Stripped Bare

I am in curious bliss...

A/N: Pristine beauty - Palma de Mallorca where Dante meets his match... Damien opens up about his relationships to a curious Dante...

After a few hours of rest, he was awoken by the gentle ringing of his phone alarm, and the smells of delicious food enticing his taste buds and noisy growls of his stomach clearly meant only one thing. It was time for lunch. A soft knock on his door meant that Walid had thought exactly the same thing.

Dante bounded out of bed, and went to the bathroom, to wash his face. He quickly changed his shirt, opting for a fitted, printed tee-shirt instead, which snuggly hugged his perfectly toned body. He slipped his feet into a pair of leather sandals, grabbing his wallet, phone and room key, packing them into a neat, leather man-bag which he carried by a small strap, which fitted neatly around his wrist.

Walid had changed shirts too, and was now sporting a polo-neck tee emblazoned with his favorite football team's logo on it. Dante teased him, saying that it might stir up some trouble. After all, the Spanish were in love with the world sport and were keen on rivalling any opposing supporters.

They ended up at one of the hotel's splendid restaurants, where both men savoured the delicacies of the region, in an array of tender, succulent meats and seafood. Once full, the men headed out to absorb all the sights and sounds this sparkling city had to offer.

As they casually sauntered along the colourfully tiled pavements, Dante felt a buzzing in his pocket. He fished out the device that Damien had given him, obviously assuming that it was Damien calling him.

"Hey man, that was pretty easy, that stunt you pulled back there. Oh, Elena's got her eyes on you. She thinks you're cute..." Dante chuckled into the device.

"No thanks, I'm not into women, especially her kind..." Damien shot back, laughing, "So, do you understand the coordinates I gave you? ETA rendezvous is at 17:00 hours. See you both then" The young agent signed off, even before Dante had a chance to say goodbye.

He shrugged, placing the device back into his pocket. Walid was busy snapping photos of everything in sight. He was clearly excited and mesmerized by the beauty of Palma. The two men made their way up the steep hill to its' most famous cathedral, where the view was breath-taking.

The cathedral had an in-house museum, so they both decided to take a look while they were there. Oddly enough, these were the precise coordinates that Damien had given them, and surely enough, the young agent, posing as male tour guide in disguise, joined them on the walk around the museum.

Damien was fully aware that they were not alone. Clearly, the prince had sent his security guards to follow discreetly behind, which Dante had also noticed. So, they all decided to play it out, pretending that they had just met one another again. Damien had to find a way to lose the men.

All three went into the men's room, where Damien demanded that Dante remove the bracelet that Elena had bestowed upon him as a gift. Damien inspected the piece carefully, then, producing a small screwdriver, he tinkered with the clasp and lo and behold, out popped a mini tracking device. Damien disengaged the device, keeping it in his pocket.

He then pried open the window and looked down. It was not too deep a drop onto a lush, grassy lawn below them. So, without further ado, the young agent clambered onto the ledge and jumped, easily landing on his feet.

He motioned to the two men to do the same. Dante went first, but Walid was hesitant, owing to a fear of heights, no matter how low they were. Dante had to gently nudge the gentle giant of a man into wilfully taking the jump. At last, he conceded, scrunching his face in sheer terror as he leapt down and finally joined them on the lawn which was directly behind the church. By chance, they were hidden by the huge balustrade, concealing them from view.