A Shadow's Embrace (15 page)

He growled and seized her mouth in a searing kiss as he plunged into her. She gasped and held on to his hips, bucking beneath him in an ancient dance born of a need only Dagan could satisfy.
 

Firm hands grasped her hips and held her in place as he fucked her hard and deep. A soft glide of heat ran through her mind, and she moaned into his hungered kiss, realizing he was there—burrowing into her darkest thoughts. She opened herself to him fully, allowing him to delve where he wanted as she was swept away in tidal waves of sensations coursing along her skin.
 

It felt as though the pleasure had been wrenched from the depths of her soul. She clung to him, answering each powerful thrust with wanton abandon, desperate in her need to touch, taste, and explore every inch of him as he played her body like a maestro.
 

“God, babe, you’ve ruined me for any other woman. No one will ever undo me the way you do,” he whispered against her ear. “You’re buried as deeply in me as I am in you right now.”
 

The confession shredded the last of her control. She erupted in a volcanic burst of pleasure. Sensation ended with Dagan. Only they existed. His release chased hers until they both tumbled from the cliff and drifted into euphoric bliss.
 

She collapsed into his bedding and groaned her approval when his weight settled on her. Wrapping her arms and legs around him before he could move, she purred, “Wow.”
 

Words escaped her.
 

He feathered kisses along her neck and trailed soft sweeps of his fingers along her side. “You’re everything I’ve ever imagined.”
 

Emotions churned within her. Despite the pleasure streaming through her veins, she was too nervous to share everything flickering through her mind. She’d felt him there earlier but sensed he’d pulled out shortly after they’d imploded into one another.
 

“Earlier today, I’d told myself I had to let you go,” he admitted.
 

“What? Why? Before we were even together?”
 

“You deserve good. I can never be what I know you deserve, Devyn. I’ll never offer you anything beyond a reminder of where we came from, what we fight to prevent every day. I am what I was then—a Shadow. I’m dark.”
 

“I’d rather live my life clinging to the darkest shadow if it means I’m free to feel for the first time ever. You are everything I desire, and, no matter how many days we have, I will never be able to show you everything I am because of you, what you and your team sacrificed for us.”
 

“This isn’t about the team, the SEO. Whatever exists is between you and me.”
 

“Exactly. Here, with me, you are the man I want. I am the woman who will fight, bleed, and die to defend you.” She sensed the shock in his tenseness. The confession was too much, too fast, but she didn’t care. She was all in. “Life is short. We’ve seen the worst, the darkest corners of humanity. I’m ready for the light, the pleasure I know is because of you. I’m not willing to wait.”
 

He snuggled her into his embrace. A few moments later she smiled her relief when he collapsed into an exhaustive sleep. Her Shadow had had a hell of a day. Tomorrow they’d chat, sort out where they stood relationship-wise, even though she pretty much already knew.
 

Oh, my God. She had a lover. A seriously hot, melt-her-panties-off Shadow.  She shimmied into a spooning position and smiled at the thought. She surrendered to exhaustion as Dagan’s heat enveloped her.
 

Dev?
 

Mia? What’s wrong?
Devyn shook off sleep but remained still so as not to wake up Dagan. Glancing at the clock, she noted a couple of hours had passed. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. The telepathic call shocked her since they’d all agreed to stick to secured landlines until they had a handle on Conver. But she wasn’t about to leave anyone on her team hanging.
 

We need your help. Diaz and Patch are at each other’s throats. They won’t say what went down, but all Diaz’s crew is moving in on Patch and his kids. I can’t talk them down.
 

I thought they were here.
 

No, they came back, didn’t want to hang with the Shadows any longer. I’m surprised they lasted as long as they did. They’re in trouble, Indy. If this goes down, the street will take sides, and the cops will get involved. You know what would happen to our kind in a jail, even if it’s only one night. They need you.
 

An ache settled in her chest. This was Rider’s turf. He could talk Satan into buying an igloo.
I’ll grab Dare and let Dagan and them know we’ve gotta move out. Give me a few to get things situated. I’ll get back with you.
 

