In the candlelight, he watched himself bring the candle down and hold it over his erection ... and then tilt the lit wick toward the floor.
A black tear slipped free of the heat source and went into a free fall -
"Fuck ..."
When his lids loosened enough so that he could open them, he looked down to see the hardened wax on the rim of his head, the little line of it paving the way to where it had dropped off.
This time he moaned deep in his throat as he lowered the candle tip - because he knew what was coming.
More moaning. More wax. A loud curse that was followed by another hiss.
There was no need to go pneumatic. The pain was enough, the rhythmic drop on his c**k shooting electric shocks into his balls and the muscles of his thighs and ass. Periodically, he moved the flame up and down his shaft to get clean shots at fresh flesh, his arousal leaping every time it got hit ... until there had been enough foreplay.
Sweeping his free hand under his sac, he went vertical with his sex.
The wax hit right on the sweet spot, and the sharp agony was so intense, he nearly went down on the floor - but the orgasm was what saved his legs from going loose, the power of the release stiffening him from head to foot as he came hard.
Black wax everywhere.
Come all over his hand and his clothes.
Just like the good ol' days ... except for one thing: It was really f**king hollow. Oh, wait. That had been part of the GOD, too. The difference was that back then, he hadn't known there was something else out there. Something like Jane -
The sound of his phone chiming made him feel like he'd been shot through the head, and even though it wasn't loud, the quiet shattered like a mirror, the shards of it showing him a reflection of himself he didn't want to see: Happily mated, he was nonetheless here in his chamber of perversion, getting himself off.
He hauled back and Curt Schillinged the candle across the room, the flame extinguishing in midflight - which was the only reason the whole f**king place didn't get burned down.
And that was before he saw who the call was from.
His Jane. No doubt with a report from the human hospital. For f**k's sake, a male of worth would have been outside the OR, waiting for his sister to come around, supporting his mate. Instead, he'd been banished for being out of control, and had come here to spend quality time with his black wax and his hard-on.
He hit send as he stuffed his still-hard c**k back in his leathers. "Yeah."
Pause. During which he had to remind himself that she couldn't read minds, and thank f**k for it. Christ, what had he just done?
"Are you okay?" she said.
Not in the slightest. "Yeah. How's Payne?" Please let this not be bad news.
"Ah ... she made it through. We're en route back to the compound. She did well and Wrath fed her. Her vitals are stable and she seems to be relatively comfortable, although there's no telling what the long term result is going to be."
Vishous closed his eyes. "At least she's still alive."
And then there was a whole lot of silence, broken only by the quiet whir of the vehicle she was traveling in.
Eventually, Jane said, "At least we're over the first hurdle, and the operation went as smoothly as it could - Manny was brilliant."
V judiciously ignored that comment. "Any problems with the hospital staff ?"
"None. Phury worked his magic. But in case there's someone or something we missed, it's probably a good idea to monitor the record systems for a while."
"I'll take care of that."
"When are you coming home?"
Vishous had to grit his teeth as he did up the buttons of his fly. In about a half hour, he was going to have a ball so blue it was a U of K fan: Once was never enough for him. It took five or six times to get him what he needed on an average night - and there was nothing even close to average doing right now.
"Are you at the penthouse?" Jane said quietly.
"Yeah."
There was a tense pause. "Alone?"
Well, the candle was an inanimate object. "Yeah."
"It's okay, V," she murmured. "You're allowed to think like you are right now."
"How do you know what's on my mind."
"Why would there be anything else?"
Jesus ... what a female of worth. "I love you."
"I know. And right back at you." Pause. "Do you wish ... you were there with someone else?"
The pain in her voice was nearly eclipsed by composure, but to him the emotion was bullhorn clear. "That's in the past, Jane. Trust me."
"I do. Implicitly. You would cut off your good hand first."
Then why did you ask, he thought as he squeezed his eyes shut and hung his head. Well, duh. She knew him too well. "God ... I don't deserve you."
"Yes, you do. Come home. See your sister - "
"You were right to tell me to go. I'm sorry I was an ass**le."
"You're allowed to be. This is stressful stuff - "
"Jane?"
"Yes?"
He attempted to form words and failed, the silence stretching out between them once more. Fucking hell, no matter how much he tried to put sentences together, he found that there was no magical combination of syllables to properly phrase what was in him.
Then again, maybe it was less a function of vocabulary, and more a case of what he'd just done to himself: He felt like he had something to confess to her, and he couldn't quite do it.
"Come home," Jane cut in. "Come see her, and if I'm not in the clinic, find me."
"All right. I will."
"It's going to be okay, Vishous. And you need to remember something."
"What's that?"
"I know what I married. I know who you are. There's nothing that's going to shock me - now hang up the phone and get home."
As he told her good-bye and hit end, he wasn't sure about the noshock thing. He'd surprised himself tonight, and not in a good way.
Putting his phone away, he rolled up a cigarette and patted his pockets for a lighter before remembering he'd tossed his Bic POS back at the training center.
His head cranked around and he looked at one of those goddamn black candles. With no other option, he went over and leaned in to light his hand-rolled.
The idea of going back to the compound was the right idea. A good, solid plan.
Too bad it made him want to scream until he lost his voice.
After he finished his smoke, he meant to extinguish the candles and go straight home. He honestly did.
But he didn't make it.
Manny was dreaming. Had to be.
He was dimly aware that he was in his office, lying facedown on the leather couch that he regularly crashed on for REM catch-ups. As always, there was a set of surgical scrubs wadded under his head for a pillow, and he'd kicked off his Nikes.
All this was normal, business as usual.
Except then his little nap warped on him ... and suddenly he wasn't alone. He was on top of a woman -
As he reared back in surprise, she stared up at him with icy eyes that were blazing hot.
"How did you get in here?" he asked hoarsely.
"I am in your mind." Her accent was foreign and sexy as hell. "I am inside of you."
And then it dawned on him that beneath his body, she was so very naked, and warm - and holy Christ, even with his confusion, he wanted her.
It was the only thing that made any sense.
"Teach me," she said darkly, her lips parting, her hips rolling under his own. "Take me."
Her hand moved between the two of them and found his erection, rubbing at it, making him moan.
"I am empty without you," she said. "Fill me. Now."
With an invitation like that, he didn't give anything else a second thought. Fumbling around, he shoved his scrubs down his thighs and then ...
"Oh, f**k," he groaned as his hard c**k slipped up her slick core.
One shift over and he would be buried deep, but he forced himself not to breach her sex. He was going to kiss her first, and more to the point, he was going to do that right because ... she'd never been kissed before -
Why did he know that?
Who the f**k cared.
And her mouth wasn't the only place he was going to go with his lips.
Pulling away a little, he ran his eyes down her long neck to her collarbone ... and went even lower - or at least tried to.
Which was his first clue that something was off. Although he could see every detail of her strong, beautiful face and her long, braided black hair, the sight of her br**sts was hazy and staying that way: No matter how much he frowned, there was no clarity coming. But whatever, she was perfect to him no matter what she looked like.