One Year Later

Oscar placed a wet kiss on the nape of my neck. I had been playing around with a sketch for a while. As always when an idea hit, I felt no hunger, no sleep, no thirst. Except for a different kind of longing, that happened whenever Oscar’s hands circled my waist and I sighed, leaning my weight into his warm body.

“You’re so tempting,” I whispered, as his hands roamed around my curves and he flashed his teeth. “You’re naughty,” I told him louder, as his touch got insistent and my body forgot how to move on its own. “You’ll get paint over everything,” I managed to say before his mouth consumed mine and I forgot to look where I was throwing my brush, throwing my body at his. His tongue ran the seam of my lips, finding me as I tangled my tongue with his. I was his to devour.

I didn’t remember when we landed on the bed. It was all consuming. It was delicious. It was torturous.

“Mine.” His gruff voice vibrated on my neck, making the skin around the area explode into flowers of warm desire.

“Yes,” I acquiesced, holding my breath. His body and mine were keyed to each other. I could feel his wanton desire like it was my own. I thrust against his erection, running my hands restlessly over the expanse of his chiseled chest. He pinned my hands above our heads, pushing us deep into the blankets. I bent my knees and braced off the bed and into him, and he grunted in approval. I wanted to touch him, undress him, run my hands all over him, but his hold didn’t relinquish.

“Patience.” He teased, and all I could do was grind against his hardness. I squeezed my thighs around him, and his response was a moan deep from his chest. I did it again and he squeezed my wrists, crushing me in a kiss that was meant to consume.

We got lost in each other for hours, and it was only after we were both sated that he turned his attention back to my painting.

“What’s this?” he asked, and I looked up into his eyes and saw a sparkle of interest different from any he’d had for my other canvases.

“I remembered something from back when I was reading up on Japanese and Chinese cultures.”

“Are those Koi fish?” he asked.

“Yes; representing the yin-yang through paired up Koi fish circling each other is pretty common, but I am giving them a small spin. You see, all legends say the Koi became a dragon at the end of its journey. That is why these seemingly common fish symbolize a lot of power; and family bonds. I think I read somewhere that during various kinds of family reunions, depending on who and what is celebrated, the families would wear different colors that would be related to the one they were declaring their love to.”

His long fingers followed the lines of my drawing in an admiring, swift motion, not really touching the canvas.

“I could tattoo this symbol somewhere on me,” he mused.

“After I’m completely done coloring the dragon heads. This one will be black, which is the symbol for overcoming obstacles. This one is going to be red, for family unity and strength and blue – for beginning a clean slate. I think you both need that, no?” I paused, searching his eyes.

He nodded, placing a chaste kiss on my shoulder.

“And they will circle around each other—as opposite forces always do—and give each other strength by co-existing,” I said.

“Okay, Captain Obvious.” He gave me a crooked grin, letting me know he really did love what I was creating for them.

“I have something else too.”

I showed him an all-black symbol I’d texted with Oswald about.

I’d finally made my own version of a triple tomoe—three small tadpoles that chased each other throughout eternity, their circling of each other as necessary as the wheels in an old mechanical clock. One without the other would stop.

“Okay, we’re definitely getting these,” Oscar mused. “All three of us.”

It definitely looked like tattoo talk was something of a turn on for my boyfriend, as he playfully nudged me back into the sheets.

“All three of us?” I squeaked back. “I’m afraid of needles.”

“Do it and I’ll tattoo a chameleon on top of my heart?”

I held my breath. “Oh really? Who’s going to draw that for you?”

His response was a small bite of my lip. The magatama bead that was sister to my own hanging around his neck tickled my skin. “Who do you think?”

I looked up into the gorgeous golden eyes of the boy of my dreams.

“Okay. Let’s do it!”