Chasing Dragonflies (16 page)

“Hey look I can do it,” she called out to him, letting go of her death grip on his hand. A little too eagerly, as she went to straighten up over she toppled. She reached out to grab Dex to steady herself and took him with her. They both collapsed into a fit of laughter on the cold hard ice.

They were still laughing as they climbed into Dex's truck to head home.

“Thank you, that was awesome. It is not something I would have thought to do.” She smiled over at him as she pulled he seatbelt over her shoulder.

“Come 'ere,” he gestured to the middle seat. She shuffled across and he slung his arm around her. “I love seeing you so happy.”

Later that day, they lay on her bed, a sheet draped over them, after having barely making it back to the house before tearing each other’s clothes off.

“What is the significance of the dragonflies? Or do you just like them?” Dex asked as he gently grazed his fingers over her new tattoo.

She had one large dragonfly, covering her original tattoo and several smaller ones trailing up over her hip. The artist had managed to cover her original Tom tattoo and skilfully intertwined the letters into the wings, so it could not be seen, but looked to be part of the tattoo.

“To me, they symbolise freedom. Plus I like them and my brother's nickname for me is fly. I like to think he means dragonfly, but I know he means those annoying little black ones.” She made a buzzing noise and wiggled her finger around his face, making him laugh. Dropping her head back down onto his chest, she could feel it rising and falling beneath her with his every breath. His skin felt warm against hers and a little sweaty after their romp.

“Some people have a bucket list—I have a dragonfly list. All the things I want to do now that I am free.”

“Is that right? So what's on this dragonfly list?”

“Well I started it a couple years ago while I was locked up. Then it was things like, feeling the sun on my face again. Swimming in the ocean. Eating ice-cream,” she let out a humourless laugh at the thought. All those things that people take for granted and there was a time she thought she might never get to experience those things again. “I've managed to do all those things, in the past few weeks, so now I have had to extend my list.”

“Oh yeah? And what's on the list now?”

“You know all the usual things, like travelling, bungee jumping, ice-skating,” she laughed.

“Ice-skating huh?”

“Well no, not really...anyway I have done that now too. But I really want to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge one day. I want to go the opera at the Opera house. I want to walk around Ayres Rock, drive around the country, fall in love, and get married.” A heavy silence hung between them. She let out a long sigh. “I guess I had many long years to think about what I would do if I ever got my freedom back.”

“Do you want to talk about it? The freedom thing?”

“What's to talk about? You already know my dad locked me up for six years.”

“I don't know, I guess I am curious about some stuff, like the blind thing this morning and I know you’re terrified of thunder.”

Maddie felt colour rush to her cheeks, she was embarrassed by her outburst. “What if I don't feel like telling you?”

Dex shrugged, “Then don't. If you don't want to answer a question, just say 'dragonflies' and we will drop it and move onto something else. Deal?”

“Okay,” she giggled. It was kind of cute, like a little game.

“So the blind thing?”

That had to be the first question, of course, the one she was embarrassed about answering. “Well I told you this morning. I don't do well being in closed in spaces.”

“What about using the toilet and bathroom?”

“Doors open.”

“Okay...what about the thunder thing, is that related with your being locked away too?”

“Pretty much.”

“So none of your family knew your dad had you all that time?”

“Well, I thought they didn't but afterwards we found out my mum knew.”

“Wow, that's harsh.”

“You're telling me,” she let out a bitter laugh.

“And they both died?”

“Dragonflies.”

“Okay sorry, so how about what did you do? Like for six years, what did you do with yourself?”

“I walked around in a tiny little area about three feet square. I exercised. Occasionally he would bring me a book or a magazine. I did some origami,” she laughed as she recalled her dad walking in to find her on the floor surrounded by origami swans. One of her primary school teachers had taught her how to make them, so when she had read the magazine from cover to cover several times she started to pull the pages out and turn them into paper swans.

