Page 86 of Stroke of Shadows

She jerked her chin up, finding him so close she could feel his heat. “You're threatening me?”

His head dipped towards hers. “No, darling. I'm protecting you.”

His lips were soft when he closed the distance, far too gentle for what she wanted. What she needed.

Heat pooled low in her stomach, his presence igniting something primal within her. She deepened the kiss, reaching up to tug on his hair as if she could somehow get closer.

He groaned into her mouth, taking control as the defence she’d carefully constructed crumbled around her. His thumb brushed gentle caresses against her nape, soft compared with how his mouth devoured hers. He kissed her as if he was starved, as if they were the only two people in existence.

There was no Angel. No Wyatt or Cruz. Nothing but them, and the delicious slide of his tongue against hers. She’d never wanted anyone as much as she did Sythe. He made her forget, if only in that moment.

“Run away with me,” he whispered, pulling back just far enough he could meet her eyes.

Harper frowned, dizzy with his taste.

His smile was slow and delicious. “I said run away with me.”

SYTHE

“Run away with me.” He’d never laid himself so bare to someone before.

His biggest worry would be her accepting him as Breed, but it seemed his mate saw more than he thought.

She looked up at him, a frown pinching her brow and a flush darkening her cheek bones. The sight alone had his heart clenching, and his beast urged him to mark her. To warn any fucker that dared hurt her that she was his.

His brothers will forgive him for leaving without Gideon or Bishop’s head. For spending months away from them only to fail. But if it was the choice of letting the world burn or saving Harper, he chose Harper every time.

“I said run away with me.” The cuts on her back weren’t deep, but they emphasised that she wasn’t safe. That she’d never been safe.

He read the slight panic across her expression, followed by excitement and then fear. So many emotions that she didn’t bother to hide behind the armour she usually wore.

“I can’t,” she whispered, and disappointment stabbed through him. “I can’t just leave, not yet.”

“Not yet?”

She shook her head gently, her eyes soft. “If I leave, there will be no one to help those women.”

She’d just admitted she was the rat, and although Sythe already knew, the confession made his heart ache. She’d left herself vulnerable, admitted something that could get her killed.

A click, the bedroom door opening.

Harper’s eyes widened, her hands shoving him back slightly. “Please, you can’t be caught here.”

“Harper?” Ivan’s voice growled, his footsteps stifled against the plush carpet.

Sythe went to grab her as she passed, but she stopped him. “Whatever you hear, don’t come out.” Tears wet her eyes, her body trembling slightly. “Please. If you care for me at all, you’ll stay hidden.”

Sythe didn’t get a chance to reply before she slipped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Her voice carried through the wood, and Sythe forced himself to stay where he was. She was right, he couldn’t be caught there. It would compromise her safety.

“Please don’t do this,” she begged, her voice muffled through the door.

Sythe stilled, his chest squeezing at the dread in her tone.

Did he just hear that right?

Ivan laughed. “Since when do you have a choice?”

More hushed sounds, but Sythe was beyond hearing.

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