Blind Hearts and Silenced Passion (2 page)

The man let out a startled laugh. "Right. Of course.
Where are my manners?"

"You must have dropped them when you picked up my
tea," Remy drawled. "But maybe we can fix that. I'm Remy
Fitzroy."

The amusement faded off his mate's face. "Baqir."

They stared at each other as the names processed. Remy might
not be as well known as his brother in France, but the last name was famous
enough that it'd give a well-informed werewolf pause. And Baqir was an unusual
enough name for Remy to connect it to a certain someone his brother and
Blanchefleur had both mentioned.

Baqir was the silencer who'd contacted the Alpha Gathering
and the Maximoff pack with regard to some suspicious events involving the Lone
Wolf Pack. Remy hadn't gotten the chance to learn the full details since his
brother had sent him away, but it had all been very sketchy and complicated. He
was aware that humans had also opened hostilities against the Sidhe, but as far
as he knew, this particular silencer hadn't been involved in that. Remy had no
idea what could have brought him here, but he suspected it must have something
to do with the very same investigation Remy was supposed to be looking into.

"Well... This is somewhat awkward," Baqir said,
"and unexpected."

Remy took in the hesitance in the other werewolf's stance and
made a split second decision. He grabbed Baqir's arm and started to drag his
mate toward his apartment. "Come on. I think it's time to take this out of
the open."

Baqir didn't reply, but neither did he protest, and Remy was
content enough to wait for privacy. After all, he had some tea to brew—and
maybe after that, some coffee.

Chapter Two

Baqir was, for lack of a better word, perplexed. He had
forgotten when he'd last experienced genuine shock to this extent. Sure, some
things had taken him aback—his brother's mating, the truth behind the Guild
Laws—but never like this.

He'd been planning to go see Reynard and see if his long-time
acquaintance had any news for him. It was difficult to watch the paranormal
underworld, but somehow Reynard managed. Baqir had done him a few favors in the
past, covering for him and helping him leave his former position as silencer.
But he also knew some things never changed, and Reynard had always been extra
keen on taking precautions and being aware of everything that went on around
them. After all, it was often the only thing that kept a silencer alive.

He had not expected to run into his mate right in front of
Reynard's shop. Given the tea purchase, it wasn't a coincidence, although Baqir
had never known Reynard had dealings with the Fitzroy pack.

It was a moot point now, and it mattered little, because
Baqir's head was spinning so hard he could do nothing but go along with his
mate's choice. He suspected they must look a little funny, the much smaller
werewolf effortlessly dragging his unresisting form behind. Baqir congratulated
himself for actually managing to say something to his mate before the
realization of what was happening finally dawned. But now that it had... He
hadn't ever felt so poorly prepared for something in his life.

A mate. Silencers didn't have mates. That had been hammered
into his brain for longer than he'd have liked. He now knew it had all been a
lie—but to a certain extent, for him it remained the truth. He didn't have a
heart that would welcome a mate.

And yet, he didn't break away. He continued to walk, to
follow Remy. And wasn't that a kick in the teeth? Out of all the people he
could possibly have as a mate, it was the man who had more reason than any
other to hate silencers.

Baqir hadn't operated in France, but he knew the story. How
could he not? He'd still been fresh in his leadership of the guild at the time,
but he'd heard about the young werewolf who'd dug a little too deep into
silencer affairs and had paid the price for it.

It hurt his heart to know that Remy had been alone through
something so difficult and traumatic. He found himself walking forward and
taking Remy's hand, squeezing tightly. He was rewarded with a smile from the
smaller werewolf, a sweet expression that made Baqir's stomach flutter
alarmingly. He was really in trouble.

He didn't know how much time passed until they stopped in
front of an apartment building. Remy's scent distracted him—an unforgivable sin
for a silencer. And yet, he couldn't hate himself for it, at least not enough
to release his hold on Remy.

His mate didn't seem particularly inclined to let go either.
He punched his code in the keypad one-handed and when the door opened, he
practically dragged Baqir inside. The security guard at the entrance gave them
a curious look, but when Remy nodded and smiled, the man went back to his
paper. Baqir mentally frowned. What humans called security would never fail to
amuse him. He could already figure out at least three ways to come into the
building without being spotted by the security cameras. That was completely
unacceptable. His mate wasn't safe here, and that needed to be fixed at once.

The incipient panic faded when Remy pulled him into a
spacious elevator. As soon as the door slid shut behind them, Remy crowded him
against the wall and pressed their bodies together. "You look like you're
plotting something interesting," he whispered against Baqir's lips.

