*Merde!* He put the glass on the coffee table then gently laid the
improvised ice pack across Tsuzuku's forehead and headed back for the
kitchen. He returned with a bowl of cold water and some more dish
towels. He put the towels in to soak and started to unbutton Tsuzuku's
shirt. He was undoing the last one before the shirt disappeared into his
waistband when the young dragon groaned softly and arched up to press
against his hands. The slight rock of his hips brought Remy's attention
farther down to the bulge under the fabric along his groin.

	*Merde!* He jerked his hands away. He knew suddenly what was wrong with
their Dragon. He was in a Blood Heat. He needed Tannis! He glanced at
his watch as he worried his bottom lip. Even if she left right now she
was still at least four hours away. He grabbed the phone and hit the
programed button for the gallery where Tannis was setting up her show
and held it between his shoulder and ear as he wrung out the first towel
and laid it across Tsuzuku's chest, careful not to come into contact
with his skin.

	He had finished with the third and was re-wetting the first when Tannis
finally got to the other end.

	"Tannis, Cher, guess what?" He tried to keep the anxiety out of his
voice.

	"What's wrong?" Tannis demanded as she picked up on it anyway.

	"We got a visitor. He's here, Tannis! And in trouble. He needs you!" He
draped the towel and made a soothing noise as Tsuzuku shifted
restlessly.

	"Tsuzuku's there?!"

	"In the flesh, Cher! You be needing to come home now! He be all hot and
bothered."

	There was a pause as she digested that. "O.K. I'm on my way. Remy,"
there was another pause and he knew what she was thinking, he was
thinking about the possibility of having to do it too, "I love you. I'll
get there as fast as I can."

	"I love you to, Cher! Hurry, but be careful, neh?"

	"I'll see you in a couple of hours." The line went dead.

	It would be more than a couple of hours. Even if she could open the Jag
up to it's limit, traffic would slow her down. It would be at least
four, maybe up to six hours before she got here. He touched the first
towel with light fingers. It was warm. He took it off and dunked it and
started the cycle once more.

	Forty minutes crawled by and the cold compresses weren't doing any
good. In fact, Tsuzuku was getting hotter and was soaked in sweat and
had started muttering in Japanese. Remy knew that their Dragon wasn't
going to make it until Tannis came home. He closed his eyes and took a
deep breath, his thoughts and feelings uncertain and anxious. He needed
to decide, and soon.

	Contrary to his appearance, he had no desire for men. Only one had ever
brought about those longings and until two nights ago, he had thought
him nothing but a dream. Well, his dream was now a living, breathing and
distressed reality. And distressed enough that if he didn't get some
relief soon, he was going to Change. Change. He had seen Tsuzuku do it
twice in dreams, had shared his agony and fury and terror at the first.
The second had been better but still awful. He was taken with an
involuntary shudder at the memory. And if he Changed now, it would be
like the first time. He would do anything to keep their Dragon from
going through that again. Anything. He opened his eyes and studied the
young man before him and felt himself color. It wouldn't be unwelcome
experience.

	He knew how to do it. He had had dreams of this kind of love-making,
but it was in a far away time and another place when he hadn't been Remy
Lebeau and Tsuzuku Ryudo had been a ruling Dragon-of-Heaven. That was
also how he knew what was wrong with the Dragon. He had seen it happen
before in his dreams. He went into the bathroom off of his and Tannis'
bedroom and started the shower then stripped and wrapped a towel around
his waist.

	He went back to Tsuzuku and took off the compresses and then the third
bag of almost thawed vegetables. First off, he was going to douse him in
a cold shower and see if that might not help with the heat. Tsuzuku
twitched and shivered and made soft supplicating sounds as his hands
came into contact with his skin as he worked on getting him undressed.
Done with that task, he slid his arms under Tsuzuku's knees and
shoulders and lifted him into his arms. Tsuzuku's arms went around his
neck in instinct and he heard and felt the Dragon sigh as he rested his
hot cheek against his shoulder.

	They both gasped in shock as the cold water hit them as he took them
into the shower. He turned Tsuzuku toward him as he let his legs down
and kept him upright and against him by locking his arms around his
waist. Tsuzuku clung to his neck and leaned against him. Remy pressed
his cheek against the sweat darkened hair and waited to see if the water
would help.


