Warning – this episode contains strong language, drug use, and scenes of a sexual nature. Fairly average chapter then ;-)

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19. For Your Eyes Only

Naomi

Another day, another glorious awakening chez Fitch. Emily's room gets the sunlight in the morning, and the room was filled with a beautiful golden glow. She never closes her curtains, says she needs to feel connected to the natural cycles of the day even when she's asleep, and it's not like there's any close neighbours or passers by to peer in on us. It used to freak me out at first, being used to having my curtains shut tight as a defence against the world until my alarm clock snapped me awake at the last possible moment. But that was before I discovered the untold pleasures of gently seeping back to consciousness in the company one of Ms. Emily Fitch. Some days she's there first, and I get to wake up to the sight of her beautiful face smiling at me, or the feel of her fingers dancing lightly across my skin. Other days I get to watch her sleeping, her radiant red hair shining in the morning light, and I take dozens more mental photographs for my already enormous memory file marked 'Emily looking gorgeous'. Other days I will wake to discover her tiny form tangled lazily around mine, and my 100 mile an hour brain will decide to take a hike and allow me to bask uninterrupted in the simple delight of holding the woman I love.

I know that I am changing. This woman and this place are reaching into me and altering the way I operate on a very basic level. And I think it's for the better. I feel happier, and not just cause I'm getting awesome sex on a regular basis. Sometimes I feel like I was only half the person I could be before I got here. It's like Emily has somehow opened my eyes to the beauty of the world as well as its horrors. I'm definitely a lot less angry. She has shown me that passion doesn't have to be a burden, that caring doesn't have to lead to despair. I used to moan a lot about the state of the world, but my moaning wasn't exactly getting me anywhere. Of course I still care about corruption, injustice and the environment, but I don't let it depress me any more. Emily has shown me that if we want to change the world, we have to become the kind of people we would want to live in that world, so others might be more inclined to follow us. We are all a part of the future, and it becomes what we choose to make it.

Being out at sea all the time had definitely had an effect. I have grown to love it so much, I am starting to wonder how I'll cope being stuck in a building most days when I go back to university. But then that thought always leads on to the far more devastating question of how the fuck am I going to cope without Emily? That morning I glossed over it the same way I glossed over it every time it raised its ugly head. I didn't want to think about it. It was just too horrible to contemplate. We had gotten in so deep so quickly, and she seemed so much a part of me now that the idea of separation appalled me. I know she said she wanted a future together, but would we really be able to sustain a long distance relationship when we'd had such an intense beginning?

I was grateful for the distraction when I felt Emily stirring.

"Hey beautiful," came her voice from beside me.

It was her morning voice, the sleepy one with even more of that wonderful husk in it, and it was too beautiful to ignore. I rolled my head to face her and in an instant my whole world was pain. A mighty stabbing pain shot through my skull, as though Katie had just rammed a stiletto through my temple in a fit of temper.

"Fucking Christ!" I exclaimed, desperately trying to blink the pain away.

"Feeling a little worse for wear are we?" smirked Emily.

I couldn't even respond to her teasing, as the throbbing in my head was joined by a sensation of nausea, and the general feeling that every cell in my body had somehow been poisoned. Which of course they had been, but I had done it to myself. Emily's smirk dissolved into a tender face of concern.

"Are you alright, hun?" she asked me. "Do you need me to get you a bucket?"

Oh, if only it was that simple that I could just throw up and start to feel better, but I had the feeling that this hangover was going to haunt me throughout the rest of the day. I reached out for Emily and clung onto her weakly. At least if I was going to die, I could die in the heaven of her arms.

"How much did you have to drink last night?" said Emily softly.

I could only force out one word. The one word that I knew would explain it all.

"Cook," I mumbled into her chest.

"Ah, that explains it all," said Emily, proving my point.

