Gravity (24 page)

actually wanted to smile. It was empowering to mark my body with something that would last

forever. A feeling I hadn’t known since Tarek walked into my life. I reflected on the permanence of

some things, and the impermanence of others. It gave me hope that maybe a few hundred years

from now, I’d be at a different place in my life.

“Does it hurt?” Finn asked, the needle buzzing in the background. I sensed hostility in his tone.

When his eyes flicked over to Paul again, I squeezed his hand.

“Hardly. You should see what Justus does with me in the training room,” I said with a snort.

“You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet, honey.” Paul looked up and grinned.

Tattoos covered him from neck to wrists. Everything from one of those justice scales to a

bleeding heart. But there weren’t any animals on him, such as dragons or snakes.

“This is the easy part,” he said. “The liquid fire is going to burn like a sonofabitch.”

“Will you shut up?” Finn growled.

Paul lowered his head and continued with his artistry.

“How come you don’t put the liquid fire on the needle?” I asked. “Seems like you could kill two

birds with one stone.”

Paul laughed. “Doesn’t work, honey. Liquid fire won’t hold to metal for long; it’s funny that way.

Otherwise, we’d all be walking around with daggers coated in that shit. Life just can’t be that

fucking easy. Plus, I want to make sure you’re happy with the final product before we seal it.”

“So put it in the ink,” I suggested.

He swung his eyes up to mine. “You’d be screaming, and we’d have one hell of a mess tatted

all over you.”

I sighed and looked over at Finn in his dark blue sweatshirt. “Logan says you’re into law.”

He gave me an impish grin and his eyes sparkled. “Yeah. I kind of like reading about the

different Breed laws. Some of them don’t even know that they contradict one another.”

“You going to pursue that? You should. I think you’ve got a lot of potential in you, kid. I’d be

proud to see you—ah!” I hissed between my teeth as the needle hit a sore spot.

Faster than I could track, Finn shifted into his wolf.

“Jaysus wept!” Christian shouted, standing on the counter. “Get your fecking puppy under

control, Silver.”

“Shut up!” I yelled back.

Finn’s red wolf snarled as he stalked around the table and sat beside Paul.

I’d never seen a man sweat so much. He carefully wiped his brow and lifted his eyes to mine.

Finn growled, and Paul immediately lowered his gaze.

“Do me a favor, Mage. Try not to make a peep and upset your friend. I’m just a guy trying to

earn a living, not get himself torn up by an alpha.”

***

Justus tightened a loose pipe beneath Page’s sink, listening to the sound of her fingernail

clicking against the kitchen table.

“It doesn’t matter what you want anymore, Justus. You can’t take over the steering wheel

when someone else is driving without causing a wreck. Silver has to make her own choices and her

own mistakes. I have to agree that it doesn’t make sense, but I’ve seen people make poor choices

before, so she wouldn’t be the first. Maybe he has changed; I know how some of you immortals

turn a new leaf. Do you think her feelings for him are genuine?”

“No,” Justus bit out angrily from the floor. He peered down the length of his body and noticed

her bare feet. She had on a pair of grey sweatpants and a loose shirt; Justus was dumbfounded by

how attractive she looked in something so casual.

“What did your friend Simon make of it?”

“He’s stealth at the moment, working on another project. I haven’t spoken with him about this,

and not sure I want to.”

Page sighed—the breathy kind that had no answers. She mystified him, and his chest

tightened whenever she looked at him with those chocolate eyes.

Women had always been nothing more than piranhas, nipping at him everywhere he went.

Page didn’t nip. She listened. She responded. She occasionally disagreed, and he could barely

comprehend how much that actually appealed to him.

“There’s nothing to decide, Justus. You must go to the party. If you don’t, your relationship

with her could be damaged. Maybe she won’t be in your custody, but as her Ghuardian, she’ll

always have a connection to you. Don’t sever that. Men come and go. She may need you someday,

and you should be there for her. If Silver means anything to you, then accept her decision even if

you don’t agree with it. I lost a friend that way once. She got involved with some loser and I kept

going on and on about how she needed to break it off with him. It was back in school and the sort

of thing friends argue about—except she suddenly stopped talking to me. They broke up a few

months later, but she never let go of the judgment I held. That’s when I learned that I can’t be a

stoplight in someone’s life; I need to be a welcome sign.”

The phone rang and she reached around.

“Hello?” She waited a few seconds. “Hello?” Page pressed her lips tightly together and slammed

the phone in the cradle. “Want something to drink?”

The abrupt change in topic signaled something was wrong and Justus slid out from beneath

the sink. Page pulled open the fridge door and analyzed the contents while pursing her lips.

“Who was that?”

“No one important,” she said, grabbing a small can of grapefruit juice. “All I’ve got is juice or

coffee, unless you don’t mind a glass of water?”

“Number one: You need to keep this place stocked with food and drinks. You don’t—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Take care of myself.” She laughed softly and sat at the table.

“Number two: How often are you getting those hang-up calls?” He placed his strong forearms

on the table and leaned forward.

She peeled the top off the can and flicked it in the trash. “Every night, but it’s nothing to worry

about. I know who it is.”

If Page hadn’t been in the room, his fist would have slammed against her flimsy table. Instead,

he sat down and smoothed out the edges in his voice. “Is it Slater?”

“He’ll stop when I change my number, but right now he’s having issues letting go.”

“Has he come by?”

“No, he couldn’t get in if he had a bulldozer,” she said with a chuckle. “Not with the deadbolts

you installed on my door.”

Page was too relaxed about the situation. Justus had lived a long life, long enough to know

that men who displayed this type of obsessive behavior were unpredictable and unwilling to give

up what they coveted.

