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  BREAKING DAY

  Breaking Day. Copyright 2010 by Leilani Harvey. All rights reserved.

  All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts to be used solely in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part electronically, mechanically or by any means is strictly forbidden without the expressed written permission of the author.

  The unauthorized reproduction of this copyrighted work is illegal.

  Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction by any means and imposes fines up to $250,000 or up to 5 years in prison for violation.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents have no existence outside of the author’s imagination and are purely fictitious. Any similarity to actual events, locales, or people, living or deceased, is coincidental.

  WARNING: The material included in this work is intended for adult readers 18 years of age and older. Please store this material in a safe place where underage readers will not have access to view it.

  Breaking Day

  By

  Leilani Harvey

  ~1~

  A harsh chill hung in the late October air. Dawn had barely broken and only a hint of orange tinged the horizon as it fought against the various purples and blues of the retreating night. A heavy veil of dark gray clouds approached from the opposite side of the horizon making it appear as though the two opposing forces were about to clash in midair.

  Seleina Vaughn drew up the zipper of her light blue fleece jacket and tucked her chin closer to her chest as she shrugged off the shiver that had made its way down the curve of her back, causing her nipples to pucker.

  Even for October, the air was unusually frigid. The light jacket Seleina wore was unable to fend off the sting she was now feeling from the cold that surrounded her like a heavy blanket. Nonetheless, she was compelled to continue on her jog down the pedestrian lane that encircled the public park at the edge of her city, Twin Rivers, a budding metropolis on the border of New York County.

  For the past two weeks, Seleina was drawn to this spot. The area was fairly isolated at this time of the morning and today was no different. Without any indication as to why, every morning she had risen hours before sunrise and walked the short distance from her small town home to begin her morning run. Resurging anxiety, a condition she had carried with her since early childhood, was keeping Seleina from a peaceful night’s sleep. Her habit had become compulsive, beyond habitual.

  As she moved at an even pace, her eyes wandered over to a single willow tree growing in the middle of an open expanse to her left. The sound of the river splashing behind the thick bank of trees about twenty yards behind the solemn willow echoed in the near distance. Seleina became locked in a trancelike stare at the tree, its thin limbs, now bare from harsh autumn winds, were flailing in the steady breeze. Though her eyes watched the seductive movement of the willow, her own limbs continued forward.

  It was at the very last moment when Seleina’s consciousness suddenly became aware that she was being watched. One moment she was drowning in random thoughts and the next she was fighting against gravity as her body went tumbling toward the cold pavement below. Large arms cushioned her fall just before she hit the solid concrete at full force.

  The moment she realized her legs had become entangled with another human form, Seleina struggled against the hard body that had her trapped in a prone position. She found her struggles to regain an upright position to be useless. A forceful hand resting in the middle of her stomach was holding her down in place. Despite her best efforts to push up against the massive chest firmly pressed against her breasts, Seleina felt her strength waning in comparison to the brute force of the stranger.

  “Hold still and be quiet,” the stranger commanded while his full body weight pushed against hers and a wide palm covered her mouth.

  The cold from the ground crept through the thin fabric of her jacket and clung to her back, causing her to shiver uncontrollably.

  In the near distance, the sound of an ignition turning over echoed off of the morning silence. Seleina hoped the car would come far enough this way to witness her plight. Instead, the roar of the engine continued further away until it disappeared completely into the surrounding darkness.

  Despite a surrounding temperature in the upper teens, Seleina’s forehead started to perspire. Feeling her skin breaking into a cold sweat and her physical strength rapidly failing, against her own will, Seleina’s small body went limp and she prepared to face the worse outcome imaginable.

  To Seleina’s surprise, the man used the same strength, used only a moment ago to hold her down, to snake its way fully around her waist and hoist her up on her feet at lightning speed.

  The man she beheld was almost super humanly tall. He stood at a height elevated more than seven inches over her slight five foot four inches. His hair was midnight black against the budding sunlight behind him and stray strands of the raven colored hair swayed from side to side in the drafty air stirring around the pair. His eyes were equally as dark, yet seemed to shimmer even in the dim light of the pre-dawn hours. They pierced straight through Seleina’s own hazel colored eyes.

  Despite the heavy chill of the early AM hour, the man wore only a black short sleeve T-shirt and dark blue jeans and black boots. Realizing he was still holding her waist, Seleina instinctively tried to step backward and out of his grasp.

  The mere presence of this man was overbearing. Standing here alone in the near dark with a hulk of a man this close made her nerves run raw.

