffled

  cry

  somewhere amid the storm drew

  both of them to full alert. The voice

  was small, distant. Unmistakably

  terrified.

  “Yasmin.” Seraphina’s face

  blanched with worry. “Oh, God.

  The little girl who came to greet us

  when we arrived. She and some

  other children ran off to play a few

  minutes ago.”

  The cry came again, more

  plaintive now. There was pain in

  the child’s voice too.

  Jehan cursed. “Stay here. I’ll

  find her.”

  Without waiting for her to

  argue, he dashed back into the night

  using the speed of his Breed

  genetics. The little girl’s wails

  were a beacon through the blinding

  sea of flying sand. Jehan followed

  her cries to a deep ditch on the far

  side of the camp. At the bottom of

  the rugged drop, her small body lay

  curled in a tight ball.

  “Yasmin?”

  At the sound of her name, she

  lifted her head. Agony and terror

  flooded her tear-filled eyes. The

  poor child was shaking and

  sobbing, choking on the airborne

  sand.

  Jehan jumped down into the

  ditch. Crouching low beside her, he

  sheltered her with his body as the

  sandstorm roiled all around them.

  “Are you hurt?”

  Her dark head wobbled in a

  jerky nod. “My leg hurts. I was

  trying to hide from my friends, but I

  fell and they all ran away.”

  Jehan gingerly examined her.

  As soon as his palm skated over her

  left shin and ankle, he felt the hot

  pain of a compound fracture. The

  break streaked through his senses

  like a jagged bolt of lightning.

  “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you

  out of here.”

  He collected Yasmin into his

  arms and carried her up from the

  ditch. At the crest of it, Seraphina was waiting. A heavy blanket

  covered her from head to toe as a

  makeshift shield from the storm.

  She opened her arms as Jehan

  strode toward her, enveloping him

  and the child as the three of them

  made their way across the camp.

  “She needs a medic,” he

  informed

  Seraphina

  as

  she

  murmured quiet reassurances to the

  scared child. “I felt two fractures in

  the lower part of the left fibula, and

  a fairly bad sprain in the ankle.”

  Seraphina’s brows knitted for

  a second, then she acknowledged

  with a nod. “The medical building

  is in the center of camp. This way.”

  She set their course for one of

  the glowing yellow lights emanating

  through the sand and darkness up

  ahead.

  Jehan didn’t miss the uncertain

  glances he drew as he and

  Seraphina brought the injured child

  into the small field hospital. Their

  wariness didn’t bother him. Being

  Breed, he was accustomed to the

  wide berth most humans tended to

  give him. And it didn’t escape his

  notice that one of the nurses

  carrying a cooler with a large red

  cross on it made an immediate

  about-face retreat the instant her

  eyes landed on him—as if her stash

  of refrigerated red cells might

  provoke him to attack.

  The humans needn’t have

  worried about that. His kind only

  consumed fresh blood, taken from

  an open vein.

  And right now, the only veins

  that interested him at all belonged

  to the beautiful woman standing

  next to him. Even dressed in his

  worn shirt and oversized pants,

  Seraphina stirred everything male

  in him the same way she stirred the

  vampire side of his nature.

  Just because their kiss had

  been interrupted by the storm and a

  distressed child, that didn’t mean

  he’d forgotten any of that fire

  Seraphina had ignited in him. Now

  that the little girl was safe and in

  the care of a doctor, Jehan’s

  attention—all of his focus—was

  centered on how quickly he could

  get back to where he and Seraphina

  had left off.

  But he stood by patiently as

  she

  made

  introductions

  and

  explained to her fellow volunteers

  that Jehan was her friend, that he

  was the one who went out into the

  storm to locate Yasmin. Seraphina’s

  vouching for him seemed enough to

  put the humans at ease, since it was

  clear that everyone at the camp

  trusted and adored her.

  He was beginning to feel

&
nbsp; likewise.

