"I like your friend," I said to Emrys as he reached for my hand.
"He likes you too," Emrys replied as the dingy smelly alleyway disappeared around us.
The hard ground beneath my feet was replaced by a substance that gave way when I moved. Squinting in the sudden sunshine, I looked down surprised to see I was standing on a beach. Everything about this beach was different than what I was used to. The sand beneath my feet was unlike any sand you'd find on the West Coast. It was sugar-fine and almost as white. Even the water was different than what I was used to. Instead of the normal breaks that the surfers liked to ride on back home, the water here was crystal clear and the waves that broke gently on the shoreline were minuscule to the waves back home.
"Where are we?" I asked, turning around in a slow circle. I took in the line of palm trees behind us and the ocean that seemed to surround us.
"A small island about fifty miles off of the coast of Tahiti," he said, sinking down on the sun-warmed sand. "It's my second favorite place to visit," he said, reaching up and tugging me down on the sand beside him.
"Really?" I asked, taking in the quiet solitude of the island. It was as different as night and day from his perch on the Empire State Building.
"It's peaceful," he said, lying back in the sand and closing his eyes, perfectly at ease.
I wondered if he had forgotten about our near-kiss at Anthony's as I lay down beside him, closing my eyes also. Without opening his eyes, Emrys reached over and laced his fingers through mine. We lay there without speaking, cushioned by the soft sand beneath us, listening to the small waves gently crash on the shore. The warm sun on my face made me drowsy. I yawned heavily, realizing suddenly how exhausted I really was. I'd barely slept during the last forty-eight hours, coupled with the fact that I had traveled to three time zones in one day making my legs feel like they were incased in cement. I tried to fight off my drowsiness, but I couldn't help dozing off. Just before sleep pulled me completely under, I felt his lips on the pulse point of my wrist.
CHAPTER NINE
The sound of raised voices woke me from a deep sleep. I sat up disoriented, expecting to see the ocean in front of me, but instead I saw that I was in my own room. Emrys, of course, was nowhere to be found. >"So, pick your poison," Anthony said a little more jovially as he indicated the walls that surrounded me.
"I can pick something from this?" I asked excited as I stood up and studied the walls more critically. There were literally thousands of things to choose from. I wouldn't have minded a kickass dragon like Emrys's, but pretty much felt that would be ultra cliché and borderline psycho to get the same tat as the guy I liked. Looking past the bigger designs, I studied the smaller pictures that would have been lost next to their larger counterparts if not for the minute details that made them appear lifelike. I circled the room twice before stopping beneath the one picture that seemed to have a trancelike effect on me.
"I want that one," I said with finality, pointing above my head to a unique butterfly that morphed from flaming shades of red to a vibrant shade of purple.
"Good choice," Emrys murmured with approval.
I didn't need his approval, but it did give me a little bit of pleasure, knowing that he liked what I picked.
"Why?" Anthony asked.
"Why what?" I asked, confused at his odd question.
"What is it about that particular picture that speaks to you? Marking your body should not be entered into lightly. Your body is your temple and should be treated with the utmost sacredness. What one word describes how you feel when you look at it?" he asked, studying me with intensity.
His words struck a chord within me, and I completely understood without a shadow of a doubt what the picture meant to me. "Free," I said without hesitation. "It doesn't give a shit about anything else but being free, shedding its old self in the process. Becoming something so much better, so much more important, something unforgettable," I added with passion, fighting back sudden tears.
Both of them seemed taken aback by my words as they studied me intently.
"It seems free," I said lamely, trying to keep my voice natural.
"Yes, it's free, but at what cost?" Anthony asked, pointing to the destruction that was left behind the trail of the butterfly as it morphed from one shade to the next. Flames licked their way up the path the butterfly had flown destroying everything it left behind.
Perhaps that's why it appealed to me so much. If I was ever set free, would I leave nothing but destruction in my wake?
"Freedom is a battle," I answered, agreeing with him.
"Where do you want it?" he asked, obviously satisfied with my answer.
"Here," I said, pointing to my left shoulder blade.
He nodded his approval. "You'll have to remove your shirt," he said in a businesslike manor as he snapped on a pair of surgical gloves.
Emrys looked at me appraisingly as I tugged my shirt over my head. I was used to training in my sports bra, so being without a shirt was nothing new, but Emrys's eyes read like an open book as he took in my tanned taut stomach and full chest. Everything inside me seemed to tighten in reaction to his stare. I gripped my shirt in my hand and moved it up to cover the front of my sports bra. My eyes clashed with his, challenging his blatant hound dog stare. He winked at me, making my insides turn to putty. I must not have been that hard to read either because he allowed his eyes to travel up my torso past my collarbone until they finally rested on my lips. Figuring two could play this game, I licked my lips with the tip of my tongue and bit back a laugh as his eyes darkened and his hand reached out for the counter to steady himself. He took a half step toward me and my knees trembled as the electricity we had been ignoring for the last few days rose to a sizzling fever pitch.
I was reminded we weren't alone when Anthony pushed a button on the arm of the chair, lowering the back of the chair down so that it was flush with the bottom of the seat. The humming of the chair cut through the electricity until it was a dull buzz.
"If you two are done eye-banging each other, I need Jordyn to lay flat on her belly," Anthony said dryly, pointing toward the chair.
"Right, it's E who's doing the banging," I said, acting indifferent. I tossed my shirt at the counter where Emrys's hand still rested, grinning wickedly at him as I lay down.