I had found myself at a loose end the night before. Thomas had cried off for a couple of days after practically begging me to let him got to Bristol so he could see Pandora. Effy and Emily were still out at sea diving with Cat and I had pretty much done with work. I could have stayed in and done some reading or maybe dicked about on the internet, but I was missing my girl and I wanted the comfort of human company. I had contemplated going to see Katie, but as I hadn't yet succeeded in my mission to determine whether Effy and Cat were an item, I thought better of it. So I found myself wandering out to the pub to see who was around. One of the advantages of being in such a small place was that there was always bound to be somebody you knew. I had barely gotten in through the door before I heard Cook's astonishingly loud voice booming out across the room at me.

"Naomi Campbell, come and sit your arse down over here immediately," he shouted, before yelling over to the bar. "Freds, get Naomi a pint, man."

A free pint seemed like too good an offer to refuse, so I wandered over. Cook was patting the seat beside him.

"You are just the person I want to see," he grinned.

"Why's that then?" I said suspiciously.

"I need you," he replied.

"Cook, we've been through this," I sighed. "I'm still gay, and I'm still in love with Emily."

"I'm not after your body tonight," he laughed.

"What makes tonight so special?" I said sarcastically.

"It's quiz night," he said. "And I need you for your brain. You are the vital ingredient I need to complete my dream team. You're going to be my secret weapon that nets us the jackpot."

"The jackpot?"

"Yeah," said Freddie, returning with the drinks. "You see as well as the regular prize where you win pints and stuff, there's this cash jackpot that you only win if your team gets over 35 points. If no-one wins it, it gets rolled forward to the next week."

"And no-one's won it for weeks," added Cook with a glint in his eye. "It's currently standing at two hundred and fifty quid. Which is where you come in. We've got to get our hands on that cash before some fancy bunch of tourists comes in one night and nicks it off us."

"Which is where you come in," said Freddie. "Cause we've got some serious gaps in our knowledge base. I've got music covered, and Cook is great with sport."

"And Julie," said Cook, gesturing to a mousy looking girl who looked like she didn't get out much. " Has an encyclopaedic knowledge of soaps and all that X-Factor shit."

"The X-Factor's not shit," mumbled Julie.

In another display of how my personality has eased over these past few weeks, I refrained from jumping down the poor girl's throat with my opinions of the said appalling televisual spectacle, and instead turned back to Cook.

"So what do you need me for?" I asked him.

"We need someone for the nerdy shit," replied Cook.

"Oh great," I said, going to stand up until Freddie put his hand on my arm to stop me.

"He means for the clever stuff," said Freds. "He's just too dumb to say it like that."

"Can't you just Google shit?" I huffed.

"That's the thing," shrugged Cook. "I am dumb, and everyone knows it. So if I suddenly start coming out with clever answers, everyone's going to know that we are cheating. And that, my friend, is frowned upon. But you, you know, you're actually clever. You actually know stuff."

"What the hell," I shrugged, sitting back down again. "I'll be your brainy nerd."

"Fucking mint, Blondie," yelled Cook, high fiving Freddie before giving some neighbouring tables the evil eye.

"Your going down motherfuckers," he taunted. "You're going down."

The quiz turned out to be quite good fun, and got more fun as Cook kept feeding me more pints. Of course there were quite a lot of questions I didn't have a clue about, but the others seemed fairly confident about their answers. Cook's dream team, who he'd adventurously named 'Cookie Monster's Dream Team' were fairly good at coming up with the goods, but every time there was a question that stumped them they turned to me with expectant looks on their faces. I had to admit I was feeling quite smug every time I could drag out an answer from the back of my brain, and whisper it to my teammates, especially when I could hear groans coming from the neighbouring tables as they took fervent guesses at things I was absolutely certain of. I was fairly sure I was going to have a bruise the next morning from the number of times Cook punched me in the arm and shouted 'Nice one, Blondie' in delight.

Eventually it was time to swop papers and mark up a neighbouring team's score. Freddie grinned goofily and Cook howled with delight every time we got an answer right, which was a lot. I felt relaxed and happy in their easy company, and even Julie seemed to be coming out of her shell.

"We're gonna fucking ace this," grinned Freddie, when the time came to hand the papers back in.