  More than beginning to feel

  that way, in fact.

  After the medic and nurses

  went back to their work, Seraphina

  turned to look up at him.

  “When you brought Yasmin out

  of the storm, you said her leg was

  broken.” He nodded, but that didn’t

  seem

  to

  satisfy

  Seraphina’s

  curiosity. “Actually, you said her

  fibula had two fractures and that her

  ankle was badly sprained. You

  were right, Jehan. According to the

  field medic just a few minutes ago,

  you were one hundred percent

  accurate. You told me you felt her

  injuries. You can feel physical

  injuries?”

  He

  shrugged,

  barely

  acknowledging the ability he so

  seldom used.

  “Can you heal them too?”

  “No. And now you know my

  curse,” he murmured wryly. “I can

  inventory someone’s wounds, but I

  can’t help them.”

  She tilted her head at him,

  warmth sparkling in her eyes. “You

  helped Yasmin tonight.”

  Jehan stared at her, unsure how

  to respond. Seraphina couldn’t

  know how his so-called gift had

  hobbled him in his life. He’d grown

  up feeling useless, aimless. It

  wasn’t until he’d found the Order

  that he realized there were other

  ways to do something meaningful

  with his life. That his life had

  purpose.

  She was still studying him,

  looking gorgeous and far too

  interested in him as she held his

  gaze. “The storm’s really blowing

  out there. Do you want to wait it out

  in here or would you rather go to

  my place?”

  He arched a brow. “Your

  place?”

  “My tent.” She smiled, and the

  warmth of it went straight to his

  groin. “It’s where I stay when I’m

  here at the camp for any length of

  time. It’s not all that comfortable,

  but it is private.”

  Jehan’s grin broke slowly

  across his face. “Miss Sanhaja, are

  you trying to seduce me?”

  She licked her lips, tilting her

  head as she held his hungry gaze. “I

  think I might be.”

  Holy hell. The promise in her

  voice had his blood racing so hard

  and fast to his cock, he wasn’t sure

  he’d make it to her tent.

  “Lead the way,” he drawled

  thickly, his fangs already punching

  out of his gums.

  He held the blanket aloft over

  them as they dashed out of the

  medical building and raced through

  the blizzard of sand. Seraphina’s

  tent stood toward the far end of the

  camp. By the time they reached it

  and found their way past the zipper

  and ties that secured the shelter’s

  entrance, they were coated in a thin

  layer of grit. They stumbled inside

  together hand-in-hand, Seraphina

  laughing and breathless in the dark.

  She left him for a moment,

  bending to turn on a lantern.

  The soft light put a glow on

  her pinkened cheeks and on the

  flush of color rising up the smooth

  column of her throat, making the

  fine sand that dusted her skin glitter

  like

  diamonds.

  Under

  the

  windblown tangle of her long

  brown curls, her sandalwood-

  colored eyes were fathomless and

  filled with desire. Her breath was

  still racing and shallow, the outline

  of her breasts teasing him from

  under the crisp white linen of his

  shirt.

  He’d never seen anything so

  lovely.

  With the storm howling all

  around them, sand buffeting the tent

  like rain, Jehan stood speechless,

  the sight of her like this branding

  itself into his memory forever.

  He couldn’t resist reaching out

  to stroke the velvet of her cheek.

  And then that wasn’t enough either,

  so he cupped her face in his hands

  and dragged her into a fierce kiss.

  The instant their mouths met, it

  was as if no time had passed

  between their fevered kiss before

  the sandstorm and this electric

  moment now. Hell, it was as if they

  were merely picking up where they

  left off that first night at the villa.

  All of the hunger he felt for this

  female, all of the desire...it was

  right there below the surface,

  waiting for the chance to reignite.

  And he knew that Seraphina

  felt it too.