"I was... Not really plotting." Baqir swallowed
around the knot in his throat, his head spinning with the desire to have his
way with Remy right then and there.

"I'm not sure I believe that," Remy replied, his
voice low and smoky. The heat of his body against Baqir's was testing all the
restraints Baqir had put into place over decades of being the ruthless leader
of a silencer guild. This was absolutely ridiculous. Had his brother felt this
way over his mate? If so, Baqir couldn't imagine how Erdi had managed to leave
Jensen's side.

He really didn't know what he'd have done had the elevator
not deposited them at their destination. Remy pulled away and once more dragged
Baqir after him. They stopped in front of a door which Remy quickly proceeded
to open. He fumbled a bit with his keys—which was endearing and comforted Baqir
slightly—but soon, he had them in the privacy of his home.

Baqir didn't delay in taking advantage of it. As soon as the
door closed behind them, he had his mate trapped in his arms and pinned against
the solid wood. His body thrumming with desire, he crashed their mouths
together, taking what he'd wanted from the moment he'd caught the swaying
werewolf in his arms.

Sadly, his enthusiasm clashed with the fact that his mate was
still wearing his glasses. Not one to be deterred so easily, Baqir tilted his
head and softened the assault. He broke away just long enough to slide the
glasses off Remy's nose, and then gently kissed Remy's eyelids.

His mate trembled against him, and Baqir took that as
encouragement. He licked over the seam of Remy's lips, and the moan he drew
from Remy gave him the opening he needed. As Baqir thrust his tongue into
Remy's mouth, Remy wrapped his arms around Baqir's neck. His flavor exploded on
Baqir's taste buds, sweet and sharp, wild like the wolves inside them both.

When they broke apart, Baqir wanted nothing more than to take
things further, but something held him back. For a few moments, they just
stared at one another, still breathing hard, and then Remy wiggled out of his
embrace. "Right... Tea."

Tea couldn't have been further from Baqir's mind, but he
respected his mate's decision and he knew Remy was right. They had barely exchanged
a few words and they didn't know much about one another, only what they'd heard
from third parties. While a part of Baqir roared to take what was his, he knew
things weren't quite so simple.

Remy stole his glasses back, left his coat on a rack, and
ventured further into the apartment. Baqir followed his mate into a wide,
open-space kitchen and watched as Remy puttered around through the cupboards.
He finally came up with a teakettle and an infuser. With practiced motions, he
set the water to boil, and then sat at the counter to face Baqir. He seemed to
have composed himself, but his face was still a little red and flushed, and the
scent of his arousal lingered in the air. "So... A silencer?" He
peered closer to Baqir's face, as if trying to decipher his thoughts.
"That's interesting. I don't suppose you're here by coincidence."

"You know I'm not," Baqir replied, not bothering to
lie to his mate. "What's happening here concerns all of us, and me in
particular."

He probably shouldn't have let that last bit slip, but he was
still shaken, and his wolf still craved Remy with a feral greed born out of
both instinct and unprecedented emotion. And Remy was far too clever for his
own good. "You in particular," he repeated. "And why is that?"

"I have my reasons," Baqir replied, trying not to
fall into Remy's eyes—and utterly failing. "Even silencers have things
they hold dear."

"Should I be jealous?" Remy leaned in even closer,
until their lips were almost brushing.

"Definitely not." Baqir crossed the rest of the
distance between them, but didn't kiss Remy again, instead choosing to inhale
Remy's scent. "I'm all yours."

His own words surprised Baqir, since he had never thought he
had it in him to offer affection of any kind to anyone other than Erdi. It also
made him pull away as he realized that he was getting far too caught up in
this, in Remy.

He should not be here. He should be talking to Reynard and
making a plan that would allow them to handle the unknown threat. Besides, Remy
deserved better. He deserved a mate who actually had a heart, someone who was
not capable of disfiguring his own brother and killing in cold blood.

Remy must have noticed the change in mood—not that he could
have missed it when Baqir tore himself away so abruptly he almost fell off the
stool. "What is it?" Remy asked.

"I just..." Baqir got up and rubbed his eyes
tiredly. "I'm a silencer. I... We're not good for one another, are
we?"

Remy didn't immediately reply. He turned away from Baqir and
opened the package he'd dropped earlier—which, predictably turned out to be
some sort of tea. The strong scent hit Baqir even from where he was standing,
but Remy didn't seem surprised.

He added a generous quantity in the infuser, and then poured
the now steaming water onto it. Once he was done, he finally faced Baqir again.
"Perhaps you're right. These are certainly not regular circumstances. But
you won't give up just like that, will you?"