  Seleina wobbled on her feet as she fought to reclaim a safe distance of space from his body and was about to tumble back down to the ground. In a flash, two burly arms gripped her thin arms tightly and held her steady until she regained her balance.

  “Get your hands off me!” she screamed, knowing there was no one else around to hear her desperate cries.

  “Seleina, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  The man’s voice was deep, yet not menacing, as he spoke in a casual whisper. The ethereal voice left Seleina feeling light headed and unnerved, all in the same heartbeat.

  He had spoken her name as though he was own familiar terms with her, but she was positive she had never laid eyes on this stranger before this awkward moment.

  He leaned closer and she shrank away again and squinted her eyes, inwardly preparing her body for some type of personal invasion. To her surprise, none came. The man had stopped mere inches from her face and held his position until she reluctantly met his intense gaze once again.

  “You cannot come here anymore, it is no longer safe.”

  The second she dared to stare into the dark pools of his pupils she felt an instant calm come over her entire being. All of the muscles in her body relaxed all at once. Seleina felt herself go flaccid in his arms.

  “Who are you?” she asked weakly, her breath dragging from her lips.

  “That’s not an important matter, right now. You are not safe here. I have to get you inside. I’ll explain later when your mind has rested and you are ready to listen.”

  The fingertips of his hand touched her smooth toffee brown forehead and, in an instant, Seleina’s eyes closed completely and darkness overcame her.

  ***

  She awoke after what seemed like only moment later, fully clothed and lying on top of the flower printed comforter spread over her bed. A quick glance at the digital clock on the night table confirmed that at least four hours had passed since her encounter with the man in black. Seleina now had less than an hour to get dressed and make her way uptown to start her shift at Midtown Memorial Hospital.

  Rolling off the bed, she headed toward the bathroom. After freshening up and running a comb through the length of dark brown hair with its naturally
golden strands intermixed, she pulled it back into a tight pony tail at the base of her neck. Grabbing her backpack, Seleina headed toward the door.

  The moment she stepped out into the weak autumn sunshine, an uneasy feeling swept over her insides. Looking to her right and then to her left, as she stood in the doorway, Seleina saw nothing but the usual cars and pedestrians passing through this historic section of town. Pushing aside the feeling of dread that suddenly hung over her head, her legs moved toward the main street where she would catch the next trolley toward her destination.

  ~2~

  As part of the Elite Ops Corps, Ryan Day was trained to blend in with any surrounding with minimal attention drawn to himself and he was an expert at accomplishing this task. He had walked through the blindingly white hospital cafeteria, dressed in all black from head to toe and no one so much as moved an eye in his direction. It helped that he was also skilled in the art of misdirection. When he entered, everyone had been distracted by a commotion coming from the washing station in the corner. One glance from Ryan and a cafeteria worker released a stack of dirty dishes from his grasp. The sound of all of them shattering against the hard linoleum at once drew the stares of the patrons toward the noise and away from Ryan’s entrance into the room.

  Ryan’s cock stirred as he watched the woman at the table a few feet away from his. Seleina Vaughn was perfect. Even in his former life as a detective and other not so legal part-time occupations, he had never laid eyes on a unique beauty such as hers. Exotic. He liked his women different, some one who would stand out from the rest. Dark curly hair to her waist and hints of gold highlights along with those hypnotic hazel eyes and cinnamon colored skin made her fit his criteria perfectly. His arousal for her only increased when he had felt that insanely curvaceous yet still perfectly petite body writhing under him this morning.

  This assignment was going to be a handful. She was feisty, obviously had a problem following directions, and she made him want to fuck her on site. It would be hard – literally – to keep his focus this time around. He had to play it cool, keep his distance, and get the job done or his commanders would most definitely cancel his ass. Elite Ops did not tolerate screw-ups. One time would earn a soldier a sever punishment, twice and you were ended – period.

  He watched her eyes make their rounds across the room, always skipping over the table where he sat patiently studying her movements. She was alert and liked to know her surroundings, yet another positive in her column.

  Seleina’s gaze made its way over to someone Ryan had to assume was a co-worker, the two nodded toward one another politely and then they went back to their respective activities. Ryan eyed the man and clenched his jaw. The man, whoever he was, was marked.

  Time was growing short. Ryan needed to keep Seleina under a closer eye, which would no doubt include having to reveal himself to her. The human interaction was one of his least favorite parts of the job. If she resisted, he would have to drag her out, but he preferred to take the easy route and have her walk out under no restrictions. Either way, it was now or never.