"We've certainly beaten this bunch of bozos," laughed Cook, waving the crumpled sheet in his hand at 'Jonno's Boyos' at the next table.

On his way back he got yet another round of drinks in and we waited in giddy drunken anticipation for the results. The quizmaster, an enormous fat guy known as Mad Mike, stepped back up to the microphone.

"In third place with thirty-two points we have 'The Dirty Stopouts'," he said, raising a cheer from a group on the other side of the room.

"In second place with thirty-four points, and just missing out on the jackpot we have 'The Bling Bling Bitches'."

This announcement was greeted with loud shrieking from a table full of women.

"This is it people," said Cook, as Mad Mike paused for dramatic effect. "Prepare yourselves for victory."

I was more preparing myself for the spectacle Cook was going to make of himself if we did actually win, but I smiled back at him.

"Right there with ya, Captain Cook," I slurred, punching him back on the arm as hard as I could. He barely even flinched.

"But this week's winners," said Mike dramatically. "With a massive thirty-seven points, nabbing both top prize and the fabulous rollover jackpot are Cookie Monster's Dream Team."

A mixture of cheers and jeers rang out across the pub as Cook leapt from his chair and pumped his fists in the air. He danced across the pub loudly singing 'Championes, Championes' and ribbing the defeated teams around him.

"He really is a cock, isn't he?" I laughed at Freddie.

"Yeah, but he's cute with it," blurted Julie.

It was the loudest I had heard her all evening, and I raised a quizzical eyebrow at her forcing her face to fill with a deep crimson blush. When Cook returned to the table via a trip to the toilet, he seemed even more excitable than usual and dumped a wad of twenty pound notes in the middle of the table.

"So what are you going to spend your winnings on?" I asked him.

"TEQUIIILAAAAA!" he howled, shoving a note into Freddie's hand and ordering him to the bar.

"A sound investment," I giggled at him.

"Couldn't have done it without ya, Naomikins," he said, reaching out his hand for me to shake. "And now that I don't need your brain to be coherent any more, I'm gonna help you destroy it. Knock yourself out, babe. It's Effy's finest."

I felt him press something into my hand as he shook it, and as I closed my fist around the small packet, I didn't need to be a brainy nerd to work out that it was drugs of some kind. I smirked back at Cook, and wandered off to the toilets. It wasn't until I had locked the toilet door behind me that I opened my hand to discover what I was letting myself in for. I held the little plastic baggy up to the light. Cocaine. What the hell, I thought. I was already shitfaced and I was in the mood to party. I racked out a regular sized line on the top of the cistern, but had just enough of my wits about me to think twice. Effy's finest, the words came tumbling back through my brain. Every drug I had had since I'd come here had been seriously hardcore strength, and they had to be coming from somewhere. It seemed that my theories about Effy being a smuggler were proving to be correct. I cut the line in half, and then rolled up a tenner to take just that portion of it. The hit was almost instantaneous, and powerful as fuck. I leant back against the wall of the cubicle and let the rush come.

"Damn," I whispered to myself, as a feeling of euphoria and invincibility overtook me. This had to be the best coke I had ever had in my life. My brain was screaming in delight at the artificially induced sensations, and I couldn't help but laugh at the thought that some of my old buddies back in Bristol would kill for something this good. I eyed up the second half of the line lying temptingly along the porcelain. I could have just scooped most of it back into the bag, but Cook had released the devil in me. I've probably had better ideas in my time, but I re-rolled my tenner, and hoovered up the rest of the powder.

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As lay there with Emily soothingly stroking my back I tried to piece together the subsequent events, but the rest of the night remained only in fragments, and those fragments only in pictures. The crack of glass on wood as we slammed down our shot glasses after yet another round of tequila. Cook jumping round in the car park with his top off demanding that someone take him to a party. Doing lines off Julie's make up mirror on the roundabout in the kiddie park. The four of us dancing round the duck pond in the middle of the village. The grin on Cook's face as he fondled Julie's tits up against the bus stop. Me sitting cross-legged in the middle of the road as if I was in a protest shouting 'Want Emleee'. Freddie giving me a piggy back down the lanes. Lying in a bush in the Fitches front garden whilst Freddie threw stones at the window. The delight on Katie's face when she opened the door to Freddie, only to be replaced with disappointment seconds later when she realised he was after Emily. The way Emily laughed when Freddie announced he had a present for her. Emily holding me upright under the shower in the wet room. And finally, falling into the soft welcoming paradise that was our bed.

