Lover Eternal: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood (26 page)

As the sun came up, O riffled through the building sketches that covered U's kitchen table. He spun one around.

 

"This is what I want. How fast can we get it up?"

"Quick. Site's out in the middle of nowhere, and the facility's not going to be hooked to any municipal utilities, so there's no need for a building permit. Putting together the wall supports and throwing some exterior clapboards on a fifteen-hundred-square-foot space won't take long. Installing the storage facilities for the captives shouldn't be a problem. As for the shower, we can divert the nearby stream easily and install a pump to provide running water. Supplies like hardware and tools are all generic and I've kept the board lengths standard size to reduce the amount of cutting. Gas-powered generator on site will provide electricity for the saws and nail guns. It'll also give us light if we want it. We'll keep that long-term."

"Give me the number of days."

 

"With a crew of five guys, I can have a roof over your head in forty-eight hours. Provided I can work them into the ground and the supplies come in on time."

 

"I'm going to hold you to two days, then."

"I'll start getting what we need from Home Depot and Lowe's this morning. I'll split the supply orders between the two. And we're going to need a small bulldozer, one of those Toro Dingos with the interchangeable bucket and hoe setup. I know where we can rent one."

"Good. This is all good."

O leaned back to stretch his arms and idly parted the drapes. U's house was an anonymous split-level deep in soccer-mom territory. This was the part of Caldwell with streets named Elmwood and Spruce Knoll and Pine Notch, where kids rode their bikes on the sidewalks and dinner was on the table at six every night.

All the happy-happy, joy-joy made O's skin crawl. He wanted to torch the houses. Put salt on the lawns. Chop the trees down. Level the place until it couldn't resurface. The impulse went so deep it surprised him. He had no problem with destruction of property, but he was a killer, not a vandal. He couldn't figure out why he gave a shit.

"I want to use your truck," U was saying. "I'm going to rent a trailer to hitch on. Between the two, I'll be able to take delivery on the boards and roofing supplies in batches. No reason for the Home Depot folks to know where we are."

"And the stuff for the storage units?"

 

"I know exactly what you're looking for and where to find it."

 

An electronic beeping sounded.

 

"What the hell's that?" O asked.

 

"Reminder for the nine-A.M. check-in." U took out a BlackBerry, his blunt fingers flying over the little keyboard. "You want me to e-mail your status for you?"

 

"Yeah." O focused on U. The
lesser
had been in the society for 175 years. He was pale as paper. Calm and sharp as a tack. Not as aggressive as some, but steady.

 

"You're an asset, U."

 

U cocked a smile and looked up from the BlackBerry. "I know. And I like to be used. Speaking of which, who are you going to give me for a crew?"

 

"We're going to use both prime squadrons."

 

"You're taking all of us off-line for two nights?"

 

"And days. We'll sleep in shifts at the site."

 

"Fine." U looked back down at the thing in his hand, fingering a little wheel on the right side of it. "Oh… shit. Mr. X is not going to like this."

 

O narrowed his eyes. "Oh, yeah?"

 

"It's a blast e-mail to the Beta squadrons. I'm still on the list, I guess."

 

"And?"

 

"A bunch of Betas were hunting last night and ran into one of the Brotherhood in the park. Of the five of them, three are unaccounted for. Get this, the warrior was with a human female."

 

"Sometimes they have sex with them."

 

"Yeah. Lucky bastards."

 

Mary stood over the stove thinking of the way Rhage had just looked at her. She couldn't figure out why offering to cook him breakfast was such a big deal, but he'd acted as if she'd given him a tremendous gift.

She flipped the omelet over and headed for the refrigerator. Taking out a plastic container of cut fruit, she spooned all there was into a bowl. It didn't look like enough, so she grabbed a banana and sliced it on top.

As she put the knife down, she touched her lips. There had been nothing sexual about the kiss he'd given her behind the couch; it had been all about gratitude. And the mouth-on-mouth action in the park had been deeper, but the distance on his side was the same. The passion had been one-sided. Hers.

Did vampires even sleep with humans? Maybe that was why he held back, instead of it being some kind of power play.