“Dad was not so amused by that. Um...what else? He let me have a television for a while. It was the old family one. It must have been when they replaced it. I loved that old clunky thing, it was probably some of the best months of my life, having a TV.”

“Months! That's all you had a TV for?”

“Yeah, and the reception was terrible, the only channels that worked properly were channel four and eight. So it was either wild animal documentaries or old movies. On the plus side I now know all about African elephants,” she giggled. “Sadly Dad broke it in one of his temper tantrums.” Memories of that day came flooding back, she had been watching a soppy romance when he came in. She had tears on her cheeks, her dad could never stand to see her cry. He had flown off the handle, yelling that the TV was no good, he had picked it up off the small table it was on and thrown it down onto the floor. When it had not broken straight away, he had left the room and brought back a hammer. Smashing it into a million pieces, all the while yelling and cursing.

“Did he have temper tantrums often?”

“Dragonflies,” she said using their agreed code word. “Actually you know, I think I don't want to talk about him any more today. What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Well, what about your daughter? How old is she? What's her name?”

“Her name is Shyla and she is three years old. She will be four just before Christmas.”

“Were you married to her mum?”

He nodded.

“What happened with you two?”

“Dragonflies,” she felt him tense under her touch and knew she had hit a sore point. Not that is was any of her business anyway.

“Okay... so mechanics? Did you always want to be a mechanic?”

Dex chuckled, “No, actually I wanted to be artist, but apparently there was more money in being a mechanic.”

She propped herself up on her elbows so she could see his eyes. “An artist? Do you paint?”

“No, I draw mostly. Portraits and stuff. That's how I came to be friends with Tony. We bonded over a love of art.”

“Tony?”

“Yeah, he is my tattooist.”

Okay so that made sense, that's why he had so many tattoos.

“So why didn't you follow that path as well?”

“Turns out Tony was way better at it than me,” he let out a humourless laugh. “I did give Tony a tattoo once, when he was learning. It was a little love heart, with his then girlfriends name in it.

“One more... can I ask what happened to your hip?” Dex visibly flinched at that, as if someone had hit him.

“Car accident,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “Burnt it, had a skin graft, it didn't take so well, left this hideous scarring.”

Maddie had felt the scarring before she had seen it, it took up the full length of his right hip. Starting at this hip bone and extending to the top of his thigh. The skin was pinched and raised, almost like a bubbling effect.

“It's not hideous,” she defended, and it was not as far as she was concerned. It was just that she was curious about it, she had not wanted to upset him.

“What happened?”

“Dragonflies,” Dex responded looking away.

“Okay. No worries.” Clearly they both had secrets that they did not want to talk about. She was okay with that. At least she knew he would understand her being hesitant to talk about her own secrets.

Dex had stayed for the
rest of the weekend, Patrick kept his distance. He made some excuse about having to work. Maddie was not sure how true that was, but was grateful he was giving her some space.

She was still asleep on Monday morning when she felt the tickle of Dex's beard on her bare back, followed by his soft lips as they peppered tiny kisses all the way down her spine. It felt amazing, not just the sensation on her skin that was setting her on fire, but waking up with Dex in her bed. She had never left home. The few nights she had managed to steal away with Tom had been on camping trips. Whilst they were fun, they were nothing like what she felt now, waking up with this gorgeous man kissing her.

“Ahh,” she let out a long sigh.

Dex looked up from where he was kissing her and shot her a smile.

“Good morning Sweetheart,” he whispered, then he carried on with his kisses.

He kissed her all the way down to her toes, making her giggle. It took all her will-power not to kick out at him. Dex let out a low sexy, rumbling laugh. He knew exactly what he was doing to her. Gently rolling her onto her back, he started working his way back up her leg, leaving tiny kisses along the way. As he reached the top of her thigh, she started to tremble a little in anticipation and she was not disappointed. Dex continued with his kisses, over her bare shaved skin, darting his tongue out and circling it around her most sensitive area.

