Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood #8)(111)

"Qhuinn summoned me forth. I assumed it was to this room?"

Blay briefly shut his eyes as his erection faded. And then he gave

himself a boot in his Key West and canned the hot water. Reaching around, he snapped a towel free and wrapped it around his hips.

"No, Chosen," he said quietly. "Not here. His room."

"Oh! Forgive me, sire." She began to back out of the room, her cheeks flaming.

"It's all right--watch out!" Blay lunged forward and caught her just as she bumped into the tub and lost her balance. "You okay?"

"Verily, I should look where I goeth." She glanced up into his eyes, her hands coming to rest on his bare arms. "Thank you."

Staring down at her perfectly beautiful face, it was obvious why

Qhuinn was interested. She was ethereal for sure, but there was more to it--

especially as her lids lowered and her green eyes flashed.

Innocent, but erotic. That was it. She was that captivating combination of purity and raw sex which to normal males was undeniable--and Qhuinn was not even close to normal. He'd bang anything.

Wonder if the Chosen knew that? Or whether it would matter to her if

she did?

With a frown, Blay set her back from him. "Layla . . ."

"Yes, sire?"

Well, hell . . . what was he going to say to her? It was damn clear she 286

J. R.Ward

hadn't been called back to feed Qhuinn, because they'd just done that the night before--

Christ, maybe that was the point. They'd already had sex once and she was returning for more.

"Sire?"

"Nothing. You'd better go. I'm sure he's waiting."

"Indeed." Layla's fragrance surged, the cinnamon spice flaring in Blay's nose. "And for that I am so grateful."

As she turned and left, Blay watched her hips sway and felt like

screaming. He did not want to think of Qhuinn having sex next door--for f*ck's sake, the mansion had been the one place uncontaminated by all the extracurricular grind.

Now, though, all he could see was Layla walking into Qhuinn's room

and letting that white robe fall down from her shoulders, her breasts and her belly and her thighs revealed to his mismatched stare. She'd be in his bed and under his body in the blink of an eye.

And Qhuinn would do her right. That was the thing, at least when it

came to sex: He was generous with his time and his talents. He'd be all over her with everything he had, his hands and his mouth--

Right. No need to go there.

Toweling off, it occured to him that maybe Layla was the perfect

partner for the guy. With her training, she would not only please him on every level, she would never expect monogamy from him or resent him for his other exploits or push him for emotional connections he didn't feel. She would probably even join in the fun, because it was obvious by the way she walked that she was comfortable with her body.

She was perfect for him. Better than Blay, for sure.

Besides, Qhuinn had made it clear he was going to end up with a

female . . . a traditional female with traditional values who was preferably from the aristocracy, assuming he could find one who would take him even with the defect of those mismatched peepers.

Layla totally fit that bill--nothing more old-school or highbred than a Chosen and it was clear she wanted him.

Feeling like he was cursed, Blay went into his closet and changed into nylon shorts and an Under Armour shirt. No way was he going to sit here and cozy up with a good book while whatever was going down next door went down--

Yeah. Didn't need those pictures either, even in the hypothetical.

Stepping out into the hall of statues, he rushed down past the marble figures, envying them their calm poses and their serene faces. Sure as shit 287

J. R.Ward

the everything's-cool routine made being inanimate seem like a good deal.

Whereas it meant they felt no joy, they didn't have to go through this burning pain, either.

When he got down to the foyer, he shot around the banister's curling

end and ducked through the hidden doorway. In the tunnel to the training center, he struck up a jog as a warm-up and as he emerged through the back of the office closet, he didn't slow down. The weight room was the only place he could stand to be right now. Good hour or so on the StairMaster and he might not feel like peeling his own skin off with a rusty spoon.

Coming out into the corridor, he pulled up short as he saw a lone

figure propped against the concrete wall.

"Xhex? What are you doing here?" Well, other than clearly staring a hole in the floor.

The female glanced over and her dark gray eyes seemed like hollow

pits. "Hey."

Blay frowned as he walked up to her. "Where's John?"

"He's in there." She nodded at the door to the weight room.

Which would explain the dull pounding he heard. Somebody was

clearly running the shit out of one of the treadmills.

"What happened?" Blay said, putting her expression and what John's Nikes were doing together--and coming up with a whole lot of oh-shit.

Xhex let her head fall against the wall that was holding her body up.

"It was all I could do to get him back here."

"Why?">