"Good night then?" asked Emily, after a few more of my most pathetic moans and groans.

"We won the quiz," I muttered weakly.

"I can see how that would lead to total annihilation," nodded Emily sagely.

"Stop taking the piss," I pouted at her. "If somebody hadn't been out at sea so long, I'd have probably had a nice quiet evening in doing shagging."

"Yes, I can see how this is all my fault," said Emily deadpan. "I'm so very very sorry. I'll stop going out to work and become your little wifey instead shall I?"

"You have no compassion," I told her.

"None whatsoever," she laughed. "Now come on, it's time to drag your sorry arse out of bed."

"Noooooo," I whined as she pulled herself away from me. "I need to stay in bed so you can nurse me with cold flannels and cups of tea."

"Lovely as that sounds," said Emily, pulling on some clothing. "I've got plans."

"Don't leave me," I frowned.

"I'm not leaving you," she replied, pulling back the covers and running an appreciative eye over my stricken form. "I'm taking you with me."

"Where?" I said grouchily. "And you just perved on a dying woman. You're evil."

"I think you'll live," said Emily, sitting back down next to me and stroking my hair. "I wanted to show you one of my special places."

"Can't we go later?"

She leaned down and kissed me on the cheek.

"No darling," she said softly. "The weather's going to be shitty all next week, and we have to catch the tide."

Emily did bring me breakfast in bed, but after that no amount of pleading and cajoling would persuade her to allow me to stay there. She was kind, but she was firm and she definitely looked like a woman on a mission. And as sorry for myself as I was feeling, there was no way I could actually refuse my little red princess anything she wanted. So not long afterwards I found myself clinging to her waist as we sped along on her scooter to some unknown destination. I began to relax a little as I leant into her comforting back. It was actually a glorious day, and it wouldn't be so bad to ride around with my lover in the sunshine and have a lazy picnic in her special place. My sense of calm was rudely disrupted, however, when we pulled up outside a small brick building sporting the Fitchwater logo, and went inside. It was a boathouse, with a number of small craft in it, and my first feeling of alarm escalated into full-scale fear when Emily chucked the waterproof pack she was carrying into one of those inflatable dinghy things with an outboard.

"You cannot be serious," I said to her in horror. "You are not taking me out in that thing."

"It's perfectly safe," she smiled back at me. "And I'm an excellent driver."

"I've got the hangover from hell, and you want to take me out on the open sea in a glorified lilo?"

"You need to get your head underwater," she laughed at me.

"What?" I scoffed. "No way."

"Seriously," she replied. "Just jump in and get your whole head in the sea. It's the best hangover cure ever."

"NO," I said firmly.

"Would I lie to you?"

"You've been known to be economical with the truth," I challenged her. "And no. I'm not doing it."

"Your loss," shrugged Emily, jumping down into the dinghy.

"Can't we go on Effy's boat?" I suggested.

"Too big."

"Well what about one of those?" I said, pointing to an attractive and robust looking speedboat."

"Nah, I wouldn't want to take one of those that close to the rocks."

"There's going to be rocks?" I gulped, edging away from the tiny rubber deathtrap.

Emily sighed, and turned round to face me.

"Naomi, I really want you to come," she said earnestly. "It's kind of important to me."

