“I don’t know what’s happening between us,” she said and continued to stare up at him. “I should hate you for betraying me, but I don’t. And I don’t know what that means.”
His beast was ready to be free again. It was ready to claim its mate. Steele, on the other hand, was right where Ravyn was with the uncertainty. Even though he’d told her and showed her what he really was, the same obstacles still existed for them. Cree was in danger and here she was ready to do whatever to save him. They were both humans and neither of them deserved to be up against a Dhampir and a cursed dagger. So no matter how much he could now admit his beast was probably right to want her, he couldn’t bring himself to ask her to stay in this world with him.
“I did betray you. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t.”
“I can’t undo anything that’s been done either,” she said.
“We can move forward and save the people we both lov...we both care a lot about,” he said and cleared his throat.
What he’d been about to say was crazy and it couldn’t be true. She’d only been an active part of his life for two weeks, and the other time he’d been following her she hadn’t known he existed. Besides that, love didn’t have to be part of the Drakon Selection. A beast could want its mate with or without its mate returning those feelings. It couldn’t touch its mate until at least the physical draw was reciprocated, but emotions were something totally different. The process was barbaric, as Opal had often stated, and one that Steele had never given much thought to. Until now. To enforce that thought, his beast pressed into Steele, encouraging him to move his head closer to hers. Ravyn tilted her chin up to him. He leaned in a little closer, until his lips just brushed against hers. She made the next move by puckering her lips for another kiss. This one started with a flash of light and then melted into what felt like a warm reunion as their tongues danced and dueled once again. She immediately pressed her body against his, her hands going to his shoulders as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss.
When he reluctantly broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers so they could catch their breaths, he chuckled. “It’s not a Bat Signal, whatever that is,” he said, reminding her of the conversation they’d been having before the one about emotions that just couldn’t be between them. “And you’re gonna appreciate the commando choice at some point.”
She grinned, slipping a hand down until it rested over the tent in the sweatpants created by his overwhelming arousal. Gripping his length through the material was just as enticing as if she’d stuck her hand down his pants and palmed him skin-to-skin, so he dutifully sucked in a breath, in lieu of begging her to keep going until he came.
“I think we’re both appreciating it right now.”
They definitely were, until a flashing blue light from the dashboard of the truck illuminated the interior and shined brightly on them as they stood in the night air.
“Another signal?” she asked.
He nodded. “The private signal is to be heard while in Drakon form. Secondary calls will go through our communicators.” The one he’d been wearing was programmed to disintegrate the moment composition of his human arm changed. He bent forward and put on his shoes, then returned to the back to fish out the backup communicator he kept there. A second backup could be found in the glove compartment.
“The watch I saw you talking to at the senator’s house,” she said and reached up to close the back hatch while he fastened the communicator onto his wrist.
“Yeah,” he replied but she was already walking around to the passenger side of the truck.
Steele moved to the driver’s side, climbing in just as the phone inside began ringing. He closed the door and started the engine before answering the call.
“Hey, Isla, I’m on my way.”
“Good, because we’ve got a situation that I don’t think any of us were prepared for,” Isla said through the secured line.
“Great,” he replied, “another one.”
Ravyn didn’t ask as many questions as he’d thought she would on the drive back and he took that time to think about what was going to happen next. He wasn’t taking her back to the Office, so Theo could be glad about that. But they were heading back into downtown Burgess, to the Towers building where he knew Magnum and Reese had taken Enes. He’d only instructed them to take the scumbag Vertis with them when he’d left Robles’s house with Ravyn, but he didn’t know what else the team may have done or found out in that time. His priority had been Ravyn and now that he was certain she was alright, he could shift gears and think of a way to get her friend back safely and get rid of Temptra.
“This is the building where the Legion really is,” she said when they turned the corner and were in front of the Towers.
“Yeah, we occupy a few floors in the building and then rent out the others. I’m going to go around back and then into the parking garage. We’ll take an elevator up to the offices and then I’ll probably have to leave you.”
“No.” Her reply came so fast he turned to look at her.
Reaching a hand over, he touched hers where it rested on her thigh. “You’ll be safe here. We’ve updated all our security in the last few months so getting in uninvited is damn near impossible. And I’ll ask Isla if you can go to her
