Page 35 of Submit

She answered, anyway, with a small shrug of her shoulders.

“He was a drunk. He made me miserable. I left when I was eighteen. I don’t speak to him. I don’t particularly trust men because of him. That’s why doing this with you was such a big step for me.”

She stopped, swept her hair from her cheek again. Why did he want to do that for her? Maybe because of the pain he saw shadowing her eyes. Or maybe just to feel the silk of it in his hands.

“So, is that enough information?” she asked, “or do you want to continue to divert the conversation from your own issues?”

She was strong. Smart. He liked that about her. He almost smiled.

“Look Skye, it’s not as if I never recovered. I did. That’s why I had the phoenix tattooed on my back as soon as I turned eighteen. I understood even then what it represented.”

She nodded. “I want to see it.”

He turned without another word and Skye took in the brilliant colors, the flawless detail of the classic, Asian-style phoenix that covered his entire back. The feathered wings flowed over the muscular ripple of his shoulders, the body and the sweeping tail curved sinuously down his back to his waist. It was beautiful, the detail exquisite. The eyes of the mythical bird glowed like a pair of emeralds within the fire of the red, gold and orange plumage. She reached out to touch it and felt him shiver beneath her fingertips.

“It’s magnificent. Rising out of the ashes.” She traced her finger lower, over the scar across his ribs she’d felt earlier.

He yanked away. “Don’t, Skye.” His voice held a dark edge she’d never heard from him before.

“Why not? It’s a part of you.”

He turned back to her, his blue eyes blazing. “You don’t get it, do you? This is a part of me I never wanted to expose to anyone. And you ripped it out of me.”

She felt shocked by his words. Hurt.

“No, don’t try to blame me, Adam. Some part of you wanted to tell me, had a need to, I think.” Her heart was hammering in her chest. She had the sense something important was happening here, and the idea that she could lose him now scared her in some completely unreasonable way. But she was also angry. “Maybe you need some time to think this through. Maybe I do, too. I’m going home now.”

He stood up in all his naked, masculine glory. She had to look away. He was too beautiful, and it stung.

“That’s probably a good idea,” he said, his voice gruff in a way she’d never heard before. “Before we really hurt each other. I’ll take you as soon as I’m dressed.”

“I can call a cab.”

“I said I’ll take you.”

Fire in his blue eyes. He was mad, and it wasn’t all her he was mad at. But it was also about the power in him, the pure energy of who he was. She felt as though her heart was breaking. How was that possible when she’d known him less than a month?

She just nodded, picked her clothes up off the floor and quietly put them on, holding back the tears that burned at her eyes and tightened her throat. Even dressed, she was shivering with a kind of shock. With a deep dread that she may never see him again. That she shouldn’t see him again.

He was dressed now, too, making him seem even more remote. “You’re cold. I’ll get one of my coats for you.”

When he went down the hall to his bedroom, she unlocked the front door and fled into the night.

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