“No,” she said quickly, pulling it to her chest.“I’ll just keep it… er… here.”
He repositioned the lights so they were shining straight onto her back, the scars more startling in relief.Trent pursed his lips and blew out a soft breath.Her shoulders shook as she gripped her shirt to her chest like a security blanket.
He took a step back, walked around to the front of the bed, and straddled a wheeled stool.
Harper looked at him with fear and steely determination.He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees.
“I want you to touch my arm.Nothing creepy or weird.Just touch me.”
“What for?I mean, why would you want me to do that?”
“When I touched you out there earlier, you flinched.I’m thinking if you could get used to touching me first, my touching you wouldn’t feel quite so strange.”
Harper’s perfectly white teeth indented her soft pink lip.
He put his arm on the bed, the inner side facing toward her.Holding still, he waited patiently.
Tentatively, Harper lifted her left hand, her fingers twitching again like she was running her fingers down the keys of a piano in sequence.Seconds ticked by.Hell, he could wait all night if that’s what she needed.She exhaled slowly as she lowered her blouse and moved her arm toward him.She brushed her fingertips lightly along his skin, starting with the inside of his wrist, stroking the inked drops of blood where the corner of a tattooed cross appeared to dig into his skin.
Studying the ink she touched, seeing it in a new light as she continued her way to his elbow, reminded him again of just how incredible an artist Junior had been.
Her touch was like a breath of air whispering against him.He watched the very tip of her index finger brush over the tightly packed ink, the gentle pressure sending shivers down his spine.Her shaking fingertips were as cold as marble.
“It’s beautiful.Will you explain it to me?”
Trent studied her face as she continued to touch him.All flawless complexion and high cheekbones, long dark eyelashes curling softly outward.“Sure.You familiar with theDivine Comedy?”
“The band?”
Trent smiled.“No, all my tattoos are from Dante’sDivine Comedy.Some people say Dante’sInfernobut that’s not totally accurate.It’s three chapters.Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.”
“So this is…?”Harper paused.
“Heaven.”His left arm showed Hell and his back showed Purgatory.
She continued slowly stroking his arm, her soft fingers sending tremors throughout his body as she crossed the Roman numeral XII.He’d been so excited to show it to Cujo after he’d gotten it done.Cujo’d loved it right up to the point where Trent told him all about the twelve souls who illuminate the world intellectually.Then he’d just laughed and called him a pompous ass.
“Beatrice leads Dante through nine celestial spheres, starting with the Moon for the Inconstant here.”He pointed to the rosary wrapped around his wrist with its cross bound in barbed wire.“Souls who abandon their faith.It goes all the way up my arm to the ninth, Primum Mobile, the home of the angels.”He pointed to the top of his bicep.“My shoulder is the final destination.Empyrean, where God lives.”
He lifted his arm and let her trace the letters that wrapped around it just above his elbow.Junior had spent forever getting the midnight-blue text with stars through it perfect, cursing Dante for describing the “pattern of lights” in such detail.Diligite iustitiam qui iudicatis terram.
“‘Love Justice, ye that judge the earth,’” she said, surprising him.
“You know Dante?”
Harper dropped her head to focus back on his tattoos.“It’s a popular quote, isn’t it?”
He wasn’t sure.“It’s the sixth celestial sphere.Jupiter, home of the Rulers.”
Her fingers continued their slow, teasing slide across the fixed stars of faith, hope, and love.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”Man, those eyes were something else.She lifted them from his arm to his face.
“Are you going to be okay if I touch you now?”He felt the absence of her fingers the moment they left his skin.
Harper pursed her lips.“I honestly don’t know.I think so.Just go slow, okay?I haven’t let anybody see or touch my back in years.Just having you standing behind me is a huge deal.”
What an amazing responsibility for her to trust him with.He was honored.
