Blind Destiny: Grimm's Circle, Book 7 [retail mobi] (13 page)

As much as he hated to consider that idea—it was a matter of principle, really—he had to consider it, because either he was losing his mind, or he’d felt something very, very much like his own hunger just a few minutes ago.

The problem wasn’t her hunger, though.

And he knew it.

Broodingly, he made his way over to the shower, swearing when he accidentally bumped into the wall. If he’d been here a few more days, it wouldn’t have happened. Or maybe it would have. Buildings weren’t like living creatures and they didn’t give off the vibes he used to paint a mental picture, but he could acclimate after a few days and rarely bumped into anything anymore.

Just another thing to sour his already black mood, although it was nothing compared to what really had him troubled.

And it wasn’t even Sina.

She had him pissed, she had him horny, and if he was around her too long, he suspected she’d leave him hurting.

The bigger problem was what was going on out there in the village, a problem he couldn’t untangle.

Need to clear my mind
, he thought as he turned on the shower, adjusting the spray until it came down in a hot, pulsating blast. This was another one of the pleasures of modern life. Showers. Hot, long showers. He loved them. Plain and simple, loved them.

If the water would hold out, he could just stand in there long enough to clear his mind.

That would be ideal.

Blanking his mind, he braced his hands on the tile wall and dipped his head, letting the water pound on his neck and back, groaning in pleasure.

Need to—

A tingle danced along his flesh. Buzzed through his mind.

Familiar.

Slowly, he lifted his head.

Water dripped off his cheeks, nose and chin, but he didn’t move as he tried to remember the placement, everything in the bathroom. The hotel was worn and rundown, but clean. Nicer than he’d expected, really, considering how the outside had looked.

Somebody had done some updates on recently and they tried to cater to younger couples.

There were mirrors all over the fucking bathroom.

Mirrors.

And as he stood there, the tingling on his flesh grew more intense and in the very back of his mind, he felt a warmth.

Sina used mirrors. The way he used Krell’s eyes, although her ability wasn’t anywhere as keen as his. Whether it was the inanimate object, whether it was because she didn’t practice as much as he did, or what.

Watching me, Snow White?

The idea might have unsettled him at some other time.

But just then, he was feeling just a little mean. Shoving away from the wall, he eased back, bracing himself against the tile. As the water continued to pour down around him, he rested a hand down his belly.

He’d been frozen in a state of semi-arousal ever since he’d touched her.
Semi
no longer applied. His cock pulsed, ached, throbbed and as he stroked his hand down, the damn thing twitched and jerked, like a dog just waiting to be touched.

Closing his hand around his length, he dragged his hand up. Down.

Imagined it was her.

Violent, almost painful need twisted through him and he groaned. She’d hear…and he didn’t care. She wanted to watch him, she might as well hear what she was doing to him.

She’d be as wet, slick and warm as the water beating down on him. He’d already tasted her, felt her. If he closed his eyes, he could picture it. But he didn’t. He fixed his sightless gaze on one of the mirrors, knowing she was watching, wanting her to feel like he was staring right back at her.

Harder. Faster. He fisted himself, squeezing as he neared the head, moving his hips a little, his breathing coming in harsh, ragged gasps. It was torturous pleasure, doing this, but one he was used to. It had been an age, lifetimes, since he’d taken a woman. This was the only relief he knew and he knew it well.

But now, it wasn’t enough.

He wanted her, wanted her like he wanted to breathe.

Wanted her
more
—he was pretty certain he could survive if he stopped breathing for a good long while.

Wanted her the way he wanted his sight back. Wanted her because he thought maybe, just maybe, she could make him feel whole. And he hadn’t felt like that in too long.

I stared at the mirror, stared at him.

I didn’t see myself.

Through the steam and the water, I could see him, watching as he stroked himself, his eyes fixed…and it felt as though he watched me. Licking my lips, I clutched at the bedclothes beneath me and told myself to stay.

I wasn’t going to get up.

I wasn’t going to go in there.

I wasn’t going to keep watching.

But I couldn’t make myself look away either.

As he worked himself closer and closer to climax, I almost came myself, and it was nearly painful, the need cramping through me.

I wanted that man. Needed him.

But it wasn’t enough to have him, and I knew I could.

I wanted him for so much more. I loved him. He was still in love with his beloved princess. Maybe I didn’t deserve a happy ending, but I’d be damned if I tormented myself with that.

Faster and faster, his hand moved, almost frenzied and then he moved his other one, reaching between his legs and cupping his sac. I groaned and then I bit my lip to make myself be quiet. Crossing my legs to fight against the ache there, I watched. Watched as the swollen head of his cock disappeared inside his fist. Watched as he stroked back down. There was nothing elegant or polite about him now. Just hunger. Raw, primal hunger and it was killing me.

When he came, a harsh growl rumbled out of his chest and I found myself licking my lips, wishing I’d just said the hell with it and gone in there. I could have been on my knees in front of him and taking him in my mouth as he came, instead of out here alone, with the hunger an ache in my belly.

“Sina…”

I tensed.

He was still stroking himself, slower now. So much slower.

“Didn’t anybody ever tell you it’s not polite to spy on people?” he murmured.

Then he lifted a hand and licked his thumb.

Startled, I snapped the connection to the mirror.

Shit. He’d known I was watching…?

Groaning, I flopped back on the bed and rolled onto my side, facing away from the bathroom as embarrassment stained my cheeks red. He’d caught me spying—

I needed to get out of here.