	The shock of the cold water against his skin snapped him out of the
pain-tinged and fire-filled chaos of his dreams. He gasped in shock at
the coldness, then again as he realized he was naked and leaning against
naked flesh. Male. He looked up. Remy. Fire-tinged lust flashed through
him, frightening in it's intensity. He pushed away and staggered a few
steps back, struck the hand that reached out to help him away.

	Remy dropped his hand and regarded him with quiet eyes. Tsuzuku reached
out and leaned against the wall for support as the water rained down.

	"What are you doing?" He bit out.

	"You be needing to cool down, Cher. This be the last way I could think
to do it." Remy crossed his arms and leaned against the back tiles of
the shower stall. "You be burning with the Blood Heat, Tsuzuku Ryudo.
You got all of two choices as far as I can see. You take care of the
problem or you Change. Tannis not getting home in time to help you. I
wouldn't do this for any other man but you, Cher. But if you don't want
it, you tell me now and I'll get us a taxi and we get you to someplace
safe for you to Change."

	*Blood Heat?* Tsuzuku shook his head gingerly, tried to get his mind to
work. The ice of the water was helping a little. *Tannis. Tannis must be
Lee-san. Change?* He couldn't. *Take care of the problem?* His sex drive
was causing this? Gods! He looked at Remy who was waiting for his
answer. The memory of the feeling of his skin pressed against his own
burned along his nerves. But did he want to do this most private thing
with Remy? He knew the answer before he asked himself the question. It
was hentai, and frightening, but he wanted the feel of Remy's skin
against his own once more. He lowered his eyes, embarrassed to the very
core of his soul.

	"I don't want to Change." He whispered.

	Remy pushed off the back wall and came to him. He stopped six inches
away. Tsuzuku closed his eyes as the kiss came. It was a soft, tentative
thing.

	"There. That not so bad, neh?" Remy grinned at him as he opened his
eyes. "Turn around, Cher. Get all of you cooled off, neh?"

	Tsuzuku did, tried not to twitch as Remy's arms went back around his
waist. He locked his hands gently across his stomach and Tsuzuku slowly
relaxed as he leaned back against him. They stood unmoving for a few
minutes then Remy kissed, then nuzzled the side of his neck. It sent a
tickle filled quiver all the way down his body. He tensed.

	"Relax, Cher. Relax." Remy whispered in his ear, then nibbled on his
ear lobe.

	He tried but couldn't. Remy sighed behind him.

	"You all right to be in here by yourself for a bit? I'm getting out to
dry off."

	Tsuzuku nodded, relieved and yet not that Remy was leaving for a
moment. He put his hands against the tile in front of him and leaned so
the spray beat against the back of his shoulders. It drove the headache
from agony into something almost tolerable and let him think a bit more
clearly once more.

	*This is insane. I'm not inclined towards men!* His gaze went against
his will to the lean muscular shape of the man drying next to the glass
of the shower stall. What was it about him that he found so attractive?
And it wasn't just from this thing that ailed him. He had thought Remy
sexually desirable from the first time he had seen him.

	"Ready to come out, Cher?" Remy called.

	Tsuzuku turned the shower off and slid the door open. Remy nodded
encouragement as he stood for a moment. He stepped out, held his hand
out for the towel then gulped as Remy shook his head and started to dry
his body gently. It was one of those brushed cotton ones that felt like
velvet. It was one of the most erotic things he had ever experienced. He
wasn't sure when the towel had been dropped and the caress had changed
to Remy's hands.

	Remy was behind him again and his hands wandered up the sides of his
back, over and across his shoulders then onto his chest, leaving a trail
of fire in their wake. His whole body was buzzing and tingling. He
leaned back against Remy's chest as those fingers stroked the plain of
his stomach and blinked and felt the heat of his face grow more intense
as he realized what the hard throbbing pressure against his rear was. He
was about to move his hips out and away a little when Remy's hands found
his erection. He threw his head back and gasped as the pleasure-filled
shock swept through him. The touches where light and teasing. Then the
hands were gone as Remy stepped away from him. He turned, wanting Remy
and his hands back.

	Remy smiled and took his hand and led him toward the big canopied bed.
It was a fairy-tale thing draped with gauze and covered with silk. Remy
put his hands on his shoulders and steered him to sit on the side. The
silk was cool and smooth against the underside of his thighs.

