Lover at Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood #11)(161)
Author: J.R. Ward

As the woman with the formerly bright idea skulked off, Qhuinn turned to Blay, well aware that his shock was showing.

"Are we?" he breathed to his former best friend.

With the club music pounding, and a stadium full of strangers milling around them, with the bartender delivering drinks and the working girls working, with a thousand other lives rolling onward…time stopped for both of them.

Blay reached forward and took Qhuinn’s face in his hands, that blue stare warming as it roamed around. "Yes. Yes, we are – "

Qhuinn nearly jumped on the guy, closing the distance between their mouths and kissing the love of his life once, twice…three times – even though he had no f**king idea what was happening, or whether it was real or if his alarm was about to go off.

After all the suffering, he was parched for the relief, even if it was just temporary.

When he pulled back, Blay frowned. "You’re shaking."

Was it possible he wasn’t imagining this? "Am I?"

"Yes."

"I don’t care. I love you. I love you so damned much, and I’m sorry that I wasn’t male enough to admit – "

Blay stopped him with a kiss. "You’re plenty male enough now – the rest of it’s in the past."

"I just…God, I really am shaking, aren’t I?"

"Yeah. But it’s okay – I’ve got you."

Qhuinn turned his face into one of the male’s palms. "You always have. You’ve always had me…and my heart. My soul. Everything. I just wish it hadn’t taken this long for me to man up. That family of mine…nearly killed me. And not just thanks to that Honor Guard of theirs."

Blay’s eyes drifted. And then his hands dropped.

"What," Qhuinn blurted. "Did I say something wrong?"

Oh, God, he knew this was too good to be true….

There was a long moment when Blay just stared at him. But then the male held out his palm. "Give me your hand."

Qhuinn obeyed instantaneously, as if Blay’s command ran his body more than his own brain did.

When something slid onto his finger, he jumped and looked down.

It was a signet ring.

Blay’s signet ring. The one the male’s father had given him immediately after his transition.

"You are perfect the way you are." Blay’s voice was strong. "There is nothing wrong with who and what you have always been. I’m proud of you. And I love you. Now…and always."

Qhuinn’s vision got wavy. Hard-core.

"I’m proud of you. And I love you," Blay repeated. "Always. Forget about your old family…you have me now. I am your family."

All he could do was stare at the ring, seeing the crest, feeling the weight on his finger, watching how the light reflected off the precious metal.

He had wanted one of these all of his life, it had seemed.

And what do you know…as usual, as always, Blay was the one who had come through for him.

As a sob ripped up Qhuinn’s windpipe, he felt himself get pulled in close to a big, powerful chest, strong arms wrapping around him and holding him. And then, from out of nowhere, a dark spice wafted up, the scent – Blay’s bonding scent – the single most beautiful thing that had ever been in his nose.

"I’m proud of you, and I love you," Blay said yet again, that old, familiar voice cutting through all of those years of rejection and judgment, giving him not just a rope of acceptance to hang onto, but a flesh-and-blood hand to lead him out of the darkness of his past….

And into a future that didn’t require lies or excuses, because what he was, and what they were, was both extraordinary – and nothing out of the ordinary.

Love, after all, was universal.

Qhuinn closed his fist up tight, and knew he would never, ever take that ring off.

"Always," Blay murmured. "Because family is an always kind of thing."

Sweet Jesus, Qhuinn was sobbing like a pu**y. But Blay didn’t seem to mind in the slightest – or judge.

And that was the point, wasn’t it.

"Always," Qhuinn echoed hoarsely. "Always…"

Epilogue

TWO WEEKS LATER…

Whereupon life was pretty frickin’ awesome.

"So did you like last night?"

As Qhuinn spoke into Blay’s ear, Blay rolled his eyes in the near darkness. "What do you think."

With their naked bodies under warm, weighty covers, Qhuinn was pressed in behind him, their arms linked, their legs entwined.

Turned out Qhuinn was a snuggler. Who knew – and how fabulous.

"I think you liked it." Qhuinn licked his way up the side of Blay’s throat. "Tell me you liked it."

By way of reply, Blay flexed his spine and drove his ass right into the other male’s erection. The resulting groan made Blay beam.

"Sounds like you were into it," Blay murmured.

"Fuck, yeah, I was."

The night before they’d both been off rotation, and after a workout in the gym and a pool game against Lassiter and Beth – which they’d lost – Blay had suggested they hit the Iron Mask for a very specific reason.

As Blay remembered what had transpired after they’d gone back there, Qhuinn’s c**k got into places where it was very much welcome…and Blay once again gave himself up to the delicious penetration and the slow, riding rhythm his mate established.

The things that he recalled from the club just made everything hotter: The pair of them had gone over and sat at the bar and had a couple of drinks, Herradura for Qhuinn, and a couple of G&Ts for Blay. And then Qhuinn had gotten that look in his eye.

And Blay had gotten down to business.

He’d led the male back to one of the bathrooms, and as they’d gone inside together, it had been a fantasy come to life, the kissing, the hands in the pants, the frantic get-naked from the waist down….

A moan came out of Blay’s mouth as what was happening, and what had happened, mixed, the erotic cocktail taking him to the brink of an orgasm – and then, thanks to Qhuinn’s grip pumping him off, right over the edge, his c**k coming hard into his lover’s hand, his body jerking and sending Qhuinn into a release as well….

After a period of recovery, and a very satisfying round two, Qhuinn drawled, "Any chance you were thinking about that bathroom?"

"Maybe."

"We can do that any night, if you like."

Blay chuckled. "Well, I guess we’re free again this evening, so…"

The Brotherhood had been ordered to stay in, and as there had been no explanation in Tohr’s text, Blay figured it had to be a meeting with the king. The Band of Bastards and the glymera had been quiet for two weeks – no e-mails, no troop movements downtown, no phone calls. Never a good sign.

Probably an update or a strategy session about that Council member’s death and its implications. Although Blay really couldn’t see any downside to Assail’s having killed the dumb son of a bitch.