Seeing Forever (10 page)

“You have both of us with you,” said
Katey
.

He reached out and felt for her hand. She helped him
by slipping it into his palm. Luc wrapped his fingers around her knuckles.

“Thanks for doing this. I feel like a freak and…”

“Hey, you’re anything but a freak, and I’m happy to
be helping you.”

“You mind if I do this?”

“Do what?”

Before he answered he’d brought her hand up to his
mouth and kissed the back of it.

She relaxed back into the pillow. How she’d wished
it had been her mouth and not her hand.

Katey
glanced at him. His eyelids started to flutter. It looked like he was drifting
off to sleep again. It would be a long time before she got to that point. She
was in her mid-twenties and this was the first time she was sharing a bed with
a man.

Chapter
Ten

When Luc woke up the following morning he could tell
that the sun was already up, because he was able to see some brightness in his
room.

He recalled the night before. The terrible dream
he’d had. He’d relived the bomb going off and then the darkness and nothing
else. In his sleep he’d even smelled the vile odor of that day. He’d never
forget that as long as he lived. He was sure it was the burning flesh of the two
men who’d been killed.

And then he remembered
Katey
waking him. Her kindness, and as he felt the bed beside him, realized he hadn’t
imagined it and that it hadn’t been part of the dream. He’d asked her to lie
beside him and she had.

He felt her thigh under the blanket but tried not to
wake her. The poor girl had offered to stay the night and instead of being in
the comfy bed in the guest room, here she was asleep under some blankets on top
of his bed. Yesterday he’d been adamant about telling her he didn’t need help
but after last night he realized that she brought him a certain sense of peace.
It was hard to explain. He sat up and Willow brushed his hand.

“Hi, big guy.
We
have to be quiet because
Katey’s
asleep. I need to go
to the bathroom.”

He pulled on the harness and stood as Willow led him
out into the hallway.

Katey
and
Willow were quite a team. But what would he do when they were gone?
Katey
wouldn’t be with him for more than a month. Willow
would be sticking around, but dogs didn’t live forever. Jake had told him
Willow was three, and a dog his size probably lived to be eleven, twelve max.
Nine years was a long way off, but one day he’d have to start all over again,
new trainer and new dog. The thought depressed him.

Luc slapped the wall and then edged his hand along,
feeling for the sink. He took a deep breath. Unlike his blindness,
Katey
was a temporary fixture in his life. He opened the
cupboard above the sink, recalling his feeble attempt at trying to end it all.

Willow nudged his thigh. Luc reached down and found
the dog’s head and gave him a pat. If he didn’t know better he’d assume that
the canine sensed what he’d done and that he was contemplating it yet again.

“It’s
okay,
I’m not going to
kill myself…not today, anyway.”

Luc turned suddenly when he heard floorboards
creaking. He knew this house like the back of his hand. That particular squeak
meant that someone had walked past the bathroom.

“
Katey
?”
Shit,
he hoped she hadn’t overheard him telling the dog about his plans to kill
himself. And if she had, that she wouldn’t say anything to Josie or even Jake.
What if they locked him up?

“Good morning,” she said.

“I hope I didn’t wake you?”

“No. I’m used to getting up early. Are you feeling
better this morning?”

“Yep, much, and thanks for last night.”

“Glad I was here to help.”

So am
I.

“I thought I’d make us some breakfast.”

“Great. Josie put bacon and eggs in the fridge a
couple of days ago. I’d like to take a shower before I eat.”

“I’ll get cooking while you’re doing that.”

Another creak, which meant
Katey
had walked away. He couldn’t grow dependent on
her so there’d have to be some compromise. No more staying overnight and only
an hour’s training per day, max. Yeah, he’d tell her that as diplomatically as
he could while they ate breakfast.

****

Katey’s
cell
phone rang just as she’d put the bacon into the pan. She picked it up and saw
that it was Jake’s name and number.

“Hi, Jake,” she said, turning down the heat under
the pan.

“How are things going?”

“Really well.
Willow’s great and I think he and Luc will make a perfect team. He was a good
choice for this assignment.”

“I thought he would be. I picked up a lab mix yesterday
so when I’ve done some basic training with him this will probably be another
one for you.”

“That’s great, and thanks for thinking of me.”

“So do you have any questions or concerns?”

She didn’t have any about Willow, but Luc’s
nightmare had bothered her.

“I do, but it’s about Luc.” She lowered her voice.
“I stayed over at his place.”

“You did? That’s great…I mean, that was thoughtful
of you.”

“He woke up in the middle of the night and had a
sort of panic attack. He thought he’d been in the explosion again.”

“Yeah, he mentioned something about the nightmares
while Mitchell and I were visiting. It’s fairly common for guys who’ve been
through something traumatic like that.”

“Anything we can do? Anywhere we can send him?”

“There is, but he’s a stubborn guy. He doesn’t like
talking about his feelings with strangers.”

“I guess I’m like that too. Should I try and get him
to talk to me?”
She squeezed the phone under her chin while she flipped the bacon slices.

“You can, but tread gently.”