I didn’t think they’d let you go. It’s too dangerous for you to be on the street, Dev. Look, I convinced Patch and Diaz to come to the compound with me. I just need the location. We can meet you outside, get this sorted, and let the guys rest. They had a shit day.
 

Yeah, they had, but giving the locale of the SEO compound wasn’t something she’d do without Kaeden or Dagan’s blessing. She doubted that’d happen. And she wasn’t about to wake either of them to ask. It was late, they were comatose and she was half dead on her feet and unable to process anything else. She’d had enough.
This can wait until tomorrow, Mia. Put your foot down. Hell, sit on those two if you have two.
 

I need to move out now. Diaz is chomping at the bit to stomp on Patch, says he’s sick of the little punk and his shit and wants to set an example.
 

Devyn sighed and wiggled out of Dagan’s arms. This sucked. What Mia said made no sense, no matter how exhausted Devyn was. Even though none of this bullshit conversation made sense, she had to assume Mia honestly didn’t know jack about Patch or Diaz. The woman spent as little time around the street kids as possible. She’d claimed her powers didn’t jive with so many personalities. That made sense. All Devyn knew was Diaz didn’t dictate like that, not with Dare. Or Rider and her. He did with Mia, but the whole street dealt with Mia like that. For some reason, she was the only one who’d yet to gain their respect. She reached over and grabbed the nearest thing—Dagan’s shirt. Pulling it on over her head, she sighed her exhaustion into the otherwise silent room.
 

I’m on it. Give me a few. Diaz will wait.
 

Grumpiness made her slam the door shut on the conversation before Mia argued or offered up another excuse. Wading her feet into Dagan’s gargantuan slippers—seriously, how sexy was it that he had those—she trudged out of the door in his shirt. She probably should’ve thrown on a robe or something, but she didn’t expect this to take long. Besides, no fool was awake but her. Just to make sure she’d be alone in her grouchy lack of slumber, she accessed the security cameras and verified her assumption. Yep, all hallways cleared. She made her way to the door and slipped into the hall.
 

Accessing the computer, she used maps—
thank you, sexy man of mine, for the idea
—and wound her way through the never-ending corridors to get to the war room. She sighed at the sealed entry. Of course they’d require access codes, fingerprints, and probably a firstborn to get in. She could use her powers to get the computers to accept her, but that seemed wrong. They’d trusted her to be here. She wouldn’t breach their trust by using her mojo on their poor, unsuspecting systems, even if it would get her back into dreamland in the arms her man. She pounded her head against the wall near the security panel. Responsibility sucked.
 

“There a problem?”
 

Kaeden’s voice made her sigh in relief until she remembered she was wandering around his compound wearing Dagan’s shirt and not much else.
 

His slow perusal, which halted on her legs and then paused on the gargantuan slippers swallowing her feet past the ankle made her wake faster than anything could have.
 

“Yeah, I sort of need to borrow the secured landline and maybe a computer so I can look through some security camera stuff. I think something’s going down with Diaz and Patch.”
 

“Really?” Kaeden crossed his arms. “Both those little punks fleeced us for four hundred bucks. They’re ace poker players. Apparently you and Rider taught them. They were cackling their way to the barracks when we all left the entertainment room half an hour ago.”
 

Shock riddled her mute for a moment as she blinked. But Mia had said….
 

No. Denial rushed forward, determined to nip the suspicion before it could gain strength in her. But there was no way to ignore reality. Mia had lied. Why?
 

Betrayal, pain, shock, and anger crushed her. Her insides coiled as pieces of her soul, her heart burned in anguished acceptance. Mia had betrayed her. She forced all emotional attachment to the woman aside and did what she knew Rider and Dare would expect. Taking a calming breath to force the pain aside for the moment, she looked at Kaeden and forced the statement from her lips.
 

“If that’s true, we have a big problem.”
 