I swear those eyes of hers should really be on some kind of register, because seconds after I stared into those soft, deep pools of endless warm and comforting brown, I had willingly thrown my life into her hands and followed her down into the inflatable. The smile that greeted my actions was enough to slice its way through my fear with one fell swoop. Who were you trying to fool, I asked myself. You would follow her to the ends of the earth. It didn't stop me from gripping tightly onto the ropes that ran along the sides of the boat, as Emily eased her out into the water. Luckily the sea was quite calm that day. Any rougher and I would have been puking my guts up over the side. Emily drove us for about half an hour across the bay, and then headed directly towards the tall dark rocky cliffs that rose out of the ocean. There didn't seem to be any clear destination, as the cliffs were sheer, and the sea was still deep below us, but Emily seemed to know exactly what she was doing. She steered us through two smaller rocks and the cliff face revealed it's hidden treasure. The rocks curved round to create a hidden pool of deep water, and at the back of the pool, there was a shelf in the cliff face. A perfect semi circle with a smooth flat bottom, that was a gorgeous concealed suntrap sitting just above the surface of the waves.

"It only reveals itself for a few hours at low tide," said Emily. "But I fucking love it here. I don't think anyone else in the whole world knows about it. Apart from you now. You can only see it if you come through those two rocks. I found it when I was swimming one day."

"You swim out here?" I said incredulously, beginning to wonder if Effy's fish gene theory was true.

"I generally start from the closer end of the bay, but yeah," she said, grabbing the waterproof pack and jumping in the water. "I swim like a fucking Fitch."

I looked at her in awe as she swam over and chucked the pack onto the shelf. As she turned back towards me I was hit by a sudden fit of madness. Despite still feeling pretty fucking sketchy, I stood up and flung myself head first over the side of the boat. The shock of the water slapped me into life, and when I righted myself and pushed my head back into the air, I felt as refreshed as people pretend to be on those zingy toothpaste adverts. I swam straight over to Emily and grabbed her into a kiss.

"What are you doing?" she laughed when I released her.

"Taking the plunge," I shouted in delight. "And it feels fucking awesome."

"Wow," said Emily. "But impressive as that is, I still need to secure the boat. Also, I'm pretty sure you've just fucked your phone."

My hand shot automatically to the pocket of my shorts, where I could feel the lump of what was my soon to be ex phone. I gave myself a mental head slap, and turned to watch Emily swimming strongly after the boat, which was drifting back out to sea after my reckless abandonment. She looked so fucking beautiful in the water that I suddenly didn't give a fuck about my redundant technology.

"You know what," I yelled after her. "I don't care. I don't fucking care."

"Well aren't you the wild woman of the ocean," she grinned back at me. "I like it."

My eyes stayed riveted to her as she found a place and tied up the boat. I felt like I was in a fucking movie or something, in this perfect place with this perfect fucking woman. I swam up behind her as she started to haul herself out of the water onto the shelf. My feet managed to find some purchase on a rock below and I pushed myself up until I was standing right behind her, half in and half out of the water. I pushed the strands of her wet hair aside, and started kissing the back of her neck.

"Well, hello my reckless beauty," she murmured. "You've certainly woken up a bit."

All she was wearing was a lycra rash vest and a pair of baggy surf shorts, but suddenly even that was too much for me. I wanted to kiss more skin. I pushed her top right up her back and over her head, covering her with random kisses as I went. I threw the top up onto the shelf and returned to my prize. Emily's beautiful back with its elegant musculature and tiny dancing fishes. She wrapped her arms around a rock and waited for me. I had spent enough hours worshipping her back for her to know exactly what I wanted. I scooped up two handfuls of seawater and let them fall down from her neck splashing against the tattoo and making her fish glisten as the sunlight hit the water. I started kissing her again, tasting the salt on her and praising every last one of her inky sea creatures with a kiss. My hands started to roam over the beautiful conundrum that was Emily's hard soft hard soft curves.

"Fuck," she hissed breathily, as the waves lapped gently against our barely entwined bodies.

My top and bra were the next things to go. I needed to feel my breasts pressing against my place of worship as I continued my devotions, tracing over her hallowed contours with my tongue. Emily's appreciative moans only served to excite me further, and my hands crept round her body so I could feel the perfection of her own breasts in my palms.

