Echo of Redemption (31 page)
“You plan to keep our ménage together long distance?”
There is a line of red leather upholstered chairs which look right at home in the very retro barbershop. Thomas pushes me down in one, then sits beside me while we wait his turn. He insists, “Yes, I do. I’ll be in the United States. After the senator announces her bid for the White House, she’ll go on the campaign trail and sooner or later that will lead us to her home state. I will manage to come home then, even if it is just for a little while.”
“This sucks.”
“Yes, it does, but the senator isn’t heartless. I will do everything in my power to be home for the delivery,” he promises, and I start to feel hope for the first time since he explained what had happened. He kisses me in the middle of my forehead. “Tell me you love me.”
“You know I do.”
The barber calls out to him, “You’re up.”
He says, “Tell me you’re going to love me after I have a military cut and no beard.”
Oh God. This is really happening.
“I love you.”
It is too painful to watch as the scissors cut off several inches and that is before the clippers whirr on. Within minutes he has hair shorter than Garrett’s and his face is smooth. The sight leaves me blinking back tears; not because he is ugly, far from it. With his military short locks and clean shaven face our nightmare is made real. He is leaving us. It hardly matters that he doesn’t want to leave, or that we don’t want him to go.
I remind myself he is a soldier and duty has called, feeling a sudden kinship to every woman who has stood in my place before…saying goodbye.
I remind myself he isn’t going to a war zone and this moment could be so much worse if I believed I would never see him alive again.
He pulls me into his arms as the first tears fall over my cheeks, speaking softly in his native tongue. I don’t understand a word except for the promise of love. Those words sound the same in any language.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
“I will come back to you, Sophia.”
“I know,” I answer, hoping we aren’t lying to each other. “I’ll be waiting.”
* * * *
I sit behind the wheel of the car, frozen in place, watching the airport shuttle until it disappears. I don’t start my engine because I know if I do I will chase after him. My heart is breaking and I have given up fighting tears. It is easier to hang over the steering wheel sobbing. A second later, I jump out of my skin, hearing a tap on my window. It is Master. He climbs into the passenger seat. His hair and jacket are damp.
Looking at the windshield, I realize it’s starting to rain.
He says, “I thought I’d find you here.”
“He text, I—” Shaking my head I stop myself mid-sentence. “I’m sorry, I should have told you where I was going, Master.”
He smiles and kisses me. Water from his damp hair drips on my cheek. He wipes it away. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I tell him, meeting his gaze. “Well, it’s finally happened. It seems we’ve both been waiting for this moment for a year and now it’s here. He’s gone.” I blink back tears, feeling foolish and angry. I admit, “I’m scared.”
“Do you love me?” he asks.
“Yes! Don’t ever doubt that. I love you with all my heart.”
“Are you
mine
?”
“Yes, Master,” I answer, not understanding where this is going.
He lifts my arm and traces each symbol of the brand, saying, “Fire. Water. Ice.”
“But—”
He silences me with two fingers pressed to my lips. “Thomas has promised he will come back, and I believe him.”
I bite my lip to keep from saying the wrong thing.
“I think we have to trust him, or we have nothing. And while we wait for him to return to us, we have each other.”
I close my eyes to keep from looking at him, my stomach sinking.
Lifting my chin, he waits for me to open my eyes and when I do tears glisten in his eyes. “I remember the first time I saw you and you were wearing another man’s collar.”
“I’m not sorry for the charade, if I hadn’t lied I’d have never met you.”
“Let me finish.”
“Sorry, Master.”
“I thought to myself you looked broken, so sad, but then Doug slapped your hip with the chain and there was a flash of lightning that shot through your eyes, and I knew you weren’t a wounded sparrow at all but rather a mighty hawk. I fell in love with you in that moment because that woman, the woman who could express such passion and power with a glance, ignited a spark inside of me. I knew that with you I might find myself again. Do you understand?”
“I think so.”
“I’ve never asked you before if you desired to be mine and right now, before we go further, I need to know. Do you want me to master you? Do you want to belong to Lord Ice? Forever?”
“You
are
my Master, Garrett Lawrence.”
Lowering his mouth to my skin, he kisses the marking for water, and the barest touch of his soft lips to my scarred flesh makes me tremble. “I am one of your Masters, Kitten. Now, let’s go
home
.”
http://www.lyricalpress.com/roxy_harte
Roxy lives in southwestern Ohio in a small town bordered by fields and railroad tracks with her husband and teenage daughter, two boisterous dogs, Petey and Jazzi, and two independent cats, Miss Kitty and Blackie. She can be found penning her next novel almost any day of the week. Writing for her is like breathing and sex, it is requirement for survival. However, she does have a few hobbies for when she is suffering from writer’s block including gardening, hiking, and rock climbing. She loves microbreweries, Renaissance festivals, and hearing from her readers.
Roxy’s Website:
http://www.roxyharte.com/
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Book 1:
Sacred Secret
s
Available in ebook from Lyrical Press
Book 2:
Sacred Revelation
Available in ebook from Lyrical Press
Book 3:
Unholy Promises
Available in ebook from Lyrical Press
Book 4:
Echo of Redemption
Available in ebook from Lyrical Press
Book 5:
Cries of Penance
Coming soon from Lyrical Press
Where reality and fantasy collide
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