Chapter 71: To IndiaArriving in Mumbai, they checked in to the Vaasna Suite at Hotel Le Sutra."Whoa! Now that's a ceiling!" Luke said. Bella glanced up to see a painting of intertwined lovers. She looked back at him, grinning.As they settled in, Bella noticed a brochure on the desk that offered some information regarding the name of the room."Hey, Luke, listen to this," she said, reading from the pamphlet, ''Vaasna' is 'Sensuality' in Sanskrit. The theory closest to the truth contends that all creation is the balance of opposites; light and dark, positive and negative, dynamic and kinetic. All these opposites can be best typified as male and female. It is the principle of duality which presides over all these energies. The creation sustaining equilibrium of these opposing forces serves two purposes, the procreative and the creative. It is a state of pure awareness and awakening of the conciseness from ignorance, confusion and self. It is a fusion of 'I' and 'You' into 'We' and u

Chapter 73: Traveling OnThe next morning, they flew to Tokyo. Bella reflected once again on how they had become a well-oiled television production machine. She knew the angles Luke preferred, he knew her timing and pace. They had found their routine–arrive in a new city, map out their stories, do the tasks required to make the stories happen, and be open to the serendipitous.For the most part, the nights were their own. Bella wondered if there was a better situation in which to fall in love. She and Luke were being paid to travel the world, every morning waking up in some exotic location, some luxury hotel suite. She fretted vaguely whether their love would survive a more mundane life, a suburban home with trash day, grocery shopping, picking up dry cleaning…Luke had once mentioned that he wanted a dog. She smiled fondly. Or maybe they could live in the city. New York might be where they could both work. Not that there had been any discussion of living arrangements off the

Chapter 75: T-Nathan Falls Hard"You are getting this, right?" Bella asked Luke."Way ahead of you, m'lady," Luke answered, training his lens on Nathan and his new friend. They were dusting themselves off and chatting amiably.Just then Nathan looked toward them and realized that not only was Luke shooting video, he was still wired for audio. The young woman followed Nathan's gaze, confusion showing on her face.Bella strode toward the pair, hand extended. "I'm Bella Grant," she said, smiling her best television host smile. "I see you've met Nathan. We're shooting a travel show about the Camino."The young woman slowly reached out for Bella's hand and looked at Nathan, noticing for the first time the tiny mic on his shirt. "I'm, um, Morgan Reilly. Travel show? Is this going to be on tv?" she asked.Bella shook her head. "Only if we have your permission. Can we buy you a coffee or something?"Bella grabbed a place for them to sit while Luke continued filming. Nathan helped Mo

Chapter 77: The Question of Christmas PlansBella woke up smiling, remembering their time together the night before. It seemed like it had been such a long time since they'd…Well, they were always making love, but how long since they'd taken their time, used the things they'd collected, the cuffs, the blindfold…God, she loved not knowing what he was going to do, where he was going to touch her, and with what.Luke opened his eyes and smiled back at her. "Good morning, m'lady. Penny for your thoughts," he said."You know what I'm thinking," she replied, arching her eyebrow mischievously."I suppose I do," he grinned. Kissing her deeply, he pulled her to him.She rested her head on his chest. "Let's just stay like this," she said, stroking his chest lightly."Okay with me, baby girl. I'm sure Nathan won't complain about another night with his girl," Luke mused.Bella sighed. "We have to meet them today. We can't put it off another day. But," she moved her hand lower, "we don't a

Chapter 79: DistractedLuke glanced at Bella seated next to him on the flight to Sardinia. To his surprise, she was wide awake, fidgeting with her charm necklace, its new silver charm of St. James glinting in the sunlight pouring through her window. She noticed his gaze and flashed him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes."Are you alright?" he asked."Yeah. Sure. I'm fine. Why? How are you?" she responded overly brightly."I'm good," he said, smiling slowly. "You just seem a little nervous or something.""Truthfully, my stomach still feels a little icky. Maybe shellfish last night was a poor choice," she said reasonably.He wasn't convinced, but he recalled her mad dash out for 'girl stuff' before they left the hotel and chalked it up to hormones, once again glad to be male.Bags in hand outside the airport in Cagliari, they boarded a hotel shuttle just ahead of a group of five women who, as it turned out, were heading to the same hotel Bella had booked. On the drive, Bel