Lacey's Luhpynes [Beyond the Veil 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More)

by Honor James

  “All right. Eating now, see me?” she asked and took a bite of the food that was on her plate. “Are you going to shower with me, Z? ’Cause I will make a simple admission, if you get in there naked with me I am so not sure if I will be able to keep my hands to myself. It’s been a great many years since we have had sex and I really miss it. I really love making love and I truly would like to be able to be with you. Very much so.”

  “We can’t until you make your choice,” he said softly. “So no, we won’t be showering together, darling. We will be showering alone, each in our own shower, all by our lonesomes. And it will be that way until we mate after you’ve made your decision on who is primary in your reproductive life.”

  “Damn,” she grumbled. “Okay.” She sighed and licked her lips. “I tried, God that’s not a choice I want to make. It’s not a choice that I think that I can make.” She looked up at him and asked, “What if I can’t make a choice? What if that’s a choice that I can’t make? I want you both. I really do. I want you both in my life but I don’t know how to make that choice.”

  “Then you flip a coin and we call it in the air,” he said with a wink. “But whatever the choice is will be one you have to live with. I’m sorry but the only other thing is going old school. And old school is bloody beyond all belief. Talk to my parents about it when we go for dinner. I’m sure they will have some advice to help you out.”

  “I hope so.” Lacey sighed and shook her head. “Okay, point me in the direction of a bathroom so that I can get started on that shower so that we can get moving sooner rather than later. I really and truly want to get started or else I’m going to do something like jump you. That would be bad.”

  “Very at this point,” he told her. Getting up he went around a corner and came back a couple minutes later. “Here you are.” He passed her the clothing she’d been wearing the night before, cleaned and folded. “There’s a bathroom off the bedroom you slept in last night. Go and clean up. I’ll get the kitchen cleaned and then we’ll meet in the living room when we’re both done.”

  “Sounds good.” She hesitated and then reached out to him and linked her hand with his. “Hey, we will be okay, won’t we?” she asked softly. “We will somehow find a way around this, right?” She wanted to be able to have a life with them, and she was worried she would somehow mess it all up.

  Cupping her cheek, he leaned in so they were nose to nose. “You will figure it out and we will come through this better than ever,” he said. “Have faith, Lacey. We believe in you, believe in yourself as well, darling,” he told her, brushing a kiss to her lips. “Now go and shower before I forget all my good intentions and say to hell with it all.”

  “You are very right,” she told him and brushed her nose to his. “I look forward to being able to have the time with you guys.” She pulled back and put her hand to his cheek. “How long after I make the choice do we have to wait?” she asked.

  “As soon as you decide then the mating dance is fully on. From then we just need time, a private place and one another. Nature will take its course from there and we will be in the hands of Fate,” he said softly. “Go and shower, little one, we need to finish some business.”

  “Yes, we need to take care of everything so that we can meet your parents, so that we can all have a talk and so that we can figure out just what we will do with life. See if we can find a common ground and make the decisions that need to be made. Oh and during that time we will also try to hunt down the asshole who has been taunting me for years, the bastard who has tried to blow up one of the men that I loved.” That was the hard part, that was what sealed the man’s fate, when Zhubin had been hurt it only pissed Lacey off all the more.

  “Your eyes get all glittery when you are pissed off, did you know that?” Zhubin smiled and pulled her off her chair, put her clothes in her hands and pushed her toward the door. “Go and shower, damn it. I really hate repeating myself. We can figure everything out later but you need to get ready to move.”

  “Right, shower,” she said with a nod. “And no I didn’t know that my eyes glittered when I got pissed off. You never mentioned it before, I wonder why?” she asked teasingly. “Okay, time to get going. See you soon. Meeting you back down here after my shower and I’m dressed?”

  “Precisely, now go, woman,” he said softly. Once she turned and headed out there was a low growl from behind her.

