Burnt Offerings - Laurell K. Hamilton [162]
I went to him, stalking around him, half wishing for the heels Jean-Claude had wanted me to wear. Asher’s back was pure and untouched. Only a few dribbling scars where the holy water had trailed down his side. I ran my hands up that smooth skin, and he jumped as if I’d bit him.
He whirled, grabbing my arms, holding me away from him. He searched my face almost frantically. Whatever he saw, it didn’t please him. He moved his hands upward until he held my wrists, then placed one of my hands on the scarred side of his chest. “It’s easy to close your eyes and pretend. Easy to touch that which is not spoiled.” He pressed my hand against the rough ridges that had been his chest. “This is the reality. This is what I live with every night, what I will live with for all eternity, what he did to me.”
I stepped in close, pressing my upper arm against the scars, as well as my hands. The skin was rough, ridged, like frozen, fleshy water. I looked up into his face from inches away, and said, “Jean-Claude did not do this to you. Men who are long dead did this to you.” I rose up on tiptoe and kissed his scarred cheek.
He closed his eyes, and a single tear slid from his eye to trail down that rough cheek. I kissed the tear away, and when he opened his eyes, they were suddenly startlingly close. In his eyes I saw a fear, loneliness, a need so overwhelming that it had eaten his heart as surely as the holy water had eaten his skin.
I wanted to take away the hurt I saw in his eyes. I wanted to hold him in my arms until the pain eased. I realized in that moment that it wasn’t me. It was Jean-Claude. He wanted to heal Asher’s pain. He wanted to take away that awful emptiness. I looked at Asher through a film of emotions that I’d never had for him, a patina of nostalgia for better nights, of love and joy and warm bodies in the cold darkness.
I kissed my way down his chin, careful to touch only the scars, ignoring the perfect skin as I’d ignored the wounded skin earlier. Strangely, his neck was whole, untouched. I kissed his collarbone and its white ridge of scars. His hands eased but didn’t release me. I pulled out of his grip as I moved down his body, one soft kiss at a time.
I ran my tongue across his belly where it vanished into his pants. He shuddered. I moved to the open skin on his hip and worked down. When the scars ended at mid-thigh, so did I. I stood, and he watched me, watched me almost afraid of what I would do next.
I had to stand on tiptoe to reach behind him to the braid of his hair. It would have been easier from behind, but he’d have taken it as a rejection. I couldn’t turn away from the scars, not even if that wasn’t what I was doing at all. I loosened the braid. I separated the strands of hair, then had to lean my body against his just to steady myself while I combed my fingers through the golden strands. There is something very personal to touching a person’s hair in the right situation. I took my time, enjoying the feel of it, the extraordinary color, the thick richness of it between my fingers. When his hair fell in waves around his shoulders, I lowered myself flat-footed. My calves were cramped, too long on point.
I put into my eyes what I saw, that he was beautiful.
Asher kissed me on the forehead, a light touch. He held me against him for a moment, then stepped back. “I cannot capture you with my eyes. Without that or the throes of passion, it would only cause you pain. I can feed on anyone. What I saw in your face, no one else could give me.” He looked out at Jean-Claude. They stared at each other for a long moment, then Asher stepped out of the circle, and I made my way back to Jean-Claude.
I sat down beside him, knees tucked under, skirt smoothed back. He hugged me and kissed me on the forehead as Asher had done. I wondered if he was trying to taste Asher’s mouth on my skin. The thought didn’t bother me. Maybe it should have, but I didn’t ask him. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
The Traveler came to his feet