had no self-control. «I think you need to talk to Z.»
Her head eased to one side, her hair falling farther down her shoulder. God, it was lovely. So
dark, yet not black. It reminded him of fine mahogany that had been carefully varnished,
glowing with reds and deep browns.
«About what?»
Shit, he so shouldn't be doing this. «If you're keeping something from Z, anything… you need to
tell him.»
Her eyes narrowed, then slid away, as she changed her stance, her weight shifting from one foot
to the other, her arms crossing over her chest. «I… ah, I won't ask how you know, but I can
assume it's because he does. Oh… damn it. I was going to talk to him after I see Havers tonight. I
made an appointment.»
«How bad is it? The bleeding?»
«Not bad. That's why I wasn't going to say anything until I went to Havers. God, Phury, you
know Z. He's nervous as hell about me already, so preoccupied I'm terrified he'll be distracted in
the field and get himself hurt.»
«Yeah, but see, it's worse now, because he doesn't know what's going on. Talk to him. You have
to. He'll be tight. For you he'll stay tight.»
«Was he angry?»
«Maybe a little. But more than that he's just worried. He's not stupid. He knows why you
wouldn't want to tell him anything was wrong. Look, take him with you tonight, okay? Let him
be there.»
Her eyes watered a little. «You're right. I know you're right. I just want to protect him.»
«Which is exactly the way he feels about you. Take him with you.»
In the silence that followed, he knew the indecision in her eyes was hers to contend with. He'd
said his piece.
«Be well, Bella.»
As he turned away, she grabbed his hand. «Thank you. For not being upset with me.»
For a moment he pretended that it was his young inside of her and that he could gather her close
and go with her to the doctor's and hold her afterward.
Phury gently took her wrist and pulled her free of him, her hand slipping off his skin on a soft
brush that stung like barbs. «You are my twin's beloved. I could never be angry at you.»
As he walked out through the vestibule and into the cold, windy night, he thought how true it
was that he could never be pissed with her. Himself, on the other hand? Not a problem.
Dematerializing downtown, he knew that he was heading for a collision of some kind. He didn't
know where the wall was or what it was made of or whether he was going to drive himself into it
or get thrown at it by someone or something else.
But the wall was waiting in the bitter darkness. And part of him wondered whether there wasn't a
big, fat H painted on it.
Chapter Seventeen
V watched Jane go into the bathroom. As she pivoted to put her change of clothes down on the
counter, the profile of her body was an elegant S curve that he needed to get his hands on. His
mouth over. His body into.
The door shut and the shower started and he cursed. God… her hand had felt so good, taken him
higher than any full-on sex had lately. But it had been onesided. There had been no scent of
arousal from her at all. To her it had been a biological function to explore. Nothing more.
If he was honest with himself, he'd thought that maybe seeing him orgasm would turn her on-
which was nuts, given what was doing below his waist. No one in their right mind would think,
Oh, yeah, check out the one-balled wonder. Yum.
Which was why he always kept his pants on when he had sex.
As he listened to the shower run, his arousal softened and his fangs retracted back up into his
jaw. Funny, when she'd been handling him, he'd surprised himself. He'd wanted to bite her-not
to feed because he was hungry, but because he wanted her taste in his mouth and the mark of his
teeth on her neck. Which was pretty fucking out of character. Typically he bit females only
because he had to, and when he did, he never particularly liked it.
With her? He couldn't wait to pierce a vein and suck what ran through her heart right down into
his gut.
When the shower stopped, all he could think about was being in that bathroom with her. He
could just imagine her all naked and wet and pink from the heat. Man, he wanted to know what
the back of her neck looked like. And the stretch of skin between her shoulder blades. And the
hollow at the base of her spine.