Midnight Awakening (Midnight Breed 3)

"What did he do to you?"

Nothing, she said, awash in humiliation but through no fault of Tegan's.

You drank from him.

It was an accusation that Elise could not deny. It's nothing. Don't worry about me--

Did he belittle you into thinking you had to do this? Did he...seduce you into drinking from him? Sterling hissed an oath, his fangs emerging in his rage. I'll fucking kill him. If he forced you, I swear to you, that bastard will pay--

Tegan didn't force me to do anything. I went to him. It was my choice. I asked him to let me use him. It was my doing, Sterling. Not any of his.

You went to him? He looked at her as if she'd slapped him. You drank from him by choice. Jesus, Elise...why?

Because I made a promise to Camden that I'd do whatever I could to make sure no one else was hurt by the Rogues or those who serve them. I made a vow, but I can't live up to it if my body isn't strong. Tegan was right. I needed Breed blood, and he gave it to me.

Sterling raked his hand through his hair, then over his face. When he reached out to take hold of her shoulders, his eyes were wild with pain, his fingers gripping her hard.

You didn't have to demean yourself with a stranger, Elise. Goddamn it, you could have come to me. You should have come to me!

She jumped at the harsh spike in his voice, and at the ferocity of his handsome face. When she tried to slip out of his strong grasp, he only held tighter.

I would have taken care of you. I would have treated you right. Don't you know that?

Sterling, please let go of me. You're hurting me.

"I'd do as the lady asks, Harvard."

The cool command issued from just a few feet away in the corridor. Tegan stood there, garbed in a graphite-colored sweater and black pants. His arms were crossed, one thick shoulder leaning against the white marble wall.

Everything about his stance said he couldn't be bothered with the little conflict playing out between Elise and her deceased mate's brother, but Tegan's eyes told a different story. His stare was locked on Sterling, unblinking. Threatening in its steady hold on the other male.

Elise brought her hands up to touch the ones still gripping her like a vise. Sterling, please...

He looked at her, stricken, and let go at once. I'm sorry. Now I'm the one who's overstepped my bounds. This won't happen again, I promise you.

Damn right it won't, Tegan said, his tone oddly protective even though he hadn't moved from his position across the corridor. As Sterling backed off, clearly distressed by his uncharacteristic display, Tegan finally glanced away from him to look at Elise. The plane is ready. Are you coming or not?

Elise swallowed, and gave a wobbly nod of her head. I am.

Awkwardly, she inched away from Sterling. She felt his eyes on her as she slipped out into the hallway. The weight of her brother-in-law's sullen stare remained with her as she fell in beside Tegan and walked the length of the corridor at his side.

Chase stood in the hallway long after Elise and Tegan disappeared from view. He couldn't pretend he was surprised that Elise rejected him. That hurt had been a long time coming, and one he knew he'd brought upon himself.

She had never been his, no matter how he had wished things to be different. She had belonged to his brother. In her heart she probably still did, even though she'd finally traded her mourning widow's whites for street clothes.

And now a part of her belonged irrevocably to Tegan. That was the truth that stunned him most. Tegan, the deadliest of the Order, the coldest. The one with the least regard for life--his own, or anyone else's.

Yet in her need, Elise had turned to him.

Had Tegan bedded her in the process? Chase refused to consider that likelihood, although it would be virtually unheard of for a Breed vampire to put a female to his vein and not be overcome with the sexual impulse to take her body in return. Tegan wasn't one to brag about his conquests--in all the months Chase had been among the Order, he'd never once heard a single boast of any kind from the warrior--but the many nights Tegan spent unaccounted for outside the compound left little doubt that the warrior had his own private itches to scratch. A sheltered female like Elise was probably no more than a moment's amusement to an icy inpidual like Tegan.

Goddamn it, Chase muttered, pounding the corridor wall with his fist. It was a futile exercise that only brought him more pain. But right now, he welcomed the hurt. He wanted to bleed. So much the better if he could take out a few Rogues in the process.

He stalked up the hallway and found Dante hanging outside the tech lab with Niko, Brock, and Kade. All of them were armed like Chase, suited up for the night's patrol topside.

Dante gave him a cautious nod of greeting as he approached, his whiskey-colored eyes narrowing thoughtfully. They're gone, he said, as if Chase ought to be relieved to hear it. You okay, Harvard?

Do I look like I need a fucking group hug? he snapped. I'll be a hell of a lot better once my feet are on pavement and my hand's stained with Rogue blood. Anyone game to smoke some suckheads tonight, or would you all rather stand around here thinking about it?