Except what about the hostess at TGI Friday's? He'd def-initely sized that woman up, and not because he'd wanted to buy her a dress. So clearly his kind had no problem being with another species. What he had no interest in was being with her.

Friends. Just friends.

When the omelet was finished and the toast buttered, she rolled a fork up in a napkin, tucked the twist under her elbow, and took the plate and the bowl into the living room. She quickly shut the door behind her and turned to the couch.

Whoa.

Rhage had taken his shirt off and was leaning back against the wall, inspecting his burns. In the glow of candlelight, she got a serious look at his heavy shoulders, his powerful arms, his chest. His stomach. The skin over all that muscle he was carrying was golden, hairless.

Trying to keep it together, she put what she was carrying on the floor next to him and sat down a few feet over. To stop herself from staring at his body, she glanced at his face. He was looking down at the food, not moving, not speaking.

"I wasn't sure what you liked," she said.

His eyes flipped up to hers and he shifted so he was facing her. The frontal view was even more spectacular than the profile. His shoulders were broad enough to fill the space between the couch and the wall. And the star-shaped scar over his left pectoral was sexy as hell, like some kind of brand on his skin.

After a good beat or two of him just staring at her, she reached for the plate. "I'll get you something else—"

 

His hand shot out and gripped her wrist. He stroked her skin with his thumb. "I love it."

 

"You haven't tasted the—"

 

"You made it. That's enough." He picked the fork out of the napkin, the muscles and tendons in his forearm working. "Mary?"

 

"Hm?"

 

"I would feed you now." As he spoke, his stomach let out a howl.

 

"That's okay. I'll get something for myself… Ah, why are you frowning like that?"

 

He rubbed his eyebrows, as if ironing out his expression. "Sorry. You couldn't know."

 

"Know what?"

 

"Where I come from, when a male offers to feed a female from his hand, it is a way of showing respect Respect and… affection."

 

"But you're hungry."

 

He brought the plate a little closer and tore off a corner of the toast. Then he cut a perfect square out of the omelet and placed it on top.

 

"Mary, eat from my hand. Take from me."

He leaned forward, extending his long arm. His teal eyes were hypnotic, calling her, pulling her forward, opening her mouth. As she put her lips around the food she had cooked for him, he growled in approval. And after she swallowed, he came toward her again, another piece of toast suspended between his fingertips.
"Shouldn't you have something?" she said.

"Not until you are full."

 

"What if I eat it all?"

 

"Nothing would please me more than to know you are well fed."

 

Friends
, she told herself.
Just friends
.

 

"Mary, eat for me." His insistence had her opening her mouth again. His eyes stayed on her lips after she'd closed them.

 

Jesus
. This didn't feel like friends.

As she chewed, Rhage picked through the bowl of fruit with his fingertip. He finally chose a slice of cantaloupe and held it out to her. She took the piece whole, a little juice escaping down the side of her mouth. She reached up with the back of her hand, but he stopped her, lifting the napkin, brushing it over her skin.

"I'm finished."

 

"No, you're not. I can feel your hunger." This time half a strawberry came toward her. "Open for me, Mary."

 

He fed her choice morsels, watching her with a primordial satisfaction that was unlike anything she'd seen before.

When she couldn't take another bite, he made quick work of what was left, and the moment he was done she picked up the plate and headed to the kitchen. She made him another omelet, filled a bowl full of cereal, and gave him the last of her bananas.

His smile was radiant as she laid it all out in front of him. "How you honor me with this."

As he ate in that methodical, tidy way of his, she closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the wall. She was getting tired more and more easily and felt a stab of cold terror because now she knew why. God, she dreaded finding out what the doctors were going to do to her after all the tests were in.

When she opened her eyes, Rhage's face was right in front of hers.

 

She jerked back, banging against the wall. "I, ah, I didn't even hear you move."

Crouched on all fours like an animal about to spring, he had one arm on either side of her legs, his massive shoulders bunched up from bearing the weight of his torso. This close, he was huge. And showing a lot of skin. And smelling really good, like dark spices.

