Getting himself out into the corridor was like hauling a mastiff off a target, and once he shut the door he raced for Phury's.
From all the way down the hall of statues he could smell what his twin and V were lighting up. And when he burst inside the bedroom, the blanket of smoke was already thick as fog.
Vishous and Phury were on the bed, thick blunts between their fingers, mouths tight, bodies straining.
"What the hell are you doing here?" V demanded.
"Give me some," he said, nodding at the mahogany box between them.
"Why have you left her?" V sucked in hard, the handrolled's orange tip glowing bright. "The needing hasn't passed."
"She said it was worse when I was there." Z leaned over his twin and grabbed a blunt. He had trouble lighting the thing because his hands were shaking so badly.
"How's that possible?"
"Do I look like I have any experience with this shit?"
"But it's supposed to get better if a male's with her." V scrubbed his face, then looked over in disbelief. "Wait a minute-you didn't lay with her, did you? Z... ? Z, answer the fucking question."
"No, I didn't," he snapped, aware that Phury was very, very quiet.
"How could you leave that poor female unserved in her condition?"
"She said she was okay."
"Yeah, well, it's just getting started. She's not going to be okay. The only way to relieve the pain is if a male finishes inside of her, you feel me? You can't leave her like that. It's cruel."
Z paced over to one of the windows. The shutters were still down for the day, and he thought of the sun, that great, bright jailer. God, he wished he could get out of the house. He felt like a trap was closing in on him, and Page 189
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the urge to run was almost as bad as the lust he was crippled with.
He thought of Phury, who was keeping his eyes down and not saying a word.
Now's your chance, Z thought. Just send your twin down the hall to her. Send him in to service her in her need.
Go on. Tell him to leave this room and go to yours and take off his clothes and cover her with his body.
Oh... God...
Vishous's voice cut through his self-torture, the tone gratingly reasonable. "Zsadist, it's wrong and you know it, true? You can't do this to her, she's-"
"How 'bout you back the fuck off, my brother."
There was a short silence. "Okay, I'll take care of her."
Z's head whipped around just as Vishous stabbed out his hand-rolled and got to his feet. As he hiked up his leathers, his arousal was obvious.
Zsadist launched himself across the room so fast, he didn't even feel his feet. He tackled Vishous down to the floor and clamped his hands around his brother's thick throat. As his fangs shot out of his upper jaw like knives, he bared them with a hiss.
"You go near her and I'll kill you."
There was a mad scramble behind him, no doubt Phury rushing to separate them, but V put the kibosh on any rescue attempt.
"Phury! No!" V dragged some air in. "Between me... and him."
Vishous's diamond eyes were sharp as he looked up, and though he was struggling for breath, his voice was as forceful as always.
"Relax, Zsadist... you dumb fuck..." Deep breath. "I'm going nowhere... Just needed to get your attention. Now loosen... your grip."
Z eased his hold, but didn't get off the brother.
Vishous inhaled with a big suck. A couple of times. "You feel your flow right now, Z? You feel that territorial urge? You've bonded with her."
Z wanted to deny it, but that was tough to do, considering the linebacker routine he'd just pulled. And the fact that he still had his hands around the male's throat.
V's voice dropped to a whisper. "Your path out of hell is waiting for you. She's down that hall, man. Don't be a fool. Go to her. It'll take care of both of you."
Z swung his leg up and dismounted, letting himself roll onto the floor. To avoid thinking about paths out and females and sex, he wondered idly what had happened to the blunt he'd been smoking. Glancing over at the Page 190
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window, he found he'd had the decency to balance it on the sill before he'd launched at Vishous like a rocket.
Well, wasn't he a gentleman.
"She can heal you," V said.
"I'm not looking to be healed. Besides, I don't want