either.
CHAPTER 13
They spent the majority of the day reviewing every piece of information Devony and her father had collected. She loved seeing the way Rafe’s sharp mind worked, his indefatigable thirst for knowledge. He was focused and methodical, and she marveled at his keen ability to spot patterns and connections among even the most obscure bit of data.
He was a gorgeous male, to be sure, but his sexy brain was wreaking havoc on her senses too.
If she thought poring over her work together would help take her mind off all of the other things she wanted to be doing with him, she couldn’t have been more wrong.
Every time he reached past her to pick up a photo or arranged a set of documents on their shared worktable, she struggled to resist the urge to lick the tangle of glyphs that tracked down his muscled forearm.
When he asked questions or shared his theories about Opus and the individuals who might have ties to them, she hung on every word, captivated by the sensual cut of his lips and her very vivid memories of all the wicked things his mouth had done to her body.
It was nearly impossible to ignore the steady drum of his pulse when he was seated so close to her. Her Breed senses locked on to that strong beat and the liquid rush of his blood pounding through his veins. Her fangs prickled in her gums, and she couldn’t decide what she wanted more, to have Rafe inside her again, or to sink her sharp canines into the side of his neck.
That latter craving was the last thing she should be thinking about.
Blood bonds were sacred. They were eternal, and not to be entered into on impulse. She could feed all she wanted on human Hosts, but one sip of Rafe’s blood would irrevocably seal her to him for as long as either of them lived.
Why that notion didn’t freeze her in her tracks, she didn’t want to know.
She had never been some starry-eyed girl mooning over the idea of happily-ever-after. God, was that what she was doing now with Rafe? She couldn’t possibly be that foolish. Apparently, losing her virginity had also robbed her of some good sense.
“Where’d we put your father’s cargo traffic log for Conley Terminal?” Rafe asked, jarring her out of her troubled thoughts.
Frowning, he sifted through an open file of handwritten notes.
Since it appeared she was alone in her distraction around him, she really needed to find something else to focus on. Especially since he seemed to have no trouble keeping a professional line drawn between them today.
“This one?” She slid one of the dozens of entries toward him.
He glanced at it only briefly, then shook his head. “I’m looking for the logs from February.”
“Here you go.” Devony retrieved the document in question and handed it to him, watching as he intently studied it.
Her fascination with him unsettled her, especially when it seemed markedly one-sided today. She was getting in over her head with him; she realized that. It wasn’t just the incredible sex that had her stomach doing flips and her veins feeling as if they had absorbed a prolonged jolt of electricity.
It was simply being with Rafe that did that to her. Talking with him. Strategizing with him. Being close enough to feel the warmth and strength of his body, and to see the kindling embers in his aquamarine eyes when he looked at her.
She couldn’t believe she had let herself get entangled so quickly and deeply with a male she knew so precious little about. He was dangerous; she’d seen that firsthand. He could be kind and caring; she had experienced that in the park when he healed her, and again last night when he had treated her with such gentleness—right before he had shown her the true meaning of passion.
But Rafe was also a tormented and angry man, fixated on vengeance against Opus.
Not that she could blame him.
As for the Order turning him out, their loss had become her gain. She had set out on her quest alone after losing her family, never imagining she’d find an ally along the way. There was a part of her that wanted to think she may have found something even more than that in Rafe.
As she watched him, she realized there was so much she wanted to know about him, so much she wanted to understand. She didn’t even know his last name.
Propping her elbow on the table, she watched him leaf