Page 153 of Claim Me
"I once told you that my cousin Snow has a similar gift, except his is more like a powerful intuition about events far in the future, sometimes even years ahead. He’s also especially good at sensing danger."
Blue slowly nods, his thin finger placed on his lower lip.
"That’s interesting. The genetics of our population are still so poorly understood. They’ve always fascinated me."
Silence settles between us again. I look at him, the wind moving strands of his hair across his cheek. My gaze drifts to his forearm resting on the railing, his fingers curled tightly around it.
I feel an overwhelming urge to touch him, to have him touch me. It’s almost suffocating, desperate.
It's so frustrating that in that aspect we seem to be on opposite ends.
I love touch, and he hates it… or does he?
The silence stretches.
Blue keeps looking out at the ocean. I fight with myself, paralyzed by fear. Why does courage come so easily to me with others, yet disappear completely when I’m with him?
Suddenly, Blue turns and heads below deck.
Not knowing what prompted it, I follow him.
He goes straight to the bedroom.
Without warning, he lies down on the bed on his side, facing the wall, his back to me.
Standing there, staring at him, I blank out.
What is the meaning of this? Did I do something wrong?
I don’t understand a thing, and then… he starts speaking.
"When I was fifteen, during one of our family gatherings, my father asked me how I saw my future."
I realize that Blue wants to tell me about something from his past.
Quietly, I lie down on the bed behind him, but without touching him.
He still faces away from me.
"I told him I wanted… a family. Children. Preferably several."
Wow, I didn’t see that coming, family? That was his dream?
Not in a million years would I have been able to guess that.
There is a short pause, and only now does it start to sink in just how much the shooting range incident must have affected him, maybe even more than I suspected.
Blue continues, his voice even, almost devoid of emotion.
"My father got irritated. He asked what that was supposed to mean. Did I want to be a househusband? Sit at home and change diapers instead of doing something important, building a career, growing the family empire?"
I have no words. I don’t know what to say. But I low-key tremble, because Blue does not say all of this without a clear purpose and I can only guess what it is.
"I told him that, to me, that would be something equally important. And that he, himself, wanted a big family. But he ignored me and kept ranting about having a great career. Idecided not to bring it up around him again because I didn’t want to listen to his lectures." Blue lets out a quiet sigh.
"A few months later, I was at a shooting range with Victor. There was a group of people there learning how to shoot. One of them fired badly, the bullet ricocheted, and it hit me… in the abdomen."
I see his hand resting against his side. I want so badly to take it, but for now I only manage to gently stroke his shoulder blade. Like a very light touch.