“I will.”

“I have to go but I’ll check in again at the end of
the week, and if you need anything I’m a phone call away.”

“Bye, and say hello to Gen for me.”

Katey
pressed the end call and heard Luc and Willow heading toward the kitchen.

She turned to see that his hair was still damp from
the shower. He hadn’t shaved either and the slight shadow his whiskers made,
caused her heart to beat faster.

“Jake called to see how things are going,” she said.

“I think things are fine, so if you just stop by for
an hour a day I’m sure that should cover it.”

Katey
stood with her mouth open. She’d obviously done something wrong because his
tone was suddenly brisk and all business. Sure, she’d tried to run out on him
last night but she’d been wrong. He needed her as much as he needed Willow and
she wouldn’t let him down.

She’d been supersensitive since she was a kid and
now she struggled to fight back the tears after his abrasive tone. She turned
off the heat from under the skillet, suddenly not hungry anymore.

And she needed to leave.
To get
home, even if it meant spending time with Ruth.

“I’ll go now,” she said.

She walked past Luc, who hadn’t moved from the spot
by the door. Damn, she remembered the car’s gas tank was empty. She wouldn’t
beg for Ruth to come pick her up. Maybe her Dad or one of her buddies would
drop by with a can of gas, just enough to get her safely home.

“
Katey
,
stop.”

Luc put his hand on her arm and spun her around.

What a blessing for her that he couldn’t see her
tears.

Chapter
Eleven

He couldn’t help it or fight it for very much
longer. He put his hands on either side of her face, hoping he didn’t look like
an idiot and kiss her nose and forehead because there was only one place he
wanted to put his lips, and that was her mouth.
His first
time kissing a woman, as a blind man.

Here
goes.

Luc leaned in hoping for the best. A sense of relief
washed over him when his mouth connected perfectly with hers. He pulled her in
close, almost scared that she wouldn’t forgive him for his harshness and
stupidity. God, he was so frightened she was going to run away and never come
back. That’s not what he wanted, but he had himself to protect and hence his
rash decision to limit her visits.
Katey
wrapped her
arms around his neck as she opened her mouth to his, and relaxed her body
against him.

He hadn’t been this aroused in ages and it almost
felt like the first time he’d had a hard-on when he was a teenager. His cock
twitched. He needed to make love to her. Touch every inch of her body so she
could feel what it was like. Take in her beauty through his fingertips.

And what was she wearing? What would he need to take
off her?

He ran his hand in between their bodies.
A t-shirt.
Luc eased his hand up under its hem making
contact with her bare skin. It was soft, smooth, and he sensed just as pretty
as her face.

She fidgeted, causing her body to rub against his
erection some more. Luc couldn’t control himself much longer. He kissed her,
this time with more urgency, pushing his tongue over her bottom lip. He glided
his hand higher over her belly and ribs, finding the bottom of her bra.

She pulled her mouth away. “Luc, there’s something I
have to tell you.”

Oh
shit, I’ve over-stepped the line.

He wished he could look into her eyes, read her
face, see what was written on it.

“What is it,
Katey
? If you
don’t like me kissing or touching you, I’ll understand. Really I will.”

“It’s not that, but…”

She didn’t say another word and then she slipped out
of his arms and most likely had walked away.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t talking
to himself now.

“I’m so embarrassed,” she said. Her voice sounded
hoarse, like she was crying or had been.

“Why because we kissed?”

“No, because I know where this is
heading.”

“And you don’t want to get involved with a blind
man?”

He understood. He was hurt, yes, but he couldn’t blame
her.

“Oh. Luc, no, no, don’t ever think that.”

She was back close to him, holding both his hands. “I’m
a virgin.”

Had he heard correctly? Were there any virgins left?
Well, apart from those ladies living in convents.

“You mean you’ve never had sex before?” Luc knew
what it meant, but maybe her definition of virgin and the official take on it
were not the same.

“Nope, never.”

He almost wanted to sit down, but knew there wasn’t
a chair close by.

“
What,
are you keeping
yourself for when you’re married, or what’s the deal?”

“I’ve had a few boyfriends, but somehow we never got
to the sleeping together bit.”

“Do you want to have sex, or is it something you’d
rather not do?”

She squeezed his hands. “Luc, I want to but it’s not
fair to you to have a woman who doesn’t know what to do to a guy.”

“Hell, I’ve always been a good teacher.”

She laughed and he pulled her in close. “You’ve
probably already guessed this: you turn me on like crazy. I have such a hard-on
I think my dick’s going to snap.”

“And my body’s feeling like
it’s
on fire, especially when you put your hand under my t-shirt.”

“Would you let me be your first lover?”

There was no turning back if she accepted.

“Yes,” she said before kissing his lips.

“Let’s go upstairs. And Willow, you need to stay
here and take your nap because
Katey’s
taking care of
me for an hour or so. And I have a few things to teach her this time around.”

Katey
burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” asked Luc.

“He put his head to one side. It was too cute.”

“He’s a male. He understands these things.”

He took
Katey’s
hand and
together they made their way upstairs to his room.