Page 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The sun was rising over Brooklyn when they drove onto the grounds of the mansion.

Gustav and Lena were at the front door, their expressions anxious. Relief brightened their eyes at the sight of Vlad and Tarang emerging from an SUV.

Yuliy was waiting in the foyer, tension evident in the tight lines framing his eyes. The Black Devils ’ boss crossed the floor and squeezed his nephew to his chest wordlessly.

Vlad shuddered and hugged his uncle just as tightly.

“I’m back,” he whispered.

Delphine knew he meant the words in more than one sense.

Tarang rumbled and pressed affectionately against Yuliy’s leg.

The older man’s shoulders loosened. He released Vlad and stroked the tiger’s head, his face softening.

Yuliy met Delphine’s gaze. “Thanks for keeping them safe.”

She dipped her head curtly. “Just doing my job.”

She’d changed into her business suit, her hair tied back in a slick ponytail.

Delphine caught the look Vlad shot her way and refused to acknowledge it. Her mission was over and she was going back to Washington.

That prospect should have pleased her.

Yet the only thing she was feeling was a hollowness that was growing deeper with every passing hour. She knew damn well the cause of it was the man watching her with a guarded expression.

Lena served breakfast in the dining room overlooking the marina while Vlad gave his uncle a debrief about the night’s events.

Though Yuliy had been furious about the DEA operation and Wei Chen’s involvement in it when they’d spoken with him before putting together a team to go after Santana, he’d agreed that having the Triad leader and the federal agency in their debt would serve them well in the long run.

They broached the topic of the peace negotiations between Wei Chen and the Lucianos presently.

“Maybe I should ask Miss Dubois to stick around for the next meeting,” Yuliy suggested. His shrewd gaze swung between Delphine and Vlad.

Lena paused expectantly, coffeepot half tilted toward the Black Devils ’ leader’s cup. The piece of bacon poised on the tip of Gustav’s fork hovered near his mouth as he stared.

“You will have to discuss that with Gideon,” Delphine said in a level voice. “Besides, I believe Ilya and Milo will be back in action by then, so you won’t be in need of my services.” She focused on her plate, conscious of Vlad’s frown.

“Does that mean you’re leaving New York?” the incubus asked stiffly.

“Yes.”

His frown deepened. “When?”

“It depends.”

He crushed the napkin in his hand. “On what?” he fairly growled.

Yuliy, Gustav, and Lena watched with bated breath, their gazes swinging across the table. So did Tarang’s.

Heat crawled up Delphine’s neck. She narrowed her eyes at Vlad.

“I don’t owe you an answer.”

Her cool tone made his jaw tighten. “I see.”

Vlad pushed back his chair and strode out of the room, his spine rigid. Tarang hesitated before leaving his plate of steak and padding after him. A nervous huff left the tiger as he glanced at Delphine over his shoulder.

Delphine closed her eyes briefly.

This is why I don’t do relationships. They complicate everything.

Yet the thought of walking away from what she and Vlad had started made her chest ache in a way she’d never experienced before. She hated to admit it, but she cared for the incubus.

And the tiger. And even the Black Devils .

“Dammit,” she muttered.

Her fork groaned as it bent in her grip.

Yuliy looked fairly impressed at the feat.

“You made a terrible mess of that,” Lena told Delphine bluntly.

Yuliy looked up from the twisted cutlery. “To be fair, Vlad’s equally at fault. He was never good at talking about his feelings.”

“Remember that time he had that crush on that little girl in kindergarten?” Gustav mused.

Lena grimaced. “You mean when he put a toad in her bag and mud in her lunch box and then was upset when she told the teacher and got him in trouble?”

A reminiscent smile curved Yuliy’s mouth. “He cried for a whole day after he got his heart broken.” He chuckled. “He was a cute little devil.”

Delphine’s mouth pressed to a thin line. “You guys are not helping.”

The drive back to Vlad’s apartment was a tense affair.

Delphine glanced at the incubus where he sat in the passenger seat, his cold profile gilded by the morning light. Tarang was curled up asleep in the back, having evidently decided that matters of the human heart were far too exhausting to contemplate on a full stomach.

She broke the silence first.

“Look, I apologize. I shouldn’t have said what I said back there.”

“Which part?” His pupils flashed crimson as he looked at her.

Now that his powers had fully returned, she could feel a subtle heat emanating from him. One that made her skin tingle and her pulse quicken.

Serena had told her super soldiers were immune to magic, including Vlad’s incubus charm. Which meant what she was feeling was one hundred percent her own emotion.

Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel of the Range Rover.

Delphine Dubois, you need to grow a pair.

She took a deep breath. “I like you.”

The confession made Vlad freeze. He blinked, like he couldn’t believe what she’d just said.

“What?” he breathed.

“I said I like you,” she ground out.

He hesitated. “You mean, like…a friend?”

Delphine scowled. “Friends do not do what I did to you three nights ago. Four times.”

Color stained Vlad’s cheekbones. His expression turned serious. “I like you too.”

Delphine’s heart clenched. “You mean that?”

“Pull over.”

She blinked. “What?”

“Pull over, Delphine.” His eyes flared scarlet, his tone dropping to an octave that made her shiver.

Delphine swallowed, checked the mirrors, and pulled into a service lane.

She’d barely engaged the handbrake when Vlad undid his seat belt, leaned over the center console, and clasped her face.

He claimed her mouth in a kiss that made her blood sing. She melted against him with a soft sound, her hands rising to sink into his hair.

It was a while before they came up for air.

They stared at one another, desire setting the space between them alight.

“How fast can you get us to the apartment?” Vlad mumbled, his face flushed and his pupils liquid fire.

Delphine steered her thoughts in the right direction with some difficulty and did a quick mental calculation.

“Twenty minutes.”

Vlad nipped at her lip with his teeth, making her belly clench all over again. “I know a shortcut.”

They made it there in fifteen and barely managed to get inside the elevator before they were all over each other again, their mouths hungry and their touch desperate. Tarang padded straight to a sunny spot on the upstairs landing the moment they entered the apartment, evidently intent on giving them their privacy this time.

Delphine pushed Vlad against the wall like she’d done the first night and began popping the buttons of his shirt. She made an impatient sound when she got halfway down and ripped the whole thing off his chest.

Vlad chuckled as buttons went flying everywhere.

“You know, that’s a very expensive Armani shirt.”

“Bill me.” Delphine kicked her boots off while he stripped her shirt off her shoulders, his eyes bright with desire as he stared at the lace covering her bare skin.

Her hands found his belt buckle.

Vlad’s breathing accelerated, his gaze growing heavy-lidded.

He picked her up with a strength that surprised her, wrapped her legs around his hips, and pressed her back to the wall. Delphine’s stomach tightened in delicious anticipation as Vlad molded their bodies together.

“I think I could get addicted to this,” he whispered hotly against her mouth, his crimson pupils pulsing with a fire that threatened to scorch her.

She flashed him a sinful smile, took hold of his face, and claimed his lips.

They never made it to the bedroom.