"Mary, I would thank you, if you would let me."

 

"How?" she croaked.

He tilted his head to the side and put his lips on hers. As she gasped, his tongue penetrated her mouth and stroked her own. When he shifted back to assess her reaction, his eyes glowed with the promise of ecstasy, the kind that would boil her bone marrow.

She cleared her throat, "You're… welcome."

 

"I would do that again, Mary. Will you let me?"

 

"A simple thank-you is fine. Really, I—"

His lips cut her off and then his tongue took over again, invading, taking, caressing. As heat roared in her body, Mary gave up the fight and savored the mad lust, the pounding in her chest, the aching at her breasts and between her legs.

Oh, God
. It had been so long. And it had never been like this.

 

Rhage let out a low purr, as if he'd sensed her arousal. She felt his tongue retract, and then he took her lower lip between his—

 

Fangs. Those were fangs nipping at her flesh.

 

Fear threaded through her passion and thickened it, adding a dangerous edge that opened her even further. She put her hands on his arms. God, he was so hard, so strong. He'd be so heavy on top of her.

 

"Will you let me lay with you?" he asked.

Mary closed her eyes, imagining them going beyond the kissing to a place where they'd be naked together. She hadn't been with a man since well before her illness. And a lot about her body had changed since then.

She also didn't know where his desire to be with her was coming from. Friends didn't have sex. Not in her book, anyway.

 

She shook her head. "I'm not sure—"

 

Rhage's mouth fit over hers again briefly. "I just want to lie down next to you. Okay?"

 

Literal translation… right
. Except as she stared at him, she couldn't ignore the differences between them. She was breathless. He was calm. She was dizzy. He was clearsighted.

 

She was hot. He was… not.

 

Abruptly Rhage sat back against the wall and pulled the blanket that hung off the couch into his lap. She wondered for a split second if he was hiding an erection.

 

Yeah, right
. More likely he was cold because he was half-naked.

 

"Did you suddenly remember what I am?" he asked.

 

"Excuse me?"

 

"Is that what turned you off?" She remembered those fangs of his on her lip. The idea that he was a vampire turned her on. "No."

 

"Then why did you shut down? Mary?" His eyes bored into hers. "Mary, will you tell me what's going on?"

 

His confusion as he stared at her was appalling. Did he think she wouldn't mind being a pity fuck?

 

"Rhage, I appreciate the lengths you're willing to go to in the name of friendship, but don't do me any favors, okay?"

 

"You like what I do to you. I can feel it. I can smell it."

"For chrissakes, do you get off on making me feel ashamed of myself? Because I'll tell you, having a man get me all hot and bothered while he might as well be reading a newspaper doesn't feel good on my end. God… you're really sick, you know that?"

That neon gaze narrowed in offense. "You think I don't want you."

 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I've missed all that lust on your side. Yeah, you're
really
hot for me."

She couldn't believe how fast he moved. One minute he was sitting back against the wall, looking at her. The next he had her down on the floor, underneath him. His thigh shoved her legs apart and then his hips drove into her core. What came against her was a thick, hard length.

His hand tangled in her hair and pulled, arching her up against him. He dropped his mouth to her ear.

 

"You feel that, Mary?" He rubbed his arousal in tight circles, stroking her, making her bloom for him. "You feel me? What does this mean?"

 

She gasped for air. She was so wet now, her body ready for him to drive deep into her.

'Tell me what it means, Mary." When she didn't answer, he sucked her neck until it stung and then took her earlobe between his teeth. Little punishments. "I want you to say it. So I know you're clear on how I feel."

His free hand dipped under her butt, tucked her closer, and then his erection pushed into her, hitting the right place. She could feel the head of him probing through his pants and her pajama bottoms.

 

"Say it, Mary."

 

He surged forward again and she groaned. "You want me."

 

"And let's just make sure you remember that, shall we?"

He released her hair and took her lips with a raw edge. He was all over her, inside her mouth, on top of her body, his heat and his male smell and his tremendous erection promising her one hell of a wild, erotic ride.