Seeing Nova’s pain--Eddie’s too--there was nothing that would satisfy Mathias more than to be the one to personally slay the son of a bitch.
That the killer could be Breed only made it more crucial that they find him. Bad enough to know there were human thugs like Doyle and his scarab-marked colleagues skulking around London with the potential to do harm to Nova. To think she could be in the crosshairs of a predator with the Breed’s deadly appetites and skills?
Mathias snarled through his fangs, prowling the studio like a caged animal as he waited for Thane and Deacon to arrive. The third member of the patrol, Callahan, would be hoofing it across town to meet them at the shop. Thane informed Mathias that the impulsive young warrior had gone off to find a blood Host and feed, after the team’s Rogue hunt had proven a bust.
As for JUSTIS, Sloane had been tied up on another investigation, but expected he could be there with his unit within the hour.
In the meantime, the waiting was making Mathias crazy.
The sense of helplessness wasn’t something he was accustomed to, but that feeling had less to do with the anticipated reconnoiter with his team and JUSTIS than it did with Nova.
After using her ability on Ozzy, she’d come away viciously nauseated, barely making it to the restroom in the back of the shop before she lost her stomach.
She’d been in the back room with Eddie ever since, a closed door standing as a barrier between them and Mathias in the studio.
That door wasn’t the only obstacle between Nova and him now.
She didn’t want to be near him.
She didn’t want his comfort or his concern.
She didn’t want anything from him.
And not that he could blame her. He’d been sick with himself too, cursing himself for the recklessness that had not only cost Ozzy’s life tonight, but had left Nova in the crosshairs of a killer. One who might be closing in on her even now.>His fangs pressed against his tongue, razor-sharp tips fully extended, and he knew that Nova was seeing him at his most inhuman--in his savage, predator’s form.
She didn’t flinch.
She didn’t tremble.
She reached for him. “Mathias...”
There was nothing more she needed to do or say.
He kissed her, unhurried, and positioned himself between her parted thighs. Her cleft was slick and hot against his shaft as guided himself to her. He couldn’t stop now. His desire for her swamped all of his senses.
He pulled his hips back until he was seated at the core of her ready body.
Then he drove home, inch by delicious inch, into the sweetest, hottest pleasure he’d ever known.
~ ~ ~
He filled her more deeply than she thought possible, cleaving her core with so much heat and strength and passion that she could hardly draw her breath. The sensation overwhelmed her, stunned her.
Obliterated every thought she’d ever had for what it meant to be at the mercy of a man’s carnal needs.
Nova clung to Mathias as he rocked into her with unbridled force.
Her body was still pliant from its release, nerve endings still thrumming from the pleasure he’d given her with his lips and tongue and touch.
She felt that release winding up again as he crashed against her, the friction of his cock moving inside her swiftly becoming more than she could bear.
On a cry, she shattered. Felt herself splintering apart into tiny pieces.
Without warning, sudden tears filled her eyes. Burned the back of her throat.
Mathias went stock-still above her, halting in mid-thrust. His breath sawed out of him, and the curse he swore was abrupt, dread-filled. “You’re crying.”
She gave a feeble shake of her head, struggling to find her voice. “I just...I thought it would be different,” she choked out. “I thought I could handle it...”