Iolina—Lina to those who knew her.
He made a sound in his throat that the chick plastered to his front must have taken for assent, because she grinned and started moving her hand again. Barely paying her any mind, he kept his gaze locked on the woman beyond the veil.
Lina was the adopted sister of his older brother. She had been a part of Ronin’s life before Dagan had known him, back when Ronin had lived with his mother. After their sadistic father had kidnapped Ronin at the age of nine and brought him to live with Dagan and his other brothers, Taeg and Keegan, Ronin hadn’t seen Lina again. Until several months ago, that was, when they’d run into each other by a pure twist of fate.
That was when Dagan had met her.
When Lina pushed the filmy curtain aside and stepped into the back, his hands tensed on Elven-chick’s hips, but before he could push her away, Lina’s searching gaze landed on him. She kept going for a moment before realizing what she’d seen and, with a start, turned her eyes back to him. They narrowed into little slits, and who could blame her? Even though the woman’s back was to Lina, she couldn’t miss that the woman’s top was scrunched up to reveal her chest.
Aw, fuck.
Self-loathing settled in the pit of Dagan’s stomach like a harsh pill, accompanied by the lyrics of Green Day’s hate-filled Platypus song. He yanked Elven-chick’s top down over her breasts. Even though Lina couldn’t see it from her angle, he had a feeling she knew exactly where the woman’s hand was. He reached down to disengage it, but the woman fought him, protesting the whole while.
“You can’t seriously tell me you want to stop now.”
His gaze still locked on Ronin’s sister, Dagan read the exact moment the shock and disbelief in her eyes morphed into bitter revulsion. Her mouth puckered, and she turned away, dismissing the scene before her with clear disdain.
“Sorry.” Dagan disentangled himself from the woman, ignoring her continued protests, and buttoned himself back into his pants. He surprised himself with the ease of his movements, when deep inside, crippling regret and humiliation fought for dominion.
The worst part of Lina catching him back here wasn’t that she knew his brothers, or that she might tell them what she’d seen. No, it was that his feelings for her were anything but brotherly. Every time he saw her, his heartbeat tripled and curling ribbons of a sweet melody unfolded in his head.
Clearly it was wrong to feel that way about someone his brother considered family, but he couldn’t help himself.
Pull yourself together, dude.
He had to find Lina, and somehow repair the damage he’d caused with his careless actions. Even if the thought of facing her made him want to lay down in shame.
…
Dagan. Sexy demon hybrid, and sibling to the man Lina had once loved as a brother.
And he hadn’t been alone. A thin blonde had been plastered to his front, blocking a good portion of him from her view. Her tank top had been squished up underneath her armpits, baring the large tramp stamp decorating her lower back, and one hand had rested on his shoulder. The other was out of sight, but the movement of her arm was unmistakable.
When it had struck her that she was watching another woman jack Dagan off, her stomach had turned and a sour taste filled her mouth. She’d jerked her gaze back up to his face, and the chagrin in his eyes broke her out of her shocked daze.
Ew…gross!
She’d then schooled her features into a look of disgust and speared him with it before moving away. But the scene she’d just witnessed insisted on replaying itself in her head. There was no mistaking the intense clenching sensation deep inside her chest.
Envy, burning a vicious hole in her heart.
Stop it. You mean nothing to each other.
He was Ronin’s brother, that was all. But even though she knew that, Lina couldn’t help the way her body responded every time he was near. The shameful pulsing of her heart was eclipsed only by the dampness that covered her thighs. Only one other man had ever elicited such a response.
And look how well that ended.
That thought alone was enough to firm her resolve. There could never be anything between her and Dagan.
Feeling properly chastised, she stepped back out to the main part of the club. Gods, what the hell was she doing in this shithole?
After all the things Lina had seen and done in her twenty-five years of life, she wouldn’t have thought she could be talked into anything. Leave it to her pseudo-adopted brother Ronin to prove her wrong. When he’d asked her to speak with her fellow mercenaries in an effort to get information about the dark fae the Council was tracking, she hadn’t been able to say no. But then, the couple grand he’d offered had done a lot to persuade her.