Desire & Blood - The Thorne Siblings

9. Who?

The water of TCorp's pool felt smooth on my skin as I plowed my way through it on my Monday morning swim. But it would never be enough, never be sufficient to wash me clean—cleanse me of the vomit and the embarrassment of last Friday night.

A night followed by the worst hangover ever, its headache being my constant companion all the way through Sunday afternoon. And I had spent most of that time trying to push away any thought about the party—with little success.

I didn't want to think about the way Lawrence had taken care of me and driven me home. Sweet, endearing. And I had barfed up his car.

And I certainly didn't want to think about the way I had felt when Thierry had guided me through that dance with gentle yet unquestionable authority. Even in the cool, chlorinated water of the pool, the warmth of his touch lingered with me, as well as a whiff of mint and the memory of his innate, mysterious power.

Anyway, Thierry hadn't shown up again that evening. No surprise there. As was to be expected—why should he have taken an interest in a poor dancer like me?

But, even more, why should I take an interest in this spoilt, rich man's son?

And his sister was a bitch.

Thierry, though, he was a mystery.

When I was a child, my mom had rented an apartment in an old house for the two of us. The building had originally been a factory and was later repurposed as a tenement. From its factory days, it still had that labyrinth of a basement, most of it unused, barred off, and without lights—dark and mysterious. Off limits, especially for us kids. Yet the eerie call of its mysteries had been irresistible. So, one day, me and a friend of mine, we had pried off some of the boards at one of the entrances. I still felt the thumping of my heart as we had explored the place with flashlights. We had walked its corridors and chambers, some of them dusty, others damp and rotten. In the end, we had found little of interest, but I still remembered the powerful lure of the darkness.

The mystery of the unknown, the threat of danger, the knowledge to tread off-limits, all of that was Thierry Thorne.

I did an open turn at the end of the pool to start the next length. Doing so, I saw another swimmer two tracks beside me.

I usually had the pool to myself at this early hour, and I disliked the intrusion into my privacy. Ready to glower at the invader, yet also curious, I slowed my strokes and kept my head out of the water, froggy style, to get a closer look at who this was.

It was a man, and he was front crawling, breathing away from me. I couldn't see his face. We crossed midway. He was tanned, with a strong build, his hair short and dark.

Could it be?

Thierry was well-muscled, he could be a swimmer.

The water around me suddenly felt hotter than usual.

The man would have his face to my side when we crossed again on the next length.

Reaching the end of my track, I turned once more. He was already swimming towards me. A fast swimmer, his moves steady and powerful.

I concentrated on my own style, making stronger, smoother strokes, accelerating.

Was I trying to impress the guy?

He approached. Crossing, I caught a glimpse of his face—a fat, stubby nose ending in a mustache.

Not Thierry. Just some TCorpse.

And I was a silly, silly girl.

~~~

Stepping into our office, I was still mad at myself. Had I started to see Thierries everywhere? I wasn't an infatuated teenager, was I?