Page 1 of Sinful Skulls
Chapter One
Daisy
“Excuse me, miss. You dropped something.”
I shield my eyes to look up at the woman. “Thank you.”
She drops a pretty silver dragonfly necklace in the palm of my hand.
“Oh, it’s beautiful, but it’s not mine.” I try to hand it back to her, but she curls my fingers around it.
“Keep it. It’s a good sign. It means an angel is near.”
As she walks away, I hold it close to my chest. This must be a sign that I’m on the right path. Everything seems to finally be falling into place.
Next week, I start my new life in Paris. I can hardly believe it. Not that I’ve had a bad life up until now, but I need something different. Something moreme.
The art school I’m going to is my chance to explore a side of my creativity that I’ve had to keep hidden. Okay, so I don’t have to keep it a secret, but no one would understand where it’s comingfrom. I don’t even understand where it comes from, and that is a little scary.
As I’m securing the necklace around my neck, something catches my eye. Or, I should say, someone. I let the dragonfly fall against my chest and glance behind me to see who he’s waving at. No one around me is paying him any attention. I turn back to him, and he points at me.
My heartbeat picks up. “Me?” I mouth.
He nods, and for some embarrassing reason, I fan myself. His body shakes as he chuckles, and then he winks at me.
I abruptly turn away. Surely, he’s mistaken me for someone he knows. He’s … he’s a biker.
I’m just going to pretend that didn’t happen.
Another quick glance couldn’t hurt, though. He’s easy on the eyes.
My stomach flips when I see he’s still unashamedly staring at me. “Fuck,” I whisper under my breath as I pick up my paintbrush and return my focus to the painting I’m working on.
It’s a gift for my parents. I’ll be gone for a year. I’m feeling a little guilty about it, so I decided to leave them with something I knew they would love. I mean, they love everything I paint, but they especially like my seascapes. We used to spend every weekend on this beach, so I know it will mean a lot to them. It’s a particularly beautiful night. They’ll rave over the pretty pastel colors.
Don’t get me wrong. I like the beach, but I don’t think we see it the same way. My brush hovers over the darkest part of the painting, where the deepest part of the ocean is, far away on the horizon. That is what calls to me, but it can’t be the focus of the painting. That is reserved for the bright sun that reaches for me, stopping a few feet away at the water’s edge.
The light in my work has fought hard for my attention. For the most part it wins, but the dark is always there, like an easter egg I hope no one finds.
I begin to pack up my supplies before it’s completely dark. When I sling my bag over my shoulder, my foot catches in the blanket, and I stumble backward. A firm hand wraps around my elbow, keeping me upright.
An electric current zips through my body, shocking me into silence.
The wind blows and his scent wraps around me, sending a strange signal to my nether region. He doesn’t release me, and I can’t say I want him to. I don’t have to turn around to know it’s the biker who I’d conveniently forgotten until now.
“I’ll help you,” he tells me, and my brain is slow to compute that it’s not a question … it’s a statement.
It’s a little presumptuous of him, but if I’m honest, I don’t hate it.
His fingers release their grip, and then he slowly tugs my bag from me. I should scream. My parents taught me to yell and make a scene if anyone ever tried to kidnap me.
That’s what I should do.
He moves around me with my bag now securely hanging over his shoulder. His eyes meet mine as he carefully lifts my painting from the easel. “I won’t mess it up. I promise,” he assures me with a grin on his face.
A smile that is meant to disarm me.
It works, but only because I’m drawn to things like him. My gaze leaves his face to explore the dark tattoos covering his neck. A shiver zips up my spine, and of course he notices. Luckily, he mistakes it for a lack of heat.
