Eye of the Beholder

the dreams all hollow. She put the back of her hand to her forehead. Nope, not feverish. Just insane. But she just couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was happening so damn fast, just rushing up on her and sweeping her along. She didn’t like the feeling one damn bit. Still. Wet, naked shower with Travis. Wet, naked, willing Travis.

She batted at his hand when it reached for her breast. Yup. I’m insane.

He eased back and kept the rest of the shower as platonic as possible between two naked people who, judging by the size of the erection he was sporting and how wet her pussy was, wanted each other. She found herself watching his cock as it bobbed, water dripping off of it like a fountain. She was fascinated by the way he washed the chiseled abs right above it. She could feel her eyes glazing over as he stroked it with the washcloth, scrubbing his balls, then stroking down muscled thighs she was dying to sink her nails into.

He then returned the washcloth to his furred chest and she damn near whimpered.

She looked up from his cock to find him staring at her with so much male smugness she wanted to reach out and smack him one. That was when she knew he’d washed himself that way deliberately.

She crossed her arms, making sure to pillow her breasts on them, leaning back against the tile wall.

She crossed her legs, her brows rising in challenge. C’mon, big boy. You can do better than that.

His grin was smug, his hand continuing its slow caress of his chest. When he turned around and began soaping that hot, tight ass of his she nearly groaned out loud.

Payback. She hoped she could pull this off. “You done yet?”

The washcloth paused. He shot her a look over his shoulder. The hot look was giving way to one of speculation. “Not yet.”

“Mmm.” She yawned, not quite sure where all this courage was coming from. “Well, I’m done, and I’m hungry.” She stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. “Meet you out front.”

She didn’t hear him moving as she stepped out of the bathroom. Once out, she bowed her head, fanning herself. If she’d stayed in there any longer she would have spontaneously combusted.

She’d never dressed so quickly in her life. Hoping she just hadn’t royally screwed things up with Travis, she made it out of the bedroom before he left the shower. She knew she’d just given the guy mixed signals, but he’d gone from completely ignoring her to naked shower games in the space of a few days. She was a little confused by his rapid turn-around. Besides, the man was a freakin’ god. That was still wigging her out a lot.

She was glad to see her twin waiting for her just outside her bedroom door. He always knew when she had something she needed to talk about. “Hey, little fox.” He took her by the arm and pulled her into the den, closing and locking the door. He handed her a plate of bacon, eggs and toast and sat her at the desk.

“So what’s it like to be loved by a god?”

And that summed it up, right there. Two words she was having a problem equating Travis with.

Love and god.

She buried her face in her arms. “What if it’s just pity?”

Jeff chuckled. “Oh, hell no, it’s not pity. Trust me.”

She peeked at him from under her arm. “Last time I checked Travis was into busty blondes who think a fjord is a kick-ass truck.”

Jeff nodded, running a wide toothed comb through her curls, getting the tangles out of her wet hair.

The sensation of the comb had always soothed her. It had become something of a ritual between them.

Others might think it odd, or think it had something to do with Jeff’s being gay, but the reality was it helped them both. She just told people it was a twin thing, because she didn’t quite understand it herself. “True, but you didn’t see him in the hospital. The whole time you were there, when you were unconscious, when the doctors told us you might not walk again. He was…” The comb paused as Jeff shook his head. “I can’t even describe it. He never left your side, Jamie. He just sat there, holding your hand, staring at you. You could tell when he was thinking of you, because he’d have such a look of pain on his face it almost made me cry. I caught him once, just stroking your hair, and I did cry, just from the look on that man’s face. You could also tell when he was thinking of Grimm.”

“How?”

She lifted her head in time to see Jeff grimace. The comb started stroking through her hair once more.

“Let’s just say that if Travis ever looked at me like that, I’d find the deepest, darkest hole I could find, plant my headstone behind it and dive in. Then I would sit there and pray for someone to come and fill in the hole.”

Travis got dressed as quickly as he could, but he wasn’t fast enough. She’d disappeared into the den with her twin, and the locked door told its own tale. He huffed out a frustrated breath and was headed for the kitchen and breakfast when his cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“Travis?”

He held the phone between his shoulder and his ear and grabbed a coffee mug, placing it next to the pot. “Yeah, Morgan?” He heard the sound of the den’s door opening and peeked into the living room.

Jamie and Jeff were still murmuring to one another as they took seats on the sofa.

“I just went by your house, and…”

“And what?” He stared at Jamie, only paying half attention to what his operative was telling him. He was still confused as hell over what had happened in the bathroom and he didn’t like it one little bit.

“It looks like someone put a hose in every room and turned them on.”

Jamie sat with her head close to her twin’s, whispering back and forth. He would give anything to know what was going on in her head. That little scene in the shower that morning had left him hard as a rock and stunned out of his mind. She was avoiding him. Damn. I think I fucked up. He’d pushed too hard too soon, and now she was running from him.

“Hello? Are you listening, or are you mooning over my sister again?” Morgan’s voice crackled with annoyance.

That got his attention. “What did you say about my house?”

“Water. Damage. Hope you have insurance.”

He frowned, his attention finally diverted from Jamie and Jeff. “Water damage?”

“I went to your place to deliver the papers on the Solberg case, remember? You were supposed to meet me there this afternoon.”

The cop, right. They’d only gotten the case a week after Jamie had entered the hospital. The wife was firmly convinced he’d left her for another woman, and wanted solid proof before she filed for divorce.

From everything Morgan and Magnus had been able to gather, she was right. Magnus said he’d taken pictures of the man fucking an unknown blonde woman and had, in fact, moved in with her.

“Anyway, I arrive, open the door, a metric ton of water sloshes out and you owe me new shoes.”

“Fuck.” This day just kept getting better and better.

“It looks like every pipe in your house burst all at once. Freakiest thing I’ve ever seen. Water spraying everywhere, and the worst part? All your wards are blown.”

“I do not need this shit right now.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly, wondering how the fuck Grimm had gotten through his wards to wreak his damage.

“Yeah. Listen, you might wanna come over here, take a look around. Trust me, you’re not gonna believe it until you see it. Don’t worry, I turned the water main off. By the way, your carpet was apparently filthy. Have you never heard of Rug Doctor? You owe me new jeans too.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up the phone, his gaze tracing the back of Jamie’s head lovingly. “Jamie, I have to head out for a little while. I have a small problem I need to take care of.”

She turned. Those eyes of hers seemed to see right through to the heart of him. “Grimm?”

He nodded. “Seems the Old Man did something to the pipes in my house. The entire place is flooded, and from what Morgan said the damage is pretty bad.”

“It’s a set-up.”

He nodded. “I know.” He turned. “Logan—”

“No.” Jeff stood and stretched. “I’ll go.”

Travis didn’t miss the relief on Jordan’s face, or the annoyance on Logan’s. He nodded anyway.

“Let’s go.” He walked over to Jamie and leaned over her, balancing on the stump of his right arm. Taking her