"I love you," I told her, as I kissed her over and over again. I would never grow tired of kissing her back like this, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as her breathing became more ragged. I slid both my hands down from her shoulders to her wrists as her powerful arms clung onto the rock, until I was wrapped around her with my face pressed into her neck and one of my thighs pushed between her own, and my lust became a raging bull. I let myself slide slowly down her back into the water, kissing my way down her spine as I went. I stopped for breath, and then slipped below the surface, pulling her shorts down so I could kiss the tail of the tiny fish that wriggled its way between her buttocks.

But still, it wasn't enough. I carried on down, pulling her shorts from her body until she was naked before me. As I came back up, I bent my legs and pushed against a ledge, hauling us both a little further out until we half stood, half lay against the slope that led up to the shelf with the water just reaching halfway up our thighs.

"Oh God," groaned Emily as my hands and lips began to travel across her flesh once more. I could feel her wonderful ass grinding back into me and I couldn't contain myself any more. I reached down and slipped my hand between her legs, my whole heart smiling as she gasped and parted them slightly to accommodate me.

"I want to touch you," I whispered in her ear as I stroked the insides of her thighs, my own pussy growing wet as I felt her spasm at my words.

"I want to feel you," moaned Emily, her body continuing to undulate against mine.

I found my own handhold in the rock, and kissed her between the shoulder blades as I moved the fingers of my other hand in search of her clit. I groaned against her skin as I discovered my destination, sliding my whole hand back and forth across her wet folds. She called out my name as I teased her clit, and nipped at the muscles on her back, and it pushed me into a sexual frenzy. This tasteful stroking wasn't enough. I wanted to take her like this. I wanted to fuck her up against this rock and hear her scream for more.

"I want you Emily," I said.

"I know," she replied huskily, curling herself back towards me.

It was all the encouragement I needed to push myself inside her pussy and start thrusting in and out of her. She felt fucking amazing, and I kissed her and fucked her as if my life depended on it. Maybe it did, cause I had never felt so alive as I did right then, staring in awe at my tattooed lover as the sun beat down on my back and the waves lapped around my legs, and she cried and gasped at every one of my thrusts.

"I love you, I love you," I cried as we moved in perfect accelerating symmetry.

"Fuck, you're so good," she cried out. "I'm gonna fucking…"

Her words died on her lips as I felt her come, her walls closing in on me as she screamed her way through the rush.

"I love you, I love you," I cried again. If I said it a thousand times, it still wouldn't be enough to express how I really felt about her.

With one last great cry Emily's body shuddered against mine, and she relaxed her grip on the rock, letting her full weight fall back onto me. I lost my footing and the pair of us fell back into the sea. I flailed around uselessly for a bit until I regained my equilibrium to discover Emily laughing at me. She swam up to me.

"You," she said, kissing me. "Are. Fucking. Amazing. You are the most amazing woman on earth. In fact, you're not even a woman. You're a goddess. In fact, you're what goddesses have as their goddess."

I grinned in smug satisfaction at her enthusiasm. Not just a geeky nerd then.

"Come on," she said, grabbing my hand and starting to swim. "I need to get up on that shelf."

"Let me guess," I teased her. "You're hungry, and you've got food in that back."

"What can I say?" she replied. "Sex makes me hungry, but mindblowingly spectacular sex makes me ravenous."

I picked at my lunch as I looked on in amusement at Emily devouring hers. I could hardly stomach my own food. My hangover sickness had been replaced by a different swirling nausea. I was so incredibly in love I was practically shaking from it. She finished her sandwich in record time, and then came over to cuddle into me. For ages we just sat there in contented silence, as I drank in the sheer beauty of our surroundings, the blue of the sea that contrasted with the black rocks that wrapped themselves around it to give us our own private lagoon. Emily was still naked, her natural outdoor girl tan protecting her from the sun, and her natural body confidence protecting her from any embarrassment. She had fished out suncream though, and made sure my pale city girl skin was covered in it.

"This place is fucking perfect," I said, eventually breaking the silence.

"I'm glad you like it," she smiled. "I wanted to take you somewhere special. And private."

