Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood #3)(118)

“Hey, son,” Tohr said. “How’s the studying?”

John stretched his arms over his head, then signed, Better than the physical training.

“You don’t worry about that. It’ll come.”

Maybe.

“No, really. I was the same way before my transition. All over the place. Trust me, it gets better.”

John smiled. So, you’re home early.

“Actually, I was going to go to the center and get some admin work done there. You wanna hang? You could study in my office.”

John nodded and grabbed a fleece, then packed up his books. A change of scenery would be good. He was sleepy, and he still had another twenty-two pages to go through: Getting away from his bed was a great idea.

They were heading down the hall when Tohr suddenly swayed and banged into the wall. His hand went to his heart and he seemed to struggle for breath.

John grabbed for him, alarmed by the Brother’s coloring. He’d gone positively gray.

“I’m cool….” Tohr rubbed his sternum. Winced. Took acouple of deep draws through his mouth. “No, I’m…I just got a pain or something. Probably the stuff I ate from Taco Hell on the way home. I’m okay.”

Except the man was pasty and sickly as they stepped into the garage and went over to the Volvo.

“I made Wellsie take the Range Rover tonight,” Tohr said as they got in her car. “I put the chains on it for her. I hate her driving in the snow.” He seemed to be talking for the sake of talking, the words fast, pressurized. “She thinks I’m overprotective.”

Are you sure we should be going out? John signed. You look sick.

Tohr hesitated before starting the station wagon, all the while rubbing his chest under his leather jacket. “Oh, yeah, no. I’ll be fine. It’s no big deal.”





Butch watched Havers go to work on Phury, the doctor’s hands steady and sure as they removed the bandage.

Phury was clearly not charmed about his role as patient. Sitting on top of the examination table, his shirt off, his huge body dominating the little room, he had a glower on him like an ogre. Right out of the Brothers Grimm.

“This hasn’t healed as it should,” Havers pronounced. “You said you were hurt last night, correct? So this should all be scar tissue. Instead it’s barely closed.”

Butch shot Phury a big old I-told-you-so stare.

The Brother mouthed back, Bite me, then muttered, “It’s okay.”

“No, sire, it’s not. When was the last time you fed?”

“I don’t know. A while.” Phury craned around and looked at the wound. He frowned, as though he were surprised by how bad it looked.

“You need to feed.” The doctor ripped open a gauze pack and covered the slice. After he taped the thick white square in place, he said, “And you should do it tonight.”

Havers snapped off his gloves, stuffed them in a biohazard container, and made a note in his chart. He hesitated by the door. “Is there someone you could go to now?”

Phury shook his head while he put on his shirt. “I’ll deal with it. Thanks, Doc.”

When they were alone, Butch said, “Where’m I taking you, big man?”

“Downtown. Time to hunt.”

“Yeah, right. You heard the man with the stethoscope. Or do you think he was playing you?”

Phury slid off the exam table, his shitkickers landing with a boom. He turned away, going for his dagger holster.

“Look, cop, it takes time for me to get someone lined up,” he said. “Because I’m not…because of the way I am, I only like to go to certain females, and I have to talk with them first. You know, see if they’re willing to let me take their vein. Celibacy is complicated.”

“Then you make the calls now. You’re in no shape to fight, and you know it.”

“So use me.”

Butch and Phury both wheeled toward the doorway. Bella was standing in it.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” she said. “The door was open and I was walking by. My, ah…brother just left.”

Butch glanced at Phury. The male was still as a photograph.

“What’s changed?” Phury asked in a voice that had gone hoarse.

“Nothing. I still want to help you. So I’m giving you another opportunity to accept.”

“You couldn’t have gone through it twelve hours ago.”

“Yes, I could have. You were the one who said no.”

“You would have wept through the whole thing.”

Whoa. This was way personal.

Butch eased over to the door. “I’ll go wait out—”

“Stay, cop,” Phury said. “If you don’t mind.”

Butch cursed and looked around. There was a chair right next to the exit. He lowered his butt into it and tried to make like an inanimate object.

“Did Zsadist—”

Bella cut Phury’s question off. “This is about you. Not him.”

There was a long silence. And then the air was permeated by something like dark spices, the scent emanating from Phury’s body.

As if the fragrance were an answer of some kind, Bella came into the room, shut the door, and started to roll up her sleeve.

Butch glanced at Phury and saw that the guy was trembling, his eyes glowing like the sun, his body…Well, he was obviously getting aroused, put it like that.