Midnight Untamed (Midnight Breed 14.5)

He was dead, and Bella was safe.

Chiara and her son had come through the ordeal uninjured too.

As Savage held Bella in his embrace, he glanced to the door where Scythe had now entered. The former Hunter strode inside his house, his black gaze taking in the signs of struggle and the pile of ash still crackling on the floor. Then he looked to Chiara and Pietro, the pair of them huddled together nearby, and something crossed the remote male’s face.

Relief, Savage thought.

And maybe something more.

Regret?

Whatever it was, the emotion was there and gone in an instant.

He gave Savage a sober nod, whether in confirmation of what he’d allowed him to see just then, or in acknowledgment of their teamwork tonight, Savage wasn’t sure.

He might have tried to decipher it, but right then, with Bella warm and alive in his arms and his heart full to the brim with love for her, the only thing on his mind was the well-being of his woman.

His brave, beautiful mate.

He couldn’t contain himself from dragging her to him for his kiss.

She resisted a little, drawing back on a small groan. “Ettore, I’m a mess. I have his blood on me…his foulness.”

“That won’t stop me from kissing you,” he told her gently. “Nothing is going to stop me from doing that ever again.”

He pulled her closer, wrapping her in his embrace as he brushed his lips over hers in a slower claiming, a tender joining of their mouths that still had the power to inflame them both—even after the ordeal they had just endured. Perhaps because of it too.

But she was right. She had been through hell with Massioni. Not only tonight, but for the past three years as well.

Now that the monster was no more, Savage wanted to erase all trace of him from Bella’s life.

He swept his tongue across her soft lips on a groan that promised more. With Chiara quietly tending to her son, Savage lifted his head to look at Scythe.

oni sneered at Savage. “Done chasing rabbits so soon, warrior? Here I’d been looking forward to taking my time with these three.”

“You heard me. Put the boy down.”

Instead of complying, he raised Pietro higher, until the child’s rib cage was level with Massioni’s open maw. Saliva dripped from the tips of his fangs. “Put down your weapon, warrior.”

Savage didn’t move. He didn’t as much as blink. Holding his 9mm steady, he only hoped Massioni would believe his bluff.

“Bella,” he said calmly. “Move out of the way, baby.”

Massioni growled. “Don’t you take even one fucking step, Bella, or the next thing you’ll hear is this brat’s screams as I punch a hole through his sternum with my fist.”

Chiara sobbed. Bella looked equally miserable, but she held herself together. She stared at Savage, shaking her head as if to warn him away from doing anything rash.

Well, fuck that. He would do anything to get her out of this, but damn if he wanted to forfeit an innocent child’s life to accomplish it.

He saw little choice but to try to catch Massioni off guard.

In a split-second move, Savage took his shot, hitting the Breed male’s forearm.

Massioni hissed as the bullet bit into his ravaged flesh.

As Savage hoped, he lost his grip on Pietro. The boy dropped to the floor, unharmed.

But then, just as quickly, Massioni snatched up Bella and hauled her against him like a shield.