I smirked back at her, but it was quickly wiped from my face when I saw the seriousness in her eyes.

"You know I love you too right?" she asked me.

"Oh God, there's a 'but' in there isn't there?" I said in panic. "As in I love you, but…?"

"No, there's no 'but'," she said urgently. "That I love you is an absolute. I have no doubts at all about that. I love you, Naomi Campbell. Which is why I have to talk to you. I have a dilemma, and I want your opinion and your advice, but to do that I have to let go of all my secrets."

"You can tell me anything," I assured her.

"Are you sure?" she asked me. "If I let you in, you'll be implicated in the things I've done."

"I'm sure," I said with conviction. "I can't think of anything I want more than to know you completely. I'll take my chances."

Emily took a deep breath in.

"Ok," she exhaled. "It was me and Effy that blew up that pipeline."

"I know," I replied.

"Well, now you've heard it officially. And yes, we are connected to the Sea Ninjas, but we operate as an independent group within that network, or at least we did."

"Did?"

"The pipeline thing was supposed to be it," said Emily. "You do your action. You move on. You don't get caught. You inspire others to take up the struggle. That's how it was supposed to be with us, until some hacker dude called Stingray discovered some evidence."

"Evidence of what?" I asked.

"That you were right all along. The pipeline contained a pipe within a pipe. They were going to use it for waste dumping, just like you suggested."

"Those fucking bastards," I growled. "So is this Stingray person going to go public?"

"Yeah, but it's only a paper trail, they want more solid evidence to back it up, which is why the Ninja's contacted us directly, even though that's against usual protocol."

"How did they contact you?" I asked.

"By flirting with Effy in the pub," laughed Emily.

"Cat?" I said incredulously. "Cat's a Ninja?"

"Yep," said Ems. "And she wants us to go back to the blast site, to get photographs, and if possible recover a piece of the pipe with a serial number that corresponds with Stingray's findings."

"Isn't that incredibly dangerous?"

"Yes it is," replied Emily flatly. "Dangerous and stupid. It dramatically increases our chances of getting caught."

"But you still want to do it?"

"I haven't said yes yet," said Emily. "I couldn't make up my mind without asking you. I don't want to take that risk without your approval. What happens to me affects you too now."

"So if I asked you not to, then you wouldn't do it?"

Emily shook her head.

"I love you too much," she said. "And lying to you would have killed me."

I looked across at my warrior sitting in front of me. As distracting as it was I loved the fact that she had chosen to have this conversation with me naked. It was as if she wanted to show me that she was prepared to reveal everything, to make herself completely vulnerable to me, and to trust that I would respect that. I was so happy that she had chosen to open up to me like this, that I was able to give her my answer with complete conviction.

"I think you should do it," I said. "I want you to do it. I believe in you, and I believe in what you stand for."

"What if I get caught?" she said.

"Then I'll visit you in jail," I said. "I'll stand by you. I'll wait for you. I'll file lawsuits in the courts of human rights that you were acting in the defence of humanity in the face of crimes against nature. I'll saturate the media and turn you and Effy into global environmental heroes."

"God, you would and all, wouldn't you?" she smiled, but with a hint of a tear in her eye.

"You can count on it," I promised her. "But in the far more likely eventuality that you carry out this daring raid without getting caught, I will keep my mouth shut and do anything I can to help you."

I closed the distance between us and captured her into an eloquent kiss with which I tried to show her just how much I meant it.

"Do that again," she said, the second I released her.

I complied with her request. Emily was my woman, and I would do anything for her.

"Do you know what those kisses do to me?" she asked me breathlessly on the next release.

"What do they do?" I whispered, staring into the eyes that had taken me prisoner.

Forty minutes later I was still staring into those eyes once she had shown me her answer. I lay with her in her secret hideaway, my senses blown away by the whole truth of her. I swear that there cannot be a more beautiful sight on this whole planet than a just fucked Emily Fitch staring back at you with complete love, trust and admiration. But the rest of the world will never know, cause this sight is for my eyes only.