Page 7 of Dark Time

“Emily, you’re a strong woman. I’ve learned that about you. It’s one of the things that draws me to you. Even when you submit yourself, you still have a strength that cannot be broken. At least, not by me. Maybe because I don’t want to break it, I don’t know, but you are strong, darling. Somehow, we’ll make this right. I promise you that.”

I wasn’t quite sure how he thought we’d make my family accept my choices, or take me back into the fold, and to be perfectly frank, right now, I wasn’t sure I was ready to forgive the callous coldness of the way they’d disowned me. I had tried to shield myself from the emotions that swirled like a hurricane around those thoughts. I’d been focused on Dylan, and that had made it all worth it.

Now that we were settled into some kind of truce, I had time to think about it all. It wasn’t an easy thing to swallow, that my choice had led to their decisions, but if it meant I was with Dylan, then I could deal with it.

That didn’t make the heartache of it go away. I’d probably have days where it still weighed on me, but I knew I could cope with him by my side.

I turned and touched his face, two pairs of gray eyes stared at each other in the near darkness. I could see the shine of his eyes, though, and knew he was looking at me.

“You are all I have now, Dylan.” It was an admission I’d never really wanted to make, but it was true. We’d promised not to hide anything anymore, so I thought that meant our emotions were included in that promise. “You are really my world now.”

“Then I’d better make it worth the price you paid, hadn’t I?” His voice was level but held a certain amount of conviction.

“I wasn’t trying to make you feel beholden to me, or like you owed me something. You don’t. I just want you to know that you are all I have.” I turned away, a little embarrassed now. “Fuck, that sounds clingy and so damn sad.”

“No, it just sounds like raw emotion, Emily.” He pulled me back to face him. “You aren’t a robot, Emily, and I don’t want you to run around with some kind of cold, little heart that I can’t crawl my way into. I want you to be real with me. To tell me how you feel, what you think, what makes you happy, what makes you sad. I want to know it all, Emily. I want to know you. If you hide these parts of you, I’ll only know what you want me to see.”

I still felt like I was on a pity party, but he kissed me and made it all better. His kiss was gentle at first, and I relished the sensation of his soft lips against mine. His kisses always felt so good.

I kissed him back, and soon the gentleness became insistent, and his lips opened above mine. Passion flared in an instant, and the need to have him drive me to that place only he could take me to took over. My arms wrapped around his shoulders, and he pulled me over him. I settled onto him and pressed my sex down into his hard length. He was ready for me in an instant.

There was nothing that could stop this passion, nothing that could keep us apart. There was always that one final part of our lives that could separate us, but right now, I had a feeling that death would be the only thing that could ever make this all end. I would fight even that to keep this.

Dylan

One Month Later

The sound of the plane’s engines nearly deafened me as the wheels met the tarmac, and we were suddenly on the ground again. I breathed a deep sigh of relief once the bounces had stopped, and the plane pulled into a terminal. It had been thirty days since I last saw Emily, and it was thirty days too long.

I stepped off the plane and headed straight for the car already waiting for me. A short drive to the penthouse and I’d have her in my arms. A call came in, and I punched a button on the console full of tabs and buttons, so many I hadn’t figured them all out yet.

“Hello? That you, Mom?” I asked, I’d seen the number and knew it was likely my adoptive mother.

“No, it’s your father. Did you make it back to that woman of yours yet?” My dad’s voice, jovial if a little frailer than it used to be, filled the car, and I laughed.

“I have only just landed, Dad, trying to merge into traffic so I can get back to her right now.”

“That’s good then, son. We only wanted to make sure you made it back. Sorry we kept you so long.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble, Dad. You needed me.” Dad had come from his trip to the hospital after a bout of pneumonia and was driving my mother crazy. I’d gone out to give her a hand until he got better.

To see my own doctor. He’d run some tests, and tweaked my medicine, and he was certain he’d have me back on track in no time now. I’d managed to kill two birds with one stone. Three if you counted my trips to our hotels on the west coast while I was out there.

“I’m glad you’re keeping up with the business. I wasn’t sure you’d want to take over for me, but you’re doing a fine job, Dylan.” I could hear the pride in his voice, and that made me smile.

I merged into traffic at last and headed in the direction of home. “I had a good teacher, Dad. Listen, I’ll give you a call tomorrow, alright? I’m in a hurry to get home to Emily and to see how she is. I haven’t told her I’m back yet, so it’ll be a surprise.”

“Oh now, son. That’s not always a good idea, you know. Women, they like to dress up for a man, and if you catch her at home with her hair up in pigtails and no makeup on, well, she might be a little upset that you didn’t give her the chance.” Dad laughed, and I had to join him. That was a good piece of advice.

“You always were a smart man, Dad. I don’t care what she looks like when I get there, as long as she’s there.”

“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Dad laughed again, only this time there was a slight wheeze at the end. He was getting better but slower than I’d like. I worried about him often, but he insisted he was fine.

He was the man who had saved me from the foster care system, a system that might have destroyed me after what had happened to me as a child. He and his wife had taken me, and they’d treated me as one of their own, though, they had none of their own. It had been a life-raft for me, and I paid it back every day by being the son they deserved. I hoped I did anyway.

Dad let me get off the phone, at last, and I felt more comfortable. Even hands free, I believed that phone calls of any kind took your mind off the road, and I hated to do it. I had a lot to get home to, a surprise in store for my lady love. Two actually.

I’d finally acquired the building I’d been trying to buy for so long now. It was mine, all mine. I was excited to get started, and I had plans, so many plans. This would be my first hotel that was solely mine, and I wanted to do it right.