Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood #8)(109)

f*ck out.

Jesus . . . Christ, Qhuinn thought as he rubbed his chest and heard his cousin's voice over and over again: Tell me something. Have you ever kissed a male before?

The image of Blay shaking his head was like a scar on Qhuinn's brain, and didn't that just carry him right out the far side of the kitchen to the storage room where the cases of alcohol were kept.

Such a cliche. Getting sauced because you didn't want to deal.

But he might as well do one thing in his life according to tradition.

Heading back through the kitchen, he realized there was at least one

saving grace. When the pair of them did the deed, it had to be back at Saxton's house, because no casual visitors were allowed in the king's home, 280

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ever.

As he came out into the foyer, he stopped dead.

Blay was just ducking in through the vestibule.

"Back so soon," Qhuinn said gruffly. "Don't tell me my cousin is that fast."

Blay didn't even pause. Just kept on going up the stairs. "Your cousin is a gentleman."

Qhuinn fell in behind his best friend, getting right on the guy's heels.

"You think? In my experience, he just looks like one."

That got Blay to turn around. "You always liked him before. He was your favorite. I can remember you talking about him like he was a god."

"I grew out of that."

"Well, I like him. A lot."

Qhuinn wanted to growl, but killed the impulse by cracking open the

Herradura he'd snagged off the shelf and taking a swallow. "Good for you.

I'm just thrilled for you both."

"Really. Then why aren't you even using a glass."

Qhuinn marched around his buddy and didn't stop as Blay said,

"Where're John and Xhex?"

"Out. In the world. On their own."

"I thought you were supposed to stay with them?"

"I was momentarily dismissed." Qhuinn paused at the top of the stairs and tapped the tear that had been tattooed under his eye. "She's an assassin, for God's sake. She can take care of him just fine. Besides, they were hanging at Tohr's old place."

When he got to his room, Qhuinn kicked the door shut and stripped

his clothes off. After swigging from the bottle, he closed his eyes and sent out a summons.

Layla would be good company right about now.

Right up his alley.

After all, she had been trained for sex, and all she wanted to do was use him as an erotic gymnasium. He didn't have to worry about hurting her or her getting attached to him. She was a professional, so to speak.

Or she would be when he was done with her.

As for Blay? He had no idea why the guy had come back instead of

heading off into Saxton's bed, but one thing was clear. The pair of them were attracted to each other and Saxton wasn't the kind to wait when it came to somebody he wanted.

Qhuinn and his cousin were related, after all.

And that wasn't going to save the sonofabitch in the slightest if he

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broke Blay's heart.

282





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FORTY-ONE

The party at the farmhouse went on and on and more people kept coming, their cars parking on the lawn, their bodies jamming into the downstairs rooms. Most who showed were ones that Lash had seen at the Xtreme Park, but not all of them. And they kept bringing more booze. Six-packs. Bottles. Kegs.

God only knew what kinds of illegal were in their pockets.

What the f*ck, he started to think. Maybe he'd been wrong and the

Omega had been snowed by his perversions--

As a rolling breeze developed out of the north, Lash went perfectly

still, keeping his camo in place and locking his mind down.

Shadow . . . He projected a shadow in him and through him and

around him.

The Omega's arrival was preceded by an eclipse of the moon and the

idiots inside didn't have a clue what was doing . . . but that little shit did. The kid stepped out of the front door, the light from inside spilling out around him.

Lash's blooded father came into form on the scruffy lawn, his white

robes swirling around his body, his arrival driving the ambient air

temperature down even further. As soon as he'd taken form, the Shit walked up to him and the two embraced.

There was the temptation to go off on the pair of them, to tell his

father he was nothing but a fickle cocksucker and warn that little rat bitch his days and nights were numbered--

The Omega's hooded face turned in Lash's direction.

Lash stayed perfectly motionless and projected in his mind an utterly blank slate such that he was invisible inside and out. Shadow . . . shadow . . .

shadow . . .

The pause lasted a lifetime, because without a doubt if the Omega

sensed Lash was around, it was game-over.

After a moment, the Omega refocused on his golden boy, and just as

he did, some f*ck-twit tripped out the front door, his flailing arms and loose legs going haywire as he tried to keep upright. Once on the grass, the guy 283

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got close to a cabbage patch but didn't quite make it, before landing on his knees and hurling all over the foundation of the house. As people inside laughed at him and the sounds of the party rolled out into the night, the Omega swept up to the doorway.