Black Dagger Brotherhood - Lover Eternal Part 28

"I'm staying with him."

"You're what?"

"Here. At the house. With a bunch of men, vampires... G.o.d, that word..." The female cleared her throat. "I'm here with about five other guys just like him."

Bella put her hand over her mouth. No one stayed with the Brotherhood. No one even knew where they lived. And this female was a human.

"Mary, how did you... how did this happen?"

When the story was all out, Bella was stunned.

"h.e.l.lo? Bella?"

"Sorry, I... Are you okay?"

"I think so. I'm all right now, at least. Listen, I have to know. Why did you put the two of us together? Rhage and me?"

"He saw you and he... liked you. He promised me he wouldn't hurt you, which was the only reason I agreed to set you up on that date."

"When did he see me?"

"The night we took John to the training center. Or don't you remember that?"

"No, I don't, but Rhage told me I'd gone there. Is John... a vampire?"

"Yes, he is. His change is coming, which is why I got involved. He'll die unless one of our kind is with him when the transition hits.

He needs a female to drink from."

"So that night, when you met him, you knew."

"I did." Bella chose her words carefully. "Mary, is the warrior treating you well? Is he... gentle with you?"

"He's taking care of me. Protecting me. I have no idea why, though."

Bella sighed, thinking she knew. Given the warrior's fixation on the human, he had probably bonded with her.

"But I'll be home soon," the female said. "Just a couple of days."Bella wasn't so sure about that. Mary was so much deeper in their world than she realized.

The smell of gas fumes was nasty, O thought as he maneuvered the Toro Dingo around in the dark.

"That's good. We're good to go," U called out.

O shut the thing off and surveyed the area he'd carved from the forest. Hat, about forty-by-forty-feet square, it was the layout of the persuasion building plus room for them to work.

U stepped into the leveled area and addressed the a.s.sembled lessers. "Let's start getting the walls up. I want three sides raised.

Leave one open." U motioned impatiently with his hand. "Come on. Move it."

The men picked up frames made out of eight-foot-long two-by-fours and carried the things around.

The sound of an approaching vehicle stopped everyone, though the lack of headlights suggested it was another lesser. With their superior night vision, Society members were able to dance around in the dark as if it were high noon; whoever was behind that wheel dodging trees had the same acuity.

When Mr. X got out of the minivan, O went over.

"Sensei," O said, bowing. He knew the b.a.s.t.a.r.d appreciated the respect and somehow p.i.s.sing off the guy just wasn't as fun as it used to be.

"Mr. O, it looks like you're making progress."

"Let me show you what we're doing."

They had to shout over the clapping of hammerheads, but there was no reason to worry about any of the noise. They were smack- dab in the middle of a seventy-five-acre plot of land about thirty minutes from Caldwell's downtown area. To the west of the property was a swamp that served as one of the Hudson River's flood zones. Covering the north and east was Big Notch Mountain, a pile of state-owned rock that climbers didn't favor because of its rattlesnake dens, and that tourists found all-around unappealing. The only point of exposure was from the south, but the rednecks who lived in the scattered, decaying farmhouses didn't seem like the type to wander.

"This looks good," Mr. X said. "Now where are you putting in the storage facilities?"

"Here." O stood over a section of ground. "We'll have the supplies in the morning. We should be ready to receive visitors in a day."

"You've done pretty well, son."

G.o.dd.a.m.n it, O hated the son s.h.i.+t. He really did.

"Thank you, sensei," he said.

"Now walk me to my car." When they were a distance away from the work, Mr. X said, "Tell me something. Do you have much contact with the Betas?"

O made sure their eye contact didn't waver. "Not really."

"Have you seen any of them lately?"

Christ, where was the Fore-lesser going with this? "No." "Not any time last night?"

"No, like I said, I don't hang with the Betas." O frowned. He knew that if he demanded an explanation, he'd just look defensive, but f.u.c.k it. "What's this about?"

"Those Betas we lost in the park last night had shown some promise. I'd hate to think you were slaughtering your compet.i.tion."

"A brother-"

"Yes, a member of the Brotherhood attacked them. Right. Funny, though, the brothers always make sure they stab their kills so the bodies disintegrate. But last night, those Betas were left for dead. And hurt badly enough so they couldn't really respond to questions when they were found by their backup squad. So no one knows what happened."

"I wasn't in that park and you know it."

"Do I?"

"For chrissakes-"

"Watch your mouth. And watch yourself." Mr. X's pale eyes narrowed into slits. "You know who I'll call if I need to pull your choke chain again. Now get back to work. I'll see you and the other primes at first light for your check-in."

"I thought that's why we had e-mail," O said through gritted teeth.

"It's in person from now on for you and your team."

When the minivan drove off, O stared into the night, listening to the cracking sounds of construction work. He should have been seething with anger. Instead he was just... tired.

