Page 2 of Devil May Hunt (The Devils of Vitality #8)

“Sure.” Brennon snatched his beer and then stumbled after Rin as his friend weaved through the crowd.

He bumped into dancers as he went, bowing his head now and again in silent apology.

The room wasn’t spinning or anything like that, but he could tell he’d passed his limits.

It took all his willpower, but he set the beer down on a cluttered table by the stairs in the far back before following Rin up them.

“Where are we going?” he called, needing to yell to be heard over the rapid beats of the music this close to the dance floor.

Either Rin didn’t hear him or he ignored him, continuing up to the second level of the club without so much as a backward glance. He was that certain Brennon would be there, following him.

He scowled at himself, but didn’t stop or turn back.

Truthfully, he just wanted things to return to the way they’d once been.

He was happy for Rin, glad he’d found someone he loved, and had come to terms with the fact he’d never be able to get between him and Kelevra.

But it still hurt that there was tension between them, that he couldn’t be trusted alone with him—

“Why’d you come back?” Brennon picked up at the pace on the landing, reaching out to grab Rin’s shoulder to slow him down when he headed toward one of the halls branching off to the private rooms. “Hey. Where’s the prince?”

“At home, I imagine.” Rin shook him off and kept going, leading him down the corridor toward a shut door at the very end.

“…You’re not Rin, are you?” Brennon came to a stop with him in front of the door, eyes narrowing before he swore. “Damn it, Sila. What gives?!”

He should have realized sooner that he was with Rin’s twin brother instead. His friend had already left and looked about ready to jump Kelevra. There was no way he’d come back to the club, especially not alone.

“Don’t blame me for your intoxication,” Sila chuckled. “You should be more careful, Bren. There are a lot of wolves here tonight.”

“What the hell does that mean?” He pointed at the door. “What’s in there?”

The two of them didn’t hang out. Sila was a student at Vail University, whereas his brother Rin attended the Academy with Brennon and the others.

Though the twins were extremely close, their social lives didn’t have much overlap.

They’d started mixing their friend groups a bit more recently, but this was probably the first time he’d ever been alone with Sila.

“I told you,” Sila replied cryptically. “You wanted me to help you out, remember?”

Brennon’s suspicions grew, but even through his drunken state, he knew better than to assume Sila meant to hook up with him in Rin’s place.

The guy was secretly dating Bay Delmar, a professor at his school.

Brennon only knew because he’d caught the two of them making out in an alleyway one night months ago.

He’d kept hush-hush about it, since it was none of his business, but it’d seemed like more than a random hookup to him at the time.

Still…

“You’re not my type,” he found himself saying anyway, just in case he was wrong about Sila’s relationship status. The brother used to be known for flirting with everyone, but that had come to an end around the same time Brennon had caught them so…It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sila chuckled, clearly mocking him, but then motioned at the door before Brennon could argue. “I meant it. Maybe this will help you finally move on. Are you willing to try? I won’t force you.”

Brennon eyed him suspiciously and then glanced at the door. “What’s in there?”

“Curious?”

He refused to reply, and Sila laughed.

“Even wasted you’re stubborn. Go on. You’re already unsteady on your feet. If you don’t seize this opportunity now, you might pass out before you get the chance.”

Brennon grabbed onto the doorknob, but mostly to help brace himself so he didn’t topple over. “Just give it to me straight. What’s in there, Sila? How is this going to help?”

“Someone who pissed me off.” He grinned, and there was no kindness in his mismatched gaze when he did.

Brennon actually recoiled a bit, instincts misfiring because even if this wasn’t Rin, it was still his twin brother. Sila wouldn’t hurt him. “You want me to what? Beat them up for you? I mean, I can do it, but I don’t see how that’ll help me get over—”

“Good Light, you really are a moron.” Sila rolled his eyes, heavy palm settling over his on the knob. “I’m telling you to get over Rin by getting under someone new, you idiot.”

Despite his earlier assertion that he wouldn’t force him, Sila twisted the knob and shoved before Brennon could say or do anything else.