Less than twenty minutes later, she found herself sitting in a quickly filling room. Those few minutes had signaled the end of many things. Her trust of Mia, their friendship. As SEO commanders and a host of other team members she’d yet to meet began drifting into the massive war room she’d yet to see—apparently the other one had been Ace’s hole—she realized she should’ve probably awakened Dagan and taken the time to put some clothes on. She looked over at Kaeden, who was against a credenza at the back wall.
 

“I think I should grab Dagan and get dressed.”
 

“He’s on his way. I gave him a very brief summation of the problem.”
 

“Oh.” Well, that didn’t sound good.
 

What really wasn’t good is that her excuse to be alone had just gotten killed. She needed time to decompress, handle the shock rippling through her without anyone seeing. She didn’t want to break down in front of all the strong, feel-nothing warriors filling the room.
 

Mia had lied to her. Even worse, she’d betrayed the Indigo Order and tried to infiltrate the SEO. How could she do that? Why? God, all the years they’d worked together. Had it been a complete lie?
 

I just need the location.
 

The bit of telepathic conversation looped in Devyn’s mind. She’d been too exhausted earlier to be suspicious. She’d given her longtime comrade the benefit of doubt since Mia rarely handled the street crews.
 

“You couldn’t have known.” Kaeden’s voice forced her from the emotional haze swallowing her whole. “Based on what you’ve shared and what I’ve
seen
, she was subtle. You couldn’t have known.”
 

Devyn took a calming breath and nodded even though she still doubted what he said. He saw things. She didn’t fully understand his powers, but he was a level six. She’d been around Dare and Rider enough to know guys like him didn’t say things unless they meant them.
 

“You reacted quickly. Why’d you come to the room?”
 

“I wanted computers, monitors. I was going to check the situation out myself before getting back with her.”
 

“Right. So, even though you didn’t realize it and didn’t think about it, your intuition knew to double check her. What she said didn’t settle with you. You think back on it, you’ll probably see you’ve been doing it all along without realizing.” Kaeden shrugged. “She isn’t worth thinking about, though. Few people are.”
 

She nodded as she began processing past situations. Mia had always been in the shadows, never the one Devyn turned to for help. Dare, Rider, and Cadence had been the critical cornerstones of the Indigo Order. Mia had been….
 

Invisible.
 

She’d never been given unrestrained power within the Order. Maybe Kaeden was right. They hadn’t trusted her fully. Or, rather, maybe Dare and Rider hadn’t. She forced thoughts of the past aside and focused on the here and now. Tugging on the hem of the shirt she wore, she ignored the rise of heat in her cheeks. “Guess my quick reaction should’ve been slowed enough
for me to throw pants on. Honestly, I checked surveillance. No one was out and about. I can’t believe I didn’t see you or the others in that entertainment room.”
 

His gaze settled on her bare legs for a moment before it slid back to the room.
 

“It’s in my private quarters, so it’s not monitored. You remind me a lot of someone. Those sweet bursts of naïve impulsiveness work on guys like us better than any adrenaline shots, but a word to the wise. Every man has a line, and I’m thinking those sexy toes of yours are bumping right up against Dagan’s.”
 

She looked down at her pink-painted toe nails. She should’ve probably kept the slippers on, but they’d been so danged hard to tromp around in. She’d sounded and felt like a Clydesdale. Curling said toes on the carpeting, she tried to force a deep breath out when Dagan shoved his way into the room.
 

The low hum of conversation halted upon his entry, as though everyone knew a more interesting show was about to take place. Well, it wasn’t like she’d planned for all this to go down. She couldn’t have anticipated Kaeden putting the entire compound on red alert and insisting on an immediate briefing of everyone. And, by everyone, he’d included Diaz, Patch, and their crews.
 

She wanted to go to Diaz and Patch, help calm their crews. They all hummed with nervous energy, raw rage. Someone had clued them in enough for them to get the gist—Mia had tried to use them to mess with the SEO and Devyn. Concern for them rose within her as she closed her eyes and wished the situation away.