Page 23 of Finding Embers and Stars (Twin Flames Duet #1)
Chapter twenty-three
O nce Maverick and Piper make amends, I reach out to Sage and gently caress her thigh. The one thing I’ve noticed about our mates is that they are only quick to anger when it’s in defense of each other.
She lets out a deep breath and turns her brilliant purple eyes towards me. Her gaze sweeps down my torso. At first, I think she’s admiring my muscles, of which I have quite a few, but her eyes pause to admire the colorful tattoo that covers my right arm.
Reaching out with a single fingertip, she traces the trunk of the palm tree that runs from my elbow to the point of my shoulder. “Why the beach scene?”
I can’t help but smile. Most people see the bright colors and don’t look any deeper. Sage is one of the first to ask why I chose this image. “The first time I saw the ocean, it called to me. The demon realm doesn’t have any oceans. A few large lakes and that’s about it. The idea of a body of water this large fascinated me. The sound of the waves became the only sound I could fall asleep to.”
Her finger moves across my skin, a trail of goosebumps following as she traces the rolling wave and the white sand beach. The colors of the sunset over the water are bright and make the silhouette of a woman with long hair blowing in the breeze stand out. Next to her almost hidden by the tree trunk is the shadow that Milo’s vision showed us. It has little form outside of being humanoid, but the woman is reaching into the shadow, holding its hand.
Her eyes widen when she makes the connection. “You had this done from Milo’s vision. Without knowing anything about us, you had it tattooed on your body?”
“Yes, even with all the unknowns, I knew you were my destiny.”
“It’s beautiful work,” Piper adds.
I was so focused on Sage touching me, I didn’t realize she was listening to my explanation as well.
“We found a good tattoo artist, but someday I want to get a tattoo done by Zeke. I wouldn’t even care what it was if he could work on me.”
Piper and Sage trade a look before bursting into giggles. I’m glad I lightened the mood, but what the hell did I say to get this reaction?
“Well, I think we could help with that. He did all of our tattoos.”
My mouth drops open, and I gape at Piper. The guys are in just as much shock as me. Our love of tattoos is another thing we bonded over. “How is that even possible? Are we talking about the same Zeke?”
Sage rolls her eyes at me. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure we are. World renowned tattoo artist that has a three-year waiting list. Got his start in Billings, Montana. He’s known for working closely with a domestic violence shelter and offering free tattoos to help cover scaring. Any of this ringing a bell?”
At my stilted nod of disbelief, Piper adds her own eye roll to the conversation. “He’s also mated to one of our best friends and is like an adoptive big brother to both of us.”
How is it that our mates know so many of the people that we’ve always looked up to? I know that the whole six degrees of separation thing is real, but this is crazy.
Walker shakes his head as he studies the octopus on Sage’s thigh. Not that he needs an excuse to look at her, but it’s certainly a good one. “I’ve always been happy with my mate tattoo, but after seeing the work that Zeke does, I kind of wish we had waited.”
“Hold up. Mate tattoo?” Piper looks confused and slightly hurt at that revelation.
Maverick squeezes her hand that he’s still holding. “Like Wyatt’s. We all got a scene that meant something to us and had our mate and the shadow put in the picture.” He turns to show her the full sleeve on his left arm. The waterfall pouring over a tall cliff with a silver wolf standing on a rock below with his head thrown back to howl at the bright full moon overhead. Standing at the top of the waterfall is the same mate and shadow that I have.
One by one, we all turn to show our mates the tattoos we got right after Milo had his vision. Milo’s tattoo is a large watercolor splash surrounding a camera. You have to look closely to see the figures in the reflection of the lens.
Walker’s is an underwater scene, complete with a shipwreck. There is a large shark that tends to draw the eye, but if you look carefully at the broken window of the ship, you can see the reflection of our mates.
Liam’s is less subtle than the rest of ours. Due to his equine nature, he wanted a large meadow with a herd of wild horses running through the grass. Our mates are sitting among a patch of wildflowers in the foreground, their stark black shapes standing out vividly from the nature scene.
Sage and Piper are quiet as it dawns on them that they have been tattooed on our bodies for years. I think we need a break from the serious topics, we came out to the pool to have fun after all.
“Okay, that’s enough standing around. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can’t wait to see my mates all wet for me.” Grabbing Sage around the hips, I spin and toss her into the water.
Her shriek of surprise is cut off when she goes underwater and when she swims back to the surface, the look on her face is making me question my life choices.
“Wyatt.” Piper’s sing-song tone has me turning back to face her, somewhat hesitantly, but turning all the same. The moment I’m facing her, she launches herself off the lip of the pool, her hands landing on my shoulders and pushing me over backward into the water.
Planting her feet against my belly, she pushes me down before swimming towards the middle of the pool where Sage is.
They swim to the shallow end of the pool and Piper works her soaked denim shorts down, revealing her octopus tattoo. The style is clearly the same as Sage’s, but the colors are completely different.
Sage’s tentacle monster is done in shades of bright teal and bold purple. At the first look I almost think the colors don’t go together but the longer I look at her the more I like the combination.
Piper’s tattoo is done in a full rainbow of dark jewel tones. Heavy black outlines and shadows bring the image to life and it’s both a compliment and the complete opposite to the one Sage has.
Just like our mates are to each other.