G.o.d, he had no enthusiasm left for this job of his. And he couldn't even get worked up over Mr. X's bulls.h.i.+t. The thrill was gone.

Mary glanced at the digital clock: 1:56. Dawn was still hours and hours away, and sleep was out of the question. All she pictured when she closed her eyes were those weapons hanging off Rhage's body.

She rolled over onto her back. The idea of not seeing him ever again was so disturbing, she refused to look into the feelings too closely. She just accepted them, bore them badly, and hoped for some relief.

G.o.d, she wished she could go back to when he'd left. She would have hugged him hard. And given him a stiff lecture about staying safe even though she knew nothing about fighting and he was, hopefully, a master at it. She just wanted him safe- Suddenly the door was unlocked. As it swung open, Rhage's blond hair gleamed in the light from the hall.

Mary shot off the bed, crossed the room at a dead run, and threw herself at him.

"Whoa, what the..." His arm went around her and picked her up, keeping her with him as he came through the door and shut it.

When he released her, she slid down his body. "You all right?"

As her feet hit the floor, she came back to reality.

"Mary?"

"Ah, yeah... yes, I'm okay." She stepped to the side. Looked around. Blushed like all h.e.l.l. "I'm just... yeah, I'm just going to go back to bed now.""Hold up, female." Rhage took off his trench coat, the chest holster, and the belt. "Get back over here. I like the way you welcome me home."

He opened his arms wide and she went into them, holding on hard, feeling him breathe. His body was so warm and he smelled wonderful, like fresh air and good clean sweat.

"I didn't expect you to be up," he murmured, running his hand up and down her spine.

"Couldn't sleep."

"I told you, you're safe here, Mary." His fingers found the base of her neck and ma.s.saged deeply. "d.a.m.n, you're tense. You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. Really."

He stopped the rubbing. "Do you ever answer that question truthfully?"

"I just did." Sort of.

His hand resumed the stroking. "Will you promise me something?"

"What?"

"Will you let me know when you're not okay?" His voice became teasing. "I mean, I know you're tough, so I won't hold my breath for it or anything. You won't have to worry about killing me over this."

She laughed. "I promise."

He tilted her chin up with his finger, eyes grave. "I'm going to keep you to that." Then he dropped a kiss to her cheek. "Listen, I was going to head down to the kitchen and grab something to eat. You want to come with me? The house is quiet. The other brothers are still out."

"Sure. Let me change."

"Just put on one of my fleeces." He went over to the dresser and took out something soft, black, and the size of a tarp. "I like the idea of you wearing my clothes."

As he helped her into it, his smile was a very masculine expression of satisfaction. And possessiveness.

And d.a.m.ned if it didn't suit his face to a tee.

By the time they finished eating and were back upstairs in his room, Rhage was having trouble concentrating. The hum was roaring in full force, worse than ever before. And he was totally aroused, his body so hot he felt like his blood was going to dry out in his veins.

As Mary went over to the bed and settled in, he took a quick shower and wondered if he shouldn't give his erection a release before he came back out. The d.a.m.n thing was hard, stiff, aching like a b.i.t.c.h, and the water rus.h.i.+ng down his body made him think of Mary's hands on his skin. He palmed himself and remembered the feel of her moving against his mouth as he pleasured her soft secrets. He lasted, like, less than a minute.

When it was over, the empty o.r.g.a.s.m just juiced him up more. It was like his body knew the real thing was out in the bedroom and had no intention of being diverted.

Cursing, he stepped out and toweled off, then headed for his closet. With a prayer for Fritz's attention to detail, he hunted around until he found-thank you, G.o.d-a set of pajamas he'd never put on before. He shrugged into them and then threw on the matching robe for good measure.

Rhage grimaced, feeling like he was wearing half the d.a.m.n closet. But that was the point.

"Is the room too warm for you?" he asked, as he willed a candle to light and turned off the lamp.

"It's perfect."

Personally, he thought he was in the flipping tropics. And the temperature jacked higher as he approached the bed and sat on the opposite side from her.

"Listen, Mary, in about an hour, at four forty-five, you're going to hear the shutters closing for the day. They slide down on tracks over the windows. It's not that loud, but I don't want you to be startled."

"Thanks."

Rhage lay down on top of the comforter and crossed his feet at the ankles. Everything irritated him, the hot room, the PJs, the robe. Now he knew what presents felt like, all trussed up in paper and ribbons: itchy.

"Do you normally wear all that to bed?" she asked.

"Absolutely."

"Then why's the tag still on that robe?"

"In case I want another, I'll know what it is."

He turned on his side, away from her. Rolled back over so he stared at the ceiling again. A minute later, he tried his stomach.

"Rhage." Her voice was lovely in the dim quiet.

"What?"

"You sleep in the nude, right?"

"Ah, usually."

"Look, you can lose the clothes. It's not going to bother me."

"I didn't want you to feel... uncomfortable."