Page 31 of Dark Rules

I suspected, not for the first time, that Dylan was a very lonely man who hadn’t quite realized it yet. I believed he was starting to though, as he spent more time with me.

“I have something for you too, actually.” He got up, went to a side table, and opened a drawer.

“You didn’t have to get me anything…,” I started, but my words faltered. It was an envelope, not a gift box or gift bag. An envelope.

Dread filled me, and I looked up at him. He’d just broken my heart, and he didn’t even know it.

Emily

I felt silly now, two days later, as Dylan drove us up the coast to a little place that was tucked away. An island he’d called it, but we’d been able to walk to it over a footbridge. It was a ramshackle place, apparently the place sold some kind of cake that was known around the world. I walked beside him, my heart relieved and at peace.

The envelope had not contained a contract, rather it had held information about the island. The place was so small we could walk across it in an hour. It did have a small hotel, and he’d booked us in for a night there, so close to the sea I could feel the spray from the waves that crashed against the boulders the islanders had placed around the edges as a barrier. It didn’t matter if I was at the porch of the small room we’d rented, or if I was on the deck of the restaurant where the cakes were made.

“So this place was made world famous by boaters, huh?” I asked Dylan as we’d finished the pieces of multi-layered cake that deserved its reputation as a fine cake worth hunting down. It had been better than I’d expected, that was for sure.

“Yes, couples, and single-sailors, families on their way to the Bahamas in their yachts, all would come by here for this cake. It’s known all over the world now.” Dylan finished the last of his cake, and we sat back to watch the sun trek across the sky. The ocean was ahead of us, and the sky was clear. It was a great view.

“It must be kind of dangerous to be here when the waves are rough,” I said after a while, just for something to say to end the silence.

We hadn’t talked a lot, and neither of us had mentioned that the contract was up. I had noticed the sex stopped when the contract ended, but we still spent time together. I held out hope that meant something to him. I so wanted those contracts to end, and I’d learned that the night I’d given him his gifts.

He still had on the necklace and the ring. The cuff links were for a special occasion, he’d said. I didn’t know what that might be, but I’d let it go.

“It must be. The waves are rowdy right now. I’d hate to see it when they’re kicking up more than this.” He’d held his feet out, and I could see drops of moisture on his jeans as the waves crashed incessantly against the rocks.

I felt cold suddenly, despite the temperate. It was almost winter, but it didn’t get as cold here as it did in the rest of the state, especially the mountains. I knew it wasn’t the temperature or the water that had chilled me, though; it was the futility of the waves.

They’d crashed and crashed, and they’d eventually erode the coastline away, if man didn’t intervene and try to preserve it. It would take a long time, unless a hurricane came through, then the island might disappear altogether. It reminded me of my relationship with Dylan far too much.

He could crush me with a single blow and walk away from me, or he could chip away, one contract at a time, until I finally gave in and let him crush me beneath his waves.

“What’s wrong?” Dylan asked, and I turned to look at him.

“Nothing, just a stray thought. Shall we go to the room? I’m a little cold.” I’d pulled my legs up in the lounge chair we’d moved to and wrapped my arms around them.

“Sure, if that’s what you want. Or we can walk again; that might warm you up some more.”

“Another walk sounds good, actually.” I smiled, and we left the deck, hand in hand. After a while he pulled me closer, and I’d wrapped my arm around his waist.

“I could stay here forever,” he said softly as we walked along the thin strip of beach near the end of the island. “It’s just so peaceful, even with the noise from the waves.”

“Maybe so, but I find it a little unsettling.” He’d stopped walking, and I’d moved around to stand in front of him. I put my arms around his lean waist and put my head down on the rock wall of his chest. “Something makes it, I don’t know, uncomfortable.”

“Hm. Is it the isolation, do you think? I could see how it might feel like that, especially when you look toward the ocean, not back toward land.” He turned me, and some of my disquiet eased.

“I think you’re right. It’s not so bad now. Now, it feels more like a sanctuary from all of the hustle and bustle over there.” I’d lay my head on his chest, but he pulled it up.

“To be honest, Stephanie, anywhere you are makes me feel like that.” He’d looked like he’d wanted to say more, but cut it off with a sweet kiss. He’d lingered around my mouth when we’d ended the kiss, his eyes open to look into mine. “I always feel at peace with you.”

“I’m glad you do.” It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him, to get the dread out of the way and just ask him, but I didn’t. “Do you want to go to bed?”

“No, the sun isn’t down yet. We can go to the restaurant, get some drinks, and watch the sun go down if you want? I’ll even get you a blanket from the room?” He still held me and that mixed with the grin on my face proved infectious and I couldn’t say no.

“That sounds good. Why don’t I order drinks while you get the blanket?” I let the moment go and decided to enjoy whatever this was that he was giving me.

Past experience told me there’d be no sex, not without a new contract, and I had to wonder if he was waiting on me to bring it up, or if this was a goodbye trip. Or was this a new step into a real relationship? I’d wanted it to be the last one more than I’d cared to admit, and I’d felt a little bit of relief when he’d pulled away.

I headed back to the restaurant to order a hot chocolate with mint liqueur and a scotch for him. The proprietor, an elderly man with a full head of white hair, asked where Dylan was, and I told the man he’d gone for a blanket. “Oh, we have a heater for outside, if you want me to bring it out.”