Chosen Path
By J. Whitney Williams
Erotic Romance
Yumiko Itsumoto wants it all. An accomplished artist and
feared attorney, she gets what she wants, all else be
damned. Now she wants love, even if it means charting
a new course for her life, but changing course can be
dangerous. In mere moments, she tumbles from the
dizzying pinnacle of success into a bottomless abyss of
murder and treachery. Yumiko will not live happily ever
after—not this time—but can she at least find a way to stay alive?
Editor's review
Author J. Whitney Williams follows CARRIED AWAY—his
surprisingly intelligent and deftly written debut—with a
story that is even sexier, more thrilling and more enthralling than the first.
Again taking the reader on a trip across the world, meeting
strange people in strange places via a prodigious
narrator, CHOSEN PATH follows Yumi, a powerful and
apparently dispassionate supporting character introduced
in book one. But appearances deceive. Here, the reader is
immersed in Yumi—into the very depths of her complex
mind, her conflicted yet determined soul, her insatiable sex drive.
When Yumi encounters the woman who she presumes to
be the fiancée of the love of her life—perhaps her only true
love—she has every reason to seize the opportunity that
presents itself to erase the woman from both of their lives
forever. It’s no wonder Yumi is the prime suspect for the
unfortunate woman’s swift and seemingly heartless murder. Unable to recall herself, Yumi assumes the worst,
too. It wouldn’t be the first tragic fate to befall someone
who stood in her way—or the last—and cameras don’t lie.
In CHOSEN PATH, Williams explores the very essence of
what makes us human. The protagonist, a uniquely flawed
yet extraordinarily likable woman of many talents and
trades, demonstrates the jealousy and manipulation we
see in ourselves and despise in others. At the same time,
we’re drawn to Yumi. Geisha. Samurai. Assassin. Pseudo-
royalty. Nothing happens to her; she creates. If we all
shaped our own circumstances, our destinies, as adroitly
as she, what paths would we choose and where would they
lead us?
Jun
gave me a towel, with which I wrapped up my hair, and a yukata, one of his. Its
sleeves hung well past my hands, but its hem did not drag the ground. I decided
to go ahead and indulge. I’d had a difficult night. A little smear of grease on
my back would do the trick. I worked as quickly as I could to remove the rest,
but it still took me perhaps twenty or thirty minutes.
·٠•● Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ●•٠· J. Whitney Williams ·٠•● Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ●•٠·
A mathematician by training and computer programmer by
trade, J. Whitney Williams lives and works under the X in
Texas, thinking too much and speaking too little.
Yumiko Itsumoto wants it all. An accomplished artist and
feared attorney, she gets what she wants, all else be
damned. Now she wants love, even if it means charting
a new course for her life, but changing course can be
dangerous. In mere moments, she tumbles from the
dizzying pinnacle of success into a bottomless abyss of
murder and treachery. Yumiko will not live happily ever
after—not this time—but can she at least find a way to stay alive?
Editor's review
surprisingly intelligent and deftly written debut—with a
story that is even sexier, more thrilling and more enthralling than the first.
strange people in strange places via a prodigious
narrator, CHOSEN PATH follows Yumi, a powerful and
apparently dispassionate supporting character introduced
in book one. But appearances deceive. Here, the reader is
immersed in Yumi—into the very depths of her complex
mind, her conflicted yet determined soul, her insatiable sex drive.
be the fiancée of the love of her life—perhaps her only true
love—she has every reason to seize the opportunity that
presents itself to erase the woman from both of their lives
forever. It’s no wonder Yumi is the prime suspect for the
unfortunate woman’s swift and seemingly heartless murder. Unable to recall herself, Yumi assumes the worst,
too. It wouldn’t be the first tragic fate to befall someone
who stood in her way—or the last—and cameras don’t lie.
what makes us human. The protagonist, a uniquely flawed
yet extraordinarily likable woman of many talents and
trades, demonstrates the jealousy and manipulation we
see in ourselves and despise in others. At the same time,
we’re drawn to Yumi. Geisha. Samurai. Assassin. Pseudo-
royalty. Nothing happens to her; she creates. If we all
shaped our own circumstances, our destinies, as adroitly
as she, what paths would we choose and where would they
lead us?
Jun
gave me a towel, with which I wrapped up my hair, and a yukata, one of his. Its
sleeves hung well past my hands, but its hem did not drag the ground. I decided
to go ahead and indulge. I’d had a difficult night. A little smear of grease on
my back would do the trick. I worked as quickly as I could to remove the rest,
but it still took me perhaps twenty or thirty minutes.
I
emerged from the bathroom with a much-improved mood.
Jun
lived in a modest flat, sparsely decorated in Japanese style: tatami flooring
and rice-paper screens to separate (or not) a small bedroom from the tearoom. I
liked it. He had put on a yukata as well and sat formally in the tearoom. I
duly went to the first guest position and knelt.
“Do
you have any citric acid?”
He
blinked and asked, “Citric acid?” I had woken poor Jun from a sound sleep and
it seemed he was still trying to gather his wits.
In
my gentlest voice, I said, “Yes. I was unable to remove all of the grease from
my skin. If I might further impose upon your hospitality, I would be grateful
for your help with it. Citric acid, lemon juice if you have it, might break
down the grease more readily than soap.”