  Chapter Seven

  Walking into the office building, all thirty stories of industrial steel and shatterproof glass, Zhubin looked to her. They were both feeling it. There was a new tension in the air, not good. The ride to their floor, twenty stories up, was silent except for the ding indicating each floor they passed.

  Stepping out they were immediately flagged down by their boss. Following the man toward his office, Zhubin let her go in first and take the chair while he prowled. Small spaces, even with windows, made him uncomfortable, something pretty easy to see given the tension in his body.

  “Good to see you both alive and well,” their Captain said, looking them over. “Agent Rose, you’ll need to stop by medical and be cleared before you can go back on active duty. No arguments, you took a good smack to the head from what I hear. Agent Zhubin.” The man’s dark gaze turned to the prowling male. “I’m assuming you’ve healed up without any issues.”

  “None at all, sir,” he said in response, barely pausing in his slow prowl.

  “Yes sir.” Lacey knew that was coming, dammit. “However, I would like to add in that I really am doing fine sir. I would much rather stay on the case then spend any down time.”

  “No arguments, Agent Rose,” their Captain said as he leaned back. “And has Agent Zhubin been informed of the possible suspect in the case?”

  Lacey flushed but nodded, damn she hated that everyone in the sun was aware of what had been happening these last years and Zhubin and Ansell weren’t. “Yes sir. I told him this morning.”

  “Good. Now.” The Captain’s eyes focused on Zhubin. “And how do you intend to capture this man? You understand how his mind worked before he was turned and you have studied Vhampires enough to know how they work, so, ideas, suggestions?”

  “I plan on baiting him. Taunting him and when he gets pissed, killing him, sir,” Zhubin said in a cool, calm and very relaxed tone of voice. “Luhpynes on a whole are aggressive hotheads. Vhampires are cooler, more collected but are cocky assholes. Combine those two and you’ve got a shitstorm just waiting to happen.”

  “Good. Are you certain that you will be able to handle him alone? He has all your strengths, but those of a Vhampire as well, so are you certain that this is something that you will be able to take on by yourself? I’m not trying to be a dick, I just need to know that I’m not sending you off to die.”

  “I don’t plan on taking him on alone but, should it come to it, yes I could take him on by myself. I don’t actually want to so I’ll be pulling Ansell and a couple others in,” Zhubin told the man. “I want Agent Rose with us twenty-four-seven as well, sir, no unusual duties for any reason. If she gets pulled for a different assignment I’m going to automatically assume it’s this guy trying to get her alone. That being the case I’m going in with a ‘kill first’ attitude, no questions asked.”

  Leaning back, the Captain watched him carefully and then asked, “And if I say no?” He waved his hand slightly in the air in a circular motion. “For the sake of argument, if I say no? What if I feel that it’s a bad idea to have Agent Rose with you and Ansell twenty-four-seven?”

  “It wasn’t an option,” Zhubin said honestly. His tone was flat, tight and held a subtle layer of warning. His eyes locked on the Captain, not so subtle given the glow that was starting to grow. His Luhpyne side was putting in its two cents and was not happy with the Captain at all. “But if you even thought of saying no for any reason you’d never get past the N.”

  Nodding, the Captain leaned back. “It’s a good thing that I was only testing the water then, huh? And put the Alpha away, I had
to know that you understood just exactly what and who Agent Rose was to you.” He glanced to Lacey and raised a brow.

  “He does. I told him everything.”

  “Good. About fucking time. I couldn’t tell you, but she could. I was fucking livid when they bound me.” He still couldn’t say much about it because of the magic binding his tongue. “I trust you to keep our girl safe.”

  “She’s been safe since we first partnered with her,” Zhubin said quietly as his Luhpyne side slowly faded from his eyes and demeanor. “We knew who she was right off but as we’ve got a non-interference policy with potential mates who may have other commitments, we had to wait until she gave us the sign otherwise.”

