Lover Eternal

south, but the rednecks who lived in the scattered, decaying farmhouses didn't seem like the type to wander.

'This looks good,' Mr. X said. 'Now where are you putting in the storage facilities?'

'Here.' O stood over a section of ground. 'We'll have the supplies in the morning. We should be ready to receive visitors in a day.'

'You've done pretty well, son.'

Goddamn it, O hated the son shit. He really did.

'Thank you, sensei,' he said.

'Now walk me to my car.' When they were a distance away from the work, Mr. X said, 'Tell me something. Do you have much contact with the Betas?'

O made sure their eye contact didn't waver. 'Not really.'

'Have you seen any of them lately?'

Christ, where was the Fore-lesser going with this? 'No.'

'Not any time last night?'

'No, like I said, I don't hang with the Betas.' O frowned. He knew that if he demanded an explanation, he'd just look defensive, but fuck it. 'What's this about?'

'Those Betas we lost in the park last night had shown some promise. I'd hate to think you were slaughtering your competition.'

'A brother—'

'Yes, a member of the Brotherhood attacked them. Right. Funny, though, the brothers always make sure they stab their kills so the bodies disintegrate. But last night, those Betas were left for dead. And hurt badly enough so they couldn't really respond to questions when they were found by their backup squad. So no one knows what happened.'

'I wasn't in that park and you know it.'

'Do I?'

'For chrissakes—'

'Watch your mouth. And watch yourself.' Mr. X's pale eyes narrowed into slits. 'You know who I'll call if I need to pull your choke chain again. Now get back to work. I'll see you and the other primes at first light for your check-in.'

'I thought that's why we had e-mail,' O said through gritted teeth.

'It's in person from now on for you and your team.'

When the minivan drove off, O stared into the night, listening to the cracking sounds of construction work. He should have been seething with anger. Instead he was just… tired.

God, he had no enthusiasm left for this job of his. And he couldn't even get worked up over Mr. X's bullshit. The thrill was gone.

Mary glanced at the digital clock: 1:56. Dawn was still hours and hours away, and sleep was out of the question. All she pictured when she closed her eyes were those weapons hanging off Rhage's body.

She rolled over onto her back. The idea of not seeing him ever again was so disturbing, she refused to look into the feelings too closely. She just accepted them, bore them badly, and hoped for some relief.

God, she wished she could go back to when he'd left. She would have hugged him hard. And given him a stiff lecture about staying safe even though she knew nothing about fighting and he was, hopefully, a master at it. She just wanted him safe—

Suddenly the door was unlocked. As it swung open, Rhage's blond hair gleamed in the light from the hall.

Mary shot off the bed, crossed the room at a dead run, and threw herself at him.

'Whoa, what the…' His arm went around her and picked her up, keeping her with him as he came through the door and shut it. When he released her, she slid down his body. 'You all right?'

As her feet hit the floor, she came back to reality.

'Mary?'

'Ah, yeah… yes, I'm okay.' She stepped to the side. Looked around. Blushed like all hell. 'I'm just… yeah, I'm just going to go back to bed now.'

'Hold up, female.' Rhage took off his trench coat, the chest holster, and the belt. 'Get back over here. I like the way you welcome me home.'

He opened his arms wide and she went into them, holding on hard, feeling him breathe. His body was so warm and he smelled wonderful, like fresh air and good clean sweat.

'I didn't expect you to be up,' he murmured, running his hand up and down her spine.

'Couldn't sleep.'

'I told you, you're safe here, Mary.' His fingers found the base of her neck and massaged deeply. 'Damn, you're tense. You sure you're okay?'

'I'm fine. Really.'

He stopped the rubbing. 'Do you ever answer that question truthfully?'

'I just did.' Sort of.

His hand resumed the stroking. 'Will you promise me something?'

'What?'

'Will you let me know when you're not okay?' His voice became teasing. 'I mean, I know you're tough, so I won't hold my breath for it or anything. You won't have to worry about killing me over this.'

She laughed. 'I promise.'

He tilted her chin up with his finger, eyes grave. 'I'm going to keep you to that.' Then he dropped a kiss to her cheek. 'Listen, I was going to head down to the kitchen and grab something to eat. You want to come with me? The house is quiet. The other brothers are still out.'

'Sure. Let me change.'

'Just put on one of my fleeces.' He went over to the dresser and took out something soft, black, and the size of a tarp. 'I like the idea of you wearing my clothes.'

As he helped her into it, his smile was a very masculine expression of satisfaction. And possessiveness.

And damned if it didn't suit his face to a tee.

By the time they finished eating and were back upstairs in his room, Rhage was having trouble concentrating. The hum was roaring in full force, worse than ever before. And he was totally aroused, his body so hot he felt like his blood was going to dry out in his veins.

As Mary went over to the bed and settled in, he took a quick shower and wondered if he shouldn't give his erection a release before he came back out. The damn thing was hard, stiff, aching like a bitch, and the water rushing down his body made him think of Mary's hands on his skin. He palmed himself and remembered the feel of her moving against his mouth as he pleasured her soft secrets. He lasted, like, less than a minute.

When it was over, the empty orgasm just juiced him up more. It was like his body knew the real thing was out in the bedroom and had no intention of being diverted.

Cursing, he stepped out and toweled off, then headed for his closet. With a prayer for Fritz's attention to detail, he hunted around until he found—thank you, God—a set of pajamas he'd never put on before. He shrugged into them and then threw on the matching robe for good measure.

Rhage grimaced, feeling like he was wearing half the damn closet. But that was the point.

'Is the room too warm for you?' he asked, as he willed a candle to light and turned off the lamp.

'It's perfect.'

Personally, he thought he was in the flipping tropics. And the temperature jacked higher as he approached the bed and sat on the opposite side from her.

'Listen, Mary, in about an hour, at four forty-five, you're going to hear the shutters closing for the day. They slide down on tracks over the windows. It's not that loud, but I don't want you to be startled.'

'Thanks.'

Rhage lay down on top of the comforter and crossed his feet at the ankles. Everything irritated him, the hot room, the PJs, the robe. Now he knew what presents felt like, all trussed up in paper and ribbons: itchy.

'Do you normally wear all that to bed?' she asked.