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He and the twins continued to shoot the shit, with V lighting up on occasion and ashing into an Aquafina bottle. An hour later, the door opened and Marissa and Butch appeared. Marissa was dressed in a martial-arts ji, Butch had a towel around his hips, and the bonding scent was all over them. They looked well used and very, very sated.
"Um... hey, guys," the cop said, blushing. He looked good, but he wasn't moving too well. In fact, he was using his female as a crutch.
V cracked a smile. "You look taller."
"Yeah, I... ah, I'm not getting around so good. Is that normal?"
Phury nodded. "Definitely. Took me a long time to get used to the new body. You'll have some control over it in a couple of days, but it's going to be weird for a while."
As the pair came forward, Marissa looked as if she was struggling under the weight of her male and Butch seemed wobbly, like he was trying not to lean on her as much as he really needed to.
V got up. "You want help on the way back to the Pit?"
Butch nodded. "That'd be great. I'm about to fall on her."
V got in at Butch's side and propped the cop up. "Home, Jarvis?"
"God, yes. I would love a shower."
Butch took Marissa's hand, and the three of them headed slowly to the Pit.
The trip through the tunnel was silent except for Butch's shuffling feet. And as they went along, V remembered coming out of his own transition, waking up tattooed with warnings all over his face and his hand and his private areas. At least Butch was safe, and he had people to protect him while his strength gathered.
V had been taken out and left for dead in the woods beyond a warrior camp.
Butch also had another thing going for him: a female of worth who loved him. Marissa was positively glowing at his side and V tried not to look at her too much... except he couldn't stop. So warm, the way she stared at Butch. So very warm.
V had to wonder what that was like.
When they stepped into the Pit, Butch let out a ragged sigh. Clearly his energy had flagged completely by now, sweat breaking out across his forehead as he struggled to remain upright.
"How about your bed?" V said.
"No... shower. I need a shower."
"Are you hungry?" Marissa asked.
"Yeah... oh, God, yeah. I want... bacon. Bacon and..."
"Chocolate," V said wryly as he muscled the cop down to the guy's suite.
"Oh... chocolate. Fuck, I would kill for that." Butch frowned. "Except I don't like chocolate."
"You do now." V kicked the bathroom door open and Marissa ducked into the shower and turned the water on.
"Anything else?" she asked.
"Pancakes. And waffles with syrup and butter. And eggs..."
V shot the female a look. "Just bring anything edible. He'd eat his own shoes at this point."
"... and ice cream and turkey with stuffing..."
Marissa kissed Butch on the lips. "I'll be right b - "
Butch grabbed her by the head and held her to his mouth with a moan. As a fresh flood of the bonding scent came out of him, he maneuvered her against the wall and pinned her with his body, hands traveling, hips pushing forward.
Ah, yes, V thought. The newly transitioned male. Butch was going to be throwing wood every fifteen minutes for a while.
Marissa laughed, utterly delighted with her mate. "Later. Food first."
Butch settled back immediately, like she'd called his lust to a heel and it behaved because it wanted to be a good boy. As she left, the cop's eyes followed her with rank hunger and adoration.
V shook his head. "You are a total sap."
"Man, if I thought I loved her before..."
"The bonded male biz is some powerful shit." V stripped Butch of his towel and shoved him under the water. "Or so I've heard."
"Ow." Butch glared up at the showerhead. "I don't like this."
"Skin's going to be extra sensitive for a week or so. Holler if you need me."
V was halfway down the hall when he heard a yelp. He hightailed it back, barging through the door. "What? What's - "
"I'm going bald!"
V whipped back the shower curtain and frowned. "What are you talking about? You've still got your hair - "
"Not my head! My body, you idiot! I'm going bald!" Vishous glanced down. Butch's torso and legs were shedding, a rush of dark brown fuzz pooling around the drain.
V started laughing. "Think of it this way. At least you won't have to worry about shaving your back as you get old, true? No manscaping for you."
He was not surprised when a bar of soap came firing at him.
Chapter Forty-one
It was a week later that Van learned something important about himself.
His humanity was gone.
As a moan echoed through the empty basement, he glanced at the civilian vampire who was strapped on a table. Mr. X was working the thing over and Van was watching. Like this was nothing more than someone getting a haircut.
He should have thought it was wrong. In all his years as a fighter, he'd inflicted a lot of pain on opponents, but he'd avoided hurting the innocent and had despised people who went after the weak. Now? His sole reaction to this base cruelty was annoyance... because it wasn't working. The only thing they'd learned about O'Neal was that a human fitting the man's description had been seen among males suspected to be Brothers in some of the clubs downtown - Screamer's and ZeroSum in particular. But they'd known all that already.
He was beginning to suspect the Fore-lesser was working out his frustrations at this point. Which was such a waste of time. Van wanted to go after vampires, not play armchair quarterback at a scene like this.
Except, shit, it wasn't like he'd had a shot at killing one of those bloodsuckers yet. Thanks to Mr. X keeping him off the field, all he'd taken out since joining the Lessening Society were other frickin' lessers. Every day, Mr. X lined him up against another one. And every day, Van beat his opponent into submission, then stabbed the guy. And every day, Mr. X got more and more wound up. It was like Van was letting the Fore-lesser down, although with a seven and oh record, it was hard to figure out precisely how.
As gurgling sounds drifted over on the blood-scented air, Van cursed under his breath.
"Am I boring you over there?" Mr. X snapped.
"Not at all. This is really great to watch."
There was a short silence. Then a disgusted hiss. "Don't be such a lightweight."
"Whatever. I'm a fighter, man. I'm not into this captive-beating shit, especially when it's not leading to anything."
Those flat, pale eyes burned. "Go patrol with some of the others, then. Because if I have to look at you any longer, you're going to find yourself on this table."
"Finally." Van headed for the stairs.
As his combat boot hit the first step, Mr. X spat, "Your weak stomach is such a disgrace."
"My guts aren't the problem here, trust me." Van kept going.
Butch stepped off the treadmill in the gym and wiped the sweat off his face with his shirt. He'd just run eleven miles. In fifty minutes. Which would be a sustained pace of about a five-minute mile. Holy... shit.
"How you feel?" V asked from the bench press.
"Like Lee f**king Majors."
There was a clang as nearly seven hundred pounds came to rest on the stand. "Six Million Dollar Man reference dates you, cop."
"I grew up in the seventies. Sue me." Butch sucked back some water, then looked to the doorway in a flash. His breath caught, and a split second later Marissa walked in.
God, she was gorgeous in black slacks and a cream jacket - businesslike yet feminine. And her pale eyes sparkled across the room.
"Thought I'd come by before I left for the night," she said.
"Glad you did, baby." He did the best he could to towel himself off as he went over to her, but she didn't seem to mind him hot and sweaty. At all. Her palm cupped his chin as he bent down and said a hello against her mouth.
"You look good," she whispered, running her hand down his neck and over his bare pecs. She traced his cross with light fingers. "Very good."
"Do I." He smiled as he hardened in his running shorts, remembering how an hour and a half ago he'd woken her up from the inside out. "Well, I'm not as good as you."
"I could debate that." He hissed as she stepped up against him.
With a growl, he ran through the layout of the training center in his mind, trying to figure out where they could disappear for ten minutes. Um... yeah, there was a classroom nearby with a good lock on the door. Perfect.
