DISCLAIMER - Any mention of songs or their artists are for reference only. I claim no rights to them. They do not belong to me, all rights belong to the artists.

Sorry this chapter has taken so long. Thank you so much for your continued support and reviews. I will post the next chapter soon.

Chapter Eight

Last Meal that night was a pleasant affair. Her stomach full of butterflies, Kae sipped her wine and ate her meal as best she could while trying to mask the smile that insisted on appearing on her lips every five seconds. Her warm, hazel gaze drifted to the male sat next to her, his lips curved into the same grin as he quietly ate his dinner.

Sat across the table, two people viewed them curiously. Bella, seated next to Zsadist as usual, smirked behind the cover of her napkin as she caught the furtive glances passed between Qhuinn and Kae and her heart warmed with approval. This was exactly what she had been hoping for.

The other, more confused, glance came from John Matthew, his brow creased questioningly. Ever since he'd known Qhuinn, the guy had been a semi permanent erection waiting to happen. The ladies worshipped him and he was well known for his sexual antics at ZeroSum on their nights out. Yet here he was, acting like someone had whacked him with the puppy love stick. John shook his head and concentrated on his meal; he'd have to ask what was going down when they were alone next time. His behaviour was too bizarre to dismiss.

After the meal had finished, Kae excused herself from the rest of the company and left the dining room. It was still too early for bed and her body was full of nervous energy.

She needed to do something, something that would take Qhuinn's gorgeous smile off her mind for five minutes and exhaust her enough to fall asleep.

She caught sight of Fritz coming out of the dining room with his arms full of table linens ready for the wash.

After making a few enquiries from the more than helpful butler, she headed up the staircase and towards her room. As she rounded a corner, her head full of fuzzy, silly thoughts, three sets of footsteps came her way. Looking up, Kae's face exploded into a smile she could no more control than the sun; John Matthew, Blay and Qhuinn, all dressed for workout and laughing and joking with each other.

Kae slowed her pace and watched them enviably; their ease and natural flow with each other was something she had never had with other people. Once she had started to mature, her father did not think it was wise for her to mix with humans and so had kept her at home. After the death of Lorn, her mother could not bear to be parted from her and so Kae had submitted herself to sehclusion and had not left the property unless it was with her parents.

She gave a little sigh, realising now that she had been terribly lonely for so long, she had forgotten what it felt like.

As the trio drew level with her, Kae lowered her gaze to the floor; doubtless Qhuinn would be mortified at her for showing any kind of female warmth or admiration for him while he was with his boys.

Qhuinn paused by her while the other two carried on for a few paces and then waited, watching him.

Kae looked up, just as Qhuinn stroked her arm and dipped his head to kiss her cheek softly. Her eyes widened in surprise, pleased beyond measure by his tenderness. She looked at the warm smile gracing his firm, oh so sensual lips, the blood red teardrop tattooed beneath his blue eye; oh boy she was in big trouble with this male! Her heart raced as his smile grew and her own lips curved in response. Tentatively, she reached out and brushed her hand gently across the hard expanse of his abdomen and felt the muscles there grow taught.

In the distance, someone coughed politely. John Matthew looked at Blay, smirking, and his hands moved in a flurry of silent words.

"Yo Qhuinn, you coming with us or you gonna hook up later?" Blay's words were addressed to Qhuinn but his steady gaze was fixed solely on Kae. There was something hidden in his eyes, behind a wall he wasn't about to drop.

Qhuinn seemed to collect himself and nodded to his friends.

"I'm coming now guys," he conceded. Turning back to her, Qhuinn smiled down at Kae.

"I'll come see you later, true?...before bed."

His smile was pure decadence and Kae felt a sudden rush of longing heat between her thighs. He was coming to say goodnight to her.

As he walked off with his brothers, Kae quickly changed into some cotton yoga pants and a slim fitting tee shirt. Into a small bag, she stuffed a hand towel, a bottle of water and her mp3 player.

Fritz had given her directions to the gym and she intended to run out her restlessness on a treadmill for a while.

She found the gym without much effort. It was state of the art and thankfully empty. Dumping her bag, she pulled out her mp3 player, plugged it into her foldaway speaker set and selected her dance music play list; a selection of DJ Sammy, some old school club tunes including Insomnia by Faithless and some winding, grinding R n B tracks. Oh the thought of dancing with Qhuinn to some of those made her knees weak.

Chuckling to herself, Kae set the player down on a nearby bench, adjusted the settings on the treadmill and began her workout. After ten minutes, she stepped up the pace, regulating her breathing and concentrating on not falling flat on her face.

She was just getting into her rhythm when the gym doors opened and the three young warriors strode in. They were dressed in martial arts jis, obviously having finished a session in the training centre which she knew was attached to the brotherhoods mansion.

Once again, she felt as though she was intruding on someone else's space but as Bella insisted on reminding her, this was her home now as well and she could be wherever she wanted to.

The music on her player switched to, what she liked to think of as, her wind down tunes.

The heavy bass music pumped through the speakers. Kae lowered the speed of her machine and steadied her breaths. Blay and John both raised their hands in greeting as they walked past her towards the weights; Qhuinn physically turned to her and smiled, displaying his perfectly lovely bright white fangs.

Kae caught her lower lip between her teeth as she stared at him.

His eyes were dark with promise as he peeled his top away with a long, languorous stretch of his upper torso muscles. Kae forgot to breathe, any oxygen her lungs had held just dissipating into nothingness. Around his neck, a thick chain was attached with a marker bearing John Matthew's family crest so that anyone would know whom it was that he protected.

She finished her session on the treadmill and stepped over to the mirrors to stretch as she warmed down. Behind her, she could hear Qhuinn lifting weights as he sat at the bench.

A few times, she looked in the mirrors and could see him watching her as she stretched, bending and easing her limbs, her muscles strong and lean.

When he thought she wasn't looking, his eyes burned with hunger and to her surprise, it gave her an electrifying thrill to know that he wanted her like that…like that?

As she finished her stretches, she took a long pull on her bottle of water, gulping it down.

He was coming to say goodnight to her shortly. What if he didn't say goodnight? What if he didn't say anything? What if she gave in to what her body was demanding and allowed him to stay in her bed…to mate with her?

Every biological function in her body screamed its approval at this thought. Her breath caught in her throat as she tied back her hair and wiped her face with her towel.

She needed to be showered and dressed before he came to say goodnight.

Bold as it was and probably very unladylike, she wished more than anything else for Qhuinn to stay with her tonight.