He stumbled into the room, only registering that it was small, before the sound of the door slamming shut at his back had him swiveling on his heels. His momentum was too fast, though, and he ended up tripping over his own feet, toppling over onto the nearby leather couch.

And the large man who’d been lying on it already.

“Shit!” Brennon shoved against a strong chest, cursing when arms banded around his waist, keeping him close. “Hey! Let go!”

The room spun a bit, but he blinked the man he was on top of into focus, sucking in a sharp breath when he caught sight of sandy blond hair.

It wasn’t exactly the same shade as Rin’s, but in the dim lighting, it was close enough to instantly have Brennon going still, that damn curiosity he’d been accused of getting the best of him yet again.

He inspected the man’s face, taking in the sharp curve of his jawline and the narrow bridge of his nose.

He had thick eyebrows with sharp points toward the end, and was dressed in a mulberry colored suit with a black dress shirt underneath.

There was a smell coming off him, something spicy and foreign, but not altogether unpleasant.

“Who are you?” he asked, the question slipping past his lips before he could help it.

A pair of golden eyes opened slowly, resting on him intensely, followed by a voice that was smoother than beiska music. “I should be the one asking that. I ordered a private room.”

“Right.” He cleared his throat. “If you let me go, I’ll leave. There was a mistake just now and—”

The man’s arms tightened, and then he lifted his head, burying his face against the side of Brennon’s throat.

“Not omega,” the man’s voice was low and gravely, and it was impossible to tell if he was pleased or disappointed by that revelation.

“Omega?” At the Academy, they trained them in various species and customs throughout the known universe, so the term wasn’t foreign to Brennon.

There were two planets in a neighboring galaxy that were home to beings that had what was classified as a second sex.

Omega was one of them. Depending on where this man came from, there were either one or two other classifications.

The man sniffed again. “Beta?”

“I’m Vital,” Brennon told him, pushing at his chest in another attempt to separate from him. The man didn’t budge. “Dude, I’m a native to Vitality. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but—”

“Rut.” Instead of letting go and apologizing now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, the man actually started to nuzzle him.

“Whoa,” Brennon turned his head and tried to move to the side to avoid the guy's face, but he merely moved with him, trailing the bridge of his nose along Brennon’s jawline in a way that had fire sparking throughout his nerve endings.

He was way too drunk for this.

“If you’re entering a rut, you should probably lock the door,” Brennon suggested. “Let go so I can leave you alone. You’re an alpha, right? Alphas have ruts. Sucks you got stuck here for that.”

“I came here on purpose,” the man disagreed.

“Why? Don’t you need to sleep with one of your own during this time? I heard it was uncomfortable to experience a rut without a bed partner.”

The man snorted. “Uncomfortable. That’s an understatement. But if you’re really worried, you could always offer to help me out.”

“Huh?”

“You’re right,” the man chuckled. “Why waste time waiting for you to offer when I can just take?”

In one swift move, he switched their positions, and Brennon found himself pinned beneath the weight of the other man.

“Hey, you—” He gasped when his mouth was captured, the alpha quickly laying waste to his resolve, tongue darting past his lips to keep him quiet, aside from the moans and grunts that managed to escape between them.

He kissed like the two of them were passionate lovers separated for a decade.

Like Brennon wasn’t just some stranger who’d literally fallen into his lap, but the salvation he’d been in desperate need of to survive.

It was sort of intoxicating, the feel of his lips pressing persistently against his, his teeth scraping possessively and tongue fucking in deep in what Brennon could only imagine would be a mirror of the frenzied lovemaking the alpha was capable of.

Between the drunken haze, the fact he hadn’t slept with anyone in months, and the frustration he’d been dealing with lately, it wasn’t long before Brennon succumbed to the aggressive kiss.

So what if this guy just found him convenient like everyone else? Maybe Sila was right.

Maybe all he needed to do was let someone screw these depressing emotions out of him.

Brennon threaded his fingers through the alpha’s silky hair and rocked his hips up, grinding against the bulge in the other man’s silk pants.

When that caused the alpha to groan, he swallowed the sound, along with any other protests his sane brain might have if not for the dozen or so drinks he’d ingested.