	"Lay down, Tsuzuku." Remy told him as he reached for the lotion
dispenser that Tannis kept on her side table and rubbed some of the
lotion into his hands while Tsuzuku leaned back to lay rigid, once again
full of anxious tension.

	He sat next to him and leaned to kiss his forehead, then the tip of his
nose. Their Dragon's lips were hot and tense and unresponsive under his
first kiss. He tried again and smiled as Tsuzuku's mouth relaxed. The
young dragon kissed back tentatively under his coaxing yet he would not
part his lips to let his tongue in. Remy gave a mental shrug as he
straightened, ready to move on. Tsuzuku flinched violently when he put
his palms against the ripple of muscles over his stomach.

	"Relax, Cher! I not be going to bite! At least not yet!" He gave a
roguish wink as he ran his hands down the flat plane of Tsuzuku's
stomach slowly, giving him time to become re-accustomed to his touch.

	The dark auburn curls that surrounded Tsuzuku's hardness was like
feather down under his string-calloused fingertips as he brought his
hands together. Tsuzuku's silk covered length throbbed and gave little
jerks as he massaged the cream into it with long, soft strokes. His gaze
went to Tsuzuku's face as the Dragon made a muted sound of longing.
There was the whisper of fabric as his fingers knotted into the silk of
the bedspread and his hips rose slightly in welcome to each touch.

	*Mon Dieu! He is so beautiful!* Remy thought in amazement as their
Dragon tipped his head back and pressed it into the pillows and closed
his eyes, his lips now half-open as if inviting the deep kiss he would
not let Remy have earlier.

	Remy debated the best way to go about this as he readied them both.
Those of the dragon-blood, male and female, needed penetration to
achieve release. Tsuzuku was more than ready, but how to go about it? He
was going to have to be the initiator and that was hard to do from most
of the positions he knew of. Finally he settled on one that should work.

	He moved his caress back up to Tsuzuku's chest as he moved to straddle
him above his hips. He put his hands on either side of Tsuzuku's head
and left a trail of lingering kisses along his tipped jaw and down the
arch of his exposed neck. He kissed the hollow of his throat as he
reached back and guided Tsuzuku's tip to the right spot.

	Tsuzuku was lost in sensation. Remy seemed to know just where to touch,
where to kiss. His whole body thrummed with pleasure that was almost
unbearable. He was aware that Remy had moved to straddle him but hadn't
put the reason behind the action. The soft exhale of breath after each
lingering, moist kiss along his throat was like being touched with ice
and made his whole body shiver as the brush of the ends of the long
black hair against this chest joined the sensation to create a breath
robbing tickle.

	They both groaned as Remy slid onto him. Tsuzuku froze as his length
was engulfed in tight heat and the sensation radiated through his frame.
He stared up in wonder at the face above him. Remy opened his dark,
silver flecked eyes and smiled back as he moved himself up, and then
back down. Tsuzuku remained frozen for a few more slow rocks as the
pleasure took him higher and higher until he couldn't stand it any more.
He grabbed Remy's hips and began frantic, fast thrusts until he arched
and drove deep, his whole body quivering as the orgasm rolled through
him.

	He came back to his senses to the awareness of light fingers brushing
his sweat dampened hair off of his forehead. He opened his eyes slowly
and with effort. His whole body was limp and relaxed and strangely
heavy. Remy was lying on his side next to him, propped up on one elbow.

	"Better, Cher?" He asked with a grin and quirked eyebrow.

	Tsuzuku took fast stock of himself. Yes, he was better. The heat that
had been burning in his body was dissipating and the headache had
vanished. The absence of that pain was almost a shock.

	"Hai, Remy-san. Much better." He answered with a blush as he met the
man's eyes.

	"Good. You rest now." Remy ordered softly, the touch of his fingers
against his brow hypnotic.

	Tsuzuku felt his eyes start to close, then forced them back open.
Hajime was some where close. He could 'feel' his brother's presence.

	"I have to talk to my brother!" The tone of his statement was firm in
his mind but came out of his mouth as a mumble.

	"I'll take care of it, Cher. Tell me your number and I'll call."

	Tsuzuku frowned. That wasn't what he'd meant. But Hajime's presence was
moving away at the moment, and moving fast. He tired to figure out what
that meant but his exhausted mind would not form a coherent solution.
Perhaps Hajime had 'felt' that he was all right now and would be waiting
for him to call the apartment. That made sense. He tried to dredge the
number up but couldn't think clearly around the exhaustion that pulled
at him.

