Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood 5)

Vishous linked his hands together. "This isn't the place."

"So let's go home."

"No f**king way. I'm going to be trapped there all day long." V lifted his hand. When the waitress came over, he put a hundred on her tray. "Keep the Goose coming, true? And that's just for the tip."

She smiled. "My pleasure."

As she took off for the bar like she was on roller skates, V's eyes sifted through the VIP area, his brows down low. Shit, he wasn't checking out the crowd. He was trolling for a fight. And was it possible that the brother was... glowing a little?

Phury looked to the left and tapped his ear twice, sending a request to one of the Moors that guarded a private door. The security guard nodded and spoke into a wristwatch.

Moments later a huge male with a cropped mohawk came out. Rehvenge was dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit and had a black cane in his right hand. As he came slowly over to the Brotherhood's table, his patrons parted before him, partly out of respect for his size, partly out of fear from his reputation. Everyone knew who he was and what he was capable of: Rehv was the kind of drug lord who took a personal interest in his livelihood. You crossed him and you turned up diced like something off the Food Channel.

Zsadist's half-breed brother-in-law was proving to be a surprising ally for the Brotherhood, although Rehv's true nature complicated everything. It wasn't smart to get in bed with a symphath. Literally or figuratively. So he was an uneasy friend and relative.

His tight smile barely showed any fangs. "Evening, gentlemen."

"Mind if we use your office for a little private biz?" Phury asked.

"I'm not talking," V ground out as his drink arrived. With a flip of the wrist he tossed the thing back like he had a fire in his gut and the shit was water. "Not. Talking."

Phury and Butch locked eyes, and a perfect accord was met: Vishous was so going to convo.

"Your office?" Phury said to Rehvenge.

Rehv lifted an elegant eyebrow, his amethyst eyes shrewd. "Not sure you'd want to use it. The place is wired for sound, and every syllable goes on record. Unless... of course... I'm in there."

Not ideal, but anything that hurt the Brotherhood hurt Rehv's sister, as Z's mate. So even though the guy was part symphath, he had the motivation to be tight about whatever went down.

Phury slid out of the booth and stared at V. "Bring your drink."

"No."

Butch got up. "Then you're leaving it. Because if you won't go home, we talk here."

V's eyes gleamed. And they weren't the only thing. "Fuck - "

Butch leaned down onto the table. "Right now you're throwing off an aura like your ass is plugged into the wall. So I strongly encourage you to drop the I-am-an-island bullshit and get your sorry excuse for a personality into Rehv's office before we have a situation. Dig?"

There was a long stretch of nothing but V and Butch looking at each other. Then V got to his feet and headed for Rehv's office. On the way, his anger carried a toxic chemical smell, the kind that stung your nose raw.

Man, the cop was the only one who had a chance with V when the male was like this.

So thank God for the Irishman.

The group of them went through the door guarded by the pair of Moors and took up res in Rehvenge's cave of an office. As the door shut, Rehv went behind his desk, reached under it, and a beeping sound went off.

"We're clear," he said, lowering himself into a black leather chair.

They all stared at V... who promptly went zoo animal, all pacing around and looking like he wanted to eat someone. The brother finally stopped across the room from Butch. The recessed light above him wasn't as bright as what was shining under his skin.

"Talk to me," Butch murmured.

Without saying a word, V took something out of his back pocket. As his arm came forward, a heavy gold pendant swung on the end of a silken cord.

"Seems I got a new job."

"Oh... shit," Phury whispered.

The setup in Blay's bedroom was SOP for John and his buddies: John was on the foot of the bed. Blay was cross-legged on the floor. Qhuinn was in full lounge, his new body hanging half on, half off a beanbag chair. Coronas were open, and bags of Doritos and Ruffles were being passed around.

"Okay, so spill," Blay said. "What was your transition like?"

"Screw the change, I got laid." As Blay and John both bug-eyed, Qhuinn chuckled. "Yeah. I did. Got my cherry popped, so to speak."

"Get. The. Fuck. Out," Blay breathed.

"For real." Qhuinn tossed his head back and swallowed half his beer. "I will say, though, that transition... man..." He looked at John, his mismatched eyes narrowing. "Get ready, J-man. It's hardcore. You wish you would die. You pray for it. And then shit gets critical."

Blay nodded. "It is awful."

Qhuinn finished his beer and tossed the empty into a wastepaper basket. "Mine was witnessed. Yours, too, right?" When Blay nodded, Qhuinn cracked open the minifridge and took out another Corona. "Yeah, I mean... that was weird. My father in the room. Her father, too. All while my body was whacking out. I would have been embarrassed, but I was too busy feeling like ass."

"Who did you use?" Blay asked.

"Marna."

"Niiiiiiice."

Qhuinn's eyelids got heavy. "Yeah, she was very nice."

Blay's mouth fell open. "Her? She was the one you - "

"Yup." Qhuinn laughed as Blay collapsed back on the floor like he'd been shot in the chest. "Marna. I know. I can barely believe it myself."

Blay lifted his head. "How did it happen? And so help me God, I will whup your ass if you leave anything out."

"Ha! Like you were so forthcoming with your shit."

"Don't dodge the question. Start barking like the dog you are, buddy."

Qhuinn sat forward, and John took the cue, moving to the very edge of the bed.

"Okay, so it was all over, right? I mean... the drinking was done, change was finished, I was lying on the bed just... yeah, train-wrecked. She was hanging out in case I needed more from her vein, like in a chair in the corner or something. Anyway, her father and mine were talking and I kind of passed out. Next thing I know, I'm alone in the room. Door opens and it's Marna. Says she forgot her sweater or some shit. I took one look at her and... well, Blay, you know what she looks like, right? Instant hard-on. Can you blame me?"

"Not in the slightest."

John blinked and leaned in even closer.

"Anyway, there was a sheet over me, but somehow she knew. Man, she was totally looking me over and smiling, and I was like, 'Oh, my God...' But then her father calls her name from down the hall. The two of them had to stay over because it was daylight by the time I was through, but he clearly didn't want her bunking in with me. So as she leaves, she tells me she'll sneak back in later. I didn't really believe her, but I had my hopes. Hour goes by, I'm waiting... I'm jonesing. Another hour. Then it's like, Fine, she ain't snowing. I call my dad on the house phone and tell him I'm crashing. Then I get up, drag my ass into the shower, come back out... and she's in the room. Naked. On the bed. Christ, all I could do was stare. But I got over that fast." Qhuinn's eyes fixated on the floor and he shook his head back and forth. "I took her three times. One right after the other."

"Oh... shit," Blay whispered. "Did you like it?"

"What do you think? Duh." As Blay nodded and lifted his Corona to his lips, Qhuinn said, "When I was done, I put her in the shower, cleaned her off, and went down on her for half an hour."

Blay choked on his beer, spraying it all over himself. "Oh, God..."

"She tasted like a ripe plum. Sweet and syrupy." As John's eyeballs popped clear out of his head, Qhuinn smiled. "I had her all over my face. It was fantastic."

The guy took a long swallow, like he was so the man, and made no effort to hide his body's reaction to what he was no doubt reliving in his head. As his jeans got tight at the zipper, Blay covered up his hips with a fleece.

Having nothing to conceal, John looked down at his bottle.

"Are you going to mate her?" Blay asked.

"For God's sake, no!" Qhuinn's hand lifted and he gently prodded his black eye. "It was just... a thing that happened. I mean, no. She and I? Never."

"But wasn't she a - "

"No, she wasn't a virgin. Of course she wasn't. So no mating. She would never have me like that anyway."