  “And she, and I as well, were bound by fucking magic, dictates, and orders,” the captain said, his tone clearly pissed off. “Don’t let them play political roulette with your lives, they will fucking want to try and you know it. There is another team under my command that is much like yours, only the men are simply waiting. Well, hell, I don’t know what they are waiting for,” he added with a shrug. “Whatever it is, I hope that it’s worth it. Anyway, get out of here. Stop by the weapons locker and get Agent Rose hooked up with the weapons she will need as well as armor and then make sure that she sees medical, and that is an order.”

  “I know who they are, Captain, and for them, it’s necessary,” Zhubin said, getting to his feet. “They can play their games all they want but they know they can only push so far. We have no compunction of tearing out their whiny little throats if they give us just cause.” Turning to Lacey, he held out a hand. “Come, the captain is right, you need to be outfitted for what is to come.”

  Lacey nodded and took a breath. She followed Zhubin out of the Director’s office. After they were away she finally asked, “What was he talking about? I knew that they had bound him with magic, I think that they might have with me as well but who was the other team that he was talking about?”

  “Later,” he said under his breath steering her by the elbow toward an elevator. Getting her inside, he punched the button to take them up two floors. “Not in the building,” he murmured for her ears only. His eyes on hers he lifted them to where the camera was and then looked to her once more. “Some things can’t be spoken of in all places with all people.”

  Lacey nodded and understood immediately. “Later I will take you up on that,” she told him smoothly and exited the elevator as soon as it came to a stop. Moving swiftly toward the weapons locker, a massive room filled with weapons and protective gear, she called over her shoulder, “I will check in with medical after I have the weapons you think I will need for this little party.”

  “Damned straight you will,” he muttered on her heels. “Had I not been a little more worried about you being perforated I would have protected your head when we had to make a dive.” Zhubin moved in closer and touched her cheek, “I am sorry I wasn’t more careful with you, Lacey.”

  “It’s all good,” she assured him and shook her head. “You have told me time and again that I have a hard head, just proved it when I simply bounced instead of being smashed.” She waited until they were in the room and began pulling down weapons. She couldn’t let him be close, not here where so many were watching. Turning back to him however, she heard herself saying, “Would they separate us if they knew?”

  “Not that,” he said, putting the large bulky weapon back on the wall. Tugging her along, he paused and passed her body armor that would mould to her shape. “Put that on under your clothing, and this.” He handed her the bottoms to the piece. “Go and get that on while I pull you weapons that will actually work. And if they knew, which they probably do, they could try to separate us. But a Luhpyne is at his most dangerous at two points, the first being the mating dance and the second during his mate’s pregnancy. We’re brutal on the best of days, but catch us during that time and you’re asking for death.”

  “But we aren’t at the dance yet,” she spoke softly. “We won’t be until after I’ve spoken to Ansell, right?” Reaching out, she touched her hand to his arm, her finger running over the marking that was hidden under the golden cuff and watched him carefully.

  “I’m not your typical Luhpyne, Lacey, never have been, never will be,” was all the answer he gave to her. Turning her, he bum-rushed her into the changing room, passed her the undergarments and shut the door. “Change,” he ordered before there was another sound.

  “Oh, bossy.” Lacey snorted. “I will change only because I know that I need the extra protection but seriously, mister, less bossy maybe?” Although if she were honest she really, really liked him being as bossy as he was being to her.

  He was standing there, arms crossed, when she came out. “Now we’ll outfit you for weapons,” he told her. “The right way. First, put this on.” He handed her a shoulder holster and then one for her waist that hooked at her thigh too. “Guns and blades.” He moved in then and started to fill the empty slots up before kneeling and strapping another blade and smaller gun to her ankle and calf. “You’re proficient with them all, so that’s why they were picked. Plus they are slightly smaller which means any Luhpyne or Vhampire is going to have a bitch of a time turning them on you to use, so don’t get all affronted at the size.”

  “I’m not worried at all about the size, as long as they are deadly. That’s what I’m looking for. Size doesn’t matter, how you use it does.” She then groaned. “Good lord, I can’t believe that I just used that line. Shoot me now please,” she muttered and shoved another weapon at her back holster. “All right, any more for me?”

