Page 17 of Painless
I took a long pull of my beer and set it down on the pool deck, releasing it to dunk my head back underwater. Too much noise, too much thinking. It was so much more peaceful under the surface.
I swam to the far edge and kicked off, cutting through the water with long strokes. Just before I hit the opposite wall, a pair of feet dipped into the water. Slender, feminine feet.
When I broke the surface to take a breath, Mari smiled at me from her perch on the pool’s edge. Her navy-blue bikini hugged her beautiful form in ways I only wish I could.
You don’t have to just wish,a small voice reminded me. It sounded like the devil whispering into my ear, urging me to give in to temptations, to partake of what would, surely, feel so good. The other voice, the one keeping me on the righteous path, had been oddly silent as of late.
“Hey, baby girl.” I slicked my hair back and cleared the water from my nose. “Coming in?”
“That depends.” She kicked her legs, making small splashes. “You gonna make sure I don’t drown?”
“You don’t need me for that,” I laughed. “But is your cat gonna defy the rules of the animal kingdom and follow you in?”
A few feet away, Freyja leaned as far as she could over the edge without falling in. Green eyes dilated, her tiny black nose flexed as she sniffed the water. Then she gingerly extended one paw to bat at the wet, blue stuff.
“I have faith in her,” Mari declared. “I don’t think those two will let her drown anyway.”
Hades reclined nearby at Reaper’s side. The dog was relaxed, gnawing on a bone, but his eyes remained on his new furry sidekick. Horus was also close by, perched on the wrought-iron fence surrounding the pool. I didn’t have to slip my consciousness into him to know he took note of every single one of the kitten’s movements. Those talons would be ready to push off, wings ready to dive, if she ended up in the pool.
Immediately after Mari found her, the animals went into protective mode. They guarded and took to her like she was one of their own. Maybe their animal forms were all different species, but the three of us knew they were cut from the same cloth. We just didn’t know what that cloth was made of.
I raised a hand from the water and hovered it over Freyja. The water droplets falling onto her may as well have been acid with how she hissed and ran back to Hades.
“You’re so mean!” Mari cried, but she was laughing.
“Nah,thisis mean.”
I wrapped my arms around her bare waist in a hug, and dragged her into the water with me.
“Gunner!” she shrieked, but didn’t fight me. “I wasn’t ready!”
“Keep psyching yourself up and you’ll never be ready,” I grinned, loosening my hold on her. “At least I didn’t jump in with you this time.”
“Yeah,soconsiderate,” she groaned. Her fingertips lingered on my abs and she made no move to pull them away.
“Aw, come on, your feet touch the bottom here. You’re no damsel in distress.” I pulled away from her to grab my beer. Her touch on me felt good. Too good.
A quietness settled between us. I took sips of my drink while she gradually lowered more of herself into the water, until only her face was uncovered.
“There you go,” I encouraged her. “See, it’s not all that scary.”
“I think I’m more scared of getting my tattoo now than water,” she admitted with a nervous laugh.
“Oh, no way. Drowning’s a lot scarier. You can’t die from a tattoo, not even a bad one.”
“Unless the needle has Hepatitis,” she retorted. “Or HIV. Or I get a bad bacterial infection—”
“I get Shadow disposable needles,” I assured her. “And he is meticulous about keeping his area clean.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Really?” she said, and looked over her shoulder.
Slick was stretched out a table, Shadow bent over him and oblivious to his surroundings as he inked the Demon onto Slick’s torso. A few people gathered around to watch and pour alcohol into Slick’s mouth when he requested it.
“No one’s got food around him,” I pointed out. “And look, Shadow’s wearing gloves, see?”
Mari’s eyes narrowed but she didn’t argue. “Does it have to be so…public?”
“I mean, if you want to throw a party in honor ofyoubecoming official, no one’s gonna say no. But if you want yours done privately, no one’s gonna tell the president’s old lady otherwise.”