“Let it go, Justus. Some people just take longer to get the point.” Page sipped her drink and

grimaced. “Yuck. They say this stuff is supposed to help you lose weight, but I don’t see that

happening with my fast-food runs. I might as well go back to soda and live a happier life.”

All Justus saw was a slim figure with lovely breasts.

He arched a brow. “You don’t need to lose weight. I would prefer it if you—”

“Wait a second,” she said, throwing up her hand. “If you tell me that you would prefer me

packing on a few pounds, then we’re ending this little chitchat.”

“In my time, a full-figured woman was revered.”

“Let me know when they invent a time machine, because I’ll be sure to reserve a seat on that

ride.” She wobbled the can between her fingers on the table. “I’m not really obsessed with it either

way.”

Justus wanted to argue, but a small barrette clipped in her hair distracted him. Page had a

lovely curve to her neck where it met her shoulder, and she had a habit of resting her fingers on

that spot and lightly stroking it during casual conversations. Instead of glossy tresses, Page kept

her hair short and practical. Her attire at work was professional—nothing like the revealing outfits

that many women wore. It reminded him of a time when it was scandalous for a woman to show

her ankle, and clothing left a lot to the male imagination.

“The orchids were gorgeous.” A smile tugged at her lips, but she shyly studied the juice can.

“Truth be told, no one’s even given me a rose. Getting just one would have been romantic—not

those bouquets with all that tacky baby’s breath. It’s a shame such a lovely phrase was wasted on

garnish that looks like a wild weed. Baby’s breath—isn’t that a nice thing to call a flower?”

“It was nothing,” he said dismissively, but his chest tightened.

“Nothing? I bet they cost you a fortune,” she said, rising from her chair. It was the same tone

Silver liked to use—the one that implied he was materialistic.

Certainly the flowers were expensive, but he was not about to waste his efforts on something

cheap. A thoughtless gift is a display of indifference.

By the restless way she fumbled with her shirt, Justus anticipated that he was about to get the

boot. Since the night he kissed her, the energy between them had changed. He sometimes caught

her looking at him, only to quickly look away. But she made no attempt to rekindle that fire. She

wasn’t a Mage, but Justus was attuned to the spike in energy whenever they shared a quiet

moment.

“It’s getting late, Justus. I have appointments in the morning and I don’t want to keep you. I’m

glad that you stopped by to confide in me about Silver.”

“Will you accompany me to the party?”

“Um… maybe,” she said, ruffling up her hair. “I’m sorry I can’t give you a definite answer, but

my schedule can be so unpredictable. Don’t think twice about asking someone else. I’m busy

playing a little catch-up. Plus, I have to get things in order with my separation from… um…” She

touched her cheek, as if she’d said something wrong.

Page had a duality to her that he enjoyed. Edgy and strong willed, yet at the same time she

could be blushing and thoughtful.

“I’m on call twenty-four hours a day; this is my life.”

Justus approached her and she backed up. Maybe he was assertive, but that’s what a few

centuries will do to a man.

Page stood with her back against the wall and when her lips parted, he heard her draw in a

deep breath. In the quiet kitchen, he listened to the sound of her feet nervously shifting on the

sticky tile floor. Justus did something he’d been thinking about ever since he noticed that barrette

in her hair.

He took it out.

After slipping it into his pocket, he ran his fingers through her short hair in an upward motion,

exposing her unblemished neck. It ruffled a scent in the air—a subtle sweet flavor on her skin. Was

it her natural smell, or a cream? Maybe it was her shampoo.

He wanted to know.

“What are you doing?”

He liked the sound of her breathy voice, and a pale rose tinted the apple of her cheeks.

Justus placed his heavy palms on the wall behind her, leaned in close, and froze. An intense

scarlet spread rapidly across her collarbone and neck.

When Page blushed, she blushed all over.

Her arms hung lax at her sides and Justus moved a little closer, finding her presence to be

extremely engaging. He tilted his head and placed a delicate kiss against her soft neck.

One. Small. Gentle. Kiss.

The heat from her blush warmed his lips. That’s when his heart unexpectedly fired off in his

chest, and he was so certain she could hear it that he released a slow sigh to calm himself. Page

shuddered.

With expert hands, he placed the crook of his finger below her chin and moved her head to the

right, exposing the left side of her neck. Justus brushed his knuckles very tenderly across her jaw

and neck, listening to the soft hiss of their skin coming in contact. Page’s nervousness showed in

her quickened breaths. He watched every minute reaction, from the flutter of her long eyelashes to

her dilated pupils. The telltale sign of arousal was never more evident than when she slowly

blinked and then finally closed her eyes.

Justus planted a lingering kiss against her slender neck. Never had such a simple act felt so

intimate. He tasted her with his tongue and his heated breath bounced back against his face. The

quietness of the room stilled him, and everything about her filled his senses. The round shape of

her breasts showing off two hard tips that pressed against the fabric of her cotton shirt. How silky

her hair felt when it brushed against his cheek. The sweet smell of her skin filled his nose like a

bouquet. She was like nectar, and he couldn’t pull away.

Page was an orchid standing before him, full of grace.

Fragile.

Mortal.

His strong hand leisurely traced down her neck, the curve of her shoulders, and then fell to his

side.

A pulse in her gaze caught his attention—one of inexperience. “Page, tell me you have at least

been kissed.”

“Um, yes, I’ve been kissed. Just not quite like that,” she said, a secretive smile curving up one

side of her mouth. “Not so… gently like that.”

Justus knew that he wanted to please this woman in every way.

Every. Conceivable. Way.

He cupped the sides of her neck and took a step forward, resting his cheek against hers. “Will

you let me kiss you on the mouth?” he whispered against her ear.

His thumb traced along her jaw, feeling the motion of her head as she nodded. Had he sensed