  “Uh-huh, I’m going to remind you later you used that line,” he said, straightening up and passing her an arm guard. Zhubin walked around her and nodded, “Now you’re ready,” he told her as he moved to arm himself. Pulling on his holster he withdrew his blade, spun it around and slid it into the sheath on his spine. Sliding his guns into place and then his other, smaller blades he looked to her. “Let’s go and see what they managed to salvage from the warehouse and find out what we can, we need to figure out where this asshole is and end him.”

  “And let’s go and let the medical team poke and prod me so that I can get my clearance to go back out on the field.” She hated going to medical. Truly hated going to medical because they liked to poke and prod and hurt. She hated it.

  Frowning, he touched her arm when she was close enough, “What’s going on in that head of yours, Lacey?” Catching her hand, he pulled her to a stop when she would have gone past. “Lacey, why are you making that face? What are you not telling me?”

  “I hate medical,” she admitted. “You know that I bruise easily, well they tend to poke, prod and I end up with more bruises when I leave medical than before I was in there. They will also likely want to run a CAT scan or MRI which always give me headaches. Just par for the course, right?”

  “They poke you once and I’ll rip them to shreds,” he said with a shrug. “Problem solved.” He smiled slightly and moved her toward the door. Punching the button for the elevator he walked in with her and they went up the three floors. Moving right at her side into medical, he looked around and singled out a doctor. “Clear her, yesterday,” he said, eyeing the female with a clear warning not to waste time written all over his face.

  The doctor nodded and looked to Lacey. “Yes sir,” she said and then looked to Lacey once more, “All right Agent Rose, let’s have a look at you shall we?” she asked and led the woman to a medical bay bed and then began to check and test her. “It says that we need to run an MRI and CAT scan, are you going to be okay with that?” Lacey nodded and she gave her ear plugs. “Put these in and we will go ahead and get you ready okay?”

  Standing to the side, Zhubin shook his head as he took all the weapons he’d just strapped on her. “This is not exactly what I had in mind.” He growled softly, eyeing the doctor. “You’d better give her something for the headache you’re about to create by doing this. Because I really don’t want to have to put up with her when she’s b
itching you all out for the rest of the night. Not that I won’t put up with it, but I won’t be very happy the next time I come in here.”

  “Right, I will give her a painkiller but with her allergies it wouldn’t be a good idea for her to take what I would typically give, so what I have to give her will make her very sleepy. I would suggest that she go home for the day and sleep them and the headache off.”

  “No, we will just do the scans another day then,” Lacey said as she began to grab at her weapons once more. “Dammit, Zhu, give me my weapons back.”

  “You can’t go into the field without being cleared, Lace,” he said, shaking his head at her. He held the weapons out of her reach. “Get the scan, I think I have a better plan to rid you of your headache and get you working faster. Do it, Lace.” Zhubin looked down at her with a gentle expression.

  “Dammit. All right, fine. I will do it but you should know that I will be very, very cranky if I’m not able to go and hunt this bastard as well. Just for your own self-preservation you need to keep that in mind.”

  “Trust me, I fully understand.” Zhubin gave her a slight bow. “I’ll just be outside when you are finished with the scan. Don’t tarry,” he said, stepping out of the MRI room.

  Nearly an hour later she walked to him, a hand to her head and a snarl on her lips. Zhubin just put a hand on her back and guided her into an empty room. He set the weapons down, then he moved her to the exam bed and helped her hop up and then lie down. “Close your eyes,” he said softly as he moved to the head of the bed. His fingers came to rest on her temples a moment later and lightly rubbed.

  She sighed when he began to rub at her temples, and let her body start to relax somewhat. “That feels spectacular. Why in the world didn’t you tell me that you could do this before?” Likely because she would have torn his fucking head off. Yep, she was a total bitch. “How in the world have you kept from shooting me all these years?” she muttered angrily, more at herself than anything or anyone else.