“Yes. I am,” he admitted. “I’ve been getting the feeling you might be happy to see me go.”
The fact that she didn’t answer right away took him aback. When she finally did speak, her voice was barely a whisper. “I can’t do this with you, Aric. I want to go back inside now.”
Her eyes said just the opposite. So did the small, jagged sigh that escaped her parted lips.
“No, you don’t. That’s not what you want.” He shook his head, refusing to believe her lie. “You’re still in my arms. You don’t want to run away from me any more than I want you to.”
He knew he was right when he gently cupped her face and instead of protesting, she murmured his name like a plea.
Like a softly uttered prayer.
He bent his head and she met him more than halfway, their mouths coming together in a kiss that was both tender and explosive. The connection blazed through his senses like a wildfire. He didn’t want to release her, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that they weren’t alone on the terrace.
He broke away on a low curse, his amber-lit eyes bathing her face in an unearthly glow. There was no denying his desire for her. It was there in his transformed, heated gaze, and in the fullness of his fangs, which throbbed with the same intensity of the arousal now straining behind the zipper of his dark jeans.
“I’m afraid,” she whispered, so quietly it almost wasn’t a sound at all.
Aric knew what it cost her to say that. Kaya Laurent was a warrior at heart. She didn’t need the Order to tell her as much. Aric didn’t need anyone to confirm that about her, either. He saw her bravery and resilience in everything she did. But especially in this moment, in the wake of that soft confession.
She was tough and indomitable, yet he held her like glass in his arms now, certain that beneath the strong exterior was a woman who’d been broken in more ways than she would ever admit.
He kissed her again, then ran the pad of his thumb over the glistening softness of her lips. “Come with me, Kaya.”
It was more question than demand. He had to allow her that, because if she stepped away from this terrace with him, they both knew where the night was going to lead.
She stared into his eyes in silence.
Then she slipped her hand into his.
CHAPTER 12
Kaya didn’t look to see if Mira and Kellan were watching as she and Aric stopped dancing and slipped away from the terrace together. The moment felt too personal, no room for anyone else’s eyes or judgment.
Right now, it was only Aric and her.
No room for the reality of the fact that his life waited in another city, while her future with the Order teetered precariously here in Montreal.
He picked up the blanket Siobhan had left behind on the terrace, then walked Kaya out onto the lawn. The mansion was built on a large, woodland hill. The forest of tall pines and enormous maple and oak trees provided seclusion for the command center, as well as acres of privacy for training exercises and other Order business.
Aric led her into the dense woods, walking what seemed to be a deliberate path.
“Where are we going?”
A smile curved his sensual mouth. “You’ll see.”
In a few minutes, they reached the summit and a steep ledge of granite that overlooked the city below. The tree line stopped only a couple of yards short of the edge, which provided an unparalleled view of Montreal’s lights and the wide river that cut through it in the distance.
Kaya turned a surprised look on him. “You know this place?”
“When I was a kid my family used to visit Niko and Renata and Mira here in the city. Every chance I got to explore these woods, I’d end up here. There’s no view like this anywhere else.”
She laughed softly and shook her head.
“What’s so funny?”
“This is my favorite place in all the world. Whenever I need time and space to think, I come up here.” She gave his hand a little tug. “Come on. The best spot to sit is right near the edge.”
He followed her out of the woods and into the open air on the ledge. They spread the blanket on the last few feet of smooth stone before the granite shelf ended in a sheer drop several hundred feet down.
Kaya sat down in the center of the small patch of wool, her legs stretched out in front of her. Aric joined her, leaving barely an inch between them and resting one arm over his updrawn knee. With the moon and stars above them and Montreal’s glittering lights scattered in the distance below, neither of them spoke for a while.
Maybe it should have been awkward, coming out here with the knowledge that she would soon be undressed beneath this Breed male with him inside her, but she felt only calm when she looked over and saw Aric seated next to her.
It felt safe, perched at the edge of a lethal drop next to a man she barely knew and dared not trust.
Not beyond tonight, anyway.
Nothing could touch her up here. This hill had been a beacon for so much of her life, the only steady thing she had. Tonight it didn’t only belong to her, but to Aric too.
Tonight, it belonged to both of them.
And maybe that’s why she felt comfortable giving him a small piece of her truth.
“When I was little, my mom used to tell me that terrible monsters lived on this hill. She said they had hideous, sharp teeth and liked to eat children.”
Aric glanced at her, his brows raised. “Not a fan of my people, I take it?”
“Not really,” she replied, more understatement than he could possibly know. “I was