A part of Baqir reminded him that this was a terrible idea.
He should not stay. He should not burden Remy with his presence, and his past.

But his yearning for his mate was stronger, and he sat back
down, smiling. "Well, you did promise me tea."

****

Remy wondered how an exchange could be both awkward and
effortless at the same time. The two should have been mutually exclusive, and
yet, he and Baqir managed the incredible achievement of cramming it all into
one conversation.

It might have started out as Remy's fault. He was trying hard
not to panic, but deep inside, he was mentally flailing, well aware that he had
his mate in his apartment. He wasn't too happy about the fact that Baqir was
obviously uncertain of their bond—but at the same time, he understood and
empathized.

"So how does this work?" he asked as he poured
Baqir some tea. "I'm not really familiar with a lot of mated wolves."

Baqir arched a dark brow. "And you think I am?"

Well, no, of course he wasn't. Remy felt sort of foolish for
asking. By rights, he should have been the one with the knowledge, but after
he'd been blinded, he had mostly belonged to the pack in name alone. No one had
rejected him, but he was unwilling to be around other people, since he knew
they both pitied him and thought his punishment was well-deserved. His brother
was the only one he'd stayed close to, but Laurent didn't have a mate either.

"I suppose things are different for everyone?" he
tried.

Baqir opened his mouth to reply, but then he wrinkled his
nose as he took in the scent of the tea. "What in the world is in
this?"

"I have no idea." Remy laughed. "Moon only
knows what Reynard puts in those concoctions of his." Sometimes, it
smelled like opium, other times it was kava or even simpler things like
lavender. This time around, it was definitely one of the more potent blends.

He could have dropped things there, shrugged off the most
difficult part of the explanation. For some reason, he didn't.

"Some time ago, things became very difficult in my
life," he said, sobering. "You probably know what I'm talking about.
I lost my eyesight."

Baqir nodded and patiently waited for Remy to continue.
Oddly, it was easy for him to do so. "I went through a self-destructive
stage. At one point, I was willingly dosing myself with silver and wolfsbane,
just because it seemed to give me the illusion that I could see."

Baqir's hold on the tea mug tightened so much Remy was
surprised it didn't crack. "What happened?"

"Reynard helped me. He found me and helped me curb my
addiction. Now, he occasionally supplies me with these special teas. I believe
they also serve to heal the damage I myself did on my body, although there's
definitely a recreational component."

Baqir didn't ask about Reynard—which made Remy suspect they
hadn't really met by coincidence. He didn't even ask about Remy's stint with
blindness, something for which Remy was very thankful. Instead, Baqir focused
on the tea. "So you can get drunk on this," he guessed.

Remy grinned, not bothering to suppress his relief.
"Quite right. Want to try?"

It was, perhaps, irresponsible, and it didn't solve a thing.
But the tension between them was so thick he needed a strong knife to cut
through it, and maybe this would make things better.

Half an hour later, Remy and Baqir had relocated on his
living room couch. The world was spinning slightly. At some level, he remained
aware that he had something very important to talk about with Baqir, but he
couldn't bring himself to care.

Baqir seemed to think the same. He pulled Remy in his arms
and held him close, his scent once more invading Remy's already overwhelmed
senses. "I don't want to be a silencer anymore," he confessed.
"I just want to be your mate."

"You already are," Remy whispered against his lips.
"And you don't have to be anything you don't want to. You don't have to
carry the weight of the world on your own."

He wanted to say more, but even this reply came out raspy and
slurred. It was just as well, because the tea had obviously affected him, and
he was liable to do something stupid or reckless. The silence that fell was
comfortable, Baqir's scent relaxed him, and he didn't want to think about conversation,
about being afraid, or wary, or even concerned.

Remy didn't know who reached for whom first, but it didn't
really matter. Suddenly, they were kissing, their mouths crashing together with
an intensity that was almost angry. Remy tasted blood—his own? Baqir's? He had
no idea—and he groaned as he crawled into Baqir's lap.

Baqir stabbed his fingers through Remy's hair, pulling hard,
and the pain in his scalp made pleasure shoot over Remy. He ground against
Baqir's abdomen, biting down on his lower lip. His fingernails turned into
claws, and he dug them into Baqir's flesh, heedless of the fact that he was
drawing blood.

Judging by the erection nudging Remy's ass, Baqir didn't mind
in the slightest. He also wasn't about to let Remy take over. Before Remy even
knew what was going on, his mate had flipped him over on the couch and pounced
on him with a greed only a werewolf would understand.