Knowing Patrick was asleep in the next room, she bit down on her lower lip in an effort to keep quiet. One hand fed into Dex's hair, the other into the sheets as sensation over took her and she cried out, while her body convulsed. Completely forgetting about Patrick in the next room. Completely forgetting everything in the whole world, except what she was feeling right in this very moment. She was panting heavily as he came back to lay beside her, laying kisses along her neck, while her breathing evened out.

“I have to go to work now baby,” he gave her a sad smile, as he reached over and placed a kiss on her lips.

“No, don't go...” she pleaded.

“Have too, sorry,” another kiss, then he was up, out of her bed, leaving a huge empty space and warm sheets behind.

She stretched out across the sheets where he had just been and watched as he pulled his boxers on, then his jeans.

“Will you come back?”

He moved to sit on the edge of the bed, and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in for a hug.

“Do you want me too?”

She raised her eyebrows at him. Surely he wasn't being serious.

“Atomic bombs, couldn't keep me away baby,” he laughed again, before leaning forward and kissing her.

***

As promised Dex did come back. Every day that week in fact, he either called or turned up on her doorstep. Usually around four. A few times he picked her up during the day and took her to help him with jobs. She was pretty sure she was not much help, but she enjoyed spending the time with him. Patrick was working most evenings now which meant they had the house to themselves.

She learnt more about him, more about Shyla and his Dad. He never spoke again about his accident and she did not bring it up. She opened up a little more to him about her time in captivity. Told him how she missed her dad. He was a lot less judgemental than Patrick and Xavier. She guessed as he was less attached to the situation.

The media attention had started to die off now. She was grateful for that. She had turned down a very lucrative deal with a prominent woman’s magazine to sell her story. Xavier told her she was crazy, but she already knew that.

Saturday morning she awoke and reached out for him, finding the bed cold. She had grown used to waking next to him in her bed and keenly felt his loss.

Slipping out of bed, she pulled on a white silky robe, pulling the belt around and tying it at her waist. The bedroom door was ajar, so she moved through it silently.

It was not that she meant to sneak up on him, but as she moved across the polished wood floor in her bare feet, she was aware of her silence. Sitting at the table in the kitchen, head down she found him. Moving in closer and peering over his shoulder to see what he was doing, she could see a charcoal image of her face coming alive on a stark white piece of paper. Furiously his right hand arced across the page and she stood watching riveted. She had never seen something so amazing. Her own features coming alive on the page. He had told her he liked to draw, but she had yet to see any of his work.

“Wow! That is amazing,” she whispered.

Dex visibly jumped in his chair.

“I didn't know you were awake,” he let out on a chuckle.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to startle you,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his cheek. “How can you do that?” She asked gesturing to the page that lay out on the table in front of him.

“What draw?”

“Yeah I wasn't even here and yet, that is so amazing and life-like. It's like looking in a mirror, you have such an amazing talent.”

Moving his chair back from the table he pulled her down into his lap, studying her face. He brought a finger up and hooked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

“I know every part of your beautiful face Maddie. All I have to do when you are not with me is close my eyes and there you are. I love you.”

Maddie's heart skipped a beat. Dex just told her he loved her. She loved him too. Leaning forward she placed a soft kiss on his lips. Dex's hand slipped down under her robe, running down her side, causing her to shudder. Every time he touched her it felt like the first, she could not get enough of him.

They were interrupted by a throat clearing.

“Are you two at it again...jeez I'm going to have to find somewhere else to live at this rate.” Came Patrick's voice as he entered the kitchen.

Maddie stood up and waved Patrick closer. “Come, look at this Trick,” she said pointing at the drawing Dex was working on. “Isn't it amazing?”

Patrick leant over Dex's masterpiece, then smiled up at Maddie, “It looks just like you...beautiful.”

Dex abruptly rose from the table, snatching the picture up in one hand and his pencils in another and stalked off to Maddie's room. She knew he didn't like Patrick and thought he was being a bit petulant so she let him go and went about organising some breakfast.