LOGINShe kissed him hungrily, tasting herself on his lips, and he groaned into her mouth. Her fingers pushed under his collar, fumbled at the buttons, then gave up and simply dragged him closer."You're early," she said against his lips."A day.""You didn't tell me.""I wanted to see your face.""My face?""When you woke up." He kissed the corner of her mouth. "I wanted to see you"She laughed, a soft, breathless sound, and something moved in her eyes that was so naked and so glad that his throat tightened."I missed you so much," she said. "It was ridiculous. I kept looking at my phone.""I know. I saw it .""You saw it?" She asked."You fell asleep with it in your hand." He brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I put it away."Her gaze flickered, for just an instant, something unreadable crossing it, and then it was gone. She tugged at his shirt again."Take that off," she said. "Now. Please."He pushed himself back onto his knees and did as he was told.The shirt came off in one pul
He wrapped his lips around her clit and drew it gently into his mouth.She arched off the bed.A thin, startled sound broke out of her throat, and her hand shot out and found his hair, fingers tangling in it, not pulling away but holding on. He felt her whole body go taut and then shiver, as the last layers of sleep burned off her in a rush."Damien?" Her voice was thick and rough, drenched in disbelief. "Damien, is that....""Go back to sleep," he murmured against her. His breath ghosted across pussy, and she shuddered. "I've got you.""I'm not...." She gasped as he flicked his tongue across the tight bundle of nerves. "Oh. Oh, God. I'm not asleep, I'm....you're here....""I'm here.""I thought you wouldn't be back until tomorrow." Her fingers tightened in his hair. "I thought.....""So did I." He lifted his head just long enough to look up at her along the length of her body, his mouth shining, his eyes black in the lamplight. "Do you want me to stop?"She stared down at him. Her ch
The doors opened onto the penthouse foyer.Dark. Silent. The faint blue glow of the city through the tall windows lay across the floor in long, pale bands. He stood still for a moment and listened to nothing at all, to the soft electric hum of the refrigerator and the slow tick of the clock in the hall.Home, he thought. Not the building. Not the furniture. The sense of someone being inside it.He set the bag down without a sound. He took off his coat and laid it over the back of a chair. The envelope in the inside pocket pressed against his chest as he moved, and he took it out and set it carefully on the console table. Tomorrow. Not tonight.Tonight, there was only one thing he wanted.He walked down the hallway.The bedroom door was open a few inches.He pushed it with two fingers and stood in the doorway, and everything in his chest went slow and heavy and certain.She was exactly as he'd pictured her.Lyra lay curled on her side in the middle of his bed, on his half of it, with on
The jet climbed above the clouds just after one in the afternoon, and the cabin settled into its customary expensive quiet.Damien sat alone at the rear with the shade drawn, a glass of water at his elbow and the second phone resting in his palm.Marcus had offered coffee and been refused. A flight attendant had come and gone with a tray of fruit and cold chicken, which Damien had looked at for a moment and then, remembering a certain question typed in a certain bed, forced himself to eat half of.He turned the phone over once, then unlocked it.There was one new message from Lyra.It had come in a few minutes ago, while the plane was still on the runway. A late-evening thought, from a city six hours ahead.Lyra: Hi. I hope I'm not bothering you. I couldn't settle tonight.I've been going back over our messages tonight. It's strange, you and Damien ask me the same kinds of things sometimes. Did you eat. Are you warm. Be careful. I don't know why it feels like I notice it more now.May
"I remember when she asked me for the first loan," she said. "She was nineteen. She came into this room in a cardigan two sizes too large, holding a folder against her chest, and she said, 'Mom, I'm going to make you proud. I just need someone to believe in it.'" Her mouth trembled. "And I said yes, because I believed in her. And then when I found out about everything, I stopped. I forgot that I ever had."She bent and signed.Isabella Nightbane. The pen scratched across the page.She turned to the next, and the next. Initial, initial, initial. The small, deliberate sounds of paper and ink filled the silent room. When the last signature dried, Aldrich collected the pages and tapped them straight against the desk."It is done," he said. "I'll file with the registry this afternoon. Miss Lyra will receive confirmation by courier within the week."Isabella set the pen down very carefully. Then she covered her face with both hands.Victor was beside her in an instant. He didn't say anythin
"And?""And I want something on the Solares.""Victoria Solare?" Tyler's voice sharpened. "I already gave you the file.""You gave me a file on her. I want her father's." She pulled the blanket tighter. "I want to know who holds their loans, and when they come due. I want to know whether anyone in that family has ever signed anything they shouldn't have.""That's an ally you're talking about.""That is a precaution I'm talking about."She had spent a lot of time on that distinction, lately. Victoria was useful. Victoria was also a stranger with a great deal of ambition, and Karla had been taught from childhood that you did not hand your weapons to people without keeping a second one hidden. She had no intention of being the only person with something to lose."I'll see what I can find," Tyler said slowly. "It'll take more than five days.""Then it takes more than five days." Karla paused. "And Tyler? If anyone asks, we haven't spoken since the first call. Not a word. If Marcus comes k
Lyra set her phone down with shaking hands and stood up.Her legs felt weak, her body hypersensitive. Every movement of fabric against her skin made her gasp.She walked to the full-length mirror in her room and looked at herself.Her hair was disheveled from the flight and the stress. Her face was
Lyra stared at her phone screen, her heart still racing from the encounter in the hallway.DarkVeil: Welcome home, little one. Did you miss me?Her fingers trembled as she typed back.LyraNight: How did you know I got to New York? I didn't tell you I was flying home.The three dots appeared immedia
"The Mercers. They were good people. Are good people." Karla's eyes filled with fresh tears. "They passed away six months ago. Car accident. That's when I did the DNA test. I had no one left and I just... I needed to know if there was anyone out there who shared my blood."Isabelle made a soft soun
LYRA POV:The plane touched down at JFK with a jolt that matched the anxiety thrumming through Lyra's veins.She'd barely slept during the flight, her mind spinning with questions her mother refused to answer over the phone. Urgent. Family matter. Need you home. The words had echoed through her hea