Jackknifing upright, I came off the bed.

I’d made it three steps before the bathroom door opened.

Luc stood there with a towel around his hips. Water glistened in his hair, rolled in drops down his shoulders, caught in the light dusting of hair on his chest.

“Going somewhere?” he asked.

“Ah…” I snapped my mouth shut. I was
not
at a loss for words. Not around him. Not around anybody.

Except I very much was.

He came prowling toward me. “What is it with you, Sina?” he asked, stopping, yet again, just a little too close. “You seem determined to push me away and you keep everybody at a distance, then you do things like…”

His words trailed off.

“Like what?”

Damn it. I should have stayed silent.

“Like what you just did.” He flashed me a decidedly devilish smile. “You really shouldn’t do things like that, unless you want to push a man to his breaking point.”

I backed away and turned around. I needed distance, needed to do something to busy my hands. There. The little kitchenette. He’d said he wanted a meal, hadn’t he? All right, then. I’d make him one. I could have a few minutes to compose myself, I could give him a peace offering. And I could get away from him.

Reaching for the caustic humor that always served me well, I pointed out, “Luc, my dear, you don’t
have
a breaking point. Haven’t we already established you are just about the epitome of the knight gallant?”

Behind me, there was silence.

Tense, edged moments of silence.

“No breaking point.”

Then he moved.

I was leaning against the counter, going through the meager foodstuffs we’d picked up and then I was trapped. Trapped between him—his mostly naked body—and the counter.

“No breaking point,” he murmured again, this time, right against my ear. He caught my wrists, dragged them down, held them still as he rocked against me. A whimper rose in my throat and I could have cried because it felt so good. “Sina…
my dear
…do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been with a woman?”

I curled my lip. “Oh, I know you and your precious little Perci have been separated a few months, darling.”

“A few months.” He laughed.

The sound of it sent shivers down my spine. It was rough, husky…slightly menacing, and sexy as hell.

“Try…
thousands
, Sina,” he purred. Then he reached around and as my mind tried to process what he’d just said, he pushed a hand under my blouse and cupped my breast, pinched my nipple lightly, until it was just on the very edge of pain. “Thousands,
darling
. Thousands. You have no idea how very close I’m hovering to the breaking point.”

Thousands
—

He raked his teeth along my neck.

I groaned.

“What…”

As he ran the flat of his palm down my belly, the neurons in my brain started to misfire. Damn it, I couldn’t think. Couldn’t, and I needed to. Grabbing his wrist, I wrenched it away from me and squirmed around until I could see him. “What in the hell are you talking about?”

“I made a vow,” he said, his voice harsh. “And like a fool, I intended to keep it. It didn’t matter that she no longer loved me. That at some point, I’d fallen out of love with her. I’d made a vow, to the woman I’d wed. We both still lived. I kept it.”

Blinking, I stared at him.

There were several important things in that sentence. “You…you don’t love her?”

He averted his face, swearing under his breath.

I had to translate them—when he was angry, he reverted to French, and it wasn’t one of the languages I’d ever spent much time using. And he spoke a French, to boot, an odd patois of old and new that took a few seconds to process. I thought he might have said,
weird
mix of
This is bullshit
. Then he said, “You do not hear very well…I said I
fell out of love
with her. It isn’t the same thing as not loving her. I will always love her. She was…
is
my dearest friend. But I am no longer the boy who fell in love with her. We were too damaged to go on as we once were. Percinette saw this. I was too…” He reached up and touched his ruined eyes. “Too blind. In so many ways.”

“That doesn’t explain why you spent centuries celibate.”

“I don’t have to
explain
,” he growled, his sightless gaze slanting back at me and once more, I had the oddest sensation that he could in fact see me. Somehow. Then he reached up, unerringly, and laid a hand on my neck, his thumb resting in the hollow. “I don’t care if you understand, if it makes sense…but you persist in taunting me about breaking points and you mockingly call me a knight gallant.”

He leaned in, aligning his mouth with mine until my air became his. He was breathing me in and it drove me crazy.

“I’ve needed sex over the years,” he whispered and the sound of his voice was a caress along my flesh, one that pebbled my nipples, reached inside me and stroked me in a way that didn’t seem possible. “I’ve needed it, missed it, craved it. But I haven’t needed a
woman
…until you. I could spend myself with my fist and it worked well enough. But you…in the past few days, you’ve already managed to drive me insane. Just the smell of your skin, the sound of your voice is enough to make me feel like a ravaging beast. I want to push you up against the nearest flat surface and fuck you so deep and so hard, and then I want to do it again and again. For hours. Days. Weeks.”

Oh.

Oh, my.

I caught my breath and immediately wished I hadn’t because it seemed to draw him even closer, and now his lips were on mine and I could taste him. Oh, how I could taste him. Wild, hungry and hot. It was a taste that had no other explanation.

“Now, unless you want to see how very
un
-gallant you make me feel, you might want to quit taunting me. Because I really, really don’t want to fuck a woman who thinks I’m busy imagining another woman in her place.”

He stepped back.

As the hunger ripped through me, as need and want and love burned inside me, he took one step, then another, and another away from me.

Oh, hell, no. He wasn’t walking away after he said something like that.

“Luc.”

He just shook his head.

Swearing, I jerked off my blouse and threw it at the back of his head.

It fell to the ground. He paused but kept walking, heading over to the dresser where he had his belongings packed.