Page 32 of Rough Choice

Grier was making his way upstairs, the steps lined with a branch-like railing, and Kye was yanking the tarped sheets off of the furniture. Though she couldn’t imagine it was the type of house that got dusty, when she saw the wood furniture that was covered in brightly colored cushions, she assumed they were to protect from sun damage.

“There’s a bathroom down that hall, or there are two upstairs. One off the main hallway or one through the master bedroom,” Kye said as he tossed the sheets over the back of an armchair. He crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her, hoisting her off her feet. “How do you like it?”

“This place is amazing,” she said, stroking his hair and smiling down at him as he held her tightly against his chest.

“Think it is somewhere you could be happy?” His blue eyes, though tired, were full of optimism and a kind of hope she hadn’t seen in him since high school.

“If I’m with you, I’m happy,” she said softly, resting her hand against his cheek. Kye smiled and slowly lowered her, catching her lips as he did. Their kiss was powerful and searing. He cupped the back of her head with both hands, and she melted against him. All the fear of the last few days faded as they embraced each other.

“The hot water should be working,” he said, pressing his forehead against hers. I’m going to run into town, pick up a few things. Why don’t you get cleaned up and rest?”

“Mmm,” she said with a pouting lip. “I don’t want you to go.” Kye chuckled and kissed her forehead.

“You will in about an hour when you get hungry and there’s no food in the house,” he reasoned. “Besides, the town is only about twenty minutes from here, and I’ll be back soon. Trust me, I’m ready to be here and rest with you, but we can’t do that if we’re all starving. Grier is going to get started setting up the security system and after that…” He trailed off and kissed her again.

“Hurry back,” she whispered against his lips, and he smiled, kissed the back of her hand, and left.

Eliana took a moment to look over the house once more before making her way upstairs. For the first time in… she couldn’t even recall, she felt safe and happy.

* * *

The fire in the stone pit crackled, and three sets of eyes stared into it. Grier, Eliana, and Kye were sitting on the back deck next to the empty pool, each nursing a beer and resting contentedly in the reclining deck chairs. The sun had set hours ago and though they were tired, none of them were going to miss out on savoring their first night in freedom.

Grier had gotten the security system running in a matter of minutes. As it turned out, the entire compound, including the main house, stables, and six on-campus shacks and a fishing dock, were all walled in. The twenty-foot cement wall was reinforced with copper bars, barbed wire, and an interior electric fence. Rotating cameras were placed every ten feet and were linked to the floodlights. Should the sensors catch something, the entire place would light up and alarms would sound.

When Kye had been out buying groceries, including the hot dogs and beer they were enjoying for dinner, Grier had shown her the floor level armory that had once been designed as a pantry, as well as the two removable walls upstairs that pressed in to reveal a gun stash and a panic room. If that wasn’t enough, both men were already discussing the security teams they were going to put together.

“I say we reach out to the Houston Bells,” Grier suggested as he passed Kye another beer. “They’ve got a whole chapter of former military contractors that could be looking for work.”

“Former military? Like Dhal?” Eliana asked nervously and looked over at Kye. They were lying together on one of the lounge chairs, and he kissed the top of her head.

“No, baby,” he said reassuringly. “No one like Dhal. That crazy motherfucker got what he deserved.”

“Less than,” she muttered and hugged him closer.

“We’ve got a few days to think it over,” Kye said, downing a mouthful of his beer. He grew quiet and stared into the fire. Eliana was already closing her eyes and barely holding onto consciousness as she lay her head on Kye’s chest.

“I’m off to bed,” Grier said, standing. He was a little unsteady on his feet, having polished off his fourth beer, and Kye chuckled. “Try to keep the moaning to a minimum. I think I’ve earned a good night’s rest.”

“Goodnight!” Eliana called without opening her eyes, which meant she missed the one-finger salute Kye threw at Grier. When he was inside and upstairs, Eliana cracked her eyes open and looked up at Kye. He was laying with one arm tucked behind his head, eyes staring up at the sky.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he said, beckoning her to join his stargazing. Eliana, however, couldn’t take her eyes off of Kye. She smiled and traced a finger over the scar under his eyebrow. Kye glanced down at her and smiled softly, his hand running up her back to stroke her hair.

“This place is beautiful, Kye,” she said, making small circles on the exposed skin of his chest just below his throat.

“It’ll be better once we get the place up and running. We’ll get the pool filled and maybe spruce up the garden. Tomorrow I can take you down to the dock. It’s small, but if you’ve never been fishing before…” His sentence was cut short as she scooted up just enough to kiss him.

Her kiss was firm but tender, and she held his face with both hands, her tongue drawing lazily over his bottom lip. Kye smiled and brought her up until she was lying fully on top of him. “I love you,” he said, pressing their foreheads together. She smiled, her thumb pressing his chin.

“I love you too. I think we’re going to be happy here… I want us to be happy here,” she said with a level of vulnerability she didn’t know she still had. The last few weeks had made her hard, both mentally and emotionally; she felt shut down. But now, as they lay there, pressed together next to the fire under the starlight, her walls were coming down again.

“We will be happy here, I promise,” Kye said gently. “I’ll make you happy. For the rest of my life, I’ll do everything I can to make you happy. We can put all this chaos and fear and violence behind us.”

“I promise the same thing,” she said, shifting on top of him so she could look into his eyes better. “I think we both deserve a little happiness after everything.”

“Agreed,” Kye said chuckling. His hands were rubbing her back, and the gesture made her relax into him. With her head on his chest again, they both, for the first time in ages, simply held each other while they slept in perfect blissful peace.

Eliana woke the moment she felt his hands between her legs. Her back was facing him, her face partially buried in the thick and soft down pillows. Kye’s erection was already pressing against her back, and the way he rocked his hips against her ass pulled her from her slumber. Smiling, she turned her head to the side, and his mouth was on her.