Julian’s parents had insisted that David use his entire security detail to protect the fortune of physical assets they were bringing to dinner.
He wasn’t stupid, so he left a skeleton crew of guards at all of the campus exits. But the guys had been training, and a skeleton crew of just a few guards was something that they were able to easily take out without being noticed.
And just like that, we got into Rob’s car and left.
Rob drove us all the way out of Charlotte and because his car was still registered as an undercover cop car, no one gave him any trouble on the road when he blazed down the highways at well over the speed limit. Michael sat in the front with him and searched online for a place for us to stay. I sat in the backseat with Adam and stared out the window as I leaned against him, watching the blur of scenery and relishing in the feeling of freedom until I fell asleep. I drifted in and out of naps and so did Adam with his arms wrapped around the front of my stomach. No one cared any longer about stopping the corruption at Lineage, we all just wanted to get away from it.
Eventually, Michael found a cute little cottage in the mountains that was listed for rent and as soon as we arrived there, I knew it was perfect.
It was a little A-frame loft home, just like the ones Julian used to show me in magazines. It was nestled between the mountains and surrounded by nothing but land and streams and trees. We went inside and put down our bags and stood looking out the back windows at the mountain views.
“This feels like where we should have been all along,” Adam said.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
We were all exhausted from the drive and the ordeals of the past few days. As soon as Michael had locked up, we all piled onto the big soft bed and immediately fell asleep. When we woke up, it was dusk and the stars in the sky glittered as if someone had thrown a handful of broken glass into the night and it lingered in the sky and reflected the light of the moon.
“I’m pretty sure this might be the most incredible thing I have ever seen,” Rob said as the three of us stood outside looking at the clear night sky with one extra big blanket wrapped around all of our shoulders.
“This can be our life now,” I said. “We can all be here together and be happy, right?”
I knew that at some point I would need to choose one of them. But now, with the loss of Julian, I didn’t want to think about it. I couldn’t lose someone else.
“Right,” Michael said. “For Julian.”
Adam squeezed my hand and Rob kissed the side of my temple. I let out a deep breath, knowing that at least for now, the four of us all had each other.
The next day, Rob followed up with some of the agency connections that he still had. One of his buddies did him a favor and erased the tags of his car, so that no one could find us or trace us here in the mountains. He was able to keep tabs on things from afar, at least until his friend transferred to another precinct, and he found out that due to Julian’s sudden death, Julian’s parents were indeed about to open up an investigation. With the help of Rob’s intel which he shared with his buddy on the force, David’s drug operation was discovered and brought to light by some of the cops that weren’t in league with the corrupt pay-offs. David’s whole operation had been exposed and shut down, with David now facing charges. A small karmic win, but at least it was something. And more than that, we were out and that was all that mattered.
“What are we going to do here now?” Adam asked. “It’s been so long since I had a choice that I’m not sure where to begin.”
“Whatever you want to do,” I said. “This is our time now.”
That night, though, the dream that came to haunt me made me angrier. I didn’t like my dream this time, especially since it featured him. Julian. My childhood best friend and the first man to ever steal my heart away. I didn’t like that Julian was in it with my mom. Instead of feeling glad that I got to see them, as I usually felt when I dreamt about my mother, I felt angry and upset. I was mad and jealous that Julian got to be with her now, even if it was only inside of a dream. I was upset that seeing him in my dreams reminded me that he wasn’t here anymore.
I missed them both so terribly.
I woke up sweating and teary-eyed and got up to go outside for some fresh air. Even with the blanket that I had picked up from the chair and wrapped around me, the cold nighttime air still bit at my damp shirt.
Michael came out behind me a few minutes later. He always seemed to feel it when I wasn’t lying beside him, and he would always come looking for me as if we were tethered together somehow. He brought another blanket with him and he spread it out on the mountainside for us to sit down. I sat next to him and held his hand on his lap as we looked up at the bright moon.
“Would you have chosen Julian?” he asked after a long while.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “But I feel like a piece of me is missing now.”
“Nothing is missing from you,” Michael said. “We are all still bonded together by fate, even Julian. He is still here with us now in this place.”
I sat and thought about his words, then wiped a single tear from my eye. I held tightly to his hand and breathed the mountain air deeply into my body. I turned to look at him and saw his chiseled jaw staring out into the night and his blonde hair blowing in the slight breeze around his face. When he turned to look at me, I brought his hand from his lap and touched it to my heart.
“Make love to me here,” I said.
I gently pulled him toward me as I laid down against the blanket on the mountainside. Michael climbed over the top of my body and loosened his cotton joggers until he fell heavily against my thighs and I felt him throbbing there. All it took was a small shedding of my own clothes before he slid his thickened girth between my thighs.
And when he slid inside of me, the world crashed and boomed with colors unknown to the spectrum of this earth.
“Sweet fuck,” he hissed.
I clung to him, my nails digging into the meat of his back through his shirt. His thrusts were swift, choking off my ability to breathe as I let him overwhelm me. The heat of his body relaxed me. The swift movements of his hips raised up within me carnal desires I longed to indulge. The stars twinkled above our heads in the middle of the woods and for the life of me, I wanted nothing else to change.
I wanted to stay like this, with all of us here, until we grew old and gray and died here together.
“Please, don’t stop,” I gasped.
Michael captured my lips. “I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I love you, Lisette.”
His hips pounded against my own and I locked my legs around his waist. I let him have me, all of me, as my eyes rolled into the back of my head. Electricity coursed through my veins as the rapid fluttering of my heart sounded in my ears. We made love beneath the night sky, with the cold air mixing against our heated bodies as sweat brewed against our brows. It felt as though he was right as he pounded against me. We were all bonded together, just as his body was now bonded with mine.
He kissed me deeply and I looked up at him with open eyes as his thrusts grew desperate and passionate, all at once.
“Michael,” I said as I paused for a small moment.
He panted as he gazed into my eyes. “Yeah?”
I cupped his cheek. “I love you.”
I watched his eyes shine, as if there were stars inside of him that just lit up against the night. He smiled and leaned down to kiss me more. And once our tongues were done with their familiar waltz of love, he pinned my hands above my head.