	"It's on a paper I left downstairs for you."

	"You don't be worrying about it no more, Cher. You just rest now, neh?"
Remy's voice was soothing and low and Tsuzuku found he could not resist
it or the caress that accompanied it.


						*****

	Hajime had been much closer than Tsuzuku realized. He had been almost
frantic with worry as he struggled to track his second brother. The
psychic awareness they all had of each other faded with distance and he
had to go slowly at first, almost like the childhood game of 'hot/cold'
as he worked on establishing the direction Tsuzuku had taken.

	Matsuri had been so upset and apologetic when he had gotten back to the
apartment. He had assured her that it wasn't her fault. It was his. He
should have stayed home. He had known that something was wrong with
Tsuzuku and her quick recounting of his brother's terrible fever and
near Change had scared him. That Tsuzuku was sick was something he
didn't know how to deal with. They didn't get sick! At least they never
had, not even a cold. If Tsuzuku had Changed or struck out in delirium
he could have serious injured or even killed Matsuri!

	That thought and the image of his fever-stricken brother wandering
around in an unknown city preyed on him as he hurried as fast as he
could without attracting undue attention. Where was Tsuzuku going? Why
had he left? Was he frightened of hurting Matsuri? Finally he zeroed in
on his brother and took as straight a path as possible as he followed
the feeling uptown.

	He ended up at one of the very high class apartment buildings. Tsuzuku
was on one of the upper floors. He paused for a moment under one of the
trees that lined the broad pathway that lead to the building and
thought. He eyed the doorman and the uniformed guard just inside the
sliding glass doors. He knew they wouldn't let him in unless he had
legitimate business with one of the residents and he had no idea why
Tsuzuku had come here or who he could be with.

 	He walked around the building and stopped to count the floors to the
place where Tsuzuku's presence was the strongest. Seventeen. He could
climb it easily and each apartment had a convenient balcony. And then he
would have the option of surprise if need be.

	He prayed that no one had seen him and called the police as he eased
over the steel guard rail and crouched into the shadows of the many
plants that decorated the balcony. He waited a few moments then slunk to
peer into the first set of doubled sliding glass doors. He could see a
dining room and beyond that a bit of a living room. Yet no one was in
sight. Where was Tsuzuku? He slid along the wall to the other set of
doors at the far end of the patio.

	He stopped his blow to take out the windows a hairs breath from
connection as he realized what was going on. Heat rushed to his face. At
first glance he had thought that the unknown man had Tsuzuku pinned
under him on the bed. Truth be told, he did. But it wasn't a struggle of
violence. It was one of passion. He stood and stared in numb shock as
his brother grabbed the man's hips and went into the final, frantic
rhythm.  By the time he got over enough of his shock to move, Tsuzuku
was slightly arched off the bed, his hands keeping his partner pressed
firmly against his hips while his body jerked with little spasms as his
release went through him.

	Hajime turned and lean back against the wall. What should he do? If his
brother was still feverish, he should stay and make his presence known.
But what he had just seen was a private thing and Tsuzuku would be
terribly embarrassed to know he had witnessed it. He peeked around the
edge of the sliding doors once more and pulled on a bit of power to
sharpen his hearing. The man was laying next to Tsuzuku, his back to him
and keeping his brother from his sight. He heard the strangely accented
voice ask Tsuzuku if he felt better and felt relief when he heard
Tsuzuku's, "Hai, Remy-san. Much better."

	Remy. Who was Remy? Obviously someone with dragon-blood. Well, whoever
he was, he seemed willing to look after Tsuzuku and his brother had said
he was feeling better. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to leave
and wait for Tsuzuku to call or come home. He knew where he was now and
he appeared to be safe. He looked out over the railing to check to see
if the coast was clear, then vaulted over and fell to land in a crouch.
He stood and gave one last look to the balcony, then turned and hurried
for home.

	Images of Tsuzuku and his lover locked together in their passion kept
coming to the fore of his mind while he walked and that led his thoughts
to something that he had been trying very hard to repress. Until his
Change he had thought of Matsuri as nothing more than cousin. A very
much loved cousin, but loved in the same way he loved his brothers. But
after re-living some of the memories of that other time and place he
found his feelings had subtly changed. He now found himself looking at
her in a new and different light and no longer could he view her as only
his cousin, though God help him, he tried.