take in the Omega's evil, he needed it all. With the visit from his mother and the shooting, he
craved the closeness of another, needed to feel arms that returned his embrace. He to have the
beat of a heart against his own.
He spent so much time keeping his hand away from others, keeping himself apart from others.
To let down his guard with the one person he truly trusted made his eyes sting.
Good thing he never cried or his cheeks would be wet as stones in a river.
As Butch shuddered in relief, Vishous felt the trembling in the male's shoulders and hips.
Knowing it was illicit, but unable to stop himself, V took his tattooed hand and buried it deep in
Butch's thick hair. While the cop let out another groan and moved closer, V shifted his eyes over
to his surgeon.
She was over by the chair, watching them, her eyes wide, her mouth open slightly.
The only reason V didn't feel awkward as hell was because he knew that when she left she would
have no memories of this private moment. Otherwise he couldn't have handled it. Shit like this
didn't happen often in his life-mostly because he didn't let it. And he was damned if he'd have
some stranger remembering his private biz.
Except… she didn't really feel like a stranger.
His surgeon's hand went to her throat, and as she sank down into the seat of the chair. As time
stretched out languidly, uncurling like a lazy dog on a hazy summer night, her eyes never left
his, and he didn't look away either.
That word came back to him: Mine.
Except which one was he thinking of? Butch or her?
Her, he realized. It was the female across the room who was bringing that word out of him.
Butch shifted, his legs brushing against V's through the blankets. With a stab of guilt, V recalled
the times he'd imagined himself with Butch, imagined the two of them lying as they were now,
imagined them… well, healing wasn't the half of it. Strange, though. Now that it was happening,
V wasn't thinking anything sexual toward Butch. No… the sexual drive and the bonding word
were directed toward the silent human woman across the room, the one who was clearly
shocked.
Maybe she couldn't handle two men being together? Not that he and Butch were ever going to
be.
For some ridiculous fucking reason, V said to her, «He is my best friend.»
She seemed surprised that he'd offered any explanation. Which made two of them.
Jane couldn't take her eyes off the bed. The patient and Red Sox were glowing together, a soft
light emanating from their bodies, and something was happening between them, some kind of
exchange. Jesus, that sweet smell was fading, wasn't it.
And best friends? She looked at the patient's hand buried in Red Sox's hair and the way those
heavy arms held the man close. Sure they were buddies, but how much further than that did it
go?
After God only knew how long, Red Sox let out a long sigh and lifted his head. With their faces
separated by a mere matter of inches, Jane braced herself. She had no problem with men being
together, but for some insane reason she didn't want to see her patient kiss his friend. Or anybody
else.
«Are you okay?» Red Sox asked.
The patient's voice was low and soft. «Yeah. Tired.»
«I'll bet.» Red Sox got up off the bed in a lithe move. Holy hell, he looked as if he'd spent a
month at a spa. His color was back to normal, and his eyes were unclouded and alert. And that
air of malevolence was gone.
The patient repositioned himself on his back. Then rolled to his side with a wince. Then tried his
back again. His legs scissored under the covers the whole time, as if he were trying to outrun
whatever feeling was in his body.
«You in pain?» Red Sox asked. When there was no response, the guy looked over his shoulder at
her. «Can you help him, Doc?»
She wanted to say no. She wanted to throw out a couple of curse words and demand to be
released again. And she wanted kick this member of the Red Sox Nation in the balls for making
her patient sicker by whatever just happened.
The Hippocratic oath got her up and moving to the duffels. «Depends on what you brought me.»
She dug around and found a Walgreens-load of just about every pain med available. And all of it
was straight out of Big Pharma packages, so they clearly had sources on the inside of a hospital:
The drugs were sealed up in such a way that they hadn't passed very far through the