  He stood up to his full height of six foot three. Even in his full human life, he was a big guy and had always used that quality to his benefit.

  Seleina’s sight immediately went to him and her lids narrowed.

  That’s right, babe, I’m coming for you. Ryan mused to himself.

  She was definitely no fan of his and that fact would make their interactions all the more entertaining. The slight bulge he felt in his dark jeans was confirmation of that possibility.

  His steps were hard and determined, never taking his gaze from hers. Ryan wanted her to know that he meant business. He was being polite this morning, but if she gave him any shit, he would have to quickly set down some ground rules.

  He spied the trapped look in her eyes and it excited him. She scanned the room for an exit. The only way for Seleina to make a break for it was out the main door and Ryan was standing directly in the way of her path to freedom.

  He stopped in front of her table.

  “What do you want?” The words seethed from her full mocha lips.

  He smiled and ignored her earlier question.

  “Hello, may I sit?” Ryan kept his voice casual, for now. He sat in the chair opposite her before she had a chance to turn him down.

  Staring directly in her eyes, he watched the fiery green within the hazel light up her icy stare.

  “I didn’t say ‘yes’.”

  “But you wanted to,” Ryan teased. He loved that her gaze lit up with more and more distaste for him.

  “Cut the crap. What do you want and why were you following me this morning?”

  Ryan knew that he was an imposing figure to anyone, especially a woman alone at the early peaks of daylight, yet he also felt a heat radiate from her pores the moment he touched her. She felt the connection, the same as him, he only needed to draw it out of her again.

  “Seleina, I know that this is all so sudden –”

  “Don’t do that,” she quickly cut him off and sat up straight.

  “Do what?”

  “Pretend like you know me. Like we’ve talked before and this is normal.”

  “May I explain?”

  “Please do. And make it good. I can have hospital security up here in less than five minutes. All I have to do is scream.”

  “I promise that won’t be needed.”

  “You have one minute and then my lungs open up.”

  ***

  The man from this morning continued to don his dark outfit, nothing had changed on him, except the eyes. Seleina quickly noted in the short time before he had reached her table that his eyes were different. They were lighter somehow. Deep blue pupils had replaced the midnight black orbs. The aura they gave off now was less menacing and more dazzling, it was the closest word her mind could think of to describe the brightness behind them.

  Seleina said nothing but stared at him blankly. She was a thinker, a woman of few words and would need those exact skills to maneuver her way out of this strange situation. His explanation had better be good or she would make good on her promise.

  Her mind warned her to get up and vacate his presence as soon as possible. Everything about what happened this morning was a clear forewarning that whatever forces had caused them to cross paths were far from done wreaking some sort of havoc in her life. Yet, something, some force held her in place.

  It was his eyes. His wonderfully bright blue eyes that gripped her. They were kind and gentle, nearly timid, completely contradicting the fierceness of his massively solid shape.

  Seleina was drawn to him. One look and she was hooked. What happened before that had made her black out? Was she hypnotized? Drugged? Whatever it was, she was starting to feel the same effects wash over again. Who knew how long before this mysterious man cast another spell over her psyche and casually walked her out of this place and into her own doom.

  It was almost imperceptible. The change took less than a heartbeat to complete. His eye color had shifted. From blue to steely black and then back to a beautiful blue. Seleina’s breath caught in her throat. Impossible, she thought.

  “No matter what you may be thinking right now, please believe me when I tell you that I’m here to save you.”

  “What?”

  Her response was much louder than intended. A few faces from the table filled with physicians turned toward her, quickly assessed the unimportance of the situation and then went back to their own muted tones.

  “Seleina, it’s true,” he spoke tenderly, almost as though he were speaking to a small child, “If you’ll allow me to explain, this will all make sense and you’ll know why I’m here for you.”

  She pushed her chair back and went to stand, and a screech pierced the room from the force of the chair leg being dragged against the hard floor.

  In an instant, the stranger grabbed her arm, his rough palms wrapped around her forearm and held tight.

  Seleina went to open her lips and then felt
her energy level drop before a word could be formed on her tongue. A teasingly seductive feeling washed over her whole body. To her dismay, her lower lips instantly went creamy. A touch of tiny goose bumps ran down the lengths of her thin arms.

  “Don’t scream,” he said as his pitch black eyes met hers.

  Her lips closed. Seleina’s mind became focused on a singular thought – Don’t scream.

  “Sit,” he nodded toward the seat and gently tugged at the spot where he held her arm and her body willingly went downward, a tingling sensation still wrapped around her full being.