  On a moan, she melted against

  him, her lips parting to give his

  tongue the access it demanded. Heat

  licked through his veins at the taste

  of her passion, scorching everything

  in its path. In an instant, his fangs

  punched through his gums to fill his

  mouth. Need hammered in his

  temples, in his chest. In the aching

  length of his cock.

  He groaned with the intensity

  of it.

  He had to pace himself.

  Wanted to take this slowly with her,

  despite his own impatience to have

  her spread out beneath him as he

  buried himself inside her.

  But Seraphina was merciless.

  Her wet mouth and gusting breath

  tore at his resolve. Her soft curves

  and strong, questing fingers on his

  shoulders and chest, in his hair,

  stripped

  away

  his

  already

  threadbare control.

  Sliding his hands under the

  loose hem of the tunic, he greedily

  caressed the firm swell of her satin-

  covered breasts. Seraphina gasped,

  arching into him as he flicked open

  the front clasp of her bra and

  cupped her bare flesh in his palms.

  Her nipples were tight little buds

  that pebbled even harder as he

  rolled and tweaked them between

  his fingers, hungry to taste them.

  He released her, but only so he

  could take the shirt off and feast on

  her with his eyes.

  He drew the linen over her

  head and let it fall to the floor of the

  tent. The red sash holding up her

  pants came off next. He untied it

  and watched as the slackened

  waistband of the linen trousers slid

  off her hips to pool at her feet.

  “So beautiful,” he murmured,

  reaching out to run the backs of his

  knuckles down her arm, then across

  the flat plane of her belly. He

  ventured further, toying with the

  lacy edge of her delicate panties.

  “This is what I wanted to do that

  first night with you, Seraphina.

  Undress y
ou inch by inch. Pretend I

  had the right to look at you like this

  and think I could ever be worthy of

  having you.”

  She slowly shook her head. “I

  don’t want you to pretend, Jehan.

  Tonight, I don’t want you to stop. I

  didn’t want you to stop that first

  night either.”

  A

  sound

  escaped

  him,

  something raw and otherworldly.

  He slid his fingers into the scrap of

  fabric between her legs, and...holy

  fuck.

  She was almost bare beneath

  the lace. And wet. So damn wet.

  Hot, liquid silk bathed his fingertips

  as he delved into her slick cleft.

  She bit her lip, dropping her

  head back on a sigh. Holding on to

  him as he stroked her silky folds,

  she squirmed and shuddered against

  his touch. “Jehan, don’t make me

  wait. Please, don’t make me want

  like this again.”

  “No chance of that,” he

  uttered, his voice like gravel in his

  throat, raw with desire. “Not

  tonight.”

  Not

  ever

  again,

  some

  possessive part of him growled in

  agreement.

  He didn’t know where it came

  from—the bone-deep sense that he

  belonged with this woman.

  That she was his.

  And that as ridiculous as the

  ancient pact between their families

  was, it had somehow delivered him

  to the one woman he craved more

  than any other before.

  Jehan drew her mouth to his

  and kissed her again, as reverent as

  it was claiming. He broke contact

  only so he could strip out of his

  shirt and jeans, leaving both at his

  feet. He wore nothing underneath,

  and as soon as his cock sprang free,

  Seraphina’s hands found him.

  She stroked and caressed him,

  her fingers so sure and fevered, he

  nearly came on the spot.

  Need twisted tight and hot

  with every slide of her hands over

  his stiff shaft, pressure coiling at the

  base of his spine.

  Somehow, he managed to

  collect himself enough to douse the

  lantern with his mind. The tent

  plunged into darkness. Although the

  sandstorm raged outside, driving

  everyone in the camp indoors, he

  wasn’t going to share Seraphina or

  this moment with anyone else.

  Pulling her down onto the

  pallet of blankets and pillows with

  him, Jehan removed her panties,

  then smoothed his hand along every

  beautiful swell and delicately

  muscled plane on her nude body.

  The temptation of her sex was too

  much. The sweet scent of her

  arousal drenched his senses as he