He
stood and walked toward his small kitchen. I turned my back to him and widened
my stance to sit directly on the ground with my feet beside me, and I opened my
yukata to drop it from my shoulders and expose my deliberate grease smear.
Holding the yukata up with the crooks of my elbows, I crossed my arms over my
chest and turned my head down. His steps halted when he saw me. His voice, when
he spoke, bore more confidence than his approaching footfalls.
“I
would be honored to provide you with whatever counsel I can, Itsumoto-san.”
“Thank
you, Jun-san,” I said, “and please call me Yumi.”
“Will
you tell me of the matter?”
I
inhaled to fill the hollow in my chest and kept silent, tasting enjoyment in
dabs of cold lemon juice against my back, softer than raindrops. I’d have all
day to tell my tale before he finished, and part of me wanted to drag it out.
The better part of me wanted to rip the band-aid off and be done with it.
“I
was in the subway yesterday. There was a woman next to me. She was killed by a
passing train. I believe I will be charged with her murder.”
“Why
would you be charged?”
Another
deep breath did nothing to fill my chest. It was hard enough admitting my
mistake, a mistake made in the making of another mistake. I had to tell him the
unconfessed secret of my heart. In a way, sitting half-naked in front of him
made it easier to let go of my pride.
“I
believe she was engaged to marry a man I previously dated—a past lover. I had
gone to his home yesterday hoping I could reconcile myself to him. When I got
there, someone, I believe it was this woman, was there with him. I left without
announcing myself. It seems she left not long after I did and intended to catch
the same train as me.
“After
the incident, I ran. That was foolish. I was scared, shocked, and not thinking
clearly. I have not been sleeping well. I had not slept for perhaps a week.
This insomnia has affected my mental state. I did not intend to kill her, but I
stood to benefit from her death. There were witnesses. I paid my PASMO with a
credit card. The police will be able to determine who I am.”
Jun’s
hands on my back remained timid, but his voice reassured. “Your situation may
not be so dire as you believe it, Yumiko-san, but I can understand how it
troubles you.”
The
room filled with silence until I deemed it thick enough to call attention to my
next statement.
“Jun,”
I said, “when a woman takes off her clothes and kneels before you, it’s safe to
assume you can drop the honorific.”
“I
never assume facts not in evidence.”
I
sighed and gave instructions. “I want you to call me Yumi. I want you to press
hard against the stain on my back and scrub until I am clean.”
He
did as I told him, taking my shoulder in one hand to steady me and grinding
into the grease with his other. Sooner than I might have liked, a smear of cold
water slid up my back, and the collar of my yukata patted me dry. I gave him
further instructions.
“I
also want you to fuck my brains out.”
His
hands snapped back.
I
waited him out, wandering my gaze along the weave of his tatami floor.
Eventually he spoke.
“Will
you not be needing them?”
I
liked the innocence of his question, so I answered earnestly. “They have
functioned poorly in recent times.” I waited again to hear his next quandary.
“I
would think it a difficult thing to do to a woman of your considerable
intellect.”
“Take
your time.”
I
waited while he tried to think through what was happening, seemingly as
disturbed by his own unanticipated circumstances as I had been by mine the
night before. Clammy fingertips, followed by their palm, touched down high on
my back and slid haltingly up my shoulder and alongside my neck. I tilted my
head up, yielding to the almost imperceptible push of his index finger under my
jaw. He followed, and I continued until I craned my neck back as far as it
would go.
When
his fingertips drew gently against my throat, I went with them instead of
letting them drag against my skin. I kept leaning, transferring my weight onto
my toes, which pointed back along the floor by my sides.
Flipping
over my toes to set my weight on my spine and straighten my knees from that
position is always an awkward move. Jun was unprepared for how suddenly I fell
backward when my weight transferred, but he caught me with a hand behind my
neck before my head hit the floor. That was just as well because his abrupt
catch knocked the towel free from my hair and just in time because I held my back
still fully arched and would have driven my head hard into the mat.
I’d
left my hands in my lap, straightening my elbows as he bent me backward,
leaving my torso bare in front of him. My yukata, folded inward over my thighs,
provided only a pretense of modesty. His eyes struggled not to wander while I
stared up at him, so I closed mine to let his have their way. I’d told him to
take his time, so I parted my lips and waited.
“Did
you do it?”
My
eyelids rocked open. “You ask your clients if they’re guilty?”
“I’m
asking you.”
I
closed my eyes again and rolled my spine downward, relaxing my back to the
floor. “Nice dodge.”
“Likewise,”
he volleyed. “Shall we play again?”
“I’d
rather not.”
“Then
answer my question.”
His
hand behind my neck firmed and steadied and was soon joined by his other hand
to cradle my head. Jun had no idea how to handle a woman, but he knew exactly
what to do with a hostile witness.
I
had to tell him, and he knew it. I was the one asking him for help. He could
simply decline and be rid of me. Something inside him clamped down and turned
to stone. He was awake now, and our little back-and-forth spanned the full
width of his patience. It takes a hard man to set murderers free every day and
still look at himself in the mirror.
I
drew a slow breath to show him I would answer. I needed a hard man. I was a
murderer.
A mathematician by training and computer programmer by
trade, J. Whitney Williams lives and works under the X in
Texas, thinking too much and speaking too little.
