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How could you make the waves do that to hurt me and trap me here?”
    Ny didn’t speak. He averted his eyes. He was hiding something from her. Typical. Then, a forlorn look washed his features. Ah, Saffron, I am not doing this to you. This is your mind, those waves the matter of all that you are.… You cannot escape by running away…. He wondered if the moment had come. Could he finally move to her now? Could he scoop her up, hold her, and claim her once more? His smile was sad. “You have always been a runner.”
    Saffron stiffened.
    Ny held back, barely. He was so close to her now.
    She sat up, her mouth hanging open in wonder. Why didn’t she understand before? She looked at Ny. He saw the look in her eyes and became frightened. She sat there, drenched, her long hair, the hair he adored so much, hanging in wet clumps about her shoulders and back. Her lips were full and red, her grey eyes bright and penetrating. Her cheekbones were high on her heart-shaped face. He had loved it, he had loved the way she worshipped him, lived for him, and died for him. It was why he always came back for her. Why he always wanted her around, lifetime after lifetime. He had been with a million whores, homemakers, and adoring virgins — but he always came back for her.
    Now she realized why — because her adoration for him endured. Impossibly, in all incarnations, Saffron always lived to lay her eyes upon Ny’s perfection…at any cost.
    Above all else, Ny absolutely lived for adoration. He got adoration from all of those other women, but their lust, love, obsession – whatever it was that held them to him — eventually, always waned.
    But this was not the case with Saffron. He gave her a sheepish smile.
    She closed her eyes in disgust.
    He chucked her in the shoulder. No, Saffron went right on adoring him. She was his constant electrical supply when the batteries ran down on the others.
    Saffron opened her eyes, stared at the cloudless blue above her and sighed. Then her look changed. A fresh look of hope washed across her soft cheeks and tired eyes, like a long-awaited breeze on a stuffy, hot day.
    Ny watched the light of recognition ignite Saffron from the inside. He froze.
    I have complete control. I only have to sustain the effort.
    “ I have complete control. I only have to sustain the effort.”
    Ny’s arms went limp when the wind whispered her thoughts in his ear. Her voice was so sweet, soothing. So deceptive.
    I have complete control.
    “ I have complete control.”
    “ Very good, Saffron.” Ny sounded flat and irritable. “So you finally realize you can control everything in your life. But, what will you do with this new-found knowledge? Ha! That is the question. How long before you give up and let your cravings take over for you?”
    “ I will walk away from here, Ny, from you. I don’t have to run. Running never worked because I didn’t have to do it. I’ll wake myself up now, and get on with my life. I’ll stop regretting and feeling guilty.” She pointed a finger at him. “And I’ll stop being afraid.” She stared hard at him. “I’m getting on with my life – this is it, now.”
    It was the same lesson she had learned when dealing with Jethin. Did it apply to all of life’s difficulties? How had she forgotten the lesson so quickly? How often in life would she have to remind herself that she was the captain of her own ship? Would she forget to remind herself? She rolled her eyes and stood up. “Yeah, you’re hot. Yeah, looking at you right now — even though you tried to murder me…” her eyebrow arched, “…murder me repeatedly — I’m still attracted to you. But I don’t need you.”
    Ny scoffed.
    “ And I’m going to walk away.” She pursed her lips and turned away from him. She started to walk away. The sea was quiet as a lake at midnight.
    He yelled after her, “In time, Saffron, you will come back to me!” He stomped his foot in the soft sand. “You cannot deny me!” He watched