Break the Day - Lara Adrian Page 0,7
bench tucked into a gloomy corner. With her arms wrapped around her bent knees and her combat boots planted before her on the bench, she glanced up as Rafe approached. “You just don’t take a bloody hint, do you, vampire?”
She leaned a bit heavily on the word, as if to remind him of their difference. Not to mention her disdain.
Rafe smiled and lifted his shoulder. “Just trying to be friendly. In case no one told you, the whole point of a party is to socialize.”
“So, go socialize. In case no one told you, the whole point of doing that is to find someone who’s actually interested in talking to you.”
“Ah. And you’re not.”
One slender brow arched, she touched her finger to the tip of her nose. “Look at you, learning to take a hint after all.”
He chuckled. “Why aren’t you inside with everyone else?”
“I came out here to be alone,” she said, slanting him a flat look when he made no move to leave. “Besides, I’m just waiting for Cruz to wrap up so we can get out of here.”
Rafe grunted. “Where’d he go, anyway? Looked like he had serious business to take care of with someone.”
“Did it?”
When she didn’t respond any more than that, he decided to take a different tack. Exhaling a sigh, he turned his head to look out at the city lights competing with the stars and moon overhead. “This view must cost some bank, eh? What’d Fish say the guy’s name was who owns the place?”
No one had mentioned the penthouse owner’s name to him, and unfortunately the cagey brunette staring holes in his skull wasn’t even tempted to take the bait. He glanced at her and was met with a narrowed stare.
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“What can I say? I’m naturally curious.”
And if he had to use his Breed powers to trance the woman in order to get those answers, he wasn’t above stooping to do that right here and now.
Earlier tonight at the tavern, he’d considered her attractive. Now, with only a few feet to separate them in the secluded corner of the moonlit terrace, he realized just how inadequate the term was in describing her.
Her face was lovely, creamy skin accentuating a delicate bone structure and lips the color of a dark, dusky rose. Her warm bourbon-hued eyes were too large for her face and infinitely expressive—even when Rafe was certain she was doing her best to shut him out.
All of that beauty was framed by a mane of thick, rich brown waves that tumbled over her shoulders and down her rigid spine. The glossy strands gleamed like silk under the starlight, a mesmerizing contrast against the studded black leather of her biker’s jacket.
The woman herself was a study in contrasts, right down to her voice, which was measured and sophisticated, a sexy purr that stroked over his senses more than he cared to admit.
When she let the silence lengthen between them, he stepped closer and took a seat on the bench. “I’m Rafe, by the way.”
“I know who you are.” She tilted her head and studied him. “I heard one of the Order warriors call you that back at Asylum.”
He gave her a grim nod. “What about you? Is Brinks your last name or something?”
“Just a name.”
It wasn’t exactly an answer, and she obviously wasn’t in the mood for sharing.
He didn’t know what he’d done to trigger her animosity—aside from having been born Breed. Her comments back at Asylum left no question that she wasn’t going to make it easy for him to establish any kind of footing in Cruz’s gang.
If he thought he was going to win her over with a few smiles and some small talk, he’d apparently overestimated his charm. Or underestimated her instant dislike for him.
He was in uncharted territory now. Blessed with a combination of his mother’s golden looks and his father’s bulk and swagger, Rafe was accustomed to having the undivided attention of any female he wanted.
Not this one.
And damn if that didn’t make him all the more determined to find out why.
“So, you and Cruz. You together?”
“As in a couple? No.” She denied it so fast it might as well have been a scoff. “Why? Do you assume because I’m female I must be sleeping with him? Or maybe you think they’re all sharing me?”
An instant, uninvited image of her being passed between those four rough men filled his mind before he could stop it. He had no right to feel the spike