2
Brooks Sutherland
I fellto my knees and gathered his face in my hands. The blurred shape of his outline guided me to his beautiful figure. I could still visualize him in my head, even though it’d been a long time since I’d last seen him. His white-blond hair, pale skin, light pink lips—they were everything that had kept me sane in my dark world. He was what I imagined when I jerked off, and what I saw when I kissed someone else, which hadn’t been fair. Most guys never lasted long anyway. As soon as they realized what came with dating someone who was not only legally blind but had epilepsy, they ran in the opposite direction.
“What can’t you do?” I wanted to remind him of who I was, but I’d changed since he’d last seen me. I was still in shape but had never regained the muscle mass I’d had before my fall. I’d cut my long hair and beard until they were short and neat because I didn’t need to be a scary bodyguard for a madam of a brothel anymore—I could beme. I’d also never brought the support dog I’d had at the time, trained to recognize impending seizures, with me to work, so he wouldn’t remember me because of her. My pride on that front had fucked me over in the end.
“I didn’t agree to this,” he whispered, his voice a soothing lull in the otherwise quiet room. Without my vision, all I had was sound, but sometimes too much of it became overpowering and confusing. What was once comforting turned into my nightmare. I hated crowds, and tonight in the ballroom had been hell, even with Lemonade at my side. “She sprang this on me. I didn’tconsentto this.”
“You didn’t?”
Madam Winters had told me Darcy was on board and all I’d need to do was win the auction. She knew I’d been in lust with him from the beginning—from the moment I’d met an eighteen-year-old Ice Prince. Everyone had bitched about him when I’d worked at the Courtesan, muttering about his crappy attitude, but I’d seen more than that. I’d seen a man who was thrown into a life he didn’t choose, and I’d been in that situation myself. All I’d ever wanted to do was whisk him away and offer him a good time, but he’d never given me a second glance. I was the help, nothing more.
“My mother thought I needed to get laid,” he grumbled, the sound of his voice dropping lower. I cradled his jaw in my palms and caressed his cheek with my thumb, tracing the cheekbone up and down. I mapped his face with my hands, imagining exactly what he looked like.
“I’m not going to force you into anything you don’t want to do, Darcy,” I murmured, leaning closer until I felt his breath against my mouth. “But I would very much like to have sex with you.”
“I….” He cleared his throat and touched my wrists, folding his fingers around them. “Tell me how you know me.”
“No,” I said sharply. For now, this was my little secret. “All you need to know is that I do know you, and I know what you look like. I can imagine you standing before me, your creamy skin glowing under the lights. I can still see the way you frown in disapproval, but I’ve also seen you smile, Darcy. When you smile you light up the room. You’re stunning, and I’d pay double what I already did for a night with you.”
I wished more than anything I could see his face because I could already envision him blushing while he glanced away in embarrassment. I’d seen it a couple of times, when he’d been caught off guard by a situation at the front desk, but that had happened less and less often until it never did by the time I’d left the Courtesan.
“Tell me what you want and I’ll respect your wishes,” I whispered.
“I want to know more about you.”
I slid my hand down the warm skin of his neck and to his naked shoulder. Was he wearing any clothes at all? I’d heard him stripping earlier, but I didn’t know how dressed he was, and didn’t want to push my luck and track my hand south to find out. “Ask, then. Anything but how I know you.”
He sighed, his breath fanning across my lips. “What do you do for a living?”
“I own a company and do very well.”
“Enough to dish out ninety grand for one night with a guy?” The snideness in his voice made me laugh. Madam Winters, and Darcy, in turn, had more than enough money to get out of the business themselves, but I suspected the madam never would. This was her life, and Darcy had grown up in the sex business, even if he hadn’t ever sold himself. His mother was all he had and he was loyal to her. It had always been the case, and I could respect that.
“I’d pay anything for you.”
He huffed. “I’m not a whore.”
I laughed gently. “No, you’re not, and I’m not going to treat you like one. I would give you anything you asked for.” I slid my hand lower to his wrist and entwined our fingers. He didn’t stop me. “Let me take care of you.”
“I don’t need anyone to take care of me,” he growled out and moved away.
I hated that I’d lost contact with him, but his blurred outline shifted until he was enveloped by darkness. Dropping my hand to my side, it only took a few seconds before I felt the comforting wet nose of Lemonade telling me she was there next to me. My cane was somewhere nearby, but I didn’t search for it because I didn’t need it right now. “I can’t see you,” I said, hoping to draw him back to me. “I don’t know this room. Can you help me sit somewhere?”
He touched my hand, and I smiled when he led me over to a soft bed without a word. I sat on the mattress with a sigh. My cock rested against my thigh, still hard and ready for action, but I’d take this slow if I had to.
“What else do you want to know?” I asked, hoping to hear the sharpness of his deep voice again.
He exhaled loud enough for me to hear, and then the mattress moved beside me, signaling he’d taken a seat. “What type of business do you own?”
I smiled and touched his thigh, excited to feel the bareness of his skin. He stiffened for a moment, then relaxed. “Security. Protection.”
“You mean bodyguards?” he asked.
I laughed. “Yes, bodyguards. Most of my men are well-trained and former military. They take care of a lot of important people in the area. Or people whothinkthey’re important.”
Darcy grunted out an agreeable sound. “How do you do that when you’re… never mind.” His abrupt cutoff wasn’t unusual. I was used to people being embarrassed to ask me questions about either my epilepsy or vision issues.
