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The way I view it? This series has pushed a lot of boundaries, pushed them hard, but I’ve always been careful about the hows and the whys. I truly try to be respectful of the genre that gave me my start and has long been my book of choice—and romance is and will continue to be the basis of each of the Brotherhood books.

On that note . . . V and Jane as a couple. Man, they were hot. I didn’t blush as much at the computer as I did with Butch, although whether that was because the cop brought me to a new level or I just expected that kind of stuff from V, I’m not sure.

The scene where V’s in his bed and Jane is giving him a sponge bath was really erotic, and I saw everything about it so clearly. Especially this part where she’s, ah, attending to a certain place:

. . . but then he moaned low in his throat and his head kicked back, his blue-black hair feathering over the black pillow. As his hips flexed upward, his stomach muscles tightened in a sequential rush, the tattoos at his groin stretching and returning to position.

“Faster, Jane. You’re going to do it faster for me now.”

—LOVER UNBOUND, p. 178

For V, before Jane came along, sex and emotions were not linked at all. In fact, except for Butch, and to some extent the Brotherhood, emotions were just not a part of his life, and that makes sense. Growing up in the war camp left him with an attachment disorder that persisted into adulthood and colored his relationships. The question is, then, what made Jane—and for that matter Butch—different?

I think Jane and Butch are a lot alike—for one thing, they’ve both got the smart-ass thing down. Take for instance this little volley between V and Jane, which is one of my favorite exchanges in all the books:

“Don’t want you near that hand of mine. Even if it’s gloved.”

“Why is—”

“I’m not talking about it. So don’t even ask.”

Okaaaay. “It nearly killed one of my nurses, you know.”

“I’m not surprised.” He glared at the glove. “I’d cut it off if I had the chance.”

“I wouldn’t advise that.”

“Of course you wouldn’t. You don’t know what it’s like to live with this nightmare on the end of your arm—”

“No, I meant I’d have someone else do the cutting if I were you. You’re more likely to get the job done that way.”

There was a beat of silence; then the patient barked out a laugh.

“Smart-ass.”

—LOVER UNBOUND, pp. 171-172

I also think V’s into Jane because she’s no weak and floundering woman. The scene of her abduction from the hospital shows that, especially here when Rhage has her over his shoulder, and Phury is trying to calm her using his mind control tricks:

“You gotta knock her cold, my brother,” Rhage said, then grunted. “I don’t want to hurt her, and V said she had to come with us.”

“This was not supposed to be a kidnap operation.”

“Too fucking late. Now knock her out, would ya?” Rhage grunted again and switched his grip, his hand leaving her mouth to catch one of her flailing arms.

Her voice came through loud and clear. “So help me, God, I’m going to—”

Phury took her chin in his hand and forced her head up. “Relax,” he said softly. “Just ease up.”

He locked his stare on hers and began to will her into calmness . . . will her into calmness . . . will her into—

“Fuck you!” she spat. “I’m not letting you kill my patient!”

—LOVER UNBOUND, p. 103

At that moment, Jane reminds of me of Butch back in Dark Lover, after he brings Beth to Darius’s mansion and faces off at the Brothers. Even outnumbered, he’s still a fighter. And so is Jane.

I also believe that both Jane and Butch are driven to do good in the world. Between her being a surgeon and Butch being a cop, the two of them are cut in the hero mold—so V has a lot of respect for them.

Finally I suspect, as appears to be true for all the Brothers, there is a pheromone thing happening. The Brothers, and indeed all the males I’ve seen thus far, seem to bond instantaneously and irrevocably when they get into the vicinity of their mate. So I can only assume there’s some kind of instinctual component at work.

But back to V and Jane. From my perspective, one of