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It was a week later that Van learned so ione

As a lanced at the civilian va over and Van atching Like this was nothinga haircut

He should have thought it rong In all his years as a fighter, he&039;d inflicted a lot of pain on opponents, but he&039;d avoided hurting the innocent and had despised people ent after the weak Now? His sole reaction to this base cruelty was annoyance because it wasn&039;t working The only thing they&039;d learned about O&039;Neal was that a hu males suspected to be Brothers in some of the clubs don¡ªScreamer&039;s and ZeroSum in particular But they&039;d known all that already

He was beginning to suspect the Fore-lesser orking out his frustrations at this point Which was such a waste of tio after vampires, not play armchair quarterback at a scene like this

Except, shit, it wasn&039;t like he&039;d had a shot at killing one of those bloodsuckers yet Thanks to Mr X keeping hi the Lessening Society were other frickin&039; lessers Every day, Mr X lined hiainst another one And every day, Van beat his opponent into subotthe 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

"A 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&039;t be such a lightweight"

"Whatever I&039; shit, especially when it&039;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&039;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 stouts aren&039;t the proble

Butch stepped off the treadym and wiped the sweat off his face with his shirt He&039;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 fro 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¡ªbusinesslike yet feminine And her pale eyes sparkled across the rooht I&039;d coht," 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&039;t seem to mind him hot and sweaty At all Her palainst herher hand down his neck and over his bare pecs She traced his cross with light fingers "Very good"

"Do I" He s how an hour and a half ago he&039;d woken her up froood as you"

"I could debate that" He hissed as she stepped up against hih the layout of the training center in his ure out where they could disappear for ten ood lock on the door Perfect

He glanced over at V, about to throw his rooht back, when he was surprised to find the brother staring at the two of them, lids low, expression unreadable Vishous looked away quickly

"So, I have to go," Marissa said, stepping back "Big night"

"You can&039;t stay for just a little longer? Five minutes, maybe?"

"I would love to, but no"

Wait adifferent about the way she was staring at him In fact, her eyes were locked on the side of his neck and her ueso

A bolt of hly "You need so from me?"

"Yes" She stood up on her tiptoes and spoke into his ear "I gave you so h the transition that I&039;m a little weak I need your vein"

Holy shit what he&039;d been waiting for all along The chance to feed her

Butch grabbed her around the waist, popped her feet off the floor, and carried her toward the door like the weight roohed "Put me down You&039;re barely a week out"

"No"

"Butch, put h his er?"

"Soon"

"I&039; now"

"I can wait a couple of days And it&039;s better if we do"

She kissed him and looked at the watch she wore It was his favorite froator band He loved the idea that she had it with her wherever she went

"I&039;ll be at Safe Place all night," she said "We have a new fe, and I want to be there when they check in I&039; and we&039;re going to do it together So I probably won&039;t be back until dawn"

"I&039;ll be here" He caught her as she turned away and spun her back into his arms "Be careful out there"

"I will"

He kissed her deep, wrapping his arms around her slender body Man, he couldn&039;t wait until she came back And missed her the moment she left

"I am a total sap," he said as the door closed

"Told you" V got up off the bench press and picked up a pair of stacked one-hander weights "Bonded "

Butch shook his head and tried to refocus on what else he wanted to accoht For the past seven days, while Marissa went off to her new job, he stayed at the compound and worked on how to handle this new body of his The learning curve was steep In the beginning, he&039;d had to re-learn the most simple functions, like how to eat and horite Now, he was trying to get a sense of his physical liood neas, so far, everything worked Well, al One of his hands was a little h not in any serious way

And the fangs were fabulous

As were the strength and endurance he now had No yrowth Atback some five thousand calories every twenty-four hours and even still, he was always hungry Which&039;roids

Two open questions reht? V had suggested holding off on both of those for a h to worry about in the ht?" V asked as he looked up froht in each of his hands was probably two seventy-five Butch could pull theot juice" He went over to an elliptical s out